CHAPTER XII.

Lord Clarendon's favourable View of the Peace--General Evans' Proposal to embark after the Battle of Inkerman--Sir E. Lyons defends Lord Raglan--Peace concluded--Sir J. Graham's gloomy View of Affairs--Edward Ellice's Plan--Favourable Reception of the Peace--A Lull in Politics--A Sabbatarian Question--The Trial of Palmer for Murder--Defeat of the Opposition--Danger of War with the United States--Ristori as an Actress--Defeat of the Appellate Jurisdiction Bill--Return of the Guards--Baron Parke on the Life Peerage--Close of the Session--O'Donnell and Espartero in Spain--Chances of War--Coronation of the Czar--Apathy of the Nation--Expense of the Coronation at Moscow--Interference at Naples--Foreign Relations--Progress of Democracy in England--Russia, France, England, and Naples--Russian Intrigues with France--The Bolgrad Question--The Quarrel with Naples--The Formation of Lord Palmerston's Government in 1855--Death of Sir John Jervis--Sir Alexander Cockburn's Appointment--James Wortley Solicitor-General--Conference on the Treaty of Paris--Low Church Bishops--Leadership of the Opposition--Coolness in Paris--Dictatorial Policy to Brazil.

[Sidenote: RETURN TO ENGLAND.]

_London, March 21st, Good Friday._--I left Paris on Wednesday morning with Mr. and Mrs. Reeve, dined at Boulogne, crossed over in the evening, and arrived in London yesterday morning at eleven o'clock. When near Folkestone we were caught in a fog, lost our way, and were very near having to anchor and pass the night at sea. After a vast deal of whistling and bellowing, stopping and going on, the fog cleared a little, lights became visible, and we entered the harbour with no other inconvenience than having made a long _détour_, and being an hour later than our proper time. I regretted leaving Paris, where I was treated with so much affection and hospitality, and on the whole very well amused. On Monday, I dined with the Duchesse de Mouchy; on Tuesday night Clarendon came after dinner to see me before my departure, and we had some talk about the peace and the terms. He spoke very cheerfully about it and seems not at all dissatisfied, nor to feel any alarm about its reception. As it is, without at all acknowledging that he has made any sacrifices, he considers that the influence he has acquired for England, particularly with Austria and Turkey, is far more valuable than any items of concession from Russia would have been. Buol told him that he was now quite convinced that England was the Power to which Austria must really look with confidence and reliance on her honour and friendship, and the Turk was still more warm and vehement in assurances of the same kind. This was elicited from the Austrians by the fact of England having supported the condition of the Bessarabian cession, while France took part with Russia and threw Austria over. Moreover, Clarendon does not, like Cowley, complain of the Emperor Napoleon, but speaks with great satisfaction of His Majesty's conduct to him, and the renewed cordiality with which he has recently expressed himself towards England, and for the maintenance of his alliance with us. In short, he evidently thinks, and not without reason, that he will return, having obtained a sufficiently good peace, and having placed England in a very fine position. He said that he had been able to accomplish his task by being ready to incur responsibility at home, and by being able to act unfettered, and taking on himself to disregard any instructions or recommendations from home that he did not approve of. Yesterday I saw George Lewis and had a talk with him and his wife about Clarendon and the peace. He said he thought the peace quite sufficient, and he did not understand what it was Cowley found fault with, nor why he is dissatisfied. He denies that we have given up anything that it would have been just and reasonable to stand out upon, and will not hear of taking an apologetic tone, but that Clarendon should defend the peace on its own merits. He thinks it will be well enough received in the House of Commons and by the country, and he is in good spirits about the Government. He says Palmerston has been moderate and reasonable, and that he is not aware of Clarendon's having been harassed with any instructions, but left entirely to his own discretion. They all think he has done exceedingly well.

[Sidenote: SIR EDMUND LYONS' NARRATIVE.]

_March 29th._--I went to Hatchford on Saturday last; on Wednesday to Althorp. I met Sir Edmund Lyons at Hatchford, who talked incessantly about the incidents of the war and the conduct of the people concerned in it, and very interesting his talk was, for besides having been one of the most conspicuous and important actors in it, he was completely in the confidence of the Commanders-in-Chief, and consulted by them on every occasion and with regard to all operations. He told us what had passed between Evans and Raglan and between Evans and himself on a most important occasion, to this effect: Evans went to Raglan immediately after the battle of Inkerman, and proposed to him to embark the army immediately, leaving their guns, and (Lyons says he is almost certain) their sick and wounded to the enemy. Raglan said, 'But you forget the French: would you have us abandon them to their fate?' He replied, 'You are Commander-in-Chief of the _English_ army, and it is your business to provide for _its_ safety....' Raglan would not hear of the proposal. Almost immediately after Evans met Sir Edmund Lyons and told him what had passed with Raglan, and urged him to suggest the same course. Lyons made the same observation about the French that Raglan had done, and said one of two things would happen: either the French would take Sebastopol alone, when we should be covered with shame and dishonour; or they would fail and probably suffer some great disaster. The expression of _'perfide Albion'_ had long been current in France, and then indeed it would be well deserved and would become a perpetual term of reproach against us. These rebuffs did not prevent Evans going on board ship and there giving out that the army would in a few days be obliged to embark, and Captain Dacres came to Lyons and told him he heard this was going to happen. Lyons asked him where he had heard this, and he said Evans had announced it, and talked of it unreservedly as certain to happen. Lyons said, 'It is false; the army will not go away, and Sebastopol will be taken. It is very mischievous that such reports should circulate, and I order you not to allow such a thing to be said by anybody on board your ship, and to contradict it in the most positive manner.'

Everything that Lyons said, and it may be added all one hears in every way, tends to the honour and the credit of Raglan, and I am glad to record this because I have always had an impression that much of the difficulty and distress of the army in 1854 was owing to his want of energy and management. He was not a Wellington certainly, and probably he might have done more and better than he did, but he was unquestionably, on the whole, the first man in the army, and if he had not been continually thwarted by the French, would have done more. While many here were crying out for placing our army under the command of French generals, and recalling Raglan (and I must confess I had myself a considerable leaning that way), he was struggling against the shortcomings or the inactivity of Canrobert and Pélissier. Canrobert acknowledged that he had not nerves sufficient for the duties of his station, and he never could be got to agree to adopt the bold offensive movements which Raglan was continually urging upon him, especially after the battle of Inkerman, when Raglan entreated him to follow up the discomfited Russians, his whole army being ready and not above 1,500 of them having been engaged. With Pélissier, Raglan had very little to do, for his death occurred soon after Pélissier took the command.

[Sidenote: LYONS DEFENDS LORD RAGLAN.]

Lyons gave us an interesting account of Raglan's last illness. He seemed to have no idea that he was in serious danger, nor had the people about him. At last, when he was so rapidly sinking that the doctors saw his end was approaching, and it was deemed necessary to apprise him thereof, he would not believe it, and he insisted to his aide-de-camp who told him of his state that he was better, and he fell into a state of insensibility without ever having been conscious of his dying condition. One of the best authenticated charges against Raglan was that of his not showing himself to his soldiers, and it was said many believed that he had quitted the camp; at last this idea became so prevalent that his own staff felt the necessity of something being said to him about it, but none dared, for it seems they were all exceedingly afraid of him. At last they asked Lyons if he would speak to him and tell him what was said. Lyons said he had no scruple or difficulty in so doing, and told him plainly the truth. Raglan not only took it in good part, but thanked him very much, and said his reason for not riding round all the divisions was that he could not prevent the soldiers turning out to salute him, and he could not bear to see this ceremony done by the men who had been all night in the trenches or otherwise exposed to fatigue, and that this was the sole reason why he had abstained, but henceforward he would make a point of riding round every day, and so he ever after did; so that the main fact as reported by 'correspondents' was not devoid of truth. I wish I could recollect all the various anecdotes Lyons told us, but I neglected to put them down at the time, and now they have faded from my memory. He discussed the qualities of the English generals with reference to the command of the army after Raglan's death. He never had well understood why it was that Colin Campbell was always considered out of the question, and his own opinion seemed to be that he was the fittest man. The French thought so, and one of the alleged reasons against him, viz., that he could not speak French, was certainly not true. Simpson was very reluctant to take the command at first, and wrote home to say so, but after he had received certain flattering encouragements his opposition waxed fainter, and by the time it was taken from him he became anxious to retain it. Raglan was not at all annoyed at Simpson's being sent there, and did what he pleased with him. Simpson never attempted to interfere with him or to control him in any way, but on the contrary was entirely subservient to Raglan.

_April 1st._--News of peace reached London on Sunday evening, and was received joyfully by the populace, not from any desire to see an end of the war, but merely because it is a great event to make a noise about. The newspapers have been reasonable enough, except the 'Sun,' which appeared in deep mourning and with a violent tirade against peace.

[Sidenote: SIR JAMES GRAHAM ON THE STATE OF PARTIES.]

_April 3rd._--Yesterday I met Graham at the Council Office, where he had come to attend a committee. Since the formation of Aberdeen's Government three years ago I have hardly ever seen him, and have never had any conversation with him. Yesterday he sat down and began talking over the state of affairs generally, and the prospects of the country, which he considers very gloomy and full of danger, more particularly from the outrageous license of the press, which has now arrived at a pitch perfectly intolerable, but which it is impossible to check or control. Then the total destruction of parties and of party ties and connexions, to say nothing of the antipathies and disagreements of such public men as these are. He says there is not one man in the House of Commons who has ten followers, neither Gladstone, nor Disraeli, nor Palmerston. The Government goes on because there is no organized opposition prepared and able to take its place, and the Government receives a sufficiency of independent support, because all feel that the business of the country must be carried on, and hitherto Palmerston has been supported as a War Minister, and the best man to carry on the war; but Graham is very doubtful what will happen when the discussions on the peace and all matters relating to the war are over, and other questions (principally of domestic policy) come into play. Palmerston, always sanguine, fancies he can stand, but it is very doubtful, for he is not backed by a party constituting a majority; the Treasury Bench is very weak, and Palmerston himself a poor and inefficient conductor of the Government in the House. John Russell has taken up the question of education, which he hopes to render popular, and through it means again to recover his former influence and authority. He said that John Russell is (in spite of all that happened last year) more looked up to by the Whig party than Palmerston, and that they would rather have him for their leader, as, notwithstanding the faults he has committed, he is by far the ablest man, has a much greater grasp of intellect, more foresight, and is much more of a statesman, and has fixed principles. Palmerston (Graham thinks) has a passionate love of office and power, and will cling to it with tenacity to the last, and never resign it but on compulsion, not caring with whom he acts, nor on what principles. This, I think, is partly true and partly false. I do not think he cares whom he acts with, but I do not believe he is quite indifferent as to the principles. He says Lewis has done well, and is liked in the House of Commons, and Gladstone likes him and gives him a cordial support; that Baines is a good man, and those two are the most respected and considered of all the men on the Treasury Bench, the House accepting their sterling qualities in place of greater brilliancy such as Gladstone can command; that Gladstone is certainly the ablest man there, though it is still doubtful whether his talents are equal to such an emergency as the present to master public opinion, enlist it on his side, and to administer the Government on certain principles of administrative reform, which Graham himself considers necessary. His religious opinions, in which he is zealous and sincere, enter so largely into his political conduct as to form a very serious obstacle to his success, for they are abhorrent to the majority of this Protestant country, and (I was rather surprised to hear him say) Graham thinks approach very nearly to Rome. Gladstone would have nothing to do with any Government unless he were leader in the House of Commons, and when that Government is formed, there should be previously a clear and distinct understanding on what principles it was founded and what their course of action should be. His tone is now that of disclaiming party connexions, and being ready to join with any men who are able and willing to combine in carrying out such measures as are indispensably necessary for the good government of the country, such a system as he briefly shadowed out in his speech at the Mansion House the other day. Graham's idea is, that in the event of this Government breaking down, the best chance of another being formed would be by Clarendon undertaking it, whom on the whole he regards as the man best fitted by his experience and ability to be at the head of affairs; that he and Gladstone might be brought together, but would Lord John consent to go to the Lords, and to serve under Clarendon as President of the Council and Head of the Education Department? This opens questions full of doubt and difficulty. Derby, he thinks, has no desire to form another Government, and would prefer to go on as he is now, leader of a large party of Peers who are willing to follow him and to make the House of Lords one of the scenes and instruments of his amusements as usual, provided it supplies him with occupation and excitement, indifferent to the consequences and to the mischief he may do. Disraeli appears to be endeavouring to approach Gladstone, and a confederacy between those two and young Stanley by no means an improbability. What Stanley is disposed to do and capable of doing is still an enigma, and although his speeches are not devoid of matter, they are without a particle of the spirit and stirring eloquence of his father.

The change which has taken place in the country presents to Graham a most alarming prospect. Hitherto it has been governed by parties, and patronage has been the great instrument of keeping parties together; whereas Sir Robert Peel has destroyed party, which had now entirely ceased to exist; and between the press, the public opinion which the press had made, and the views of certain people in Parliament, of whom Gladstone is the most eminent and strenuous, patronage was either destroyed or going rapidly to destruction. The only hope of escaping from great perils was in that broad stratum of good sense and firmness which still existed in the country, and of which manifestations had been recently given. He admires the resolute and unflinching spirit with which the war had been entered into, carried on, and the country was quite willing to persist in; and not less the sensible and reasonable manner in which the peace, by which they were mortified and disappointed, had been acquiesced in, for he says that it is beyond all question that there is throughout the country a strong feeling of mortification and regret that we have not played a more brilliant part, and that our share of glory has been less than that of our ally, and there would have been a general feeling of exultation and satisfaction if we had fought another campaign in order to end the war with greater _éclat_. But this sentiment has been sufficiently mastered by prudent considerations and a just appreciation of the circumstances of Europe generally, and of our relations with other Powers, to check all ebullitions of mortified pride, and to induce a prudent reserve and acquiesce in the management of the Government, and in a spirit like this there appears some hope for the future. We had a very long talk about these and other matters, the substance of which I record as it recurs to my mind.

[Sidenote: EDWARD ELLICE ON THE STATE OF PARTIES.]

A day or two before I met Ellice at Hillingdon, where we interchanged our thoughts, and a good deal that he said was much in Graham's sense: that this Government could not stand but by being remodelled, and his notion is that half of it should be got rid of, the Peelites taken in, and Lord John to go to the House of Lords as President of the Council, Granville taking Cowley's place as ambassador at Paris, and Cowley replacing Stratford Canning at Constantinople. _À propos_ of Stratford Canning, Graham thinks the Opposition will attack the Government and not the ambassador on the case of Kars, and that it is not impossible they may carry a vote of censure against them, which I told him I did not believe was possible, or that they could be able to carry any resolution affecting the Government so much as to compel their resignation, and I suggested to him how fatal this would be to his scheme of reorganizing a Government under Clarendon, as such censure would more especially touch him, and this would make it impossible for the Queen to entrust the formation of another Government to his hands.

_April 7th._--Since my conversation with Graham, I have learnt from the Duke of Bedford that Lord John is not very much disinclined to go to the House of Lords, particularly as his position in reference to his seat for the City is so embarrassing. The Dissenters, always unreasonable and ungrateful, will not forgive his speech upon Church Rates the other night, and his general popularity is gone. Then it is probably a consideration with him to secure to his family the settlement his brother will make on him if he takes the peerage.

_London, May 4th._--For nearly a month I have let this journal fall into arrear, during which period the most interesting occurrences have been the return of Clarendon, the publication of the conditions of peace with the accompanying protocols, and the debate upon Kars. With regard to the peace, Clarendon comes very well out of his mission, and no fault is found with the peace. The Kars debate was a great error on the part of the Opposition, and ended with a great triumph for the Government. Just before it, Palmerston called a meeting of his supporters, where he harangued them with great success, and managed to rally them round him with more of zeal and cordiality than they have hitherto shown. His position is certainly improved, and according to present appearances he will get through the session without much difficulty. All agree that he has been doing well in the House of Commons; his assiduity, his punctual attendance, and his popular manners make him agreeable to the House, and he has exhibited greater facility and resource in dealing with all sorts of miscellaneous subjects than anybody gave him credit for. There is not the smallest danger of the peace proving dangerous to him, and it is evident that the House of Commons, however independent and undisciplined it may be, will not allow him to be placed in any danger, and is determined not to have any change of Government at present. The Peelites and John Russell supported him and had nothing else to do, for they are neither of them in a condition to attempt to play a game of their own.

_May 14th._--Every day my disinclination to continue this work (which is neither a journal nor anything else) increases, but I have at the same time a reluctance to discontinue entirely an occupation which has engaged me for forty years, and in which I may still find from time to time something to record which may hereafter be deemed worth reading, and so at long intervals, and for short periods, I resume my reluctant pen.

We are now in the Whitsuntide holidays, in a profound political and parliamentary calm, the Government perfectly secure, Palmerston very popular, the Opposition disheartened and disunited, and having managed their matters as awkwardly and stupidly as possible, attacking the Government on questions and points on which the assailants were sure to be beaten, and strengthening instead of weakening it by their abortive attempts. There was great difference of opinion amongst them about fighting battles, on Kars, and on the peace; Lyndhurst and Derby were against, Disraeli was for. Roebuck, whom I fell in with on Sunday in a railway train, told me that if they had laid hold of the one point of the protocol in the Belgian press, and worked this well, they might have put the Government in a minority, but they missed this obvious opportunity.[1] I called on Lyndhurst yesterday, who said they had unaccountably overlooked this plausible topic. He is going to make a speech on Italy when Parliament meets, and we agreed entirely that either too much or too little was done at Paris on this question, and that either it ought not to have been entertained and discussed at all, or some more decided measures ought to have been adopted with regard to it. To stir up such delicate questions, and leave them in their present unhappy condition, is an egregious error.

[Sidenote: A SABBATARIAN QUESTION.]

The questions of war and of peace having now ceased to interest and excite the public mind, a religious question has sprung up to take their place for the moment, which though not at present of much importance, will in all probability lead to more serious consequences hereafter. Sir Benjamin Hall having bethought himself of providing innocent amusement for the Londoners on Sunday, established a Sunday playing of military bands in Kensington Gardens and in the other parks and gardens about the metropolis, which has been carried on, with the sanction of the Government, with great success for several Sundays. Some murmurs were heard from the puritanical and Sabbatarian party, but Palmerston having declared himself favourable to the practice in the House of Commons, the opposition appeared to cease. The puritans, however, continued to agitate against it in meetings and in the press, though the best part of the latter was favourable to the bands, and at last, when a motion in Parliament was threatened to insist on the discontinuance of the music, the Cabinet thought it necessary to reconsider the subject. They were informed that if the Government resisted the motion they would be beaten, and moreover that no man could support them in opposition to it without great danger of losing his seat at the next election. It is stated that the Sabbatarians are so united and numerous, and their organisation so complete, that all over the country they would be able to influence and probably carry any election, and that this influence would be brought to bear against every man who maintained by his vote this 'desecration of the Sabbath.' Accordingly it was resolved by the Cabinet to give way, and the only question was how to do so with anything like consistency and dignity. The Archbishop of Canterbury was made the '_Deus ex machinâ_' to effect this object. He was made to write a letter to the Premier representing the feelings of the people and begging the bands might be silenced. To this Palmerston wrote a reply in which he repeated his own opinion in favour of the music, but that in deference to the public sentiment he would put an end to their playing. All this has excited a good deal of interest and discussion. For the present, the only question is whether the angry public will not vent its indignation and resentment to-morrow in acts of uproar and violence; but though these acts will not be serious or lasting if they do take place, it may be expected that the Sabbatarians will not rest satisfied with their triumph, but will endeavour to make fresh encroachments on our free will and our habits and pursuits, and that fresh and more serious contests will arise out of this beginning.

Footnote 1: [An attempt had been made at the Congress of Paris by Count Walewski to bring forward some measure or resolution reflecting on the independence of the press in Belgium. It led to nothing, but Lord Clarendon was accused of not having protested against it with sufficient energy.]

_May 28th (day of the Derby)._--Yesterday on Epsom racecourse arrived the news of Palmer's being found guilty of the murder of Cook. This case and the trial have excited an interest almost unprecedented, unlike anything since the case of Thurtell about twenty years ago or more. People who never heard of either of the men took the deepest interest in it, the women particularly, though there was nothing peculiar in it or of a nature to excite them particularly. The trial lasted a fortnight, all the details of it were read with the greatest avidity, half the town went one day or other to hear it, and the anxiety that the man should be convicted was passionate. Cockburn gained great applause by the manner in which he conducted the prosecution.

[Sidenote: DEFEAT OF THE OPPOSITION.]

This trial has proved more attractive and interesting than anything in the political world, though there has been a pitched battle in the Lords on the question of Maritime Law and Right of Search given up in the recent Treaty. Derby made a violent onslaught on the Government, and was at first very confident of a majority. He soon found these hopes were fallacious, when he got angry and was more violent than he has ever been before this session. The Government got a majority of above fifty, which puts an end to any further contest there. The Government have now nothing to fear, the Opposition are routed and dispirited, and one can see nothing to alter the present state of affairs. The minor questions which have occupied attention are settling quietly. The Chelsea Commission is over, and the result will be harmless, on the whole rather good than bad, because it will prove that the violent attacks on the military authorities during the war have been exaggerated and in many cases unfounded. A sort of compromise has been made about the Wensleydale peerage, not a very happy one, and it remains to be seen whether the House of Commons is sufficiently acquiescent as to sanction it by agreeing to the 12,000_l._ a year to be paid to two new judges and peers for life. The Government have virtually abandoned the principle they contended for, and have yielded to the adverse vote and Committee. When they appeal to Parliament and limit the number of life peerages, they abandon the prerogative of the Crown.

_June 1st._--The state of affairs with America becomes more and more alarming.[1] Grey told me the other night that he had had a long conversation with Dallas, whose tone was anything but reassuring as to the prospect of peace; and yesterday I met Thackeray, who is just returned from the United States. He thinks there is every probability of the quarrel leading to war, for there is a very hostile spirit, constantly increasing, throughout the States, and an evident desire to quarrel with us. He says he has never met with a single man who is not persuaded that they are entirely in the right and we in the wrong, and they are equally persuaded if war ensues that they will give us a great thrashing; they don't care for the consequences, their riches are immense, and 200,000 men would appear in arms at a moment's notice. Here, however, though there is a great deal of anxiety, there is still a very general belief that war cannot take place on grounds so trifling between two countries which have so great and so equal an interest in remaining at peace with each other. But in a country where the statesmen, if there are any, have so little influence, and where the national policy is subject to the passions and caprices of an ignorant and unreasoning mob, there is no security that good sense and moderation will prevail. Many imagine that matters will proceed to the length of a diplomatic rupture, that Crampton will be sent away and Dallas retire in consequence, and that then by degrees the present heat will cool down, and matters be amicably arranged without a shot being fired. I feel no such confidence, for if diplomatic intercourse ceases numerous causes of complaint will arise, and as there will be no means left for mutual and friendly explanation and adjustment, such causes will be constantly exaggerated and inflamed into an irreconcileable quarrel. Matters cannot long go on as they now are without the public here becoming excited and angry, and the press on both sides insolent, violent, and provoking, and at last, going on from one step to another, we shall find ourselves drifted into this odious and on both parts suicidal contest, for there is not a blow we can strike at America and her interests that will not recoil on us and our own. It has often been remarked that civil wars are of all wars the most furious, and a war between America and England would have all the characteristics of a civil and an international contest; nor, though I have no doubt that America is in the wrong, can I persuade myself that we are entirely in the right on either of the principal points in dispute. We have reason to congratulate ourselves that the Russian war is over, for if it had gone on and all our ships had been in the Baltic, and all our soldiers in the Crimea, nothing would have prevented the Americans from seizing the opportunity of our hands being full to bring their dispute with us to a crisis.

Footnote 1: [In consequence of the dispute with the American Government on the subject of Foreign Enlistment, Mr. Crampton, the British Minister, was ordered to leave Washington on May 28th. He arrived in England on June 15th; but Lord Palmerston stated in the House of Commons that the dismissal of Mr. Crampton did not break off diplomatic relations with the United States, as Mr. Dallas remained in this country. It is remarkable that within a few months or even weeks two British Ministers received their passports from foreign governments and were sent away--a very uncommon occurrence!]

[Sidenote: MADAME RISTORI.]

_June 7th._--I went last night to see the celebrated Ristori in a very bad play called 'Medea,' being a translation into Italian from a French tragedy by a M. Legouvé. This play was written for Madame Rachel, who refused to act the part, which refusal led to a lawsuit, in which the actress was (I think) defeated. Ristori is certainly a fine actress, but she did not appear to me equal to Pasta in the same part, or to other great actresses I have seen. However, my inability to hear well and want of familiarity with Italian acting and imperfect knowledge of the language disqualify me from being a competent judge.

The American horizon is rather less dark. Nothing is yet known as to Crampton's dismissal, and Dallas does not believe it. The Danish Minister at Washington writes over here that he thinks the clouds will disperse and there will be no serious quarrel.

_London, July 12th._--After the lapse of a month and more, during which I could not bring myself to record anything, or to comment upon passing events, I am at last roused from my apathy, and am induced to take up my pen and say a word upon the defeat of the Appellate Jurisdiction Bill in the House of Commons the other night, which gave me the greatest satisfaction, because I regard it as a just punishment for the stupid obstinacy with which the Government have blundered on from one fault to another throughout this whole business. It has been a complete comedy of errors, and every one who has taken a part in it has been in the wrong. I told Granville how it would be in the first instance, and urged him, after the House of Lords had refused to let in Parke as a life peer, to accept the defeat quietly by making him an hereditary peer and thus give the go-by to the main question. This nothing would induce them to do, and they fancied that they could avoid the mortification of appearing to knock under, and save their own consistency, by the contrivance of this bill. Every mischief that it was possible to do they have managed to accomplish, and the leaders of the opposite parties, who all felt themselves in a scrape, came to a sort of compromise in the Lords' Committee, the result of which was this unpopular bill. Amongst them they have assailed the prerogative of the Crown, they have damaged the judicial authority of the House of Lords, they have deeply offended many of their own friends by tendering to them such a measure, and they have behaved most unkindly and unhandsomely to Baron Parke, who thinks he has great reason to complain.

I have been at Knowsley for the last three days, and so missed the march of the Guards into London on Wednesday. Lord Hardinge was struck down by paralysis as he was speaking to the Queen at Aldershot on Tuesday last. It is supposed that the Duke of Cambridge will succeed him, and that Jim Macdonald will be his Military Secretary. The American question is still undecided, but everybody appears to be very easy about it.

[Sidenote: BARON PARKE ON THE LIFE PEERAGE.]

_July 20th._--I met Baron Parke the other day, who talked over his affair, complained of the treatment he had received from the Government, but said he gathered from what the Chancellor had said to him that they meant now to make him an hereditary peer, declared there was not a shadow of doubt about the legality, and that Campbell had as little doubt as he himself had, but finding the measure was unpopular with certain lawyers, he had suddenly turned against his own recorded opinion and opposed it. The Baron said the Government were greatly to blame for not having ventilated the question, and ascertained whether they could carry it or not, and if he had had an idea of all the bother it had made, he never would have had anything to do with it. George Lewis told me that the life peerage had never been brought before the Cabinet, and he knew nothing of it till he saw it in the Gazette, nor did Clarendon; in fact it was confined to the Chancellor, Granville, and Palmerston. They none of them, however, know with whom it originated. Now that the measure turns out to be so unpopular and is so scouted, and the transaction has been attended with so many blunders and defeats, no one is willing to accept the responsibility of it, or to acknowledge having had anything to do with it. It is strange that Palmerston should ever have consented to it, but he knew nothing and cared nothing about it; he was probably assured it would go down without any difficulty, and in this _poco curante_ way he suffered himself to be committed to it, not seeing the storm it would cause. He allowed Granville to manage it all his own way, and at last he had the good luck to be beaten upon it in the House of Commons, for the scrape would have been more serious if he had earned it there. These last days of the session have been as usual marked by the withdrawal and abandonment of various bills that were for the most part introduced at the beginning of it, and which were found to be quite worthless, especially the Law Reform Bill.

_London, July 27th._--Parliament has finished its debates, and will be prorogued on Tuesday. Dizzy wound up by a 'review of the session,' a species of entertainment which used to be given annually some years ago by Lord Lyndhurst with great skill and effect, but which on the present occasion, and in Disraeli's hands, was singularly inopportune and ineffective. Lord Wensleydale has at last taken his seat as an hereditary Peer; the Government, after various abortive attempts to wriggle out of their absurd position, having done at last what they ought to have done at first--knocked under and endured what could not be cured. The Government go into summer and winter quarters in a very healthy and prosperous state, with nothing apparently to apprehend, and with every probability of meeting Parliament next year in the same condition, and, barring accidents, going through next session as successfully as they have gone through this.

_August 4th._--I was at Goodwood all last week; the Prince of Prussia came there. Not a word of news; the Queen still engaged in reviewing the troops, and complimentary _fêtes_ are still going on to Sir W. Williams of Kars, and Charles Wyndham 'the hero of the Redan.' The disturbances in Spain seem to be over, and O'Donnell remains victorious. My first impression was (the common one) that Espartero had been ousted by an intrigue, and that it was a reactionary _coup d'état_, but I now hear that it is no such thing, and that we ought to desire the success of the present Government. Espartero and O'Donnell could not agree, as was not unlikely in a coalition Government the two chiefs of which were men of such different opinions and antecedents. After many abortive attempts to reconcile their differences, it was agreed that a Council of Ministers should be held which the Queen herself should preside over, and when a final attempt should be made. A long discussion took place, and the Queen did all she could to reconcile the two generals, and to enable the Government to go on unchanged. Finding it impossible to effect this, she ended by saying, 'Well, gentlemen, since I cannot prevail on you to go on together, I must needs choose between you, and as I think Marshal O'Donnell will be the best able to carry on the Government, I appoint him.' Then the National Guards began an insurrection which was put down, but no violent measures seem to have been adopted, and O'Donnell has declared that Spain can only be successfully governed on constitutional principles, and that he means to retain the Cortes in its integrity. How far his acts will correspond with his professions remains to be seen. Narvaez was recommended to go to France, and Queen Christina appears not to have been allowed to return to Spain, which are good signs. It is a good thing for Spain that Espartero should have retired, for though probably the honestest Spaniard, he is at the same time the weakest and the most wanting in moral courage and decision.

[Sidenote: CHANCES OF WAR.]

History is full of examples of the slight and accidental causes on which the greatest events turn, and of such examples the last war seems very full. Charles Wyndham told me that nothing but a very thick fog which happened on the morning of Inkerman prevented the English army being swept from their position and totally discomfited. The Russians could see nothing, lost their own way, and mistook the position of the British troops. Had the weather been clear so that they had been able to execute their plans, we could not have resisted them; a defeat instead of the victory we gained would have changed the destiny of the world, and have produced effects which it is impossible to contemplate or calculate.

On the other hand, nothing but miscalculation and bad management prevented the capture of Sebastopol immediately after Alma. My nephew is just returned from a voyage with Lord Lyons to the Crimea, where he went all over the scenes of the late contest, all the positions, and the ruins of Sebastopol as well as the northern forts. He was well treated by the Russians, who showed him everything, and talked over the events of the war with great frankness. They told him that if the allies had marched at once after the battle on the north side, no resistance could have been made, and the other side must have fallen. We had long known that the north side would have fallen if we had attacked it at once. Frank asked the Russian officer whether there was any bad feeling on the part of the Russian army towards the French or English, and he said none whatever, but a great deal towards the Austrians, and that they desired nothing more than an opportunity of fighting them. He also said that they had been misled by our newspapers, from which they obtained all their information, and thinking that the announcements there of an intended invasion of the Crimea were made for the purpose of deceiving them, they had withdrawn a great many troops from the Crimea, so that while Sebastopol had been emptied of the garrison to increase the army of Menschikoff, the Russians had not more than 30,000 or 35,000 men at the Alma.

_Hillingdon, August 17th._--It is impossible to find anything of the least interest to write about, and my journal is in danger of dying of starvation or of atrophy. The causes of discontent we have had with Russia are disappearing, and the Emperor's coronation will not be clouded by fresh _doléances_ on our part. Bulwer is just gone to the Principalities, where the commissioners are to endeavour to ascertain what are the wishes of the people as to the union. France and England are in favour of it, Turkey and Austria against it, while Russia professes to be indifferent and neutral. Spain is settling down into submission to the Government of O'Donnell. Naples is relieved from her fears of English intervention, and there seems some chance that she may relax the rigour of her Government now that she may do so _salvo honore_ and not under compulsion. This country is profoundly tranquil and generally prosperous; everybody seems satisfied with Palmerston and his administration. I myself, who for so many years regarded him politically with the greatest aversion and distrust, have come to think him the best minister we can have, and to wish him well.

[Sidenote: THE CORONATION AT MOSCOW.]

_September 15th._--Another month has passed away, and still I have had nothing to record. The coronation at Moscow appears to have gone off with great _éclat_, and to have been a spectacle of extraordinary magnificence, the prodigious cost of which betrays no sign of exhaustion or impoverishment by the late war.[1] We were probably mistaken, as we were in so many other things, in fancying that the power and resources of Russia were very greatly impaired, but during the war, whatever we wished we were ready to believe.

The state of affairs at home and abroad is curious: abroad there is uneasiness and uncertainty as to the future, the elements of future disturbances being in a sort of abeyance; at home the fever and excitement which prevailed during the war having been succeeded by a torpor and an apathy such as I never remember to have seen before. All party politics seem to be extinct, the country cares about nobody, desires no changes, and only wishes to go on and prosper. There is not a public man to whom public opinion turns, and no great questions are afloat to agitate and divide the country, or around the standards of which different opinions, principles, or passions can flock. Palmerston may remain minister as long as he lives, if he does not commit any gross faults either of commission or of omission, or unless something may occur, which nobody can foresee or imagine, to rouse the nation from its apathy.

Footnote 1: [The Emperor Alexander II. of Russia was crowned with great pomp in Moscow on September 7; the ceremony was attended by special ambassadors from all the great Powers; Lord Granville, accompanied by Lady Granville and a brilliant suite, was the representative of Great Britain on this occasion.]

_September 21st._--The old Crimean correspondent of the 'Times' has despatched a very interesting and graphic account of the coronation at Moscow, and Granville writes word that whereas he had estimated the cost of it at a million sterling, he was now led to believe it would be not much less than three. The coronation of George IV. cost 240,000_l._, which was considered an enormous sum and a monstrous extravagance. Our two last coronations cost from 30,000_l._ to 50,000_l._

The quarrel with the King of Naples appears to be coming to a crisis, and though it will not produce any serious consequences now, the precedent of interference we are establishing may have very important ones at some future time, and though philanthropy may make us rejoice at some coercion being applied to put an end to such a cruel and oppressive government as that of King Bomba (as they call Ferdinand), it may be doubted whether it would not be sounder policy to abstain from interference with what only indirectly and remotely concerns us, and from enforcing a better and more humane system of government in a country where the people do not seem to care much about its tyranny and inhumanity. And then there is the great objection of dictating to and interfering with weak governments while we do not venture to deal in the same way with the equally flagrant abominations of stronger ones, to say nothing of a host of difficulties and objections which suggest themselves as possible, if not probable, results of our interference. It will afford to other Powers an excuse if not a right to interfere in like manner, whenever they require a pretext, and they consider it their interest to do so; and if such cases occur, the peace of the world will be largely endangered. As it is, I strongly suspect (for I know nothing) that the agreement on the Neapolitan question between France and ourselves is by no means cordial and complete. Mrs. Craven writes me word she has been in a house in the country with Walewski, who talked very openly (and no doubt imprudently) to her, telling her that Palmerston was very difficult to go on with. I know not what Palmerston has been doing, nor what his present policy may be, but I thought he had either abandoned or greatly modified that old policy of meddling and bullying to which he used to be so addicted, and at all events that while the foreign policy of England is directed by Clarendon, we should abstain from anything very arbitrary and violent. It is, however, whispered that Walewski is no longer in the good graces of the Emperor, and what I heard long ago about Her Majesty's opinion of him renders it not unlikely.

_September 23rd._--All the little I hear tends to confirm the notion that there is an antagonism growing up between French and English policy, and that France and Russia are becoming more and more intimate every day. The points of the Treaty on which there are still some differences, and on which we appear to be making a great fuss, the French seem to care very little about, perhaps being rather disposed to side with Russia. These differences are very inconsiderable in themselves, but if they lead to coolness and estrangement between us and the French, and to an alliance between France and Russia, they may hereafter be very important.

Nothing can be more perplexed and unintelligible (at least to those who are not behind the curtain) than the international relations of the Great Powers and of their dispositions towards the smaller ones, and in such a chaos no little tact, discretion, and firmness are required to shape our foreign policy.

[Sidenote: M. GUIZOT ON DEMOCRACY IN ENGLAND.]

_September 25th._--The void which the march of events fails to fill up cannot be better occupied than by the following extract from Guizot's notice on Sir Robert Peel in the _'Revue des Deux-Mondes'_ (1856). He is speaking of democracy in England:--_'M. de Talleyrand disait dans la Chambre des Pairs, il y a quelqu'un qui a plus d'esprit que Napoléon ou que Voltaire, c'est tout le monde. On peut dire aujourd'hui même à propos de L'Angleterre il y a quelqu'un qui a plus de pouvoir que la couronne, plus de pouvoir que l'aristocratie, c'est tout le monde, et tout le monde c'est la démocratie. Où commence-t-elle? où finit-elle? à quels signes visibles se distingue-t-elle des autres éléments de la société? Personne ne pourrait le dire, mais peu importe: pour être difficile à définir, le fait n'en est ni moins certain, ni moins puissant, les éléments les plus divers entrent dans la composition de la démocratie moderne, des classes riches et des classes pauvres, des classes savantes et des classes ignorantes, des maîtres et des ouvriers, des conservateurs et des novateurs, des amis du pouvoir et des enthousiastes de liberté, bien des aristocrates mêmes, détachés de leur origine par leurs moeurs, par leur aversion des gênes et des devoirs que l'aristocratie impose. Et la position de la démocratie anglaise n'est pas moins changée que sa composition; elle ne se borne pas comme jadis à défendre au besoin ses libertés, elle regarde les affaires publiques comme les siennes, surveille assidûment ceux qui les font, et si elle ne gouverne pas l'état, elle domine le gouvernement.'_ All this seems to me perfectly true, and the best definition of the English democracy, its nature, and its position that could possibly be given, and that the nature of things admits of. Guizot evidently saw clearly a truth which might be elaborated into a very interesting essay, and which has often suggested itself to me, namely, that without any violence or ostensible disturbances or any change in external forms, this country has undergone as great a revolution as France itself, or any of the continental nations which have been torn to pieces by civil discords and contests. If we compare the condition of England at any two not very distant periods, and the manner in which power and influence have been distributed at one and at the other, this will be very apparent, and nobody can doubt that this process is still going on. We are, as Guizot says, _'dans une époque de transition ... sous l'empire des principes et des sentiments encore confus, perplexes et obscurs, mais essentiellement démocratiques, qui fermentent en Europe depuis quinze siècles et y remportent de nos jours des victoires dont personne ne saurait dire encore quel sera le vrai et dernier résultat.'_

[Sidenote: THE QUARREL WITH NAPLES.]

_October 3rd._--There appears to be a general feeling of uneasiness, almost of alarm, as if something was impending to disturb the peace of the world and interrupt the prosperity of nations, though nobody can very well tell what it is they dread. The apprehension is vague, but it is general. The only political question of any consequence in which we are concerned is that of Naples, and some fancy that the Russian manifesto prognosticates a renewal of the contest with that Empire. I have no such idea, but I am quite unable to comprehend what it is the different Powers are about; there is a general impression, probably not unfounded, that France and Russia are meditating a close alliance, and if this be the truth, it is not likely that Russia should have put forth a State paper offensive to France. It is by no means impossible that Gortschakoff may have ascertained that the declaration of his Emperor's opinion would not be distasteful to the Emperor Napoleon, who probably does not enter _con amore_ into this contest with Naples and merely does it to please us.[1]

When Baudin took leave of him at Paris the other day on his going to Russia, he said to him, 'Is it your Majesty's wish that I should cultivate the most friendly relations with the English Ministers at Moscow and Petersburg?' to which the Emperor replied 'Certainly,' and _'L'Angleterre avant tout.'_ In this there can be little doubt of his personal sincerity, but probably his personal disposition and the policy of his Government and the sentiments of the French people do not altogether coincide, and this places him in a somewhat false position, and will most likely lead to apparent vacillation and inconsistency in his conduct.

Madame de Lieven writes to me that the Neapolitan Minister at Paris affirms that his King will not give way at the dictation of the allied Powers. We do not, however, as yet know what it is that is required of him. If it be true that he should govern his people more mildly and liberally, nothing can be more vague, and our greatest difficulties would begin when we had extorted from him promises and engagements to act according to _our_ notions of justice and humanity. He would be more than mortal if he was disposed honestly to act up to engagements and promises extorted from him by fear, and it would be impossible for us to superintend and secure their due performance without taking upon ourselves virtually the government of his kingdom and superseding the King's authority. We never should get France to concur in this, and on the whole it appears more probable that differences will arise in the course of this joint action between us and France than that we should succeed in ameliorating the condition of Naples. I fear the rage for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries will never be extinguished here. I see in the papers to-day an address to Clarendon from the Protestant Society, requesting he will interpose with the Spanish Government in favour of some Spanish subject who has got into trouble in consequence of having turned Protestant, and being engaged in diffusing the Scriptures, and trying to convert others to Protestantism, which is an offence against the laws of Spain.

Footnote 1: [The British and French Governments had on more than one occasion remonstrated with the King of Naples on the cruel and arbitrary policy of his Government, which led eventually to his own destruction; but the King received these remonstrances very ill, and on October 28 the differences between these Courts had become so serious that the British and French Ministers were withdrawn from Naples, and a naval squadron appeared off the city. The Russian Government at this time issued a circular despatch complaining of these proceedings of the Western Powers, and denying their right to interfere for the purpose of extorting concessions from the King of Naples to his own subjects.]

_October 7th._--I have seen Clarendon and asked him about the affair of Naples. He was not very communicative, and I suspect he is not very easy about the course we are pursuing and the part he has to play. He first said that it was impossible for us to tolerate the conduct of the King to us, and the impertinence of his note. I asked what it was he said; Clarendon replied it amounted to this, 'Mind your own business.' Then he alluded to the atrocities of the Government, which ought not to be endured; that no man was safe for a minute, or could tell when he went to bed at night that he might not be arrested in the morning, all which was done by the King's personal orders; that there was continual danger of an outbreak or insurrection, particularly of a Muratist revolution. I told him my opinion of the very questionable policy of interference, either as a matter of right or of expediency, and nothing could be more lame than the case he made out. He said the ships were not to act any hostile part, or to coerce the King, which makes the case worse in my opinion. It is doing neither one thing nor the other, violating a sound principle, and incurring great future risks without any present object, or effecting any good, or benefiting the people in whom we take an interest. He says the Emperor Napoleon has a great horror of a Muratist movement, the Prince Murat, his cousin, being a most worthless blackguard; but his son, who married Berthier's granddaughter and heiress, is a young man full of merit of every sort.

[Sidenote: RUSSIAN INTRIGUE WITH FRANCE.]

_London, October 10th._--I met Clarendon again at the Travellers', and had some conversation with him, but was interrupted by Azeglio, or I might probably have learnt more about the present state of affairs. He told me that we had been squabbling with the French Government, and that the persevering attempts of Russia to disturb the harmony between us and them had not been unsuccessful. Nothing in the way of cajolery had been omitted at Moscow to captivate the French, while on one occasion the Emperor had been so uncivil that Granville felt himself obliged to go to Gortschakoff and make a formal complaint, which was met by all sorts of assurances and protestations in order to mollify him, and after this everything went on smoothly. It is a curious state of things, for as far as I can make it out, the policy of the French Government appears to be to become intimate with Russia and to be cool with us; but all the time the Emperor (who is the Government) shrinks from anything like a breach with England, and clings to the intimacy established between the two Courts, and has a profound respect for the Queen and value for her good opinion. I asked him how he reconciled the offensive Circular of Gortschakoff with the anxiety of Russia to please France, when he said that he had no doubt they had told the French that it was aimed exclusively at _us_, and had come to an understanding with Morny about it, so that France was not to take offence at it. We are now, he said, on the best terms with Austria, and Austria on the worst with Russia. Russia knows that the article of the treaty compelling her to surrender a part of Bessarabia was the work of Austria, and this was an injury and an insult (for she had never before disgorged territory) which she never would forgive. The Russian Circular would have the effect of complicating the Neapolitan question, as it made the King more resolved not to yield to the demands of the two Powers. He told me that Palmerston had resolved to take up in earnest the question of Law Reform next year, and that he (Clarendon) had strongly urged him to do so as the best way of procuring both strength and credit for his Government; that Palmerston had readily come into it, and was resolved to carry out those measures which have so long been under discussion, and which for various reasons have hitherto failed of their accomplishment.

_November 10th._--I went to The Grove on Saturday and had a good deal of comfortable talk with Clarendon about foreign affairs, especially the Bolgrad question and Naples. He described the former very clearly, and satisfied me that we are entirely in the right. It was settled, he said, at Paris mainly between him and Orloff. He drew the line on the map as the boundary had been agreed upon, and as he was doing so, Orloff said, 'I wish you would draw it a little more to the south; it will make no sort of difference to you, and by this means it includes within our line a strip of territory which the Emperor wishes to retain because it forms a part of a military colony which he is anxious to keep intact;' and Clarendon agreed to draw the line accordingly and to accomplish the Emperor's wishes. They have since attempted to quibble about another Bolgrad which was not even marked at all on their map, and it turns out that the story of the military colony was a mere pretence, as they have themselves given that up without making any difficulty. The state of the case and the difference which has since arisen with Russia and with France is this: the Emperor Napoleon, who is very indolent and abhors the trouble of examining details, and consequently remains often ignorant of what it behoves him to know, suffered himself to be bamboozled by Brunnow and misled by Walewski into giving his assent to the Russian interpretation of the boundary line, and to giving a promise of his support in the controversy. Recently at Compiègne Cowley, in a long audience, went through the whole question with him and minutely explained the case against Russia. The Emperor said he had never really understood it before, acknowledged that our case was good, regretted that he had committed himself, but said that having pledged his word he did not know how to break that pledge and to withdraw the support he had promised to give to Russia in the dispute, and this is the fix in which the question now is. While the foolish and ignorant newspapers here (except the 'Times') are endeavouring to separate the Emperor from his ministers, and to make out that he is one with our Government, and that the difficulties and obstructions proceed from other parties, the truth is that they now proceed entirely from himself, worked upon and deceived certainly by Russian agents and pro-Russian ministers; but if he really was in the disposition which our press attributes to him, he might break through such obligations as he suffered himself to be entangled in and settle the question at once; nor is it very easy to see why he does not, for there is good reason to believe he is sincerely desirous of remaining on good terms with us. I asked Clarendon why the question could not be again referred to a Conference of the Powers parties to the Treaty, and he said we could not consent to this, because we should be in a minority, for Sardinia, partly cajoled by Russia and partly from antipathy to Austria, would go against us.

[Sidenote: DISMISSAL OF NEAPOLITAN MINISTER.]

I asked him about Naples, of which affair he could give but a very unsatisfactory account and a lame story. He said France had acted with us very steadily, but that it was she who had started this hare, and he had engaged in it in the belief that the Emperor would never have mooted the question unless he had been assured that the King of Naples would yield to the remonstrances of the two Courts, and but for that conviction he would never have meddled in it, which he now very much regretted. He had given Carini notice to quit, and at their parting interview he had entreated him to persuade the King if possible to change his system, and, now that he was relieved from all interference, menace, or coercion, and his dignity could not suffer, to give satisfaction to all Europe by putting an end to the inhuman and impolitic system, which had occasioned our interference and had drawn upon him remonstrances and advice from every Sovereign in Europe. Very good advice, and I hope it may be followed, but it is a lame and impotent conclusion to the menacing demonstrations with which we began to quarrel. Clarendon talked of the various atrocities of the King of Naples, but with an evident consciousness that the fact, even if it be true, and not, as is probable, exaggerated, affords no excuse for our policy in the matter. As the subject could not be agreeable I did not press it, and abstained from telling him how general the opinion is that he has committed a great blunder. He will probably hear enough of it before the chapter is closed; even Granville, who never says much, said to me yesterday that 'it was a very foolish affair.'

Clarendon talked to me of Palmerston, and told me (what I think I had heard, and have very likely noted before) that on Aberdeen's fall Palmerston was quite ready to join Derby when Derby tried to form a Government, and that it was Clarendon's refusal which frustrated that attempt. Palmerston endeavoured to persuade Clarendon to join, but when Clarendon put to him all the reasons why they had both of them better refuse, Palmerston saw them all very clearly, and rather imprudently said on leaving him, 'We are _both_ agreed that it will not do to have anything to do with Derby and his Government.' When Clarendon went to the Queen and explained his own conduct to her, and she expressed to him the embarrassment which she felt, and asked him what she could do, he at once said, 'Send for Lord Palmerston, who is the only man, in the present temper of the people and state of affairs, who can form a Government that has a chance of standing. Send for him at once, place yourself entirely in his hands, give him your entire confidence, and I will answer for his conduct being all that you can desire.' The Queen took the advice, and has had no reason to repent of it, and Clarendon told me he had done everything in his power, and seized every available opportunity to reconcile them to each other, to promote a good feeling and understanding, and to soften any little asperities which might have made their intercourse less smooth, and the consequence is that Palmerston gets on with her very well, and his good sense as well as Clarendon's exhortations make him see of what importance it is to him for the easy working of his Government and his own ease to be on good and cordial terms with the Queen. It is therefore really to Clarendon that Palmerston is indebted in great measure, if not entirely, for being in his present position, but Clarendon has too much tact ever to remind him of it, or of what he was himself inclined to do in 1855.

[Sidenote: LEGAL APPOINTMENTS.]

_November 19th._--The death of Jervis made the office of Chief Justice of Common Pleas vacant.[1] According to established (but as I think bad) usage, the Attorney-General, Cockburn, had a right to take the place, and for the last fortnight nothing occupied public attention more than the question whether he would take it or not. He was much averse to take it, but everybody pressed him to accept it, and after much hesitation and consultation he agreed to be Chief Justice, and now it is said he regrets his determination and thinks he has made a mistake. He gives up Parliament, for which he is well adapted, where he acts a conspicuous part, being a capital speaker, and which he likes, and feels that it is his element. He gives up the highest place at the bar, where he is a successful advocate, and makes 15,000_l._ or 16,000_l._ a year, and he sees that he shall be obliged to give up in great measure his loose habits and assume more decorous behaviour, which will be a great sacrifice to him, and he becomes a judge with 6,000_l._ a year for life, not being a good lawyer, and conscious that he will be inferior to his colleagues and to the Puisne Judge in his own court. As soon as he had consented to the promotion a fresh difficulty presented itself as to the office of Solicitor-General, for such is the penury of legal ability at this time that Westminster Hall cannot furnish any men of unquestionable fitness for the office, and the difficulty is increased by the choice being necessarily restricted to men holding the opinions of the present Government, and being able to command a seat in Parliament. They have offered the place to the Recorder, James Wortley, but up to this moment I know not if it has been accepted.[2]

Footnote 1: [Right Hon. Sir John Jervis, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, died on November 1, 1856, at the age of fifty-four.]

Footnote 2: [Right Hon. James Stuart Wortley, a younger son of Lord Wharncliffe, who then filled the office of Recorder of London, which he surrendered for that of Solicitor-General.]

_November 23rd._--After long delay and apparently much hesitation James Wortley has accepted the Solicitor-Generalship. He consulted Gladstone and Sidney Herbert, neither of them very eligible advisers on such a question. Gladstone is said to have replied that he would run a great risk as to his pecuniary interests, but if he could support the foreign policy of the Government, there was no reason why he should not accept. He retains his rank of Privy Councillor, of which I doubt the fitness, as it places him at all events in a very anomalous position, for the law officers are the official advisers of the Privy Council and are often called upon to sit there as assessors. However, the Judges are said to have pronounced an opinion that there is no reason why he should not plead in any of the courts. It is said, and I believe truly, that now Cockburn has taken the irretrievable step he is very sorry for it, and is more struck by the necessary consequences of his promotion than he was at first. He has all his life been a very debauched fellow, but he is clever, good-natured, and of a liberal disposition and much liked by his friends. A story is told of him that he was in the habit of going down on Sundays to Richmond or elsewhere with a woman, and generally with a different one, and the landlady of the inn he went to remembered that Sir A. Cockburn always brought Lady Cockburn with him, but that she never saw any woman who looked so different on different days, and this gave rise to another story. When Lord Campbell went to some such place with Lady Stratheden (who had been raised to the peerage before her husband), the mistress of the house said that Sir A. Cockburn always brought _Lady Cockburn_ with him, but that the Chief Justice brought another lady and not _Lady Campbell_.

While we have meetings perpetually held and innumerable writings put forth to promote education and raise the moral standard of the people, we are horrified and alarmed day after day by accounts of the most frightful murders, colossal frauds, and crimes of every description. War has ceased, though the Temple of Janus seems only to be ajar; but the world is still in commotion, in alarm, and visited by every sort of calamity, moral and material, in the midst of which it is difficult to discover any signs of the improvement of the human race, even of those portions of it which are supposed to be the most civilised and the most progressive.

[Sidenote: A DIPLOMATIC IMBROGLIO.]

_December 7th._--At Wrotham and at Ossington last week. The news of the day is that we are to have another 'Conference' at Paris, to settle the Bolgrad affair, our Government having given way to what Clarendon told me he certainly would not consent; but we had managed to get matters into such a fix, and it was so necessary to extricate all the several parties from the embarrassed positions in which they were placed by their own or by each other's faults, that no alternative remained. This arrangement, which is not very consistent with Palmerston's recent declarations at Manchester and in London, is proclaimed by the Government papers, and generally understood to be a means of enabling Russia to concede our demands with as little loss of dignity and credit as possible, and to terminate the difference between us and France by our making an apparent concession to France, while she makes a real one to us. Everything has evidently been carefully arranged for the playing out of this diplomatic farce, and Cowley, who is to be our sole representative, is to be accommodating and not quarrelsome; but _reste à savoir_ whether the manoeuvres of some of the others may not provoke his temper and bring about angry collisions. Between this matter and the _bévue_ we have made of our Neapolitan interference, never was there such a deplorable exhibition as our foreign policy displays; but nobody seems to care much about it, and though there will in all probability be a good deal of sparring, and taunts and sneers in Parliament, Palmerston's Government will incur no danger of any adverse vote, for everybody is conscious that in the actual state of parties and the dearth of parliamentary leaders, every man of sufficient ability being disqualified for one reason or another, no man but Palmerston can conduct a Government or command a majority in Parliament; nor does there appear in the distance any man likely to be able to fill his place in the event of his death or his breaking down, events which must be contemplated as not very remote when he is seventy-three years old, although his wonderful constitution and superhuman vigour of mind and body make everybody forget his age and regard the possibility of his demise with the sort of incredulity which made the courtier of Louis XIV. exclaim on the death of that monarch, _'Après la mort du Roi on peut tout croire.'_

Great astonishment has been excited by the appointment of a Mr. Bickersteth as Bishop of Ripon, against whom nothing can be said, nor anything for him, except that he is a very Low Churchman. All the vacant sees have now been filled with clergymen of this colour, which is not very fair or prudent, as it will exasperate the moderate High Churchmen and set them strongly against a Government which appears determined to shut the door of ecclesiastical preferment against all but the Lowest Churchmen, and such a policy will most likely have the effect of encouraging the advocates of those extreme measures of an anti-Catholic or a puritanical character which always give so much trouble and embarrassment when they are brought forward in Parliament.

_December 12th._--The Conference to which Clarendon told me he would not agree is going to take place after all, but everybody is ridiculing what is notoriously a got-up comedy with a foregone conclusion, devised to solve the difficulty into which all the great actors had got themselves, but it is not yet quite clear what the _modus operandi_ is to be. From what I have picked up here and there I gather that Sardinia is to be induced to give a casting vote against Russia, leaving France still at liberty to fulfil her original engagement and vote with her, while we obtain the object for which we have stood out, and by such a _dodge_ to bring the dispute to an end. When Parliament meets there will be plenty to be said about this affair and about Naples, and no doubt the Opposition or the malcontents will be able to bombard the Government and vent their spleen, but that will be all, for Palmerston is perfectly invulnerable and may commit any blunders with impunity.

[Sidenote: LEADERSHIP OF THE OPPOSITION.]

A report has been lately current that Gladstone will become the leader of the Opposition _vice_ Disraeli, a report I thought quite wild and improbable, but I heard the other day something which looks as if it was not so much out of the question as I had imagined. George Byng told me he had met Sir William Jolliffe, who is the Derbyite whipper-in, at Wrotham, and having asked him whether there was any foundation for the above report, he replied that it certainly was not true at present, that he could not say what might or might not happen hereafter, but that he could not at once be accepted as _leader_, and must in any case first serve in the ranks. I do not know what may be the value of Jolliffe's opinions, or what he knows of the intentions of his chief, but he may probably be more or less acquainted with the sentiments of his party, and may be aware that their necessities have modified their extreme repugnance to Gladstone, and that they may now be willing to accept him as leader (eventually), though two years ago they so peremptorily insisted on his entire exclusion from their political society. Meanwhile there is no combination amongst them. Derby is at Knowsley amusing himself, and Disraeli at Paris, doing nobody knows what.

There is talk of Lord Granville's resigning the lead and his office and going to Ireland instead of Carlisle, or to Paris instead of Cowley, but he has never intimated the least intention of doing either. Ireland he certainly will not go to; Paris is not so impossible. There seems some doubt whether his health will admit of his going on in the House of Lords, and if they knew how to get Cowley away from Paris without doing him an injustice or an unkindness, I think they would not be sorry, for his position there is unsatisfactory. It is a serious inconvenience to be on such terms with Walewski that they never converse at all except when business obliges them to meet, and the consequence of their relations is that all affairs between the two countries are carried on between Clarendon and Persigny in London, and as little as possible at Paris, because the Emperor now fights rather shy of Cowley, and is by no means on the same terms with him as heretofore, though always very civil and cordial enough when they meet; and His Majesty will not part with Walewski, who, although of a moderate capacity, is clever enough to know how to deal with his master, and make himself agreeable to him, and the Emperor knows that if he were to change his Minister for Foreign Affairs, it would be attributed to the influence of England and be on that account unpopular. The English press has rendered Walewski the incalculable service of making him popular in France, and rendering it impossible for the Emperor to dismiss him, even if he had a mind to do so, which he has not.

[Sidenote: DICTATORIAL POLICY TO BRAZIL.]

_December 17th._--There was an article in the 'Times' the day before yesterday commenting in severe terms upon a transaction of our Foreign Office, as set forth in a Blue Book, in relation to Brazil. It was the old subject of the slave trade, and the old method of arrogant overbearing meddling and dictation, a case as odious and unjust as any one of those by which Palmerston's foreign administration has ever been disgraced. I really no longer recognise my old friend Clarendon, in whose good sense and moderation I used to place implicit confidence, and believed that he would inaugurate a system at the Foreign Office very different from that of Palmerston, and which would tend to relieve us from the excessive odium and universal unpopularity which Palmerston had drawn upon us. It appears that I was mistaken. I told Granville yesterday morning what I thought of this case, and asked him if it was correctly stated. He said he regarded it just as I did, and that it was quite true, every word of it. I then expressed my astonishment that Clarendon should have acted in this way, and he replied, 'The fault of Clarendon is that he is always thinking of the effect to be produced by Blue Books, and he looks after popularity, and is influenced by those he acts with. Under Aberdeen he was very moderate, but he saw that the moderation of Aberdeen made him unpopular, while Palmerston's popularity in great measure arose from his very different manner towards other Powers, so when Palmerston became Prime Minister instead of Aberdeen, he fell readily into the Palmerstonian method.' I dare say this is the truth, and besides the contagion of Palmerston himself, he is surrounded by men at the Foreign Office who are prodigious admirers of Palmerston and of his slashing ways, and who no doubt constantly urge Clarendon to adopt a similar style. All this is to me matter of great regret personally, and it is revolting as to good taste, and, as I believe, to our national interests. It is, however, a consolation to see that the most powerful and influential of our journals has the courage, independence, and good sense to protest publicly against such violent and unjustifiable proceedings.