®if®lSi®ii®ii]®ia FIELD S Correspondence WITH HIS Sister 1832-185 2 iiiiiiS iiiicir 1111111:1, (LIMITED.) 30 TO 34. NEW OXFORD STREET. CITY OFFICE, 2. KING STREET. CH EA PS IDE. SUBSCRIPTION. On^ GniTiea For Annum cuid upwards wmBBt n mtm m m w i i i MU tmmmmmmaaaaaiim L ii»» u aiig r r^A Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028289258 Cornell University Library DA 564.B3A22 1886 Lord Beaconsfield's correspondence wth 3 1924 028 289 258 olin Knhttm Sickson IV^tte LORD BEACONSFIELD'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS SISTER Recently published. LORD BEACONSFIELD'S HOME LETTERS WRITTEN IN 1830 31. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 5^. LORD BEACONSFIELDS CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS SISTER 1832 — 1852 FORT/ NIHIL DIFFICILE Wmi a farlrait SECOND EDITION LONDON '-m^' ^'^.r JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET^, ^ '; 1886 All rights reserzfed. "if^bol^"^ TO THE MEm6rV OF THE DEAR SISTER TO WHOM THE FOLLOWING LETTERS WERE ADDRESSED THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED PREFACE. This volume is a reply to the numerous requests I have received for more of my Brother's letters. After much consideration and careful exami- nation, I have been induced to publish what I trust may interest the public, while not trenching on the family privacy ; and it is this difficulty * of the private character of so many of these letters which prevents me from allowing them to pass out of my possession for any purpose whatever. To some their tone may be thought egotis- tical ; but it must be remembered they were written without thought of publication, and to a sister who fully believed in the writer's ^power, and who happily lived just long enough to see viii PREFACE him Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons. Those who only knew him in his later days will be interested in the fresh enjoyment of his entrance into society, and even more in that first step of parliamentary struggle which eventually was crowned with such success. I trust that in the letters as published there is nothing to give personal annoyance to any one, this being so often forgotten in the * Memoirs* of the present day. The falling off of the corre- spondence in the later years must be accounted for by my sister (after our father s death) residing in or near London. RALPH DISRAELI. December 21, 1885. I I •7',..-%'* .-i-T rJ( • 1 ^e-^ 0^;^^" / ,. --, ;„• I },n Murray.Mbemarle St.W: CONTENTS, ■♦o^ 1832. PAGE Residence in London — * Contarini Fleming'-! Bulwer's reunion — Count D'Orsay — L. E. L. — Stands for A^ycombe — Mil- man's criticism of ' Contarini' — ^Washington Irving — Intro- duced to Mrs. Wyndham Lewis — Tom Moore — Effects of smoking — Ministry out — Return of the Whigs — Meets Feel at dinner — Herries — Polish Club — Tom Campbell — Criticisms on ' Contarini ' — Letter from Madame d'Arblay — End of season — Maclise — Return to Bradenham with Bulwer. i 1833- Visit to Bath with Bulwer — Writing *Alroy' — * Iskander' — Family dinner with Bulwer — Opera, the Brahams — Debate in House of Commons — Macaulay — Shell, &c. — Prophetic remarks — 'Ixion' — Fame of Maclise — Charles Mathews — Dinner with the Nortons — The Sheridan family — 'Alroy' published — Asked to stand for Maryle- bone — Public amusements — * What is He?' — Love and Marriage — Invitations — Caledonian Ball — Marquise de Montalembert — ' Godolphin ' — Southend — Lady Cork— Malibran — Return to Bradenham 14 1834. Out with the hounds — Engaged in writing — Dinner at Gore House — Focus of Durham party — Fears of a dissolution — CONTENTS PAGE Interviews with three remarkable men — Society — Meets Lyndhurst — Political agitation — Water party — Portrait taken by D'Orsay — Issues address to electors of High Wycombe 23 1835. Dinner to Lord Abinger — Meets Gladstone — Criticisms — Politics — Peel's speech — Division on Address — Anticipated defeat of Government — Influenza — Whig Ministry formed — Stands for Taunton — Too late — Attack of O'Connell — Bound over to keep the peace — Great fancy ball — Costumes — Supper at Lyndhurst's — Rosebank — Visits Bradenham — Lyndhurst's triumph — Annoyance of Melbourne — ' Morn- ing Post' . 30 1836. The Press — Dinner at Lyndhurst's — Death of Mrs. Copley — * Letters of Runnymede ' — Marriage of Lord Carrington — Dissolution expected — Holland House — Pozzo di Borgo — Elected to the Carlton — Meeting at Apsley House — Opera — Continuation of political crisis — Dinner with Chandos — 'Henrietta Temple' — Criticisms — Spanish news — Speech at Bucks meeting — Letter from Peel 44 1837- Influenza epidemic — Due de Grammont — Writing * Ve- netia ' — On Burdett's committee — Illness of King — Con- cert at Bridgewater House — Reviews of 'Venetia' — The King's death — Queen proclaimed — Excitement at Carlton — Canvassing at Maidstone — Returned — Lyndhurst's mar- riage — Takes his seat — Queen opens Parliament — First night — Dinner with Peel — Sheriffs' petitions — Maiden speech — Failure — Sheil's encouragement — Animal magnet- ism — New edition of ' Curiosities' — Speech on copyright — The ear of the House 61 CONTENTS xi 1838. PAGE Politics — Charles Kean — Debates — Roebuck — Lord Francis Egerton — Pakington — Gladstone — Grand concert — Recep- tion at Salisbury House — Lev^e — O'Connell reprimanded by Speaker^ — Family dinner with Lyndhurst — Society — Death of Wyndham Lewis — Successful speech — ^Assembly at Sahsbury House — Town full — Gore House — Coronation of the Queen — Review in Hyde Park — Banquet at Holder- ness House — ^Visit to Maidstone — Durham proclamation . 88 1839- Brougham's threat — Lord Grey crushed by a picture — State, of Ireland — Ude dismissed from Crockford's — Deputation to Melbourne — Speaker's levde — Society — Dinner at Peel's — A day of rumours — Speech on theatrical amusements — ' Richelieu ' — Command of House — Amusing debate — Game in Peel's hands — Satisfaction at being an M.P.^Douro's marriage — Concert at Madame Montefiore's — Speaker resigns — Grand Duke of Russia — Chartists uneasy — Dinner with Duke of Buckingham — Congratulations on speech — Meets Webster the American — ' Alarcos ' — N ewspaper Press Fund dinner — Fete at Rosebank — Dines with Burdett^ Prince Esterhazy — Marriage — Tunbridge Wells — Dover — Baden-Baden — Munich — Visit to Dannecker — Hallam — Ratisbon — Walhalla — Paris — Pleasant dinners — Father's blindness — Christmas party at Wycombe Abbey . .115 1840. Penny post — Fear of Chartists — Visit to Stowe — First political dinner — Queen's marriage fixed — Debate on non-confi- dence — Prince Albert — Privilege — Visit to Sheriffs in prison — ^Address to Queen on her marriage — Good speech — Speaker's levee — Brighton — Death of Lady Cork — Meets Rogers — Prince Albert at Exeter Hall — Ministers defeated — Scene in House — Crockford retires — Two speeches — Ball xii CONTENTS PAGE at Stowe to Queen Dowager — Fiasco of Louis Napoleon — Wolbeding — Breakfast with Horace Walpole — Beyrout taken — Death of Lord Holland — Deepdene — Cambridge election for High Steward — Excitement — Lyndhurst re- turned with triumph — Birth of Princess Royal — Spanish pudding — Christmas party at Deepdene . . . • 147 I 841. Interestin impending division — ^ Cecil' — Lord Jocelyn's book — Speech on Sugar Duties — Dinner at Peel's — Peel's speech — Prepared for a dissolution — Canvass at Shrewsbury — Re- turned — Triumph — Elections successful — Marriage of Peel's daughter — Election of Speaker — Bernal Osborne . .170 1842. Resignation of Duke of Bucks — Visit to Strawberry Hill — Fired a successful shot — Shrewsbury petition withdrawn — Peel's review of session — Paris — Lablache — ' The great Mr. Candy' — Society in Paris — De Grammont family — D^jazet — Thiers — Sorbonne — St. Cloud — Louis Philippe — Court in mourning — Thierry — Guizot — British Embassy — Second visit to St. Cloud — Academie Frangaise — Luxembourg — Dinner at the Tuileries — King's kind- ness 176 1843. Opening of the Chambers — Dinner with Odilon-Barrot — Reschid Pacha — Hotel de Ville — Masque ball at Opera House — Dinner with Mole — Return to England — Speech — Peel frigid — Speech on Boundary Question — Visit to Shrewsbury — Ball and races — King of Hanover's visit to London — Daily fetes — Speech on Ireland and Servia — Deepdene — Bradenham 192 CONTENTS xiii 1844. PAGE Coningsby ' — Reviews — Sydney Smith — Manchester Literary meeting — Fatiguing visit to Shrewsbury — Return to Bra- denham 201 1845. Visit to meet Her Majesty at Stowe — Dinner at Stationers' Hall — ' Vestiges of Natural History' — Spread of Young Eng- land — Scene in House — * Sybil' — Cassel — Description — Paris — Audience of the King — Conversation with St.-Aulaire — Confusion in the Cabinet 203 1846. Uelvoir 210 1848. Speech on Finance — Anxious times — Mob in possession of Vienna — Visit from Guizot — State of Paris alarming — Interview with Metternich — Summary of session — Visit to Claremont — Erlestoke — Quarter Sessions at Aylesbury — New edition of ' Curiosities ' 212 1849. Leadership of the party — Stanley advised — Speech on landed interest — Henry Bulwer's dinner — Guizot — Congratulations on speech — Good divisions — Exciting scene — Good debate — Metternich — Richmond — Dinners — State banquet at the Guildhall — Speech — Sussex dinner — Lola Montes — Busi- ness overpowering — Ministerial fish dinner — Farewell to Metternich — Reception — Hughenden — Work — Dropmore — Burnham Beeches — Castle Hedingham — McCuUoch's library — Meeting at Newport Pagneil — * Lives of the Lord Chief Justices '—Peel's letter 218 xiv CONTENTS 1850. PAGE Aylesbury meeting — Belvoir — Large party — Burghley — State rooms — Siberian scene — Political situation — Defeat of Mini- sters — Turkish Embassy^Danish Embassy — Thackeray — The cold — Lyndhurst — Academy dinner — American Minister — Peabody — Professor Aytoun — ' Sin and Sorrow ' — Knebworth — Hudson — ' Bentinck Papers ' — ^Writing — Beauty of Hughenden Woods — John Russell's scrape — Stanley ill — Conference delayed 238 1851. Quarter Sessions — Arrears of correspondence — ^Young Stan- ley's visit to Hughenden — Walks — Efforts to form a Conservative Government— Croker — Anxiety — Mr. Bethell — Speech — Rally ©f party too late — Close of campaign — Secessions — Gaiety of early season — Monsieur Soyer — Literary market — The Oaks — ^Jules Janin — Whiteside — Aylesbury speech — Bad report — Bucks Agricultural As- sociation — Visit to Exhibition — Count Reventlow's death — Agricultural problems — Bishop of Oxford's visit — Granby's visit — Farming questions — George Bentinck's life— Hat- field — Duke of Portland — Palmerston turned out of the Ministry 232 1852. liurghley — Troubles ahead — Official life — Success — Re-elec- tion for Bucks — Great business — Political society — Brit- ton's pension — Militia Bill — Queen's birthday celebrated — Banquets — Audiences with Prince Albert — Remarks — The Court — Prorogation by the Queen in person . . 265 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S CORRESPONDENCE. -»o«- 1832. Residence in London — * Contarini Fleming ' — Bulwer's reunion — Count D'Orsay — L. E. L. — Stands for Wycombe — Milman's criti- cism of * Contarini' — Washington Irving — Introduced to Mrs. Wyndham Lewis — Tom Moore — Effects of smoking — Ministry out — Return of the Whigs — Meets Peel at dinner — Herries — Polish Club — Tom Campbell — Criticisms on ' Contarini ' — Letter from Madame d'Arblay — End of season — Maclise — Return to Bradenham with Bulwer. London : February 18, 1832. My dearest Sa, I am most comfortably located in Duke Street. , . . I hear that Douce ^ has just pur- chased the Vellum Pliny of Payne, who pro- cured it from Italy, It is said to be one of the finest MS. in the world, and Douce gave 300 guineas for it. My manuscript^ has been most graciously received, and. is now passing the Al- bemarle Street ordeal. . . . We had a very bril- liant reunion at Bulwer's last night. Agiong the ^ The literary antiquary, who left his collection to the Bodleian. ^ Contarini Fleming, B 2 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1S32 notables were Lords Strangford and Mulgrave, with the latter of whom I had a great deal of conversation ; Count D'Orsay, the famous Pari- sian dandy ; there was a large sprinkling of blues — Lady Morgan, Mrs. Norton, L. E. L., &c. Bulwer came up to me, said 'There is one blue who insists upon an introduction.' * Oh, my dear fellow, I cannot really, the power of repartee has deserted me.' ' I have pledged myself you must come ; ' so he led me up to a very sumptuous per- sonage, looking like a full-blown rose, Mrs. Gore.^ Albany Fonblanque,* my critic, was in the room, but I did not see him. . . . The Mr. Hawkins who made a wonderful speech, and who, although he squinted horribly, was the next day voted a Cupidon, and has since lost his beauty by a failure, and many others, whom in this hurry I cannot recall — Charles Villiers, Henry Ellis, &c. I avoided L. E. L., who looked the very personifi- cation of Brompton — pink satin dress and white satin shoes, red cheeks, snub nose, and her hair a la Sappho. February 22, 1832. I am writing a very John Bull book,^ which ® Authoress of several fashionable novels. * Editor of the Examiner. ^ Engla7id and France; or^ a Cure for the Ministerial Gallo- j7iania. 1832 CORRESPONDENCE 3 will quite delight you and my mother. I am still a Reformer, but shall destroy the foreign policy of the Grey faction. They seem firmly fixed at home, although a storm is without doubt brewing abroad. I think peers will be created, and Charley Gore has promised to let me have timely notice if Baring^ be one. He called upon me, and said that Lord John often asked how I was getting on at Wycombe. He fished as to whether I should support them. I answered, ' They had one claim upon my support ; they needed it,' and no more. March i, 1832. I dined with Bulwer yesterday, and met a French nobleman, one of the Guizot school, pay- ing a visit to this constitutional country. Lord Mulgrave was to have formed one of the party, but was unfortunately pre-engaged to Sir George Warrender, or rather Provender. Luttrell says that the two most disgusting things in the world, because you cannot deny them, are Warrender s wealth and Croker s talents. We had some amusing conversation, and our host, whatever may be his situation, is more sumptuous and fan- tastic than ever. Mrs. B. was a blaze of jewels, « Sir T. Baring, then M.P. for Wycombe ; his elevation to the Peerage causing a vacancy for that borough. B 2 4 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1832 and looked like Juno ; only instead of a peacock, she had a dog in her lap, called Fairy, and not bigger than a bird of paradise, and quite as brilliant. We drank champagne out of a saucer of ground glass mounted on a pedestal of cut glass/ March 5, 1832. I Intend, if possible, to get down at the end of this week — Thursday or Friday — for a few days to see my constituents ^ — my constituents I hope they will be, although the Reform Bill is in a most crazy state, and now that the King has given the Earl a carte blanche, which he has undoubtedly, Lord Grey does not know what to do with it. I should not be overwhelmed if the Bill failed alto- gether. There will, however, be a dissolution at all events. . . . The critic has responded, and beyond all our hopes. He was Milman, and the reason of his delay was that from a disorder in his eyes he cannot read, and therefore the" work was read to him by Madame, which took time. I have not read his letter yet, because Murray gave it to Lockhart. I can therefore only collect a general impression trom J. M., who, you know, is very ^ Open champagne glasses were then evidently a novelty. • Electors of High Wycombe. 1832 CORRESPONDENCE 5 vague ; but he said that there had been nothing like the descriptions and pictures of oriental life since Bruce. This is the only particular trait that I could extract, and that he looked forward to it with the same confidence as to * Childe Harold ' in spite of the times. Milman opposes the word 'Romance* in the title.^ He says that nothing should disturb the reality of the impression or make the common reader for a moment suppose that every word is not true. I shall be down at Bradenham on Sunday, and able to remain a week, but shall be very busy, and employ you to your heart's content. With regard to politics, I flatter myself I know as much as * Bob,' ^ but I really cannot pretend to say what is going to happen, although I may ascertain before to-morrow. If Lord Grey do not make peers he will go out, and perhaps finish his mortal as well as political career at the same time. . . . April 7, 1832. Herewith you receive what was not in time for yesterday s coach, the * Gallomania.' I long to be with you. It is a great pleasure at last to come down with an empty head, and to feel that ^ Contarini Fleming : a Psychological Romance, 1 Robert Smith, afterwards Lord Carrington. 6 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1832 both books are completed. Washington Irving's works have been read of late only by the author^ who is daily more enamoured of these heavy tomes. He demanded for the new one a large price. Murray murmured. Irving talked of pos- terity and the badness of the public taste, and Murray said that authors who wrote for posterity must publish on their own account. In the last ' Omnibus ' ^ is an alphabetical poetical list of authors : — / is Israeli, a man of great gumption, To leave out the Z> is a piece of assumption. April 28, 1832. The soiree last night at Bulwer's was really brilliant, much more so than the first. There were a great many dames there of distinction, and no blues. I should, perhaps, except Sappho, who was quite changed ; she had thrown off her Greco- Bromptonian costume and was perfectly a la Frangaise, and really looked pretty. At the end of the evening I addressed a few words to her, of the value of which she seemed sensible. I was introduced, ' by particular desire,* to Mrs. Wynd- ham Lewis, a pretty little woman, a flirt, and a rattle ; indeed, gifted with a volubility I should ^ A cheap literary satirical paper of the time. 1832 CORRESPONDENCE 7 think unequalled, and of which I can convey no idea. She told me that she ' liked silent, melan- choly men.' I answered ' that I had no doubt of it.' ... I did not observe many persons that I had seen before. People address you without cere- mony. A lady of more than certain age, but very fantastically dressed, came up to me to ask my opinion about a Leonardo da Vinci. She paid me the most ludicrous compliments. This was Lady Stepney. I had a long conversation with Lord Mul- grave, and a man talked to me very much, who turned out to be Lord William Lennox. In the course of the evening I stumbled over Tom Moore, to whom I introduced myself It is evi- dent that he has read or heard of the 'Young Duke,' as his courtesy was marked. ' How is your head ?' he inquired. *I have heard of you, as everybody has. Did we not meet at Murray's once?' He has taken his name off the Athe- naeum, 'really Brooks is sufficient, so I shall not see your father anymore.' Romohun Roy was there, and Hajji Baba Morier. A man addressed me by name and talked to me some time. I think it was George Lamb ; the face I know, and he was evidently a man of distinction, a wit and a fine scholar. I remained in Hertford Street after the « LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1832 breaking-up, smoking. Colonel Webster, who married Boddington's daughter, said to me, ' Take care, my good fellow, I lost the most beautiful woman in the world by smoking. It has pre- vented more liaisons than the dread of a duel or Doctors* Commons.' Then I replied, ' You have proved that it is a very moral habit* W. you know, although no Adonis, is a terrible roud. May 9, 1832. I write to tell you that the Ministers were turned out this morning at 12.30, and that the King has sent for Lord Harrowby. What is going to happen no one can predict. . . . May 12, 1832. This morning will settle the fate of the Ministry. I dine at Lord Eliot's ^ sans fagon, and shall hear the result. The Duke is Premier, having once refused on account of his unwilling- ness to pass a Reform Bill. Peel will not join them, for the same reason, but is to work for them in the Lower House ; Alexander Baring, Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Lord Carnarvon, probably President ; Leach, Chancellor ^ Afterwards Earl of St. Germain s. 1 S3 2 CORRESPONDENCE * Contarini ' published next week. The review in the * Literary Gazette ' is by L. E. L., so Bulwer says. May IS, 1832. I very much fear that the Whigs are again in, and on their own terms. Such indeed is the report, but that is only a shot founded on last night's debate; but it is, I apprehend, a conjecture that will turn out to be a prophecy. I dined at Eliot's on Saturday and met Colonel and Captain A'Court, brothers of Lord Heytesbury, and Lord Strangford. We had some delightful conversa- tion and remained till a late hour. Strangford is an aristocratic Tom Moore ; his flow is incessant and brilliant. The A'Courts very unaffected, hearty fellows. May 24, 1832. Yesterday I dined at Eliot's, a male party consisting of eight. I sat between Peel and Herries, but cannot tell you the names of the other guests, although they were all members of one or other House ; but I detected among them Captain York, whom I had met in the Levant. Peel was most gracious. He is a very great man indeed, and they all seem afraid of him. By the bye I observed that he attacked his turbot most 10 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1832 entirely with his knife, so Walker's ^ story is true. I can easily conceive that he could be very dis- agreeable, but yesterday he was in a most con- descending mood and unbent with becoming haughtiness. I reminded him by my dignified familiarity both that he was ex-minister and I a present Radical. Herries — old, grey-headed, financial Herries — turned out quite a literary man — so false are one's impressions. The dinner was sumptuous, and we broke up late. Several persons came in in the evening, although Lady Jemima herself went off to Lady Salisbury's. May 26, 1832. I received your letter yesterday, and the note you enclosed was from Beckford, to whom I had sent a copy of * Contarini.' His answer is short, but very courteous. It commences with four exclamations. * How wildly original ! How full of intense thought ! How awakening ! How delightful ! ' This really consoles one for Mr. Patmore's criticism in the ' Court Journal.' On Thursday I dined at the Polish Club, with Mon- tague Gore, Tom Campbell in the chair, and the guests, Prince Czartorlski, Mr. Thomas Attwood and the rest of the Birmingham Deputation. * Editor of the Original. 1832 CORRESPONDENCE 1 1 Although domestic poHtics are forbidden, on this day they could not refrain from breaking into them, and there was a consequent tumult. The Prince is a dignified and melancholy man, with fine head. None of the Birmingham heroes are above par, although there is a simplicity about Attwood which is pleasing. His organisation very inferior, his voice good, his pronunciation most vicious and Warwickshire, altogether a third-rate man. His colleague Scholefield quite devoid of talent, and the rest poor things. The Rev. Dr. Wade, a drunken parson without an idea, but with the voice of a bullock, which they mistake for oratory. I had my health drunk by the Poles, and made a speech. Campbell was quite idiotic. Among the guests was little Fox, the Unitarian minister, who is a capital fellow, and likes my novels, which for a Radical, a Unitarian, and a Utilitarian is pretty well. May 28, 1832. Amid abundance of praise and blame of ' Contarini/ one thing which we all expected is very evident, that not one of the writers has the slightest idea of the nature or purposes of the work. As far as I can learn it has met with decided success. Among others Tom Campbell,. 12 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1832 who, as he says, never reads any books but his own, is dehghted with it ; 'I shall review it myself,' he exclaims, 'and it will be a psycho- logical review/ Have you read the review in the * Monthly,' where I am accused of atheism because I retire into solitude to write novels ? July 5, 1832. I hear Miss Laurence® has turned violent Tory and chassed Spence and Petit from Ripon. Giovanni called on me (announced by the servant as Don Giovanni), He has left Clay and brought me a lock of Byron's hair, from Venice, which he cut himself off the corpse at Missolonghi. * Contarini ' seems universally liked, but moves slowly. The staunchest admirer I have in London, and the most discerning appreciator of ' Contarini,' is old Madame d'Arblay. I have a long letter, which I will show you — capital ! I hope to be down in a few days. I have been very idle, the natural consequence of former exertion, but shall soon buckle to among our beeches. Mind I tell you a good story about myself and Tom Ash- burnham — a story of resemblance and mistakes, as good as the Dromios. It is very good, but too long for a letter. * The owner of Studley Royal. 1832 CORRESPONDENCE 13, August 4, 1832. Town is fast emptying. I have been lately at the House of Commons, and one night had a long conversation with my late antagonist and pre- sent representative.^ We are more than friendly. Did I tell you I saw Maclise, who is very amus- ing, and tells me much about L. E. L. and the Bromptonian coteries ? There is no doubt that Lockhart has been principal contributor to * Eraser ' and one of the assailants of Bulwer. I shall have plenty of work for you when I come down. August 8, 1832. On Friday I shall pitch my tent in the green retreats of Bradenham, and Bulwer accompanies me. He wants absolute retirement really to write, and all that. He is to do what he likes, and wander about the woods like a madman. I am anxious that he and my father should become better acquainted. Our sire never had a warmer votary. He said yesterday, * If I were to fix, I should say your father was decidedly now at the top of the tree ; I tell you where he beats us all — in style. There is nothing like it.' I saw Tita to-day, who suggests that he shall return with me to Bradenham, and try our place. ® Colonel the Honourable Charles Grey. 14 LORV BEACONSFIELD'S 1833 1833- Visit to Bath with Bulwer — Writing ' Alroy ' — * Iskander ' — Family- dinner with Bulwer — Opera, the Brahams — Debate in House of Commons — Macaulay — Shell, &c. — Prophetic remarks — ' Ixion ' — Fame of Maclise — Charles Mathews — Dinner with the Nortons — The Sheridan family — * Alroy' published — Asked to stand for Marylebone — Public Amusements — * What is He ? — Love and marriage — Invitations — Caledonian ball — Marquise de Montalembert — ' Godolphin' — Southend — Lady Cork — Mali- bran — Return to Bradenham. Bath : January 19, 1833. Bulwer and I arrived here on Monday, and have found the change very beneficial and re- freshing. Such is the power of novelty, that the four or five days seem an age. I have written about fifty pages of a pretty tale about ' Iskander,' which will form a fine contrast to * Alroy.' The type and page of * Alroy ' most original, striking, and beautiful. We are great lions here, as you may imagine, but have not been anywhere, though we have received several invitations, preferring the relaxa- tion of our own society and smoking Latakia, which as a source of amusement, I suppose, will 1 833 CORRESPONDENCE 15 last a week. I like Bath very much. Bulwer and I went in late to one public ball, and got quite mobbed. January 29, 1833. I dined with Bulwer en famille on Sunday, ' to meet some truffles' — very agreeable company. His mother-in-law, Mrs. Wheeler, was there ; not so pleasant, something between Jeremy Ben- tham and Meg Merrilies, very clever, but awfully revolutionary. She poured forth all her systems upon my novitiate ear, and while she advocated the rights of woman, Bulwer abused system- mongers and the sex, and Rosina played with her dog. February 7, 1833. Tuesday I went to the new opera at Drury Lane, and was introduced to the Brahams, on whom I have promised to call. Went to the House of Commons afterwards to hear Bulwer adjourn the House; was there yesterday during the whole debate — one of the finest we have had for years. Bulwer spoke, but he is physically disqualified for an orator, and, in spite of all his exertions, never can succeed. He was heard with great attention, and is evidently backed by a party. Heard Macaulay s best speech, Sheil and i6 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1833 Charles Grant. Macaulay admirable ; but, be- tween ourselves, I could floor them all. This entre nous : I was never more confident of any- thing than that I could carry everything before me in that House.^ The time will come. . . . Grey spoke highly of my oratorical powers to Bulwer, said he never heard * finer command of words.* 'Ixion' is thought the best thing I ever wrote, and two vols, of ' Alroy ' are printed. Maclise is making a noise. His Mokanna is ex- hibiting at the British Gallery, and is the picture of the year. February 28, 1833. On Monday I met the Nortons, and Charles Mathews, who was very amusing. After dinner we went off to see Miss Kelly, whom they thought very clever, but I thought a degrading imitation of old Mathews. Yesterday I dined with the Nortons ; it was her eldest brother s birthday, who, she says, is ' the only respectable one of the family, and that is because he has a liver com- plaint.' There were there, her brother Charles and old Charles Sheridan, the uncle, and others. The only lady besides Mrs. Norton, her sister ■^ Thirty-five years after he was Prime Minister. 1 833 CORRESPONDENCE 17 Mrs. Blackwood, also very handsome and very Sheridanic. She told me she was nothing. ' You see Georgy's the beauty, and Carry's the wit, and I ought to be the good one, but then I am not' I must say I liked her exceedingly, besides she knows all my works by heart, and spouts whole pages of ^ V. G.' and ' C. F.' and the ^ Y. D.' In the evening came the beauty. Lady St. Maur, and anything so splendid I never gazed upon. Even the handsomest family in the world, which I think the Sheridans are, all looked dull. Clusters of the darkest hair, the most brilliant complexion, a contour of face perfectly ideal. In the evening Mrs. Norton sang and acted, and did everything that was delightful. Ossulston came in — a very fine singer, unaffected and good-looking. Old Mrs. Sheridan — who, by the bye, is young and pretty, and authoress of ' Carwell ' — is my greatest admirer, in fact the whole family have a very proper idea of my merits ! and I like them all. March 6, 1833 ' Alroy ' was published yesterday ; half the edition subscribed, which in these times is very good. I dined with my new friend Munro, a bachelor, who lives in Park Street in a gallery of magnificent pictures. The company : Lord c 1 8 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1833 Arthur Lennox, General Phipps, Poulett Scrope, Wilkle, Turner, Westmacott, and Pickersgill. A costly banquet. Beckford has sent me a large-paper copy of *Vathek' in French; only twenty-five printed. At Forbes I met, amongst others, Castlereagh, whom I like ; he is full of animal spirits, un- affected and amusing, but with no ballast. March 26, 1833. Of ' Alroy ' I hear golden opinions, and I doubt not of its success. I send you the review in the * Atlas.* There was also one in the ' Town * still more eulogistic. I hear no complaints of its style, except from the critics. The common readers seem to like the poetry and the excite- ment. Mrs. Jameson told Otley that * reading it was like riding an Arab.' Slade, the traveller, said ' it was the most thoroughly Oriental book he had ever read.' April 8, 1833. I have agreed to stand for Marylebone, but I shall not go to the poll unless I am certain, or very confident ; there is even a chance of my not being opposed. In the 'Town' yesterday, I am told, 'some one asked Disraeli, in offering him- 1 833 CORRESPONDENCE 1 9 self for Marylebone, on what he intended to stand. *' On my head/' was the reply/ I have heard nothing more from , who appears to have pocketed more than I should like to do. It was impossible to pass over attacks from such a quarter in silence. The only way to secure future ease is to take up a proper position early in life, and show that you will not be in- sulted with impunity. April 25, 1833. I have done nothing but go to the play lately, one night with Mrs. Norton to see Sheridan Knowles's new play, which was successful. Public amusements are tedious, but in a private box with a fair companion, less so. To-morrow, great break- fast at the Wyndham Lewis's, when magnificent plate is to be presented from Maidstone to our host, the defeated Conservative. April 30, 1833. There is an attack in the ' Morning Herald ' on 'What is He ?' where the author is advised to adhere to the region of romance. Such attacks are not very disagreeable, for you have no idea of the success of the pamphlet, which is as much a favourite with the Tories as the Rads. The recent expose of the Whigs proves me a prophet. c 2 20 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1833 May 22. There was a review in Hyde Park, and the Wyndham Lewises gave a ddjeuner, to which I went. By the bye, would you like Lady Z for a sister-in-law, very clever, 25,000/., and domestic? As for 'love,' all my friends who married for love and beauty either beat their wives or live apart from them. This is literally the case. I may commit many follies in life, but I never intend to marry for Move,' which I am sure is a guarantee of infelicity. . , . June 29. I intend to write a short tale ^ for your bazaar, and will let you have it in a week or so. My table is literally covered with invitations, and some from people I do not know. I dined yesterday with the St. Maurs, to meet Mrs. Sheridan. An agreeable party ; the other guests, Lady Westmoreland, very clever ; Mrs. Black- wood, Lord Clements, and Brinsley. Lord St. Maur,^ great talent, which develops itself in a domestic circle, though otherwise shy-mannered. In the evening a good soirde at Lady Charleville's. I met Lady Aldboro', but the lion of the evening was Lucien Bonaparte, the Prince of Canino. I 2 Velvet Lawn. ^ The late Duke of Somerset. 1 833 CORRESPONDENCE 2 1 went to the Caledonian Ball after all, in a dress from my Oriental collection. Particulars when we meet. Yesterday, at Mrs. Wyndham's, I met Joseph Bonaparte and his beautiful daughter. Have you read ' England and the English' ? I think it is delightful. Bulwer has written to me to say that understanding that I give my opinion in society that he is ' Godolphin,' and that is quite enough from our intimacy to convince everyone, he solemnly assures me he is not the author, Sec. &c. There now can be no doubt of it. I was at ' the cream of blueism' the other night, at Madame la Marquise de Montalemberfs, but can hardly tell you who was there, as I was in- stantly presented to Lady Lincoln, Beckford's granddaughter, and she engrossed my attention. Handsome, brilliant, and young, but with one great fault, a rabbit mouth. July 8, 1833. I can answer for Southend being very pretty. I am staying at an old grange, with gable ends and antique windows, which Alderman Heygate turned into a very comfortable residence, and which is about half a mile from the town, a row of houses called a town. Sir W. Heygate passing through dined here yesterday. He says that he received upwards of 1,200 letters in one 22 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1833 year, in consequence of Ady the Quaker^ de- scribing him in his circulars as his * vokmtary referee ; ' letters from all classes, bishops, generals, even royalty, the Princess Augusta. I have been introduced by Mrs. Norton to a rival poetess, Lady Emmeline Wortley, her person more beau- tiful than her poetry. July 20, 1833. I am putting my house in order and preparing for a six months' sojourn and solitude amid the groves of Bradenham. As far as one can form any calculations in this sublunary world, I shall pitch my tent among you the end of July, but this need not interfere with your visit to Oxford, as, with deference be it spoken, I am not frightened at being alone. London is emptying fast, but gay. Lady Cork had two routs. * All my best people, no blues.' At a concert at Mrs. Mitford's I was introduced to Malibran, who is to be the heroine of my opera. She is a very interesting person. August 4, 1833. My letters are shorter than Napoleon's, but I love you more than he did Josephine. I shall be down to-morrow, but very likely by the mail, as I have a great many things to attend to. ' The then notorious Joseph Ady. 1 834 CORRESPONDENCE 23 1834. Out with the hounds — Engaged in writing — Dinner at Gore House — Focus of Durham party — Fears of a dissolution — Interviews with three remarkable men — Society — Meets Lyndhurst — Po- litical agitation — Water party — Portrait taken by D' Or say — Issues address to electors of High Wycombe. Southend: February 15, 1834. I HUNTED the Other day with Sir Henry Smythe's hounds, and although not in pink, was the best mounted man in the field, riding an Arabian mare, which I nearly killed ; a run of thirty miles and I stopped at nothing. The only Londoner I met was Henry Manners Sutton, who had come over from Mistley Hall. He asked me to return with him ; but as Lady Manners was not there, I saw no fun and refused. Write and tell me what you are doing. As for myself, I pass my days in con- stant composition. I live solely on snipes, and ride a good deal. You could not have a softer climate or sunnier skies than this much abused Southend. Here there are myrtles in the open air in profusion. 24 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1834 May — 1834. I am so busy with my poem/ which I hope to have out in a fortnight, if things are quiet. But the Ministry at present are quite broken up ; there is no Government, and perhaps there will be a dissolution. I hope not. On Monday I dined with Lady Blessington, the Prince of Moskova, Charles Lafitte, Lords Castlereagh, Elphinstone, and Allen, Mr. Talbot, myself, and Lord Wilton was the absent guest, having to dine with the king ; but he came in the evening. He is very handsome. Hope s ball on Monday was the finest thing this year — supped off gold and danced in the sculpture gallery. To-day is the Drawing- room ; but nobody thinks of anything but politics. I dine with O'Connell on Saturday. I breakfasted with Castlereagh a few days back. He has a fine collection of Turquoise Sevres, June 4, 1834. There is a lull in the storm ; it is supposed the session will now be hurried over quietly, and then something must be determined on. The Whigs cannot exist as a party without taking in Lord Durham, and the king will not consent to it. Durham is not in a hurry, and becomes each day ^ The Revolutionary Epick. i834 CORRESPONDENCE 25 more violent in his demands. Triennial parlia- ments to be a Cabinet measure, and an extension of the constituency, the ballot to stand on its merits — in short, a revolution ; for this must lead to a fatal collision with the House of Lords. The Tories will not take office unless the Whigs give it up in despair. My own opinion is, that in the recess the king will make an effort to try and form a Conservative Government with Peel and Stanley; but the Tories think that Durham will have his way. I fear a dissolution must be the end of it. I was at Lad)^ Dudley Stuart's on Sun- day — a pleasant circle — and made the acquaint- ance of Lord Hertford. I dine with Lady Cork to-day, to meet the Mulgraves, Tavistocks, and Lincolns. D. June 16, 1834. I made Beckford's acquaintance at the opera on Thursday. He told me that he would send a copy of his travels to my father as well as one to myself, but neither has yet arrived. He says ' Mejnoun and Leila ' ^ is capital, and he amused me very much. Gore House is the great focus of the Durham ^ A Persian romance by our father. 26 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1834 party. I dined yesterday with Lady Blessington, and Durham among the guests, and he talked to me nearly the whole evening; afterwards to Lady Salisbury's. Thus I have had three interviews of late with three remarkable men who fill the public ear at present — O'Connell, Beckford, and Lord Durham. The first is the man of the greatest genius, the second of the greatest taste, and the last of the greatest ambition. June 19, 1834, I was at the Duchess of St. Albans' on Monday, but rather too late for the fun. I missed the morris-dancers. Tuesday Lady Essex and opera, and to-night I am going to the Duchess of Hamilton's. I have had great success in society this year. I am as popular with the dandies as I was hated by the second-rate men. I make my way easily in the highest set, where there is no envy, malice, &c., and where they like to admire and be amused. July II, 1834. We remain here in breathless agitation.^ I can give you no idea of the state of excitement. At this moment nothing is settled. Lords Lans- ^ Lord Grey having resigned, Lord Melbourne became Premier. 1 834 CORRESPONDENCE 27 downe and Melbourne were with the king all yesterday. Massey Stanley brought the news to the opera on Tuesday at nine o'clock. I was in Lady B/s box. No one would believe it. On Wednesday at Lady Cork's was the Duke of Wellington, in high spirits, but saying everywhere the Tories would not take office. Fonblanque, who was there, said the Tories were like a woman who fancies herself enceinte and goes about saying it is not yet her time. ... I made my ddbut at Almack's with a subscription from Lady Tanker- ville, but it was not a very brilliant, reunion. Yesterday I met Lord Lyndhurst, whom I like very much. The next time he goes the Norfolk circuit he is to sleep at Bradenham. He says the Duke of Wellington never reads any book but the ' Commentaries,' and assured me it was a positive fact ! July 23, 1834. I Still adhere to my plan of being down with you in a week or ten days, and tell Tita to get my pipes in order, as I look forward to a batch of smoking with great zest. I go every day to fetes and water parties. Lady Tavistock's at Richmond on Saturday. Monday another party to Blackwall with D'Orsay. To-morrow to Lord Hertford's. I find the end of 28 LORD BEACON SFIELD'S 1834 the season more fatiguing than the beginning, owing to the morning festivities. The water party at the * Cedars ' most delightful. We em- barked at five o'clock, the heavens very favour- able, sang all the way down, wandered in beautiful gardens worthy of Paul Veronese, full not only of flowers, but fountains and parroquets : the dinner first-rate and much better than cold, miserable picnics, in which all bring the same things. People are still in town, but Goodwood will, I think, clear us. November 4, 1834. I dined on Saturday with Lyndhurst en famille, A more amiable and agreeable family I never met. The eldest daughter, ' Sa,' is just like her mother, and although only thirteen, rules everything and everybody — a most astounding little woman. Yesterday I went to see the new actor, Denvil. He is deplorable, has not the slightest feeling, nor one physical or mental qualification for the stage. I saw Chandos ^ to-day and had a long conversa- tion with him on politics. He has no head, but I flatter myself I opened his mind a little. . . . D'Orsay has taken my portrait.^ ^ Late Duke of Buckingham. ^ Vide Frontispiece. 1 834 CORRESPONDENCE 29 November 28, 1834. The Duke and the Chancellor ^ are besetting old Carrlngton in my favour, that they say he must yield. I am not sanguine, but was recom- mended to issue the address/ D'Orsay is work- ing Bob Smith very hard. The Duke wrote a strong letter to the chairman of election commit- tees, saying that if Wycombe were not insured something else must be done for Disraeli, as 'a man of his acquirements and reputation must not be thrown away.' L. showed me the letter, but it is impossible to say how things will go. Entre nous, Parliament will not be dissolved as speedily as is imagined, which is all in my favour, both as regards Wycombe or any other place. It is im- possible for anyone to be warmer than the Duke or Lyndhurst, and I ought to say the same of Chandos. I had a long conversation to-day with Charles Grey. He is bitter against the Smiths, but says they can only command ten or twelve votes. ^ Lord Spencer having died, and Lord Althorp being no longer Leader of the House of Commons, the King dismissed Lord Mel- bourne's Ministry, and sent to Rome for Sir Robert Peel, Lord Lyndhurst being made Chancellor. 7 To the electors of High Wycombe. 30 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1835 1835. Dinner to Lord Abinger — Meets Gladstone — Criticisms — Politics — Peel's speech — Division on Address — Anticipated defeat of Government — Influenza — Whig Ministry formed — Stands for Taunton — Too late — Attack of O'Connell — Bound over to keep the peace- — Great fancy ball — Costumes — Supper at Lyndhursfs — Rosebank — Visits Bradenham — Lyndhurst's triumph — An- noyance of Melbourne — '- Morning Post' January 20, 1835. I CANNOT bother myself with the ' Bucks Gazette/ I doubt not the impertinence was from Grey, who, however, praises me much at Crockford's, &c. Last Saturday a dinner by the Chancellor to Lord Abinger ^ and the Barons of the Exchequer. There were also George Dawson, myself, Praed, young Gladstone, Sir M. Shee, Sir J. Beres- ford, and Pemberton : rather dull, but we had a swan very white and tender, and stuffed with truffles, the best company there. The book ^ is now fairly published ; there was a review of it in the ' Chronicle* to-day, and though of course hostile, ^ Sir James Scarlett, appointed Chief Baron, vice Lord Lynd- "hurst. ^ Vindication of the English Co7isiituiion, i835 CORRESPONDENCE 31 calculated to advance it. I hear yesterday there was a notice in the * Courier/ but the ' Times * is silent, why I know not. I cannot give you any news of its progress ; I always avoid my pub- lishers at these times, and the praises of friends are nothing. I have had letters from D'Orsay, Strangford, Chandos, all full of eulogium, but as to the result I can say nothing. February 7, 1835. I dined with yesterday, a male party, and amongst others a man of the name of Warren, author of the ' Diary of a Physician,' and more amusing than Charles Mathews. I called at Lady B.*s on my way home, Jekyll met Scarlett at her house for the first time after his eleva- tion, and thus saluted him : ' I say, Scarlett, how came you to get hold of your new name ? I have heard of Porringer before and Scavenger, but never yet of Abinger ! ' My portrait, engraved by Lane from D'Orsay's picture, is finished, and everybody AA'ho has seen it admires it ; I hope to bring it down to you in a few days. I met a Miss Bissett the other day out at dinner, who is a great friend of the Dashwoods, and stays at Wycombe and knows Bradenham, &c., and makes out Dashwood is a great admirer of mine and reads ' Contarini ' out loud to the family circle. 32 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1835 Perhaps a fudge. Strangford is educating his second daughter himself, and they read the * Curiosities ' every, morning. February 20, 1835. About last night's debate — Peel did not speak well; Stanley^ with great point and power; Burdett, who had written to Lady Blessington, and promised to vote for Sutton,* saying that there was as much difference between Abercromby and him 'as between a nutshell and the dome of St. Paul's,' lost his courage, and sneaked off with- out voting ; Henry Stanley, who had promised me to vote for Sutton, voted for Abercromby. O'Connell is so powerful that he says he will be in the Cabinet. How can the Whigs submit to this ? It is the Irish Catholic party that has done all the mischief. February 26, 1835. Here there is only one topic, the division on the Address. Peel made a powerful speech ; Stanley constrained and qualifying. • His way is evidently not clear ; I cannot understand the game he is playing. On the Speakership he had no party. Now fifty men meet at his house every morning. Lyndhurst squabashed Brougham on Tuesday.^ 3 The late Earl of Derby. * For the Speakership. * On the amendment to the Address. 1 83 5 CORRESPONDENCE 33 Bob Smith met D'Orsay, who took his portrait at Willy Park and failed, and thus addressed him : ' So you have been making a fine portrait of Disraeli ; I see you can make likenesses of those you like/ Very huffy indeed, and horribly jealous. April I, 1835. I do not doubt myself that the Government will be in a minority on the present question, but this is not the cause of the malaise of the Tories. The fact is, their chief is worried by his wife, and she is nervous lest he should fight and all that. There is no more reason now that the Tories should go out than two months ago, and I cannot help believing that they will not. On Sunday I dined at the Chancellor's, and ever since I have had a severe cold and been nowhere. The debate is considered at present to the credit of the Tories. To-night will be the grand one. April 4. I have not seen the Chancellor since Thurs- day. Peel is much firmer and the King quite so, but his Majesty cannot sleep. The decisive battle is to be fought on the Irish Tithe Bill, and we expect to win. Everybody has got the influ- enza ; the Lord Chancellor has had an attack, and D 34 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1835 as you rightly expected myself, though mine was much modified to former years. April 13, 1835. As coalition^ or, as the Whigs call it, amalga- mationy is at the present moment impossible. Lord Melbourne^ has, I understand, formed his Cabinet, and some of the writs will be moved for this evening. It is purely Whig, and consists entirely of the old hacks, Palmerston, Auckland, Dun- cannon, &c. Granville Somerset sent for me to the Woods and Forests this morning to say if there was a fair opening the Tories would start me, &c. I was astonished at his courtesy and strong expressions of desire to see me in, and as it would get me out of his papa's way at Wycombe, all the better. Castle Taunton : April 27, 1835. The county gentlemen for ten miles round flock to me every day, but I am obliged to decline all their invitations. As for Taunton itself, the enthusiasm of Wycombe is a miniature to it ; and I believe in point of energy, eloquence, and effect I have far exceeded all my former efforts. Had I arrived twenty hours sooner the result might have been in my favour ; but my lateness in the * Peel being defeated had resigned, and Lord Melbourne became Prime Minister April 18. 1 83 5 CORRESPONDENCE 3 5 ; ■«= ■ — — field, the opposition of Ashburton's agent, and the remembrance of Montague Gore's cowardice have been great stumbling-blocks. It is astonish- ing how well they are informed in London of all that passes here, and how greatly they appreciate my exertions. They have opened a subscription for me at the Carlton headed by Chandos, who has written twice to me in the warmest manner. To-morrow is nomination day. April 28, 1835. I have just left the hustings, and have gained the show of hands, which no blue candidate ever did before. This, though an idle ceremony in most places, is of great account here, for the pot- wallopers of Taunton are as eloquent as those of Athens, and we gain votes by such a demonstra- tion. I thought you w^ould like to hear this, though I can write no more. Wednesday night : April 30, 1835. There is no place like Taunton^ not that I can win this time, for Labouchere, who was twenty- four hours in advance of me, has picked up many blues (my colour) ; but come in at the general election I must, for I have promises of two-thirds of the electors. I live in a rage of enthusiasm ; even my opponents promise to vote for me next D 2 36 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1835 time. The fatigue is awful. Two long speeches to-day and nine hours' canvass on foot in a blaze of repartee. I am quite exhausted and can scarcely see to write. May 6, 1835. I did not know yesterday when I wrote of the attack of O'Connell ; it has engaged me ever since. I send you ' Times ' and ^ Morning Post' There is but one opinion among all parties, viz. that I have squabashed them. I went to D'Orsay immediately. He sent for Henry Baillie for my second, as he thought a foreigner should not interfere in a political duel, but he took the management of everything. I never quitted his house till ten o'clock, when I dressed and went to the opera, and everyone says I have done it in first-rate style. All particulars when we meet. May 9, 1835. This morning as I was lying in bed, thankful that I had kicked all the O'Connells and that I was at length to have a quiet niorning, Mr. Col- lard, the police officer of Marylebone, rushed into my chamber and took me into custody. In about an hour and a half, being dressed (having pre- viously sent to S ), we all went in a hackney 1 83 5 CORRESPONDENCE Z7 coach to the office, and where I found that the articles were presented by a Mr. Bennett, residing in some street in Westminster, and an acquaintance of the O'Connells. We were soon dismissed, but I am now bound to keep the peace in 500/. sureties. As far as the present affair was con- cerned, it was a most unnecessary precaution, as if all the O'Connells were to challenge me, I could not think of meeting them now, I consider and everyone else that they are lynched. It is very easy for you to criticise, but I do not regret the letter : the expressions were well weighed, and without it the affair was but clever pamphleteering. Critics you must always meet. W. told me the last letter was the finest thing in the English language, but that the letter to Dan was too long ; others think that perfect. One does not like the Yahoo as coarse, others think it worthy of Swift, and so on. . . . The general effect is the thing, and that is, that all men agree I have shown pluck. July 20, 1835. Nothing has been talked of but the great fancy ball ^ which came off last night, and exceeded in splendour anything ever known in London. My ■^ At the Hanover Square Rooms, for the benefit of the Royal Academy of Music. 38 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1835 dress was very good, with some additions, such as a silken shirt with long sleeves, lent me by Henry Baillie. D'Orsay, Henry Bulwer, myself, Massey Stanley, Talbot, Herbert, and Regina went in a party with the Chesterfields, Ansons, and Wor- cesters. We flattered ourselves we were by far the most distinguished there. Lady Chesterfield was a sultana, and Mrs. Anson a Greek, with her own hair lower than the calf of her leg. She was the most brilliant in the room. Lady Burghesh, Lady Fitzroy Somerset, and Lady Sykes wore powder, the two first Louis XIV., the last a com- plete copy of a Sir Joshua. Lady Londonderry, as Cleopatra, was in a dress literally embroidered with emeralds and diamonds from top to toe. Castlereagh introduced me to her by her desire, and I was with her a great deal. Mrs. Norton and Mrs. Blackwood beautiful Greeks ; but the finest thing was that at half-past two Lyndhurst gave a supper in George Street to eighty of the supremest ton and beauty, and you can conceive nothing more brilliant than his house illuminated with a banquet to a company so fancifully dressed. The Duke of Wellington, who was at the ball, was too tired to come. This great secession rather knocked up the ball however, and every- body looked blue who was not going to Lynd- 1 83 5 CORRESPONDENCE 39 hurst's. He looked like a French marshal. Wilton was Philip IV., and the Duke lent him his golden fleece set in diamonds for the evening. July 24. I have since dined at Rosebank with the Londonderrys. 'Tis the prettiest baby-house in the world — a pavilion rather than a villa, all green paint, white chintz, and looking-glass. The grounds, however, are considerable, and very rich, bordering the Thames. The dinner was admir- able, but no plate ; porcelain fresh as the room, with a bouquet by every guest, and five immense pyramids of roses down the table. . . . Lyndhurst was quite delighted with his visit, and certainly Bradenham never looked to greater advantage. Yesterday he and I went to Richmond. I think it will be all over with the Ministry in the course of a fortnight ; but the Tories will not dissolve Parliament until after the registration ; this is the universal impression, but Peel frowns. I hope soon to be with you, but I cannot leave town till Lyndhurst has made his great speech. August 5, 1835. I can hardly trust « myself to write about politics ; the debate was dashing in the extreme. 40 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1835 Lyndhurst's speech ^ by far the crack one — most bold and triumphant, and received with tumul- tuous cheering. I can give you no idea of the excited and at the same time depressed state of Melbourne. He seemed quite wild and scared. Brougham spoke very well, but his conduct is perplexing. He rather assists us than the reverse. The course taken was kept secret, and perfectly * confounded the Whigs. It is an awful crisis whatever may be the result. I cannot think of the hot weather or anything else. August 12, 1835. Lyndhurst has been very ill, and unable to go to the Lords, where he ought not to be ab- sent a moment, as all depends upon him. How- ever, Saturday and Sunday *s nursing brought him round. The Duke has formally resigned to him the leadership of the House of Lords, and there is every probability of his being Prime Minister ; his own disinclination alone stands in the way. To-morrow the war begins in the Lords. The speeches of counsel made a great impression ; the evidence was capital, the Lords united, and Lynd- hurst has with his own hand drawn up their counter project. He coy Id get nobody to assist ® Municipal Corporations. i835 CORRESPONDENCE 41 him. His private secretary turned out an ass. Then he sent instructions to Merewether ; the result of M.'s labours, who has studied the sub- ject all his life, arrived when I was with Lynd- hurst. They w^ere put in the fire, or rather fire- place, about ten minutes afterwards. Time pressed, and L. literally had to draw every clause himself. This, with having to manage three agitated meetings, and to sit and watch the ex- amination of witnesses from ten in the morning until twelve at night, knocked him up ; but he is quite himself again, and full of force and spirit. But for him all would have been lost, and now everybody praises the stand the Lords have made, and the Whigs have entirely failed in getting up a crisis. August 14, 1835. There was a sharp engagement in the House of Lords last night. Melbourne is evidently so annoyed, that I cannot help fancying he will come •down to-night and withdraw the Bill. The news- papers will give you the division ; it is quite over- whelming, and proves that it is utterly useless to talk of swamping the House of Lords any more. Why I think Melbourne will not proceed with the Bill, is the evident mortification he expressed in countenance at the majority, and his refusal to 42 LORD BEACONSFJELD'S 1835 divide again, on the more important clauses too. Yet this majority he will have to face every night. Brougham was terribly tipsy. He shook his fist at Lord Wicklow, and quoted Ciceronian braggadocios. When he sat down he seemed quite maudlin, and all about nothing, for Lynd- hurst spoke of him very gingerly, as he was absent, and he could not reply to him the night before, for B. always speaks to twelve o'clock,, after which the House will listen to no one. It is wished the Whigs should resign on the Church question, which is the reason that makes me think they will go out on the Corporations. After all this is over, Lyndhurst will like to come down with me for a quiet week at Braden- ham. August 20, 1835. There will be a division on Monday on the appropriation clause, when I suppose the Govern- ment will resign. I am strengthened in this supposition by the extraordinary fact that the King has just asked all the Ministers to dine with him, which is the only time he has done it since they have been in office. He evidently, for he is very cunning, does not wish them to say when out that they were never once asked, during the whole administration, to the royal table. 1 83 5 CORRESPONDENCE 4S I have sent you the 'Morning Post' every day, which is the only paper now read, and in whose columns some great unknown has suddenly risen, whose exploits form almost the sole staple of political conversation, and all conversation is now political. The back numbers for the last week cannot be obtained for love or money, and the sale has increased nearly one-third. All attempts at discovering the writer have been baffled, and the mystery adds to the keen interest which the articles excite. To form any idea of our movements in this great ' crisis ' is very difficult. It was whispered the Whigs meant to swallow the Corporation leek, not resign, and prorogue on Thursday ; but the Radicals and Repealers will not bate a jot, and are as firm as the Lords. Should they continue intractable, Melbourne will immediately resign. D. 44 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S i8j6 1836. The Press — Dinner at Lyndhurst's — Death of Mrs. Copley — ' Letters of Runnymede' — Marriage of Lord Carrington — Dissolution expected — Holland House — Pozzo di Borgo — Elected to the Carlton— Meeting at Apsley House — Opera — Continuation of political crisis — Dinner with Chandos — ' Henrietta Temple ' — Criticisms — Spanish news — Speech at Bucks meeting — Letter from Peel. January 4, 1836. The letters in the 'Times' have made a great sen- sation.^ I am the first individual who has silenced the press with its own weapons. On Thursday the 'Globe' made no answer; on Friday, in con- sequence of the taunting talk at the clubs, it re- printed my letter, with a snivelling leader, asking time (till to-day) to answer it ; but I feel confident that any fresh movement will only bring it fresh discomfiture. There are not two opinions about the result. The ' Chronicle ' quite silent ; the writers in that paper are known, and they absolutely fear being shown up by me. 'Tis a great thing to have such an organ for response as the ' Times.' ^ This refers to his replies to certain abusive letters written in the Whig Globe of the day. 1836 CORRESPONDENCE 45. This the * Globe' did not count on. There was an article in ' The Age ' yesterday, which I meant to have sent you to-day ; but I fear I shall not get it in time. Yesterday I dined with Lyndhurst, and he gives his first political party for the season on Tuesday, when all the Tories in town will be scraped together. ... I read Heine, 'another one,* as Botta says. I have also read Henry Bulwer's ' France,' very amusing, and Raumer's * Historical Illustrations/ very curious, especially about Mary Queen of Scots. January 9, 1836. My dear Sa, It IS SO cold I can hardly write. What you say about Hallam surprises me. He is a very slow worker, and I have not seen the * Athenaeum/ by which to judge whether it were an official paragraph or some blundering gossip. The sale of the * Vindication ' continues, and, though not quite so brisk, is in daily demand. I received to-day a letter from Eliot, which, from its length and the extreme warmth of its feeling, would quite surprise you. His copy did not reach him till the 6th. He says, among other things, ' In reading your sketch of Bolingbrpke I could not help thinking that if opportunities are 46 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 not withheld, you may become what he might have been/ He wants to know, by the bye, why I call the Orleans branch the House of Valois. I am sure I don't know. Pray find out for me, and write your answer, if you catch one, as soon as possible. On Tuesday I dined at Lyndhurst s, and met Lords Roden, Lowther, and Rosslyn, Sir E. Sugden, Sir H. Hardinge, Courtenay, Alder- son, &c., and Lockhart, whom L. asked, that he might review the ' Vindication.' Chance ! he never spoke a word. He is known in society by the name of ' The Viper ; ' but if he tries to sting me, he will find my heel of iron. Did I tell you the Duchess of St. Albans had sent me invitations to her Christmas festivities ? ... I have just heard Mrs, Copley*'^ has died, of pure old age. She was only ailing three or four days ; her appetite quite failed, and she expired without a struggle. j^ January, 1836. The ' Letters of Runnymede * are the only things talked of in London, especially the latter ones. The author is unknown, and will probably so remain. One or two papers have foolishly ascribed them to me. There is certainly some '^ The mother of Lord Lyndhurst. 1836 CORRESPONDENCE 47 imitation of my style, and the writer is familiar with my works. Lyndhurst returned last night, with the Duke, from Oatlands, where there has been a great gathering of Tories. Sa has had the measles slightly, Su so severely that her life was despaired of. Sophy is only ill from eating cocoa sweet- meat ! At Lady Blessington's last night I passed two or three hours with Burdett, who was very en- gaging. He says he shall withdraw from Brooks s if they don't take up the business when the club meets, and that there has been nothing so bad as O'Connell since Robespierre. Jekyll, who was there, says of the new Lord Chancellor, that Pepys being bread to the bar naturally took to the rolls, and now is turned into cheese, Bulwer returned from Paris yesterday. Lord Carrington's^ marriage much talked of. Lady Stanhope was sent down to break it off, and he so humbugged her, that she thought she had suc- ceeded, till the fatal morn. He has made a great settlement on the widow, who has nine children, all of whom Lady B. says in time she will per- suade him are his. 8 The first Lord Carrington. 48 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 January, 1836. Dearest, There is every indication of a crash in the political world. It is understood that the Whigs have at length resolved to dissolve Parlia- ment. The law appointments excite great odium. Bickersteth is to be Lord Langdale ; the Chan- cellor, Lord Cottenham ; and Lady Campbell, Baroness Edendale. One can scarcely credit such buffooneries until we see them in the * Gazette.' I see a review of the ' Vindication ' announced in the * London Review.' What sort of a journal this is I know not, but I suspect utilitarian, though how it differs from the ' Westminster ' I cannot decide. PozzodI Borgo, dining at Holland House, was complimented by miladi, who wished to pump him on his prophetic State paper in the ^ Portfolio/ He replied : ' I am indifferent to any reputation I may obtain, either for what I write or for what I don't write.' Then my lord tried; and he thought the Duke of Wellington must be very much annoyed. ' Bagatelle,* said Pozzo ; * he has had to do with too many State papers, real and false, to be annoyed by them.' * But he is very sus- ceptible for a great man,' rejoined my lord. ' As for his susceptibility I have my doubts,' replied 1836 CORRESPONDENCE 49 Pozzo ; ' as to his being a great man I have none.' So they could get nothing out of him. . . . The M.P. for Cambridgeshire, who franks this letter, is living at Long s, and is an old Malta friend of mine, a very good, agreeable young fellow. March 5, 1836. The ' Letters of Runnyme,de ' are still making a great sensation. They are considered as rising regularly in power, and the two last, the characters of Lord J. R. and O'C, are generally esteemed the most powerful. The * London Review ' is published ; it is by Roebuck & Co. ' Fraser,' which is making some noise, is the highest eulogy I ever received, saying : ' Swift observes, the ap- pearance of a great genius in the world may always be known by the virulence of the dunces, and that this has been singularly illustrated in my case,' &c. Peel told Lyndhurst the last letter was the most powerful of all, so it is generally- esteemed. The incognito begins to make way; other names are mentioned, and Westmacott, whom I met yesterday, said at the theatre, Joe Parkes had asked him ' if he really knew as a fact who Runnymede was.' Now if Parkes hesitates, the mass must of course be mystified. My father told you of Warren ; there is also a E *>• so LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 Mr. Harris who lives at Staines, I suppose near Runnymede, whom Lady Burghesh said she had heard was the author. I met EHot yesterday, who congratulated me on my speedy prospect of Parliament. I stared,, and regretted there was no foundation for it, but pumped to discover if he had learnt any details ; he had not. I attribute these indiscreet whisper- ings to Chandos, and Fremantle told Eaton at the Carlton it was all settled, and gave him a long history of the Aylesbury row, adding I was the only man who could floor O'Connell. I carried the Carlton ; the opposition was not inconsiderable in the committee, but my friends were firm — 400 candidates, and all in their own opinion with equal claims. Though they elected I J me I am sorry to say they blackballed H. London is full, but dull as to politics for the moment. To-night I am going to the Duchess of Kent's bear-garden, and I am writing now at past six o'clock ; but I went out at four o clock to take caudle at Lady Londonderry's, and have been detained until this moment. -q March 26, 1836. My thoughts are ever with you, though I write little, and cannot venture to write on things #31 #2;S '"'■'A 1836 CORRESPONDENCE 51 I wish. I think a catastrophe in foreign poUtics is impending ; it looks as if it were all up with the Queen of Spain, and, after all, this may turn out the Whigs. If things go on as they promise, you will never regret my long visit to London, and I can assure you I shall enjoy the day when I may come and have a quiet smoke at Bradenham, first embracing you all, before my lips are tainted with the fumes of Gibel. I want information as to the superstitions and other qualities ascribed to pre- cious stones. Can you put your hand easily upon anything of the kind ? I dined the other day with Henry Baillie, who has taken D'Orsay's old house in Curzon Street. Lord Ashley, D'Anschald, Charles Forrester, Dr. Quin, who is the most amusing personage possible, Costa, the director of the opera, and others. At the great meeting at Apsley House, Lyndhurst developed his plan, and they entered into an engagement on no account to falter. A dissolution is generally apprehended among the well-informed. The Carlton: April 18, 1836. My darling Sister, Ralph tells me you are about to become a traveller ; I hope you will remember me en route, and send me a letter from every inn and resting- E 2 52 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 place. The Whigs have announced that they are prepared to give up the Appropriation Clause, vide the ' Times.' I have just now learnt from a member come up from the House, that they have introduced the Appropriation Clause this after- noon. Can you conceive a more perfect exposure ? O'Connell must have threatened them in the in- terim to some effect ; besides, it proves the loudly whispered differences in the Cabinet. The opera is very good this year, and Car- lotta Grisi, the great dancer. There is a report in 'Times' of the Lewes banquet. About, my pledging myself to come forward is a mendacious flourish, but does not matter. The Carlton is a great lounge, and I have found a kind friend in Francis Baring — Lord Ashburton's eldest son. April 30, 1836. Your violets were most acceptable, in fact the spring this year seems postponed ; if it were not for your flowers, I should believe it was still winter. S., who has gone to Paris for a week, writes that he has suffered from snow on his road. There is nothing in politics; the debate in the Lords the other night was spirited, and has put our party in good courage. Lord Holland, how- ever, spoke well, the Chancellor contemptible. 1836 CORRESPONDENCE 53 Lyndhurst has on both occasions greatly distin- guished himself. . . . June 13, 1836. The crisis goes on. The general impression is that the Ministers are going to play 1832 over again, and resign with the idea we cannot form a Government. Nothing can give you an idea of the excitement prevailing in the political circles, but I am not inclined to change my opinion, viz. that there will be no dissolution. Lyndhurst, who has been dining with the Duke, confirms what I have heard ; the battle cannot be fought better than at present. I dine to-day at Bath House, and on Saturday with Bulwer at the Priory, with whom I shall stay a day or two. I have agreed to let Colburn have a novel, to be published on October i, and for a greater sum than I have ever yet received. I have a volume by me finished, but this I did not tell him. . . . Lyndhurst's speech was really a masterpiece ; since Canning there has been nothing like it. O'Connell came into the House, but, he will have it, after L. had done speaking about him. How- ever, he was there, and it was a grand hit, for everybody believed him to be there. The Com- mons were cowed last night ; Lyndhurst's dash has daunted them ; John Russell was really feeble, 54 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 and O'Connell furiously tame. In the meantime, I am brought forward with great trumpeting in leading articles of the ' Chronicle.* Both Lynd- hurst and Sir R. Peel are said to have adopted Mr. Disraeli's view of the Constitution, &c., &c. D. June 15, 1836. Chandos is going to give a grand fish dinner on the 1 8th to the leaders of both Houses, and has asked me, the only man not a member of the House. I have dined with Baring Wall, in a house the most beautiful I ever entered, built by Kent; domed staircases, ianding-places supported by Corinthian columns, and a grand salon, w^hich, for its height, carving, gilding, and richly painted ceiling, exceeded anything I ever saw in a private house. Our dinner was worthy of the ' veritable Amphitryon ' of London, and was served off a set of Dresden china, of the most marvellous beauty ; the candelabra in the middle of immense size, and covered with groups of shepherds and shep- herdesses, the whole mounted on green velvet; even the salt-cellars and handles of knives and forks were china, most charming in this weather ; our party eight — Redesdale, Ashley, Fremantle, F. Baring, Mildmay, and Bagot. 1836 CORRESPONDENCE 55 July, 1836. We had a most agreeable party at the Ash- burtons. Bankes, who was there, says that in looking over his father's papers he has found some curious, of the time of Charles L, belong- ing to his ancestors who tried Hampden — some letters between the King, I think, and Lord Nor- thumberland, &c. — and that they are at my father's service. The Baring family are disposed to be very friendly. My old friend Pery, in the shape of Lord Glentworth, is going to be mar- ried to Maria Villebois — a fortunate woman, I think, to find herself a Countess after all. Lord Limerick has received the announcement amicably, but is on such bad terms with his grandson, that I fear he will be cut down to the entail, not half Lord Limerick's fortune, which is upwards of 30,000/. per annum. Chandos' dinner was a banquet. I was the only person there not an M.P. Peel and Sir James Graham were there ; the first came up to me and resumed our acquaintance most flatteringly. Chandos introduced me to Graham. They went down by water, but I accompanied Lyndhurst. We came home in two omnibuses hired for the nonce. There is a confusion in the Cabinet about 56 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 the English Church ; to-night was to have been a grand debate, and the Tories were to cave the Whigs ; but this morning there has been a meeting at the Foreign Office, and no house made. All is perplexity ; but the Tories in high spirits. I think Parliament will soon be prorogued, but we may have some diversion before. The Ministers wish the King to introduce in his speech some re- flections on the Lords, but his Majesty has refused. They ought to resign, and threaten, but I sup- pose will not. . . . What do you think of Spain ? Trelawny, who is a republican, is in raptures with the prospects. ' The Spaniards,' he says, ' are in advance of all countries ; they have got their con- stitution of 1812 !' Says James Smith, ' I wish I had got mine.' Some one said that * after all " Fraser's" is the cream of magazines.' ' Whipped* cream, I suppose,' said another. I find no letter here from you. August 20, 1836. I suppose you have recognised four bolts of veritable Olympian thunder in the ' Times.' It is considered worthy of Jove, and nobody can discover behind what cloud the god is shrouded. In a few days I give my MS. ^ to the printer, '^ Grantley Berkeley having horsewhipped Fraser. ^ Henrietta Temple. 1836 CORRESPONDENCE 57 and then I shall at once proceed to Bradenham. Lyndhurst seems half-inclined to come with me. There is no news, save a highly eulogistic review of the author of ' Runny mede' in the 'Monthly Report,' a Radical magazine, written by Fox the preacher. October 15, 1836. . . . News arrived here from Spain, from which it appears all is over with the Liberals. Gomez, so often defeated, has entered Cordova, has been joined by an immense force of the old Royalist volunteers of the time of Ferdinand, and, at the head of an irresistible army, is now march- ing straight to Madrid, without any idea of op- position. Peel is in town, but Lyndhurst still at Paris. O'Connell makes no reply ; all the Irish papers taunt him. The ' Warder ' says ' he can find time to attack Fraser, O'Connor, and D. W. Harvey, and to call Mr. Lascelles a blockhead, but why does he not answer Disraeli ? *' Will not the dog dissected alive give another howl ? " ' All the country papers are full of it. Lord Strangford, who came up from Strathfieldsaye last night, began, ' You have no idea of the sen- sation your speech has produced at Strathfield- saye.' I said, ' Oh, my lord, you always say agreeable things.' He took me aside and said, 58 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 ' I give you my honour as a gentleman that the Duke said at the dinner-table, '' It was the most manly thing done yet ; when will he come into Parliament ? " ' Strangford said he had not yet seen my novel (' Henrietta Temple '), and there was only one per- son at the Duke's who had read it — Lady Wilton. She said she had cried so much that she had excited all their curiosity. Bulwer tells me that at Lady Charlotte Bury's the other night he only heard one report, ' Tears, tears, tears ! ' so he supposes I am right and he is wrong. Colburn is in high spirits about ' H. T/ He says he shall not be content unless he works it up like ' Pelham.' There were many reviews yesterday. You have of course seen the ' Athenaeum ; ' they were all in that vein, but highly calculated to make people read, if that were wanted, but it is not. The ' Spectator ' said of the Bucks meeting, that the ' speaking, on the whole, was as stupid as usual, except Mr. Disraeli, who, after a little of his usual rhodomontade about the Peers being the founders of liberty, grew abusive and amusing,' and then quoted the Shakespearean passage. 1836 CORRESPONDENCE ' 59 December, 1836. Do write me some news. I dined tHe-d-tete with Bulwer yesterday, who thinks my speech the finest in the world, and my novel the very worst ! But he made me promise not to mention that he said this, as he would not have ventured to say so had the book not been successful. I boldly defended it, and he says he will read it again, for he read it at night and all three volumes at once. Lord Henniker is going to marry Miss Kerrison — Lady Mahon's sister. There is no news, and I hope to be down in a week. The letter that was sent on to me was from Sir Robert Peel. I sent him a copy,^ late and grudgingly, with a cold dry note, convinced that he would never notice or even confess to having heard of it, being, as you well know, by reputation the most jealous, frigid, and haughty of men. This is what he says : ' I beg to return you my best thanks for that copy of your work respect- ing the House of Lords, for which I am indebted to your kind attention and consideration. It is not the only one in my possession, for, attracted as well by your name as by some extracts from the work in the public papers, which struck me as very forcibly written, I had taken the first ^ Vindication of the English Constitutio?i. 6o LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1836 opportunity of procuring a copy, and was grati- fied and surprised to find that a familiar and ap- parently exhausted topic could be treated with so much of original force of argument and novelty of illustration. I thank you, both for the work Itself and the satisfaction which the reading of it has afforded me. I have the honour to be yours faithfully and obliged, Robert Peel.' Lyndhurst thinks this is muchy considering the writer. i837 CORRESPONDENCE 6i 1837- Influenza epidemic — Due de Grammont — Writing ' Venetia ' — On Burdett's committee — Illness of King — Concert at Bridge- water House — Reviews of * Venetia' — The King's death — Queen proclaimed — Excitement at Carlton — Canvassing at Maidstone — Returned — Lyndhurst's marriage — Takes his seat — Queen opens Parliament — First night — Dinner with Peel — Sheriff's petitions — Maiden speech — Failure — Shell's encouragement — Animal magnetism — New edition of 'Curiosities' — Speech on copyright — The ear of the House. February 6, 1837. There is no news except intrigues of Lord Grey & Co. to join the Tories ; the thing will crawl on a little longer, I think, and dissolve of itself. Lord Harrowby is dangerously ill, which will be awkward for Liverpool. It is supposed the debate on Ireland that has begun may last three nights. I had a letter from Lyndhurst dated * Beauvais/ therefore he may be expected daily or hourly. People are dying here by dozens. I have just heard a report that the young Lady Glengall is dead. D'Orsay and myself, however, defy the disorder with a . 62 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 first-rate cook and generous diet and medicated vapour baths. Strangford (did I tell you ?) came up from Alnwick for the Kentish meeting, and on his arrival in town was instantly seized and confined for eight days to his bed. L. E. L. is at last really going to be married, but to an obscure man whom you never heard of. He has some foreign appointment, where he will take her. My father should read Chateaubriand^ With all his want of knowledge, coxcombry, and book-making, there are many fine and curious passages in reference to the great subject. February, 1837. I have entirely baffled the influenza by the medicated air bath ; otherwise I should have had a most severe attack I am certain. All that can be done at present in politics has been arranged \ we wait for events. The Whigs and Tories watch each other like a cat and dog, and neither will make the first move. The Duke is for the tactics of last session, and I think under the circumstances he is right. Melbourne is pledged to bring the Irish Question forward, and if agaia defeated, as is certain, he will dissolve or resign. Through the whole recess there has scarcely been a single Cabinet council, in consequence of the 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 63; dissensions in the Cabinet. Melbourne yielded to the representations of Lord John in maintaining his part, as Lord John is of opinion that if the Whigs go out of office they should contrive to go out with a clap-trap, and not quietly resign from difficulties during the prorogation.. This will show you on what a frail tenure the whole hinges, and what may be expected. . . . I am keeping well, but with the exception of seeing Lyndhurst I am devoting myself to the fair * Venetia ; ' for I can write well here, as the life suits me, and there is a long morning, and the air bath, which is wonderful, renders exercise un- necessary. It certainly baffled the influenza, of which poor Lady Combermere has died, surviving her father, old Greville, but a few days. When D'Orsay does not dine out, which is generally every other day, there are one or two to dinner here. On Monday Ossulston dined en famille here, and gave us a very agreeable account of the Grammonts, whom he had been visiting at Versailles. The Due de Grammont is D'Orsay's brother-in-law and Ossulston's uncle. Since the glorious days the G.'s have retired from Courts and keep themselves aloof; the Duke devoting himself entirely to the education of his three sons. The first, Agenor, the Due de Guiche, is 64 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 quiet, with great talents, and at fourteen has just passed the examination of the Ecole Polytechnique, one of the severest ; the second, Augustus, the Marquis de Grammont, is a complete soldier ; the third, Alfred, the Count de Grammont, is only eight years of age, but though brought up in so domestic and even severe style, is as great a roud as his illustrious ancestor. He does nothing but laugh, shrug his shoulders, and run after the maids, who complain bitterly of his rudeness. Lyndhurst is full of his four months* adven- tures abroad. He has seen everyone of note and distinction, of every party and class, literary and political, Carlist, Constitutional, Republican. He was greatly feted, and enjoyed himself much, April, 1837. The book (' Venetia ') is to be out on the i ith, and now, from what I hear from Colburn, the printing will proceed so quickly there will be no good in forwarding the proofs. It is advertised in every paper, and C. seems very sanguine and determined to omit no step that will ensure success. ... May, 1837. Town is quite full, and the only thing talked of is the Westminster election. I am on Burdetf s 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 65 committee and obliged to canvass. My district, which is Bolton Street, Clarges, &c., is all right, though, curious enough, Leader^ is one of my list. P. is the most wonderful person in the world. He lives in one of the most expensive houses in Portland Place, many servants in livery, a hand- some wife ornately dressed, children in fancy dresses tumbling on ottomans, one swearing he is a Tory, the other a Radical, &c. An expenditure not under 5,000/. per annum, and no one is the least aware of his means. The party was very stupid. A few Carlton men, mixed up with some Marylebone and Bloomsbury slip-slop ; but I like to ofo to a house for the first time. I suppose the King has really rallied, as I met Tom Young, who affected that he had never even been in danger. I met Sir J. Hanmer, the youthful M.P. for Shrewsbury, and his pretty wife, and was glad to make his acquaintance, for he is full of talent and literature, and so enthu- siastic an admirer of mine, that he had absolutely read the ' Revolutionary Epick.' The party at Bridgewater House last night turned out to be a grand concert, and the best assembly that has been given this season.- Therv ^ Burden's opponent. 66 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 were about one thousand persons, and the suite of apartments, including the picture gallery, all thrown open and illuminated, and I enjoyed mj'- self excessively. June 19, 1837. There was an agreeable party at Madame Montalembert's ; but whether la Comtesse had taken an extra glass of champagne, or what might be the cause, she lionised me so dreadfully that I was actually forced to run for my life. She even produced ' Venetia ' and was going to read a passage out loud, when I seized my hat and rushed downstairs, leaving the graceful society of Lady Egerton, much to my vexation. There have been several reviews of my book, chiefly in Radical papers, but all very laudatory. ' Fraser ' gave the tone to the ' Sun,' &c. I shall keep this open for news of the King. 5.30 P.M. — I have just seen a very interesting letter from Munster, dated 11 last night. The King dies like an old lion. He said yesterday to his physicians, ^ Only let me live through this glorious day ! ' This suggested to Munster to bring the tricolor flag which had just arrived from the Duke of Wellington, and show it to the Kino-. William IV. said, ' Right, right,' and afterwards, ' Unfurl it and let me feel it,' then he pressed the 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 67 eagle and said, ' Glorious day/ This may be depended on. He still lives. j) Carlton Club : June 20, 1837. Dearest, I write in the midst of three or four hundred persons, and in a scene of great ex- citement. The battle now approaches ; what will be my fate I pretend not to foresee. The King died in the middle of the night. Lord Lyndhurst attended the Privy Council at Ken- sington, and kissed the young Queen's hand, which all agreed was remarkably sweet and soft. She read her address well, and was perfectly composed, though alone in the council chamber, and attended by no women. June 23. ... Her Maj'esty was proclaimed on the 2 1 St, and appeared in the balcony of the palace. The dissolution is expected in the course of three weeks. My prospects are bright, and I hope soon to tell you they are settled. Did you ever hear that the two Praeds, the late M.P. and his brother, who were so alike that it was almost im- possible to distinguish them, were called at Eton ' Noodle ' and ' Doodle,' which names have stuck to them in life and death ? Noodle, as you know. F 2 68 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 is no more, but Doodle remains. The Carlton is full from the hour it opens to long past mid- night — deputations from the country, permanent committees, places that want candidates, and can didates that want places. Friday. The clouds have at length dispelled, and my prospects seem as bright as the day. At six o'clock this evening I start for Maidstone with Wyndham Lewis, and I suppose by Wednesday I shall have completed my canvass. I doubt whether there will be a contest. Maidstone : Tuesday. From all I can judge my seat is secure here, Robarts having declined to interfere, and having written an address to his constituents, declaring he will not canvass or trouble himself, but they may elect him if they like. Last night there was a full meeting, and I think I made the best speech I ever made yet — as well maintained as the Aylesbury one, and more than an hour in length ; so to-day I canvassed on my own in- fluence. I do not see how we can be defeated, but I have said little about the affair generally, as when one feels assured it is best to be quiet. ^^37 CORRESPONDENCE 69 July 18, 1837. Robarts retired from a fruitless struggle yes- terday morning, the very day on which his com- mittee had pledged themselves he should attend a meeting of the electors. His party are exposed, and confess they are utterly beaten. July 22. The accounts from Maidstone continue as favourable as ever. Several of Robarts' suppor- ters have come over to me since his secession. I believe I am the only new candidate of our side who has not an opposition. It was thought im- possible in these times that a man could enter Parliament for the first time and for a borough in such a manner. ... So much for the ' mad- dest of all mad acts,' my uncle G.'s prescience, and B. 's unrivalled powers of encouragement ! The nomination day is fixed for the 25th. Dearest, Maidstone : July 27, 1837, 11 o'clock. Lewis ..... yoy Disraeli . . . . 616 Colonel Thompson . .412 The constituency nearly exhausted. In haste, Dizzy. 70 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 ... I did not see the ' Herald,' but I find my advent canvassed in many papers, among them the ' Spectator,' which says they have no doubt I fancy I shall be the terror of the Trea- sury Bench, but they shall be ' agreeably disap- pointed if I turn out anything better than a buffoon.' This must come from Colonel Thomp- son & Co., who did not particularly relish my nomination jokes. Clear your head of all non~ sense about scrutinies, petitions, &c. There is not a safer seat in England than mine. They have not a shadow to work upon. I franked your letter. There is no doubt there must be 319 Tories in the House, and we shall pick up a few more. In short the Govern- ment is done, and I doubt whether they will meet Parliament. Lanarkshire, the largest and most Radical county in Scotland, being the seat of their principal manufactures, is gained by Lockhart by a majority of one ! ! There is no doubt of the fact of his return, for he has notified it to the Carlton this morning by his frank^ as well as Bateman for Tralee, whose signature was very welcome^ as this is a borough rescued from O'Connell's grip. The Whigs are more than low-spirited, they are in extremis. . . . Peel says he can carry 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 71 on the government with the present Parliament. Not the sHghtest doubt, so I hope we are sitting for seven years. What fun ! and how lucky, after all, I should esteem myself. ... What do you think of Lyndhurst's marriage ? I had long heard, but never credited it. .1 am very well and begin to enjoy my new career. I find that it makes a sensible difference in the opinion of one's friends ; I can scarcely keep my countenance. November 15, 1837. I took my seat this morning. I went down to the House with Wyndham Lewis at two o'clock, and found it very full, the members standing in groups and chatting. About three o'clock there was a cry of ' Order, order!' all took their seats (myself on the second bench, behind Sir Robert Peel), and a messenger summoned the Commons. The Government party was very strong, in consequence of an article in the * Times,' about two days back, which spread a panic through their ranks, but which I think was a hoax. ShaW'Lefevre proposed, and Strutt of Derby seconded Abercromby. Both were brief, the first commonplace, the other commonplace and coarse ; all was tame. . . . Peel said a very little, very well. Then Abercromby, who looked LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 like an old laundress, mumbled and moaned some dulness, and was then carried to the chair, and said a little more, amid a faint cheer. To me of course the scene was exciting enough, but none could share my feelings, except new members. Peel was a great deal at the Carlton yesterday. He welcomed me very warmly, and all noticed his cordial demeanour. He looks very well, and asked me to join a small dinner at the Carlton on Thursday. ' A House of Commons dinner purely/ he said ; ' by that time we shall know something of the temper of the House.' November 21, 1837. I tried to write you a line yesterday, as I was endeavouring to eat a sandwich, which I was not permitted to finish. Affairs are in a state of great excitement, and most interesting. All Sunday our members poured in, and at 4.30 the Carlton was full. Lyndhurst arrived rather unexpectedly on the Saturday night, and sent for me the follow- ing morning. I never saw him look so well, he really might have passed for five-and-forty, plump and rosy, and most gaily attired, and in the highest force and spirits. He was more than kind, and after paying a visit to Peel and the Duke, showed at the Carlton, where his appearance created great 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 73 enthusiasm. Yesterday, after being obliged to go down to the House at eleven, to ensure a house for members to swear, I went to a great meeting at Peel's. There must have been 300 members. Peel addressed, full of spirit, and apparently eager for action. Thence again to the House, where we were summoned to the Lords at two o'clock. The rush was terrific ; Abercromby himself nearly thrown down and trampled upon, and his mace-bearer banging the members' heads with his gorgeous weapon, and cracking skulls with im- punity. I was fortunate enough to escape, how- ever, and also to ensure an entry. It was a magnificent spectacle. The Queen looked admir- ably, no feathers but a diamond tiara ; the peers in robes, the peeresses, and the sumptuous groups of courtiers rendered the affair most glittering and imposing. The Speech was intentionally vague, that no division might possibly occur. All was mystery until five o'clock. From the Lords I escaped, almost at the hazard of our lives, with Mahon, who is now most cordial, and we at length succeeded in gaining the Carlton, having several times been obliged to call upon the police and military to protect us as we attempted to break the line, but the moment the magical words * Member of Parliament' were uttered all the 74 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837- authorities came to our assistance, all gave way, and we passed everywhere. You never saw two such figures, our hats crushed and covered with mud, and the mobocracy envying us our privileges, calling out 'Jim Crow' as we stalked through the envious files. I went down, after refitting at the Carlton, for about half an hour, during w^hich I tried to scribble to you. The seat I succeeded in secur- ing behind Peel I intend if possible to appropriate to myself. The House was so crowded later, that the galleries were all full of members ; many unable to obtain seats were sitting on the stairs and on chairs and benches behind the Speaker s chair. Lyndhurst and many peers were in their seats at the bar : the strangers' gallery of course crammed. The Address was moved by Lord Leveson,^ a child apparently, in a rich diplomatic uniform, and. seconded by Gibson Craig, a new member in a. court dress. Leveson made a crammed speech like a schoolboy ; Gibson Craig, of whom the Whigs had hopes, rose, stared like a stuck pig, and said nothing ; his friends cheered, he stam- mered, all cheered, then there was a dead and awful pause, and then he sat down, and that was ^ Now Lord Granville. i837 CORRESPONDENCE 75. his performance. The Address was then read, and Wakley made a most Radical speech and amend- ment (see the papers), determined to bring affairs to a crisis. He was fluent, flippant, and vulgar ; a second-rate hustings orator. He was seconded by Molesworth, a most odious speaker, who wearied the House. Still the Government was silent, and the tactics were for our side to say nothing. Great difficulty, however, in keeping H. Liddell quiet, who, flushed with his Durham triumph, had been at half-cock all day. Hume followed Molesworth and badgered the Govern- ment, and gave them every opportunity to declare themselves, announcing that the Radicals would use all their influence to induce Wakley to with- draw his amendment. Nothing now could longer restrain Liddell, who rose fluent and confident, to the infinite mortification of our side, who feared this would be a diversion for the Government. It is impossible to convey an idea of a more pitiable failure ; but fortunatel)^ it was only an individual exposure and not a party injury, for John Russell rose after him and took no notice of him except by administering a sharp and deserved rebuke at the end of his speech. John Russell threw the Radicals over in a most matured and decided manner. It was a 76 LORD BEACONSFIELD S 1837 declaration evidently the result of a Cabinet decision. The sensation was immense. Peel then rose and made one of the finest speeches I ever heard, most powerful and even brilliant. He broke the centre of the Government party for ever. The Radicals were mad. Henry Ward, looking most hideous, then rose, amid the tumult of the House, and, though nobody would listen to him, contrived to abuse Wakley for appropriating to himself questions which belonged to other persons, and announced that he for one had not intended to vote for him, but now that the Government had at length thrown off the mask he should. So, after all, there was a division on the Address in Queen Victoria's first Parliament — 509 to 20. The division took an hour. I then left the House at ten o'clock, none of us having dined. The tumult and excitement great. I dined, or rather supped, at the Carlton with a large party off oysters, Guinness, and broiled bones, and got to bed at half-past twelve o'clock. Thus ended the most remarkable day hitherto of my life. December 5, 1837. The dinner yesterday was merely a house dinner of fourteen — all our great men, with the exception of Lord Ramsay and myself, the 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE yr only two new members. Peel took wine with me. It was rather amusing the other day in the House. The Sheriffs of London, Sir Bob or Tom, and Sir Moses, and no mistake, appeared at the bar in full state to present, according to the privilege of the city of London, some petitions, after which they took their place under the gallery and listened to the debate, which turned out to be the Jew question by a sidewind. I was not at all uncomfortable, but voted in the majority with the utmost sangfroid, Sugden made a subtle and learned speech of two and half hours, which would have done very well in the Court of Chancery, but was rather a trial. I dined during some part of it. The petitions poured in last night, the last in every sense. So all is safe for the much vilified Maidstone. Hawes came up to me in the House and reminded me of, or rather asked whether I re- membered, his taking me from school with the Gurneys ' twenty-three years ago ' and giving us a dinner. He said I was not at all altered. I told him then that I had not changed, by his account, since I was seven or eight years old. He also said, ' We are all expecting to h^diV yoti lash us! They may wait. 78 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 December 8, 1837. I made my maiden speech last night, rising very late after O'Connell, but at the request of my party and the full sanction of Sir Robert Peel. As I wish to give you an exact idea of what occurred, I state at once that my ddbut was a failure, so far that I could not succeed in gaining an opportunity of saying what I intended ; but the failure was not occasioned by my breaking down or any incompetency on my part, but from the physical powers of my adversaries. I can give you no idea how bitter, how factious, how unfair they were. It was like my first ddbut at Ayles- bury, and perhaps in that sense may be auspicious of ultimate triumph in the same scene. I fought through all with undaunted pluck and unruffled temper, made occasionally good isolated hits when there was silence, and finished with spirit when I found a formal display was ineffectual. My party backed me well, and no one with more zeal and kindness than Peel, cheering me repeatedly, which is not his custom. The uproar was all organised by the Rads and the Repealers. They formed a compact body near the bar of the House and seemed determined to set me down, but that they did not do. I have given you a most impartial account, stated indeed against myself 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 79 In the lobby at the division, Chandos, who was not near me while speaking, came up and congratulated me. I replied that I thought there was no cause for congratulations, and muttered * Failure ! ' ' No such thing,' said Chandos ; ' you are quite wrong. I have just seen Peel, and I said to him, ^' Now tell me exactly what you think of D." Peel replied, '* Some of my party were disappointed and talk of failure, I say jtcst the reverse. He did all that he could do under the circumstances. I say anything but failure ; he must make his way." ' The Government and their retainers behaved well. The Attorney-General, to whom I never spoke in my life, came up to me in the lobby and spoke to me with great cordiality. He said, ' Now, Mr. Disraeli, could you just tell me how you finished one sentence in your speech, we are anxious to know — " In one hand the keys of St. Peter, and in the other '' ?' 'In the other the cap of liberty. Sir John.' He smiled, and said, ' A good picture.' I replied, * But your friends will not allow me to finish my pictures.' ' I assure you,' he said, ' there was the liveliest desire to hear you from us. It was a party at the bar, over whom we had no control ; but you have nothing to be afraid of . Now I have told you all. Yours, D. — in very good spirits. 8o LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 December 11, 1837. I dined with Bulwer on Saturday, and, strange enough, met Sheil. I should have been very much surprised had I not arrived first and been apprised. It thus arose : — On Saturday Bulwer walked into the Athenaeum. Sheil, who has just recovered from the gout, was lounging in an easy- chair, reading the newspaper ; around him was a set of low Rads (we might guess them) abusing me, and exulting in the discrimination of the House ; probably they thought they pleased Sheil. Bulwer drew near, but stood apart. Suddenly Sheil threw down the paper, and said in his shrill voice, ' Now, gentlemen, I have heard all you have to say, and what is more, I heard this same speech of Mr. Disraeli ; and I tell you this, if ever the spirit of oratory was in a man, it is in that man ; nothing can prevent him from being one of the first speakers in the House of Com- mons (great confusion). Ay ! and I know some- thing about that place I think ; and I tell you what besides, that if there had not been this in- terruption, Mr. Disraeli might have made a failure. I don't call this a failure, it is a crush. My ddbut was a failure, because I was heard ; but my recep- tion was supercilious, his malignant. A ddbiU should be dull. The House will not allow a man 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 8i to be a wit and an orator unless they have the credit of finding it out. There it is/ You may con- ceive the sensation that this speech made. I heard of it yesterday from Eaton, Winslow, and several other quarters. The crowd dispersed, but Bulwer drew near and said to Sheil, * D. dines with me to-day ; would you like to meet him ? ' 'In spite of my gout,' said Sheil, ' I long to know him, I long to tell him what I think.' So we met. There were besides only D'Eyncourt, always friendly to me, Mackinnon, a Tory, and one Quin^ of the Danube. Sheil took an opportunity of disbur- thening his mind of the subject with which it was full. 'If you had been listened to, what would have been the result ? You would have made the best speech that you ever would have made. It would have been received frigidly, and you would have despaired of yourself. I did. As it is, you have shown to the House that you have a fine organ, that you have an unlimited command of language, that you have courage, temper, and readiness. Now get rid of your genius for a session. Speak often, for you must not show yourself cowed, but speak shordy. Be very quiet, try to be dull, only argue, and reason imperfectly, for if you reason with precision, they will think 3 This must be the late witty homoeopath. G 82 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 •^^^^^^^^^^™ ' ...III .... _>. • ^^^B— ■ I ■ I . t^.^^^^^ ■ I ■ \m you are trying to be witty. Astonish them by speaking on subjects of detail. Quote figures, dates, calculations, and in a short time the House will sigh for the wit and eloquence which they all know are in you ; they will encourage you to pour them forth, and then you will have the ear of the House and be a favourite.' ... I think that altogether this is as interesting a rencontre as I have ever experienced. Yesterday I dined with Hope, a sumptuous but rather dull party. On Saturday I dine with Peel, his first party. December 12, 1837. I have to go down to Maidstone, but shall return on Thursday. Yesterday the House was surprised by a Royal message requesting us *to take into consideration a suitable provision for the Duchess of Kent.' Considering that the Ministers have announced that there would be no more business of importance before the recess, * this is considered a very suspicious movement. To-night we shall know what it means. All London is mad with animal magnetism. A M. de Dupotel ceremonises in Orchard Street, and everyone flocks there. Strangford asked me to go with him to-day, but it was not in my power. Maidstone is a convert, and tells me he 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 83 met there yesterday, besides many ladies, the sharp Sir H. Hardinge, who beheves, and EHot Lord Stanhope is frantically mad about it, as he was about Caspar Hauser. December, 1837. I have received the new edition of ' Curiosities,' which is indeed perfect. On Saturday I dined with Wyndham Lewis, rather an agreeable party. The guests : Lady Charlotte, much improved in ap- pearance by the married state ; Lady C. Churchill, who is still young and must have been beauti- ful, and who gave her name, Ethel, to L.E.L/s novel ; Miles Stapleton, the author of ' Pagnell,' an agreeable person ; J ohn Lo wther, &c, Yesterday a banquet at Dick's. Hillsboro' and his law-papa Combermere, Exmouth, DeLisle, Hogg, little Hope, Henry Baillie, Vesey. Fine venison though December. Dick's room is always too much lighted, which makes it hot. Armstrong, who had given him many hints in vain, and who is a cool hand who says anything, seeing there was no change, told him the other day, ' By Jove, Dick, this is too bad. Now if you go on in this way, I shall call you '' Jolly Dick the lamplighter."' To enjoy the joke, you should know our host, G 2 84 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 whose appearance is a fine contrast to his nickname. — My love to all. £)^ December. We were kept late in the House last night ; the proceedings most interesting, but I cannot dwell upon them. Colquhoun, one of the new orators, made his maiden speech and with great success, a sort of Tory Roebuck ; calm, unrivalled self- possession, perspicuous and logical. He rallied a nearly lost debate and more than decided the victory. To-day a great meeting at Peel's, most stirring and important. Stanley for the first time addressed the Conservative party in private, and explained his position and feelings towards them and Peel with extraordinary fervour. December 18, 1837. Nothing daunted, and acting on the advice of Sheil (a strange Parliamentary mentor for me after all), I spoke again last night and with com- plete success. It was on the Copyright Bill. The House was not very full, but all the Cabinet Minis- ters and officials were there, and all our principal men. Talfourd, who had already made a long speech (his style flowery, with a weak and mouth- ing utterance), proposed the Copyright Bill very 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 85 briefly, having spoken on it last session. Bulwer followed him, and confined himself to the point of international copyright, which called up Poulett Thomson. Then Peel on the copyright of art ; and then I rose. I was received with the utmost curiosity and attention. As there had been no great discussion I determined not to be tempted into a speech, which everyone expected of course I rose to make. All I aimed at was to say some- thing pointed and to the purpose. My voice, in spite of our doings at Maidstone, was in perfect condition. I suggested a clause to Talfourd, with the idea of which I had been furnished by Col- burn. I noticed that the subject had already been done so much justice to on other occasions that I should not trouble the House, but I had been requested to support this Bill by many eminent persons interested in its success. Thus far I was accompanied by continual ' hear, hears,' and I concluded thus : ' I am glad to hear from her Majesty *s Government that the interests of litera- ture have at length engaged their attention. It has been the boast of the Whig party, and a boast not without foundation, that in many brilliant periods of our literary annals they have been the patrons of letters (*' Hear, hear'' from John Russell & Co.). As for myself, I trust that the age of 86 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1837 literary patronage has passed (" Hear, hear " from leader of the Rads), and it will be honourable to the present Government if, under its auspices, it be succeeded by that of legislative protection/ I sat down with a general cheer. Talfourd, in reply, noticed all the remarks of the preceding members, and when he came to me said he should avail himself of ' the excellent suggestion of the honourable member for Maidstone, himself one of the greatest ornaments of our modern literature/ Here Peel cheered loudly, and indeed throughout my remarks he backed me. So, on the whole, there was glorification. Everybody congratulated me. Colonel Lygon said, ' Well, you have got in your saddle again, and now you may ride away.* Even Granville Somerset said, ' I never heard a few sentences so admirably delivered. You will allow me to say so, after having been twenty- five years in Parliament.' But all agree that I man- aged in a few minutes by my voice and manner to please everyone in the House. I don t care about the meagre report, for I spoke to the House and not to the public. I have no time to tell you about Maidstone, except that the banker gave me a banquet more splendid than many I have had in this town, that we had the largest meeting on record, and that I 1 837 CORRESPONDENCE 87 made a successful speech ; that Wyndham Lewis is infinitely more warm than ever, and my con- stituents far more enthusiastic, and it is my firm opinion that the next time I rise in the House, which will be very soon in February, I shall sit down amid loud cheers, for I really think, on the whole, though I have not time now to give you the reasons, that the effect of my ddbut^ and the circumstances that attended it, will ultimately be favourable to my career. Next to undoubted success the best thing is to make a great noise, and the many articles that are daily written to announce my failure only prove that I have not failed. One thing is curious, that the opinion of the mass is immensely affected by that of their leaders. I know a hundred little instances daily, which show me that what Peel, and Shell, and other leading men have said, have already greatly influenced those who are unable to form opinions for themselves. — Love to all, D. 88 LORD BEACONSFJELD'S 1838 1838. Politics— Charles Kean — Debates— Roebuck — Lord Francis Eger- ton — Pakington — Gladstone — Grand concert — Reception at Salisbury House— Lev^e—O'Connell' reprimanded by Speaker — Family dinner with Lyndhurst — Society — Death of Wyndham Lewis— Successful speech — Assembly at Salisbury House — Town full — Gore House — Coronation of the Queen — Review in Hyde Park— Banquet at Holderness House— Visit to Maid- stone — Durham proclamation. Thursday, January i8, 1838. I MISSED the post yesterday, having been very busy, and having indeed Httle to tell you. We have adjourned until Monday, after two nights of the most feeble debates that can well be fancied. The frigid genius of Canada pervaded our delibe- rations, and even Sir Robert appeared to sink under it, for I never recollect him so inefficient. I have no news to tell you, except that I shall go and see Kean to-morrow with Mrs. W. L., provided she get a good warm box. I understand from Chandos that the Wotton meeting takes place on the 28th, and that I am expected. I suppose I must go, in which case I will get down 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 89 before to Bjadenham for a couple of days. ... I am working at the Corn Laws. January 20, 1838. Town is very dull ; everybody is frozen to death. Brougham's speech ^ on Thursday was most clever, as good as his old House of Com- mons harangues. Our peers mustered thick, and seemed 'miching mallecho,' but the Duke of Wellington rose and spoilt all with his generosity and all that. Great disgust in Tory ranks, even among the highest. Duke supposed to be/^jj/, and to like being buttered with Whig laudation. I had a curious adventure in the course of the evening with Cecil Forrester, both of us in search of a dinner, which I will tell you when we meet. I went to see young Kean last night, and the theatre was full in spite of the frost, which thins all the other houses ; but I will not criticise him, for one word describes all — mediocrity. We went with the Horace Twisses ; Lord Chesterfield s box, a capital fire, our own tea, and really very amusing. y) Library of House of Commons : January 23. To be impartial, which one should be when a man with brains is concerned. Roebuck yesterday ^ Debate on Canadian Rebellion. 90 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 was not equal to the occasion. Sharp and waspish, he would have made a good petulant Opposition speech, but as the representative of a nation arraigning a Ministry of high crimes and misde- meanours, he was rather ridiculous. The subse- quent debate was, on the whole, interesting. Sir G. Grey, who had gained a reputation by the Canada revolt, contrived pretty well to lose it. Lord Francis Egerton spoke with all the effect which a man of considerable talent and highly cultivated mind, backed by the highest rank and 60,000/. per annum, would naturally command. He has a bad delivery, a good voice, but no management or modulation of it, and the most ungainly action conceivable ; nevertheless, on the whole impressive, and his style rich and somewhat ornate. Leader ludicrously imitated Roebuck for more than an hour, and then the only feature was Pakingtons ddbut, who sat next to me. His friends expected a great deal from him, and they announce that he quite fulfilled their expecta- tions. He was confident, fluent, and commonplace, and made a good chairman of quarter sessions speech. ^ It was the best speech that he ever will make,' said Sugden, 'and he has been practising it before the grand jury for the last twenty years.' However, I supported him very zealously, and he 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 91 went to bed thinking he was an orator, and wrote to Mrs. Pakington, Tve no doubt, to that effect. . . . This day we hear of the total discomfiture of the remaining rebels. Molesworth is now speak- ing, and I therefore took ' advantage to write this. The House is very thin, frigid, and sleepy, but warmer work is expected by-and-by. By writing letters at the House, I get Radical franks, I find, with ease. j3 January 25, 1838. It was impossible yesterday to speak of coming down, though nothing shall prevent me from so doing on the earliest opportunity. For lo ! in the midst of our serene life, a row has arisen very menacing and exciting. Peel has taken the most decided course on the Canada Bill ; pro- bably thereunto impelled by the extreme disgust of the party at the betise of the Duke of Wellington, and his clearly foreseeing that unless the troops were led to battle they could no longer be counted on. Hardinge was sent on a mission to Strath- fieldsaye, and this morning we had a meeting in Whitehall Gardens. The Government are brought to battle, coUte que cotlte. Ever since Saturday last we have been privately and quietly whipping 92 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 our men up, and in case of our not succeeding, Sir Robert this morning had the satisfaction of informing us, that after communicating with those noble lords with whom he was in the habit of acting, the said amendments would undoubtedly and uncompromisingly be proposed, and of course carried in the Upper House. So at length the Duke has *been spoken to,' so long recommended ; and Sir Robert, conscious that without action the party could not be carried on, and himself smart- ing under his Grace's blundering, has fairly shown that he is master. The excitement is great and the Government alarmed. Unfortunately, the great battle will be fought on both sides with half their strength, at least I fear so, but this applies to both parties. j) Saturday, January 27. I write to say that it is my present intention to go to Wotton on Monday, stay there if it prove agreeable until Friday, on which day I will join you and leave Bradenham on Monday following, when we have a whip. We had a great triumph last night in the House. Peel made one of the finest speeches ^ I ever heard. We had a majority of at least twenty, and the Government gave up ^ Canada Bill. 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 93 everything by which they had promised to stand or fall. They eat much dirt ; Howick resigned in the morning. Strangford is going to write to the governor about Corney on Camoens ; thinks he can be of service, and very hot against C . He has just come in and is hard at work, and will have two good points on Camoens and Cervantes, but the weather is not for the Museum, and he will soon write. February, 1838. There was no harm in Sir William Young lounging at Wycombe, as the present debate, which has been a very stupid one, is a mere fight between the Whigs and the Papineau clique. Our battle is on Thursday, and I suspect all our men will be at their places. Yesterday there were not more than one hundred members in the House until eleven o'clock, when the benches got toler- ably full, and Gladstone spoke very well, though with the unavoidable want of interest which ac- companies elaborate speeches which you know are to lead to no result, i.e, no division. His speech, however, called up a Minister, and then Peel, &c. I went away before the division. Evans has accepted the clerkship of the Ordnance, and there will be a vacancy for West- 94 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 minster. Roebuck starts ; between him and Evans we ought to carry it . . . This makes much excitement. Sheil has got a snug place in Greenwich Hospital — a commissionership. The world, however, wonders at such a man taking such a place (coals, candles, and 600/. per annum), and the English Radicals are furious that the Irish are not contented with the plunder of their own country. Bear Ellice is now called the Bear no longer, but the Retriever. I went to a most recherchd concert at Parn- ther s, where I found all the dlite of town, and where the season commenced, as all agreed, very brilliantly. The Duke was there, looking very well in his garter, riband, and the golden fleece. There were indeed as many stars as in an Arabian story — Ye stars which are the poetry of dress ! I can scarcely tell you who was not there, for I saw Lansdownes, Salisburys, Stuart de Rothe- say, Duke of Beaufort, Douro, Cantaloupe, Fitz- roy, Loftus, &c., and Mrs. W. L., who was very proud, evidently, of being there. But the most picturesque group was the Rothschilds, the widow still in mourning, two sons, some sisters, and, above all, the young bride, or rather wife, from Frankfort, universally admired, tall, graceful, dark, 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 95 and clear, picturesquely dressed, a robe of yellow silk, a hat and feathers, with a sort of Sdvignd beneath of magnificent pearls ; quite a Murillo. — Love to all. j) I send you two good franks to add to your collection ; the handwriting of two of the greatest ruffians in the House, and given to me by both of them when very drunk. They are ' Tailers,' but have taken a sort of blackguard fancy to me, and very civil. We had a queer but amusing party at Twisses. It was really given to Mr. and Mrs. Barnes ; the W. L.*s were got to meet them, and the rest were men — Lord Darlington, Lowther, G. Somerset, Lord Reay, H. Hardinge, Henry Baring &c., and myself The dinner was good for Twiss, and everything went off well ; Mrs. B., who looked, as Baring said, like a lady in a pantomime, very funny, surrounded by sons of dukes and privy councillors. . . . The weather was so bad, the streets being nearly half a foot deep in slough and snow, that I doubt whether I could have got to Salisbury House, short as was the distance, had not G. Somerset taken me. It was a most brilliant party, and the first time the world has been received there since the alterations which commenced 96 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 183S after the old lady's death. Such a revolution [ There is not a vestige of ancient interior ; even the staircase is entirely new and newly placed. There had been a grand dinner given previously to Lord and Lady Lyndhurst. Lady L. made a favourable impression. ... I was of course presented to her. Without being absolutely pretty, her appearance is highly interesting. She was sitting on the large ottoman in the centre of the new saloon, and therefore I can scarcely judge of her figure. She is very little, but her appearance is elegant and delicate. She was most becomingly dressed in a white turban of a very recherchd construction. I spoke very little to her : the advance of some other persons whom Lady Salisbury wished to introduce relieved me from a rather embarrassing conversation. L. is in high spirits, talking of nothing else but the hope of having a son. Lady Salisbury received me with great cordiality and talked to me for some time. I found I owed the invitation to Lady Londonderry having mentioned me to her. D. February, 1838. At the levde to-day O'Connell and all his sons were presented. That looks frisky, as if he really 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 97 were about to be Chief Justice of Ireland. It would keep him quiet for life, and perhaps he thinks it is time to secure himself ; but the arrangement would be almost as shameful as buying off the Goths and maintaining the limits by tribute. Ewart starts for Marylebone, much to the dissatisfaction of Lord Nugent. Mr. Young says he will also stand again. If two Liberals start we may carry Teignmouth ; I doubt it otherwise. February 26, 1838. We have a prospect of some amusement to- night, as the chivalrous blood of my little friend Maidstone impelled him last night to give notice to call O'Connell to account for calling the Tory members 'perjured' at the dinner some ruffians and refuse gave him the other day. I am to second Chandos on the Corn Laws, which is fixed for next week, but will scarcely come on so soon. March i. On Tuesday we beat the Government again on the O'Connell question by increasing majori- ties, and, to make the affair complete, they were beaten again the same evening on another question. Yesterday O'Connell received his re- primand in one of the most crowded houses I H 98 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 remember. He entered, about 4.30, during the transaction of private business, with his usual air of bustle and indifference ; but it was very ob- vious that his demeanour was affected, as he was so restless that he did not keep in his place for two minutes together. At five o'clock the business commenced. The Speaker inquired whether Mr. O'Connell was in attendance, upon which O'Connell answered, * Yes, sir,' but did not rise. The Speaker, who wore his three-cornered hat, then said, ' Sir, you must stand up.' This rather dashed Dan, who began to feel uneasy, as was very evident, standing like a culprit before several hundred individuals sitting. After all, it is a moral pillory, and I am much mistaken whether Dan did not suffer acutely. The reprimand, considering the politics and physical and intellectual qualities of the re- primanded, was not ineffective. Dan stood like a penitent for a few minutes, then affected to look at some papers, but almost as quickly resumed his attention to the chair, as if he feared the House would notice his indifference ; then he dropped the paper, then he took it up, then listened again, then took out his spectacles, wiped them, and did not put them on. At last it was finished, when he rose and made a very ruffianly acknowledge 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 99 ment, and here the Speaker quite failed, as he ought not to have permitted it. Just as he sat down, there appearing a great desire to renew the fight again among our youth, and Castlereagh on his legs, a stupid deputation from the London Election Committee appeared, through an error, at the bar, robbed O'Connell of the cheers of his followers, and occasioned a dull technical debate of half an hour. At the end of this time, by the interference of our leaders, our valour had evapo- rated ; and this was the end of an incident which has shaken the Government to its centre. . . . March 7. I forgot to tell you I dined at Lyndhurst's en faTnille, to meet Campusano, the new Spanish Minister, also De Rothsay and Aberdeen. As miladi was very silent, and generally spoke French, I cannot draw any definite conclusion about her, except that I observed nothing to detract from the favourable impression I formed previously. Sa is at home, and grown very much, though more in breadth than height ; milord a most devoted husband ; Miss Copley still pre- sides at table. Sir George Grey ^ is called Mr. Pickwick in * An ex- Indian judge. H 2 loo LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 the House, being in appearance, spectacles, and style of oratory, the ' very prototype/ as Mrs. B. says, of Samivel Veller's master and patron. D. March 11, 1838. On Saturday I dined with George Wombwell,. and met De Lisle, Adolphus Fitzclarence, Auriol, and Hope. Mrs. W. I like very much. I got away to the Salisburys', where there was an agreeable party. By the bye, I met Strangford there and his daughter ; he was full of the pam- phlet. Yesterday I dined at Neeld^s ; all my friends — Ernest Bruce, Loftus, Sir Hugh Camp- bell, Percival, Eaton. The pictures exceed any I have seen in England, far beyond Lord Gros- venor's, though of course not near so numerous. His library too, is quite august. I have never seen such bindings and such magnificent copies. He has an illustrated ' Lysons,' Dent's copy, that cost, I believe. Dent originally some thousands ; he has Britton's ' Antiquities,' with the original drawings, and a thousand other fine things. March 15, 1838. I write to say I heard yesterday of the sud- den death of my colleague. I have seen Mrs. 1838 CORRESPONDENCE loi Wyndham ; she is, of course, at present, extremely overwhelmed; she was sitting in the room with him when he died. . . . March, 1838. I dined with the Powerscourts ; Lady P. is without exception the most beautiful woman in London. The party was good, in some instances rather funny — the Murchisons and Mrs. Somer- ville, Mahon, Redesdale, and Bankes. Murchison a stiff geological prig, and his wife silent. Mrs. Somerville grown very old and not very easy, but Bankes was so very agreeable that I hardly ever was at a more pleasant meeting. I hope to be with you for Easter, as I do not want to be in town during the holidays. March 16, 1838. You will hear that last night,* very unexpec- tedly — for I had given up all thought of speaking, and suffering naturally not a little both mentally and physically — I rose and made a most success- ful speech. I was so disturbed by deputations from Maidstone, rival candidates for the vacant post, and having nearly lost my voice, which I had been cooking with so much care for days, that at six o'clock, when I sat down in my place, I had * Motion on Corn Laws. I02 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1883 quite given up all idea of speaking ; but finding the House thin, and getting more composed, I began to think I would make a speech merely for the press. Even with this humble view I was unfortunate, for I could not catch the Speaker s eye, and time flew on, and the great guns one by one returned — Peel, 'Graham, Goulburn, Har- dinge, Herries, &c. About ten o'clock Hardinge beckoned to me and I seated myself between him and Graham. He wanted to speak about moving the new writ for Maidstone. Just as I rose to quit my place. Clay, who was speaking, sat down ; and the Speaker, imagining that I was going to rise, called my name. I was in for it, put my hat down, advanced to the table, and dashed along. I got the House still in a minute, and was heard with the greatest attention and good humour. I made a much shorter speech than I should have done at an early hour and a thin House ; and at length sat down amid loud cheers, and really principally from the Government side ; many of them shaking hands with me, and saying ' All our people agree it was one of the best speeches made on the subject/ Lord John said nothing, but watched me very attentively, a smile on his face, and I thought he looked malignant ; but I did him injustice, for, walking home with 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 103 Ossulston, who was full of congratulations, he said, * I have only seen Johnny, and he says it was the best thing he had heard for a long time, a great thing for one so scant of laudation.' As for our own people, Graham, Goulburn, and Hardinge and good old Herries shook hands with me im- mediately when I had regained my place. In the lobby all the squires came up to shake hands with me and thank me for the good service. They were so grateful, and well they might be, for certainly they had nothing to say for them- selves. All our party noticed the great courtesy of the Whigs and the other side generally to me. I ascribe my popularity in the House to the smoking-room. On Monday I shall be at Maidstone to dine with my triumphant constituents, as I hope, for up to last night Fector had no competitor. March 19, 1838. I write this at a Committee which I am obliged to attend on the Necropolis Bill. The ground is to be purchased by Lord Southampton, and I attend for Henry Fitzroy, who is obliged to go to Cheltenham as his mother is dying. It is very wearisome ; and the whole morning is taken up by Orator Murphy, who patriotically I04 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 appears for ' the Public/ and beards the counsel in spite of their wigs. The evening at SaHsbury's last Saturday was very brilliant ; so many beautiful women, and among them the Princess of Capua. Her beauty is remarkable, added to in some degree by her gorgeous and fantastic dress. It was entirely of green velvet and gold ; her headdress of the same material, although in shape that of a contadina. Miss Burdett Coutts was also there, a very quiet and unpretending person ; not unlike her father, nevertheless. Lady Aldboro' made her first ap- pearance for the season, and was very witty and amusing, and looked as fresh as ever. Lady Stanhope is the very picture of Bob Smith, but I forgot you know her. . . She has a very pretty daughter, Lady Wilhelmina. One of the prettiest and most interesting women I ever met, however, is Lady Powerscourt. I forgot to notice the Prince of Capua, a savage, dull-looking fellow covered with moustache, and stars. He is entirely ruled by his wife. April 26, 1838. I made a brilliant speech ^ last night, the crack one of the evening, and all who spoke after me, either for or against, addressed themselves to me. ^ Copyright Bill. 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 105 C Wynn, in speaking of Southey, confirmed ' the statement in the eloquent speech of the hon. member for Maidstone.' Poor Httle Milnes plastered me with compliments, but his own speech was entirely smashed by the reporters. The Ministers tried not to make a House, and we had a sharp run, and I think I may fairly claim carrying the measure. At least Talfourd gave me credit for it, as I went to the Carlton at 9.30, and got down a couple of members and absolutely converted Blackstone, if no others. Sir James Graham, who was in the House, was really most warm ; but of all this when we meet. D. April, 1838. I hope to be down in a few days. There is a chance of Exmouth coming for a day or two with me, he is very unaffected and easy. I never read the ' Maidstone Journal,' but will do so when I get down. It was a very triumphant speech, but I am sick of all this provincial spout- ing. I hope my mother is better, or rather well. The 315 Conservative M.P.'s are to give Peel a dinner at Freemasons Hall on the 1 2th of May. It is to be the most wonderful public dinner ever known. io6 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 June 24, 1838. London is very gay now/ The whole of the line of procession is nearly covered with galleries and raised seats ; when these are clothed with carpets and coloured hangings the effect will be superb. London teems with foreigners. There are full 200 (on dit) of distinction, attached ta the different embassies, and lodged in every pos- sible hotel from Mivart to Sabloniere. Lord F. Egerton told me this morning that he had just been paying a visit to a brace of Italian princes in the last-named crib on a third floor, and never in the dirtiest locanda of the Levant, Smyrna, or Alexandria, had he visited a more filthy place ; but they seemed to enjoy it, and are visible every night, with their brilliant uniforms and sparkling stars, as if their carriage at break of dawn were not changed into a pumpkin. Your geranium gave me a flower to-day, and will give me a couple more. I have bought also a promising plant myself, and so do very well. — My love to all, -q June, 1838. We had a very agreeable party at D'Orsay's yesterday. Zichy, who has cut out even Ester- ^ In preparation for the Queen's coronation. 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 107 hazy, having two jackets, one of diamonds more brilHant than E.'s, and another which he wore at the Drawing-room yesterday of turquoises. This makes the greatest sensation of the two. He speaks EngHsh perfectly ; is a great traveller, been to Nubia, all over Asia, and to Canada and the United States. Then there was the Duke of Ossuna, a young man, but a grandee of the highest grade. He is neither Carlist nor Chris- tino, and does not mean to return to Spain until they have settled everything. Therefore they have confiscated his estates, but he has a large property in Italy, and also Belgium. He is a great dandy and looks like Philip H., but though the only living descendant of the Borgias, he has the reputation of being very amiable. When he was last at Paris he attended a repre- sentation of Victor Hugo's * Lucrezia Borgia.* She says in one of the scenes, ' Great crimes are in our blood.' All his friends looked at him with an expression of fear, ' but the blood has degene- rated,' he said, * for I have committed only weak- nesses.' Then there was the real Prince Ponia- towsky, also young and with a most brilliant star. Then came Kissiloffs and Strogonoffs, ' and other offs and ons,' and De Belancour, a io8 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 very agreeable person. Lyndhurst, Gardner, Bulwer, and myself completed the party. I must give up going to the coronation, as we go in state, and all the M.P.'s Tntcst be in court dresses or uniforms. As I have withstood making a costume of this kind for other purposes, I will not make one now, and console myself by the conviction that to get up very early (eight o'clock), to sit dressed like a flunky in the Abbey for seven or eight hours, and to listen to a sermon by the Bishop of London can be no great enjoy- rnent. Lyndhurst made a very successful speech the other night on Spain, and foreign politics are coming into fashion. -q June 29, 1838. I went to the coronation after all. I did not get a dress till 2.30 on the morning of the cere- mony, but it fitted me very well. It turned out that I had a very fine leg, which I never knew before ! The pageant within the Abbey was without exception the most splendid, various, and interesting affair at which I ever was present. To describe is of course useless. I had one of the best seats in the Abbey, indeed our House had the best of everything. I am very glad 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 109 indeed that Ralph persuaded me to go, for it far exceeded my expectations. The Queen looked very well, and performed her part with great grace and completeness, which cannot in general be said of the other performers ; they were always in doubt as to what came next, and you saw the want of rehearsal. The Duke was loudly cheered when he made his homage. Melbourne looked very awkward and uncouth, with his coronet cocked over his nose, his robes under his feet^ and holding the great sword of state like a butcher. Lyndhurst paid his homage with re- marked grace, but instead of backing from the throne, turned his back on the Sovereign. The Duchess of Sutherland walked, or rather stalked, up the Abbey like Juno ; she was full of her situation. Lady Jersey and Lady Londonderry blazed among the peeresses. The Queen behaved with great grace and feeling about Lord Rolle ; nothing could be more effective. She seemed for an instant to pause whether etiquette would allow her to rise from her throne, and then did so, and held out her hand with infinite dignity and yet delicate sentiment. The Marquis of Normanby did his homage well, and so did Lord Wilton, though the first, and perhaps both, were too theatrical. But Lord no LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 Audley, who is premier baron, and unknown to everyone, charmed all by his graceful youth and matchless dignity, and imposing manner in which he made the declaration of fealty for his order. Exmouth complained terribly of the weight of his robes and coronet, which were made for his grand- father at George IV.'s coronation, and the old lord was a very tall, stout, burly man. I have got a gold medal given me as M.P., but I have pre- sented it to Mrs. W. L. O'Connell was in a court dress, and looked very well, and was deeply in- terested in everything, but was hooted greatly {on dit) by the mob. I think I told you of Fector's gorgeous suit ; it has been noticed in the papers. When we two got into his chariot, that cantan- kerous Norreys halloed out, ' Make room for the Maidstone sheriffs.' Very good, I think, though rather annoying. The procession was a failure ; heavy, want of variety, and not enough music and troops. There are so few troops in the country, that they cannot get up a review in' Hyde Park for Soult, and keep on the fair, they are so ashamed. I saw Lord Ward after the ceremony, in a side room, drinking champagne out of a pewter pot, his coronet cocked aside, his robes disordered, and his arms akimbo, the very picture of Rochester. The Strogonofifs 1838 CORRESPONDENCE 1 1 r are delighted with England, and will stay the month out. I cannot, however, obtain an accurate idea of the effect produced on the ambassadors ; they are so courtly and diplomatic. D. July, 1838. There was a very brilliant ball at the Salis- burys' the other night, with all the remarkables and illustrious in which London now abounds. I stayed till two o'clock ; but there were no signs then of separation, and the supper-room only just open. By the bye, the Countess Zavodouska, for I believe that is her name, appears quite the reigning beauty of the season. She did me the honour of remembering me, though not in Turkish costume, and told me she had read 'Vivian Grey.' No dukes to be made at the coronation, and Mulgrave to be made a marquis. Exmouth came up to Theodore Hook full of indignation at the thirty-one baronets in the night s ' Gazette.' * Thirty-one baronets ! There's a pretty game of the Whigs!' says he. 'They'll make a bloody hand of it, at any rate,' says Theodore. Luttrell's last conundrum, made in Lady B.'s box at the opera < When is a man nearest heaven ? ' ' When he is on a lark.' The foreigners thought that Lord 112 LORD BEACON SFIELD'S 1838 Rolle's tumble was a tenure by which he held his barony. \y July, 1838. Yesterday, the day being perfect, there was a splendid review in Hyde Park. I saw it admir- ably from Mrs. W. L.'s. The Delawares, Rolles, Lawrence Peels, and Dawsons were there, but no one was allowed to be on the drawing-room floor, lest there should be an appearance of a party, except old Lord Rolle and myself to be his com- panion. Lord R. sat in the balcony with a foot- man each side of him, as is his custom. The Londonderrys after the review gave a magnificent banquet at Holderness House. There were only 150 asked, and all sat down. Londonderry's regiment being reviewed, we had the band of the loth playing on the staircase, the whole of said staircase being crowded with orange-trees and cape jessamines. The Duke de Nemours, Soult, and all ' illustrious strangers ' were there — the banquet being in the gallery of sculpture. D. July, 1838. I returned from Maidstone too late to write to you last night. I went down to Rochester by 1 838 CORRESPONDENCE 1 1 3 coach, posted over to my constituents, just missed Day's dinner, which was well managed, went to the Hall reinforced after a wet journey, made a wonderful speech, though I hadn*t an idea, to the most numerous assembly ever known, &c. ; slept at RandalFs, who has a most beautiful house. Fec- tor very well, came from Canterbury, with that in- trusive Z , whom I snubbed very much, but he was only much civiller in consequence. On Fri- day the Randalls gave a grand breakfast to the principal members of the party, which was well done, and ' equal to anything of the kind ' as they say. But only conceive a grand ddjeitner scarcely over at 3.30, and a grand dinner at 5.30 ! I took a walk into the country, as it was in vain to pay visits. We dined 107, more than the room could hold. I had to make another speech ; never began a sentence with the slightest idea of its termination ; really in a funk, but never made a more successful one. But, to speak plainly, the two speeches cost me great efforts at the moment. I never racked my brain so much, but it answered to the helm. August 10, 1838. Fector is seated, and the petition voted frivo- lous and vexatious \ Great triumph. We shall send them a bill, in addition to their own costs. I 114 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1838 I shall not be down before the 6th or 7th of Aug. The ball at Holderness House was a very bril- liant affair. I was introduced to Lord Brougham by Lady William Powlett, and Sir Lytton also made his appearance. I spoke the other night after O'Connell/ and with spirit and success. I thought it as well that my voice should be heard at the end of the session, and especially on an Irish subject. There were only eight Tories in the House, the subject having been brought on unexpectedly and without notice, and Brougham speaking in the Lords, which takes men away. The Whig benches were tolerably full, as they had made a whip. r) November 20, 1838. There will be no real news until after the first Cabinet is held. Rumours to-day of a Russian war. Parliament is not expected to meet until January. Cutlar Fergusson being dead, the report is that Macaulay is to have the Judge-Ad- vocateship. The few people in town, principally lawyers, talk of nothing but the Durham procla- mation, which seems quite to have dished him. ■^ Municipal Corporations, Ireland. 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 115 1839. Brougham's threat — Lord Grey crushed by a picture — State of Ireland — Ude dismissed from Crockford's — Deputation to Mel- bourne — Speaker's levde — Society — Dinner at Peel's — A day of rumours — Speech on theatrical amusements — ' Richelieu ' — Command of House — Amusing debate — Game in Peel's hand — Satisfaction at being an M.P. — Douro's marriage — Concert at Madame Montefiore's — Speaker resigns — Grand Duke of Russia — Chartists uneasy — Dinner with Duke of Buckingham — Con- gratulations on speech — Meets Webster the American — ' Alarcos ' — Newspaper Press Fund dinner — F6te at Rosebank — Dines with Burdett — Prince Esterhazy — Marriage — Tunbridge Wells — Dover — Baden-Baden — Munich — Visit to Dannecker — Hal- lam — Ratisbon — Walhalla — Paris — Pleasant dinners — Father's blindness — Christmas party at Wycombe Abbey. January, 1839. Everything is very flat. They say that Lord Tavistock ts to goto Ireland, and that Sir George Grey is to be Judge- Advocate. Macaulay having refused anything. February i, 1839. I understand the Duke and Lyndhurst are in high spirits. Sir Robert arrived this morn- ing. They talk of amendments on the Address. Brougham cannot be held in ; last session he said I 2 ii6 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 they felt the weight of his ' Httle finger, let them now prepare for the double fist.' ' Not two hours, not one hour, not half an hour, shall pass after the meeting ' but he will be into them. On dit, he intends to bring forward the state of Ireland. All this gossip from Forester. On the night of the 29th, Lord Grey standing in his room, in his dressing-gown, a large picture fell and crushed him. After remaining under it a considerable time, he contrived to crawl out and pulled the bell. He was found in a state of half- stupor and has narrowly escaped a concussion of the brain ; the skull is laid open to the depth of an inch and a half. This I just heard from Saurin. — Your loving -q February 10, 1839. Brougham is very rich on the subject of Dur- ham. There are four points which he mentioned as indefensible : the appointment of Wakefield to a place of trust, the Hegira or flight, the pro- clamation, the discrepancies in the answers to the different addresses. But even on the flight he says something may be urged in extenuation. The Lord High Commissioner took out two uni- forms, a field-marshal's and a vice-admiral's ; but when the fighting was about to commence, he 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 1 17 appears to have put on the vice-admirars by mis- take and got on board ; a mistake that well might naturally, even innocently, be made by a noble lord unused to fighting clothes. The question of Ireland he is determined to take up, as a scandal to Christendom, and England especially, that in the nineteenth century life, and the means of life, property, should not be worth four-and-twenty hours' purchase, &c. Brougham denies the letter to the Queen, Croker, ostensibly writing to him on some literary point, but really to extract some opinion from him on the subject of the letter, put in a postscript, ' Have you seen the letter to the Queen ? They give it to you.' Brougham answered, in a postscript also, ' I have seen the letter to the Oueen. It was lent to me/ I understand the trousseau of Julia McDonald surpassed in fancy and splendour all late exhibi- tions, which, considering that her family collec- tively have not a sou, is surprising. She was married in white velvet with three flounces of point lace, and departed in a white silk costume with border trimming of birds of paradise feathers. But the most wonderful thing was D'Orsay's present to the bridegroom — a white silk waistcoat, brode in gold, from Paris; the design by the Count, who was at the wedding. uS LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 I shall go and call on him to-morrow. I chatted this morning an hour with Lyndhurst, who looks younger and brisker than ever. I hear that Lord Glenelg ^ has just resigned in the House of Lords. They have kept the secret close. I see the Duke of Buckingham very often; nothing can be kinder than he is. -q February, 1839. There has been a row at Crockford's and Ude dismissed. He told the committee he was worth 10,000/. a year. Their new man is quite a failure ; so I think the great artist may yet return from Elba. He told Wombwell that in spite of his 10,000/. a year he was miserable in retire- ment ; that he sat all day with his hands before him doing nothing. Wombwell suggested the exercise of his art, for the gratification of his own appetite. ' Bah ! ' he said, ' I have not been into my kitchen once, I hate the sight of my kitchen ; I dine on roast mutton dressed by a cookmaid.* He shed tears, and said he had only been twice in St. James's Street since his retirement (which was in September), and that he made it a rule never to walk on the same side as the clubhouse. * Colonial Secretary, and succeeded by the Marquis of Nor- manby. 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE i j 9 ' Ah, I love that club, though they are ingrats. Do not be offended, Mr. Wombwell, if I do not take off my hat when we meet ; but I have made a vow I will never take my hat off to a member of the committee/ ' I shall always take my hat off to you, Mr. Ude,' was the rejoinder. — Yours, D. February, 1839. I went up with the Duke of Buckingham, Praed, Fremantle, Christopher, Blackstone, and a host of Horwoods, Brickhills, &c., as a deputa- tion to Lord Melbourne on the Corn Laws, which was very amusing. Melbourne, frank and rollick- ing, evidently in his heart a thorough Tory and agriculturist, rubbed his hands and laughed ; when the evil consequences insisted on, agreed to everything. * And, my lord,' said some Horwood from Ely, * will not the fundholder be en- dangered ? ' ' Oh, of course,' said the Prime Minister. I breakfasted at Milnes' to meet Alfred de Vigny, a very pleasing personage; but I met a M. le Riou, who also spoke English, and is the most astounding litterateur I ever encountered. He is at the Athenaeum, and anxious to know my father, and his original but just and profound I20 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 views on English literature I reserve for another time. He says that Bishop Ken was the F6nelon of England, and that the * Oxford Tracts ' are a mere revival of his works ; it is the non-jurors again. I have been to the Speaker's lev6e. Lord Fitz-Alan, who was sent to Greece because he would marry Miss Pitt, has returned engaged to Miss Lyons, daughter of our minister there. It is said that he escaped ' from the Pit to fall into the Lion's mouth.' — ^Love to all, D. February, 1839. Dined at Womb well's the other day, with Gibsons and Duke of Leeds : more noise than wit. A charming little party at the Londonderry's — the Salisburys, Lyndhurst, George Bentinck, and H. Liddell. Nothing could be more delight- ful. Lyndhurst rich with fun and redolent of humour ; but the debate in the Lords broke us up earlier than we liked. Tommy Duncombe told me that he should bring the actresses on the stage again about Thursday. I wish you would look into the books and let me know something about the matter. Is it * ecclesiastical polity ' or is it a puritanic innovation ? If the latter I would 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 1 2 1 justify my vote. How was it in James I. s time and Elizabeth ? Payne Collier, what says he ? Find out what you can and let me have it on Thursday morning ; that will give you a couple of days' research. I dined last week at Peel's and came late, having mistaken the hour. I found some twenty- five gentlemen grubbing in solemn silence. I threw a shot over the table and set them going, and in time they became even noisy. Peel, I think, was quite pleased that I broke the awful stillness, as he talked to me a good deal though we were far removed, he sitting in the middle of the table. I had Sir Robert Inglis on my right hand, whose mind I somewhat opened. He requested permission to ask after my father, and whether he was at Bradenham. The dinner was curiously sumptuous — ' every delicacy of the season ; ' and the second course, of dried salmon, olives, caviare, woodcock pie, foie gras, and every combination of cured herring, &c., was really remarkable. The drawing-rooms and picture gallery were lit up with good effect. Lord Carrington, whom I met the other night at Lady B.'s, talked to me a great deal. He will be at the head of the county, not the head of a party in the county. Will make no tradesmen 122 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 magistrates, and no clergymen but from necessitate rei. Duke of Wellington does the same. Very- civil and conservative, and asked me to call on him, &c. Yesterday was a day of rumours. It began by giving the Duke of Wellington a fit and ended by burning down Clumber ; but I believe they are both very safe. February 28, 1839. A thousand thanks, you are a library and a librarian both. I paired for Scrope's dinner till 30.30, anticipating debate on Mexico ; found Mexico put off, and Tommy about to jump up. Never heard a more entertaining debate ; Dun- combe's drollery inimitable.^ Though I had not intended to speak, and had not even your notes in my pocket, it animated me, and though full- figged in costume, I rose with several men at the same time ; but the House called for me, and I spoke with great effect, amid loud cheering and laughter. Supposed to have settled the question, which, to the disgust of Government, was carried by a majority of twenty. Never saw Johnny in a greater rage. He sent for Alfred Paget, who was going to vote for us, and insisted that he ^ Tom Duncombe's motion on theatrical amusements in Lent. i839 CORRESPONDENCE 123 shouldn't. I was glad Duiigannon, an ultra- Churchman, took the same side. Chandos is de- lighted with the result, and should, he says, cer- tainly have voted against the Government. D. March 9, 1839. Bulwers play^ is very successful, but as a composition, I hear, poor stuff. It is in fact written by Macready, who has left out all the author s poetry which is not verse, and philosophy which is not prose. The scenery and costumes unprecedently gorgeous and correct ; the acting very good. My last speech^ was very successful, the best coup I have yet made. And it was no easy task, for I spoke against the Government, the great mass of the Conservative party, and even took a different view from the small minority itself I was listened to in silence and the utmost attention. Peel especially complimented me, sore as he was at the Conservative schism, and said, ' Disraeli, you took the only proper line of oppo- sition to the bill;' and Hardinge, a sharp critic, said I had entirely got the ear of the House, and overcome everything. The dilemma as to O'Connell was perfect, and made a sensation. He 3 Richelieu. ^ Municipal Corporation, Ireland. 124 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 would have replied, but Peel caught the Speaker's eye, and after him young O'Connell took the cue, and attempted to answer me. The Duke of Buck- ingham talks of nothing but 'Buckinghamshire Lays/ — Love to all. t-) March 22, 1839. I spoke last night,^ but without any prepara- tion, as I was not even aware that Hume's motion was coming on. I made some telling hits, being a rdchauffd of some of the chief points in the 'Vindication of the English Constitution.' The Radicals were flustered, and as Henry Ward, who followed, succeeded in making no answer to me, were obliged to stir up O'Connell, who was in- clined to be malin, but cautious. Hume was in a great rage because I said he did not know what representation and taxation really meant. On the whole it was very amusing. The House, though so early, very full, from an idea that the Ministry are going to announce their resignation ! . . . The excitement is at the highest ; the galleries filled at noon, the lobbies and passages lined, strangers in the streets appealing to you for orders ; every preparation for a great battle, which will after all turn out a X. The game is in Peel's ^ On Household Suffrage. 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 125 hands ; but he evidently has resolved that the Ministers shall resign and not be turned out. The Radicals clamour against him for not permitting them to assist him. However, all is bustle, and 500 members at prayers, in order to secure places. This is just one of those occasions in old days when I used to feel so mortified at not being an M.P. Assisting^ as the French say, at such a * crisis ' has considerable fascination, and all must feel it though they can't and won't confess. One cannot walk down Parliament Street under such circumstances without some degree of exultation. June 4, 1839. A great day of hubbub. The Lord Chamber- lain resigned on Saturday, and the Speaker ^ to- day ; he holds the chair, however, till Whitsun- tide. Spring- Rice is the Government candidate ; but there will be a battle. The Grand Duke of Russia rides, the ' Morning Post ' says, a la Russe, which means, I take it, a Mamelouk gallop. I met him at this pace to-day down Regent Street, poor Lord Torrington riding after him, and no joke, it being his own horse, and mopping his official countenance in a most unofficial manner. The Chartists are uneasy. Old Wynn has 3 Abercromby : succeeded by Shaw-Lefevre. 126 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 placed himself at the head of his county and the troops, and done wonders at Llanidloes, where he has recovered the town and routed the rebels. Fine old fellow ! Dined en famille with the Duke of Bucking- ham, to eat venison ; a regular Bucks party. Sir East and a widow daughter, enthusiastically blue, and boring Chandos about my genius, who seemed quite puzzled and proud at having an author for his friend. I believe Lady Anna has not been allowed to read the tragedy (' Alarcos '), therefore she hopes it will be acted. She is great fun. I hope your voyage was prosperous, and my father better. My love to him and my mother. — Yours, D. June 8, 1839. The debate ^ wanted variety last night, as it may almost be said to have consisted only of two speeches, taking up more than five hours between them. I don't think either was very suc- cessful. Lord John is generally feeble in a studied harangue and tells better in a sharp reply. Peel was over-laboured and, though partially produced great effect, hung fire towards the end ; besides, ^ Fleetwood's motion for giving votes to county 10/. house- holders. i839 CORRESPONDENCE 127 by rising directly, which he was obliged, after Johnny, the House had not dined, and were so famished before he had concluded, that the cheer- ing was not as hearty as usual, but indicated some- what of the faintness of their systems. I am afraid there is no chance of a division to-night. The result as to numbers is very doubtful. Bonham puts the majority from 15 to 18 ; I put it 22. Douro's marriage has taken place : a great concourse and much cheering in the streets, and would have been in the church had not the Dean of Carlisle with apostolic nctivetd preliminarily warned the audience. The church crowded; three or four ladies in pulpit ; pews engaged weeks before. I have not seen the lady, but, according to Douro, she weighs 1 1 stone 5 lbs. I hear a beautiful face, and came out last year. They were married before twelve, and at four o'clock he was riding in the park. . . . These, I suppose, as Sir Hugh says, are affectations. They drove off at 5.30 to Strathfieldsaye. The Duke walked into the church star and gartered, and walked home much cheered : the mob wanted to take the horses out of the carriage and draw the new marchioness. Dined at the Duke of Buckingham's ; the new dining-room opened for the first time. I was the only commoner except Sir W. Fremantle. Lady 128 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 Mahon full of the sonnet,^ never having before had an opportunity of speaking her mind, which I don't think particularly pleased my lord. D. June, 1839. I hear that eight new peers are to be made. I was at Madame Montefiore, n^e De Rothschild, as she says at court : a most magnificent concert. Two royal princes (Sussex and Cambridge) and the Duke of Wellington gartered and fleeced. Grisi and Persiani sang a duet, and the supper very splendid. The weather is at length charm- ing, and I think you must really look after my summer costume. Eight Radicals go against the Government, and if our own men can be kept together, instead of thirty majority as they talk of, they would not have ten. Peel made one of his great speeches ; the rest very dull. I did not rise, as the only opportunity I had was after Hume, and I did not like to speak after a man who opposed the Government and really did it very well. Lord John has published his letter to his constituents and thrown over the Government. The fate of the Whigs is sealed, but the moment of their break-up depends of course on circumstances. 8 Written by Mr. Disraeli on Lady Mahon's portrait in the ' Book of Beauty.' 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 129 Social London is rather dull, in contradistinction to political London ; indeed no one thinks of any- thing but politics. I send you a very good thing In the shape of Theodore Hook's epitaph on Lord de Ros — 'Here lies Henry, 17th Baron de Ros, in joyful expectation of the last Trump/ I am reading the Indian papers, which are the most amusing thing I have met with since the ' Arabian Nights.' j^ June 23, 1839. I didn't get home till half-past five on Friday morning, and had only time yesterday before post to receive the congratulations of my friends, which came thick as the leaves of Vallambrosa. How strange that nearly in despair at the end of the session I should have made by universal consent the best speech^ on our side on the most important party question. After listening to Ewart as long as he replied or attempted to reply, which was about ten minutes or so, I thought the moment he began to repeat by rote I might retire, and I went to the Carlton. The rumour of my success had preceded me. Canterbury was very warm ; he has always taken an interest in my Parlia- mentary careen It was Charles BuUer who told ® June 21, on National Education. K 130 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 him it was one of the best speeches. I had touched up Charley a little, though with courtesy. He is erroneously represented in the papers as not being in the House, whereas the ' laugh ' which you may observe in the report was occa- sioned by his taking off his hat and making me a bow. Two of my old foes, Lord Lincoln and Lord Ashley, tendered me their congratulations with extended hands. As for ' Alarcos,' Colburn, on the strength of the speech I suppose, advertises it this morning as ' Mr. Disraeli's Tragedy.' D. July 3, 1839. I dined at Greenwich with the Duke of Buck- ingham on Saturday. A large party embarked at Whitehall in a steamer, but I went by land with Lyndhurst. A sumptuous banquet, and Brougham made nearly fifty speeches full of comic humour and fierce slashing of Whigs ; declared it was impossible to turn them out of power, to Chandos's blank despair, because they were not in power, to Chandos's chuckling relief. Lyndhurst was also capital. I dined with him yesterday to meet Webster,^ who is, I believe, considered a very refined and spirituel Yankee, but seemed to me a complete Brother Jonathan — ^ The American statesman. 3 839 CORRESPONDENCE 131 a remarkable twang, as * /j/rannical ' and all that ; he also goes to the levee, A fine brow, lofty, broad, and beetled deep-set eyes, and swarthy complexion. He is said when warmed to be their greatest orator. Strangford was there, very airy and sparkling ; all the rest Americans and princi- pally relatives. A good story and true. Brougham asked Webster verbally to dine with him, and sent him a card the next day headed * To remind.* Webster immediately answered by another card headed ' To acknowledge ' — very American, don't you think ? The great storm here was very grand, and blended with Lyndhursts banquet. Strangford said it reminded him of ' Alarcos ; ' he and 'George' think it by far the finest thing I have written, but don't like the comic parts. Wakley says it is the finest play since Shakespeare. There ! Sidney Herbert quoted a long passage ; just been reading it to a lady. I said I was sur- prised anyone could look at a tragedy not acted ; he said, ati contraire, it was very much read and talked about. £) July 13, 1839. I made a capital speech last night on Char- tism, of which the ' Times ' gives a fair report. K 2 132 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 It was made under every disadvantage, for the Tories, supposing Chartism would be only a squabble between the Whigs and Radicals, were all away, while the Ministerial benches were crowded — all the Ministers, all the Whigs, and all the Radicals. Peel, however, was in the House, having come down on the Penny Postage. It was a very damaging and disagreeable speech to the Government, and they didn't like it. I dine to-day at the Newspaper Press dinner. I go with Lyndhurst, who is in the chair. Powers-^ court raves about ' Alarcos,' and literally knows it by heart. Milnes, the poet, is astonished that I didn't give it Macready, as ' it would have made his fortune.' I went down to Rosebank to a petit bal given by the Londonderrys, after a dinner to the Duchess of Cambridge on her birthday. The place itself is but a beautiful cottage, but there is a grand conservatory more than sixty feet long, lofty and broad in proportion, and, adorned with festoons of flowers, formed a charming ball-room, and I met a great many of my friends. In reality, the brilliant moon, the lamplit gardens, the terraces, the river,, the music, the sylvan ball-room, and the bright revellers, made a scene like a festa in one of George Sand's novels. — Love to all. D. 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 1 33 August 13, 1839. I dined at Burdetts yesterday. Dinner at seven o'clock precisely ; everything stately and old- fashioned, but agreeable. The house charming ; the dining-room looking into delightful gardens, with much old timber, beyond St James's Park. I got away by 9.3c, and went down to the House, which I found dozing in committee, but I made a speech. Unfortunately, as generally happens on long committee nights, there was scarcely a re- porter in the gallery. I analysed all the evidence of the Constabulary Report. It made great effect, quoting all the pages and names without any docu- ment. The complete command of the House I now have is remarkable, and nothing can describe to you the mute silence which immediately ensued as I rose, broken only by members hurrying to their places to listen. On Monday I was more than four hours at Lord Palmerston's private residence on business of no slight importance. Prince Esterhazy, who came into the dining-room whilst I was waiting, said, * I have come to intro- duce myself to Mr. Disraeli. I have long wished to know you ; I read your speeches with admira- tion.' I understand the Cabinet is to be reconstructed soon after the prorogation, which is to take place 134 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839^ on Tuesday. Our marriage ^ is fixed for Wednes- day. I shall write to you every day, however briefly. ... My particular love to my mother, and all. D. Kentish Hotel, Tunbridge Wells : September 4. Your welcome letter reached me yesterday.. We have had unceasing rain, and have therefore not left our rooms, which we find very agreeable,, except to drive to Bayham amid squalls, and an excursion to Penshurst yesterday amidst showers. De Lisle was out shooting, but we saw the chil- dren, whom we found quite charming. Mr- Sidney, aged thirteen, had gone to school that morning — Temple Grove to wit, but no longer kept by that wretched Pinkney. The three daughters and their governess received us. Miss Sidney, about fourteen, a most interesting girl, though not pretty ; her little sisters very much so. I have only been on the Pantiles once, and have met Lord Monteagle, with whom I am very good friends, notwithstanding our skirmishing. There is scarcely anybody here that we know, or care to know. The Thomonds arrived at this hotel on Monday, and have called on us — the first ^ Married Mrs. Wyndham Lewis, August 28, 1839. 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 135 visit we have received. Thank Tita for his con- gratulations. Ship Inn, Dover : September 7. We quitted the Wells rather suddenly, resolved to take advantage of the fine weather ; travelled yesterday with our own horses to Ashford, by a cross road, through the Weald of Kent. At Ashford this morning I met Knatchbull, who was about to attend a justice meeting at our inn. He came upstairs and was introduced to Mary Anne. His place is in the vicinity, a deer park, and then comes Deedes. Ashford Church is quite a min- ster in appearance. There is a small chapel lately and richly renovated by Lord Strangford ; very beautiful, full of the tombs of the Smythes. He has repurchased part of the family estate in the neighbourhood. He has inlaid in the wall a bold brazen tripartite tablet, one side containing an in- scription to the memory of his wife, who died at Constantinople, the other to his eldest son, and the centre left blank for himself. From Ashford through Hythe we reached Dover to-day, and intend to cross to Calais to-morrow. Write to me, Poste Restante, Baden- Badea D. 136 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 Baden-Baden : September 19. Our movements have been so rapid since we quitted England, that I have had no opportunity of writing before, with any definite idea of our progress or purposes. A rough but very rapid passage carried us to Calais, only two hours and twenty minutes, but Mary Anne suffered dread- fully, as indeed all the passengers except myself. However, we got off the evening of our arrival, and slept at Dunkerque ; arrived at Ostende the next day, just as the train was about to start for Brussels ; got our carriage hoisted on and reached that place at 8.30. Very hungry, for we had not dined ; we drove in despair to the Bellevue and all the great hotels in turn, finding them all full ; at last got lodged in an entresol at the Britannique, grateful even for this wretched shelter. From Brussels reached Liege, through Antwerp by a railroad, then posted the next day through Aix- la-Chapelle, which like every town in Belgium is wonderfully improved in external appearance since my early visit. We arrived at Cologne two hours before the steamer set off. Completed the whole passage to Pforzheim without leaving the boat, sleeping very comfortably in our carriage, and on Monday found ourselves quartered in the Baden Hof. Such are the revolutions of modern travel ! i839 CORRESPONDENCE 137 This is the most picturesque, agreeable, loung- ing sort of place you can imagine. A bright little river winding about green hills, with a white sparkling town of some dozen palaces called hotels, and some lodging-houses, like the side scenes of a melodrama, and an old ruined castle or two on woody heights. I don't think we shall stay more than a week. Mary Anne says it is not much better than Cheltenham — public dinners, balls, promenades, pumps, music and gambling. The dining at the table d'hote^ an invariable custom, is amusing and cheap. We think of going from here to Munich, only about 150 or 200 miles ; it would be a result. I shall arrange that any letter you have already directed here shall follow me ; in the meantime direct to Munich. I got a sight of English papers and ' Galignani ' at the library here, which was of course welcome. Yours ever affectionately, D. Munich : October 2. We have been so constantly on the wing since we left Baden, that it has been impossible for me to write to you before. We travelled from Baden to Stuttgart, through the Black Forest for two days — a region of uninterrupted interest, most 138 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 savage and picturesque, though rich from its vegetation and occasional valleys of pasture. We travelled for a whole day through an almost impenetrable forest of black pines, occasionally cleared for a few miles, and offering most charm- ing views of villages watered by rushing streams,, and backed by villages, valleys, and amphitheatres of hill over hill, all covered with the black pine ; the weather cloudless and very hot. Stuttgart a very handsome town of the Turin school, modera but improving ; but the Grecian villa of the king in the park is charming, and most tastefully fur- nished. We fell upon gr^dXfeieSy which pleased us much. The king, surrounded by a brilliant court, sat in a pavilion in the midst of a beautiful mead, which was enclosed by tiers of covered seats, and distributed prizes to the Wurtemburg peasants for oxen, horses, &c. 'Twas much finer than the tournament. More than 20,000 persons I should think present ; the peasantry in rich and bright dresses, dark velvets with many large silver buttons, vivid vests, and three-cornered cocked hats. It was fine to see a family leading a bull crowned with roses, rams worthy of the antique garlanded for altars. After this races, which were not very good, though the passion of the king is for horses, and his stables are, I believe, the finest 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 139 in Europe. The whole scene was very patri- archal, though her Majesty came in half-a-dozen blue carriages with scarlet liveries. The king rode a fine barb, followed by grooms, &c., in scarlet. We visited the studio of Dannecker, and I in- sisted on seeing the artist, whom I found a hale old man, more than eighty, but with a disorder in his throat which prevents him from speaking. He was much affected by our wishing to see him, and when we drove off opened the window of his room, waved his hand, and managed to say, ' Viva, viva ! ' I have read enough of Hallam to make me thirst for literary history in detail. He takes of all things a comprehensive view, and handles them with a vigorous grasp, but is more strong in the legal division than in others. A mere general view is all he can take of any subject. I think it will revive and restore the taste for literary history, which all able works thereon inevitably must. I don t think his English literature his strongest point. He is very meagre and unjust — on Sir Thomas Browne for instance. Compare Hallam with Coleridge hereon. He never notices the extraordinary imagination of B. In general, I see in Hallam a dash of German affectation in his 140 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 Style, which he has imbibed of late years. My paper is full. — Thousand loves to all. D. Munich : October 14, 1839. After a fortnight's residence in this city, I find it difficult to convey to you an idea of it. Since Pericles no one has done so much for the arts as the King of Bavaria. Galleries of painting and sculpture, Grecian temples, Gothic and Byzantine churches, obelisks of bronze, equestrian statues of brass, theatres and arcades painted in fresco, are but some of the features of splendour and tasteful invention which on every side solicit the eye, and which I can only allude to. The Royal chapel has the most astonishing interior in Europe ; entirely painted in fresco on a rich gold ground. This art of fresco painting he has entirely revived. His painted glass equals the most vivid of the old windows. His patronage has produced a first-rate architect in Klenze, and the most re- markable sculptor in Europe in Schwanthaler, a pupil once of Thorwaldsen, and with much of his style., though he combines with classic taste feudal genius. Our days have passed in a round of sightseeing, and Munich is not yet exhausted. The king returned, after a long absence, four days i839 CORRESPONDENCE 141 back, since which the city has been very gay : reviews, a new statue opened, an installation of the Knights of St. Max, races, the Queens birth- day, &c. We have seen the king several times, tall, meagre, and German — a poet, which accounts for Munich, for a poet on a throne can realise his dreams. j) Hotel de I'Europe, .Rue Rivoli, Paris : November 4. We arrived here on Saturday very well ; and your very welcome letters reached me instantly. October until the last two days presented to us a cloudless sky, which rendered our travelling from Munich to Frankfort very agreeable. We visited Ratisbon, a very ancient Gothic city. Walhalla, a height on the Danube, crowned with a Grecian temple larger than the Parthenon, but of beauty not less eminent, raised to the genius of Germany by the King of Bavaria ; Nuremberg, a city which retains all its olden character, the Pom- peii of the middle ages, and Wurtzburg-on-the- Maine, once the capital of a princely prelate who sojourned in a much nobler palace than our sovereigns. So to Frankfort, where after a few days we crossed the Rhine, having travelled in our tour by the waters not only of that river, but of the Neckar, the Danube, and the Maine : the 142 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 four principal rivers of Germany. The Neckar and the Maine are charming, though not as famous as the Rhine, nor offering at one point such an aggregate of beauties as are clustered together between Bingen and Coblentz. The famous Danube is but an uncouth stream ; its bed is far too considerable for its volume, so that it presents a shallow, shoaly look, with vast patches of sand and shingle in the midst of its course. Henry Bulwer, who is now a great man, called on us on Sunday, and we met afterwards at dinner at the Charles Gores. The Goulburns left this place this morning, and the Brinsley Sheridans are also here. ' Galignani ' meets me every morning on the breakfast-table, which is very pleasant, I have contrived to keep pretty au fait with what has gone on, so that I shall not be a stranger when I return, which I suppose will be about the end of the month. I have got Rogers' rooms here, who quitted Paris with his sister and old Mr. and Mrs. Fonblanque on Monday. I hope my father has made progress. I think Hallam provokes the appetite for a continuous history full of bio- graphical detail. His style is very careless at times, and often ungrammatical, but that is better than his Germanisms ; but he is vigorous and i839 CORRESPONDENCE 143 comprehensive. 'Tis a review article in four volumes, not a history. -q Paris : November 22, 1839. I hope to reach England in a week, and shall be very glad to find myself there again. The political horizon is cloudy and disturbed, but the serious illness of the Duke of Wellington, which Tias just reached our Embassy, may yet assist the Whigs on their last legs. I always hold that no one is ever missed, but he is so great a man that the world will perhaps fancy his loss irreparable. I have received all my letters from the Carlton and Grosvenor Gate through Henry Bulwers kindness. We have been very gay in Paris and our friends very kind to us, having been invited to the Embassy, Canterburys, Sheridans, &c. One day we dined at a complete party of English Catholics, friends of Mary Anne, at a Mr. Nangle's, who married a Miss Tichborne, daughter of Sir Henry and sister of Lady Dormer, to meet John Bennett, eldest son of Bennett of Wilts, who has just married a Tichborne, also very young and pretty and now travelling. All of them very agreeable people, but our host after dinner called up his son to introduce to me, ' Chidiock Tichborne Nangle,' so named in 144 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 consequence of the paper in the ' Curiosities of Literature.' He said the Tichborne family would shed tears over that article. Mary Anne is particularly well, and in her new costumes looks like Madame de Pompadour, who is at present the model of Paris — at least in dress. We have been to the Grand Opera to see the ' Fairy Lake*^ of Auber, and to the ' Proscrit,' a new play at a small theatre, by Eugene Soulie, very Gallic and effective, i,e, affected and affecting. Paris is very much changed since my first visit ; there are trottoirs in every street, and in the most ordinary corners you find shops which Regent Street cannot equal. But their efforts in the higher arts, of which they talk so much, will not pass muster after Munich. We hope to meet my father quite himself again. -q Grosvenor Gate : November. Your letter would have made me very happy had it brought more satisfactory tidings of my father. I had persuaded myself from your account that the enfeebled vision^ merely arose from bodily health, sedentary habits, &c. We are very uneasy and unhappy about him, and we ^ This was the commencement of the blindness from which he never recovered. 1 839 CORRESPONDENCE 145 would take great care of him if he would come up for advice. Everything is very flat, and we live in the midst of perpetual fog, and shall be glad when business will let us find ourselves at Bra- denham. In spite of all the Cabinet Councils, the day for the meeting of Parliament seems as yet un- certain. The deficit in the Post Office in London this morning (i,e, London alone) was 800/. The Government are chagrined ; but Maberly told a friend of mine that though it * was certain to fail they must go on, that the existence of the Govern- ment depended on it. Brougham has written to the benchers of Lincoln's Inn to request that his daughter may be buried there, as he has always intended that his own ashes should repose in their sanctuary. Granted nem, con, ; the first woman that has ever been interred in an inn of court. D. December 18, 1839. Dearest, Alexander has just left us; he seems to think with skill and care my father ought to recover his sight There is no news otherwise, except my father thinks me looking very well, 4 The new Penny Post. L 146 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1839 which makes me fear he is really blind, as this is the first time in his life he ever thought so. Last week we dined en famille with Mrs. Montefiore to meet Antony Rothschild, who is to marry one of the Montefiores, Charlotte. There were Roth- schilds, Montefiores, Alberts, and Disraelis — not a Christian name, but Mary Anne bears it like a philosopher. D'Orsay sent on his horse to Wycombe Abbey, as Bob Smith has none * worth riding,' but he could not get out of the house the whole time he was there, even to pay you a visit. It was so foggy he was obliged to give it up. They had a roaring, robustious, romping party, of which he gave very amusing details. Playing hide-and- seek, they got Into the roof, and Albert Conyng- ham fell through the ceiling of one of the rooms. An immense long leg dangling out, Carrington came to look at it with his eye-glass, but took it very good-humouredly. Great regrets on his part that I was not at Bradenham. Parliament fixed for January 16. D. i84o CORRESPONDENCE 147 1840. Penny post — Fear of Chartists — Visit to Stowe — First political dinner — Queen's marriage fixed — Debate on non-confidence — Prince Albert— Privilege — Visit to sheriffs in prison — Address to Queen on her marriage — Good speech — Speaker's lev^e — Brighton— Death of Lady Cork— Meets Rogers— Prince Albert at Exeter Hall — Ministers defeated— Scene in House — Crock- ford retires — Two speeches— Ball at Stowe to Queen Dowager — Fiasco of Louis Napoleon — Wolbeding — Breakfast with Horace Walpole— Beyrout taken — Death of Lord Holland — Deepdene — Cambridge Election for High Steward— Excitement — Lyndhurst returned with triumph— Birth of Princess Royal — Spanish pudding — Christmas party at Deepdene. January 15, 1840. Dearest, This new penny post is hateful, as one must write so early. It closes at five o'clock, and news is never heard till that hour. The other night all the town was terrified with ex- pected risings of the Chartists. The troops ordered to be ready, the police in all directions, and the fire-engines all full, as incendiarism was to break out in several quarters. They say the news came to the Government from St. Katharine's Docks; some smell a hoax, and say that the L 2 148 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 Ministers were only informed that the Chartists were eoine to set the Thames on fire. The Landgravine is dead ; on dit she is to be buried at Windsor. The Duke of Sussex very ill. We enjoyed our visit to Stowe ; went to the Buckingham Ball. The exterior of the mansion realises all I expected ; the interior in some re- spects falls short. The library is good, and the library of MSS. most rich and rare, the prints still more so. The illustrated Grainger must have cost thousands ; Horace Walpole*s letters, illustrated, are in twenty elephantine folios, in a cabinet to themselves. q Januaiy 21, 1840. The parliamentary campaign begins fiercely — war to the knife. Tuesday week will, I sup- pose, decide the fate of the session. The Duke moved an amendment unexpectedly ; but we were not prepared in the Commons to second him, having been told our presence would not be neces- sary ; and a bad division would have thrown a damper over the impending struggle. Peel con- gratulated me very warmly on my marriage. . . . Stockdale's affair ^ gets every hour more embroiled. Yesterday I gave my first male dinner party. ^ Question of privilege. i84o CORRESPONDENCE 149 Everything went off capitally ; Lyndhurst, Strang- ford, Powerscourt, Ossulston, D'Orsay, Sir R. Grant, and Sir L. Bulwer, &c. I rather think Leader will vote with us, but he is of little use alone. Grote has gone to Paris, and Moles worth has not yet come up ; all the rest of the Radicals are bribed, except old Fielden, who, I believe, votes with us. I dare say they wiir have 12 to 15 majority. I have been introduced at last formally to the Duke of Wellington at Lynd- hurst's ; he accorded me a most gracious and friendly reception, and looked right hearty. The Queen is to be married February loth. D. January 31, 1840. Dearest, Here is a hurried sketch of our de- bate.'^ Sir Yarde Buller was very bad, but not much less effective than Acland last year in a similar position, but more stupid, the difference being — Sir Tom only stuttered. Sir John stuck. Sir George Grey made a dashing House of Com- mons speech, which I should have liked to have answered, but as he concluded about eight, and I had not dined, it was impossible. I had no "^ Debate on non-confidence. I50 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 intention of speaking the first night, for although I said some good things, and was very well received, I was debarred by circumstances from making the speech I had intended. The fact is the Govern- ment put up Gisborne, who is sometimes a won- derful rhetorician, and produces great effects in a crowded house, but uncertain. There had been a general rumour he was to make a great display, and when he got up Fremantle came to me and asked me to reply to him. He began very well, but after some little time regularly broke down, was silent for some moments, sent for oranges, coughed, stuck again and again, and finally plead- ing ' some physical inability ' which had suddenly deprived him of his voice, sank overwhelmed with his own exposure. We thought he was drunk, but the Whigs say the fault was he was not; and that when he is tipsy, and is not prepared, he is very good. I found, however, I had a lame bird to kill, or rather a dying one ; and though I made a somewhat brilliant guerilla opera- tion, there was not that solid practical move- ment that I had originally contemplated. The next night we had it all our own way, Howick making the most extraordinary announcement, which you have read, and alone justifies the debate. Graham very vigorous and malignant, 1 840 CORRESPONDENCE 1 5 1 and Macaulay plunging into the most irretriev- able slough of failure you can possibly conceive. Nothing could be worse — manner, matter, and spirit ; ludicrously elaborate, and perfectly in- appropriate. The Speaker with difficulty pre- served order, and it was clear to everyone that in future Macaulay will no longer command the House on such an occasion. Yesterday we again had it all our own way ; Stanley being very effective. The debate is with us, but the division will, I apprehend, be very seedy. D. February 12, 1840. I did at last succeed in seeing Prince Albert. He is very good-looking, and they are now en- joying themselves on the slopes of Windsor. The Duke of Bucks has dined with me ; he was really quite gay and seemed delighted with every- thing, which with him is very rare, as society bores him. I have asked sixty M.P.'s to dine with me, and forty have come. I shall now rest upon my oars. We are in great confusion with Stockdale. He bore his examination with great coolness, without being audacious, and unbroken presence of mind. The sheriffs and under-sheriffs have been under examination, but the House 152 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 only gets deeper in the mire, and I think the result is that they must commit the sheriffs, which will occasion a riot, and eventually the judges, which will cause a rebellion. If Follett had not misled Peel originally, the Whigs would have been crushed. We inflicted a tremendous blow on the Government yesterday, practically more than if we had carried the non-confidence vote. Herries' speech, of its kind, was a master- piece ; perspicuous, poignant, polished, and never failing in a single point. I had no idea of his calibre. Labouchere broke down, the Chancellor of the Exchequer only floundered. February 16. I have been to see the sheriffs in prison. They really think themselves martyrs. I told them they would ' live in history,' and they an- swered ' No doubt of it.' . . . When do you come to town ? — Yours, D. February 18, 1840. I went up with our House,^ very strong in numbers, and very brilliant in costume, and it was generally agreed that / am never to wear any other but a Court costume ; being, according ^ Address to the Queen on her marriage. 1840 CORRESPONDENCE 153 to Ossulston, a very Charles II. The Peers preceding our procession by only half an hour, the golden carriages of the Chancellor and the Speaker were almost blended in the same crowd, and the quantity of personages of note, to say nothing of courtiers, gentlemen-at-arms, and beet- eaters, was very fine. All our men were costumed but Scholefield and Muntz, and a few Rads, in- cluding, to my surprise, O'Connell en bottrgeois. The Speaker, with John Russell on his right and Peel on his left, both in the Windsor uniform, marched up to the throne in good style ; we followed somewhat tumultuously. The Queen looked well ; the Prince on her left in high mili- tary fig, very handsome, and the presence was altogether effective. Always having heard the palace abused, I was rather agreeably surprised. The hall is low, but the staircase is not ineffective, and I was amused, for the scene was busy and brilliant. I have received nothing but congratulations about my speech,^ and it is impossible to give you any account of all the compliments, congratu- lations, and shaking of hands, &c., which occurred in the lobby during the division. Continued cheering, the House very full about half-past ten, * On question of privilege. 154 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 184a when I sat down a prime hour, and every man of distinction there. I hope my father improves. — Love to all. D. March, 1840. All the world of late has been talking of the Shuckboro ' correspondence, which will be sent you, therefore I need not describe it. A strange medley of witty vulgarity on the part of Lady Seymour, and purse-proud ostentation on that of her correspondent. It will make you laugh, I think. To-night we are to beat the Government — re Newport job. It will be a sporting debate,^ and worth listening to. I went to the Speaker's. Iev6e, which was very full, though not a leading man on either side visible. D. York Hotel, Brighton : April 20. We have found this place pleasant enough, the weather being very fine I have eaten a great many shrimps, which are the only things that have reminded me I am on the margin of the ocean ; for it has been a dead calm the whole week, and I have not seen a wave or heard the break of the tide. There are a good many birds of passage here, like ourselves. I had a long 1840 CORRESPONDENCE 155 Stroll with the Speaker,^ who is the most amiable of men and not one of the least agreeable, fresh as a child and enjoying his holidays. I think the volume of miscellanies charming in appearance, and its contents most inviting. I cannot doubt of its extreme popularity when known. I hope you will give me a good bulletin of all in Half-Moon Street. I long to see you all. J) June I, 1840. No news, except on dit Lowther or his son-in- law, Broadwood, have bought the opera-house and, I suppose, all the dancers besides. After all, poor Lady Cork did not die of old age ; she was arranging her plants in a new fashion and caught cold. On Saturday at Hope's I sat next to Rogers, and he made one or two efforts at conversation which I did not encourage ; but after the second course (Rogers having eaten an immense dinner), both of us in despair of our neighbours, we could no longer refrain from falling into talk, and it ended by a close alliance, the details and consequences of which are so amusing that I must reserve them for our visit. All the world has been this morning to Exeter ^ Shaw-Lefevre, now Viscount Eversley. 156 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 184b Hall to see Prince Albert in the chair. Peel moved one of the resolutions, and produced a great effect on his Highness. June 12, 1840. The political world is convulsive ; the Govern- ment, by extraordinary efforts and pledging them- selves that if in a minority they would resign, hardly induced Howick and all the malcontents and shufflers to return to their allegiance, came to a pitched battle again last night, and were, to our surprise as much as their own consternation, ignobly defeated. After this occurred a scene which only could be compared to Donnybrook fair. O'Connell insanely savage; the floor covered with members in tumultuous groups ; Stratford Canning; pale as a spectre, with outstretched and arraigning arm ; hooting, cheering, groaning, and exclamations from unknown voices in the sena- torial crowd. Maidstone, in full dress fresh from the Clarendon, re-enacting the part of the English Marcellus, and Norreys with a catcall. Fancy Gordon falling asleep over his despatches in the Speaker's private room ! What a droll casualty ! Old Gore Langton ' lost his way.* He is eighty-five. We never have a single man absent. 1840 CORRESPONDENCE 157 One great resignation has occurred. Last nig^ht Crockford sent in a letter announcinor his retirement. 'Tis a thunderbolt, and nothing else is talked of ; 'tis the greatest shock to domestic credit since Howard and Gibbs. Some members are twelve years in arrear of subscriptions. One man owes 700/. to the coffee-room ; all must now be booked up. The consternation is general. Moors that were hired are given up, and yachts destined to the Mediterranean must now lie in harbour. q July 15, 1840. These last days I have been so pressed with various affairs that I have not been able to sum- mon spirits enough for correspondence, though I have found two occasions to make speeches. Last night I massacred Dr. Bowring. The only report that gives you the least idea of what I said is in the ' Morning Chronicle,' for the debate came on late, unexpectedly, and in committee, when re- porters are generally slack and absent, expecting nothing but conversation. I answered the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was replied to by the President of the Board of Trade, who, however, had nothing to say for himself, and was obliged to take refuge in mere 158 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 assertions. My facts flabbergasted him, as well as Bowring s champion, Hume, who was ludicrously- floored. His speech is not in the least reported, but convulsed the House when he said the 'hon. and learned member for Maidstone ' had taken him by surprise, quoting authors he had never read, &c. &c. Peel most gallantly came to the rescue of his ' hon. friend the member for Maid- stone,' and gave me immense kudos, D. July 21, 1840. I spoke again ^ last Friday — fairly reported in the ' Times,' but being of an ironical vein was difficult to see under. Bowring has written me a letter of Christian mildness. He has only con- firmed the two points of which I was not certain. He is ruined by my oration, and is to be employed no more. This is a fact. The other point was nothing, as he is no longer in Parliament ; but everybody thought he was very learned and all that. We had a pleasant dinner at the Horace Twisses, and Theodore Hook among the number. He was very amusing, and would not join the ladies : ' We are very comfortable here/ &c. At ® Factory Bill, 1 840 CORRESPONDENCE 1 59 last a pompous butler flounced in to announce ^Coffee' (Mrs. Horace having an evening party, and being in despair at our delay). ' Sir/ said Theodore, staring the astonished butler out of countenance, ' my name is Tea Hook.' August 7, 1840. I am anxious to hear news of you all from Beaumaris ; this charming weather is doubly agreeable when I remember how much it must contribute to your pleasure, and I rejoice that you should see some picturesque scenery under such advantages. For us we are to go to Buck- ingham on Tuesday, preHminary to the ball the next night. Henry Smith gives us shelter, as lodgings are not to be obtained. I look forward to it all with anticipatory disgust. A Queen Dowager seems to me as uninteresting a per- sonage as can well be imagined — no power, and, in the present instance, no society, for she has not a court, although we pay for it. The Lynd- hursts have gone to Stowe to-day grumbling. I saw Lord Carrington at the opera, but I am not clear the lady with him was his bride ; she had a gracious appearance. He was married to-day, the lady in dress of Bucks lace. All Foresters asked, but no Smiths, except Gardener. i6o LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 The morning papers publish two editions, and Louis Napoleon, who last year at Bulwer s nearly- drowned us by his bad rowing, has now upset himself at Boulogne. Never was anything so rash and crude to all appearances as this ' inva- sion,' for he was joined by no one. A fine house in Carlton Gardens, his Arabian horses, and ex- cellent cook was hardly worse than his present situation. — Yours, j) August 15, 1840. We have returned from our Buckingham fes- tivities. I understand the outdoor part, as far as triumphal arches, processions, crowds in the gar- dens, &c., was very successful. Nothing could be more dull than the indoor portion ; by all accounts, and from my own observation, nothing more completely a failure than the ball itself. A party of visitors with the Queen Dowager and the Archbishop of Canterbury for principal guests was certainly not very promising, and Lyndhurst shook his head when we met with an expression which spoke volumes. There was a temporary room for the ball, which was in itself a blunder, as anybody can guingettise, and princes give balls because they have palaces. But the booth was of colossal dimensions, of immense height, and 1840 CORRESPONDENCE 161 capable of holding 1,500 to 2,000 people. There were not 400, and these included the scrapings of the county and so many priests that it had the character of the Archbishop's lev6e. The supper was gorgeous from the display of plate, but rather scanty in provisions. The only Whig was Verney. The Duke gave his arm to Mary Anne, and took her up to the Duchess in grandiose style. The High Sheriff sent her home in his carriage, there being some mistake about ours. Dering, with a lady in a diamond tiara under his arm, is something too rich ! I scribble in sad haste, but hope you will catch an idea. j)^ Wolbeding : September 7, 1 840. We are staying a few days with the Maxses. There is no one here except Tom Duncombe ; but, as you know, the place is very beautiful, a paradise of flowers and conservatories, fountains and vases, in the greenest valley with the prettiest river in the world. This was a former temple of Whig- gery. Charles Fox's statue and portrait may be seen in every nook and every chamber, a sort of rural Brooks's. September, 1840. Walpole went to dine yesterday with the Miss Berrys, who now live at Richmond ; the party M 1 62 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 consisting of Miss Montague, Guizot, and Polling- ton — very recherchd-dSid. ' Strawberry Hillish.' The old ladies a little in love with the Horace Walpole of the nineteenth century, who, by the bye, is more elegant, fantastical, and interesting than ever, and talks of changing his name, retiring to Parma or Cremona, or some city equally decayed and un- visited. Venice too vulgar, with Monckton Milnes writing sonnets in every gondola, and making every bridge * a bridge of sighs.' I breakfasted with him to-day, and he really was divine. I never met anything like him — such a stream of humour, fancy, philosophy, and quotation, in every language. When last in Egypt he met Botta, who talked of me much. Peace, peace is the order of the day, and French funds have risen 5 per cent, in one day. The Princess Augusta still lives, but everybody else in London seems dead. I have not read the trial of Madame Lafarge with any attention, which I regret, but it seemed to me that the French do not acknowledge any of our principles of the law of evidence. The mysteries of Orfila and the cada- verous smell remind one of ^, proces in the middle ages. I met a lady a few days back who knew Madame — not pretty, but tres gentille inherappear- ance. There is a portrait of her in the ' Chari- i84o CORRESPONDENCE 163 vari,' which bears an arsenic look, taken in court. Walpole has no doubt of her guilt, and thinks she took the idea of the white powder from ' Vivian Grey.' — Thousand loves, D. October 15, 1840. The King of Holland has abdicated, and Bey- rout, after a bombardment of nine hours, has been taken by the English. The Cabinet have, decided on 'carrying out ' the treaty of July to the letter, with only four dissentients. On dit that even Lord Holland, that old Gallomaniac, ratted to Pal- merston, who is quite triumphant. Great panic exists here, and even the knowing ones, who from their confidence in Louis Philippe have all along been sanguine of peace, look very pale and blue. Alas ! that a Bourbon dynasty, even of Orleans, should absolutely depend for its existence on a Guizot or a Thiers, a professeur and a redacteur. My domestic ministry, which is as troublesome as the French, is provisionally formed. October 22, 1840. Lord Holland was found dead in his bed this morning. This, though not considered as yet a very significant event is in my eyes not unim- M 2 1 64 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 portaut It breaks up an old clique of pure Whiggery, and the death of a single Minister, by- causing Cabinet reconstruction, is always of some weight. The Whigs say that Lyndhurst will be beaten at Cambridge ; '^ but affairs have not yet developed themselves, so we may hope. We have had a delightful visit to Deepdene. In the midst of romantic grounds and picturesque park Hope has built, or rather is still building, a perfect Italian palace, full of balconies adorned with busts. On the front a terraced garden, and within a hall of tesselated pavement of mosaics, which is to hold his choicest marbles. We found there Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Hope, and Harness, now grown an oldish gentleman, but still juvenile in spirits, and even ready to act charades and spout poetry. Mrs. Adrian is French, a child of nature — never heard of Sir R. Peel. She is the daughter of the famous General Rapp. . . . My heart is with you all, though my letters are but brief. — Yours, t^ November 6, 1840. That latitudinarian trimmer, the Bishop of London, thinking he could at the same time please the Whigs and not mortify Peel, and thus make ■^ Election for High Steward. 1840 CORRESPONDENCE 165 a hedge of Canterbury, has given in his adhesion to Lyttelton. ' Est-it possible ? ' as the Prince of Denmark said. The best thing is, that the same post brought a letter from Peel of the most extraor- dinary warmth for Lyndhurst, offering a subscrip- tion and his unlimited services in canvassing for him, a copy of which has been sent to the Bishop with the compliments of Lyndhurst's committee. The secret history of all this movement is, that the gentlemen of Trinity were tired of waiting for loaves and fishes, and knowing that Lyndhurst was abroad, and taking it for granted that none of his friends would incur the responsibility of bringing him forward, th ought it was a fine op- portunity to open a book with the Government. The Duke of Wellington is canvassing, and all are now active. The absence of Lyndhurst and his ignorance of the contest is at least dignified. if injurious ; but I don't think the latter. November 8, 1840. Lyndhurst has arrived, looking younger than ever; he goes to Cambridge to-morrow. He is perfectly safe; indeed, I have heard from a Lyttelton quarter that they could only count 600 promises, and L. has 1,500 or thereabouts. Lyndhurst visited Metternich, who was fortu- 1 66 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 nately at his Bohemian castle, where he had not been for seven years. He was very hospitable, courteous, and charming, and pledged him freely in his own Johannisberg. Lyndhurst saw a good deal of Lord Beauvale, who is a most agreeable companion ; but physically, mentally, and morally the perfect double of his brother Melbourne — his very chuckle, and the same manner and ex- pression and view of men and affairs. November 12, 1840. Lyndhurst's election looks safe. Nothing can exceed the rancour of the Whigs, except their efforts to crush him. It was agreed that the can- didates should not go down without fair notice to each other. Lyttelton's committee at half-past twelve on Tuesday night sent a note marked ' Immediate ' to Sir J. Beckett, who had gone to bed, informing him that Lord Lyttelton had just gone down to Cambridge. They knocked up Lyndhurst at half-past two, who was off at eight o'clock. Lyttelton gained little by this ruse ; he appeared in the Senate when nothing was going on, and everything thin, cold, and scanty. Lynd- hurst entered at three o'clock, the Senate crowded and the breeze in his favour ; the tumultuous cheering of the undergraduates lasted twenty i84o CORRESPONDENCE 167 minutes. Nothing can exceed the enthusiastic popularity of our friend. Old Miss Hatch opens her mansion, beds and all, to voters for Lyndhurst ; the new Tory mayor equally hospitable. Fat old Barnes, of the ' Times,' waddled up to give his vote ; he was recognised, and the undergraduates mightily cheered the Thunderer, to his infinite satisfaction. ... November 13. In haste I write another line to tell you the close of the poll by express. Lyndhurst . . . -973 Lyttelton . . . . '4^7 It is considered one of the greatest triumphs ; the other side are in despair. The ' Chronicle' says 'one of the most foolish and timid contests on Lord Lyttelton s part on record,' &c., ' on Lord Lyndhurst's all enthusiasm.' Other papers say Lyttelton was betrayed by ' Dons,' his soi-disant friends, &c. I saw Peel yesterday ; most friendly, and very warm to Lyndhurst. D. November 21, 1840. The Queen was safely and rather suddenly delivered of a princess at ten minutes to two i68 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1840 o'clock this afternoon. She is doing well, and I believe the child. I write in haste and hurry. I have just seen Sir Charles Wetherell from Hanover ; pleased with his fortnight's visit to the King, who is well and content, 'as comfortable as Kew.' . . . There is no doubt that Acre has fallen, and therefore the matter is settled. What was the poor Pasha to do against all Europe ? He has been infamously misled by that rascal Thiers, a thorough representative of the gamin- erie of Paris. In the meantime, the Liberals are infinitely disgusted with Palmerston's triumph, and quarrel among themselves in much the same fashion as Monsieur Thiers. The Lyndhursts have taken Turville Park unfurnished for a term ; they called on us to-day. I had not seen the conqueror before since his triumph. We intend spending Christmas at Deepdene, and from thence to Bradenham. We had the Lyndhursts and Tankervilles, with Cis Forester and Hope, to dinner the other day, when we had a perfect Spanish pudding, Lyndhurst recognised his old Bradenham friend. Tankerville s French cook, he tells me to-day, has been trying his ''prentice hand 'at it, but a fiasco. He says he finds a French cook can never execute out of i84o CORRESPONDENCE 169 his school, and Cis wants the receipt for the mess, but Mary Anne won t give it. — ^^Yours, D. Deepdene : December 26, 1840. We arrived here a week ago, with our host and Adrian Hopes. Then came Mr. Mitchell, very amusing ; Baron and Baroness de Cetto, Walpole, Lord de Lisle, Sir A. Grant, and Lord and Lady Ernest Bruce; two days after came Baron Gresdorf, Sir Hume Campbell ; and these formed our Christmas party, with the addition of the delectable Mr. Hayward. . . . Our party very merry and agreeable, and we have had many Christmas gambols, charades, and ghosts ; and our princely host made all the ladies a Christmas box ; to Mary Anne two beautiful specimens of Dresden china, a little gentleman in cocked hat and full dress, and a most charming little lady covered with lace. A thousand loves, and good wishes for a real happy Christmas and New Year. God grant it may turn out so for all of us. D. I70 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1841 184I. Interest in impending division — * Cecil' — Lord Jocelyn's book — Speech on Sugar Duties — Dinner at Peel's — Peel's speech^ Prepared for a dissolution — Canvass at Shrewsbury — Returned — Triumph — Elections successful — Marriage of Peel's daughter — Election of Speaker — Bernal Osborne. February 23, 1841. All interest is concentrated in the impending division/ so closely run. 'Tis supposed that the casualties of each day affect almost vitally the numbers, and the general opinion is the Ministers will have five majority. Lord Lowther has not arrived from France, nor young Miles from New York. Not a day has passed without more than one member on each side being put hors de combat. The Government, however, will make a fearful struggle, and have promised the long-sought peerage to the Heathcotes, who both showed last night. The Whigs had last week two hunting accidents ; but Lord Charles Russell, though he put his collar-bone out, and we refused to pair ^ Irish Registration Bill. 1 84 1 CORRESPONDENCE 171 him, showed last night. Jack Dundas, with a compound fracture in Yorkshire, will however be absent. I am spoken of with great kudos in ' Cecil ' (Je livre dujour), which indeed was given to me for some time and is an imitation of the 'Vivian Grey' school. But Lord Howden is now universally understood to be the author, with the exception of myself, for I am not credulous, and think the writer is nearer home;^ but I shan't whisper my suspicions. Lord Jocelyn's book^ also makes a noise, from its complete inanity ; his excuse is curious and satisfactory. Lord Melbourne cut out the politics, Lord Hill the warlike details, and Lord Minto the naval, previous to their conceding an imprimatur, j) May 15, 1841. I spoke with great effect last night in the House,^ the best speech on our side ; it even drew ' iron tears down Pluto's cheek,' alias, applause and words of praise from Peel. A full House about 9.30, and all the Ministers there. The times are terribly agitating, and I can give you no clue to what may happen. The Ministers 2 Mrs. Charles Gore. ^ About China. ^ Sugar Duties. 172 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1841 from a technical difficulty cannot dissolve Parlia- ment at a moments notice, so we must at all events have the warning of ten days. Our party at Peel's was, like all such male gatherings, dull enough. I had hopes of at least eating a good dinner, for our host entertains well ; but that chatterbox Milnes would sit next me, and I had not even the consolation of a silent stuff. May 20. The debate on Tuesday was powerful and exciting.^ I dined with the Guests, but regained my post behind Sir Robert by ten o'clock, a few minutes before he rose. He spoke for three and a quarter hours, equally divided between com- merce, finance, and the conduct of the Govern- ment ; the latter division very happy and powerful. I think it will end in dissolution, but I am pre- pared for it, as, from all I can learn, Shrewsbury seems perfectly secure.^ Lion Inn, Shrewsbury : June 21, 1841. The canvassing here is most severe, from eight o'clock in the morn to sunset, scarcely with half an hour s bait. I think all looks very well indeed; all I fear is over-confidence. The gentry ^ Continuation of debate on Sugar Duties. ^ Parliament dissolved June 23. i84T CORRESPONDENCE 173 have all called on us and very hospitable in their offers, but which at present I cannot venture to accept. D. Carlton Club : July 7, 1841. Here I am again, having been only five days out of Parliament ! We had a sharp contest, but never for a moment doubtful. They did against me, and said against me, and wrote against me all they could find or invent ; but I licked them, and the result is that we now know the worst ; and I really think that their assaults in the long run did me good, and will do me good. After the chairing, which was gorgeous and fatiguing, after quaffing the triumphal cup at forty different spots in Salop — a dinner and a speech — we went and stayed till Monday at Loton Park, Sir Baldwin Leighton's, one of the most charming old English halls, and filled with a family in their way as perfect. A complete old English gentleman, whom I first met at Stamboul, a most agreeable wife, the finest amateur artist I know, and children lovelier than the dawn. We stayed an hour at Shrewsbury on Monday to witness the chairing of the county members ; slept at Birmingham, were lionised the next morning by George Whately ; and arrived home last night to receive 174 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1841 the congratulations of our friends. All in excel- lent spirits, and certain of sixty majority at the least, perhaps more. Are there any strawberries left, or will there be in a week } We mean to run down by rail to see you. — Thousand loves. D. July 15, 1841. The elections have gone admirably in Ire- land, far beyond our hopes ; but the non-intru- sion question has prevented our gains in Scot- land from being as considerable as they otherwise might have been. We have got rid, however, of many bores, specially Briscoe, Gillon a ruffian, that scamp Bob Stewart. Hume is going to Switzerland ; Morpeth intends also to travel, the game being up at present. They have subscribed, I am told, amply in the city for a scrutiny, and will unseat Lord John, the only one of the Whig chieftains who has escaped unscathed ; even O'Con- nell beaten. Yesterday Lord Villiers was married to Peels daughter ; the church crammed, and at the breakfast Prince George proposed the health of the bride and bridegroom. Peel acknowledged the toast, and spoke shortly, but so pathetically that Lord Jersey burst into violent tears. Durino- 1 841 CORRESPONDENCE 175 his sketch of the character oi 2. good man, Wihon was seen gradually to grow redder and redder, till at length the personal allusions overcame him, .and he also audibly wept. T told me this, who was there. ... p. August 20, 1 84 1. The only event that has occurred since our return has been the election of the Speaker. . . . The speech was successful. Bernal Osborne made a brioche, which I was delighted at, as he malignantly attacked me, and his manner was most flippant and audacious. After the first minute he commenced, ' Gentlemen,' as if on the hustings — cries of order. 'Well, I suppose you are gentlemen' — cries of disgust. After this he five times made the same blunder, in fact lost his head. August 31. There is no news of any kind ; all about appointments "^ in the papers moonshine. We are frightened about the harvest, but as the glass has been gradually rising for some days, I do not despair, and if the sun ever shine again, we shall get down to Bradenham I hope. -p^ ■^ Lord Melbourne having resigned, Sir Robert Peel had been sent for. 176 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 1842. Resignation of Duke of Bucks — Visit to Strawberry Hill — Fired a successful shot — Shrewsbury petition withdrawn — Peel's review of session — Paris — Lablache — 'The great Mr. Candy' — Society in Paris — De Grammont family — D^jazet — Thiers — Sorbonne — St. Cloud — Louis Philippe — Court in mourning — Thierry — Guizot — British Embassy — Second visit to St. Cloud — Acadd- mie Fran^aise — Luxembourg — Dinner at the Tuileries — King's kindness. February 2, 1842. A THUNDERBOLT in a Summer sky could not have produced a greater sensation than the resigna- tion of the Duke of Bucks. All is confusion. I had a long conversation with him the other day. * He has only one course — to be honest/ I am sorry to say I hear he has taken the Garter. . . . Peel seems to have pleased no party, but I suppose the necessity of things will force his measure^ through. Christopher has given notice to-night for a 25^. duty, and Lord John for a fixed. I think affairs may yet simmer up into foam and bubble, and there may be a row. D. ^ Sliding scale of Corn Duties. 1842 CORRESPONDENCE iy7 April, 1842. The horses are at the door, and we are going with the living Horace Walpole to visit for the last time Strawberry Hill. Last night, after going to the city, I fired a most effective shot in the debate — cheered by Peel and all the Minis ters. Hardinge, giving me his arm, said, 'You know what I told you years ago, you would become one of the clearest and most forcible speakers in the House;' and Sir J. Graham re- marked, ' Never was a party pinned more effec- tively ; the pin was pushed into the middle, and to the very head/ Just at this moment, when he was unbuttoning his heart, a thick-headed alderman (Copeland) forced himself upon us and spoilt all. The Shrewsbury petition is withdrawn. This great cotip, almost, in the present state of affairs, as great as my return, was effected in the most happy manner by my agent, Bailey, of Gloucester, without any interference and knowledge of either of the great parties. On his own responsibility he paired off Shrewsbury against Gloucester. The committees work so ill, under the new system, that I really despaired sometimes of keeping my seat, and was convinced that the Shrewsbury people would proceed. But the Gloucester Whigs pre- vailed upon them to sacrifice themselves for the N 178 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 extrication of their neighbours. ... In the ' Journal des Debats ' there is a long article on the highly interesting debate on 'Affairs in the English Chamber.' M. Disraeli is said to have pinned Lord Palmerston respecting his belief in the insincerity of Russia. -q August II, 1842. This delicious weather makes one sigh for country air, but we are still prisoners. Peel made a most effective speech last night. He crushed Palmerston,^ who on the last night, like an ex- cited player, lost on one dashing stake all his hard won winnings of the last month. I was in the leash to speak, but the effect of Peel's speech was so overwhelming that all the Whigs (Vernon Smith, Charley Buller, Hawes, &c.) took refuge in silence, and Cobden, seizing the opportunity, attempted, to an impatient and excited House, to foist off* his intended speech of the night before, and turned the whole course of the debate, or rather burked it, being followed by Hume, Ewart & Co. in an American corn vein. Palmerston looked overwhelmed, being mortified by the turn of the debate, which rendered his position still more ludicrous — most ludicrous, however, when * Review of the session. 1842 CORRESPONDENCE 179 Philip Howard, the butt of the House, and who pours forth endless niaiseries, rose to vindicate *his noble friend/ which he did with agonising detail, till Peel went away, the House nearly emptied, and Palmerston bound to remain, even refrained from replying, for which he had pre- pared. By the bye, he quoted me very cour- teously at his commencement, and indeed ' went off' with me, which produced an effect in the House. I sigh for news from Bradenham. As soon as we have paid you a visit we shall cross the Channel. D Hotel de PEurope, Rue de Rivoli : September 26. Here we are at our old quarters, and well placed. We have taken a suite looking on the Tuileries for three months, and get all the sun which is to be had. Our passage was favourable, so we gained nothing in suffering by starting from the Tower, and much of convenience. Lablache was one of our fellow-travellers, and was a charm- ing companion. He beguiled the time with his agreeable and polished conversation, and seems even fonder of pictures than of music. Also ' the great Mr. Candy,' as he was described by the captain of the vessel, with his travelling chariot, lady, children, servants, &c. ; the lady reclining N 2 i8o LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 on cushions, the children in various silken cloaks, continually changed and adjusted, and Candy himself in the height of fashion, florid and frank, with new kid gloves, gold-headed cane, and oc- casionally changing his hat for a tartan silk cap with a silver thistle badge. On inquiry, he turned out to be a silk dealer, or warehouseman, or some- thing, and was a source of infinite amusement. He knew me. I see by the London papers that a new farce, ' Curiosities of Literature,' is announced at the Hay market. I hope the 'Cologne Review' did not incommode Ralph. Baron Orten said at Crockford's the Sunday before we left that the King furnished them (the English officers) with a table daily at which 300 sat down, not less than a guinea per head. ' Quel restaurateur ! ' exclaimed D'Orsay. — Love to mother and all. D. Hotel de I'Europe : October 16. For the last ten days we have been having the most beautiful weather here, which will, they say, last during the month. We have found agreeable acquaintances in the De Grammont family. The Duchess, Count d'Orsay's sister, is like him in petticoats. She receives three times a week, and 1 842 CORRESPONDENCE 1 8 1 the few people in Paris may be found in her Httle house in the Faubourg St. Honor6, crammed with pretty furniture, old cabinets, and pictures of the De Grammonts. The Due, as well as his spouse, extremely good-looking, and brother of Lady Tankerville, who is also here, and very kind to us. The Due when Due de Guiche was an officer in our loth Hussars, in the days of Lord Worcester, Pembroke, and George Wombwell. One of the three sons, the Visconte de Grammont, is with them, and their two daughters, on the point of coming out, and the first considered very pretty, and celebrated in the novels of Eugene Sue, the only literature admitted into ' fashionable society * here. We see these Mdlles. de Grammont in the evening, when they are trying their wings, previous to a formal ddbut, and kiss their mother at ten o'clock and go to bed. Of English here, are the Adrian Hopes (who have arrived from Normandy), Henry Hope, Smythe, Cochrane, Lord Pembroke, Antony de Rothschild, Mrs. Montefiore. Antony succeeds the Duke of Or- leans in his patronage of the turf, and gives costly cups, which his horses always win. Through Goldsmith I have made the acquaint- ance of Manguin, whom I see much of and like, and Odilon-Barrot, the leader of the Opposition, called 1 82 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 on me yesterday. Thiers is in the country, as is almost every other leading man, but they will soon cluster in. He frequents the salon of the Duchess, and seems in favour with the Carlists. We also meet there Princes de Beaufremont, Counts de Chambellan, Duchesses de Marmier. What names ! but where are their territories ? There are only one hundred men in France who have 10,000/. per annum. Henry Hope and De Rothschild could buy them all ! — Love to the parents. D. Paris : November 9. Our English friends have nearly all departed, and the serious illness of the Due de Grammont has put a stop to the pleasant reunions at their house. We have dined with Lord and Lady Cowley : a very pleasant dinner. Lord Pembroke, Lady Aldboro*, H. Bulwer, the Lawrence Peels, some attaches, Greville, Heneage, &c. The am- bassador is very like the Duke, but much taller. Lady Cowley has the most polished yet natural manners, very well-informed and rather clever. Paris is very empty of notables, though some few are stealing in. The season will be late and sombre, owing to the death of the Prince Royal, 1842 CORRESPONDENCE 183 and the non-consequent autumn meeting of the Chambers, which will not now reassemble till the middle of January. We have passed an evening at Madame Baudraud's, the wife of the general and aide-de-camp of the King, and friend. She is an Englishwoman, and young enough to be his daughter. We met also her friend, Miss Tenny- son d'Eyncourt, who remembered dining with me seven or eight years ago at Bulwers. Many Frenchmen have English wives — Madame La- martine, Odilon-Barrot, and De Tocqueville. We went to see D6jazet, and I was much dis- appointed and disgusted. She is hideous, and no ability can compensate for such a physique, nor has she grace. But the Parisians are still enthu- siastic in her favour. She produced I suppose on me the same effect as Vestris on the Americans. Great revolution in caps and bonnets, but no change as yet in dresses. The cardinal capes are universal. I have not ventured to ask about my father, but your mentioning a visit to town and Tyrrell^ reanimates us. Pray give us news hereon and write to Your affectionate D. ^ The oculist. 1 84 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 Paris : November 23. I think when I wrote last I was on the eve of paying a visit to Thiers, whom I found in a very handsome house, and in his cabinet, or sanctum, a long gallery-room, full of works of art ; at the end, his desks and tables covered with materials, maps, and books and papers for the life of Napoleon, or rather the history of the Con- sulate and Empire I stayed with him two hours — a very little man, but well-proportioned, not dwarfish, with a face full of intelligence, and an eye full of fire. Madame Thiers receiving every evening, Mary Anne and myself paid our respects to her a few nights after. We met there Mignet, Count Walewski, whom we knew, and others. Madame Thiers pretty : her mother, Madame Dome, there, and I believe the house, which is very handsome, belongs to Monsieur Dome the father-in-law. Next day to the Sorbonne, where I paid a visit to the celebrated Cousin, late Minis- ter of Instruction, and now Dean of the Univer- sity : great power of elocution, he delivered a lecture, which lasted an hour and a half, very perspicuous and precise ; dogmatic, but not a pedant. I have seen also Dupin, who is rich and lives in a very handsome hotel. I also made a visit to the prince of journalists, Monsieur Bertin 1842 CORRESPONDENCE 185 de Vaux ; an ox who lives in a fat pasture, manured by others. He dwells in a fine hotel, and lives like a noble ; indeed, few have such a rich estate as the ' Journal des D6bats.' Yesterday, however, was my most distin- guished visit : like a skilful general I kept my great gun for the last. On Sunday night I received a letter from the royal aide-de-camp in service to inform me that the King would receive me in a private audience at St. Cloud on the morrow at 11.30. I was with his majesty nearly two hours alone, the conversation solely political, but of the most unreserved and interesting kind. He was frank, courteous, and kind. In taking my leave, which of course I could not do until he arose, he said he hoped my visit to St. Cloud had made as favourable an impression on me as mine had on him, that he hoped to see me in the evenings at the palace, when he should have the pleasure of presenting me to the Queen. There is no Court of any kind at this moment, and therefore Mary Anne cannot be presented, and we hear that the poor Queen is still dread- fully depressed. After my audience had con- cluded, General Baudraud, whom I rejoined in the ante-chamber, took me over the palace. I ought to tell you that while, previous to the 1 86 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 audience, I was sitting in the chamber of the aides-de-camp, one of the courtiers brought me from the King, by his majesty's express order, a despatch just received, and which he had not himself read, containing the news of the conquest of Cabul and the release of the prisoners. His majesty said afterwards he was happy that our meeting took place on a day which had brought such good news for England. Be very particular and minute in your infor- mation about my fathers eyes. Scarcely a day passes without some inquiry being made after him here, especially by the hommes de lettres. His works are universally known here, and Buchon, Ste.-Beuve, Bertin de Vaux, &c., are familiar with every page he has written. — Yours, D. Paris : December 2. Since I last wrote I have made a visit to Augustin Thierry, or rather a pilgrimage. He is only forty-five, but paralysed to his centre, and quite blind, but he entirely retains his faculties, and with the aid of an amanuensis continues his composition, and even researches. He sent many messages to my father. Thierry is married, and his wife very worthy and devoted, but she takes 1842 CORRESPONDENCE 187 the words out of his mouth a Httle too much. Afterwards I made my d^but at the Comtesse de Castellane's, a charming woman of the highest fashion, and who smiles on M. Mole, a grand seigneur, and once prime minister. I was pre- sented to her by Henry Bulwer, and have since presented Mary Anne. On Tuesday I dined with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, his first dinner of the season, and given only to the great personages, even the Cabinet Ministers only ap- peared at the soiree. The guests were the Eng- lish Ambassador and Austrian (Count Apponyi), the Prussian Minister, Due Decazes (Grand Referendary of France), Count de Chabot, Alex- ander Humboldt, General Sebastiani (Governor of Paris), Baron Regnier (the Chancellor of France), Rothschild and myself, and Colonel Fox. Guizot, his mother, very old, his sister-in-law, who heads his establishment, and his private secretary made up the party. All was sumptuous, and guests with every ribbon of the rainbow. Sat between Sebastiani and Rothschild, whom I met for the first time. He spoke to me without ceremony, ' I believe you know my nephew.' On Wednesday we went to a grand rout at the British Embassy, where we saw every diplo- matic character in Paris, including the fat nuncio 1 88 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 of the pope, and the Greek Minister in native costume. Returning home I found a note from General Baudraud, saying the King wished to present me to the Queen, and accordingly last night I was obliged to go off to St. Cloud, and arrived about nine o'clock. I passed, for the first time of my life, an evening in the domesticity of a Court. When I arrived the Royal Family were still in the apartments of the Duchess of Orleans. A few courtiers, and one or two visitors, my friend Count Arnim, the Prussian Minister, loitering in the saloon, and three ladies sitting at a table working. In a quarter of an hour the Court was announced, and his majesty entered with the Queen, followed by Madame Adelaide, the Princesse Clementine, the Duke and Duchess of Nemours, and some attendants. We formed a distant circle. The Queen and the ladies, all in deep mourning, seated themselves round a large round table working. Ices were handed, and the King commenced speaking a few- words to each. He was very gracious when he observed me, and, after expressing his pleasure that I had arrived, called to a courtier to present me to the Queen. Her majesty asked me six ques- tions, to which I replied. She is tall and sad, with white hair — a dignified and graceful phantom. 1842 CORRESPONDENCE 189 Then I was presented to Madame Adelaide, who is lively, like her brother. In the course of the evening the King conversed with me a long time. I doubtless owe to his good word my grand dinner with M. Guizot, who told me the King had observed to him * he had had a most interest- ing conversation with me/ j-j Paris : December 21. Many thanks for your ' happy returns ' re- ceived this morning.^ . . . We were at a brilliant assembly at Countess Apponyi^s the other night Among others the Turkish Ambassador, with two little boys about six and eight years of age, in costume, whose diamond tassels to their red caps and large melancholy eyes captivated the ladies. We attended a meeting of the Academie Fran^aise for the reception of a new member, the celebrated Baron Pasquier, Chancellor of France, who made a long eulogium on Fassi- nous, the late Bishop of Heranopolis, and was replied to by the president of the day, M. Mignet, in a speech of considerable ability. The grand hall of the institute was crowded, all the genius and fashion of Paris present. My ticket was given me by Comte Mole, Mary Anne's by Guizot. ■* The writer's birthday. 190 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1842 Afterwards I dined at a grand party at the Luxembourg, with the Due Decazes, and sat next his Duchess, a daughter of St.-Aulaire, the French ambassador at our Court. In the evening a re- ception at Madame de Castellane*s to celebrate the election of Pasquier, the hero being there himself, and many celebrities. I was introduced to Barante, President of the Society of French History, of which I have been elected a member. Last week I received a command to dine at the Tuileries at six o'clock. I was ushered, through a suite of about twenty illuminated rooms, to the chamber of reception, where I formed one of the circle, and where I found seated the Queen of Sardinia, at present a guest, and her ladies. Soon after the Court entered and went round the grand circle. I was the only stranger among sixty guests. Dinner was immediately announced, the King leading out the Queen of Sardinia, and there were so many ladies that an Italian princess, duchess, or countess fell to my share. We dined in the gallery of Diana, one of the chefs-d'oeuvre of Louis XVI. In the evening the King person- ally showed the Tuileries to the Queen of Sar- dinia, and the first lady in waiting invited me, and so did the King, to join the party, only eight. It is rare to make the tour of a palace with a king 1842 CORRESPONDENCE 191 for the cicerone. In the evening there was a reception of a few individuals, but I should have withdrawn had not the King addressed me and maintained a long conversation. He walked into an adjoining room, and motioned me to seat my- self on the same sofa. While we conversed the chamberlain occasionally entered and announced guests, ' S. A. le Prince de Ligne,' the new ambassador of Belgium. ' J 'arrive,' responded his majesty very impatiently, but he never moved. At last even majesty was obliged to move, but he signified his wish that I should attend the palace in the evenings. I am the only stranger who has been received at Court. There is no Court at present, on account of the death of the Duke of Orleans ; and the Ailesburys, Stanhopes, and Russian princes cannot obtain a reception. The King speaks of me to many with great kudos \ we go very often to the Grammonts and the Baudrauds. — Yours, D. 192 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1843 1843. Opening of the Chambers — Dinner with Odilon-Barrot — Reschid Pacha — Hotel de Ville — Masque ball at Opera House — Dinner with Mol^ — Return to England — Speech — Peel frigid — Speech on Boundary Question — Visit to Shrewsbury — Ball and races — King of Hanover's visit to London — Daily fetes — Speech on Ireland and Servia — Deepdene — Bradenham. Paris : January i6. The uncertainty of our movements and the great pressure of business and pleasure have daily made me delay writing. Our life goes on the same, only more bustling. I have been a great deal at Court ; had the honour of drinking tea with the Queen and Madame Adelaide alone, and one evening was sent for to the Kings cabinet. I am in personal as well as political favour there. We had tickets from the household to witness the opening of the Chambers and to hear the King's speech, which was extremely interesting. The splendid staff of a hundred general officers and the marshals of France, in their gorgeous uniforms, seated on one bench, very fine. We have been 1 843 CORRESPONDENCE 193 also to the Chamber of Peers, worthy of the Roman Senate ; to the Luxembourg, to a concert given by the Duchess Decazes, and we were the only English there. One of our most amusing parties was a strictly French dinner, to which we were invited by the Odilon-Barrots. A capital dinner, and surrounded by names long familiar to me, Lamartine, Tocqueville, Gustave de Beau- mont ; the first tall and distinguished in appear- ance, all intelligent. In the evening a soirde, in which all the Opposition figured. By the bye, the Turkish Ambassador dined at Barrot's ; I hap- pened to praise some dish which I remembered eating in Turkey ; and on Sunday his cook brought one as an offering to Mary Anne. Reschid Pacha is his name, a great celebrity. I went by invitation one evening to talk Eastern politics and smoke a chibouque, which he offered me, brilliant with diamonds. He told me then that since we last met he had been recalled, *a simple rappel! He knew not whether he was to be disgraced, or to be made Prime Minister ; but I suspect the latter will be his destiny. Another day we went to an assembly at the Hotel de Ville, given by the wife of the Prefect of the Seine — costly beyond description, in the style of the Renaissance ; and after it, where do 194 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1843 you think we went at half-past twelve at night, M. and Madame Adolphe Barrot, ourselves, and Odilon ? To the masqued ball at the Opera. They had an admirable box, the scene indescrib- able. Between three and four thousand devils dancing and masquerading beyond fancy. A thorough Carnival ; the salle of the Grand Opera formed into one immense Belshazzar s hall with a hundred streaming lustres. The grand galoppe, five hundred figures whirling like a witches' sab- bath, truly infernal. The contrast, too, between the bright fantastic scene below and the boxes filled with ladies in black dominoes and masks, very striking, and made the scene altogether Eblisian. Fancy me walking about in such a dissolute devilry, with Odilon- Barrot of all men in the world, who, though an excellent fellow, is as severe as a vietix parlementaire of the time of the Fronde. I have omitted much more than I have told ; but you must manage to pay your visit to town imme- diately after our arrival. — Ever yours, D. Grosvenor Gate : February. We have arrived, crossing to the Tower. A good passage, with Lord Brougham for an agree- able companion ; but I have been so pressed i843 CORRESPONDENCE 195 since our return that I have not had a moment to write. I can give you no news ; all at present uncertain and unsatisfactory; Peel frigid and feeble, I think, and general grumbling. . . . Our latter days at Paris were very brilliant. The principal features, the ball at the English Em- bassy, a thousand guests, and orange trees spring- ing from the supper table ; my farewell audience with his majesty ; a grand dinner at Mold's, I sat between Humboldt and Tocqueville, and was sur- rounded with celebrities, Mignet, Victor Hugo, Cousin, &c. But above all spectacles was the ball at Baron Solomon de Rothschild's ; an hotel in de- coration surpassing the palaces at Munich ; a great retinue of servants, in liveries more gorgeous than the Tuileries, and pineapples plentiful as black- berries. I saw Hahnemann at Paris, very hale and active, and eighty-eight ! — Yours, D. February 17, 1843. I have at last made a great speech ^ at a late hour, in a full House, and sat down amid general cheering. . . . Last night also was lively. Barings touch at ' the velveteen correspondence ' made all sides ^ Motion for papers on Lord Ellenborough's proclamation regarding the gates of Somnauth. O 2 196 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1845 and sections split. Peel, I hear, very savage. Almost every speaker last night referred to my speech, among others Z. in an elaborate panegyric, which I rejoice to find was not reported. Lord Ashburton wished an earldom ; they want to job him off with a viscounty and the red ribbon, but he kicks. Strangford says *he has had enough of broad red lines! You twig, as Sam Weller says, Franklin's map. I receive invitations every day, three for to-morrow, but hope to escape them all. I dine at the House of Commons, over a couple of mutton chops and cayenne pepper. D. House of Commons : March 21. Nottingham Election Committee. Our election committee has received a blow to-day, which I hope is ominous of its speedy decease. It is very hard work, and has sadly deranged my studies for the debate on the Boun- dary Question to-night, which Palmerston brings forward in a couple of hours. . . . Grosvenor Gate : May 12, 1843. We were very glad to receive such a good bulletin of my father s eyes as we were stepping into the carriage homeward bound yesterday morning. We left Shrewsbury after breakfast, 843 CORRESPONDENCE 197 and arrived at home for dinner. For the provinces I think my speech was a great effect. Nothing could equal the enthusiasm of my auditors or be stronger than my position there. We did not arrive at Shrewsbury till ten at night, by which we lost a triumphant entrance, the streets having been filled with the expectation of our immediate arrival from six to eight o'clock ; guns on the bridge ready to be fired and frighten our horses, and deputations at the column. After the dinner we went to the Bachelors' Ball, which was very gay and well attended. Mary Anne, who never looked so well, was the grand lady of the evening, and led into supper by the mayor. The next day we went to the races ; saw Retriever win the Tankerville — an excellent race — and shook hands "with a great many friends. Lord Newport '"^ was our travelling companion up to town, and very agreeable ; a shrewd, tall, fair, unaffected, very young man. I v(^as at the House last night and received many compliments about my speech and Shrewsbury campaign. ... I hear Ben Stanley, who never praised friend or foe, said the other day that my Boundary speech was the crack one of the session. . . . D. 2 Now Earl of Bradford. 198 LORD BEACONSFIELUS 1843 July 17. London, that a little while ago seemed so dull that the shopkeepers were in despair, is suddenly- favoured by the most animated season, for which exchange they are indebted to the King of Hanover, now the most popular man in town, for the first time in his life. Grand fetes every day and apparently interminable. On Thursday the Duchess of Buckingham, after a banquet, held an assembly, extremely brilliant and well arranged. The band of the Life Guards in the galleries of the grand staircase. Every guest welcomed with a martial flourish, and the effect was stirring. The Duchess of Gloucester and the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg and his intended father-in-law were there, as well as his majesty of Hanover. On Friday Lady Lyndhurst had a reception after a royal dinner. We formed a Court circle, and the King went round. I was presented and re- ceived gracious compliments from his majesty ; he even shook hands with me, the second king who has shaken hands with me in six months ! Lady Peel has asked us to a grand rout and royal reception on the 21st, and the following week the St.-Aulaires to a ball. A delightful fete at Gunnersbury, Madame de Rothschild mere. A beautiful park and a villa worthy of an 1 843 CORRESPONDENCE 199 Italian prince. The bright morning unfortunately- ended in a dingy afternoon, which threw us much on the resources of indoor nature, notwithstanding the military bands and beautiful grounds, temples and illuminated walks. However, we had a charming concert, a banquet, and at the end a ball. All the world present — Ernest I., the Cambridges, Duchess of Gloucester, &c. I got well waited on by our old friend Amy, who brought me some capital turtle, which otherwise I should have missed. 1 suppose in a fortnight the interesting business of Parliament will have ceased. . . . August 7. I have been waiting to write with the hope of being able to say something definite about our movements, but I am cruising for two subjects on which I wish to speak, Ireland^ and Servia.^ I was in hopes that to-night and to-morrow would have disposed of both, but an amendment of Ewart on the committee of supply will, I fear, hinder the third reading of the Arms Bill, and to- morrow, if Servia, I fear we shall be favoured with Mr. Roebuck on Scinde. Directly we get rid of these two debates we shall be anxious to leave town and come to you. Londonderry's 3 August 9. ^ August 15. 200 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1843 flare-up has cut the Government in the wind ; they could not believe it possible. He had threatened to hold aloof, but at a certain hour, finding Purvis would possibly be returned, he made all his men vote for Bright ! ^ Oh, for fifty Durhams ! ^ D September, 1843. We returned from Deepdene this morning, after a most agreeable visit, with beautiful weather. One night I sat next to Mrs. Evelyn of Wotton, a widow ; her son, the present squire, there also ; a young Oxonian and full of Young England. We are going to Manchester and Liverpool — a rapid visit which I must make — and after a respite of forty-eight hours for business we should like to come to Bradenham for as long as you will have us. I am writing and want a workroom ; there- fore, if it does not inconvenience anybody, let me have my old writing-room next to your room. The journals daily descant on the 'new party' that has arisen to give a new colour to modern politics, &c. I hope my mother has quite re- covered and that you receive good accounts from Ralph in Ireland and that he has enjoyed himself. A thousand loves. — Yours, -pv ^ John Bright returned for Durham, July, 1843. 1 844 CORRESPONDENCE 201 1844. ^ Coningsby ' — Reviews — Sydney Smith — Manchester — Literary meeting — Fatiguing visit to Shrewsbury — Return to Braden- ham. May, 1844. Lord Ponsonby is so enchanted with ' Sidonia/ that we are all to dine together at the Lionels' en petite comitd on Sunday. There is no particular news except that Bradshaw, the last of the school of Brummell, has read a book — and it is called * Coningsby' — twice in one evening. John Man- ners has told me there is a capital review in a Puseyite periodical, published by Burns, ' The Christian Remembrancer.' A most unexpectedly friendly article in ' Ainsworth.' I have not yet seen ' Hood,' where there is an article supposed by Milnes. . . . We dined with Baring Wall, and had a most exquisite dinner, with charming society. I sat next to Sydney Smith, who was delightful. We had besides Lady Morley and Luttrell, Labouchere and George Smythe, Punch Greville and Lord Melbourne. The party sprang from 202 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1844 ' Coningsby/ and from Sydney Smith's wish to make my acquaintance. The demand for the book is steady, and we are preparing for a third edition. It is wonderfully popular with the ladies ; but even old Britton * the antiquary ' has written me a letter full of enthusiasm. . . . August 30, 1844. Manchester has invited me to take the chair at their literary meeting, and Bucks to comme- morate the majority of Chandos.^ The * Revue des deux Mondes' contains a most elaborate and interesting article on 'Coningsby.' I shall try and bring down to you also the 'Westminster.' I have had three fatiguing days of triumph at Shrewsbury. People seem frightened about war ; but though I see six weeks or two months of agitation and fluctuation, I retain my opinion that peace will continue, though perhaps at the expense of Monsieur Guizot, even of Ministers in other countries. Three thousand loves, and great de- light at the prospect of our speedy union. Dinner at seven, tell my mother, with my love. — Your affectionate D. ^ The present Duke of Buckingham. 1 845 CORRESPONDENCE 203 1845. Visit to meet Her Majesty at Stowe — Dinner at Stationers' Hall — ' Vestiges of Natural History ' — Spread of Young England — Scene in House — * Sybil ' — Cassel — Description — Paris — Audi- ence of the King — Conversation with St.-Aulaire — Confusion in the Cabinet. January 20, 1845. You have heard of our sudden expedition to Stowe, and its brilHant success; Her Majesty, Peel, Aberdeen, and all equally distinguishing us by their courtesy. The whole scene sumptuous and a great success for the Duke. The Wednes- day before I kept my engagement at Stationers' Hall, where I sat on the right hand of the master, and had to make a speech, which was rather ridiculous, as there were only thirty or forty citizens, grubbing like boys, a table of delicacies ; but I seemed to please them, and all came up to be presented in turn to the great man. Most present were of the time of the first red sandstone, and before Mercury or Venus were created. 'Vestiges of Natural History of Creation/ 204 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1845 one small volume, is convulsing the world, anony- mous, and from an unknown publisher ; 3,000 copies have already been sold, and it will soon form an epoch. February 6, 1845. I write a line very tired ; Gladstone's address was involved and ineffective.^ He may have an aveniry but I hardly think it. With Stanley and Follett gone, Peel w^ill have a weak Treasury bench for debate ; but this is not the age for non- confidence, and I don't see much trouble before him. The storms rise in Parliament, like squalls in the Mediterranean, in a moment. Lord Campbell came to me in the lobby to congratulate me on the great spread of ' Young England,' and asked my opinion of affairs. I said I thought we were in the third year of the Walpole administration. He looked rather blue. Cochrane is ill with a fever ; Milnes still at Berlin. John Manners and George Smythe here, and very hearty. House of Commons : March 21, 1845. I much regretted not getting out on Satur- day to send you a line from myself as to the great scene in the Commons the night before, ^ On his retirement as President of the Board of Trade. i845 CORRESPONDENCE 20S from which that respectable assembly has not yet recovered/^ There never was an instance of a trip being succeeded by such a leap ; and the only thing I have read which can give you an idea of it is a sketch by Horace Walpole of a sudden ebullition by the elder Pitt in a drowsy House. As for Peel, he was stunned and stupefied^ lost his head and, vacillating between silence and spleen, spoke much and weakly. Never was a greater failure ! Assuring me that I had not hurt his feelings, that he would never reciprocate per- sonalities again, having no venom, &c. &c. The bell rings. q^ May-day, 1845' * Sybil ' was finished yesterday ; I thought it never would be ; the printers were on my heels, and have been for the last month, but I don't think it can be published till the middle of the month. I can't send the rough sheets, they would spoil the illusion. I have never been through such a four months, and hope never again. What with the House of Commons, which was itself quite enough for a man, and writing 600 pages, I thought sometimes my head must turn. I have 2 On motion for application of surplus revenue to relief of agricultural interest. 2o6 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1845 never had a day, until this, that I have felt, as it were, home for the holidays. -q Cassel : September 17, 1845. We are here without having had the slightest intention of coming. But hearing that the place had beauty and seclusion, we agreed to pitch our tent here, if we could find any sort of accommo- dation. This was difficult, as it is an extremely savage place ; few of the inhabitants, and none of the humbler classes, talk French. There is no library, bookseller's shop, nor newspaper of any* sort ; they never heard of ' Galignani,' and I hardly know whether the majority of the people are conscious of the three glorious days. It is quite French Flanders ; their provisions come from Holland ; the H6tel de Ville was built by the Spaniards, and religion is supreme. The country around is rich, and the landscape a vast panorama, and as the place is high, we conclude it is healthy. We have taken a house for a month and have hired a Flemish cook, who, Mary Anne desires me to tell my mother, stews pigeons in the most delicious way : eggs, cloves and onions, ending in a red brown sauce, a dish of the time of the Duke of Alva. Fruit and poultry plentiful and cheap. Six fowls for 5 francs, meat 6d. per lb. We 1 845 CORRESPONDENCE ' 207 crossed from Dover to Boulogne, a very rough passage. Our first walk at Boulogne we found * Sybil ' afficked in a large placard, * Disraeli's New NoveV in every window. We travelled from Boulogne en voihirier to this place, sleeping the first night at St. Omen . . . Cassel : October 26, 1845. The tragedy of Ely Cathedral has shaken me to the centre. It is vain to speak of such a catastrophe : impossible not to think of it. Since the death of the Duke of Orleans, no sudden end has been more terrible.^ I get up at half-past five, and don't find it difficult, going to bed by nine. The effort was great at first, and the house very unmanageable. You cannot expect any news from us ; we know no one and hear nothing, except from you. I have been able to write very regularly and made better progress than usual, which is encouraging. Your life is as secluded as our own, yet you always make your letters interesting. We have a pretty garden, which gives us mignonnette and Alpine strawberries ; and the autumn here is mellow, fine and mild, though we live on the top of a mountain. We look upon a most charming 3 The architect, Mr. George Basevi, fell through the scaffolding, and died instantaneously. 2o8 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S . 1845 landscape, and can see thirty or forty miles ahead, and the sea, on a clear day. We now see 'Galignani' regularly, and an unknown English- woman — Miss King, as I observe by the direc- tion of her paper — sends me the * Illustrated Times/ and another unknown, ' Bell's Life/ D. Hotel de I'Europe, Paris : December 6, 1845. We received your last letter just before leaving Cassel for this place, where we have our old rooms. I have been to St. Cloud, and had a most gracious reception from the whole Court. There were many visitors and Ministers requiring audiences of the King, but I was bid to stay, and remained two hours. He looks as well as ever, though seventy-three, much interested and excited about English politics, whether the Government would stand, and the Oregon question. The Queen very kind. St. Cloud is certainly the most brilliant of the palaces, more finished and complete than the Tuileries and Versailles. At General Baudraud's, besides Washington Irving, whom I think vulgar and stupid, I met Lamen- nais ^ ; extremely able and interesting, talks ad- mirably, without the slightest effort or affectation ; * Catholic abbd, writer and philosopher i845 CORRESPONDENCE 209 indeed, simplicity his characteristic ; he is not taller than Tom Moore, very delicate, and ad- vanced in life, for which I was not prepared. Not so old as Baron de Cetto^s father, whom he has just left at his castle near Ratisbon, aged ninety-five, and quite hale. The Court has quitted St. Cloud for the Tuileries, and this morning I received an invitation to dinner. I had a long conversation with St.-Aulaire, who seemed to hope that Gladstone might come forward and save the country. We are here all in doubt, the impression being last night that the Whigs can- not come forward. What exciting times ! All agree that though Peel ^ may return, he has lost his prestige. Cobden and the ' Times ' will alone triumph. — Love to all. t-^ ^ Peel resuming the Government, Gladstone became Colonial Secretary, vice Lord Stanley resigned. 2IO LORD BEACONSFJELD'S 1846 1846. Belvoir. Belvoir Castle: August lo, 1846. My dearest Sa, I thought you would Hke to have a line from Beaumanoir, though it is not in the least like Beaumanoir, but Coningsby Castle to the very life ; gorgeous, Gothic of a quarter of a century past, and slopes and shrubberies like Windsor ; the general view, however, notwith- standing the absence of the Thames, much finer. Granb/ and myself arrived here in a fly on Thursday, and were received by two rows of servants, bowing as we passed, which very much reminded me of the arrival of Coningsby himself. Nothing can be more amiable than the family here, agreeable and accomplished besides. George Bentinck went off this morning at dawn, the Duke of Richmond on Saturday. On that day we rode over to Harlaxton Manor, a chateau of Francois I/s time, now erecting by a Mr. Gregory. 1 846 CORRESPONDENCE 1 1 1 Yesterday, after the private chapel, we lionised the castle, which I prefer to Windsor, as the rooms, in proportion to the general edifice, are larger and more magnificent. Afterwards to the Belvoir kennel, which itself required a day. . . . — Yours, D. [There are no more letters in this and the following year except those of a strictly private character. — R. D.] p 2 212 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1848 1848. Speech on finance — ^Anxious times — Mob in possession of Vienna — Visit from Guizot — State of Paris alarming — Interview with Metternich — Summary of session — Visit to Claremont — Erle- stoke — Quarter Sessions at Aylesbury — New edition of ^ Curi- osities.' Carlton : February i8, 1848. I MADE a very successful speech ^ last night ; one of my best, though not well reported in the ' Times/ After the first two columns and a half, it Is for nearly a column really nonsense — a new hand. In theT* Chronicle ' all this, however, is accurate enough, and so between them the thing may be made out. I never knew a better sustained debate. Lord George very vigorous and masterly — Wilson very good, and Tom Baring a masterpiece. On the whole, this is by far the most sustained debate which has occurred since the formation of our party, and, singular enough, the three speakers who did it all are the three members of the party who voted for the ^ Lord John Russell's financial scheme as Premier. 1 848 CORRESPONDENCE 213 Jews ! 1 don't know what they will do without us ! — Yours, -p. March 8, 1848. What will happen in these times of unpre- cedented horrors ! '^ I know not whether I am standing on my head or my heels. There is a proclamation against meetings in Trafalgar Square, &c. I don't much fear all this, but I can't but believe that a national bankruptcy in France is inevitable — and what then ? Amid all this confusion, there is to be another ecclesiastical dmeute. On Thursday, I think, the Archbishop of Canterbury is going to be tried for heresy again at Bow Church.^ March 13. McGregor* has just made his reply In unin- telligible patois — all we could make out was that he denied the statement in the Glasgow paper, which he said was opposed to him, it being well known that it was in his service, and the very number which contained the report being full of his praises. . The news from France seems more re- 2 French Revolution, flight and abdication of Louis PhiHppe. 3 On occasion of the confirmation of Bishop Hampden. * In Committee, on the Income Tax. 214 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 184S assuring. Lionel Rothschild has just returned from Paris and in much better spirits. He says the Communists have no power whatever, and the only real trouble are the unemployed work- men, but there are remarkable opportunities at present to occupy them. . . . March 20. The mob are in possession of Vienna, and Metternich, they say, almost as badly off as Louis Philippe. Guizot called on me on Saturday, and I was fortunately at home. He is unchanged, and has taken a house in Pelham Terrace, Brompton, at 20/. per annum. The last time I saw him he was starred, ribboned, and golden fleeced, and surrounded by ambassadors and grand personages ! Affairs are very bad, but in my opinion will be much worse. All one can hope for now is to put one's house in order during the temporary lull — if there be one. It seems to me impossible for the Rothschilds even to stand the storm. They must lose everything everywhere except here. Austria has tumbled to pieces, Naples has lost Sicily, and France must be bankrupt, and these are their three principal debtors. They will also confiscate the Great Northern Railroad of France for certain, the workmen having announced that they wilL 1848 CORRESPONDENCE 215 have one franc a day increase of wages, and half the profit of the Hne. If they don't give up to the workmen the State will seize all. . . . — Yours, D. May 30. Moxon has undertaken to see the * Curiosities ' through the press, but if you have any wish on the subject write to him. Pray remember to get me all the dates as to publications, &c., all details, &c., in case I am ever destined to write the memoir^ I contemplated. The state of Paris is most threatening, and a general explosion there is hourly expected. I have seen Metternich twice at great length. He talks much and is very kind. . . . Carlton : August 30, 1848. I have sent you a ' Times,' in which you will find a good report of my summary of the session, which went off, as they say, with great dclat, espe- cially for August 16. The attendance was quite marvellous, such is the virtue of special trains. I have no cause to complain of reporters ; the ver- sion of the * Times,' which now sells 40,000 copies 5 Of his father, who died February, 1848. 2i6 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1848 a day, is almost verbatim, six first-rate shorthand writers having been employed. The ' Chronicle ' is hardly inferior, though it only sells 4,000 ; the ' Herald' 5,000. . . . We paid a visit of farewell to the King and Queen at Claremont by appointment. We sat with them for one hour and a half. I found the King extremely agreeable ; though softened and depressed, his intellectual power is not in the least impaired. In the park we met the Prince de Cond4 with his nurse, a most graceful and pretty child, very lively, though only two years old or so. . . . We dined at Boyle Farm, and had an agreeable summer drive home. — Yours, D. December 29, 1848. We came from Erlestoke on Wednesday. It's a very fine place, belonging to Watson Taylor, of whom Sir John Hobhouse rents it. I never saw a park so full of deer, or one in which ground was more picturesquely thrown about ; the man- sion stone and modern, about eighty years, a fine stud, a pack of hounds, a first-rate cook, and all on the high scale. We caught a glimpse of the Van de Weyers, Bancrofts, and Charles Villiers. There were a good many of the family, and 1848 CORRESPONDENCE 217 almost all agreeable ; among them a silent and solitary Miss Fane, a niece. . . . I go to Aylesbury on the 2nd for Quarter Sessions. The new edition of the ' Curiosities/ the first stone in the monument, will appear directly. It is an expensive book, and Moxon looks grave. He likes the ' Memoir,' but com- plains it is too short. I think, however, he is wrong. I depend upon its helping the subsequent livj^aisons, . . . D. 2i8 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 1849. Leadership of the party — Stanley advised — Speech on landed interest — Henry Bulwer's dinner — Guizot — Congratulations on speech — Good divisions — Exciting scene — Good debate — Metternich — Richmond — Dinners — State banquet at the Guild- hall — Speech — Sussex dinner — Lola Montes — Business over- powering — Ministerial fish dinner — Farewell to Metternich — Reception — Hughenden — Work — Dropmore — Burnham Beeches — Castle Hedingham — McCulloch's library — Meeting at Newport Pagnell — * Lives of the Lord Chief Justices ' — Peel's letter. Coventry House : January 10, 1849. It is the great question of the leadership that has kept me, though I will say nothing, and wish to keep out of the way. The Duke of Newcastle sent a pressing despatch, entreating me to ad- vance, and offering his most cordial support. I understand that Lord Granby has written to Lord Stanley to the same effect. Since the French Presidency we have not had such an election, but I think it is just as well that I should be out of the way. . . . Grosvenor Gate : January 20. I am sent for again about the great business^ and arrived here this afternoon. I am inclined ta 1 849 CORRESPONDENCE 2 1 9 think the office will be mine, though it is an awful responsibility. Bankes and Miles have written to Stanley their opinion that I should be the man. There is a meeting to-day in town of some of the notables, but I don't think the question can be definitely settled for a week or so. . . . January 26. I am so busy that I can't write, but the enclosed letter will throw light upon circumstances. Since this correspondence, Bankes, Miles, the Duke of Richmond, and many others have written to Lord Stanley, urging an application to me. I hold back. The only awkward thing now is Stanley's position, in consequence of his first rash letter. Return the documents to me at the Carlton, marked ' Private.' They say Peel will never get over my appointment. . . . February 22, 1849. Things publicly look very well After much struggling, I am fairly the leader, and gave notice to-night, amid the cheers of the squires, of a grand motion, which I hope will rally all the farmers to my standard. On the whole I think the party have behaved extremely well. Did you see the ' Standard ' published its manifesto of recantation in my regard, which is amusing ? . . . 220 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 March 7, 1849. I ought to have acknowledged your affec- tionate letter, but in addition to all my troubles, perhaps in consequence of them, I have had for the last fortnight one of my worst attacks of low fever, so that till to-day I have never had an hour to prepare for the speech ^ of to-morrow, from which so much is expected. The country is up in arms about my motion. I have received between forty and fifty letters every day, from every county in- deed, except Bucks. The meeting of the farmers at Willis's Rooms was remarkable, and my name received. Lord Malmesbury told me, with the greatest cheering he ever heard. . . . March 11. We dined the other day at Henry Bulwer s ; Guizot was there. He had his red ribbon on and also his golden fleece. He talked of returning to Paris immediately, and perhaps intends to be Minister to Louis Napoleon. He seems quite insensible to the catastrophe, and referred to it frequently with the greatest sangfroid, as if it had been a change of Ministry. It was tolerably bold and cool to wear the fleece, still more so to go in the evening, where we met him again, at the ^ In favour of the landed interest. 1 849 CORRESPONDENCE 221 Palmerstons'. Mahon and Delane were at the dinner. The latter is of Higgins's opinion, that we shall be in, in two years or less ; wants to know the personnel of my Government, as I can- not be two Secretaries of State at the same time. Whether they were gingered up by the articles in the ' Times ' or not I can't say, but the congratu- lations we received at Lady Palmerston s far ex- ceeded old days, even when I turned out Peel. H , who is always communicative after dinner, told Mary Anne in confidence what Lord John had written to the Queen about the speech — great praise as to its power of argument, thought, and rhetoric. Palmerston was still warmer, and Lord Malmesbury told me that Stanley, 'who never pays compliments, you know, that's not his way,* said it was one of the best things that was ever done. For my own part, I see many defici- encies and omissions, but they may be supplied, if not by my colleagues, by myself in reply. — Ever yours, J) March 16. A Splendid division last night, which, following that on the Navigation, tells very much. It was nearly half-past one o'clock when I spoke^ last 2 On taxation of real property. 222 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 night, having been in my seat since five o'clock watching the debate. Our men were really en- thusiastic. If we only had half a dozen men in the Commons for Cabinet Ministers, and thirty or forty more capable of taking the inferior places, one might do, but, like India, there is a terrible want of officers. I must now go down to a heavy evening s work ; nevertheless, one can do a good deal when one is winning. -q House of Commons : March 26. Last Friday was most important, but quite burked in the ' Times/ probably from being in committee, when nothing is expected and little reported, yet there is a capital report of the affair in the ' Morning Post,' which I have sent you ; the men returning to the House when it was break- ing up ; Gladstone and Labouchere both standing, while the cheers after I had sat down resounded, &c., all very animated. Palmerston said he never remembered a more amusing scene ; the way I brought the men back, as if I said, * Hullo ! you fellows, come back there.' The Whigs will go out if the Lords throw out the Navigation Bill, and I think from present appearances the Lords will. I have had several conferences with Stanley as to our future and 1 849 CORRESPONDENCE 223 consequent movements, and the Cabinet is in embryo! He says I must be chief Minister in the Commons. I confess myself that I think this a httle bit too strong, and would willingly find a substitute. I hope John Manners is safe for South Notts, which will be a help to me. . . . — Yours, y. April 24, 1849. I am well satisfied with the division^ last night, as we virtually held our own, notwithstanding the gigantic efforts of the Government during the re- cess to reduce our majority. What annoys me is the arrival just now of a body of blundering Irish- men, Conolly, Verner, James Hamilton, Taylor, and Napier, who chose to assume that the division was to-night. This is vexatious. The debate was nearly the best I ever heard, except old Robinson (when I dined), not an ordinary speaker, and admirably sustained by the Protectionists, by Herries, Walpole, and Tom Baring. My speech considered very good, full of real reply and smash- ing to Graham, who, after a long, very dull and very stupid speech, made a venomous attack on Stanley and the future Government. But I settled the disciple of ' Progress.' I have not had 3 Third reading of the Navigation BilJ. 224 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 time to read a paper, having been on the Ceylon Committee this morning, where, through the sup- port of Sir R. Peel, I beat the Government. What will the Lords do ? According to Bright, swallow it, ' for though they are convinced it will destroy the commerce and navy of England, they deem such results comparative blessings compared with Stanley being Minister/ — Yours, D. May 2, 1849. . ... I have been to see Metternich. He lives on Richmond Green, in the most charming house in the world, called the Old Palace — long library, gardens, everything worthy of him. I met there the Duchess of Cambridge and the Colloredos. I am enchanted with Richmond Green, which, strange to say, I don't recollect ever having visited before, often as I have been to Richmond. I should like to let my house and live there. It seems exactly the place for you, and I strongly recommend you to think seriously of it. It is still and sweet, charming alike in summer and winter. . . . Hughenden : May 28. I came down here very indifferent, having dined out the three preceding days running: 1 849 CORRESPONDENCE 225 Tuesday at the Jolliffes' ; Wednesday, Lady Braye ; Thursday at Lord Brougham's. All the parties should have been agreeable, as there were wits and beauties at each ; but, notwithstanding the Maidstones, the Bishop of Oxford, and John Manners at the Jolliffes', Howden and Rogers at Lady Braye's, Brougham's was the only amusing party, and it was very agreeable. The Douros, who were there, however, scarcely contributed to it, but our host is a host in himself. His women. Lady Malet and Mrs. Spalding, both lively ; young Stanley,* very interesting ; and a young Wellesley, a son of Mornington, but as unlike his father as imaginable, for he was most interesting, thoughtful, highly cultivated, and seemed to me a genius. He had sent me a French book which he had written, and which, remembering his father's boring brochttre, I had never acknowledged, and I felt a pang. It is settled that there is to be no coalition between the Peelites and the Whigs, and therefore I conclude that after a decent interval the old Conservative party will be reconstructed under Stanley, and of course without Peel. If the dis- tress continues after the next harvest, Graham & Co. must give up progress, and swallow a little * Present Earl of Derby. Q 226 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 moderate reaction ; if it abide, we cannot pretend to disturb un fait accompli, I think, therefore, that this time year all may be well, if one can stand the storm till then. . . . June 22, 1849. I have been so pressed with affairs, and have been, though much better, so poorly, that I have been unable to write you a line. To-morrow we have to go in state to dine with the Lord Mayor, who gives a banquet to our party. Lord Stanley is to return thanks for the House of Lords and I for the House of Commons. Henry Bentinck refused, never going to Court and those sort of things, and not understanding the nature of the meeting ; but when Trollope told him that he was to see me make a speech in the Egyptian Hall in a red coat, as leader of the party in the House of Commons, he begged leave to recall his refusal, and is going to appear in a court dress, which I believe belonged^to the old Duke of Bulstrode.^ . . • July 8, 1849. ... My speech ^ last night was at 2.30, and consequently not a semblance of a report in the ^ Bulstrode Park, Bucks, formerly the property of the Duke of Portland, now of the Duke of Somerset. ^ On state of the nation. i849 CORRESPONDENCE 227 journals, but my friends in the lobby during the division were very enthusiastic, and said it made up for the numbers. Our division was not so good as it should have been. It came on at four- and-twenty hours' notice, after a public declaration of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Wednesday (in the absence of Lord John) that it was positively impossible for the Government to give another day ; so, as Hume was obstinate, our friends went out of town. The debate very well sustained ; Peel elaborate in his courtesies to me, and talked of the ' respect due to my abilities and station,' which my fellows cheered immensely. . . . The Chancellor of the Exchequer, notwithstanding the red tape, was much pleased with my reply. Nothing annoys him so much as Peel lecturing the House on political economy, as the very arguments he now uses are those which Lord Grey and Charles Wood used to receive his un- disguised contumely for ten years ago, amid the cheers of the House. John Manners is a little awkward about the Rothschilds, as he had dined with them on the preceding Wednesday, and their salt sticks in his throat ; but I consoled him by the suggestion that Lionel's majority would induce him to take a Christian view of Johnny's conduct. Miss Q2 228 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849^ Copley (Sa) is going to be married to a Mr. Selwyn, whom they have only known for a fort- night, eldest son of a young Essex squire. . . . I give it to you as told me at the Coventry, thinking it would interest you. . . . July, 1849. I dined with Sir Charles Burrell the other day, with the county of Sussex, in the shape of the Duke of Richmond, Lord March, &c. Sir John Duller represented Devon and I Bucks, and there was Herries. The best guests, however, were turtle, whitebait, venison, and burgundy. Our host very courteous and courtly. Lola Montes marriage makes a sensation. I believe he^ has only 3,000/. per annum, not 13,000/. It was an affair of a few days. She sent to ask the refusal of his dog, which she understood was for sale. Of course it wasn't, being very beautiful, but he sent it as a present ; she rejoined, he called, and they were married in a week. He is only twenty-one, and wished to be distinguished. Their dinner invitations are already out I am told. She quite convinced him previously that she was not Mrs. James, and as for the King of Bavaria (who, by the bye, allows her 1,500/. a year, and to whom she really writes every day), that: ^ Lieutenant Heald, of the 2nd Life Guards 1 849 CORRESPONDENCE 229 was only a malheureuse passion, ... I am very- tired, having been working five hours on the Ceylon Committee, which is very interesting. . . . D. August I, 1849. I suppose in a few days we shall go to Hugh- enden, though, when I remember the business which must be done, I don't very clearly see how. Parliament was prorogued to-day, by commission. I was not there, having done and seen enough. As far as I am personally con- cerned, the session has been a satisfactory one ; and a great deal may be done next September, if I am alive, as I shall have time to prepare some measures, and shall lead a party who, I believe, as far as I am concerned, are by no means dissatisfied with their leader. Last Saturday we dined with Sir Montague and Lady Georgina C. Our host the most amusing present ; a child of nature and of course called mad — extremely absent. He was not present when we arrived, though we were late. Then he came in, quite dark, trod on everybody's toes, guessing people by their voices, and seeming quite surprised they were there. Dinner announced, he rushed out of the room 230 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 with Lady Antrim, the wrong woman, and put himself at the head of the table, instead of the bottom, and then laughed immensely when he found it out, but kept there. The imperturbable Lady Georgina, handsome as a sphinx, bearing it all unruffled, and taking her place at the end. . . . Saturday was the fish dinner ; a steamboat hired and ready to start at five o'clock to take down the Ministers, but the Ceylon debate, &c., kept them in the Commons to past seven. All this time the Lord President and his colleagues walking up and down for two hours, in an ob- scure river street out of the Strand, wondering why their colleagues and co-mates did not come. However, they all showed at Lady Palmerston's, though some in frock coats. . . . We went rather unexpectedly to a somewhat curious soiree, Mrs. Dyce Sombre at the Clarendon, living there with her father. The company small but recherchdy and she singing ballads between the Duke of Wellington and Rogers. . . . August II, 1849. . . . Last Sunday we paid our farewell visit to the Metternichs, to whom I had behaved, shamefully. We found the Princess in her salooa i849 CORRESPONDENCE 231 with the Russian Minister (Brunow), no longer under the trees with her birds, working still at making lint for the Austrian soldiers. We had not been there five minutes when the Duchess of Cambridge and the Grand Duchess were an- nounced ; we were not permitted to go away. Metternich then appeared. I had not seen him since his illness, a swoon they say only ; he is altered and much thinner, but the mind the same. He was most kind, and after kissing the Duchess' hand took me aside for a moment, and then begged me to join the circle. Nothing could exceed the graciousness of the Cambridges. I sat next the Grand Duchess (Mecklenburgh), who, like her mother, is a woman of great in- telligence and culture ; a charming countenance, and much improved in figure since her marriage. Then came Kielmansegge,^ the conversation for half an hour most animated and interesting, very political ; their Royal Highnesses making lint all the time. The Red Republican Canino, Bunsen especially much abused, and of course Palmerston. In the midst of all this the groom of the chambers announced Lord and Lady Pal- merston \ In the stir we rose and met the Pal- merstons in the ante-chamber, exchanged smiles, 8 Hanoverian Minister. 232 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 * hunting in the same cover/ Getting into the carriage we stumbled over a still newer arrival, Baroness Delmar. So you see the levies of the Metternichs are no ordinary rdunions, . . . D. Hughenden : August 25, 1849. I have been enjoying this fine weather and beautiful scene very much, but sick at heart at the mass of papers and arrears of correspondence on my table ; put off till I was in the country, and now again postponed till the summer is over. The consecration of Prestwood Church will not be just yet, for there are difficulties about the presentation, &c. I think I shall write to Soapy Sam, and ask him to come to Hughenden. It is but decent, particularly as we are a sort of allies. The alterations here seem very successful. It is quite another place, and of far more pretension and effect. It is really a park now.. The library also is arranged ; it took me several days, and I think you will like it. It has quite lost the circu- lating-library look which you noticed. Did I tell you Sir W. Molesworth had presented me with a copy of his ' Hobbes,' eighteen vols. ? This is an accession, and I got it through that impudent 1 849 CORRESPONDENCE' 233 friend of mine, Bernal Osborne, which makes it more amusing. . . . I have never been out of the place till yes- terday, when, after justiceising, I went to Drop- more to see the flowers ; but it is no model, being rather a museum of flowers than a garden. I could not resist stealing on two short miles to Burnham Beeches, which I had not seen so many years, and saw again under such different circum- stances, being their representative.^ They did not disappoint me, which is saying much. D. Hughenden : October 13, 1849. We are still here, and I shall go to Quarter Sessions on Monday, as county business now commences the first day. ... I think the Essex move ^ is successful ; it must, however, be followed up without loss of time by a great move in Bucks, and all this is very harassing. I was much pleased with your old friend Ashurst Majendie, my host of Castle Hedingham. The place very good, a real manorial residence and squire's seat, very pretty ; the country green and undulating, and well clad ; the castle ruin superb and imposing. 9 Elected M.P. for Bucks, July, 1847. ^ Great banquet in ruined keep of Hedingham Castle. 234 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S i849> The modern house of the time of George I. I suppose, with portraits of the fundator, a Lord Mayor of that age, one Ashurst and his wife, and all very good. . . . The Surrey election was a cottp for me ; I should have been vexed if Evelyn had been defeated, particularly after Barclay s speech. I called on McCulloch, the great political economist, the other day, at his official residence in Westminster. It is impossible to convey to you an idea of the beauty of his library ; I never saw books in such condition, or such exquisite bindings^ surpassing all my experience or conception. He said that, like Adam Smith, he was * a bear with his books ; ' an amiable and very sensible man. Metternich wrote me a beautiful and affecting farewell letter. I received it in time to embrace him, exactly half an hour before he left England : * Ce bon et beau pays,' as he calls it. . . . Hughenden : November 4, 1849. We dined at Hampden to meet the Bishop the day before the consecration,^ and on the day of the consecration there was a general dinner to the black coats, all clergymen I believe, except Philip Rose. I like ' Lochiel ' very well indeed. The Bishop is always good company. - Prestwood Church, i849 CORRESPONDENCE 235 I was not at all pleased myself with the Aylesbury meeting, though on the whole the world has not taken so ill a view of it. I thought it was a shabby concern. It has, I think, however, been productive of some little good, though for my part I give up the attempt of rousing the agricul- tural interest to any decided demonstration. They are puzzled and sluggish perhaps ; when they are a little more pinched they may stir themselves. . . . After the Cork triumph it will be almost impossible to hold the Protectionists in ; the pear is not yet ripe, and it will be a pity to spoil the flavour of such fine fruit by greedy picking. . . . December 11, 1849. I am not in a writing humour, but nevertheless send you a line. The meeting at Newport Pagnell was more than good, both in quantity and quality. It surprised everyone by its numbers ; nearly 300 and a great acreage. I spoke to my satisfac- tion, and I think, from all I hear and read, have quite managed the malcontents. Chester came from Malvern purposely to take the chair. We had young Praed there, too ; Knapp, who was my host at Little Linford ; Farrer of Brafield, called the Imperial Farrer ; and many real yeomen, the chief of whom is William Levi of Woughton 236 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1849 House, who farms his own lands and follows the hounds. Lord Campbell sent me his new work, ' Lives of the Lord Chief Justices,' with a very pretty- letter. I read the life of Lord Mansfield the other night, and was much pleased. ... I don't believe there is the slightest foundation for the rumours that there has been any discussion in the Cabinet as to a duty on corn. On the contrary, the Whigs are in high spirits with their thriving foreign trade and Consols rising 100. . . . Never- theless we get all the elections. . . . — Adieu, D. December 29, 1849. I have no news to tell you, but will send you, nevertheless, the compliments of the season! I think your move was very judicious, for whether my feelings are peculiarly gloomy and uncomfort- able or not, I certainly find this a most severe and unamiable Christmas. Give my best regards to your companions. I wish I were with them. . . . Peel's letter is at once pompous and trite. He succeeds in conveying an impression that his estate is in a very bad condition ; recommends drainage as if it were a universal specific, though in truth a very partial one ; and although he says 1 849 CORRESPONDENCE 237- nothing which might not have been said if the Corn Laws had not been repealed, somehow manages to write as if he were conscious he had got his friends into a hopeless scrape. 238 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1850 1850. Aylesbury meeting — Belvoir — Large party — Burghley — State rooms — Siberian scene — Political situation — Defeat of Minis- ters — Turkish Embassy — Danish Embassy — Thackeray — The cold — Lyndhurst — Academy dinner — American M inister — Peabody — Professor Aytoun — * Sin and Sorrow ' — Knebworth — Hudson — ^Bentinck Papers' — Writing — Beauty of Hughenden Woods — John Russell's scrape — Stanley ill — Conference de- layed. Hughenden : January i, 1850. 1 HAVE just returned from a great meet at Ayles- bury. We all dined at the White Hart, even Chandos, between whom and Verney I sat. I like V. very much. Malmesbury has asked me to Heron Court, but I have refused. . . . Read the last article in the new ' Blackwood.' I think it has knocked up Scotch high farming, the last imposition. John Manners prepared me for this some time ago, and I mentioned it at the Ayles- bury meeting in October. . . . Belvoir Castle : January 21, 1850. I leave this for Burghley to-day. Belvoir presents a very different scene to the limited 1850 CORRESPONDENCE 239 summer circle which I found here three years ago -with poor Lord George. We live in the state rooms, brilliantly illuminated at night, and at all times deliciously warm, even in this severe winter. A military band plays while we are at dinner, and occasionally throughout the evening. Dinner is announced to the air of the ' Roast Beef of Old England.' The party here is very large, but <:hiefly the family, a Christmas gathering. The Drummonds, Lord Forester, Lord Charles, the Lumleys, &c. ; in addition ourselves. Lord and Lady William Poulett, the Count and Countess Rossi (Sontag), the latter most agreeable and amiable, singing a great deal. Almost all the gentlemen being members of the famous Belvoir hunt, of which Lord Forester is master, wear scarlet coats in the evening, which adds greatly to the gaiety and brilliancy of the scene. The frost has stopped the hunting for many weeks; but there are shooting parties every day, and advanced as the Duke is, he is never away from them. I never met a man at his time of life so cheerful and, indeed, so vivacious. We had an agreeable companion in the train down— Jem Macdonald, going to Lord Wilton's at Melton. . . 240 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1850 Burghley House : January 24, 1850. The exterior of Burghley is faultless, so vast and so fantastic, and in such fine condition that the masonry seems but of yesterday. In the midst of a vast park, ancient timber in profusion,, gigantic oaks of the days of the Lord Treasurer, and an extensive lake. The plate marvellous. The history of England in the golden presents from every sovereign, from Elizabeth and James I. to Victoria and Albert — shields, vases, tankards, &c. Our host shy, but very courteous ; Lady Exeter tall, still handsome, engaging, and very pious. Great battues every day ; five hundred head slaughtered as a matter of course. The interior not equal to Belvoir ; the state rooms, lofty and painted by sprawling Verrio, open one into each other by small side doors, like a French palace or Hampton Court, and so a want of con- secutive effect. There is, however, a hall as large as a college hall, and otherwise very striking. But the family live in a suite of rooms fit only for a squire of degree, and yet the most comfortable in the world. . . . Hughenden : March 31, 1850. I arrived here late on Tuesday, a trying journey, but on the whole I bore it much better than I could have expected. It was a morning^ 1850 CORRESPONDENCE 241 of some promise ; but a snow-storm at Gerrard s Cross, where we stopped two hours, and a Siberian scene when we arrived. The weather has been very ungenial ever since, and constant east winds, which I cannot face ; my progress has therefore been rather slow. Never was the poHtical position more com pHcated, difficult, and urgent. I hope, but dare not determine, to be in my place on the 8th. If I cannot lead the party after the holidays I had better retire altogether. There will be a fierce and eventful session. The Whigs could be turned out in a week if we were ready. I don't think my absence as yet has been productive of any serious harm, the great before Easter result having been obtained. The Londonderrys have gone to Paris. French affairs are very critical. There are no elements of government in the country. D. Hughenden : April 5, 1850. I go to town to-morrow to catch a council with Stanley, flitting between Whittlebury and Good- wood. The political position is interesting, and I should not be surprised if our troops are brought into line immediately. They will be so if my R 242 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1850 plans are adopted ; but there are so many people to consult and to persuade, that it is like com- manding an army in Italy under the Aulic Council at Vienna. However, I have not much cause to complain, as they are sufficiently docile ; but there are moments which require rapidity of decision and execution. I am sorry I could not stay here a few days more ; this north-west breeze renovates me wonderfully, and I am quite myself again. D. House of Commons : April 18, 1850. The great victory of Monday^ quite redeemed the Friday check.^ I hardly know what the Government will do — anything but go out. The Radicals so frightened at what they have almost unwittingly done, that Tuesday night, the moment I announced my intention to support the repeal of the excise on paper, they fled the House in confusion, or voted with the Government. By these means the division was not good ; but their tactics have had this among other effects : de- stroyed the Radicals monopoly of liberal proposi- tions, which they will take care no longer to make now there is a chance of their being carried. ^ Defeat of Ministers on Stamp Act. 2 Committee of inquiry into diplomatic salaries, &c. 1 8 so CORRESPONDENCE 243 Yesterday we dined at the Turkish Ambassa- dor's ; the best dinner and the best served, and, rather strange to say, the wines were really de- licious. The guests very miscellaneous ; but the Ambassador himself, the most favourable speci- men of the Turk, extremely good-looking, high- bred, and gracious. The Royal Academy have asked me to their annual banquet in May. One gets into a great many good things (at least what people think good things) by being leader of the Opposition ; which, according to Sir Charles Wood, if you are not a Minister, is ' the next best thing.' . . . — Yours, D. House of Commons : April 26, 1850. I have little to say, my life being passed in this House, of which you are furnished daily in the journals. The Government have saved them- selves from a crushing defeat to-night, on the Stamp Act, by an ignominious surrender at dis- cretion yesterday : but they have troubles enough before them. . . . We dined at the ' Danes ' on Tuesday. I sat next to the French Ambassadress, a rather pretty and a very agreeable and clever person. Sir R 2 244 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 185a Wynn, our envoy at Copenhagen ; Sir Ralph and Lady Howard, Hope, the Mathlsons, &c., were the rest, and an agreeable party. In the evening, being out, I went in for five minutes to Lady Yarde Buller's, being the wife of our greatest squire. M. A. dined yesterday, but I did not, at a banquet at the Antony Rothschild's, given in honour of the impending fate of a brother-in- law, Montefiore, and a daughter of Baron de Goldsmid. The Hebrew aristocracy assembled in great force and numbers, mitigated by the Dowager of Morley, Charles Villiers, Abel Smiths, and Thackeray ! I think he will sketch them in the last number of ' Pendennis.' . . . House of Commons : May 3, 1850. The visit to the Jollififes was very agreeable, notwithstanding a north-east wind that really cut me in two. The country not as beautiful as Albury or the Deepdene, but Sir William is com- pensated for that by the superior soil. A beauti- ful home, and a still more beautiful family, of all ages from twenty to three, and all equally good- looking. A pleasant circle, and had the weather been propitious, it would have been a renovating visit ; but notwithstanding a blazing sun, I was obliged to keep in the conservatory, only venturing 1850 CORRESPONDENCE 245 out in my bearskin coat. I hardly know what has happened since, I have been so busy ; but I think only politics. Yesterday the Government received another apoplectic stroke ; they are drifting, but I suppose, and perhaps hope, they may escape the breakers this year. I sat an hour with Lord Lyndhurst to-day ; in good spirits after a year of darkness, but when the weather is warmer, it is hoped the operation will tell. . . . Ceylon Committee Room : May 13, 1850. I am so much occupied, that I must try and send you a line in the midst of the hubbub of this never-ending committee. The Academy dinner was very agreeable, though they took me out of the wits, among whom I sat last year, and which were represented this by Rogers, Hallam, Mil- man, Thackeray, Lockhart, and placed me among the statesmen. I sat within two of Peel, and between Gladstone and Sidney Herbert. A leader of Opposition, who has no rank, is so rare, if not unprecedented an animal, that the R.A.s were puzzled how to place me ; and though they seem to have made somewhat of a blunder, it went off very well, Gladstone being particularly agreeable. Afterwards to the first assembly of Mrs. Abbott Lawrence, the wife of the American 246 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1850 Minister ; he is a very good specimen of the New World — opulent, good-looking, cordial, and well- bred — a high Protectionist. I had heard much of him from John Manners, as he stayed a week at Belvoir, and they were all much pleased with him. There were a good many Americans, among them the Peabody family — great people. As Mrs. Lawrence says, *the Peabodys are the Howards of America.' The chief Peabody was presented to me, and he remarked of the Duke of Wellington, who was near, ' The two hemi- spheres can't show a man like that, sir.' I received Professor Aytoun to breakfast on Saturday, for he had called on me several times, and written often, and as I could not ask him to dinner, it was the only thing left. I got John Manners and young Stanley, Boo Lennox, Man- deville, and Lord Naas to meet him. It is the fashion now to fete him, in gratitude for the Pro- tection articles in ' Blackwood,' of which he is the author. Lady Blandford, next whom I sat the other day at dinner, told me she had heard that * Sin and Sorrow ' was the joint production of George Smythe and Lady Sligo. I think if I saw it I should find him out. I suppose he supplied the sin and his sister the rest. . . . 1850 CORRESPONDENCE 247 Carlton : August 8, 1850. ... I cannot tell you how delighted I am with your residence. We returned by Richmond, which I find is much the nearest way ; in fact your villa is in the heart of the greenland, which I have so long admired, and wished to dwell in. I think you will be very happy there, and I shall probably end my days as your neighbour. I forgot to tell you that I had an invitation from Lytton to Knebworth, and mean to go. He is a Protectionist, and I believe is to be returned for Lincoln under the patronage of Sibthorp. Hudson ^ goes about saying he has recovered his character (by some trial at York, which he lost) and that he means to resume his position ; though plundered by the committee of investigation, he has been supported by his conscience, and has sent to Lord Londesborough to offer him 10,000/. to buy back the estate. . . . September lo, 1850. ... I shall be glad to get to Hughenden to- morrow, having before me enormous labour, which nothing but solitude, study, and abstinence can beat down, if indeed they can. . . . Two immense chests of George Bentinck s papers from the Duke 8 The Railway King. 248 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1850 of Portland — materials for a memoir, long contem- plated. . . . Bulwer asked very much after you when we were at Knebworth, and particularly approves of Richmond as a retreat : ' No place like it.' He is a real Baron, though he will, I think, be the first, not the last, of his race. ... When you are quite settled, and have sub- scribed to the London Library, get Menzel's * History of German Literature,' not his ' History of Germany ' — a very different book. The former will suit you and I strongly recommend it, though not very new. . . . Hughenden : October 28, 1850. It is a long time since I wrote to you, but my life here is uneventful. I am getting on pretty well with my work, though tired of this life of ever- lasting labour. This is a beautiful autumn, and the tints are very fine and various, though the russet beech predominates. These colours, how- ever, are no compensation for the loss of long days. I get up at seven, but they are fearfully short, and I cannot, as you know, work at night. . . . Lady Londonderry writes to me that Urisk is dead, for thirteen years her fond and faithful com- panion. He was blind and deaf, but seemed always 1850 CORRESPONDENCE 249 to see and hear her. I told her that I had named your dog Urisk, and that Urisk therefore for me still lived. ... I had a letter from young Stanley at Paris, and he was going to Madrid. He had seen the President, who received him very kindly, having been a brother special constable with him on the famous 10th of April, when they traversed the H ay market together for a couple of hours. . . . November 15, 1850. ... I think John Russell is in a scrape. I understand his party are furious with him ; as great a blunder as the Edinburgh letter.^ 'I'he Irish are frantic. I think he wants to hark back, and the silence of the ' Times,' after all its agita- tion, is very suspicious. If he goes on with the Protestant movement, he will be thrown over by the Papists ; if he shuffles with the Protestants, their blood is too high to be silent now, and they will come to us. I think Johnny is checkmated. The Dean of St. Paul's told my informant that he had seen the letter Lord John wrote to the Bishop of London a week before his letter to the Bishop of Durham, and it was quite on a contrary tack. . . . Hughenden : November 16, 1850. What did you think of my letter ? I had no 4 The famous No-Popery letter. 250 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 185a idea of Lord John's riding the high Protestant horse, and making the poor devils of Puseyites the scapegoats, when he, after all, is the greater culprit. Unfortunately, by a singular chance, I did not read his letter till Friday afternoon, and I felt that un- less the check were in Saturday's papers, and were delayed till Monday, the effect would be very injurious. I therefore had only half an hour before I had to send my messenger off to town. I now feel how much more I might have done had I had time, but the opportune is sometimes pre- ferable to the excellent, and the letters I have received this morning make me believe that it has told. . . . Hughenden : December 22, 1850. . . . Stanley has never yet been able to have his bed made, so severe has been the attack, and so severe it continues. I have heard from Inglis,. who no longer believes that John Russell is ready to go to the block for the Protestant faith. My own opinion is that the Cabinet have dispersed with- out settling anything, though I assume that at all events they will now meet Parliament. If after the holidays they agree to some limited and par- tial measure, I think it must end in their utter confusion. They had better do nothing, in which the House would probably support them, though 1850 CORRESPONDENCE 251 not very strongly. Gladstone at Naples remains, and will not be at the meeting of Parliament I hear. He avoids the storm. . . . The illness of Stanley arrests all arrangements for our pre-parliamentary meeting, but if he gets better, it will be, I should think, at BurgWey. . . . I am in time to wish you a * Merrie Christmas,* unless, as John Manners adds, ' that be too Popish/ — Adieu. 252 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 185 1 185I. Quarter Sessions — Arrears of correspondence — Young Stanley's visit to Hughenden — Walks — Efforts to form a Conservative Go- vernment — Croker — Anxiety — Mr. Bethell — Speech — Rally of party too late — Close of campaign — Secessions — Gaiety of early season — Monsieur Soyer — Literary market — The Oaks — ^Jules Janin — Whiteside — Aylesbury speech — Bad report — Bucks Agricultural Association — Visit to Exhibition — Count Revent- low's death — Agricultural problems — Bishop of Oxford's visit — Granby's visit — Farming questions^r-George Bentinck's life — Hatfield — Duke of Portland — Palmerston turned out of the Ministry. January i, 185 1. I WENT on Monday to Quarter Sessions. A great meeting, all the magnates there ; the Lord- Lieutenant, three county M.P.'s — Chandos, Ver- ney, and Calvert. The dinner very crowded, even the Carringtons remained to do honour to Sir Thomas Aubrey, who resigns the chair. . . . I find on my table letters from Lyndhurst, Hard- wicke, Granby, Henry Bulwer, John Manners, and Lord March, and all, even L.'s, of great length, and some pamphlets ; so you see I have enough to do, but cannot reply to-day. Our Parliamen- tary plans remain all unsettled, in consequence of 1851 CORRESPONDENCE 253 Stanley's state. Belvoir, Burghley, and Wimpole are contending for the honour of being the seat of the Congress. ... I wish you a very happy new year. — Yours affectionate, D. Hughenden : January 13, 1851. I find myself very incapable of exertion in this weather, and particularly so of writing letters, which I daily and weekly postpone, till the arrear frightens me. My public correspondence be- comes a great tax, as the paper in the country is always damp, ink thick, and pens consequently incompetent. I expect young Stanley to-morrow, and on the 24th we go to Burghley. Lord Stanley wrote me his first letter, proposing to come up to town the 1 7th to consult ; but as the Burghley arrangement had been made, I thought it too, great an effort for him to come 500 miles, so I suggested waiving it. I have not the slightest idea what will happen. The new edition of the ' Curiosities ' seems to swim. My father s memory has been kept alive and done justice to, which was the great, indeed sole object. 'Bell's Messenger' says in the re- view : * He is still more admired now that he is dead.' . . . 254 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1851 Grosvenor Gate : January 22. I have been obliged to come up suddenly for some public business. . . . Young Stanley's visit to Hughenden, though hurried, was very agreeable. He seemed charmed with the hill country, after Lancashire, and with everything else. Having no horses, we took long walks together — one day to Hampden, which pleased him much ; another to the Abbey, no one there, so we rambled all over the park ; the view of Hughenden from the heights is quite marvellous. I had never seen it before, and this must be the view which Stafford was full of in the House of Commons last year, when he returned from staying at the Abbey. We walked to Denner Hill and its sylvan neigh- bourhood, and on Sunday, after church, we walked on the hills in view of Dash wood's Park, till we got to West Wycombe Church. There is a regular journal for you ! The political horizon seems fair, and I never knew a session about to commence with better prospects. . . , February 26, 185 1. The crisis ^ goes on, but seems very much in our favour. . . . The Speaker is reading the ^ Lord Stanley endeavouring to form a Government on Lord John Russell's resignation, but without success. 1 85 1 CORRESPONDENCE 255 ' Commentaries ' *^ with great delight, thinks them quite prophetic, and the chapter on the Genius of the Papacy one of the finest things he knows. Croker met me, and nearly embraced me. I hardly recognised him. He said: 'The speech^ was the speech of a statesman, and the reply was the reply of a wit/ How very singular ! — Adieu. J) March 22, 1851. I can say nothing of public affairs, which are involved in impenetrable clouds, but which cost me great trouble, and harass, and anxiety. The debate'^ will close on Monday, at least I shall speak on that day, and follow, if I can, Gladstone. , . . John Manners is going to be married to Miss Marley, a granddaughter of my old friend Lady Charleville, a very pretty girl. . , . I, was officially informed by a letter last night, for, though we have dined together every day, and sat together in the House every night, he could not screw up courage enough for the announce- ment. . . . Carlton : April 5, 185 1. I write you a line, though correspondence is very distasteful to me. Ferrand stands for 2 On the life and reign of Charles I., by Isaac Disraeli. 3 Inquiry for relief of agricultural distress. 4 On second reading of Papal Bill. 256 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1851 Aylesbury, and is at Hampden ; Cameron, fortu- nately, being an intimate friend of his. I hope and believe he will win. His opponent is Mr. Bethell,^ of the Chancery Bar, gone down as the Whig candidate, although still a member of the Carlton Club, of which he will be duly reminded. Yesterday I spoke well in the House, and intend, in the course of the week, to make another great rally of the party ; but I fear it is too late. I hope you are well. — Adieu. Sunday : April 13, 1851. I rose so late on Saturday, not having got to bed the previous night till past four o'clock, that I could not write you a line, and give you tidings of the division,^ which has very much inspirited our friends ; though the truth is, it now turns out that we ought to have won, or at least reduced the majority to an almost infinitesimal quantity. However, our blood is up again, though I fear we shall never regain the occasion so sadly lost. In February the Whigs were prostrate, and even if beaten now, of which I have little or no hope, they will be formidable and well-organised foes. I spoke to my satisfaction, which is rarely the ^ Subsequently Lord Westbury and Lord Chancellor. * Resolutions in favour of the owners and occupiers of land. 1851 CORRESPONDENCE 257 case. We shall go to Hughenden on Tuesday, thus closing a campaign seldom equalled for its events, its excitement, its chagrin and wasted energies. I am sorry, very, that I could not come down to see you before I went away, but inde- pendently of the painful absorption of my pur- suits, I have had little heart for the expedition. May, perhaps, may bring brighter skies and for- tunes, though we cannot complain of fortune, only of our inveterate imbecility, which could not avail itself of her abundant favours. The religious question will revive with all its fervour after the holidays, and the recent conver- sions will add fuel to the fire. You have heard of the secession of Manning, the spiritual director of Sidney Herbert ; and of James Hope, the glory of the Scotch bar, and Gladstone s bosom friend — by-the-bye, the son-in-law of Lock- hart. . . . The before Easter season has been very gay, though I have been myself very little about, the House requiring all my time and thought. Lady Salisbury and Lady Glengall have both had regular reception nights, and yesterday there was a great gathering of the Tory party at Lady Eglintoun's. . . . s 258 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 185 1 Grosvenor Gate : April 16, 185 1. We go to Hughenden to-day. Yesterday I made the acquaintance of the great Monsieur Soyer, who is a very clever person, and who is creating out of old Gore House and its gardens a most fantastic paradise of ginguettes, which I think will astonish and delight the world. Never was such an assemblage of saloons, pavilions, statues, fountains, and all sorts of fanciful crea- tions. Some of the walls are covered with gro- tesques, in which, among others, your humble servant figures. The literary market is very bad. Shilling romances, and other books as cheap, and all good, for they are translations, many of them, from the best French writers, have quite knocked up the good old profession, which, established on a discreet foundation of puffing, permitted a fair profit to publisher and scribe. — Yours. D. Grosvenor Gate : May 24. Yesterday our chief won the Oaks, a com- pensation for his other loss, or, as some think (not I), an omen of recovering it. The day before we met him at the Hardwickes' — a sort of Cabinet dinner (Cabinet of St. Germains), the Malmes- 1 8 5 1 CORRESPONDENCE 2 59 burys, Redesdale, Hemes, Sic. On Wednesday we went to the Great Exhibition. You must con trive to go, if only for once, as I did. Any day you like to come up Mary Anne will go with you, who by that time will know all the points, for one wants a guide. On Sunday I dined at Lumley's, a villa dinner, to meet Jules Janin ; there were many foreigners, English, or Irish rather — Clanricarde, Smythe, &c. Many healths in French. I gave * Her Majesty's Ministers,' upon which the foreigners raised their eyes and cried ' Noble ! ' ' Ah ! c est grand,' &c. Jules Janin a sort of Maginn. I met at Stanley's the other day the new Irish M.P., Mr. Whiteside,^ who promises, which is more than our political prospects do. I am not in much spirits for writing, but send this line to keep up the chain and show that you are not forgotten. . . . — Yours affectionately, D. Hughenden : September 19, 1851. I was at Aylesbury on Wednesday, where I dined with the old society, Lowndes of Chesham in the chair. I made a good speech in a difficult position and on a difficult subject ; and the meet- ■^ Subsequently Chief Justice of Ireland. S 2 26o LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1851 ing seemed in heart. I saw to-day in the ' Times ' two columns of incoherent and contradictory non- sense which made me blush, though I ought to be hardened by this time on such subjects. I am only afraid the world will think it all Delphic and diplomatic, and that the wordy obscurity was intentional, whereas I flattered myself I was as terse and simple as suited a farmers' table. The Bishop and his tail, a Chancellor, an Archdeacon, a Chaplain, and a secretary come the beginning of November. The Lord- Lieutenant has bolted to Brighton, therefore it was absolutely necessary for me to receive them, in my position. . . . D. Hughenden : October 4, 185 1. On Tuesday I went to Salt Hill,^ expecting to find Labouchere in the chair, but he had not returned from Spain, and we had a regular political meeting, though against the rules. It went off well. Harcourt was there, Vyse, R. Clayton, Harvey junior; Irby in the chair, I on his right. I get on very well with my task ; if I could only keep it up as well for two months I should see daylight. Yesterday I was obliged to go to town, and having some spare time I ^ Meeting of the Bucks Agricultural Association. 1 85 1 CORRESPONDENCE 261 went to the Exhibition, last shilling day, to see the millions. Some of the fine things, like the Duchess of Parma's toilettes and the Oueen of Spain's jewels, &c., are gone, which I was sorry for, for the multitudes ; but there are also some addi- tions, especially an Eve in sculpture by a Belgian, very fine. But there was no music, only on the aristocratic days. This is I think to be deplored. The organs might have a humanising effect on the dog-stealers, cabmen, and coalheavers. I saw some of all, and this want made the whole thing less impressive than before. . . . I am much shocked by the death of Revent- low.^ He was one of the best-hearted and most genial beings I ever knew, and clever too ; and independent of all this, was my secret agent in the Diplomatic Corps, and I always found him faithful and accurate. It is a great loss to me in every sense. — Yours, D. Hughenden : October 17, 1851. I think you err in what you say as to the price of wheat, 35. per bushel, which would be 2^s, per quarter. It is still much nearer 40^. per quarter than 24^-. At this moment, with the » Then Danish Minister. 262 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 185 1 exception of wheat, all agricultural produce is as high as the average of the last twenty years : barley, oats, beans, horses and cart colts, cows, sheep, pigs, wool, and hay. It is a question yet difficult to solve, whether wheat is to partake of their elevation, or they to sink to its depreciated level, as former experience has shown these dis- turbances of the general equilibrium to be but temporary. But circumstances are changed, and former experience may not be any longer a guide in this respect. It is possible that agriculture may flourish without a high price of wheat, and with- out producing any. There certainly seems to me no reason for its appearance in the Chilterns, un- less it fetches a high price. I believe all the farmers in this district, who have decent capital, are much more than making both ends meet. Hughenden : November 14. I have scarcely left my room, being so much occupied, though this delicious weather tempts one hard. From seven to two o'clock Hughenden looks like summer, but when I get out the owls are stirring. We go to Latimer, but I don't think I shall be able to stay more than a day, as I must go up to town about the book. You must make the exertion of paying us a Christmas visit if you 1851 CORRESPONDENCE 263 can, that we may be all together. This house is wonderfully warm for a country house, and your room is the prettiest in the world, and the sunniest aspect. . . . The bishop has been ; he was very amusing, fresh from Windsor, where there had been a chapter of the Garter. He told me a great many stories, which I have not time to send you ; one about the Duke of Wellington, that the Court consulted him as to how he thought things would terminate in France, upon which, after a pause, and in his oracular manner, he said, ' It will come to blows.' Granby's visit was very short. He stayed long enough, however, to ask Redrup, to whom he paid a visit with me, ' Whether there was any land that had gone out of cultivation in this neigh- bourhood } ' The astonishment of Redrup, who has just sold his barley for 30^. per quarter, may be conceived. All my rents are paid. ... Grosvenor Gate : December 7, 185 1. I finished the last line of the last chapter ^ last night, and never in my life felt more relieved, not having had a moment's ease the whole autumn. To-morrow we go to Hatfield, and on our return shall probably stay some days in town. If so, I ^ Lord George Bentinck : a Political Biography. 264 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1851 shall come and spend a long day with you at Twickenham and dine, if you will promise to give me only a mutton chop and a glass of sherry. Affairs are very stirring, but how they are to turn out the most prescient can hardly see. There ought, I think, to be a Conservative Govern- ment. ... Hughenden : December 31, 1851. I wish you a happy new year, though I have nothing particular to tell you. I think the book is well launched (but that is all I know) and makes pretty good head against Napoleon and Palmer- ston — fearful odds. The Duke of Portland acknowledged the receipt of the volume^ 'express- ing on behalf of all members of the family their gratitude,' &c. The article in the ' Dublin Uni- versity ' is by Mr. Butt. He happened to be in town when the book was published, read it en route to Dublin, and in two days produced the article, notwithstanding the pressure of his profes- sion, and the exigency of the magazine itself. I dare say ' Blackwood ' will be a good, elaborate article. The * Times ' was at least a great ad- vertisement. . . . The Palmerston coup^ is very serious. • . • ^ His dismissal from the Ministry. 1852 CORRESPONDENCE 265 1852. Burghley — Troubles ahead — Official life — Success — Re-election for Bucks — Great business — Political society — Britton's pension — Militia Bill — Queen's birthday celebrated — Banquets — Audi- ences with Prince Albert — Remarks — The Court — Prorogation by the Queen in person. Grosvenor Gate : January 26, 1852. It is a long time since I have written, and there have been great events in the interval. We came from Burghley on Saturday night, having there a large party, Derbys, Salisburys, Granby, Herries, Malmesburys, &c. Lord Derby is fortu- nately very well, much thinner for his illness, but looking perhaps in consequence ten years younger. He is in good heart and sanguine, but I see tre- mendous troubles ahead; if not breakers, waves mountains high. . . , John Russell has written me a very charming letter about the political biography. . . . Downing Street : March 2, 1852.^ Having recovered from the horrors of a torpid liver, which has overwhelmed me the last few days, ^ On the resignation of the Russell Government, February 23, Lord Derby became Prime Minister, and Mr. Disraeli Chancellor ^ of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. 266 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1852 I send you an official letter, to tell you we get on very well. The Court gracious, the Press amiable, and our friends in the country considerate. To- morrow there is a levdCy Friday a council, and Saturday our first Cabinet. A fortnight in my office without the House of Common to distract me is a great advantage at starting. My election is fixed for the 12th, the day the House re- assembles — rather awkward. . . . Downing Street : March 17, 1852. I think we have turned the corner. The public seems with us, and our raw recruits have not made a single blunder. Ralph keeps you somewhat au fait with what happens, and, as re- gards myself, I am very well, but I literally have not time to take my meals. The Lord President, however, gives to-day his first dinner ; so busi- ness and food may be combined. In the evening Lady Derby has her first reception, which I shall attend, though otherwise I do not attempt to go anywhere. On Monday night Lord Derby did wonders, and I, in the other House, did not dis- grace our friends. . . . Downing Street : April 26. Your letters are always welcome, and always full of matter. ... I have given a pension of 75/. 1852 CORRESPONDENCE 267 per annum to Britton^ in his 8ist year, and the author of 86 works ; he made the appeal, and I wish I could have gotten him more, but the whole fund for the year was exhausted except 75/. . . . I have neither time to feed nor sleep, though pretty well ; great debates every night, and the Budget on Friday, for which I have literally not time to prepare. A Drawing-room, too, on Thursday will waste the whole morning. Lord John, after much deliberation, has chosen his own field of battle, and if he get beat to-night,^ which I think he will, he will have proved himself a very unfortunate, not to say a very unskilful, general. . . . — Ever thine, y) House of Commons : May 14. A hurried line to tell you that, after many vicissitudes, affairs seem pretty well and smooth again, except this morning — Lord Derby has the gout ! They say it is light ; but he is in bed, and how things are to go on without him baffles my imagination. Yesterday * I feasted my followers In a manner worthy of the cause, and as few Chancellors of Ex- * Author of the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of E7tgland. 3 Militia Bill. * Celebration of Queen's birthday. 268 LORD BEACONSFIELD'S 1852 . chequer have of late years. There was an enor- mous Drawing-room, the banquet and drum at Lady Derby's, not less, I should think, than a thousand. I never got upstairs. The Privy Seal, the Lord President, the Postmaster, all gave gra- tuitous feasts. The Duke of Northumberland too ; in fact never was a faction so feasted ! . . . June 8, 1852. The business is very hard and anxious ; up to three o'clock every morning, and in my place again at noon. It cannot I suppose last very long ; at least if it do, I shall not. However, on the whole, I keep my health. My life you know by the newspapers ; I go nowhere. Yesterday I was not at the Trinity House, and shall not be at a long series of civic feasts which are coming, being all, and perhaps fortunately, on House of Commons days. . . . On Sunday I was two hours with the Prince — a very gracious and interesting audience. He has great abilities and wonderful knowledge, I think the best educated man I ever met; most completely trained, and not over-educated for his intellect, which is energetic and lively. — Adieu. i8s2 CORRESPONDENCE 269 Downing Street : June 16. Our unprecedented efforts have nearly steered the ship into port. The Speaker says he never remembers so much and such hard work. I think we shall carry every one of our Bills of the slightest importance ; even the Crime and Out- rage Bill, of which I once despaired. . . . Things look favourably. The Court is very gracious ; I was with the Prince two hours again on Sunday last. . . . The fish dinner is fixed for the 30th. I hope Parliament will be prorogued the next day, and the Queen will do so in person. PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON Second Edition. Post Svo. ^s. LORD BEACONSFIELD'S HOME LETTERS ^^AT :I^ITTE1^ ZD^sT 183 0-3 1 . ' The little volume contains just the matter which the title would lead us to look for In it. It is the record of the travels of a young man gifted beyond most men with an eye to see and with a pen to describe the varied scenes through which he passed. The letters bear what the reader of Lord Beaconsfield's early novels will recognise as the genuine stamp. They are of interest all through, and in their account of men and manners, and places and scenery, they are touched off with an easy power which gives them their distinguishing charm. Dip where we will into the '* Home Letters," we find them capital reading. The charm never fails. There is no flagging, no falling off in interest. It rather heightens as we proceed, and we part from the letters with a genuine regret that the little volume contains no more of them. They are delightful reading, and that is enough, and we feel sure that the general verdict will confirm the judgment we have formed about them.'— Times. ' We have rarely seen so much that is amusing and interesting packed together in so small a compass. We lay down this volume with, if possible, an increased respect for the author of it. When we see the fun and frolic, the high animal spirits, the love of adventure, the daring eccentricities, and the absolute self-confidence which distinguished the Mr. Disraeli of fifty or sixty years ago, we not only admire all the more his development into the sagacious and far-sighted Statesman whom England still venerates, but we understand more completely the secret of his political success. Such a collection of qualifications in one man must have carried all before it. The wit, the sense of humour, and the powers of physical enjoyment which relieve the strain of heavy labour, united with the extraordinary strength of will and force of character, to which Mr. Gladstone himself has ^borne witness, and tempered by wide political knowledge, acquired him an independent point from a combination not met with in a century, and which can only by some rare incident, or early death, fail of any goal to which it aspires.'— Standard. ' A record of European travel fifty-five years old might run some danger of being accounted out of date, if its author, besides being a world-renown d statesman, were not a man of literary genius to whom tedious writing was impossible, and whose lightest composi- tions deserve preservation for their fancy, their brilliancy of description, and their abundant humour. Mr. Ralph Disraeli has done a public service in presenting the world with the Earl of Beaconsfield's " Home Letters." These letters are a distinctly valuable addition to literature. They will assist in making the world know the true character of the distinguished author and statesman whose work they are, besides being of a far more than transitory value for the wealth of descriptive power and subtle touches of humour.' — Daily Telegraph. ' Mr. Ralph Disraeli has given the world a great pleasure, in recalling to us what we venture to regard as the essence of his distinguished brother, by the publication of some of the dashing and glittering letters which he sent home from Spain, the Mediterranean, and Egypt in the years 1830 and 1831. They bring before us the most unique and even startling figure in our modern politics with singular force, and sometimes we seem to be reading allegories anticipative of Mr. Disraeli's actual career.'— Spectator. JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street. Gt,t3.<5L*.«u^ vjJ), v>J£l,j5: