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diff --git a/old/7rev210.txt b/old/7rev210.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10c19c2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7rev210.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16212 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence +of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L., by John Knox Laughton + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L. + In Two Volumes. VOL. II. + +Author: John Knox Laughton + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9803] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 19, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF HENRY REEVE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Keren Vergon, Charles Aldarondo +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF HENRY REEVE, C.B., D.C.L + +BY + +JOHN KNOX LAUGHTON, M.A. + +HONORARY FELLOW OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE PROFESSOR OF +MODERN HISTORY IN KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOL. II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME + + + + +PORTRAIT OF HENRY REEVE AET. 68. + +_From a Photograph taken by_ RUPERT POTTER, Esq. + + XIII. THE WAR IN ITALY (1859-60) + + XIV. LITERATURE AND POLITICS (1860-3) + + XV. LAW AND LITERATURE (1863-7) + + XVI. CHURCH POLITICS (1868-9) + + XVII. THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR (1869-71) + +XVIII. THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS (1871-4) + + XIX. FOXHOLES (1874-9) + + XX. OUTRAGE AND DISLOYALTY (1880-2) + + XXI. THE FRENCH ROYALISTS (1883-5) + + XXII. RETIREMENT (1886-9) + +XXIII. THE ONE MORE CHANGE (1890-5) + + + + + +LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF HENRY REEVE + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE WAR IN ITALY + + +How far the murderous attempt of Orsini, on January 14th, 1858, was +connected with the political relations of France and Italy it is as yet +impossible to say. It was, and still is, very commonly believed that in +his youth Louis Napoleon had been affiliated to one or other of the secret +societies of Italy, that he was still pledged to this, was bound to obey +its orders, and that Orsini was an agent to remind him that the attainment +of high rank, far from releasing him from the bond, rendered it more +stringent, as giving him greater power and facility for carrying out the +orders he received. The independence of Italy was aimed at; and it had +been intimated to the Emperor that Orsini's was only the first of similar +messages which, if action was not taken, would be followed by a second, +with greater care to ensure its delivery. + +All this may or may not have been mere gossip. What is certain is that, +during the latter months of 1858, secret negotiations had been going on +between the Emperor and Victor Emanuel, the King of Sardinia, or rather his +minister, Cavour; and that an agreement had been come to that Austria was +to be attacked and driven out of Italy. Accordingly, on January 1st, 1859, +at his New Year's reception of the foreign ministers, Louis Napoleon took +the opportunity of addressing some remarks to the Austrian Ambassador +which, to France and to all Europe, appeared threatening. + +Similarly, at Turin, it was allowed to appear that war was intended; and on +both sides preparations were hurried on. In France, as in Austria, these +were on a very extensive scale. A large fleet of transports was collected +at Marseilles; troops were massed on the frontier of Savoy; and, on the +part of the Austrians, 200,000 men were assembled in readiness for action. +On April 23rd Francis Joseph, without--it was said--the knowledge of his +responsible ministers, sent an ultimatum to Turin, requiring an answer +within three days: at the expiration of that time the Austrians would cross +the frontier. The allies utilised the delay to complete their preparations; +and before the three days had ended the advance of the Franco-Sardinian +army had begun. + +The campaign proved disastrous to the Austrians, whose half-drilled and +badly-fed troops and obsolete artillery were commanded by an utterly +incompetent general. They were defeated at Palestro on May 31st; at Magenta +on June 4th; and again at Solferino on June 24th. Nothing, it appeared to +the Italians and the lookers-on, could prevent the successful and decisive +issue; the Austrians would be compelled to quit Italy. Suddenly Louis +Napoleon announced that he had come to an agreement with the Emperor of +Austria and that peace was agreed on. The disappointment and rage of the +Italians were very great; but, as Louis Napoleon was resolved, and as +Victor Emanuel could not continue the war without his assistance, he was +obliged to consent, and peace was concluded at Villafranca on July 11th. + +For the next eighteen months much of the correspondence refers to the +inception and result of this short war, mixed, of course, with more +personal matters, and at the beginning, with news as to the state of +Tocqueville's health, which was giving his friends the liveliest anxiety. +The Journal for the year opens with:-- + +_January 6th_.--We went to Bowood. It was the first time Christine went +there. The party consisted of the Flahaults, Cheneys, Strzelecki, the +Clarendons, Twisletons,[Footnote: The Hon. Edward Twisleton, chief +commissioner of the poor laws in Ireland. He married, in 1852, Ellen, +daughter of the Hon. Edward Dwight, of Massachusetts, U.S.A.; and died, at +the age of sixty-five, in 1874.] and Leslies. What agreeable people! For a +wonder we shot there on the 10th, and killed 140 head. + +_January 12th_.--We had a dinner at home--Trevelyan, just appointed +governor of Madras, Phinn, Baron Martin, Huddleston, W. Harcourt, Merivale, +and Henry Brougham. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, January 3rd_.--I grieve to say Tocqueville has been worse. His +doctor dined here t'other day and T.'s brother came for him at ten o'clock. +I have as bad an opinion of the case as possible. + +_Cannes, January 9th_. The Italian affair is very naturally cause of +anxiety, but I feel assured this, for the present, will pass away. I find +there is a strong feeling getting up of the Austrian army being as good as +the finances are bad, but the French finances are not likely to be very +much better. However, though the present alarm will pass away, what a sad +thing for the peace of the world to depend, not on the general opinion +and feeling, but on the caprice, or the jobbing, or the blunders of a +few individuals! Who can be quite sure that Morny's stockjobbing has had +nothing to do with the late most silly conversation? [Footnote: Presumably, +the sinister remark addressed to the Austrian Ambassador on New Year's +Day.] L. N. himself is quite clear of all such blame. He tries all he can +to prevent M. and others from their pillaging, but he never can succeed. +However, it is to the risk of more blunders that I look as placing peace in +greatest jeopardy. I don't believe L. N. or any one of them would, _if they +knew it_, run the risk of a general war (and the least war means a general +war); but they may any day get into a scrape without intending it, for they +have not the security of free discussion to warn them. + +_From Lord Hatherton_ + +_Teddesley, January 12th_.--Do me the kindness to write me one line to tell +me what you know of the state of M. de Tocqueville. Is it dangerous? There +is no man out of this kingdom who possesses so much of my admiration and +regard. + +This general lull after the late Reform agitation is very natural. There +are four parties waiting each other's moves; three, at least, exclusive of +Bright's, which is the least. There are the present Government, the late +Government, and the country--which, as I read it, has little in common with +any of them, but is at present without a leader. Any very powerful man, who +had been living by, would now have had a great field before him. + +I attended the day before yesterday a very remarkable meeting of the +Birmingham and Midland Institute at Birmingham. Lord Ward [Footnote: +Created Earl of Dudley in 1860.] in the chair. The report, and all the +officials and speakers, especially those from the town, complained of the +indifference of the artisans, mechanics, and labourers of that town to +instruction and education generally. It seems, on the showing of Bright's +friends, that these fellows, the noisiest of their class about Reform, are +the most ignorant and the least desirous of improving themselves. Such is +the report of Bright's own friends. Mr. Ryland, the vice-president and +real manager of the institution, who is also Bright's friend there, is the +loudest in his complaints of this body. Ryland further told me that +he believed there was not a workman in the town who, if consulted +individually, would express his approval of all Bright's principles. Mr. +Ryland is a solicitor. + +I am all anxiety to see your January number. + +_To the Marquis of Lansdowne_ + +62 Rutland Gate, January 25th. + +My dear Lord Lansdowne,--I have omitted, but not from forgetfulness, to +express to you the very high gratification Mrs. Reeve and myself derived +from your most kind reception of us at Bowood, and I am sure we shall +always retain the liveliest recollection of this most agreeable visit. But, +in truth, I waited till something should occur which might have the good +fortune to interest you, and I think the accounts I continue to receive +from France, on the present threatening aspect of affairs, may be of that +nature. M. Guizot says to me, in a letter of the 23rd inst.:-- + +'Jusqu'a ces jours derniers je n'y voulais pas croire. J'essaye encore d'en +douter; mais c'est difficile. Ce sera un exemple de plus des guerres faites +par embarras de ne pas les faire bien plus que par volonte de les faire. +Je suis porte a croire que l'Empereur Napoleon serait charme de ne plus +entendre parler de l'Italie; mais pour cela il faudrait qu'il n'y eut plus +d'assassins italiens, plus de Roi de Sardaigne, plus de cousins a marier, +plus de brouillons revolutionnaires a contenter. Aujourd'hui, et malgre +toutes les paroles contraires, il me parait probable que ces causes de +guerre prevaudront sur la moderation naturelle, sur le gout du repos +voluptueux, sur l'avis des conseillers officiels, et sur le sentiment +evident du public. Que fera l'Allemagne? Le tiendra-t-elle unie? La est la +question. L'Angleterre y peut certainement beaucoup. Je ne vois plus que la +une chance pour le maintien de la paix.' + +These words are so remarkable, coming from a man whose disposition is ever +so much more sanguine than desponding, that I have quoted them at length. + +We have all been greatly touched by the close of Mr. Hallam's most +honourable, useful, and I may say illustrious life. [Footnote: He died on +January 21st, 1859.] It so chanced that my sister-in-law, Helen Richardson, +who has been to him a second daughter for the last few years, came up from +Scotland on Thursday [January 20th]. On Friday she went down with Mrs. +Cator to see him. He perfectly knew her, and seemed charmed to see her +again; but before she left his bed-side the light flickered in the socket, +and he expired a short time afterwards in their presence, conscious and +without pain to the last. I thought the notice of him in the 'Times' of +Monday very pleasing, and was inclined to attribute it to David Dundas, but +I know not whether I am right.... + +I remain always + +Your obliged and faithful + +H. REEVE. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, January 26th_.--I am much obliged to you for M. Guizot's +letter, [Footnote: Apparently that of January 23rd, quoted in the previous +letter to Lord Lansdowne.] which Miladi and I have read with interest, as +one always does everything he writes. I showed it to G. Lewis and C. C. G., +feeling sure you would have no objection. It is impossible not to agree in +his gloomy view of things. It must be owned that the position the Emperor +has made for himself is one of extreme difficulty. His _idee dominante_ +has been how to pacify Italian conspirators by bringing away his army +from Rome, without having the Pope's throat cut or letting in an Austrian +garrison there; and he determined that driving the Austrians out of Italy +was the indispensable preliminary step. He was urged to do this and to +think it easy both by Russia and Sardinia; and we may be sure that the +Sardinians would not have committed themselves as they have done, and +incurred such inconvenient expense, if they had not received promises of +active support. How would it be possible then for L. N. to recede? Cavour +would show him up, and fresh daggers and grenades would be prepared for +him. I look upon war, therefore, as certain. We have only to hope that +Austria may continue to act prudently, and not furnish the cause of quarrel +which her enemies are looking for, and which might turn against her those +who, for decency's sake, wish to remain neutral; and next, that Germany may +be united by a sense of common danger. This may tend to limit the area of +the war; but altogether it is a deplorable _gachis_, out of which L. N. can +no more see his way than anyone else. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, January 26th_.--I must throw myself and the cause of law amendment +on your kindness, under a great evil which has befallen us. The 'Quarterly +Review,' under Mr. Elwin, was so favourably disposed to law reform as to +resolve upon inserting a full discussion of the subject on the occasion +of Sir E. Wilmot's volume on my 'Acts and Bills;' and Bellenden Ker had +undertaken it, and was, as a law reformer and as, under Cranworth, in +office as consolidation commissioner, certainly well qualified to do +the article. But he made such a mess of it; in fact, treating Eldon, +Ellenborough, &c., and other obstacles to law reform not introductory, but, +as I understand, making a whole article upon that. The consequence has been +that the whole has failed, and this most valuable opportunity been lost of +having the Tory journal's adhesion to law reform now. It is barely possible +they may take it up hereafter. But surely the natural place for this +statement is the 'Edinburgh Review,' and I should feel great comfort for +the good cause if I thought you would thus help us. The matter in Sir E.'s +book renders it very easy to show what has been done of late years. + +Poor Tocqueville is one day a little better, another a little worse; but I +have little or no hope of his getting through it. + +Shortly after this Lord Brougham made a flying visit to London. A note in +the Journal is:-- + +_February 26th_.--I dined at Lord Brougham's, and met Dr. Lushington, Lord +Glenelg, Lord Broughton; all--with our host--over 80. + +But the state of Tocqueville's health continued, for Reeve, the most +engrossing personal consideration, and just at this time the deadly malady +took a favourable though delusive turn. Tocqueville--says M. de Beaumont +[Footnote: Gustave de Beaumont: _Oeuvres et Correspondance inedites +d'Alexis de Tocqueville_ (1861), tome i. p. 116.]--hoped for the best. +'How could he do otherwise when all around him was bursting into life? and +so he kept on his regular habits, his schemes, his work. He read, and +was read to; he wrote a great many letters, and devoured those which he +received in great numbers. There was not one of his friends who did not +receive at least one letter from him during the last month of his life.' +The following is his last letter to Reeve. The writing is painfully bad, +the letters often half formed, or crowded one on top of another; even the +orthography is imperfect; but the words and ideas flow in full volume. + +Cannes. le 25 fevrier. + +Cher Reeve,--Il y a un siecle que je ne vous ai ecrit. Je n'etais pas libre +de le faire. Le mois de janvier tout entier s'est passe au milieu de la +crise la plus douloureuse. Je ne crois pas qu'il y ait aucun mois de ma +vie qui merite mieux que celui-la d'etre marque d'une croix noire dans +l'histoire de mon existence privee. Jetons dans l'oubli, s'il est possible, +des jours et surtout des nuits si cruels, et bornons-nous a demander a Dieu +de n'envoyer rien de semblable desormais, soit a moi, soit a mes amis. +Depuis trois semaines j'occupe fevrier a reparer les mefaits de janvier. Je +vais aussi bien que possible: mes forces sont en grande partie revenues. +Les bronches semblent en voie de guerison rapide. Ainsi n'en parlons plus. + +I have just been reading an excellent article on the Catacombs, in the +'Edinburgh Review.' It is a subject which has always interested me, but +very likely I should not have begun with this particular article if I had +not known it was by you. Circourt wrote to me about it, and so deprived me +of the pleasure of finding it out for myself, which I think I could have +done. But, in any case, the article is exceedingly interesting ... Though I +have been enjoying myself in following you underground, what is now going +on on the earth's surface calls for close attention. I am here hard by one +of the old military roads which have led into Italy from time immemorial, +as at this day. I hear that great preparations are being made all along +the valley of the Rhone and the neighbouring country. What I am sure of, +because it is taking place under my very eyes, is, that the railway from +Marseilles to Toulon is being pushed forward at an unheard of rate. It is +the only link wanting to complete the chain of communication between Brest, +Cherbourg, Paris, and Toulon. There was no expectation of this railway +being finished before the middle of summer; but now it is understood that +it will be ready within a few days--an instance of doing the impossible. +Such efforts presuppose some great object which it is desired to accomplish +at once. + +I am told, perhaps incorrectly, that Prussia has decided to remain +neutral--at first, at any rate; and, by the same authority, that Russia +will be neutral, but in a spirit friendly to France. This would be very +serious; for Russia gives nothing for nothing. If it is so, the Emperor's +project would appear less silly. It would explain how an ambitious prince, +whose throne is tottering, who is bound to excite the admiration of France +and to gratify the national vanity, [Footnote: Fleury, one of the most +faithful and attached of the Emperor's followers wrote in words almost +identical (_Souvenirs_, tom. i. p. 330): 'C'etait par une serie de faits +grandioses par des spectacles flattant l'orgueil et les instincts du pays, +que Napoleon III allait, pendant de longues annees, non seulement occuper, +rejouir la France, mais encore fixer l'attention, l'etonnement et bien +souvent l'admiration du monde.'] who is stopped by no scruples, might find +it an excellent opportunity for bringing on a personal war--if I may say +so; for driving the Germans across the Alps and naming himself the Dictator +of Italy. It is true that no great material advantage can result from it; +but L. N. is sufficiently well acquainted with France to know that the +glitter of such a course would probably content her. All this would be easy +to understand if Maria Theresa reigned at Vienna, Frederic at Berlin, and +Mme. de Pompadour at Versailles; in a word, if we were in the eighteenth +instead of the nineteenth century. But being, as we are, in the nineteenth +century, the designs which are ascribed to the Emperor are to be condemned +as in the highest degree treasonable to humanity and to France. Kings can +no longer claim to be guided only by their personal interests and passions; +and now--when it is agreed that England cannot remain neutral in a war +between France and a great Continental Power; when it is admitted that +a Continental war, however short, would surely awaken the hatred of all +princes and all neighbouring people, and would end in a coalition against +France--now, I say, to plunge into such an adventure would be not only the +most silly, but the most wicked thing which a Frenchman could do. + +La longueur un peu desordonnee de cette lettre, mon cher ami, vous prouvera +mieux que tout ce que je pourrais dire les progres de ma sante. Je vais +ecrire a Mme Grote. Rappelez-nous, je vous prie, tout particulierement au +souvenir de Lady Theresa et de Sir C. Lewis. J'espere que Lord Hatherton +ne m'a pas oublie. Mille et mille amities a tous les Senior. Je n'ai pas +besoin d'en dire autant pour Mme et Mile Reeve. Tout a vous de coeur, A. T. + +Reeve replied immediately:-- + +_62 Rutland Gate, 1 mars_.--Votre lettre me fait le plus sensible plaisir. +Les nouvelles indirectes de votre sante qui me sont parvenues de temps en +temps m'avaient excessivement preoccupe. J'ai su que le mois de janvier +avait ete mauvais, et quoique j'eusse bien des fois l'envie de prendre la +plume, elle m'est tombee des mains lorsque j'ai reflechi que j'ignorais +malheureusement dans quel etat de corps et d'esprit ma lettre pourrait +vous trouver. Pendant tout l'hiver j'ai recu par lettre et de bouche une +infinite de demandes sur votre etat. Vous ne sauriez croire a quel point +tous vos amis d'Angleterre, qui sont encore plus nombreux que ceux dont +vous avez une connaissance personnelle, m'ont temoigne pour vous d'interet, +de consideration et d'affection. Aussi votre convalescence est une bonne +nouvelle pour nous tous--les Lewis, les Hatherton, les Grote, Knight-Bruce +et tant d'autres. Je me permets cependant de dire que le sentiment que j'ai +eu toutes les fois que je me suis transporte par la pensee a votre chambre +de malade est bien autrement profond. Mon amitie pour vous est une des +affections les plus vives qu'il m'ait ete donne de conserver. Je n'ai rien +de plus cher. Et l'idee que vous souffriez tant de mal, sans qu'il me +fut possible de vous offrir le moindre soulagement, m'a ete extremement +penible. Pour un malade la lecture de mes 'Catacombes' ne me parait pas +excessivement gai, mais je reconnais la votre aimable souvenir de l'auteur. +Bref, vous etes en convalescence. Le soleil printanier, meme dans nos +climats, luit d'un eclat extraordinaire. Deja au mois de fevrier les +arbustes poussaient des feuilles. Dieu veuille que cette douce chaleur de +l'annee vous rende bientot a la sante et a la Normandie. + +There is no doubt that the state of public affairs is more serious than it +has been since 1851. [Footnote: _Sc._ in France, before the _Coup d'etat_.] +The meaning of what has lately been going on in public, and of the secret +plots which have been hatching for a long time, is very clear. As to +France, I say nothing; for, after all, she has the chances of success, +which will smooth away many apparent difficulties. But the peace of Europe +depends on Germany and on England. Shall we succeed in maintaining it? The +attitude of England is, I think, good. Without any hostile demonstration, +she has shown very clearly that she will be no party to any breach of the +treaties. Lord Cowley's mission to Vienna has been arranged between him +and the Emperor, but I have no faith in it. It is merely a device to make +people think he is acting in agreement with the English Cabinet, and so +conceal a scheme to which the English Cabinet is totally opposed. Opinion +here is unanimous against French intervention in Italy. Unfortunately, we +are in a very bad position at home. The Cabinet is deplorably weak, and it +has just lost two of its principal members. The Reform Bill, brought in +yesterday, raises more questions than it answers; but it will probably +serve to give prominence to the dissensions in the Liberal party. 'Tis +a real misfortune; for a disunited party cannot assert any influence in +Europe. + +Lord Brougham is returning to Cannes, though with little inclination to +stay among such grave causes of anxiety. So long as France is free to act +by sea, the road to Italy does not lie through Var, but in the ports of +Toulon and Marseilles. Shall you soon be hearing the guns of the second +Marengo? + +The action of England at this important crisis was curious, but +characteristic. The destinies of Europe were shaking in the balance; the +fortunes of France, of Italy, of Austria, probably also of Prussia, and +very possibly of Russia, were at stake; so the English Government thought +it a suitable opportunity to tinker the constitution and introduce a Reform +Bill--which nobody seems to have wanted--mainly, it would seem, to 'dish' +the Whigs. It was, however, they themselves who were dished. Mr. Henley, +the President of the Board of Trade, resigned on January 27th. So also did +Mr. S. H. Walpole, [Footnote: Mr. Walpole died, at the age of 92, on May +22nd, 1898.] the Home Secretary, who wrote to Lord Derby: 'I cannot help +saying that the measure which the Cabinet are prepared to recommend is one +which we should all of us have stoutly opposed if either Lord Palmerston +or Lord John Russell had ventured to bring it forward.' None the less, +the Bill was introduced on February 28th. On the second reading it was +negatived; a dissolution and a general election followed; and on the +meeting of Parliament, in June the Ministry were defeated on an amendment +to the Address, and resigned. + +But though the want of confidence appeared to be based on the question of +the Reform Bill, there is no doubt that there was a widespread mistrust of +the foreign policy of the Government. For some years past, perhaps ever +since Mr. Gladstone's celebrated Neapolitan letters in 1851, successive +waves of sentiment in favour of Italian independence and unity had passed +over the country; and Lord Derby, or Lord Malmesbury, had perhaps fancied +that this sentiment might be invoked in their defence. They had not, +indeed, taken any overt action, but there was a general idea that they were +inclined to favour the designs of Italy and of France. Now, to favour the +cause of Italian independence was one thing; to favour the ambitious and +grasping schemes of France was another; and the leaders of the Liberal +party were not slow to denounce the Government, which--as they alleged--was +ready to plunge the country into war for the sake of currying favour with +the master of the insolent colonels of 1858. + +Reeve's own view of the questions at issue may be gathered from the letters +which he wrote to the 'Times,' [Footnote: January 19th, _The Policy of +France in Italy_; April 28th, _The Policy of France_, both under the +signature of 'Senex.'] and more fully, more carefully expressed in the +article 'Austria, France, and Italy' in the 'Edinburgh Review' of April. +In this he distinctly combats 'what is termed the principle of +"nationalities"' as unhistorical. The theory is, he says, 'of modern growth +and uncertain application;' and he goes on to show in detail that it is not +applicable to any one of the Great Powers of Europe. + +'Of all the sovereigns now filling a throne, Queen Victoria is undoubtedly +the ruler of the largest number of subject races, alien populations, and +discordant tongues. In the vast circumference of her dominions every form +of religion is professed, every code of law is administered, and her empire +is tesselated with every variety of the human species.... But above and +around them all stands that majestic edifice, raised by the valour and +authority of England, which connects these scattered dependencies with one +great Whole infinitely more powerful, more civilised, and more free than +any separate fragment could be; and it is to the subordination of national +or provincial independence that the true citizenship of these realms owes +its existence.... It is the glory of England to have constituted such an +empire, and to govern it, in the main, on just and tolerant principles, as +long as her imperial rights are not assailed; when they are assailed, the +people of England have never shown much forbearance in the defence of them. +Such being the fact, it is utterly repugnant to the first principles of our +own policy, and to every page in our history, to lend encouragement to that +separation of nationalities from other empires which we fiercely resist +when it threatens to dismember our own.' + +He then goes on to speak of the administration of such nationalities, and +continues:--'The spirit of the Austrian Government in the Italian provinces +we heartily deplore. All things considered, it would have been better for +Austria herself if England and the other Powers had not insisted in 1815 +on her resuming the government of Lombardy, or if the Lombardo-Venetian +kingdom had been erected into a distinct State; but that consideration is +utterly insufficient to justify a deliberate breach of the public law of +Europe.' + +And he adds a note:--'We believe that we are strictly correct in stating +that the Emperor Francis, foreseeing the difficulties his Government would +have to encounter in Lombardy, and anxious to avoid causes of future +dissension with France, expressed his strong disinclination to resume that +province; but it was pressed upon him by the other Powers, and especially +by the Prince Regent of England, as the only effectual mode of excluding +the influence of France from Northern Italy.' + +The argument, throughout, is that the attack on Austria about to be made by +France and Sardinia was an unprovoked aggression, a violation of European +treaties; on the part of Sardinia, for lust of territory, and on the part +of France, for a desire to remodel the map of Europe, to annex Savoy-- +which was to be the price of her assistance--and to carry out the ideas +'conceived at the time of his early connexion with the Italian patriots in +the movement of 1831.' + +_From Lord Hatherton_ + +_Teddesley, March 5th._--I have been from home two days....Pray excuse my +not having thanked you before for your kind announcement of Tocqueville's +convalescence. But the same day brought me a letter from a friend of +Tocqueville's brother, ... telling me the accounts were very unpromising. I +hope and believe yours is the more reliable account. + +I have not a doubt that L. Napoleon means war, and will not be baulked of +it. It is a disagreeable thing for England to know that, if he succeed, +he will have acquired some valuable experience in the embarkation and +disembarkation of an armament of 45,000 men, with as many more to follow +it; and that if they are not wanted in the Mediterranean, they may be +used elsewhere, while we are totally unprepared; and I fear, through the +weakness of our Government, from the nature of our institutions, for +purposes of defence in times of peace, are likely to remain so. + +_From Count Zamoyski_ + +Paris, March 29th. + +My dear friend, I am not surprised at your regret; my own is very keen. +Throughout his whole life Sigismond Krasinski was obliged to conceal his +true self. Out of regard for his father, who was always a pitiful courtier +of success, he denied himself the liberty of saying what he thought, +acknowledging what he wrote, or showing to whom he was attached. I was one +of those whom he supported by his zealous co-operation. You knew him as a +poet; he had become a politician, and seemed destined to exercise a +great influence. His loss is irreparable. To me he was a friend and a +brother-in-arms. + +His widow, his two sons--of twelve and thirteen, and his daughter, of +seven, are here. She is occupied in collecting all her husband's writings, +with the intention of publishing all that is of value. She thinks, and +rightly, that a judicious selection of his letters would be especially +interesting as containing the secret of his life--a secret which he guarded +so carefully. If, therefore, you will send me what you have, or bring them +when you come here in a month's time, you will oblige both his widow and +friends. His sons had never been separated from him--which will assure you +that their early education has been well cared for. Their mother proposes +that they should continue their studies here, attending a college, and +having lessons in Polish history and literature, which can be had here +better than in Poland. + +So it is settled that we are to have a congress! But what will it do? What +can be done in such a matter in so short a time? The 'Moniteur' has rightly +pointed out that it is necessary to 'study the questions.' For that, time +is especially wanted. It would need something like a council sitting +through years, reigns, wars, to bring about salutary and lasting results. +I am told that nowadays everything must go by steam--this, as well as the +rest. To which, I answer that the result will be nothing but water mixed +with blood.... + +I am sorry to see the English Press more and more unjust to the Emperor +Napoleon. It is really silly to keep on schooling France--not the +Emperor--for preferring an imperial to a parliamentary government. If +the English had the institutions which in France seem to be but the +concomitants of despotism, they would educe from them a large amount of +political liberty. But if the French--like the woman in Moliere prefer +being governed, it would be wise for the English peers to accept the fact; +and instead of sneering at and irritating France whenever she wishes to +do some good, to get out of the beaten track, to conquer hearts, not +territories, it would be better honestly to co-operate with her, and thus +attain valuable results--a profitable success, and the deliverance +of France from the fatal support of Russia, which she accepts as a +_pis-aller_, but which in the long run can only be to her hurt. More than +all others, the English Press, which is so proud--which has good reason to +be proud--should assist in the 'study of the questions;' should anticipate +the negotiations; should elevate and elucidate them by judicious +suggestions, basing everything on a firm alliance of the Western Powers. + +But alas! where is the English statesman, where is even the great writer or +the newspaper capable of inaugurating such a policy? For lack of these, we +see England vying with France in courtesy to Russia--in anxiety to please +her. But to this the Emperor Napoleon does at least add his theory of +nationalities, which is sufficient to reassure us on the score of his +flirtation with Russia; does the English Government or the English press do +anything of a similar nature? Alas! Alas! England is certainly great, +but it is selfishly for herself. Will she never be able to offer other +nations--whatever the circumstances may be--anything but insults, or her +own institutions as patterns. + +Pardon de ce bavardage et mille amities--avec tous mes compliments pour +Mesdames Reeve. + +L. ZAMOYSKI. + +Je joins un mot de la Ctsse. K. pour vous, recu a l'instant. + +_From the Countess Krasinska_ + +_Paris, 29 mars._--Le Comte Zamoyski a bien voulu me communiquer votre +lettre, monsieur, et j'ai ete bien sincerement touchee du souvenir +d'affection que vous conservez a un ami qui n'a cesse non plus, je puis +vous le garantir, de vous porter un sentiment inalterable et sincere. Bien +souvent, en me parlant des jours de sa jeunesse, mon mari me parlait de +cette amitie qui vous unissait et qui en a ete un des meilleurs rayons. Il +m'avait aussi parle des manuscrits que vous aurez, et je vous avoue que +vous allez au-devant de mes desirs et de ma priere en voulant bien les +communiquer. Je tiens infiniment a recueillir tout ce qui a echappe a ce +grand coeur et a cette vaillante plume, et je commence un travail qui ne +sera sans doute complet que dans quelques annees. Je vous serai donc on ne +peut plus reconnaissante si vous vouliez bien confier entre mes mains ce +que vous possedez, soit en copie, soit original, comme vous le voudrez, +m'engageant a vous remettre ce precieux depot des que nous en aurons fait +usage, et des que vous le reclamerez. + +J'espere lorsque vous viendrez a Paris que je pourrai vous presenter, +monsieur, les deux fils de Sigismond et sa petite fille, et vous demander +pour les enfants un peu de ce coeur que vous aviez pour le pere. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 9th_.--I fear I have but a bad account to give of poor +Tocqueville; he has been worse again, and to-day he received the Communion. +Dr. Maure has just told me he hardly thought he could live over the month, +but he (Dr. M.) has always been much more desponding than the other +physician. One great evil has befallen him. Beaumont, who had really been +a nurse to him these three weeks, is suddenly called away to Paris by +the telegraph, owing to some illness in his own family, and this is an +irreparable loss to Tocqueville. + +We are all here in great anxiety about peace and war. Cavour, whose +conduct--and that of his master--is as bad as possible, has no doubt +received strong assurances of support from L. N. and his vile cousin; and +the war party at Turin are exulting, considering that the Congress can do +nothing to prevent the outbreak with Austria, upon which they reckon for +certain, and, I fear, with some reason. The utter want of good faith in L. +N. becomes daily more manifest.... Yet, though even the military men are +crying out against the war, and all other parties, without any exception, +are against him, one sees nothing that can effectually shake him, unless he +were to be defeated in the war he has been endeavouring to bring about. The +whole prospects are as gloomy as possible for the friends of freedom and of +peace. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 10th_.--Many thanks for your letter, which gives me +information much beyond what my other letters give, but far from agreeable +either as to home or foreign affairs. This destruction (I fear I must call +it) of the Liberal party by the personal vanity, which they call by the +higher name of ambition, of two persons is truly deplorable; and the +conduct of the Government in dissolving is such as can hardly be exceeded +in folly. We shall have an increased split, I fear, of the Liberals, and a +weaker Government than ever. I grieve to say that matters look as ill +for peace in this country and Italy as ever. The conduct of Cavour is +abominable. + +I grieve to give you a worse account than ever of Tocqueville. Dr. Maure +had condemned him from the first, but Dr. Seve had sanguine hopes, at +least, of a long time being given. But I have just seen him, and he now +says it is an affair of days. So all is nearly over. Mme. T. is also very +ill, and Beaumont being forced to leave them is most vexatious. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. C., April 10th_.--Do you chance to have a proof-sheet of that part of +your article which treats of the rights of Austria to Lombardy and Venice +and her reversionary rights to the other States, and, if so, will you lend +it to me? You have made the whole case so clear that I should like to read +it over again, as it may be necessary to say something on the subject in +the House of Lords when Malmesbury makes his statement, and I see that +the 'Edinburgh Review' will not be out till Friday, otherwise I would not +trouble you. + +_G. C., April 13th_.--Many thanks for the proof-sheets, and Schwarzenberg's +despatch and Duvergier's letter, which I enclose. I was kept at home by a +slight attack of gout yesterday, and did not see Malmesbury, but on Monday +he told me that he had hopes of being able to announce a disarming of the +three would-be belligerent Powers. Until he makes that statement I shall +not believe in its probability. Palmerston and Lord John seem well aware +that any encouragement to war would be most unpopular at home, and I don't +expect that there will be much discussion on Friday. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Orleans House, April 11th. + +On my return from Claremont I find your letter. With my brothers I had just +been deploring the great loss sustained by the Liberal party. [Footnote: +The death of Tocqueville was prematurely announced a week before it +actually took place.] Of all the men of mark in our deliberative +assemblies, M. de Tocqueville was certainly the most stainless. He had the +rare advantage of not being obnoxious to any of the parties existing in +France, by which I mean all self-respecting parties, such as will be taken +into account on the day when France shall become herself again. He would +certainly have been one of the most important members of the first free +government in our country. Even as things are, he was one of our public +characters whose voice carried most weight, and who was best fitted to +enlighten the minds of others. God has taken him from us before his time. +Forgive me for retaining so much selfishness and party spirit before the +coffin of so good and amiable a man; for regretting his public more than +his private virtues. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Paris, April 15th_.--... France does not understand, approve, or wish +for an Italian war now any more than she did six months ago. I persist in +thinking that in his inmost soul, and of his own judgement, the Emperor +Napoleon would also be glad to be rid of it, provided it should be quite +clear that it is not of his free will that he backs out of his promise, and +that, in remaining at peace, he is yielding to imperious necessity, to the +interest, will, and influence of Europe. On Europe, therefore, the matter +depends; and, in this, Europe is England, for Prussia will follow England. +It is, therefore, towards you that all of us who are friends of peace and +good sense now turn our eyes. Do not fall a prey to the disease which has +mastered all the politicians of the time. Do not be afraid to take the +initiative, to incur the responsibility; decide and act according to your +own opinion, instead of waiting for circumstances to decide and act for +you. On this condition alone the peace of Europe will be saved; without +it, it will not. And of this be sure: that if war does break out, we shall +feel, no doubt, that you have been wanting in the foresight and resolution +which would have prevented it.... + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _April 17th_.--Poor Tocqueville died this morning, not at +Hyeres, as the papers which announced his death a week ago say, but at a +house a mile from Cannes. His two brothers were with him; and his poor wife +is so ill that she will not long survive him. + +People in high quarters in England seem bent on believing that the Congress +will do wonders. I don't expect it. There is such bad faith in the man +on whom it really all turns, and he is in such a state, by the universal +opinion of France and of Europe being against him, that I should not be +surprised at any desperate act to regain the place he has lost. You may +naturally suppose the preparations which, chiefly naval, are going on must +mean something, and he seems resolved that no restraint on them shall be +imposed when others agree to disarm. Why should he not agree to stop, and +not to add to his means--as everyone that comes from Marseilles tells us he +is doing, though gradually? The reason he will suffer no restriction to be +imposed is that the army would regard this as a concession, and he won't +risk any offence in that quarter. The worst of it is that they--the +officers--though just as averse to an Austrian war as the country at large, +would by no means dislike a dash at England, and I cannot get out of my +mind the risk there is of his making that attempt when we are unprepared. +The perfidy would be overlooked in the success, though temporary. And in +the midst of all this we have Malmesbury at the F. O. and Derby premier! + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G.G., April 19th_. I am delighted you approved of what I said last +night,[Footnote: In the House of Lords.] and much obliged to you for +letting me know it. I thought Derby's speech excellent, though perhaps a +trifle too bellicose in the latter part for John Bull, who always wants a +little preparation before he is taken over rough ground. He is under the +strict neutrality delusion just now, and has not yet thought of realising +his role in a European war. + +Your article is attracting great attention, and seems to be working a great +deal of good. Where did you get the information contained in the note to p. +566? [Footnote: See _ante_, p. 13.] I meant to have used it, and to have +appealed to Aberdeen to confirm the statement, but thought it prudent to +ask him beforehand whether he agreed. + +The article on 'Austria, France, and Italy,' in the April number of the +Review brought Reeve the following letter from Mr. Edward Cheney, till then +a mere acquaintance, though between the two a friendship quickly sprang up +which was broken only by death. Mr. Cheney had lived for several years in +Italy, and his letters--always interesting, frequently amusing--commonly +relate to Italian affairs; but he was a well-read, accomplished, and +large-minded man, and in his judgement on literary questions Reeve had +great confidence. + +Audley Square, April 20th. + +My dear sir,--At the risk of appearing intrusive, and perhaps impertinent, +I cannot resist my strong inclination to express the great satisfaction +with which I have read the article in the last number of the 'Edinburgh +Review' on the Italian question. I do not presume to attribute the +authorship to yourself, though the clearness of the style, the closeness of +the reasoning, and the candour of the deductions would naturally lead me +to that conclusion; but, in truth, its merits are far beyond its technical +excellencies, and I rejoice peculiarly on its appearance at a moment when +public attention is concentrated on the affairs of the Italian peninsula, +and when the public, too, has so much need of enlightenment. A man who +writes as the author of that article has done confers an incalculable +benefit on his countrymen; and, as one not altogether incompetent to form a +judgement on the subject, I beg to offer him my congratulations. + +I have lived many years in Italy, am minutely acquainted with every part +of it. I have many friends and intimates amongst its natives. I admire the +country, and like its people; and, while doing justice to many of their +excellent and amiable qualities, I cannot be blind to the fact that most of +the misfortunes which have befallen them are attributable mainly to +their want of constancy, their want of ambition, and--the word must be +spoken--their want of courage. They are now on the eve of another and more +serious revolution; they are rushing with reckless indifference upon a +danger the extent of which they cannot realise to themselves, but which +must inevitably overwhelm them. A European war must be the consequence, a +war in which England must ultimately take a part; and the man who calmly +and dispassionately endeavours to open the eyes of his countrymen to the +truth, and who, regardless of passing obloquy, dares to assert it, is their +real benefactor; and though, at the first moment, he may share the fate +of those who tell unwelcome truths, justice will ultimately be done him, +though not, perhaps, till the cry of regret is raised that his warning and +advice were both neglected. I would conclude my letter with another apology +for having thus far intruded on your valuable time; but you yourself will +be able to suggest my best excuse in the deep interest which we both take +in the subject. + +Believe me, my dear Sir, + +Very sincerely yours, + +EDWARD CHENEY. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Paris, April 21st_.--J'ai recu et lu votre article il y a deja plusieurs +jours, et je l'ai trouve excellent. Il est impossible de mieux resumer les +faits, de mieux etablir les droits et de faire mieux pressentir la bonne +politique. Lord Derby et Lord Clarendon vous ont donne pleinement raison. +Ils ont garde, l'un et l'autre, chacun dans sa position, une juste mesure, +tout en parlant avec une grande franchise. L'effet est grand ici. + +The question is how to get clear of this imbroglio, the handiwork of a +lot of mischief-makers, who are at once timid and rash, obstinate and +unenterprising, conscious of their weakness, yet persisting in their folly. +We are waiting impatiently for the decisive answers from Turin and Vienna; +and then the congress; and then your elections; and then--what? I have +passed the best part of my life in doing, and am not yet accustomed to +waiting without knowing what for.... + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _April 21st_.--I am extremely obliged to you for sending the +article, which I have read with the greatest satisfaction. There are one or +two things of minor importance on which I differ. The matter of Genoa as +connected with Piedmont, I need not say, is not one of these. Indeed, it +might have been put stronger, and without reference to Lord W. Bentinck; +for, if I rightly recollect, when I, in 1817, attacked Castlereagh on the +misdeeds of the congress in 1815, I put the surrender of Genoa to Piedmont +in the very front of the charges against the congress--independent of Lord +W. B.'s proclamation, and on the ground of the Genoese hatred of Piedmont. +I again referred to this the first night of the session. + +I broke through my rule of never attending funerals yesterday. The last +time I broke it was my dear friend Follett; this time it was Tocqueville. I +should have been the only member of the Institute, but Ampere had set out +from Rome on receiving T.'s letter, and arrived the day after his death. He +is carried to Tocqueville--near Cherbourg, as you know; one of his brothers +and a nephew accompany it. Mme. T. is not nearly so ill as was believed. It +is bronchitis, not lungs; so she expects to go by slow journeys in a few +days. + +_April 22nd_.--Since I wrote yesterday I have received an account which, +whether true or not, shows the opinion they have in Italy of our great +ally. A man who had stood his friend and prevented the King of Holland from +disinheriting him, has lately been at Paris, and was kindly received by +him. So far is certain, and his kindness to those who befriended him +formerly is a good quality he really possesses. But it is added that he +told him to tell his nation not to be disheartened by the congress, because +care would be taken to make proposals which must be rejected, and that he +was as ready as ever. I really believe there is nothing too base in the +way of perfidy he would scruple to do, if his resolution was fixed and it +appeared clearly to be his interest. There has, however, been a change in +him of late, as to determination. He is more easily swayed by others than +he was, and he falters more when left alone. Altogether, it is a cruel +calamity for the world to have such a person to depend upon. I wish someone +would show how much he appeals to the multitude--the mere _mob_. He is +still a socialist in practice; and if anyone will read the Robespierre +papers, he will see that there is a deliberate design to make the poor--the +persons without property--rule. One man whom I afterwards knew (Julien de +Paris), and who had been a philanthropist _exalte_, states, in one of his +reports to the Committee of Public Safety, that those who have no property +are the great majority, and therefore must govern. There could be no +greater service to France than a full exposition of these principles--the +ones which L. N. adopts; and at the same time a full account of the +abominable character of the first Napoleon, of which the materials are +abundant in the correspondence with Joseph, [Footnote: _Memoires et +Correspondance politique et militaire du roi Joseph_ (6 tom. 8vo. +1854).] and also in the printed, but unpublished, vols. of his whole +correspondence. + +[_Cannes_] _May 4th_--I suppose some folks will now have discovered what +reliance there is to be placed on a capricious and absolute man. It was +clear from the first that he had resolved upon this Italian speculation, +and that as soon as he could mitigate the universal feeling and opinion +against him, he would have his way. The congress, whether suggested by him +through Russia or not, was only one means of delay till all was ready, and +one way of putting Austria in the wrong, or making an outcry against her +as if she was--for really, except in the clumsy way of doing it, I can see +nothing to blame in her refusal. She is treated as the aggressor. Now all +she has done, or could do, was in her own defence, and nothing in the world +can be more absurd than pretending that she is the cause of the war. If +she beat the allies ever so much, she does not gain one inch of territory, +while their real object is to strip her. As for L. N. considering himself +aggrieved by her breaking off the negotiation and beginning to defend +herself, it can only be on the supposition that he has a right to interfere +on behalf of the Italians. Indeed, the same thing may be said of Sardinia. +It is considered that she is aggrieved if the other Italian States are +aggrieved; and now comes this rising in Tuscany and the smaller duchies to +embarrass one party and so far help the other. But there is no reason to +believe that any rising in Lombardy will take place. + +The unaccountable part of it is the Austrians delaying their attack. It +seemed clear that their plan would be to march upon Turin before the French +could get up, and yet they have suffered 40,000 men to be landed at Genoa, +and a considerable force to cross by Mont Cenis, without doing anything. +Can it be that the sudden notice to Piedmont was an act of the Emperor +without his ministers being consulted, and that they are less prepared than +was supposed? Bunsen's son, who is in the Prussian mission at Turin, wrote +ten days ago that the Government was ready to remove to Genoa, expecting +the Austrians to come before the French arrived, and knowing Turin to be +indefensible. It now seems that there must be a battle before Turin can +be taken. All the road from Paris to Marseilles has been encumbered with +troops, and all the steamers have been taken by the Government, and +more men will be sent if wanted. The usual effect of a war has +been perceived--namely, making the multitude rally round the +Government--consequently there is less outcry against the war than there +was, except amongst thinking people and those who are suffering from the +suspension of all trade. The Emperor himself will probably join the army +when they are prepared for an advantageous movement. He is playing a game +that may be desperate. This Russian alliance is denied, but substantially +it is true, and I have little doubt that some undertaking is effected to +give leave to Russia in Turkey, on condition that she does something for +Poland (one of L. N.'s hobbies) and helps some Italian arrangement for the +cousin. + +The next letter is endorsed by Reeve--'An affectionate record of a long +friendship. I have inserted it in the copy of his Journals.' + +_From Mr. C. C. Greville_ + +_May 6th_.--I will not delay to thank you warmly for your kind note. Your +accession to the P. C. office gave me a friendship which I need not say +how much I have valued through so many years of happy intercourse, which I +rejoice at knowing has never been for an instant clouded or interrupted, +and which will, I hope, last the same as long as I last myself. It is +always painful to do anything for the last time, and I cannot without +emotion take leave of an office where I have experienced for so many years +so much kindness, consideration, and goodwill. I have told Hamilton that +I hope still to be considered as _amicus curiae_, and to be applied to on +every occasion when I can be of use to the office, or my personal services +can be employed to promote the interest of any member of it. Between you +and me there has been, I think, as much as possible between any two +people, the 'idem velle, idem nolle et idem sentire de republica,' and in +consequence the 'firma amicitia.' God bless you, and believe me always, + +Yours most sincerely and faithfully, C. C. G. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _May 18th_.--I really begin to feel anxious about the peace of +Europe, and not without some alarm as to our own position. There can be +no doubt that for the present (if not more permanently) this man [the +Emperor], working on the French feeling, has got the mob, military and +civil, with him. The war has ceased to be unpopular, and all reckon upon +victory. If they succeed, he will, for a while, be satisfied with the +gratification of his vanity and the strengthening of his power; but soon +after he will be pushed by his unruly supporters, and will try a deeper +game. Of this they are as much convinced in Germany as of his existence, +and even Prussia will not persist holding back. If she does, and if the +Russian alliance continues, she will be destroyed as soon as Austria is +weakened. I, therefore, expect to see Prussia take timely precautions. They +are prepared at Frankfort to split with her if she does not. + +I am now satisfied that the Austrians intended only a _razzia_ to +Turin, and then to carry on only a defensive contest; and having been +prevented--partly by the floods, and partly by our untimely intermeddling, +and partly by their old error of having one head at Vienna, and another +with the army--they have now given up the _razzia_, and will act on the +defensive. This will not prevent them taking advantage of any opportunity +of attacking, should they be able to do so with a certainty of success; but +for any such dash I look rather to the French than to them. Certainly the +Man is in a great difficulty if the Austrians steadily pursue this plan; +for the expectations are wound up to a high pitch in France--especially in +Paris and the great towns--of his doing something speedily, and the French +nature is not to wait with calmness and patience. Even in this remote +quarter, the thousands of fine troops passing raises a great feeling for +the war. + +_To Lord Brougham + +C. O., May 21st_.--To the very best of my belief, the Queen's Speech will +not be delivered till June 7th, but I speak without authority.... I have +the greatest doubt whether it will be possible to unite all those sections +of the H. of C. which are not to be regarded as Lord Derby's supporters, in +a direct adverse vote--on the address or otherwise; and if the attempt is +made--as it probably will be I think it will fail. [Footnote: The attempt +was made, and did not fail. The Ministry was defeated on the amendment to +the address by 323 to 310.] The Government say they have 307 men on whom +they can rely, and a fair chance that fifteen or twenty more men will not +consent to take part in an active, offensive campaign. Indeed the country +gentlemen say pretty generally that they will not attempt to turn the +Government out, until they are satisfied that a more stable Government can +be formed. But how is this possible when the numbers are--on one side a +compact body of more than 300, and--on the other side, a divided body of +350? What we hope, therefore, is this: that John Russell and the Radicals +will take a course on the subject of Reform which will be resisted by +the moderate Liberals; and that the result will be a fusion between the +moderate Liberals and the large Conservative phalanx. For it is clear that +without some degree of support from the Conservatives, no other government +can be carried on. As for any lasting or sincere union between Lord +Palmerston and Lord John, it is quite hopeless, [Footnote: The event +falsified this forecast. In the Ministry which Palmerston now formed Lord +John was Foreign Secretary, and continued so till Palmerston's death in +1865.] and the desire to keep the latter out of office is so general and +intense, that it is probable he would fail to make a Cabinet, even if +the Queen sent for him--which she will certainly not do until the last +extremity. On the other hand, there is the great objection to Palmerston +that he holds language about the Italians and the French--to whom he is +entirely devoted--which is quite at variance with the convictions of every +man of sense in the country. There can be very little doubt that the +war will spread. The whole of Germany is burning with ardour to support +Austria; and if the French gain a battle on the Po, nothing will prevent +the whole strength of Germany from coming to the rescue. [Footnote: Louis +Napoleon's fear of this is a sufficient explanation of his ambiguous policy +after Solferino.] The position of France is, in reality, most critical, for +all her best troops are in Italy, and she would have great difficulty in +placing 100,000 men on the Rhine, where she may have to confront half a +million of combatants. + +Hortensius' [Footnote: William Forsyth, Q.C., for many years standing +counsel to the India Office. As the author, among other works, of +_Hortensius_, and residing, as he still resides, at 61 Rutland Gate, +Lord Brougham, in writing to Reeve, invariably refers to him as either +'Hortensius' or 'your neighbour.' In 1872 he published _Letters from +Lord Brougham to William Forsyth_, with some facsimiles to show his +'extraordinary hand.' 'I think,' wrote Mr. Forsyth, 'the hieroglyphics will +puzzle most readers;' but the samples he has given are as copper-plate +compared with some of the letters to Reeve of about the same date.] +appointment was, I believe, purely an act of Lord Stanley's, and I dare say +your kindness in mentioning his name had due effect. Hortensius applied, by +letter, for the appointment, and about three weeks after came a letter to +say he was appointed. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _May 24th_. I have been reading over again your excellent +article on the subject of the day, and I may say of the place; and the more +I reflect on it, I come the nearer to your view in all respects. Really the +more we consider this abominable man's conduct (and his accomplice Cavour +is quite as bad, though not so foolish), the greater indignation we feel +at the unprovoked breach of the peace. The audacity of the pretence from a +despot and usurper exceeds precedent. What can be said too of Russia, which +keeps her hold of Poland only ten years longer than the settlement of +1815! It really would be important, now that the attempt has been made to +represent [the first] Napoleon as the friend of oppressed nationalities, +that we should direct men's attention a little more to the enormities +in that man's whole history. Party motives arising out of our English +divisions to a certain degree prevented the real truth from being generally +felt respecting him. There was the usual exaggeration on both sides. One +party painted the devil blacker than he was, crediting to him crimes which +he never committed. The other, because their adversaries thus painted him, +would allow nothing against him, and exaggerated his merits--though it were +difficult to overrate his capacity, and his military genius especially. But +the more his moral guilt is examined the blacker it will appear, and the +late publication, which you call candid, I believe has been true and full +owing to careless superintendence. When I say publication I mean printing, +for it is not really published, though copies are freely given. The +publication of Joseph's memoirs is also full of important matter. + +Now from these and the existing materials, a full and plain account of the +man ought to be prepared, [Footnote: This is what M. Lanfrey began to do, +and was going on with at the time of his lamented death, at the age of +forty-nine, in 1877.] and you may rely on it that great effect against the +present man would be produced; for he ostentatiously connects his policy +with the former one's, and there is the greatest care taken to suppress +attacks on Napoleon I. in the periodical publications--at least in the +newspapers. But if the English and German and Belgian press are full of the +facts, and repeatedly lay them before the world, no policy of the French +press can long keep the truth from reaching the public. However, I am drawn +away from what I had intended to mention--the present state of the public +mind on the war question in this country. The giddy and warlike nature of +the people, and his going to the army, has produced an effect not only in +removing the unpopularity of the war, but in raising a warlike spirit--at +least for the present. If victory comes, this will be increased. It is +probable he may for the present be satisfied with the strength which he +will derive from it; but the army will probably join with the mob in +wishing for further proceedings, and then we shall find that Germany will +be attacked, and I must even say that we shall do well to be prepared in +England. I believe, however, that the Austrians in Italy will make it a +lingering affair by defensive operations, and this will exhaust the French +patience. The lies of the Sardinian press, and indeed official accounts, +make it impossible to tell how far they have at the beginning suffered a +check. But I plainly perceive that, if something brilliant is not done, L. +N. will be shaken. + + * * * * * + +_From Count Zamoyski_ + +_Paris, May 28th_. May is passing and your plans are not yet realised; we +still await your arrival. Mme. Krasinska is leaving Paris for Warsaw, and +has charged me to forward you the enclosed, in which she gives you the +address of the person here who is ready to receive the papers you have +promised her, which both she and the friends of the deceased await with +lively interest. + +Having written thus much on the matter in hand, Zamoyski turned again to +politics and the discussion at some length of the situation in Italy, out +of which many of the Poles fondly hoped their freedom was to come. The +English mistrust of Napoleon, he argued, was as injudicious as unfounded, +and could do nothing but harm by forcing France into the arms of Russia. +One of the many wild suggestions afloat at the time amounted to little less +than a complete remodelling of the map of Europe. Austria, deprived of her +Italian provinces, was to be compensated on the lower Danube; as a balance +to which, Russia was to occupy Constantinople, and, to mark her friendship +to France--who was entering on the war for an _idee_--would restore +freedom to Poland. And there were some who believed it. Zamoyski was +clearer-headed; but his mind also was warped by sense of wrong, and his +fancy was as wild as the other. If England, he urged, will not act in +concert with France, let her at least emulate the noble example France is +setting. She is preparing to free Italy; let England, as her part in the +generous rivalry, free Poland. Russia is still England's enemy. This is +England's opportunity. And he seems to have persuaded himself that, if +she did not avail herself of it, she would be a recreant to the cause of +liberty and humanity. It is very curious. + +_From the Countess Krasinska_ + +_Paris, 26 mai_.--Je vous remercie infiniment, Monsieur, de votre bonne +lettre et de tout ce que vous voulez bien me dire de celui que nous ne +cesserons pas de regretter, et qui m'a bien et bien souvent parle de vous +et des annees de jeunesse passees avec vous dans une etroite et sincere +amitie. Ce souvenir a ete constant dans son coeur! Je regrette infiniment +aussi que les evenements politiques vous aient empeche de venir a Paris, +comme vous vous le proposiez. Je suis obligee de partir pour Varsovie, et +crains de vous manquer si vous venez bientot ici. Dans tous les cas, si +vous vouliez bien confier vos precieux manuscrits [Footnote: If sent to +M. Okrynski, the letters were returned; for they were afterwards given to +Sigismond's grandson, the present Count Adam Krasinski (_see post_. p. +389).] a M. Victor Okrynski, Rue de la Pepiniere 66, je vous en serai bien +reconnaissante. C'est chez lui que je laisse en depot ce que nous avons +rassemble jusqu'ici. + +It would seem from the following note that Lord Macaulay had spoken to +Reeve of Dr. Thomas Campbell's "Diary of a Visit to England in 1775; by +an Irishman;" a small book--little more than a pamphlet--which had been +published at Sydney in 1854. It had struck Reeve that such a "Diary" +might be the text for an interesting article in the "Review;" and the +correspondence respecting it derives a peculiar value from its near +approach to the close of Macaulay's labours. + +_From Lord Macaulay_ + +Holly Lodge, Kensington, June 1st. + +Dear Reeve,--Before you determine anything about Dr. T. Campbell's Diary, +you had better read it. I have lent my copy, which is probably the only +copy in England, and do not expect to get it back till next week. When it +comes, I will send it to you, and we will then talk further. Ever yours +truly, MACAULAY. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, June 11th_.--... On the Continent, it seems to me, there is +now only one question--Will Austria remain obstinate? If she does, if she +is determined to fight on, although beaten; not to give up her Italian +possessions, although she has lost them in Italy, and to impose on +the conquerors of Milan the necessity of being also the conquerors of +Vienna--in that case the actual beginning of the war is a trifle; we are +advancing towards a general war and European chaos. The mere continuance of +the struggle will be quite sufficient to make it impossible for anyone--for +Lord Derby as much as for Lord Palmerston--to stop it or to foresee +where it will lead. Has Austria the will and the strength to prolong the +struggle? Or will she be alarmed and intimidated by her first defeats, and +be persuaded to make such concessions as will give, if not Italy herself, +at least her patrons for the time being, a decent pretext to declare +themselves satisfied, and to retreat in triumph? I repeat this seems to me +the only question. If I were to judge by the reports that reach me from +Germany, no doubt is there felt. Austria, both emperor and country, are +said to be perfectly determined to fight to the last extremity, being +convinced that in their extreme peril, and when, in their persons, European +order is endangered, they will find allies and a chance of safety. But I +do not put much faith in rumours which promise a somewhat heroic firmness. +Great things are apt to come to nothing nowadays, and it may well be that +the Italian question will fall through, and all this noise end in some +transaction which will be neither a true nor lasting solution. Italy has +long been the scene of events that end thus.... + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G.C., June 13th_.--You have always taken such a kind and friendly concern +in my affairs that I think you will like to know how I stand. Palmerston, +by the Queen's desire, insisted on my returning to the F.O., and I felt +that, though most unwilling to accept the offer, I had no sufficient plea +for declining it. But when Palmerston very properly placed any office at +the disposal of Lord John, he claimed the F.O. as his right. I gladly +recognised that right and the superiority of his claims to my own. + +I was most warmly pressed by Palmerston and my former colleagues to take +any other office; but for that I saw no necessity, and I was sure I should +best consult the public taste by making way for some one who had not been +in Palmerston's former Government. The Queen sent for me, and very kindly +tried to shake my determination; but it had not been lightly taken, and she +did not succeed. So I am still free, and great is my happiness thereat. + +_From Lord Macaulay_ + +_June 27th_.--If I were to renew my connexion with the "Edinburgh Review" +after an interval of fifteen years, I should wish my first article to be +rather more striking than an article on Campbell's Diary can easily be. You +will, no doubt, do the thing as well as it can be done. + +Some other hand, therefore, supplied the article on "A Visit to England in +1775" which appeared in the October number of the "Review." + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ 62 Rutland Gate, June 30th. + +Dear Madame de Tocqueville, [Footnote: Mme. de Tocqueville was an +Englishwoman, and the correspondence was naturally in English.] I reproach +myself exceedingly for having delayed so long to express to you, or, +rather, to endeavour to express to you, how strongly Mrs. Reeve and myself +participate in that sympathy and sorrow which your irreparable loss +has inspired to the whole world, but most of all to those to whom the +friendship of your husband was one of the blessings of life. I cannot +accustom myself to the thought that the intercourse I had the happiness to +maintain with him for twenty-five years is really at an end; and that +the events of the world in which he took so constant and enlightened an +interest are still rolling onwards, while his pure intelligence has passed +to some higher and nobler sphere. We now look back, indeed, with a pleasure +that heightens our regret, to those delightful days we spent at Tocqueville +in 1856, and to his visit to England in 1857. Nothing, indeed, was wanting, +either to his fame or to the love he inspired those who knew him; and to +both these sacred recollections our thoughts will be directed as long as we +survive. What, then, must be the loss and the void to you, who lived, as +it were, _in_ that light? I dare not think of it, were it not that your +thoughts will rise to that source which has consolation for all earthly +sorrows. I have heard of you, and seen your admirable letters to Mrs. Grote +and Mrs. Merivale, which assure me of the resignation and piety that still +support you. Mrs. Reeve and Hopie desire to join in the cordial expression +of their affectionate regard; and I remain Your most faithful servant, + +H. REEVE. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +In August I left town for Ambleside and Abington, to shoot. Thence I went +to the George R. Smiths', at Relugas; near Forres. Shot there, and then +crossed the Moray Firth to Skibo and Uppat. Then I went on to Langwell, in +Caithness, which the Duke of Portland had lent the Speaker (E. Denison), +and spent some days with him. Returned to town by sea from Aberdeen. +Shooting in September at Chorleywood and Stetchworth--the latter +first-rate; then to Roxburghshire; afterwards to Raith. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_Relugas, near Forres, August 26th._--Your very kind note of the 23rd has +followed me here, where I am spending a few days on my way to Sutherland. +Towards the latter end of October I shall be returning to England, with +Mrs. Reeve and my daughter, and if you are still at Brougham at that time, +and disposed to receive us for a day or two in this patriarchal fashion, it +will give us the greatest pleasure to come. + +Louis Napoleon's amnesty appears to me to be the most judicious act of his +reign, and, if he would only follow it up by giving a more legal character +to his administration, I think he would soon rally many persons to himself. +All that the French seem at this time to require is that the Government +should observe the laws it enforces on other people--a very moderate +request. + +I will endeavour to find out about the Chancery Evidence Commission. It +is a monstrous absurdity that your name should not appear in a commission +destined, if anything, to give effect to the principles you have so long +and constantly advocated. + +_C.O., September 26th_.--I sincerely hope that, whatever day the Edinburgh +banquet takes place, I may have the honour of attending it. I shall +probably be at Raith at the time. Considering what you have been, for more +than half a century, to the "Edinburgh Review," and the connexion which was +thus so long maintained between yourself and Edinburgh, I am most anxious, +as the humble representative of that journal at the present time, to +do anything in my power to contribute to a mark of respect paid you in +Edinburgh; and I should have gladly attended the dinner, even if I had not +been, as I probably shall be, within easy reach of it. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, September 27th_.--Many thanks for your great kindness about +the Edinburgh dinner, which I look forward to with some dismay; for the +requisition, which was signed by the heads of all parties, and in very +kind terms, makes it impossible not to attend, and, beside the plagues +incidental to all such proceedings, I have the excessive suffering from +the blanks by which I shall be surrounded. To go no further than what you +allude to, it may possibly be October 25th, and certainly not later than +26th; and that is the anniversary of the "Edinburgh Review" fifty-seven +years ago. Then Jeffrey, Horner, Smith, Allen, Murray, Playfair, +Thomson--all gone; and of later years, Cockburn, your father, Eyre. It +is really a sad thing. And then, beside our set, there were A. Thomson, +Moncreiff, T. Campbell, Cranstoun, Clerk, D. Stewart, W. Scott--all, except +Horner, Playfair, and Scott, D. Stewart and A. Thomson, T. Campbell, alive +in 1834, when I was last in Edinburgh. I must struggle the best I can, but +this feeling nearly overpowers me. + +I send you by this post a Paris paper I have just received, evidently sent +on account of the article marked, which is so far gratifying that it is by +a very eminent man, who signs it; but I chiefly value it on account of +the attack upon England for not having raised a monument, [footnote: Lord +Brougham was at this time greatly interested, and indeed excited, about a +proposed monument to Sir Isaac Newton. His letters frequently allude to +it.] and on account, also, of the statement that he was the greatest of all +men--which will not be very agreeable to our friends of the Institute. + +The Journal records:-- + +Lord Brougham was elected Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. I +attended a banquet given him there on October 26th. I then went from Raith +to Brougham and Appleby, High Legh, and Teddesley, shooting at all +these places, and at Crewe likewise, where I began to shoot with a new +breech-loading gun. I must have shot thirty-five or forty days this year, +and paid a great number of visits in country houses. We did not go abroad. + +Lord Macaulay had meantime received some further particulars as to the MS. +of the 'Visit to England,' and sent them to Reeve with the following:-- + +Holly Lodge, November 11th. + +My dear sir,--I have just received the enclosed letter, which may, perhaps, +interest you. It might be worth while to put a short note at the end of the +next number of the 'Edinburgh Review.' + +Very truly yours, + +MACAULAY. + +_Endorsed_--Lord Macaulay. His last note to me. He died December 27th +[really 28th]. + +The note referred to appeared in the number for January 1860, with the +sympathetic remark: 'This very note was, in fact, his last contribution to +these pages, made within a short time of his death.' + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, December 29th._--I communicated to Mrs. Austin your very +kind intention of writing some notice of Mr. Austin in the 'Law Review,' +and she has sent me the enclosed paper--very striking, I think it, +especially considering the state of physical exhaustion and mental grief in +which she lies. Nothing can equal her devotion to his memory. She has, I +think, omitted to state that one portion of the lectures delivered by Mr. +Austin at the London University were published by Murray in 1832, under the +title of 'The Province of Jurisprudence Determined' You are aware that +this book retains a very high position, and, as John Austin never would +republish it in his lifetime, copies of the volume fetch seven or eight +guineas. I hope now it will appear again, with additions, as all the drafts +of his lectures are in existence, most carefully elaborated by himself. +Hortensius has written a very nice article for the 'Edinburgh' on the +progress of legal reform and on your bills. I hope you will like it. The +Review will be out on January 14th. + +I forgot to say just now that, as Mrs. Austin and I have no copy of the +enclosed paper about her husband, we should be much obliged to you to +preserve and return it to us. + +The pamphlet 'Le Pape et le Congres' has certainly astonished the world. My +Catholic friends call it the pamphlet of the Emperor Julian; and certainly, +considering what the Pope has done for him, and he has done for the Pope, +it is an act of apostasy. To engage in a contest with Rome is, however, +still no small enterprise, and I question if the Emperor has strength of +purpose to carry it through. The Popes protested, in their day, against the +Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of Vienna; _multo magis_, will they +protest against the decisions of the Congress of Paris? It must be +acknowledged that matters look more favourably than they did for our own +policy and influence in the Congress. + +_From Lord Brougham + +Cannes, January 1st_, 1860.--First of all accept for yourself and Mrs. +R. all the good wishes of the season from all here. Next, let me say how +gratified I am with the very interesting, and, in the circumstances, +extraordinary communication of Mrs. A. It is of the utmost importance, and +confirms me in the design I had newly formed, of making my account follow +this. It could be made for the next number of the 'Law Review;' in the +present number giving a short notice, lamenting the great loss, and +announcing a full article for next number. I had intimated the probability +of this to Francis--the editor--and what I have received this morning +from you strongly confirms me. There will, therefore, be only a general +statement this time. Really I feel the deepest interest in the subject, +when I regard the strong and stern virtues of the man, beside his great +talents and learning. + +Poor Macaulay, I would give as a foil--of course, only to yourself, +privately. He had great abilities; and though I widely differed with him in +his views of history--which I, being of the science school, thought should +be different from an anecdote book, yet I admit the great merits of his +work, and especially of his essays. But I much objected to his running away +from our death-struggle in 1834, though his defence was that his sisters +would have to go out in the world as milliners if he stayed to fight with +us. I had myself made such sacrifices that I felt entitled to complain. +However, I pass over that on the ground he gave. But, then, what is to be +said of two sessions in the House of Lords without one word of help to the +Liberal cause, or indeed to any cause? What but that it was owing to the +fear of making a speech which would be thought a failure--that is, would +be injurious to his former speeches. Now, such a consideration as this J. +Austin was wholly incapable of allowing even to cross his mind. He acted on +what he conceived were just principles, and sacrificed to them all regard +for himself. How differently did those men act of whose set Macaulay +was!--his father, Stephen, H. Thornton, &c. However, his loss is a very +melancholy one, because he goes out of the world in full possession of his +faculties, and in more than just appreciation of his merits. + +The Journal for 1860 begins:-- + +The new year opened at Chevening on a visit to Lord Stanhope. The party +consisted of the Morleys, Hayward, Goldwin Smith, and afterwards the +Grotes. + +I went to Chevening again in 1862; and for a third time, with Christine, in +1885; the host changed, but the same hospitality. + +We sent a round-robin to the Dean of Westminster, begging that Macaulay +might be buried in the Abbey. He was buried there on January 9th. I was +there. The same day we started for Paris by Southampton. Saw the Circourts, +Rauzans, Guizots, &c. + +Charles Greville had introduced me to Fould, then minister of finance. On +Sunday, January 15th, Fould told me of the conclusion of the treaty of +commerce with England, and the same evening we all dined at M. Chevalier's, +with Cobden, Lavergne, Passy, Parieu, and Wolowski--the promoters and +authors of the treaty. The next day (16th) I dined with Fould at a state +dinner; Metternichs, Bassanos, Auber, Ste.-Beuve, Bourqueney. I took down +Mrs. Baring. Lord Brougham was also in Paris. + +Albert Pourtales, my old fellow-pupil at Geneva, was now Prussian +ambassador; saw a good deal of him. This was a very interesting visit to +Paris. + +In some very rough notes, Reeve jotted down the particulars he learned at +this time. They amount to this: That between January 16th and 21st, 1859, +a treaty was signed between France and Sardinia, by the 5th, 6th, and 7th +articles of which Savoy was to be ceded to France when Lombardy and Venetia +were conquered and given to Piedmont. Nice was to be ceded when Piedmont +got the rest--of what, is not stated--presumably, of Italy. This treaty +was known only to the Emperor, Niel, and Pietri, in France, and in Sardinia +to the King and Cavour. It was afterwards made known to Villa-Marina, on +condition that he should seem to know nothing about it. + +On July 8th, 1859, when the Emperor returned to Valeggio from Villafranca, +he told the King of Sardinia that peace was made. The King said he would +not accept it, and would continue the war on his own account. The Emperor +shrugged his shoulders and said 'Vous etes fou.' Afterwards, however, in +telling the story to the Queen of Holland, he declared that he only said +'Vous etes absurde.' + +It appears to have been in conversation with Pourtales, on January 17th, +that Reeve picked up this curious story. During the past few years many +State papers at Berlin had been stolen: amongst others, a letter from the +Tsar to the King of Prussia, written in the summer of 1855, to the effect +that Sebastopol could not hold out another month. This was sent to Paris +by Moustier just in time to revive the drooping spirits of the French +Government, after the repulse of June 18th. + +Supposing this to be true--as Reeve certainly believed it to be--it was +only paying off Prussia in her own coin; for at least under Frederick +II.--the Prussian agents had shown a remarkable skill in obtaining secret +intelligence, either by purchase or by theft. In one case, in 1755, ten +important papers and the key of the cipher were stolen from the Count de +Broglie, the French ambassador, by his colleague and intimate friend, Count +Maltzahn, the Prussian ambassador, who obtained access to his rooms in his +absence. 'There is no doubt,' wrote De Broglie, 'that we are indebted for +this to the King of Prussia. I am quite sure that Maltzahn would not have +done it without an express order.' [Footnote: Le Secret du Roi, par le Duc +de Broglie, tom. i., p. 131] + +_From Mr. C. C. Greville + +January 15._--I am very glad to hear that Fould has responded with such +alacrity, and I shall be most anxious to hear from you again after your +interview and dinner with him. I told him in my letter that you had been +acquainted with the Emperor when he resided in England, and I hope he will +report your arrival to H.M., and that you will be summoned to the imperial +presence; it would be very interesting to have a conversation with the +great man himself, and you might enlighten his mind, and correct some +of the erroneous impressions he is likely to have formed from Cobden's +conversation. + +So far as I understand the line taken by our Cabinet, they are acting +properly enough. I suppose France will want our support for the annexation +of Savoy, and Palmerston will be for giving that, or doing anything else to +obtain the transference of the revolted states and provinces to Piedmont; +the aggrandisement of Sardinia and the humiliation of Austria being his +darling objects, for which he will sacrifice every other consideration, +unless he is kept in check, and baffled by the majority of the Cabinet. In +the beginning of this week there was very near being a split amongst them, +which might have broken up the Government; but I conclude matters were +adjusted, though I do not know exactly how. P., J. R., and Gladstone go +together, and are for going much further in Italian affairs than the +majority of the Cabinet will consent to; and, as the latter know very well +that their views will be supported by public opinion, I trust they will get +the better of this triple alliance. As Austria appears to have admitted her +inability to draw the sword again, the Pope seems to be left without any +resource; but it does not follow that Austria will consent to such an +aggrandisement of the King of Sardinia as France may be willing to consent +to, and, as we shall, I suppose, earnestly advocate. She would probably +more easily consent to the promotion of a new North Italian kingdom; and I +much doubt if Tuscany really wishes for annexation to Piedmont. She would +probably much prefer the promotion of a fresh state, of which Florence +would be the capital, and Tuscany the most influential member. How +impossible it is to form any opinion as to the tortuous, ever-shifting +policy of L. N.! The only thing we ought never to lose sight of is to keep +quite clear of him, and to be always on our guard. If the natural limits +of France are to be extended again to the Alps, how long will it be before +they are extended to the Rhine also? + +I went to see Mrs. Austin yesterday, and found her very well and in very +fair spirits; very anxious to talk about him, and much gratified at the +letters she has received from various friends, bearing testimony to his +great merits and high qualities, particularly one from Sir William Erle. +Brougham is writing a notice of him for the 'Law Magazine.' She seems very +unsettled in her plans, and says she changes her mind continually. Lady +Gordon is better, and Mrs. Austin is going to Ventnor, to her, in a short +time. She means to be much occupied with the papers he has left, which +appear to be all about law, and it is very doubtful whether they will, if +published, be very interesting to the world in general. + +The Journal notes:-- + +We returned to London on January 23rd. Parliament opened next day. London +dinners began. Dined at Thackeray's, Milman's, Galton's, Lansdowne House. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, February 2nd._--I am much obliged to you for De la Rive's +_brochure_ [Footnote: Le Droit de la Suisse, by William de la Rive, son of +the celebrated physicist, Auguste] which is written with great force and +spirit; he makes out an excellent European case for the slice of Savoy he +claims for Switzerland, and he manages to gives an agreeable impression of +those unpleasant people, the Swiss. It is a valuable work at this moment; +for the annexation of Savoy to France is a serious affair, not only because +it makes Italy French, but because it is the first step towards the +_remaniement de la carte_. + +When we made our first convention with France, on going to war together +with Russia, I thought it would be prudent to put in a clause that neither +Power should get any benefit for itself from the war. The Emperor accepted +the proposal cheerfully; said it was a grand precedent, &c. &c.; but when I +read over the convention with Walewski, prior to signature, the clause was +omitted, and I had it restored. In the case of Savoy, we must admit that +our policy makes objection on our part not only difficult but absurd. We +have been telling the Italians that they were justified in expelling their +rulers and electing a new sovereign, and that treaties could not be +pleaded against accomplished facts; and how can we remonstrate against the +annexation of Savoy to France, if V. Emanuel releases the Savoyards from +their allegiance, and they elect L. Nap. for their sovereign? + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, March 5th._ Since my visit to Paris I have never had a +doubt that Louis Napoleon was pursuing, and pursuing actively, a scheme for +the annexation of Savoy, and that nothing which this country can say--for +doing is out of the question--will have any effect in preventing it. The +King of Sardinia is the dog and the shadow. He drops his bone to clutch a +phantom of Italian empire, which will dissolve as he approaches it. The +most amusing part of it is that the policy of his imprudent friends here +(J. R. and so on) has urged him on to pursue the shadow without remembering +what it would cost in substance. + +The Reform Bill is considered so very mild a production that I begin, for +the first time, to think it will pass. Even the Tories could conceive +nothing so moderate, and they had better close with the bargain. I have +no doubt it will be rather favourable to the Conservatives than to the +Radicals. For example, where there are to be three seats, in the large +towns, the Conservative minority will probably carry one out of the three. + +_March 14th._--Your volume of scientific tracts arrived just after I had +sent off my last letter. I am very much indebted to you for it, and I shall +probably have occasion to refer to your learned paper on the cells of bees +in the review I am going to publish of Mr. Darwin's book. As for Newton, I +should be glad to give my vote in favour of a monument whenever a suitable +opportunity occurs. It is very embarrassing to know where to place +monuments to men illustrious in letters and science. Westminster Abbey +is crowded, and can take no more statues. We are going to put up a mural +monument to Hallam there; and, by the way, if you had been in England, you +were invited to be on the committee; I still hope you will give your name. + +Events have taken a prodigiously lucky turn for the Government, and I think +it is long since we had any administration so strong as Lord Palmerston now +is. Gladstone's triumph is complete on all points, and people are so weary +of J. R. and his Reform Bill that I think all parties are ready to swallow +this last dose, _de guerre lasse_. Then will follow the dissolution in the +autumn, and we may expect a strong Liberal majority. + +The affair of Savoy will pass off quietly enough if he leaves the +neutralised territories to Switzerland; but if not, it will become serious +enough, for it is expressly provided by the final act of the Congress of +Vienna that, if Sardinia evacuates those districts, no other Power +but Switzerland shall move troops into them, and this arrangement was +subsequently confirmed by a very formal declaration of all the Powers.... + +Mrs. Austin is making arrangements for a new edition of her husband's +lectures, with considerable additions. + +The Journal has here:-- + +_March 15th._--Dinner at home. The Due d'Aumale, Lavradio, Lady Stanhope, +Lady Molesworth, Lady William and Arthur Russell, Lord Kingsdown, the Lord +Advocate, Professor Owen, Colonel Hamilton, and Colonel Greathed. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_[Sunday] March 18th._--If you happen to be passing Grosvenor Crescent way +on Tuesday or Wednesday, about twelve o'clock, will you look in upon me, +and we will have a talk about the awful fix in which Europe in general and +England in particular are now placed? + +By reason of his connexion with Geneva, Reeve had all along necessarily +felt the keenest interest in the negotiations between France and Sardinia, +which he had discussed in an article on 'France, Savoy, and Switzerland' +for the April number of the 'Edinburgh Review.' He had possibly already +intended to visit the 'debateable land' as soon as the Review was sent to +press, or very possibly the advisability of doing so was suggested in this +interview with Lord Clarendon. At any rate, on April 4th he started for +Paris, and, after seeing his friend Pourtales, went on to Geneva in company +with Sir Robert and Lady Emily Peel. By the 12th he was back in Paris, +where, on the 15th, he had long interviews with Fould and Thouvenel, +the minister of foreign affairs, the minutes of which he wrote out at +considerable length, and two days afterwards read them to Lord Palmerston. +He reported to Palmerston that Thouvenel was willing to make 'a reasonable +adjustment of the Swiss frontier,' which he believed meant 'an extension +of the Swiss territory to the Fort de l'Ecluse and Saleve.' Palmerston, +however, refused the overture, saying, 'We shall shame them out of it.' +'So,' added Reeve, in relating the affair, 'neither he nor the Swiss got +anything at all.' + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 20th._--I hope my account of J. Austin will appear in the +'Law Magazine and Review.' It is written _con amore_, though very far from +such an article as I could have wished to make it. The letter of Mrs. +Austin was invaluable, and I inserted her very words in more instances than +one; but your mention of the effect produced by the publication now out +of print was still more valuable. I only trust that it may all be printed +correctly, for it must be too late for me to have proofs. + +The roguery of L. N. and Cavour exceeds all belief; but they have cheated +one another, and have probably overreached themselves. The _lies_ they +tell about the Nice vote are unheard of even in the time of Napoleon I. We +believe here that thousands of Piedmontese having no residence were sent to +vote. However, there is a real majority, though nothing like the unanimity +pretended. In Savoy there is entire unanimity. I suppose Normanby believes +the Tuscans have not voted for their annexation; but he believes whatever +anybody writes to him from Florence. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., May 16th._--I cannot remember any passage in Macaulay's writings +which can be called an attack on Henry V. In the Introduction to the +'History of England' there is a passage in which he speaks of the French +wars of the English kings, and speculates on the results which might have +ensued if the conquests of Henry V. had not been lost by Henry VI. Perhaps +this is what Lord Glenelg meant; but I am writing from the office, where I +have not the books to refer to. + +I don't know what sort of monument the Lord Chief Baron proposes to erect. +To put Macaulay on a level with Newton and Bacon would be absurd. His mind +was essentially what the geologists would call 'a tertiary formation;' +theirs were 'protogenic.' But I think some monument to Macaulay may very +fitly be placed in Trinity Chapel. We meet on Tuesday to consider what is +to be done for Hallam in Westminster Abbey; but there will certainly be no +statue, probably a slab and bust only. + +I hope you are coming up for the debate in the Lords on Monday,[Footnote: +On the repeal of the paper duty, a Government measure, which was rejected +by the Lords.] which will be one of great interest. I cannot think there is +anything solid in the so-called constitutional objection--which is to be +urged on behalf of the Government--to the interference of the House of +Lords with a bill of this nature. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Grosvenor Crescent, May 16th._--Many thanks for your letter and opinion of +Aix-la-Chapelle waters, which seem exactly to fit my case, but I should be +very reluctant to go there just now, as the inconvenience of it would be +great. I shall try change of air next week, and, if that won't do, why +_alors, comme alors,_ as the life I am now leading is intolerable. The gout +came again very sharply last night, but not, I am sure, owing to your most +agreeable dinner, which could only do good. I have not passed three such +pleasant hours for a long while. + +I have seen one or two peers to-day sorely puzzled as to the vote they +shall give on Monday. My only doubt is about the damage it may do the House +of Lords; and I can't quite go Lyndhurst's [Footnote: In a closely reasoned +speech, rightly considered remarkable from a man of eighty-eight, Lord +Lyndhurst maintained that it was no unusual thing for the Lords to veto +bills for repealing taxes as well as bills for inflicting them, and quoted +numerous precedents. The bill was thrown out by 193 to 104.] length, +who says that if there is no precedent it is high time, and the proper +opportunity, to make one. + +The Journal here records:-- + +Mr. Greville resigned the clerkship of the council in May; as Mr. Bathurst +could not carry on the business, he had to resign too [Footnote: This is +written on the blank page of the 'Chronology,' apparently from memory, and +the dates are somewhat confused. Greville resigned in May 1859. It was then +settled that there should be but one clerk; Bathurst acted by himself for a +twelvemonth, and resigned in May 1860.]. It was settled that there should +be but one clerk of the council. Lord Granville, I believe, wished to +appoint me, but some obstacle stood in the way. I never exactly knew what; +but if it was the Court, it is singular that I should have been so well +received at Balmoral. What I desired was that the registrarship of the P. +C. should become the second clerkship of the council, I offering to do my +share of the general business; but this they declined. On June 9th Arthur +Helps was appointed clerk of the council. I felt great irritation at the +manner in which I had been treated; but it certainly turned out very well +for me in the end, as I continued to hold an easier office, and eventually +obtained the same income, without the annoyance of attending the Court at +Balmoral, or Osborne, or elsewhere. + +On May 15th we had to dinner Lord Clarendon, Prince Dolgoroukow (the +one who wrote the book [Footnote: _La Verite sur la Russie_, 1860. Cf. +_Edinburgh Review_, July 1860, p. 175.] on Russia), Lord Stanley, Sir R. +and Lady E. Peel, Hodgson, and Cornewall Legh. + +On August 4th we made an expedition from Farnborough, with the Longmans, to +Selborne. Lunch with T. Bell. [Footnote: The editor of White's _Selborne_] +Walked to the Lithe and the Hanger. A charming day. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, August 5th._--I have been reading the last 'E. R.,' which is a +most excellent number. The ballot article [Footnote: 'Secret Voting and +Parliamentary Reform.'] is admirable, and will prove useful. I may send +you a few remarks on the G. Rose article. [Footnote: 'Diaries and +Correspondence of George Rose.'] But I am delighted with the showing up +of Miss Assing, [Footnote: 'Correspondence of Humboldt and Varnhagen von +Ense.' In editing this, Miss Assing had shown--according to the _Review_--a +singular want of taste and discretion.] only I don't think it is as much as +she deserves. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., August 7th._--I have been making short country visits at several +places near London since the termination of my Judicial Committee labours, +or I should certainly have called to see you before you left Grafton +Street. Now I am starting on Saturday next for Aix-la-Chapelle, where I +propose to take a few baths. I return on the 25th, and shall proceed to +Aberdeenshire at the end of the month.... + +The victory of the Government last night was very decisive;[Footnote: On +the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the reduction of the duty +on paper.] and I am heartily glad of it, for the protectionist cry of the +paper-makers took one back before the Deluge. + +I saw Mrs. Austin yesterday at Weybridge, and was glad to find her so well. +She desired to be remembered to you. She is very busy with J. Austin's +MSS.; but, in fact, they are in perfect order, and might be sent at once to +the press. + +And then the Journal-- + +Later in August went to Aix. I went over to Bonn to see Bunsen, who was +dying, but full of enthusiasm for Italy. Came home on August 27th. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LITERATURE AND POLITICS + + +Early in August Mrs. Henry Reeve had gone on a visit into Dorsetshire, and +at the time of her husband's return from Aix was in Cornwall--at Pencarrow, +near Bodmin--on a visit to her old friend, Lady Molesworth. Reeve, thus +left to himself, started almost immediately for Scotland on a visit to Sir +James Clark, who, with Lady Clark and his son--the present baronet--was +then living up Dee-side at Birk Hall, lent him by the Queen. + +The Journal's scanty notices of a very interesting visit can be happily +replaced by extracts from the letters which he wrote almost daily to his +wife at Pencarrow. + +_To Mrs. Henry Reeve_ + +Birk Hall, Ballater, September 1st. + +My dearest wife,--Matters have turned out here very pleasantly. I proceeded +to Aboyne by rail, and then posted along the Dee-side to this place--the +Strath most beautiful; a lovely mixture of wood, water, and heather, with +mountains beyond. I got here just before six, and found the Clarks and Van +de Weyers sitting down to an early dinner in order to go to the Gillies' +Ball at Balmoral, in honour of the Prince's birthday, to which I found +myself also invited. We drove up to the Castle, which is eight miles off, +through a fine wooded glen, in the moonlight. The old house of Balmoral has +quite disappeared, and the Castle is now a very fine edifice, decorated in +excellent taste. On arriving, we waited in the library, where arrived Lady +John Russell and her boys, the Farquharsons of Invercauld, young Peel +[Footnote: Robert Kennedy Peel; son of Lady Alice and Colonel Peel, who had +been Secretary of State for War in the Derby Ministry of 1858-9.] (Lady +A.'s son), the William Russells, the Duke of Argyll--and then the Court. +Nobody was in mourning, as it was a birthday; the Queen in white, with a +floating sash of Royal Stuart tartan from her shoulders: about half the men +in kilts. The Queen made a circle, and then we went into the ball-room, +where about a hundred and fifty of the tenants, servants, &c., with their +wives and daughters, were assembled. Reels then began, which were danced +with great energy, and also jigs--very droll. Prince Arthur danced like +mad; and Princess Alice was 'weel ta'en out' by the gamekeeper. I stood +in a corner talking with the Duke of Argyll, &c. At last the Prince came +round, and conversed very courteously for ten minutes. He had heard I +had been in Germany lately, so we soon got into the heart of German and +Austrian questions. All this lasted two hours, and then the Queen withdrew +into the supper-room, where there were sandwiches and champagne. She went +round again, and talked to Lord Melville, behind whom I was standing, and +then made me a very gracious bow, but without saying anything to myself. +Soon afterwards we drove home, and got back here at half-past one. To-day +we are going up to Balmoral again to write our names and see the Castle; +and to-morrow the Queen is coming here to call on Mme. Van de Weyer. I am +rather amused, after divers recent occurrences, to find myself in so much +royalty, and I had not anticipated any civility from them. But I see +the Clarks are very kind about it, having had Helps here last week, and +probably are desirous to remove any misconception which may have existed. +So that, in fact, nothing can turn out better, and I have certainly no +reason to be dissatisfied with my reception. + +Ever yours most affectionately, + +H. REEVE. + +_Birk Hall, September 4th_.--At last we have got a beautiful day, quite +warm and bright. Nothing can be more lovely than this Strath of the +Dee, with its birch woods and pine-covered mountains. We went up a hill +yesterday--the Coyle--and looked across the glen to the broad snow fields +which still encircle the black cliffs of Lochnagar. To-day we are going up +to Alt na Ghuissac, and shall lunch at the Queen's hut. H. M. called here +on Sunday, and was remarkably pleasant and jolly. P. Albert drove, with P. +Leiningen on the box; the Queen, Princess Alice, and Princess Leiningen in +the carriage, and one man on a seat behind. Nothing can be more simple, +courteous, and even droll, than she is, seen in this way, eating Scotch +cakes, and asking for the 'prescription' to make them, and making Leiningen +taste the birch wine--which is not bad. To-day they are gone on a wild +expedition over the hills, and are to sleep in some little inn on the +brae-side, where the people are supposed not to know who they are. The +Queen will be seven hours on her pony. She rides through all weathers and +over all places, and chaffs everybody for not taking exercise enough. + +I shall leave this on Friday for Braemar--else I should have to appear +at another Balmoral ball--and on Saturday proceed to Keir, where I spend +Sunday with Stirling, who is very sorry you are not of the party. On Monday +I go on to the Moncreiffs, at Alva (near Stirling), and on Thursday to +Kirklands, making some calls in Edinburgh as I go through. + +_Birk Hall, September 5th_.--The day kept its promise, and was fair to +the end. We drove up this glen, which is Glen Muich, to the loch which +terminates it, about six miles off. There stands the Queen's hut, with a +few fir-trees about it. It deserves its name--a small Highland cottage, +with a room on each side the door and two rooms behind; a little plain +wooden furniture and a Kidderminster carpet. There are two or three other +wooden cottages about for the attendants. Here we lunched--for everybody +lunches in this royal region; and then mountain ponies to go up to the Dhu +Loch, about 1,200 feet higher--very wild, grand scenery, and a very rough, +boggy path, on which Van de Weyer's contortions were very droll. Madame +stayed under the royal honeysuckles below. + +I suppose Hopie and I shall go to Raith on the 15th, if they can take us +in. At any rate, we shall leave Kirklands on that day; but our movements +cannot be quite fixed till we hear. + +_Braemar, September 7th_.--Very fortunately I have had magnificent weather +just when I wanted it. Clark gave me two good days of shooting on the hill +on Wednesday and yesterday; we got about ten brace each day, and I had a +famous hard walk. This morning I came on here by the Queen's private road +through Balmoral and Invercauld. The scenery is wonderfully beautiful; and, +if it were not for my love of the sea, I should admit that Braemar is the +finest thing in Scotland. I have been up the glen this afternoon, past Mar +Lodge, to the Linn of Dee--a fine cascade through rocks; the water is so +clear that you can see the rocks under it, and wild blasted pines growing +all round. I was sorry to leave Birk Hall. The Clarks are admirable hosts, +and made their house most agreeable.... You will have lamented, as I do, +the untimely cutting off of our poor friend, the late Lord High--I mean +Ward. [Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 314.] There seems to be a fatality +about Madras. _Somme toute_, the more I see of the chances of life, the +more I am persuaded that, as my lot has been cast on such small but easy +cushions, I ought to be perfectly content. + +The Queen came back on Wednesday night in high glee with her lark over the +hills to Grantown. [Footnote: The Queen's account of this 'lark over the +hills' is in _Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands_ (8vo. +1868), pp. 189-203.] They slept at a very little Highland inn, and were +waited on by the maid only. The beds were awful, for they could not stand +the feather bed, and, that being thrown aside, nothing soft remained +beneath. General Grey found it so hard that he got up and put on his +clothes to lie in. However, they were in high glee, and were not found out +till they went away in the morning, when the man of the house said, 'Gin +I'd known it was the Queen, I'd hae put on my Sunday claiths and waited on +her mysel'.' They gave the Highland lassie a 5 L. note, at which she nearly +fainted. + +I hope by this time to-morrow I shall be at Keir. I am here at a little +Highland inn for to-night, but not so ill off as H. M. I shall have to post +to Blairgowrie to-morrow to get there in time for the train. + +_Keir, near Dunblane, September 9th_.--I left Braemar yesterday morning +at 6 A.M.; posted across the Grampians by a very wild pass; reached the +railroad at Blairgowrie, and came on here in the afternoon. The first +person I found in the hall was Motley. His wife and Lily arrived in the +evening. Mrs. Norton, the Wyses, and Sir James Campbell also here. A most +pleasant party to fall into, and your absence very much regretted. Keir is +more beautiful than ever, and glorious in this fine weather which floods +the Carse of Stirling with light. It really does seem as if the harvest +would pick itself up after all. + +I shall proceed to Alva to-morrow, and to Kirklands on Wednesday. I don't +yet know whether the Fergusons can receive us on the 15th. If they can, +we shall go to Raith on that day, and return to London from Edinburgh by +sea.... At any rate, I expect to be in London either on Friday, 21st, or +Monday, 24th--I'm not quite sure which. I suppose, if you don't go to +Saltram, you will come up about the same time. There will be a good many +things to look after and think of for the Spanish expedition. I am up to my +neck here in Stirling's Spanish books. + +P.S.--I am a year older to-day than I was yesterday. + +The Journal records that he returned to London on September 22nd. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Wiesbaden, September 14th._--I have been idle and absent at Baden, or I +should sooner have answered your letter and told you with what pleasure we +will execute your commission. [Footnote: See _post_, p. 54.] I was very +sorry to have missed you here, though it would have been but a glimpse, as +you were going next morning. I shall hope to see you before you start on +your enviable Spanish tour, as I mean to go home as soon as my cure +is complete, for Lady C. feels Alice's absence, [Footnote: Lady Alice +Villiers, married on August 16th, 1860, to Lord Skelmersdale, created Earl +of Lathom in 1880. She was accidentally killed by the overturning of her +carriage on November 23rd, 1897.] and is lonely with only two children out +of six. + +I passed two very pleasant days at Baden with the Aug. Loftuses and the +Princess of Prussia, who is domiciled there, and we returned last night. + +_The Grove, September 30th_.--I returned here last night without touching +at Grosvenor Crescent. If I had gone there, I should have been at home ten +minutes within the twenty hours from Paris, which is a fair rate of speed +when one remembers that in pre-railway days one travelled hard and got +shaken much to arrive at Paris in three days; and in pre-steamer times I +was once eighteen hours in getting from Calais to Dover. Yet people are not +satisfied; and Rothschild told me he was bullied by everybody about the +slowness of the Ligne du Nord. + +I am afraid I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you, as I cannot go to +London to-morrow, and from Tuesday till Friday we are engaged to the +John Thynnes. In the improbable event of your charming expedition being +postponed, we should be quite delighted if you and Mrs. and Miss Reeve +would come here on Saturday. + +As it is now nearly twenty-two years since I left Spain (how time flies!), +new generations have sprung up of whom I know nothing. There are two +persons--Mme. de Montijo and Olozaga [Footnote: Reeve had known him as the +Spanish ambassador in Paris fifteen years.]--who I should have liked you +to see as social and political _ciceroni_; but the former is at Paris, in +the deepest affliction at the death of her daughter, and the latter is just +gone to Italy, as I heard two days ago from Howden. Of course you know that +clever, agreeable little fellow Comyn, who was _charge d'affaires_ here, +and is now under-secretary at the F.O. in Madrid? If not, I will send you a +letter to him. + +I wound up at Wiesbaden by a severe attack of gout, which seemed to please +my Esculapius more than it did me; for when I showed him my misshapen +scarlet claw of a foot, he rubbed his hands and said, 'Oh dat is a +beautiful manifest podagra.' It came just at the same time as the +Skelmersdales, and prevented my going about with them. Wasn't that just +like the gout? + +I never doubted that as soon as the guerillero business was over and civil +organisation began, Garibaldi would prove a mischievous, spoiled child.... +The French Government and their friends want the Pope to remain at Rome, +thinking that _la France Catholique_ would resent his evasion, as a proof +of mistrust of the Emperor; but the Emperor wants him to go; as he would +then withdraw his garrison and let Rome take its chance, which he thinks +would close his accounts with the followers of Orsini; and he dislikes +having to reinforce his garrison, which he must do if the Pope decides on +remaining. + +I have brought the amethyst beads you desired to have for Mme. Van de +Weyer, and I dare say somebody will be going up to-morrow or next day by +whom I can send them to you. The man wanted rather more than 5 L for them, +but on my walking away from his shop, he, of course, gave them for that +sum. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, October 1st_.--We have all here been greatly disappointed at not +having seen you and our kinswoman,[Footnote: Miss Reeve, Brougham's second +cousin twice removed. Through the Robertsons, Brougham and John Richardson +were second cousins.] and I believe we have little chance now, as you +talked of going abroad as soon as your quarterly labours were over. We +shall be here the whole month; then take our southward flight.... + +If you can find an opportunity of noticing my volume on the Constitution +which is to appear in November, it would be very serviceable to the +publisher. It is only a reprint of that part of the 'Political Philosophy,' +and lays down true and sound principles--at this time necessary to be well +learnt. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, October 2nd_.--I am extremely obliged to you for the copy +of your Glasgow address, which in some degree consoles me for not having +heard it, and for having lost the pleasure of seeing you this year at +Brougham. Nothing can be more felicitous than some of the illustrations you +have introduced, and the occasion of a mere scientific meeting has been +turned to the best political purpose. No doubt in that region the absence +of party gives a broader and a nobler aim to the exertions of your society, +and it is gratifying to see how heartily men meet to combine, in these +days, without party badges. But if this opinion were to be expressed by the +'Edinburgh Review,' we should be told by John Russell & Co. that we have +no business to wear blue and buff, which is the final cause of reviews and +editors. + +The political article which I have just sent to the press is on the United +States under Mr. Buchanan--a great show-up of that scandalous scene of +corruption, slave-trading, and anarchy. I am afraid it is now too late to +introduce an allusion to your discourse. As to home politics, there is +little to be said; as to Continental affairs, there is too much. The +mountebanks in Southern Italy have now very nearly upset the coach, and the +question is whether the Sardinians or the French are to march to Naples. I +hope it will be the former, but it is quite clear Louis Napoleon means to +support the Pope in Rome. + +Lord Clarendon is just come back from Wiesbaden. We start on Saturday for +Madrid, _via_ Valencia, and shall be about six weeks in Spain and Portugal. + +And so they started--Reeve, his wife, and daughter--Reeve, as usual, +noting merely the stages of the tour, trusting to his wife to fill in +the details. Extracts from Mrs. Reeve's Journal are here given in square +brackets. + +_Journal_ + +_October 8th_.--We started for Spain by Paris, Lyons, and Marseilles. +Sailed in the 'Cephise' for Valencia on the 10th. + +_11th_.--[Hopie and I came on deck soon after eight. We spent the day lying +down, and only caught glimpses of the coast of Spain when a roll of the +'Cephise' brought land and sea above the line of her sides.] + +_12th_.--[About 4 A.M. the wind changed, and we were able to use sail, +which steadied the vessel, besides assisting her progress. I went on deck +at nine, found the Mediterranean more like my 'Caire' experience, and was +told that we should probably be at Grao by twelve.... Henry has set up an +acquaintance with a Mexican who knows a little of England and English, and +is going to pass the winter at Valencia. About one o'clock we were in the +harbour of Grao. We landed in boats, and found ourselves surrounded by +a crowd of clamorous porters and _tartana_ drivers--one of the scenes +characteristic of landing in a country where police regulations do not +exist ensued. However, Henry's Mexican acquaintance came to his rescue, and +two courteous Gauls to mine. They were taking the French despatches into +Valencia, and offered Hopie and me seats in their _tartana_--a covered cart +not on springs, which is the cab of the country. We joyfully accepted, +leaving Henry to struggle through custom-house and other difficulties as +best he could. The drive (into Valencia) is about two miles, part shaded by +an avenue and carefully watered by men stationed at intervals, who ladled +the water in buckets out of the runlets on each side of the road. We took +up our quarters at the Fonda de Paris, and congratulated each other on +having arrived in Spain.] + +_13th_.--[We went out at eight o'clock. Our first point was the market, +which we found in full activity. Such supplies of fruit and vegetables can +only be found in a city surrounded by leagues of _huerta_.... We went to +the _plateria_, but found the shops poor, and the articles displayed were +coarse and ill-wrought. We visited the churches of St. Martin, St. John, +and the cathedral, and ascended the tower _del Miguelete_. The churches are +so dark that it is quite impossible to distinguish the pictures, much less +to judge of their beauty. The panorama from the tower is most beautiful: +the city and plain of Valencia, the Mediterranean and the encircling +mountains, the fertile _huerta_, and the glorious sky of deepest blue +above.... + +Placards of a bull-fight on the morrow caught our eyes; and Hopie and I, +taking the bull by the horns, declared our intention of going to it, and +suggested that places should be taken. After a very feeble resistance, +Henry consented, and our _valet-de-place_ was directed to ascertain the +price of a box.] + +_14th_.--[The price asked for a box being too high, we took reserved seats, +and at two o'clock started on foot.... The Plaza de Toros at Valencia is a +new building, only completed this year; it holds twenty thousand persons, +and is the largest in Spain.... 'El Tato' is the second _matador_ of Spain: +he is a well-looking and remarkably well-grown young man, and a well-grown +figure is set off to great advantage by the dress. The horses used are only +fit for the knacker's yard; they are contracted for at about six pounds +each; on this occasion thirteen or fourteen were killed. As regards the +horses, it is a cruel and disgusting sight; but as between the bull and the +_matador_, the display of courage, eye and presence of mind, as well as of +skill and agility, is most interesting and exciting.] We saw 'El Tato' kill +six bulls.... [At dinner our conversation turned on the sight of the day. +'Tableau de moeurs espagnoles,' said a Frenchman, raising his shoulders. +'In Peru, where I have seen many bull-fights,' he went on, 'they use +high-spirited and valuable horses, and the _picador_ would be for ever +disgraced if he allowed the bull to touch his horse.'] + +_15th_. [From Valencia to Madrid is 308 miles; the time from 4 P.M. to 6.20 +A.M., and our train was pretty punctual.] + +_16th_.--Saw Isabella and her Court enter Madrid. She was shot at [by a +foolish, half-witted lad, who did not know how to load his pistol, and had +no motive for the crime, or rather attempt]. Delighted with the gallery. +[There are a few seats and no visitors; and the wisest thing travellers can +do, and by far the pleasantest, is to spend all the hours of all the +days they are in Madrid that the gallery is open in contemplating its +treasures.] + +_17th_.--[Immediately after breakfast, Hopie and I went to the Museum. +Henry joined us presently, and we remained till four o'clock.] + +_18th, Thursday_.--[We had intended to make the Toledo excursion to-day, +but an undoubted attack of gout confines Henry to the sofa. Hopie and I +walked before breakfast to the Church of the Atocha, where we were shown +... in a wardrobe in the vestry, the crimson velvet robe which Isabella had +on when the Cure Merino stabbed her. [Footnote: On her way to the church, +February 2nd, 1852. The priest, a Franciscan, was garotted in due course.] +It has the stain of blood on the lining; the massive embroidery in gold +saved her life by turning aside the knife.... After breakfast we took a +walk through the unfashionable parts of the town: narrow streets, noisy +and crowded, where open stores with bright-coloured scarfs and petticoats +collected round them men in the peasant dress--short jackets, breeches, and +gaiters partly open. These were picturesque, but the streets and houses +were uninteresting enough. + +There can be no doubt that Madrid is the least interesting capital in +Europe, and that it is only worth the traveller's while to go there for the +sake of the pictures.... It is settled that we leave Madrid on Saturday +evening, and Henry has therefore consented to our going to Toledo tomorrow +without him.] + +_19th_,--[Excursion to Toledo, fifty-six miles by rail.] + +_20th, Saturday_.--[After dinner started for Granada, where, after +thirty-six hours (rail and diligence), we arrived on Monday morning.] + +_27th, Saturday_.--[At 6 P.M. we stow ourselves in the interior of the +diligence, and pound along the dusty road towards Santa Fe. It is dusk +before we get there, and dark after.] + +_28th, Sunday_.--[From Granada to Malaga is seventy-six miles. Guards +are not only stationed along the road, but two or three are taken on the +diligence. The roads were not good; we seemed to be crossing a series of +sierras, and when day dawned, after a fresh, almost cold night, we found +ourselves amid ghaut-like hills, and wondered when the topmost point would +be gained and the descent to Malaga begun. I think it is at Fuente de la +Reina that the magnificent view of the Mediterranean, the port and city +of Malaga, and the long perspective of zigzags down spurs of mountains is +seen. Neither the French nor English Handbook speaks of this view with +the enthusiasm it deserves. It is far finer than the view on the heights +looking down on Trieste and the Adriatic.... We entered Malaga about 10 +A.M.; the descent had taken about two hours.] + +_29th_.--[Very early it was announced that an unexpected boat had come in, +and was going on to Cadiz.... At 2 P.M. we went on board... but she did not +steam till six. We should have been very irate at the delay but for the +remarkably good dinner they gave us.... We made a detour and went very slow +at starting, to avoid a vessel sunk in the harbour, on which a provisional +pharo is placed. This vessel, the 'Genova,' had on board shells and powder +for the Morocco war, when it was discovered that spontaneous combustion had +broken out in the coal--a defect of Spanish coal--and, fearing she would +not only blow up herself but also the city of Malaga, they determined to +sink her; and, after a deal of bad practice by the guns of fort and fleet, +she went under water, and there she has been eight months.] + +_30th_.--[Cadiz. On the 31st crossed over to Puerto Santa Maria; and on +November 1st to Seville by rail.] + +_November 2nd_.--[Henry has again a threatening of gout, and must have +recourse to rest and remedial measures. He sent us out to buy the works of +'Fernan Caballero;' but only one volume was to be had, and no explanation +was given us of the strange fact that the writings of the most popular +novelist in Spain are not to be obtained in the capital of Andalusia, +where she lives, and whence all her characters and scenery are taken. +No satisfactory map or guide-book of Seville could be found. I took a +catalogue of the books that the shop contained back to Henry. They were +chiefly of a religious character. Hopie and I took an exploring walk as far +as the Plaza and Church of San Lorenzo, stopping now and then to peep into +the cool _patios_ filled with flowers, and a murmuring fountain often in +the middle, which you see through the corridor, sometimes with a door of +iron trellis, sometimes open. All the windows of the basement have iron +gratings and wooden shutters; and the courting and sweethearting is carried +on with the lady inside and the lover outside the railing. Not that we saw +anything of the kind as it takes place of an evening; but the construction +of the houses explains the descriptions as given in these charming tales of +'Fernan Caballero.'] + +_3rd_.--[Hopie and I set out to 'do churches'... After breakfast to the +Museum.... We then joined Henry, who was better, and had been to call at +the Palace, and drove to Alfarache, about four miles' distance.] + +_4th_.--[In the afternoon to Cordova (eighty-one miles), returning to +Seville on the evening of the 5th.] + +_6th_.--[A decidedly grey day, unfortunately for our plans of +picture-seeing. We did a little shopping... and then went to the Museum; +but, alas! there was not more light than you would have in Trafalgar +Square; and those Murillos at a distance from the window were scarcely +visible. We were so vexed on Henry's account. We spent the afternoon in +writing letters, bathing our faces with milk, and hoping the mosquito +bites, which have driven us well-nigh distracted, will be less conspicuous +to-morrow, when we are to spend the morning at the Palace, and be presented +to the Infanta.] + +_7th_.--[Nine o'clock was the hour named by the Duke, and a few minutes +after we were at the Palace of San Telmo (in bonnets and our tidiest +dresses). We were shown into a room on the ground floor, and in a few +seconds the Duc de Montpensier [Footnote: For the circumstances of the Duc +de Montpensier's marriage, see _ante_, vol. i. p. 181.] came in attended by +an A.D.C. He received us very graciously, asked if we would drive or walk +round the grounds, and said he thought we had better see the gardens first, +and then the house and pictures.... Our promenade, with an occasional rest, +took nearly two hours; and then, returning to the Palace, H.R.H. showed us +the state rooms and the pictures, many of great beauty and merit, all very +interesting; and then, suggesting we should like to take off our bonnets, +desired the A.D.C. to show us rooms.... A servant waiting outside the door +showed us into a drawing-room upstairs, where we found two ladies of the +Infanta's suite, and an old marquis, whose gold key showed he was the +chamberlain. In a few minutes the double doors of a larger room were thrown +open, and 'los Duques' and the four Infantas, their daughters, came in.... +When the _dejeuner dinatoire_ was announced, the Duke told Henry to offer +his arm to the Duchess, then he advanced towards me, the chamberlain took +Hopie, the children and the suite followed. We were eighteen at table. ... +Servants stood behind us with paper flappers, whisking away the flies, who +swarmed round the sweet dishes on the table; and H.R.H. complaining of _les +mouches_, I ventured to complain of _les moustiques_. He smiled, and said, +'I noticed that you had been victimised.' Breakfast was very gay and +agreeable; the Duke has the family talent for conversation, and the Duchess +is very amiable, and of course speaks French. She wore a high, plain silk +dress of the prevailing colour, and a black chenille net. The Infantas had +black silk skirts with a broad piece of black velvet at the bottom, and +white pique shirts. We left the table in the same order as before, and, +after a few minutes in the salon, the Duke took Henry into his private +room. The Duchess requested us to be seated, and asked us questions about +our tour, &c.... and then, rising, she said Adieu, and left the room. The +Duke took us to the large library on the ground floor, to show us the +albums and other things of interest.... There was an interesting portrait +of an elderly lady in a black dress and mantilla, which H.R.H. pointed out +as being that of the lady who writes under the name of 'Fernan Caballero;' +and on Henry's mentioning that we had tried in vain to purchase her novels, +he desired the librarian to see whether there were duplicate copies, and, +on hearing there were, gave us a set, as well as a coloured lithograph of +the Palace and photographs of the Duchess, himself, and the princesses.... +It was altogether a most interesting and agreeable morning, and we came +away charmed with the courtesy and kindness of 'los Duques.'] + +_9th_.--Back to Cadiz; very stormy voyage to Lisbon. Home to Southampton, +November 22nd. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, December 6th_.--I was glad to get your letter, as I thought you +must be due about this time, and I had not heard of your arrival. I can +imagine no change for the worse equal to that of coming from the blue sky +and thermometer of Andalusia to the fogs and hydrometer of London, and your +impaired respiratory organs must make that change peculiarly pleasant. + +I am very glad your impressions of Spain are the same as Granville's. +He raves of the things he has seen, and of the good hotels and general +civility; and says he tasted no garlic since he dined at the Maison Doree +at Paris. Spain must indeed be changed since my time! + +We returned from Ashridge [Footnote: The seat of Lord Brownlow.] this +afternoon, and are off again next week. Paterfamilias is obliged to drink +the cup of gaiety to the dregs, which is almost worse than being in office. + +Pray remember us very kindly to Mrs. Reeve. As soon as we are free agents, +we shall hope for the pleasure of seeing you here. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., December 10th_. I have not the slightest intention of plunging at +present into the turbid waters of Indian finance, still less of engaging in +the personal controversy of Trevelyan's merits or grievances.... I am not +sure that his view of extensive reduction is not, in reality, more rational +and possible than Wilson's view of extensive taxation. Probably, however, +both will be needed before we have done. But I suspend my judgement on the +question, and I shall not venture to discuss it in the 'Review' at present. + +We returned from Spain and Portugal a few days after you had the kindness +to call in Rutland Gate. I proceeded immediately to call on you in Grafton +Street, but you had already gone north. Since then I have been unceasingly +occupied at the Judicial Committee. Our journey was very successful and +agreeable. We coasted round the whole peninsula, and went up to Madrid, +Grenada, Seville, Cordova, &c. + +The changes taking place in France are (if sincere) most remarkable. My +friends think that one of L. N.'s objects is to have a debate on his +foreign policy and his relations with Italy, which--as he well knows--will +be extremely adverse to the Italian cause, and afford him a pretext for +abandoning Victor Emanuel. There is some idea that when Francis II. +evacuates Gaeta, he will surrender it, not to Victor Emanuel, but to +France. I expect this affair in Southern Italy to end by a Muratist +demonstration; in other words, the Neapolitans will place themselves under +the protection of France to escape from the Piedmontese.... Thank God, your +namesake and my friend, Henry Brougham Loch,[Footnote: Now Lord Loch, +then secretary to Lord Elgin, in China. He and Harry Parkes had been +treacherously seized by the Chinese on September 18th, and kept in vilest +durance and imminent danger of being put to death till October 8th, when, +after the capture of the Summer Palace, both the prisoners were released.] +is safe. We have been very uneasy about him, and not without cause. The +China war is a slough of despond: the further we advance the more we shall +flounder, until we are half ruined by our successes. + +_62 Rutland Gate, December 24th_.--I have shut myself up for some days, to +try to get rid of an irritation in the larynx, which has troubled me for +some time past; but in this weather one's library is the most secure +retreat. + +_62 Rutland Gate, January 3rd_.--I see the Court of Queen's Bench in Canada +has decided in favour of the extradition of the fugitive slave who turned +and slew his pursuer. This surprises me; for surely, by our law, such an +act is not murder. What, however, interests me most is to know whether the +case can be brought up to the Privy Council by way of appeal. I do not +know what form the proceedings in Canada have taken; but I apprehend the +proceedings are civil, not criminal, and therefore appealable. If it does +come here, it will be a matter of great interest. + +The reference is to the celebrated case of John Anderson--or Jack--a negro +of Missouri, who, in 1853, had been met by one Diggs, a white man, thirty +miles away from his home. In accordance with the laws of the State, Diggs +attempted to seize him. Anderson killed Diggs, and--by 'the underground +railway'--made good his escape to Canada, where he had lived ever since. +In 1860 he had been recognised, and, on formal application for his +extradition, he had been arrested. The Court of Queen's Bench in Canada +accepted the argument that they had to decide only as to the evidence of +the commission of the crime, not as to the nature of it, and remanded the +prisoner. In England the excitement was very great. The Secretary of State +sent out an order that Anderson was not to be given up without instructions +from him; and the Court of Queen's Bench sent out a writ of _habeas +corpus_, directing the man to be brought before it. But meanwhile an +application for a writ of _habeas corpus_ had been made to the Court +of Common Pleas in Canada, and the prisoner had been discharged on the +technical ground that he was not charged with any crime included in the +Extradition Treaty, as, for instance, murder; for the indictment was that +he did 'wilfully, maliciously and feloniously stab and kill, &c.,' words +which meant, inferentially, manslaughter; and manslaughter was not +recognised by the treaty.[Footnote: See _Annual Register_, 1831, part ii. +p. 520.] + +The Journal here mentions the awfully sudden death of a friend of many +years' standing:-- + +_January 8th_.--The Frederick Elliots and Marochettis dined with us. There +was a frost, and torches on the Serpentine. Mrs. F. Elliot drove round to +see it, and went home and died in the night [of a spasm of the heart. The +news reached Reeve by a note from Mr. Elliot, dated seven o'clock in the +morning]. + +_From Mr. E. Twisleton_ + +Bonchurch, January 24th. + +My dear Reeve,--I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 18th +instant, which has been forwarded to me here. I am sorry to say that I +have so much on my hands at present that I could not undertake to write an +article on American affairs; though I am equally obliged to you for the +proposal. + +I lament what has taken place in the United States. Although, in a narrow +political sense, a disruption may be useful to England, in another point of +view it is a misfortune, inasmuch as the maintenance of one confederation +during seventy-two years, over such a vast extent of territory, with no +civil war, and only two foreign wars, is the greatest thing which the +English race has done out of England, and its dissolution is sure to be +viewed with pleasure by all who in their hearts hate free institutions and +the English race. + +Since Brown's attempt to excite an insurrection of the slaves in Virginia, +I have thought it impossible to avoid a civil war, if the anti-slavery +feeling in the North went on increasing in intensity, as I have known it +to increase during the last ten years; but I had not the most distant idea +that Lincoln's election would lead to immediate secession on the part of +even a single state. In the north of the Union they have been absolutely +taken by surprise, and have hardly yet made up their minds as to the course +they will pursue. If Congress had merely to deal with South Carolina, it +could easily checkmate that one state; but the difficulty arises from the +_number_ of states, which either side with South Carolina or will not act +against her. + +I have the highest respect for Tocqueville's opinion; but I do not happen +to remember what he has written respecting secession. I well understand the +difficulty for a confederation if any one state has a settled permanent +determination to secede from it. But, under the constitution, Congress has +ample powers to levy the federal revenue and maintain the laws of the +Union in South Carolina--and to pass all laws necessary for this purpose. +Moreover, everyone in the Union who levies war against the United States +Government is guilty of treason, and there is no recognition in the +constitution of any right in any state to secede from the Union. Under +these circumstances, everyone in South Carolina caught in arms against the +federal Government is liable to be hanged. With such laws and powers, an +united Congress and a resolute president, like General Jackson, would soon +reduce South Carolina to submission; and my belief is that the same might +be the case if there were a league against the Union of the cotton states +alone. For a time Congress would baffle such a league quite as effectually +as the Swiss Confederation put down the Sonderbund. + +Pray give my kind regards to Mrs. Reeve. I expect to be in London at the +end of next week, and I shall be happy to communicate and receive ideas on +American politics. The critical point at present is the course which will +be pursued by Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Yours very truly, + +EDWARD TWISLETON. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_February 26th_.--Dined with the Apponyis, now Austrian ambassador; Duchess +of Wellington, Clarendon, Lewis, Lady Westmorland, and Mme. de Bury, who +was in great favour at Vienna. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, March 1st_.--Never was a session opened with so little +interest. I believe it is quite true that the Tories are resolved to +_menager_ Palmerston as much as possible, and to enter into no hostile +combinations against him with the Radicals. In fact, Palmerston is gaining +ground with the Conservatives, and losing it with some sections of the +Liberals. He has exasperated the Irish Catholics to the last degree; and +for my own part, I think his language and conduct about Mr. Turnbull's +resignation highly discreditable. It is another specimen of the unhappy +influence of Shaftesbury's ignorance and bigotry. However, the practical +result is that the Government have lost Cork by a large majority, and that +at the next election there will hardly be a ministerial candidate returned +in Ireland. + +It is impossible not to see that the general tendency of the public mind in +this country is rather towards conservatism than reform. Even the reformers +are compelled to haul down their bill; and if the Tories had better men to +fill the offices, I think they would, in two or three years, have a fair +chance of regaining power and keeping it. + +At the present moment, the bishops seem to be the most eager combatants; in +France they are denouncing the Emperor [Footnote: In January 1860 Reeve was +told in Paris that the Pope spoke of him as the beast of the Apocalypse.] +as Pontius Pilate; in England they are thirsting for the blood of a few +heterodox parsons. Nothing is talked of here but 'Essays and Reviews.' In +my humble opinion they by no means deserve the importance attached to them, +either in point of style or in point of substance. + +Keep my secret, but I have in preparation a regular mine under Eton +College. There has been of late a good deal of discussion about it, with +very little knowledge. Fortunately, I have lighted upon the evidence taken +by you before your celebrated committee in 1818, all which is still quite +applicable. Eton is very little improved, and the depredations of the +Fellows go on with shameless audacity. I mention this to you because your +committee has been of so much use to us; but I wish to keep the thing very +quiet till the next number of the 'Review' makes its appearance. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, March 4th_.--It is very odd that for two or three days I had been +reading and discussing with one or two Eton men here the subject on which +you propose to do infinite service, but of course I shall not even drop +the most remote allusion to your plan. The conduct at Eton is perfectly +scandalous; our two boys never cost less than 200 L. a year while they were +there; and I believe the case is understated, and not overstated, in the +'Cornhill Magazine,' and other places. One of the men who spoke to me about +it said it was no fault of mine, but of Eldon, that it had not all been set +right forty years ago--alluding to the Education Commission to which you +refer. I recollect being reluctantly forced to insert the exemption in the +Act and in the commission of inquiry. He had opposed the whole bill, and +we defeated him in the Lords when he attempted to throw it out--a very +extraordinary event in those days. But Rosslyn, Holland, and others who had +charge of the bill, were apprehensive of being beaten on a further stage if +we held out on the exemptions. In 1819 (the year after) I endeavoured to +remove the exemptions in the Extensions Act to all charities, and this gave +rise to Peel's very shabby attack on the whole inquiry when I was very +unwell, and wholly unprepared, and to my defence in the speech which I have +often said I could not now make if I would, and would not if I could. I +venture to refer to it, however, as the most remarkable I ever made in all +respects. + +When you have sprung your mine, I hope and trust the 'Quarterly' will +follow your example. If Elwin was still in command I feel confident he +would, for he has always joined against Eldon & Co. I highly approve your +keeping it quite secret on every account. + +Here the Journal has:-- + +_April 9th_.--I was elected a member of 'The Club,' in place of Lord +Aberdeen--proposed by Lord Stanhope; the greatest social distinction I ever +received. + +This was the literary club founded in 1764 by Reynolds and Johnson, which, +in the course of years, had dropped all extraneous title, and become simply +The Club. 'It still continues the most famous of the dining societies of +London, and in the 133 years of its existence has perhaps seen at its +tables more men of note than any other society.'[Footnote: _Edinburgh +Review_, April 1897, p. 291.] Gibbon, who became a member of it in 1774, +had suggested the form in which a new member was to be apprised of the +distinction conferred on him. This has continued in use to the present +day, and on April 9th, 1861, a copy of it was sent to Reeve, signed by the +president of the evening:-- + +Sir,--I have the pleasure to inform you that you have this evening had the +honour of being elected a member of The Club. + +I am, Sir, + +Your obedient servant, + +GEORGE RICHMOND. + +This was followed, a week later, by another letter from the same writer:-- + +10 York Street, Portman Square, April 16th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I have just returned to town and found your note of the +10th inst., and I lose not a minute in writing to say that the election +which I had so much pleasure in announcing to you, I announced as president +for the night, and in the form of words prescribed by Gibbon. The moment I +had written it I began a note to you in my own proper person, but I did not +know whether it would be quite regular to send it, and I had to leave town +on the following morning. The 'Sir,' and 'I am, Sir,' which anything but +express what I feel, I most gladly exchange now, if you will allow it, for +a very different greeting, and I beg to remain, my dear Mr. Reeve, + +Very faithfully yours, + +GEORGE RICHMOND. + +The Bishop of London was elected on the same night with you, and it may +interest you to know that the members present were:-- + + Lord Lansdowne. + Lord Clarendon. + Sir H. Holland. + Sir David Dundas. + The Dean of St. Paul's. + Sir Charles Eastlake. + Lord Stanley. + Lord Cranworth. + Lord Stanhope. + Duke of Argyll. + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ + +62 Rutland Gate, April 17th. + +My dear Madame de Tocqueville,--I have just published, in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' a short notice of that book and that life which are to you the +dearest things in the world, and to all of us, his friends, among the +dearest. A few separate copies have been struck off, and I send one to you +by this post, which will, I hope, reach you with this letter. It was a +matter of sincere regret to me that I found it impossible to execute +my intention of translating the two volumes, [Footnote: Oeuvres et +Correspondance inedites d'Alexis de Tocqueville, publiees et precedees +d'une notice par Gustave de Beaumont.] partly because I found that I was +too prominently noticed in them, and partly because our friends, the +Seniors, were much bent on the undertaking. I therefore relinquished it in +their favour. But I always intended to express in my own manner my deep +affection for the memory of your husband, and my estimate of his genius +as a man of letters and a statesman. This I have attempted to do in this +article, and though I am sensible that it falls far short of the subject of +it, yet you will discover in it traces and reminiscences of that which +was one of the greatest happinesses and honours of my life--our mutual +friendship. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 24th_.--I have read the Eton article with great +satisfaction, and I really think it must have the best effect. But Ker, to +whom I lent my copy of the number, is not quite satisfied; but he takes +extreme views. He also thinks you have not ascribed enough to the Education +Committee of 1818, or rather to the effect of our being thwarted by Eldon, +Peel, &c. But he was very deep in that controversy at the time, having +defended the committee in a pamphlet, and I believe also in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' and may be apt, therefore, to take an exaggerated view of the +subject. + +I am still cruelly hurt at the Newton monument being for ever cushioned. If +Elwin had remained editor of the 'Quarterly' it would have been taken up, +and on right grounds. Indeed, a learned professor had actually prepared a +scientific and popular article on the subject; but Elwin retired, and the +'Quarterly Review' will now do nothing. Altogether I believe there never +will be a monument to the greatest man that England ever had, or will have. + +I am anxious to read the rest of the number, but have only just got it, and +I sent it to Ker after I had read the Eton; and I am unwilling to delay +thanking you for that. + +The Journal notes:-- + +Went down to Weymouth alone for a few days in May, Read Buckle's second +volume on the way. + +_June 17th_.--Dinner at Lansdowne House to the Comte de Paris and the Due +de Chartres; Elgins, Holfords, Bishop of Oxford, Grotes, &c. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. G., June 28th_.--I did not expect that any answer to the Eton article +would be attempted, for it was unanswerable; the facts were real facts, and +the moderation with which they were stated made them all the more telling. +The commission is the proper corollary to it; and so many parents of +ill-educated boys appear to think. + +_To Mr. G. Dempster_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, August 5th_.--In spite of Sir H. Holland's drugs, I see +my fate is sealed; and as I cannot even now put on a shoe, it is vain to +hope that I shall be able to walk for some time; and, indeed, to avoid +relapses, I must undergo a regular cure of Vichy water. Therefore, with +extreme regret, I make up my mind to turn my face south, instead of north, +as soon as I can move.... I fear that, having lost the present month, there +is little hope of our reaching Scotland at all this year. + +Accordingly, the Journal has:-- + +Bad fit of gout in July and August. Went to Vichy on August 10th. The heat +was extreme, and the waters made me worse. Thence to Clermont, Pontgibaud, +Gergovia. Home on the 31st. + +_September 1st_.--To Torry Hill [Lord Kingsdown's]--first time; shot there. +Farnborough; Atherstone; Torry Hill again on the 21st. Stetchworth-good +shooting. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Harpton Court, September 22nd_.--I would have gladly escaped the Prussian +mission,[Footnote: For the coronation of the King.] which is not much to +my taste, but the Queen insisted, and the Viscount [Footnote: Lord +Palmerston.] and the Earl [Footnote: Lord John, created Earl Russell on +July 30th, 1861.] attached political importance to it, so I yielded, and +Lady C. and Constance and Emily are, also on royal recommendation, to +accompany me. The two latter are of an age to like a lark, which is more +than their respected parents do. I need not say that my hope of doing any +good by a flying visit in the midst of a carousal is exceedingly small; but +I know the King well, and shall have no difficulty in telling him what I +believe to be the truth concerning his interests. + +I am sorry to hear that you have been worried by gout, and that Vichy did +you no good. I am inclined to speak well of Wiesbaden, for the glorious +weather I had there (94 deg. in the shade always) made the waters effective, +and somehow I felt younger; but that pleasant sensation is now rather on +the decline. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, 7 Octobre. + +My dear Sir,--Votre tante, Madame Austin, qui est ici depuis quinze jours, +a fait hier, en se promenant dans une petite voiture trainee par un ane, et +qu'elle menait elle-meme, une chute dans laquelle elle s'est fait, au coude +du bras droit, une luxation qui nous a fait craindre d'abord une fracture +grave. Mon medecin de Lisieux, que j'ai envoye chercher sur le champ, +a reduit la luxation, c'est-a-dire ramene les os du coude dans leur +emboitement naturel. Petite operation fort douloureuse, mais simple et sans +gravite au fond. Madame Austin en sera quitte pour deux ou trois semaines +de repos et d'immobilite absolue de son bras, qui est contenu dans des +eclisses. Au premier moment, elle a ete fort ebranlee par cet accident. +Mon medecin une fois arrive, elle s'est remise; elle a eu un peu de fievre +cette nuit; mais elle a dormi, et elle est assez bien ce matin, presque +sans souffrance de son bras. J'espere qu'elle se remettra promptement; mais +je n'ai pas voulu que vous ignorassiez la cause de la prolongation de son +absence. Ma fille Henriette ecrit a Sir Alexander Gordon. Avec la sante de +Madame Austin, tout accident peut etre grave; mais je crois que vous pouvez +etre sans inquietude sur les consequences de celui-ci. Mon medecin est +un homme habile qui soignera tres bien votre tante, et mes filles lui +epargneront un mal tres penible, l'ennui de l'immobilite. + +Je ne vous parle pas aujourd'hui d'autre chose. Si vous etiez la, nous +causerions. De loin, il n'y a rien qui vaille la peine d'etre ecrit. Tout a +vous, my dear Sir, + +GUIZOT. + +The gout was still threatening; so, according to the Journal:-- + +To Aix in October; back by Paris. Went to stay with Lord and Lady Cowley at +Chantilly; they had hired the _chasse_ and the _chateau_. Shooting there, +November 11th. Home on the 16th. + +At this time Lord Brougham was preparing the autobiography which was +published shortly after his death. Early in November his brother, Mr. +Brougham, wrote to Reeve, begging him to bring his influence to bear, and +induce Lord Brougham to make this biography interesting and amusing. He +wrote:-- + +_From Mr. W. Brougham_ + +_Paris, November 14th_.--Mind you dwell on books of biography which have +failed for lack of personal matter and anecdotes, and use this argument, +which (for reasons I need not trouble you with) will, I know, have more +weight than anything you can urge--that, irrespective of any question +of his own fame or reputation, if he wishes the book to be eminently +successful in a commercial point of view, he must give as much as possible +every detail, no matter how minute, and tell everything connected with his +own history and doings. That circumstances he may consider trivial all have +the greatest interest with the general public, who are the buyers he must +look to; that people don't want to read history in such a book as his +autobiography; what they want is his life, and not a history of his +times--anecdotes or peculiarities of his Bar and Bench friends; how he +worked as a boy to make himself mathematician and orator; how he worked +for the English Bar; his early associates in Edinburgh, both at school and +college, and all connected with the beginnings of the 'Edinburgh Review;' +his early associates in London before he came into Parliament in 1809, and +for years afterwards; all he did at Birmingham in '90, '91, and '92, when +he lived there with his tutor; all he can recollect of his mother and +grandmother-paternal, but more especially maternal. In short, every +personal thing, no matter how trifling, will be the making, as the omission +will be the marring, of the book. + +I am persuaded that a good strong letter from you will have immense effect; +and don't be afraid of making it too long; the more topics like those I +have hastily put down above you can give him to think over, now he is +quietly at Cannes, the more chance we have of his digging into his mind and +early recollections, and producing what we want. + +Don't forget to quote Guizot; also tell him that Lord Malmesbury's heavy +book was saved solely by the gossip in the third and fourth volumes. The +first two are heavy historical matter that would have sunk a 74. + +The letter which Reeve wrote in consequence of this has unfortunately +not been preserved, but it is evident from Lord Brougham's reply that it +closely followed the lines suggested by his brother. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, November 17th_.--I have not words to express how grateful I feel +for your most kind letter, which arrived this morning. I fear I must admit +all you say on the necessity of much personal matter. However, I really +feel certain that, with the political and general, there will be a number +of personal anecdotes interspersed. Thus in the Queen's trial, numberless +singular anecdotes, professional and other; and on the changes of +government and the unity of our administration, strange things of +individuals: e.g. Lord Grey having, six months before taking office in +1830, positively declared to Lansdowne that he had resolved never to take +office; and in 1822, to me, that unless I would consent to take office, and +be leader in the Commons, nothing should induce him to take part in any +administration--there being then an expectation of an offer to us; in +answer to which I positively refused leaving the progressives. I give these +as examples of what the correspondence contains. I quite feel, however, +that something personal and in early life will be desiderated. If you look +at my 'Life of Robertson' you will see all you refer to about his being at +Brougham, and about the translation of 'Florus,' and other anecdotes, and +a good deal about my grandmother. Indeed, in that Life, and in my +contributions to the 'Law Review,' there are numberless anecdotes of +interest. + +I cannot conclude on this subject without expressing how grieved I am to +see what you say of my old and dear friend Richardson. He wrote in very +good spirits last spring, and I fear he has had some severe illness since. +Pray let me know how this is. + +The mention of him reminds me of an instance that matters which derive +their whole interest from connexion with myself are thus very hateful to +set down. He had given me a sermon and a hymn, written by the Principal's +father--my great-grandfather. When I attended the Glasgow congress last +year, the hymn was by mere accident sung in the church where we were on the +morning after our arrival: + + Let not your hearts with anxious thoughts + Be troubled and dismayed, &c. + +I believe I was the only person in Glasgow who knew that the old minister +was the author, or who knew of his existence. [Footnote: Cf. _Life and +Times of Lord Brougham_, i. 30.] Now such things would make the narrative +a tissue of mere egotism. However, I feel the force of your remarks +exceedingly. Certainly when Guizot's book came out, and I was asked my +opinion of it, and some defects were pointed out, I could not avoid saying +there was a worse defect than all they mentioned; there would be a defect +of readers. And so it has proved; I have, with all my respect for him, and +desire to read, been unable to get through a volume. + +I must set about digging in my published works for anecdotes; and, as in +the case of Robertson's Life, I may find a great number which, apart from +personality, may be interesting in their connexion with events. Again +repeating my gratitude, believe me, most sincerely yours, + +H. BROUGHAM. + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ + +Paris, November 15th. + +My dear Madame De Tocqueville,--Although on the point of leaving Paris, +I must write two lines to express to you my gratitude for allowing M. de +Beaumont to return to me some of my own letters, which derive some value in +my eyes from their connexion with my ever-lamented and illustrious friend. +I have had a melancholy satisfaction here in seeing the bust which M. +Salaman has made. It surpasses my expectations, especially as regards +the mouth and forehead, and I trust that even you will not be entirely +disappointed in it. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, November 19th_.--I have only a minute for writing, as we have +had Princess Alice here all day, and I, of course, could do nothing but the +very easy task of entertaining her. + +I was very glad to get your letter, as I thought you were still abroad, and +I only hope you are as glad to find yourself at home again as I am, though +I am not sorry to have been to Berlin. I rather envy you being at Paris +during the late crisis, and getting the first impressions upon it.... I +have no doubt the deficit is about what Senex [Footnote: Reeve was at this +time writing occasional letters in the _Times_ under the signature of +'Senex.' Lord Clarendon seems to have known this. Other correspondents did +not; notably Lord Kingsdown, some of whose letters innocently comment on +the opinions expressed by Senex.] puts it at. I read your admirable letter +with great pleasure, and thought it must be yours, though I did not +understand whence it was written. + +I should very much like to have a talk with you. If you are not engaged, +why shouldn't you and Mrs. and Miss Reeve come here on Saturday? We have +asked Granville and C. C. G.; and I believe Lewis is coming. Miladi would +write to propose this to Mrs. Reeve, but thinks she will consider two +letters unnecessary. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, December 8th_. There is a new complication of the American case, +and I fear, though I don't join in what I find the universal feeling in +England, that the Government of Washington will hold out. But even if they +give in, this hesitation, and their manifest fear of the mob, is the most +complete confirmation of all I have been so long and so often preaching, +of the extreme mischief of mob-government. They are in the hands of the +mob--and one of the worst mobs in the world. You see they even are under +this dominion as to their military operations; for their disaster at Bull's +Run was owing to the clamour forcing their comrades to advance and do +something; and now no one can have the least doubt that, if Lincoln and +Seward were left to themselves, a war with England would be the thing they +most dreaded; yet it is very possible they may feel unable to resist the +mob-clamour, and may bring on that calamity. The mob of Paris threw France +into all the horrors of the reign of terror (1793-4), which have left such +indelible disgrace on the French, and which stopped all improvement both in +France and in Europe for a quarter of a century, and which even now create +such a force in favour of despotism--as they did in the first Napoleon's +time. But I don't think the evils of mob-government--that is, of the +supreme power being in persons not individually responsible--can be more +clearly manifested, though they may not lead to such atrocious crimes, than +in the States of America--and the southern as well as the northern--for +the mob governs in both. My opinion will be the same, even if, contrary to +probability, the Washington men are stout enough to resist the mob; for +this hesitation and this struggle against the insanity of war could only be +occasioned by the mob tyranny. + +Prince Albert died on December 14th. It was impossible to allow an event so +important in the political as well as in the social history of the reign to +pass without a notice in the 'Edinburgh Review,' and that on the earliest +occasion; though, in the middle of December, some special arrangement had +to be made for it. It was, in fact, brought into the concluding pages of +the article on 'May's Constitutional History of England.' But the subject +was one which called for exceeding care and delicacy in the handling. The +services of Prince Albert to the Crown had been many and great; but by the +country at large they were still looked on with jealousy and suspicion. A +profound sympathy was everywhere felt for the death of the Queen's husband; +the death of a man regarded by an ignorant prejudice as the embodiment of +German influence in the Cabinet might easily be considered as no great +loss. Reeve seems to have consulted Lord Clarendon as to how much or how +little it was prudent to say; in answer to which Lord Clarendon wrote:-- + +_The Grove, December 31st_.--I feel, as you do, that the events of the last +month are too vast in themselves and in their consequences for discussion +by letter, though I should much like to have a day's talk over them with +you. + +I am very glad that you mean to undertake the task--a labour of love--of +doing honour to the Prince, as I am sure it will be admirably performed; +but I would suggest to you not to be too precise as to the manner in which +he exercised his political influence.... There is a vague belief that his +influence was great and useful; but there is a very dim perception of the +_modus operandi_.... Peel certainly took the Prince into council much more +than Melbourne, who had his own established position with the Queen before +the Prince came to this country; but I cannot tell you whether it was Peel +who first gave him a cabinet key. My impression is that Lord Duncannon, +during the short time he was Home Secretary, sent the Prince a key when the +Queen was confined, and the contents of the boxes had to be read or signed +by her. + +The concluding sentence in the next letter from Lord Clarendon refers to +the feeling which had been roused in Canada by the threat of war between +England and the United States. The Canadians showed an exemplary loyalty; +and great numbers of Irish--many of whom (like O'Reilly) had been known at +home as turbulent characters--now not only pressed forward to be enrolled +in the militia, but formed themselves into special regiments. + +_The Grove, January 21st_.--I cannot help telling you how excellent I think +your article on the Prince. You have said the right thing in the right way, +and have so hit the happy medium between justice to him and no flattery +or exaggeration, that I am sure the article will be read with pleasure by +everybody, because it exactly reflects the public feeling. + +The Belligerent and Neutral article is also very good, and I expect +that the temperate and sensible way in which the author recommends the +abandonment of rights we can never again exercise will have some useful +results. + +The loyalty of Canada is far greater than I expected; but that the French +and Irish there should come out so strong for the Crown against Democracy +is indeed a surprise. That Captain Eugene O'Reilly was a tremendous patriot +in '48; and if I had not put him in prison for a little time to cool, he +would have made a greater donkey of himself than he did. + +The next letter from Lord Clarendon relates to a point on which widely +different opinions have been and will be held, till it is decided in the +only practical way. It would be foreign to our present purpose to argue +it here; but it is interesting to see the opinion of the man who, +more distinctly than any other, was responsible for the great change +theoretically introduced into our maritime code by the Declaration of +Paris. + +_The Grove, January 28th_.--With respect to alterations in our maritime law +and usages, I don't know what Russell's opinion may be, but I know that +Palmerston does, or did, think the time come for relinquishing rights that +we can no longer exercise. He readily assented to the doctrines laid down +at Paris in '56, and was so entirely of my opinion about going further that +he tried it on at Liverpool some time afterwards; but that part of his +speech was so ill received, and he received so many remonstrances against +giving up the _palladium_, &c. &c., that he told me when he returned to +London that the pear was not ripe, and that we must give public opinion a +little more time to become reasonable. + +On January 9th Charles Sumner had spoken at great length in the United +States Senate, proving, very much to his own satisfaction and that of his +fellow-citizens, that the surrender of Mason and Slidell was a great moral +victory, confirming the principles of maritime law for which they had +always contended, and which the English now admitted. A short telegraphic +summary of this had caught the mail at Halifax, and been published in the +'Times' of the 20th; but it was not till the 27th that the United States +papers, with the full report, reached England. Of this the 'Times'--on its +own part--took no further notice; but on February 1st it published a long +and most scathing criticism of it by 'Historicus' (Mr., now Sir, William +Harcourt). + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, January 30th_.--When you can spare it, I shall be very glad to +see Sumner's speech.... + +Russell was, of course, guided in his despatches by the law officers, and +it is no wonder, therefore, that they should resemble the papers that had +previously appeared--many of which were written by lawyers--or that they +should be a reproduction of them; as a government could not, without risk +of failure in its peaceful object, express itself with the vigour of Senex +or the 'Edinburgh Review.' The most important despatch of all, however, and +the one upon which everything hung--viz. the demand for reparation--was +well conceived and executed, and did its work effectually. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, February 16th_.--I yesterday met Miss Courtenay, who gave me the +very pleasing information that Mrs. Austin had excellent accounts of Lady +Duff Gordon, and was quite easy about her. I trust you will confirm this +account, and also add to it a general good account of Mrs. Austin herself. + +I hope there is a good article on the Amendment Cases in the 'E. R.' They +have stupidly omitted to send it from Grafton Street. The 'Quarterly' came, +and a better article than our friend your neighbour's never was written. I +admired it so much that I wrote to him about it. Pray tell him my opinion +of it, in case my letter should have miscarried, and that I admired it far +more than I did the very spiteful article of someone inspired by a personal +enmity against myself, and who has not the common sense and fairness, when +relying on the wholly immaterial circumstance of my mis-stating the day of +the Westminster election (the night of Princess Charlotte's running away), +to see that Dundonald [Footnote: _Autobiography of a Seaman_, ii. 892. It +has, however, been recently shown (Atlay's _Trial of Lord Cochrane_, pp. +330 _et seq._) that Lord Dundonald had very little to do with it.] makes +the Duke of Sussex fall into the very same mistake. + +_Cannes_ [_February_].--I am much obliged to you for your kind letter, and +rejoice to hear of the good intelligence [Footnote: As to the health of +Lady Duff Gordon.] from the Cape which will be such a relief to my valued +friend, her mother. + +The American news is a good deal more favourable, but still they are +not out of the wood, or anything like it; and, even if they beat the +Southerners in the field, the re-union is as far off as ever. Their only +safe course is to regard the whole campaign as a kind of drawn battle, and +both sides to negotiate as to terms of separation. + +I have no doubt that a certain most intriguing ambassadress is at the +bottom of the spiteful attack in the 'Quarterly,' and she will find her own +letters rise up in judgement against her. She never will forgive my having +been at the dancing school with her, because that makes her near eighty, +and she pretends only to be seventy-four. + +I am in constant expectation of a paper from a great mathematician, to +which will be added, by B. Ker, artistic matter on monuments. It will be +all sent to you, in the hope that it may assist whoever you have put on the +monument question. + +_Cannes, March 17th._--I am extremely sorry to find that, after all, I +cannot finish you the Cambridge article on Newton, to be used at your +discretion, or that of your contributor; for Mr. Routh has no less than +five wranglers, including the senior, as his pupils, and this has entirely +occupied him, to the exclusion of all other work. I trust it will not +prevent the article. In truth, my discourse at Grantham contains all the +learning on the subject, and it may be used without any acknowledgement +whatever, and I shall never complain of the plagiarism. + +The Journal records:-- + +_April 4th._--Breakfast to the Philobiblon at home. There came the Due +d'Aumale, Van de Weyer, Milman, Lord Taunton. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Exeter, April 25th_.--If that providence which shapes our ends will but +finish those I rough-hew, I trust that the second week in October, or +perhaps a few days earlier, will see us at Skibo. We hope to start straight +for the far North as soon as ever my autumnal egg is laid.... + +We have hit on an Easter ramble, original and agreeable. I sent down my +horses to my father's-in-law, in Dorset, and for the last week Christine +and I have been riding gently along the coast of South Devon. Yesterday we +went to see Sir John Coleridge's place at Ottery St. Mary, and he drove +us also round the neighbourhood. To-day we have been at Lady Rolle's, at +Bicton, on our way from Sidmouth, to see her gardens and arboretum, which +are really marvels of beauty and growth. To-morrow we shall saunter on to +Dawlish, and so at last reach Plymouth, I believe. I want to get out of the +way of the Exhibition opening, which bores me. At Torquay we expect to find +the Fergusons of Raith and the Scotts of Ancrum. + +I hear that other literary entrepreneurs have been as much struck as I am +by the power and judgement there is in all that is written by a certain +young author of our acquaintance.[Footnote: See ante, vol. i. p. 374.] +To write as well as that is a gift; but it is more for it cannot be done +without infinite practice, labour, and good sense. + +At Devonport they saw Mount Edgcumbe and the ironclad frigate 'Warrior' +then still a novelty, and unquestionably the most powerful ship of war +afloat. The Journal adds: 'Back to town on May 3rd.' + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 22nd_.--I have just got the new number, and hasten to say +how much I am pleased with the only article I have had time to read with +care, the Alison.[Footnote: 'Alison's Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir C. +Stewart,' April 1862.]Nothing can be more able or more triumphant, and +it is quite fair and candid towards Castlereagh, and much more than fair +towards Ch. Stewart, Indeed, if the letter to me deserves half what is said +in its praise,[Footnote: _Sc_.' one of the most caustic and successful +pamphlets that have appeared in defence of an unpopular cause.'] he never +could have written it himself; and his gross stupidity in construing what +I have said of his brother, and affixing a meaning which none but himself +ever did, or could, was at the time admitted by his friends, whom he had +consulted, and in spite of whom he had published--among others, Strangford, +from whom I heard what had passed. I have a copy of my own, which I should +like the author of the article to see, and shall send it through you when I +return, for it is out of print. One of the blockhead's follies was the not +perceiving how great a panegyric I had bestowed on his brother's speaking +in the H. of Commons, after fully stating its defects. In fact, he had much +greater weight as leader than Canning, who, by the way, is too much praised +in the article. Such a book as Alison's is almost incredible for its +badness of all kinds; but the author (on p. 521, line six from foot) gives +him a pull or two as to style by 'ineligible for election'--though that is +a trifle. The care with which the whole subject is treated, and the gross +errors--partly from ignorance, partly from adulation--exposed is quite +admirable. + +I have naturally been attracted to the Monument article, but have not had +time fully to profit by it; only I am greatly indebted to the learned +author for what he says of my Grantham address.[Footnote: 'Public +Monuments,' April 1862, p. 550.] However, I should have been far better +pleased had he left me out altogether, and dwelt at more length on the +disgrace of the country never having erected a monument to the greatest man +she ever produced--indeed, the greatest [that has] ever been. He seems +not to be aware of the one in Westminster Abbey having been raised by his +niece's family, and not by the public. + +_Cannes, April 27th_.--I have a complaint to make of the 'E. R.' last +number. In the learned and able article on 'Jesse's Richard III.,' at p. +307, Lingard is referred to as having quoted the commission of the High +Constable. I have scanned every line and every word of Lingard and find no +such commission. But in a note to the third volume of Hume, note R, the +commission is given verbatim from Rymer. Jock Campbell used to hold that a +false reference was an offence that ought to be made penal. I don't go +so far, but the evil is very great. I have lost three or four hours in +consequence. Therefore, pray have inquiry made of your contributor whether +or not I am right; and if not, where in Lingard the quotation is. + +Reeve referred the 'complaint' to Hayward, the writer of the article, who +replied:-- + +I believe B. is right, for when I corrected the proof I looked in vain in +Lingard, although I was firmly convinced that he had quoted the document. +But pray remind his lordship that, when Campbell spoke of a false +reference, he meant one with volume and page. + +Lord Brougham's answer to this defence is not given, but it is impossible +to allow it to pass without protest; for, whatever Campbell may have meant, +it is very certain that a false reference, with volume and page cited, +by which the falsehood is at once made manifest, is a venial offence in +comparison with a false reference given vaguely, which may keep the victim +hunting for it for hours, as this one actually did keep Lord Brougham. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, May 7th_.--I wish to suggest to you the positive duty of taking +care that justice is done upon the trumpery, and one-sided, and altogether +insignificant Life of Pitt by Stanhope. Murray having published it, of +course the 'Quarterly' has puffed it, and done so with an entire ignorance +of the subject which is hardly conceivable. Therefore take great care +before you commit the subject to any unsafe hands. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, May 11th_.--As I have lived for many years on terms +of personal friendship, and indeed intimacy, with Lord Stanhope, and am +indebted to him for many acts of kindness, it would be quite impossible for +me to attack his book, even if I thought as ill of it as you do. I shall, +therefore, content myself with recording the very different view which I +entertain of the success of Mr. Pitt's administration. I think it may be +shown that both in peace and in war he was one of the most unsuccessful +ministers who ever exercised great power. + +On these lines Reeve himself wrote the article, which was published in the +'Review' of July, and brought him the following:-- + +_From Lord Stanhope_ + +Grosvenor Place, July 17th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--Allow me to say how very much I have been gratified +in reading the article on my 'Life of Pitt' in the new number of the +'Edinburgh.' Had the criticism been hostile I assure you that I should not +have felt that I had the smallest reason to complain; nor should I have +inquired or even wished to know the writer's name. But as the matter +stands, I would ask to convey to him through you my acknowledgement for his +very indulgent appreciation of myself, as well as for the perfect fairness +and honourable candour with which the public questions at issue between us +are discussed. It would be a pleasure to me if either now or at some time +hereafter he would permit me to become acquainted with the name of a critic +who is evidently so accomplished as to render the praise of no slight or +mean account. Believe me, + +Very faithfully yours, + +STANHOPE. + +It does not appear that Lord Stanhope ever knew who the writer was. + +Meantime the Journal notes:-- + +This was the year of the second Great Exhibition. + +_May 15th_.--The Binets came to see us. On the 21st the Duc d'Aumale's +_fete_ to the Fine Arts Club; took Binet there. Went to the Derby with +Binet and Stewart Hodgson. Xavier Raymond came. + +_July 22nd_.--Dined at the Clarendon with the Comtes de Paris and Chartres, +on their return from the American war. Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar and the +Due d'Aumale were there. + +_July 31st_.--Left London for Germany. By Ostend and Cologne to Wiesbaden, +where the Boothbys and Hathertons were. Then to Nuremberg, Munich, +Salzburg, and through the Tyrol to Venice. Stayed there till the 24th. + +_August 25th_.--Went to Arqua to see Petrarch's house and tomb. Milan; +Italian lakes. Back over the St. Gothard, Lucerne, Paris. Home, September +9th. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., September 11th_.--Your very kind letter of last month would +certainly not have remained so long unanswered if I had been in England. +But we have been travelling for the last five weeks in the Tyrol and the +north of Italy; my letters were not forwarded, and I only received that +which you had been good enough to address to me on my return to London +yesterday. There is probably no living opinion upon the character and +administration of Mr. Pitt so enlightened and valuable as your own, and I +am gratified in the highest degree to find that my attempt to place the +leading acts of his administration in a somewhat new light meets with your +approval. The chief defect in Lord Stanhope's book is, in my opinion, that +it does not present any connected view of Mr. Pitt as a statesman at all; +and this the reader of the article may infer from every page of it. I began +to write with a disposition to place Mr. Pitt rather higher than he had +been placed before in the 'Review;' but upon a careful survey of his +conduct on each of these questions, I found the ground crumble away under +me. + +As to the state of the army from 1783 to 1803, it was deplorable. Did you +ever see Sir Frederick Adam's notes on what the army was when, at the age +of 14, he entered it.[Footnote: In 1795. These notes do not seem to have +been published.] When the Duke of Wellington first went to the Peninsula, +he gives a wretched account of the forces--ignorant officers and rascally +men. One of the grandest services the Duke rendered to his country was +that he raised the character of the army and made it a most admirable +instrument. But that was long after the days of Pitt. + +The present Duke of Wellington tells me he is very well pleased with the +article on his father's supplementary despatches in the last number of +the 'Review,' and I think it is fairly done. They are a mass of most +interesting and instructive materials, but very few persons will master +them, whilst the trash that Thiers calls history circulates broadcast in +Europe. I heard in Paris on Sunday that 65,000 copies of his 20th volume +are already sold. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., September 12th_.--We returned to England on Tuesday, after a +pleasant tour, but the weather drove us from the mountains to the plains, +and instead of preparing ourselves to graduate in the Alpine Club, we +loitered in the galleries of Munich, Venice, and Milan, or amongst the +remains of Padua and Verona. On the Lago Maggiore we met the Speaker +[Footnote: Mr. Denison, afterwards Lord Ossington.] and Lady Charlotte, and +with them crossed the St. Gothard to Lucerne.... We still hope, if it suits +you, to come down to you when I have got quit of the 'Review.' I shall be +engaged in London till October 7th, and then we are going for a few days to +Raith... but I hope about the 12th or 13th we may reach the far North. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, September 14th_.--I can well believe that Wellington is +satisfied with the review [Footnote: "Wellington's Supplementary +Despatches," July 1862.] of his father's correspondence. It is very ably +and very fairly done. But I wish it had reprimanded the Duke for making +the publication nearly useless by giving no table of contents. When I +complained of this, he said it had been considered, and that an index would +have been hardly possible. My answer was that I did not want an index, but +only a dozen of pages giving the dates and the titles of the letters in +succession. As it is, one can find no letter without turning over the whole +of a volume. + +Well, what shall we now say of the Disunited States? My last letter from +J. Parkes,[Footnote: Probably Joseph Parkes, the well-known agent of the +Liberal party. He died August 11th, 1865, but none of the obituary notices +mention his wife.] who is married to a Yankee, and in correspondence with +many men of note in the North, represents the feeling to be growing for +mediation, but mediation on the ground of a re-uniting of the South, +which means no mediation at all. But he says that the real feeling of the +Americans, both N. and S., is of great respect for England, and pride in +their descent from and connexion with us. The tone of the press, however, +shows that this feeling dares not be shown, and that the popular +clamour--that is, the mob-cry--is t'other way. + +The Journal has:-- + +_September 12th_.--To Torry Hill; shooting for ten days. + +_22nd_.--Rode over to Leeds Castle with Lord Kingsdown. Farnborough, +Stetchworth, Chorleywood (W. Longman's). + +_October 8th_.--To Raith, with Christine and Hopie. Mrs. Norton there. +Then by Elgin and Burgh Head to Skibo. Shooting there. To Novar; back to +Edinburgh and Kirklands, October 26th. Then to Abington on the 29th, and +to Brougham--amusing visit. I was asked to read Lord B.'s Memoirs, and +dissuade him from publishing them. To Ambleside to see Harriet Martineau. +Thence to Badger Hall [Cheney's], November 8th. Went over Old Park iron +works. Home on November 11th. + +_December 17th_.--We went to Chevening, and met there the Grotes, Milman, +Lord Stanley, Scharf, and Hayward. Lewis came on the 19th. Most agreeable +party. + +_22nd_.--Shooting at Stetchworth. + +_31st_.--To the Duke of Newcastle's at Clumber. Sir F. Rogers [afterwards +Lord Blachford] there. + +_1863_.--The year opened at Clumber. The Webbes of Newstead, the +Manners-Suttons, Venables, and Herbert came there. Shooting good; caught +three pike; rode with the Duke to Thoresby and Welbeck, through Sherwood +Forest. + +_January 6th_.--To the Speaker's at Ossington. + +_12th_.--I was made treasurer of the Literary Club [Footnote: This must not +be confused with The Club (see _post_, 133), which had long since dropped +the 'Literary.'] (Walpole's) on Adolphus' death. + +_February 25th_.--Prince of Wales' first levee. + +_March 7th_.--The Princess of Wales entered London on her marriage. I saw +it from the Board of Trade rooms on London Bridge. Took the Dempsters +there. + +_27th_.--The Duke of Newcastle, Baron Gros (French ambassador), Lord +Stanley, Mr. Adam, Lady Molesworth, Lord Kingsdown, and the Heads dined +with us. + +It appears by the next letter, from Lord Clarendon, that Reeve had asked +him to review the first two volumes of Kinglake's 'Invasion of the Crimea,' +then on the point of publication. + +_The Grove, January 11th_. Some time ago I desired my booksellers to send +me the first copy they could procure of Kinglake's book, and I shall read +it most carefully.... There are many reasons why I should not like to +review the work; but I am equally obliged to you for the offer, and I +shall, of course, communicate to you unreservedly my opinions upon it. + +With this promise of help at first hand, Reeve undertook the review +himself; but the letters which follow show that, though the hand was the +hand of Reeve, the voice was the voice of Clarendon--a collaboration that +gives the article a very singular interest. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, January 23rd_.--Although I'm sure it is unnecessary, yet it +occurs to me to ask you not to quote my opinion of Kinglake's book; as, for +the present, and for a variety of reasons, I should prefer its not reaching +him in an indirect manner. I long for a quiet talk with you, and am sorry +that it must be postponed for a few days; but in the meanwhile I +may perhaps be able to refresh my memory by referring to my private +correspondence, which is in London. Let me have a line to say what +impression the book makes in the world, as far as you have yet been able +to observe. I shall look with curiosity and some anxiety for the effect it +produces at Paris. + +_January 25th_.--Hayward has written to ask my opinion of the book. He is +at Broadlands, and says that Palmerston is, on the whole, well pleased with +the portrait of himself, and that Lady P. is enchanted. + +I think as you do of the second volume; there is nothing finer, that I know +of, in the English language than those successive battle pictures. He beats +Napier out of the field. The 'Times' does not seem to like the portrait of +itself. I thought the article yesterday ingenious. I shall hear shortly +what effect the book produces at Paris. Persigny will, of course, prohibit +its entrance, but he will not be able to shut out all the papers that +contain extracts. + +_The Grove, February 8th_.--I fear that my notes would not be legible or +intelligible to anyone but myself, and I should much like to have a little +talk with you on the book. Could you come here on Saturday next and stay +till Monday? or if you should chance to be engaged on Saturday, would you +come down by the ten o'clock train on Sunday morning? I do not propose +Saturday morning, as I must myself be in London at the Schools Commission +on that day. + +_G. C., February 25th_.--I shall be very glad to see the article in print. +I am sure it will make a great sensation. Kinglake would induce people to +believe that the Emperor was under an urgent necessity to turn away the +attention of his subjects from his action at home, and that he therefore +dragged us into the war fourteen or fifteen months after the _coup d'etat_. +It would, I think, be worth while to get some facts respecting his status +in France at that time. If I am not mistaken, he was in no trouble or +danger at all; for the nation had accepted him as a sort of deliverer from +the _rouges_, the fear of whom had been terrifying people out of their +senses. + +_G. C., March 4th_.--The article quite comes up to my expectations, and I +like it very much. I cannot think it obnoxious to the charge of dulness; +but on that point I may not be an impartial judge, as the diplomatic +details are to me intensely interesting. + +I have hardly any observations to make that would be worth your attending +to, but I will mention one or two things that have occurred to me. + +And this he did at considerable length, suggesting several confirmations, +modifications, or additions. + +So long as this article was to be considered as an ordinary contribution +to the 'Edinburgh Review,' it bore merely the authority of the 'Review,' +which, however great, was in no sense official; but now that the share +of Lord Clarendon in its authorship is revealed, it assumes an extreme +importance, as an original, though necessarily partial, account of what +took place, and may be held as definitely settling the fate of some of the +extraordinary misstatements which--foisted on the credulity of the public +by the literary skill, the brilliant language, and the unblushing audacity +of Mr. Kinglake--have been accepted as history, and have passed into +current belief. Perhaps nothing concerning the Russian war is more commonly +repeated than the statement that we were tricked into it by the Emperor of +the French for his own selfish ends, and in his desire to be received into +the brotherhood of sovereigns; that our ministers were blindly following +the lead of Louis Napoleon, and were guilty of a very gross blunder. It is +unnecessary and would be out of place to enter here on the examination and +demolition of all this, as given in the pages of the 'Edinburgh Review;' +and equally would it be out of place to discuss the question--as unknown to +Kinglake or to Reeve in 1863 as it was to Palmerston or Clarendon ten years +earlier--whether we were not then, whether we have not been ever since, +'putting our money on the wrong horse.' If we were, if we have been--a +thing which many among us are still unwilling to believe--it is at least +certain that in 1853, as in 1840, it was all but universally held in this +country that it would be prejudicial and dangerous to our most important +interests for either Russia or France to obtain sovereign control over the +Ottoman dominions, and that all the resources of diplomacy or of war ought +to be exerted to prevent it. In the joint article before us, the condition +of affairs in 1853 is thus stated in a few words:--'Russia had formed the +design to extort from Turkey, in one form or another, a right of protection +over the Christians. She never abandoned that design. She thought she could +enforce it. The Western Powers interposed and the strife began.... England +has no call to throw off the responsibility of the measures taken on any +other Power. Those measures were taken because they were demanded by her +own conception of the duty she had to perform; and by far the largest share +of that responsibility rests with this country. We see no reason to deny +it; and if the case occurred again, we should see no reason to act with +less determination.' And again as to the prosecution of the war after +the raising of the siege of Silistria--which, according to Kinglake, was +unnecessary; or the invasion of the Crimea--which was unjustifiable, to be +accounted for, not by any large views of politics or of war, but by paltry +personal passions and influences of the most contemptible kind:--England +and France declared by their despatches of July 22nd, that the sacrifices +already imposed on them were too great, and the cause they had taken in +hand too important, for them to desist, unless they obtained from Russia +adequate securities against the renewal of hostilities. They therefore +demanded:--l. That the protectorate claimed by Russia over the +Principalities by virtue of former treaties now abrogated, should cease. 2. +That the navigation of the mouths of the Danube should be free. 3. That the +treaty of July 13th, 1841, should be revised in the sense of a restriction +of the naval power of Russia in the Black Sea. 4. That no Power should +claim an official protectorate over the Christian subjects of the Porte. On +August 8th, Austria entirely adopted these principles, and on the 10th she +urged Russia to accede to these demands. On the 26th Russia positively +rejected these terms. Had they been accepted, it is needless to add that +the Crimean expedition would not have taken place. Here, then, is the clear +and precise ground on which the war assumed an offensive character against +Russia--viz. to compel her to submit to terms of peace, which England and +France held to be necessary to the future safety of Turkey, and which +Austria had fully adopted. This is the political explanation of the war, +and it was fully justified, as each preceding step of the allies had been +justified, by a fresh refusal on the part of Russia to agree to the terms +proposed by the allies. It is unnecessary to carry this examination +further. It has been introduced here merely as an illustration and a proof +of the historical importance of the article now that Lord Clarendon's +share in it is understood, and we are made acquainted with the peculiar +opportunities which Reeve possessed--not only as Clarendon's friend, but as +in actual, confidential conversation with Lord Stratford when he ordered up +the fleets. [Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 312.] + +The fine old motto of the 'Edinburgh Review,' _Judex damnatur cum nocens +absolvitur_, is, when reduced to practice, apt to strain the relations +between the 'judex' and the 'nocens;' and in this case the very outspoken +review, published under Reeve's sanction, caused a coolness between the two +men, the editor and the author, who had previously been on friendly terms. +It is, in fact, easily conceivable that, in earlier years or in other +lands, powder would have burnt or small swords flashed. Being when and +where they were, they dropped out of each other's circle. And this +continued for upwards of three years, when a chance meeting opened the door +to reconciliation. + +_From Mr. Kinglake_ + +9 St. George's Terrace, Marble Arch, + +November 14th, 1866. + +Dear Reeve,--I think I perceived yesterday that my malice--malice founded, +I believe, on a couple of words, and now of some three years' standing--had +not engendered any corresponding anger in you; and if my impression was a +right one, I trust we may meet for the future upon our old terms. Shall it +be so? + +Faithfully yours, + +A. W. KINGLAKE. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LAW AND LITERATURE + + +By what must seem a curious coincidence, in 1863 and the two years +immediately following, death carried off all who had been mainly +instrumental in forming Reeve's career. Greville, who introduced him to the +'Times,' died in 1865; his mother died in 1864; in 1863, his early patron +and assured friend, the Marquis of Lansdowne, died on January 31st, at the +ripe age of 82; his uncle, John Taylor, the head of the Taylor family, a +man of singular ability as a mining engineer, died on April 5th; and Sir +George Lewis, whose retirement from the editorship of the 'Edinburgh +Review' had paved the way for Reeve's succession, died on April 13th. +Much of Reeve's correspondence with Lord Clarendon--Lewis's +brother-in-law--refers to the wish of the widow, the Lady Theresa Lewis, +that a collected edition of her husband's contributions to the 'Review' +should be published. The wish was only partially carried into effect; seven +of the articles were collected in a volume published in 1864 under the +title of 'Essays on the Administrations of Great Britain from 1783 to +1830;' and Lewis's brother, Sir Gilbert Lewis, who succeeded to the +baronetcy, published his letters in 1870. The following letter from +Lord Clarendon refers to the death (on January 31st) of Lewis's +stepdaughter--Lady Theresa's daughter by a former marriage--and wife of +Mr., now Sir, William Harcourt:-- + +_G. C., February 3rd_.--I came up early yesterday morning, and only +received this evening your most kind letter directed to The Grove, or I +should have thanked you for it sooner. + +A great misfortune has befallen us, and we are all very sad, but derive +some comfort from the calmness and resignation with which my sister is +bearing up against her grief. To William Harcourt it is, indeed, as you +say, a wreck of all happiness and hope; but no man under such trying +circumstances could have displayed more fortitude, or more tender concern +for others. I meet him to-morrow at Nuneham for the last sad office. + +I grieve for Lord Lansdowne, and yet it is impossible not to feel that, +at his age, and with rapidly increasing infirmities, a prolongation +of existence was not to be desired. He was a rare combination of high +qualities, and we shall not look upon his like again. + +The next letter, also from Lord Clarendon, refers to the 'Albert +Memorial':-- + +_The Grove, March 29th_.--I knew you would approve of the Cross. I myself +should prefer it to any other form of memorial, if it was in the centre of +converging roads, or of a great place surrounded by buildings more or less +harmonising with it; but placed in Hyde Park, with no local assistance +beyond its imaginary connexion with the Exhibitions of '51 and '62, I have +my fears that it will be thought unmeaning. + +I forget at this moment the exact height of the design, but I do not think +it is to be 300 feet; and Mr. Scott is to consider whether the proportions +may not generally be reduced. He may wish to build the largest cross in the +world, but neither the Queen nor her committee have any such desire.... +I don't think that a grant by the representatives of the people, as a +supplement to their voluntary contributions, and aided by the subscription +of the Queen, would destroy the feeling of the monument. There might +perhaps be less sentiment, but the whole would be more national. + +From the Journal:-- + +_May 4th_.--Lord Hatherton died at Teddesley. His illness had been long. +When we parted at Wiesbaden in August last, I knew we should not meet +again. Never was there a kinder and more active friend. The confidence he +showed me was unbounded; insomuch that in November he placed in my hands +the original correspondence of the ministers with himself in June and July, +1834, on the Irish Coercion Bill, which led to the breaking up of Earl +Grey's Cabinet. These I have power to publish; but, if not published, I +mean eventually to return them to the Littleton family. + +This I did in July 1864. The volume was published in 1872. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., July 10th_.--I am rather like a boy to whom some benevolent genius +offers a basket of peaches, and who feels rather shy of taking the biggest +of them; but, on the other hand, it would be a shabby return for great +kindness to keep you in suspense. I, therefore, answer that, _sauf cause +majeure_, we hope to be with you on the evening of Tuesday, August 11th. We +shall probably go down to Aberdeen by sea, starting on Saturday, the 8th, +if decent berths can be obtained, and I have sent to take them. If this +fails we should start on Sunday evening by rail. I cannot express to you +how delightful to me is the thought of the kind welcome of Skibo, and the +fresh air of your hills, after a very long and laborious season. But I have +still a month in the mill, and a huge list of causes to be disposed of. + +The 'Edinburgh' will be out on Thursday. You will find it very Scotch. + +The Journal notes:-- + +We went to Chichester, on a visit to Dr. McCarogher; and from there to +Goodwood races. + +_August 8th_.--To Scotland by sea. Beached Skibo on the 11th. Shooting on +the 12th with Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Seaforth, and Dempster. + +_25th_.--To Brahan. Little old General Kmety there; very good fun; but he +does not look a hero. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Brahan Castle, August 26th_.--We performed our pleasant but slow journey +very well, and arrived at five P.M. The weather yesterday was the worst I +have seen this year in Scotland. I declined to face the woods, but we got +a walk by the Conan in a gleam of sunshine. However, the house and its +collections, and their most amusing and hospitable owner, afforded us ample +amusement. I am sorry, for my own sake, that this country is constantly +gaining stronger claims on my affection and regard; for am I not born a +dweller by our inglorious southern streams and downs? If, however, there be +such a thing as transmigration hereafter, let me hope that I shall come out +at last as a Highland laird. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_August 28th_.--To Invergarry, where we lunched with Mr. Peabody; and to +Glenquoich--Ed. Ellice's. The Elchos, Sir F. and Lady Grey, and Lowe there. + +_31st_.--Excursion from Glenquoich to Loch Hourn. Then by Oban to Glasgow. +Visit to the Belhavens at Wishaw, September 4th, and to Abington. Home on +the 10th. + +_September 15th_.--Torry Hill. Shooting there for some days. + +_17th_.--Mr. Ellice died suddenly [Footnote: Of heart disease and +eighty-two years. He was found dead in his bed.] at Ardochy, only a +fortnight after we left his house. That excursion to Loch Hourn was his +last. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Torry Hill, September 21st_.--What a sudden and painful loss is this +abrupt termination of the life of our kind friend at Glenquoich! It is +scarcely three weeks since we left him in his usual health and spirits, +and now--as Evelyn says--all is in the dust.... I have had an unpleasant +accident, though--thank God!--not a serious one. Turning round very +suddenly to shoot a partridge behind me, without seeing that Lord Kingsdown +was on his pony about fifty yards off, a pellet of shot from my gun hit +him in the cheek, and another hit his pony in the eye. Conceive my horror! +Fortunately, the wound was very slight, and, indeed, was well in half an +hour; but if it had hit him in the eye I never should have forgiven myself. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, October 4th_.--I was very glad to hear from you this morning, +but very sorry to learn that you have cause for deep anxiety respecting +your mother, and I fear, from what you say, that she is hopelessly ill and +suffering much. I sympathise with you sincerely. I joined my people at +Lathom a month ago, and we returned last week from our peregrinations, +all well, except myself, who can't shake off the gout, which is a +disappointment after having taken the trouble of a Wiesbaden cure. + +On the day of my last bath there I received an urgent request from our +Foreign Secretary that I should proceed to Frankfort and observe the +conference. I did so, and was interested and amused. It was an opportunity +that may never occur again of meeting the sovereigns of Germany, great and +small.... + +The impression made upon me by the E. of Austria was very agreeable. He had +none of the proud manner of which at one time we heard so much, but, on the +contrary, he was frank and gentlemanlike, and told me the difficulties in +which Germany was placed by such an effete institution as the Diet, and the +advances making by Democracy, which, for the first time, were dangerous, +because the people had reason and justice on their side. He told me, also, +all the steps he had taken to secure the co-operation of the K. of Prussia, +which were straightforward and deferential; and he complained, though +without bitterness, of the manner in which they had been misrepresented.... +It may be that some good will come, perhaps before the close of the present +century, from a public avowal by congregated sovereigns that their subjects +had grievances of magnitude, and that delay in redressing them was full of +dynastic danger. + +One can conceive no more complete diplomatic fiasco than the three great +Powers of Europe giving a triumph to Gortschakoff. The mistake originally +made was thinking that Russia was weak and in trouble, and would therefore +yield to menace. Several months ago I took the liberty of suggesting that, +although Russia was powerless for an aggressive war, she would be found as +strong and formidable as ever in resisting any attack from without, and +that foreign dictation would probably have the effect of uniting all the +parties into which Russia was divided. I don't mean to deny, however, that +intervention of some kind was inevitable; but the difficulties attending it +were either overlooked or not foreseen, and the mode of dealing with them +has consequently been unskilful. + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +_October 5th_.--To Aiupthill. On the 17th to the Grove; Odo Russell there. +24th, to Torry Hill, with Christine and Hopie. Met the Roger Leighs there; +also the Heads and Sir Lawrence Peel. High jinks on Hopie's twenty-first +birthday. + +_November 19th_.--To Shoeburyness, to see the trial of Sir William +Armstrong's 600-pounder gun. + +My mother was exceedingly ill during the autumn, and it became apparent +that her illness was mortal. She was attended with great assiduity by Dr. +Fyfe. For this reason we remained within reach of London. + +_From Lord Westbury_ [Footnote: At this time Lord Chancellor.] + +_Basingstoke, November 28th_.--I shall be much obliged to you if, by the +application of the whip to the printer, you can get him to strike off a +few copies of the notes of my opinion on the appeals in the matter of the +'Essays and Reviews' by Tuesday afternoon, so that a copy may, on the +evening of Tuesday, be sent to Lords Cranworth, Chelmsford, and Kingsdown. +The notes are not long, but I am anxious that they should be, as soon as +possible, in the hands of the three noble lords I have named. I hope we +shall be able to give judgement about December 15th. + +Lord Brougham's next letter refers to one of the few unpleasant passages in +Reeve's life. In October 1863 the 'Edinburgh Review' had an article on J. +G. Phillimore's 'Reign of George III.,' in which the book was somewhat +roughly handled. That the comment was honest is quite certain; that it was +just would probably be the opinion of most historical students; but Mr. +Phillimore thought that it was neither one nor the other, and being--as the +'Saturday Review' described him--one whose 'normal position was that of +a belligerent,' he replied to the review by a studiously offensive and +personal pamphlet, [Footnote: This sensitiveness to literary criticism was, +perhaps, a family failing. Some forty years before, Phillimore's uncle, Sir +John Phillimore, was fined 100L. for bludgeoning James, the author of the +_Naval History_, for some unflattering remarks on the discipline of the +'Eurotas' whilst under his command.] bearing the title 'Reply to the +Misrepresentations of the "Edinburgh Review."' According to this, the +article was a spiteful attack made by 'Mr. Reeve' himself; it was mainly +noticeable for its ignorance, its malice, its time-serving toadyism of Lord +Stanhope, and should be contrasted with another article in the same number +of the 'Review' on 'Austin on Jurisprudence,' which was outrageously +belauded because Austin was 'Mr. Reeve's' uncle. In point of fact, the +article on Phillimore was written by the present Judge O'Connor Morris, and +that on Austin by John Stuart Mill, neither of whom was an intimate friend +of the editor's. Phillimore did not notice, or was not sufficiently +acquainted with Reeve's family history to appraise yet another article on +'Tara: a Mahratta Tale,' by Captain Meadows Taylor--Reeve's cousin. If he +had, he would certainly have made it the subject of some more scurrilities. + +_Cannes, January 7th_.--I have only a moment before the post goes to write, +and it may be too late another day. Pray allude to Phillimore's pamphlet, +and give some explanation on certain parts of it. I have not read the whole +of it, but friends here who borrowed it of me have, and they tell me that +some explanation is required. They are a good deal prejudiced, however, +owing to your having praised Stanhope's book, of which they have a very +bad opinion. I myself rather agree with them, though not going to the same +length. Of Phillimore, I only know that he did good service in the Commons +for a public prosecutor, and was very shabbily supported by the friends of +Law Amendment. But I had a very poor opinion of the book, though he is a +very clever man, and the Yankees considered him the first man in the House +of Commons. + +Reeve's letters for several months had been leading up to the next sad +entry in the Journal. For a woman of seventy-five, a serious and prolonged +illness could scarcely have any other issue. + +My mother's illness was approaching its melancholy end. On January 8th I +sat up all night at Brompton. On the 9th she was speechless. On Sunday, +the 10th, at 3 P.M., she died. On the 16th she was buried in the Brompton +Cemetery. Edward James Reeve read the service. Arthur Taylor, John, +Richard, John Edward, and Fairfax Taylor, Sir A, Gordon, P. Worsley, W. +Wallace, J. P. Simpson, R. Lane, Dr. Fyfe, and John Cox attended. + +On the 17th I went to Essex Street Chapel, where Madge preached her funeral +sermon. He had preached my father's funeral sermon just fifty years before. +My mother survived my father nearly fifty years. This is not the place to +comment on her singular virtues! + +We went to Boulogne on the 18th for the first period of mourning, and +visited Amiens and Abbeville. Home on the 25th. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, January 11th_.--Your long kindness and friendship tell +me how much I may rely on your sympathy. My dear mother expired yesterday +afternoon, in perfect serenity. However long one may have anticipated such +a stroke and, as I told you in July, I knew it was impending--one cannot +realise it till it falls. As Gray said to Mason, 'A man has but one +mother;' it is a blank that cannot be filled up. But I have the consolatory +thought that my dear mother's life was complete in its usefulness, its +energy, its unquenchable zeal for the good of others, its Christian +endurance of sorrow and of pain; and no one ever lived in this world more +fitted to enter upon another. Christine was with her to the last. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Orleans House_, 11 _Janvier_.--Helas! cher Monsieur; je n'ai pas de +consolation a vous offrir; je ne puis que vous assurer de ma profonde +sympathie. Je juge de ce que vous devez souffrir par ce que je ressentirais +a votre place. Mon coeur est avec le votre. H. D'ORLEANS. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +January 11th. + +My Dear Reeve,--I heard to my great regret a little while ago that the +day of your affliction was fast approaching, and I knew at once by your +envelope this afternoon that the hour had come. I thank you for your kind +thought of not allowing me to hear by public report an event that so deeply +affects your happiness; and I know from my own sad experience how to feel +for you in this trial--the loss of a mother's never-failing love and +sympathy, and of one's own daily occupation, that real labour of love, in +ministering to her comfort and soothing the ills of declining years. You +have the consolation, and it is one to be grateful for, my dear Reeve, that +your last impressions are of a calm and painless passage from this life, +such as you would have most desired for her whom you have so loved and can +never forget. Lady Clarendon and my daughters desire me to send you their +kind regards and the expression of their sincerest sympathy. + +Believe me, my dear Reeve, + +Ever yours truly, + +CLARENDON. + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ + +Boulogne-sur-mer, January 20th. + +My dear Madame de Tocqueville,--One's own sorrows bring back with increased +vivacity the sorrows of others and the melancholy recollections of other +years, for at each successive blow a great gap is made in life, and one +feels that another record of the past is closed. We have come to this place +for a few days to regain a little health and spirits after the long and +anxious year we have passed by my dear mother's sick bed. All our cares +have unhappily been vain, and about ten days ago she breathed her last. I +cannot express how great a loss this is to me, or how deeply I feel it. +Your dear and ever-lamented husband was one of those who appreciated the +exquisite simplicity and energy of my mother's character, and the words he +let fall from time to time about her are very precious to me. + +To any one who now reads the book, [Footnote: See _ante_, vol. ii. p. 66.] +and considers the later course of the lives of its authors, it is difficult +to conceive the excitement which was raised about the case referred to in +the next note from the Journal. The remembrance of it seems to throw a +doubt on the reality or immutability of 'first principles.' + +_February 8th_.--Judgement was given by the Judicial Committee on the great +ecclesiastical cause of 'Essays and Reviews.' It was drawn with great care +by Lord Westbury, who read it all over with me before it was submitted to +the committee. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, February 13th_.--I received your melancholy letter [Footnote: +Announcing the death of his mother.] some time ago, but I did not answer +it because I felt that your excuse for not taking notice of Phillimore's +attack was too good, and I had no comfort to offer you. I suffered most +severely myself by the same loss, and I have not, after above twenty +years, learnt to forget it. Your letter brought it back strongly to my +mind, as it also did the memory of my excellent friend your father. + +I find my opinion, and those I cited in support of it, is confirmed by +the articles in the journals--such as the 'Saturday Review' [Footnote: +February 6th, 1864.]--which, though attacking Phillimore in some +particulars, yet show that some answer to him, or explanation of matters +which he represents, was wanted. But I dare say his attacks will be +forgotten, and you may be right in doing nothing that can help to keep +them in people's recollection. [Footnote: Reeve, who was always averse +from any controversy of this nature, took no public notice of the +pamphlet, and Phillimore died early the next year.] + +I have just got your new number and not read a page of it, as the +'Quarterly' came with it, and I was anxious to read the review of our +friend your neighbour's book, [Footnote: _The Life of Marcus Tullius +Cicero_.] which is learnedly and most justly praised, and the value of +the praise not impaired, like that of the 'Saturday Review,' [Footnote: +February 6th, 1864.] by praising Houghton's (Dick Milnes') poems in +another article. + +The Journal has:-- + +_February 20th_.--Went to Farnborough. The Longmans just installed in their +new house. + +To Ampthill at Easter. On April 1st to Paris, with Christine and the +Dempsters. I had the gout all the time. + +_April 3rd_.--Races at Vincennes. Embassy ball on the 5th. Persignys and +Morny there. Breakfast at Vaux with Marochettis on the 6th. Met Sigismond +Krasinski's son Ladislas at his mother's. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. C., April 6th_.--As five years of freedom had augmented my inveterate +dislike of office, you may suppose that I made a gallant resistance--quite +_a la Danoise_; but at last I could not help taking an oar with old friends +in a boat which they believed to be sinking, and in which they fancied I +might be of some use. If the Government had been as clear of some of the +worst shoals a fortnight ago as it is now, nothing would have induced me to +say 'Yes.' + +I hope that Stansfeld's exit and Palmerston's speech, and, more important +still, the feeling throughout the country upon the Mazzini affair, will +mend our relations with France by showing Frenchmen of all classes and +colours that the alliance is here estimated at its real value; indeed, +nothing will go well in Europe if England and France are supposed to be +pulling different ways; and if they had been acting together, instead of +being _en froid_ six months ago, the Dano-German difficulty would never +have attained its present developement. Some soreness was natural at our +not agreeing to the congress; but too much has been made of the tone of J. +R.'s answer, and offence ought not to be taken where none was intended, but +quite the reverse, as I can certify from the conversations I had at the +time with the writer.... + +It was this letter which suggested to Reeve to propose to Lord Clarendon +the advisability of coming over to Paris himself 'to see the Emperor and +endeavour to settle joint action on the Danish question.' He wrote also to +the same effect to Lord Granville. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +London, April 9th. + +My dear Reeve,--Many thanks for your note, and for the suggestion it +contains. I [had] already had some talk with Clarendon and Russell on the +subject. The first thought that it was too late now, and urged some minor +objections, but in my opinion he is wrong, and I hope the matter will be +arranged. Yours sincerely, + +GRANVILLE. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_London, April 9th._--Your letter is very important. It has been settled at +the Cabinet that I shall go over on Tuesday. It is particularly troublesome +and inconvenient to me; but I shan't mind that, if any good is to be done +and that the friendly motive of my going is appreciated. + +_From M. Fould_ + +Dimanche [April 10th]. + +Mon cher Monsieuer,--Je me suis empresse de transmettre a l'empereur la +nouvelle que vous voulez bien me donner et qui me fait grand plaisir. + +Mille compliments bien desires, + +ACHILLE FOULD. + +The visit led to no result, as the French refused to act. The Journal +continues:-- + +_April 20th_.--Interesting day at Versailles with Feuillet de Conches and +Soulie; took the Dempsters and Hamiltons of Dalziel. + +My father's old friend Dr. de Roches died at Geneva on April 18th. On the +23rd, Christine and I went to Geneva on a visit to the Binets. Saw Mme. +de Roches, who also died a few days afterwards. Returned by Lausanne and +Neufchatel to Paris, and home on May 1st. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Paris, May 15th_.--I have been reading the new number of the 'E. R.,' and +have been greatly interested in it. The review [Footnote: Sc. of Renan's +_Life of Jesus_.] is most ably and learnedly done, though in one or two +places a little obscure. But the subject was most difficult to handle, and +I think no one can complain of Renan being unfairly treated; indeed he is +lavishly praised, though he is rejected--but rejected most candidly. + +I have also read the first article, [Footnote: _Diaries of a Lady of +Quality._] on Miss Wynn's book. I am convinced that the facts must be taken +with large allowance; some of them are to my personal knowledge erroneously +given--from no intention to deceive, but from hasty belief. But there is +one story which on the face of it is not only untrue, but impossible; which +she appears to have had from a Mrs. Kemble, and to have swallowed whole. +How could any being believe in Lord Loughborough's telling such a tale? +Mrs. K. may have, from ignorance, supposed that a prisoner on trial for his +life can be examined by the prosecutor's counsel; but can anyone suppose +that such a story as Davison's murder of his old companion could have +happened, and no one even heard of it, or of his being hanged, as he must +have been, on his own confession? I knew intimately those friends of Miss +Baillie who are said to have been present, and I never heard a word of it +from them--probably because they regarded the story as ridiculous. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Claremont, le 23 mai. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--N'ayant pas eu le plaisir de vous rencontrer +depuis mon retour d'Espagne, j'ai passe samedi chez vous pour vous parler +d'une affaire que j'aurais prefere traiter de vive voix. Ne vous ayant +pas trouve, il me faut aujourd'hui avoir recours a la plume, car le temps +presse. Je voulais vous dire que mon mariage avec ma cousine Isabelle +sera decidement celebre lundi prochain, le 30 mai. Je n'ai pas _issued_ +d'invitations pour assister a cette ceremonie, mais il y a certaines +personnes dont la presence serait pour moi une grande satisfaction a cause +des anciennes relations qui ont existe entre elles et ma famille. Je n'ai +pas besoin de vous dire que vous etes de ce nombre, mon cher Monsieur +Reeve, et surtout apres la lettre si aimable que vous m'avez ecrite a +propos de mon mariage je ne puis me refuser le plaisir de vous avertir de +sa celebration, afin que, si vous le pouvez, vous veniez y assister. Si +j'avais pu vous en parler de vive voix, je vous aurais mieux dit que je +n'ai adresse a personne d'invitation formelle, qu'en vous faisant cette +proposition je ne veux vous imposer aucune gene, mais que par cela meme +votre presence n'aurait que plus de prix a mes yeux. + +Vous m'excuserez de n'avoir cherche ce matin qu'a vous expliquer ma pensee +aussi brievement que possible. En ce temps-ci tous mes moments sont +comptes. + +La ceremonie aura lieu a la chapelle catholique de Kingston a 10-1/2h. a.m. +Le train qui part de Waterloo Station a 9h.40 pour Surbiton arrive a temps. + +Votre bien affectionne, + +LOUIS PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +As to which the Journal says:-- + +_May 23rd_--The Raymonds and Mlle. Lebreton came. + +_24th_.--Dined with Raymond at Claremont. Great royal dinner; fifty-two +persons; was presented to the Infanta Isabella. + +_30th_.--Marriage of the Comte de Paris. Banquet at Claremont. Ball at the +Duc de Chartres'--Ham House. I drove Chartres from Claremont to the ball. + +_June 7th_.--The centenary dinner of The Club; twenty-five members present; +Milman in the chair. Lord Brougham was there. I sat between the Bishop of +London (Tait) and Eastlake. + +There was at this time much sentimental sympathy with Denmark in her +unequal struggle against the combined forces of Prussia and Austria; but as +France, Russia, and Sweden, which, equally with England, were parties +to the treaty of 1852, refused to give Denmark any active support, the +practical feeling was that English interests were not involved to such an +extent as to render it advisable to assert them by force of arms. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. C., June 24th_.--As far as I can make out there is no real war feeling +in the country, though a great disposition in the H. of C. to turn out +the Government, whether it decides upon being pacific or bellicose; and I +expect that a vote of censure, or want of confidence, will be successful. +If you hear anything reliable on the subject, pray let me know. + +_June 26th_.--The island-occupation plan is very well devised, and if our +cat was jumping that way, it would be worthy of very serious consideration; +but it won't do to embark single-handed in such operations.... The peace +feeling at home becomes stronger every day, except for mere party purposes, +and I don't believe that sending the fleet to the Baltic even would meet +with support, as we are under no obligation to do so; though if German +operations were to extend beyond the peninsula, and Copenhagen was menaced, +a different policy must, of course, be adopted. + +The Journal goes on:-- + +_July 20th_.--The Duc d'Aumale's ball to the Prince of Wales; beautiful +night. + +_21st_.--To Ongar, to see my uncle, Edward Reeve. + +_24th_.--Went to Aix by Rotterdam, with W. Wallace; met the James Watneys +at Aix. Back by Ostend, August 3rd. + +_August 9th_.--Joined Christine and Hopie at Perth, and proceeded to Skibo. +Marochetti and Seaforth there. Shot with Marochetti. On the 25th left +Skibo. Thence to Brahan. On the 31st, pic-nic to the Falls of Rogie, with +Lord Blandford playing on the bugle. + +_September 1st_.--To Raith. 7th, to Arniston. 10th, to Ancrum, Kirklands. +16th, to see Harriet Martineau at Ambleside. 18th.--Home. + +_September 22nd_.--Torry Hill. 23rd, excursion to Margate races, with Lord +Kingsdown. Shooting at Torry Hill. + +Mr. Richardson died at Kirklands on October 4th. Attended the funeral at +Ancrum on the 10th. Mr. Liddell read the English service at the grave. To +Brougham on my way back. + +_October 13th_.--Left London on a visit to the Marochettis at Vaux. + +_23rd_.--Visit to the Guizots at Val Richer. 27th, to Caen. 28th, to +Angers. 30th, to Saumur. + +_November 1st_.--Amboise. 2nd, Loches. 4th, Paris. + +_7th_.--Home. + +_8th_.--Dinner at Lord Granville's. + +_23rd_.--Munro of Novar died very suddenly. He was buried at Kensal Green +on December 1st. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., November 24th_. You may conceive with how much surprise and concern +I received this morning a telegram from the factor at Novar, to announce +the sudden death last night of my old and much-valued friend, the Laird +of Novar, for whom, in spite of his singularities, I had a most sincere +regard. I have telegraphed to Butler Johnstone, in Dumfriesshire, and +to his son at Rokeby, and urged them to go down immediately; but it has +occurred to me that perhaps you would take the train and go over yourself, +as there is no one there to give any directions, and the factor is a new +man. I have also telegraphed to Raith at Cannes.... Let me know if you hear +any particulars. I wonder whether he left a will; very probably none. + +_C. O., November 28th_.--We felt so much alike in our regard for Novar, +that I was confident that we should feel exactly alike in this most sudden +and terrible catastrophe. I could well have spared many a better man, and, +in spite of his peculiarities, there are few persons for whom I could feel +a more sincere and painful regret. For more than twenty years I have shared +with Novar many of the pleasantest hours of life; and although we were in +many respects very dissimilar, there are few persons for whom I felt a +greater sympathy. I have no doubt you decided rightly as to not going to +Novar. My telegram, fortunately, reached Butler Johnstone and his son, both +of whom were in the country, and they speedily got down to Novar. I am told +they have decided to inter our poor friend in London--a decision I should +not have taken myself, but which I bow to, as it is their wish. + +Mrs. Butler Johnstone was so much agitated by this event--for she was +passionately attached to her brother--and so entirely solitary--for there +was no one with her but young Theobald Butler--that my wife thought it her +duty to go down to Brighton with her on Saturday, to endeavour to calm and +comfort her until Harry can come back to his mother, which I hope will be +to-morrow.... + +I have heard from Ferguson, who little expected to survive his cousin and +inherit Novar. + +_C. O., December 1st_.--I am just returned from the funeral of our poor +friend at Kensal Green. It was as quiet as possible.... There is no will +at all; but every paper and letter of Novar's is carefully preserved, and +accurately docketed, so that the whole state of his affairs and accounts +may be seen in a moment. The personal property is enormous; he cannot +have had much less than 24,000 L a year. Ferguson's share of the entailed +estates is about 5,000 L gross rental; everything else goes to the B. J.'s. +I am very much pleased with the spirit in which B. J. takes all this--a +great desire to do whatever is right to those who may have any claim on +Novar, and no brag or ostentation. He and Harry immediately determined, as +money is no object to them, they would allow nothing to be sold, but would +keep together the gallery of pictures and everything else Novar collected. +The quantities of things are incalculable.... I thought these details would +interest you. For my part, I feel that I have lost one of the persons in +the world with whom I had spent the most pleasant hours, and for whom I had +an extreme regard. + +The Journal mentions:-- + +Shooting at Haslemere and Farnborough to the end of the year. + +_January 2nd_, 1865.--Went to Strawberry Hill. A large party in the house; +Clarendon, Duc d'Aumale, Lady Hislop, Perrys, &c. On the 5th to Torry Hill. +12th, to Ampthill. 13th, down to Woburn with Lord Wensleydale and Froude. +14th, to the Grove. + +When at Torry Hill I got a note from Charles Greville asking me to come up +to see him. I did so on the 10th. It was then he asked me to take charge of +his journals. Some further conversation took place between us. On the +17th I was with him till half-past seven, and in the same night he died. +[Footnote: See _post_, p. 230.] + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Paris, 1 fevrier. + +My dear sir,--Je regrette Charles Greville. C'etait l'un des spectateurs +politiques les plus clairvoyants, les plus fins et les plus equitables que +j'aie rencontres en ma vie; et un ami fidele sans se donner tout entier a +personne. Vous devez regretter beaucoup son amitie et sa societe. Ses +memoires seront bien curieux. Je suis charme qu'il vous les ait legues. +Personne ne saura mieux choisir ce qu'il en faut publier, et le moment +opportun pour les publier. Quand vous prendrez une resolution a cet egard, +je vous prie de m'en avertir; vous en desirerez, ce me semble, une edition +francaise.... + +The Journal here gives a remarkable contribution to the history of the +French Revolution of 1830, the substance of which Reeve afterwards +published in the 'Edinburgh Review,' in an article on 'Circourt' (October +1881). + +_March 14th_.--The Club elected the Duc d'Aumale and Tennyson. + +_19th_.--Mrs. Gollop [Mrs. Reeve's mother] died. I joined Christine at +Strode, and attended the funeral at Lillington. + +_April 5th_.--M. de Circourt has been staying with us for three weeks; +inexhaustible in memory, anecdote, and conversation. I first knew him at +Geneva in 1830, where he took refuge after the storm of the Revolution, and +where he soon afterwards married Anastasia de Klustine. + +I asked him the other day what he knew of the 'Ordonnances' of July. He +was at that time, with Bois-le-Comte and Vieil-Castel, one of the chief +employes of Prince Polignac, in the Office of Foreign Affairs; and from his +wonderful memory and facility, Polignac used often to send him to Charles +X., to relate the substance of the despatches from foreign Courts. But, +although he was thus versed in foreign affairs, he knew very little of what +was passing in the interior of France, though from the violence of the +conflict between the Court and the Chamber he foreboded a catastrophe. + +Polignac told him nothing of the Ordinances, nor had he told the Princess, +his wife; for Circourt dined with them on the day they were signed--it was +Sunday, July 25th, 1830. The minister was _distrait_. The Princess got C. +aside to the piano after dinner, and said to him: 'Il se passe quelque +chose;--do you know what it is?' Neither of them knew. C. thinks, however, +that Bois-le-Comte was in Polignac's confidence. + +In consequence of the absence of Marshal Bourmont on the Algerian +expedition, Polignac was minister of war _ad interim_ [as well as +minister of foreign affairs]; but he had not made the smallest military +preparations, or even inquiries, as to the possibility of putting down +a popular tumult. On that Sunday, for the first time, he sent for the +officers in command of the troops. A dispute arose between them, which +Polignac had to settle. It then turned out that in the whole of the first +military division, which included not only Paris, but Orleans and Rouen and +all the intermediate places, there were not 12,000 men. In Paris itself +about 3,400 at that moment, including the _gendarmerie_. + +The reason of this was a political and military combination which the +Government had formed, but which I never before heard mentioned by anyone. +Polignac had for some time been intriguing to detach Belgium from the +King of Holland's dominions--chiefly from a fanatical desire to release a +Catholic population from their Protestant connexion, but in part, also, +from a notion that a military demonstration on the side of Belgium would be +popular in France, and would disarm the Opposition. So that the movement +which took place at Brussels shortly after the Revolution of July, and was +attributed to the example of that democratic explosion, had, in fact, been +prepared by Polignac himself. This is strange enough; but what is still +more strange is that the very means taken to promote this lawless object +proved to be the ruin of Charles X. and his minister. + +With a view to the occupation of Belgium, or at least of a demonstration on +the frontier, they had assembled two large camps at Luneville and St.-Omer; +and in these camps the bulk of the available forces of the kingdom +were collected, especially as Bourmont had with him a considerable and +well-appointed army in Africa. So that at the very moment when troops were +most needed in Paris, one portion of the King's army was beyond the seas, +and another out of reach on the Belgian frontier. + +Bourmont was perfectly aware that some such scheme as that of the +Ordinances was hatching, and the King had given him special orders to +terminate the campaign in Algeria, to carry off the treasure from the +Kasbah, and bring the troops back to France, as soon as possible. About +a month before the Revolution, a ciphered despatch came from Bourmont +--which, I think, Circourt said he was told to transcribe--in which the +marshal earnestly entreated the King to take no important step till his +return; adding that he hoped in a few weeks to terminate the African +expedition, and to prove to the King what he was capable of in his +Majesty's service. He had calculated that by the month of September he +could bring the greater part of the army hack to Paris, and that the +success they had recently had in Africa had attached the troops to himself, +as their commander, so that he would be in a condition to crush all +resistance; and had this plan been pursued, it is by no means impossible +that the _coup d'etat_ might have succeeded, as we have seen on some +subsequent occasions. + +But Bourmont's despatch in cipher had exactly the opposite effect from that +contemplated by the marshal. It produced in the mind of Polignac a violent +jealousy of his military colleague, and the determination to act in +Bourmont's absence, so as to have all the credit to himself, and remain at +the head of the King's Government. On the day the Ordinances were signed, +Polignac said to Circourt: 'From this day the King begins to reign, which +he has not done before.' These were the motives which precipitated the +blow, and caused it to overwhelm its authors with ruin and confusion. + +_April 8th_.--I was elected a corresponding member of the Academie des +Sciences Morales et Politiques, in France. + +_14th_.--Went to Paris, and on the 22nd took my seat at the Institute. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, April 23rd_.--Fould is not reasonable about Mexico; for he well +knows that it is we who had to complain of France, and not France of us, in +the original convention, and that ever since we got out of it, so far from +thwarting French designs, we have done what was in our power to support +them; our Government can't help to float a bad loan, but I am sure we have +done the French no harm at Washington. It will be good policy on the part +of Maximilian to encourage Confederate soldiers, provided they don't come +and squat in too great numbers. I understand that the French army is not to +be withdrawn until it is no longer wanted by Maximilian, but that will not +be till the day of judgement--if then. + +The journey to Algeria is an inscrutable business. McMahon, I am told, has +insisted strongly upon it, and says that the Imperial presence is +indispensable to _relever_ the tone of the colony; but that is hardly +reason enough for such a _grosse affaire_ as absenting himself from Paris +for six weeks; but if he wishes to create alarm and make people feel how +much he and social order are bound up together, and that they want him +more than he them, then the expedition has a motive, and may have a great +success. + +Palmerston had the gout all last week, and was unable to attend the Cabinet +yesterday, but he is expected in town tomorrow, so I hope it is a slight +attack. The uneasiness on one side and excitement on the other, whenever he +is ailing, are curious to observe; for it is pretty generally understood +that until he dies there will be no real shuffle of cards. Last autumn the +Tories talked tall about the majority that the general election was to give +them, but of late they have come down very much, and the best informed +among them now say that things will remain pretty much as they are. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_April 27th_.--Excursion to Port Royal and Dampierre, where we were +received by order of the Duc de Luynes. Circourt was with us. 28th, to +Fontainebleau. Met William Stirling and Lady Anna there; they were just +married. 30th, races in Bois de Boulogne. Took Mrs. Henry Baring there. +Dined at the Embassy. + +_May 3rd_.--Excursion to Reims with Circourt and Belveze.[Footnote: The +Comte de Belveze, an intimate friend of the Circourts, a man, Reeve wrote, +'of great wit and discernment.' In 1873 he had printed, for private +circulation, a small volume of _Pensees, Maximes et Reflexions_, a copy of +which he gave Reeve, who 'highly valued it for its intrinsic merit and its +rarity.'] Back to London by Lille and Laon. + +_13th_.--My uncle, Tom Reeve, the rector, died. I attended the funeral, and +went on to Thorpe Abbotts. + +_June 10th_.--Party given by the Hudson's Bay Company to see their ships at +Gravesend. Dined there. + +Went to Bracknell and Ascot. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, June 11th_. I make you my sincere compliment upon the article, +[Footnote: 'Dissolution of Parliament,' by Reeve. It appeared in the July +number of the _Review_.] and thank you for giving me an early read of it. +It is by far the ablest defence I have yet seen for the donothingness of +the Government about Reform; and you have most skilfully brought all the +different schemes face to face, in order to knock their heads together, at +the same time that you show yourself, as the organ of the Whig party, to be +liberal and progressive, and not only ready, but anxious, to adopt any +plan of Reform that will really effect that which reasonable men unite in +desiring. I think the article will do great good; and I only wish that it +could be circulated among classes rather lower than the ordinary readers of +the 'Edinburgh Review.' + +Might you not in the last page enlarge a little more upon the opposition +which the Tories, for party purposes, or from shortsightedness, have always +made to Liberal measures? For that in reality is the strong case against +them; and in judging of their fitness for power, the electors should +consider how the country would have stood if their persistent opposition +had been successful; how we should have passed through the political crisis +of '48 if the Corn Laws had been unrepealed; or the cotton famine, if +Free-trade had not been established. The electors should also well consider +whether they will accept, as governors and guides, men who predicted evils +of the worst kind from measures which have produced the happiest results. + +All these points are well alluded to in the last page, but they seem to me +to want a few grains of salt; and we may be sure that Lord Robert Cecil +[Footnote: The present Marquis of Salisbury. His elder brother, Viscount +Cranborne, died three days after the date of this letter, June 14th.] in +the 'Quarterly' will pepper the Whigs abundantly. + +The Journal at this time has:-- + +Gout in July. Went to Aix on the 25th. The Aumales, Alcocks, and Lord St. +Germans there. Home on August 17th. + +_August 9th_.--To Scotland. We went again to Skibo. Harry Butler Johnstone +there. Stayed at Skibo till the 30th. Then to Brahan. Found the Fergusons +at Novar. Lord Kingsdown had taken Holme House, near Nairn. Went to see him +there. Cawdor Castle. Then to Pitcorthie [James Moncreiff's] [Footnote: At +this time Lord Advocate. Created a baronet in 1871, and a peer, as Lord +Moncreiff, in 1874.] and Raith and Abington. + +_September 23rd_.--Dined with Lord Granville to meet Castalia Campbell and +Lady Acton. Lord G. was married on the 26th [to Miss Campbell]. + +To Torry Hill in October; also to Badger Hall and High Legh, and Loseley +(then rented by Thomson Hankey). + +_November 15th_.--Went down to Woodnorton [near Evesham], to see the +Aumales at their farm. Shot there. + +But the great topic of the latter part of the year, the subject which was +in everyone's mind, was the cattle plague--the rinderpest--which threatened +to become a matter of extreme national importance. When, at the time that +now is, people are inclined to grumble at the precautionary measures +adopted by Government, they should look back to the records of 1865 and +read of the very serious alarm then felt. Writing to Dempster, himself a +high authority on agricultural questions, Reeve naturally spoke of this, +and the correspondence is largely filled with such sentences as:-- + +_September 22nd_.--A nearer acquaintance with the cattle disease is a very +disagreeable addition to one's knowledge. They are afraid it will last for +many years, and sweep off a great portion of the cattle in the kingdom.... +You'll think I have got the rinderpest myself to write about nothing but +these brutes. + +_September 28th_.--The disease has now spread to sheep, and I verily +believe we shall have a meat famine. + +_October 12th_.--The ravages of the disease increase. We were to have gone +to pay two visits in Essex this week, but our hosts are so distracted by +the loss of their kine and the absence of dairy produce that they broke up +their party and put us off. + +_October 18th_.--The opinion of the Cattle Commission is that nothing can +be done to stay the plague without putting a stop to all transport or +movement of live cattle; and I expect this will be done. But how are we to +be fed? + +_November 23rd_.--The Lords of the Council have at last resolved to give +all local authorities in Britain the power of stopping the entry of cattle +into their own district, and all beasts brought to the Metropolitan Market +are to be killed there. + +And thus this plague, the illness and death of Lord Palmerston, and--more +personal--the alarming illness and slow, lingering convalescence of Miss +Charlotte Dempster--'my fair contributor,' as Reeve used to call her--fill +the correspondence of the year. One note only, an account of Reeve's visit +to Woodnorton, has a more particular interest. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., November 23rd_.--My last campaign has been in Worcestershire, where +I went to see a barnful of princes and princesses in a house much more like +a very wild Highland shooting quarter than an Englishman's hunting-box. +However, this only made the whole party more jolly; and as the stables are +very superior to the house, I shall entreat them, the next time I go, to +give me a loose box instead of a bedroom. Cutbush is supposed to have slept +on a dresser in the servants' hall; and a stray Frenchman who arrived one +evening was laid up in the smoking-room, on a sofa. + +And, according to the Journal, the year closed with-- + +Visits to Farnborough, Denbigh (Haslemere), and Timsbury [Ralph Dutton's, +near Romsey]. + +Between Reeve and the Duttons there was a friendship of many years' +standing, and they were there, wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'a pleasant little party +of ten, only Henry has had a very bad fit of gout and could not join the +shooters, or even the dinner-table some days: too provoking!' They remained +at Timsbury for a week, and then:-- + +_January 10th_.--A pleasant party at Torry Hill, with Sir E. Head and Kit. +Pemberton. Shooting in the snow, which was heavy. + +_18th_.--Sir C. Eastlake was buried. + +One day at a dinner party of Royal Academicians at Eastlake's, they were +discussing the merits of Solomon the painter and praising him. 'Yes,' said +Valentine Prinsep, 'but Solomon in all his glory is not R.A.ed like one of +these.' + +_24th_. We were invited rather late in the morning to the christening +of Sir Robert and Lady Emily Peel's infant daughter, and to a banquet +afterwards. Christine came down to my office at two o'clock, and we went +across to Whitehall Chapel. Sir Robert stood _rayonnant_ at the door; Lady +Emily looked the picture of maternal beauty; and in the chapel we found a +small but remarkable party--Duke and Duchess of Wellington, Lord and Lady +Russell, the Gladstones, Lady Ely, the Dufferins, &c., about fifty in all. +Lord Russell said he had never been inside that building [Footnote: Now the +Museum of the Royal United Service Institution.] before. Gladstone was very +cordial, and we joined our enthusiasm about the roof of the building and +the Rubenses. The Queen stood Godmother. + +After the ceremony we all adjourned to Whitehall Gardens. I was unluckily +obliged to go away, but Christine stayed for the luncheon, which was +superb. Gladstone proposed the health of the infant. + +_25th_.--Dinner at Orleans House, on Conde's departure for his journey to +the East; Murchison and Trevelyan there. The Prince de Conde [Footnote: The +eldest son of the Duc d'Aumale, born in 1845, died at Sydney on May 24th, +1866. The Duke's second and third sons lived only a few weeks; the fourth, +the Duc de Guise, born in 1854, died in 1872.] reached Sydney, but caught a +fever there and died. His poor mother never recovered the shock. + +_27th_.--John Edward Taylor, my oldest friend,[Footnote: A first cousin, +elder son of Edward Taylor; see _ante_, vol. i. p. 167.] died. + +A couple of months later Mr. Taylor's daughter, Lucy, was married to +William Markby, going out to Calcutta as a judge on a salary of 4,000 L +a year. 'She is a very lucky girl' wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'her face her sole +fortune, to win the love of a man so clear-headed and warm-hearted.' + +Circourt came on a visit to us in March. We went together to Lincoln. I +spent Easter at Lord Wharncliffe's at Wortley, with the Samuel Bakers (the +African traveller) and the Tankervilles, and rejoined Circourt at Frystone +(R. M. Milnes'). Thence to Ampthill, also with Circourt. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_March 1st_.--I send you the proof of the judgement in Edwards _v_. +Moss, corrected and purged of some of its colloquial pleonastic forms of +expression. It is very difficult to reduce a speech to the accuracy of a +written composition. In doing so, the merit of the speech is lost, and the +'redacted' elements form a very bad paper. Old Tommy Townshend, when he +heard of a good speech being printed, used to ask 'How does it read?--for +if it reads well, it was not a good speech.' A judgement orally delivered +extempore may be satisfactory to the ear, but when reduced to paper, the +sentences become involved and jejune. + +The diction of a good composition is [Greek: lexis katestrammeon], +the diction of a speech is [Greek: lexis eiromeon]. I cannot understand +how the senators or the Roman plebs could follow or endure the elaborate +periods of Cicero, if they were delivered as written. I am sure with the +funeral oration of Pericles, a common audience would have sat with mouths +open, incapable of following a single sentence. So also with the orations +of Livy. In fact, if the speeches delivered in the Roman Senate or the +Athenian Forum were anything like the speeches reported, to listen to them +must have been a great strain upon the mind and attention of the hearer. + +I am writing to you whilst a learned counsel is arguing, but whose words +and meaning are so obscure and involved that I am much in the condition of +my supposed [Greek: aplous hakroataes] of the funeral oration. + +The Journal goes on to speak of a subject of peculiar literary and +historical interest. + +_April 11th_.--Started with Christine and Circourt for Paris _via_ Havre, +and at Rouen paid a visit to the Cardinal-Archbishop (Bonnechose). + +The publication in 1864 of three volumes of the letters of Marie +Antoinette, under the title 'Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette et Madame +Elisabeth. Lettres et Documents inedits;' publies par F. Feuillet de +Conches, and of another volume--' Correspondance inedite de Marie +Antoinette. Publiee sur les Documents originaux;' par le Comte Paul Vogt +d'Hunolstein--had excited a keen controversy, in which one party, led by +Professor von Sybel, the historian of the Revolution, maintained that the +letters were forgeries. On the other hand, Reeve wrote an article for +the 'Edinburgh Review' of April 1866, on the 'Correspondence of Marie +Antoinette' in which he argued that the letters edited by M. d'Hunolstein +were of very doubtful authenticity, but that those of the larger work of +M. Feuillet de Conches were genuine. His visit to Paris gave him the +opportunity to make a further examination, of which, and his interview with +Sybel, he wrote a curious account. + +_Sunday, April 15th_.--I called on M. Feuillet de Conches, the editor +of the Marie Antoinette letters, whose authenticity is impugned, and on +leaving his house I called on Lavergne, where I met M. de Sybel, the German +professor, by whom these charges have been most actively brought and +disseminated. I found that M. de Sybel, though in Paris, had not seen +anything of Feuillet's collection, though he had publicly stated that he +was going to Paris to clear up the whole story. Upon this I assured him +(as was the fact) that I knew Feuillet would receive him with the utmost +courtesy, if he would call upon him, and would show him anything and +everything in his collections bearing on this matter; and as he appeared +to hesitate, I offered myself to conduct and introduce him. Upon this he +hesitated still more, and at last said that the fact was that his mind was +so fully made up on the subject, and his conviction that these documents +are forged is so complete, that no amount of ocular evidence would shake +it, and he should only conclude that the author of these fabrications was a +very skilful fellow. + +Upon this I desisted from any further attempt to bring M. de Sybel +acquainted with M. Feuillet's collection, but I made this note of the +conversation (which took place in the presence of M. de Lavergne) to show +how strong M. de Sybel's prepossessions are. I have myself again examined +the documents, and though I have doubts as to one or two of them, said to +proceed from the Abbe Vermond's papers, I see no reason to disbelieve the +genuineness of the vast majority of the letters of the Queen which Feuillet +possesses. + +Home on April 26th. + +_May_.--Dr. Watson said, dining at the Literary Club, that he had been +present at the death of Lord Palmerston. He retained his usual courtesy and +cheerfulness in his last illness, and when Lady Palmerston came into the +room he kissed his hand to her. The immediate cause of his death was his +taking a walk on the terrace at Brocket without his hat. The apothecary +remonstrated--upon which he said: 'Oh! it's only what the bathers call +taking a "header."' As the hour of dissolution approached he lost +his consciousness, but still spoke occasionally. His last words were +(apparently as if his mind was at work on a treaty) 'That's article +ninety-eight; now go on to the next.' Very characteristic end. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, June 9th_.--I had little doubt of the war, and I now consider +it as begun. With the exception of the Italians and M. de Bismarck, +everyone is entering on it with regret and uneasiness. I have never known +France so unanimous in the desire for peace; but notwithstanding the +injury to our interests and the shock to our opinions, the country has no +confidence in its right to resist, and has lost the habit of it. There +will be grumblings and prophecies of misfortune, but there will be no +opposition; and if there should be any military success, followed by +territorial aggrandisement, people will forget their ill humour, and will +even applaud a little, but always without confidence. It is impossible to +stray with impunity from the path of sound policy; as soon as we leave it, +we enter on the wrong path and advance by that. In this life it is not +possible to remain stationary. + +I understand your political attitude. There is no reason why you should +take part in the struggle; but what I do not understand, what I regret, is +the manifest uncertainty of your opinions. Not only do you do nothing, but +you seem as if you did not know what to believe. As lookers-on you are +undecided, as actors you are inert. In the state of trouble and weakness +in which the intelligence of Europe is now plunged, you, simply by letting +your opinions be clearly seen, by the directness of your language, might +have an enormous influence on the course of events. But in England, as +everywhere else, the idea of moral force seems lost. It is true that such +idea requires a knowledge of what one thinks, and of what one desires. It +is possible not to give material support to a cause, but it is necessary to +have one. + +In any case, I am extremely glad that Lord Clarendon remains at the Foreign +Office. He will, perhaps, see more clearly, will act with less want of +foresight than others. Is it true that, on account of the state of affairs +on the Continent, there is in England a tacit suspension of hostilities +between the two parties, and that the Cabinet is no longer seriously +attacked?... + +Je suis charme que le second volume de mes 'Meditations' vous ait +interesse. Je ne sais pas le nom de la personne qui fait, dans 'l'Edinburgh +Review,' un article sur le premier volume. Dites-moi si elle aurait quelque +envie de parler du second, et si vous voulez que je vous en fasse envoyer, +pour elle, un exemplaire. Most cordially yours, + +GUIZOT. + +War broke out between Prussia and Austria in June. + +_June 9th_.--Party down to Gravesend by water to see the Hudson's Bay +Company's ships. Dinner at Gravesend. + +_July 13th_.--To Aix-la-Chapelle by way of Paris. Heard Mignet read his +notice of Tocqueville at the Institute. Spent a fortnight at Aix, and +visited Bruges in our way home. + +_August 11th_.--Went to Novar, by Perth. Thence to Braban, to Ardross, and +to Foss, where Lord Kingsdown had taken a moor. Then to Dunnichen; called +at Glamis and Kinnaird Castle. Then to Eaith, and to Lord Belhaven's at +Wishaw; the Warwicks and Sir A. Alison there. Home on September 17th. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Dunnichen, September 10th_.--Your kind letter from Paris reached me at +Novar, at the precise moment when I was about to take the field with the +new laird on August 13th. It gave me real pleasure to have something of +your company on that day; and when we had reached the back of Fyrish, and +could command the Dornoch Firth and the hills beyond it, even to Dunrobin, +I looked with affectionate eyes to the woods of Skibo. + +The season has been favourable. Raith and I--neither of us a first-class +walker--killed seventy brace on the Monday, and I got thirty brace alone on +several succeeding days. From Novar we went to Brahan, where everything +is as lively as usual, and Seaforth in great force,... I then joined Lord +Kingsdown at Foss, on Loch Tummel, a delightful place in the centre of the +Perthshire Highlands, where you see all Scotland at your feet, from Ben +Nevis to Lochnagar. By this time the grouse were becoming wild, and we had +descended to fifteen or sixteen brace a day, but we had a splendid drive of +blue hares, and slew 367 of them. I then came on here, where I find a +most comfortable house, a most kind reception, and a most sociable +neighbourhood.... All in short is extremely pleasant, and it is most +agreeable to see George so perfectly in his place, and at the head of a +well-managed estate.... + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_September 5th_.--I am anxious, before I leave for the Continent, to know +if I can be of any service at the sittings of the Judicial Committee. My +present purpose is to go to Biarritz, and thence to Italy. But if I can be +of utility, and am really wanted, I would return from Biarritz by November +1st, and could devote the whole of November to diligent attendance on +the Judicial Committee. I am sorry that I cannot offer to attend during +December, as matters of a pressing nature will then require my presence in +Italy. + +It is, I think, very desirable that the sittings of the Judicial Committee +should be certain and continuous at and during a considerable portion of +the year; and I should be glad to see the practice adopted of its beginning +to sit on November 1st in every year, and continuing its sittings until +Christmas if required. You will know whether the state of business at +present renders this desirable.... + +Lord Justice Knight Bruce is a great invalid, and it is hardly fair to +expect that, after a laborious term, the Lords Justices should at once +commence sitting at the Privy Council. These considerations induce me to +write to you. But you will fully understand that, if it is possible to do +without further aid, I shall be much obliged to you not to accept my offer. +I shall not write to the President or the Lord Chancellor until I have +heard from you. + +_To Lord Westbury_ + +_C. O., September 28th_.--Under the peculiar circumstances of the present +year and the state of business in the Court, the Lord Chancellor thinks +it right to acquiesce in your lordship's suggestion that the Judicial +Committee should sit one month earlier than usual in order to dispose of +the existing arrear of causes. The Lord Chancellor is, however, of opinion +that this sitting in Michaelmas term should be regarded as exceptional and +not to be drawn into a precedent, and that it will be expedient hereafter +to adhere to the established practice and to the order in Council which +directs the sittings to be held after each term. For many years the +sittings have been invariably so held in December, February, and June and +July; and at each sitting the whole of the business ready for hearing has +been disposed of. The only exception to this order occurred last summer in +consequence of the illness of Sir James Colvile; and the consequence is +that (for the first time for many years) there is now an arrear to be +disposed of. Your lordship's timely assistance will, however, enable the +court to clear off this arrear by this extraordinary sitting; and it is not +to be anticipated that the same necessity will occur again, although it +undoubtedly exists at the present time. When November 1st approaches, I +shall have the honour to send the printed cases and the usual summons to +your lordship's residence in London, and I shall give ample notice to the +parties that the Judicial Committee will meet for the despatch of business +on that day. + +_From Lord Chelmsford_[Footnote: At this time Lord Chancellor.] + +7 Eaton Square, October 3rd. + +Dear Reeve,--Lord Westbury's letter is satisfactory. Your communication to +him, which was highly judicious, has contributed mainly to put things on +the right footing. + +Knight Bruce's state of health, following upon what I should think must +have been for some time his felt incapacity for work, ought to be a warning +to him to terminate a life of useful labour by an honourable retirement. If +the hint is lost upon him, he will be a great impediment to the efficiency +of the Judicial Committee. + +I suppose the temporary assistance of Lord Westbury will not dispense with +the necessity of providing some permanent addition to the strength of the +tribunal. Your suggestion as to Vice-Chancellor Kindersley quite met my +views, and I suppose might still be carried out with advantage. Of course I +can do nothing of this sort without Lord Derby's sanction, and therefore I +should like to have your confirmation of my opinion that this is the best +plan that can be resorted to for the present, before I communicate with him +on the subject. A letter sent to my house will be forwarded in my box which +I receive daily. Yours sincerely, CHELMSFORD. + +The Journal notes:-- + +Visits to Sparrow's Herne and to Shendish (Charles Longman's), Parnborough +and Torry Hill. The Judicial Committee sat early-November 1st. + +_November 8th_.--Lord Westbury, Froude, Lecky, Mrs. Norton, Bayleys, +Simpson, and Longman dined with us. It was very amusing. [Mrs. Reeve wrote +of it as 'brilliant;' and of Lord Westbury as resembling Falstaff and Lord +Bacon rolled into one.] + +The earliest critical notice of the battle of Lissa, fought on July 20th, +appeared in the 'Revue des deux Mondes' of November 15th. It was at the +time, and has been ever since, generally attributed to the Prince de +Joinville; an error which gives the following letter a more especial +interest, though it may be thought doubtful whether the suggestion offered +by the Prince was correct:-- + +_From the Prince de Joinville_ + +Woodnorton, 22 novembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Mon frere Aumale vient de me communiquer votre +aimable lettre, a laquelle je m'empresse de repondre. Les eloges que vous +donnez a l'auteur de l'article sur Lissa sont tres-merites, car le +travail est tres-interessant; mais ils ne sont pas pour moi, car je suis +_completement_ etranger a la paternite de ce remarquable morceau, auquel je +ne reproche qu'une chose--la severite de ses jugements sur un homme dans la +position de Persano. + +J'ignore absolument le nom de l'auteur; mais le style elegant, la precision +des informations et quelques details d'opinion que je ne partage pas +m'avaient fait supposer que nous devions attribuer a Jurien de la Graviere +le travail en question. En tous cas, quelque soit l'auteur, je demande +a tous mes amis de lui renvoyer le merite et la responsabilite qui lui +appartiennent. + +Croyez toujours, Monsieur, a mes sentiments d'amitie. + +FR. D'ORLEANS. + +_To Lord Westbury_ + +_G. O., November 28th_.--I received the revised judgements yesterday, and +have sent them to the printers for correction. I will take care that your +emendations are carefully made, and I will again look them all carefully +over. Unless I hear again from you to the contrary, I do not understand +that you wish to see another revise of them (as it is termed) before they +are issued. + +In spite of your own preference for the 'wild freshness of morning' and all +the dewdrops hanging on the roses, I must be allowed to assure you that, in +my poor judgement, they are improved by this severe revision, and that the +judicial style is, like Musidora, when 'unadorned adorned the most.' Of +that style I think these judgements will be quoted hereafter as masterly +specimens. + +_From Lord Kingsdown_ + +Torry Hill, Sittingbourne: January 7th, 1867. + +My dear Reeve,--I have read your paper, and have no hesitation in saying +that I think the smallness of your salary quite a scandal and a disgrace +to the Court of which you are so important an officer. Knowing as I do the +past services which, during a period of more than twenty years, you have +rendered to the board, whilst its position has been gradually settling, +I should say that 2,000 L. a year would be not at all more than a fair +remuneration to you during the remainder of your term of office. If the +country could be certain, by the same salary, of securing an equally +efficient successor, I should think it money well laid out. Your duties +are of a very peculiar character; and often require, in addition to the +qualities required for the discharge of the ordinary routine duties of a +registrar, others of a much rarer description. The correspondence with the +different tribunals whose decisions are reviewed, and with the different +departments of the Government, which are sometimes disposed to shift to the +Judicial Committee the determination of matters not properly belonging to +it, demand not unfrequently the exercise of great tact, discretion, and +delicacy. But unfortunately a large salary does not always secure services +of corresponding value, and sometimes, I am afraid, rather has an opposite +tendency, and operates as a temptation to jobbery. On the whole, I should +say that 1,500 L. a year would be a fair offer to a new man; but I think +that the Treasury should have the power to increase it to any amount +not exceeding 2,000 L. after ten or fifteen years' service, on the +recommendation of the committee. + +The next letter, from Lord Wensleydale, is interesting as a piece of verbal +criticism; showing, also, how a pilot in avoiding Scylla may easily run +his bark into Charybdis, or how a writer, whilst objecting to a harmless +'firstly,' may perpetrate an atrocious 'differ with.' + +Ampthill Park, January 31st. + +My dear Reeve,--I was much pleased to hear that 'firstly' was an error. I +hope you will take some course to indicate your judgement--'a very best +authority'--and to prevent the 'Edinburgh Review' giving the word its high +authority. I have taken every opportunity to amend Acts of Parliament when +I find the error in Dom. Proc. I have a sort of mania on the subject. + +I have not had an opportunity of looking at the Bishop of Oxford's case. +I differ with him entirely about the Banns case, and, between ourselves, +think he is oily and saponaceous.--Yours ever sincerely, + +WENSLEYDALE. + +The following, from Professor--afterwards Sir Richard--Owen, seems to refer +to a proposed review of the Duke of Argyll's 'Reign of Law,' and possibly, +also, of the Rev. Edwin Sidney's 'Conversations on the Bible and Science.' +Whether Owen was too drastic in his methods or not does not certainly +appear; but, for some reason, the article was either not written or not +published, though the friendly relations between Owen and Reeve remained +unaffected. + +Sheen Lodge, Richmond Park, March 9th. + +My dear Reeve,--The end and aim of the 'Reign of Law' is to exalt our +conceptions of its head, and to destroy pretenders to the throne. The Duke +has shown, as you observe, caution in avoiding the latter application. But +the old 'Edinburgh' was once eminently iconoclastic, and its reputation +still floats on the brave work of its youth. I fear, too we should have +lost some best bits and hits of dear old Sydney had his editor been too +precise in defining a personality. As to the other old Sidney, I, too, know +him well; his libellus _is_ small game, but it is the type of a class doing +much mischief. You think I have been too outspoken. Believe me, it is only +a question of time; and _you_ will speak out quite as plainly when the +'Forlorn' has made the breach safe. But one would wish to see the 'Blue and +Yellow' in the post of honour. + +I had misgivings at the first that I might be unfit for your want. My time +draws on, and, under a sense of responsibility for its use, I cannot write +platitudes. + +Sincerely yours, + +RICHD. OWEN. + +The Journal for 1867 begins with-- + +Usual engagements in the early part of the year. Circourt came in April, +and we went together to Norwich. + +To Paris in April. Met Mrs. Grote and Hayward on the road. Morny gave me a +card to see the Great Exhibition before it opened. A great banquet at the +Embassy on the 25th. On the 30th with Chevalier to Lemaire's fabrique. He +gave me my aluminium binocle. Ball at the Marine. Dined at Julian Fane's. +[Footnote: The secretary of the embassy.] Binet came to Paris from Geneva. +May 6th, went to see Thiers on the last evening. May 7th, dined with Mon, +the Spanish ambassador. Home on the 8th. + +_May 11th_.--Some of the Novar pictures were sold. I bought my Cuyp, small +Claude, P. Veronese, Watts, Rubens' drawing, Palma Vecchio, and some small +ones. + +Visit to Torry Hill in June, but Lord Kingsdown was dying. [Footnote: He +died on October 7th.] I took De Mussy down to see him. I went there again +in July. + +_From Lord Kingsdown_ + +_Torry Hill, June 26th_.--It is most kind in you to write to me as often as +you do, and always whenever you have anything agreeable to tell me. Both +your last letters are full of such matter. It is inexpressibly pleasing to +me to receive so many marks as I do of the kindness and affection of my +friends; and if any or all of those who professed a disposition to come and +see me would do so, I should be delighted to receive them, collectively +or individually. I have a letter from Cranworth this morning, most kindly +offering to come down here on Saturday next. If you could look up and send +down anybody as a companion to him, it would be more agreeable to him and +to me. Possibly Peel [Footnote: Sir Lawrence Peel.] might be induced to +come. + +I have not, of course, the face to ask you to come down on Saturday, but I +hold you to your promise to see me again here before you go to the North. + +I am, truly and gratefully yours, + +KINGSDOWN. + +The Journal mentions some of the functions of the season. + +_June 27th_.--Dinner at home to the F. Stanleys, [Footnote: The present +Earl and Countess of Derby.] Mme. Mohl, Seaforth, Lecky, Blumenthal, T. +Bruces, Fords remarkably pleasant. + +_29th_.--Dinner at the Duc de Chartres', at Ham. The Russells, Clarendons, +Saxe-Weimars, Waldegraves, A. Kinnaird. + +_July 10th_.--Holland House garden party. Lady Derby's party to the Pasha +of Egypt. On the 19th, grand ball, at the India Office, to the Sultan. + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +5 Cromwell Houses, South Kensington, July 17th. + +Dear Reeve,--I enclose the Indian judgement, revised, and also the 'Agra' +judgement [Footnote: A case of collision in the Channel between the ship +'Agra' and a bark, 'Elizabeth Jenkins.' The judgement was delivered on the +20th by Sir William Erle.] with a few verbal alterations. I am sorry I +cannot deliver the latter; but the state of our work in Chancery is such +that the sittings cannot be well curtailed, even for an hour. I trust some +member of the board, with a strong nautical twang, will be so good as to +deliver it; and if the speaker could but adopt that hitch of the trouser +which made Lord Clarence Paget so effective in the House of Commons, it +would, I have no doubt, add much to the effect of a composition otherwise +so tame. + +Yours faithfully, CAIRNS. + +_From Lord Kingsdown_ + +_Torry Hill, July 30th_.--I hear you are starting for Scotland the end of +this week, and I cannot let you go without repeating to you once more my +earnest and most cordial thanks for the great kindness which you have shown +to me during my long sickness, both in constantly writing to me and in many +other ways. I wish I had a letter from you this morning, for the upshot of +what passed last night in the House of Lords far passes my comprehension. +If you should find occasionally a leisure half-hour, and will employ it in +informing me of your proceedings on the moors, I shall be very grateful. + +I think it not impossible that in the course of your wanderings you may +fall in with Jowett. If you do, pray explain to him how very sensible I was +of his friendship in offering to come down here to see me, and how very +much I was mortified at being obliged to decline his offer. In my present +condition, it is absurd even to suppose plans for the future; but I do not +_quite_ despair of seeing you here during this next partridge or pheasant +season. + +The Journal mentions that-- + +Gladstone agreed to write the political article for the 'Edinburgh' in +October. It was called 'Sequel to the Session.' Curious conversation with +him about the Irish Church. + +_August 3rd_.--Went down to Weybridge to see Mrs. Austin. It was the last +time, for she died on the 8th, when I was at sea, on my way to Scotland. We +arrived at Aberdeen on the 9th, and learned it there. To Novar and Ardross, +where good shooting. Then to Uppat, boating and fishing with the Duke of +Sutherland, George Loch, and Forsyth. + +We went from Uppat to Brahan; then to Dunnichen and Springfield, a place +near Roslyn the Dempsters had taken. Then to Abington and home. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, 15 Aout. + +My dear Sir,--Sir Alexander Gordon m'avait annonce la perte que nous +venons de faire. Je dis nous, car Madame Austin etait pour moi une vraie +et intime amie. Je l'ai connue dans mes joies et mes tristesses, dans mes +succes et mes revers. Je l'ai trouvee toujours la meme, la meme elevation +d'esprit, le meme coeur sympathique et devoue. Je n'esperais plus la +revoir; je le lui disais dans la derniere lettre que je lui ai ecrite, et +en me repondant il y a un mois, elle me disait presque adieu. Mais la +distance est grande entre l'adieu annonce et l'adieu reel. Sa mort est +pour moi un vrai chagrin. Et pour mes filles aussi, a qui elle a temoigne +tant d'affection et de bonte. + +J'ai prie Sir Alexander de m'envoyer la meilleure gravure en photographie +qui existe d'elle. Envoyez moi aussi, je vous prie, ce qui sera publie sur +son compte, et ajoutez y tous les details que vous recueillerez. + +Sadly and sincerely yours, + +GUIZOT. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CHURCH POLITICS + + +Early in October, Reeve, with his wife--Miss Reeve--was staying in +Scotland--set out for Geneva, and, travelling by easy stages through +Antwerp, Luxembourg, Metz--'a very pretty, attractive town,' not yet +brought into vulgar repute by its siege and surrender in the Franco-German +war--Nancy, Strasbourg, and Bale, arrived on the 12th. The weather was +cold and wintry; and, after a short stay at Geneva, they went on to +Marseilles, where Reeve's uncle, Philip Taylor, the founder of the 'Forges +et Chantiers,' was still living, a hale old man of eighty, with his wife, +'some seven years younger, and not at all old in figure, look, and voice.' +Then to Cannes, which was coming fast into note--'building going on with +great activity, and ground fetching higher prices every year'; and, after +an excursion to Nice and Mentone, they turned northwards, were at Paris on +November 6th, and reached home on the 10th. The Journal adds:-- + +_January 6th, 1868_.--Went on a visit to Loseley Park, then occupied by the +Thomson Hankeys--the old seat of Sir Thomas More. Mlle. Ernestine declaimed +there. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_January 14th_.--Pray, if you can, give us a paper with some variety, and +not wholly composed of dreary Indian appeals, the hearing of which always +reminded me of the toil of Pharaoh's charioteers, when they drave heavily +their wheelless chariots in the deep sands of the Red Sea. + +Who is it that has dug so deep into the Talmud, and written that remarkable +paper, [Footnote: 'The Talmud,' _Quarterly Review,_ October 1867.] for +which, a century ago, he would have been the subject of a writ _De +haeretico comburendo_? + +_Hinton St. George, January 16th_.--Your arrangement is a very good one, +but, for fear of accident, I will certainly leave this place on Monday, +February 3rd, so that you may count on me for Tuesday if required. The +gorge rises at the thought of being fed on curry, rice, and chutnee sauce +for three weeks; I shall certainly contract a disease of the liver. If you +can send us occasionally to sea on an Admiralty case, it will be a little +relief. I have observed that petitions for prolongation of patents +frequently occupy an (apparently) undue time. If there are any such, I +think we may despatch them. I hope Lord Justice Cairns will use the days he +gains for reducing the arrears in Chancery. I am much obliged to him for +his kind expressions. + +The best advice that his friends can give Rolt [Footnote: Sir John Rolt +resigned in February 1868, and died in June 1871.] is to resign. It is the +only chance of long life. Let him not be afraid of ennui from idleness. +He has a great love of the country and country pursuits, and that is +all-sufficient. Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale its infinite +variety. And it is so much better to be a looker-on than an actor in life. +Aristotle, in the last chapter of his 'Nicomachean Ethics,' sets himself +to consider what can be the happiness of the gods; and he finds nothing in +which he can put it but in contemplation. And it might be so, if it were +still true. 'And God saw (contemplated) all that He had made, and behold it +was very good.' + +I thought it was an 'Ebrew Jew' that wrote the article entitled 'Talmud.' I +have only read a few extracts. It is quite in keeping with the times that +it should be in a Tory journal. The Conservatives have begun by being +avowed reformers, and next they will be declared free-thinkers. This is the +first step to their confession. Their great schoolmaster, Dizzy, gets his +compatriot to publish this article. I am glad to hear from you that it is +shallow; but novelty and originality now are nothing but the reproduction +of forgotten things; and, to speak seriously, I thought it seemed a thing +likely to lead many to some form or other of Arian opinions. + +The following refers to a work recently published by Longmans. Mr. Longman +had apparently suggested it as a fit subject for an article in the 'Review +':-- + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_C. O., January 31st_.--I have read Rudd's translation of Aristophanes with +a good deal of interest. It is as good as it can possibly be without the +slightest gleam of fun or genius. Frere's translations are blazing with +both, and that constitutes their charm. Rudd is evidently a worthy, dull +man, who administers the Aristophanic champagne as if it were mere brown +stout. It is for this reason that I have felt a difficulty about reviewing +him, and the more so as I am overladen with all kinds of articles. But if a +favourable opportunity occurs, I will not forget it. + +I am deeply grieved at the loss of poor Head. [Footnote: Sir Edmund Head +died suddenly on January 28th.] He was one of the best and pleasantest +companions I have ever known, and latterly we have lived very much indeed +together. It is frightful to think how very many are already gone of those +who made life agreeable; and gone, most of them, suddenly and prematurely. + +The Journal records:-- + +_February 11th_--I was elected to be treasurer of The Club in place of +Sir Edmund Head [deceased]. I proposed Lord Cranborne, afterwards Lord +Salisbury, at The Club. + +For many years from this time The Club was such an important factor in +Reeve's social life, and enters so largely into both his Journal and his +correspondence, that a list of its members, as it stood in 1867, has a +strong personal interest. + +_The Club_ + + March, 1867 Date of Election + + 1 Lord Brougham March 9th, 1830. + + 2 Earl Stanhope May 14th, 1833. + + 3 The Dean of St. Paul's February 23rd, 1836. + + 4 Sir Henry Holland February 18th, 1840. + + 5 Mr. Charles Austin March 7th, 1843. + + 6 Lord Kingsdown February 25th, 1845. + + 7 Earl of Clarendon May 20th, 1845. + + 8 Professor Owen May 20th, 1845. + + 9 Monsieur Van de Weyer February 9th, 1847. + + 10 Sir David Dundas February 23rd, 1847. + + 11 The Duke of Cleveland June 5th, 1849. + + 12 The Bishop of Oxford June 5th, 1849. + + 13 Lord Overstone June 25th, 1850. + + 14 The Duke of Argyll June 17th, 1851. + + 15 Lord Cranworth June 17th, 1851. + + 16 Sir Wm. Stirling Maxwell February 21st, 1854. + + 17 Mr. Gladstone March 10th, 1857. + + 18 Earl Russell April 21st, 1857. + + 19 Mr. George Grote March 9th, 1858. + + 20 Lord Stanley February 14th, 1860. + + 21 Sir W. Page Wood February 14th, 1860. + + 22 Mr. George Richmond February 14th, 1860. + + 23 The Bishop of London April 9th, 1861. + + 24 Mr. Henry Reeve April 9th, 1861. + + 25 Sir Roderick I. Murchison June 18th, 1861. + + 26 Sir Edmund Head February 25th, 1862. + + 27 Mr. Robert Lowe May 12th, 1863. + + 28 Mr. Spencer Walpole March 8th, 1864. + + 29 The Dean of Westminster February 28th, 1865. + + 30 Mr. J. A. Froude February 28th, 1865. + + 31 The Duc d'Anmale March 14th, 1865. + + 32 Mr. Alfred Tennyson March 14th, 1865. + + 33 Lord Cairns February 27th, 1866. + + 34 Mr. Edward Twisleton April 24th, 1866. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Rome, February 2nd_.--I cannot let an old friend like yourself hear by +common report an event most interesting to us, and which will therefore, I +am sure, not be without interest to you. Emily [Footnote: Lord Clarendon's +youngest daughter. The marriage took place on May 5th.] is to marry Odo +Russell. [Footnote: Afterwards Lord Ampthill.] It has been an attachment of +some standing on his part, and as she has become very certain of its depth +and sincerity, they came to an understanding two days ago. His worldly +goods are not superabundant, but he is very rich in all the qualities +likely to make a woman happy; he is very clever and accomplished, and I +speak with a knowledge of him for many years when I say that he is one of +the best-tempered and kindest-hearted men I ever was acquainted with. Such +a son as he has always been must make a good husband. In short, we are all +very happy.... + +How I should like to have a talk with you upon home and foreign affairs, +and how I should like to think that you viewed them less gloomily than I +do! There is great expectation at Rome that Italy will break up, and that +the Holy Father will recover his provinces. Italy, mishandled as she has +been by quacks, is doubtless very sick; but she is still proud of the +union, and will fight for it against all comers. Things look black, and +are, to my mind, getting blacker, every day in France. That _paries +proximus_ concerns us, in our present uneasy condition, more than one likes +to think of. + +_From Lord Chelmsford_ + +_7 Eaton Square, February 10th, 11 P.M._--Your letter, just received, has +caused me the greatest perplexity. To provide you help on the sudden is +impossible; and, agreeing with you that it is desirable to supply Lord +Kingsdown's place with a strong man, I ask, Where is the judicial Samson +to be found? I think it highly improbable that Mellish would abandon his +professional profits for the barren honour of a right honourable title and +a seat at the board. Besides, there is no knowing what the Commission, +which is inquiring into all the superior Courts, both original and +appellate, may recommend; and I hear of very sweeping suggestions being +made. I therefore feel that, at present, I am fettered in my attempts to +add strength to the Judicial Committee. In your difficulties, I hardly know +what to advise; but could you not take the Admiralty cases and postpone the +others, getting Phillimore to join you till Kindersley can return? This is +the only possible escape from the necessity of closing your sittings that +occurs to me at the present moment. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_February 12th_--The Duc d'Aumale dined with us, to meet Lady Minto, G. +Lefevre, and E. Cheney. A spy got hold of this little dinner, and it +was reported to the French Government as a conspiracy. Mon [the Spanish +Ambassador in Paris] told Raymond of it afterwards. + +_14th_--I dined with the Joinvilles; and on the 16th with the Duc de +Nemours at Bushey. Xavier Raymond was staying with us. + +_February 23rd_--I walked back from the Temple Church with Lord Chancellor +Chelmsford. Two days afterwards he was turned out of office by Disraeli. + +_From Mr. Robert Lytton_ [Footnote: At this time secretary of legation at +Lisbon, and known in the world of letters as 'Owen Meredith.' Afterwards +Earl Lytton.] + +Lisbon, February 22nd. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I am ashamed of having left so long unanswered your +last very kind letter. But for the last three weeks I have had little +leisure, and less health to enjoy it. Indeed, this is really my first free +moment since your letter reached me. Your excellent and welcome news of +Emily's engagement [Footnote: Lady Emily Villiers. See _ante_.] to Odo +Russell was confirmed by the same post in a line from Emily to Edith, +[Footnote: Mrs. Lytton, the Lady Emily's first cousin.] and has given us +the greatest pleasure--me especially; for I have a great regard for Odo, +and any other settlement of this particular Roman question [Footnote: Odo +Russell was at this time, and had been for the last ten years, living at +Rome, practically--though not formally--ambassador to the Vatican.] would +have much disappointed my hopes. Emily, in her letter to my wife, spoke of +remaining at Rome for another month or more (the marriage not being fixed +to take place before May, at the Grove); but I see by the papers that Lord +Clarendon is already on his way homeward, and I am much _intrigue_ by that +article in the 'Times,' which has, I see, been re-echoed by other papers, +suggesting some modification in the present Cabinet on account of Lord +Derby's health. + +The present Portuguese Government does not seem to be at all favourably +disposed towards Mr. Flores, or to think more highly of him than you do. +But in this country one can never be quite sure what the pressure of +political opposition or support may wring from a weak Government in the way +of concession to any _intriguant;_ and, if Flores can command votes, he may +be listened to; otherwise not, I fancy. + +The monthly F. O. bag has just brought me the January 'Edinburgh,' for +which a thousand thanks. I have not yet had time to cut the leaves of it. +Pray accept my best thanks for the cheque mentioned in your letter. I am +all the more grateful to you for the good will on behalf of 'Chronicles and +Characters,' to which you so kindly and generously give renewed expression, +because I have just seen what I cannot but think a very unjust notice of +the book in the 'Athenaeum.' In endeavouring to illustrate a continuous +strain of thought passing over a wide range of subject, one of my chief +aims was diversity of form and variety of style; but there can be no doubt +that versatility is always in danger of running into imitation. Play always +on the Jew's harp, and no one will accuse you of imitating the tone of any +other instrument. I do not pretend that my own instrument is an organ: but +I would rather it should be the smallest harmonicum than the strongest and +shrillest Jew's harp. + +_From Mr. S. H. Walpole_ + +Ealing, March 29th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I am quite ashamed of myself for not having thanked you +before for your valuable hints about the effect and ultimate consequences +of Gladstone's motion. [Footnote: March 30th, for the Disestablishment of +the Irish Church, of which notice was given on March 23rd.] I have long +thought that his aim and object has been for years to separate the Church +from the State, and so set up an episcopal and sacerdotal power, which +would endeavour to exercise an unbounded control over the consciences, +actions, and private judgement of men. The only check upon this is the +supremacy of the civil power in the external government of the Church, and +the obligation of the clergy to submit and subscribe to the doctrine +and liturgy which, once for all, the Church and State have concurred in +prescribing. All ritualism, all tractarianism, and much high-churchism is +in secret, if not in avowed, rebellion against such a supremacy; and if it +[Footnote: _Sc_. the supremacy of the civil power.] could only be struck +down in Ireland, it would not be long before an attack on it was made in +England. What may happen to-morrow I cannot regard with much satisfaction. +Gladstone's motion is the most impudent assault on the Crown which any +ex-minister ever made; and Stanley's amendment is an illogical surrender +of our best defence. He ought to have ended in plain words, by saying that +'the House is of opinion that the disestablishment and disendowment of the +Church in Ireland would be contrary to, and in direct violation of, the +fundamental and essential articles of the Treaty of Union.' The country +would have then understood what we were about; it can hardly understand it +now. + +I am out of heart and have many misgivings when ex-ministers of the Crown, +and the actual minister of the Crown, assail or abandon the Crown's +prerogative for the value of place and power. + +Yours always very sincerely, + +S. H. WALPOLE. + +Walpole's interpretation of Gladstone's 'aim and object' may now appear +strained. It was, however, certainly held, at the time, by many who argued +that Gladstone's character was itself a direct contradiction to the charge +of his proposed measure being one of spoliation and robbery. [Footnote: See +_post_.] It is, perhaps, more probable that he was greatly influenced by +the Utopian sentimentalism which so powerfully influenced his later career, +and led him to the extreme courses so bitterly condemned by many of his old +colleagues and adherents. At the same time it must be remembered that when, +nearly thirty years later, a Radical measure was brought forward for the +disestablishment of the Church in Wales, with the avowed intention of +advancing by it to the disestablishment of the Church of England, although +the great body of the Church, clergy and laity, vehemently denounced it as +antagonistic to the best interests of the Church and the country, there +were many of the extreme ritualistic section who openly favoured and +supported it, with freedom on their tongues and sacerdotalism in their +hearts. + +The Journal here has:-- + +Went to St. Leonard's with the Watneys for Good Friday (April 10th). On +Easter Sunday to Holland, with Circourt. Dined with Baudin, [Footnote: +The son of Charles Baudin, the distinguished admiral. Cf. _Les Gloires +Maritimes de France_, par Jurien de la Graviere.] the French minister at +the Hague. + +_April 13th_.--Spent the evening with the Queen of Holland at the Old +Palace. 14th, evening with the Queen. 16th, went on, by Utrecht, to Aix, +where Circourt and I remained ten days. Came home by Antwerp. + +_From Mr. Robert Lytton_ + +Madrid, April 29th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I must apologise for not having sooner thanked you for +your very kind letter of the 8th, which reached me just as I was starting +(paperless and penless) for Madrid. The cares of this world (in the shape +of house-hunting), quite unaccompanied by the deceitfulness of riches, +have, I am sorry to say, eaten up every hour of my time not otherwise +absorbed by official visits and presentations, &c., since we reached--a +week ago--this pretty, busy, but horribly hot and dear, town. + +I am really pained to think that your kind intention on behalf of my book +should already have been the occasion of so much trouble to you, dear Mr. +Reeve; and I can only say that I am all the more grateful to you for not +having altogether abandoned it. A notice in the 'Edinburgh' will at all +times be most valuable; and the more touches there may be in it from your +pen, the more valuable it will be. The notice in the 'Times' was indeed +very kindly written, and very kindly inserted, and I doubt not that it will +be very advantageous to the book in many ways. + +I am greatly and agreeably struck by the animation and showiness of +Madrid--after Lisbon, which is one of the dullest towns I ever saw. Life +at Lisbon is _en robe de chambre_; here it is all _en toilette_. Madrid is +like a pretty provincial who has been to Paris, and come back _mise a la +mode_, and with a decided taste for spending more money than she has at +her bankers'. The beauty of the women's faces, too, as you see them in the +streets, the Prado, and at the opera (for I have not yet seen the _beau +monde_ at home), is very agreeable. Pretty faces seem to be as plentiful +here as gold nuggets in the streets of Eldorado, when Candide saw them. + +The day after we got to Madrid, Narvaes died, and till yesterday he has +been lying in state and receiving the visits of a grateful public at all +hours of the day. Yesterday his body, _empaille_, was removed with due +honours to be buried in Andalusia. The story goes about the town that on +his deathbed his confessor, having told him to forgive his enemies, he +replied: 'I have none.' 'Impossible! A man who has been governing Spain so +long must have many.' 'But I assure you there is no man alive whom I even +suspect to be my enemy.' 'No enemies?' 'None; I have shot them all!' + +I sincerely hope that you will be able to visit Spain in the autumn. About +that time, if still here, I shall try to see Seville and the South. But my +plans are entirely dependent on Crampton's [Footnote: Sir John Crampton, +minister plenipotentiary at Madrid, retired from the public service on +July 1st, 1869.] movements; and I fear we shall have to pass the summer at +Madrid, which I rather dread on account of the children, who have already +caught feverish colds. With my wife's affectionate greetings, and my own +respects, to Mrs. Reeve, pray believe me to be yours very faithfully, + +R. LYTTON. + +The Journal records:-- + +_May 6th_.--Disraeli was in the chair at the Literary Fund dinner. [He +spoke--wrote Mrs. Reeve--with grace, and had a brilliant reception. I never +heard such cheering at any previous dinner. He has stormy nights in the +House of Commons, and how it will end is still uncertain; but his +wonderful tact and control of feature, voice, and language give him marked +advantage.] + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +York House, Twickenham, le 20 mai. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je ne puis resister au desir d'appeler votre +bienveillante attention sur le dernier numero de la 'Revue des deux +Mondes,' que je ne vous envoie pas, sachant que vous la recevez, ou notre +excellent ami X. Raymond a traite la question de l'eglise d'Irlande. + +Je veux en meme temps reclamer votre indulgence pour son travail, et vous +demander de ne pas vous etonner si vous n'y retrouvez ni la clarte de +style ni la variete de connaissances qui distinguent votre ami. Ne le lui +reprochez pas trop severement, car, s'il est coupable, ce n'est pas de +cela. + +Eleve dans le respect de la loi, je ne puis vous en dire davantage, et je +me bornerai a vous rappeler qu'il y a actuellement dans la loi francaise +deux articles, l'un interdisant aux exiles d'ecrire dans les journaux, +qui ne me permet pas de me presenter comme collaborateur de la 'Revue;' +l'autre, punissant les journaux qui publient des articles sous des +signatures autres que celle de l'auteur, qui ne me permet pas de vous en +dire davantage. + +Je termine en vous priant de me croire toujours + +Votre bien affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +_From the Dean of St. Paul's_ + +Deanery, St. Paul's, June 19th. + +My Dear Reeve,--Your article [Footnote: 'The National Church,' which +appeared in the _Edinburgh Review_ of July.] I think admirable. I have +ventured to make one or two verbal suggestions, but on the main of your +argument I am fully with you. There are only two points which I should +propose for your reconsideration. I do not quite see the bearing of your +argument about the Cardross case, and do not quite understand the decision +of the Scotch judges. [Footnote: The Free Church minister of Cardross had +been deposed by the Church Courts for drunkenness. He applied to the civil +court for redress, and was thereupon summarily ejected from the Free +Church. The Court of Session decided that the defenders--the Church +Courts--'are invested with no jurisdiction whatever, ecclesiastical or +civil.'] Surely every corporation, or, indeed, every club, has, and must +have, the power of excluding--excommunicating is only the theologian's term +for the same thing--any member who flagrantly violates its rules and first +principles. If a member of the Athenaeum were to get roaring drunk and +disturb the place, and endanger the character of the club, the committee or +a general meeting might eject him, though he would have some plea in his +vested right in the property of the club--the house, library, &c. If the +mistake in the Cardross case was that the culprit was ejected without +trial, that, I think, should be distinctly stated. If the flaw is that it +was done by the Church officers, without the general consent or sanction of +the Kirk, this also should be made clear. I rather demur to the division +of the ecclesiastical property now held by the Irish Church, according +strictly to the proportion of its members to the rest of the population. +Possession, and possession for three centuries, ought, I think, to be taken +into account. But this is a question rather of detail than of principle. +But the real difficulty you have stated fairly and clearly: On what terms, +and under what character, is the Protestant Church, when disestablished, +to hold the property--the churches, parsonages, &c.--which is to remain to +her? The Church must have a constitution--I do not see why not ratified by +Act of Parliament--by which the trustees which represent her will legally +hold that property. She must not be exposed in a few years to a Lady +Hewley's charity case. [Footnote: Sarah, Lady Hewley, at her death, in +1710, left landed property in trust for the support of 'poor and godly +preachers of Christ's holy Gospel.' The original trustees were all +Presbyterians; but in the course of a hundred years the trust had got into +the hands of Unitarians, and the case was brought to the notice of the +Charity Commissioners. After a prolonged litigation, it was finally decided +by the House of Lords (August 5th, 1842) that, by the terms of the bequest, +Unitarians were excluded from participating in the charity.] I suggested +to the Archbishop of Armagh--a good-natured, but not a very powerful, +man--that the Irish Church, when in one sense free, should yet retain, of +its own will, the advantages of the supremacy of the Crown and of the law. +She should take, as the fundamental tenet of her constitution, conformity +to the Articles and Formularies of the Church of England, which the +majority of the English hold, in their meaning and interpretation. On +this principle she might retain a jurisdiction, amenable to law, over her +members; her members be protected against episcopal tyranny, against that +which is now the great danger, parsonocracy, which I rejoice to find that +you repudiate as strongly as I or Stanley. Ever very truly yours, + +H. H. MILMAN. + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +_July 23rd_.--Many thanks for the copy of your article on the National +Church. I had begun to read it with great interest in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' not knowing that it was directly from your pen, and I shall now +continue the perusal with increased pleasure.... I will enclose with this, +in exchange for your paper, a copy of my speech on the Irish Church--a +Diomedean exchange; the value of ten oxen for a hundred. + +During all this spring Reeve had suffered a great deal from gout, so, by +the advice of Sir Henry Holland, who spoke strongly of the necessity of +change of air and of rest from all work and effort, he and his wife started +for the Continent on July 24th. Passing through Paris, and staying a few +days at Fontainebleau, they went on to Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne, and +to Royat, then newly come into vogue as a health resort. After about three +weeks of the baths and the mountain air, Reeve was so far recovered as to +be able to walk a little; and on August 18th they passed on to Geneva, +where they were joined by their friends the Watneys, with whom they went +on to Evian, and thence by the Valais to the Bel Alp, an hotel 7,000 feet +above the sea-level, commanding magnificent views. 'Christine,' wrote Reeve +in his Journal, 'went up the Sparrenhorn with Binet,' whilst, according +to Mrs. Reeve, 'Henry and Mrs. Watney, not being moveable bodies, sat at +windows and pooh-poohed the energetic use of legs.' From the Bel Alp, +Reeve, still very much of a cripple, 'was carried'--the expression is his +own--to Brieg. Thence, by the Furca, to Hospenthal and to Zurich, the falls +of the Rhine, Bale, and Paris, where they stayed a few days, and returned +to London on September 10th. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +_York House, July 26th_.--I had already seen the remarkable article which +you have just published in the 'Edinburgh Review,' when I received the copy +you so kindly thought of sending me, and which I shall keep as a souvenir +of the author. I hasten to thank you, and to tell you with what interest +I have read this study, so full of curious facts and remarkable +appreciations. If I was called on to decide the question in its entirety, +I should decline, in the first place as a Catholic. Indeed I cannot place +myself at the Protestant point of view so as to judge what services the +union of Church and State has rendered to the religious principles which +are the basis of the Protestant faith. And the lay system of the official +Church of England is so foreign to our ideas of religious authority that it +is difficult for us to be impartial towards it. Those who do not belong to +the Anglican Church are naturally tempted to attribute to this subjection +everything in her which, in their eyes, is error or change. I should also +decline as a Frenchman, for I confess that what troubles me most at the +present time is the relation between the Catholic Church and the State, +a relation which has been equally prejudicial to both, when founded on a +political union. + +But without trying to judge such a delicate question, which will be a +subject of controversy as long as the world is given up to the disputes of +man, I have found a real pleasure in seeing this clear explanation of the +principles which form the basis of a system whose adherents are so many and +so distinguished.... + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, August 2nd._--Lord Russell does not much like some parts of the +article on the Irish Church, and wishes to write five or six pages on the +subject for the November [Footnote: _Sic_ for October.] number; but +not feeling sure whether you would accept them, he has asked me to +inquire--which I hereby do. If you have not set out for Russia, [Footnote: +_Sc._ or other out-of-the-way place. It has been seen that, at the time, +Reeve was at Royal.] perhaps you will write him a line yourself, as I start +for Wiesbaden on Tuesday. + +As no note from Lord Russell appeared in the October number, it would seem +probable that Reeve did not encourage the idea. His own relations to Lord +Russell were not such as to prompt him to any undue complacence, and he was +at all times extremely averse from anything like a controversy either in +or about the 'Review.' It has happened to the present writer to have +statements or opinions put forward in his contributions to the 'Review' +called in question in the daily or weekly papers, and to have been +pointedly requested by the editor to take no notice of the hostile letters +or criticisms. As the articles were strictly anonymous, the responsibility, +of course, rested with the editor, who, probably for that very reason, was +strongly opposed to an early revelation of a writer's personality. + +The Journal notes visits to Farnborough and Denbigh, and some shooting at +Torry Hill; but the gout was still troublesome, and in October Reeve and +his wife went into Cornwall, where, after a week's visit to Lady Molesworth +at Pencarrow, they went to Penzance, to the Land's End and the Logan +Stone--on to which Mrs. Reeve clambered--and thence to Falmouth and +Torquay, where they met the Queen of Holland and Prince Napoleon, with whom +they spent two evenings. 'Her Majesty,' wrote Mrs. Reeve on November +4th, 'is a clever, original woman, speaking four tongues perfectly well, +conversant with literature and politics, and finding in them consolation +for an uncongenial family.' The sittings of the Judicial Committee, which +began on November 10th, called Reeve back to town, where, on the 27th, he +had the sad news of the death of his old friend Colonel Ferguson of Raith, +and, for the last three years, of Novar. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +Grosvenor Crescent, November 13th. + +My dear Reeve,--The Queen of Holland has proposed to dine here in the +unfurnished cupboard where we have our frugal repasts, on Monday next at +eight. We have no servants, plate, or usual appurtenances, and only six can +be crammed into the locale. Will you be one of them? and will Mrs. Reeve +excuse us for asking you alone on account of our no room? Please let me +have an answer as soon as you can. + +Ever yours truly, + +CLARENDON. + +_Endorsed_--The dinner consisted of the Queen, Cockburn, Seymour, and self. + +From the Bishop of Lincoln [Footnote: Christopher Wordsworth. Cf. _ante,_ +vol. i. pp. 31, 68. VOL. II.] + +November 21st. + +My dear Reeve,--It is very good of you to write as you do concerning my +promotion. I should indeed have been well content to remain in the peaceful +harbour of Westminster for the remainder of my days, instead of putting out +to sea in a rather weather-beaten bark in stormy weather. But such kind +words as yours encourage me to hope that, if I am wrecked in the storm, I +may be picked up by some friendly vessel and brought to land again. I have, +my dear friend, your congratulations, and let me have also your prayers. I +am, my dear Reeve, + +Yours sincerely, + +CHR. WORDSWORTH. [Footnote: He had not yet adopted the episcopal +signature.] + +I send you three pamphlets. Do not think me troublesome, but you ought +really to take up (pardon me for saying so) the question of the approaching +great Roman Council, which will probably affirm the personal infallibility +of the Pope, and be fraught with the most important results to Europe, +political as well as ecclesiastical. + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +Windsor Castle, November 29th. + +My dear Reeve,--I send you in a separate cover my notes of a judgement in +Rugg _v._ Bishop of W. for printing and circulation; and I enclose in this +a letter which I have had from Lord Westbury, which is in accordance with +the judgement as it stands, but which it would perhaps be best to put in +print and circulate along with the judgement. I hope in a week or ten days +to have Mackonochie ready--that is, if I am not smothered in the meantime +by the books and pamphlets which the Ritualists daily shower upon me. + +Yours faithfully, CAIRNS. + +As the general election had left his party in a minority of about 130, +Disraeli resigned on December 4th, and Mr. Gladstone, who had put the +disestablishment of the Irish Church prominently before the electors, +formed a ministry which was from the beginning pledged to the measure. It +was known that this would meet with no support from Lord Westbury, so that +he was necessarily 'left out in the cold,' not without some misgivings as +to what a man so cunning in fence might say or write when his opinions were +sharpened by a sense of personal injury. To Lord Westbury, however, +the slight was lost in his wrath at the barefaced avowal of a plan of +spoliation; and, without taking the trouble to date his letter, he wrote:-- + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +[_December_].--These written judgements are a great bore. I imagine +(no doubt from vanity) that, at the end of the argument, I could have +pronounced _viva voce_ a much more effective and convincing judgement than +that which I have written. The _vis animi_ evaporates during the slow +process of writing; the conception fades and the expression becomes feeble. +What we shall do with the other case of Mackonochie I dread to think. I +wish we had knocked it off while the iron was hot, as we used to do +the running down cases. There is no chance of a decision this side of +Christmas. + +I have come up to town on some private matters, and have not the least +notion of mingling in any political matters. In fact, I gave my people to +understand so clearly last session that I would reject with abhorrence +any measure that embodied these two wicked things--l. Stripping the Irish +Church of its property to convert it to secular uses, which is robbery; 2. +Destroying episcopacy in, and the Queen's supremacy over, the Established +Church in Ireland, which is a wanton, unnecessary, and most mischievous +act--that of course I could not expect any communication from them. + +The weakness of the Government in its legal staff in the House of Commons +will be very great, but the opposition will be weaker. It cannot be +expected that Palmer [Footnote: Sir Roundell Palmer, afterwards Earl of +Selborne, had been successively Solicitor--and Attorney-General during the +whole of the Liberal Administration 1859-66; but on the formation of Mr. +Gladstone's Government declined the Great Seal with a peerage, on account +of his disapproval of the proposed disestablishment and disendowment of the +Irish Church. Notwithstanding Lord Westbury's forecast, he did speak very +strongly against the Bill on the second reading (March 22nd, 1869), voted +with the minority against it, and took an active part against it in the +Committee.] will take a very active part in opposition. Then what lawyer +have they? But in the House of Lords I hope the principles of English law +and of political expediency will be abundantly illustrated and explained, +and shown to be in direct opposition to the Government's destructive and +revolutionary measure; and if this be done, as the people of England are a +law-loving and law-abiding people, there may be a great reaction in public +feeling. And what will Wood be able to do against those opposed to him? + +What a Cabinet! 'Misery,' says Trinculo, 'makes one acquainted with strange +bedfellows'--so, it seems, does unlooked-for prosperity. Only fancy +Granville, Clarendon, and the rest, pigging heads and tails with John +Bright in the same truckle bed! I am very thankful that I have an +opportunity of conversing in quiet with philosophers and poets at Hinton. + +The following, written in a feminine hand on a half-sheet of note-paper, +belongs to this time. It is endorsed by Reeve--'Lord Derby's acrostic on +Gladstone;' but it does not appear whether the attributing it to Lord Derby +was on positive knowledge or on mere current gossip. The name of the author +was certainly not generally known. + + G was a Genius and mountain of mind; + L a Logician expert and refined; + A an Adept at rhetorical art; + D was the Dark spot that lurked in his heart; + S was the Subtlety that led him astray; + T was the Truth that he bartered away; + O was the Cypher his conscience became; + N was the New-light that lit up the same; + E was the Evil-One shouting for joy,-- + 'Down with it! down with it! Gladstone, my boy! + +[Footnote: Another, slightly different, edition of this acrostic, with the +answer to it from the Radical point of view, is given in Sir M. E. Grant +Duff's _Notes from a Diary,_ 1873-81, vol. i. p. 126.] + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +_December 7th_--Putting aside the well-regulated party feeling which we +ought all to endeavour to cultivate, the sensation of a period of repose +after twenty-five years of hardish work is, to me, so novel and agreeable +that I fear I do not look on my exit from office [Footnote: On the fall of +Disraeli's ministry.] with the solicitude that I ought. But I do not the +less appreciate the kind sentiments in your note, and I can safely say that +upon the Judicial Committee, whether as Chancellor or as Lord Justice, +it has been a very great pleasure to me to co-operate with anyone whose +anxiety and efforts for the efficiency of the tribunal, and whose ability +to contribute to that end, are as great as yours. + +I am most desirous that the two ecclesiastical judgements should be given +before Christmas, as I may be absent for some weeks after that day. I hope +to send you my draft in Mackonochie on Wednesday, and I will beg you to +print and circulate it as soon as possible. I wish I could have done it +sooner; but it is _magnum opus et difficile_, and I have had judgements in +chancery and other work on hand, and in this I felt obliged to trust to no +amanuensis. + +The following letter is from the widow of Sir James Smith, the botanist +(_d_. 1828), and at this time in her ninety-sixth year. By her maiden name +she was Pleasance Reeve, an old family friend, but not a relation of +her namesake. Her letters are not less remarkable for the clearness and +strength of the writing, than they are for the vigour of the thought and +the lucidity of the expression. Five years later, just as she had completed +her one hundredth year, Reeve and his daughter paid her a visit at +Lowestoft, which is recorded on a later page. [Footnote: See _post_, p. +215.] + +_Lowestoft, December 16th_--Surely, dear Mr. Reeve, this is not the first +time you have inquired of me concerning Lowestoft china? Either you, or Dr. +Hooker it might be; whichever it was, I sent him all that I knew about it, +and that all is very little, for I am one of the sceptics, and have been +filled with doubt and surprise at the reports I have heard. But I am told +I am quite mistaken, and that it surely had arrived at a great state of +perfection; that foreign artists had been employed; and that, if what is +shown is not Lowestoft china, what other is it? For there is a peculiarity +in it which those acquainted with [it] know at first sight, and which +is totally different from Chelsea, or Derby, or Worcestershire, or +Staffordshire. This I admit. One peculiarity Mr. S. Martin observed. The +bottoms of the saucers have very slight undulations, looking, as he said, +like a ribbon that requires ironing to be perfectly flat and smooth. This, +when he showed me, I also noticed; and, I must add, I have seen the same in +real Chinese china; but he told me he could distinguish better, and that it +was not the same. Also, there is a uniformity in certain little flowers +and roses which is seen in no others. The shapes are good, and as the +manufacture advanced the painting was improved; armorial bearings were +represented, and gilding. + +S. Martin, who could send you a much more perfect account than I can, +always calls on an old woman--the widow of Rose, a painter--who recollects +their melting guineas for gold to gild with. She, perhaps, is dead now, for +when he last called she was bedrid, and nearly insensible. I recommend you +to ask of Mr. S. Martin, Liverpool, who, I am sure, would give you much +information I cannot. + +What I do know I will tell as well as I can--That in my early youth there +was a manufactory; that I often went and _saw_ Mr. Allen dab a piece of +white clay on a wheel, and, with his foot turning the wheel, with his +right hand he formed a handsome basin or cup in a minute or two. The china +basins, cups, saucers, pots, jugs--everything was made here, painted here, +by poor sickly looking boys and girls, for it was a very unwholesome +trade--baked here; and they had a shop in London, which, I suppose, +took off the bulk of their manufactured articles. I remember the great +water-wheel which ground the clay--a fearful monster, sublime, I must say, +for it 'hid its limits in its greatness;' but the beautiful lake that +supplied it with water, and was covered with water-lilies, was one of my +favourite resorts. + +Gillingwater [Footnote: _Historical Account of the Ancient Town of +Lowestoft_ (1790).] tells us that Mr. Hewling Luson found the clay on his +estate in 1756, made experiments, was defeated; other persons took it up, +and were also hindered through jealousy; another trial proved unsuccessful, +but repeated efforts succeeded, and the manufacture began, and went on till +about the end of the century, or early in 1800, when my brother bought a +few articles at the final sale by way of remembrance, but these, though +pretty, are by no means the choicest specimens. A man in the town has a +whole dinner service, with, I think, ducal bearings; and only last summer +Mr. Bohn [Footnote: Henry George Bohn, the well-known publisher, and almost +equally well-known collector of articles of vertu.] gave 5 L to an old +man for one little cup, which the poor fellow intended as a legacy to his +daughter, and he unwillingly sold it; but 5 L bribed him--or it might be +more; the original price was probably 4_d_. or 6_d_. at most. + +Pray, dear Mr. Reeve, take no trouble to correct the name in Mrs. +Palliser's book of pottery. I never was a patroness of the Lowestoft china, +know but little about it, and do not wish my name to appear as being in +any other way connected with it than as being an inhabitant of the same +town.--I am, dear Mr. Reeve, yours faithfully, + +P. SMITH. + +And the Journal winds up the year with-- + +_December 31st_--To Hinton St. George, on a visit to Lord Westbury. + +1869. The year opened at Hinton, shooting with Lord Westbury. Montague +Smith was there. Nothing ever amused me more than Lord Westbury's society, +and I became intimate with him. He was a strange mixture of intellectual +power and moral weakness, and his peculiar mode of speaking was at once +precise, pertinent, and comical. He had hired Hinton from Lord Paulet, and +lived there with a host of children and grandchildren. On Sundays all dined +together--I think, thirty-two of them. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Woodnorton_, 16 _janvier_.--... Nous aurons une passable chasse a tir le +jour sacramental du lr fevrier. Voulez-vous en etre? L'ennui est que +c'est un lundi, et que le train du dimanche est d'une lenteur fabuleuse. +Voulez-vous venir diner et coucher ici samedi 30, ou dimanche 31? + +H. D'O. + +From a later note of the Duke's, it appears that Reeve was unable to accept +the invitation to the _passable chasse,_ which he would have enjoyed, +especially as after four years there was no longer a question of the 'loose +box' or the 'kitchen dresser.' + +The next letter, from Lord Westbury, is in evident answer to one from +Reeve about Lord Campbell's 'Lives of Lyndhurst and Brougham,' then newly +published, of which a very severe--not, it was thought, too severe--article +appeared in the 'Review' for April. The article was not by Reeve; but we +may fairly suppose that he--to some extent, at least--inspired it; and +that--also to some extent--the inspiration was supplied by Lord Westbury. + +_Hinton St. George, January 24th_--I wish you were here for two or three +days' shooting before the season closes, as the weather is so mild and +beautiful, and I hear that in London it is miserably cold. So tell Mrs. +Reeve that her Zomerzet is a favoured county after all. + +As to what you say about the book, I remember a celebrated dinner at the +Temple, to which I invited Lyndhurst, Brougham, Campbell, and Charlie +Wetherell, when the latter warned Lyndhurst and Brougham of Campbell's +design, in terms almost prophetic of what has occurred. 'My biographical +friend will excel in exhibiting every little foible; _Hunc tu Romane +caveto_.' I cannot describe the whole scene to you, but will some day _viva +voce_. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Woodnorton, January 31st. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--An absence at Badminton, where I struggled for a few +hours' sport, first with the frost and then with hurricanes, has prevented +me from sooner answering your letter of the 26th. + +I have searched the archives at Monte Cassino very minutely; I do not know +those of La Cava, which have the reputation of being very curious, but +more local and of less general interest than those of Monte Cassino. +The Cassinesi had a printing press, to which we owe many beautiful +publications, some unpublished sermons of St. Augustine's, several works by +the eloquent and learned Father Tosti, &c. They had prepared an edition of +an unpublished Commentary on Dante, and also of the valuable correspondence +of Mabillon, Montfaucon, and other clerics of the Congregation of St. Maur, +when, in consequence of the events of 1848, their printing presses were +sequestrated. At that time they were suspected of Liberalism. Now, when +secularisation has replaced sequestration, it seems to me that the Italian +Government ought to continue the literary and archaeological work of the +monks, as it has substituted itself in their proprietary rights; just as, +after the French Revolution, the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres +carried on the immense work of the clerics of the Congregation de St.-Maur. + +This is my first impulse on reading M. de Circourt's letter. However, we +will speak of it further when I have the pleasure of seeing you again, +which I hope will be soon. _Mille amities._ + +H. D'ORLEANS + +The Journal notes:-- + +In London the usual dinners. Dined at Mr. Gladstone's on February 1st. This +was the first dinner he gave after becoming Prime Minister. There were +present Lord Lansdowne, Clarendon, Hammond, Northbrook, Helps, Kinnaird, +Doyle, Hamilton, and Salomons [Footnote: Created a baronet on October 26th +of the same year.]--an odd party. He received us in the hall. + +_April 9th_--To Paris. 10th, at the Institute; saw Guizot, Mignet, +St.-Hilaire, Wolowski, Chevalier, &c., there. 18th, Chapel at the +Tuileries; saw the Emperor there--I think for the last time. 20th, went to +La Celle, [Footnote: La Celle St.-Cloud, about four miles from Versailles, +where M. de Circourt lived throughout the evening of his life.] and spent +some days there with Circourt. ['Henry,' wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'enjoyed his +days in the country with M. de Circourt vastly. We thought it unreasonable +to go all three, and a maid, to his small house; so Hopie and I careered +about the streets, went to a play, and to a dance at the Chinese +Embassy!--not very Chinese, as the minister is American, so also is his +wife, and the guests were mostly his country-folk.'] + +_23rd--Dined at M. Guizot's. 25th_--Dined with Thiers, and met Mignet, +St.-Hilaire, Duvergier, and Remusat. + +The Royal Academy Exhibition took place for the first time in Burlington +House. I dined with the R.A.s at Pender's. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, May 13th_--I took up my summer quarters here a week ago, +leaving the fifth volume of my 'Memoires' in Paris, ready printed and on +the eve of publication. You will receive it next week. It deals entirely +with my embassy to England in 1840. I am anxious to know what will be +said of it in England; it will be very kind of you to supply me with the +information. You know that I love and honour England sufficiently always +to say what I think of her; and what she thinks of me concerns me closely, +whether our opinions are or are not the same. + +I have found many letters and conversations of yours for 1840. But it was +more especially after this, and during the first year of my ministry, +that you helped me so effectively in preserving peace and re-establishing +friendly relations between our two countries. I hope you will not object to +my saying so.... + +The Journal mentions:-- + +_May 22nd._--Visit to Tom Baring's, at Norman Court. [Mr. Baring--wrote +Mrs. Reeve--is the head of the house of Baring Brothers; an elderly +gentleman and a bachelor, very simple, but very kindly. The house is not +large for the park and property, which is, all together, about 7,000 acres; +but pictures and china are renowned; so is the cooking; and, with such +wealth as is at our host's command, all the details are in perfection. +In the park there are many fine beech and other trees, and the yew grows +wonderfully, contrasting its dark tint with the soft, white may. On the +slope of the hill, about three miles off, grow service-trees and juniper; +and, from the ridge, one sees across the New Forest to the Solent and the +Isle of Wight.] + +_June 4th_--Went to Windsor to see Mr. Woodward and the Queen's library. +Then to Farnborough for the Ascot week. + +_July 2nd._--Watney's water-party to Medmenham Abbey, where we were all +photographed. + +_13th_--Lucy Duff Gordon died at Cairo. Alexander asked me to write an +epitaph, which was put up there. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, July 14th_--When your letter of the 8th arrived I was on the +point of writing to ask you to tell me what is the best History of England +from the accession of Queen Anne to that of Queen Victoria. I have the +'Pictorial History of England,' Lord Stanhope's 'Eighteenth Century,' and +Mr. Alison's big volumes on the recent revolutionary times. These do not +satisfy me; I do not want political or moral appreciations. What I should +like would be a book in which all the events of any importance are related +in chronological order. I particularly hold to knowing the correct dates. +It is only on this condition that history can be materially known and +morally understood. It will be very kind of you to give me the information +I want. I amuse myself by relating to my grandchildren, at one time, the +history of France, at another, the history of England. They take great +interest in it. I want them to know both correctly, and understand them +well. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_July 16th_.--Met the Duke of Leinster at Robartes' at dinner. He had made +a capital speech in the House of Lords a few days before, which I heard. It +lasted only three minutes; but it stated these facts:--That he had given +land and houses, with complete success, to priests, Presbyterians, and +Episcopalians; that all were grateful, and they lived happily together. + +He afterwards told me, at this dinner, that he had not given the houses and +glebes to any ecclesiastical persons, but to certain lay members of each +congregation, in trust for their respective ministers. This was exactly +what I had suggested some little time before. The Duke said that, having +called one day to inquire for a very old Catholic priest living in one +of these houses, while he was sitting by his bedside, the Episcopalian +clergyman came into the room for the same purpose. + +_Sunday, 18th_.--Dinner at Lord Granville's. I had not dined with him for +some years--since his marriage. The room was rather dark when I went in. +Lord Granville said something, as I understood, about a foreign countess to +whom he presented me, but I did not catch her name, and concluded she was +some Italian relative of the Marochettis. Lady Granville did not appear, +being unwell; and Lady Ailesbury, the only other lady present, did the +honours. The party consisted of the Duc de Richelieu (whom I had met the +night before at the Clarendons'), the Duca di Ripalta, Lord Clanwilliam, +Lord Tankerville, Baron Brunnow, Count Strogonoff, Chief Justice Cockburn, +and myself. + +Upon sitting down at table I found myself between the Duc de Richelieu and +Lord Clanwilliam, and one removed from the foreign lady, who turned out +to be H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia. Strogonoff is the man she +married three years after her first husband's death--but she had to wait +till Nicholas died too. When Nicholas first observed his daughter's +preference for the young officer, he took him by the arm and pointed out +from the window the view of Fort George. Strogonoff thought the Emperor's +manner strange, but did not take the hint till his brother officers +reminded him that Fort George is a State prison; so there was no more +love-making till after the Tsar's death. + +The Princess is at this time fifty, still extremely handsome, with a long +string of enormous pearls round her neck. Nothing could be more lively and +agreeable. She first carried on a contest with my neighbour, the Duc, about +the Emperor Napoleon; said he was only _trop bon_, and lauded him to the +skies. The Duc came out as the pure Legitimist, though he said his own +party had not a shadow of a chance; that the Emperor had been going down +ever since the fatal Italian campaign; that there were no Orleanists in +France, and that the Duc d'Aumale was conspiring against the Comte de +Paris, &c. &c.--a tissue of absurdity. Then, _sotto voce_ to me, 'Je +voudrais bien jouir davantage de votre societe, mais vous voyez comme +je suis place' (i.e. next the Princess). 'Tres conservative dans mes +principes, je n'aime pas les princes. Il faut vivre avec ses egaux.' He +said this twice. The second time I replied, 'Monsieur, cela est bon pour +les ducs--mais nous autres?' + +'Ah! sous ce rapport je ne fais aucune distinction. Hors des princes, tout +est egal.' + +A good deal of conversation about the Irish Church Bill which is just now +in the crisis of the Lords' amendments. H.I.H. asked me my opinion. I +replied that they were now disputing about nothing at all--i.e. the +application of a surplus which will not exist for many years. Brunnow said +he was of the same opinion. + +Lord Clanwilliam and I had a great deal of talk. He had been with Lord +Castlereagh at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818. Spoke a good deal +of Metternich, justly. When M. met Guizot in London after 1848, he +was struck by the motto G. had adopted--_via recta brevissima_. Lord +Clanwilliam said that the shortest way was also the best. 'Yes,' added +Metternich, 'and it has also the advantage that on that path you don't meet +anybody'--'auf diesen Weg wird niemand begegnet.' + +Sitting upstairs after this dinner I had a curious conversation with +Brunnow and Lord Granville on the causes of the Crimean War. They agreed +that had either Aberdeen or Palmerston been in power alone, the war would +have been prevented; but that the combination of the two rendered it +inevitable. + +Brunnow said that there was, at one moment, a period of about ten days +during which the war might have been prevented, if Lord Granville had been +sent off on a special mission to St. Petersburg, but the Cabinet refused; +and then came Sinope. He declared that he had always told the Emperor that +Aberdeen, though averse to war, had not the power to prevent it; and in +proof of his own sincerity he caused a million of Russian money which was +in the Bank of England to be removed, as early as September 1853, though +this was against the opinion of Nesselrode. + +After his return to England on the peace, Lord Aberdeen said to him, +with great emotion, 'I never deceived you, my dear Brunnow.' To which B. +replied: 'No; my dear lord, you never did.' He said that at Paris in 1856 +Walewski had at once told him that the Emperor Napoleon was resolved to +have peace. + +It was a most pleasant and curious evening, and everyone went away in good +humour. + +_25th_--Went to Aix with Helen Richardson. Over to Cologne and Kreuznach +with the Watneys and Boothbys. Dined with Goldsmid at Bonn. Saw Professor +Sybel there. + +The following letter, on a subject in which Mrs. Oliphant took much +interest, was addressed to Reeve rather in his editorial than his personal +capacity. The two were very well acquainted, but do not seem to have +corresponded in ordinary course. + +Dunkerque, August 14th. + +Dear Sir,--You will, I have no doubt, think it extremely womanish and +unreasonable on my part to have proposed writing a paper on such a +much-discussed subject as Mr. Mill's book, without indicating the manner in +which I should treat it; but my object was, first, to know whether it was +open, and if you would be disposed, other things harmonising, to entrust it +to me. I will not say, as was my first impulse, that your own intention of +taking up the subject is quite sufficient answer for me; for, of course, +you are the best judge in that respect, and I am really anxious to have +an opportunity of saying my say, with gravity and pains, on a matter so +important. + +I entirely agree with you in your opinion of Mr. Mill's theory of marriage +and the relations between men and women. I think it is not only fallacious, +but a strangely superficial way of regarding a question which is made +only the more serious by the fact that a great deal of suffering and much +injustice result, not from arbitrary and removable causes, but from nature +herself, and those fundamental laws which no agitation can abrogate. + +My own idea is that woman is neither lesser man, nor the rival of man, but +a creature with her share of work so well defined and so untransferable, as +to make it impossible for her, whatsoever might be her gifts and training, +to compete with him on perfectly fair terms. There may or may not be +general inferiority of intellect--I have no theory on the subject; but +intellect, in my opinion, is not the matter in question. Could the burdens +of maternity be transferred, or could a class of female celibates be +instituted, legislation might be able to do everything for them. But beyond +this, I do not see how we can go, except in the case of such measures as +those you refer to for the protection of the property of married women, +which has already been anticipated by ordinary good sense and prudence, and +thus been proved as practicable as it is evidently needful. + +I am disposed to accept gratefully such safeguards of practical justice, +and also every possibility of improved education, though I put no great +faith in the results of the latter; the great difficulty in the case of +every female student being, in my opinion, not the want of power, or +perseverance, or energy, but the simple yet much more inexorable fact that +she is a woman, and liable, the moment she marries, to interruptions +and breaks in her life, which must infallibly weaken all her chances of +success. This is the line I should take in any paper on the subject; and +as few people could speak more fully from experience, I think perhaps my +contribution to the discussion--from within, as it were, and not from +without--might be worth having. Believe me, truly yours, + +M. O. W. OLIPHANT. + +And, on the lines here indicated, Mrs. Oliphant wrote the article on 'Mill +and the Subjection of Women' in the October number of the 'Review.' + +On August 24th, Reeve with his wife started for Scotland; but the grouse +had been nearly exterminated by the disease, the shooting was everywhere +very indifferent, and a month was passed in a number of friendly visits, of +which little trace is left beyond the bare names. On September 21st they +returned to London, where, in preparing for a contemplated journey to +Portugal, he had to arrange for the sittings of the Judicial Committee +immediately after his return. The following shows the kind of difficulty he +had to contend with:-- + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +_September 27th_--I am very sorry that I shall be unable to take part in +your sittings after Michaelmas Term. I have arranged to give up November to +that dreadful arbitration of the London, Chatham, and Dover, which, in a +weak moment, Salisbury and I undertook; and, after that, I go to Mentone, +where I have taken a house for the winter.... I should regret very much to +dissever myself from the sittings of the Judicial Committee, which I +have always found agreeable, both from the interesting character of the +business, and from the pleasant composition of the tribunal; and I hope in +next year to be able to afford more service than I have in this; but for +the next sitting I must not be reckoned on. I hope you will enjoy your run +to Portugal. + +This contemplated tour was, no doubt, mainly for the pleasure and interest +of visiting a country still unknown to him, but with a slight pretext of +business, as chairman of the Lusitanian Mining Company. A few days before +his departure he received the following from Lord Clarendon:-- + +_The Grove, October 3rd_--You will not find Murray at Lisbon, as he is +on leave; but a letter shall be written, and to Doria, the _charge +d'affaires_, to render you any service in his power. Do you want one to the +consul at Oporto? + +I am glad you approved what I said at Watford. I never dreamt of the speech +making a sensation, but it has; and as there was nothing remarkable in it, +it is a proof that people were looking for an assurance from somebody that +a policy of spoliation was not meditated. + +I can't say I got much good from Wiesbaden, where mental torpor, and not a +dozen red boxes per day, is required. + + * * * * * + +And so, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and armed with these letters +of introduction and 'a Foreign Office bag, more,' wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'to +give us importance, I suspect, than to convey despatches,' Reeve started as +soon as his work was cleared off and the October number of the 'Review' was +fairly out of his hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + + +For some reason best known to himself, Portugal is not a favourite +hunting-ground of the tourist; and the country--though almost at our door, +though bound to us by alliance in war and friendship in peace for more than +two hundred years, though possessing beautiful scenery and the grandest of +historical associations--remains comparatively unknown. So far as he was +concerned, Reeve had long wished to dispel this darkness, and the fact of +his being Chairman of the Lusitanian Mining Company gave him the desired +opportunity. His Journal of the tour is here, as on former occasions, +elaborated by extracts (in square brackets) from Mrs. Reeve's. + +_October 9th_--Started for Portugal on board the 'Douro' from Southampton. +Fine passage. Landed at Lisbon on October 13th. Hotel Braganca. Kindly +received by Pinto Basto. Excursion to Cintra on the 14th. + +_15th_.--Dined with Pinto Basto and met Fonseca. 16th, to Caldas. 17th, +to Alcobaca; then drove on to Batalha, and slept at Leiria. These great +monasteries, now deserted, with their architecture and their tombs, are of +the highest interest. + +_18th_.--From Leiria to Pombal, and thence by rail to Coimbra [armed with +letters of introduction from Count Lavradio, including one to the 'Rector +Magnificus,' described as 'homme aimable et fort instruit, surtout dans les +sciences physiques.'] + +[The buildings of the University are not remarkable either way. The Rector +received us very courteously; showed us himself the splendid view from the +tower, the Salle where degrees are conferred, and allowed us to peep into +a gallery and through a window to see the lecture-rooms; then, making his +bow, sent us with an attendant to the chapel, where we were joined by the +Professor of German, Herr Duerzen, clad in the ample cape or cloak and with +the black jelly-bag cap which is the academic costume. He took us to the +library, a large and striking saloon with carved and gilt pilasters and +galleries.... There are about 900 students, of whom a large proportion +comes from the Brazils. They look very picturesque in their floating +drapery and hanging headgear; but the cape must be always impeding the free +use of arms and legs, and the cap--now that its original use as a begging +purse has ceased--might well be exchanged for a 'sombrero.' Herr Duerzen +accompanied us to the Botanic Gardens, where his friend and countryman, +Goetze, showed us a splendid magnolia, Australian pines, and a great variety +of eucalypti.... We then drove to the entrance of the footway leading to +the Penedo da Saudade, a walk much affected by the Coimbrese. Then to the +Quinta da Santa Cruz, the summer residence of the monks. Truly they had +made them lordly pleasure-grounds, orange groves, hedges like tall walls +of arbor-vitae, terraces leading to fountains and cascades, azulejo-lined +benches surrounding marble floors, shaded by grand old laurels.... The +Quinta now belongs to a rich butter factor, who lets everything ornamental +go to wreck and ruin, or just clears it off for farm purposes.... The +butter factor's dogs came out barking and biting as we left the garden. +Henry made a timely retreat; the professor showed fight, and came off +second best, with his mantle torn. Then to the Church of Santa Cruz and to +the monastic buildings attached....] + +_20th_.--Coimbra to Mealhada, then to Luso, and walked to Busaco. Convent +of Busaco. Scene of battle. Rail to Estarreja [which we reached at 6 P.M. +A splendid full moon lighted our drive to Palhal. Mr. Cruikshank met us at +the station, and drove Henry in his dog-cart; Hopie and I, with our bags, +went in the _char-a-banc_ which had been procured from Aveiro. The distance +is about eight miles, seven of which are a gentle ascent, and then a steep +pitch down of one mile. Flags were flying in honour of the arrival of +the chairman of the 'Lusitanian Company,' and after dinner a display of +fireworks. Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank are a pleasing and intelligent young +Scotch couple. Three of their children are at Granja, a little bathing +village two or three stations further, and Mrs. Cruikshank and her eldest +little girl came back to receive us.] + +_21st_.--[The mine at Palhal yields copper ore; that of Carvalhal lead ore. +The Pinto Basto family have the concession of the mines, and own much +of the surface. From five to eight hundred persons are employed--all +Portuguese, except the three mining captains, the dresser of the ores, a +carpenter, and a blacksmith. The English colony consists of about thirty +souls; there is a school for the children, and on Sundays they meet for +Divine worship after the manner of Wesleyans. The wages of these Cornishmen +are eight, ten, twelve pounds a month, and there are very tidy houses +on the property, with a large cottage, or house, for the agent--Mr. +Cruikshank. The works are in the ravine below the house, and the Caima +furnishes ample water power.... Many women and girls are employed preparing +the ores, some of them remarkably good-looking.... Their wages are from two +to three shillings a week. The scenery--pine-clad hills, streams on the +hill-side, ravines, and burns--reminded one of Scotland; but oranges and +camellias in the gardens, arbutus, myrtle, laurustinus, cistus, all wild, +tell of a different climate.... We explored Palhal on Thursday, and +Carvalhal on Friday; Henry and Mr. Cruikshank going into details at the +works, whilst we went, with Mrs. Cruikshank, to call on the wives, visit +the school, &c.... On Friday evening we took the train at Estarreja, and so +to Oporto.] + +_25th_.--Adolph Pinto Basto [a nephew of our Lisbon friends] gave us an +entertainment in a boat on the Douro, and a collation at Avintes. Dinner at +the Crystal Palace, Oporto. + +_26th_.--Drove to Carvalho with Elles. + +_27th_.--Drove to Leca do Balio with Oswald Crawford, the consul. +Interesting Templars' church. + +_28th-30th_.--By rail from Oporto to Madrid, thirty-six hours by Badajos, +Merida, Alcazar. + +_31st_.--Madrid. Gallery. Bull-fight for the benefit of 'El Tato.' [We +had seen him at Valencia, nine years ago, in the pride and bloom of his +career--a career cut short not so much by the fury of the bull as by +the ignorance of the surgeon. Presently the chief door of the arena was +unbarred, and an open carriage, with three men in the dress of matadors and +'El Tato' in the 'plain clothes' of a peasant drove round. Great was the +sensation. The men shouted, the women wept, the old lady at my elbow shed +floods of tears; cigars and hats were flung to him; he bowed, kissed his +hand, wiped his eyes. Then the regular work of the day commenced.] Very +cold. + +_November 2nd_.--Left Madrid for Avila, passing the Escorial. + +_3rd_.--Avila and then on to Burgos. + +_4th_.--Burgos. Cathedral. Monuments. + +_5th_.--Reached Biarritz at 10 P.M., and so to Paris. + +_8th_.--Paris. Saw Descles in 'Frou-frou.' Great actress. + +Home on the 9th. A well-spent month. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +York House, le 11 novembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Mon oncle Aumale et moi nous vous remercions des +paquets que vous nous avez envoyes ce matin; mon oncle me charge de vous +dire qu'il n'a pu vous ecrire aujourd'hui, etant fort occupe des soins a +donner a la Duchesse d'Aumale, qui est toujours dans un etat assez grave, +mais que vous lui ferez grand plaisir si vous voulez venir passer au +Woodnorton la semaine du 22 au 29 novembre; il y aura quelques chasses a +tir. + +Je viens de mon cote vous demander de nous faire le plaisir de venir, avec +Madame et Mademoiselle Reeve, dejeuner ici dimanche prochain a midi et +demie; c'est le seul jour ou je puisse vous voir, car je pars lundi matin +pour le Worcestershire. + +Veuillez me croire votre bien affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +As to which the Journal has:-- + +_November 14th_.--Breakfasted at York House. The Duc d'Aumale came, but the +Duchesse was ill, and on December 6th she died. + +The Comte de Paris telegraphed the news to Reeve the same evening, and +wrote the next day asking him to charge himself with sending a little +notice of it to the principal newspapers--a thing Reeve readily undertook +to do. Before receiving the request, he had already written expressing +his wish to attend the funeral, and the Comte de Paris acknowledged both +letters at the same time. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +York House, le 7 decembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de vos deux +lettres et de la maniere dont vous avez repondu a ma demande. + +Mon oncle Aumale est bien touche de l'intention que vous exprimez de venir +vous associer a sa douleur le jour des funerailles de ma tante. Elles son +fixees a vendredi prochain. La premiere ceremonie aura lieu a Orleans House +a 9-1/2h du matin, apres quoi nous conduirons le corps a Weybridge, pour le +deposer dans le caveau de famille. Nous y serons vers midi, ou peut-etre un +peu plus tard, car il est difficile de calculer tres exactement l'arrivee +de ce triste convoi. Ce ne sera en tous cas pas avant midi. + +Je termine en vous priant de me croire + +Votre bien affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS + +'I attended her funeral on the 10th'--Reeve noted in his Journal--'and went +in an immense procession from Twickenham to Weybridge.' + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, November 21st_.--I never had any taste for travelling. I would +willingly go a hundred miles for an hour's conversation with such or such a +person; but the miles themselves have little interest for me. However, +your tour in Portugal, as you describe it, would have tempted me. I like a +country which is different from all others. Still, I am quite sure that, +after having amused yourself in Portugal, you are very glad to be back in +England.... + +Lord Clarendon may be quite easy; no difficulty affecting his department +will come from here. Country and Government are equally inclined to peace. +As to our home affairs, which alone have any interest just now, I am a +little sad, but not uneasy. We are returning--quietly, ignorantly, and with +tottering steps--into the right path, the parliamentary system. The country +is coming back to it. The Emperor does not, and will not, offer any serious +resistance to it. We shall make blunders, both in our procedure and +debates, but shall, nevertheless, make sensible progress. What we are in +want of is the men. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_Hinton St. George, November 25th._--Mrs. Reeve, when I had the pleasure of +seeing her at Hinton, gave me an assurance that I should not be troubled +this year with any request to attend the Privy Council. Your letter, +therefore, is an act of _gross domestic insubordination_--a kind of petty +treason. Formerly it was the act of the husband that bound the wife; _mais +nous avons change tout cela_; the act of the wife binds the husband. I +appeal unto Caesar. It is very easy for Lord Chelmsford and yourself, who +have your town houses in order, your servants, horses, carriages, and whole +establishments, not omitting the _placens uxor_, to talk of the 'patriotic +duty' of attending the Privy Council--having nothing else to do, and +wanting amusement; but my house is thoroughly dismantled, having been under +repair; I have not a room to sit down in with comfort, nor servants to +attend to me, nor a cook to cook my dinner, nor any of those _solatia_ or +_solamina_ which you have in profusion. Yet you, with great unconcern, +desire me to quit my family, and all my amusements and enjoyments, that I +may come to town to endure complete wretchedness, and have a bad dinner +and an indigestion everyday, _ut plebi placeam et declamatio fiam_. If +you think this reasonable and right, I am sure you have left all sense of +reasonableness in Lusitania. Besides, have you not a plethora of judicial +wealth and power? Have you not the Lord Justice, who has little else to do; +and the Admiralty Judge; and that great Adminiculum, the learned and pious +man whom, _honoris causa_, I call Holy Joe? [Footnote: Probably sir Joseph +Napier, nominated to a place on the Judicial Committee by Disraeli in March +1868.] But to speak more gravely. Had I had the least conception that I +should have been wanted--that is, _really_ wanted--I would have made other +arrangements than I have done.... We shall now have a house full of people +until December 20th, and I cannot, without much offence, relieve myself +from these deferred engagements. A little while ago I was thrown out of my +shooting-cart; I injured my arm, which has brought on rheumatism, and I am +not in a condition to come up to a solitary and dismantled house in London +without anything requisite for the comfort of an old man. On January 20th, +until the beginning of appeals in the Lords, I will, if you need it, sit +and dispose of all the colonial and admiralty appeals. When will you come +down and shoot? + +_To Lord Derby_ + +62 Rutland Gate, December 19th. + +My dear Lord Derby, [Footnote: For some years Reeve had known him as Lord +Stanley. He had succeeded to the title on October 23rd.]--I cannot without +emotion address you by your present name. Although I never had the honour +of much personal acquaintance with your father, he has been, for the last +thirty years, an object of familiar interest even to those with whom he was +not familiar. His high spirit, his splendid eloquence, his public services, +have endeared him to thousands whom he hardly knew, and caused them to +share the feelings with which you, in a far higher degree, must regard this +great loss. I have no doubt, however, that you will support and increase +the honour of a name so illustrious, and I know no one more fit to bear +it.... Mrs. Reeve begs to join with me in again presenting to you our very +sincere regards, and I remain, + +Very faithfully yours, + +HENRY REEVE. + +Of social engagements, the Journal mentions-- + +To Farnborough for Christmas, and thence to Timsbury till the end of the +year. I called at Broadlands, now occupied by the Cowper Temples. + +_January 5th_, 1870.--To Hinton. Vice-Chancellor Stuart there. Lord +Westbury very amusing. Shooting every day. In Cudworth covers killed 192 +head. + +The following letter from M. Guizot refers to an incident which caused a +tremendous sensation at the time, and--judged by the later events--may +be considered as a portent of the downfall of the Empire. Prince Pierre +Bonaparte had challenged M. Henri Rochefort, the editor of a violent +Republican journal which had published a scurrilous and abusive article. +M. Grousset, the writer of the article, took the responsibility, and, on +January 10th, sent his friends, Victor Noir and Ulric Fonvielle, to wait on +the Prince at his house in the Rue d'Auteuil. The Prince said his challenge +was to M. Rochefort; to M. Grousset he had nothing to say. A quarrel and a +free fight followed. Each man drew his revolver, and Victor Noir, mortally +wounded, broke out of the room, staggered into the street, and fell dead. +Fonvielle escaped uninjured. He and the Prince were the only witnesses of +what took place, and their stories directly contradicted each other. The +Prince was tried on a charge of murder, but was acquitted. On a civil trial +he was sentenced to pay 1,000 L damages to the father of Victor Noir, as +compensation for the loss of his son's services. + +_Val Richer, January 12th_.--I do not yet rightly understand the tragic +incident at Auteuil. I am inclined to think that Prince Pierre Bonaparte +was threatened and assaulted before using his revolver; the probabilities +are that he acted in self-defence. The trial will be curious. In any case, +it is a great misfortune for the Imperial Government, more so than for the +new Cabinet, which will certainly not be wanting in courage, and will be +supported by whoever is anxious to practise 'economy of revolution,' as a +friend of mine says. + +I have friends in this Cabinet, honourable, liberal-minded, and sensible +men. Will a leader be found among them? We shall see. Hitherto organisation +has been everywhere wanting; in the Legislative Body, as in the Cabinet. I +see no reason to change the opinion I formed some time since, and perhaps +already mentioned to you; I am sad, rather than uneasy, for the future of +my country. She will not fall into the abyss; but, for want of political +foresight and firmness, will allow herself to be dragged along the edge of +it. Men's minds and characters are narrowed rather than corrupted. + +In connexion with which the Journal has:-- + +_January 16th_.--Dined at Lord Granville's, with Lavalette, the new French +ambassador. The Emperor had just formed a more liberal ministry, with Daru +and Ollivier, which soon broke down owing to Buffet's _entetement_. + +_26th_.--Dinner at Clarendon's, to meet the Queen of Holland. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Paris, January 31st_.--I have just read the article on Calvin with a real +and lively satisfaction, complete, so far as I am concerned; I am very +grateful to Mr. Cunningham (I think that is the author's name) for his kind +words, and for his sympathy with my description of Calvin and his time. Be +so good as to thank him for me; it is a pleasure to be so well understood +and set forth. As to Calvin, Mr. Cunningham does full justice to his +merits; I ask a little more indulgence for his faults, which belonged to +the time quite as much as to the man. Very few, even among superior men, +admitted the rights of conscience and liberty. Marnix de Ste.-Aldegonde +bitterly reproached the hero of the Reformation, William the Silent, with +tolerating Catholics in Holland. Melanchthon unreservedly approved of +the burning of Servetus. Catholic Europe was covered with stakes for the +Protestants, and, if Servetus had had the upper hand, I doubt if Calvin +would have received from him any better treatment than he received from +Calvin. I do not on that account detest the burning of Servetus any the +less; but I do not count it as a fault personal and peculiar to Calvin. In +every-day life and in systematic theology he ignored the rights of freedom. +The twofold error was enormous; but his policy and philosophy were equally +sincere, and, of all the eminent despots of history, he was, I think, one +of the least ambitious and most disinterested. He was almost forced into +power against his will, and he wielded it harshly, tyrannically, but +without seeking any personal gain, and he was still more severe to himself +than to those whom he treated so severely.... + +The Journal goes on:-- + +_March 5th_.--Visit to the Watneys, at Leamington, and to +Stratford-upon-Avon. Beautiful effect in the church, the organ playing +'Rest in the Lord.' + +_12th_.--Evening at Lady Cowley's, for Queen of Holland. + +Went to Isle of Wight with W. Wallace at Easter. The Bishop of Winchester +preached in Ventnor Church on April 24th (first Sunday after Easter). + +_From M. Gulzot_ + +_Paris, April 7th_.--... It is curious to watch France, and I am also +curious as to the possible consequences of what is happening in England. +France has never been so liberal and so anti-revolutionary at the same +time. England is making a thoroughly liberal reform in Ireland, and at the +same time a severe law of repression for the defence of order. I wish and +hope for your success in both. I also hope that our attempt at quiet and +liberal reform will not fall through. But both for you and for us there +are rugged paths yet to traverse; the future is still darkly clouded. Even +after the success of our respective undertakings, Ireland will not be +pacified, and political liberty will not be established in France. There +is no need to be discouraged, the best of human works are incomplete and +insufficient; but there is need to beware of illusions, to be prepared for +disappointments, to be always ready to begin again. I moralise on politics. +Good sense is the law of politics, and what I have learnt from history, +above all, is that good sense is essentially moral. You will, therefore, +not be surprised that I mix morals and politics.... + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_April 13th_.--How shall I thank you for your inspiriting letter, which was +as the sound of the trumpet to the aged war-horse! I fear my contemporaries +have taken a more accurate measurement of my power, and that I shall never +fulfil any such glorious destiny as you hold before my eyes. It is true of +many men that _possunt quia posse videntur_; and that they accomplish many +things simply because they are not fastidious. I should never do anything, +simply because I should tear up one day what I had written the preceding. +It would be Penelope's web. Our education is too aesthetical. Unless a +cultivated taste be overpowered by personal vanity, it is very difficult +to complete any composition. I can most truly say that I have never done +anything, speaking or writing, of which I could say, on the review, _mihi +plaudo_. + +We have a great difference of opinion in the members of the Digest +Commission. Many think that the work should be handed over to two or three +very able men (not judges or Emeriti Chancellors), who should be well paid; +and that to them, with a staff of subordinates, all the work should be +committed. Others think that there should be added to this establishment +some presiding power, consisting of one, two, or three distinguished +judges, to whom all questions should be referred, and whose duty it +should be to give an _imprimatur_ to the work. So we cannot agree on a +recommendation to the Government; and when we shall do so, but little +weight will attach to it. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_May 6th_.--Mansfield came back from India. + +At the time of the Russian war, Reeve and Mansfield had been on terms of +intimacy, and, in fact, it was largely through Reeve's interest with Lord +Clarendon that Mansfield had been sent to Constantinople in 1855, as +military adviser to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. Since then the intimacy +had been interrupted by Mansfield's absence in India, where he had served +with distinction during the Mutiny, and afterwards in command of the Bombay +army and as commander-in-chief since 1865. In the following year he was +raised to the peerage as Lord Sandhurst. The Journal notes:-- + +_May 26th_.--The King of Portugal made me a Commander of the Order of +Christ; but this was solely as chairman of the Lusitanian Mining Company. +The Duc d'Aumale, Mansfield, Lord Dunsany, Lord Northbrook, Stirling +Maxwell, Lady Molesworth dined with us. + +_From the Marquis of Salisbury_ + +40 Dover Street, June 1st. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--It is my pleasing duty to inform you that the University +of Oxford wish to express their sense of your literary services and +attainments by conferring on you an honorary degree at the approaching +commemoration. I trust that it will not be disagreeable to you to accede +to their wishes in this matter, and that you will be able without +inconvenience to attend at Oxford to receive the degree. The day on which +they will be conferred will be on Tuesday, the 21st inst. + +Believe me, yours very truly, + +SALISBURY. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_June 3rd_.--Excursion to Malvern, Hereford, and Worcester. Xavier Raymond +came to Bushey [Duc de Nemours']. I breakfasted there on the 10th. [On the +11th the Duke wrote]:-- + +Cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je lis ce matin en tete des colonnes du journal le +'Times,' un charmant premier article sur mon fils aine, et portant meme son +nom pour titre. Cet article inspire par un bienveillant sentiment envers +lui et ma famille en general, met dans un brillant relief les services que +mon fils vient de rendre a son pays d'adoption. Cela a donc ete pour moi +une extreme satisfaction que de le voir place en premiere ligne dans le +journal le plus repandu du monde. + +Je sais qu'il n'est pas permis de s'enquerir du nom de ceux qui ecrivent +dans la presse anglaise. Mais si a vous le nom de l'auteur etait connu, +dans ce cas-ci, cher Monsieur Reeve, et si vous appreniez aussi a qui est +due l'insertion de cet article, je vous serais tres reconnaissant (dans le +cas toutefois ou vous le jugerez convenable) de faire connaitre a l'une et +a l'autre de ces personnes combien j'en ai ete heureux et touche. + +Plein du bon souvenir de votre visite d'hier, je vous renouvelle ici, cher +Monsieur Reeve, l'assurance de mes bien affectueux sentiments. + +LOUIS D'ORLEANS. + +_From Mr. Delane_ + +_June 13th_.--I return the Duke's letter with many thanks. The story of +the Brazilian article is curious enough to be worth telling. At the +Rothschilds' ball on Wednesday last I was by an inadvertence placed at +supper next but one to the Duc de Nemours, and next to a beautiful young +lady. I had long been honoured by the Duc d'Aumale's acquaintance, but had +never before met his brother, and I only slowly became aware who were my +neighbours. Then, actually at the supper, among ortolans and peaches, it +occurred to me that the Comte d'Eu, of whose exploits I had been reading +that morning, and whom I had stupidly regarded as merely a Brazilian +general, must be the brother of the beautiful young lady next me, and +therefore a personage in whom the European public would take a very +different sort of interest from any that Marshal Coxios could command, +that, in short, as an Orleans prince, he would be worth an article, though +no one would have cared for a mere Brazilian general. + +_From the Due de Nemours_ + +_Bushey Park, 15 juin_.--J'ai a la fois des remerciments et des +felicitations a vous adresser pour avoir pris la peine de chercher de qui +emanait l'aimable article du 'Times' sur mon fils aine, et pour l'avoir si +bien decouvert. Le compliment est assurement de tres bon gout, et j'y suis +tres sensible. Il augmente seulement encore mon regret de n'avoir pu, moi +aussi, faire a ce meme bal la connaissance de l'auteur de cette aimable +attention. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_June 17th_.--I read with 'perfect horror' last night the return of +business before the Judicial Committee which you were so good as to send +me. There are 350 appeals in all, of which 248 are from India. I do not +think less than two days can be allotted to each of these Indian appeals, +taking the average; that will require 496 days of sitting, being more than +two years; for you cannot, if the committee sat every day the Court of +Chancery does, exceed more than 210 days in the year. Now if to this amount +of duty for the Indian appeals be added the time required for the remaining +102 appeals, you cannot attribute to them less than 102 days, making in all +598 days, being at least three years' work for a committee sitting every +day. + +Whilst these arrears are being disposed of, a new crop of appeals to at +least the same amount, will be mature. What shall we do? 'Hills over hills +and Alps on Alps arise.' I shall mention the subject to-night. Pray, send +me this morning any suggestions that occur to you. + +_June 18th_.--I am engaged to leave town for a short cruise at sea, +to-morrow early. I shall remain until Sunday evening. But it is for the +best that I cannot see you to-morrow, because I hope to 'interview' you on +Wednesday, after your return, with that renovation of genius and accretion +of knowledge which will accompany you on your return from Parnassus, after +having bathed in the fountain of the Muses. You must bring Mrs. Reeve a +faithful copy of the eulogistic speech of the public orator, and I will +translate it to her. + +My notice is for Thursday. I shall propose the immediate creation of three +judges, the giving Colvile and Peel fitting remuneration--2,000 L. a year +each--and a large addition to the salary of the registrar. + +The Journal then has:-- + +_June 20th_.--To Oxford, to stay with the Dean of Christchurch, on the +accession of Lord Salisbury. Went down with Sir E. Landseer. + +_21st_.--Received the degree of D.C.L. from the University, in the +Sheldonian Theatre. Lord Salisbury greeted me as 'Vir potentissime in +republica literarum,' at which I looked up and laughed. Dined afterwards in +All Souls' library with the Vice-Chancellor. + + * * * * * + +Among the other distinguished persons who received the honorary D.C.L. at +the same time were Admirals Sir Henry Keppel and Sir John Hay, Sir William +Mansfield, and Sir Francis Grant, the President of the Royal Academy. +Mansfield gave the 'Gallery' some amusement by wearing a cocked hat and +feathers with his red doctor's gown, instead of the regulation academic +cap. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_June 22nd_.--O vir doctissime et in republica literarum potentissime! So +said or sung the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, in violation of +all the traditions of the place; for Oxford never used before the phrase +'respublica literarum' which words and the thing signified she has ever +repudiated and abhorred; and to be _potentissimus in republica_ are jarring +and incoherent things. But let this hypercriticism pass, and when I see +Mrs. Reeve I shall tell her that the words were chosen with singular +felicity, and that they are not more remarkable for their truth and justice +than they are for their elegant latinity; but I will not say that you are a +doctor only _honoris causa_, which are most emphatic words, and are cruelly +made to accompany the dignity; for, when translated, they mean: 'Oh, +doctor, do not presume to teach by virtue of this _semiplena graduatio_, +for it is only _honoris causa_, or merely complimentary; and do not boast +this title as evidence of skill or erudition in laws, for they are +sounding words that signify nothing. How easy it is for envy and malice to +depreciate! + +I hope Mrs. Reeve and your daughter were there, because it is something fit +and able to give genuine pleasure; and if I had been there I would have +answered with stentorian voice to the well-known question: 'Placetne vobis, +Domini Doctores? placetne vobis, Magistri?' 'Placet, imo valde placet.'... + +It is difficult to tell the Government what ought to be done; for, first, +there should be great alteration in the Courts in the East Indies, and, +secondly, it is clear that the colonists and Indians will not be satisfied +unless the Privy Council is presided over by a first-chop man; and I am +assured that transferring three puisne judges from the Common Law Courts +would not be satisfactory. Can you call at my room in the House of Lords +to-morrow, at a few minutes after four? + +Yours sincerely, and with deeper respect than ever, + +WESTBURY. + +I don't suppose you will now miss a single bird. + +_From Senhor D. Jose Ferreira Pinto Basto_ + +_Lisbon, June 18th_.--The Portuguese Government do not present those on +whom the orders of knighthood are conferred with the decorations they are +entitled to wear. These consist, for a commander, in a placard, which is +worn on the coat over the left side of the breast; a large cross hanging +from a wide ribbon fastened round the neck; and a small cross, fastened by +a narrow ribbon to the upper button-hole, on the left side of the coat. + +The crosses corresponding to the degree of commander are, for the Order of +Christ, the same as those allowed to simple chevaliers, but having a heart +over them for distinction, and the ribbons are red. The large pendant cross +is scarcely ever worn, unless it be on a very solemn Court day, and even +then not generally; and the small cross, which was formerly in constant +use, when the pendant one was not worn, is now out of fashion, and either +entirely left off or, at the most, substituted by a small ribbon on the +coat buttonhole, when no other decoration is worn. What is generally worn +on ceremonial occasions is simply the placard, such as I now send you; if, +however, you should wish to have the other insignia, please to let me know +it, that I may send them. These insignia are, of course, made more costly +with diamonds and rubies, to be worn on great festivities; but even then, +and for general use, they are usually in silver and enamel, as the placard +now forwarded. + +I don't think there is any need of your directly expressing to anyone here +your thanks for the distinction conferred upon you; the more so since you +have already expressed them through the Portuguese Minister in London. + +It is here that the Journal mentions the death of the friend whose letters +have occupied such a prominent place in these pages:-- + +_June 22nd_.--Fete at Strawberry Hill. Lord Clarendon was there, looking +very ill, and on the 27th he died--'Multis ille flebilis occidit, nulli +flebilior quam mihi.' + +To 'Fraser's Magazine' for August Reeve contributed a graceful article, 'In +Memory of George Villiers, Earl of Clarendon,' in which, recording his many +public services, he especially dwelt on the very important service he had +rendered to his country during the period of his being Lord-Lieutenant of +Ireland, and on the fact that this service had had the singular honour of +being directly referred to in the Queen's Speech on proroguing Parliament +on September 5th, 1848, which concluded, 'The energy and decision shown by +the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland deserve my warmest approbation.' Reeve was +told by Lady Clarendon that her husband 'regarded these emphatic words as +the most enviable distinction of his life.' + +At the same time another article, 'In Memoriam,' appeared in 'Macmillan's +Magazine.' This was by Reeve's colleague at the Privy Council Office, Mr. +Arthur Helps, whose acquaintance with Lord Clarendon had been by no means +so intimate. His appreciation was thus written from general repute rather +than from personal knowledge, but it contains one remarkable passage that +may be repeated in order to emphasise it:-- + +'He--Lord Clarendon--was a man who indulged, notwithstanding his public +labours, in an immense private correspondence. There were some persons to +whom, I believe, he wrote daily; and perhaps in after years we shall be +favoured--those of us who live to see it--with a correspondence which will +enlighten us as to many of the principal topics of our own period.' + +Whether Reeve was one of the persons Helps alluded to must remain doubtful. +In the strict sense of the words, Lord Clarendon did not write to him +daily; but at times he wrote not only daily, but three times a day, +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. pp. 296-7.] and the letters, or extracts of +letters, now printed, form but a very small portion of the great number +which Reeve preserved. + +The Journal then mentions:-- + +_July 3rd_.--Breakfasted at Orleans House with Prince Philip of Wuertemberg. +Matters looked threatening abroad, and on the 14th the rupture took place +between Franco and Prussia. On the 18th war was declared. On the 25th we +dined at York House. I said to the Comte de Paris, 'How is the Emperor to +attack Germany?' Nobody thought at first that the war would be in France; +but we were soon undeceived, and I speedily discovered the danger. The +Duc d'Aumale wrote to me, 'Vous avez devine ma pensee de Francais et de +soldat.' + +I had hired a small moor at Ballachulish from Cameron, the innkeeper there. +Maclean of Ardgour, to whom it belonged, lent me a keeper and some dogs. +The hills were steep, the shooting bad; but the life there most agreeable. +I went down on August 3rd. W. Wallace was with us; and on the 5th we were +installed at Ballachulish for six weeks. They were spent in shooting, +sea-fishing, boating, &c. Fairfax Taylor [Footnote: Son of John Edward +Taylor; see _ante_, p. 117.] came, and Longman. The Trevelyans Fyfes, and +Forsters were at the hotel on the other side of the ferry. We were there +forty-five days. I went back to town by Greenock on September 21st. + +Meanwhile the course of the war was most eventful. On August 6th the battle +of Woerth was won by the Prussians, followed by a series of French defeats. +On September 2nd Macmahon and the Emperor capitulated at Sedan. William +Forster was at Ballachulish, and, as despatches were sent from the F. O. to +cabinet ministers, we learnt the fact from him at 8.30 P.M. on September +3rd. Gladstone, though prime minister, volunteered to write an article in +the 'Review' on the war, which he did. I kept the secret, but it leaked +out through the 'Daily News' on November 3rd, and made a great noise. The +'silver streak' was in that article. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, July 29th_.--Among the many bad actions described in history, +there is one which is very rare; it is the artifice of a tempter who throws +the blame of his attempt at seduction upon the person who rejected it, +perhaps after listening to it. But this is what Bismarck has done. You have +probably not forgotten what happened in 1868, and what I wrote about it at +the time, in the 'Revue des deux Mondes' of September 15th. I take pleasure +in here quoting my own words:-- + +'It is said that M. de Bismarck attempted to engage France on the side of +Prussia; and, in order to tempt the Imperial Government, offered to remodel +Europe as well as Germany, and to give France a large share in this +redistribution of nations. I do not know how much truth there was in these +rumours, which so deeply moved Belgium and Holland, amongst others; I will +not stop to discuss reports and suppositions. However this may be, if such +offers were really made, Napoleon III. did wisely in refusing them; he did +not raise himself to the throne as a victorious warrior, and France has no +longer a passion for conquest. But did he, in refusing, do all he could to +stop or restrain Prussia in the ambitious course into which M. de Bismarck +was forcing her, and to influence the reorganisation of Germany according +to the legitimate interests of France? I do not think so; but I put this +question also on one side,' &c. &c. + +I need not say that I did not lightly credit the rumours of the overtures +made by Bismarck to the French Government; they were not only widespread +and believed by those who had the best information, but my friends in +Holland sent me precise details, and I immediately got the 'Journal des +Debats' to publish an article which treated this attempted temptation as it +deserved, and pointed out the honourable and pacific policy which France +ought to follow on this occasion. I have reason to think that men of good +sense in the French Government, who were trying to make the policy of law +and peace prevail, congratulated themselves on being thus loudly upheld and +encouraged. + +Never forget, 'my dear sir,' what the position of the friends of law and +peace is in our general policy. You must some time have read Buerger's +ballad of the 'Wild Huntsman,' founded on the legend of a certain nobleman, +on the banks of the Rhine, a great hunter, who, if I mistake not, could +never mount his horse for the chase without being accompanied, on either +side, by a good and a bad angel, one urging him to follow the beaten track, +and respect the rights of property, the other urging him to rush across the +fields, trampling down harvest, gardens, and passers-by, careless of what +injury he inflicted. + +For a long time France, both as to her Government and her people, has been +in the position of this hunter, always accompanied by the two angels; all +that has happened in France and in Europe during the last eighty years has +put us in that position, and it is sometimes the good angel, sometimes the +bad, which has made itself heard, and has seemed on the point of becoming +the hunter's master. There is not a right-minded and sensible man in Europe +who has not endeavoured to help the good angel and defeat the efforts of +the wicked tempter. + +In my opinion, the Imperial Government was wrong in not accepting the +withdrawal of the candidateship of the Prince of Hohenzollern; a withdrawal +announced by the Prince himself, accepted by the King of Prussia, and +accepted and officially communicated to France by the Spanish Government. +This was held to be insufficient satisfaction for France, though I think +neither necessity nor prudence called for a second demand, which offended +the pride of all parties; and the manner in which it was rejected has +destroyed the last chance of peace. Till that moment, the good angel had +prevailed; but now the bad angel is speaking. But if there is one man in +Europe who cannot avail himself of this blunder to rid himself of the +responsibility of war, that man is surely the tempter of 1868.... + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Ballachulish, August 14th_.--As it is entirely to you that we owe our +residence in this enchanting place, it would be very ungrateful not to tell +you how much we are enjoying it. I think it is by far the most picturesque +spot in all Scotland; and ever since we arrived, ten days ago, the sea has +been as blue as the Aegean, and the hills as clear as the isles of Greece. +Not one cloud or shower in ten days, but the heat so great that we find +shooting arduous work. There is not much game, but I am better off than +most of my neighbours, who complain loudly. I think I can insure any day +five or six brace. It certainly is not a good year, nor is this a grouse +country.... I think, whatever else this war may bring about, it has +finished the Empire and the Emperor, and so far I rejoice; but I confess I +have no sympathy at all with the Prussians. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, September 10th_.--I am just up, my dear Sir, having been in +bed for a fortnight. Grief and indignation are unhealthy at eighty-three. I +am better, and only wish I was as sure of the convalescence of France as of +my own. It is true that France has before her more time for recovery than I +have. + +I will say nothing of the fallen Empire. I should say more than is seemly +and less than is true. Never was fall more deserved, more necessary, and +more absolute. + +Neither will I say anything of the new Government. It is what it professes +to be, a power pledged to defend the country. A national constituent +Assembly has just been convoked, and meanwhile everything will be done to +preserve the honour and integrity of France. This, for the present, is the +one idea and the one passion of the whole country, especially of Paris. I +hope that the deeds will correspond to the passion. + +There are two points on which, in spite of my present weakness, I wish +to give you my opinion at once, so as to awaken your interest, and the +interest of all the friends of European order and of France now in England. + +There is much to be regretted in the general policy of Europe since 1815. +Many faults have been committed which might have been avoided, many +improvements which might have been made have been miscalculated or have +passed as dreams. But throughout this age, and for more than half a +century, rising above all faults and blunders, royal or popular, +diplomatic or parliamentary, one great and novel fact has dominated the +policy of Europe--there has been no question of a war of ambition and of +conquest; no State has attempted to aggrandise itself by force at the +expense of other States; [Footnote: Guizot's enthusiasm or patriotism here +led him into a somewhat reckless assertion. In point of fact, there was +not one of the great Continental Powers which, during the previous fifty +years, had not 'attempted to aggrandise itself by force,' and, +necessarily, 'at the expense of other States.' With the exception of +Austria, they had done more than 'attempt'--they had effected the +aggrandisement.] respect for peace and the law of nations has become a +ruling maxim of international policy. When internal revolution in any +State has rendered territorial changes necessary, these changes have been +recognised and accepted only after the examination and consent of Europe. +Belgium and Greece have taken rank as European States only by the putting +on one side all the yearnings of French, Russian, or English ambition. And +when, in 1844 and 1848, the Emperor Nicholas, in his familiar interviews +with your ambassador at St. Petersburg, proposed that Russia and England +should act in concert, and by joint conquest, as he said, put an end to +the decrepitude of the Ottoman Empire, two English ministers, Lord +Aberdeen and Lord John Russell, to their great honour, rejected any such +idea, as an outrage on the law of nations, and the peace of Europe. + +I have no hesitation in affirming, my dear Sir, that this is the greatest +and most salutary feature of the first half of this century, and has +contributed more than anything else to the revival of principles of equity +and justice in the relations between governments and their people, to +the increased prosperity of different nations, and to the progress of +civilisation in the world. And, new as its rule yet is, this fact has been +sufficient to stop, or at least to check in their evil developements, the +noxious germs of an ambitious and violent policy, revivified in Europe +by the revolutionary crises of 1848. Temptations have certainly not been +wanting to governments and parties since that date. But in 1848 the French +Republic respected the peace of Europe and the law of nations; in 1852 the +French Empire hastened to declare that it was peace; and when, leaving +that, she threw herself into the Italian war, is it credible that she would +have been contented with Nice and Savoy as the price of the support she +gave to the Italians if she had not been restrained by the good modern +principle of European policy, the condemnation of the spirit of ambition +and conquest? [Footnote: Not to speak of the chance of having to deal with +Prussia. Cf. _ante_, p. 27.] + +It is this legitimate and guiding principle which is at present ignored, +attacked, and in great danger. I have no intention of entering here upon +the question of German unity, or of inquiring how far the consequences of +Sadowa are to be attributed to the real and spontaneous effort of national +sentiment amongst the Germans. I waive all discussion on this point. + +I do not suppose anyone will say that in this great German event Prussian +ambition had no share, or that force and conquest did not act side by side +with the impulse of national sentiment. But I do not now meddle with what +has been done in Germany; that has nothing in common with the present +pretensions of Prussia to Alsace and Lorraine. Have these provinces given +any manifestation, any appearance, of a desire to be included in the German +unity? Is not the Prussian policy in this openly and exclusively a policy +of ambition and of conquest, such as would have been followed, from more or +less specious motives of royal or national selfishness, by Louis XIV. in +the seventeenth, by Frederick II. in the eighteenth, by Napoleon I. in the +nineteenth century? such as the modern publicists and moralists have so +often condemned and fought against? such, in fine, as all nations, in all +ages--and especially Europe in our own times--have so cruelly suffered +from? I say no more. I should be ashamed to insist upon what is so clear. + +I have nothing to do with Utopian ideas. I do not believe in perpetual +peace, nor in the absolute rule of the law of nations as affecting the +rivalries of governments and the facts of history. I know that ambitious +intrigue and violent enterprise will always have a part in the destinies of +nations. I only ask that ambition and force shall not be permitted to take +that part, controlled only by their own will. At least they ought to be +recognised for what they are, and called by their right names; their +claims, and the results of them, ought to be placed face to face with the +policy of peace and the law of nations; and, lastly, it ought not to be +forgotten that this, the only durable and good policy, has prevailed in +Europe for half a century, and that it would be shameful and unfortunate to +allow it to fall undefended before the first success of the old policy of +ambition and conquest. + +In the severe and dangerous trial which she is now undergoing, France may +strengthen herself with the thought that her present and personal policy +is in exact agreement with the European policy of peace and the law of +nations. France has no ambition, no remote designs or secret aim; she asks +for nothing; she is defending her rights, her honour, and her territory. +Will the Powers, who have hitherto proclaimed their neutrality, assist +her by assisting to maintain the European policy of peace and the law of +nations? I shall be surprised if they do not, the more so as they could +do it without seriously compromising themselves. If their intervention by +force of arms were necessary, it would undoubtedly be at once effective; +but any such necessity is quite out of the question; the neutral Powers are +stronger than they themselves are perhaps aware, and their moral strength +is amply sufficient. Let them plainly assert their disapproval of this +attack on the territorial integrity of France; and in support of their +disapproval, let them declare that, in any case, they will not recognise +any change in the territory of France which France herself will not accept. +It is my deep and firm conviction that this would be sufficient to put an +end to any such attempt, and to check the policy of ambition and conquest, +without which the peace of Europe cannot be re-established. Is France to be +left alone to sustain this great and good cause at all risks? or will the +neutral Powers, without any great risk to themselves, give her such support +as will ensure her triumph? It is for the Powers to answer this question. I +am very old to be surprised at anything; and yet I should be surprised if +England did not see the greatness of the part she is called upon to play +under existing circumstances. For many years she sustained in Europe, by +war, the policy of respect for the laws of nations; will she not uphold it +to-day by peace? + +Adieu, my dear Sir, je suis fatigue. Je vais me coucher, et tout a vous, + +GUIZOT. + +Should you think proper to make any use of this letter, either by privately +showing it to anyone, or by giving it a wider publicity, I have no +objection. I leave the question of fitness and opportunity in England to +you. For my part, my only wish is that my opinions and sentiments in this +important crisis should be well known both in France and England. + +The following note is endorsed by Reeve 'Due d'Aumale on the capitulation +of Sedan,' which took place on September 2nd. It is, however, impossible to +suppose that the Due d'Aumale did not hear of an event so astounding till +three weeks after it had happened, and the note probably refers more +immediately to the occupation of Versailles by the Prussians under the +Crown Prince, on September 20th, or the reported arrival on the 23rd of +General Bourbaki at Chislehurst, to consult with the Empress about the +surrender of Metz. The endorsement was most likely written some time +afterwards, and in momentary forgetfulness of the date. + +_From the Due d'Aumale_ + +Orleans House, 23 septembre. + +Cher Monsieur,---Jamais je n'aurais cru que je vivrais assez pour voir un +pareil jour. Vous devinez tout ce que mon coeur eprouve. + +Vous etes du bien petit nombre de ceux avec qui il m'est possible de causer +en ce moment, et vous me ferez du bien si vous venez dejeuner ici dimanche +prochain, 25, a midi 1/2. Mille amities, + +H. D'ORLEANS. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +Walmer Castle, October 2nd. + +My dear Reeve,--I was very sorry to miss an opportunity of seeing you twice +last week. Our hours are late, while you adopt the judicious maxim of +Charles Lamb. I thought the article [Footnote: Gladstone's article (see +_ante_, p.178) which was published in the October number of the _Review_. +Lord Granville saw the proof slips.] excellent and very instructive; not +always quite judicial. It will be read with immense pleasure on its own +merits. + +As far as we have gone we have surely adhered to the declaration made to +Parliament--'Neutrality, with as friendly relations as is compatible with +impartiality; exercise of the duties and maintenance of our rights, as +neutrals.' We have protected Belgium with minimum risk to ourselves. We +have given advice when it was acceptable and effective, such as that which +led to the meeting of Favre and Bismarck. We have not obtruded advice when +it would have been impotent excepting for harm. We hae reserved complete +liberty of action for any contingency. All the neutral nations have been +at our feet, anxious to know what we would do, professing to be ready to +follow our example. One of the belligerents has already come to us for +assistance. Those who think we have done nothing of course consider it an +easy and inglorious task; but it requires a little firmness to resist not +only the complaints of belligerents and the cajoleries of neutrals, but +also the changeable gusts of public opinion at home. Yours sincerely, + +GRANVILLE. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, October 2nd._--I understand you, my dear Sir; 'you' meaning +your Cabinet. You want to see if France will defend herself energetically +enough, obstinately enough, to warrant the neutral Powers saying to +the Prussians, 'What you attempt is impossible; you are stirring up an +interminable contest, which is becoming an evil and a peril for Europe.' +Until that moment comes, your Cabinet does not think that the intervention +of the neutral Powers in favour of peace could be effective. + +Many reasons, some good, some plausible, may be adduced in support of +a waiting policy. But take care! it often aggravates the questions it +postpones. Consider what is actually taking place at the present moment. +Prussia puts forward her claims more and more distinctly; France is +exasperated and rejects them more and more positively. You can have no +idea of the effect produced throughout France by the conversation of M. de +Bismarck with M. Jules Favre. Bismarck, indeed, seems to have some +notion of it, for he attempts to extenuate what he said or allowed to be +understood. Evidently the result of this interview has been to leave the +belligerents mutually more embittered than they were before; and the +intervention of the neutral Powers at the present time is thus rendered +more difficult. + +I now put this incident on one side, and am going to the root of the +matter. You want to see if France will defend herself energetically +and obstinately. Look at what she has done already. The Prussians have +certainly obtained great successes. They have beaten two of our regular +armies. At this moment they are before Paris. Is Paris terror-struck? +Do the Prussians enter it? I am not trusting to child's talk and vulgar +boasting. My son William, and my son-in-law Cornelis de Witt, are now +both in Paris, both in the National Guard, both clever, sensible men, not +credulous, not given to boasting, and good judges of what is going on +around them. They both write that Paris is able and determined to defend +itself obstinately. And among the most cautious of my friends, those who +doubted it at first are now of the same opinion as my sons. By the last +balloon from Paris I received a letter, dated September 21st, from a +simple, obscure citizen. He writes:--'Our Paris, bristling with bayonets, +is a splendid sight; perfect order, glowing patriotism, and a resolve to +fight to the death. The insolence of Bismarck's reply to Jules Favre has +enraged and electrified all hearts. The Prussians will pay dearly for their +blunder in condemning us to heroism or despair. Yesterday was a good day; +in two places, Villejuif and St. Denis, we attacked the Prussians and +defeated them.' + +I do not know if this degree of ardour and confidence is to be accepted +as general. I quote it as an illustration of the feeling in Paris on +the seventh day of the siege. The fighting is at present round the +fortifications; later on it will be on the ramparts, and then in the +streets. First the detached forts; then the _enceinte_; then the +barricades. And when it comes to these--if it ever gets so far--independent +of the organised forces of all kinds, there will be the populace, the Paris +mob, intelligent and bold men, who fight well on the barricades for the +very fun of it. + +How long will this defence of Paris last? I do not know, and am not going +to prophesy. But what I do know, what I hear from all sides, is that it +will last long enough to excite a patriotic and warlike sentiment through +the whole land. France is not peopled with heroes; there are the bold and +the timid, as in every other country; but there are heroes enough--and +others will arise--to keep the nation in a state of fever, and consequently +Europe in a state of alarm inconsistent with true peace, with the +prosperity of the nations and the security of European order. + +The Prussians, and, as I am told, Bismarck himself, have reckoned, and are +perhaps still reckoning, on our internal dissensions and quarrels, kept +alive by the traditions and the hopes of the old parties. It is a natural +error, but made in complete ignorance of the actual state of things. +National sentiment has overcome the old discord. One sole, universal and +absorbing passion dominates all parties--the passion of defending the +soil and honour of France. Two of the most illustrious Vendeens, MM. de +Cathelineau et Stofflet, have asked for and received from the Government +an authorisation to assist them against the Prussians. MM. Rochefort and +Gustave Flourens, formerly the most ardent democrats, have joined the +government of General Trochu, and are preparing barricades, to maintain a +fierce struggle against the besiegers at the gates and in the streets of +Paris, if it should ever be necessary. + +7 P.M.--My letter was interrupted by the arrival of the evening papers, +and a letter from my daughter Pauline, dated September 25th, brought by a +balloon. I copy the following, _verbatim_:-- + +'After being on guard the day before yesterday, for twenty-six hours, +without anything worse than repeated alarms, my husband and son returned +and are somewhat rested. Yesterday we went to Montmartre--a very populous +and stirring quarter. I cannot tell you often enough how well Paris is +behaving; enthusiasm and unanimity prevail everywhere; the good and the +wise have silenced the fools. This will raise up France; it is a balm for +many sorrows. I can assure you the country is not demoralised. I do not +know how long the trial will last, but we shall be the better for it.' + +Admit that if this conduct is maintained, if Paris--which in June 1848 +suppressed the revolutionary anarchy in her own bosom--in 1870 stops a +foreign invasion, and holds it at bay before her ramparts, it will be a +great deed, worthy of esteem and sympathy. If in presence of such a fact, +your neutrality should continue cold and inert, the friends of European +peace and of the good understanding between France and England would have +great cause for astonishment. It is for this reason that I conjure England +and her Government to give the matter their serious consideration. + +The Journal here gives a short sketch of a month's holiday:-- + +October 12th.--Started for Ireland. Crossed in a gale. To Dunsany on the +14th. 15th, drove with Lord Dunsany to Trim; saw the castle; Larachor, +Swift's living; Dangan, now quite ruined; and back by Lord Longford's. +17th, to Dartrey. Met the Verulams there, and Lady Meath. 21st, drove to +Coote Hill fair. 24th, to Belfast and Clandeboye. Some days with Lord +Dufferin at Clandeboye. Professor Andrews came over from Belfast. 30th, +back to Dublin to stay with Mansfield, who was now commander-in-chief +in Ireland. Saw Lord Spencer--lord-lieutenant. November 1st, crossed to +Holyhead and went to Teddesley, where Christine joined me. Back to town on +the 5th. + +_From Lord Stanhope_ + +_Chevening, October 11th_.--I have been reading with much interest the +article on Queen Anne in the 'Edinburgh,' and I hope you will allow me to +express to you how much I am gratified at the favourable view which it +takes of my performance. The reviewer and I, as I am glad to find, +often agree in our views of men and things; and whenever we differ, our +difference is expressed in terms that cannot but give great pleasure to any +author. + +The reviewer, in this case, has certainly one main advantage over some of +my other critics. They seem to have no knowledge of Queen Anne's reign +except what my book imparted to them, and they therefore criticised my book +on its own merits or demerits alone. Here, on the contrary, the writer is, +I see, most deeply versed in all the memoirs and published records of those +times, which he can bring to bear with great effect upon any passage that +he desires either to controvert or to confirm. + +It strikes me very forcibly, from my acquaintance with your style, that the +writer of this article is no other than yourself. [Footnote: The article +was by Herman Merivale (d. 1874).] If so, pray accept my sincere thanks; if +not, pray convey them from me to the critic unknown. + +Lady Stanhope and I have been to North Wales and Devonshire, but settled at +Chevening ten or twelve days ago. From here we went without delay to call +upon the Empress at Chislehurst; as indeed we were bound to do, having in +former years received great kindness from them, and been their guests for +a week at Compiegne. Nothing could be more touching and gracious than her +manner. She had tears in her eyes all the while we were with her, and her +voice was often choked by emotion; yet she did not let fall a single word +of invective or personal reproach against her enemies in France. She told +me that her first wish on reaching England had been to proceed with her +son to the Emperor at Wilhelmshoehe; but on applying to the Prussian +authorities, she could obtain no assurance that she and her son should not +be treated as prisoners of war; and under these circumstances the Emperor +forbade her to come. + +Poor, poor Paris! when shall you and I ever see it again? + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_Hinton, November 11th_. I kept myself free from engagements during the +first three weeks of November, thinking I might be called on to do suit and +service at the Judicial Committee; but I have not made any provision for +December, as I thought it was fully understood (certainly by me) at the end +of last session, that, from the end of Michaelmas term until Christmas, the +Lords Justices would have charge of the Judicial Committee for the whole +of each week, or certainly four days in every week. We calculated that the +most important business on the appeal side in Chancery would be so reduced +by the two courts of appeal during Michaelmas term that the Lord Chancellor +alone would suffice for all necessities during December. I have therefore +postponed every engagement here until December. My house will be full; I +cannot therefore give you any aid; but I am not sorry for it, for if the +arrears were at all reduced, _nothing would be done_ in the appointment +of a permanent tribunal, with a proper staff of judges. You must still be +Atlas staggering under the weight of your huge _Orbis Causarum_. Around +your feet must be millions of Hindoos, crying aloud for justice. It is only +this spectacle for gods and men that will move the Government to do its +duty. + +It would be easy for me to attend if my establishment and family were +in town. But if I promised you a fortnight in December, I must put off +numerous engagements and remove my servants, horses, &c., to London, only +to bring them down again here for Christmas; or, at the risk of being ill +as well as wretched, I must go to London alone, into a cold deserted house, +with the attendance at most of two female servants. No; you must get as +much as you can out of the Lords Justices, who must begin the task of +learning Hindoo and Mahomedan law. Besides, if I disposed of twenty Indian +appeals in December (a most unlikely thing), it would be the signal for +adding forty more to the list, and so you would be more encumbered than +ever. It is useless to make these poor spasmodic efforts. The thing must be +done effectually. You are hopelessly bankrupt, and the driblets of aid you +solicit will not enable you to stave off ruin. + +An article by Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen on the 'Business of the House of +Commons,' published in the 'Edinburgh Review' for January 1871, was +submitted in proof to the Speaker, Mr. Denison, whose comments drew from +the writer the following reply:-- + +_From Mr. E. H. Knatchbull-Hugessen_ [Footnote: At this time +under-secretary of state for the Home Department: created Lord Brabourne in +1880; died in 1893.] + +_Smeeth, November 23rd_.--The Speaker knows more than I do, if he knows +that it is an understood thing 'that a committee shall next session be +appointed to consider the present mode of conducting the public business.' +It is not generally known; and I doubt the policy of alluding, in an +article which may be read by the public generally, to that which is only +known to a privileged few. You, however, must be the best judge, and of +course I have no objection to insert a sentence or two of allusion to this +fact (?) [Footnote: The (?) is Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen's.] if you wish it; +but if pressing business--or war--postpones this committee, the 'Review' +will look rather foolish. + +When you say the article is 'rather too multifarious,' I quite agree that +it might be condensed and curtailed. But even had I time to go through it +again with this intention, I frankly own that I should doubt the expediency +of doing so. I wrote it _currente calamo_, and my object was to attack the +existing system upon many points at once, in order to carry some--just as +an army besieging a town may make half a dozen attacks, of which three, +being feints, give a better chance of success to the other three. You +will observe that I do sum up the four prominent points: 1, _cloture_; 2, +limitations of motions for adjournment; 3, public bill revision committee; +4, restrictions upon counts-out. + +I quite agree with what the Speaker writes about our 'absurdly late hours.' +I have no strong feeling upon the Wednesday question, and perhaps the +Speaker is right, although I think the point is alluded to in a manner not +too strong nor too 'disparaging' to the fixed hour, as I only recommend +that a division, instead of an adjournment, either upon main question or +adjournment, should take place compulsorily at the fixed hour. + +I return you the Speaker's letter. I don't know whether you could +conveniently run down here on Saturday and spend a quiet Sunday. You would +find my wife and me alone, excepting Godfrey Lushington, who is coming to +discuss highway bills. We could have a talk over the matter then. If you +cannot manage it, write me word how you wish the article altered, and I +will do it. I confess, however, that I think, as a preliminary attack +upon abuses which will require closer and more detailed grappling with +hereafter, it had better not be much altered. + +_From the Queen of Holland_ + +Hague, December 26th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve, [Footnote: The Queen of Holland seems to have laid down +a somewhat curious rule in regard to her correspondence with Reeve: when +she was in Holland, she wrote to him in English; when she was in England, +she wrote in French.]--Your most interesting letter reached me a few days +ago. Ever since, I have been trying to get some of the papers relating to +the Luxembourg question; however, the one enclosed is the only one I have +been able to obtain. Such is the fear of the kingdom of the Netherlands +to be involved in any of the impending Luxembourg difficulties, that +everything relating to that part of the world is scrupulously ignored; and +if the papers are not claimed at Luxembourg, where the most jealous of men, +Prince Henry, governs, you cannot obtain the real truth. The fact is, Mr. +de Bismarck _a cherche une querelle d'Allemand_, first to obtain a free +passage through the Luxembourg railroads; in the future, to annex the +little grand duchy, to close the frontier on that side entirely. + +This, however, is still kept for a few months hence, as Mr. de B. would not +be put quite on the same line with Prince Gortschakoff, though they are +perfectly of the same opinion. + +It is a sad time, a very bad symptom, when principles, engagements, +treaties, are all _a la merci_ of two or three unscrupulous men. + +Forgive the haste in which I am compelled to write, this time of the year +being particularly busy. Remember me kindly to Mrs. Reeve, and believe me, +dear Mr. Reeve, very sincerely yours, + +SOPHIA. + +The Journal here has:-- + +The French artists being driven over by the war, Millais gave a dinner, on +December 20th, to Gerome and Heilbuth--interesting. I took Gerome to see +Herbert's Moses in the House of Lords, but it was invisible from a fog. + +We all dined with Lady Molesworth on Christmas Day, and ended the year with +the Van de Weyers at New Lodge. + +January 3rd, 1871.--We had a small dinner to Sir William Mansfield and Lord +Elcho. On the 5th to Aldermaston (Higford Burr), with Bruce, [Footnote: +Afterwards Lord Aberdare.] Colvile, [Frank Buckland], &c. + +Professor Sybel was not one of Reeve's frequent correspondents, and the +following extract is from the only letter of his which has been preserved, +probably the only one ever written. The primary cause of it was some +trifling business connected with the exchange of publications--the +'Edinburgh Review' and Sybel's 'Historische Zeitschrift;' but, having +settled that, the course of events tempted him, as a German and an +historian, to continue. + +_From Professor von Sybel_ + +Bonn, January 9th. + +Hochgeehrter Herr,--... What a change in our circumstances since I had last +the pleasure of seeing you! To us, Germans, it would often appear as a +dream, did not our sacrifices and our efforts bring the reality vividly +before us. The desire for a speedy conclusion of the war is general; but, I +am proud to say, no less general is the determination to fight and to bleed +till we have brought it to a satisfactory issue. We are resolved not to be +attacked again as we were in July, and on that account we will move our +frontier to the Vosges. We will fight until the French acknowledge us as +having rights and position equal to their own, till the organs of their +Government cease from their New Year animadversion, such as the 'Siecle' +has published, and we will crush everyone who calls in question our place +as one of the Great Powers of Europe; and in thus rooting out this boast of +supremacy, we believe we are earning the gratitude of all Europe. + +Hochachtungsvoll und ergebenst + +H. v. SYBEL. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, January 16th._--I received the 'Edinburgh Review' yesterday, +and read your article at once. It is excellent--the language of a profound +observer, and of a true friend of France. There are pages I should like +all my countrymen at all able to understand them to learn by heart, among +others from these words (p. 22): 'The life of man is so short,' to these: +'the collective strength of a nation may be sensibly diminished by it.' You +have here laid your finger on the great evil of our democracy: 'It readily +sacrifices the past and the future to what is supposed to be the interest +of the present.' If I were in Paris, I should like to have a translation of +nearly the whole article [Footnote: 'France,' in the _Review_ for January +1871. The article was republished in _Royal and Revolutionary France_, with +the title 'France in 1871.'] published in our newspapers. But I am not +there; the Prussian shells go in my stead. + +I am told that the opening of your Parliament is fixed for February 8th. I +will wait until you can let me know this with certainty, and will then send +you the letter I mentioned. But I must beg you not to forward it to its +address till my translator--Miss Martin--reports to you that it is ready. +It seems to me very desirable that the translation should be published as +soon as the letter itself has been delivered. I understand that, on this +condition, the 'Times' will give the whole of it, which will ensure it +the widest possible publicity in England, where its publicity is the most +important. The French edition will not appear till after the translation +has been published in the 'Times.' + +_From the Queen of Holland_ + +Hague, January 17th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I have received your letter. I have received the +'Edinburgh Review.' I did not glance over the pages, I read and re-read +them; and I thank you for the real enjoyment they have afforded me. True in +thought, admirable in expression, there can be but one judgement on both +your articles, and I will certainly endeavour to have them translated into +Dutch, to spread the truth. Allow me only to regret the great severity with +which you treat the fallen Empire. I put aside every personal feeling, but +I remain convinced that posterity will be more lenient in judgement than +the present in the raging storm. There were faults in the system, inherent +and inherited. As to the head of the system, few men have been more +naturally kind and good. He had the weakness of these natures--wishing to +content everyone. No question of principle seemed to him worthy of the +inestimable enjoyment of peace. Avec les differents partis il se laissait +aller a des paroles, a des engagements contradictoires; de la une apparence +de dissimulation, bien eloignee de sa nature. The prisoner of Wilhelmshoehe +belongs to the past. To those that have known and loved him falls the task +of obtaining justice for him. I cannot talk of the present events, of the +destruction of Paris. I bow my head and I hope in God's justice. + +Will you remember me kindly to Mrs. Reeve? and believe me, with real +gratitude, truly and sincerely yours, + +SOPHIA. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, February 7th._--I have received from Mr. Gladstone a letter +dated January 30th, as friendly as possible towards myself, but vague and +evasive in respect to the policy of the Cabinet in the present situation. +Not only does he postpone every measure, every indication of his intentions +till after the election and the opening of the National Assembly, which is +very natural, but he gives no hint as to how far his Government will insist +respecting the conditions of peace. It is, of course, impossible for me to +argue the point with him--such a discussion would be unbecoming both on +his part and mine. I understand his reserve, but I can neither accept the +reasons for it nor its results. It is therefore to you that I address my +further observations in support of my letter of January 18th, begging you +to communicate them to Mr. Gladstone, who will quite understand why I do +not address them to himself. I should also be glad to know if he would +object to the publication of his letter of January 30th, and of that which +I am now sending you? For my part I wish this publicity, in both England +and France; but I will not authorise it without his approval. + +If this should be agreed on, pray let me know your opinion as to publishing +it in the 'Times.' I am sure that, in this case, Miss Martin would +undertake the translation. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_February 18th_--Pleasant dinner at Mansfields', though Mansfield himself +was carried off by the Prince of Wales. + +_26th_.--Dinner at Lord Granville's, to meet the Duc de Broglie, who came +as ambassador. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, March 4th_.--Your sad predictions were well founded; the +painful abscission has been made; we bore it at least with good sense and +dignity. Without discussion or delay, the National Assembly has accepted +the peace imposed upon it; and the population of Paris left the Prussian +corps to parade through one single quarter of the town in solitude and +silence. The Prussians have not seen Paris, and Paris did not go to see the +Prussians. Their triumph had no spectators. Their present policy is one +more example, after so many others, of the insolent and blind folly of +victors who sow the seeds of war at the moment they are making peace. You +can have no idea of the passionate sentiment of sorrow and anger which +fills the soul of France, in all classes and in every part of the country. +It is impossible to say when and under what form the future will mark this +feeling, but it is written. One cannot tire of repeating the last words of +the Chancellor Oxenstiern to his son when starting for the tour through +Europe: 'Ito mi fili et inspice quam parva sapientia mundus regitur' ... + +The Journal continues:-- + +_March 16th_.--Dinner at home to the Duc de Broglie, the Dartreys, Mintos, +Houghton, and Lady Molesworth. + +_April 1st_.--Went to Draycott on a visit to the Cowleys. The Lavalettes +there and the old Duchess of Cleveland. Went on to Bath to try the waters +there. Bath, however, did no good to the gout, of which I had, all this +spring, repeated attacks. Saw Wells Cathedral, Glastonbury, and Longleat. +Over to Bristol, and then back to town on April 15th. + +No sooner was the siege of Paris ended and peace signed, than the frightful +insurrection of the Commune broke out in Paris; the city was for many +weeks in complete possession of the mob; Thiers and the army retired on +Versailles, and recommenced the siege of Paris by French troops. The +Archbishop and other hostages were murdered, and at last the city was set +on fire. Nothing even in the First Revolution equalled the madness of this +period. What a curious contrast to the even tenour of London life! I find +in my diaries no trace of these tremendous catastrophes. + +_May 1st_.--International Art Exhibition opened. I went in my doctor's +robes and orders; the only time I ever wore them. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, 4 juin. + +My dear Sir,--La destruction a atteint son terme, l'oeuvre de +reconstruction commence. Elle sera tres difficile, mais je n'en desespere +pas, et j'y prendrai quelque part sans sortir de ma cellule. Quelle vie que +la mienne! Mon plus ancien souvenir politique est d'avoir vu de loin, du +haut d'une terrasse de la petite maison de campagne ou ma mere s'etait +refugiee pendant la Terreur, en 1794, les Jacobins poursuivis et assommes +par la reaction contre Robespierre au 9 thermidor. La scene se passait sur +les boulevards de Nismes. J'assiste en 1871, de la campagne aussi, a la +chute des nouveaux Jacobins, vrais heritiers et eleves de la Terreur. Et +que n'ai-je pas vu, en fait d'evenement, dans cet intervalle de 77 ans! + +Sur ce je vous dis adieu. Je me porte assez bien, malgre mes 83 ans et ces +spectacles Shakspeariens. La France est, depuis 1789, une immense tragedie +de Shakspeare. + +Tout a vous, + +GUIZOT. + +Reverting to the Journal:-- + +Mr. Grote died on June 18th. I attended the funeral in Westminster Abbey on +the 24th. John Mill and Overstone were among the pall-bearers. + +At The Club dinner, on June 20th, the Duc d'Aumale took leave of us before +returning to France. There were present: the Lord Chancellor (Hatherley), +Master of the Rolls [Romilly], Duke of Cleveland, Lord Salisbury, Lord +Derby, Sir H. Holland, Dean Stanley, W. Smith, and self. + +About this time I was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Lord +Ripon, then Lord President, had asked them to make me a K.C.B., but +Gladstone wrote me word that it was a rule that men should pass through the +third grade to arrive at the second. [Footnote: That there was such a rule +has been very fully proved by numerous exceptions.] Arthur Helps and +William Stephenson were made C.B.'s at the same time, and afterwards +K.C.B.'s. I was gazetted a C.B. on June 30th. + +The following from Lord Granville refers to a conversation in the House of +Lords on the constitution of the Appellate Court of the Judicial Committee. +The Marquis of Salisbury had said that in his opinion it should be a court +of fixed constitution. + +At present it was often difficult to discover who were the judges in the +particular case. He believed the President of the Council in every case +appointed the judges; but, as he understood, it was practically done by +a gentleman for whom all had the greatest respect, Mr. Henry Reeve, the +Registrar. This did not seem a satisfactory state of things for a tribunal +dealing with matters which excited people's passions and feelings to +the highest degree, and on which parties were angrily divided. Nobody +conversant with the matter could harbour the unworthy suspicion that +the Court was ever packed for the trial of a particular case--he had no +apprehensions on that score; but it was because the action and constitution +of the Court should be above all suspicion that he would urge the noble and +learned lord on the woolsack to provide some fixed constitution, so that +the Court should not be constituted afresh for each particular case it had +to consider. + +Lord Granville replied in the sense of his letter to Reeve, except that he +said 'Mr. Reeve invariably consulted _the Lord President_, who, on some +occasions, called a Cabinet Council.' The Lord President at that time was +the Marquis of Ripon. Granville was followed by Lord Cairns, who said:-- + +He could testify from considerable experience to the way in which Mr. Reeve +performed his duties. The fact was that there was a great unwillingness +to attend, and undergo the great labour and responsibility of hearing +important cases. Mr. Reeve, knowing this, and having an earnest desire +to perform the duties of his office effectively--no public officer could +discharge them better--was in the habit of making himself acquainted with +the arrangements of those who might be expected to attend, with a view--not +to decide who ought to attend to hear particular cases--but as to whose +services were obtainable, in order that some kind of Court might be +constituted.... It ought to be understood that no person had any power of +selecting some and excluding others, and that the Registrar's endeavour to +procure the attendance of individuals had merely arisen from anxiety lest +there should be no quorum. [Footnote: Hansard, 1871, June 22nd, cols. +389-91.] + +_From Lord Granville_ + +16 _Bruton Street, June 23rd_.--I see the report in the 'Times' is +defective. I stated that the Lord President was undoubtedly responsible for +all that you did. I paid a high tribute to your services to the Judicial +Committee (which was cheered by the law lords); I said the difficulty was +often great to collect sufficient members to attend; that you took great +pains, by ascertaining the wishes and possible dates, to ensure this; that +for ordinary meetings of the Court you acted on your own judgement; but +that in all cases where there was a possibility of party or personal +feeling being made a cause of want of confidence in the composition of the +Court, you had always consulted me; and I had, on some occasions, not only +consulted the Home Office, but the Cabinet, in order to do that which would +ensure public confidence. I should not be sorry if you could show that I +was not in the wrong. I was delighted to hear of your C.B. None could be +more deserved. + +The Journal records:-- + +_July 7th_.--I dined with Mrs. Grote; one of the first persons she saw +after Grote's death. + +_8th_.--A banquet was given at the Crystal Palace to the members of the +Comedie Francaise, who had been driven over to London by the siege of Paris +and the Commune. + +This 'banquet' was of the nature of a lunch, beginning at two o'clock. +Lord Dufferin was in the chair, supported by Lords Granville, Stanhope, +Powerscourt, Lytton, Houghton, Mr. Disraeli, Tennyson, Macready, and +others. When 'the desire of eating was taken away,' the chairman, speaking +in French, proposed the health of the guests. M. Got responded. Horace +Wigan, too, spoke; and Lord Granville, 'whose fluent command of extempore +French excited general admiration,' gave 'The Health of the Chairman,' and, +with a neat reference to the 'Letters from High Latitudes,' then 14, not +41 years old, said: 'L'accueil que vous avez donne a son discours doit +rassurer Lord Dufferin et lui faire meme oublier les succes oratoires +que--Latiniste incomparable, et voue au purisme Ciceronien--il a obtenus +dans les regions plus septentrionales.' To this chaff Lord Dufferin replied +in English: 'Lord Granville has been good enough to allude to what he is +pleased to describe as an oratorical triumph in a distant country; and I +would venture to remind you--and you may take the word of an experienced +person in confirmation of what I am about to say--that when anybody wishes +to make a speech in a foreign language, he will find it much more easy to +do so after dinner than at an early hour in the morning.' + +For Reeve this wound up the season. A few days later, July 23rd, he, with +his wife, started for Germany. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS + + +Dr. de Mussy had recommended Reeve to drink the water at Carlsbad, so to +Carlsbad they went, and stayed there twenty-four days. The manner of life +at Carlsbad may be very wholesome, but no one has ever ventured to speak +of it as jovial. The Reeves thought it 'dull enough,' and left it with a +feeling of release, on August 23rd. On the 24th they were at Dresden, +and reached home on September 3rd. And then came a curious reaction; a +disagreeable experience of the Carlsbad treatment. 'Henry,' wrote Mrs. +Reeve a few days later, 'who had been quite well and quite free from gout +all the time, had a tendency thereto on leaving Hamburg, which, on landing +at Gravesend, was a sharp attack in the right hand. He cannot hold a +pen.... His doctor and some fellow-patients all say that after Carlsbad +waters such attacks are frequent, and that they in no way imply that the +waters did not suit.' The Journal goes on:-- + +_September 16th_.--To Gorhambury [Lord Verulam's] with Christine. On +leaving the house on the 18th to go to the station, the horse in the fly +ran away. We were overturned near the park gates, and had a narrow escape. +Nobody was hurt, and we drove on [in another fly] to Lord Ebury's at Moor +Park. + +_October 2nd_.--To Scotland on a visit to Moncreiff at Cultoquhey; thence +to Minard (Mr. Pender's) on Loch Fyne; thence to Edinburgh; Ormiston on +the 21st; the John Stanleys there and Lord Neaves. [Footnote: A lord of +justiciary, one of the foremost authorities on criminal law in Scotland, +and for more than forty years a regular contributor of prose and verse to +_Blackwood's Magazine_.] Lady Ruthven to dinner. + +_26th_.--To Auchin, and home on the 28th. + +A bill had passed at the close of the last session for the appointment of +four paid members of the Privy Council. They were Sir James Colvile, Sir +Barnes Peacock, Sir Montague Smith, and Sir Robert Collier. These judges +began to sit on November 6th of this year. The Court, from that time, sat +continuously. I obtained an additional clerk, and also an addition of 300 L +a year to my own salary, which was fixed at 1,500 L. + +Pleasant visit to New Lodge (Van de Weyer's) in November. Shooting at Lithe +Hill in December. + +The Prince of Wales's serious illness. He very nearly died on December 6th. + +_December 20th_.--The Broglies dined with us, to meet Beust and the +Foresters. + +_22nd_.--Mrs. Forester asked us, at my desire, to meet Disraeli and Lady +Beaconsfield, at a small party. There was nobody else there but Lord and +Lady Colville. It was very interesting and agreeable. + +1872.--The year opened in Paris, where I had gone after Christmas; the +first time I had been there since the war. M. Thiers was President of the +Republic. I went to Versailles to see him on January 3rd, and found him in +the Prefecture--the room that had been occupied just before by the German +Emperor. M. Lesseps was there that evening, and we returned to Paris +together. He and his friends were apparently very anxious to sell the Suez +Canal. I dined with Thiers on the 6th also. + +M. Thiers's conversation on the war, the Commune and the siege was very +interesting. He said to me: 'Certainement je suis pour la Republique! Sans +la Republique qu'est-ce que je serais, moi?--bourgeois, Adolphe Thiers.' He +described the withdrawal of the troops from Paris, which was his own act. +Then the siege, which he claims to have directed, the battery of Mouton +Tout, adding, 'Nous avons enterre, en entrant a Paris, vingt mille +cadavres.' + +Dined at Mme. Mohl's on the 5th with M. de Lomenie and M. Chevreuil, who is +about eighty-five. + +The Duc d'Aumale had opened his house in the Faubourg St.-Honore; reception +there. + +_January 8th_.--Dined with the Economists to meet the Emperor of Brazil. I +was presented to him, and made a speech in French on the maintenance of the +commercial treaty, which was applauded. Back to London on the 9th. + +Reeve had already proposed to Mr. Longman to publish a volume of his +articles from the 'Edinburgh Review.' He now wrote to him:-- + +_C.O., January 11th_.--I find that the French articles I wish to collect +and publish amount to _twelve_. I enclose a list of them. They make about +380 pages of the 'Edinburgh Review' form. How much will that make if +printed in a smaller form? The title of the volume is an important matter. +I have thought of 'Royal and Republican France,' or 'A Cycle of French +History;' but I may think of something better. If you will make the +arrangements, I shall be able to supply copy very soon. The introduction +can be printed afterwards, I suppose? + +I conclude you will publish on the half-profit plan, though my past +experience of that system does not lead me to regard it as the road to +fortune. Of our military volume about 650 copies were sold, and Chesney and +I made 2 L. 3_s_. 0_d_. apiece! + +To this Mr. Longman replied:-- + +_From Mr. T. Longman_ + +_January 14th_.--I will have the calculation made of the articles you +mention. I conclude you would wish to print in the usual demy 8vo. form, +like Macaulay's Essays and all the other reprints from the 'E.R.' + +The plan of a division of profits has been usual in such republications; +and it seems peculiarly adapted to them, as neither the contributor nor +the publisher can republish separately without the consent of the other. +Whether that plan of publication may be a road to fortune or not depends on +the demand for the book. I had once the satisfaction of paying 20,000 L on +one year's account, on that principle, to Lord Macaulay. I certainly had +no expectation of a fortune from the republication which produced you 2 L +3_s_. 0_d_.; but had I purchased the right of separate publication for 100 +L, I hardly think you would have been satisfied that fortune should have so +favoured you at my expense. It seems to be the fashion to decry that mode +of publication; but there will always be books that can be published on no +other terms, unless at the cost and risk of the author. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_Hinton St. George, January 12th._--I am glad to find that you have +returned in safety from Paris with your oratorical honours [Footnote: Of +the French speech in Paris on the 8th.] rich upon you. I do not think that +even Cicero ventured on making an oration in Greek, in Athens; but you have +charmed fastidious Paris with your pure accent and your classic French. I +was in despair when I found your eloquence imputed to another name; but I +heard the error was so generally corrected that you may count on your fame +descending unchallenged to posterity. + +I should agree with you that Franco was to be despaired of, if France were +to be considered as subject to ordinary rules. But she is, and has ever +been, so anomalous, that ordinary moral reasoning from history is wholly +inapplicable to her. At present, one would think she had reached the lowest +depth of moral degradation. She might be usefully touched to the quick, +if she could only believe that she is becoming ridiculous in the eyes of +Europe. + +Not that _we_ can expect a much better fate. When the Treaty of Washington +was published, I strove to awaken in the minds of several leading men a +full sense of its folly, and of the calamitous consequences that would be +sure to follow from such an act of foolish, gratuitous submission; but I +made no impression; not even as to the absurdity of introducing new +and ill-considered rules, and giving them a retrospective operation. I +succeeded with no one. I therefore concluded I must be in the wrong. Now, +however, the American indictment bears testimony to the accuracy of my +forebodings. I entreated Lord Granville not to permit the arbitration to go +on upon such a basis, which it was never intended that the reference should +cover or include. It is a fraudulent attempt to extend the reference most +unwarrantably; and if the arbitration is permitted to proceed on such a +claim, the consequences will be most disastrous. It is a sad spectacle to +see a once gallant and high-spirited nation submitting tamely to be thus +bullied. If not firmly protested against, and resisted _in limine_, you +will have an award which England will repudiate with indignation; and war, +the fear of which has made us submit to these indignities, will be sure to +follow. + +The relative attitudes of England and the United States in 1896 and 1897 +have not materially differed from those of 1872. The policy which has been +persistently followed by this country has not yet resulted in war, but it +seems to many now, as it did to Lord Westbury then, extremely likely to do +so. Peace between two such countries can only be assured when it rests on +mutual respect and a community of interests. We may persuade ourselves +that, in the main, our true interests are identical; but the recent +diplomatic correspondence from the States does not tell of much respect. + +But as to the point at issue in 1872, Reeve wrote in reply to Lord +Westbury, about January 15th:-- + +I agree very much with what you say of the Treaty of Washington, and have +never been able to prevail on myself to say a word in its favour. The +result is that the fate and honour of this country are placed in the hands +of a Swiss and a Brazilian referee, neither of whom knows a word of the +English language! Lord Lyons told me so last week in Paris. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_January 22nd_.--Visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury at +Addington--pleasant; but in going up from Croydon on the 23rd, I was nearly +killed by a runaway _hearse_, which struck my cab and knocked it over. I +was not hurt, but two accidents in a year made me nervous. [Footnote: See +ante, p. 201.] + +_From Mr. H. F. Chorley_ + +18 Eaton Place West, February 8th. + +My dear Reeve,--I send you what I have done _in re_ Hawthorne. I offer a +character rather than a review, proved by extracts; since had I gone on _in +extenso_ I don't know where I should have stopped. Nothing but my strong +wish to get my subject before the public could have made me carry out my +article, poor as it is, seeing that I have written it half a leaf at a +time, and with a weak, weary hand, the end of which will not impossibly be +palsy. But I think as a character, when duly corrected, my work may not +come out amiss. Ever yours faithfully, HENRY F. CHORLEY. + +_Endorsed_--Chorley's last note. He died about a week afterwards [suddenly +on February 16th. The article had apparently not been finished, and was not +published]. + +From the Journal:-- + +_January 24th_.--Went to see the Sandhursts at Brighton, but gout came on +worse, and I was ill for some weeks. I presided at The Club, however, on +the 27th, the Thanksgiving Day for the recovery of the Prince of Wales, and +proposed his health. + +_March 14th_.--I published a collection of my articles on French history +and affairs under the title of 'Royal and Republican France.' + +_From Lord Derby_ + +23 _St. James's Square, March 15th_.--Many thanks for your book on France. +Most of the articles were familiar to me, but all will bear reading again. +You here show up the weakness of French public life and the faults of +French parties as no one else has done; and I do not recollect to have seen +anywhere else pointed out the intimate connexion between the social state +of modern France--with every old tradition destroyed, and the continuance +of a family, as we understand the word here, rendered impossible--and the +political condition, in which every public man is either fighting for +his own personal interest and nothing else, or for the triumph of his +particular theory of politics, which, if successful, is to be enforced +despotically by all the power of a centralised administration. I have never +thought so badly of the French future as now--no energy except among the +Reds, no power of united action; general apathy even as to the present, and +utter indifference to the future. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_March 31st_.--Came down to Bournemouth for the first time with Hopie and +the horses. + +_April 8th_.--Rode to Hengistbury Head and saw for the first time the +Southbourne estate. Dined with Lord Cairns. Back to town on the 9th. + +_17th_.--Dined at Lord Derby's. Sat next Lady Clanricarde, who, _a propos_ +of Sir H. Holland's 'Past Life,' talked about her father [Footnote: George +Canning, _d_. 1827.] and his last illness. She said that in truth Holland +saw Canning very little at Chiswick, and that it was Sir Matthew Tierney +who really attended him; and then she told me the following story of +Tierney:--News came from Clumber that the Duke of Newcastle was dangerously +ill with typhus fever. Tierney was sent down as fast as post-horses could +carry him. It was about 1823, in the pre-railway days; and when he arrived +he was informed that the Duke had been dead about two hours. Shocked at +this intelligence, he desired to see the corpse, which was already laid +out. At his first glance he thought he was dead. At the second he doubted +it. At the third he cried out, 'Bring me up a bucket of brandy!' They tore +the clothes off the body and swathed it in a sheet imbibed with brandy, and +then resorted to friction with brandy. In rather more than an hour symptoms +of life began to manifest themselves, and in two hours the Duke was able to +swallow. He recovered, and lived twenty-five years afterwards. Certainly +this triumph over death beats even Dr. Gull's nursing of the Prince of +Wales. It is the myth of Hercules and Alcestis. + +_May 4th_.--Visit to Drummond Wolff at Boscombe. A further look at +Southbourne. I chose the site I afterwards purchased. + +_8th_.--The King of the Belgians presided at the Literary Fund dinner. +Disraeli made a capital speech. + +_18th_.--Visit to Mrs. Grote at Sheire. Called at Albury. Many London +dinners. + +The Bennett case was heard at this time by the Judicial Committee. Long +deliberation on the judgement at the Chancellor's on June 1st. It was +delivered on June 8th. [Footnote: See 'The Bennett Judgement' in _Edinburgh +Review_, October 1872.] + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_June 1st_,--I am going to Oxford, and fear I may be late at the committee. +There are very important subjects in which we wish to examine you; +especially the danger, if not the illegality, of attempting by new +legislation to create a new Appellate Jurisdiction for the Colonies. + +_From Mr. E. Twisleton_ + +3 Rutland Gate, June 6th + +Dear Reeve,--I send you herewith Francis's translation of Pinto on Credit, +together with the original French work of Pinto. The attack on Pombal is in +Francis's concluding observations. Some of the notes are very interesting, +as illustrating the feeling of national superiority among the English, and +of national depression among the French, between 1763 and the American War +of Independence--see pp. 52, 66, 166. My impression is that the French felt +more humiliated during that period than during an equal number of years +after 1814. The loss of Canada and their expulsion from America wounded +their national feelings of pride _then_ nearly as much as the loss of +Alsace and part of Lorraine wounds those feelings now. A hundred years ago +there were very exaggerated ideas, both in England and in France, as to the +strength which a nation derived from colonies. + +Yours very truly, + +EDWARD TWISLETON. + +P.S.--In Francis's Fragment of Autobiography he speaks of this translation +as his own; and says that upon accepting his appointment to India he +surrendered all his papers to Stephen Baggs, 'in whose name the translation +had been published.' See 'Memoir of Sir P.F.' vol. i. p. 366. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_June 28th_.--Assembly at Grosvenor House. July 2nd, assembly at Lansdowne +House. July 3rd, Queen's ball--a very brilliant season. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +Lowestoft, July 9th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--In one of your friendly letters to me, after the decease +of our valued friend Emily Taylor, you kindly hinted that you would +occasionally favour me with a note; but, knowing the demands upon your pen, +I should not have reminded you of this kindness but for an incident which +occurred last evening when my niece, Ina Reeve, came in to me, saying she +had read such a severe and bitter review of your late publication as quite +surprised her. As she brought the 'Saturday Review' with her, she read it +to me, and perhaps, dear friend, you may have read it, and perhaps guess +its author. To me it seems he is not so angry with your books as with +yourself. Mr. Reeve floats uppermost in almost every line, and 'tis you he +hates. I perceive he cannot endure you, and makes use of your books only +to insult you. I hope you will take care how you come in his way, for I am +sure he will do you a mischief. Beware of the evil eye! He talks of your +ignorance of the New Testament. I could not help thinking how little he is +acquainted with its spirit. + +I also read with much concern of the treatment by Mr. Ayrton of that +admirable Curator at the Kew Gardens--Dr. Hooker. Cruel it will be to +science and the public if he is driven from the position he is so competent +to fill with good results. + +I have read at present only a part of your first volume, which I much +enjoyed. Sir James was in Paris about two or three years before the Great +Revolution began, but the fermentation was beginning. 'Tis time to relieve +you from my imperfect writing, for my sight is not very perfect, and by +candlelight I can neither see to read or write. About two months go I +completed my ninety-ninth year; but I have health and a new source of +happiness in my nephew James and his dear daughter, who are come to reside +at Lowestoft. _She_ is a daily friend to me, a second self; as our taste in +literature, in poetry, and in morals agree. Only think, the Dean of Norwich +sent me his defence of St. Athanasius' Creed! + +I am your dear friend, + +P. SMITH. + +The next entry in the Journal introduces us to the place--a site on the +Southbourne estate already spoken of--where, two years afterwards, Reeve +built the house in which so much of the last twenty years of his life was +passed. It will be seen that for some time he hesitated between this and +the neighbourhood of Ascot where, in the autumn, he inherited a small +property. + +_July 13th_.--To Christchurch, with Parker and Cockerell, [Footnote: +Frederick Pepys Cockerell, one of a family of distinguished architects, and +himself of a high reputation. He died at the age of 45, in 1878.] about the +house at Foxholes. + +_17th_.--Dined at Duke of Argyll's. 20th, three days at Strawberry Hill. +27th, party at Aldermaston: Otway, Layards, H. Bruce. + +Having taken Loch Gair House for the season, went there by Greenock on +August 2nd. I paid about twelve guineas a week. [Loch Gair--wrote Mrs. +Reeve--is a tiny, land-locked bay on the west shore of Loch Fyne. Park-like +grounds, with a pretty burn rushing down, skirt this loch. There is a +small kitchen garden, and a dairy of six cows. The best fishing is in Loch +Clasken, about a mile and a half west. There is a boat on the loch. The +house is a square structure, three stories high, and with underground +larders, dairy, &c. and attics for servants, so that there is ample +accommodation. I think Henry will enjoy the serene beauty of the place, the +balmy air and fragrant odours, and idleness, delicious because earned by +hard work.] + +The Penders being at Minard, we had the benefit of their society and his +yacht. Roland Richardson, Frank Hawkins, Mr. Dempster, the Worsleys, Edmund +Wallace, Fairfax Taylor, Sir A. Grant, the Colebrookes, came to stay +with us; and Colvile. The Derbys and Sir W. Thomson, [Footnote: Now Lord +Kelvin.] Rawlinson, Massey, C. Villiers and the Lowes, staying at Minard. + +[Of this time Mrs. Reeve wrote:--The sun is again ruling the day and the +moon the night, to the very great glory of Loch Gair. On Sunday (August +18th) the whole Minard party, seventeen in number, came over to tea, much +to the amusement of Mr. Dempster, to whom we talked of seclusion, and who +did not expect a cabinet minister, a very 'swell' admiral, and sundry fine +ladies. Mr. Dempster's was but a short visit, to our regret; and on Monday +I took him in the dog-cart to meet the 'Iona' at Ardrishaig.] + +_October 2nd_.--Left Loch Gair. Visit to Orde's at Kilmory; then to +Invergarry (E. Ellice's) by the Caledonian Canal. Deer shooting. 11th, +to Keir; 16th, to Ormiston; then to Abington--shooting there. To town on +October 26th. + +Miss Handley died in October. She left me the Winkfield portion of the +Bracknell estate, which was afterwards confirmed by a decree of the Master +of the Rolls. + +_November 13th_.--Dined at Sandbach's with the Queen of Holland, Prince +Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Lady Eastlake, and Bishop Wilberforce. A few other +dinners. + +_Monday, 25th_.--I have been down to the Van de Weyers at New Lodge, +Windsor Forest, from Saturday till Monday, a thing I have frequently done +of late. Van de Weyer is almost the last survivor of the brilliant London +society of thirty or forty years ago, and to his great literary and social +experience he unites an unequalled knowledge of the politics of Europe. +During the whole of his reign King Leopold was his own foreign minister; +and he succeeded, by his connexion with the Queen of England, and with +Louis-Philippe, and with Germany, in creating a most influential position +in the world, which he did not impart to his Belgian ministers. But Van de +Weyer was the exception. He was the constant channel of communication with +the Court of England. The King wrote to him two or three times a week, and +he to the King. Their correspondence must be a complete history of the +times. Baron Stockmar was to an equal degree in his King's confidence; but +Stockmar never had the political position of Van de Weyer, nor do I think +he was so able a man. I had hinted, in my review of Stockmar's Life, +[Footnote: _Edinburgh Review_, October 1872.] that his oracular powers had +been somewhat exaggerated, and that he was rather more attached to the +interests of the House of Coburg than to those of England; for which I do +not blame him. However, Van de Weyer and some others of Stockmar's friends +(including the Queen) dispute this, and probably think I have not done him +justice. + +For instance, Van de Weyer asserts that when the marriage of the Queen of +Spain was on the _tapis_, Leopold and Queen Victoria had it in their power +to bring about the Coburg marriage, but that they deliberately refused to +do so from respect to their engagements with France. And they acted in this +with the full concurrence of Stockmar. The Queen of Spain had established, +by private means, a correspondence with Queen Victoria. The letters passed +through the hands of Mr. Huth, the merchant, and from him to Van de Weyer, +who delivered them. Isabella complained in these letters of her desperate +and forlorn condition; said she was bullied and threatened by the French, +and expressed her abhorrence of the marriage Bresson was urging upon her. +She declared that if Leopold and Queen Victoria would sanction the Coburg +marriage, she would throw the French over, and marry Prince Leopold the +next day. + +The King and our Queen held a solemn conference and deliberation on the +subject. Palmerston was informed of the transaction; but the ministers seem +to have had no great voice in the matter, for the Queen considered the +engagement she had entered into at Eu as a personal promise, and England +had consistently declared that 'she had no candidate.' To put forward +Leopold at the last hour would have been to forfeit this pledge, which, on +the contrary, was most strictly and honourably maintained. + +It was the knowledge of this, and the consciousness that a less +conscientious policy might have rescued the Queen of Spain from a dreadful +fate, that rendered the Queen of England and Stockmar so indignant when it +turned out that the French Government had been far less scrupulous, and had +not only forced on the marriage of the Queen to a man she detested, but had +also married the other Infanta to Montpensier. + +This communication of Queen Isabella to Queen Victoria is to this day +wholly unrevealed. + +With regard to Leopold's annuity (which I explained in the 'Edinburgh +Review'), it was not only secured by act of Parliament, but by treaty; for +there was a regular treaty of marriage concluded between Prince Leopold and +the Crown of England on his marriage with the Princess Charlotte. + +The intrigues going on with reference to Belgium, both in France and in +Holland, during the Polignac Ministry have been alluded to in a former +page. [Footnote: _Ante_, pp. 111-12.] But it is less generally known that +at this same time, the Prince of Orange, afterwards William II., was +intriguing to form a party to place him on the throne of France in the +event of the overthrow of the Bourbons. + +He spent thirty or forty millions of francs in bribing officers of the army +and others, which was the cause of his subsequent embarrassment and debts. +The French found the plot out, and demanded of the King of Holland that +the Prince should be signally punished. He was accordingly deprived of his +command and of his rank in the army, and even for a time arrested and put +in confinement. He then found out that his French adherents had only been +deluding him to get his money. + +_December 4th_.--To Teddesley. Shooting there. Thence to Crewe, to meet +Lady Egerton of Tatton. + +_12th_.--Henry Greville died. To Farnborough. I determined to publish the +Greville Journals. + +To Bracknell to see the Winkfield land; and to Timsbury for Christmas. + +1873.--At Bournemouth early in January, about the house. To London on +January 11th. + +_January 25th_.--Lord Lytton's funeral in Westminster Abbey. + +_February 14th_.--Dined at Harvie Farquhar's. He was one of C. Greville's +executors, and was curious about the Journals. + +_To Mr. W. Longman_ + +_C.O., March 4th_.--Mr. Morris [Footnote: Edward E. Morris, editor of +_Epochs of Modern History_.] writes under a complete delusion. I could not +possibly write anything for him in less than two years; and I had rather +not enter into any agreement. On reflection, I am satisfied that it would +not answer my purpose to write a popular 'History of the French Revolution' +for 100 L, and to surrender the copyright. An author never ought to +surrender a copyright unless he is compelled to do so. If I wrote a History +of the French Revolution which became a school book or an educational book, +it might become a property of some little value. + +But the truth is that the 'Review' suffers when I am too busy to write in +it; and I have in my hands and before me literary work and materials of a +far more remunerative character, which will suffice to fill the remainder +of my life. It would be unwise in me to undertake a fresh task, which could +not possibly pay me. Therefore, upon the whole, I think you had better put +it in other hands. [Footnote: Eventually the work was written by Mrs. S. R. +Gardiner, though from a point of view very different, we may believe, from +that which Reeve would have taken.] O'Connor Morris would do it very well. + +I am sorry to alter my mind. My first impulse was to accept from a wish to +oblige you, and from interest in the subject; but further consideration +says 'NO!' + +The Journal notes:-- + +_March 19th_.--Dined at Goschen's at the Admiralty. Mme. Novikoff there, an +active Russian agent. + +Mr. Gladstone's Government was beaten by a majority of three. Most of the +casual elections this year went against the Government. Gladstone resigned +on this occasion, but came in again, which he had better not have done. + +_March 31st_.--Dined with Charles Austin--very old and infirm; his last +effort. Lord Belper was there. + +To Bracknell at Easter, in Miss Handley's house. Took the horses; went to +meet of Queen's Hounds; stayed there till April 19th. + +_To Mr. W. Longman_ + +Old Bracknell House, April 13th. + +My dear William,--I am glad you have been to see my scrap of land. I have +taken a great fancy to the spot, and should be very well contented to end +my days there, gazing on that magnificent view of the coast and the sea. At +present I am spending this vacation in Berkshire, and only suffering from +the excessive cold. + +I am reading with the greatest interest Baron Huebner's 'Promenade autour du +Monde,' which was reviewed in the 'Times' two or three days ago. It is a +work of extraordinary merit and importance. I shall review it in the next +'Edinburgh,' and I strongly recommend you to publish a translation of it, +if you can. I have seldom read so wonderful a book. + +Ever yours faithfully, + +HENRY REEVE. + +The Journal goes on to speak of perhaps the most remarkable 'centenarian' +of the nineteenth century:-- + +_May 23rd_.--Dined at Lord Stanhope's with the Antiquaries. Dean Stanley +proposed Lady Smith's health. She was just 100. + +Pleasance Reeve, Lady Smith, widow of Sir James Smith, the botanist and +founder of the Linnaean Society, was born on May 11, 1773, and christened +on the following day at Lowestoft, where her baptismal register still +exists. On May 13, 1873, having just completed her hundredth year, she +caused a dinner to be given to the hundred oldest persons in Lowestoft, +whose joint ages averaged seventy-seven years, and public rejoicings were +held in the town. On May 24th I went down with my daughter to see her, and +spent the best part of three days with her. Married in 1795 to Dr. Smith, +afterwards Sir James, she had been the intimate friend, in Norwich, of my +grandfather and grandmother. On my father's marriage in 1807, he took a +house in Surrey Street, next door to the Smiths, and their intercourse was +perpetual. I have myself no earlier recollection than that of her kindness +to me and attachment to my mother. We used to sit in their pew at the +Octagon Chapel, Norwich; and the first evening party I can remember was at +her house, when Mrs. Opie and William Taylor were present--the latter I +think rather drunk! + +We found Lady Smith at Lowestoft on this 24th of May, sitting in her chair, +looking extremely well, though shrunk; her voice was firm and unchanged; no +deafness; no dulness of sight; and when they served a little collation she +had ordered for us, she got up, moved to the table, and did the honours. + +She complained, however, that the excitement of the last two or three weeks +had impaired her strength and taken away her appetite, I told her that the +evening before, when I was dining at Lord Stanhope's with the Antiquaries, +her health had been proposed in a graceful speech by the Dean of +Westminster. The venerable Society drank the most venerable lady. This +affected her, and she exclaimed, 'You must not tell me such things as +these. They drive me mad. I find it harder to support the many marks of +kindness and distinction I have received than to bear the burden of a +hundred years.' + +I asked her what was the first thing she remembered. She said she was +confident she remembered being taken to her aunt's at Saxmundham as an +infant of nine months old, and still saw her eyes, the crocuses in the +border, and the flutter of the fringe on her own robe. Of political events +she thought the first in her memory was the taking of the Bastille, and she +enlarged on the extraordinary enthusiasm excited by the French Revolution. +I said the American war came before the Revolution of 1789; and she replied +'Yes, no doubt I remember hearing the American war talked about;' and then +quoted the lines (Dr. Aikins' she said):-- + + See the justice of Heaven! America cries; + George loses his senses, North loses his eyes. + When first they provoked me, all Europe could find + That the Monarch was mad and the Minister blind. + +But the date of this epigram must be somewhat later. Lord North became +blind in 1787 [and the King's insanity was not publicly known till November +1788]. + +She remembered Mr. Windham as one of the most graceful and fascinating +of men. Lady Morley [Footnote: Frances, daughter of Thomas Talbot, of +Wymondham, Norfolk, married Lord Boringdon, afterwards Earl of Morley, in +1809.] (the present Earl's grandmother) was staying with the Smiths when +she came out, and was equally remarkable for her wit, her beauty, and her +fine hair. Her mother, Mrs. Talbot, was very ugly. We then talked over all +the old Norwich families, Gower, Taylors, Aldersons, Bathurst, &c. She said +she thought my mother a much finer character than Mrs. Austin, and, she +added, a fine understanding too. + +Her interest in all the events of the day--the last spider discovered +by Dr. Carpenter at the bottom of the ocean and the last improvement at +Burlington House--is as keen as the recollection of the past. 'Punch' and +the 'Illustrated News' and the other newspapers bring it all before her. + +_May 28th_.--Gladstone presided at the Literary Fund dinner. I took Meadows +Taylor, who was staying with us. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +_Lowestoft, May 31st_.--Many thanks, dear Mr. Reeve, for sending me the +handsome present of turtle soup, which came on Thursday evening and made +the best part of my dinner on Friday. My intellectual treat has been the +speeches by the Premier and others at the Literary Fund dinner, and I much +admire the eloquence of the several talented gentlemen. I write so badly +I will spare you, and only send my affectionate regards to Mrs. Reeve and +dear Hopie, and to yourself. I am very sincerely yours, + +P. SMITH. + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +To Bracknell again on June 1st. Attended Ascot for the last time. The Shah +of Persia was in London this year, and was received in state. The Queen +lent him Buckingham Palace. + +_June 25th_.--Goschen's fete to the Shah of Persia at Greenwich Hospital. +Fine sight. We steamed through the docks after the Shah. + +_29th_.--Met M. de Laveleye at Van de Weyer's. + +_July 14th_.--Dined at Merchant Taylors' Hall; made a speech. + +_17th_.--Dined at Lambeth, to talk over the Judicature Bill with the +Archbishop. Met Bishop Wilberforce as I was driving down Constitution Hill. +He was killed two days afterwards (on the 19th) by a fall from his horse, +riding with Lord Granville. + +Count Muenster came as German ambassador. I dined with him at Beust's and at +Houghton's. + +Lord Westbury died in London on July 20th, 1873; a man whose bitter tongue +made him many enemies, and procured for him a reputation as of one without +respect or regard for aught human or divine. Those who knew him well told +a different tale. He has been described by them as having a most kind and +feeling nature. 'He did not make many professions, but had the good of his +fellow-creatures at heart. He always found time to give advice and help.' +Reeve, who had been thrown into frequent and familiar intercourse with him, +was in the habit of speaking of him as one whose real character was very +different indeed from that assigned him by popular repute; and the letter +of sympathy which he wrote to Lord Westbury's daughter, the Hon. Augusta +Bethell,[Footnote: Afterwards Mrs. Parker, and, by a second marriage, Mrs. +Nash.] merely expressed his honest opinion. + +Rutland Gate, July 23rd. + +Dear Miss Bethell,--I should have written sooner if I had had the use of +my hand, to express to you my profound sorrow and sympathy in the loss you +have sustained. + +I look back with unmixed satisfaction on the relations I maintained for +so many years with your father. He honoured me with his confidence and +friendship. I have the profoundest admiration, not only for his qualities +as a lawyer, but for his just and enlarged mind, his vast reading, his +memory, and the inexhaustible kindness of his heart. He was one of the +greatest men I have known, and one of those whose loss to us all is most +irreparable. How much more so to you! + +Mrs. Reeve begs to unite her condolences to mine; and we remain always + +Your much attached friends, + +HENRY REEVE. + +The Journal notes a six weeks' tour with Mrs. Reeve in Switzerland and +Germany:-- + +_August 1st_.--To Paris and Geneva, _via_ Dieppe. Saw Thiers in Paris. He +had been turned out of office on May 4th. On August 4th reached Binet's +_campagne_. Family dinners, &c., at Geneva. 12th, called at Blumenthal's +_chalet_, near Vevey. 14th, to Berne, Grindelwald, and Ragaz, by Zurich. +Took baths at Ragaz. Longmans came there on the 22nd. Pleasant excursion +to Glarus. 26th, to Syrgenstein [near the Lake of Constance--wrote Mrs. +Reeve--where some cousins of ours, the Whittles, bought an old schloss +with some 300 acres, and settled about fifteen years ago]. 31st, by Ulm to +Baden-Baden, Bonn, Aix, Antwerp; home on September 8th. + +_September 10th_.--Sir Henry Holland dined with us. He had just been to +Nijni Novgorod, and was starting for Naples. He died as soon as he got +back, on October 27th. This was the last time I saw him. He was then +eighty-five. To Bracknell in September. + +_September 27th_.--To Christchurch. Ordered fences for Foxholes. + +_October 3rd_.--To Cultoquhey (Lord Moncreiff's). 6th, fishing at Battleby +(Maxtone Graham's), in the Tay. We killed seven fish; I, one of 19 lbs.; +Hopie, two, one of 25 lbs. Thence to the Colviles', at Craigflower, and on +the 11th to Minto. 14th, drove to Ancrum and Kirklands. Beautiful day. + +We went from Minto to Dartrey, co. Monaghan, by Carlisle and Stranraer; +crossed to Larne, but had to sleep at Dundalk, on the 17th. At Dartrey +found the Ilchesters, Mr. Herbert, and others. Lady Craven and the +Headforts came later. Returned to England on the 27th by Greenore and +Holyhead. + +For the October number of the 'Review,' Reeve had written an article on +the Ashantee War, in which he would seem to have been assisted by Lord +Kimberley, then Colonial Secretary. On its appearance, Mr. Pope Hennessy, +at this time Governor of the Bahamas, but who, in the preceding year, had +been Governor of the Gold Coast, wrote to 'The Editor of the "Edinburgh +Review,"' objecting to some of the statements regarding his own conduct, +which, he declared, were inaccurate. And, having given utterance to his +objections, he continued:-- + +_November 28th_.--As I have ventured on fault-finding about one article, I +must not deprive myself of the pleasure of congratulating you heartily +on another. Since October 1802 no article on foreign affairs has been so +apropos as your Cuban one of last October. Here it has been read with +avidity and universal satisfaction, and I believe it will do much to guide +influential opinion in England at this crisis. I hope to see you return to +the subject in January. Remember that your January number, as far as the +instruction of M.P.s is concerned, is always an important political one. In +view of your dealing with the subject again, I give you a few facts that +may perhaps add special interest once more to the 'Edinburgh's' mode of +dealing with it. + +England is directly concerned in Cuba by its close proximity to the +Bahamas. Cay Lobos (British territory) is but fourteen miles from Cay +Confites (Cuban territory). That leaves but eight miles of high seas in +width. The people of the Bahamas have made frequent complaint to the +governor about the conduct of the Spanish authorities in Cuba. In +August this year the Governor of the Bahamas sent a memorial to the +Captain-General of Cuba about the impediments to the Bahama sponging trade +caused by the arbitrary acts of the Spaniards. No notice has been taken of +this. It has not even been acknowledged. In 1870 complaints were made to +Sir James Walker (my predecessor) that James Fraser and three other British +subjects were captured in a Bahama schooner, taken ashore to Cuba, and +there shot. The Spaniards justified this by saying that the ship was +conveying supplies to the insurgents, and they (the Spaniards) executed +Fraser and the others as pirates. In the same year a man named Williams +complained that sixty or seventy Spanish soldiers landed at Berry Island (a +part of the Bahama colony), chasing Cuban refugees, firing off their guns, +and threatening to hang Williams if he did not aid them in their search. +Subsequently the Spanish admiral, Melcampo, made a sort of apology for +this; but the Captain-General of Cuba, on the other hand, wrote to Sir +James Walker, complaining that the British lighthouse-keepers on Berry +Island had refused to aid the Spaniards in pursuit of 'pirates' on British +soil. Lord Granville took up the matter in a proper spirit. He sent +energetic remonstrances to Madrid. He got the Admiralty to telegraph to Sir +Rodney Mundy, at Halifax, to despatch ships of war to aid the Governor of +the Bahamas in protecting the colony from the raids of the Spaniards. As to +the seizing of ships on the high seas under neutral flags, he telegraphed +to Sir John Crampton, at Madrid, to say that it would be 'a glaring +violation of the law of nations.' The Madrid Government promised to get the +Captain-General's proclamation revoked; but my predecessor reported that +General Dulce had not revoked it, and he returned to Spain without doing +so. The half-and-half revocation that took place left 'exceptional +cases' at the discretion of the Spanish cruisers. Hence the case of the +'Virginius.' + +The excitement here about the recent executions is intense. Twenty-nine of +those shot resided at Nassau. The public feeling is now so strong that it +deprives me of power (especially as all British troops are withdrawn) to +stop expeditions against the Spaniard, though I am doing my best to allay +it and to be strictly neutral. Indeed, in the interest of the peace and +well-being of the Bahamas, I have had to write to Lord Kimberley, asking +him to use his influence in getting some law-abiding government substituted +in Cuba for the present lawless rule of the volunteers. Your article will +do much to support H.M. Government in a decided course now. + +Believe me, yours faithfully, + +J. POPE HENNESSY. + +The Journal records here:-- + +_December 8th_.--We went to Knowsley, with Lord Cairns. There were there +Lord C. Hamilton, Henry Cowper, &c. Lord Sefton shot with us. We killed +827 head on the 9th, 784 head on the 10th, 366 head on the 11th. Went to +Liverpool with Lord Cairns on the 12th, and home next day. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_C. O., December 15th_.--The last edition of my translation of +Tocqueville's book on France has probably not yet found its way to +Knowsley's library, and I shall be much gratified if you will allow me to +place a copy there. This edition has the advantage of containing fourteen +posthumous chapters not to be found in any other, and these certainly are +not the least remarkable part of the work. I was moved to translate them +partly by your saying to me one day, 'Can't you give us any more of +Tocqueville?' + +The Journal goes on:-- + +To Paris for Christmas. Saw M. Guizot; dined at the Embassy. Dined with +Mme. Faucher on Christmas Day; with M. Guizot on the 27th; Camille Rousset +and Taine there. On the 28th dined at the Duc de Broglie's, then home +minister; Apponys, Prince Orloff, Lord Lyons, Lambert de Sainte-Croix +there. Dined on the 29th with the Lyttons at Mme. Gavard's; and on the 30th +with the Comte de Paris at De Mussy's. + +1874.--The year opened at Paris. Called on M. Guizot and dined with the +Raymonds on New Year's Day. Breakfasted with the Duc d'Aumale at Chantilly +on the 2nd; first time I had seen him there. Dined at Mohl's with +Haussonville, the Lyttons, and Tourgueneff. + +Renewed my acquaintance with Drouyn de Lhuys, who related to me the affairs +of 1866. Very curious. Dined at the Political Economy Club on the 5th; and +at Lytton's on the 6th. Back to London on the 7th. + +_January 24th_.--To Aldermaston, with Lord Aberdare, the Samuel Bakers, +Herbert Spencer, Franks and others. Pleasant and interesting; but I had the +gout and was laid up for a month. This was the day Gladstone published his +fatal address to the electors at Greenwich. Parliament was dissolved on the +26th. We all told Lord Aberdare that the party would be smashed, and so it +was. Disraeli's Government came in on February 21st. + +_21st_.--The Master of the Rolls gave judgement in the Handley suit, which +gave me the Winkfield property. + +The case was shortly described by Mrs. Reeve:-- + +'There were two wills, one of Edwin Handley, the other that of his two +surviving sisters. His will was good as to devise of money, bad as to land; +therefore the land passed to the sisters, and their bequests of land come +into effect. The property in Winkfield which comes to Henry is a little +more than 30 acres. Of course the agricultural value is not very great; but +we hope, as building and accommodation land, to make a good thing of it.' + +It appears, indeed, that the advisability of settling on it themselves was +considered; but there was no house on the property; so that as in either +case a house had to be built, the Christchurch site was preferred. In June +Reeve sold this Winkfield property for nearly 6,000 L., which--he added to +a note of the sale--'enabled me to build Foxholes.' + +The following is endorsed:--'M. Guizot on the death of [his daughter] +Pauline. The last letter he wrote me with his own hand.' + +8 _mars_.--Je vous remercie de votre sympathie, my dear Sir. J'y comptais. +Vous etes un des anciens temoins de ma vie et de mon bonheur. Il a ete +grand; mais le bonheur se paye. Je me soumets douloureusement mais sans +murmure. La vie est ainsi faite. C'est pour mon gendre Cornelis de Witt que +je ressens une pitie profonde. Il a joui pendant vingt-cinq ans de ce que +j'ai moi-meme appele le bonheur parfait, l'amour dans le mariage. Il reste +seul avec ses sept enfants. Ils viendront tous vivre avec moi, sous les +yeux de ma fille Henriette,[Footnote: Mme. Guizot de Witt.] une vraie mere. +Revenez nous voir. + +Je n'ai pas le coeur a vous parler d'autre chose. Je n'ai pas encore recu +'l'Edinburgh Review' des mois d'octobre et janvier dernier. Je les fais +demander. Je vis aussi en Angleterre. C'est beaucoup d'avoir deux vies et +presque deux patries. Mr. Burton a-t-il publie l'article qu'il projetait +sur mon Histoire de France? Je vous envoie quelques pages que je viens +d'ecrire sur mon excellent ami, M. Vitet. [Footnote: Louis Vitet, 'de +l'Academie francaise,' _d_.June 1873. This is presumably the 'notice' +prefixed to Vitet's _Etudes philosophiques et litteraires_ (8vo. 1875).] +Encore un profond regret. + +Adieu, my dear Sir. Tenez-moi un peu au courant de ce qui se passe chez +vous et de ce que vous en pensez. Nous vegetons ici dans les tenebres, +en attendant un mieux qui viendra, je ne sais quand ni comment. Mais je +persiste a y croire. Tout a vous, GUIZOT. + +The Journal here has:-- + +_March 10th_.--The Duc d'Aumale dined at The Club dinner. + +_18th_.--Met Disraeli at Lady Derby's first party. A day or two before +this, at Windsor, Lord Granville was chaffing Lady John Manners and +said--referring to the Prime Minister's birth--'You must acknowledge that +your chief's nose is very queer.' 'At all events,' was Lady John's ready +rejoinder, 'it is not out of joint.' + +_28th_.--Took the Duc de Rochefoucault (the French Ambassador) to the boat +race at Mortlake. + +_April 2nd_.--To Christchurch. On the 4th, in torrents of rain, we fixed, +with Cockerell, the exact site of Foxholes House. + +_May 8th_.--Ball to the Prince of Wales at the French Embassy. Duchess of +Edinburgh there. + +Lord Hertford, the Tory Lord Chamberlain, omitted me from the Court ball +this year, for the first time since 1847. This was before the publication +of the 'Greville Memoirs,' and not on account of it. + +To Aix in the end of May. Longman was with me. Home on June 4th. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, ce 22 juillet. + +My Dear Sir,--Je reponds a votre aimable lettre du 14 juillet, et je +commence par supprimer mon ecriture. J'en avais autrefois un qu'on trouvait +tres jolie, mais, depuis quelques mois, ma main est devenue si tremblante +que j'ai renonce a ecrire moi-meme. Je ne veux cependant pas tarder +davantage a vous dire avec quel plaisir j'ai lu l'article de Mr. Burton +sur mon Histoire de France que je viens de trouver dans le numero 285 de +'l'Edinburgh Review.' C'est excellent; il est impossible de serrer de plus +pres les diverses parties de mon ouvrage en les analysant d'une maniere +plus claire et plus frappante. Les liens de l'histoire de France avec +l'Etat, la Couronne, l'Eglise et les moeurs publiques y sont resumes +dans toute leur verite. Je ne pourrais dans ce moment-ci, avec ma main +tremblante, en remercier moi-meme Mr. Burton comme je le voudrais faire. +Je me promets d'y revenir plus tard. En attendant, je vous prie de le +remercier pour moi, en lui disant tout ce que je pense de son parfait +resume. Vous me pardonnerez d'etre si bref; je suis encore assez souffrant +et fatigue. Je reprends pourtant dans ce moment meme la publication +periodique des livraisons de mon histoire; elles seront envoyees chaque +semaine a Mr. Burton comme a vous, et je serai bienheureux si vous me dites +qu'elles vous interessent autant que les precedents volumes. Pardon, my +dear Sir, de ne pas vous en dire davantage. Je suis au Val Richer jusqu'a +la fin de l'annee. Ecrivez-moi quelquefois, je vous prie, et croyez-moi +affectueusement tout a vous, + +GUIZOT. + +P.S.--C'est ma fille Henriette qui me sert de secretaire pour ma +correspondance comme pour mon histoire. Je n'en retrouverais nulle part un +pareil. + +This letter, written by Mme. Guizot de Witt, was the last Reeve received +from his old friend, who died at Val Richer on September 12th, in his 87th +year. A month later he received the following:-- + +_From Mme. Guizot de Witt_ + +Val Richer, ce 20 octobre. + +Mon cher Monsieur,--Je savais bien ce que vous senteriez pour nous et aussi +pour vous-meme. Mon pere avait pour vous beaucoup d'amitie. En rangeant ses +papiers, au milieu de toutes vos lettres, je trouve une foule de minutes de +ses reponses; quelques-unes sont bien belles. Je ne vous parle pas du vide +affreux de ma vie et de mon ame. Je sais que Dieu me donnera la force de le +supporter en travaillant encore pour ceux qui m'ont quittee. Et le jour du +revoir viendra. Mon pere est parti tout entier, lui-meme jusqu'au bout, +dans la possession de son esprit et de son ame, plein de confiance en Dieu, +nous recommandant de servir le pays qu'il avait supremement aime et dont +les malheurs ont d'abord ebranle sa sante. Ma Pauline aussi ne s'etait +jamais relevee de la guerre. Us sont ensemble et en paix. Adieu, mon cher +Monsieur. Vous viendrez certainement a Paris cet hiver, et nous vous +verrons. Je compte aller dans six semaines retrouver tout mon monde qui +y est deja. Remerciez pour moi Mrs. Reeve et Hope, et croyez a tous mes +meilleurs sentiments. + +GUIZOT DE WITT. + +_Journal_ + +_July_.--The building Foxholes was now going on. To Scotland, July 31st, +having again taken Loch Gair. Also hired a 16-ton yacht--the 'Foam.' Got +there on August 1st. John Binet came to Loch Gair, straight from Geneva. + +Mrs. Reeve wrote of him:--'It is his first visit to North Britain, and his +enthusiasm--at 62--is quite delightful to witness. He travelled here from +Paris without stopping, and though a good deal tired and half-starved, was +ready for a walk that afternoon and for climbing hills the next morning.' + +I was engaged all the autumn at Loch Gair in revising the press of 'The +Greville Memoirs' and in preparing a new edition of the 'Democracy in +America.' + +We left Loch Gair on October 8th: and after visits to Abington, Ormiston +and Minto, returned to London on the 26th. + +The publication of the first part of 'The Greville Memoirs' took place on +October 17th. It excited far greater interest than I had expected, and the +first edition sold very rapidly. Five editions were published in less than +six months; the two first of 2,500 each, and the three last of 1,000; so +that about 8,000 copies were sold. + +The Press, in the main, was highly favourable. On the 28th the +Queen--though I believe she had not yet read the book, but only newspaper +extracts--sent me a message by Helps to express her disapproval of it, on +these grounds 1. It was disparaging to her family. 2. It tended to weaken +the monarchy. 3. It proceeded from official persons. I begged Helps to +reply, with my humble duty, that the book showed that, if the monarchy +had really been endangered, it was by the depravity of George IV. and the +absurdities of William IV.; but that under Her Majesty's reign it had +become stronger than ever. + +It may, however, be believed that the Queen, who was, not unnaturally, much +offended, never quite forgave the publication; and it is at least probable +that the annoyance she had felt was the principal reason for Reeve's never +receiving the K.G.B., to which his long service at the Council Office would +seem to have, in a measure, entitled him. + +I saw the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg the same day, October 28th, but I +don't think the Cambridges were very angry. The old Duchess was having the +book read to her, and frequently added amusing recollections to it. + +This publication was one of the most important incidents in Reeve's +literary life; one which was warmly discussed at the time and has been much +commented on since. It is probably as the editor of this remarkable book +that Reeve will be best known to future generations, and it is therefore +well to relate the story in a clear and detailed manner. From the first, +Reeve was fully alive to the responsibility he was undertaking; and the +following memorandum was apparently drawn up at the time of Greville's +death. + +_Memorandum on 'The Greville Memoirs,' and on the death of Charles +Greville_, 1865 + +On January 7th, 1865, I received from Mr. Greville, I being at Torry Hill, +a note requesting me to call on him for a matter, as he expressed it, +not very important, but partly of a personal and partly of a literary +character. I answered directly that being out of town I could not call +immediately, but would not fail to do so as soon as I returned to London. + +I returned to London on the afternoon of Monday, the 9th, and called in +Bruton Street about 11 A.M. on Tuesday the 10th. I thought Mr. Greville +looked thin, but not ill, and he was free from gout. He said, however, that +he was seriously unwell in other ways. The truth was (although he did not +then tell me so) that he had an effusion of water on the heart. I know +not how long it had been coming on; but in the preceding week he had been +staying at the Grenfells' at Taplow, where Lady Colvile had the scarlatina. +From Taplow he proceeded to Savernake; but Lady Ailesbury had so violent a +fear of the infection that she sent a servant to stop Greville's fly on the +way from the station to the house, on the ground that she could not receive +him. He was therefore compelled to go to sleep at the inn at Marlborough, +where, besides being excessively annoyed, he caught a bad cold. The next +day he returned to Taplow, saying to Grenfell, 'I come back here because no +one will receive me!' and he soon afterwards came back to Bruton Street. +This was the history of the malady of which he died; but whether it was +brought on by the cold he caught, or by any other cause, I do not know. + +When I saw him on the 10th he was in no pain, and apparently not seriously +ill. He began by talking about Privy Council affairs; he then gave me an +account of the Windham papers, which Mrs. Henry Baring is preparing for +publication; but I saw that these were not the subjects on which he wished +to see me, and there was evidently a nervousness in his manner as he +approached it. At last, sitting down in his easy-chair, he said--'And now +I want to speak to you about my own affairs. Reeve, I am getting devilish +old, and I think in all probability I have not long to live. I have +therefore been considering what I ought to do with the journals I have kept +on all important occasions for so many years of my life. They amount, I +think, to ninety volumes [Footnote: These are now in the British Museum.], +and extend over nearly fifty years. I left off writing them two years ago, +finding that since I withdrew from the office I knew less of the course of +events. Let us look at them.' He then opened the lower part of a bookcase +in which I saw these volumes in a row. He then added, 'Now, will you take +charge of them? I have been thinking a great deal of what I can do with +them. They contain a good deal of curious matter, as you know, which may +be of interest hereafter. I can do nothing better than leave them in your +hands. You will be the judge whether any part of them, and what, can be +published.' + +To this I replied, that I was very much touched by so great a mark of his +confidence and friendship; that as for the journals, he was quite right in +supposing that I should set as much store by them as he did himself, and +that in whatever I did with them hereafter, I should conform to what +I might suppose to be his wishes; that it appeared to me that a broad +distinction exists between the earlier half, including the reigns of +George IV. and William IV., and the latter half, subsequent to the Queen's +accession, and that if the former part might to a certain extent be +published soon, the other part could not. That the person I should +naturally consult in such a trust would be Lord Clarendon; but that at +present it was not necessary to take any steps, as I hoped he would still +be with us some years; that I would read the journals through, with his +permission, and tell him what I thought. + +To all this he assented. He said, 'They are all full of Clarendon, who +has always been so intimate with me. I will bring you down a dozen of the +volumes the first day I go out in my carriage; and if my life should be +spared a few years, we will talk them over.' + +He then spoke of his letters, particularly of his own letters to the late +Duke of Bedford, which had been recently sent back to him. He said he would +read them over; that some of them might serve to fill up and complete +passages in the journals. To this I remarked, 'Do you mean, then, +these letters are to go with the journals?' He replied, 'That requires +consideration.' He did not therefore give me any power over the letters. + +I was going that day (January 10th) to Ampthill, to see Lord Wensleydale; +and on the 14th to the Grove. This led me to say, 'Am I at liberty to +mention to Lord Clarendon what has passed on this subject?' He answered +'No. I had rather it should be entirely confidential.' I therefore of +course said nothing to anyone. + +On Monday, the 16th, I returned to town from the Grove, and went in the +evening, about five, to Bruton Street. Lady Sydney and Lady Enfield were +with him. He looked somewhat weaker, and complained of total loss of +appetite. As soon as the ladies were gone, he resumed the subject of the +journals, and immediately said, 'Now you are come back to town, you +can take some of them.' He rang for his servant to hold a light to the +bookcase, and by his directions I took vols. v., vi., vii., and viii., and +carried them home with me. He said he had lent the first four vols. to his +brother Henry, but that I should have them soon. He then again said, 'When +you have read these, you will see what you think can be published; but as +you advance they become more interesting.' I read these volumes nearly +through the same evening, beginning from the death of Lord Liverpool. + +On Tuesday, January 17th, I returned to Bruton Street about six. He was +alone. Another volume of the journals was on the table by him, which he +gave me, saying, 'You will find this more interesting'--but this was as I +was going away. I told him that I had read the former volumes greedily, and +that he had treated George IV. with great severity. He replied, 'What I +have said of him is not flattering; but that is what he was.' I then asked +him about the passages in cipher. He said he had invented this cipher +himself for the purpose of his journal; that he could read it, but nobody +else. That he would read to me the passages in cipher if I would bring them +to him; but he added, 'For that matter, the truth is the greater part of +them had better be omitted, as they relate to things which are better +forgotten.' He then mentioned that he had told Henry Greville that 'I was +to have the journals.' And I afterwards found that he had intimated his +intention to Mr. Baring and I think to Lord Granville. + +He said that Meryon (his doctor) thought him better to-day-that the day +before had been a very bad one; but he had still no appetite, though he was +going to try to eat a piece of woodcock for his dinner. It was then near +seven o'clock, and I left him, taking the volume with me, but with no +presentiment that we were parting for ever. He said, as I wished him good +night, 'Come again to-morrow if you are near me.' I promised to come, and +to come often, and left the room. + +He can scarcely have seen anyone afterwards; for the evening was advancing, +and between nine and ten he went to bed. His servant proposed to sleep +near him. He said, 'No; I don't want that, unless I am very ill.' He fell +asleep, and seems never to have waked, for when he was found in the morning +he lay with his finger resting on his pillow in his accustomed attitude, +like a child asleep. + +On January 27th I received a letter from Henry Greville, stating that +Charles had informed him of his intention, but that there was nothing about +the journals or letters in the will or codicil. I answered this letter +the same day, by giving him an abridged copy or version of the preceding +statement. + +I ought to have stated that, in the conversation of January 10th, Mr. +Greville said that he thought it better not to fix any stated time +within which the journals might or might not be published. Part might be +published, but it was a mere question of discretion and propriety what and +when. + +I observed to him that in selecting me as his literary executor, the only +question was whether some member of his own family might not more properly +be selected. To this he replied that he had considered that, and preferred +that I should have them. I have since found that, prior to the death of +Sir George Lewis, he had been selected by Greville for this trust. He then +hesitated for some time whom he should appoint, and then chose me. + +Having made up his mind that the time was ripe for the publication of the +earlier volumes of the journals, Reeve--as has been said--gave them to the +world on October 17th, fully prepared to take all the responsibility of his +act. And indeed he was quickly called on to do so; for some of Greville's +relations, uneasy--it would appear--at the hostile attitude of the Court, +called on him to make a public declaration that they had nothing to do with +it, whilst others were disposed to question Reeve's legal right. Of this, +however, he had plenty of evidence; amongst others, that of Mr. T. Longman, +who wrote:-- + +_Farnborough Hill, November 7th._--... In the interview I had with Mr. +Harvie Farquhar, I stated that Mr. Greville consulted me some time before +his death as to whom he should leave his journals to, and that Mr. Greville +concurred in my suggestion that he should leave them to you. As Mr. +Greville acted on this some time after our conference, it became obvious to +Mr. H. Farquhar that, as between gentlemen, the main question that had been +raised, as to your right of possession, fell to the ground. + +After this the matter was settled in a perfectly amicable manner in a +meeting between Reeve and Mr. Harvie Farquhar, representing the timorous +kinsfolk, and together they wrote the following letter, which was +published, under Reeve's signature, in the 'Times,' 'Pall Mall Gazette,' +and some other papers, on November 7th. + +Finding that statements are current that Mr. Charles Greville's and Mr. +Henry Greville's executors had been consulted as to the publication of Mr. +Charles Greville's Journals of the Reigns of George IV. and William IV., +I think it right to say that they were in no way consulted by me, nor +was their assent asked for, because I believed it to be the wish of +Mr. Greville that his family and executors should be relieved from all +responsibility in the matter. + +The journals were not left to Mr. Henry Greville, nor did they pass to +his executors, having been given to me by Mr. Greville himself before +his death, as stated by me in the preface, for the purpose of eventual +publication, but the time and manner of publication were left to my sole +discretion. I am, therefore, alone responsible for the production of this +portion of the journals at the present time, and any beneficial interest +in them is a matter entirely between my publisher and myself. Beneficial +interest in the publication had not, however, the slightest influence on +the course I thought it right to pursue, and I take this opportunity of +stating that, in my opinion, many years must elapse before the more recent +portions of these journals can with propriety be published. + +On the actual publication he received many encouraging letters, a few of +which are here given, together with a remarkable expression of opinion from +Lord Russell, one of the few public men then living who could speak of the +regency and the reign of George IV. from personal knowledge. + +_From Mr. Delane_ + +October 22nd. + +Dear Reeve,--I am glad you are pleased with the first notice of Greville's +Journals. There are at least two more to come, which will, I hope, be +equally gratifying to you. Certainly you did not publish too soon. The +world moves too quickly for long intervals of suppressed publication. I +suppose the book is not really published, as I have only seen it in sheets. +Yours ever faithfully, + +J. T. DELANE. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +Knowsley, October 31st. + +Dear Reeve,--The Greville papers are quite the most interesting and amusing +work of the year; and, considering the extreme difficulty of editing such a +work without spoiling it--on the one hand, by too much suppression, or by +leaving in it passages which would give reasonable cause of offence to +private persons--I think you have been singularly judicious.... As to the +journalist's criticisms on public men, they seem to me to be the harsh +judgements of a man trying to be impartial, though inclined to be +acrimonious. There is certainly nothing in them which you could have +the slightest scruple about publishing, or which the relatives of those +concerned can resent. + +Very sincerely yours, + +DERBY. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +St. Anne's Hill, Chertsey, October 31st. + +My dear Reeve,--... I have been reading Charles Greville with much interest +and entertainment. I think you are quite right in publishing now, and not +waiting for a generation 'who knew not Joseph.' There is always a clamour +against those who tell the truth. Charles Greville may very likely [have +been], and certainly was, very often wrong; but he believed he told the +truth, and he certainly uttered his genuine sentiments. These journals +throw a strong light on contemporary events, and will be very valuable to +the future historians of the period. Ch. G. was a man who felt much and +expressed himself strongly; and had you attempted to soften his language +you would have injured the effect and destroyed the _couleur locale_. + +He was a man naturally of a quick and irritable temper, and he had been a +spoilt child all his life. His original education was defective. He lived +with the selfish and the self-indulgent, and naturally became selfish and +self-indulgent himself. At six years old an old friend of his mother's +found him crying at dinner because he had not got the liver wing of the +chicken; and to the last he would have wanted 'the liver wing.' But he had +naturally a kind heart, and a just perception; and he admired what was +noble and generous, if he did not always practise it. He suffered greatly +in health, and he was too self-indulgent, even with the certainty of pain +before his eyes, to moderate his appetite. His last years were unhappy. The +indulgence of his temper made his company often disagreeable, and he very +keenly felt the neglect of his old friends. With a better education +he would have been a most valuable man, for his natural powers were +considerable. Like so many other London men, he thought the whole world was +bounded by Oxford Street, Pall Mall, the Parks, and the City; and he took +his opinions from the clubs in St. James's Street and Pall-Mall, and, as +those opinions varied, so we find his judgements in these journals vary. +But he himself was convinced, and he uttered the genuine sentiments of the +moment.... I hope you will publish the rest of the four vols. before long, +and that you will preserve exactly the same plan you have done in these.... +Yours very sincerely, E. C. + +_From Mr. Harvie Farquhar_ + +16 St. James's Street, November 28th. + +The yeast of society ferments easily, and--at present--C. G.'s manes are +the best abused in or out of Hades; but all will settle down soon, and when +people have done throwing stones, and the water is placid enough to enable +them to see below the surface, they will better appreciate what lies at the +bottom. Whether abused or not, the book will be in every library--on its +merits. + +_From the Queen of Holland_ + +The Hague, Monday, November 30th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--Saturday night, November 28th, the books arrived. I +am afraid, after Sunday church, more of my time than ought to have been +Sunday's occupation was given to these three volumes. Of course, I have not +_read_ them; I _rushed_ through, and am now going to read page by page. +The interest is an immense one. Not only that I have _known many_ of the +persons named, but I have _heard_ from all, and they seem to me like +shadows reviving, returning to light and life. Dear Lord Clarendon's name +struck me several times; and I remember, when Mr. Greville died, Lord +Clarendon wrote me 'his papers had been given to the person most able to +judge them.' At that time I did not know Mr. Reeve; but I recollect the +words perfectly. Pray give my best compliments to Mrs. Reeve, and believe +me very sincerely yours, + +SOPHIE. + +_From Lord Russell to Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_December 9th_.--I was much interested in C. Greville's Memoirs. He is not +a bit too severe on George IV. A worse man has not lived in our time. + +On the other hand, many of the papers criticised the work in a hostile and +violent manner. It was, they said, a breach of official confidence for a +man in Greville's position to keep a journal at all. Greville--whose name +it was fatally easy to rhyme to Devil--was described as a man delighting in +listening at keyholes, and habitually misrepresenting the only half-heard +secrets. Here is a specimen; one epigram out of many, all to the same +effect, and all ending with the same rhyme:-- + + For fifty years he listened at the door, + And heard some secrets, and invented more; + These he wrote down, and statesmen, queens and kings, + Are all degraded into common things. + Though most have passed away, some still remain + To whom such scandal gives a needless pain; + And though they smile, and say 'Tis only Greville,' + They wish him, Reeve, and Longman at the devil. + +The 'Quarterly Review,' too, in a peculiarly venomous article, compared +the relative positions of Greville and Reeve with those of Bolingbroke and +Mallet, as painted by Dr. Johnson. Bolingbroke, he had said, was a cowardly +blackguard, who loaded a gun which he was afraid to fire off himself, and +left a shilling to a beggarly Scotchman to pull the trigger after his +death. The inference was inevitable; and though Reeve was neither a +Scotchman nor a beggar, he unquestionably felt the sting, coming, as it +did, from a friend of more than forty years' standing, Abraham Hayward +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. pp. 12, 34.]. The friendship was not +unnaturally broken, nor does the old intimacy appear to have been ever +renewed. + +Of course the gravamen of this charge, made not only by the 'Quarterly +Review,' but by other less distinguished journals, was that Reeve had been +mainly, if not solely, influenced by the idea of making a good thing out of +it. The sale of the work--they said--was very great. Commercially, it had +been a brilliant success. Reeve's trained insight into literary affairs had +shown him that it must be so, and, tempted by the _auri sacra fames_, he +had yielded, maugre the counsels of his better part. Never was charge more +unjust, more untrue. Reeve, though not a wealthy man, was now in easy +circumstances, with a sufficient and assured income. Prudent in the +management of his property and in his expenditure he seems to have always +been; but as far removed, both by temperament and education, from parsimony +as from extravagance. Money he valued only for what it could give him; and +both in fact and in sentiment he was in a position to say with the poet-- + + mihi parva rura et + Spiritum Graias tenuem Camoenae + Parca non mendax dedit, et malignum + Spernere vulgus. + +Still, the charge was made at the time, was currently repeated, and +has been believed by many. It happens, however, that the most complete +contradiction of it remains in the shape of Reeve's letters to Mr. T. +Longman, some of which we can now read. + +_C. O., November 7th_.--Nothing could end better for me than the amicable +discussion with H. Farquhar, and I am exceedingly glad to have had an +opportunity of writing the letter which appears in the 'Times' and 'Post' +to-day. + +I have never desired to make this book a source of profit to myself, beyond +a reasonable remuneration for the time and labour I have spent on it. +The returns have already exceeded my expectation and desire. It is not, +therefore, my wish or intention to press or urge the sale of the book. I +have no doubt the second edition will go off fast enough--indeed a good +part of it is already bespoken. But I have not at all made up my mind to +proceed to a third edition if the second is exhausted. I am inclined to +think I shall hold my hand. I have no wish to make more money out of the +book, or to make it a very common popular work; and my feeling is that I +should best consult my own dignity by leaving matters as they are, at any +rate for the present. + +However, it is needless to decide this now, as the demand for a third +edition may never arise. But I think it right to let you know my view of +the matter, because you are by no means called upon to advertise largely, +or make efforts to extend the sale--at least, not more than you think +necessary to cover your own interests. But I believe you would be sure to +sell this second edition without any advertising at all. I certainly do not +wish to have any puffing advertisements. I had rather that the book were to +become scarce and dear than that you should sell ten thousand copies. + +_November 9th_.--There is a good deal of truth in what you say about not +publishing a third edition if the second is sold off. People would probably +attribute it to the wrong motive, and say I had been stopped in some +way, or was afraid; and nobody gets any credit for disinterestedness. +Fortunately the first edition was a very small one, for you could have sold +5,000 as easily as 2,500, and this has given a check to the sale, which I +do not regret. If necessary, I suppose these editions must go on as long as +there is a demand for the book. But the desire to get hold of new books is +a short-lived passion, and is soon turned aside by some other novelty. I +shall not wish to publish the book at all in a cheaper form, and I think it +will require very little outlay in advertising. + +Reeve would, however, have been more than human if the continued success +of the book had not greatly modified his views, and reconciled him to the +steady sale; and some months later he wrote again:-- + +_January 25th_, 1875.--The general impression seems to be that Hayward's +article is a fiasco. It has done me no harm, and his clients have no reason +to thank him. The fourth edition of Greville will contain a good many +improvements and corrections, and will be the best edition to keep. I +believe they are printing 1,000. I wish they had made it 1,500, for this +multiplication of editions is troublesome, and I have no doubt that 1,500 +will ultimately be sold. The book has struck root below the stratum of the +circulating libraries. + +_April 15th_, 1875.--Nothing seems to be wanting to the indirect +advertisement of Greville's Journals, though the usual advertisements were +by my desire restricted. I do not recollect another instance of a book +being made the subject of a hostile motion in the House of Commons. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FOXHOLES + + +Anyone whose memory needs refreshing will find in the 'Edinburgh Reviews' +of the next five years sufficient indication of the interest which Reeve +continued to take in the great questions of the day, whether at home or +abroad; but his private correspondence at this time is mainly devoted to +social or literary topics. The death of Lord Clarendon in England, of M. +Guizot in France, had deprived him of the living keys to the dark problems +of policy, and there was no one with equal knowledge and opportunities +to take their place. He was, too, in opposition. In form, at least, the +principles of the 'Edinburgh Review' differed widely from those of +the Government; and though many things even then told of a probable +_rapprochement_ of moderate Whigs and moderate Conservatives, it was still +held by most to be an extravagant dream. But even had it been otherwise, +the personal element was wanting. With Disraeli, Reeve's acquaintance was +limited; with Lord Salisbury, though on friendly terms, he had never been +intimate; his intimacy with Lord Derby was of a later date. From our +foreign embassies and from India, his communications were on a more +familiar footing; but many of these took the form of articles for the +'Review,' and of the rest, in view of the delicacy of the subjects +discussed, the frankness with which they were discussed, and the +comparatively recent date, it has seemed unadvisable to publish much. The +result of all which is that during this peculiarly busy, exciting and +important time, Reeve's available correspondence is more purely personal +than at any other period of his working life. The Journal is seldom +anything else. It records here:-- + +_October, 1874_.--M. de Jarnac was now French Ambassador, to my great +delight, as he was a very old and valued friend. The first planting at +Foxholes was done in the course of this autumn, but the garden was not made +till the following spring. + +_November 17th_.--Dined at Lord Derby's with several of the ministers, and +was introduced to Count Schouvaloff. + +_20th_.--Dinner at home to the Jarnacs, Lady Derby, Lady Cowley, Lady +Molesworth, Chief Justice Cockburn and A. Elliot. Several pleasant dinners +through the winter. + +_December 22nd_.--To Paris, with Christine and Hopie. Cold. On the 26th +breakfasted with the Due d'Aumale, and went with him to the Institute. +Evening, Duchesse de Chartres. 27th, dined at Versailles with Thiers; +Mignet, Barthelemy St.-Hilaire and Vacherot. It was on this occasion that +Thiers related the story of the Duc d'Enghien. + +_January 1st_, 1875.--We dined at the Embassy for the _Jour de l'an_. While +there rain fell and the streets were covered with _verglas_. I walked with +great difficulty to Thiers's at the Hotel Bagration, three doors off, where +the scene was burlesque. Not a carriage could move; not a horse could +stand; and the company walked home with napkins tied round their feet. [But +Mrs. Reeve, who was at the dinner, wrote: Our _fiacre_ managed to crawl +home with Hopie and me. Henry, who had gone to the Thiers's, returned +safely on his feet tied up in dusters. M. Thiers suggested dusters on the +hands also, so as to go _a quatre pattes_; but Henry did not become a +quadruped. I was horribly uneasy till he came in, but his was the ludicrous +side of the question; of the tragic, I heard next day plenty of instances.] + +_January 3rd_.--Dined with the Duc de Nemours, and went to the Duchesse +Decazes's reception. Home on the 7th. + +_From the Rev. G. W. Cox_ [Footnote: Now Sir George Cox, Bart.] + +_February 5th_.--Nothing but lack of leisure has prevented me from +expressing sooner the very hearty satisfaction and delight with which I +have read and re-read your article on Mill's Essays. I suppose it is this +article which has sent the 'Edinburgh' into a second edition. I am rejoiced +to think that it is so. The ground which you take is, I feel sure, +impregnable; but the force of your whole argument, which is much what I +have tried to work out for years past, only makes me lament the more +the folly of the line taken by most of the writers who shrink from the +materialistic and atheistic philosophy of Mill and Tyndall--for the latter +seems to put himself into the same boat. I believe that the thought of +England is, on this subject, taking, or is likely to take, a very healthy +turn, which such an article as yours must greatly promote. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +Paris, February 5th. + +My dear Reeve,--I have received your article on Mr. Stuart Mill, for which +I thank you. I read it with the greatest interest, and congratulate you on +your vigorous refutation of that supercilious and hollow materialism. I am +glad, too, to see that you have profited by M. Dumas's last discourse on M. +de la Rive. You have done well to record these declarations of a permanent +secretary of the Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, M. Dumas's character +has not the moral authority which is desirable in such serious matters. +His taking part in public business, far from increasing his credit, has +lessened it; even his scientific standing has suffered; people doubt his +sincerity; and his interested flattery of the Empire does not show that +greatness and purity of soul which inspire confidence. He is, however, +everywhere recognised as a man of great ability, and I am truly glad that +he should be counted among the partisans of spiritualism. I believe the +other permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences is far from sharing +these opinions; and it is, therefore, all the more important that M. Dumas +should profess them publicly. With you, materialism is an exception and +an eccentricity. With us, on the contrary, it is almost the rule of the +learned world; and the Catholic clergy, given up to superstition and +ultramontanism, do not in any way help us to combat it. It was an honour to +the 'Edinburgh Review' to adhere so stoutly to the principles you uphold; +and for this, it is indebted to you. + +Agreez, mon cher Reeve, mes salutations bien cordiales, que je presente +aussi a toute votre famille. Votre bien devoue, + +B. ST.-HILAIRE. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_March 6th_--Sir Arthur Helps died. [He caught a chill at the levee on the +Monday, and died on the Saturday.] + +Charles Peel was appointed Clerk of the Council. + +_22nd_.--Jarnac died--a great loss. I drove down with Lord Derby to the +funeral. + +_April 1st_.--Saw Salvini in 'Othello' at Drury Lane. Very fine. + +_2nd_.--To Christchurch. Roof on house at Foxholes. Garden beginning to be +made. On the 6th, lunched with the Lord Chancellor at Bournemouth. Bought +additional strip of land. + +_From Professor Owen_ + +British Museum, May 13th. + +My dear Reeve,--Two portraits would be famous and instructive and replete +with interest to all ages; to wit: the one of Miss Reeve (?) [Footnote: +Lady Smith. The (?) presumably is whether the portrait was taken before or +after her marriage.] by Opie, showing the 'human face divine' in a +female of the highest race of mankind, at her prime of beauty; and the +second--could it but be got--by Millais, of Lady Smith, giving the +characteristics of the same face, of the same individual, at a stage of +human life never again likely to be a subject for art, under the same +circumstances. For the 'Natural History of the Human Species,' such a +pair of portraits would be notable in every work thereon, as well as in +countless collateral works; and that to all time. The present opportunity +is worth every exertion to availment; if lost, it is most improbable that +it may ever again occur. Can you enlist your sympathy and aid in bringing +this about? [Footnote: Sir Richard Owen succeeded in obtaining a pair of +photographs, taken from the Ople and the life. His grandson, the Rev. +Richard Owen, has them now.] + +Yours always truly, + +RICHARD OWEN. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +_Lowestoft, May 14th_.--Dear Mr. Reeve,--As we know not what the morning +mail may bring forth, I look with impatient curiosity when I see letters +on my breakfast table; so yesterday had the great pleasure of perceiving +yours, knowing I should have something pleasant to hear, but little +anticipating what followed--the news of Arthur Stanley. To be remembered +kindly by the Dean of Westminster, anywhere, is honour; but to be [so] in +so distinguished a manner and in a place dedicated to [such] a name as Fox +is an honour never to be forgotten. Besides the domestic blessings I enjoy, +I also reckon that of living to witness the progress of a new Reformation, +in which the Dean of Westminster is the brightest light; and who, like +Shakespeare among the poets, stood on a higher pedestal than they--exalted +and good men as they are. I always rejoice that the Dean of Christ Church, +Oxford, and Stanley are good friends and worthy of each other. If I could +write better, I would tell you what my friend Mr. Leson Smith said of the +Greville Memoirs,, quite approving all of it. In a second letter he turns +the shafts aimed at yourself upon the calumniator. The Dean of Oxford +also approves. I am in better health than I was two years since, and have +nothing to complain of but a failing sight, which hinders my expressions of +gratitude to you for your friendship to Pleasance Smith. + +Oh that you were here to see the wild beauty of the heath and dunes--a +cloth of gold far as the eye can reach!--what was the Field of Cloth of +Gold to this! + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +_May 20th_.--Went to Holland, by Harwich, to see the Queen. Dined with Her +Majesty at the House in the Wood. On the 24th, breakfasted with the Queen +in the boudoir at the end of the Gallery in the Wood. Charming spring +morning. Went on to Aix. Home by Ostend on the 31st. + +_June 15th_.--Helen Richardson was married to Sir Edward Blackett at +Ottershaw. We went down the day before. + +_22nd_.--The Queen of Holland came to London. Dined with Her Majesty at the +Sandbachs' on July 1st. She came to see the statue of Lord Clarendon at the +Foreign Office on July 2nd. + +_July 6th._--I took the Queen of Holland to see the Novar pictures. Meadows +Taylor stayed with us. Christine went to take the waters of St.-Honore in +France. + +Robert Lemon [Footnote: Son of Robert Lemon, a clerk in the State Paper +Office, and editor of some of the Calendars of State Papers, who died in +1867.], my clerk for thirty-three years, died in a fit. + +Reeve deeply felt the loss of one who had been for so long associated with +him; but, independently of this, Mr. Lemon's death at this particular time +had an important influence on Reeve's immediate future. For some months he +had been contemplating retiring from the office, which he had now held for +close on forty years, in the view of devoting himself more exclusively to +literary work--apparently to a task of some magnitude. He had also been in +correspondence with Mr. Longman on a proposal from the firm that he should +act as their literary adviser; and thus, after long consideration he had, +on July 5th, mentioned, in a semi-official manner, his wish to retire in +October. On July 6th he wrote to Mr. Longman, provisionally accepting the +offer of the firm; but the next day had to write again-- + +What a world is this! On Monday I told the Duke [of Richmond] I would +resign on October 25th. Yesterday evening, my chief clerk, Robert Lemon, +had an apoplectic fit, and he died in the course of last night. He was a +most excellent and valuable assistant to me, and I looked forward to him +to drill in my successor. It may now become impossible for me to leave the +office as soon as I meant to do, for poor Lemon and myself are the only two +men who know the detail of the business, and I can't leave the department +derelict. + +It is a most melancholy and distressing occurrence. + +_July 14th_.--It is clear that the vacancy which has occurred in this +office will detain me here six months, and perhaps a year longer than +I wished or intended. This being so, our arrangements must remain in +abeyance, with entire liberty to you to renew or withdraw your offer. At +this distance of time it is superfluous to discuss details, but if I accept +the duties you propose to me, I should of course adapt my movements and +residence to the exigency of the case. At present, I find my work here +vastly increased, because I have to look more to the detail of the +business. + +The contemplated arrangement was thus postponed for the time, and was not +again taken up in that form. Reeve continued--as he had long done--to act +as confidential adviser to the firm; but he remained at the Council Office +for another twelve years, and when he ultimately retired, it was not with +the view of undertaking any heavy additional work. The Journal goes on:-- + +_August 2nd_.--To Paris. Met Christine at Dijon on the 3rd. Then by Dole to +Vevay. Binet came. Met the Wodehouses. Visit to the Blumenthals at their +_chalet_. 13th, to the Gorges du Trient, and so to Chamonix, with Binet +and Christine. Splendid weather at Chamonix. 16th, St. Martin's; full moon +rising behind Mont Blanc. 17th, to Chambery, St. Laurent du Pont, and the +Grande Chartreuse--very interesting. Geneva on the 20th, and back to Vevay +on the 21st. Thence to Besancon, Belfort, and Nancy. 27th, Metz. Drove +round the fields of battle of Gravelotte and St. Privat. To Brussels, by +Luxembourg. Bought furniture at Brussels for Foxholes. Home by Antwerp on +September 1st. + +_October 7th_.--To Bournemouth, to look over Foxholes. 26th, Timsbury. + +_November 20th_.--House nearly finished. Christmas at Farnborough. The +workmen left Foxholes on December 28th. + +The Government bought the Khedive's shares in the Suez Canal. I attacked +the bargain in the 'Edinburgh Review.' + +But from the earliest inception of the Suez Canal, Reeve had strongly +opposed it. He held, and in fact all history warranted him in holding, +that the opening of a water-way through the isthmus would be more than +prejudicial, would be destructive, to English interests. He was very far +from being alone in this opinion; it was one which he shared with several +of the most able and experienced men of the day, quite irrespective of +party. France, on her side, indulged in golden dreams. The wealth and +grandeur of mediaeval Venice was to find its counterpart in the commercial +prosperity of Marseilles; and it is permitted us to believe that much of +the enthusiasm which the scheme excited was due to the hope that it would +irretrievably damage England. Hence, too, the ill will rising out of the +disappointment, out of the conviction forced on the people of France that, +far from injuring us, it has turned out altogether to our advantage. French +skill constructed the canal, French capital paid for it. England stood +aloof till success was achieved, and then hastened to reap the profit; +then, by buying up the shares, doubled that profit; and since then, by the +occupation of Egypt, has usurped the control of the whole. Never has there +been such a case of the _Sic vos non vobis_; and the French are very +angry. Reeve's constant and familiar intercourse with French society had +necessarily taught him the opinions so universally held in France, and had +persuaded him that the only safe plan for England was to have nothing to do +with the pestilent thing. Disraeli, on the other hand, with a wider grasp +of the situation, understood that, in this, at any rate, inactivity was +not masterly, and that by boldness the enemy would be hoist with their own +petard. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +Lowestoft, December 5th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--It gave me pleasure to see your handwriting again, and +some surprise. In the first place, I must mention that I think you would +prefer Opie's original portrait to that which I possess, which, though by +Opie, is the copy of my portrait. When I last saw the original picture it +was in the Royal Academy; where it is now, I do not know; but [that] may +perhaps be ascertained. I must add that from its long residence in +London it looked very dingy, and required a refreshment from some good +picture-mender, and fresh varnish. If this picture is not come-at-able, I +shall be happy to send that I have here, of which you will acquaint me, and +send particular directions of the place and time it may be expected. + +I am glad to hear you, and Mrs. Reeve, and my amiable young friend your +daughter are well. I hear you are building a superb mansion at Bournemouth; +a charming place, I have no doubt. My kind regards to you and them, from +your attached friend, PLEASANCE SMITH. + +Very sorry am I to hear of Lady Augusta Stanley's hopeless illness, and +happy am I to observe the Dean's perpetual vigour. Long may he continue to +illume the realm of mist in that Temple of Reconciliation where his light +shines in so brilliant a lustre. In what a remarkable period do we live! + +The picture by Opie was exhibited from Mr. Botfield's [Footnote: Beriah +Botfield, of Deckel's Hill, Shiffnal, Shropshire, and Grosvenor Square; +died 1863.] collection (at one of the Old Masters' Exhibitions) about nine +or ten years ago. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_January 1876_.--I meant to go to Paris, but gout came on, and I gave it +up. + +_March 28th_.--Sent down furniture, &c. by vans to Foxholes. + +_April 2nd_.--Took possession of Foxholes; cold and windy, and I gouty. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, April 19th_.--Lady Holland has written me a note quite as +amiable as her brother, and all the family seem to be satisfied with my +article. The little crack of the whip just nicked the fly on Abraham's ear. +A touch is often more keenly felt than a blow, when dealt in the right +place. + +The only fault to be found with living here is that life glides away too +rapidly, and I feel as if I should hardly have time to read over again the +works of the Immortals, before I go to join them. + +We have just got a splendid billiard table, and Hopie and I intersperse +cannons and winning hazards with literature. + +And the Journal:-- + +_April 27th_.--Returned to town. Very bad fit of gout. This was the year +of my grand climacteric (sixty-three), and I was uncommonly ill. I went to +Aix, May 30th; but was worse there, and came back, June 19th. + +_July 7th_.--Garden party at Holland House; the only thing I was able to go +to this year from incessant gout. + +_12th_.--Came down to Foxholes. Great heat; no rain from April till August. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +62 Rutland Gate, April 28th. + +My Dear Lord Derby,--I cannot forbear to express to you our very great +and cordial sympathy in the great loss you have sustained.[Footnote: The +Dowager Countess of Derby died on April 26th, 1876.] It was Gray, I think, +who said that a man can have but one mother, and in losing her one loses +the only real witness of the tenderest part of the growth of life. Nobody +else has any memory for infancy, childhood and youth, and no one else has +the same claims to dutiful affection. The loss is irreparable. I find it so +myself every day. Lady Derby had the happiness to see you combine with the +most affectionate regard for her the public duties and honours which are +almost hereditary in your family. Few women have seen life played out on a +nobler scale. She was the link between two generations of statesmen, +and lived in the entire intimacy and affection of both. But these +considerations cannot alleviate sorrow! + +With every assurance of sincere regard to yourself and Lady Derby from Mrs. +Reeve and myself, believe me, always faithfully yours, + +H. Reeve. + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +_August 12th_.--Disraeli made Earl Beaconsfield. + +_14th_.--From Southampton to Havre and Rouen with Christine and Hopie. +Dined with the Cardinal de Bonnechose; Circourt joined us there. + +_17th_.--To the Chateau d'Eu; found there the Duc de Montpensier and +Infanta Christine, Duc and Duchesse de Chartres, Mme. de Rainneville and +Lambert de Sainte-Croix. Drive in forest; very hot. + +_21st_.--Celebrated our silver wedding at Eu. To Dieppe and back by Havre +on the 24th. William Longman came to Foxholes. Saw Lady Charlotte Bacon +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 88.] again. + +Mrs. Reeve gave 'Ianthe,' whom they met at a luncheon party at Bournemouth, +a fuller notice. She wrote, 'A bad husband and narrow means kept her out of +England for thirty-five years or so, and she is now a corpulent matron of +seventy, with no trace of those charms sung by the poet.' + +All this autumn an immense agitation was kept up, chiefly by Gladstone, +on the 'Bulgarian Atrocities.' Meetings were held all over the kingdom. I +published an article in the 'Review' in October, which Lord Derby said was +the first thing that turned the tide. It soon turned altogether; and in a +few months the people were as anxious to attack the Russians as they had +been to coerce the Turks. + +To Mr. Dempster + +_Foxholes, October 17th._--Can you, who know all the genealogies of +Scotland better than the Red Lion himself, tell me what relation Countess +Purgstall was to Dugald Stewart? [Footnote: She was his wife's sister.] I +know she was a Cranstoun; but was she related to the great Professor? When +my father was in Vienna in 1805, she received him very kindly, because he +had known Dugald Stewart, and followed his lectures in Edinburgh. + +I enjoy my life here above all things. Four months have slipped away in +this Olympian calm, between the sea and the sky, and I fancy that the New +Forest is the Highlands; but it is time to be up and doing, and next week I +return to London, with a large stock of health and good spirits. + +Matters look very black in the East. I am afraid it is a deep-laid Russian +plot, which Gladstone has done not a little to promote and encourage. You +will see that I have held to my own line in the Blue and Yellow. + +To Mr. T. Longman + +_Rutland Gate, November 1st._--I have a great dislike to the proposal of +reprinting an article of my own in a cheap form. It seems to me to be +descending to the level of Mr. Gladstone's sixpenny agitation. Moreover, +the political situation is now considerably altered. Many things which +were said hypothetically on October 12th have assumed a different shape on +November 1st. But if any arrangement can be made to supply the Mayor of +Bristol with one hundred copies of the 'Review,' at a cheap rate, I shall +be very glad of it. The cheap republication of the attractive article would +be just as injurious to booksellers who have copies of the 'Review' on hand +as the distribution of copies of the 'Review.' Both measures interfere with +the regular course of sale, and are therefore mischievous. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_January 23rd_, 1877.--The Folkestone (Ritualist) case [Footnote: Ridsdale +_v._ Clifton and others. See _Times_, January 24th and following days. +Judgement, _Times_, July 19th.] heard by the Judicial Committee, by eleven +privy councillors, and five bishops. It lasted nearly a fortnight. + +_January 24th_.--Christine and I went to pay a visit to the Duke and +Duchess of Cleveland at Battle Abbey. It was singularly interesting and +agreeable. Nothing could exceed the vivacity of the Duchess, or her +attention to her guests. The party consisted of Maud Stanley, Charles +Newton, Banks-Stanhope, Raglan Somerset, and the Mercer Hendersons. + +I have known the Duke these forty years, having first met him at the +Duchesse de Mailly's, in Paris, about the year 1836. He is the only +Englishman I ever knew who is perfectly at home in the best French society, +and as Lord Harry Vane he was extremely popular in Paris. There is now +nobody living who has known so many of my oldest and best friends--most of +whom are now no more--both in Paris, Geneva, and London; and our talk of +these old times was most abundant. + +Battle Abbey is certainly one of the most curious and beautiful remains in +England, and as it was built on the morrow of the Conquest (1067), it +is astonishing how much remains. The present drawing-room is a long, +low-arched room, with Gothic arches springing from columns of Purbeck +marble. Much of the great refectory and part of the cloisters still +remains. This is part of the original building of William the Conqueror. +The great gateway and outer wall is of the time of Edward III. The great +hall is about two hundred years old. The Abbey was given by Henry VIII. to +Sir Anthony Browne, and afterwards purchased in 1722 by the Websters, from +whom the Duke of Cleveland bought it a few years ago. + +The Duchess drove us over to call at Ashburnham, about three miles on the +other side of Battle. There we saw a most beautiful Sir Joshua of Lady St. +Asaph (the present Earl's grandmother) and the shirt King Charles wore on +the day of his execution. Lady Ashburnham told us that old women had, +in our time, asked for leave to spread the cloth which is with it over +children to cure the King's evil. + +Lord Ashburnham [Footnote: He died in June 1878, in his eighty-first +year.] is himself a sight--a man of eighty, in high boots, very deaf, very +caustic, and clever; possessing under lock and key most wonderful literary +treasures and curiosities. He gave 3,000 L for a manuscript bible, but that +we did not see. + +_February 3rd_--Lady Smith died at Lowestoft, aged 103 and 9 months. + +_March 13th_--Tennyson dined at The Club; Archbishop and Chancellor there. + +_16th_--To Foxholes. April 14th, back to town. + +It was about this time that Miss Agnes Clerke--who has since come into the +foremost rank as a popular exponent of science and as the biographer of +its votaries--was making her _debut_ in literature, and contributed two +articles to the 'Edinburgh Review,' the one in April on 'Brigandage in +Sicily,' and the other, which appeared in July, on 'Copernicus in Italy,' +subjects which her residence in Italy had brought more immediately under +her notice. Just before the publication of the first of these Reeve wrote +to her, introducing M. de Circourt, who was then at Florence where Miss +Clerke was. A fortnight later he wrote again in answer to her reply. + +Rutland Gate, April 19th. + +My Dear Miss Clerke,--It gives me very sincere pleasure to have contributed +to introduce you to your first literary success. I hope it may be the +prelude to many more. I can hardly venture to recommend to you the course +in which you should steer your bark. On scientific subjects I am very +ignorant, but there has been an article in the 'Review' on Spectrum +Analysis, by Professor Roscoe, and another on the Transit of Venus last +year. You have the advantage of seeing before your eyes the intellectual +_renaissance_ of Italy, and it has already supplied you with two very good +subjects. + +It is probable that before October something else may turn up. If not, I +will send you a book from England to review--for instance, Miss Wynne's +Letters and Journals, which are being printed, and will come out in +October. Miss Wynne was a delightful person, who lived in the society of +Paris, when it was most agreeable. M. de Circourt is the last survivor of +it--unless I may be reckoned a survivor too. I am glad you appreciate him. +He was private secretary to M. de Polignac in 1830, and married in 1832 an +incomparable Russian--Mlle. de Klustine. They used to say that she knew +seventeen languages and he eighteen. She died some years ago from a +burn, and Circourt now passes his life chiefly with Mme. d'Affry and her +daughter, the Duchess Colonna. + +I have another cousin (besides Mrs. Ross) who passes her winters in +Florence, or near it--Mrs. James Whittle. She is a great invalid, and never +goes out. But she is now returning to a Schloss (Syrgenstein) they have in +Bavaria. ... You are right. I have left my hill, which overlooks the great +seaway between the Needles and Hengistbury Head, and come to London for the +next three months; but I had much rather stay in my hermitage. London is as +disagreeable as an east wind can make it. Believe me, + +Yours faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_April 25th_--Lord Derby gave a great dinner at the F.O. I sat between +Stirling-Maxwell and Pender. + +_May 9th_--Lord Derby presided at the Literary Fund dinner. I proposed the +health of the Chinese Ambassador. I retired this year from the council of +the Literary Fund. + +_18th_--Went to Paris alone. 20th, long interview with the Duc Decazes. +Dined at the Embassy. Thiers in the evening. + +_May 22nd_--Dinner at Laugel's. [Footnote: The Duc d'Aumale's secretary.] +Duc de Broglie, Duc Decazes, Chabaud-Latour and the Haussonvilles. The +'_coup d'etat_ of the Marshal,' as it was called, when Macmahon turned out +Jules Simon and the Radicals, took place on May 16th, just before I reached +Paris. Hence the agitation was extreme; and at this dinner at Laugel's I +had to encounter the dukes, who wanted to know why we disapproved their +measure. + +_23rd_.--Dined with Thiers, who was depressed. I had, however, several +important conversations with him during this visit, of which I took a note. +He expected to become president again. If that had happened, much would +have been altered, but he died on September 3rd. + +_28th_.--Back to London. Related to Lord Derby what Thiers said. + +_31st_.--Severe gale. To Foxholes for a day on June 2nd. + +_June 12th_.--The Duc d'Aumale came over to dine with The Club. + +_19th_.--Mrs. Oliphant's party to Maga at Runnymead [to celebrate her 25th +year of alliance with 'Blackwood's Magazine.' A lovely day, and an amusing +party of litterateurs, publishers, writers, &c.] + +_July 19th_.--Came down to Foxholes. + +_October 18th_.--London to Durham, with Hopie. Durham Cathedral. 19th, +to Matfen (Sir E. Blackett's); 24th, to Yester (Lord Tweeddale's) by +Edinburgh; 29th, to Ormiston; and 31st to Minto. Back to town on November +3rd. Some London dinners. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_C. O., November 8th_.--There ought to be, in the January number, an +article on the Organisation of the Liberal Party. I have asked several +leading politicians of the party to undertake it, but in vain. The truth +is, that it is a very thankless and hopeless subject; and the recent +discussion of the county franchise by Lowe and Gladstone renders it still +more difficult. I put my own opinions wholly out of the question, and +should give _carte blanche_ to any competent and accredited writer to treat +the subject. I think I shall ask Lord Hartington what he wishes to be done. + +My own opinion is that this county franchise move is suicidal to the +Liberal party, and I clearly perceive that the Tories are preparing--when +somewhat hard pressed--to take up and carry some such measure, accompanied +by a redistribution of seats that will swamp a great many Liberal boroughs. +They say, If the thing is to be done, we had better do it.... + +It is generally supposed that Gladstone published his article, which points +to universal suffrage, in order to cut the ground from under Hartington's +feet at the Scotch meetings. Hitherto Whig principles and the whole Whig +party have been decidedly opposed to an unrestricted franchise. + +_C.O., November 15th_--Lord Granville is so cautious and reserved a man +that it is impossible to extract any definite opinion or advice from him. +I have tried repeatedly, and I never got so much as a hint from him worth +anything How different from Lord Clarendon or Lord Aberdeen! The truth is +that Granville is always waiting upon fortune; ready to take any course +that may turn up, but utterly incapable of taking a strong resolution based +on principle and conviction.... + +I dare say May's book will have success. It is very well written; but it +is not what I expected. It is an historical survey of the political +institutions of all nations, 'from China to Peru,' executed with care and +great reading; but there are no traces of original thought, and it leaves +you exactly where you were before in relation to the democratic element in +society. Bagehot's books have ten times as much _thought_ in them. + +A most excellent book, which I am reading with great delight, is Mr. +Gardiner's 'Reign of Charles I. before the Rebellion.' It is, to me, as +interesting as Macaulay, and singularly impartial. + +And the Journal winds up the year with:-- + +_December 12th_--To Foxholes. Christmas at Farnborough. [Mrs. Reeve wrote +on December 24th: We start this morning for Farnborough Hill. It is now +eighteen years that we have spent Christmas with the Longmans.] Back to +Foxholes. + +1878.--We spent the first week of the New Year at Foxholes, the weather +charming, and returned to London on January 11th. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, January 7th._--I know the authoress of the Russian letters very +well. She is one of the boldest and keenest Russian agents in Europe, who +was sent here three or four years ago to endeavour to prepare English +society for the coming war, and she has returned here every winter. She has +made repeated attempts to capture me, though, as you may suppose, without +success. But on politicians of a sentimental cast her influence has been +considerable, especially on Gladstone, who is singularly amenable to female +flattery, and a perfect child in the hands of a clever _intrigante_ of this +kind. + +But I am certainly sorry that Froude should have attached his name to her +letters. To suppose that this great and dreadful war has been undertaken +for the sole purpose of 'liberating' the Southern Slavs, and that the +Russians hate the Turks because the Tartars conquered Russia some centuries +back, are assumptions which can hardly impose on the most credulous of men. +This is a war of conquest, and the spirit of the Crusades has been evoked +to stimulate an ignorant and enthusiastic people. + +One of the points of the Russian party in England is to denounce and +misrepresent the Crimean war. That war was carried on in defence of great +principles of European law--not for the sake of the Turks--by the statesmen +to whom we are particularly attached--Palmerston, Clarendon, Russell, +Lewis, Panmure, &c. Mr. Carlyle, Froude, Freeman, Goldwin Smith, Bright, +and at last Gladstone, were opposed to it. I adhere to the views of the +statesmen, which the 'Review' defended in 1854 and 1855. I am, therefore, +extremely glad, and think it highly proper and necessary that the Queen +should defend the course taken by her ministers and by the nation at that +time; and it would be the excess of inconsistency in the 'Review' not to +maintain, as a matter of history, the same principles for which we have +invariably contended. + +_C. O., January 12th_.--One of the first persons I met on coming to London +yesterday was Lord Granville, and I had a long talk with him. He was less +reserved than usual. I don't know that there is any difference in our view +of the foreign question, except that he thinks the Government should have +said and done even less than they have done. But the disposition of many +of the moderate Whigs, such as Lord Morley, Duke of Bedford, Duke of +Cleveland, &c., is to support the foreign policy of the Government. The +Duke of Sutherland is to dine at Disraeli's dinner, out of hatred of +Gladstone. I believe Dizzy is to have the Garter! + +Lord Granville said, 'I saw that the last article in the last number of the +"E. Review" was _not_ Reeve. It might have been written by a contributor to +the "Daily Telegraph."' To this I replied: 'It was written, in fact, by a +very intimate friend of your own, who was, I think, staying at Walmer last +summer; a man of great experience in political writing, not for the "D. T." +but for the "Times;" and, although I don't think it a good article, and +differ from many things in it, I thought myself pretty safe in the hands of +Sir George Dasent.' It was amusing to see G.'s look of astonishment. + +Politically, the topic of 1878 was the settlement of the Russo-Turkish war. +The fall of Plevna in the previous December, and the subsequent collapse of +Turkey, led to the advance of the Russians to San Stefano and the treaty +of March 3rd, which seemed a direct step towards the seizure of +Constantinople, and the swallowing up of the Turkish Empire. In England +public feeling ran very high, but, unfortunately, in opposing currents. +The Government was resolved, at all risks, to prevent the extreme result +foreshadowed by the Treaty of San Stefano, and to do so by acting on the +_si vis pacem, para bellum_ principle. In the East, the Mediterranean fleet +was ordered to pass the Dardanelles and to anchor in the Sea of Marmora; +whilst at home, a vote of credit to the amount of 6,000,000L. was rapidly +passed through Parliament, the navy was strengthened, the army reserves +were called out, and the initial preparations were made for the despatch of +an expeditionary force. And at this time what threatened to be a serious +blow to the Ministry, in reality strengthened it. Lord Derby, the foreign +secretary, resigned, possibly influenced, it was said, by personal intimacy +with Count Schouvaloff, and in any case disapproving of the measures of the +Government. He was succeeded by the Marquis of Salisbury, who, in June, +accompanied Lord Beaconsfield to Berlin to attend the Congress, from which +they returned on July 16th, bringing back, in Beaconsfield's now classical +words, 'Peace with honour.' + +_From Mr. Richard Doyle_ + +7 Finborough Road, January 15th. + +My Dear Reeve,--When at Foxholes, in August last, I began a sketch of the +view from your house. It was my intention to ask you to accept the drawing +when complete. In the presence, however, of the very attractive original, +I, on leaving, was so little satisfied with my copy that I had not the +heart to say anything about it. But, after an interval, and a little more +work upon it, I begin to think that, after all, when in town, it perhaps +may remind you imperfectly of the fresh skies and blue waters left out +of town. So I return to my original intention, and herewith send you the +little drawing for your acceptance. With best remembrance to Mrs. and Miss +Reeve, yours very sincerely, + +Richard Doyle. + +_From Mr. Theodore Martin_ + +31 Onslow Square, January 16th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I have been much gratified by reading the review of my +third volume in the 'Edinburgh Review,' which my publishers have just sent +me. It brings out with admirable effect the passages which bear on the +present crisis--passages which I inserted in the volume from a strong +feeling that there would be occasion to strengthen the sound view of the +Eastern Question by the emphatic language of the Prince Consort. God grant +they may not have come too late! + +With reference, especially, to what you say at the top of page 151, I must +disabuse you of what seems to be the prevailing impression that things in +this book have been written by the direct inspiration of the Queen. Not one +word of it, from beginning to end, was prompted by Her Majesty, who has +left me, from the first, unfettered, to draw my own conclusions, to select +the documents to be made public, and to state my own convictions in my own +way. + +What I have selected and what I have written has, when printed, been +submitted, of course, for Her Majesty's approval, which, I am happy to say, +I have always had. In regard to the third volume, it was written almost +entirely last summer and autumn, at my country house, where I had no +opportunity of even consulting Her Majesty. Your conjecture, therefore, +as to the note you cite on page 151 is a mistaken one. That note only +expresses a conviction which I have strongly felt for many years. You will, +on reflection, I think, see that I could not with propriety refer to the +circumstances alluded to in the note on the same page of the 'Review.' It +is one of hundreds of cases where reticence seemed to myself, as, in some +sense, representing Her Majesty, to be prescribed to me. When my book is +complete, an abridged 'Life' will be published. I am sure this article +must do good by being in the hands of the public before the meeting of +Parliament. + +Believe me, very truly yours, + +THEODORE MARTIN. + +_January 19th_.--I have no doubt the Queen will be much pleased with the +'E. R.' article. Believe me, Her Majesty's mind is far too candid and +sincere to take any umbrage at what you say about the Prince's _Germanism_. +She may not think it went so far as you do; but she has always frankly +acknowledged its existence, seeing, with her usual good sense, both the +good and bad effects of any extreme views. If there be any one person more +than another to whom the artificial language commonly addressed to royal +personages is distasteful, it is the Queen herself. Such at least is my +experience. I am delighted to see that the opinions of the Queen and Prince +brought forward in this volume are causing some stir in the Parisian +journals. They are being used to stimulate an active interest in the +Eastern Question; and this, I venture to think, may produce results not +unimportant at the present crisis. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_January 25th_.--Huxley lectured on Harvey. + +_February 7th_.--Dinner at Dicey's, to meet Mr. Welch, the U.S. minister. +John Bright, Hayward, Chandos Leigh, Mme. Van de Weyer there. + +_8th_.--To Foxholes, for three days only. + +_13th_.--The fleet went up the Sea of Marmora, the Russians having +approached Constantinople. + +_28th_.--Marriage of Ellinor Locker to Lionel Tennyson in Westminster +Abbey. All the literary world there. Imposing aspect of Alfred Tennyson, +who looked round the Abbey as if he felt the Immortals were his compeers. + +The Journal mentions:-- + +_March 28th_.--Lord Derby resigned the Foreign Office. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_March 29th_.--What has happened is disagreeable, as all political +separations are; but it did not seem to me that there was any choice. As to +discussion in Parliament, I suppose I cannot altogether help myself; but it +will be a business unwillingly gone into, and not at all unless there seems +some chance of being of use. + +And the Journal:-- + +_April 3rd_.--Dinner at Longman's. Froude, Trevelyan, Walpoles, Quain. This +was the last of the pleasant literary dinners which Longman used to give. + +_4th_.--Great sale of the Novar collection. Fetched over 70,000L. Kirkman +Hodgson gave 20,000L. for three Turners. + +_April 13th_.--To Foxholes. + +From Lord Lytton [Footnote: Governor-General of India.] + +Government House, Simla, April 29th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I think you in nowise overestimate the value of Meadows +Taylor's life and work in India, and I cordially recognise the exceptional +claims of the two ladies, on whose behalf you have written to me, to the +grant which I regret to hear they require. Their case is rather a difficult +one to deal with, owing to the fact that nearly the whole work of Meadows +Taylor's life was performed, not in the service of the Government of India, +but in that of the Nizam's Government; and we are precluded, by rules as +inflexible as the laws of the Medes and Persians, from granting public +money to the distressed survivors of our own public servants on purely +compassionate grounds. In my own opinion, however, the claim of these +ladies may be fairly admitted on other grounds furnished by their father's +eminence, not only as a literary man, but also as an administrator, and the +fact that his work, though not performed in the service of the Government +of India, has been, and is, in various ways, unquestionably beneficial to +India. I am glad to say that I have obtained the concurrence of my council +in this view of the case, and we propose to grant 100L. a year to each of +these ladies from the Indian revenues. Our proposal, however, cannot be +acted on without the sanction of the Secretary of State, to whom it will +probably be submitted by this mail; and, as it is of a financial character, +I think Lord Staplehurst [Footnote: Viscount Cranbrook is meant. The patent +of his peerage was not dated till May 4th; but it had been previously +understood, and telegraphed to India, that he would take his title from +Staplehurst.] cannot deal with it except through his council. It is +therefore fortunate that you have secured their suffrages, for at present +it seems to be the invariable practice of the 'wise men of the East' at +the India Office to reject every proposal, however trivial or however +important, which emanates from the Government of India. + +Yours, my dear Mr. Reeve, very faithfully, + +LYTTON. + +_Endorsed_--The pension was granted on June 30th. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ Chateau d'Eu, May 11th. + +... I am glad to see that the hope of peace is stronger. A war between +England and Russia would be the greatest catastrophe that could fall +upon the world at present; it would be the cause of incalculable ruin +everywhere. Since the wars of 1866 and 1870 the maintenance of the peace +of Europe depends solely upon the relations between England and Russia. To +France the preservation of peace is of the deepest interest, for the day it +is broken she may expect to see her own frontiers threatened by Germany, +either directly or by the moral subjection of Holland, Switzerland, and +Belgium. We wish no evil either to England or to Russia; but, above all +things, we wish that these two Powers should live in harmony. + +Here the Journal has:-- + +_May 13th_.--Returned to town. + +_May 28th_.--Gladstone dined at The Club. Six present; interesting. + +_June 3rd_.--Excursion to Greenwich to see the telegraph works. Great +dinner at the Ship afterwards. + +_8th_.--All to Norwich, to stay with Dean Goulburn at the Deanery. I had +scarcely been there for fifty years. Dr. Jessop, Canon Heaviside, and Canon +Robinson to dinner--very pleasant. + +_9th_.--Communion in Norwich Cathedral. 10th, drove to Costessy (Lord +Stafford's); 11th, to Spixworth; 12th, to Ely, on a visit to Dean Merivale; +13th, to Peterborough; 14th, back to town. + +_June_.--Very hot weather. 26th, dinner of the Antiquaries at Lord +Carnarvon's. + +_July 5th_.--Lady Northcote's garden party. Helen Blackett there, looking +ill. I never saw her again. [Footnote: See _post_. p. 265.] + +_July 13th_.--To Foxholes. Gout prevented me from going to Paris, where the +exhibition was going on, and to La Celle. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, July 15th_.--I send just a line to say that _no part_ of the +article on 'The Constitution and the Crown' is written by me. I thought +it due to the writer to leave it untouched, and I don't think it is too +severe. + +The article in the 'Quarterly' was certainly not written by Dr. Smith, and +I have reason to know that he is a good deal ashamed of it. Nobody seems to +know who wrote it. I do not expect they will reply upon us; but nothing is +more beneficial to the two Reviews than a little controversy, especially +when serious principles are concerned. This question is precisely the +_crux_ or test of Whig and Tory principles; it is the old fight of +parliamentary power against prerogative. There has not been in England, for +a hundred years, a minister so indifferent to Parliament and so subservient +to the Court as Lord Beaconsfield. + +_Foxholes, July 16th_.--Dizzy's fireworks will soon burn out; and when +people come to reflect on these transactions, and their consequences, +they will be found to be some of the most questionable in modern English +history. He has the merit of presenting a bold front to Europe and of +avoiding war; but the cost will be great and the ulterior consequences +formidable. I suppose they are going to give him a Roman triumph this +afternoon from Charing Cross to Downing Street. + + Sed quid + Turba Remi?... + ...... Idem populus... + ... hac ipsa Sejanum diceret hora + Augustum. + +To my old eyes all this is a sham--a scene out of 'Tancred' and 'Lothair.' +Depend upon it, the article on the 'Constitution and the Crown' will be +read. + +_Foxholes, August 10th_.--I never in my life read a better article than +this of Froude on Copyright. It is incomparably good in force of argument, +vigour of style, point, and truth, and, I think, will go far to settle the +assailants of copyright. I confess I enjoy the smashing of the sages of +the Board of Trade and old Trevelyan. They will see that if they attack +literature, literature is able to defend itself. + +_From Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Farnborough Hill, August 14th_.--... I entirely agree with you in the +excellence of Froude's article [on Copyright]. ... I see that he thinks +that copyright may be in danger, and that the tendency of writing will +flow into periodical literature. That I know has long been XIXth Century +Knowles's opinion. He says he cares nothing for any copyright, and never +asks for it. Like the 'Times,' he does not, in fact, need it. His writers +are highly paid, and he and they are satisfied. + +_To Mr. T Longman_ + +_Foxholes, August 15th_.--... No doubt any restriction of copyright in +permanent works would have the effect of inducing literary men to write +more and more in periodicals, which are not permanent but well paid. This +argument is very important. I am not sure that Froude has laid sufficient +stress upon it. Good and solid literature already suffers considerably from +the fact that fugitive literature is far better paid, and that a literary +man can rarely afford to write a large and substantial book requiring years +of labour. Herbert Spencer's evidence is very interesting; but few men have +the courage to risk their all in labouring for the future. + +I shall make Froude's article the first in the next number, as I think it +will attract great attention. + +_August 24th_.--Froude's article will make nearly fifty pages of the +Review, which is more than I like; but I don't know what to leave out, it +is all so good and amusing to literary people, so I think we must swallow +it whole. + +A note from the Journal:-- + +_August 23rd_.--Visit to Highclere (Lord Carnarvon's). A good deal of gout +in October. To Farnborough on the 30th. Back to town on November 4th. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, October 10th_.--I see the 'Quarterly' announces an article on my +'Petrarch.' Unless Smith is the falsest of men, it will be a civil article, +for he was enthusiastic in his praises of the book to me personally. But I +shall not be surprised if it is another flourish of Hayward's stiletto. + +_October 19th_.--The article in the 'Quarterly' on my 'Petrarch' is very +courteous, and certainly _not_ by Abraham. + +_C. O., December 2nd_.--This day's post brings me the melancholy +intelligence that our friend Kirkman is so ill he is not expected to +survive, and that dear old Mrs. Grote is in much the same condition. To me, +by far the most painful part of advancing years is the loss of those who +made life delightful. It is the only thing I regret. These friendships of +forty or fifty years are quite irreparable. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_December 5th_.--Parliament met. 9th, first dinner of the Club. 24th, to +Ottershaw Park for Christmas. 28th, to Farnborough--last time. 29th, Mrs. +Grote died. 31st, returned to town. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_December 13th_.--I brought up two volumes of the MS. Journals for you to +read when you come to town. But I perceive the further you proceed the less +can you publish. I dismiss all thoughts of that from my mind, and bequeath +the task to posterity. + +The debate in the Commons has been very dull, [Footnote: On a motion to +condemn the policy of the Government in Afghanistan. It was defeated by a +majority of 101 in a House of 555.] but the Government will have a very +large majority. They tell me Dizzy is negotiating another little purchase +of Seleucia and Scanderoon. Jerusalem is in the next lot. + +I gave the 'Secret du Roi' to an Irishman to review, and the wretch has +disappointed me. I am afraid it is now too late, or I would do it myself. +[Footnote: It was reviewed in the April number (1879), but neither by +Reeve nor the Irishman.] Read M. de Lomenie's book, 'Les Mirabeau'--a very +amiable family. + +_Rutland Gate, January 4th_, 1879.--This Christmas has been marked beyond +all others by the most tragical events. To me, Mrs. Grote and Lord +Tweeddale are deplorable losses, and I could add a catalogue of names of +less note, besides those of public interest. What irony to call it the +season of mirth and gaiety! + +Mrs. Grote has very kindly left Hayward l,000L. I am glad of it, for it +will make him more comfortable, and, I hope, less cross. + +The Journal then has:-- + +_January 7th_.--Dined at Sir P. Shelley's; Spedding, Browning. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_January 18th_.--I fully intended to come to see you to-day, and to bring +you the MS. volumes of C. C. G.; but I am very lame with rheumatism in my +knee, and the weather is so infernal that I cannot use the carriage, and I +am afraid to make the expedition in a cab. I must therefore defer my call +till I can move better. On such a day as this one can only burrow like the +rabbits. + +I think the Cenci article in the new 'Ed. Rev.' will interest you. + +_January 22nd_.--I send you Vols. III. and IV. of the mystic record. Pray +keep it locked up. + +In the 'True Tale of the Cenci,' by T. Adolphus Trollope, there was much +that Mr. Cheney dissented from, and he wrote a long letter on the subject, +which Reeve in due course forwarded to Trollope. This led to a reply, with +which, as far as Reeve's correspondence shows, the discussion dropped. If +it was continued further, it was without Reeve's assistance. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_January 23rd_.--I saw Lady Shelley to-day, and, as I told her you could +not call on her, she very obligingly said she would be happy to call on +you and bring you the enlarged photograph of the poet to look at. These +photographs are done on porcelain. There are only three copies of them, +which Lady S. has got. The negative is destroyed. ... She says the drawing +is the image of Shelley's sister, Helen Shelley. + +_January 31st_.--Many thanks for your prompt return of the volumes. I am +glad they have amused you, and you can give evidence that they are not very +wicked. I am afraid I cannot supply any more until I have been down to +Foxholes, as I find I have locked up part of the MS. there; and I must now +have the whole of it bound. + +_February 3rd_.--I send you Trelawny's book on Shelley, and I also enclose +an interesting letter from Mr. Trollope in answer to your remarks on the +Cenci article. You will see he has taken pains with the subject. I did +not mention your name to him in connexion with the remarks, but only with +reference to the Philobiblon notes. He therefore does not know that you are +as well acquainted with the Italians as he is. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., February 26th_.--I hope this will not arrive too late to +congratulate you on having achieved in health and good spirits +three-quarters of the road to our centenary. Unluckily, the last quarter is +the most difficult. But _sursum corda_! When I look back and about me, I +am astonished to have got so far. The great pleasure of advancing years +is retrospection. One sees such groups and groups of pleasant people. The +prospective eyes of youth see nothing so real or charming. I fancy I am +sitting with you on a flowery bank of heather in the Highlands, about +August 15th, talking of these things. There are a dozen brace of dead +grouse in the bag. Donald is at the well. Don't remind me that it is +February, 1 in London, the wind in the northeast. + +Here the Journal records:-- + +_February 27th_.--My sister-in-law, Helen Blackett, died at Matfen. + +_March 4th_.--Charles Newton and Sir J. Hooker elected by The Club. + +_April 28th_.--I was named Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries for +four years. + +_From Lord Kimberley_ + +_35 Lowndes Square, May 3rd_.--There is a savage article in the 'Quarterly' +(by Froude, I believe), many of the statements in which arise from mere +ignorance. Whatever chance of success Carnarvon's scheme of confederation +had--it was in any case small--was destroyed by Froude's blundering, which +was caused mainly by his knowing nothing whatever about the political +history and literature of the colony. But, for all that, his article is +worthy of attention. Like you, I am very apprehensive about the Zulu war; +but this is too long a story for a short note. I should very much like to +talk the matter over with you. + +The Journal again:-- + +_May 15th_.--Presided at Antiquaries as V.-P. + +_June 11th_.--Great party at Count Muenster's for the golden wedding of +Emperor Wilhelm. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Audley Square, July 1st_.--I have an impression of Shelley's portrait, +which Colnaghi has just engraved. Sir Percy wishes it not to be re-copied, +and he entertains no doubt of its authenticity. He says it is extremely +like a maiden aunt of his--the only survivor of the past generation of the +Shelleys. I beg your acceptance of an impression. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_July 1st_.--I am uncommonly obliged to you for the exquisite engraving of +the drawing of Shelley. I shall cherish it alike in memory of him, and of a +better man--yourself, and for the strange legend about it. + +I am sorry to hear that ------ has taken offence at the mention of her +father in the 'Greville Memoirs.' I was wholly unconscious of the offence, +and indeed had forgotten that he was mentioned in them at all.... I should +like, with great simplicity, to say to these eminent persons that I value +the honour of being the Editor of Charles Greville's Journals infinitely +more than any distinction that Queens or Duchesses could bestow on me. But +I esteem the talents and good qualities of ------ and certainly I never +dreamed she was offended. + +And then the Journal:-- + +_July 5th_.--Lady Waldegrave died. The news came while we were attending +Lord Lawrence's funeral in Westminster Abbey. + +_26th_.--To Foxholes. _August 16th_.--Visit to Weymouth; 18th, drove to +Abbotsbury. + +_August 30th_.--Tom Longman died at Farnborough--seventy-five. + +_September 3rd_.--His funeral. + +_5th_.--To St. Malo with Christine and Hopie; 6th, to Dinard and on to +Dinan; 8th, to Guingamp; 9th, to Lannion, seeing Chateau de Tonguebec on +the way; 10th, to Louannec--fine rocky coast; 11th, Morlaix--drove to +St. Pol de Leon; 12th, Brest, but it rained; 13th, to Auray; 14th, +expedition to Carnac; 15th, expedition to Locmaria-quer; 16th, Auray to St. +Malo; 18th, home again--a pleasant tour. + +_24th_.--To Stratton, to see Lord Northbrook about article on Affghan War. +Read him the article. + +_October 21st_.--Lord Northbrook at Foxholes. + +_30th_.--Left Foxholes. Visit to Pember's [at Lymington], Beaulieu Abbey. +To town on November 1st. + +Frequent mention has been made of M. de Circourt's letters, the writing of +which occupied a great part of his time. In a short memoir, or, rather, an +appreciation, which Reeve contributed to the 'Edinburgh Review' of October +1881, he wrote: 'It was his pleasure and his desire to live and die +comparatively unknown. With an insatiable curiosity and love of knowledge, +with an extraordinary facility in mastering languages, and a universal +love of literature; with a memory so precise and so inexhaustible that it +retained without effort all he had acquired, he found in the mere exercise +of these singular gifts a sufficient employment for a long and not inactive +life.... He possessed and enjoyed the friendship of an extraordinary number +of men of the highest distinction, not only in France, but in all lands. +The correspondence he carried on with his friends in Germany, Italy, +England, Switzerland, America, and Russia was inconceivably voluminous. To +each of them he wrote in their own respective language, equally vehement +and profuse in every tongue.' + +The bulk of his letters to Reeve alone is truly formidable. But these, and +presumably most others, were to a very great extent political or literary +pamphlets, which, though not given to the press, were--there can be little +doubt--intended to be circulated among a select public such as he delighted +in addressing. Two of the latest of these, written very shortly before his +death, are here given:-- + +_From M. de Circourt_ + +La Celle, October 27th. + +My dear Reeve,--I don't know whether the article 'Germany since the +Peace of Frankfort' has done in Great Britain so much noise as the +'Affghanistan,' which has been, over here, an event in the literary-politic +world. But the first one is quite equal to the second, and gives career to +endless (alas! useless, too!) reflections. It is a sombre picture, quite in +the style of Rembrandt, with a _chiaroscuro_ much akin to darkness. It can +be objected that the lights are sacrificed to the shades. But, excepting +the strong constitution of the Imperial army, and the perfection to which, +according to competent judges, the preparations for an offensive and +defensive war have been pushed, I cannot see anything, in the condition of +finances, industry, husbandry, and, above all, public morals, which is not +threatening, if not absolutely disheartening. No traveller comes back from +Germany without a tale of woe. _Savior armis Luxuria incubuit, victamque +ulciscitur Galliam_. And while the rancour and the thirst for vengeance are +still, in France, what they were in 1871, the whole of power, riches, +and fashion in Germany crowding to Paris, give it a sort of transient +popularity, and suffers itself to be led by what is among us most +frivolous, most immoral, and even less French, in the old and legitimate +sense of that word. It is very curious to observe how the strangers flock +to Paris in order to enjoy the spectacle of themselves, reckoning the +French for nothing save the ministers of their pleasures, _et improbi turba +impia vici_. If, in the midst of these brilliant saturnalia, the _pares_ +were to rise, and another Commune spring from the kennel to the day, how +many of the lords of the Philistines would be buried under the ruins of the +temple of Dagon? But to revert to Germany, or, rather, to her ruler. + +Prince Bismarck, I apprehend, has lived too long. He begins to feel the +fickleness of fortune. He has never had any friends; he begins to be +burdensome to his associates. I don't know whether he could have managed a +Parliament elected after the actual method on the Continent; I am certain +that he did not, and never was able to, uphold a consistent and honourable +system whatever. He is no financier, no economist; and as he does always +act upon the interests of the present hour, without regard to past +engagements, he can have with him but those who superstitiously deem him +a prophet, or those who choose to _servir a tout prix_. He is rude, +suspicious, and vindictive. The only great minister with whom he can be +compared, Richelieu, was at least frank and open towards friend and foe. +Bismarck has never negotiated with any man, nor charged any man with an +important measure, without becoming their ruin, or changed them into +implacable enemies--Savigny, Usedom, Arnim, Gortschakoff. The good genius +of his country has protected Moltke against his insidious praises and +bitter censures. It is easy to prove that, during the late war, all the +good advice given to the King came from Moltke; all hurried, or lame, or +improvident, or perfidiously cruel measures came from the Chancellor. Why +did he leave half of the forts round Paris in the power, not of our +army, but of the armed rabble, to which he left the possession of 1,500 +field-pieces and 300,000 guns, while he disarmed the regulars to the last +man? To his calculations we owe the Commune; posterity will hold him +responsible for that incalculable calamity, which it was at every hour in +his power to avert, or to crush instantly. Presently his tenure of office +is very precarious. The Emperor is eighty-two, and has never liked +Bismarck; he has given recently some signs that he feels galled by the +chain. The Crown Prince may make use of him, and sacrify his personal +feelings to the advantage not to upset suddenly the system of government; +but, under Friedrich Wilhelm V., it is more than probable that Bismarck +shall have to choose between retire or obey. Even in the present +occurrence, considering that France is wholly taken up with her internal +dissensions, which are not likely to become soon better, and that Russia +has need of time for recruiting her exhausted resources, it was certainly +not sound policy to blow the trumpet of a coalition which was, presently, +dreamed of by nobody, and shall, in the future, result from the necessity +of things. + +The article upon the Code of Criminal Law is an excellent treatise of +_Criminalison_; we, too, want a _refonte_ of our criminal law. What is +called civilisation has gorged our society with an infinity of malpractices +unknown to our ruder but better fathers; and we suffer from the bane of +modern civilisation, that idiot charity towards the refuse of mankind, +coupled to a perfect indifference for the honest people they assail or +bring to ruin. To that endemic disease of the mind no penal statute can +afford a remedy. MacMahon was as weak as a school-girl on such occasions; +Grevy is scarce better; at least he does not call weakness Christian +charity. + +'The Impressions of Theophrastus Such' are little intelligible to me, +merely because I have read so few books of the authoress. Doudan [Footnote: +Ximenes Doudan (1800-72) was in early life a tutor in the family of the +Due de Broglie, and remained attached to him. His critical judgement and +sparkling conversation made him a special feature of the Duchess's _salon_. +He was well known in literary society, and was compared by Reeve (_Ed. +Rev._, July 1878) with John Allen of Holland House. Like Allen, his +reputation was based almost entirely on his conversation and encyclopaedic +knowledge. After his death, his few essays and numerous letters were +collected and edited by the Comte d'Haussonville, under the title of +_Melanges et Lettres_(4 tomn. 8vo. 1876).] wrote that he could never be +quite unhappy while he had _des romans anglais a lire_; I confess that, +when they are not first-rate, they seem to me to belong rather to the +department of industry than to that of literature. The article upon the +civil engineers of Britain is an admirable compilation of much that's +useful to know and easy to understand; the magnificence of the _tableau_ +strikes the fancy and weighs upon the mind. But, after all, is humanity +become grander, or better, or happier by so many performances of the +inquisitive and constructive genius? _That's the question_. With trembling +hope I'll answer Yes! Life is less dark, a little longer, and better +provided against the material plagues of nature: but farther? + +I am pent up with a severe cold, and losing the last day of a capricious +autumn. Mme. d'Affry has promised me a visit. + +What of the parliamentary strife between Disraeli and his rivals? At least, +it is _Diomedes cum Glauco_, statesman pitched against statesman. But in +our camp: _non melius compositus cum Bitho Bacchius_. Yours truly, + +A. C. + +The letter that follows is endorsed by Reeve 'M. de Circourt's last letter +to me. He was struck with apoplexy on the 15th, and died on the 17th of +November. The last token of fifty years' friendship':-- + +_From the Comte de Circourt_ + +La Celle, November 12th. + +My dear Sir,--Many thanks for your kind letter of the 6th. I am still an +invalid, _conjuguant_ in all its tenses the verb _grippe_, with its +near relation bronchitis. However, I am recovering by-and-by, and the +weather--not fine, still very mild--helps me towards recovering my liberty +of locomotion. I am the more sorry for my _reclusion_ that I had begun some +plantations in my garden. Fancy what it is to plant trees by half-dozens +and to buy land by wheelbarrows! + +We are in a state of partial fermentation and general disgust. The +President _videt meliora probatque, deteriora sequitur_; he is absolutely +sunken in the opinions, but tolerated, because he lets every party at +freedom to plot and to hope. Waddington does not fare better, but Jules +Simon has presently no chance of replacing him. The sympathy which Ferry +has proclaimed for the Reformed Church [Footnote: See _Times_, November +8th.]--very natural in itself--may be mischievous for them; our nation has +never any sympathy for minorities. The leaders of the Clerical party have +lowered their teaching and their practices to the level of the most obtuse +intellects and the most childish enthusiasms; they make conquests by +myriads; and as, in our present state of society, numbers are accounted for +everything, the Government and ruling party have already encountered, and +shall encounter more and more, a formidable opposition, which, if it +does not drag the country into civil war, cannot fail to accelerate and +precipitate the fate of the Republican Government. As the Duc d'Aumale +seems resolved never to put himself forward, the conjectures hover between +Galliffet [Footnote: General de Galliffet was more especially known for the +stern justice he had meted out to the Communards of 1871.] and several +others, all men of action, although none of them has the prestige which +made, in 1799, the task of Bonaparte so wonderfully easy. The 'Great +Unknown' will be revealed to us by some sudden stroke; our people is +perfectly disposed to acknowledge a master, and prays only that 'nous ayons +un bon tyran,' since we must have one. + +Lord Beaconsfield's speech [Footnote: At the Mansion House on the 10th. See +_Times_, November 11th.] shall not put an end to the embarrassments of +our Exchange, shaken to its foundations by the curiously tragical episode +[Footnote: 'Gigantic swindle' would more correctly designate it. See +_Times_, November 7th. Philippart, having made away with some 100,000,000 +francs, had judiciously vanished.] of Philippart. _Imperium et Libertas_, +i.e. 'Domination abroad and Freedom at home,' is a proud legacy of 'the +most high and palmy days of Rome'; but it will be difficult to force the +submission to that maxim upon all the powers of the world. If the Turks had +studied the history of classical times, they would believe that the days of +_Civis Romanus sum_ and the _Reges clientes Populi Romani_ are come again +for the East; and what immense space does this name design, since the +exclusive and dominating influence claimed by the Premier begins at the +Adriatic and ends--nowhere; for the whole of Affghanistan being brought +under British control, and Turkish Asia on the other side being claimed as +a protected and indirectly governed country, it will become necessary +that the intermediate region, Persia, be assimilated to the rest of the +dependencies of an Empire which, at the farthest end, shall soon be +contiguous to China. + +The task of the Russian people is very different. The stern decrees of +Providence have made of it the antagonist and hereditary foe of the Asiatic +barbarics, which it has faced under the walls of Kief and Moscow, and +pressed, by dint of repeated battles and immense sacrifices, to the foot +of the Himalaya range and the course of the Upper Oxus. Sooner or later, a +tremendous shock must happen between the two gigantic Empires which meet +upon that debateable ground. I hope I may never witness it; but I do +regret much the disparition of the ample neutral ground, which till lately +stretched from the Indus to the Yaxartes.... + +Many wishes for your health and occupations. + +Yours very truly, + +A. CIRCOURT. + +The Journal gives the chronicle of the last weeks of the year:-- + +_November 22nd_.--Visit to Chatsworth. Delane died. _23rd_.--Chatsworth. +Long talk with Lord Hartington. + +_29th_.--Delane's funeral at Easthampstead. Went down with Barlow and +Stebbing; then across by Woking to Lithe Hill (Haslemere); very cold. + +At Christmas severe illness came on--gout and violent bleeding of the nose. +I was totally laid up for two months. + +The year had been a sad one, and had marked its progress by the death of +many of Reeve's dearest and oldest friends--Lady Blackett (to whom he had +always been tenderly attached), Longman, Circourt, and Delane. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +OUTRAGE AND DISLOYALTY + + +The very serious illness which ushered in the year 1880, and which confined +Reeve to his room till near the end of January, formed a very important era +in his life. Though it passed away, so that, after a fortnight at Brighton, +he was able, by the middle of February, to attend to his official duties at +the Council Office, the bad effects remained. He was no longer a young man, +but he had carried his years well. He had travelled, he had occasionally +shot, and always with a keen sense of enjoyment. Now, the full weight of +his age told at once. His illness left him ten years older; unable to +undergo the fatigue of field sports, and feeling that of travel sometimes +irksome. + +And Foxholes afforded him a tempting excuse. From this time, instead of +going for his holiday to Scotland, to France, or to Geneva, it seemed so +much easier to go to Foxholes, so much more comfortable to spend it there. +And for the next fifteen years a large part of his time was passed at +Foxholes, where, in the most delightful climate known in this country, +surrounded by beautiful scenery and with a commanding view of the sea, +amid the comforts of home and in the company of his books and his chosen +friends, he could say, from both the material and moral point of view: + + Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis, + E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem. + +Of course, his duties at the Council Office required him to be in town +during the season and while the Court was sitting; and in the April of this +year he noted a breakfast at Lord Houghton's, to meet Renan, and presiding +as a Vice-President at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries. Otherwise +the Journal is almost a blank, containing little beyond the dates of going +to Foxholes or returning to town. + +But though thus in a measure withdrawing from the swirl of society in which +so much of his life had been passed, he in no sense lost touch with the +movements of the day, and in none of these did he take a more lively +interest than in those which affected the state of France. And that seemed +particularly unsettled. No one could attempt a forecast of the future, +though wild guessing was easy. Nothing was certain; everything was +possible. Hope was guided rather by fancy than by reason, and tinted the +years to come in brighter colours than--now that those years have passed +--history has warranted. For many years back the French Princes had been +Reeve's occasional correspondents, but their letters had seldom had any +political significance. At this time they began to have a more serious +importance; and during the next six years those of the Comte de Paris, more +especially, are full of deep and pregnant meaning. In England, the topics +of the day were the dissolution in March, Mr. Gladstone's Mid-Lothian +campaign, which will live in history as an instance of the noxious +admixture of sentiment and politics, and the overwhelming success of the +Liberal party at the polls, which brought Mr. Gladstone back to office, at +the head of an absolute majority in the House of Commons of 56. Reeve, of +course, followed the progress of the election with anxious eyes. To Mr. T. +Norton Longman he wrote:-- + +_Foxholes, April 2nd_.--The Liberal gain on the Elections is far more than +I anticipated, and I begin to hope there may be a decided Liberal majority. +What I most deprecate is an even balance of parties. If the Liberals are +strong, they will be moderate; if weak, they will be violent. + +It is raining heavily to-day--rather damp for the electors, but a capital +thing for the country and for my shrubs. + +The further course of the election brought him the following letters from +the Comte de Paris:-- + +_Chateau d'Eu, le 12 avril_.--Je vous remercie de tout mon coeur des voeux +que vous m'adressez a l'occasion de la naissance de mon fils, et je suis +heureux de pouvoir vous donner les meilleures nouvelles de la mere et de +l'enfant. + +Je suis bien peine d'apprendre que vous avez ete si longtemps souffrant cet +hiver. La rigueur de la saison peut bien en avoir ete la cause, et j'espere +que l'ete achevera de vous remettre. Nous serions heureux, la Comtesse de +Paris et moi, si durant cet ete vous pouviez, avec Madame et Mademoiselle +Reeve, renouveler la visite que vous nous avez faite au chateau d'Eu il y a +trois ans. Depuis lors la maison a ete toujours en deuil; l'evenement qui +vient de s'accomplir ici nous permet, j'aime a le croire, une annee plus +heureuse. + +The result of the elections in England has caused great surprise in France. +Nothing led us to expect such a complete change in the opinion of the +electorate. When I saw Mr. Gladstone a few months since, he did not seem at +all confident of his party's speedy return to power. A year or two ago I +should have greatly regretted the fall of Lord Beaconsfield; but my +opinion is entirely changed since Lord Salisbury's speech in honour of the +Austro-German alliance. Lord Beaconsfield's term of power has had the one +good result of obliging the Government which succeeds him to pay more and +closer attention to Continental politics than the English Cabinet did in +1870 and 1871. But for some time back the Russophobia of the Foreign Office +and its agents has been so great that it looked as if England was going to +give up the idea of preserving the equilibrium of the Continent, and become +the accomplice or the dupe of those who played on this passion. + +_20 avril_.--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de votre lettre et de vous +dire tout le plaisir que la Comtesse de Paris et moi nous aurons a vous +voir ici avec Madame et Mademoiselle Reeve. Malheureusement les trois +dernieres semaines d'aout sont le seul moment ou je ne serai pas ici, et si +vous venez un peu plus tot en France je vous prierais de commencer par le +chateau d'Eu.... I have read the article on M'Clellan by Mr. Curtis, in the +last number of the 'North American Review.' It did not teach me much, for I +have often talked it all over with M'Clellan, in his visits to Europe. But +the article is good, and all the facts alleged are perfectly true. Lincoln +was very weak in this business, the tool--without knowing it--of Stanton +and Halleck. The author sometimes closes his eyes to M'Clellan's faults, +which, though they do not excuse Lincoln, impartiality will not permit us +to ignore. M'Clellan was an excellent organiser and a skilful general, but +he made blunders; he could not take a decided resolution at the proper +time, and it is not correct to say that he was considered a faultless +general: he was loved, appreciated, and respected by all, and justly +considered as the best chief of the Federal armies, when Grant, Sherman, +and Thomas were as yet little known. Personally, he was, at times, very +indiscreet: he permitted those about him to speak of the President in +insulting terms, and he wrote the letter quoted by Mr. Curtis. An extremely +silly thing, for it could not possibly do any good, and it was easy to +see that his enemies would use it against him. With these exceptions, I +entirely share the views of the author of the article. + +We await the formation of your new ministry with curiosity. I agree with +you that it is better that Gladstone should be its recognised head than its +unofficial and irresponsible leader. I hope the experience of 1871, and the +verdict of the electors in 1874, have opened his eyes to the dangers of a +_far niente_ policy, as practised by the Foreign Office during his last +administration. + +_27 avril_.--Je vous remercie infiniment de votre lettre du 21 et je me +rejouis bien de penser que nous aurons probablement votre visite ici au +mois de juillet. Je vous remercie de l'intention que vous m'exprimez +d'arranger vos projets de maniere a pouvoir venir en France a cette epoque. + +I see Mr. Gladstone has not been afraid of the fatigue you thought would +be too much for him. I quite understand that after his disaster in 1874 he +should insist on a material proof of his wondrous political rehabilitation. +But it seems to me that he ought not to have combined the Exchequer with +the leadership--unless, indeed, his friends wanted to handicap him by +allowing him to take upon his strong shoulders a burden which is usually +divided between two ministers. I am not surprised at this change, so +complete, so striking to one who thinks of the time when Mr. Gladstone, +almost disavowed by the party he had so imprudently led to defeat, could +hardly find a constituency to open the doors of the House to him. It is +a spectacle presented by all free countries, a salutary warning to the +victors of the day, and a consolation to the vanquished, to whom hope is +always left. But what does astound me is that the change should not have +been foreseen. It is rather a severe democratic shock to the parliamentary +machine. Is it the effect of the lowering of the franchise, or of the +secret ballot? I do not know. But does not the astonishment of the leaders +of the victorious party prove that their followers are escaping from their +control? And if so, where and to whom will they go? However, I am confident +that the practical spirit which has hitherto inspired all classes of the +English people, as they have been successively called upon to take +their part in the government--from the old nobility to the petty +shopkeepers--will not be found wanting in the new electoral body, +constituted by the last reform. + +_4 juin_.--Si, comme je l'espere bien, vous pouvez realiser la bonne +promesse que vous m'avez faite de venir ici avec Madame et Mademoiselle +Reeve dans la seconde moitie de juillet, je serais heureux de vous voir +fixer votre visite aux environs du 22: en effet, nous attendons ce jour-la +ou le suivant quelques personnes qui vous interesseront certainement et qui +seront charmees de vous rencontrer: le Comte et la Comtesse d'Eu, le Duc et +la Duchesse d'Audiffret-Pasquier, M. et Madame de Rainneville (Rainnevillea +formosa, d'apres votre botanique speciale). + +_19 juillet_.--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de votre lettre, et de vous +dire que je vous enverrai jeudi, a Dieppe, une voiture pour vous chercher a +l'Hotel de la Plage a deux heures apres midi, a moins d'avis contraire. + +Toutefois je dois vous prevenir que M. Alexandre Dumas, qui habite pres de +Dieppe, et auquel j'avais demande de venir dejeuner ici l'un de ces jours, +en lui laissant le choix du jour, m'annonce qu'il viendra dejeuner au +chateau le jeudi 22. Le dejeuner est a onze heures et demie. Si vous +desiriez le rencontrer il faudrait que vous partiez le matin de Dieppe. +Dans ce cas, sur un avis de vous, je vous enverrais la voiture a neuf +heures du matin, au lieu de deux heures apres midi. + +So on July 21st, Reeve, with Mrs. Reeve, left London for Dieppe, whence +they went on to the Chateau d'Eu. On the 26th they went on, through St. +Quentin, Namur, and Liege, to Aix, where, for the next fortnight, Reeve +drank waters and took baths. They then returned through Brussels and +London, reaching Foxholes on August 14th. + +And there they stayed for nearly three months, during which time, beyond +noting a few visits or visitors, the Journal is a blank. On November 6th +they returned to London. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_C. O., November 26th_.--I have not for a long time read a book so +fascinating to me as these Reminiscences of Carlyle; for though he calls +them reminiscences of Irving &c., they are, in fact, essentially an +autobiography. It is impossible to present the details of life with more +attractive clearness and picturesque effect. The most curious thing is +that the style, instead of being a mass of cloudy affectation, is simple, +flowing, and natural. To me, especially, all this is most captivating. The +account of Mrs. Montagu, Coleridge, the Bullers, the Stracheys, &c. revives +a thousand recollections. It was through the Bullers that we first knew +Carlyle, and I suppose in due time he will relate his intimacy with the +Austins and Sterlings in the same manner. + +It is right to say that there are many persons still alive who will not be +pleased at having their portraits drawn by so strong a hand--Mrs. Procter, +for instance. + +Altogether, I think the book is eminently interesting and valuable, and +will have a very large circulation indeed. It is the sort of book everybody +likes to read, and in this case it is backed by names of great celebrity. I +will send the MS. back to you on Monday. What a wonderful thing it is +that Froude should have had the patience to copy all this out in his own +handwriting! + +I dined last night with the Chancellor, and found both him and the Home +Secretary deep in 'Endymion.' Everybody abuses it more or less, but +everybody reads it, so the abuse does not go for much. Only Lady Stanley +(the dowager) declares she could not get through the first volume. Such is +the strength of party feeling. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Chantilly, 2 decembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je me fais une fete de vous revoir. J'ai vendu +mon hotel de Paris et n'ai pas encore pu y reconstituer d'etablissement. +Mais Chantilly [Footnote: During the next few years, before he was again +exiled, the Duc d'Aumale restored Chantilly on a magnificent scale (see +_post_, pp. 319, 320), making it a repository for his splendid collection +of pictures, works of art, and library, which included many precious MSS. +By a will dated June 3,1884, he bequeathed the whole to the 'Institut de +France,' in trust for the nation.] est si pres! Des que vous pourrez, +donnez-moi votre adresse de Paris, et indiquez-moi quels jours vous serez +libre, afin que je puisse en choisir un et vous demander de venir a +Chantilly. Dites-moi aussi quels jours il vous serait agreable d'avoir ma +loge aux Francais. + +J'espere bien avoir lu 'Endymion' d'ici la. Je vous serre la main. + +H. D'ORLEANS. + +Reeve was thus meditating a visit to Paris for Christmas, as soon as the +Court rose. Its session ended in the death of one of its most esteemed +members. Sir James Colvile, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court +of Bengal, had a house in Rutland Gate, and a great intimacy had grown up +between the two. On Friday, December 3rd, he had dined with the Reeves, 'in +fair health and excellent spirits,' as Mrs. Reeve wrote a few days later. +'He, with Lady Colvile and his brother-in-law, Lord Blachford, sat on for +quite half an hour after the other guests left' On Saturday morning he went +down to the office with Reeve. On the Monday he was dead. Sir Lawrence +Peel,[Footnote: First cousin of Sir Robert Peel (the statesman), formerly +Chief Justice of Calcutta, and since 1856 a member of the Judicial +Committee. He died in 1884, in his 85th year.] one of his colleagues in the +Judicial Committee, himself now old and feeble, wrote, apparently the same +day:-- + +My dear Reeve,--A blow terrible indeed to all of us, to me most terrible. A +man so close to death as I think myself feels more deeply the awe a sudden +death causes. I know not the man to whom a sudden death could come and find +more well prepared than he was. I thank you for your kind forethought. Say +for me to his late colleagues that I feel his loss to them and to all of +us irreparable. That he should go first! Oh God, preserve me and bless you +all. Ever yours truly, + +L. PEEL. + +Could you say or write a line in season to Lady Colvile? They say I am +better. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Rutland Gate, December 7th_.--I have been and am horribly upset by the +sudden death of Sir James Colvile, which took place yesterday morning. He +was really my most intimate friend; for twenty-two years we have worked and +lived together, and to all of us the loss is irreparable, + +_From Sir Lawrence Peel_ + +_December 11th_,--One word about your 'resignation.' 'Don't.' The weaker +the thing is, the more your value will be felt. Sir Montague [Footnote: +Sir Montague Smith, one of the paid members of the Judicial Committee. He +resigned the office on December 12th, 1881, and died, in his 82nd year, in +1891.] will go. He has as much as told me so, not very lately. It will be a +new Court, not the old P. C., nor can it have the character of the House of +Lords. It will have its entire way to make, and where is the stuff? It may +in time win approval; but it will be a child at first. Of course if things +are made unpleasant to you, Go; but my impression is the other way. + +I think I do get better, but I am very bad. It [the death of Sir James +Colvile] was a terrible shock; and I lie and think, yet cannot throw it +off. To-day is the funeral. Alas! Alas! _Nulli flebilior quam mihi!_ +When earth covers him, not a better man will be left on its face. _Tibi +constabat_. Ever the servant of Duty and of his God, and letting no man +note in him a sign that he thought himself better than the ruck.... God +bless you! Don't resign--wait. + +On December 15th Reeve went to Paris alone. His Journal notes:-- + +_17th_.--Opera 'Aida,' with the Comte de Paris and the Duc d'Aumale. + +_18th_.--To the Francais, with the Duc d'Aumale. + +_19th_.--Breakfasted at Chantilly; went all over the Chateau, rebuilt. + +_24th_.--Dined alone with Lord Lyons. + +But a few letters written at this time to his wife give the best +description of his visit, and call more particular attention to what seems +to have been in great measure the cause of it--the paper to be read before +the Institute. + +_Paris, December 21st_.--I dined yesterday with Laugel to meet the De +Witts, the young De Barantes and M. de Merode. The Duc de Broglie came in +the evening. The eldest son of Cornelis de Witt is about to marry Mlle. +de Labruyere, a considerable heiress, dans l'Agenois. This is a capital +marriage for the family. To-morrow I am going to a lecture by M. Caro at +the Sorbonne. On Thursday there is the reception of M. Maxime du Camp (who +wrote about the Commune) by M. Caro at the Academie Francaise, when I +shall take my seat amongst the Forty Immortals. It will be interesting. On +Wednesday 29th I shall probably make an address to the Institute (simple +enonce de faits) on the State of Landed Property in Ireland--a formidable +undertaking! + +I think now that the Radicals will break up the Government and break their +own necks. I cannot conceive that the English people and Parliament will +condone such monstrous conduct. I therefore now hope that they will play +out their abominable game. Mr. Plunket's speech is admirable. + +_December 23rd_.--I am just come back from the Institute, where there has +been a grand function--the reception of Maxime du Camp by M. Caro on behalf +of the Academie Francaise. All Paris was mad to go, and I believe they +expected the Communards would storm the sacred building. I sat aloft among +the Immortals, with the Duc de Broglie, Haussonville, Lesseps, Vieil +Castel, and next Alexandre Dumas, who was very pleasant. The Duc d'Aumale +was on the other side. + +Yesterday we had a very pleasant dinner at the De Broglies'--Gavard, +Lambert de Ste.-Croix and Cornelis de Witt. They shot 1,250 pheasants +at Ferrieres [Footnote: It was here that the celebrated meeting between +Bismarck and Jules Favre (cf. _ante_, pp. 186-7) took place, on September +19th, 1870.] (Baron Rothschild's) on Sunday. The Comte de Paris brought +down 300 himself. + +I have written out my speech on Irish Land and read it to Gavard. It will +take about fifteen or twenty minutes in the delivery. I breakfast tomorrow +morning with St. Hilaire. + +_December 27th_.--I went to the English Church in the Rue d'Aguesseau on +Christmas Day--full congregation and nice service--but saw nobody I knew. +Mme. Faucher's dinner was dull, but Passy and Leroy-Beaulieu were there, +and there was some good music after dinner. I called yesterday on Feuillet +de Conches and Mme. Mohl, each looking a thousand and older than the hills; +and I spent some time in the galleries of the Louvre with my old favourites +in their eternal youth. It is infinitely touching, when so much else is +gone, to look at those pictures which I myself remember for sixty years in +unchanging beauty. I perfectly remember the impression made on me when I +was seven years old by the picture of the Entry of Henry IV into Paris. + +I have copied out my whole oration to be read on Wednesday, and, in +copying, enlarged it. It is chiefly taken from the Irish Land Pamphlet. + +_December 30th_.--My discourse at the Institute went off very well. I was +told by the best French writer, Mignet, that it was well written, and by +the best French speaker, Jules Simon, that it was well delivered, which is +enough to satisfy a modest man. The MS. will be printed and published in +several forms. Leon Say sat by my side. There were about thirty people +present. + +I went to the Due de Broglie's reception last night. Nothing can exceed the +dulness of French society--ten or twelve men sitting in a circle to discuss +miserable municipal politics; not another subject, or a book, or an idea +so much as mentioned. I am now going to breakfast with the Duc d'Aumale at +Laugel's. + +Gladstone seems to think that everything must go right since he is in +power. It is a case of mental delusion, but I am curious to see how the +House of Commons will deal with him. + +_December 31st_.--We had a very pleasant breakfast with the Duc d'Aumale at +Laugel's yesterday. He was most agreeable. He had a narrow escape on Monday +from a stag at bay, which pursued him with fury, killed a hound and wounded +a horse. He said, 'J'ai fui comme je n'ai jamais fui de ma vie.' The stags +they hunt are wild red deer. He asked me to go in the evening with him +to the Francais to see 'Hernani,' which I did; glad to see the old piece +again, though I thought it not well acted. + +I am now going to breakfast with St.-Hilaire. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Paris, December 29th_.--I am very anxious to learn what the bulk of the +Liberal party in England now think of the results of a Radical policy in +Ireland and elsewhere. Unhappily our friends, the Whigs, are to a certain +extent responsible for having assented to it, though reluctantly; but the +real author of this Irish policy is Mr. Bright. The consequences of it +appear so disastrous that I cannot conceive it will last. But we are on the +eve of stormy times. + +The Journal continues:-- + +1881, _January 2nd_.--Returned to London in 8 1/2 hours. + +The Club met in January as Parliament was sitting. + +_14th_.--Dinner at home. Prince Lobanow,[Footnote: The Russian Ambassador.] +Acton, Burys, C. Villiers, Leckys. + +_15th_.--Small dinner at Lord Derby's. + +_18th_.--Tremendous snow-storm. 21st. Excessive cold. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Audley Square, January 5th_.--I must apologise for having kept your +precious manuscript [Footnote: The _Greville Memoirs_, second part], so +long. The truth is, I left town for a month, and left the volumes carefully +locked up, and only finished them on my return. I have read them with the +deepest interest, and am truly obliged to you for having procured me so +much amusement. I think these volumes even surpassing the last in interest. + +I see you have marked several passages for omission which I should retain. +I allude particularly to those relating to the French Revolution and the +conduct of the Orleans family. It is impossible that any relation of those +facts can be made so as to be agreeable to that family; and no omissions +could be made that would render the narration palatable to them. Besides, +these are Charles Greville's opinions, and not yours; and you are not +answerable for them. + +His remarks on the state of Ireland and the conduct of the Government are +curious, as being exactly those which people are making at this moment. +Gladstone's policy is exactly that of Lord John Russell; but the urgency of +action is now still greater, and the outrages committed still more heinous. +Gladstone may apply the words of the poet to himself--'In not forbidding, +you command the crime.' Also the Duke of Wellington's opinions on army +reform are applicable to the present moment, when such determined attacks +are made upon its efficiency. The Duke said, 'We had a damned good army, +and they are trying to make it a damned bad one.' Our present patriotic +Government, he might say, 'are trying to make it a damned deal worse.' + +What would be personally offensive to the Queen should be omitted; but as +to his criticisms on public men and their measures, I cannot see why they +should be suppressed. The daily newspapers all over England are free to +make what comments they please, and I cannot see that a well-informed +individual is not entitled to the same privilege. + +His account of his quarrel with Lord G. Bentinck should in justice to him +be printed; Lord G. told his own story, and Greville has every right to +give his version of it. He certainly intended it, for he read me that part +of his journal. The name of the Duchess of ------ should of course be left +in blank, but, with this exception, I think the whole might be printed. +There is no private scandal, and public men and their friends should not +be thin-skinned, and must learn to bear adverse criticism. The affectation +of calling Lord Russell 'John' and 'Johnny' is offensive and tiresome; +also, by omitting persons' titles there is frequently some ambiguity-- +'Grey' may mean Sir George or the Earl, and the context does not always +make his meaning clear. + +I think a few lines of preface from you explaining your motives for leaving +Greville to express his own views and opinions would quite clear you with +all reasonable people. + +_From M. B. St. Hilaire_ [Footnote: At this time Ministre des Affaires +Etrangeres.] + +Paris: January 10. + +Cher Monsieur Reeve,--I quite understand that the reticence of the Tories +is very wise. Office is not tempting, and it is prudent to leave it to +those who actually have it. But the situation is very precarious, as Mr. +Gladstone will no doubt soon learn. Meanwhile he has given me powerful +assistance by speaking of arbitration as he has done, supported by the +complete and unanimous assent of the English Cabinet. This may very likely +decide the Greeks and Turks to adopt more sensible notions. But the thing +is giving me a great deal of trouble... + +I hope you may be able to pacify Ireland, but it will be very difficult. +Against such atrocious and persistent determination, force is almost as +unavailing as gentleness. If, as we may believe, that is what Cromwell met +with, we can understand the excesses into which the barbarity of his age +led him; but in two hundred and thirty years we have not gained much. Even +emigration has had no good effect. 'Tis a frightful sore; though during the +last forty years England has done wonders to cure it. + +Much might be said on this subject. I see by the newspapers that you have +read before our Academy a most interesting paper on Property in Ireland. If +you should print it, I hope you will not forget me. Towards the end of this +month I will send you one of my latest works--to wit, a Yellow Book on +Greece. It will at least be curious. + +Agreez, cher Monsieur Reeve, tous mes voeux de nouvel an pour vous et pour +tous ceux qui vous sont chers. Bonne sante. + +Votre bien devoue, + +B. ST. HILAIRE. + +_Paris, January 11th_.--I am greatly obliged for the account of your +interview with Musurus Pasha. If the key to this business is in our views +on the Conference of Berlin, the house is open, and we have nothing to do +but enter. I have written with my own hand three long despatches, showing +by a reference to Vattel that the Conference was nothing more than the +mediation promised by the XXIVth article of the Treaty of Berlin. +These despatches I have communicated in the first place to Athens and +Constantinople, and afterwards to all the foreign ambassadors here, as well +as to Essad Pasha and to Brailas Armeni. + +If there is one thing certain, it is that the Conference of Berlin neither +did nor could do anything but mediate; it merely gave advice; it did not +deliver judgement to be enforced. I am doing what I can to convince the +Greeks of this all-important fact, but hitherto without much success. I +have even gone farther, and have pointed out to them in these despatches +the limits within which arbitration will probably have to confine itself. +As I am only one out of six, I can do no more, and even this was perhaps +too much. The Porte and Greece cannot help knowing all this. The public +also will know it by the end of the present month, when I shall publish the +despatches in the yellow book which I am preparing, and which I will send +to you. + +The state of Ireland appears to us here to be truly dreadful. We do not see +how such crimes can be tolerated. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_January 13th_.--I see no reason why this sequel [of the 'Greville +Memoirs'] should not be published whenever it is convenient, but of this +you only can be judge. There is very little private scandal, and that +little should of course be omitted. + +The Queen should always be spared; but as to Lord J. Russell and Lord +Palmerston, they are public men, and their public conduct requires no +reserve in the discussion of it;--the Queen herself, in her own Journals, +speaks of them and of Gladstone in terms that prove how little reserve she +thought necessary. It is amazing to me that a man who lived so much in the +world [as Greville], and who had great curiosity and a taste for gossip, +should so carefully have avoided all scandal. + +The criticism that was sometimes made on the former volumes reminds me +rather of the note on the quiz on Crabbe in the 'Rejected Addresses':--'The +author is well aware how ill it becomes his clerical profession to give any +pain, however slight, to any individual, however foolish or wicked.' Pain +must be given, and offence will be taken; but you will do what is right and +must be indifferent. I think these last volumes even more amusing than the +first, and the discussions about Ireland are of peculiar interest at this +moment--I am very glad that these precious volumes are again in your hands. +I felt quite uneasy whilst they were in mine. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, le 2 fevrier. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Nous ne pouvions douter, ma femme et moi, de la +part que vous et Madame Reeve prendriez au malheur si cruel et si inattendu +qui vient de nous frapper. Vous aviez vu ici le bel enfant que Dieu +nous avait envoye il y a dix mois [Footnote: _Ante, p. 275_] et dont la +naissance nous avait cause une si grande joie. Il etait si fort et si bien +portant que jusqu'a la veille de sa mort nous n'avions pas eu un instant +d'inquietude. Vous comprenez done bien notre douleur. Je ne doute pas que +Mademoiselle votre fille ne s'y associe, car nous connaissons et nous +apprecions les sentiments dont vous nous avez donne, tons les trois, tant +de preuves. + +Ma femme, qui depuis dix ans a perdu trois soeurs, deux freres, et deux +fils, est, comme vous le pensez, bien accablee; mais les enfants qui lui +restent l'obligeront heureusement a reprendre a la vie. Ne voulant plus +apres notre malheur laisser derriere elle notre derniere fille, la petite +Isabelle, et ne pouvant l'emmener en Espagne dans cette rude saison, elle a +remis ce voyage a l'automne prochain, et s'est decidee a ne pas quitter le +chateau d'Eu, ou l'hiver a ete rude. Mais si nous avons eu le froid et la +neige, l'Andalousie n'a pas ete epargnee par la tempete, et les inondations +y sont terribles. + +Je termine en vous priant de croire aux sentiments bien sinceres de +Votre affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +During the preceding autumn the state of Ireland had been exceptionally +bad. There were many who believed that the attempt was being made, by a +cold-blooded calculation, to work on the sentimental instincts of Mr. +Gladstone's character. The verb 'to boycott' had been introduced into the +English language; murders and agrarian outrages had been frequent; but +witnesses and juries were so terrorised, that prosecution was found to be +difficult and conviction impossible. In charging the grand jury at Galway +on December 10th, the judge had commented on the fact that, out of +698 criminal offences committed in Connaught during the four months, +thirty-nine only were for trial, no sufficient evidence as to the other +659 being obtainable. On November 2nd, fourteen members of the Land +League--including five members of Parliament--were arrested and committed +for trial on the charge of inciting to crime. The facts were matter of +public notoriety, but the jury refused to convict, and the prisoners were +discharged. The Government was compelled to act; and on January 24th Mr. +Forster moved for leave to bring in a bill for the better protection of +person and property in Ireland. After an unprecedented obstruction on the +part of the Irish members, and after a continuous sitting of forty-one +hours, the Speaker summarily closed the debate, and the bill, commonly +known as the Coercion Bill, passed the first reading on February 2nd. On +the 3rd, twenty-seven of the Irish members were suspended; and the bill, +having passed through the succeeding stages, finally became law on March +2nd. + + * * * * * + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, February 6th_.--I am happy in your approval, and permit me to add +that I am proud of it. I know the value and sincerity of your judgements. +You have a long experience of politics, and every reason not to be deceived +even by the most obscure complications. There was certainly an intrigue on +foot against the Cabinet, but I believe a stop has been put to it for some +time to come, and we shall now probably have all the trouble of the general +election, which will be very advantageous for the republic; but, from +a personal point of view, I am anything but charmed with the prospect, +finding myself chained up for several months. Nothing could be more +vexatious, though I put as good a face on it as I can. + +We do not understand here how a political assembly can endure what your +Parliament has put up with. Thanks to Mr. Gladstone, the Speaker is now +armed with sufficient power, and I take for granted he will know how to +use it. But Ireland, terrible Ireland, is always there. If an insurrection +break out, it will be necessary to have recourse to repressive measures, +more or less similar to those of Cromwell. I do not believe that there +would be many in Europe to blame you. How can you do otherwise? Of their +own free will, the Irish sink to the level of brute beasts, which are to be +tamed only by force. + + * * * * * + +The next letter, and many others following it, from M. Barthelemy +St.-Hilaire, refer to the action of France in regard to Tunis, as to which +there was a strong feeling in England both then and since. France, it may +be admitted, had grievances; whether she would have taken the steps she did +for their settlement if the English Government had been stronger in its +foreign policy may very well be doubted. + +For many years, almost since the first establishment of the French in +Algeria, there had been differences between France and Tunis, over which +the French pretended a protectorate which neither Tunis nor Constantinople +would allow. There had been also many commercial difficulties--some +honest, some dishonest; but what led to the acute stage which these +difficulties and differences assumed in 1881 was the purchase, in 1880, by +the Societe Marseillaise, for 100,000 L, of a large tract of land known as +the Enfida--subject, it had been stipulated, 'to the provisions of the +local law.' But the purchase was no sooner publicly declared than its +legality was disputed; a Maltese--therefore an English subject--named +Levy claiming that by the local law he had a right of pre-emption and was +prepared to buy. This right the French Government denied, and alleged that +the intending purchasers were really Italians--private or official--Levy +being only a man of straw put forward to strengthen their case by the +English name. Lord Granville, the then Foreign Secretary, instructed the +English Consul at Tunis that it was an affair of Tunis law, and that he was +not to interfere beyond seeing that the English subject got what the law +entitled him to. The French Government, however--of which M. St.-Hilaire +was the exponent--refused to be bound by Tunis law, and on May 1st landed +10,000 soldiers, and took military possession of Tunis, disclaiming all +idea of being at war with Tunis, but being obliged--they said--to defend +and maintain their just rights. They were neither going to annex Tunis nor +to rebuild Carthage. + + * * * * * + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, February 25th_.--I should be quite as deeply vexed as you if any +coolness should arise between England and France. I am doing everything in +my power to maintain and even strengthen the good relations. I am happy to +say we have a better understanding than ever in Egypt; but at Tunis matters +are not so favourable, and I fear that the English Cabinet has been too +hasty in taking under its protection a person who is but little deserving +of it. I hope to show this very plainly. The Marseilles Company which we +defend is quite _en regle_, in every respect, and what M. Levy is aiming at +against it is simply a forcible spoliation by means of an intrigue hatched +by the principal members of the Tunis Government, [Footnote: It is quite +possible that this was true, but it was merely an assertion based on the +one-sided declaration of the Marseilles Company and its agents.] with the +prime minister at their head. And whatever difference of opinion there may +be, Lord Granville, of his own accord, said to M. Challemel-Lacour that in +this there was no cause of quarrel between the two countries. That is my +opinion also, and I hope to bring the English Cabinet to it; but it is not +for us to sacrifice the Marseilles Company, by subjecting it to tribunals +whose hostile decision is known beforehand. The whole trouble has been +caused by the Italians, who have started and are prosecuting this intrigue, +at the very moment in which they are asking us for a loan of six hundred +and fifty millions. + +The speech of M. Gambetta was eloquent, and above all dramatic, but not +convincing; and it is really very difficult to believe that he knew nothing +of the Thomassin mission till after it had failed. I have no knowledge of +what passed between M. de Freycinet and M. Gambetta; but it is certain that +for the last five months Gambetta has made no attempt to control me and my +policy. He affects to show his sympathy and approval whenever he meets me, +and notably so last Monday. At the same time, his newspapers attack me in +every way they can, whilst he, verbally, disavows them, as he did for M. +Proust and M. Reinach. This double game does not tell in Gambetta's favour; +he has lost much during the last two months, and if the _scrutin de liste_ +is not passed, his influence will be greatly diminished. In short, he is +playing a very equivocal part, which is injurious both to himself and to +this republic. What saves him are attacks of the kind which M. de Broglie +ineffectually made yesterday in the Senate.... + +Of current and social events the Journal notes:-- + +_March 5th._--Visit to Battle Abbey. Duke and Duchess of Somerset there. +Ed. Stanhope, Arthur Balfour, H. Brougham, Lord Strathnairn. + +_11th._--Dinner at home for General Roberts: but he had been ordered off to +the Transvaal. + +_13th._--Emperor of Russia (Alexander II.) murdered. + +_16th._--Tennyson gave an evening party in Eaton Square. + +_April 7th._--To Foxholes. Cold: gouty. Lady Colvile came. + +_20th._--My cousin, John Taylor, died. + +_26th._--Lord Beaconsfield's funeral. + +Of this last, he received the following account from Mr. T. Norton +Longman:-- + +_April 28th._--The sad ceremony I had the honour of attending the day +before yesterday will for ever live in the memory of all who were present. +Nothing could have been more simple in its character, nothing more striking +in its solemnity, and nothing more in strict accordance with his wishes. +I may well say I shall not forget so great an occasion, not only from the +fact that the ceremony was the burial of a great man, but from the very +select band of followers I had the privilege of joining. There were only +120 invitations sent out, and all these were not made use of. I travelled +down in a saloon carriage with Drs. Quain, Bruce, Lord Lytton, Lord +Alington, Count Muenster, with all of whom I had very pleasant conversation. +Sir William Harcourt, Lord Rosebery, the Danish Minister, and another +ambassador were also in the carriage; so I had plenty of good company. +I had a little conversation with poor Lord Rowton, and thanked him for +thinking of me. 'Not at all,' he said; 'I am quite sure it would be _his_ +wish that you should be here to-day.' This was, to say the least of it, +gratifying. The persons who appeared to be most touched were poor Bruce and +Lord Henry Lennox. On our return to the Manor about fifty of us went into +the drawing-room to hear the will read, and a very interesting document it +proved to be. It is perfectly clear Lord Beaconsfield contemplated a great +deal of publication. After the reading was finished and those present had +mostly left the room, I waited behind a little for the three Princes to +move first; and, much to my surprise, the Duke of Connaught turned round +and shook me by the hand. This little incident makes it all a peculiarly +interesting and eventful day. We all returned to town together (I mean the +Princes and the guests); and I think I may safely say that a train never +arrived at Paddington Station with a more distinguished company on board. + +As I walked up from the church I could not help thinking that the last +time I walked up that hill I had poor Lord B. on my arm. The demand for +'Endymion' is very great, and in fact the demand for all his novels is +greater than we can meet. We are printing night and day to try and keep the +trade supplied. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, 27 avril_. Il y a bien des jours que je voulais vous ecrire, et ce +long silence me faisait craindre que vous ne fussiez malade, comme vous +l'etiez en effet; mais je me disais aussi que les vacances de Paques vous +ameneraient sans doute a Paris. J'espere que le printemps vous guerira +completement de cet acces; et que vous serez delivre de ce mal si +douloureux, des que la chaleur nous sera revenue. Ici, nous avons un temps +des plus maussades. + +I have done everything in my power to keep clear of this Tunis business; +but the Khroumirs' affair has filled the cup to overflowing, and we are +obliged to resort to force. I shall finish the business off as quickly as +I can, and as we have no idea of annexation, all that we want is a treaty +with the Bey, giving a lasting guarantee for the security of our frontier +and our interests. I believe that even in Italy people are beginning to +understand or to admit the necessity which is pressing on us; but they will +owe us a grudge, and later on will resent it, if they can. For the present, +the loan of six hundred and fifty millions paralyses their wrath. We are +no more going to refound Carthage than Italy is going to re-establish the +Roman Empire. + +The death of Lord Beaconsfield is a great blow for England. I have noticed, +not without some surprise, that I am of the same age as he was. + +I have reason to believe that Lord Dufferin is quite of your opinion about +Russia, and thinks that the most truly sick man is not at Constantinople. +He may be right. Meanwhile the Conference will fail. I happen to know that +three of us will refuse--England, Italy, and France. Austria would like to +do the same. + +People are speaking no more of the _scrutin de liste_ than if the question +did not exist. It was in fact altogether artificial; but the talk will +begin again with the meeting of the Chamber. The _scrutin d'arrondissement_ +appears to gain ground. Its success is much to be desired; for if it is +rejected, we shall pretty quickly find ourselves in a critical position. + +_May 16th_.--Your letter is gloomy indeed, and should your forebodings be +realised you may be sure that I should be as grieved as yourself. All my +life, and now as much as ever, I have looked upon the alliance of France +and England as infinitely desirable for both; and if I were so unfortunate +as to cause a breach between the two countries, it would be very much +against my will, and without my knowledge. Tunis cannot be a source of +discord between us, and I hope that public opinion, over-excited at +present, will return to a more calm and just appreciation of the case. We +have declared to Europe that we wish for no annexations or conquests, and +will attempt none; we have quite enough with the two million five hundred +thousand Mussulmans in Algeria; it would be madness to add fifteen or +sixteen hundred thousand more to them, and a hundred and fifty leagues +to our frontier. For Algeria thus extended we should require an army of +100,000 men, who would be much missed in case of any complication in +Europe. All that we want in Tunis is a power which will not be hostile to +us, and continually threaten our African possessions. We shall only occupy +Biserta and the other places as long as appears necessary; but we will not +make a port of it; for that, as Sir Charles Dilke has said, would involve a +cost of some 200 millions. I have just sent Lord Lyons a despatch upon that +special subject, which will appear in the next Blue Book. + +Tunis will never belong to France; she does not want it; but should it +belong to Italy, who already owns Sicily, the passage to Malta might be +made difficult. I know that England has not much to fear from Italy; but +circumstances may change; and the gratitude she shows towards us now proves +how much she will have for other benefactors. I cannot understand how my +despatch of May 9th can have been interpreted as the announcement of our +taking possession. In form and intention it was quite the contrary. Our +actions will show that we only speak the truth. Neither can I admit that +even the conquest of Tunis can ever equal in importance the taking of +Constantinople by the Russians, which in my eyes will be the greatest event +of modern times, as the taking of it by the Turks in 1453 was an important +event in the fifteenth century. + +As to the Treaty of Commerce, I am doing all in my power to facilitate +the negotiations. I suppose that public opinion in England is at present +principally occupied with this; and that, if it is satisfactorily arranged, +Tunis will very soon be forgotten. A thousand more interests are engaged +in the agreement on a specific tariff than could ever be involved in this +unfortunate Regency. + +But I content myself with saying with the poet--_Di avertant omen_; and I +desire that England may be as well disposed towards us as we are towards +her. + +_May 23rd_.--I knew of the correspondence between Lord Salisbury and Mr. +Waddington long ago. I should never have thought myself authorised to +publish it; but I will take it from the Blue Book and publish it in the +Yellow Book. It is quite allowable. + +My declarations of our intentions in Tunis are the exact truth. Annexation +would be an act of folly. We have quite enough with three million +Mussulmans in Algeria without adding another two million in Tunis, and +another hundred and fifty leagues to the length of our frontier, which +already reaches from Nemours to La Calle. In doing good to the Regency we +are serving ourselves, and we only ask one thing in return--that it should +be as well disposed to us as we are towards it. But it is not easy to +establish the good terms which would be so profitable to all. England ought +to be very well pleased that both sides of the passage to Malta are not in +the hands of the same Power, which would be the case if Italy, who already +possesses Sicily, had possession of Tunis on the other side. Geography +demonstrates the fact. As to us, we wish to do nothing at Biserta. Our port +is necessarily at Algiers in the centre of our possessions. + +Like you, I deplore the _scrutin de liste_. It will give rise to formidable +difficulties in the near future. I am an optimist by nature, but that +future seems to me very dark. I do all I can to prevent it by foretelling +it to everyone; but I only play the part of Cassandra. In the Council, +M. Ferry and myself were the only ones who supported the _scrutin +d'arrondissement_. + +_July 9th_.--I did not think that the Tunis affair was concluded by the +treaty of May 12th; that is the first stage if you like; but it was rather +difficult. The difficulties which arise are very simple consequences; we +will put down rebellion, but this will not incite us to conquest, which +we do not want. The interests of the English, and those of other nations, +would not suffer by our preponderance; and unless all the advantages of +civilisation are ignored, it is certainly better to treat with the French +than with the Moors. Europe will soon see [Footnote: Europe has seen; +though not quite in the sense that St.-Hilaire wished to convey.] that our +promises are not vain, and that we have only good intentions towards Tunis. +We wish for nothing but the security of our great African colony. + +The commercial negotiations have been transferred to Paris, at the request +of the English Cabinet, which had at first expressed a wish that they +should take place in London. This seems to me to imply the very opposite of +a rupture, which, for our part, I can answer for it, we ardently desire +to avoid. We only wish for an equitable treaty, and this I hope we shall +manage.... + +Est-ce qu'on ne vous verra pas durant les vacances? Mistress Ross est +passee par Paris il y a huit ou dix jours; elle est venue me voir un +instant; elle m'a paru tres bien portante. Bonne sante et bien des amities. + +_July 22nd_.--I assure you that should any rupture take place between +England and France, it will be very much in spite of all my efforts to +preserve harmony between two great nations. The English alliance is, in my +opinion, the right one for France; for many reasons, with which you are +as familiar as myself, it is the one which should take precedence of all +others. I do not by any means disdain other alliances, but the English is +the first, the most important, and, I may add, the most natural. It was +sincerely desired under Louis Philippe, in spite of a few passing clouds. +Under Napoleon III. they were, in reality, strongly inclined to break it, +notwithstanding the Crimean war. To-day we are anxious for an agreement +with England, if both sides will consent to reciprocal concessions. + +I am deeply grieved--surprised too--at the death of Dean Stanley. Sixty-two +is too early to die, and nothing seemed to foretell his premature end. He +passed through Paris, scarcely two months ago, and came to see me at the +Ministere. + +Like yourself, I should be happy to escape, but my chain is too short; and +whilst I am minister I shall not go the length of a day's journey away. We +must be at the command of circumstances, since they are not at ours, and +the shortest absence is enough to spoil many things. But I shall be happy +on the day when I can break my bonds, and return to philosophy. + +_July 27th_.--I hope that my answer to the Duc de Broglie the day +before yesterday will convince England of the value I set upon our good +intelligence, and of the open honesty of French policy. I hope, too, that +my declarations may appease Italy and Turkey. I have done my best, and if I +do not succeed it will not be my fault. + +Our treaty of commerce is my chief source of anxiety, and for my part I +am trying to avoid a rupture. But there are the resolutions of the two +Chambers which cripple the negotiators and above all our minister of +commerce. These are impassable limits to the best will. The negotiations +will doubtless begin again in Paris, in about a fortnight, but it is not +yet certain. The incident you point out is very curious, and England +becoming Protectionist, and England becoming Protectionist again under Mr. +Gladstone, would be an astonishing spectacle.... + +Je ne savais pas que l'ile de Man fut 'le royaume des chats sans queue.' + +The Journal meantime notes:-- + +_June 3rd_.--To Foxholes: beautiful weather; 13th, back to town. More +dinners. + +_30th_.--To Drury Lane to see the German company act 'Julius Caesar.' + +_July 2nd_.--Dinner at Walpole's to meet Archbishop Tait, Arthur Stanley, +Lord Coleridge, Lord Eustace Cecil. + +_6th_.--Arthur Stanley's garden party at the Abbey. Lord Carnarvon's dinner +to the Antiquaries. [Footnote: Lord Carnarvon was president of the Society +of Antiquaries, of which Reeve was, at this time, a vice-president.] + +_July 13th_.--Breakfast of Philobiblon at Lord Crawford's. Large garden +party at Holland House. Great heat. + +_16th_.--To Foxholes and back. 18th, Arthur Stanley died. + +_July 23rd_.--From London to Government House, Isle of Man, on a visit to +the Henry Lochs--eleven hours. + +_25th_.--To Peel Castle with Loch and Coleridge; thence to Castletown. +27th, Ramsay. + +_July 29th_.--To Barrow in Furness. Furness Abbey. [Thence to +Scotland--Ormiston, Novar, Perth, Abington, &c.] + +_August 24th_.--Back at Foxholes. + +_From Archbishop Tait_ + +August 16th. + +My dear Reeve,--It seems to me that a most important service might be +done if a good article was published in the 'Edinburgh' on the pernicious +periodical literature which spreads low Radicalism and second-hand scraps +of infidelity amongst the labouring classes, both of town and country. My +friend Mr. Benham lately gave a lecture at Birmingham on the literature of +this or a kindred style, written for boys--'Police News' and the like. We +do little for the people if we only educate them to read and rejoice in +this trash. Ever yours, + +A. C. CANTUAR. + +The hint was not lost on Reeve, but it did not bear fruit till nearly six +years later. In January 1887 the 'Edinburgh Review' contained a strong +article on 'The Literature of the Streets,' in which the proposal was +definitely made for the issue of wholesome fiction and good works of good +writers, sensational and otherwise, in penny booklets. Eight or nine years +later the idea was taken up by at least two publishers; such penny books +are now issued by thousands, and, together with the countless number +of halfpenny and penny periodicals, do something to mitigate the evil +complained of by the Archbishop. The Journal notes:-- + +_September 9th_.--Picnic in New Forest with the Lochs and Clerkes. 30th, +steamed round the Isle of Wight. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, October 6th_.--I must express to you the very great pleasure +with which I have read your article [Footnote: 'Ireland and the Land Act,' +in the _Nineteenth Century_ for October. It does not attempt to argue the +question of Home Rule, but concludes with the pregnant words: 'My present +object will be sufficiently accomplished if I have indicated some of +the difficulties which lie before us, and explained why--at least in my +belief--it is premature to say, "Now we have settled our Irish troubles and +may deal in peace with questions that concern England."'] on the Irish Land +Act. It states in the most terse and telling language precisely the views +I have entertained for the last two years; and the conclusions it suggests +are even more striking than those it expresses. The ministers of England, +be they who they may, have a difficult task before them. The odd thing is +that our present ministers seem totally unconscious of the difficulty and +the dangers. I am told that they view the state of Ireland with great +complacency. It is astonishing how office blinds people's eyes. + +We have lost two members of The Club--Lord Hatherley and alas! Arthur +Stanley. I hope you will be able to suggest somebody to replace them. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_October 8th_.--I am glad you liked the article in the 'Nineteenth +Century.' I do believe it comes near to an accurate statement of the facts +of the case--no one can hope for more than approximate accuracy in such +matters--and on that account I expected it to be equally disagreeable to +both sides. Its reception has been better than seemed probable. Gladstone +has spoken out his mind about Parnell, and quite right too; but I wish he +had not accused the unlucky loyalists in Ireland of being slack in their +own defence. He does not know, evidently, how much they are overmatched... + +As to The Club. Two names have occurred to me--one, Browning the poet, +who is an excellent talker (I have heard him), and as unlike his books as +possible; the other, Sir John Lubbock. What do you say? + +The opening sentence of the next letter, from Lord Derby, appears to refer +to an after-dinner speech made by Mr. Gladstone at Leeds, on the 7th, when +he had alternately complimented Mr. Dillon and denounced Mr. Parnell. The +latter part, the denunciation of Mr. Parnell and his faction, is unusually +straightforward, and might profitably be studied in connection with some of +Mr. Gladstone's later speeches. + +_October 11th_.--I don't understand Gladstone's phrase any better than +you. Probably the explanation of it is that in Ireland it will be read as +meaning fresh concession, in England as meaning coercion. For anybody who +had leisure and disposition to take it up, I think a very interesting and +useful article for the 'Edinburgh Review' might be made out of the present +state of Irish literature and journalism. I do not believe the Irish lower +and middle classes ever read an English book or newspaper, and their native +literature is saturated throughout with the bitterest hatred to England and +all that belongs to our side the water. We do not in the least know here +the kind of mental food which is supplied to the amiable Celt. A good +analysis of it would throw more light on the very old subject of why they +hate us so. + +Reeve adopted the suggestion, and the subject was discussed in an article +on 'Irish Discontent' in the next number of the 'Review.' Lord Derby goes +on:-- + +_October 15th_.--Since you wrote the Government has screwed up its courage +to act. I never knew any proceedings so universally approved as the arrest +of Parnell. [Footnote: Mr. Parnell, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Sexton, and the chief +officials of the League were arrested in Dublin on the 13th and lodged in +Kilmainham.] But we have not seen the end yet. + +_October 21st_.--Many thanks for your letter, which is returned. I do +believe that it would be of use, as making intelligible the present state +of Irish feeling, to show to the English public (which is absolutely +ignorant on the subject) what the kind of instruction is that the Irish +peasant and farmer receives. + +Another matter. What do you think of Matthew Arnold as a possible member +of The Club? He is a good fellow and his literary reputation is very +considerable. I think we could do with him if he would attend. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_November 22nd_.--You know how little value I set on my office; I only +accepted it from a sense of duty, and quit it to-day, not only without +regret but with great pleasure. I am glad to receive your congratulations +because you correctly estimate the person to whom they are addressed. + +Like yourself, I am not without anxiety for the future. In placing matters +in the hands of M. Gambetta, I said all I possibly could on the affairs +of Europe and our relations with Germany; but I will not swear that more +attention will be paid to my advice than to that of many others. + +The Journal has:-- + +_December 10th_.--To Timsbury; 13th to Foxholes. The Mintos were living at +Bournemouth. Lunched with them on the 31st. + +1882, _January 1st_.--At Foxholes. Sir A. Lyall came. + +_9th_.--Returned to London. A few dinners. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Badger Hall, January 19th_.--I have been reading the political articles in +the last number of the 'Edinburgh' with great interest and pleasure. The +one on 'The Bonapartes,' though not strictly political, amused me much, +as at one time of my life I knew Hortense and Louis Bonaparte intimately. +Hortense was an agreeable woman, very French, but lively and full of +anecdote. She had been and was _tres galante_, but with decency. When I +knew her at Rome she was near fifty, and though not handsome, had still the +appearance of once having been a desirable woman.... Her son was then with +her--a youth of my own age, with whom I was intimate without liking him. He +was cold, disagreeable, and full of pretension, silent and reserved in his +own family, and anxious for distinction, which no one seemed willing to +accord him. I believe--contrary to the usual opinion--that he was the +son of Louis Bonaparte; he was like him. He was short, not ill-made, but +ungraceful; his face was plain, his skin bad, complexion muddy; small pig's +eyes, a coarse nose and mouth, lank hair, with little expression, and what +he had far from good. Neither I, nor any that then knew him, thought him +at all clever. I remember he got into a ludicrous scrape by intruding, +in female attire, into the apartments of the mistress of the Spanish +ambassador, from whence he was kicked out with every circumstance of +ignominy. + +When the disturbances broke out in the Papal States, he took a part in them +which was eminently unfitting, as he and his mother had found hospitality +in the States of the Church which they were refused in every other country. +I saw Hortense at night, just before her hurried departure from Rome, when +the news of her son's participation in the revolt at Ancona became public. +I had always been well treated by her, and had tasted her hospitality both +at Rome and at Arenenberg, and wished to show her sympathy and interest, +though I had nothing else in my power.... She received a passport from +Sir Hamilton Seymour and travelled through France. In Paris she had an +interview with Louis Philippe, who was kind to her. In the days of her +prosperity she had had an opportunity of showing kindness to the King's +mother. She showed me a letter from that princess, in which there were very +ardent expressions of gratitude for the service rendered to her. This she +told me she intended to show to L. Philippe as the certificate for her +claims on his protection. I saw her in London several times during her +stay; she returned to Switzerland, and I never saw her again. + +Louis Bonaparte I only spoke to once afterwards. I happened to be at Cork +when he landed there from America. I was at the same inn, and I understood +he was in great distress for money. I asked to see him, and we met. I asked +him if he required any trifling service that I could render him, thinking +a five-pound note might take him to London. He thanked me, but said he was +supplied for the moment. He lived with the D'Orsay and Blessington set, +which I did not frequent. I did not call on him, and in Paris I never +afterwards made the slightest effort to renew my former acquaintance with +him.... + +I had intended saying something about the two other articles that relate +to home politics, but I have been already too prolix. I must tell you, +however, how much I like them. Whigs as well as Tories will soon cease to +be separate; the struggle will soon be between those who have _culottes_ +and those who have not. We have got already to the Girondist ministry--a +party I hate particularly, in spite of their pretensions to virtue and +philosophy, or perhaps in consequence of it. There are some men of +birth and distinction who belong to the party; but the Levesons and the +Cavendishes may soon find themselves stranded like the Narbonnes and +Montmorencies amongst the Rolands and the Condorcets.... + +When are your new volumes to make their appearance? I long to have them as +though I had not already read them. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Rutland Gate, January 20th_.--I am uncommonly glad to hear from you again, +and I have to thank you for a most interesting and amusing letter. My +acquaintance with Louis Napoleon began when yours left off, and I saw a +good deal of him in 1838 and 1839. He wanted me to translate his 'Idees +Napoleoniennes.' But when he became a great man I dropped his acquaintance. + +I am glad you like my tirade. I suspect my Whig friends do not; for the +more one asserts Whig principles, the bitterer is the reflection on those +who desert and betray them. I do not believe that the majority of the +country or of the Liberal Party is Radical; but the danger is that a +violent minority always overpowers an inert majority. I care nothing at all +for any political persons, and but little for parties. It seems to me that +the right and the wrong of government lies in the principles that regulate +it, some of which are as certain as the truths of mathematics. + +The 'Greville Memoirs' have rather slumbered of late, but I am gradually +screwing up my courage to begin printing, slowly. + +We are very well, and spent our Christmas pleasantly in Hampshire, the +weather being delightful. London is dark and _un_delightful. + +Then the Journal:-- + +_February 24th_.--Visit to the Markbys at Oxford. Vespers at New College. +Dined at All Souls. + +_28th_.--The Club. I was in the Chair. Mr. Gladstone attended; Lord Derby, +Maine, Hewett, Tyndall, Coleridge. Matthew Arnold elected. + +_March 23rd_.--Electrical Exhibition at Crystal Palace, with Dr. Mann. + +_April 1st_.--To Foxholes. Very fine weather. No rain for three months. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, April 4th_.--I like the concluding pages by Froude in the +Carlyle book, but I am disappointed in Mrs. Carlyle's letters. They are +pleasant and cheery, but there are thousands of women who write as well. +As for Carlyle himself, he is _odious_--arrogance, vanity, self-conceit, +ingratitude to old friends--I never thought I should dislike him so much. +He seems to have looked at everything the wrong side outwards. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_April 11th_.--Lunched with the Mintos. They drove me to Christchurch. Lady +Minto died on the 21st. + +_29th_.--A great salt hurricane that singed the trees all over the country, +and also in France. + +_May 5th_.--Saw Lord Frederick Cavendish before he started for Dublin. On +the 6th he was murdered. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +_May 8th_.--You ask a difficult question about politics. On the one hand, I +see no possibility of a Conservative Government being formed just now, +nor do I believe that a Liberal Government could be formed on purely Whig +lines. On the other hand, I have the deepest conviction of the mischievous +tendencies of Gladstone's leadership, and of the utter instability he is +imparting to all the fundamental principles of government as hitherto +understood in all civilised countries. I can only advise that the truth +in this matter should be spoken freely, in the hope that when Gladstone +disappears from the stage, there may be some return to sounder principles +of legislation. I do not wish to see a change of Government just now. The +Tories could not govern Ireland in its present condition; at least it would +be a dangerous experiment. Half the Liberal party, which now supports +coercion when it is forced on Gladstone, would undoubtedly oppose every +possible form of it if proposed by Tories. The deplorable disaster made +known to-day will have its effect. I hope it will force the Government +to give form and substance to an amended Coercion Act--strengthening the +ordinary law and widely extending the sphere of summary jurisdiction. If +this be done well and sufficiently, it will be better than the power +of arbitrary arrest. But before this event, I really feared that die +Government might do nothing of the kind. + +The Journal mentions:-- + +_May 20th_.--At Foxholes, till June 13th. Bought rowing boat. + +_June 20th_.--Great dinner at The Club to the Duc d'Aumale. Nineteen +present. + +_21st_.--Great dinner at Archbishop Tait's at Lambeth. Forty-three people. +Evening service in Lambeth Chapel. + +_22nd_.--Wagner's 'Meistersinger' at Drury Lane. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ [Footnote: A very old friend of Reeve's. See +_ante_, vol. i. p. 91.] + +Bournemouth, June 22nd. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--Thanks for telling me what splendours I missed at The Club +dinner. You ask what Dr. Johnson would have said if he had stepped in. As +it was his own Club, he would have been gracious; but it was not every +dinner that could please him. Do you remember his remark as he went +away with Boswell from a dinner at one of the colleges at Oxford? 'This +merriment amongst parsons is mighty offensive.' + +I always remember the singularly representative character of the only +dinner I have had an opportunity of attending since I was elected. +Literature and Learning represented by yourself, Dr. Dictionary Smith, +Lecky and Lord Acton; the Church by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dean +Stanley; political life by Lord Derby and Spencer Walpole; the Law by Lord +Romilly, and the Dukes by the Duke of Cleveland--and there was no one else. +It was very pleasant, and there were not too many for conversation in +common. + +I always feel that, as I have not been in London for more than a day since +that dinner, and am not likely to be there again, it is hardly right to +occupy a place which might afford so much pleasure to some one else; but I +have said this before, and your answer was that no one ever retired from +The Club. As I am in my eighty-second year, I suppose it will not be long +[Footnote: He lived four years longer, dying in 1886.] before Providence +will place my seat at the disposal of some one who will turn it to more +account. Believe me, yours sincerely, + +Henry Taylor. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, 22 juin. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'apprends par M. Gavard que vous avez +l'intention de venir en France vers le 20 juillet. Je m'empresse de vous +dire tout le plaisir que vous nous ferez, a la comtesse de Paris et a +moi, en commencant ce voyage par un sejour au Chateau d'Eu. Je regrette +seulement que vous ayez l'intention de l'entreprendre seul. J'ai fait ici, +il y a trois semaines, de fort belles peches a la truite, qui m'ont fait +regretter que Mademoiselle Reeve ne fut pas ici. Vous trouverez chez nous +le Duc d'Audiffret Pasquier, que vous avez deja vu ici, je crois, il y a +deux ans; et un general americain, qui a servi avec moi sous M'Clellan, M. +de Trobriand. + +Je ne vous parle pas de la situation de nos deux pays en Orient: elle est +penible, et il me semble que le dernier numero du _Punch_ l'exprime avec +une verite parfaite. + +Veuillez offrir mes hommages a Madame Reeve et me croire votre affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_July_.--The Egyptian Expedition was now resolved on. [Alexandria was +bombarded on the 11th: the Army Reserves were called out on the 25th.] Lord +Granville thought it would be finished before the end of August. + +_16th_.--Crossed to Boulogne. Thence by Abbeville to Chateau d'Eu. Duc +d'Audiffret, St. Marc Girardin, Duchesse de Montpensier. 21st, drive in the +Great Park. Treport. 24th, returned to London. 28th, to Foxholes: quiet +life. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Foxholes, October 20th_.--I am glad the article on Shelley [Footnote: +'Shelley and Mary,' _Edinburgh Review_, October 1882.] has interested you. +The perusal of these private letters and correspondence has considerably +altered and raised my estimate of Shelley as a man. As to his poetry, it +produces on me exactly the effect of delicious music, which enchants the +ear even when you can't understand it. But these papers, which Lady Shelley +has had printed in order to secure their preservation, are a sealed book. I +believe she never can show them again to anyone--at least not at present. +The copy she lent me has been returned to her and I do not possess it. +Nobody else does. It is, therefore, impossible to ask her for a copy. I +undertook to compile an article--as I did for Lady Dorchester, on her +father--_omissis omittendis_. But that is all. I think the history of +Allegra is in great part new, and one of the difficulties in this matter is +the connexion existing between these papers and the papers of Lord Byron, +which are unpublished. + +Are you going to stay in London? I hope so. I shall return to town on +November 6, and should be very glad to find you there. + +And the Journal accordingly has:-- + +_November 6th_.--Returned to London. + +_18th_.--The troops came back from Egypt. + +_December 3rd_.--Archbishop of Canterbury (Tait) died. + +_4th_.--The Law Courts opened. + +_16th_.--To Foxholes till the end of the year. Gambetta died just as the +year expired. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, December 23rd_.--The Club has lost one of its most respected +members in the Archbishop, and all parties seem now to feel how great +and wise a man he was. Huxley would be rather an odd successor to an +archbishop; but I am inclined to think that he ought to be one of our next +additions. + +I am a very old and fervent supporter of the Anglo-French alliance, but in +the present state of France I doubt whether anything is to be gained by +making sacrifices to her pretensions. In justice to other States, such as +Italy and Austria, I see no reason for conceding to France any exceptional +position in Egypt, and I think all countries should be treated with equal +justice and liberality. It is probable that a firm though friendly attitude +towards the French will answer best for them and for us. Their expeditions +to Congo, Tonkin, and Madagascar will do more harm to themselves than to +anyone else; but they prove the weakness of the present French Government. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_Knowsley, December 25th_.--I agree in what you say about France, if you +mean that the dual control is dead and cannot be revived; nor ought it, if +it could. Other nations may fairly claim a voice in Egyptian affairs. What +I lay stress upon is that we should make it clear that we are not going to +take Egypt for ourselves; which nearly all foreigners suppose to be our +intention, and give us credit for disguising it so well. + +It is odd that the French are doing badly. The country is fairly +prosperous, there is no war of classes, no apparent revolutionary feeling, +yet distrust and doubt as to the future seem universal. It almost looks +as if revolutions had driven the better sort of men out of public life. I +cannot believe that their colonial craze will last long. There is, in all +Europe, no country to which colonies are so entirely useless; for the +French never emigrate and seldom even travel; and to send conscripts to +tropical settlements cannot be popular with the peasantry. + +As to The Club--I am quite in favour of Huxley's admission; but have we +only one vacancy? Would not any possible opposition to him be disarmed, if +he were brought in, not singly, but as one of two or three? We must talk +over candidates when we meet.... Poor old Owen cannot, in the course of +nature, last long. [Footnote: He lived, however, for another ten years, +dying at the age of eighty-eight in 1892.] Huxley would be his natural +heir; more than the Archbishop's. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, December 27th_.--To return to what you say of France. Do you not +think that a democratic republic, in which every citizen is striving to get +all he can for his vote at the expense of the State, necessarily becomes +the most rapacious and corrupt form of government? It is this which has +raised the budgets of France for 1883 to 122 millions sterling; and if you +add the communal expense, to 154 millions. It is this which compels them +to persist in a reckless expenditure, and to invent new modes of spending +money and creating places by absurd expeditions abroad. The system there, +as you say, drives every man of honour and honesty out of political life, +and substitutes for them adventurers and idiots. The evil will become more +intolerable still, and there will come another revolution, probably +at first violent in form and ultimately put down by force. This is a +melancholy forecast, but it is that of all the persons in France whose +judgement is of value. + +As to The Club--we had better not propose Huxley while Owen is amongst us. +But we have several octogenarians--Overstone, Henry Taylor; and as for the +lower grade of septuagenarians, they are numerous; but I will say nothing +of them, as I shall shortly join that body. Altogether The Club presents +a respectable array of years, and tends to longevity. I should like an +engineer, if we could catch an agreeable one. What would you say to Sir +Henry Loch? Few men have seen more of the world--in India, China, the +Crimea, down to the Isle of Man; and I think him vastly agreeable. However, +we can talk this over when we meet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE FRENCH ROYALISTS + + +Many others besides Lord Derby were at this time speculating on the chances +of one more revolution in France. The state of public opinion seemed to +point to a coming weariness of the corruption incidental to a republic, and +a desire for the restoration of the monarchy. Since the obstinate refusal +of the Comte de Chambord, in 1873, to accept the change from the _drapeau +blanc_ of the Bourbon dynasty to the flaunting _tricolor_ which savoured of +democracy, monarchy had seemed impossible. But the Comte de Chambord was +known to be in feeble health, and he had no children. If he should die, the +fusion of the antagonistic parties was possible, was indeed probable; and +it was generally understood that the Comte de Paris was singularly free +from the prejudices which had rendered impossible a restoration in the +person of his cousin. He was, indeed, not ambitious, and he was wealthy. +The two ordinary motives of conspirators were wanting; but he loved France +by force of sympathy and education, and he honestly believed that a +restoration would be the best thing for his country. As a matter of love +and duty he felt bound to work in order to bring about this most desirable +of changes. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, le 2 janvier 1883. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je suis bien touche de la bonne pensee que vous +avez eue de m'ecrire a l'occasion de la nouvelle annee. Je vous remercie +de tous vos bons voeux, et je vous prie de recevoir ici l'assurance de +ceux que je forme pour vous et pour les votres. + +I am greatly obliged by your remarks on the future of France. This is +indeed dark; and, as you so well express it, the sterility of democracy and +the impotence of the institutions based on it are most striking. They are +especially so here. This dearth, this void, of which you speak increases +from day to day. The men of note who were formed under a different rule, +and who came to the front under special circumstances, are dying off and +are not replaced. It is only a few days since one, [Footnote: Gambetta, +died December 31st, 1882.] the most able we have had since the death of M. +Thiers, has been carried off by an obscure--a mysterious--illness. Of those +left, there is no one who can take his place. In some respects he was a +truly remarkable man. He, and he alone, was known from one end of France +to the other; he, and none but he, could even for one day have united the +blind and jealous forces of democracy; he alone could give the republicans +the organisation and appearance of a party, but owing to the violence of +his temperament he could never have held the reins of government. He would +have been exceedingly dangerous in the department of foreign affairs, which +would have been his choice. He would, indeed, have brought to it a most +honourable sentiment of the dignity of France, but he had neither prudence +nor experience. There were in Europe some who counted on him; others who +feared him; every one, I think, exaggerated what he would have done or +tried to do. + +I regret extremely the difficulties which are rising between France and +England about Egypt, and I confess I do not understand the attitude of our +Government. The temper of France towards England resembles that of a man +who has been offered an equal share in a profitable adventure, who has +refused to accept the risk, and who is now vexed at the success of his +neighbour. But no Government worthy of the name will allow itself to be +influenced by such feelings, or is unable to adapt itself to the changes +which circumstances may give rise to. And besides, so little attention is +paid in France to foreign politics that the Government may do whatever it +likes, provided that does not lead to war--under any form or against any +enemy.... + +J'ai bien regrette de ne pas pouvoir rencontrer Mlle. Reeve a Paris. +Veuillez lui dire que si elle veut prendre quelques truites, elle devrait +venir ici du 28 ou 29 mai au 5 ou 6 pin. C'est la date exacte de l'eclosion +du May-fly, et a ce moment-la nous faisons vraiment de tres belles peches. +En attendant nous partons pour Cannes la semaine prochaine. J'espere +y rencontrer quelques amis d'Angleterre, dont plusieurs sont deja fort +anciens--comme Lord Cardwell, Sir C. Murray, Lord Clarence Paget, le Duc +d'Argyll, &c. + +Veuillez offrir mes hommages a Madame Reeve, et me croire. + +Votre bien affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILLIPE D'ORLEANS. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +_Walmer Castle, January 7th_.--I return you, with many thanks, the Comte de +Paris' remarkable letter. If the Duc de Bordeaux would follow the example +which has been sadly set by Gambetta and Chanzy, [Footnote: Chanzy had died +two days before, January 5th. The Duc de Bordeaux better known at this +time as the Comte de Chambord, did follow the example a few months later, +August 24th.] the prospects at Eu would be good. + +With you, I do not feel inclined to gush over Gambetta. It is true that +he was well disposed towards England, but his love would have been of a +troublesome and exacting character. + +The Journal has little of interest. It notes the return to London on +January 13th; a journey to York on the 29th, on a visit to the Archbishop +[Thomson], who wrote an article for the 'Review' on the Ecclesiastical +Commission; and, on February 17th, to Battle Abbey. Beyond these trivial +entries, nothing except the mention of several dinner parties--some 'good,' +some 'dull.' Then, later:-- + +_April 16th to May 22nd_.--At Foxholes. Very cold. Snow in May. + +_June 8th_.--Dinner at Lord Carnarvon's. Sir R. and Lady Wallace, Lord +Salisbury, Lady Portsmouth. + +_15th_.--Dinner at Alfred Morrison's, [Footnote: Mr. Morrison, so well +known to historical students by his splendid collection of MSS., died on +December 22nd, 1897.] first time. Splendid house. + +_21st_.--Dinner at home. Duc d'Aumale, Granvilles, Malmesburys, +Carlingford, G. Trevelyans, and others. + +_23rd_.--Philobiblon breakfast at Gibbs's. Duc d'Aumale, Duke of Albany. To +Military Tournament with Lady Malmesbury. + +_25th_.--Duke of Cleveland's dinner to Duc d'Aumale. Duke of Grafton, Lady +Cork. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, 16 juin. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'ai hate de repondre a votre aimable lettre du +8, et de vous remercier de votre bienveillante appreciation d'un travail +qui prend des proportions vraiment formidables. Je suis en effet en train +d'imprimer le 7me volume, et d'ecrire le 8me, qui sera suivi encore de deux +autres, si Dieu me prete vie. Je suis oblige d'entrer dans beaucoup de +details pour donner a cette histoire un veritable interet aux yeux du +public americain, qui est celui auquel je m'adresse particulierement, le +seul qui puisse me fournir beaucoup de lecteurs. La traduction anglaise en +un gros volume a du paraitre ou paraitra incessamment a Philadelphie. + +Vous trouverez le Duc d'Aumale en fort belle sante et tres brillant, malgre +toutes les preoccupations que nous avons eues, et la blessure tres vive +que lui a faite l'odieuse mesure militaire [Footnote: The removal of the +Orleanist princes from the active list of the army in February.] dont il a +ete l'objet. Je regrette de ne pouvoir l'accompagner en Angleterre, ou +j'ai tant d'amis que je serais heureux de revoir. Mais ne puis-je au moins +esperer que vous nous ferez cette annee, avec Madame et Mademoiselle Reeve, +une visite au Chateau d'Eu? Nous resterons ici tout le mois de Juillet. +J'ai ete assez heureux a la peche ici dans notre petite riveire. Pendant +une quinzaine, du 25 mai au 10 juin, j'ai pris a la mouche 82 truites +pesant 42 livres. + +This was the sport to which he had particularly invited Miss Reeve in +January, and which, he goes on to say, has given him the idea of going to +Norway in August. As to this, he begs Reeve to make some inquiries for him, +and concludes--Veuillez me croire votre bien affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +Another chatty letter, four days later, June 20th, has:-- + +Nous serons charmes de vous voir venir ici vers le 24 juillet avec Madame +Reeve, tout en regrettant que Mademoiselle votre fille ne puisse pas vous +accompagner. Nous esperons qu'elle pourra venir ici l'annee prochaine en +mai. Mais qui peut faire sous un gouvernement democratique des projets a si +longue echeance? + +The visit was, however, prevented by an event of the most serious political +importance; an event which during the next three or four years was thought +by many to be likely to change the destinies of France, to affect the +fortunes of Europe. It may be best told in the words of the person most +affected. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, le 18 juillet. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je suis revenu ici il y a deux jours apres avoir +fait en Autriche un voyage imprevu dont vous avez connu le motif et le +resultat. J'ai ete recu par l'auguste malade [Footnote: The Comte de +Chambord, known among the Legitimists as Henri V.] avec une affectueuse +cordialite qui m'a profondement touche, et j'ai quitte Vienne en conservant +quelque espoir de le voir sortir de la crise cruelle qu'il vient de +traverser. Les dernieres nouvelles recues ne dementent pas cet espoir, +quoique son etat soit toujours fort grave et plein de perils. Je ne puis +naturellement faire dans une pareille situation de projets a longue +echeance. Non seulement tout plan de voyage est abandonne pour le moment, +mais je vis au jour le jour, toujours pret a partir au recu d'une depeche +annoncant le denouement fatal. Aussi ne puis-je dans ce moment insister +pour vous engager a faire au Chateau d'Eu cette visite dont je me +promettais tant de plaisir et d'interet, mais qui, dans les circonstances +actuelles, risquerait fort d'etre brusquement interrompue. Je le regrette +vivement, et j'espere pouvoir m'en dedommager plus tard. + +En attendant, j'ai hate de vous remercier de tout ce que vous me dites sur +ma situation actuelle et sur l'interet que vous y portez. Je vous remercie +egalement de ce que vous avez ecrit sur ce sujet a la fin du dernier numero +de la _Revue d'Edimbourg_. On sent en lisant ce morceau combien celui qui +l'a ecrit aime et connait bien la France. Il a ete fort remarque chez nous. +Si vous me permettez d'ajouter un seul mot qui vous prouvera que je l'ai lu +avec attention, je vous signalerai un _lapsus calami_ qui vous a echappe. +Le fondateur de notre branche d'Orleans, fils de Louis XIII, frere de Louis +XIV, s'appelait Philippe et non Gaston. Gaston etait le nom du fils de +Henri IV, frere de Louis XIII, le Duc d'Orleans de la Fronde, qui ne laissa +que des filles, entre autres Mlle. de Montpensier. + +Like you, I am uneasy at the existing relations of France and England, +though I fully believe that the two Governments are respectively animated +by the most conciliatory intentions. In my opinion, the blame rests on +what is now called 'the colonial policy,' which consists in scattering our +forces to the four corners of the world, while Continental Europe is armed +to the teeth and does not afford us a single ally. But even this policy +might be followed without causing any difficulty with England, if there was +a readiness to anticipate it by frank explanations. The world is big enough +for it. Unfortunately, since the Egyptian business--which might easily have +been the opportunity for a friendly agreement, but which we have made such +a mess of--all these questions are confused and taken amiss.... + +Je termine en vous renouvelant encore tous mes remerciments, et en vous +priant de me croire votre bien affectionne, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +The Journal then has:-- + +_July 24th_.--Great dinner at the Granvilles' to receive Waddington +[Footnote: M. Waddington had a career that has perhaps no parallel. The son +of an Englishman settled in France, he was educated at Rugby and at Trinity +College, Cambridge; and was second classic, Chancellor's medallist, and +No. 6 in the University boat in 1849. Having elected to be a Frenchman, he +travelled in Asia Minor, and achieved a reputation as an archaeologist and +numismatist. After the fall of the Empire he entered into public life; was +foreign minister and the representative of France at Berlin in 1878; was +prime minister and the representative of France at the Coronation of the +Tsar in 1881, and was French ambassador in London from 1883 to 1893. +He died in 1894 at the age of 68.] [the new French Ambassador]. I was +introduced to Count Herbert Bismarck. Sat by Errington. Forty-two people +there at several tables. + +_26th_.--To Foxholes. + +_September 10th_.--Left Foxholes for Broglie _via_ Havre. Slept at Rouen. +11th, Broglie, by rail to Bernay; at Broglie, Vieil Castel, Laugel, Target, +Gavard. Old name of Broglie, Chambrey. + +_15th_.--Left Broglie for Val Richer. Drive with De Witt. + +_17th_.--Gout coming on in foot. Started for Honfleur and Havre; quite +lame. Spent the day on board the Wolf; met Prothero again. Managed to get +home on the 18th. Laid up in bed for a week. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +_September 29th_.--The Comte de Paris has a difficult game to play; and the +large intelligent family, living in great luxury and consideration, is not +the best machine for carrying hopes more or less forlorn; but I expect it +would be difficult to find an abler or more judicious pretender. My fear is +that--as you say--their way to success lies through some disaster. I do +not feel convinced, if an opportunity or a necessity arose, that men like +Waddington and Ferry would not be among the first to act as civil Moncks. + +In the meantime, we shall know in a very few days whether the wisest among +the present ministry will have their way and do the right thing by us in +the Madagascar matter. It will take a little longer to settle the Chinese +difficulty. This can only be done by great sacrifices on the part of the +French. The Chinese will not hurry themselves, and believe they have the +French in their pockets. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, 3 octobre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'ai recu votre lettre du 4 septembre a mon +retour de Frohsdorf, mais j'ai eu tant a faire depuis lors que je n'ai +pas, jusqu'a ce jour, trouve un instant pour vous remercier de la preuve +d'amitie et de sympathie que vous m'avez donnee dans ces circonstances si +graves pour moi. J'ai eu depuis des nouvelles de votre sejour a Broglie et +au Val Richcr par Messieurs Gavard et de Witt, et j'ai bien regrette que +les convenances du deuil ne m'aient pas permis de vous demander cette annee +de venir an Chateau d'Eu. J'aurais ete, en effet, fort heureux de pouvoir +causer avec vous de toutes les graves questions qui se posent aujourd'hui +devant nous, tant a l'interieur qu'a l'exterieur. + +Je serai heureux d'en retrouver l'occasion; car, plus les evenements +rendent ma situation grave et difficile, plus ils grandissent ma +responsabilite, plus naturellement je tiens a recueillir les avis d'un +observateur eclaire, impartial et bienveillant pour la France. Dans cette +situation si nouvelle, et, je puis dire, sans precedents, je tiens a +resserrer les liens de mes vieilles amities, et je tiens particulierement +a entretenir mes relations avec la societe anglaise, ce grand centre +intellectuel qui recueille et juge les affaires du monde entier.... + +Je vous prie d'offrir mes hommages a Madame et a Mademoiselle Reeve et de +me croire Votre bien affectionne, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PAEIS. + +All the Comte de Paris' earlier letters are signed Louis-Philippe +D'Orleans, the capital D' being a noticeable peculiarity. By the death of +the Comte de Chambord at Frohsdorf on August 24th, the Comte de Paris had +become the head of the Bourbons, [Footnote: Always excepting the impossible +Don Carlos.] and linked the Legitimists and Orleanists in the person of one +capable man. At the same time he changed his signature, as now claiming +the throne by hereditary right. Among the Orleanists, however, there were +many--including the Duc d'Aumale--who considered the change ill-judged, +as implying that his grandfather, Louis Philippe, was a usurper--as, +of course, he was, if the will of the people is to count for nothing. +[Footnote: Cf. _Le Duc d'Aumale_, par Ernest Daudet, pp. 334-5.] Among the +Legitimists, on the other hand, there were many who protested that under +no circumstances could they accept one of the line of Philippe Egalite as +their lawful sovereign. Still, for the next two or three years, it seemed +not impossible that the Comte de Paris might be called to the throne by a +constitutional reaction and a popular vote. He does not seem to have had +any wish to head or stir up a revolution of force and bloodshed. + +The Journal records:-- + +_October 29th_.--To Oxford. Dined at the Deanery. Jowett, Duke of +Buckingham, Max Mueller, Brodrick. 31st, dined at All Souls. Sir William +Anson. November 1st, lunched with Max Mueller. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_November 21st_.--I notice that to you, as to me, the situation of France +appears very sad. I conceive that it is a source of alarm to all Europe. We +are falling lower and lower towards the Radicals and the Extreme Left. If +that party should come into power, it would be a very serious threat to the +peace of the world. From the weakness of our Government, everything is to +be feared; and as this weakness must become greater, there does not seem +any remedy in the near future. Notwithstanding our wealth, our finances +are in a bad state, and it is on that side that the inevitable storm will +burst. To ward it off an entire change of conduct would be necessary; and +at the present time we have no one strong enough to guide our policy in the +right direction. + +_To Mrs. Parker_ + +_Foxholes, December 18th_.--If anyone is to write Lord Westbury's Life, +yours is the pen to do it. Nobody expects a daughter to be impartial, or +wishes it. I will see what letters I can find, and will write again when I +have looked over my packets of letters. + +This promise was afterwards fulfilled. Lord Westbury's letters were sent to +Mrs. Parker, and several of them, with some of Reeve's, were incorporated +in the 'Life of Lord Westbury' (2 vols. 8vo. 1888), by Mr. T. A. Nash, whom +Mrs. Parker afterwards married. + +Early in January 1884, Mrs. Reeve went to Paris, on a visit to Lady +Metcalfe--one of Mr. Dempster's nieces. On the 16th Reeve joined her there. +Among other entries, the Journal notes a breakfast at Chantilly on the +27th--'chateau finished, galleries splendid'--and on the 30th, dinner at +the Embassy. They returned to London on the 31st. A few dinners in town are +noted, and a visit to Covent Garden on March 5th, to see Salvini in 'King +Lear.' To Foxholes on April 9th. + +This meagre chronicle of course gives no idea of Reeve's intellectual +activity at the time, which was really very great. With his official +duties, the conduct of the 'Review,' an extensive correspondence, and, at +this time, the preparation of the second part of the 'Greville Memoirs,' +with dinner parties or receptions three or four times a week, it would seem +as if Reeve's days must have consisted of an abnormal number of hours. And +effectively they did; for, though on pleasure--at proper seasons--Reeve +might be bent, he had always a frugal mind as to the disposal of time. +Most, if not all, of his correspondence, much even of his more serious +work, was got through in spare half-hours at the Council Office; and when +at home, in his study in the house in Rutland Gate, it was a standing rule +that he was not to be disturbed. The study was a cosy room on the ground +floor, built out at the back, and so removed from all noise of passing to +and fro. It had no outlook to distract the attention, and no man was ever +less addicted to day-dreaming. To work whilst he worked and play whilst he +played was the golden rule which enabled Reeve for over fifty years to +get through as much hard work as a successful lawyer, to do as much hard +writing as a successful novelist, to hunt, shoot, or travel whenever +opportunity offered, and to be one of the best known figures in the world +of London society. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +_March 8th_.--Many thanks for your letter. I am pleased to know that the +scientists find my science accurate. Writers in the interest of religion +have generally, of late, been disposed to make as much as possible of the +distinction between man and nature. The speciality of my book [Footnote: +_The Unity of Nature._ There is an article on it in the April number of the +Review.] is, on the contrary, to maintain the unity, as really essential to +all belief, thus going back to the paths of Butler. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, 15 avril._--Cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'etais bien sur de vous faire +plaisir en vous envoyant les discours prononces sur la tombe de M. Mignet. +Celui de M. Martha est le plus remarquable; M. Jules Simon a tres bien +parle aussi; mais on peut trouver cependant que M. Martha l'emporte. + +Je suis tres sensible a votre amicale invitation, et je serai heureux de +visiter cet ete votre ermitage de Foxholes. Nos vacances commenceront +probablement en aout, et je reglerai mes mouvements sur les votres. + +Je vous remercie de votre bienveillance pour l'Histoire des Animaux; je ne +crois pas que nulle part le genie d'Aristote se soit montre plus grand, +plus scientifique et, l'on peut ajouter, plus moderne. Entre lui et Linne, +Buffon et Cuvier, il n'y a rien. L'histoire de la science a beaucoup a +profiter de cet exemple frappant. + +Je suis absolument de votre avis sur le role de l'Angleterre en Egypte; +vous n'avez qu'a faire ce que nous avons fait a Tunis, ou les choses +marchent a souhait. C'est l'interet de votre grand pays, en meme temps que +l'interet de la civilisation et de l'humanite. Les affaires egyptiennes ne +peuvent rester dans l'etat ou elles sont; et il faut les regler au plus +vite, pour l'honneur de tout le monde. + +Je presente mes hommages bien respectueux a Madame Reeve, en attendant le +petit voyage a Foxholes vers l'automne. Votre bien devoue, + +B. St.-HILAIRE. + +And here the Journal notes:-- + +April 16th.--Edward Cheney died, aetat. 82. + +From Dr. Vaughan [Footnote: Then Master of the Temple; he died November 15, +1897, aged 81.] + +The Deanery, Llandaff: April 19th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I am grateful to you for your kind letter. I will try to +remember to make the reference with which you furnish me when I am again at +the Athenaeum. + +The year 1185 is always in my recollection as the date of the consecration +of the Round Church by the Patriarch Heraclius. I am already in +communication with Dr. Hopkins about the musical part of its celebration, +on or about the day (I think February 10) next year. And there must be a +sermon about it on the nearest Sunday. So you see how exactly your thoughts +and mine agree on the subject. + +Ever truly yours, + +C. J. VAUGHAN. + +The other part of the church was consecrated on Ascension Day 1240. Who +will be Master when _that_ seventh centenary comes round? + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +Argyll Lodge, Kensington: April 19th. + +My Dear Mr. Reeve,[Footnote: Written in pencil.]--I am laid up with a very +sudden and sharp attack of the enemy; but I must write a line from bed to +say how _more_ than satisfied I am by the article in the Review, which goes +straight to the main points of my Essay, and which distinguishes exactly +those which best deserve notice. I am the more grateful as all the others +I have seen--whether laudatory or not--have all been the production of +ignorant men who did not see, or of learned men who did not wish to see, +any of the specialties of the book. + +I am better, but unfit for any work. + +Yours very truly, + +ARGYLL. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, April 20th_.--Much obliged to you for the Beaconsfield book, +[Footnote: The _Beaconsfield Birthday-Book_.] which is very pretty. I hope +you will sell as many as there are bunches of primroses in Covent Garden +Market. The extent of Lord Beaconsfield's popularity is really curious. Yet +this is the man whom Gladstone hunted to death and called a fiend!! + +And the Journal for the summer runs:-- + +At Foxholes all May. + +_June 26th_.--Marriage of Hallam Tennyson and Miss Boyle in Henry VII.'s +Chapel. + +_July 12th_.--Dinner at Sir Henry Maine's. The Actons, Lindleys, Evelyn +Barings, Brookfield, Venables--interesting party. + +_16th_.--Duchess of Argyll's garden party. + +_17th_.--The great Canadian case between the Provinces of Ontario and +Manitoba was argued for six days before the Judicial Committee. + +_24th_.--To Foxholes. On August 11th we went to Strode, to see Mr. Gollop, +aetat. 93. 15th, back to Foxholes. + + * * * * * + +At this time, on behalf of Sir Henry Taylor, Reeve had been conducting a +negotiation with Longmans for the publication of Taylor's Autobiography, +and an agreement had been come to which was to take effect after Taylor's +death. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ + +Bournemouth, August 26th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--Thanks for your very kind letter. I am so glad you can +take a favourable view of my autobiography. + +I am rather surprised myself that there is nothing in it of Mrs. Austin +and Lucy. I was intimately acquainted with them, and I may perhaps find +something said of them in letters, as I proceed with the task of sorting +my correspondence. Of Mr. Austin I saw very little. He led such a secluded +life. But one could not see him at all without knowing something of the +intellect which lay hidden in him for so many years. + +As to the date of publication, I shall leave the necessary instructions. I +wish the work to be published as soon as possible after my death. + +Believe me, yours sincerely, + +HENRY TAYLOR. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, 17 septembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je ne veux pas tarder un instant a vous remercier +de votre lettre du 14, et des felicitations que vous m'adressez a +l'occasion de la naissance de mon fils Ferdinand.... Graces a Dieu, tout +s'est passe aussi bien que possible et, depuis l'evenement, la mere et +l'enfant vont a merveille. Je vous remercie bien cordialement des voeux que +vous formez pour celui-ci. Je connais de longue date les sentiments qui +vous inspirent, et vous savez tout le prix que j'y attache. + +Vous avez raison de dire que l'avenir se montre assez sombre pour toutes +les nations de l'Europe. Les operations de l'Amiral Courbet au Tonkin et +en Chine montrent que notre marine se maintient a la hauteur de sa +vieille reputation; elle le doit aux traditions, a l'esprit de corps, aux +sentiments de respect pour les chefs qui s'est conserve chez elle tandis +qu'il disparaissait ou s'affaiblissait partout ailleurs. Mais cette +demonstration nous coute bien cher. La guerre avec la Chine nous alarme, +parce qu'il n'y a pas de guerre plus difficile a terminer que celle-la. La +politique coloniale est un luxe que nous aurions pu nous donner dans un +autre temps, mais que ne nous convient pas dans notre situation europeenne. +Elle a de plus ete conduite d'une facon irreguliere, l'action au Tonkin +succedant a l'inaction en Egypte. Cette affaire d'Egypte aurait pu servir +de base a une entente avec l'Angleterre. Au lieu de cela on n'a pas voulu +l'aider, puis on a boude parce qu'elle agissait seule, et lorsque les +difficultes ont commence pour elle, on n'a su ni s'entendre absolument +pour agir en commun, ni s'effacer derriere l'Europe pour ne pas assumer la +responsabilite de l'echec de la conference. Bien des gens croient ici que +toute cette politique a eu pour but de sauver le ministere Gladstone. Cela +n'en valait pas la peine. Il en est resulte de l'aigreur dans les journaux. +Mais cette aigreur sent bien un peu le fonds des reptiles, et personne n'a +serieusement envie de chercher querelle a la perfide Albion. + +Ceux qui admirent ses institutions et qui croient que leur ponderation est +la garantie du plus precieux de tous les biens--la liberte, se preoccupent +vivement des tendances jacobines de notre ami Gladstone. L'extension du +suffrage est logique, l'aneantissement de la chambre des Lords est logique. +Mais les meilleures institutions ne sont pas les plus logiques. A force de +logique on tend a remplacer le gouvernement pondere de l'Angleterre par ce +que nous appelons le gouvernement conventionnel, c'est a dire le despotisme +d'une Assemblee unique appuyee sur la brutale loi du nombre. Que Dieu vous +garde d'un tel avenir. C'est le voeu d'un ami sincere de vos institutions. + +Ce qui preoccupe ici bien plus, et a bon titre, que les aventures +coloniales, c'est la situation economique. La France s'appauvrit parce +qu'elle perd en impots improductifs une partie de son epargne, parce que +ses fils travaillent moins, depensent plus et boivent davantage, parce +qu'ils demandent des salaires trop eleves, et parce que la concurrence +allemande, americaine, italienne, anglaise, nous ferme peu a peu tous les +marches, et enfin parce que le phylloxera ruine la moitie du pays. Le +courant protectionniste se prononce avec une force irresistible en ce +moment. + +Je vous prie d'offrir mes hommages a Madame et a Mademoiselle Reeve, et de +me croire Votre bien affectionne, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PARIS. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +Paris, 19 octobre. + +Cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'ai recu le numero de la _Revue d'Edimbourg_, et je +vous en remercie. Le redacteur de l'article a ete plein de bienveillance a +mon egard, et je vous prie de lui faire savoir que je suis fort touche de +l'appreciation qu'il veut bien faire de mes travaux. Je profiterai de ses +justes critiques pour mes autres traductions; mais il est un point ou je ne +suis pas tout a fait d'accord avec lui. Je ne trouve pas qu'il tienne assez +compte a Aristote d'avoir commence la science, et de l'avoir fondee. +Les debuts sont toujours excessivement difficiles, et il ne serait pas +equitable de demander a ces temps recules de savoir tout ce que nous savons +aujourd'hui. Nous devons toujours nous dire que dans deux mille ans d'ici +on en saura beaucoup plus que nous, tout savants que nous sommes. Ceci doit +nous engager a etre reconnaissants et modestes. + +Je vais mettre sous presse le Traite des Parties des Animaux en deux +volumes, et je prepare celui de la Generation, qui, sans doute, en aura +trois. + +J'espere que vous vous portez bien, ainsi que Madame Henry Reeve; je lui +presente mes respects et mes amities, avec tons mes voeux pour sa sante et +pour la votre. + +Votre bien devoue, + +B. ST.-HILAIRE. + +The Journal here has:-- + +_October 28th_.--Dinner of The Club to Lord Dufferin before his departure +for India. + +_November 14th_.--Dinner at Lady Molesworth's to the Waddingtons. + +_December 3rd_.--Small dinner at Lord Cork's, with Gladstone and Sir H. +James. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ + +Bournemouth, December 10th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--It has come into the head of my family, and through theirs +into mine, that there is no particular reason why my Autobiography should +not be published now, instead of posthumously, and that there are some +motives for giving a preference to present publication. The agreement +with Messrs. Longman which you brought about has been, perhaps, a sort of +suggestion of this change of purpose; so I write to mention it. The work +was written with more unreserve than would be natural to a man who hears +what he says, and some erasures will be required; but a man in his +eighty-fifth year is, in some respects, as good as dead, or, at all +events, as deaf: so there need not be much alteration. I hope you will not +disapprove. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, + +HENRY TAYLOR. + +On December 17th the Reeves went to Foxholes, where they spent Christmas, +ushered in the New Year, and returned to London on January 15th, 1885. The +entries in the Journal are for the most part trivial, though politically +the year was one of extreme interest and excitement, much of which is +reflected in the correspondence. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +6 _janvier_.--J'ai ete vivement touche de la lettre que vous m'avez ecrite, +des voeux que vous m'adressez au moment ou nous entrons dans une annee qui +semble nous reserver bien des surprises. L'avenir est plein d'incertitudes +et de dangers. Je n'ai pas besoin de vous dire que j'observe avec une +serieuse inquietude l'etat des relations entre l'Angleterre et la France, +non que je croie meme a la possibilite d'un conflit qui repugnerait +egalement a tous les membres des deux nations voisines, mais parce qu'une +hostilite diplomatique seule serait deja un grand malheur pour l'une et +pour l'autre.... Vous avez raison de croire que le desir universel de la +paix prevaudra sur les perils de la situation internationale. Ce desir +est bien puissant en France, et les aventures de l'extreme Orient, dans +lesquelles on nous a lances si mal a propos, ne font que lui donner +l'occasion de se manifester. + +Ces aventures ne font pas diversion a la crise si grave qui eprouve notre +industrie et notre agriculture. Les causes de cette crise sont multiples. +Quelques-unes sont communes a toute l'Europe, d'autres le sont aux quelques +nations qui avaient le monopole de certaines industries, et le +perdent, grace aux facilites actuelles des transports. Il en est une, +malheureusement tres-active, qui nous est propre; c'est la tendance des +ouvriers depuis l'etablissement de la Republique a chercher l'amelioration +de leur sort, moins dans l'accroissement de leur salaire que dans la +diminution de leur travail. Cette funeste tendance leur a ete inspiree +par les flatteries de tous ceux qui briguent leurs suffrages, et leur +rappellent que toute legislation emane d'eux. Le pays produit moins, et +par consequent s'appauvrit. L'imprevoyance de nos gouvernants a aggrave +la crise. Aujourd'hui un cri puissant s'eleve en faveur des droits +protecteurs, meme sur le ble. Il est probable qu'on en fera assez pour +inquieter les consommateurs des villes, pas assez pour satisfaire +l'agriculture.... Si Mademoiselle Reeve voulait faire de jolies peches de +truites, c'est le 1er juin qu'elle devrait venir a Eu. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +_Inveraray, February 13th_.--The Nile affair is too miserable. No possible +issue can be otherwise than a misfortune. The despatch in which the +Government asked Gordon to advise them how to relieve him--in April last, +when he was closely beleaguered--reads like a horrible joke now. + +A horrible joke indeed:--for on February 5th news had come of the fall of +Khartoum and the death of Gordon. On the 26th a vote of censure on the +Government was carried in the House of Lords by 189 to 63; but a similar +motion in the Commons was rejected by 302 to 288. The Government majority +had fallen from 56 to 14. + +On March 8th a special service was held in the Temple Church to commemorate +the completion of the seventh century since its consecration. [Footnote: +See _ante_, p. 322.] The Master preached the sermon on the text Psalm xc. +1--'Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.' [Footnote: +The _Times_ of March 9th gave a pretty full abstract of the sermon.] Reeve, +who was present, considered it one of Dr. Vaughan's happiest efforts, +and wrote to say how greatly he had been pleased by it. Vaughan's +acknowledgement of the kindly feeling which dictated the letter has +otherwise no particular interest. + +_From Sir Alfred Lyall_ [Footnote: At that time lieutenant-governor of the +North-West Provinces.] + +_March 31st_.--When we closed in 1881 the second act of the Affghan drama, +I calculated on an interval of at least five years; and I thought that if +we could get a joint commission to settle some boundary that Russia could +provisionally agree to, the interval might be longer. But the Boundary +Commission, which I first pressed for in 1881, has propelled, instead of +delaying, the crisis. I suppose our Egyptian entanglement seemed to Russia +to offer an irresistible opportunity; at any rate, the Russians have some +reason for precipitating the issue between us, and at this moment we may be +on the verge of a war. It is very curious to find ourselves so close to the +collision that we have been so long trying to fend off, and to realise that +a land invasion of India by a European Power, which has been the nightmare +of Anglo-Indian statesmen since Bonaparte seized Egypt in 1798, is now no +longer a matter of remote speculation. The Russian menace is, however, +already producing one result that I had always anticipated; it is evoking +among all substantial classes of Indians a strong desire to support the +British Government in India. You may remember that in my paper of January +1884 I wrote that the natives would, in times of rumoured invasion, hold by +any Power that could keep the gates of India against Central Asia; and this +is now strongly showing itself. The adventurous classes are ready to +enlist and follow our colours; the propertied classes look to us as the +representatives of order and security; the educated classes depend wholly +upon our system; if the Russians calculate on any serious rising against +us in India, they will be mistaken. Of course a series of reverses would +change the whole face of affairs.... We are very fortunate in having Lord +Dufferin here at this time. Everyone likes him, and has confidence in him. +He is clearly a Viceroy who listens to everyone, but makes up his own mind +independently. And Lady Dufferin charms us all.... + +The Mahdi's fortunes do not interest India. The talk in some of the papers +about the necessity of smashing him, in order to avert the risk of some +general Mahomedan uprising, is futile and imaginative. The Indians think +the English rather mad to go crusading against him in the Soudan, and they +may soon get irritated at the waste of Indian lives at Suakin, when we want +our best men on the N.W. frontier; but, for the rest, they do not concern +themselves about remote Arab tribes. Of course everyone sees that the +English Government has now an excellent pretext for getting partially out +of a hopeless mess by transferring most of our English troops from the Red +Sea to the Punjab. + + * * * * * + +On April 9th news reached London that on March 30th the Russians, under +General Komaroff, had attacked and carried the Affghan positions at +Penjdeh, concerning which negotiations were going on. As our Government was +pledged meanwhile to the support of the Amir, this action of Komaroff's was +held to be a very aggravated insult to England. Explanations were demanded, +but preparations for war were hurried on, and on April 27th, after an +impassioned speech by Mr. Gladstone, a vote of credit for eleven millions +was passed almost by acclamation. The negotiations, however, were +continued; explanations were given: the Russians kept Penjdeh; the Affghans +had lost their territory, their guns, and 500 men; and Mr. Gladstone +expressed himself satisfied. Four days afterwards, May 8th, the Government +was defeated on the budget, and resigned a few days later, the Marquis of +Salisbury forming the new ministry. + +_From Sir Alfred Lyall_ + +_June 5th_.--Probably you know more in England than we do in India of the +course of negotiations with Russia, It seems just now more smooth than +satisfactory. I fear we have lost credit in India over that unlucky Penjdeh +business. One would fancy that our representatives on the spot might have +been wary enough to discern that where the Russians and the Affghans were +drawing close to each other, there lay the risk and the strain of the +situation. I have a very moderate trust in our ally the Amir, though he is +a very able, if unscrupulous, ruler. I hope fervently he has sense enough +not to use those breech-loaders we are sending in such quantities, and that +he won't repeat the Penjdeh blunder by provoking some collision with the +Russians on his border.... + +India is very quiet. The Russian scare of the spring has turned rather to +our advantage, as I always prophesied it would, by bringing home to the +natives their dependence on England for protection from foreign invasion. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ + +_Bournemouth, July 14th_.--I have just read the excellent article in the +'Edinburgh Review' on my Autobiography; and as there is no amount of +kindness on your part which I cannot believe in, I am disposed to think +that it is you who have written it. [Footnote: It was written by Reeve.] +Whoever it is, I should like him to know that I am very thankful. + +_From Sir Alfred Lyall_ + +_August 1st_--India is now perfectly quiet; but the new generation of +hungry, ambitious, English-speaking natives are persuading themselves +that they can have all the benefits of English rule without the burden of +English officialism. If they are encouraged and supported by the English +_Demos_, there will be confusion before long. + + * * * * * + +On August 14th Parliament was prorogued, with the clear understanding that +the dissolution would follow. This, however, was put off for three months, +during which time the country was turned upside down by the excitement of +the electoral campaign and the unbridled license which many of the most +distinguished candidates permitted themselves; rank Socialism, the +abolition of property, 'three acres and a cow,' being freely spoken of by +the irresponsible, and hinted at, in no obscure language, by some who had +borne office in the Gladstone ministry. By a curious coincidence, the +French elections were nearly synchronous with ours, and the results were +keenly watched by one, at least, of Reeve's correspondents. But of all this +excitement and agitation the Journal has no trace. The only entries of any +interest are:-- + +Foxholes: very hot: no rain for two months. + +_August 22nd_.--Excursion to Studland with the Denisons, Lord Canterbury, +and Prothero. + +_26th_.--To Malvern with Hopie; 27th, Worcester; 28th, Tewkesbury; 29th, +Hereford Cathedral; then Boss, Monmouth, and Chepstow. + +_September 1st_.--Chepstow Castle, Tintern Abbey, then to Clifton across +the Severn. 2nd, rain, so returned to Foxholes. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +18 _septembre_.--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de votre lettre du 15, qui +m'est parvenue hier. Vous savez avec quel plaisir je recois toujours de +vos nouvelles, avec quel interet je lis toujours vos appreciations sur la +situation de nos deux pays. Malgre de bien grandes differences dans l'etat +politique, qui sont tout a l'avantage du votre, et dans l'etat social, qui +le sont peut-etre moins, ces deux situations ne sont pas sans analogies. +Les moderes, de part et d'autre, comme vous le dites, semblent etre +peu ecoutes, et cependant je suis persuade que leurs vues finiront par +l'emporter des deux cotes du detroit, parce que, sous une surface agitee en +apparence, aucune passion violente ne bouillonne dans l'une ou l'autre des +deux nations. Vous avez devant vous le grand inconnu de la nouvelle loi +electorale; dangereux, parce que l'omnipotence de la Chambre des Communes, +favorable au gouvernement parlementaire lorsque cette Chambre se recrutait +exclusivement dans la haute classe et en avait l'esprit, pourra etre un +instrument redoutable pour la liberte et pour toute l'organisation sociale +le jour ou MM. Chamberlain, Parnell et Bradlaugh auront chacun un parti +derriere eux. Heureusement pour vous, l'institution monarchique vous +permettra de traverser la crise qu'entrainera la modification de la +composition et de l'esprit de la Chambre des Communes. Grace a cette +institution, l'esprit politique du pays pourra retablir l'equilibre entre +les pouvoirs publics. En France, l'experience de la Republique democratique +et pacifique s'est faite dans les conditions les plus favorables, et a +echoue. Elle n'est ni conservatrice ni reformatrice. Tout en restant +bourgeoise, elle est pardessus tout prodigue. Les classes qui payent +l'impot sont parfaitement edifiees sur son compte; celles qui nele +payent pas, et qui votent cependant, sont frappees indirectement par +l'appauvrissement national et commencent a s'etonner que la Republique, +dont le nom les flatte encore, reponde si mal a leur attente. La Republique +reste bourgeoise parce que le suffrage universel est trop defiant pour +chercher des representants dans le sein de la classe la plus nombreuse. +Mais il n'est pas difficile dans les choix qu'il fait dans les rangs d'une +classe plus elevee. Le niveau intellectuel et moral des Assemblees qu'il +elit s'abaisse a chaque renouvellement. C'est un fait qu'il faudra accepter +desormais comme inevitable, et dont il faudra tenir compte dans l'avenir. +La Republique est essentiellement prodigue parce que, toute la machine +gouvernementale reposant sur l'election, les ministres sont obliges de +donner aux deputes des places innombrables pour satisfaire la foule encore +plus nombreuse de leurs agents electoraux, et de permettre des travaux, des +depenses exageres dans chaque arrondissement, ici pour favoriser le depute +republicain, la pour nuire au depute conservateur. C'est par la qu'elle +perira, parce que le mal est sans remede et s'aggrave chaque jour. Loi +generale d'ailleurs. C'est par les finances que perissent les gouvernements +definitivement condamnes: temoin l'ancien regime. Cette mort-la est sans +resurrection. + +Le caractere nouveau de la periode electorale qui s'est ouverte +pratiquement depuis quelques mois est le reveil des Conservateurs. Ils +comprennent enfin qu'ils peuvent et doivent lutter pour defendre la societe +menacee, les richesses nationales compromises. Ils apportent a cette lutte +une ardeur tout a fait nouvelle. Depuis deux ans [Footnote: Since the death +of the Comte de Chambord.] je me suis efforce de faire comprendre a nos +amis que la politique avait sub les meemes transformations que la guerre; +que, pour gagner la victoire sur le terrain politique, il ne fallait rien +laisser au hasard, rien confier aux petites coteries; qu'il fallait agir +avec de gros bataillons, et que, pour les mouvoir il fallait un systeme de +mobilisation aussi parfait que celui de l'armee allemande. Ces conseils ont +ete suivis, et les monarchistes se sont prepares a entreprendre la +lutte electorale avec une organisation de comites de departemeent, +d'arrondissement et de canton, appuyes le plus souvent sur des reunions +plenieres qui marquent un grand changement dans la vie politique du parti +conservateur. Cette organisation se perfectionnera dans les elections +memes. Elle doit donner un jour, et par l'election et par l'action plus +puissante encore de l'opinion publique, le pouvoir a ceux qui l'auront +constituee et qui sauront s'en servir. + +A la veille des elections... tandis que tous les autres partis faisaient +faire leur programme par un petit comite parisien, craignant qu'une grande +reunion ne trahit leurs divisions, les monarchistes ont envoye des quatre +coins de la France des delegues qui, tous animes du meme esprit, ont adopte +par acclamation le programme soumis a leur approbation. Je dois meme dire +que nous avons tous ete frappes de leur extreme moderation. Pas une voix ne +s'est elevee pour reclamer en faveur d'un ton plus aggressif. Le programme, +retouche sur place par une commission de neuf membres, avait, vous le +pensez bien, ete soigneusement prepare d'avance; toutes les expressions en +avaient ete pesees. Aussi suis-je heureux qu'il ait eu l'approbation d'un +aussi bon juge que vous. + +21 _septembre_.--Depuis gue je vous al ecrit, j'ai lu le grand manifeste +de M. Gladstone. De celui-la, on ne peut pas dire qu'il brille par la +moderation. Il y a des phrases redoutables et effrayantes a l'adresse de la +richesse et de la propriete, base de la societe. Jamais je n'aurais cru le +Gladstone que j'ai connu capable de parler de la Chambre des pairs comme il +le fait. Et cependant, une profonde modification dans la composition de +la Chambre Haute ne sera-t-elle pas un jour le salut de la cause et des +interets conservateurs en Angleterre? Si cette Chambre se retrempe au +moins partiellement dans l'election, elle y trouvera, peut-etre, une force +capable de lui assurer dans le gouvernement une part au moins egale a celle +de la Chambre des Communes, au moment ou celle-ci baissera en valeur morale +proportionnellement a l'extension du suffrage.... + +En ce moment, il serait bien desirable, egalement en France et en +Angleterre, de voir les moderes de nuances diverses se rapprocher, pour +former un veritable parti conservateur: chez vous, anciens whigs et anciens +tories; chez nous, les centres droits et les centres gauches. Mais c'est +entre ceux qui sont le plus rapproches en politique que le souvenir des +luttes passees laisse les plus profondes rancunes. + + * * * * * + +The Journal notes:-- + +_October 12th_--Went to town for the Riel [Footnote: Louis Riel had +stirred up a rebellion in Manitoba, had been captured, tried, and sentenced +to death. He appealed, and the case thus came before the Judicial +Committee. On October 22nd the appeal was dismissed, and on November 16th +Riel was duly hanged at Regina.] case. Dined with Captain Bridge [Footnote: +Now Rear-Admiral Bridge, lately commander-in-chief on the Australian +station.] at the United Service Club. + +_14th_.--Second part of 'Greville' published; 2,700 copies subscribed. + + * * * * * + +In comparison with the tremendous excitement caused by the publication of +the first part of the Greville Memoirs, the second part attracted little +notice, although large sales testified to the interest it raised. Reeve +mentions 2,700 as the number of copies subscribed for: but the first +edition of 4,000 was exhausted almost immediately, and a second large +edition was sold out within a few months. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, October 28th_--I am much obliged to you for your note. We might +elect three new members of The Club, because there remain two vacancies +caused by the honorary list, besides the death of Houghton. I should very +much like to see Edward Stanhope and Harry Holland in The Club. They are +among the most rising men of the day--accomplished and agreeable--and their +fathers were respectively two of our most faithful members. We should, +I think, choose men from the younger generation, for many of us are +frightfully old. It is more difficult to point out eligible men in the +literary or scientific world. To say the truth, there is a remarkable +dearth of distinguished authors. Violent politicians are objectionable. + +I am very much gratified by what you say of the new volumes of Greville's +Journals. Your estimate of their value exactly coincides with my own. I am +happy to say that I have not yet heard that anyone is annoyed or offended. +I sent a copy to Henry Ponsonby, who laid it before the Queen, but I have +not heard what sentence Her Majesty has passed upon me. + +There is a great deal of political noise, but very little light. In the +south of England I think the Conservatives will carry a good many seats. If +I were to venture on a prognostic, I should say that the opposition will +have a majority in Great Britain, though by no means so large a one as the +Radicals expect. The effect of this would be that the Irish can turn the +scale, and I think Mr. Parnell would refuse, for the present, to turn out +the present Government in order to bring in Mr. Gladstone. In that case, +the existence of the present ministry may be prolonged for some time, but +it would be on sufferance and by Irish support. On the other hand, if a +Liberal Government were formed, it could only exist with the support of the +Irish vote. Eventually, I hope, this anomalous state of things may bring +the moderate men of both the British parties together, and throw both +extremes into opposition. That, I am convinced, is the real wish of the +country, and the obstacles to such a combination are chiefly personal. +I fancy the next parliaments will be very impracticable and probably +shortlived. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +22 _novembre._--Je vous remercie de ce que vous me dites a propos des +Memoires de M. Greville. [Footnote: Sc. that there were passages in it not +complimentary to the Orleans family.] + +Je comprends parfaitement que vous ne pouviez supprimer certains passages +dont vous ne voulez cependant pas assumer la solidarite. Ces passages +ne m'empecheront pas de lire avec interet la suite des oeuvres de cet +observateur peu bien-veillant, mais fin et spirituel. + +Ne croyez pas que je vous ecrive avec d'autre pensee que de faire part de +mes vues a un etranger qui connait, comprend et aime la France. + +On November 18th Parliament was dissolved by proclamation and the elections +were held from the 23rd to December 18th. In the English towns, where the +elections were first held, the Conservatives had a large majority, and it +seemed as if they were going to sweep the board. In the counties, however, +the 'three acres and a cow' was taken by the ignorant rustics, just +admitted to the franchise, as a splendid reality, and their votes went +strongly in favour of the Liberals, or rather--as it would be more correct +to say--the Radicals. Mr. Gladstone had appealed to the country to give him +a working majority. He had, in fact, a majority of eighty-four over the +Conservatives; but the Irish, or so-called Nationalist, party numbered +eighty-six; and as these were bound by their bond of union to oppose the +Government, whatever it was, they had to be counted with the Conservatives +as soon as the Conservative Government had fallen. And the comparison of +the numbers showed that it must fall as soon as Parliament met. As Reeve +had forecast, neither party could form an effective administration without +the support of the Nationalists, a position which seemed for the moment to +render them the arbiters of the nation's destiny. + +_From Count Vitzthum_ + +Paris, December 1st. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--Many thanks for your kind letter. You will find me here +in my winter quarters until the end of May, then from June to the end of +October at Baden-Baden, where we have built a villa. I would always be +happy to see you and talk over old times. + +I have just finished reading the third volume of Greville's Memoirs and +have been very much struck by your notes, without which some passages would +not have been intelligible. Old Greville was a portrait-painter rather in +Rembrandt's style. In putting together all he says of Palmerston, Peel, and +the Duke of Wellington, very remarkable full-length portraits would come +out. He seems rather partial for John Russell. + +My little book makes more noise in Germany than I expected. W. Oncken, the +celebrated historian of Austria and Prussia in 1813, will review it for +the 'Allgemeine Zeitung,' and the Vienna press has been unexpectedly +favourable. An English friend of mine wants to translate it. I think it +would be 'love's labour lost;' for everybody who cares for such trifles and +photographs taken on the spot understands German nowadays in England, and +will prefer the original. Still, if you thought it worth your while to send +a short notice to the 'Times,' it would be a favour. My old friend Delane +is no more, else I should have asked him. Cotta writes me that he has +secured the English copyright, and sent some copies to the principal +Reviews and the 'Times.' Believe me, very faithfully yours, + +VITZTHUM. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, 9 decembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Un de mes amis va partir pour la Belgique. Je +tiens a en profiter pour lui confier une lettre a votre adresse, qu'il +mettra a la poste chez nos voisins. En effet, je connais par experience +I'indiscretion dont la poste francaise a pris la mauvaise habitude sous +l'Empire, habitude qu'elle n'a pas perdue sous la Republique. J'ai hate de +vous remercier de votre lettre du lr qui m'a vivement interesse. J'ai ete +un peu confus d'apprendre l'usage que vous aviez fait de la mienne, car +je l'avais ecrite au courant de la plume, et uniquement pour me donner le +plaisir de causer avec vous. Mais, puisque vous l'avez trouvee bonne a +montrer, je m'en rapporte a votre amitie, et j'espere qu'elle n'a pas ete +trop indulgente. Je suis d'ailleurs fort heureux d'avoir quelquefois, par +votre intermediaire, des relations avec Lord Salisbury, pour le caractere +et le talent duquel j'ai toujours eu une si haute estime, et que j'aime +d'ailleurs toujours a considerer comme mon proche voisin de campagne. + +The success of the Conservatives in the towns, their defeat in the country, +is the very opposite of what is taking place here; so that we foreigners +must exercise great reserve in giving an opinion on the political situation +created in England by these last elections. It is, however, evident +that there, as everywhere else, the old parties are in process of +disintegration, and that, in a new social state, in presence of new +problems, a new distribution of parties is called for. In the history of +all nations there are periods when the need of political progress renders +it necessary for the reformers to remain long in power; and if from time to +time they yield it to their adversaries, it should only be for long enough +to recover breath in climbing the long ascent. On the other hand, there +are also periods when the wearied people long for repose; when progress no +longer aims at completeness, but at change; when reforms are mere Utopian +fancies or appeals to evil passions; and when the partisans of the _status +quo_ ought to have the direction of affairs for as long a time as possible. +I believe that we are now entering on one of these periods. But it becomes +the duty of the Conservatives to defend existing institutions by taking the +initiative in such modifications as may be necessary. This is what, with a +true political insight, they have always done in England. The vote of the +counties does not affect the justice of your appreciation of the general +character of the elections. It is not a return to the old Tory party, but +rather the condemnation of the Radical programme; and from this point of +view they have an international importance which nothing can weaken. All +the same, this vote of the counties seems to me to render absolutely +necessary the modification of parties which the complete success of the +Ministry would have postponed. After the redistribution of seats, there +is need of a redistribution of persons and of political groupings. Either +Parliament will be controlled by the Irish Nationalists, and Ireland by Mr. +Parnell, or, in opposition to the Nationalists and the Radicals, there will +be formed a Government which will be Conservative in its respect for +the great social institutions, in its antagonism to the levelling and +centralising spirit, and withal Liberal in the manner in which it will +handle the agrarian question. + +Judging by what I see here, where over three millions of rural proprietors +are 'a tower of strength' for the Conservatives, I am persuaded that in +England also the Conservatives have no greater interest--after the defeat +of the socialist and revolutionary plans of Mr. Chamberlain--than to work +vigorously at the formation of a numerous class of small landowners. +_Mutatis mutandis_, we have here also the corresponding phenomenon of the +transformation of parties. We are unquestionably entering on a period of +lassitude. The Conservatives have gained one hundred and twenty seats at +the last elections, for four principal reasons, all of which spring from +the faults of their adversaries. + +1. The Tonkin expedition. + +2. The waste of the national and municipal finances. + +3. The aggravation of the agricultural and industrial crises by the gross +errors in the conclusion of treaties of commerce and the establishment of +transit tariffs. + +4. The war on the clergy, foreshadowing the separation of Church and State. + +To these particular reasons must be added the general dissatisfaction with +an administration at once weak and corrupt, which is not in accord with +those instincts which a thousand years of monarchy have impressed on our +manners and tone of thought. + +The moderate Republicans have been beaten because they allied themselves +with the Radicals, and because they themselves have not shown the governing +qualities which could gain the confidence of the country. If the check +has not been still greater, it is because the country has a horror of all +change; because the interest of the Government is exceedingly strong; +because the electors do not care to vote for the opposition candidate, who +cannot do anything for them; and lastly, because, at the second _tour de +scrutin_, the Government, in the most shameless manner, brought pressure to +bear on all who are directly or indirectly dependent on it, the number of +whom is very great. + +We have then two hundred Conservatives deputies, who represent three and a +half millions of electors. Three-fourths of these are Monarchists more or +less avowed; one-fourth represents the Bonapartist element, and among these +last are many with whom I have well-established personal relations. It is +not, however, the part of this large minority to set forth any opinions as +to the form of the Government, nor even to cause obstruction; still less to +ally itself with the Radicals for the vain satisfaction of overturning the +Ministry. Its aim must always be to promote the passing of Conservative +laws, and by every possible means to oppose such Radical measures as will +be proposed to the Chamber. It is for this that it has been elected. If it +fulfils its task aright, when the dissolution comes--and this cannot be +far off--it will reap the fruits of its policy. It will have merited +the country's confidence, which the Radicals will have lost; and, +notwithstanding the pressure, perhaps even the violence of the Government, +the current of public opinion will be so strong that it will send a +Conservative majority to the Palais Bourbon. Under the influence of this +current we may hope to see the collective or individual conversion of +the moderate Republicans, which must lead to the reconstruction of the +Conservative party and to placing the direction of it in the hands of the +Monarchists. For, though by temperament these moderate Republicans ought +to be the last to come to us, the Radical danger must bring them; they are +bound to come; their place is marked in our ranks. They will never go to +Bonapartism: on the contrary, they will one day enable us to rid ourselves +of the _intransigeunt_ element which forms a disturbing minority in the +party. + +This will be the work of to-morrow. To-day, the principal task which I +recommend to my friends is the reconstitution, or rather the creation, of +the 'active list' of the Conservative array. We have the model in Belgium. +People are beginning to understand that the Conservatives cannot remain for +ever on the sufferance of the Government. No Government shall he stable +but that which they can support. For this they must form a compact and +well-organised party. Encouraged by the results of the elections, every one +has set to work with new ardour. My only trouble at present is the utter +inexperience of the Conservative minority. It is made up of men almost all +of whom are new to Parliament, are unacquainted with each other, and as +yet are without a leader. I reckon, however, that such blunders as it may +commit will be balanced and amended by those of its opponents. + +Je tennine sur cette pensee consolante, et je vous prie de me croire. + +Votre bien affectionne, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PARIS. + +It is interesting to compare with this another view of the French elections +and of the probable course of events, taken from a very different +standpoint. + +_From the Due de Broglie_ + +8 _novembre_.--Vous avez vu le resultat de nos elections, qui ont ete plus +heureuses pour la cause generale du parti conservateur que pour ce qui me +regarde particulierement. Si nous ne vivions pas dans un temps ou toutes +les previsions sont trompees par une certaine inertie generale qui amortit +toutes les passions et ralentit le cours naturel des evenements, je +croirais qu'une crise violente est assez prochaine, les elements extremes +se trouvant reums et rapproches dans l'Assemblee nouvelle, de maniere a +former un melange explosible comme la chimie redoute d'en amener. De part +ni d'autre, d'ailleurs, il n'y a d'homme en etat de diriger les evenements; +ils iront done probablement tout seuls, commes des chevaux qui n'ont pas de +cocher, ce qui est le moyen a peu pres sur d'aller dans le fosse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +RETIREMENT + + +Christmas and the early days of the New Year were passed at Foxholes. On +January 15th the Reeves returned to Rutland Gate. Parliament met on +the 21st, and, as had been foreseen, the Government was defeated on an +amendment to the Address. Lord Salisbury's resignation was announced on +February 1st, and, on the 3rd, Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet was formed, Sir +William Harcourt being Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Rosebery Foreign +Secretary, and Mr. John Morley Secretary for Ireland. Sir Henry James, +now Lord James of Hereford, declined the office of Lord Chancellor; Lord +Hartington, the present Duke of Devonshire, declined office of any sort in +a Ministry whose policy, as yet but dimly shown, was generally understood +to be on the lines of advanced Radicalism. For his part, Reeve abhorred +Radicalism. He had never approved of Gladstone as a politician, and now +less than ever. He looked on him as a danger to the Empire, to be fought +against, to be resisted, to be crushed. Nor was he singular in this. It +is customary to speak of the extraordinary influence which Gladstone +exercised. It was this influence, directed by sentiment or by vanity, which +constituted the danger. There were many who believed the country to be +on the eve of a violent, perhaps a sanguinary, revolution, fomented and +abetted by Mr. Gladstone; and this belief was strengthened when, on +February 8th, an East-end mob, meeting in Trafalgar Square, was allowed, +without opposition, to march by Pall Mall, St. James' Street and +Piccadilly, to Hyde Park, breaking the windows and plundering the shops on +the way. When to this supposed revolutionary tendency of the new Ministry +was added their avowed intention to bring in a measure for the pacification +of Ireland, which--in the absence of details--was believed to mean the +disintegration of the kingdom, the feeling of alarm, which must be very +well remembered by many who read these pages, can be easily understood. + +_From Lord Ebury_ [Footnote: Lord Ebury died at the age of 92, in 1893.] + +Moor Park, January 4th, 1886. + +Dear Reeve,--Allow me to wish you and Mrs. Reeve a happy New Year, and +to say how much I have been interested in the second part of our common +friend's Memoirs, which--if you care to know it--pleased me more than the +first; but the most characteristic passage of the writer, and which made me +laugh aloud, is the three pages in which he vents all his wrath against the +public for their approbation of Lady Blessington as an authoress, and the +pedestal upon which they placed her. I was glad to read the editor's note, +which completed the page. When once he got into that sort of mood, and +perhaps was influenced by a touch of gout, and let himself go, it was very +funny to listen to him; and really he was a good-natured man. I wonder +what he would have said of Parnell and his ragged regiment, and the G. O. +M.[Footnote: As even in twelve years the name has become quite obsolete, it +may be as well to note that Mr. Gladstone was generally designated by these +letters, said by his friends and admirers to stand for Grand Old Man.] as +he now appears. What in the world are we to do? The 'Times' is working most +patriotically; but why, in the world, did it or he not find out earlier +what the G. O. M. really was and is?... + +With my best regards to Mrs. Reeve, + +I remain, yours very truly, + +EBURY. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +_8 janvier_.--Je vous remercie bien sincerement des bons voeux que vous +m'adressez pour la nouvelle aimee. Comme vous le dites fort bien, il y a +des bonheurs que la politique ne peut pas empoisonner, et ce sont les plus +solides. + +L'annee 1886, je le crois comme vous, nous reserve des surprises plus +dramatiques que celle don't nous venons de voir la fin. En France, ce +renouvellement de l'annee nous donne un President renomme mais non rajeuni, +un Ministere reconstitue mais non raffermi ... En Angleterre, Gladstone +et les Irlandais vous auront pour une fois rendu service s'ils forcent a +s'unir les conservateurs, aujourd'hui separes par d'anciennes divisions +en whigs et en tories. Ce jour-la vous pourrez de nonveau avoir un +gouvcrnement fort et national. + +_From Lord Ebury_ + +_February 13th_--I cannot recollect anything about Charles Greville's +pamphlet on Ireland, though I imagine I must have read it at the time. Can +one get it now to look at it? or are things so much changed by the march +of events since that its interest has passed away? I re-read Gustave de +Beaumont's marvellous work, with which no doubt you are acquainted. +I confess it rather staggered me when it first came out; and how the +prophecies it contained are accomplished, almost to the letter! I remember +calling the old Duke's attention to it; especially to that strange +phrase-speaking of the then Irish landowners--'C'est une mauvaise +aristocratic; il faut la detruire.' Was it ever reviewed in the +'Edinburgh'? + +When will this horrible Government be overthrown? + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Rutland Gate, March 29th_--From what I learned yesterday as to the +probable course of proceeding in the House of Commons, I am strongly of +opinion that it will be necessary to accelerate the publication of the +'Review' by two days, instead of postponing it, as we had proposed to do. +The 'Review' would be of use in the debate which will then be going on, and +will probably be noticed; whereas, after the division on leave to bring in +the Bill, it would be less opportune. The article on Ireland is complete, +and it would be premature to speculate on the details of an unknown +measure. + +The 'Review' was published on April 13th, and, as Reeve had expected, the +article on 'England's Duty to Ireland' was in everyone's mouth. It was a +powerful appeal to the Liberals, as distinct from the Gladstonians, which +may even now be read with advantage as a lucid exposition of the principles +of the Union. + +_From Lord Ebury_ + +_April 14th_.--Thank you for so speedily answering my question: also for +pointing my attention to the concluding article of the 'Edinburgh'--just +published--written by yourself. I have just finished its perusal, and am +very much pleased with it. No doubt you have had a certain advantage +in seeing what has been already said upon this insane proposition of +Gladstone's; but I have hitherto seen nothing which so completely exposes +the dangers that threaten us, and gives so much historical information to +guide opinion upon the subject; and you have put forward a subject which +to my astonishment has not (or scarcely) been noticed at all. I mean +the danger to the throne of England. I see you dismiss with scarcely a +remark--which, indeed, in your province, would have been injudicious--the +responsibility of those, our grandees--I won't mention names--who have +assisted in giving the G. O. M. power to do the almost irreparable mischief +he has perpetrated. + +The Journal here has:-- + +_April 17th_.--To Foxholes. On the 29th, Unionist meeting at Christchurch; +Lord Malmesbury in the chair. I read an address [which was printed and +circulated as a leaflet]. This was one of the first Unionist meetings in +England. + +_May 3rd_.--To Portsmouth, on a visit to Captain Bridge, on board the +'Colossus.' + +On May 10th Gladstone, in moving the second reading of his 'Home Rule' +Bill, seemed to accept the truth of the maxim that 'Speech is given to man +to conceal his thoughts,' and led someone--commonly believed to be Mr. +Labouchere, who made no attempt to hide his own opinions--to say, 'How is +it possible to play with an old sinner who has got an ace up each sleeve, +and says God Almighty put them there?' What Gladstone wanted to do was, +in fact, never exactly known; all that could be made out was that he was +prepared to grant whatever the Irish Nationalist party demanded. It was for +Mr. Parnell to speak; for him to obey. Such an attitude was revolting to +a very great many of the Liberal party. They maintained--they rightly +maintained--that the name 'Liberal' belonged to principles, not to men; and +that those who sacrificed their principles to follow the lead of one man, +even of Gladstone's eminence, ceased to be Liberals, and could only be +called Gladstonians. The Bill was discussed for many days, and on June +7th it was negatived by the House of Commons in the fullest division ever +known; the numbers being: + + _Against the Bill. For the Bill._ + + Conservatives. . . . 250 Gladstonians. . . . 230 + Liberals. . . . . . 93 Nationalists. . . . 83 + ___ ___ + 343 313 + + Majority against the Bill, 30. + +Reeve was triumphant, and wrote to Mr. T. Norton Longman the next day, +'What a triumphant division! What a defeat for the G. O. M.! Even he must +believe this. I think his colleagues will hardly agree to dissolve. If they +do, they will be annihilated.' + +They did, and they were. The General Election held in July fully ratified +the vote of the House on June 7th, and left the Gladstonians and +Parnellites combined in a minority of 115. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_C. O., June 23rd_.--Sir Francis Doyle's Epilogue [Footnote: The last +chapter of Doyle's _Reminiscences and Opinions_ (8vo. 1886). It is +more than 'invective;' it contains much sound argument and admirable +illustration.] is a powerful piece of invective; but it is essentially +addressed to Gladstone's public career and conduct, and if he likes to +publish it, I see no objection. Doyle was at Eton with Gladstone, and is +one of his oldest and most intimate friends--or rather, _was so_. What he +has written is not stronger than what George Anthony Denison has published +on Gladstone, he too being a friend of forty years. I do not remember +another instance in which a man's best and earliest friends have turned +upon him, to unmask him, and that without any motive of personal +resentment. It is the noble motive which led Brutus to strike Caesar. + +If this is to appear, it should be published _immediately_, as it relates +to the affairs of the day. + +_C. O., July 21st_.--I think Gladstone has fulfilled all my predictions and +completed the ruin of the Liberal party and his own. The net result is that +he has brought in the Tories for several years. + +Whilst this tremendous storm was raging in the political world in England, +France also had been much excited. The letters of the Comte de Paris +have shown that he was, in point of fact, conducting an intrigue for the +subversion of the republic, the re-establishment of the monarchy; and it +is not surprising that the Government, more or less cognisant of what was +going on, struck in defence of the constitution under which they ruled. +Their action was said to be illegal; but in time of war the laws depend on, +are upheld by, and interpreted by the greater force; and on June 23rd +the Comte de Paris, with his family, was ordered to quit France, and the +Orleanist princes, including the Duc d'Aumale, were deprived of their rank +in the army, their names being erased from the army list. On June 29th +Reeve noted in his Journal, 'To Tunbridge Wells, to see the Comte de +Paris, exiled the week before;' but that is all; the home interest was too +absorbing, though even of that the only trace in the Journal is on July +5th, 'Unionist meeting at Tuckton. I took the chair. Election.' + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_C. O., July 10th_.--I am much obliged to you for the copy of your +excellent speech. In this remarkable debate _coram populo_, it seems to me +that the defeat of the Home Rulers in argument has been even more complete +than their rout at the polling booths. The people have shown more serious +intelligence than I had given them credit for. I saw this even in our +Hampshire bumpkins. + +On July 20th the Gladstonian Ministry resigned, and before the end of the +month the new ministry was formed under Lord Salisbury as premier and first +lord of the treasury. The Journal is occupied with personal and family +affairs of special interest. + +_July 25th_.--To Antwerp by the 'Baron Osy.' Forty-seven Americans on +board. Aix very dull. Back to London on August 11th. + +_August 18th_.--Letter from Hopie announcing her intended marriage. + +_September 6th_.--Hopie married at Kirklands to Thomas Ogilvie of Chesters. + +Chesters is in the immediate neighbourhood of Kirklands, and the friendship +between Miss Reeve and Mr. Ogilvie was of many years' standing, though the +determination to marry was rather sudden, and the engagement very short. +Mr. Ogilvie was a man of good family and property, and though several years +older than his bride, Reeve appears to have been very well satisfied; his +relations with his son-in-law were always cordial, though the distance at +which they lived restricted the intercourse, and the formed habits of both +prevented anything like intimacy. + +Amidst the political excitement and the family interest of the summer, the +following comes in almost like the Fool in 'King Lear' or Caleb Balderstone +in the 'Bride of Lammermoor.' It refers to a proposition--surely one of the +strangest ever submitted to a publisher--which, in ordinary course, had +been sent to Reeve for an opinion. And this is what Reeve wrote:-- + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, August 24th_.--Your correspondent is the coolest fellow I ever +heard of. He not only proposes to complete Macaulay's 'Lays' by some new +ones, but to re-edit and correct the original Lays, which, he says, 'are +very irregular.' His own verses have not a spark of poetry or fire in them; +they are mere trash, and he is an impertinent fellow. + +Here the Journal has:-- + +_September 7th_.--Went to Exeter with Christine; 8th, to Chagford and +Dartmoor; 10th, back to Foxholes. + +_29th_.--To Holyhead and Penrhos with Christine. Bad weather at Penrhos; +gout in hand came on. + +_October 2nd_.--To Knowsley; Lord Lyons there. + +_6th_.--To London and Foxholes. Christine went on to Chesters. On the 20th, +Mrs. Ogilvie came from Scotland. November 2nd, James Watney died. + +_From Count Vitzthum_ + +Paris, November 7th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I beg you to accept kindly a copy of my memoirs 'St. +Petersburg and London,' 1852-1864, which Cotta will send you from the +author. Please to remember, if you find time to read these two little +volumes, that it is a German book, written for Germans, by one who is +neither Whig, nor Tory, nor Red; who is very fond of Old England,, but +has nothing to do with your party feelings and prejudices. I see men and +things, not from the English, but from the European standpoint, and leave +it, as far as possible, to the leading men of the day to tell their own +tale. If you find time, read the book and tell me what you think of it. + +Yours very truly, + +VITZTHUM. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +C.O., _November 12th_.--My old friend, Count Vitzthum, formerly Saxon +Minister in London, has sent me his 'Reminiscences of St. Petersburg +and London from 1852 to 1864' in German, 2 vols. This is a book of +extraordinary interest to the English public, full of conversations and +confidential details of Prince Albert, Lord Palmerston, Lord Clarendon, +Disraeli, &c.--quite a contemporary political history, as amusing and +interesting as Greville himself. Vitzthum knew this country well, and all +its society. + +I shall write on Monday [15th] to thank him for the book, and I propose to +ask him whether he has made any arrangements for the translation of it. I +am not much in favour of translations; but this book is of such peculiar +and exciting interest that I should strongly recommend you to secure it +if possible. I think the Taylors, who did Luther, would undertake the +translation. + +I think this an important affair. + +_November 15th_.--I am afraid you are out of town, but it is of great +importance to come to an immediate decision about Count Vitzthum's book. It +is a work of the greatest possible interest and importance, and contains +many entirely new facts and anecdotes as to contemporary history. You will +perceive this from the enclosed notice of the book which appeared last +week in the 'Daily News.' [Footnote: November 6th, 'From our Berlin +Correspondent,' a notice mostly made up of extracts from the book, then +described as 'just about' to be published by Cotta of Stuttgart.] + +The Queen has seen the sheets and approved them. + +The result of this notice was that three English publishers at once applied +to Cotta for the right of translation; but the Count has retained that in +his own hands, and he says that, if _you_ will publish the translation on +suitable terms, and if _I_ will edit the translation with my name, and +write a preface to it, he will make an arrangement with us. This I am ready +to do, and I shall tell him so to-day. There is not a moment to lose; and +as you appear not to be in town, I must act myself in the matter. I want +to know as soon as possible what terms you would offer. I think the Count +would accept either a sum down or a share of the profits; you might propose +either alternative. The Taylors would execute the translation promptly and +the book would appear in May. I do not suppose that you will hesitate to +agree to so important a proposal; but if it does not please you, I am +certain that Murray or Macmillan would jump at it. + +_C.O., November 17th._--Max Mueller has written to Count Vitzthum, to make +exactly the same suggestion I have done. He highly applauds the book and +recommends the Count to make arrangements with _you_ for the translation. I +have seen Fairfax Taylor. He will undertake to complete the translation by +the 15th or 20th of February. The printing can go on when he has got some +copy in hand, and the book can be brought out early in April, which is a +very good time. I have given him my copy of the first volume to begin upon. +Pray get another copy of the book. + +_November 18th._--Count Vitzthum accepts your proposal. He asks me whether +he should write to you; but that is unnecessary. _Four_ other English +publishers have applied to him for the right of translation. + +_November 23rd._--It will be necessary that the translation of Vitzthum's +book should be set up in slips, in order that he and I may have an +opportunity of adding notes or making omissions. + +At this time the question of having him elected as a foreign member of the +Institute was mooted by Reeve's friends in Paris. It is to this that +the following letters refer. Though not successful on this occasion, +because--as Reeve was afterwards told--two out of the six foreign members +were already English, they carried their point some eighteen months later, +on an English vacancy. + +_From M. Jules Simon_ + +Paris, 18 decembre. + +Cher Monsieur,--J'ai en effet exprime a notre ami commun, M. Gavard, le +desir que j'eprouve de vous attacher plus completement a notre Academie. +C'est line operation assez difficile, car les associes etrangers pouvant +etre choisis indistinctement dans tous les peuples du monde, il y a +rarement disette de candidats. A chaque vacance, une commission est nominee +au scrutin. Elle presente trois noms a l'Academie, qui consacre une seance +a les discuter, et vote dans la seance suivante. Nous devons elire tout a +l'heure le successeur de Ranke. Parmi les deux noms qui ne sortiront pas de +l'urne, il y en a un qui pourra bien reussir quand on elira le successeur +de Minghetti. En general on est porte deux ou trois fois avant de passer. +Vos amis s'occuperont d'abord de vous faire figurer sur la liste. Il faut +pour cela qu'un d'entre eux ait la liste exacte de vos ecrits, et de tous +les titres que l'on peut invoquer en votre faveur. Les debats ne sont pas +publics; les candidats n'ecrivent pas de demande; celui qui les propose +parle en son propre noni, ct est meme cense les proposer a leur insu. +Enfin, le public ne connait que le nom de l'elu. Je crois que vous avez +envoye a M. Barthelemy St.-Hilaire les renseignements necessaires. Si cela +n'est pas fait, faites-le, je vous prie, sans delai. Vous pouvez, si vous +le preferez, les envoyer a M. Gavard, qui me les remettra, ou m'ecrire +directement. Je vous prie, cher monsieur, de croire a mes sentiments +cordialement devoues. + +JULES SIMON. + +_From M. Leon Say_ + +Paris, 25 decembre. + +Mon bien Cher M. Reeve,--Je ferai naturellement tous mes efforts pour vous +rapprocher encore plus de l'Institut, et vous y donner un rang digne de +vous; mais je ne dois pas vous laisser ignorer qu'il y aura lutte. Je ne +sais s'il vous conviendra que votre nom soit discute. Pour vous eclairer +sur ce point, je vous envoie a titre confidentiel un billet que me fait +parvenir M. Aucoc pour faire suite a un entretien que j'ai eu avec lui. + +Je vous prie de croire a mes sentiments les plus distingues et les plus +affectueux. + +LEON SAY. + +Jules Simon m'a promis une note qui me servirait a soutenir vos titres, et +me permettrait de dire aux Francais de ma section, passablement ignorants +de l'etranger, avec exactitude ce que vous avez fait. + +Meantime the Journal notes:-- + +_December 7th._--Meeting of the Liberal-Unionist party. On the 11th, dinner +at home. Duc d'Aumale, Froude, Carnarvon, Lady Stanley, Colonel Knollys, F. +Villiers, Lady Metcalfe, Newton. + +_19th_--Dined at the Duc d'Aumale's, who had bought Moncorvo House in +Ennismore Gardens. Comte and Comtesse de Paris, Haussonville, Segur, +Target, Audiffret, Leighton. + +_December 21st_.--To Timsbury. 24th, to Foxholes. The Ogilvies there. + +1887. _January 3rd_.--Came to London. 10th, dinner at Pender's to meet +Stanley, the African traveller, before he went to find Emin Bey. + +_19th_.--The third part of Greville published, 3,007 copies subscribed. + +Among the many letters which the publication of these last volumes of +the 'Greville Memoirs' brought him, the following from Sir Arthur Gordon +[Footnote: Fourth son of the Earl of Aberdeen.]--now Lord Stanmore, +and then Governor of Ceylon--have a peculiar interest from their exact +criticism of a point of detail with which the writer was personally +acquainted at first hand:-- + +Queen's House, Colombo, June 18th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I have very long delayed answering your last letter, in +the hope that, when I did so, I might at the same time be able to send you +my notes on the two last volumes of 'Greville.' But these notes will +be numerous, and my time is scant for such work. On one point, the +'graspingness' alleged to have been shown by the Peclites after the +formation of the Government in December 1852, and its modification to +satisfy their exigencies, I have felt constrained to address the 'Times.' +[Footnote: June 13th. The letter is reprinted in the Appenduxm _post_, p. +411.] The truth happens to have been exactly the other way, and Greville's +notes are only the echo of the grumblings of the disappointed Whig placemen +who talked to him. It is decidedly unjust not only to my father, Graham, +and Gladstone, who are indirectly charged with this trafficking, but to the +Duke of Newcastle and Herbert also, who more directly are so. + +I have, of course, read the volumes with great interest, but have had +my suspicions greatly heightened that whatever may have been the case +before--say 1841, the confidences Mr. Greville received in the later years +of his life were not unfrequently only half-confidences, for the sake +of obtaining his opinion on some collateral point, or of flattering or +pleasing him by the show of confidence. There are, of course, many matters +treated of in these volumes as to which I have no personal or private +information, and I have no reason to question what he says about them; but +I have some inclination to doubt, even as to these; for I find that as +regards almost every transaction of which I do happen to know the whole +history, he knows a good deal about it, but not _all_ about it. He was +kept specially in the dark about the real history of Lord Palmerston's +resignation in 1853 which is all the odder because he very nearly found it +out. Hardly anybody does know what lay behind, though the difference about +Reform was a very real one, so far as it went, and quite sufficient to +justify--at all events, ostensibly--Lord P.'s virtual dismissal. Again, on +another occasion, I see Mr. G.'s special friend, Lord Clarendon--I will +not say, deliberately deceived him, but, certainly with full knowledge +--allowed him to deceive himself on the strength of a half-confidence. +[Footnote: A politic reticence, that has been called 'an economy of +truth.'] + +I am more disappointed than I can say to find that M. de Sainte-Aulaire's +elaborate Memoirs have been 'used up' for that stupid book of Victor de +Nouvion's, [Footnote: Histoire du Regne de Louis Philippe (4 tom 8vo. +1857-61)], if--as I suppose-that is the book you refer to. I thought it had +never got beyond the first two volumes, and have never seen any more of it. +I am vexed that M. de Sainte-Aulaire's elaborate Memoirs should have been +utilised for such a book; generally, because I know M. de Sainte-Aulaire +contemplated their publication, and because they deserved to appear in +a separate form; and, personally and specially, because, of course, his +accounts of his intercourse with my father, and the elaborate study of his +character which he had written, are thus lost.... + +Yours ever faithfully, + +A. GORDON. + +_To Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_C.O., June 13th_.--I have just read in the 'Times' of this morning your +interesting letter on the formation of Lord Aberdeen's ministry. I have no +doubt you are quite right. It _was_ John Russell and the Whigs who were +rapacious for office--much more than the Peelites. John Russell, I know, +kept Cardwell out of the Cabinet. You observe that Greville only notes what +Lord Clarendon told him; and I have no doubt that Clarendon was rather out +of humour with arrangements which were personally disagreeable to himself. +But that again was John Russell's fault, because he insisted on taking the +Foreign Office _pro tem_. I shall probably publish another complete edition +of Greville next year, and I think it would be well to insert in a note the +whole of your letter, or at least the greater part of it. [Footnote: See +Appendix, post, p. 411.] If you have any other criticisms to make, they +would be valuable to me. I have availed myself of those you were so good as +to send me on the second series. + +You are aware that Mme. de Jarnac is dead. I do not know who has her +husband's papers; but the Comte de Paris is here, and as I frequently see +him, I will take an early opportunity of asking him whether he can give me +any information about Lord Aberdeen's letters. M. Thureau's 'Histoire de +la Monarchic de Juillet' is a remarkable book, because he has access to +original sources and quotes largely from them, especially from the Memoirs +of M. de Sainte-Aulaire which are still in MS. [Footnote: And _still_ so in +1898.] They appear to be extremely interesting. + +We are getting on here pretty well. If the Whigs had joined the Government, +there might have been a scramble for office, as there was in 1853; for +the Whigs are now in the same position as the Peelites were at that +time--officers without an army. It is much more to the credit of my friends +to give a disinterested support to Lord Salisbury; and this alliance gives +a sufficiently Liberal colour to the measures of the administration. There +is every appearance that the Unionists will hold together. Mr. Gladstone +continues to be in a state of hallucination and excitement which exceeds +belief. It is a case of moral and political suicide. The crisis will +probably end by the death of Mr. Parnell, the falling [off] of the American +subscriptions, and the extinction of Mr. Gladstone; but in the meantime +they have totally ruined Ireland. + +_From Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_August 30th_.--Your letter of June 13th must have crossed one from me, +in which I explained to you why I had written to the 'Times' about +the formation of the Government of 1853 instead of merely sending my +observations to you as a note for future use. I need not say that I am much +flattered by your proposal to insert the letter--or part of it--in a note +to a future edition of Mr. Greville's Memoirs... I am struck very much +by what I think I mentioned once before--the frequency with which Mr. +Greville's friends gave him what may be called 'a three-quarters knowledge' +of pending affairs. They told him a great deal, but frequently not _all_. +In the affairs with which I am really acquainted, there is almost always +something--and that an important something--which does not appear in his +notes... I have specially noticed this with regard to Lord Palmerston's +'resignation' in 1853, It is the more remarkable, because it is apparent +from various passages that he 'burnt'--as they say in a game of hide and +seek--but never actually quite caught the true facts. I have never known +a secret better guarded than the fact--which, after a lapse of four and +thirty years, one may, I think, mention--that Lord P.'s resignation on +that occasion was _not_ voluntary, and that he was, in fact, extruded. +[Footnote: In a later letter, June 5th, 1888, Sir Arthur Gordon wrote:--'He +had given great offence to the Queen; and his colleagues--at least, his +most important colleagues--distrusted his action in reference to pending +negotiations, Lord Clarendon especially resenting the intrigues he believed +he was carrying on. Things being in this state, he announced his hostility +to Reform, and it was determined to take advantage of this announcement to +remove him; and removed he would have been, but for the two causes I have +noted.'] But, to be sure, half the Cabinet did not know this; and it was +their ignorance, coupled with Newcastle's and Gladstone's dislike of Lord +John, that brought him back again. + +I must get M. Thureau's 'Histoire de la Monarchic de Juillet,' of which I +never even heard. It is dreadful to reflect how utterly behindhand one gets +in all things, literary, artistic, and political, through long sojourns out +of Europe. But I do hope there is some prospect of M. de Sainte-Aulaire's +Memoirs themselves being published at full length. I know it was M. de +Sainte-Aulaire's wish and deliberate intention that they should be given to +the world, and he took much trouble with them. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +Inveraray, January 22nd. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I have been longer in getting the book off my hands +than I had hoped. It is now in the press, and Douglas talks of getting it +out about February 10th or a little later.... There is a good deal in +the book which, in one sense, may be called 'padding,' because I have +endeavoured to relieve the very dry subject of Tenures and Agricultural +Improvement with historical episodes, with pictures of manners, and even +with personal anecdote. But I think there is a considerable bulk of new +matter, or at least of old matter put in new points of view, and every part +is written with an aim to establish the principles which _we_ think 'sound' +on Law, on Property, and on Union. Your new Greville seems to be very +interesting. + +Yours very sincerely, + +ARGYLL. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris_, 29 _janvier_.--Je vous remercie de la peine que vous voulez +bien prendre, et j'ai profite des corrections que vous avez bien +voulu m'indiquer. J'avais deja profite des deux articles de la 'Revue +d'Edimbourg' sur les chemins de fer russes en Asie et sur l'armee indienne. + +I have no wish to appear more royalist than the king himself; but I cannot +feel so sure as you do about the security of India. The Russians are +already threatening it, and I do not think they are near stopping. The base +of their operations will be in the Caucasus, where they already have very +considerable forces. It is true that their finances are in bad order; but +this may perhaps be an additional motive to them to undertake a war of +conquest. I agree with you, however, that before the attack on India will +come the attack on Constantinople, the consequences of which will be very +great. On the other hand, the railway connecting Candahar with the Indus +will certainly be a great obstacle to the advance of the Russians on Cabul. +In all this I see many of the elements of catastrophes which the next +generation will witness. I hope I may be out of this world before they +come. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes_, _April 17th_.--I see the 'Athenaeum' complains that I did not +correct all Vitzthum's mistakes and rearrange his book; but that is more +than I undertook to do. We did correct a good many mistakes, natural enough +in a foreigner; but I do not hold myself responsible for his facts or his +opinions. + +_April 22nd_.--I know more about M. Barthelemy St.-Hilaire's book on India +than any other Englishman, for I revised and corrected the proof-sheets for +him. A French writer on the subject was sure to make blunders. The book is +most valuable to _foreigners_, for it is a perfectly fair account of the +British administration of India; but it would be entirely useless in this +country, inasmuch as it is a mere compilation from well-known English +documents. I think, therefore, that a translation into English would be a +work of supererogation and a failure. + +_Journal_ + +_April 30th_.--Dined at the Royal Academy dinner. + +_May 9th_.--Great Unionist meeting at Winchester. + +_28th_.--Barthelemy St.-Hilaire came to Foxholes on a visit. + +_June 10th_.--Dined with the Duc d'Aumale, Moncorvo House. Electric light. + +_15th_.--Dined at the Middle Temple. Grand day; Prince of Wales in the +chair. + +_18th_.--Dined with the Lord Mayor. Literature, Science, and Art. + +_21st_.--Celebration of the Jubilee. Splendid day. + +_July 3rd_.--Went to Eastbourne. + +_7th_.--Dined at East Sheen with the Comte de Paris. Duc and Duchesse +of Braganza there. Duke of St. Albans, Arran and daughter, Duc de la +Tremoille--twenty. + +_18th_.--Duc d'Aumale's evening party; very brilliant. + +_25th_.--To Ostend and Brussels. 26th, to Cologne. Great heat. + +_27th_.--To Wiesbaden. Lady Dartrey died while I was at Wiesbaden. I took +leave of her on her death-bed just before I started. It was the loss of a +most kind, faithful, and affectionate friend. + +_August 5th_.--Ill in the night; incipient fever. 6th, to Cologne. 7th, to +Aix, very unwell. 9th, got back to London by Ostend-Dover. + +_From Captain Bridge, R.N._ + +H.M.S. 'Colossus,' Gibraltar, August 3rd. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--The Naval Review and the ensuing operations have not, I +hope, given you such a surfeit of naval affairs as to indispose you to hear +a little of the recent cruise of the Mediterranean squadron. We left Malta, +under the command of the Duke of Edinburgh, in May, and visited several +ports on the coast of Italy. During H.R.H.'s absence in England, when +attending the Jubilee, we stayed at the convenient harbour of Aranci Bay +in the island of Sardinia. There we carried out a series of instructive +torpedo and under-water mining exercises. After leaving Sardinia, we +called at several Spanish ports--Barcelona, Valencia, Cartagena and +Malaga--eventually reaching this place last Friday evening. + +The effect of our visits to both Italy and Spain has been--especially in +the case of the latter country--remarkably gratifying. The presence of +a son of the Queen was evidently taken as a compliment by Italians and +Spaniards of all classes. Barcelona, Cartagena, and Malaga are notoriously +anti-monarchical in sentiment. Yet in every one H.R.H. had a most +flattering reception. The enthusiasm of the populace at Cartagena was fully +equal to any shown by an English crowd for any popular royal personage. +People may say what they like, but the advantages to the country of +having a prince in the position held by the Duke are considerable. The +friendliness of the Italians is striking; and I am confident the feelings +of Spaniards of all classes are more favourable to England than they have +been for half a century. We hear now that we are to go on to Cadiz, where a +maritime exhibition is to be opened this month; and it is understood that +this extension of our cruise is at the request of the Spaniards themselves. +I have visited Spanish ports often before now, and never noticed any +friendliness towards us. Should the necessity of looking for allies arise, +it is nearly certain that both Italy and Spain would be disposed to range +themselves on our side. It will be a pity if diplomatic bungling occurs to +alter this satisfactory condition of things.... + +Pray give my kind remembrances to Mrs. Reeve. + +Yours sincerely, + +CYPRIAN A. G. BRIDGE. + +It has been seen that for some years back Reeve had been occasionally +thinking of retiring from his post of Registrar. The near completion of +fifty years' service revived the notion, and his illness at Wiesbaden, +following an earlier attack in April, confirmed it. When his mind was once +made up, the rest was a matter of detail. The Journal notes:-- + +_August 10th_.--Taxed costs and wound up business at the Council Office for +the last time again; but went there again on October 11th. + +_12th_.--To Foxholes, where fever and bad fit of gout came on; I was very +unwell till September 3rd. + +_21st_.--My dog Sylvia [Footnote: A collie, so called after her donor, M. +Sylvain van de Weyer. A brother of hers belonged to the Queen.] died. A +fond and faithful companion of sixteen years. + +_September 5th_.--Mr. G. H. Dorrell came as my secretary, and I dictated an +article on foreign affairs. + +_From Mr. C. L. Peel_ [Footnote: Clerk of the Council in succession to Sir +Arthur Helps. Now Sir Charles Peel.] + +56 Eccleston Square, October 5th. + +My Dear Reeve,--I was so taken aback by your announcement to-day, that I +really could not find words in which to express the sincere regret with +which I heard it. You are so thoroughly identified in my mind with the +Council Office, and I am so much indebted to you for advice and assistance +during the last twelve years, that I shall feel quite lost when I can +no longer rely upon the experience, judgement, and kindness which have +hitherto been available to me in any difficulty. + +I only trust that by relieving yourself in good time from the ties of +office, you may enjoy a long spell of happy and active retirement, which +you have so well earned, and into which you will be followed by the best +wishes of all you leave behind. Believe me always, + +Yours most sincerely, + +C. L. PEEL. + +It appears from the Journal that the resignation was not officially made +till some days later. + +_October 24th_.--I resigned the Registrarship of the Privy Council, which I +had held, as Clerk of Appeals and Registrar, since November 17th, 1837. The +rest of the year at Foxholes. + +At the sitting of the Judicial Committee on November 2nd, Sir Barnes +Peacock formally announced to the Bar the resignation of the Registrar, and +after briefly mentioning the dates of his service as Clerk of Appeals since +1837 and Registrar since the creation of the office in 1853, he went on:-- + +'It is unnecessary to state to the Bar the manner in which the duties of +that office have been performed by Mr. Reeve. He is not present to-day. He +has been prevented, I believe, by the state of his health, from travelling +to London. Their Lordships are sorry that he is not present, that they +might personally bid him farewell. They have given me, as the oldest member +of the Judicial Committee now present, the privilege of expressing and +recording their deep sense of the loss which must be sustained, both by +the Judicial Committee and the public, by being deprived of the valuable +services of Mr. Henry Reeve. His long and varied experience, extending over +a period of nearly half a century, his extensive knowledge, his great tact +and the sound judgement which he brought to bear in the discharge of the +duties of his office, render his retirement a serious loss both to the +Judicial Committee and to the public. Their Lordships could not allow Mr. +Reeve to depart from his office in silence. They trust that he may long +enjoy in health and happiness that rest, relaxation, and repose which +he has so fully and meritoriously earned, and to which he is so justly +entitled. Many men retire from an arduous profession or office, and when +they are relieved from the duties which they have for many years been +called upon to discharge, sink into a state of _ennui_ and listlessness +which are not conducive either to a long life or to health or happiness. +But their Lordships feel sure that that will not be the case with Mr. +Henry Reeve. His literary and other congenial tastes and pursuits, and his +industrious habits, will no doubt supply him with full employment for his +still active and vigorous mind. In taking their leave of Mr. Henry Reeve +on his departure from office their Lordships will only add, 'Let honour be +where honour is justly deserved.' + +To this Mr. Aston, Q.C., replied, as the oldest member of the Bar +present:-- + +'I refrain from attempting to add anything to what your Lordship has said, +for fear that the feebleness of my addition might detract from the force +of that which your Lordship has expressed. But I cannot help saying that, +after having appeared at your Lordships' Bar in this place for upwards of +a quarter of a century, I have myself personally received, and I have seen +the members of the Bar who have practised with me always receive, from Mr. +Reeve the utmost courtesy, attention, and assistance. We often have, my +Lords, in practising before you, a difficult task to discharge. Our clients +are not familiar with the practice of your Lordships' Court, if I may use +the term. But on all occasions Mr. Registrar Reeve has given the utmost +assistance, and therefore I beg to say, on behalf of the Bar whom I venture +to represent, that we cordially endorse all that your Lordship has said, +and express our unfeigned regret that we shall no longer have the services +of Mr. Reeve in your Lordships' chamber.' + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, November 4th._--I hope you saw the funeral oration Sir Barnes +Peacock pronounced on me in the Privy Council. It is in the outer sheet of +the 'Times' of Tuesday [Nov. 1st], and perhaps in some other papers; a very +kind and handsome tribute; and it is pleasanter to have these things said +when one is alive than when one is dead. + +The notice in the 'Times' brought Reeve many letters from his friends; +amongst others, the following:-- + +_From Lord Ebury_ + +_November 9th._--I see you are going to desert the Council altogether. I +hope you will long enjoy the _otium_ which you have so worthily merited, +and will have time to assist in extinguishing Gladstone. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Woodnorton, 15 novembre._--Je regrette d'apprendre que votre sante a ete +si eprouvee.... Je suis toujours affligee de voir mes amis se retirer de +la vie active; mais je comprends les motifs qui vous ont dicte votre +demission.... + +Je suis si honteux de ce qui se passe en France que je n'ose pas vous en +parler, et je me borne a vous serrer bien cordialement la main. + +The Journal then notes:-- + +1888.--The year began at Foxholes. The Ogilvies there for three weeks. Came +to London on January 3rd. + +_February 4th._--Sir Henry Maine died at Cannes. A great loss. + +_March 5th._--The railroad from Brockenhurst to Christchurch opened. Went +down to the ceremony. Came back at 7 and dined with Millais to meet the +Lord Chancellor. Mrs. Procter died. + +_9th_--Emperor William of Germany died. Various dinners. + +_April 10th._--Gladstone dined at The Club. Froude, Smith, Hewett, and +Hooker there. + +_27th_--Left London for Basle with Christine at 11 A.M. and arrived there, +and thence, at Lucerne, on the 28th at 9 A.M. Capital journey. + +From Lucerne they went on to Milan and Bologna and to Florence, which they +reached on May 3rd, which they made their headquarters for the next three +weeks, seeing all that was interesting in the city and the neighbourhood, +and visiting Siena, Chiusi, Perugia, and Assisi. Then to Spezia, Turin, +Geneva, and to Paris on the 24th. + +Meantime Reeve, having been proposed by St.-Hilaire, supported by the Duc +d'Aumale, Jules Simon, and Duruy, as a foreign member of the Institut de +France, in succession to Sir Henry Maine, had been elected by a large +majority on May 8th. He seems to have received the first news of this from +the Duc d'Aumale, who wrote from Palermo on May 10th:-- + +Mon ancien maitre, confrere et ami, Duruy, m'ecrit que vous venez d'etre +nomme associe etranger de son Academie par vingt-sept voix. C'est un beau +succes dont je veux tout de suite me rejouir avec vous, en attendant que je +puisse le faire de vive voix. Je compte etre le 20 de ce mois a Bruxelles, +et diner avec le Club quelque jour du mois de juin. + +The election had to be approved by the President of the Republic, and the +result was not officially communicated till the 19th. It would seem that +Reeve did not receive it till his arrival in Paris, and on the next day, +May 25th, St.-Hilaire wrote:-- + +Demain je vous accompagnerai pour votre entree a l'Academie. Vous verrez +que le ceremonial est des plus simples. Je vous presenterai specialement a +M. Franck, qui, sur ma demande, a ete votre rapporteur, et qui a parle de +vous en termes excellents. + +From the Duc d'Aumale he received, a few days later:-- + +_Bruxelles, 31 mai._--Je ne doutais pas du bon accueil qui vous serait fait +a l'Institut, et je suis ravi d'en recevoir le temoignage par votre lettre. +Je voudrais bien pouvoir assister au diner du Club du 12 juin; mais j'en +ai quelque doute, tandis que je crois etre certain, _Deo adjuvante_, de +pouvoir m'asseoir a notre table fraternelle le mardi 26. Je vous serre +affectueusement la main. + +On May 28th Reeve returned to London. The entries in the Journal are of +little interest, but he noted:-- + +_June 12th._--At Lady Knutsford's, evening, met Lord and Lady Lansdowne, +just back from Canada. + +_15th_.--To Foxholes. The Emperor Fritz of Germany died. During the whole +of his short reign, which lasted ninety-nine days, the most bitter quarrels +went on about his medical treatment. It was a great tragedy. + +_25th_.--To London again. 26th, breakfasted with the Duc d'Aumale, who +dined at The Club. + +_July 2nd._--To Winchester Quarter Sessions to qualify as J.P. for +Hampshire, having been recently appointed by Lord Carnarvon. + +_9th_.--Attended Petty Sessions at Christchurch. + +_30th_.--Winchester Assizes. On the Grand Jury. + +The next letter, from Sir Arthur Gordon, refers to an incident alluded to +in the 'Greville Memoirs,' [Footnote: Third Part, i. 54-5.] which Reeve +had commented on at some length, with a reference to the Memoirs of Lord +Malmesbury, published some four years before. + +What Lord Malmesbury had said amounted to this--that in 1844, when the +Russian Emperor Nicholas was in London, 'he, Sir Robert Peel (then prime +minister) and Lord Aberdeen (then foreign secretary) drew up and _signed_ +a memorandum' to the effect that England 'would support Russia in her +legitimate protectorship of the Greek religion and the Holy Shrines, +without consulting France. Lord Malmesbury added that the fact of Lord +Aberdeen, one of the signers of this paper, being prime minister in 1853, +was taken by Nicholas as a ground for believing that England would not +join France to restrain the pretensions of Russia, and therefore, by +implication, that Lord Aberdeen's being prime minister was a--if not +the--principal cause of the war. [Footnote: _Lord Malmesbury's Memoirs of +an Ex-Minister_ (1st edit.), i. 402-3.] + +The memorandum itself, as printed in the Blue Book, differs essentially, +both in matter and form, from Lord Malmesbury's description of it. It +is entitled 'Memorandum by Count Nesselrode delivered to Her Majesty's +Government and founded on communications received from the Emperor of +Russia subsequently to His Imperial Majesty's visit to England in June +1844.' [Footnote: _Parliamentary Papers_, 1854, lxxi. 863.] It is unsigned, +and from the nature of it must be so; it is in no sense an agreement, but +a proposal that England should agree to act in concert with Russia and +Austria; and nothing whatever is said about the Greek religion, the +Holy Places, or the Russian protectorate. It is of course possible that +conversations between Nicholas and Lord Aberdeen, which preceded the +drawing up of this memorandum, may have encouraged the one and hampered +the other; but of this there is no evidence, and Lord Malmesbury could +not possibly know anything about it, though he did know something--very +inaccurately it appears--about the memorandum. The discrepancies had, +in fact, led Reeve to suppose that Malmesbury's statement must refer +to another memorandum; and thus Lord Stanmore's letter has a singular +historical interest, bearing, as it does, on a point that has been much +discussed. + +_From Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_Queen's House, Colombo, July 30th_--I am very sorry that I did not +contrive to meet you while in England.... I am almost equally sorry--in +fact, am equally sorry--that my laziness and procrastination in sending you +my notes prevented their being of any use in the revision of the seventh +volume [of the Greville Memoirs]. I am the more sorry because I confess +I greatly regret that the mare's-nest of the Russian Memorandum of 1844 +should remain unpulled to pieces. You seem half-incredulous as to my +explanation, and ask very naturally, If that is all, why should there have +been any secrecy about it? The secrecy was due to the form, not the matter. +The memorandum was the Emperor's own account of his conversations with +the Duke, Sir R. Peel, and Lord Aberdeen, and a copy of it was sent in a +private letter from Count Nesselrode to Lord Aberdeen. It was never in the +hands of the ordinary diplomatic agents for official communication to the +English Government, nor was it ever treated as an official document. But +its importance was too great to allow its being treated as an ordinary +private letter, and my father personally handed it to Lord Palmerston when +replaced at the F. O. by him. Lord Palmerston delivered it in the same way +to Lord Granville, Lord Granville to Lord Malmesbury, Lord Malmesbury to +Lord John Russell, and Lord John to Lord Clarendon. In 1853 the Emperor +made some reference to this paper which was supposed to make it a public +document, and it was then printed and laid before Parliament soon after the +beginning of the war. This I assure you is the whole history and mystery +of the Russian Memorandum, Lord M. notwithstanding. This is not the only +instance in which Lord M. has mixed up, in singular fashion, what he +himself knew and what was the club gossip at the time. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_August 20th._--Drove over to Lytchet Heath, to stay with the Eustace +Cecils. + +_September 10th._--Joined Mrs. Watney in the 'Palatine' yacht at +Bournemouth. Crossed to Trouville in the night. Lay in 'the ditch' for +twenty hours. 12th, Cherbourg. Met the French fleet and saw the arsenal. +13th, back to Southampton and to Foxholes. Pleasant trip; good weather. + +_20th_--The Eustace Cecils came: took them to Heron Court. This was the +last time Lord Malmesbury saw people there. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Woodnorton, 26 septembre. + +Tres cher ami,--Vous etes bien heureux de pouvoir aller vous promener a +Cherbourg et a Paris. Enfin! + +Oui, j'ai recu un peu de plomb, et meme assez pres de l'oeil gauche; mais +le proverbe dit que ce metal est ami de l'homme. J'en serai quitte pour +quelques petites bosses sous la peau, et je vous souhaite de vous porter +aussi bien que je le fais en ce moment. + +J'irai a Knowsley dans la seconde quinzaine d'octobre; a Sandringham, +dans les premiers jours de novembre; puis mes neveux viendront tirer mes +faisans. J'espere bien prendre part aux agapes du Club le 27 novembre et 11 +decembre, et serai bien heureux de vous revoir un peu. En attendant je vous +serre la main, mon cher confrere. + +H. D'ORLEANS. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, October 2nd._--I am amused by the Court quarrel in Germany, +though I am afraid the broken heads will not be royal heads. Bismarck will +wreak his vengeance on numberless victims. Geffcken is a very old friend +of mine, and an occasional contributor to the 'Edinburgh Review;' but I am +afraid it will go hard with him, for Bismarck regards him as a personal +enemy. If the Prince had lived Bismarck could not have remained in office, +and the course of affairs might have been materially changed. + + * * * * * + +On October 25th Reeve, with his wife, crossed over to Paris. He attended +the Institut on the 26th, and heard mass at Notre Dame on the 27th; but his +principal object seems to have been to consult Dr. Perrin about his eyes, +which for some time back had caused him some uneasiness. A literary man of +seventy-five is naturally quick to take alarm, and an English oculist had +recommended an operation. This Reeve was unwilling to undergo, at any +rate without another and entirely independent opinion; and as Dr. Perrin +pronounced strongly against it, no operation was performed; and with care +and good glasses his eyes continued serviceable to the last. On November +8th the Reeves returned to London, where, as Parliament was sitting, they +remained till Christmas; and, according to the Journal:-- + +_November 27th._--The Club was brilliant with the Duc d'Aumale, Wolseley, +Lord Derby, and Coleridge. Boehm and Maunde Thompson were elected. + +_December 1st_.--To All Souls, Oxford. Prothero, Dicey, Oman, George +Curzon, &c. Stayed over Sunday. + +_27th_.--To Timsbury: thence to Foxholes on the 29th. + +_January 15th_, 1889.--Returned to London. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, January 20th_.--It was very good of you to think of my book on +'L'Inde Anglaise,' and I thank you for the 'Edinburgh Review' which you +have sent me. I read the article with great interest. It is very well done, +and I beg you to thank the author in my name for having taken the trouble +to read me with so much attention and good will. I do not think I have +exaggerated the danger which threatens your great enterprise in India. The +Transcaspian Railway, which will very soon run from Samarkand to Tashkend, +seems to me one source of it. Yours will, indeed, soon reach to Candahar; +but Russia is at home in the country, whilst England is very far off. +The magnanimous confidence you have in your own strength is most +praiseworthy--provided that your watchfulness is not allowed to slumber.... +Meanwhile I remain constant in my admiration of what the English are doing +in India; and the administration of Lord Dufferin may well confirm me in my +opinion. There is nothing like it, or so great as it, in the history of the +past. + +_From Lord Dufferin_ + +British Embassy, Rome, January 27th. + +My dear Reeve,--Many thanks for your letter of the 16th. As you may well +suppose, I am delighted with Lyall's article; for he is acknowledged, both +by Indian and by so much of English public opinion as knows anything of +the matter, to have been the best Indian public servant that the present +generation has produced. In addition, or, as perhaps some would say, in +spite of possessing real literary genius, he proved himself a most wise, +shrewd, and capable administrator. I do not believe he made a single +mistake during his whole career. At all events, I never heard of his having +done so; and a slip is scarcely made in India without the fact being duly +recorded. What pleases me most is that the kind words he uses about myself +should be embedded in the exposition of his own opinions upon Indian +questions--opinions full of acuteness, justice, and knowledge. It is +these that will really make the article interesting to your readers, and +consequently give a greater importance to what he has said about me than +otherwise would have been the case. I have obeyed your orders in regard to +sending a copy of my speech to M. Barthelemy St.-Hilaire. + +The social history of the season is adequately chronicled in the Journal:-- + +_February 5th_.--The Ogilvies in London. + +_22nd_.--Mr. Gollop [Mrs. Reeve's father] died; born October 11th, 1791. +Christine had been down just before. + +_March 12th_.--The Club. Good party: Lord Salisbury, Walpole, Tyndall, +Hooker, Hewett, Lecky, Lyall, A. Russell, Layard, and self. + +_March 20th_.--Meeting at Lord Carnarvon's about the bust of Sir C. Newton. + +_25th_.--Breakfast at Sheen House with Comte and Comtesse de Paris, to meet +Lefevre-Pontalis and Bocher. + +_28th_.--Lunched with Major Dawson at Woolwich and went over the Arsenal. +Very interesting. + +_April 12th_.--Meeting for Matthew Arnold's Memorial. 7,000 _l_. raised. + +_May 4th_.--Dined at the Royal Academy dinner. Sat by Horsley, Tyndall, and +Chitty. + +_From Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_May 5th_.--You may rely upon it that I am absolutely right as to the +Russian Memorandum--Lord Malmesbury does not himself assert that he ever +saw it, which, had it existed, he must have done when Foreign Secretary. I +cannot, of course, expect you to attach the same weight that I do to what +I may call the personal reasons which make me utterly incredulous of Lord +Malmesbury's story; but there are other reasons for doubting it, some of +which may have already occurred to you. One is the alleged form of the +document, which is said to be signed by the Emperor, the Duke, my father, +and Sir R. Peel. Lord Malmesbury prides himself on the knowledge of +diplomatic forms and etiquettes derived from his grandfather's papers. He +might have known that the signature of an engagement by a Sovereign (and +such a Sovereign!) on the one side and _three ministers_ of another +Sovereign on the other (thereby putting them on species of equality) was +an impossibility. Such a paper, if it existed, would be signed either by +_both_ Sovereigns or by the ministers of both. I think I may say with +confidence that the Emperor Nicholas was a most unlikely man to perform +such an act of condescension. And why should he? He had his confidential +minister with him. Another, and I think fatal, objection is that neither +my father nor Lord Clarendon were altogether absolute fools, and when, in +answer to the Emperor's challenge, they published the secret memorandum +which had till then been handed on privately from minister to minister, +they knew what they were about, and would never have put it into the power +of the Emperor to retort that _that_ was not what he referred to, but to a +paper which would not improve the cordiality of the Anglo-French alliance. +Again, is it likely that, if the Emperor had entered into such an +agreement, he would take the trouble to write another long memorandum, +containing the 'substance' of his discussions with the English ministers? +This is the memorandum which was sent in a private letter, which I possess, +from Count Nesselrode to my father; which was handed from minister to +minister, and which was published in 1854. The original draft, Count +Nesselrode said, was in the Emperor's own hand. I have another little bit +of evidence which I think also goes to prove that no such agreement was +entered into in 1844, as Lord Malmesbury supposes. In 1845 Count Nesselrode +visited England. My father, writing to the Queen, gives an account of his +conversations with Nesselrode, and says: 'His language very much resembled +that held by the Emperor; and _although he made no specific proposals_, his +declarations of support, in case of necessity, were _more_ unequivocal.' +(The italics are mine.) Could he have written this if he had already, +some months before, signed an agreement with the Emperor, which was both +unequivocal and specific? + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Sheen House, 7 mai. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve ,--Nous aussi, nous n'avons pas oublie votre +presence a notre mariage le 30 mai 1864. La Comtesse de Paris et moi nous +sommes bien touches de la maniere dont vous nous le rappelez, et je vous +remercie de tout coeur de ce que vous me dites et des voeux que vous +m'adressez en cette occasion. Au milieu de toutes les vicissitudes de notre +vie pendant ces vingt-cinq ans nous avons ete constamment soutenus par +le bonheur domestique que cette union nous a donne et par toutes les +satisfactions que nous ont causees nos enfants. + +Lorsque j'ai recu votre lettre j'allais vous ecrire, ainsi qu'a Madame +Reeve, de vouloir bien venir ici le 30 mai dans l'apres-midi: nous recevons +entre 2 et 5 tous les amis qui viendront feter cet anniversaire avec nous. +Je me souviens bien que Madame Reeve etait avec vous a la chapelle de +Kingston, mais ma memoire n'est pas sure en ce qui concerne Madame votre +fille. Je vous serais bien reconnaissant de me faire savoir si elle etait +avec vous ce jour-la. En attendant je vous prie de me croire Votre bien +affectionne, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PARIS. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_May 7th._--The Club: Due d'Aumale, Lord Salisbury, Wolseley, Carlisle, A. +Russell, Hewett, Stephen--very brilliant. + +_8th_.--Returned to Foxholes. + +_16th_.--Drove to Heron Court. Lord Malmesbury dying. + +_17th_.--Lord Malmesbury died. 22nd, attended his funeral in Priory Church. +29th, to London. + +_30th_.--The silver wedding of the Comte and Comtesse de Paris at Sheen. +All the French Royalties, Prince of Wales, &c. About five hundred people; +169 persons still alive who were at the wedding in 1864. A silver medal was +sent to all the survivors. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, June 6th_.--If I am free in the autumn, it will give me great +pleasure to pay you another visit at Foxholes; the first has left a +pleasant memory, and I ask no better than to repeat it. But, without having +to complain of old age, I find more difficulty in going about. I am not +exactly ill, but my strength gradually fails--a sign that the end is not +far off. + +I foresaw that General Boulanger would have no success in England; you are +much too serious for such a nature as his. His popularity diminishes daily; +and if the Cabinet act with judgement from now to the October elections, +I have no doubt they may regain public favour. The triumph of Boulangism +would be the signal for horrible anarchy at home and war abroad, provoked +by the madmen who had climbed into power. + +Monarchy, in the person of the Comte de Paris, is losing rather than +gaining ground here. If France should ever return to a dynasty, it would be +more likely to be the Bonapartes. The terrible name of Napoleon has still +an immense _prestige_, however unworthy his successors. + +M. St.-Hilaire's visit did not come off. The Journal mentions many dinners, +receptions, and garden parties in town during June and July, and eleven +days in August on board Mrs. Watney's yacht 'Palatine,' to see the naval +review on the 5th. 'Very rough weather all the time.' In September a +journey to Edinburgh and on the 14th to Chesters, chronicled as 'my first +visit to my daughter.' A week later Reeve returned south; and, paying a few +short visits on the way, including a day at Knowsley, was back at Foxholes +by the 26th. + +_From Count Vitzthum_ + +Villa Vitzthum, Baden Baden, August 30th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I beg to send you the proofs of the preface and +contents, in order to show you the plan of my book. + +I am very sorry that you do not approve of the account I have given of our +interview in September 1866. It was unfortunately too late to cancel the +letter, but nothing would prevent leaving it out if those memoirs should +ever be translated. On further consideration, and after reading the +foregoing pages, you will find, I am sure, that your comment on the +situation in September 1866 was not only correct, but very valuable. The +peace of Europe then was threatened by two eventualities, of which one +happened: by an ostensible alliance between Prussia and France, or by an +immediate war between both. Rouher and Lavalette worked very hard for the +alliance, and your sound judgement indicated the consequences which such an +alliance would have had. I quite agree with you about these relations. But +the opinion of a man like you is a fact, and an important fact; because you +have been in those days what they call a representative man; because you +represented a great portion of the Liberal party. It does not take one iota +off the value of your opinion--which, you may depend upon it, was correctly +recorded--if the course of events took another turn, and if this monster +alliance remained a dream of adventurous French politicians. The thing was +on the cards. + +As for Napoleon's malady, all I can say [is] that Nelaton, who then was +consulted for the first time, wrote a letter to King Leopold of Belgium, +stating that it was very probable the Emperor of the French would be found +any morning dead in his bed, and that he would most likely die before the +end of November. Very truly yours, + +VITZTHUM. + +In consequence of this letter Mr. Reeve wrote to Mr. T. Norton Longman:-- + +_Foxholes, September 3rd._--Count Vitzthum is about to publish two more +volumes of his political reminiscences during his mission in London. I send +you the index of the work, from which you will see that it contains a good +deal of matter, anecdotes, &c., of interest to English readers. You will +judge from the result of the former work whether you think it worth while +to engage in the publication of a translation of these later volumes. But, +as I am going away till the end of the month, I cannot negotiate with Count +Vitzthum or with the translator, and I must beg you to take that upon +yourself. + +A month later, however, on October 2nd, he wrote that, after seeing the +book, he was of opinion that it would not stand translation. It was +reviewed in the 'Edinburgh' of January 1890, but was not translated. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_November 11th_.--I have only begun the Life of Lord John. It would be a +very difficult one to write in a spirit at once of fairness and friendship. +My impression of the man was and is that he was more thoroughly and +essentially a partisan than anyone I have known; and sometimes open to the +comment, that he seemed to consider the Universe as existing for the sake +of the Whig party. Perhaps this would not strike anyone who was trained up +in the same school, as strongly as it did me. On the other hand, I think he +was more generally consistent, and had fewer of his own words to eat, than +any politician of his time or of ours. His religious politics were his weak +part; they were rather narrow and sectarian. I suppose he was forced by the +Court into his quarrel with Palmerston; which was the trouble of his later +official life, and caused these uneasy struggles to recover a lost position +which did him harm. But with all drawbacks he has left an honoured and +distinguished name. Do you think there is any ground for the idea which +Lady Russell puts about that, if he had lived till now, he would have gone +for Home Rule? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ONE MORE CHANGE + + +The very wide range of Reeve's studies has appeared from many indications +scattered through these pages, and it has been seen how, at different +times, he was occupying himself with various subjects far outside the +ordinary course of reading. These were, however, connected by some general +idea which pervaded the whole. Of natural science he knew little. As a boy, +the study of mathematics was irksome to him and repulsive, nor was he at +any later time more favourably inclined towards it. His acquaintance +with astronomy, chemistry, physics, and the cognate sciences was very +limited--not more, perhaps, than he picked up in his careful and +intelligent study of the articles published in the 'Edinburgh Review' +during the forty years of his editorship. His real knowledge was confined +by a band of history, but of history in its very widest sense, including +not only war and politics and law, but political economy, literature, +religion, and superstition. Of military science he had read sufficient to +take a technical interest in the details of battles and campaigns, and +he was perhaps one of the first landsmen of this age to understand the +'influence of sea-power.' His attention had been called to this at a very +early period in his career by the utter collapse of Mehemet Ali in Syria; +and reasoning on that, he had learned that 'sea-power,' or, as he preferred +to call it, 'maritime-power,' controlled and directed affairs with which, +at first sight, it seemed to have absolutely nothing to do. + +Long before Captain Mahan began to teach, or to write those admirable works +which came as a revelation to the English and the European public, he had +opened the pages of the 'Edinburgh Review' to writers who, in different +ways and in different degrees, were inculcating the same doctrine, which +during the long peace, and by reason of the overwhelming superiority of the +allies in the Russian war, had been almost forgotten, even by professional +men. It would not be difficult to show how, during the thirty years which +preceded the publication of Captain Mahan's 'Influence of Sea-Power,' its +most important theories were illustrated and discussed in the pages of the +'Review.' The following, by one of the most accomplished officers in our +navy, refers to such an article in the January number:-- + +_From Captain Bridge, R.N._ + +_January 19th_.--As an Englishman and a sailor, I feel it to be a duty +again to congratulate you on the article 'Naval Supremacy,' &c., in the new +number of the 'Edinburgh Review.' That article and the one concerning which +I previously addressed you can hardly fail to do good. The Maurician school +and its 'two Army-corps and a cavalry division,' which were to be launched +at the Caucasus, must have received a severe check from the earlier +article. The disaster-breeding facts of the fort-builders can hardly +survive many more such assaults as that so sharply driven home in 'Naval +Supremacy.' The opinions of the writer of the latter, I venture to think, +foreshadow those of the Navy on the subject of huge ships and huge guns. +I hold it to be highly beneficial to the country that the editor of the +'Edinburgh Review' should have so keen an appreciation and, for a civilian, +so rare a knowledge of naval affairs. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_April 3rd_--What a new Europe is beginning! Bismarck dismissed; Emperors +holding Socialist conferences; more attempts to murder the Tsar; strikes +all over the world; Germans going to Prussianise Central Africa! No want of +novelty in our time and amusing enough, if one is far enough off. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 14 _juin_.--Ou diable avais-je la tete, mon cher ami? (ne +montrez pas ce preambule a nos amis puritains.) Je croyais bien vous avoir +ecrit que je comptais passer la mer vers le 22, diner avec le Club le 24, +embrasser mes neveux et nieces de toutes generations, voir quelques amis, +et rentrer ici vers la fin de la semaine. Je persiste dans ce projet, +_weather permitting_; c'est-a-dire sauf le cas de tempete que l'on est bien +force de prevoir avec une pareille saison. A bientot donc, s'il plait a +Dieu. Je finis mieux que je ne commence, et je vous serre la main. + +H. D'O. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 26 _juillet_.--J'essaye de chasser par le travail les +preoccupations qui m'obsedent. Je n'y reussis pas toujours. Est-ce l'effet +de l'age? mais je suis de plus en plus anxieux sur l'avenir de mon pays et +meme de l'Europe. Nous sommes dans le faux depuis 1848, et il est sorti de +la guerre de '70 un etat de choses bien perilleux. + +Au revoir et mille amities. + +The diary and the correspondence for the rest of the year are singularly +barren of interest. A troublesome attack of sciatica in the end of July led +to Reeve's being advised to try Harrogate, whither he accordingly went +in the beginning of August. He found the place--possibly also the +water--disagreeable, and after a week's stay he went on to Bolton Abbey, to +Minto, and to Chesters. By the end of the month he was back at Foxholes, +where he remained throughout September. Early in October he went for a ten +days' visit to Knowsley, where he met Froude and the Duc d'Aumale, with +whom he returned to London. Then to Foxholes for a month, coming up to +town in the middle of November, and--with the exception of a week at +Easter--staying there till May 1891. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_Knowsley, January 20th_.--What do you think of Home Rule in its present +phase? Chamberlain says it is dead; I say it is badly crippled, but capable +of a good deal of mischief still. I see no new question coming forward, +except that of strikes, eight-hours legislation, and Socialism generally. + +Do you ever see the 'New Review'? I picked it up yesterday, and read a very +pretty Socialist programme by Morris and a Mr. Bernard Shaw, whom I never +heard of before, but who is apparently rather clever and rather cracked. I +suspect ideas of that class are making progress. + +This letter, though not calling for any hurry, Reeve answered immediately, +as was his general custom. It was indeed only by this prompt attention +that, with the enormous correspondence which he carried on, he could +prevent an accumulation which would have been overwhelming. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, January 21st_.--I think Home Rule, as an English party +cry, has received a death blow, and cannot be used to bring a party into +power. But Ireland remains open, an eternal field of agitation, and the +Irishmen are still in the House of Commons. Perhaps the want of funds may +embarrass them. I have not seen the 'New Review,' but there is a vast deal +of lawlessness and wild speculation in the air, injurious to the first +conditions of social life, and I confess I have no unbounded confidence in +the boasted good sense of the English people; they are very ignorant and +very selfish. No one tells them so many sensible home truths as yourself. +As for the strikes, the strikers are the greatest sufferers. + +I have published a remarkable article on the fiscal system of the United +States--by an American--which I hope you will read. My contributor thinks +there are great difficulties ahead in America, and Mr. Blaine's bluster is +an attempt to direct public attention into another channel. + +I have been laid up for some days with a cold and gout, but have been out +to-day and am better. I never remember so terrible a winter; but we hope it +is passing away, though it is still freezing here. + +_Foxholes, May 12th_.--I was sorry to leave London without seeing you and +Lady Derby again; but the Fates were against me: you were laid up with +cold, and I have been troubled for some weeks with sciatica, which impedes +my movements. I hope you have shaken off your attack and will get out of +town. The atmosphere of London seems to be in a very noxious state, and I +don't know that the atmosphere of the House of Commons is much better. A +committee of the whole House strikes an outsider as the clumsiest machine +for legislation that was ever invented. + +An unlimited power of moving amendments brings us to the same results as +the Polish Veto. + +I hope to come up to the dinners of The Club on June 2nd and 16th. On the +latter day the Duc d'Aumale will dine with us, so I trust you will keep it +free. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_May 13th_.--You are quite right about the House of Commons. They will +pass the Land Bill, I suppose, but scarcely anything else. Most of the +obstruction is unintended; loquacity, vanity, and fear of constituents do +more mischief than faction. I am not sure that it is an unmixed evil that +the legislative coach should be compelled to drive slowly. + +For Reeve the principal social event of the year, or rather the one most +out of ordinary course, was the conferring an honorary degree on the Duc +d'Aumale by the University of Oxford. Of the preliminary step no record +remains, but it would seem that at a very early stage Reeve was requested +to sound the Duke, who wrote on November 30th, 1890, that he should feel +greatly honoured if the University of Oxford should confer on him the +degree of D.C.L.--'si pauvre legiste que je sois.' On this Reeve wrote to +Dr. Liddell, then Dean of Christ Church, [Footnote: After having held this +office for thirty-six years, Dr. Liddell retired in 1891, and died at the +age of 87, on January 18th, 1898.] who replied on December 2nd:-- + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I shall be proud to propose H.R.H.'s (the Duc d'Aumale's) +name for an Honorary Degree at the next Encaenia. This will not be till +June 17th, 1891. I hope his R.H. will be my guest on the occasion. +Meantime, it is our rule that no mention should be made of the name to be +proposed. Yours very truly, + +H. G. LIDDELL. + +Other correspondence about this there was, and on February 25th, 1891, Dr. +Liddell again wrote:-- + +The arrangements you suggest for the Duc d'Aumale will suit very well. Of +course it is running it rather fine to arrive at 11.13; but we will see +about this as the time approaches. Meantime I must ask you and the Duke's +friends not to say anything about the matter at present. I shall have to +give notice to our Council in May. A fortnight after, his name will be +submitted to ballot; and though there can be no reasonable doubt that +H.R.H.'s name will be received with acclamation, they make a great point of +secrecy till the ballot takes place. + +Perhaps about the beginning of May you will be so good as to send me a +complete statement of H.R.H.'s claims to an Honorary Degree. I know much +about them, but should be glad to be fully equipped. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 9 _juin_.--Bon! tres cher ami, nous irons, s'il plait a Dieu, +ensemble a Oxford, le 17, par 9.55 en cravate blanche. Je compte arriver le +14 au soir a Claridge's, ou je serai present le lundi, 15, de 10 a midi, +et de 6 a 7; le mardi, 16, de 10 a midi. Si vous pouvez venir m'y voir, +je serai tres heureux, car j'ai encore besoin de quelques renseignements +complimentaires. + +Vous m'avez offert l'hospitalite du Dean, et je lui ai ecrit que je +l'acceptais. Mais en quoi consiste cette hospitalite? Simple luncheon suivi +d'un depart, ou diner et coucher au doyenne? Je ne voudrais pas manquer de +courtoisie; but above all I would not intrude--et je suis _tres dispose_ +a me retirer de tres bonne heure. Seulement j'aimerais a etre fixe pour +prendre tous mes arrangements. + +The Journal simply notes that on June 16th the Duc d'Aumale dined at The +Club; and on the 17th 'with Duc d'Aumale to Oxford, where he was made +D.C.L. Lunch at All Souls; very pleasant day.' Reeve left early and +returned at once to Foxholes. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 1er _juillet_.--Apres votre depart de Christ Church [Oxford] +le 17 nous avons eu le ou la 'Gaudy.' Ainsi que vous l'aviez prevu, j'ai du +dire quelques mots a peine prepares. Comme il n'y avait pas de _reporter_, +et que je n'avais aucune note, et comme l'auditoire, y compris nos +Seigneurs les eveques, avait accueilli mon _speech_ avec bienveillance, je +l'ai note sur le papier--comme disent les musiciens--avant de me coucher. +Vous avez ete presque mon parrain a Oxford, je vous en dois bien la copie. +C'est, en tous cas, un temoignage de ma fidele amitie. + +The speech which follows, although delivered under circumstances which +necessitated a complimentary tone, is a more than usually graceful tribute +to our old Universities, and the introduction of the little analogue is +singularly happy. The Duke, whose letters to Reeve are all in French, wrote +this _verbatim_ as here given, in correct English, perfectly well spelt. + +Mr. Dean, my Lords and Gentlemen,--Let me first express how highly I prize +the honour which has been conferred upon me to-day, and how glad I am to be +so connected with your illustrious University. I have always admired the +University of Oxford. I have more than once visited this town, when I +received a princely hospitality in the noble baronial halls of this +neighbourhood--Nuneham, Blenheim--or when I was quietly living on the banks +of the Avon. Often I brought here my French friends, and I tried to +explain the peculiarities, the complicated machinery of this illustrious +corporation; to show how, remaining faithful to the traditions, preserving +your old customs, you did not remain deaf to what might be said without, +nor blind to the movement of the world; how, slowly perhaps, but prudently, +step by step, you managed to bring the necessary changes, the wanted +modifications, so as to keep pace with the times without breaking with the +past. + +'Mais c'est le couteau de Jeannot que cette Universite,' said one of my +interlocutors. Well, I will give you the tale of Jeannot's knife. + +There was once a young peasant called Jeannot, and he had a knife of which +he took great care. He found that the blade was rusting and he changed the +blade. Then he found that the handle was decaying from dry-rot, and he +changed the handle; and so on. His friends laughed at him, and would not +take the same care of their knives, which they lost--one breaking the +blade, another the handle. But Jeannot, having always kept his knife in +good order, could always make use of it, cleverly and powerfully. + +Well, I think there is some analogy between the tale of this humble man and +the history of your great University. It seems to me I see the huge frame +of a large fabric which has stood for centuries glorious and proud. The +stones are changed, the bricks, the mortar, or the roof are renewed; and +the fabric still stands through the ages, through the storms, glorious and +proud. And I hope it will so remain and stand everlasting, with its old +frame and the new materials; and I wish glory and prosperity to the +University of Oxford. + +To all who have thought of my name and conferred upon me the honour I have +just received, and to those who have given me such a kindly reception, I +send my best thanks, and I wish prosperity and success. + +At this time, and indeed ever since his retirement from the Council Office, +Reeve's chief work was in connexion with the 'Review;' but he also did a +very great deal as literary adviser of the Longmans. He had indeed, to some +extent, acted in this capacity ever since he undertook the conduct of the +'Review;' the two offices fitted into and were supplementary to each other; +and it will be remembered that in 1875 [Footnote: See _ante_, p. 243.] +he had contemplated retiring from the public service, with the view +of undertaking the main responsibility of this work for the firm. +Circumstances had delayed his retirement; but by an arrangement with the +firm in 1878, which continued in force during the rest of his life, the +number of works he examined and reported on was considerably increased, and +must have been very large. Books in French, German, or Italian offered for +translation, MSS. in English offered for publication--whatever there was of +grave, serious, or important, as well as a good deal that was not, was sent +to him for a first or a revised opinion. And this opinion was given very +frankly, and most commonly in the fewest possible words: 'My advice is that +you have nothing to do with it' was a not unfrequent formula. Another, +less frequent, was, 'He--the aspirant to literary fame and emolument--can +neither write nor spell English;' 'I wish they wouldn't send their trash to +me' was an occasional prayer; 'Seems to me sheer nonsense;'--'What a waste +of time and labour!'--'It is very provoking that people should attempt to +write books who cannot write English,' were occasional reports. Of course +many of his judgements were very different: 'A work of great interest which +must have a large sale;' 'Secure this if you possibly can;' 'A most +able work, but will scarcely command a remunerative sale;' 'Not worth +translating, but send me a copy for the "Review,"' are some of his more +favourable verdicts. But in all cases the judgements were sharp and +decisive; there was about them nothing of the celebrated 'This work might +be very good if it was not extremely bad,' or its converse. These reports +were, of course, in the highest degree confidential; and, especially of the +unfavourable ones, Reeve made a point of forgetting all about the origin of +them. On one occasion, when a reference was made to a work he had reported +on a few weeks before, he wrote in reply, 'The numerous MSS. &c. sent for +an opinion leave no trace on my memory.' + +As it was with printed books and larger MSS., so it was with articles +submitted for the 'Review;' but he did not encourage casual contributions, +and seldom--perhaps never--accepted any without some previous +understanding. The political articles and the reviews of important books +were almost invariably written in response to a direct invitation; but +whether the articles sent in were invited or offered, he equally reserved +the right to express his approval or disapproval or disagreement, and to +insist, if necessary, on the article being remodelled or withdrawn. Such +an insistence is more than once noticed in his correspondence, quite +irrespective of the high reputation of the author. Probably every one whose +contributions have been at all numerous has had an opportunity of noticing +how perfectly candid and yet how courteous his remarks always were. If an +article pleased him, he said so in terms that from anyone else might have +seemed extravagant. Many letters of this type might be given; one must +suffice, written to a valued contributor, dead, unfortunately, many years +ago--Colonel Charles Cornwallis Chesney:-- + +_C. O., February 26th, 1873_.--I received the proofs of your article on Lee +last night, and therefore I conclude that you have received them also. I +don't exaggerate the least when I say that the article strikes me as +a _chef d'oeuvre_ of military biography. You have drawn a most heroic +character with peculiar grace and fervour, and the account of the military +operations is singularly clear and interesting. It only strikes me that you +have repeated the comparison with Hannibal rather too often. + +Pray be so good as to return the proofs to _me_ as soon as you can, that I +may have the article made up and printed off. I feel infinitely obliged to +you for it. + +The value of such praise was heightened, its apparent extravagance done +away with, by the knowledge that dissatisfaction would be expressed in +language equally unmistakable, and that either by the contributor or the +editor the modifications which seemed to him desirable would be made. It +was partly because he reserved to himself this power and accepted all the +responsibility, that he insisted so strenuously on the anonymous character +of the articles. But more even than that was his abhorrence of anything +like 'log-rolling,' which, in his opinion, was inseparable from signed +reviews. To the very last he discouraged, and indeed openly expressed his +disapproval and dislike of the presumably inspired announcements of +authors' names in the 'Athenaeum' or other journals. Here is an extract +from a letter dated October 6th, 1891, which illustrates this objection:-- +'The only objection I have to the republication of articles with the name +of the writer is that it destroys their anonymous character, which ought +especially to be retained when they contain criticism of contemporaries.' +So careful was he lest anything might warp the perfect fairness of +criticism, which should 'nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.' +I, who write these lines, can say positively, after having written for the +'Review' under Reeve for upwards of twenty years, that in all that time I +never received a hint or suggestion that any book should be dealt with +otherwise than on its merits; and whilst engaged on this present work I +have learned, for the first time, that men whose books I have reviewed, +not always favourably, were personal friends of the editor. The following +letter, addressed to Mr. T. N. Longman, is merely a concrete illustration +of this:-- + +_December 26th_, 1891.--I thought it best to tell Froude frankly that the +review of his book [Footnote: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon,' in the +_Review_ of January 1892.] in the 'Edinburgh' would be an unfavourable one. +At the same time I disclaimed in the strongest language any disposition +to make a personal attack on himself. Unfortunately he seems to ascribe +adverse criticism of his works to personal animosity, which, in his case, +is entirely wanting. + +It is a painful necessity. Froude and his book are too important to be +passed over in silence. But the judicial character and consistency, and I +may say honour, of the 'Review' absolutely require that the truth should be +told about the book. I should consider it a derogation to my duty to the +'Review' if, from personal motives or affection, I suppressed an adverse +criticism of a work which imperatively demands an answer. The independence +of the 'Review' requires an independent judgement; but I expressly +stipulated with the writer of the article that he should abstain from +_bitterness_, which was carried too far in Goldwin Smith's article on +the same subject in 1858. The 'Review' is pledged to the views already +expressed on that occasion. + +I have therefore modified as far as possible any expressions which appeared +to be of too censorious a character; but it is impossible to avoid +condemning a mistaken book because the author is a personal friend. _Judex +damnatur si nocens absolvitur_ is our motto. + +Froude does not like Mr. Gardiner's book. He says, 'It's a menagerie of +tame beasts.' I think very highly of the book; and as we differ, I have +yielded to his wish to be released from the engagement. + +Nobody can regret more than I do any differences between old friends; but +my duty is to look solely to the consistency and integrity of the 'Review,' +without which criticism is worthless; and this consideration leaves me no +other course. + +Another point, of a similar nature, I can illustrate by my own experience. +I had undertaken, at Reeve's request, to review a rather important +historical work published by Longmans, but on reading it was so +unfavourably impressed by it that I wrote to say that the best thing I +could do would be to return the volumes; that the book was bad, and if +I reviewed it I must say so; but that doing this in the publisher's own +Review would have a certain resemblance to seething a kid in its mother's +milk, and might probably be objected to. 'Not a bit of it,' was the sense +of the reply I received by return of post: 'a bad book may be the text for +an interesting article, and we have nothing to do with who published it.' +So I expressed my opinion of the book in very plain terms; the review was +printed exactly as I wrote it, and the editor thanked me warmly for what +he was pleased to speak of as an 'excellent article.' It may, perhaps, be +assumed that this was not an isolated case; but written evidence of any +others is not before me. + +After returning from Oxford, Reeve spent the rest of the year at Foxholes, +He had intended going to London and possibly to Scotland in October, but an +accidental stumble in his library over a heavy despatch box made a nasty +wound on the left shin, which took many weeks in healing and prevented his +travelling till the middle of December. On the 19th he went to town, where, +with the exception of some short visits to Bath or to Foxholes, he remained +till June, dining several times at The Club, entertaining at home in his +customary manner, and keeping up a constant--almost daily--correspondence, +such as has been indicated, with the Longmans, for the most part with the +head of the firm, whom he had known from childhood and habitually addressed +by his Christian name. + +As he returned to Foxholes the country was in the throes of a general +election. Tired, it would seem, of steady and consistent government, it +longed for a change--anything for a change; and so opened the door for an +administration whose almost avowed object was to play skittles with the +Constitution--to bowl down the Union, the Established Church, the House +of Lords, the rights of property, and any other little trifles that were +sacred to law and religion. It was with deep regret that Reeve watched the +overthrow of what he considered the true Liberal party, and he wrote to Mr. +T. Norton Longman:-- + +_Foxholes_, _July 14th_--The results of the elections are far worse than +could be expected. Some of them are very odd. I have to deplore the defeat +of many of my friends. I suppose the Queen will have to make up her mind +to a ministry composed of men she abhors; but the majority will have in it +inherent weakness and the seeds of dissolution. + +I have found it difficult to say anything about the elections and have been +as short as possible. + +From a somewhat different point of view, he wrote a few days later to Lord +Derby:-- + +_Foxholes, July 22nd._--I have, of course, been watching with great +interest the progress of the elections, and I am happy to say that +Hampshire, like all the southern counties, comes out with a clean Unionist +bill. If the ultimate majority was to be small, is it not better to be in +opposition than in power? Mr. Gladstone's position, as the man responsible +for the conduct of affairs, is much less desirable than that of Lord +Salisbury, for he has the better half of the country dead against him. How +curious it is to trace on the map in the 'Times' the old traditions of +Saxon, Celtic, Mercian, and Danish origin in the counties of England, +Ireland, and Wales! Are the Celts to govern the Saxons? + +Early in August Reeve was visited at Foxholes by Count Adam Krasinski +[Footnote: Son of Ladislas and grandson of Reeve's early friend Sigismond +Krasinski. He was born in 1870, and married at Vienna in 1897.]--a +connecting link with the past, the merry days when he was young; and on +Krasinski's departure, he went north to visit some friends in Wales and +thence on to Chesters. + +Parliament met on August 4th, and on a simple motion of want of confidence, +as an amendment to the Address, the Ministry was defeated. Lord Salisbury +resigned, and Mr. Gladstone came into office with a Cabinet in which every +shade of unconstitutional opinion and every socially destructive fad were +fully represented. Reeve consoled himself with the belief that such a +ministry could not last. To Mr. T. Norton Longman he wrote:-- + +_Chesters, August 22nd_.--I have been paying some visits in Wales and have +come on here, where Mrs. Reeve preceded me. We find the Ogilvies very +flourishing, and the place beautiful. Here, at least, it is not hot, which +seems to be the grievance elsewhere. + +We are going to Rutland Gate on Friday and to Foxholes on Monday, and shall +remain there, except for a visit to a neighbour. + +I think Mr. Gladstone's Ministry a wretched affair. The old ones are worn +out, and the young ones are not broken in, and bring no weight at all. +The sole gratification of every one of them is absolute submission and +obedience to the Chief. But he will have some troublesome outsiders. + +_Foxholes, September 7th_.--We shall stay here till October 6th, when I +mean to come to London for two or three days, on our way to Knowsley. The +world seems fast asleep after the excitement of the summer, and people have +nothing to talk or write about but the cholera--which is not amusing. + +It was whilst at Chesters that Reeve received a curious note from the +Marquis of Lorne, written to 'The Editor of the "Edinburgh Review,"' as to +a total stranger:-- + +Osborne, August 21st. + +SIR,--I have found a number of original unpublished letters written by the +Duke of Argyll in 1705 and the Earl of Leven in 1706, from Edinburgh, to +Queen Anne and Godolphin, on the measures taken in the Scots Parliament +for the Union between England and Scotland, and am writing a notice of and +giving extracts from these papers, and wish to ask if you would care to +have this notice as an article in your 'Review.' + +I remain, yours faithfully, + +LORNE. + +Reeve's answer corrected the mistake, and in forwarding the MS. referred +to, to Foxholes, Lord Lorne wrote:-- + +Kensington Palace, September 5th. + +My dear and ancient friend and editor,--I did not know, to my disgrace, +that you are still in command. I never thought when the grey mare subsided +under you at Inveraray, in--year, [Footnote: Blank in the original; meaning +presumably--'so long ago that I've forgotten.' Reeve's one recorded visit +to Inveraray was in August 1858 (_ante_, vol. i. p. 395), when the Marquis +of Lorne was a boy of thirteen.] that in 1892 I should be writing to you +about proofs! It makes me feel young again to think of you in your old +capacity. If old times' gossip suits the 'Review,' please send the proofs +to me here--to Kensington Palace--whence, if I be away, they will be +forwarded to me. + +Yours very faithfully, + +LORNE. + +A few days later came the following letter from Count Adam Krasinski, to +whom, when at Foxholes, Reeve had given the letters of his grandfather, +Sigismond Krasinski. + +Royalin, September 10th. + +SIR,--On arriving in Warsaw a few days ago, I took the liberty of sending +you some bottles of wine from our cellar, among which is some +Hungarian Tokay, one of the oldest wines we have, bought by my +great-great-grandfather, the father of General Vincent, in the year of the +latter's birth. I hope you will be so good as to accept this little +present and make it welcome; for, being young myself, I have chosen an old +ambassador to thank you for your kindness to me. I can never sufficiently +thank you for the charming way in which you have made me the handsome +present of my grandfather's correspondence, which is of inestimable value +to me. The more I read it the more I realise its value. It contains the +whole developement of a noble character, and a fine nature, set forth in +long, full, and frequent letters to a trusted friend. And what a pleasure +it is to have the answers of this friend, so clearly showing your relations +to each other, and the reciprocal influence of two minds! Thanks, and again +thanks. + +I am very well, and am at present with my stepfather in the Grand Duchy of +Posnanie. Our plans for the winter are not yet fixed. Paris attracts me +greatly; but, on the other hand, I am advised to go to Heidelberg, where +there is better air and a milder climate. In any case, I will endeavour to +revisit England next year, and so recall myself to your memory. + +Agreez, Monsieur, l'expression de ma tres grande consideration, a laquelle +je joins des sentiments respectueux pour Madame votre femme. + +ADAM KRASINSKI. + +To Mr. Norton Longman at this time Reeve wrote--primarily on the business +of the 'Review,' but incidentally on a literary conundrum which was just +then causing a little excitement:-- + +_Foxholes, September 16th_.--I do not think the translation of a French +book on Political Economy is _prima facie_ advisable. But the book seems +(from the accounts in the 'Nation') to be so excellent that I should be +glad to see it, and may have it reviewed in the 'Edinburgh.' The title is, +'Le Capital, la Speculation et la Finance au XIXe Siecle;' par Claudio +Jannet. Published by Plon. + +No one who knew Sir Richard Wallace could believe that he wrote 'The +Englishman in Paris.' I said from the first that it was a mere collection +of old gossip to be passed off on the English public as something racy. If +Grenville Murray were alive, this is exactly the sort of thing he would +have done. But Grenville Murray left a son, who must now be grown up, and +who may have inherited some of his father's sinister talents. They have +lived for many years in Paris. Sir Richard Wallace was the very type of a +gentleman of the highest breeding--rather stern, melancholy, not at all +humorous, and incapable of vulgarity or pretence. + +October slipped away in visits to Stratton (Lord Northbrook's) and to +Knowsley, and the remainder of the year for the most part at Foxholes. In +December Reeve was proposing to have a review of Sir Mountstuart Grant +Duff's 'Life of Sir Henry Maine,' and consulted the author as to who would +be the best fitted to write it. This is what Sir Mountstuart wrote in +reply:-- + +_Twickenham, December 11th_.--I am very proud to find that so excellent a +judge thinks well of my little memoir of Maine. As to the article about +which you write, I think Sir Frederick Pollock would be very much the best +man to undertake it--the only man who could tell us, without any bias, what +I exceedingly want to know: how much of Maine's juridical speculations, +especially in 'Ancient Law,' is finally accepted. He may say that he has +said his say about Maine; but he has not; he has said a little, but I am +sure he has a great deal more to say. I wish to know the real value of each +of Maine's books.... I am writing a quite small book about Renan--the only +great Frenchman of our day whom you did not know very well. + +The next was a Christmas greeting from Lord Derby, with an interesting +comment on the situation in France:-- + +_Knowsley, December 5th_.--Thanks for your letter of inquiry and good +wishes; the latter are cordially returned. Lady Derby joins me in the hope +that the coming year may be one of health and happiness to you and yours. I +cannot give a very rosy account of myself, being still ill and weak; even +if all goes well, I expect to have to lead in future a life of quiet +and privacy. My days of speeches are almost certainly ended; and after +forty-four years of public life, I do not much regret it. + +The developement of events in 1893 will be interesting to watch. All +reports agree that Gladstone is taking the work of his office very easily, +and that he leaves nearly everything to his colleagues. That will not be so +easy in the Session. The Cabinet will be prevented by fear of ridicule +from breaking up on the Irish Bill, but all their friends and backers seem +prepared for its failure. + +You are a hopeless pessimist as to French affairs. They certainly are not +going on smoothly, but where is the new Boulanger? Bourbons and Bonapartes +are played out; and France might advertise for a dictator without finding +one. If that be so, what threatens the republic? A socialist outbreak would +only strengthen it. Surely a nation may go on muddling its affairs a long +while without mortal harm. + +Waddington, I am told, was informed by his friends that he had no right +to remain a Senator without taking his seat, and that he must give up one +position or the other. This is the excuse made for his recall. The truth, I +suppose, is that his place was wanted. He will be a real loss. + +With the new year the party from Foxholes came to town, and there Reeve was +laid up with a serious illness which lasted nearly a month. The Journal +notes on February 7th--'I attended a dinner of The Club, and resigned the +treasurership, which I had held for twenty-five years.' A corresponding +entry a month later, on March 7th, is 'At the third dinner of The Club. +Lord Salisbury came "to my obsequies" and Gladstone wrote to me. Grant Duff +elected to the treasurership.' + +Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff has been so good as to amplify this by a note +from his own diary. 'At the dinner on February 7th, 1893'--he writes--'I +was in the chair.... Reeve made a statement for which he had prepared me +by letter, to the effect that his great age, breaking health, and frequent +absences from London, would oblige him to resign ere long the treasurership +of The Club--the only office which exists in connection with it. He has +held it for some five-and-twenty years, and it is not surprising that his +voice faltered as he addressed us.... + +_March 21st_--Dined with The Club, taking my seat for the first time as +treasurer. After the last meeting mentioned, Reeve wrote to me to say that +there was a feeling in favour of my becoming his successor, and asked +whether I should object. I replied in the negative, and on the 7th I was +unanimously elected, upon the proposal of Sir Henry Elliot, who was in the +chair, and was seconded by Lord Salisbury.' + +Of the correspondence of this period there is little. Lord Derby, who was +almost, or quite, the last of his political correspondents, was too ill +to write, and died on April 21st. On the 27th Reeve attended the funeral +service at St. Margaret's. Letters relating to the 'Review,' of course, +continued. Here are three referring to a political problem which, so lately +as five years ago, few could have the patience to be bothered with. That +Reeve, at his advanced age, could take it up with such interest is a strong +proof of the vitality and even freshness of his intellect. + +_To Rear-Admiral Bridge_ + +62 Rutland Gate: April 27th. + +My dear admiral,--I wish you would read an article in 'Blackwood's +Magazine' for May (just out) on the Russian occupation of Manchuria. I +never read a more impudent piece of _blague._ ------ must have written it. +Nobody else would boast of swindling the Chinese with a false map. + +This induces me to ask whether you could not give me a short article for +the 'Review' on The Russians on the Pacific' and the naval effects of their +position at Vladivostock. They have made it a fortress, but it will take a +long time to make it a settlement. But it may become important. + +Yours very faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + +_April 30th._--I am very glad you will revert to the North Pacific. You +should refer to your excellent article of 1880, which I have read over +again. It seems to exhaust the subject as far as relates to the settlements +on the Amoor, and even as to Vladivostock; but I suppose that thirteen +years have materially augmented the strength of Russia on the Pacific, and +any additional information would be valuable. + +_Foxholes, May 23rd_.--I am much obliged to you for your interesting +article. I think the best heading would be 'Russia on the Pacific.' As I am +much pressed for room, I have ventured to excise some of your introductory +remarks, which are not essential to the main objects of the paper; but when +you come to positive business at Vladivostock, all that you say is most +excellent and important. I believe the Siberian railroad--like the line to +Samarkand--is only a single line. Such a line 5,000 miles long is a very +ineffective instrument for military and commercial purposes. How much can +it carry, allowing for return trains, chiefly empty? Where is Russia, with +a debt equal in charge to our own, to find forty millions sterling for such +a work, which would be wholly unproductive? It is true that, by employing +troops and Turkomans, the work may be done cheaply; but all this will take +a long time. + +I am very glad you touch on the question between France and Siam: it is a +serious one. + +In the early days of July the Reeves settled down for the summer at +Foxholes, avoiding the great heat, with the thermometer at 80 deg. F. when in +London it was reaching as high as 93 deg. F. In the beginning of September +Reeve, together with his wife, returned to London, crossed over to +Boulogne, and so to Chantilly, where, as the guests of the Due d'Aumale, +they spent his 80th birthday. They stayed there till the 12th, and +returned, again by Boulogne and London, to Foxholes. It was his last visit +to the France he had loved so well. The year was in many respects a sad +one. His own health was becoming very uncertain, and gout, feverish colds, +and violent bleeding of the nose laid him up for weeks at a time. The +deaths of his friends, too, recurring in rapid succession, were frequent +reminders of what he had written nearly sixty-two years before: 'Between +seventy and eighty there rarely remains more than one change to be made.' +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 17.] He had now exceeded the higher +limit, and it happened that the obituary of 1893 contained an unusual +number of men of high literary and scientific distinction. Through all, +however, Reeve's head remained clear, and his work was seldom disturbed. +There is no sickness or feebleness in the following:-- + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, October 3rd._--I have read a great part of the 'Life of +Pusey'--an appalling book from the length of the letters in it. In my +opinion it lays bare, as nothing else has done, the total weakness and +inconsistency of the Tractarians, and their absolute disloyalty to the +Church of England. It is very difficult and very important to find a +suitable person to review such a work, for it must be done in the spirit +of the articles of Arnold, Tait, and Arthur Stanley, which express the +principles of the 'Edinburgh Review.' I incline to think it had better be +done by a layman. The parsons are all hostile to their own Church. + +_To Rear-Admiral Bridge_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, November 12th._--We are come to town, and I hope it will +not be long before I have the pleasure of seeing you. Meanwhile, I have +been reading again the article on Mediterranean Politics which you gave us +last autumn. The combination of the French and Russian fleets seems to me +to be a matter of grave importance. Both those countries are unhappily +animated by very hostile intentions to us. They have discovered that it +is only by a superiority of sea power in the Mediterranean that they can +accomplish their twofold object, which I take to be for Russia to force the +Dardanelles and for France to compel us to evacuate Egypt. This seems to me +to be the _but_ of the alliance, in as far as it is an alliance. It is all +very well to talk of our maritime supremacy, but have we got it? You +know, and I do not. But to my mind, the worst is that we have got a +Government--or rather a minister--profoundly incapable of foreseeing a +great emergency or providing against it. It is quite possible that the +Gladstone administration may be blown up by a tremendous catastrophe. These +thoughts perplex me; but I hope you will tell me that I am quite wrong and +that Britannia rules the waves. + +An exceptional chance gives us a picture of Foxholes, at this time, when +twenty years' occupation had enabled its owner to perfect all the details +which go to make up comfort. + +During his absence in London in the beginning of 1894, he let it, for the +only time, to his friend, Lord Hobhouse, for many years a member of the +Judicial Committee, and just then convalescent after a serious illness. A +couple of notes which Lord Hobhouse wrote during his four weeks' tenancy +may be classed as 'Interiors' or 'Exteriors' from the practical point of +view. + +Foxholes, February 16th. + +My dear Reeve,--I imagine that this morning Mrs. Reeve will have got a note +from my wife telling her of our settlement here. I was contemplating 'a +few words' to you, when Lady H. told me of her writing; and now comes your +letter, partly of welcome, partly of information. + +I don't think it possible that we could be more happily housed. Size, +arrangement, warmth, beauty, inside and out, evidences everywhere of +cultivated taste and refined pursuits--all is calculated for enjoyment and +repose, probably for anybody, certainly for an invalid. I have established +myself in a corner of the library--which, partly from its intrinsic +advantages and partly from the presence of a thick cushion in the seat of +the armchair, I conjecture to be yours--between the writing desk and the +N.W. bookcase, with the N.E. window at my back and my legs protruding +beyond the jamb of the mantelpiece into the sacred [Greek: temeuos], which +is guarded by a low marble fence, and over which the fire which I +worship has sway. Both by day and by night the situation is perfect for +distribution of light and warmth. And I can read almost all my waking +hours; for all through my illness my head has been clear. My principal +embarrassment is to choose among the many temptations with which your +goodly bookcases beset me. However, after reading Traill's 'William III.' +(a rather thin composition, I think) I have settled into Gardiner's 'Civil +War,' which is much more solid and satisfying. + +This morning I have been reading your little notice of Lord Derby; and I +think you do not speak at all too highly of his capacity for examining +political and social movements. In 1880 I delivered a lecture, which +was printed and circulated, on the eternal division of political +tendencies--movement and rest; and I took Lord Derby (then temporarily in +the Liberal Camp) as the best type of conservatism; cool, patient, +keen, sceptical, critical, just, impartial, with a mind always open +to conviction, but refusing to move until convinced. Such men are an +invaluable element in the deliberative stages of every question; but their +very critical powers paralyse action, and when movement becomes necessary +their hesitations are a drawback. I fancy that Cornewall Lewis was just +such another, but I did not know so much about him.... + +For me, I improve, slowly but enough, I think, to show at least that our +move was not premature. In the pick of the day (would that it were always +afternoon) I am able to walk for an hour or more, and I get good sleep in +the most luxurious of beds. Pray give my kind remembrances to Mrs. Reeve, +and believe me, + +Sincerely yours, + +HOBHOUSE. + +_Foxholes, March 6th._--Alas, alas! time flies away, and pleasant things +come to an end, and I shall not have many days' more enjoyment of your +charming house and library and outlook. But my time has not been wasted. I +have recovered strength, a good deal more than I expected, and am probably +now--at all events hope, by our return next Monday or Tuesday, to be--able +to re-enter the ordinary routine of life. Of course, we have had, like +other people, a great deal of blustering wind--for the most part from +north-west--very cold and very noisy in your chimneys. But there has also +been a great deal of sunshine with the gales, and the exposure of your +house to south-east has, on most days, given us a sheltered walk. Moreover, +your soil is so porous and absorbent, that one gets dry walking immediately +after rain. I have only been kept indoors two days since our arrival. + +A few letters from Reeve himself show the continued activity of his mind, +and at the same time his consciousness of, his readiness for, the end which +was drawing nigh. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, May 29th._--Lord Derby's Speeches contain more political wisdom +than any other book of our time. I think people will find out its permanent +value. + +_June 13th._--I have nothing to correct or alter in the Greville Memoirs, +and am glad to find that some sale of them goes on. + +I am much touched by the [approaching] death of Coleridge, whom I have +known so well and so long. I expect he will not survive to-day. He dined +with us at The Club on April 24th, and was then very well. _Sic transit._ + +_Foxholes, October 23rd_.--The notices of our old friend Froude +[Footnote: He died on October 20th, in his 77th year.] have been very +gratifying--especially the leader in the 'Times.' He leaves the world quite +glorified, and they now find out what a great man he was. I wonder +whether you are going to attend the funeral. I never send wreaths on such +occasions, but if I ever did send one it would be now, for I am truly +affected by the loss of such a friend. The newspapers seem to have +discovered that there were some big men in the last generation, and that +there are very few of them in the present. + +_Rutland Gate, February 16th, 1895._--I am pretty well--not worse than +usual; but I don't go out. + +My dear old friend, Lady Stanley of Alderley, died this morning. She was +only ill four days, and expired without pain or suffering at eighty-seven. +To me an irreparable loss, and to a vast circle of descendants and friends. +[Footnote: Among Reeve's papers there are a great many letters from Lady +Stanley of Alderley, telling plainly of the long and close friendship +between the two. Unfortunately, there are no available letters from Reeve +to her.] + +_To Rear-Admiral Bridge_ [Footnote: At this time Commander-in-Chief in +Australian waters.] + +62 Rutland Gate, May 2nd. + +My dear admiral,--I wish you were in reach of us, to discuss the +extraordinary events which are taking place in the North Pacific, to which +your articles on that subject have for some time pointed; but no one +foresaw the sudden uprising of Japan. + +It seems to me that, in spite of her victories, Japan is in a very critical +position, politically speaking. She lies between two huge empires, and she +has undertaken to occupy more than she can hold. Her position is absolutely +fatal to the grand design of Russia, of crossing the north of Asia to the +Pacific, and I expect Russia will not submit to it. But Russia would find +it extremely difficult to carry on military and naval operations at such +an enormous distance from her base. I doubt whether she could destroy the +Japanese fleet, and it certainly is not for our interest that it should be +destroyed. The disposition here is to observe strict neutrality and watch +the course of events. + +It is curious that nobody points out that the United States are the country +with the largest future interest in the Pacific, and that they must have +a voice in this controversy. It also largely affects our own Australian +colonies. A Russian establishment in Corea would effect a momentous change +in the Pacific, and Japan will doubtless resist it to the uttermost. + +We are very dull here. Lord Rosebery has sunk into complete insignificance, +and his state of health is doubtful. The Government is rotten, but +continues to hold together. I think something must occur before long to +stir the waters. + +We are going to Foxholes on May 20th to stay there. I have spent a dreary +winter, being unable to go out, but I am not seriously ill--suffering +chiefly from old age. Mrs. Reeve sends you her kind regards, and I am +always + +Yours very faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + + * * * * * + +_To Miss A. M. Clerke_ + +_Foxholes, September 8th_.--Many thanks, dear Miss Clerke, for your elegant +and instructive Life of the Herschels; they could not have had a more +accomplished biographer, if they had waited for it another century. Your +article on Argon fills me with amazement and admiration. How can the +human mind fathom such things! I beg you to send me the corrected proofs +to-morrow by return of post, as I want to make it up immediately. If +anything new is said on the subject at the British Association, you can add +a note to be printed at the end of the number. + +To-morrow is my 82nd birthday--probably the last. But I am not ill, only +feeble and tired of living so long. + +Yours most faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + +_To Captain S. P. Oliver, R.A._ + +_Foxholes, September 12th._--I have sent your corrected proofs [Footnote: +'The French in Madagascar,' October 1895.] to Spottiswoode, with a few +slight suggestions of my own. They will send you a revise.... I see you +have now so far modified your opinion that you think with me that the +position of the French is most critical. Unless they can announce some +signal success in the next two weeks, there will be a disaster and an awful +row. I see by the map that on the 5th of this month they were still +at Andriba, which I take to be about three-fifths of the distance to +Antananarivo. They have been five months getting there, and as they advance +the difficulty of bringing up stores, supplies, and reliefs increases, and +will increase. In my opinion, the Hovas are quite right _not_ to treat for +peace till they see what the rains will do for them. I hope they will hold +out, but avoid fighting. + +Captain Oliver writes that 'One of Reeve's last pieces of work connected +with the "Edinburgh Review" must have been the paragraphs which he +substituted for my ending to the article. He was doubtful of the eventual +French success, whereas I felt pretty certain that affairs would terminate +as they have done in that island.' The forecast of the result of a +complicated business was erroneous, but to make one at all, and to commit +it to paper, was a remarkable display of energy in a dying man who was now +in his eighty-third year. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, September 12th_.--Thanks for your birthday congratulations, but +I doubt whether great age is a subject of congratulation at all. + +_29th_.--I am extremely feeble, faculties low, eyesight weak. I should +like, if I live so long, to edit the January number of the 'Review;' but +after that I must stop. + +_October 2nd._--Much obliged to you for your very kind note.... You will +doubtless pay me on November 15th the sum due then; but I wish to say that +I cannot go on to receive remuneration for services I am scarcely capable +of rendering. Therefore this payment in November will be the last on that +account [as literary adviser]. + +This was probably the last letter Reeve wrote with his own hand. For +several months he had been very much of an invalid, though he had persisted +in continuing his work, in which he found distraction and relief. And no +complaint passed his lips. 'The kindest thing you can do for me,' he said +to his anxious wife, 'is to leave me alone.' He made a point of coming down +to breakfast; but his strength was gradually failing, and he moved with +difficulty. His medical attendant recommended an operation, but this he was +unwilling to undergo, feeling doubtful whether at his advanced age it could +be successful. Sunday, October 13th, he passed in the library among the +books he prized. He dictated a letter, listened to the Psalms of the day, +and asked his wife to read also the First Epistle General of St. Peter. +In the afternoon Dr. Roberts Thomson and Dr. Davison saw him, and after a +consultation wrote to the distinguished specialist, Mr. Buckston Browne, to +be prepared to come on receipt of a telegram. On Monday Reeve was unable +to get up; he consented to undergo the operation, and Mr. Browne was +telegraphed for. On his arrival, about 7 o'clock in the evening, it was +decided to lose no more time. The operation was successfully performed, +under chloroform, and everything, the surgeons hoped, would go well. And +this they repeated for the next few days; the wound, they thought, was +closing nicely. At 82, however, wounds do not close readily, and Reeve's +system was weakened by some years of bad health. He never regained entire +consciousness; and though from time to time he gave some directions about +the 'Review,' they were not intelligible to those who heard; they probably +had no meaning even to himself. On Monday, October 21st, at half-past +one in the morning, 'the one last change was made,' and he passed away +peacefully and without suffering. + +In a letter of sympathy to Mrs. Reeve Dr. Roberts Thomson wrote:-- + +'I was very much struck with your husband's wonderful patience when I saw +him, and the calm way in which he was able to face the future--whatever it +had in store for him. It is some consolation to know that he did not suffer +much, and that perhaps, had he recovered from the illness, his health +would have been so affected that great valetudinarianism would have been +inevitable. To him, this would have been suffering; and for his sake we are +thankful that he was spared it.' + +His remains were interred in the Brookwood cemetery at Woking on October +24th. + +He died, literally in harness. On Saturday, October 12th, he dictated a +last letter on the business of the 'Review;' and his indistinct words +during the few days of partial unconsciousness showed that his mind was +still endeavouring to fix itself on what had occupied it for so many years. + +It was in his editorial capacity that I, who write these lines, first knew +him in 1866, though I did not make his personal acquaintance till 1877, +when he was a few months over 63. I found him a tall, stout, and--though +not strictly handsome--a good-looking man, who might very well have passed +for ten years younger than he actually was, and whose burly figure might +have seemed more at home in the covers or the turnip-fields than in the +Privy Council Office; his weight, which cannot, even then, have been much +under eighteen stone, must have stopped his hunting some time before. But +in his manner there was no trace of this fancied rusticity--how could there +be, indeed, in one trained in society almost from the cradle?--and his +voice was soft and musical. I have seen it stated that he was pompous, +self-assertive, and dictatorial. That his manners, formed by his mother and +his aunt on eighteenth-century models, and perfected in Paris among the +traditions of the _ancien regime_, had about them nothing of the 'hail +fellow, well met' fashion of the present day is very certain, and, joined +to his height (about 6 ft. 1 in.) and his great bulk, may sometimes +have given him the appearance of speaking _de haut en bas_, and must, +unquestionably, have enabled him to repress any unwelcome or undue +familiarity. As an editor, of course, he was dictatorial. We may talk of +the Republic of Letters; but in point of fact a successful journal is +and must be an autocracy. In his private capacity, I never found in his +conversation that habit of 'laying down the law' which some, with probably +inferior opportunities of judging, have complained of. Of his untiring +application and power of work enough has already been said; but the uniform +good luck which attended him through life is worthy of notice. In the +course of eighty-two years he experienced no reverse of fortune, no great +disappointment, and--with the one, though terrible, exception of the death +of his first wife--no great sorrow beyond what is the lot of all men. We +know that fortune favours the brave. It favours also those who to ability +and temper join prudence, courtesy, and careful, systematic, painstaking +industry. + +At the age of 82 Reeve had outlived all of his contemporaries--the men who +had associated with him and worked with him in his youth. Their opinion of +him is only to be gauged by the fact that, with but few and easily explained +exceptions, the friendships of his early manhood were broken only by the +grave. The number of friends of forty or fifty years' standing who died +during the last decade of his life is very remarkable. As these are +wanting, I am happy in being able to conclude this tribute to his memory +by two appreciations, one English, the other French; the first, from and +representing the 'Edinburgh Review' to which it was contributed in January +1896, by Mr. W. E. H. Lecky. + +'Although it has never been the custom of this "Review" to withdraw the +veil of anonymity from its writers and its administration, it would be mere +affectation to suffer this number to appear before the public without some +allusion to the great Editor whom we have just lost, and who for forty +years has watched with indefatigable care over our pages. + +'The career of Mr. Henry Reeve is perhaps the most striking illustration in +our time of how little in English life influence is measured by notoriety. +To the outer world his name was but little known. He is remembered as the +translator of Tocqueville, as the editor of the "Greville Memoirs," as +the author of a not quite forgotten book on Royal and Republican France, +showing much knowledge of French literature and politics; as the holder +during fifty years of the respectable, but not very prominent, post of +Registrar of the Privy Council. To those who have a more intimate knowledge +of the political and literary life of England, it is well known that during +nearly the whole of his long life he was a powerful and living force in +English literature; that few men of his time have filled a larger place +in some of the most select circles of English social life; and that he +exercised during many years a political influence such as rarely falls +to the lot of any Englishman outside Parliament, or indeed outside the +Cabinet. + +'He was born at Norwich in 1813, and brought up in a highly cultivated, +and even brilliant, literary circle. His father, Dr. Reeve, was one of the +earliest contributors to this Review. The Austins, the Opies, the Taylors, +and the Aldersons were closely related to him, and he is said to have been +indebted to his gifted aunt, Sarah Austin, for his appointment in the Privy +Council. The family income was not large, and a great part of Mr. Reeve's +education took place on the Continent, chiefly at Geneva and Munich. He +went with excellent introductions, and the years he spent abroad were +abundantly fruitful. He learned German so well that he was at one time a +contributor to a German periodical. He was one of the rare Englishmen who +spoke French almost like a Frenchman, and at a very early age he formed +friendships with several eminent French writers. His translation of +the "Democracy in America," by Tocqueville, which appeared in 1835, +strengthened his hold on French society. Two years later he obtained the +appointment in the Privy Council, which he held until 1887. It was in this +office that he became the colleague and fast friend of Charles Greville, +who on his death-bed entrusted him with the publication of his "Memoirs." + +'Mr. Reeve had now obtained an assured income and a steady occupation, but +it was far from satisfying his desire for work. He became a contributor, +and very soon a leading contributor, to the "Times," while his close and +confidential intercourse with Mr. Delane gave him a considerable voice in +its management. The penny newspaper was still unborn, and the "Times" at +this period was the undisputed monarch of the press, and exercised an +influence over public opinion, both in England and on the Continent, +such as no existing paper can be said to possess. It is, we believe, no +exaggeration to say that for the space of fifteen years nearly every +article that appeared in its columns on foreign politics was written by +Mr. Reeve, and the period during which he wrote for it included the year +1848,--when foreign politics were of transcendent importance. + +'The great political influence which he at this time exercised naturally +drew him into close connexion with many of the chief statesmen of his time. +With Lord Clarendon especially his friendship was close and confidential, +and he received from that statesman almost weekly letters during his +Viceroyalty in Ireland and during other of the more critical periods of his +career. In France Mr. Reeve's connexions were scarcely less numerous than +in England. Guizot, Thiers, Cousin, Tocqueville, Villemain, Circourt--in +fact, nearly all the leading figures in French literature and +politics during the reign of Louis Philippe were among his friends or +correspondents. He was at all times singularly international in his +sympathies and friendships, and he appears to have been more than once +made the channel of confidential communications between English and French +statesmen. + +'It was a task for which he was eminently suited. The qualities which most +impressed all who came into close communication with him were the strength, +swiftness, and soundness of his judgement, and his unfailing tact and +discretion in dealing with delicate questions. He was eminently a man of +the world, and had quite as much knowledge of men as of books. Probably +few men of his time have been so frequently and so variously consulted. +He always spoke with confidence and authority, and his clear, keen-cut, +decisive sentences, a certain stateliness of manner which did not so much +claim as assume ascendency, and a somewhat elaborate formality of courtesy +which was very efficacious in repelling intruders, sometimes concealed from +strangers the softer side of his character. But those who knew him well +soon learnt to recognise the genuine kindliness of his nature, his +remarkable skill in avoiding friction, and the rare steadiness of his +friendships. + +'One great source of his influence was the just belief in his complete +independence and disinterestedness. For a very able man his ambition was +singularly moderate. As he once said, he had made it his object throughout +life only to aim at things which were well within his power. He had very +little respect for the judgement of the multitude, and he cared nothing +for notoriety and not much for dignities. A moderate competence, congenial +work, a sphere of wide and genuine influence, a close and intimate +friendship with a large proportion of the guiding spirits of his time, were +the things he really valued, and all these he fully attained. He had great +conversational powers, which never degenerated into monologue, a singularly +equable, happy, and sanguine temperament, and a keen delight in cultivated +society. He might be seen to special advantage in two small and very select +dining clubs which have included most of the more distinguished English +statesmen and men of letters of the century. He became a member of the +Literary Society in 1857 and of Dr. Johnson's Club in 1861, and it is a +remarkable evidence of the appreciation of his social tact that both bodies +speedily selected him as their treasurer. He held that position in "The +Club" from 1868 till 1893, when failing health and absence from +London obliged him to relinquish it. The French Institute elected him +"Correspondant" in 1865 and Associated Member in 1888, in which latter +dignity he succeeded Sir Henry Maine. In 1870 the University of Oxford +conferred on him the honorary degree of D.C.L. + +'It was in 1855, on the resignation of Sir George Cornewall Lewis, that he +assumed the editorship of this "Review," which he retained till the day +of his death. Both on the political and the literary side he was in full +harmony with its traditions. His rare and minute knowledge of recent +English and foreign political history; his vast fund of political anecdote; +his personal acquaintance with so many of the chief actors on the political +scene, both in England and France, gave a great weight and authority to his +judgements, and his mind was essentially of the Whig cast. He was a genuine +Liberal of the school of Russell, Palmerston, Clarendon, and Cornewall +Lewis. It was a sober and tolerant Liberalism, rooted in the traditions +of the past, and deeply attached to the historical elements in the +Constitution. The dislike and distrust with which he had always viewed the +progress of democracy deepened with age, and it was his firm conviction +that it could never become the permanent basis of good government. Like +most men of his type of thought and character, he was strongly repelled by +the later career of Mr. Gladstone, and the Home Rule policy at last severed +him definitely from the bulk of the Liberal party. From this time the +present Duke of Devonshire was the leader of his party. + +'His literary judgements had much analogy to his political ones. His +leanings were all towards the old standards of thought and style. He had +been formed in the school of Macaulay and Milman, and of the great French +writers under Louis Philippe. Sober thought, clear reasoning, solid +scholarship, a transparent, vivid, and restrained style were the literary +qualities he most appreciated. He was a great purist, inexorably hostile +to a new word. In philosophy he was a devoted disciple of Kant, and his +decided orthodoxy in religious belief affected many of his judgements. He +could not appreciate Carlyle; he looked with much distrust on Darwinism and +the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, and he had very little patience with +some of the moral and intellectual extravagances of modern literature. But, +according to his own standards and in the wide range of his own subjects, +his literary judgement was eminently sound, and he was quick and generous +in recognising rising eminence. In at least one case the first considerable +recognition of a prominent historian was an article in this "Review" from +his pen. + +'He had a strong sense of the responsibility of an editor, and especially +of the editor of a Review of unsigned articles. No article appeared which +he did not carefully consider. His powerful individuality was deeply +stamped upon the "Review," and he carefully maintained its unity and +consistency of sentiments. It was one of the chief occupations and +pleasures of his closing days, and the very last letter he dictated +referred to it. + +'Time, as might be expected, had greatly thinned the circle of his friends. +Of the France which he knew so well scarcely anything remained, but his old +friend and senior, Barthelemy St.-Hilaire, visited him at Christ-Church, +and he kept up to the end a warm friendship with the Duc d'Aumale. He spent +his 80th birthday at Chantilly, and until the very last year of his life he +was never absent when the Duke dined at "The Club." In Lord Derby he lost +the statesman with whom in his later years he was most closely connected by +private friendship and political sympathy, while the death of Lady Stanley +of Alderley deprived him of an attached and lifelong friend. + +'Growing infirmities prevented him in his latter days from mixing much in +general society in London, but his life was brightened by all that loving +companionship could give; his mental powers were unfaded, and he could +still enjoy the society of younger friends. He looked forward to the end +with a perfect and a most characteristic calm, without fear and without +regret. It was the placid close of a long, dignified, and useful life.' + +The second, the French appreciation, was spoken at the meeting of the +'Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques,' on November 16th, 1895, +by the Duc d'Aumale, who, after regretting his absence on the previous +occasion when the President had announced the death of their foreign +member, Mr. Henry Reeve, continued: + +'Je n'aurais sans doute rien pu ajouter a ce qui a ete si bien dit par M. +le President, mais je tenais a rendre personnellement hommage a la memoire +d'un confrere eminent, pour lequel je professais une haute estime et une +sincere amitie, et je demande a l'Academie la permission de lui adresser +quelques mots. + +'Qu'on l'envisage au point de vue litteraire ou au point de vue social, +la figure d'Henry Reeve etait essentiellement originale, et il devait ce +caractere non seulement a la nature de son esprit, mais a l'education qu'il +avait recue. Sur la base anglaise de la forte instruction classique son +pere [Footnote: A momentary lapse of memory. It is scarcely possible that +the Duc d'Aumale did not know that Reeve's father died whilst Reeve was +still an infant, and that his education was directed by his mother.] voulut +ajouter le couronnement des hautes etudes continentales, et, pour que cette +culture intellectuelle n'eut rien d'exclusif ou d'absolu il fit choix de +Geneve et de Munich. C'cst dans ces deux villes, dans ces deux grands +centres intellectuels, que Reeve passa une partie de sa jeunesse. Ce sejour +dans des milieux si differents laissa dans son esprit une double impression +qui se refleta sur toute sa vie. + +'Peu de personnes, de nos jours, ont aussi bien connu que lui cette +charmante et originale societe de Geneve, qui semblait dater du +dix-huitieme siecle, et qui en a si longtemps conserve les traditions. +C'est la qu'il acquit la connaissance approfondie de notre langue; il en +avait saisi les nuances delicates; il connaissait toute notre litterature. +Je ne connais guere d'etrangers qui puissent parler, comprendre, ecrire le +francais mieux que lui. + +'L'allemand ne lui etait pas moins familier. Le sejour a Munich lui inspira +aussi le gout des arts envisages a un point de vue qui n'est pas tout a +fait le notre. Dans un petit volume, oeuvre de jeunesse, "Graphidae," il +traduisit sous une forme poetique l'impression que lui avaient laissee les +oeuvres des premiers maitres italiens. On y retrouve, avec la mesure qui +etait un des caracteres de cet esprit bien pondere, la trace des theories +qui prevalaient alors dans l'Allemagne meridionale. + +'A d'autres points de vue ce long sejour a l'etranger lui avait laisse +des traces plus profondes encore. Il en avait rapporte une sorte de +cosmopolitisme eclaire, tempere, entretenu par ses nombreuses relations. +Je ne veux pas dire qu'il ne fut pas Anglais avant tout. Passionnement +patriote--et ce n'est pas moi qui lui en ferai un reproche--il epousait les +passions, les coleres de son pays, mais sans rudesse, sans hauteur, sans +haine ou mepris des autres peuples, sans prejuges contre aucune nation +etrangere. + +'Il ne cessa d'entretenir des relations intimes et constantes avec tout le +parti liberal francais (je prends le mot liberal dans le vrai sens, le sens +le plus large), depuis M. le Duc de Broglie et M. Gruizot jusqu'a notre +venere confrere M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire. + +'Malgre son impartialite j'oserai dire qu'il avait une certaine faiblesse +pour la France. Certes il n'aurait jamais epouse la cause de la France +engagee contre l'Angleterre; mais quand il voyait la France et l'Angleterre +d'accord sa joie etait vive. Et lors de nos malheurs, sans prendre parti +dans la querelle, il n'a jamais cachee la sympathie que lui inspirait la +France vaincue. + +'Je ne sache pas que Reeve ait ecrit aucun ouvrage de longue haleine, sauf +certaines traductions difficiles, importantes: quelques-unes rappellent a +cette compagnie des noms qui lui sont chers--la "Vie de Washington," par +Guizot; la "Democratic," de Tocqueville, un de ses plus intimes amis. + +'Il n'a pas pris une part directe au mouvement des affaires de son pays, +n'ayant siege ni dans le parlement ni dans aucun cabinet; mais son +influence etait considerable: sans cesse consulte, souvent charge de +messages importants; enfin sa plume, sa plume surtout, ne restait jamais +inactive, et ses ecrits portaient coup. Le "Times" l'a compte longtemps +parmi ses principaux collaborateurs; plus tard il se recueillit et se +consacra exclusivement a la direction de la "Revue d'Edimbourg," dont il +avait ete longtemps un des principaux redacteurs. [Footnote: The Duke would +seem to have misunderstood Reeve's position, or, more probably, his +memory was confused by the lapse of forty years. Reeve was never _'un des +principaux redacteurs'_ of the Edinburgh Review. Till he became sole editor +and, in a literary sense, autocrat, he had no part in the conduct of it, +nor was he a constant contributor (cf. _ante_, vol. i. p. 173).] + +'Je n'ai pas besoin de rappeler a l'Academie quel role appartient a +"l'editeur" dans les grandes revues anglaises, quelle part il prend au +choix des sujets, a la redaction des articles, quelle autorite il exerce, +ni de m'etendre sur l'histoire du plus ancien, je crois, des recueils +periodiques, assurement un des plus importants. La "Revue d'Edimbourg" est +plus qu'un simple organe; souvent elle donne la note, la formule des idees +acceptees par le parti dont elle continue d'arborer les couleurs sur sa +couverture bleue et chamois, les couleurs de M. Fox. + +'J'ai dit que Reeve n'avait pas pris part au gouvernement. Il exercait +cependant une charge, un veritable office de judicature, dont les +attributions ne sont pas d'accord avec nos moeurs et dont le titre meme se +traduit difficilement dans notre langue. Attache au Conseil prive comme +_Appeal Clerk_, puis comme Registrar, il jugeait des appels des iles de la +Manche. [Footnote: This, as has been seen (ante, vol. i. pp. 85-6), is a +very inexact and imperfect description of Reeve's duties, either as Clerk +of Appeals or as Registrar.] On comprend qu'une connaissance si parfaite +de la langue et des usages francais le qualifiait particulierement pour +remplir ces fonctions, quand on songe que la langue officielle de ces +iles est encore aujourd'hui le francais et que dans les questions de +jurisprudence la coutume de Normandie y est constamment invoquee. + +'Officiellement Reeve etait sous les ordres du secretaire du Conseil prive, +et ces rapports de subordination avaient cree des relations intimes entre +son superieur et lui. M. Charles Greville avait tenu la plume du Conseil +dans des circonstances deelicates et s'etait trouve mele a une foule +d'incidents; en mourant il chargea Reeve de publier ses memoires. Cette +publication eut un grand retentissement. + +'Reeve etait fier d'appartenir a votre compagnie. Lorsque l'Universite +d'Oxford me confera le degre de docteur il etait pres de moi. +"Rappelez-vous," me dit-il en souriant, "que l'Academie des Sciences +Morales a sa part dans l'honneur que vous venez de recevoir." Fort repandu, +fort apprecie dans le monde, il menait de front ses travaux litteraires, +ses devoirs de juge, ses relations sociales, ses excursions; son activite +etait extraordinaire. La goutte le genait quelquefois, et d'annee en annee +ses visites devenaient plus frequentes. + +'Il avait bati au bord la mer, en face de l'ile de Wight, sous un climat +doux, une charmante villa, ou il aimait a s'enfermer avec ses livres, +poursuivant ses travaux aupres de la digne et gracieuse compagne de sa vie. +Ses dernieres annees s'ecoulerent ainsi entre cette residence et la maison +bien connue de Rutland Gate, ou sa table hospitaliere etait toujours +ouverte a ses amis de France ou d'ailleurs. C'est a Foxholes que la mort +est venue le chercher. + +'Je n'ai pas la preention de prononcer devant vous l'eloge d'Henry Reeve; +la competence me manque comme la preparation. En vous rappelant quelques +traits de cette noble figure je voulais, comme je vous l'ai dit tout a +l'heure, acquitter une dette de coeur envers un ami qui, jusqu'aux derniers +moments de sa vie, m'a prodigue les marques d'affection. Il voulut celebrer +a Chantilly le 80e anniversaire de sa naissance, et un de ses derniers +soucis etait de reclamer les bonnes feuilles du septieme volume de +"L'Histoire des Conde," dont il voulait rendre compte dans sa Revue. +[Footnote: The present writer feels a personal satisfaction in adding +that one of the last letters which Reeve dictated about the work of the +_Review_, was to him, asking him to undertake this article.] + +'La memoire du philosophe, du lettre, de l'erudit, dn confrere eminent, de +l'homme bon et aimable, merite de rester honoree dans notre compagnie.' + + + + + + +APPENDIX + + + + + +It has been seen (_ante_, vol. ii.) that Reeve intended quoting Lord +Stanmore's letter on the formation of the Aberdeen Cabinet, in a future +edition of the 'Greville Memoirs.' There seems, however, to have been no +opportunity for doing so, and the letter has remained buried in the +columns of the 'Times' of June 13, 1887, becoming each year more and more +inaccessible. As relating to an interesting point raised by the 'Greville +Memoirs,' and also as, to some extent, carrying out Reeve's intention, it +is here reprinted, with Lord Stanmore's express permission. + +_To the Editor of the 'Times'_ + +Sir,--It is only recently that the two new volumes of the 'Greville +Memoirs' lately published have reached Ceylon. I fear that before this +letter can arrive in England the interest excited by their appearance will +have passed away, and that, consequently, comments upon their contents +addressed to you may seem as much out of place as would a letter written +for the purpose of correcting some error in any well-known collection of +memoirs which have been long before the world. It is therefore not without +some hesitation that I venture to request permission from you to point out +the inaccuracy of a statement which appears near the commencement of the +first of these two volumes, and casts an undeserved imputation upon the +conduct, in 1852, of the chief members of the Peelite party. + +Mr. Greville, under the date of December 28, 1852, writes thus:-- + +'Clarendon told me last night that the Peelites have behaved very ill, and +have grasped at everything; and he mentioned some very flagrant cases, in +which, after the distribution had been settled between Aberdeen and John +Russell, Newcastle and Sidney Herbert--for they appear to have been the +most active in the matter--persuaded Aberdeen to alter it, and bestow or +offer offices intended for Whigs to Peelites, and in some instances to +Derbyites who had been Peelites' (vol. i.). + +In the next two pages lie comments with severity on the selfishness and +shortsightedness of the Peelites in reference to this matter. Now, the +reflection thus cast on the foresight and disinterestedness of the Peelite +leaders is in no wise warranted by the facts. What really occurred at the +formation of the Cabinet of December 1852 was, in truth, the exact reverse +of what is stated in Mr. Greville's pages. It was not the Peelites, but +Lord John Russell and the Whigs, who, after the list of the Cabinet and of +the chief officers of the State had been agreed on between Lord Aberdeen +and Lord John Russell, and had been submitted to and approved by the Queen, +objected to the composition of the Cabinet as 'too Peelite,' and strove to +change the arrangements made originally with Lord John Russell's entire +acquiescence. I will not, however, occupy your space with remarks of my +own; I will at once produce incontestable proof of what I have asserted. I +have now before me a manuscript journal kept by Sir James Graham, and from +it I quote the following extracts. In reading them it should be borne in +mind that the proposed distribution of offices agreed on between Lord +Aberdeen and Lord John Russell had been formally approved by the Queen on +December 23rd. + +_December 24th_.--'Lord John Russell most unexpectedly raised fresh +difficulties this morning, on the ground that the Whigs are not represented +in the new Cabinet sufficiently. He wished that Sir F. Baring should be +placed at the Board of Trade to the exclusion of Cardwell; that Lord +Clarendon should have the Duchy, with a seat in the Cabinet; and that Lord +Granville should be President of the Council. He thus proposed at one +_coup_ an infusion of three additional Whigs, and talked of Lord Carlisle +as the fittest person for the Lieutenancy of Ireland. It became necessary +to make a stand and to bring the Whigs to their ultimatum. Lord Aberdeen +consented to Lord Granville as President, and proposed that Lord Lansdowne +should sit in the Cabinet, without an office. This proposition, which +reduced the Whig addition, from three to two, saved the Board of Trade for +Cardwell, but excluded both him and Canning from the Cabinet. Lord John +did not regard it as satisfactory, and fought the point so long and so +pertinaciously, that the new writs could not be moved to-day, and the +House was adjourned till Monday. Towards evening, at the instance of Lord +Lansdowne, Lord John Russell yielded an unwilling assent to Lord Aberdeen's +last proposals...' + +_December 25th_.--'Lord John Russell is very much annoyed by the +disparaging tone of the articles in the "Times," which, while it supports +Lord Aberdeen, attacks him [Russell] and the Whigs. He is still also +dissatisfied in the exclusion of Lord Clarendon and of Sir George Grey from +the Cabinet, and thinks that the Whig share of the spoil is insufficient. +It is melancholy to see how little fitness for office is regarded on all +sides, and how much the public employments are treated as booty to be +divided among successful combatants. The Irish Government, also, is still +a matter of contest. The Whigs are anxious to displace Blackburne and to +replace him with Brady, their former Chancellor; they are jealous also of +St. Germans and Young, as Lord-Lieutenant and Chief Secretary, and want to +have Lord Carlisle substituted for the former. I discussed these matters at +Argyll House with Lord John and Lord Aberdeen. If we three were left +alone, we could easily adjust every difficulty; it is the intervention of +interested parties on opposite sides which mars every settlement...' + +_December 27th_.--'The Whigs returned to the charge, and claimed in a most +menacing manner a larger share of the minor offices. Sir C. Wood and Mr. +Hayter came to me in the first instance and tried to shake me individually +in my opinion. I was stout and combated all their arguments, which assumed +an angry tone. We came to no satisfactory conclusion in my house, and the +discussion was adjourned to Lord John's. I found Lord John more amenable to +reason; but the whole arrangement was on the point of being broken off. +It was 1 o'clock. The House of Commons was to meet at 2 by special +adjournment, and the writs were to be issued punctually at that hour. +Sir C. Wood intimated that unless some further concessions were made +the arrangement was at an end, and that the moving of the writs must be +postponed. I said I should go down to the House, and make then and there +a full statement of the case, and recall by telegraph my address to +the electors of Carlisle, which declared my acceptance of office. This +firmness, coupled with my rising to leave the room, brought the gentlemen +to reason. I had a note in my pocket from Lord Aberdeen, which placed the +Duchy of Lancaster at their disposal, and Strutt was in the House ready to +receive it at the hands of Lord John. This offer was snatched immediately; +Strutt was consulted and accepted on the spot, and Hayter was sent to the +House of Commons, and he moved the writs of the Cabinet Ministers, of +Strutt also, and of Baines...' + +_December 28th_.--'The contest as to minor offices was renewed with equal +pertinacity, but with less effect, after the moving of the principal writs. +A battle was fought for the Great Seal of Ireland, which was ultimately +yielded to Brady, the ex-Whig Chancellor. This concession was no sooner +made than an attempt to force Reddington as the Under-Secretary for Ireland +was commenced. He, being a Catholic, had consented to the Ecclesiastical +Titles Bill, against his private judgement and in defiance of his +coreligionists. His appointment would have been war with the Brigade, and +it was necessary to refuse it peremptorily. The dissatisfaction of +Lord Clarendon and of Lord John Russell was eagerly expressed, but was +ultimately mitigated by the offer to Reddington of the Secretaryship of +the Board of Control. The suggestion that Lord John might provide for him +abroad was not so favourably entertained. I have never passed a week so +unpleasantly. It was a battle for places from hostile camps, and the Whigs +disregarded fitness for the public service altogether. They fought +for their men as partisans, and all other considerations, as well as +consequences, were disregarded. Lord Aberdeen's patience and justice are +exemplary; he is firm and yet conciliatory, and has ended by making an +arrangement which is, on the whole, impartial and quite as satisfactory as +circumstances would permit.' + +The evidence of Sir James Graham on points of fact will hardly be disputed, +nor will it be denied that he, who took an active part in the construction +of the Government and was in the most intimate confidence of Lord Aberdeen, +was in a better position for knowing what passed than Mr. Greville, who +was dependent on the information which he received from others. But if any +confirmation be desired it will be found in the extracts which I add from +the correspondence of Lord Aberdeen. The Queen, as I have before said, +approved the lists submitted to her on December 23rd. The same evening, +Lord John Russell wrote to Lord Aberdeen as follows:-- + +'I am told that the whole complexion of the Government will look too +Peelite. G. Grey suggests, and I concur, that Clarendon should be President +of the Council immediately, and when he leaves it someone else may be +named--Harrowby or Granville. I am seriously afraid that the whole thing +will break down from the weakness of the old Liberal party (I must not say +Whig) in the Cabinet. To this must be added:--President of the Board of +Trade, Postmaster, Chief Secretary for Ireland, all in Peelite hands. I +send a note which Bessborough has given me, and which is said to convey the +opinion of the Irish Liberal members. _It is not very reasonable_, but I +think Blackburne should be changed for Moore, and St. Germans for Lord +Carlisle. Palmerston consents to Bernal Osborne. You should write or see +Cranworth. Forgive all this trouble.' + +Lord Aberdeen replied:-- + +'I do not admit the justice of the criticism made on the composition of the +Cabinet, if you fairly estimate the persons and the offices they fill. I do +not object to Clarendon; but my fear is that he will not be able to do the +business of the office in the House of Lords, and we are so weak there that +I entertain very great apprehensions.' + +Lord John rejoined:-- + +'What I suggest is (1) that, as I have frequently proposed, with your +consent, Lord Granville should be Lord President; (2) that Sir F. Baring +should be President of the Board of Trade, with a seat in the Cabinet; (3) +that Clarendon should at once enter the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy +of Lancaster; (4) that Lord Stanley of Alderley should be Vice-President, +not in the Cabinet. Let me add to what I have said that ten Whigs, members +of former Cabinets, are omitted in this, while only two Peelites are +omitted, and one entirely new is admitted--Argyll. Let me propose further +that the minor posts be recast with less disproportion. Cardwell ought not +to have office while Labouchere, Vernon Smith, and others are excluded. + +'Pray let me have an answer before the writs are moved. I have sent for F. +Baring. If he will not join, G. Grey will. + +'P.S.--About Ireland afterwards.' + +On the receipt of this letter Lord Aberdeen wrote to the Queen that it +put it entirely out of his power to go to Windsor on that day as had been +intended, and that 'he regretted to say that the new propositions, which +had been made by Lord John that morning, although the scheme submitted to +the Queen had been approved of, were so extensive as very seriously to +endanger the success of his [Lord Aberdeen's] undertaking.' + +It appears to me to be thus shown, beyond dispute or question, that it was +the Whigs and not the Peelites who, after the distribution of offices had +been fully agreed on, and approved by the Queen, sought to modify the +arrangements effected. Whether the Whigs had or had not cause for their +discontent is another question, on which it is unnecessary now to enter. +That such discontent was (considering their numerical strength) extremely +natural, none can deny. That, on the other hand, it would have been +impossible to exclude Sir James Graham, Mr. Gladstone, or the Duke of +Newcastle from a Cabinet formed and presided over by Lord Aberdeen, and +that the important share taken by Mr. Sidney Herbert in the overthrow of +Lord Derby's Government rendered him also entitled to claim Cabinet office, +most men will admit. + +While anxious to correct a statement which appears to me injurious to the +reputation of public men, some of whom are still living, I trust I may +be permitted at the same time to record my strong sense of the general +accuracy of Mr. Greville's information. Where his notes are inaccurate, +their inaccuracy may, I believe, be more generally accounted for by his +omission in those cases to insert in his diary (as in many other instances +he has done) a subsequent correction of the erroneous reports which had in +the first instance reached him. + +I am, Sir, your obedient servant, + +ARTHUR GORDON. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Life and +Correspondence of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L., by John Knox Laughton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF HENRY REEVE *** + +This file should be named 7rev210.txt or 7rev210.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7rev211.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7rev210a.txt + +Produced by Charles Franks, Keren Vergon, Charles Aldarondo +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L. + In Two Volumes. VOL. II. + +Author: John Knox Laughton + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9803] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 19, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF HENRY REEVE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Keren Vergon, Charles Aldarondo +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF HENRY REEVE, C.B., D.C.L + +BY + +JOHN KNOX LAUGHTON, M.A. + +HONORARY FELLOW OF GONVILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE PROFESSOR OF +MODERN HISTORY IN KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON + +IN TWO VOLUMES + +VOL. II. + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME + + + + +PORTRAIT OF HENRY REEVE AET. 68. + +_From a Photograph taken by_ RUPERT POTTER, Esq. + + XIII. THE WAR IN ITALY (1859-60) + + XIV. LITERATURE AND POLITICS (1860-3) + + XV. LAW AND LITERATURE (1863-7) + + XVI. CHURCH POLITICS (1868-9) + + XVII. THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR (1869-71) + +XVIII. THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS (1871-4) + + XIX. FOXHOLES (1874-9) + + XX. OUTRAGE AND DISLOYALTY (1880-2) + + XXI. THE FRENCH ROYALISTS (1883-5) + + XXII. RETIREMENT (1886-9) + +XXIII. THE ONE MORE CHANGE (1890-5) + + + + + +LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF HENRY REEVE + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE WAR IN ITALY + + +How far the murderous attempt of Orsini, on January 14th, 1858, was +connected with the political relations of France and Italy it is as yet +impossible to say. It was, and still is, very commonly believed that in +his youth Louis Napoleon had been affiliated to one or other of the secret +societies of Italy, that he was still pledged to this, was bound to obey +its orders, and that Orsini was an agent to remind him that the attainment +of high rank, far from releasing him from the bond, rendered it more +stringent, as giving him greater power and facility for carrying out the +orders he received. The independence of Italy was aimed at; and it had +been intimated to the Emperor that Orsini's was only the first of similar +messages which, if action was not taken, would be followed by a second, +with greater care to ensure its delivery. + +All this may or may not have been mere gossip. What is certain is that, +during the latter months of 1858, secret negotiations had been going on +between the Emperor and Victor Emanuel, the King of Sardinia, or rather his +minister, Cavour; and that an agreement had been come to that Austria was +to be attacked and driven out of Italy. Accordingly, on January 1st, 1859, +at his New Year's reception of the foreign ministers, Louis Napoleon took +the opportunity of addressing some remarks to the Austrian Ambassador +which, to France and to all Europe, appeared threatening. + +Similarly, at Turin, it was allowed to appear that war was intended; and on +both sides preparations were hurried on. In France, as in Austria, these +were on a very extensive scale. A large fleet of transports was collected +at Marseilles; troops were massed on the frontier of Savoy; and, on the +part of the Austrians, 200,000 men were assembled in readiness for action. +On April 23rd Francis Joseph, without--it was said--the knowledge of his +responsible ministers, sent an ultimatum to Turin, requiring an answer +within three days: at the expiration of that time the Austrians would cross +the frontier. The allies utilised the delay to complete their preparations; +and before the three days had ended the advance of the Franco-Sardinian +army had begun. + +The campaign proved disastrous to the Austrians, whose half-drilled and +badly-fed troops and obsolete artillery were commanded by an utterly +incompetent general. They were defeated at Palestro on May 31st; at Magenta +on June 4th; and again at Solferino on June 24th. Nothing, it appeared to +the Italians and the lookers-on, could prevent the successful and decisive +issue; the Austrians would be compelled to quit Italy. Suddenly Louis +Napoleon announced that he had come to an agreement with the Emperor of +Austria and that peace was agreed on. The disappointment and rage of the +Italians were very great; but, as Louis Napoleon was resolved, and as +Victor Emanuel could not continue the war without his assistance, he was +obliged to consent, and peace was concluded at Villafranca on July 11th. + +For the next eighteen months much of the correspondence refers to the +inception and result of this short war, mixed, of course, with more +personal matters, and at the beginning, with news as to the state of +Tocqueville's health, which was giving his friends the liveliest anxiety. +The Journal for the year opens with:-- + +_January 6th_.--We went to Bowood. It was the first time Christine went +there. The party consisted of the Flahaults, Cheneys, Strzelecki, the +Clarendons, Twisletons,[Footnote: The Hon. Edward Twisleton, chief +commissioner of the poor laws in Ireland. He married, in 1852, Ellen, +daughter of the Hon. Edward Dwight, of Massachusetts, U.S.A.; and died, at +the age of sixty-five, in 1874.] and Leslies. What agreeable people! For a +wonder we shot there on the 10th, and killed 140 head. + +_January 12th_.--We had a dinner at home--Trevelyan, just appointed +governor of Madras, Phinn, Baron Martin, Huddleston, W. Harcourt, Merivale, +and Henry Brougham. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, January 3rd_.--I grieve to say Tocqueville has been worse. His +doctor dined here t'other day and T.'s brother came for him at ten o'clock. +I have as bad an opinion of the case as possible. + +_Cannes, January 9th_. The Italian affair is very naturally cause of +anxiety, but I feel assured this, for the present, will pass away. I find +there is a strong feeling getting up of the Austrian army being as good as +the finances are bad, but the French finances are not likely to be very +much better. However, though the present alarm will pass away, what a sad +thing for the peace of the world to depend, not on the general opinion +and feeling, but on the caprice, or the jobbing, or the blunders of a +few individuals! Who can be quite sure that Morny's stockjobbing has had +nothing to do with the late most silly conversation? [Footnote: Presumably, +the sinister remark addressed to the Austrian Ambassador on New Year's +Day.] L. N. himself is quite clear of all such blame. He tries all he can +to prevent M. and others from their pillaging, but he never can succeed. +However, it is to the risk of more blunders that I look as placing peace in +greatest jeopardy. I don't believe L. N. or any one of them would, _if they +knew it_, run the risk of a general war (and the least war means a general +war); but they may any day get into a scrape without intending it, for they +have not the security of free discussion to warn them. + +_From Lord Hatherton_ + +_Teddesley, January 12th_.--Do me the kindness to write me one line to tell +me what you know of the state of M. de Tocqueville. Is it dangerous? There +is no man out of this kingdom who possesses so much of my admiration and +regard. + +This general lull after the late Reform agitation is very natural. There +are four parties waiting each other's moves; three, at least, exclusive of +Bright's, which is the least. There are the present Government, the late +Government, and the country--which, as I read it, has little in common with +any of them, but is at present without a leader. Any very powerful man, who +had been living by, would now have had a great field before him. + +I attended the day before yesterday a very remarkable meeting of the +Birmingham and Midland Institute at Birmingham. Lord Ward [Footnote: +Created Earl of Dudley in 1860.] in the chair. The report, and all the +officials and speakers, especially those from the town, complained of the +indifference of the artisans, mechanics, and labourers of that town to +instruction and education generally. It seems, on the showing of Bright's +friends, that these fellows, the noisiest of their class about Reform, are +the most ignorant and the least desirous of improving themselves. Such is +the report of Bright's own friends. Mr. Ryland, the vice-president and +real manager of the institution, who is also Bright's friend there, is the +loudest in his complaints of this body. Ryland further told me that +he believed there was not a workman in the town who, if consulted +individually, would express his approval of all Bright's principles. Mr. +Ryland is a solicitor. + +I am all anxiety to see your January number. + +_To the Marquis of Lansdowne_ + +62 Rutland Gate, January 25th. + +My dear Lord Lansdowne,--I have omitted, but not from forgetfulness, to +express to you the very high gratification Mrs. Reeve and myself derived +from your most kind reception of us at Bowood, and I am sure we shall +always retain the liveliest recollection of this most agreeable visit. But, +in truth, I waited till something should occur which might have the good +fortune to interest you, and I think the accounts I continue to receive +from France, on the present threatening aspect of affairs, may be of that +nature. M. Guizot says to me, in a letter of the 23rd inst.:-- + +'Jusqu'à ces jours derniers je n'y voulais pas croire. J'essaye encore d'en +douter; mais c'est difficile. Ce sera un exemple de plus des guerres faites +par embarras de ne pas les faire bien plus que par volonté de les faire. +Je suis porté à croire que l'Empereur Napoléon serait charmé de ne plus +entendre parler de l'Italie; mais pour cela il faudrait qu'il n'y eût plus +d'assassins italiens, plus de Roi de Sardaigne, plus de cousins à marier, +plus de brouillons révolutionnaires à contenter. Aujourd'hui, et malgré +toutes les paroles contraires, il me paraît probable que ces causes de +guerre prévaudront sur la modération naturelle, sur le goût du repos +voluptueux, sur l'avis des conseillers officiels, et sur le sentiment +évident du public. Que fera l'Allemagne? Le tiendra-t-elle unie? Là est la +question. L'Angleterre y peut certainement beaucoup. Je ne vois plus que là +une chance pour le maintien de la paix.' + +These words are so remarkable, coming from a man whose disposition is ever +so much more sanguine than desponding, that I have quoted them at length. + +We have all been greatly touched by the close of Mr. Hallam's most +honourable, useful, and I may say illustrious life. [Footnote: He died on +January 21st, 1859.] It so chanced that my sister-in-law, Helen Richardson, +who has been to him a second daughter for the last few years, came up from +Scotland on Thursday [January 20th]. On Friday she went down with Mrs. +Cator to see him. He perfectly knew her, and seemed charmed to see her +again; but before she left his bed-side the light flickered in the socket, +and he expired a short time afterwards in their presence, conscious and +without pain to the last. I thought the notice of him in the 'Times' of +Monday very pleasing, and was inclined to attribute it to David Dundas, but +I know not whether I am right.... + +I remain always + +Your obliged and faithful + +H. REEVE. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, January 26th_.--I am much obliged to you for M. Guizot's +letter, [Footnote: Apparently that of January 23rd, quoted in the previous +letter to Lord Lansdowne.] which Miladi and I have read with interest, as +one always does everything he writes. I showed it to G. Lewis and C. C. G., +feeling sure you would have no objection. It is impossible not to agree in +his gloomy view of things. It must be owned that the position the Emperor +has made for himself is one of extreme difficulty. His _idée dominante_ +has been how to pacify Italian conspirators by bringing away his army +from Rome, without having the Pope's throat cut or letting in an Austrian +garrison there; and he determined that driving the Austrians out of Italy +was the indispensable preliminary step. He was urged to do this and to +think it easy both by Russia and Sardinia; and we may be sure that the +Sardinians would not have committed themselves as they have done, and +incurred such inconvenient expense, if they had not received promises of +active support. How would it be possible then for L. N. to recede? Cavour +would show him up, and fresh daggers and grenades would be prepared for +him. I look upon war, therefore, as certain. We have only to hope that +Austria may continue to act prudently, and not furnish the cause of quarrel +which her enemies are looking for, and which might turn against her those +who, for decency's sake, wish to remain neutral; and next, that Germany may +be united by a sense of common danger. This may tend to limit the area of +the war; but altogether it is a deplorable _gâchis_, out of which L. N. can +no more see his way than anyone else. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, January 26th_.--I must throw myself and the cause of law amendment +on your kindness, under a great evil which has befallen us. The 'Quarterly +Review,' under Mr. Elwin, was so favourably disposed to law reform as to +resolve upon inserting a full discussion of the subject on the occasion +of Sir E. Wilmot's volume on my 'Acts and Bills;' and Bellenden Ker had +undertaken it, and was, as a law reformer and as, under Cranworth, in +office as consolidation commissioner, certainly well qualified to do +the article. But he made such a mess of it; in fact, treating Eldon, +Ellenborough, &c., and other obstacles to law reform not introductory, but, +as I understand, making a whole article upon that. The consequence has been +that the whole has failed, and this most valuable opportunity been lost of +having the Tory journal's adhesion to law reform now. It is barely possible +they may take it up hereafter. But surely the natural place for this +statement is the 'Edinburgh Review,' and I should feel great comfort for +the good cause if I thought you would thus help us. The matter in Sir E.'s +book renders it very easy to show what has been done of late years. + +Poor Tocqueville is one day a little better, another a little worse; but I +have little or no hope of his getting through it. + +Shortly after this Lord Brougham made a flying visit to London. A note in +the Journal is:-- + +_February 26th_.--I dined at Lord Brougham's, and met Dr. Lushington, Lord +Glenelg, Lord Broughton; all--with our host--over 80. + +But the state of Tocqueville's health continued, for Reeve, the most +engrossing personal consideration, and just at this time the deadly malady +took a favourable though delusive turn. Tocqueville--says M. de Beaumont +[Footnote: Gustave de Beaumont: _Oeuvres et Correspondance inédites +d'Alexis de Tocqueville_ (1861), tome i. p. 116.]--hoped for the best. +'How could he do otherwise when all around him was bursting into life? and +so he kept on his regular habits, his schemes, his work. He read, and +was read to; he wrote a great many letters, and devoured those which he +received in great numbers. There was not one of his friends who did not +receive at least one letter from him during the last month of his life.' +The following is his last letter to Reeve. The writing is painfully bad, +the letters often half formed, or crowded one on top of another; even the +orthography is imperfect; but the words and ideas flow in full volume. + +Cannes. le 25 février. + +Cher Reeve,--Il y a un siècle que je ne vous ai écrit. Je n'étais pas libre +de le faire. Le mois de janvier tout entier s'est passé au milieu de la +crise la plus douloureuse. Je ne crois pas qu'il y ait aucun mois de ma +vie qui mérite mieux que celui-là d'être marqué d'une croix noire dans +l'histoire de mon existence privée. Jetons dans l'oubli, s'il est possible, +des jours et surtout des nuits si cruels, et bornons-nous à demander à Dieu +de n'envoyer rien de semblable désormais, soit à moi, soit à mes amis. +Depuis trois semaines j'occupe février à réparer les méfaits de janvier. Je +vais aussi bien que possible: mes forces sont en grande partie revenues. +Les bronches semblent en voie de guérison rapide. Ainsi n'en parlons plus. + +I have just been reading an excellent article on the Catacombs, in the +'Edinburgh Review.' It is a subject which has always interested me, but +very likely I should not have begun with this particular article if I had +not known it was by you. Circourt wrote to me about it, and so deprived me +of the pleasure of finding it out for myself, which I think I could have +done. But, in any case, the article is exceedingly interesting ... Though I +have been enjoying myself in following you underground, what is now going +on on the earth's surface calls for close attention. I am here hard by one +of the old military roads which have led into Italy from time immemorial, +as at this day. I hear that great preparations are being made all along +the valley of the Rhone and the neighbouring country. What I am sure of, +because it is taking place under my very eyes, is, that the railway from +Marseilles to Toulon is being pushed forward at an unheard of rate. It is +the only link wanting to complete the chain of communication between Brest, +Cherbourg, Paris, and Toulon. There was no expectation of this railway +being finished before the middle of summer; but now it is understood that +it will be ready within a few days--an instance of doing the impossible. +Such efforts presuppose some great object which it is desired to accomplish +at once. + +I am told, perhaps incorrectly, that Prussia has decided to remain +neutral--at first, at any rate; and, by the same authority, that Russia +will be neutral, but in a spirit friendly to France. This would be very +serious; for Russia gives nothing for nothing. If it is so, the Emperor's +project would appear less silly. It would explain how an ambitious prince, +whose throne is tottering, who is bound to excite the admiration of France +and to gratify the national vanity, [Footnote: Fleury, one of the most +faithful and attached of the Emperor's followers wrote in words almost +identical (_Souvenirs_, tom. i. p. 330): 'C'était par une série de faits +grandioses par des spectacles flattant l'orgueil et les instincts du pays, +que Napoleon III allait, pendant de longues années, non seulement occuper, +réjouir la France, mais encore fixer l'attention, l'étonnement et bien +souvent l'admiration du monde.'] who is stopped by no scruples, might find +it an excellent opportunity for bringing on a personal war--if I may say +so; for driving the Germans across the Alps and naming himself the Dictator +of Italy. It is true that no great material advantage can result from it; +but L. N. is sufficiently well acquainted with France to know that the +glitter of such a course would probably content her. All this would be easy +to understand if Maria Theresa reigned at Vienna, Frederic at Berlin, and +Mme. de Pompadour at Versailles; in a word, if we were in the eighteenth +instead of the nineteenth century. But being, as we are, in the nineteenth +century, the designs which are ascribed to the Emperor are to be condemned +as in the highest degree treasonable to humanity and to France. Kings can +no longer claim to be guided only by their personal interests and passions; +and now--when it is agreed that England cannot remain neutral in a war +between France and a great Continental Power; when it is admitted that +a Continental war, however short, would surely awaken the hatred of all +princes and all neighbouring people, and would end in a coalition against +France--now, I say, to plunge into such an adventure would be not only the +most silly, but the most wicked thing which a Frenchman could do. + +La longueur un peu désordonnée de cette lettre, mon cher ami, vous prouvera +mieux que tout ce que je pourrais dire les progrès de ma santé. Je vais +écrire à Mme Grote. Rappelez-nous, je vous prie, tout particulièrement au +souvenir de Lady Theresa et de Sir C. Lewis. J'espère que Lord Hatherton +ne m'a pas oublié. Mille et mille amitiés à tous les Senior. Je n'ai pas +besoin d'en dire autant pour Mme et Mile Reeve. Tout à vous de coeur, A. T. + +Reeve replied immediately:-- + +_62 Rutland Gate, 1 mars_.--Votre lettre me fait le plus sensible plaisir. +Les nouvelles indirectes de votre santé qui me sont parvenues de temps en +temps m'avaient excessivement préoccupé. J'ai su que le mois de janvier +avait été mauvais, et quoique j'eusse bien des fois l'envie de prendre la +plume, elle m'est tombée des mains lorsque j'ai réfléchi que j'ignorais +malheureusement dans quel état de corps et d'esprit ma lettre pourrait +vous trouver. Pendant tout l'hiver j'ai reçu par lettre et de bouche une +infinité de demandes sur votre état. Vous ne sauriez croire à quel point +tous vos amis d'Angleterre, qui sont encore plus nombreux que ceux dont +vous avez une connaissance personnelle, m'ont témoigné pour vous d'intérêt, +de considération et d'affection. Aussi votre convalescence est une bonne +nouvelle pour nous tous--les Lewis, les Hatherton, les Grote, Knight-Bruce +et tant d'autres. Je me permets cependant de dire que le sentiment que j'ai +eu toutes les fois que je me suis transporté par la pensée à votre chambre +de malade est bien autrement profond. Mon amitié pour vous est une des +affections les plus vives qu'il m'ait été donné de conserver. Je n'ai rien +de plus cher. Et l'idée que vous souffriez tant de mal, sans qu'il me +fût possible de vous offrir le moindre soulagement, m'à été extremement +pénible. Pour un malade la lecture de mes 'Catacombes' ne me paraît pas +excessivement gai, mais je reconnais là votre aimable souvenir de l'auteur. +Bref, vous êtes en convalescence. Le soleil printanier, même dans nos +climats, luit d'un éclat extraordinaire. Déjà au mois de février les +arbustes poussaient des feuilles. Dieu veuille que cette douce chaleur de +l'année vous rende bientôt à la santé et à la Normandie. + +There is no doubt that the state of public affairs is more serious than it +has been since 1851. [Footnote: _Sc._ in France, before the _Coup d'état_.] +The meaning of what has lately been going on in public, and of the secret +plots which have been hatching for a long time, is very clear. As to +France, I say nothing; for, after all, she has the chances of success, +which will smooth away many apparent difficulties. But the peace of Europe +depends on Germany and on England. Shall we succeed in maintaining it? The +attitude of England is, I think, good. Without any hostile demonstration, +she has shown very clearly that she will be no party to any breach of the +treaties. Lord Cowley's mission to Vienna has been arranged between him +and the Emperor, but I have no faith in it. It is merely a device to make +people think he is acting in agreement with the English Cabinet, and so +conceal a scheme to which the English Cabinet is totally opposed. Opinion +here is unanimous against French intervention in Italy. Unfortunately, we +are in a very bad position at home. The Cabinet is deplorably weak, and it +has just lost two of its principal members. The Reform Bill, brought in +yesterday, raises more questions than it answers; but it will probably +serve to give prominence to the dissensions in the Liberal party. 'Tis +a real misfortune; for a disunited party cannot assert any influence in +Europe. + +Lord Brougham is returning to Cannes, though with little inclination to +stay among such grave causes of anxiety. So long as France is free to act +by sea, the road to Italy does not lie through Var, but in the ports of +Toulon and Marseilles. Shall you soon be hearing the guns of the second +Marengo? + +The action of England at this important crisis was curious, but +characteristic. The destinies of Europe were shaking in the balance; the +fortunes of France, of Italy, of Austria, probably also of Prussia, and +very possibly of Russia, were at stake; so the English Government thought +it a suitable opportunity to tinker the constitution and introduce a Reform +Bill--which nobody seems to have wanted--mainly, it would seem, to 'dish' +the Whigs. It was, however, they themselves who were dished. Mr. Henley, +the President of the Board of Trade, resigned on January 27th. So also did +Mr. S. H. Walpole, [Footnote: Mr. Walpole died, at the age of 92, on May +22nd, 1898.] the Home Secretary, who wrote to Lord Derby: 'I cannot help +saying that the measure which the Cabinet are prepared to recommend is one +which we should all of us have stoutly opposed if either Lord Palmerston +or Lord John Russell had ventured to bring it forward.' None the less, +the Bill was introduced on February 28th. On the second reading it was +negatived; a dissolution and a general election followed; and on the +meeting of Parliament, in June the Ministry were defeated on an amendment +to the Address, and resigned. + +But though the want of confidence appeared to be based on the question of +the Reform Bill, there is no doubt that there was a widespread mistrust of +the foreign policy of the Government. For some years past, perhaps ever +since Mr. Gladstone's celebrated Neapolitan letters in 1851, successive +waves of sentiment in favour of Italian independence and unity had passed +over the country; and Lord Derby, or Lord Malmesbury, had perhaps fancied +that this sentiment might be invoked in their defence. They had not, +indeed, taken any overt action, but there was a general idea that they were +inclined to favour the designs of Italy and of France. Now, to favour the +cause of Italian independence was one thing; to favour the ambitious and +grasping schemes of France was another; and the leaders of the Liberal +party were not slow to denounce the Government, which--as they alleged--was +ready to plunge the country into war for the sake of currying favour with +the master of the insolent colonels of 1858. + +Reeve's own view of the questions at issue may be gathered from the letters +which he wrote to the 'Times,' [Footnote: January 19th, _The Policy of +France in Italy_; April 28th, _The Policy of France_, both under the +signature of 'Senex.'] and more fully, more carefully expressed in the +article 'Austria, France, and Italy' in the 'Edinburgh Review' of April. +In this he distinctly combats 'what is termed the principle of +"nationalities"' as unhistorical. The theory is, he says, 'of modern growth +and uncertain application;' and he goes on to show in detail that it is not +applicable to any one of the Great Powers of Europe. + +'Of all the sovereigns now filling a throne, Queen Victoria is undoubtedly +the ruler of the largest number of subject races, alien populations, and +discordant tongues. In the vast circumference of her dominions every form +of religion is professed, every code of law is administered, and her empire +is tesselated with every variety of the human species.... But above and +around them all stands that majestic edifice, raised by the valour and +authority of England, which connects these scattered dependencies with one +great Whole infinitely more powerful, more civilised, and more free than +any separate fragment could be; and it is to the subordination of national +or provincial independence that the true citizenship of these realms owes +its existence.... It is the glory of England to have constituted such an +empire, and to govern it, in the main, on just and tolerant principles, as +long as her imperial rights are not assailed; when they are assailed, the +people of England have never shown much forbearance in the defence of them. +Such being the fact, it is utterly repugnant to the first principles of our +own policy, and to every page in our history, to lend encouragement to that +separation of nationalities from other empires which we fiercely resist +when it threatens to dismember our own.' + +He then goes on to speak of the administration of such nationalities, and +continues:--'The spirit of the Austrian Government in the Italian provinces +we heartily deplore. All things considered, it would have been better for +Austria herself if England and the other Powers had not insisted in 1815 +on her resuming the government of Lombardy, or if the Lombardo-Venetian +kingdom had been erected into a distinct State; but that consideration is +utterly insufficient to justify a deliberate breach of the public law of +Europe.' + +And he adds a note:--'We believe that we are strictly correct in stating +that the Emperor Francis, foreseeing the difficulties his Government would +have to encounter in Lombardy, and anxious to avoid causes of future +dissension with France, expressed his strong disinclination to resume that +province; but it was pressed upon him by the other Powers, and especially +by the Prince Regent of England, as the only effectual mode of excluding +the influence of France from Northern Italy.' + +The argument, throughout, is that the attack on Austria about to be made by +France and Sardinia was an unprovoked aggression, a violation of European +treaties; on the part of Sardinia, for lust of territory, and on the part +of France, for a desire to remodel the map of Europe, to annex Savoy-- +which was to be the price of her assistance--and to carry out the ideas +'conceived at the time of his early connexion with the Italian patriots in +the movement of 1831.' + +_From Lord Hatherton_ + +_Teddesley, March 5th._--I have been from home two days....Pray excuse my +not having thanked you before for your kind announcement of Tocqueville's +convalescence. But the same day brought me a letter from a friend of +Tocqueville's brother, ... telling me the accounts were very unpromising. I +hope and believe yours is the more reliable account. + +I have not a doubt that L. Napoleon means war, and will not be baulked of +it. It is a disagreeable thing for England to know that, if he succeed, +he will have acquired some valuable experience in the embarkation and +disembarkation of an armament of 45,000 men, with as many more to follow +it; and that if they are not wanted in the Mediterranean, they may be +used elsewhere, while we are totally unprepared; and I fear, through the +weakness of our Government, from the nature of our institutions, for +purposes of defence in times of peace, are likely to remain so. + +_From Count Zamoyski_ + +Paris, March 29th. + +My dear friend, I am not surprised at your regret; my own is very keen. +Throughout his whole life Sigismond Krasinski was obliged to conceal his +true self. Out of regard for his father, who was always a pitiful courtier +of success, he denied himself the liberty of saying what he thought, +acknowledging what he wrote, or showing to whom he was attached. I was one +of those whom he supported by his zealous co-operation. You knew him as a +poet; he had become a politician, and seemed destined to exercise a +great influence. His loss is irreparable. To me he was a friend and a +brother-in-arms. + +His widow, his two sons--of twelve and thirteen, and his daughter, of +seven, are here. She is occupied in collecting all her husband's writings, +with the intention of publishing all that is of value. She thinks, and +rightly, that a judicious selection of his letters would be especially +interesting as containing the secret of his life--a secret which he guarded +so carefully. If, therefore, you will send me what you have, or bring them +when you come here in a month's time, you will oblige both his widow and +friends. His sons had never been separated from him--which will assure you +that their early education has been well cared for. Their mother proposes +that they should continue their studies here, attending a college, and +having lessons in Polish history and literature, which can be had here +better than in Poland. + +So it is settled that we are to have a congress! But what will it do? What +can be done in such a matter in so short a time? The 'Moniteur' has rightly +pointed out that it is necessary to 'study the questions.' For that, time +is especially wanted. It would need something like a council sitting +through years, reigns, wars, to bring about salutary and lasting results. +I am told that nowadays everything must go by steam--this, as well as the +rest. To which, I answer that the result will be nothing but water mixed +with blood.... + +I am sorry to see the English Press more and more unjust to the Emperor +Napoleon. It is really silly to keep on schooling France--not the +Emperor--for preferring an imperial to a parliamentary government. If +the English had the institutions which in France seem to be but the +concomitants of despotism, they would educe from them a large amount of +political liberty. But if the French--like the woman in Molière prefer +being governed, it would be wise for the English peers to accept the fact; +and instead of sneering at and irritating France whenever she wishes to +do some good, to get out of the beaten track, to conquer hearts, not +territories, it would be better honestly to co-operate with her, and thus +attain valuable results--a profitable success, and the deliverance +of France from the fatal support of Russia, which she accepts as a +_pis-aller_, but which in the long run can only be to her hurt. More than +all others, the English Press, which is so proud--which has good reason to +be proud--should assist in the 'study of the questions;' should anticipate +the negotiations; should elevate and elucidate them by judicious +suggestions, basing everything on a firm alliance of the Western Powers. + +But alas! where is the English statesman, where is even the great writer or +the newspaper capable of inaugurating such a policy? For lack of these, we +see England vying with France in courtesy to Russia--in anxiety to please +her. But to this the Emperor Napoleon does at least add his theory of +nationalities, which is sufficient to reassure us on the score of his +flirtation with Russia; does the English Government or the English press do +anything of a similar nature? Alas! Alas! England is certainly great, +but it is selfishly for herself. Will she never be able to offer other +nations--whatever the circumstances may be--anything but insults, or her +own institutions as patterns. + +Pardon de ce bavardage et mille amitiés--avec tous mes compliments pour +Mesdames Reeve. + +L. ZAMOYSKI. + +Je joins un mot de la Ctsse. K. pour vous, reçu à l'instant. + +_From the Countess Krasinska_ + +_Paris, 29 mars._--Le Comte Zamoyski a bien voulu me communiquer votre +lettre, monsieur, et j'ai été bien sincèrement touchée du souvenir +d'affection que vous conservez à un ami qui n'a cessé non plus, je puis +vous le garantir, de vous porter un sentiment inaltérable et sincère. Bien +souvent, en me parlant des jours de sa jeunesse, mon mari me parlait de +cette amitié qui vous unissait et qui en a été un des meilleurs rayons. Il +m'avait aussi parlé des manuscrits que vous aurez, et je vous avoue que +vous allez au-devant de mes désirs et de ma prière en voulant bien les +communiquer. Je tiens infiniment à recueillir tout ce qui a échappé à ce +grand coeur et à cette vaillante plume, et je commence un travail qui ne +sera sans doute complet que dans quelques années. Je vous serai donc on ne +peut plus reconnaissante si vous vouliez bien confier entre mes mains ce +que vous possédez, soit en copie, soit original, comme vous le voudrez, +m'engageant à vous remettre ce précieux dépôt dès que nous en aurons fait +usage, et dès que vous le réclamerez. + +J'espère lorsque vous viendrez à Paris que je pourrai vous présenter, +monsieur, les deux fils de Sigismond et sa petite fille, et vous demander +pour les enfants un peu de ce coeur que vous aviez pour le père. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 9th_.--I fear I have but a bad account to give of poor +Tocqueville; he has been worse again, and to-day he received the Communion. +Dr. Maure has just told me he hardly thought he could live over the month, +but he (Dr. M.) has always been much more desponding than the other +physician. One great evil has befallen him. Beaumont, who had really been +a nurse to him these three weeks, is suddenly called away to Paris by +the telegraph, owing to some illness in his own family, and this is an +irreparable loss to Tocqueville. + +We are all here in great anxiety about peace and war. Cavour, whose +conduct--and that of his master--is as bad as possible, has no doubt +received strong assurances of support from L. N. and his vile cousin; and +the war party at Turin are exulting, considering that the Congress can do +nothing to prevent the outbreak with Austria, upon which they reckon for +certain, and, I fear, with some reason. The utter want of good faith in L. +N. becomes daily more manifest.... Yet, though even the military men are +crying out against the war, and all other parties, without any exception, +are against him, one sees nothing that can effectually shake him, unless he +were to be defeated in the war he has been endeavouring to bring about. The +whole prospects are as gloomy as possible for the friends of freedom and of +peace. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 10th_.--Many thanks for your letter, which gives me +information much beyond what my other letters give, but far from agreeable +either as to home or foreign affairs. This destruction (I fear I must call +it) of the Liberal party by the personal vanity, which they call by the +higher name of ambition, of two persons is truly deplorable; and the +conduct of the Government in dissolving is such as can hardly be exceeded +in folly. We shall have an increased split, I fear, of the Liberals, and a +weaker Government than ever. I grieve to say that matters look as ill +for peace in this country and Italy as ever. The conduct of Cavour is +abominable. + +I grieve to give you a worse account than ever of Tocqueville. Dr. Maure +had condemned him from the first, but Dr. Sève had sanguine hopes, at +least, of a long time being given. But I have just seen him, and he now +says it is an affair of days. So all is nearly over. Mme. T. is also very +ill, and Beaumont being forced to leave them is most vexatious. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. C., April 10th_.--Do you chance to have a proof-sheet of that part of +your article which treats of the rights of Austria to Lombardy and Venice +and her reversionary rights to the other States, and, if so, will you lend +it to me? You have made the whole case so clear that I should like to read +it over again, as it may be necessary to say something on the subject in +the House of Lords when Malmesbury makes his statement, and I see that +the 'Edinburgh Review' will not be out till Friday, otherwise I would not +trouble you. + +_G. C., April 13th_.--Many thanks for the proof-sheets, and Schwarzenberg's +despatch and Duvergier's letter, which I enclose. I was kept at home by a +slight attack of gout yesterday, and did not see Malmesbury, but on Monday +he told me that he had hopes of being able to announce a disarming of the +three would-be belligerent Powers. Until he makes that statement I shall +not believe in its probability. Palmerston and Lord John seem well aware +that any encouragement to war would be most unpopular at home, and I don't +expect that there will be much discussion on Friday. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Orleans House, April 11th. + +On my return from Claremont I find your letter. With my brothers I had just +been deploring the great loss sustained by the Liberal party. [Footnote: +The death of Tocqueville was prematurely announced a week before it +actually took place.] Of all the men of mark in our deliberative +assemblies, M. de Tocqueville was certainly the most stainless. He had the +rare advantage of not being obnoxious to any of the parties existing in +France, by which I mean all self-respecting parties, such as will be taken +into account on the day when France shall become herself again. He would +certainly have been one of the most important members of the first free +government in our country. Even as things are, he was one of our public +characters whose voice carried most weight, and who was best fitted to +enlighten the minds of others. God has taken him from us before his time. +Forgive me for retaining so much selfishness and party spirit before the +coffin of so good and amiable a man; for regretting his public more than +his private virtues. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Paris, April 15th_.--... France does not understand, approve, or wish +for an Italian war now any more than she did six months ago. I persist in +thinking that in his inmost soul, and of his own judgement, the Emperor +Napoleon would also be glad to be rid of it, provided it should be quite +clear that it is not of his free will that he backs out of his promise, and +that, in remaining at peace, he is yielding to imperious necessity, to the +interest, will, and influence of Europe. On Europe, therefore, the matter +depends; and, in this, Europe is England, for Prussia will follow England. +It is, therefore, towards you that all of us who are friends of peace and +good sense now turn our eyes. Do not fall a prey to the disease which has +mastered all the politicians of the time. Do not be afraid to take the +initiative, to incur the responsibility; decide and act according to your +own opinion, instead of waiting for circumstances to decide and act for +you. On this condition alone the peace of Europe will be saved; without +it, it will not. And of this be sure: that if war does break out, we shall +feel, no doubt, that you have been wanting in the foresight and resolution +which would have prevented it.... + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _April 17th_.--Poor Tocqueville died this morning, not at +Hyères, as the papers which announced his death a week ago say, but at a +house a mile from Cannes. His two brothers were with him; and his poor wife +is so ill that she will not long survive him. + +People in high quarters in England seem bent on believing that the Congress +will do wonders. I don't expect it. There is such bad faith in the man +on whom it really all turns, and he is in such a state, by the universal +opinion of France and of Europe being against him, that I should not be +surprised at any desperate act to regain the place he has lost. You may +naturally suppose the preparations which, chiefly naval, are going on must +mean something, and he seems resolved that no restraint on them shall be +imposed when others agree to disarm. Why should he not agree to stop, and +not to add to his means--as everyone that comes from Marseilles tells us he +is doing, though gradually? The reason he will suffer no restriction to be +imposed is that the army would regard this as a concession, and he won't +risk any offence in that quarter. The worst of it is that they--the +officers--though just as averse to an Austrian war as the country at large, +would by no means dislike a dash at England, and I cannot get out of my +mind the risk there is of his making that attempt when we are unprepared. +The perfidy would be overlooked in the success, though temporary. And in +the midst of all this we have Malmesbury at the F. O. and Derby premier! + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G.G., April 19th_. I am delighted you approved of what I said last +night,[Footnote: In the House of Lords.] and much obliged to you for +letting me know it. I thought Derby's speech excellent, though perhaps a +trifle too bellicose in the latter part for John Bull, who always wants a +little preparation before he is taken over rough ground. He is under the +strict neutrality delusion just now, and has not yet thought of realising +his rôle in a European war. + +Your article is attracting great attention, and seems to be working a great +deal of good. Where did you get the information contained in the note to p. +566? [Footnote: See _ante_, p. 13.] I meant to have used it, and to have +appealed to Aberdeen to confirm the statement, but thought it prudent to +ask him beforehand whether he agreed. + +The article on 'Austria, France, and Italy,' in the April number of the +Review brought Reeve the following letter from Mr. Edward Cheney, till then +a mere acquaintance, though between the two a friendship quickly sprang up +which was broken only by death. Mr. Cheney had lived for several years in +Italy, and his letters--always interesting, frequently amusing--commonly +relate to Italian affairs; but he was a well-read, accomplished, and +large-minded man, and in his judgement on literary questions Reeve had +great confidence. + +Audley Square, April 20th. + +My dear sir,--At the risk of appearing intrusive, and perhaps impertinent, +I cannot resist my strong inclination to express the great satisfaction +with which I have read the article in the last number of the 'Edinburgh +Review' on the Italian question. I do not presume to attribute the +authorship to yourself, though the clearness of the style, the closeness of +the reasoning, and the candour of the deductions would naturally lead me +to that conclusion; but, in truth, its merits are far beyond its technical +excellencies, and I rejoice peculiarly on its appearance at a moment when +public attention is concentrated on the affairs of the Italian peninsula, +and when the public, too, has so much need of enlightenment. A man who +writes as the author of that article has done confers an incalculable +benefit on his countrymen; and, as one not altogether incompetent to form a +judgement on the subject, I beg to offer him my congratulations. + +I have lived many years in Italy, am minutely acquainted with every part +of it. I have many friends and intimates amongst its natives. I admire the +country, and like its people; and, while doing justice to many of their +excellent and amiable qualities, I cannot be blind to the fact that most of +the misfortunes which have befallen them are attributable mainly to +their want of constancy, their want of ambition, and--the word must be +spoken--their want of courage. They are now on the eve of another and more +serious revolution; they are rushing with reckless indifference upon a +danger the extent of which they cannot realise to themselves, but which +must inevitably overwhelm them. A European war must be the consequence, a +war in which England must ultimately take a part; and the man who calmly +and dispassionately endeavours to open the eyes of his countrymen to the +truth, and who, regardless of passing obloquy, dares to assert it, is their +real benefactor; and though, at the first moment, he may share the fate +of those who tell unwelcome truths, justice will ultimately be done him, +though not, perhaps, till the cry of regret is raised that his warning and +advice were both neglected. I would conclude my letter with another apology +for having thus far intruded on your valuable time; but you yourself will +be able to suggest my best excuse in the deep interest which we both take +in the subject. + +Believe me, my dear Sir, + +Very sincerely yours, + +EDWARD CHENEY. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Paris, April 21st_.--J'ai reçu et lu votre article il y a déjà plusieurs +jours, et je l'ai trouvé excellent. Il est impossible de mieux résumer les +faits, de mieux établir les droits et de faire mieux pressentir la bonne +politique. Lord Derby et Lord Clarendon vous ont donné pleinement raison. +Ils ont gardé, l'un et l'autre, chacun dans sa position, une juste mesure, +tout en parlant avec une grande franchise. L'effet est grand ici. + +The question is how to get clear of this imbroglio, the handiwork of a +lot of mischief-makers, who are at once timid and rash, obstinate and +unenterprising, conscious of their weakness, yet persisting in their folly. +We are waiting impatiently for the decisive answers from Turin and Vienna; +and then the congress; and then your elections; and then--what? I have +passed the best part of my life in doing, and am not yet accustomed to +waiting without knowing what for.... + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _April 21st_.--I am extremely obliged to you for sending the +article, which I have read with the greatest satisfaction. There are one or +two things of minor importance on which I differ. The matter of Genoa as +connected with Piedmont, I need not say, is not one of these. Indeed, it +might have been put stronger, and without reference to Lord W. Bentinck; +for, if I rightly recollect, when I, in 1817, attacked Castlereagh on the +misdeeds of the congress in 1815, I put the surrender of Genoa to Piedmont +in the very front of the charges against the congress--independent of Lord +W. B.'s proclamation, and on the ground of the Genoese hatred of Piedmont. +I again referred to this the first night of the session. + +I broke through my rule of never attending funerals yesterday. The last +time I broke it was my dear friend Follett; this time it was Tocqueville. I +should have been the only member of the Institute, but Ampere had set out +from Rome on receiving T.'s letter, and arrived the day after his death. He +is carried to Tocqueville--near Cherbourg, as you know; one of his brothers +and a nephew accompany it. Mme. T. is not nearly so ill as was believed. It +is bronchitis, not lungs; so she expects to go by slow journeys in a few +days. + +_April 22nd_.--Since I wrote yesterday I have received an account which, +whether true or not, shows the opinion they have in Italy of our great +ally. A man who had stood his friend and prevented the King of Holland from +disinheriting him, has lately been at Paris, and was kindly received by +him. So far is certain, and his kindness to those who befriended him +formerly is a good quality he really possesses. But it is added that he +told him to tell his nation not to be disheartened by the congress, because +care would be taken to make proposals which must be rejected, and that he +was as ready as ever. I really believe there is nothing too base in the +way of perfidy he would scruple to do, if his resolution was fixed and it +appeared clearly to be his interest. There has, however, been a change in +him of late, as to determination. He is more easily swayed by others than +he was, and he falters more when left alone. Altogether, it is a cruel +calamity for the world to have such a person to depend upon. I wish someone +would show how much he appeals to the multitude--the mere _mob_. He is +still a socialist in practice; and if anyone will read the Robespierre +papers, he will see that there is a deliberate design to make the poor--the +persons without property--rule. One man whom I afterwards knew (Julien de +Paris), and who had been a philanthropist _exalté_, states, in one of his +reports to the Committee of Public Safety, that those who have no property +are the great majority, and therefore must govern. There could be no +greater service to France than a full exposition of these principles--the +ones which L. N. adopts; and at the same time a full account of the +abominable character of the first Napoleon, of which the materials are +abundant in the correspondence with Joseph, [Footnote: _Mémoires et +Correspondance politique et militaire du roi Joseph_ (6 tom. 8vo. +1854).] and also in the printed, but unpublished, vols. of his whole +correspondence. + +[_Cannes_] _May 4th_--I suppose some folks will now have discovered what +reliance there is to be placed on a capricious and absolute man. It was +clear from the first that he had resolved upon this Italian speculation, +and that as soon as he could mitigate the universal feeling and opinion +against him, he would have his way. The congress, whether suggested by him +through Russia or not, was only one means of delay till all was ready, and +one way of putting Austria in the wrong, or making an outcry against her +as if she was--for really, except in the clumsy way of doing it, I can see +nothing to blame in her refusal. She is treated as the aggressor. Now all +she has done, or could do, was in her own defence, and nothing in the world +can be more absurd than pretending that she is the cause of the war. If +she beat the allies ever so much, she does not gain one inch of territory, +while their real object is to strip her. As for L. N. considering himself +aggrieved by her breaking off the negotiation and beginning to defend +herself, it can only be on the supposition that he has a right to interfere +on behalf of the Italians. Indeed, the same thing may be said of Sardinia. +It is considered that she is aggrieved if the other Italian States are +aggrieved; and now comes this rising in Tuscany and the smaller duchies to +embarrass one party and so far help the other. But there is no reason to +believe that any rising in Lombardy will take place. + +The unaccountable part of it is the Austrians delaying their attack. It +seemed clear that their plan would be to march upon Turin before the French +could get up, and yet they have suffered 40,000 men to be landed at Genoa, +and a considerable force to cross by Mont Cenis, without doing anything. +Can it be that the sudden notice to Piedmont was an act of the Emperor +without his ministers being consulted, and that they are less prepared than +was supposed? Bunsen's son, who is in the Prussian mission at Turin, wrote +ten days ago that the Government was ready to remove to Genoa, expecting +the Austrians to come before the French arrived, and knowing Turin to be +indefensible. It now seems that there must be a battle before Turin can +be taken. All the road from Paris to Marseilles has been encumbered with +troops, and all the steamers have been taken by the Government, and +more men will be sent if wanted. The usual effect of a war has +been perceived--namely, making the multitude rally round the +Government--consequently there is less outcry against the war than there +was, except amongst thinking people and those who are suffering from the +suspension of all trade. The Emperor himself will probably join the army +when they are prepared for an advantageous movement. He is playing a game +that may be desperate. This Russian alliance is denied, but substantially +it is true, and I have little doubt that some undertaking is effected to +give leave to Russia in Turkey, on condition that she does something for +Poland (one of L. N.'s hobbies) and helps some Italian arrangement for the +cousin. + +The next letter is endorsed by Reeve--'An affectionate record of a long +friendship. I have inserted it in the copy of his Journals.' + +_From Mr. C. C. Greville_ + +_May 6th_.--I will not delay to thank you warmly for your kind note. Your +accession to the P. C. office gave me a friendship which I need not say +how much I have valued through so many years of happy intercourse, which I +rejoice at knowing has never been for an instant clouded or interrupted, +and which will, I hope, last the same as long as I last myself. It is +always painful to do anything for the last time, and I cannot without +emotion take leave of an office where I have experienced for so many years +so much kindness, consideration, and goodwill. I have told Hamilton that +I hope still to be considered as _amicus curiae_, and to be applied to on +every occasion when I can be of use to the office, or my personal services +can be employed to promote the interest of any member of it. Between you +and me there has been, I think, as much as possible between any two +people, the 'idem velle, idem nolle et idem sentire de republicâ,' and in +consequence the 'firma amicitia.' God bless you, and believe me always, + +Yours most sincerely and faithfully, C. C. G. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _May 18th_.--I really begin to feel anxious about the peace of +Europe, and not without some alarm as to our own position. There can be +no doubt that for the present (if not more permanently) this man [the +Emperor], working on the French feeling, has got the mob, military and +civil, with him. The war has ceased to be unpopular, and all reckon upon +victory. If they succeed, he will, for a while, be satisfied with the +gratification of his vanity and the strengthening of his power; but soon +after he will be pushed by his unruly supporters, and will try a deeper +game. Of this they are as much convinced in Germany as of his existence, +and even Prussia will not persist holding back. If she does, and if the +Russian alliance continues, she will be destroyed as soon as Austria is +weakened. I, therefore, expect to see Prussia take timely precautions. They +are prepared at Frankfort to split with her if she does not. + +I am now satisfied that the Austrians intended only a _razzia_ to +Turin, and then to carry on only a defensive contest; and having been +prevented--partly by the floods, and partly by our untimely intermeddling, +and partly by their old error of having one head at Vienna, and another +with the army--they have now given up the _razzia_, and will act on the +defensive. This will not prevent them taking advantage of any opportunity +of attacking, should they be able to do so with a certainty of success; but +for any such dash I look rather to the French than to them. Certainly the +Man is in a great difficulty if the Austrians steadily pursue this plan; +for the expectations are wound up to a high pitch in France--especially in +Paris and the great towns--of his doing something speedily, and the French +nature is not to wait with calmness and patience. Even in this remote +quarter, the thousands of fine troops passing raises a great feeling for +the war. + +_To Lord Brougham + +C. O., May 21st_.--To the very best of my belief, the Queen's Speech will +not be delivered till June 7th, but I speak without authority.... I have +the greatest doubt whether it will be possible to unite all those sections +of the H. of C. which are not to be regarded as Lord Derby's supporters, in +a direct adverse vote--on the address or otherwise; and if the attempt is +made--as it probably will be I think it will fail. [Footnote: The attempt +was made, and did not fail. The Ministry was defeated on the amendment to +the address by 323 to 310.] The Government say they have 307 men on whom +they can rely, and a fair chance that fifteen or twenty more men will not +consent to take part in an active, offensive campaign. Indeed the country +gentlemen say pretty generally that they will not attempt to turn the +Government out, until they are satisfied that a more stable Government can +be formed. But how is this possible when the numbers are--on one side a +compact body of more than 300, and--on the other side, a divided body of +350? What we hope, therefore, is this: that John Russell and the Radicals +will take a course on the subject of Reform which will be resisted by +the moderate Liberals; and that the result will be a fusion between the +moderate Liberals and the large Conservative phalanx. For it is clear that +without some degree of support from the Conservatives, no other government +can be carried on. As for any lasting or sincere union between Lord +Palmerston and Lord John, it is quite hopeless, [Footnote: The event +falsified this forecast. In the Ministry which Palmerston now formed Lord +John was Foreign Secretary, and continued so till Palmerston's death in +1865.] and the desire to keep the latter out of office is so general and +intense, that it is probable he would fail to make a Cabinet, even if +the Queen sent for him--which she will certainly not do until the last +extremity. On the other hand, there is the great objection to Palmerston +that he holds language about the Italians and the French--to whom he is +entirely devoted--which is quite at variance with the convictions of every +man of sense in the country. There can be very little doubt that the +war will spread. The whole of Germany is burning with ardour to support +Austria; and if the French gain a battle on the Po, nothing will prevent +the whole strength of Germany from coming to the rescue. [Footnote: Louis +Napoleon's fear of this is a sufficient explanation of his ambiguous policy +after Solferino.] The position of France is, in reality, most critical, for +all her best troops are in Italy, and she would have great difficulty in +placing 100,000 men on the Rhine, where she may have to confront half a +million of combatants. + +Hortensius' [Footnote: William Forsyth, Q.C., for many years standing +counsel to the India Office. As the author, among other works, of +_Hortensius_, and residing, as he still resides, at 61 Rutland Gate, +Lord Brougham, in writing to Reeve, invariably refers to him as either +'Hortensius' or 'your neighbour.' In 1872 he published _Letters from +Lord Brougham to William Forsyth_, with some facsimiles to show his +'extraordinary hand.' 'I think,' wrote Mr. Forsyth, 'the hieroglyphics will +puzzle most readers;' but the samples he has given are as copper-plate +compared with some of the letters to Reeve of about the same date.] +appointment was, I believe, purely an act of Lord Stanley's, and I dare say +your kindness in mentioning his name had due effect. Hortensius applied, by +letter, for the appointment, and about three weeks after came a letter to +say he was appointed. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +[_Cannes_] _May 24th_. I have been reading over again your excellent +article on the subject of the day, and I may say of the place; and the more +I reflect on it, I come the nearer to your view in all respects. Really the +more we consider this abominable man's conduct (and his accomplice Cavour +is quite as bad, though not so foolish), the greater indignation we feel +at the unprovoked breach of the peace. The audacity of the pretence from a +despot and usurper exceeds precedent. What can be said too of Russia, which +keeps her hold of Poland only ten years longer than the settlement of +1815! It really would be important, now that the attempt has been made to +represent [the first] Napoleon as the friend of oppressed nationalities, +that we should direct men's attention a little more to the enormities +in that man's whole history. Party motives arising out of our English +divisions to a certain degree prevented the real truth from being generally +felt respecting him. There was the usual exaggeration on both sides. One +party painted the devil blacker than he was, crediting to him crimes which +he never committed. The other, because their adversaries thus painted him, +would allow nothing against him, and exaggerated his merits--though it were +difficult to overrate his capacity, and his military genius especially. But +the more his moral guilt is examined the blacker it will appear, and the +late publication, which you call candid, I believe has been true and full +owing to careless superintendence. When I say publication I mean printing, +for it is not really published, though copies are freely given. The +publication of Joseph's memoirs is also full of important matter. + +Now from these and the existing materials, a full and plain account of the +man ought to be prepared, [Footnote: This is what M. Lanfrey began to do, +and was going on with at the time of his lamented death, at the age of +forty-nine, in 1877.] and you may rely on it that great effect against the +present man would be produced; for he ostentatiously connects his policy +with the former one's, and there is the greatest care taken to suppress +attacks on Napoleon I. in the periodical publications--at least in the +newspapers. But if the English and German and Belgian press are full of the +facts, and repeatedly lay them before the world, no policy of the French +press can long keep the truth from reaching the public. However, I am drawn +away from what I had intended to mention--the present state of the public +mind on the war question in this country. The giddy and warlike nature of +the people, and his going to the army, has produced an effect not only in +removing the unpopularity of the war, but in raising a warlike spirit--at +least for the present. If victory comes, this will be increased. It is +probable he may for the present be satisfied with the strength which he +will derive from it; but the army will probably join with the mob in +wishing for further proceedings, and then we shall find that Germany will +be attacked, and I must even say that we shall do well to be prepared in +England. I believe, however, that the Austrians in Italy will make it a +lingering affair by defensive operations, and this will exhaust the French +patience. The lies of the Sardinian press, and indeed official accounts, +make it impossible to tell how far they have at the beginning suffered a +check. But I plainly perceive that, if something brilliant is not done, L. +N. will be shaken. + + * * * * * + +_From Count Zamoyski_ + +_Paris, May 28th_. May is passing and your plans are not yet realised; we +still await your arrival. Mme. Krasinska is leaving Paris for Warsaw, and +has charged me to forward you the enclosed, in which she gives you the +address of the person here who is ready to receive the papers you have +promised her, which both she and the friends of the deceased await with +lively interest. + +Having written thus much on the matter in hand, Zamoyski turned again to +politics and the discussion at some length of the situation in Italy, out +of which many of the Poles fondly hoped their freedom was to come. The +English mistrust of Napoleon, he argued, was as injudicious as unfounded, +and could do nothing but harm by forcing France into the arms of Russia. +One of the many wild suggestions afloat at the time amounted to little less +than a complete remodelling of the map of Europe. Austria, deprived of her +Italian provinces, was to be compensated on the lower Danube; as a balance +to which, Russia was to occupy Constantinople, and, to mark her friendship +to France--who was entering on the war for an _idée_--would restore +freedom to Poland. And there were some who believed it. Zamoyski was +clearer-headed; but his mind also was warped by sense of wrong, and his +fancy was as wild as the other. If England, he urged, will not act in +concert with France, let her at least emulate the noble example France is +setting. She is preparing to free Italy; let England, as her part in the +generous rivalry, free Poland. Russia is still England's enemy. This is +England's opportunity. And he seems to have persuaded himself that, if +she did not avail herself of it, she would be a recreant to the cause of +liberty and humanity. It is very curious. + +_From the Countess Krasinska_ + +_Paris, 26 mai_.--Je vous remercie infiniment, Monsieur, de votre bonne +lettre et de tout ce que vous voulez bien me dire de celui que nous ne +cesserons pas de regretter, et qui m'a bien et bien souvent parlé de vous +et des années de jeunesse passées avec vous dans une étroite et sincère +amitié. Ce souvenir a été constant dans son coeur! Je regrette infiniment +aussi que les évènements politiques vous aient empêché de venir à Paris, +comme vous vous le proposiez. Je suis obligée de partir pour Varsovie, et +crains de vous manquer si vous venez bientôt ici. Dans tous les cas, si +vous vouliez bien confier vos précieux manuscrits [Footnote: If sent to +M. Okrynski, the letters were returned; for they were afterwards given to +Sigismond's grandson, the present Count Adam Krasinski (_see post_. p. +389).] à M. Victor Okrynski, Rue de la Pépinière 66, je vous en serai bien +reconnaissante. C'est chez lui que je laisse en dépôt ce que nous avons +rassemblé jusqu'ici. + +It would seem from the following note that Lord Macaulay had spoken to +Reeve of Dr. Thomas Campbell's "Diary of a Visit to England in 1775; by +an Irishman;" a small book--little more than a pamphlet--which had been +published at Sydney in 1854. It had struck Reeve that such a "Diary" +might be the text for an interesting article in the "Review;" and the +correspondence respecting it derives a peculiar value from its near +approach to the close of Macaulay's labours. + +_From Lord Macaulay_ + +Holly Lodge, Kensington, June 1st. + +Dear Reeve,--Before you determine anything about Dr. T. Campbell's Diary, +you had better read it. I have lent my copy, which is probably the only +copy in England, and do not expect to get it back till next week. When it +comes, I will send it to you, and we will then talk further. Ever yours +truly, MACAULAY. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, June 11th_.--... On the Continent, it seems to me, there is +now only one question--Will Austria remain obstinate? If she does, if she +is determined to fight on, although beaten; not to give up her Italian +possessions, although she has lost them in Italy, and to impose on +the conquerors of Milan the necessity of being also the conquerors of +Vienna--in that case the actual beginning of the war is a trifle; we are +advancing towards a general war and European chaos. The mere continuance of +the struggle will be quite sufficient to make it impossible for anyone--for +Lord Derby as much as for Lord Palmerston--to stop it or to foresee +where it will lead. Has Austria the will and the strength to prolong the +struggle? Or will she be alarmed and intimidated by her first defeats, and +be persuaded to make such concessions as will give, if not Italy herself, +at least her patrons for the time being, a decent pretext to declare +themselves satisfied, and to retreat in triumph? I repeat this seems to me +the only question. If I were to judge by the reports that reach me from +Germany, no doubt is there felt. Austria, both emperor and country, are +said to be perfectly determined to fight to the last extremity, being +convinced that in their extreme peril, and when, in their persons, European +order is endangered, they will find allies and a chance of safety. But I +do not put much faith in rumours which promise a somewhat heroic firmness. +Great things are apt to come to nothing nowadays, and it may well be that +the Italian question will fall through, and all this noise end in some +transaction which will be neither a true nor lasting solution. Italy has +long been the scene of events that end thus.... + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G.C., June 13th_.--You have always taken such a kind and friendly concern +in my affairs that I think you will like to know how I stand. Palmerston, +by the Queen's desire, insisted on my returning to the F.O., and I felt +that, though most unwilling to accept the offer, I had no sufficient plea +for declining it. But when Palmerston very properly placed any office at +the disposal of Lord John, he claimed the F.O. as his right. I gladly +recognised that right and the superiority of his claims to my own. + +I was most warmly pressed by Palmerston and my former colleagues to take +any other office; but for that I saw no necessity, and I was sure I should +best consult the public taste by making way for some one who had not been +in Palmerston's former Government. The Queen sent for me, and very kindly +tried to shake my determination; but it had not been lightly taken, and she +did not succeed. So I am still free, and great is my happiness thereat. + +_From Lord Macaulay_ + +_June 27th_.--If I were to renew my connexion with the "Edinburgh Review" +after an interval of fifteen years, I should wish my first article to be +rather more striking than an article on Campbell's Diary can easily be. You +will, no doubt, do the thing as well as it can be done. + +Some other hand, therefore, supplied the article on "A Visit to England in +1775" which appeared in the October number of the "Review." + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ 62 Rutland Gate, June 30th. + +Dear Madame de Tocqueville, [Footnote: Mme. de Tocqueville was an +Englishwoman, and the correspondence was naturally in English.] I reproach +myself exceedingly for having delayed so long to express to you, or, +rather, to endeavour to express to you, how strongly Mrs. Reeve and myself +participate in that sympathy and sorrow which your irreparable loss +has inspired to the whole world, but most of all to those to whom the +friendship of your husband was one of the blessings of life. I cannot +accustom myself to the thought that the intercourse I had the happiness to +maintain with him for twenty-five years is really at an end; and that +the events of the world in which he took so constant and enlightened an +interest are still rolling onwards, while his pure intelligence has passed +to some higher and nobler sphere. We now look back, indeed, with a pleasure +that heightens our regret, to those delightful days we spent at Tocqueville +in 1856, and to his visit to England in 1857. Nothing, indeed, was wanting, +either to his fame or to the love he inspired those who knew him; and to +both these sacred recollections our thoughts will be directed as long as we +survive. What, then, must be the loss and the void to you, who lived, as +it were, _in_ that light? I dare not think of it, were it not that your +thoughts will rise to that source which has consolation for all earthly +sorrows. I have heard of you, and seen your admirable letters to Mrs. Grote +and Mrs. Merivale, which assure me of the resignation and piety that still +support you. Mrs. Reeve and Hopie desire to join in the cordial expression +of their affectionate regard; and I remain Your most faithful servant, + +H. REEVE. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +In August I left town for Ambleside and Abington, to shoot. Thence I went +to the George R. Smiths', at Relugas; near Forres. Shot there, and then +crossed the Moray Firth to Skibo and Uppat. Then I went on to Langwell, in +Caithness, which the Duke of Portland had lent the Speaker (E. Denison), +and spent some days with him. Returned to town by sea from Aberdeen. +Shooting in September at Chorleywood and Stetchworth--the latter +first-rate; then to Roxburghshire; afterwards to Raith. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_Relugas, near Forres, August 26th._--Your very kind note of the 23rd has +followed me here, where I am spending a few days on my way to Sutherland. +Towards the latter end of October I shall be returning to England, with +Mrs. Reeve and my daughter, and if you are still at Brougham at that time, +and disposed to receive us for a day or two in this patriarchal fashion, it +will give us the greatest pleasure to come. + +Louis Napoleon's amnesty appears to me to be the most judicious act of his +reign, and, if he would only follow it up by giving a more legal character +to his administration, I think he would soon rally many persons to himself. +All that the French seem at this time to require is that the Government +should observe the laws it enforces on other people--a very moderate +request. + +I will endeavour to find out about the Chancery Evidence Commission. It +is a monstrous absurdity that your name should not appear in a commission +destined, if anything, to give effect to the principles you have so long +and constantly advocated. + +_C.O., September 26th_.--I sincerely hope that, whatever day the Edinburgh +banquet takes place, I may have the honour of attending it. I shall +probably be at Raith at the time. Considering what you have been, for more +than half a century, to the "Edinburgh Review," and the connexion which was +thus so long maintained between yourself and Edinburgh, I am most anxious, +as the humble representative of that journal at the present time, to +do anything in my power to contribute to a mark of respect paid you in +Edinburgh; and I should have gladly attended the dinner, even if I had not +been, as I probably shall be, within easy reach of it. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, September 27th_.--Many thanks for your great kindness about +the Edinburgh dinner, which I look forward to with some dismay; for the +requisition, which was signed by the heads of all parties, and in very +kind terms, makes it impossible not to attend, and, beside the plagues +incidental to all such proceedings, I have the excessive suffering from +the blanks by which I shall be surrounded. To go no further than what you +allude to, it may possibly be October 25th, and certainly not later than +26th; and that is the anniversary of the "Edinburgh Review" fifty-seven +years ago. Then Jeffrey, Horner, Smith, Allen, Murray, Playfair, +Thomson--all gone; and of later years, Cockburn, your father, Eyre. It +is really a sad thing. And then, beside our set, there were A. Thomson, +Moncreiff, T. Campbell, Cranstoun, Clerk, D. Stewart, W. Scott--all, except +Horner, Playfair, and Scott, D. Stewart and A. Thomson, T. Campbell, alive +in 1834, when I was last in Edinburgh. I must struggle the best I can, but +this feeling nearly overpowers me. + +I send you by this post a Paris paper I have just received, evidently sent +on account of the article marked, which is so far gratifying that it is by +a very eminent man, who signs it; but I chiefly value it on account of +the attack upon England for not having raised a monument, [footnote: Lord +Brougham was at this time greatly interested, and indeed excited, about a +proposed monument to Sir Isaac Newton. His letters frequently allude to +it.] and on account, also, of the statement that he was the greatest of all +men--which will not be very agreeable to our friends of the Institute. + +The Journal records:-- + +Lord Brougham was elected Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. I +attended a banquet given him there on October 26th. I then went from Raith +to Brougham and Appleby, High Legh, and Teddesley, shooting at all +these places, and at Crewe likewise, where I began to shoot with a new +breech-loading gun. I must have shot thirty-five or forty days this year, +and paid a great number of visits in country houses. We did not go abroad. + +Lord Macaulay had meantime received some further particulars as to the MS. +of the 'Visit to England,' and sent them to Reeve with the following:-- + +Holly Lodge, November 11th. + +My dear sir,--I have just received the enclosed letter, which may, perhaps, +interest you. It might be worth while to put a short note at the end of the +next number of the 'Edinburgh Review.' + +Very truly yours, + +MACAULAY. + +_Endorsed_--Lord Macaulay. His last note to me. He died December 27th +[really 28th]. + +The note referred to appeared in the number for January 1860, with the +sympathetic remark: 'This very note was, in fact, his last contribution to +these pages, made within a short time of his death.' + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, December 29th._--I communicated to Mrs. Austin your very +kind intention of writing some notice of Mr. Austin in the 'Law Review,' +and she has sent me the enclosed paper--very striking, I think it, +especially considering the state of physical exhaustion and mental grief in +which she lies. Nothing can equal her devotion to his memory. She has, I +think, omitted to state that one portion of the lectures delivered by Mr. +Austin at the London University were published by Murray in 1832, under the +title of 'The Province of Jurisprudence Determined' You are aware that +this book retains a very high position, and, as John Austin never would +republish it in his lifetime, copies of the volume fetch seven or eight +guineas. I hope now it will appear again, with additions, as all the drafts +of his lectures are in existence, most carefully elaborated by himself. +Hortensius has written a very nice article for the 'Edinburgh' on the +progress of legal reform and on your bills. I hope you will like it. The +Review will be out on January 14th. + +I forgot to say just now that, as Mrs. Austin and I have no copy of the +enclosed paper about her husband, we should be much obliged to you to +preserve and return it to us. + +The pamphlet 'Le Pape et le Congrès' has certainly astonished the world. My +Catholic friends call it the pamphlet of the Emperor Julian; and certainly, +considering what the Pope has done for him, and he has done for the Pope, +it is an act of apostasy. To engage in a contest with Rome is, however, +still no small enterprise, and I question if the Emperor has strength of +purpose to carry it through. The Popes protested, in their day, against the +Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of Vienna; _multo magis_, will they +protest against the decisions of the Congress of Paris? It must be +acknowledged that matters look more favourably than they did for our own +policy and influence in the Congress. + +_From Lord Brougham + +Cannes, January 1st_, 1860.--First of all accept for yourself and Mrs. +R. all the good wishes of the season from all here. Next, let me say how +gratified I am with the very interesting, and, in the circumstances, +extraordinary communication of Mrs. A. It is of the utmost importance, and +confirms me in the design I had newly formed, of making my account follow +this. It could be made for the next number of the 'Law Review;' in the +present number giving a short notice, lamenting the great loss, and +announcing a full article for next number. I had intimated the probability +of this to Francis--the editor--and what I have received this morning +from you strongly confirms me. There will, therefore, be only a general +statement this time. Really I feel the deepest interest in the subject, +when I regard the strong and stern virtues of the man, beside his great +talents and learning. + +Poor Macaulay, I would give as a foil--of course, only to yourself, +privately. He had great abilities; and though I widely differed with him in +his views of history--which I, being of the science school, thought should +be different from an anecdote book, yet I admit the great merits of his +work, and especially of his essays. But I much objected to his running away +from our death-struggle in 1834, though his defence was that his sisters +would have to go out in the world as milliners if he stayed to fight with +us. I had myself made such sacrifices that I felt entitled to complain. +However, I pass over that on the ground he gave. But, then, what is to be +said of two sessions in the House of Lords without one word of help to the +Liberal cause, or indeed to any cause? What but that it was owing to the +fear of making a speech which would be thought a failure--that is, would +be injurious to his former speeches. Now, such a consideration as this J. +Austin was wholly incapable of allowing even to cross his mind. He acted on +what he conceived were just principles, and sacrificed to them all regard +for himself. How differently did those men act of whose set Macaulay +was!--his father, Stephen, H. Thornton, &c. However, his loss is a very +melancholy one, because he goes out of the world in full possession of his +faculties, and in more than just appreciation of his merits. + +The Journal for 1860 begins:-- + +The new year opened at Chevening on a visit to Lord Stanhope. The party +consisted of the Morleys, Hayward, Goldwin Smith, and afterwards the +Grotes. + +I went to Chevening again in 1862; and for a third time, with Christine, in +1885; the host changed, but the same hospitality. + +We sent a round-robin to the Dean of Westminster, begging that Macaulay +might be buried in the Abbey. He was buried there on January 9th. I was +there. The same day we started for Paris by Southampton. Saw the Circourts, +Rauzans, Guizots, &c. + +Charles Greville had introduced me to Fould, then minister of finance. On +Sunday, January 15th, Fould told me of the conclusion of the treaty of +commerce with England, and the same evening we all dined at M. Chevalier's, +with Cobden, Lavergne, Passy, Parieu, and Wolowski--the promoters and +authors of the treaty. The next day (16th) I dined with Fould at a state +dinner; Metternichs, Bassanos, Auber, Ste.-Beuve, Bourqueney. I took down +Mrs. Baring. Lord Brougham was also in Paris. + +Albert Pourtalès, my old fellow-pupil at Geneva, was now Prussian +ambassador; saw a good deal of him. This was a very interesting visit to +Paris. + +In some very rough notes, Reeve jotted down the particulars he learned at +this time. They amount to this: That between January 16th and 21st, 1859, +a treaty was signed between France and Sardinia, by the 5th, 6th, and 7th +articles of which Savoy was to be ceded to France when Lombardy and Venetia +were conquered and given to Piedmont. Nice was to be ceded when Piedmont +got the rest--of what, is not stated--presumably, of Italy. This treaty +was known only to the Emperor, Niel, and Pietri, in France, and in Sardinia +to the King and Cavour. It was afterwards made known to Villa-Marina, on +condition that he should seem to know nothing about it. + +On July 8th, 1859, when the Emperor returned to Valeggio from Villafranca, +he told the King of Sardinia that peace was made. The King said he would +not accept it, and would continue the war on his own account. The Emperor +shrugged his shoulders and said 'Vous êtes fou.' Afterwards, however, in +telling the story to the Queen of Holland, he declared that he only said +'Vous êtes absurde.' + +It appears to have been in conversation with Pourtalès, on January 17th, +that Reeve picked up this curious story. During the past few years many +State papers at Berlin had been stolen: amongst others, a letter from the +Tsar to the King of Prussia, written in the summer of 1855, to the effect +that Sebastopol could not hold out another month. This was sent to Paris +by Moustier just in time to revive the drooping spirits of the French +Government, after the repulse of June 18th. + +Supposing this to be true--as Reeve certainly believed it to be--it was +only paying off Prussia in her own coin; for at least under Frederick +II.--the Prussian agents had shown a remarkable skill in obtaining secret +intelligence, either by purchase or by theft. In one case, in 1755, ten +important papers and the key of the cipher were stolen from the Count de +Broglie, the French ambassador, by his colleague and intimate friend, Count +Maltzahn, the Prussian ambassador, who obtained access to his rooms in his +absence. 'There is no doubt,' wrote De Broglie, 'that we are indebted for +this to the King of Prussia. I am quite sure that Maltzahn would not have +done it without an express order.' [Footnote: Le Secret du Roi, par le Duc +de Broglie, tom. i., p. 131] + +_From Mr. C. C. Greville + +January 15._--I am very glad to hear that Fould has responded with such +alacrity, and I shall be most anxious to hear from you again after your +interview and dinner with him. I told him in my letter that you had been +acquainted with the Emperor when he resided in England, and I hope he will +report your arrival to H.M., and that you will be summoned to the imperial +presence; it would be very interesting to have a conversation with the +great man himself, and you might enlighten his mind, and correct some +of the erroneous impressions he is likely to have formed from Cobden's +conversation. + +So far as I understand the line taken by our Cabinet, they are acting +properly enough. I suppose France will want our support for the annexation +of Savoy, and Palmerston will be for giving that, or doing anything else to +obtain the transference of the revolted states and provinces to Piedmont; +the aggrandisement of Sardinia and the humiliation of Austria being his +darling objects, for which he will sacrifice every other consideration, +unless he is kept in check, and baffled by the majority of the Cabinet. In +the beginning of this week there was very near being a split amongst them, +which might have broken up the Government; but I conclude matters were +adjusted, though I do not know exactly how. P., J. R., and Gladstone go +together, and are for going much further in Italian affairs than the +majority of the Cabinet will consent to; and, as the latter know very well +that their views will be supported by public opinion, I trust they will get +the better of this triple alliance. As Austria appears to have admitted her +inability to draw the sword again, the Pope seems to be left without any +resource; but it does not follow that Austria will consent to such an +aggrandisement of the King of Sardinia as France may be willing to consent +to, and, as we shall, I suppose, earnestly advocate. She would probably +more easily consent to the promotion of a new North Italian kingdom; and I +much doubt if Tuscany really wishes for annexation to Piedmont. She would +probably much prefer the promotion of a fresh state, of which Florence +would be the capital, and Tuscany the most influential member. How +impossible it is to form any opinion as to the tortuous, ever-shifting +policy of L. N.! The only thing we ought never to lose sight of is to keep +quite clear of him, and to be always on our guard. If the natural limits +of France are to be extended again to the Alps, how long will it be before +they are extended to the Rhine also? + +I went to see Mrs. Austin yesterday, and found her very well and in very +fair spirits; very anxious to talk about him, and much gratified at the +letters she has received from various friends, bearing testimony to his +great merits and high qualities, particularly one from Sir William Erle. +Brougham is writing a notice of him for the 'Law Magazine.' She seems very +unsettled in her plans, and says she changes her mind continually. Lady +Gordon is better, and Mrs. Austin is going to Ventnor, to her, in a short +time. She means to be much occupied with the papers he has left, which +appear to be all about law, and it is very doubtful whether they will, if +published, be very interesting to the world in general. + +The Journal notes:-- + +We returned to London on January 23rd. Parliament opened next day. London +dinners began. Dined at Thackeray's, Milman's, Galton's, Lansdowne House. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, February 2nd._--I am much obliged to you for De la Rive's +_brochure_ [Footnote: Le Droit de la Suisse, by William de la Rive, son of +the celebrated physicist, Auguste] which is written with great force and +spirit; he makes out an excellent European case for the slice of Savoy he +claims for Switzerland, and he manages to gives an agreeable impression of +those unpleasant people, the Swiss. It is a valuable work at this moment; +for the annexation of Savoy to France is a serious affair, not only because +it makes Italy French, but because it is the first step towards the +_remaniement de la carte_. + +When we made our first convention with France, on going to war together +with Russia, I thought it would be prudent to put in a clause that neither +Power should get any benefit for itself from the war. The Emperor accepted +the proposal cheerfully; said it was a grand precedent, &c. &c.; but when I +read over the convention with Walewski, prior to signature, the clause was +omitted, and I had it restored. In the case of Savoy, we must admit that +our policy makes objection on our part not only difficult but absurd. We +have been telling the Italians that they were justified in expelling their +rulers and electing a new sovereign, and that treaties could not be +pleaded against accomplished facts; and how can we remonstrate against the +annexation of Savoy to France, if V. Emanuel releases the Savoyards from +their allegiance, and they elect L. Nap. for their sovereign? + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, March 5th._ Since my visit to Paris I have never had a +doubt that Louis Napoleon was pursuing, and pursuing actively, a scheme for +the annexation of Savoy, and that nothing which this country can say--for +doing is out of the question--will have any effect in preventing it. The +King of Sardinia is the dog and the shadow. He drops his bone to clutch a +phantom of Italian empire, which will dissolve as he approaches it. The +most amusing part of it is that the policy of his imprudent friends here +(J. R. and so on) has urged him on to pursue the shadow without remembering +what it would cost in substance. + +The Reform Bill is considered so very mild a production that I begin, for +the first time, to think it will pass. Even the Tories could conceive +nothing so moderate, and they had better close with the bargain. I have +no doubt it will be rather favourable to the Conservatives than to the +Radicals. For example, where there are to be three seats, in the large +towns, the Conservative minority will probably carry one out of the three. + +_March 14th._--Your volume of scientific tracts arrived just after I had +sent off my last letter. I am very much indebted to you for it, and I shall +probably have occasion to refer to your learned paper on the cells of bees +in the review I am going to publish of Mr. Darwin's book. As for Newton, I +should be glad to give my vote in favour of a monument whenever a suitable +opportunity occurs. It is very embarrassing to know where to place +monuments to men illustrious in letters and science. Westminster Abbey +is crowded, and can take no more statues. We are going to put up a mural +monument to Hallam there; and, by the way, if you had been in England, you +were invited to be on the committee; I still hope you will give your name. + +Events have taken a prodigiously lucky turn for the Government, and I think +it is long since we had any administration so strong as Lord Palmerston now +is. Gladstone's triumph is complete on all points, and people are so weary +of J. R. and his Reform Bill that I think all parties are ready to swallow +this last dose, _de guerre lasse_. Then will follow the dissolution in the +autumn, and we may expect a strong Liberal majority. + +The affair of Savoy will pass off quietly enough if he leaves the +neutralised territories to Switzerland; but if not, it will become serious +enough, for it is expressly provided by the final act of the Congress of +Vienna that, if Sardinia evacuates those districts, no other Power +but Switzerland shall move troops into them, and this arrangement was +subsequently confirmed by a very formal declaration of all the Powers.... + +Mrs. Austin is making arrangements for a new edition of her husband's +lectures, with considerable additions. + +The Journal has here:-- + +_March 15th._--Dinner at home. The Due d'Aumale, Lavradio, Lady Stanhope, +Lady Molesworth, Lady William and Arthur Russell, Lord Kingsdown, the Lord +Advocate, Professor Owen, Colonel Hamilton, and Colonel Greathed. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_[Sunday] March 18th._--If you happen to be passing Grosvenor Crescent way +on Tuesday or Wednesday, about twelve o'clock, will you look in upon me, +and we will have a talk about the awful fix in which Europe in general and +England in particular are now placed? + +By reason of his connexion with Geneva, Reeve had all along necessarily +felt the keenest interest in the negotiations between France and Sardinia, +which he had discussed in an article on 'France, Savoy, and Switzerland' +for the April number of the 'Edinburgh Review.' He had possibly already +intended to visit the 'debateable land' as soon as the Review was sent to +press, or very possibly the advisability of doing so was suggested in this +interview with Lord Clarendon. At any rate, on April 4th he started for +Paris, and, after seeing his friend Pourtales, went on to Geneva in company +with Sir Robert and Lady Emily Peel. By the 12th he was back in Paris, +where, on the 15th, he had long interviews with Fould and Thouvenel, +the minister of foreign affairs, the minutes of which he wrote out at +considerable length, and two days afterwards read them to Lord Palmerston. +He reported to Palmerston that Thouvenel was willing to make 'a reasonable +adjustment of the Swiss frontier,' which he believed meant 'an extension +of the Swiss territory to the Fort de l'Ecluse and Saleve.' Palmerston, +however, refused the overture, saying, 'We shall shame them out of it.' +'So,' added Reeve, in relating the affair, 'neither he nor the Swiss got +anything at all.' + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 20th._--I hope my account of J. Austin will appear in the +'Law Magazine and Review.' It is written _con amore_, though very far from +such an article as I could have wished to make it. The letter of Mrs. +Austin was invaluable, and I inserted her very words in more instances than +one; but your mention of the effect produced by the publication now out +of print was still more valuable. I only trust that it may all be printed +correctly, for it must be too late for me to have proofs. + +The roguery of L. N. and Cavour exceeds all belief; but they have cheated +one another, and have probably overreached themselves. The _lies_ they +tell about the Nice vote are unheard of even in the time of Napoleon I. We +believe here that thousands of Piedmontese having no residence were sent to +vote. However, there is a real majority, though nothing like the unanimity +pretended. In Savoy there is entire unanimity. I suppose Normanby believes +the Tuscans have not voted for their annexation; but he believes whatever +anybody writes to him from Florence. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., May 16th._--I cannot remember any passage in Macaulay's writings +which can be called an attack on Henry V. In the Introduction to the +'History of England' there is a passage in which he speaks of the French +wars of the English kings, and speculates on the results which might have +ensued if the conquests of Henry V. had not been lost by Henry VI. Perhaps +this is what Lord Glenelg meant; but I am writing from the office, where I +have not the books to refer to. + +I don't know what sort of monument the Lord Chief Baron proposes to erect. +To put Macaulay on a level with Newton and Bacon would be absurd. His mind +was essentially what the geologists would call 'a tertiary formation;' +theirs were 'protogenic.' But I think some monument to Macaulay may very +fitly be placed in Trinity Chapel. We meet on Tuesday to consider what is +to be done for Hallam in Westminster Abbey; but there will certainly be no +statue, probably a slab and bust only. + +I hope you are coming up for the debate in the Lords on Monday,[Footnote: +On the repeal of the paper duty, a Government measure, which was rejected +by the Lords.] which will be one of great interest. I cannot think there is +anything solid in the so-called constitutional objection--which is to be +urged on behalf of the Government--to the interference of the House of +Lords with a bill of this nature. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Grosvenor Crescent, May 16th._--Many thanks for your letter and opinion of +Aix-la-Chapelle waters, which seem exactly to fit my case, but I should be +very reluctant to go there just now, as the inconvenience of it would be +great. I shall try change of air next week, and, if that won't do, why +_alors, comme alors,_ as the life I am now leading is intolerable. The gout +came again very sharply last night, but not, I am sure, owing to your most +agreeable dinner, which could only do good. I have not passed three such +pleasant hours for a long while. + +I have seen one or two peers to-day sorely puzzled as to the vote they +shall give on Monday. My only doubt is about the damage it may do the House +of Lords; and I can't quite go Lyndhurst's [Footnote: In a closely reasoned +speech, rightly considered remarkable from a man of eighty-eight, Lord +Lyndhurst maintained that it was no unusual thing for the Lords to veto +bills for repealing taxes as well as bills for inflicting them, and quoted +numerous precedents. The bill was thrown out by 193 to 104.] length, +who says that if there is no precedent it is high time, and the proper +opportunity, to make one. + +The Journal here records:-- + +Mr. Greville resigned the clerkship of the council in May; as Mr. Bathurst +could not carry on the business, he had to resign too [Footnote: This is +written on the blank page of the 'Chronology,' apparently from memory, and +the dates are somewhat confused. Greville resigned in May 1859. It was then +settled that there should be but one clerk; Bathurst acted by himself for a +twelvemonth, and resigned in May 1860.]. It was settled that there should +be but one clerk of the council. Lord Granville, I believe, wished to +appoint me, but some obstacle stood in the way. I never exactly knew what; +but if it was the Court, it is singular that I should have been so well +received at Balmoral. What I desired was that the registrarship of the P. +C. should become the second clerkship of the council, I offering to do my +share of the general business; but this they declined. On June 9th Arthur +Helps was appointed clerk of the council. I felt great irritation at the +manner in which I had been treated; but it certainly turned out very well +for me in the end, as I continued to hold an easier office, and eventually +obtained the same income, without the annoyance of attending the Court at +Balmoral, or Osborne, or elsewhere. + +On May 15th we had to dinner Lord Clarendon, Prince Dolgoroukow (the +one who wrote the book [Footnote: _La Verité sur la Russie_, 1860. Cf. +_Edinburgh Review_, July 1860, p. 175.] on Russia), Lord Stanley, Sir R. +and Lady E. Peel, Hodgson, and Cornewall Legh. + +On August 4th we made an expedition from Farnborough, with the Longmans, to +Selborne. Lunch with T. Bell. [Footnote: The editor of White's _Selborne_] +Walked to the Lithe and the Hanger. A charming day. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, August 5th._--I have been reading the last 'E. R.,' which is a +most excellent number. The ballot article [Footnote: 'Secret Voting and +Parliamentary Reform.'] is admirable, and will prove useful. I may send +you a few remarks on the G. Rose article. [Footnote: 'Diaries and +Correspondence of George Rose.'] But I am delighted with the showing up +of Miss Assing, [Footnote: 'Correspondence of Humboldt and Varnhagen von +Ense.' In editing this, Miss Assing had shown--according to the _Review_--a +singular want of taste and discretion.] only I don't think it is as much as +she deserves. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., August 7th._--I have been making short country visits at several +places near London since the termination of my Judicial Committee labours, +or I should certainly have called to see you before you left Grafton +Street. Now I am starting on Saturday next for Aix-la-Chapelle, where I +propose to take a few baths. I return on the 25th, and shall proceed to +Aberdeenshire at the end of the month.... + +The victory of the Government last night was very decisive;[Footnote: On +the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the reduction of the duty +on paper.] and I am heartily glad of it, for the protectionist cry of the +paper-makers took one back before the Deluge. + +I saw Mrs. Austin yesterday at Weybridge, and was glad to find her so well. +She desired to be remembered to you. She is very busy with J. Austin's +MSS.; but, in fact, they are in perfect order, and might be sent at once to +the press. + +And then the Journal-- + +Later in August went to Aix. I went over to Bonn to see Bunsen, who was +dying, but full of enthusiasm for Italy. Came home on August 27th. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +LITERATURE AND POLITICS + + +Early in August Mrs. Henry Reeve had gone on a visit into Dorsetshire, and +at the time of her husband's return from Aix was in Cornwall--at Pencarrow, +near Bodmin--on a visit to her old friend, Lady Molesworth. Reeve, thus +left to himself, started almost immediately for Scotland on a visit to Sir +James Clark, who, with Lady Clark and his son--the present baronet--was +then living up Dee-side at Birk Hall, lent him by the Queen. + +The Journal's scanty notices of a very interesting visit can be happily +replaced by extracts from the letters which he wrote almost daily to his +wife at Pencarrow. + +_To Mrs. Henry Reeve_ + +Birk Hall, Ballater, September 1st. + +My dearest wife,--Matters have turned out here very pleasantly. I proceeded +to Aboyne by rail, and then posted along the Dee-side to this place--the +Strath most beautiful; a lovely mixture of wood, water, and heather, with +mountains beyond. I got here just before six, and found the Clarks and Van +de Weyers sitting down to an early dinner in order to go to the Gillies' +Ball at Balmoral, in honour of the Prince's birthday, to which I found +myself also invited. We drove up to the Castle, which is eight miles off, +through a fine wooded glen, in the moonlight. The old house of Balmoral has +quite disappeared, and the Castle is now a very fine edifice, decorated in +excellent taste. On arriving, we waited in the library, where arrived Lady +John Russell and her boys, the Farquharsons of Invercauld, young Peel +[Footnote: Robert Kennedy Peel; son of Lady Alice and Colonel Peel, who had +been Secretary of State for War in the Derby Ministry of 1858-9.] (Lady +A.'s son), the William Russells, the Duke of Argyll--and then the Court. +Nobody was in mourning, as it was a birthday; the Queen in white, with a +floating sash of Royal Stuart tartan from her shoulders: about half the men +in kilts. The Queen made a circle, and then we went into the ball-room, +where about a hundred and fifty of the tenants, servants, &c., with their +wives and daughters, were assembled. Reels then began, which were danced +with great energy, and also jigs--very droll. Prince Arthur danced like +mad; and Princess Alice was 'weel ta'en out' by the gamekeeper. I stood +in a corner talking with the Duke of Argyll, &c. At last the Prince came +round, and conversed very courteously for ten minutes. He had heard I +had been in Germany lately, so we soon got into the heart of German and +Austrian questions. All this lasted two hours, and then the Queen withdrew +into the supper-room, where there were sandwiches and champagne. She went +round again, and talked to Lord Melville, behind whom I was standing, and +then made me a very gracious bow, but without saying anything to myself. +Soon afterwards we drove home, and got back here at half-past one. To-day +we are going up to Balmoral again to write our names and see the Castle; +and to-morrow the Queen is coming here to call on Mme. Van de Weyer. I am +rather amused, after divers recent occurrences, to find myself in so much +royalty, and I had not anticipated any civility from them. But I see +the Clarks are very kind about it, having had Helps here last week, and +probably are desirous to remove any misconception which may have existed. +So that, in fact, nothing can turn out better, and I have certainly no +reason to be dissatisfied with my reception. + +Ever yours most affectionately, + +H. REEVE. + +_Birk Hall, September 4th_.--At last we have got a beautiful day, quite +warm and bright. Nothing can be more lovely than this Strath of the +Dee, with its birch woods and pine-covered mountains. We went up a hill +yesterday--the Coyle--and looked across the glen to the broad snow fields +which still encircle the black cliffs of Lochnagar. To-day we are going up +to Alt na Ghuissac, and shall lunch at the Queen's hut. H. M. called here +on Sunday, and was remarkably pleasant and jolly. P. Albert drove, with P. +Leiningen on the box; the Queen, Princess Alice, and Princess Leiningen in +the carriage, and one man on a seat behind. Nothing can be more simple, +courteous, and even droll, than she is, seen in this way, eating Scotch +cakes, and asking for the 'prescription' to make them, and making Leiningen +taste the birch wine--which is not bad. To-day they are gone on a wild +expedition over the hills, and are to sleep in some little inn on the +brae-side, where the people are supposed not to know who they are. The +Queen will be seven hours on her pony. She rides through all weathers and +over all places, and chaffs everybody for not taking exercise enough. + +I shall leave this on Friday for Braemar--else I should have to appear +at another Balmoral ball--and on Saturday proceed to Keir, where I spend +Sunday with Stirling, who is very sorry you are not of the party. On Monday +I go on to the Moncreiffs, at Alva (near Stirling), and on Thursday to +Kirklands, making some calls in Edinburgh as I go through. + +_Birk Hall, September 5th_.--The day kept its promise, and was fair to +the end. We drove up this glen, which is Glen Muich, to the loch which +terminates it, about six miles off. There stands the Queen's hut, with a +few fir-trees about it. It deserves its name--a small Highland cottage, +with a room on each side the door and two rooms behind; a little plain +wooden furniture and a Kidderminster carpet. There are two or three other +wooden cottages about for the attendants. Here we lunched--for everybody +lunches in this royal region; and then mountain ponies to go up to the Dhu +Loch, about 1,200 feet higher--very wild, grand scenery, and a very rough, +boggy path, on which Van de Weyer's contortions were very droll. Madame +stayed under the royal honeysuckles below. + +I suppose Hopie and I shall go to Raith on the 15th, if they can take us +in. At any rate, we shall leave Kirklands on that day; but our movements +cannot be quite fixed till we hear. + +_Braemar, September 7th_.--Very fortunately I have had magnificent weather +just when I wanted it. Clark gave me two good days of shooting on the hill +on Wednesday and yesterday; we got about ten brace each day, and I had a +famous hard walk. This morning I came on here by the Queen's private road +through Balmoral and Invercauld. The scenery is wonderfully beautiful; and, +if it were not for my love of the sea, I should admit that Braemar is the +finest thing in Scotland. I have been up the glen this afternoon, past Mar +Lodge, to the Linn of Dee--a fine cascade through rocks; the water is so +clear that you can see the rocks under it, and wild blasted pines growing +all round. I was sorry to leave Birk Hall. The Clarks are admirable hosts, +and made their house most agreeable.... You will have lamented, as I do, +the untimely cutting off of our poor friend, the late Lord High--I mean +Ward. [Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 314.] There seems to be a fatality +about Madras. _Somme toute_, the more I see of the chances of life, the +more I am persuaded that, as my lot has been cast on such small but easy +cushions, I ought to be perfectly content. + +The Queen came back on Wednesday night in high glee with her lark over the +hills to Grantown. [Footnote: The Queen's account of this 'lark over the +hills' is in _Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands_ (8vo. +1868), pp. 189-203.] They slept at a very little Highland inn, and were +waited on by the maid only. The beds were awful, for they could not stand +the feather bed, and, that being thrown aside, nothing soft remained +beneath. General Grey found it so hard that he got up and put on his +clothes to lie in. However, they were in high glee, and were not found out +till they went away in the morning, when the man of the house said, 'Gin +I'd known it was the Queen, I'd hae put on my Sunday claiths and waited on +her mysel'.' They gave the Highland lassie a 5 £. note, at which she nearly +fainted. + +I hope by this time to-morrow I shall be at Keir. I am here at a little +Highland inn for to-night, but not so ill off as H. M. I shall have to post +to Blairgowrie to-morrow to get there in time for the train. + +_Keir, near Dunblane, September 9th_.--I left Braemar yesterday morning +at 6 A.M.; posted across the Grampians by a very wild pass; reached the +railroad at Blairgowrie, and came on here in the afternoon. The first +person I found in the hall was Motley. His wife and Lily arrived in the +evening. Mrs. Norton, the Wyses, and Sir James Campbell also here. A most +pleasant party to fall into, and your absence very much regretted. Keir is +more beautiful than ever, and glorious in this fine weather which floods +the Carse of Stirling with light. It really does seem as if the harvest +would pick itself up after all. + +I shall proceed to Alva to-morrow, and to Kirklands on Wednesday. I don't +yet know whether the Fergusons can receive us on the 15th. If they can, +we shall go to Raith on that day, and return to London from Edinburgh by +sea.... At any rate, I expect to be in London either on Friday, 21st, or +Monday, 24th--I'm not quite sure which. I suppose, if you don't go to +Saltram, you will come up about the same time. There will be a good many +things to look after and think of for the Spanish expedition. I am up to my +neck here in Stirling's Spanish books. + +P.S.--I am a year older to-day than I was yesterday. + +The Journal records that he returned to London on September 22nd. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Wiesbaden, September 14th._--I have been idle and absent at Baden, or I +should sooner have answered your letter and told you with what pleasure we +will execute your commission. [Footnote: See _post_, p. 54.] I was very +sorry to have missed you here, though it would have been but a glimpse, as +you were going next morning. I shall hope to see you before you start on +your enviable Spanish tour, as I mean to go home as soon as my cure +is complete, for Lady C. feels Alice's absence, [Footnote: Lady Alice +Villiers, married on August 16th, 1860, to Lord Skelmersdale, created Earl +of Lathom in 1880. She was accidentally killed by the overturning of her +carriage on November 23rd, 1897.] and is lonely with only two children out +of six. + +I passed two very pleasant days at Baden with the Aug. Loftuses and the +Princess of Prussia, who is domiciled there, and we returned last night. + +_The Grove, September 30th_.--I returned here last night without touching +at Grosvenor Crescent. If I had gone there, I should have been at home ten +minutes within the twenty hours from Paris, which is a fair rate of speed +when one remembers that in pre-railway days one travelled hard and got +shaken much to arrive at Paris in three days; and in pre-steamer times I +was once eighteen hours in getting from Calais to Dover. Yet people are not +satisfied; and Rothschild told me he was bullied by everybody about the +slowness of the Ligne du Nord. + +I am afraid I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you, as I cannot go to +London to-morrow, and from Tuesday till Friday we are engaged to the +John Thynnes. In the improbable event of your charming expedition being +postponed, we should be quite delighted if you and Mrs. and Miss Reeve +would come here on Saturday. + +As it is now nearly twenty-two years since I left Spain (how time flies!), +new generations have sprung up of whom I know nothing. There are two +persons--Mme. de Montijo and Olozaga [Footnote: Reeve had known him as the +Spanish ambassador in Paris fifteen years.]--who I should have liked you +to see as social and political _ciceroni_; but the former is at Paris, in +the deepest affliction at the death of her daughter, and the latter is just +gone to Italy, as I heard two days ago from Howden. Of course you know that +clever, agreeable little fellow Comyn, who was _chargé d'affaires_ here, +and is now under-secretary at the F.O. in Madrid? If not, I will send you a +letter to him. + +I wound up at Wiesbaden by a severe attack of gout, which seemed to please +my Esculapius more than it did me; for when I showed him my misshapen +scarlet claw of a foot, he rubbed his hands and said, 'Oh dat is a +beautiful manifest podagra.' It came just at the same time as the +Skelmersdales, and prevented my going about with them. Wasn't that just +like the gout? + +I never doubted that as soon as the guerillero business was over and civil +organisation began, Garibaldi would prove a mischievous, spoiled child.... +The French Government and their friends want the Pope to remain at Rome, +thinking that _la France Catholique_ would resent his evasion, as a proof +of mistrust of the Emperor; but the Emperor wants him to go; as he would +then withdraw his garrison and let Rome take its chance, which he thinks +would close his accounts with the followers of Orsini; and he dislikes +having to reinforce his garrison, which he must do if the Pope decides on +remaining. + +I have brought the amethyst beads you desired to have for Mme. Van de +Weyer, and I dare say somebody will be going up to-morrow or next day by +whom I can send them to you. The man wanted rather more than 5 £ for them, +but on my walking away from his shop, he, of course, gave them for that +sum. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, October 1st_.--We have all here been greatly disappointed at not +having seen you and our kinswoman,[Footnote: Miss Reeve, Brougham's second +cousin twice removed. Through the Robertsons, Brougham and John Richardson +were second cousins.] and I believe we have little chance now, as you +talked of going abroad as soon as your quarterly labours were over. We +shall be here the whole month; then take our southward flight.... + +If you can find an opportunity of noticing my volume on the Constitution +which is to appear in November, it would be very serviceable to the +publisher. It is only a reprint of that part of the 'Political Philosophy,' +and lays down true and sound principles--at this time necessary to be well +learnt. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, October 2nd_.--I am extremely obliged to you for the copy +of your Glasgow address, which in some degree consoles me for not having +heard it, and for having lost the pleasure of seeing you this year at +Brougham. Nothing can be more felicitous than some of the illustrations you +have introduced, and the occasion of a mere scientific meeting has been +turned to the best political purpose. No doubt in that region the absence +of party gives a broader and a nobler aim to the exertions of your society, +and it is gratifying to see how heartily men meet to combine, in these +days, without party badges. But if this opinion were to be expressed by the +'Edinburgh Review,' we should be told by John Russell & Co. that we have +no business to wear blue and buff, which is the final cause of reviews and +editors. + +The political article which I have just sent to the press is on the United +States under Mr. Buchanan--a great show-up of that scandalous scene of +corruption, slave-trading, and anarchy. I am afraid it is now too late to +introduce an allusion to your discourse. As to home politics, there is +little to be said; as to Continental affairs, there is too much. The +mountebanks in Southern Italy have now very nearly upset the coach, and the +question is whether the Sardinians or the French are to march to Naples. I +hope it will be the former, but it is quite clear Louis Napoleon means to +support the Pope in Rome. + +Lord Clarendon is just come back from Wiesbaden. We start on Saturday for +Madrid, _via_ Valencia, and shall be about six weeks in Spain and Portugal. + +And so they started--Reeve, his wife, and daughter--Reeve, as usual, +noting merely the stages of the tour, trusting to his wife to fill in +the details. Extracts from Mrs. Reeve's Journal are here given in square +brackets. + +_Journal_ + +_October 8th_.--We started for Spain by Paris, Lyons, and Marseilles. +Sailed in the 'Céphise' for Valencia on the 10th. + +_11th_.--[Hopie and I came on deck soon after eight. We spent the day lying +down, and only caught glimpses of the coast of Spain when a roll of the +'Céphise' brought land and sea above the line of her sides.] + +_12th_.--[About 4 A.M. the wind changed, and we were able to use sail, +which steadied the vessel, besides assisting her progress. I went on deck +at nine, found the Mediterranean more like my 'Caire' experience, and was +told that we should probably be at Grao by twelve.... Henry has set up an +acquaintance with a Mexican who knows a little of England and English, and +is going to pass the winter at Valencia. About one o'clock we were in the +harbour of Grao. We landed in boats, and found ourselves surrounded by +a crowd of clamorous porters and _tartana_ drivers--one of the scenes +characteristic of landing in a country where police regulations do not +exist ensued. However, Henry's Mexican acquaintance came to his rescue, and +two courteous Gauls to mine. They were taking the French despatches into +Valencia, and offered Hopie and me seats in their _tartana_--a covered cart +not on springs, which is the cab of the country. We joyfully accepted, +leaving Henry to struggle through custom-house and other difficulties as +best he could. The drive (into Valencia) is about two miles, part shaded by +an avenue and carefully watered by men stationed at intervals, who ladled +the water in buckets out of the runlets on each side of the road. We took +up our quarters at the Fonda de Paris, and congratulated each other on +having arrived in Spain.] + +_13th_.--[We went out at eight o'clock. Our first point was the market, +which we found in full activity. Such supplies of fruit and vegetables can +only be found in a city surrounded by leagues of _huerta_.... We went to +the _plateria_, but found the shops poor, and the articles displayed were +coarse and ill-wrought. We visited the churches of St. Martin, St. John, +and the cathedral, and ascended the tower _del Miguelete_. The churches are +so dark that it is quite impossible to distinguish the pictures, much less +to judge of their beauty. The panorama from the tower is most beautiful: +the city and plain of Valencia, the Mediterranean and the encircling +mountains, the fertile _huerta_, and the glorious sky of deepest blue +above.... + +Placards of a bull-fight on the morrow caught our eyes; and Hopie and I, +taking the bull by the horns, declared our intention of going to it, and +suggested that places should be taken. After a very feeble resistance, +Henry consented, and our _valet-de-place_ was directed to ascertain the +price of a box.] + +_14th_.--[The price asked for a box being too high, we took reserved seats, +and at two o'clock started on foot.... The Plaza de Toros at Valencia is a +new building, only completed this year; it holds twenty thousand persons, +and is the largest in Spain.... 'El Tato' is the second _matador_ of Spain: +he is a well-looking and remarkably well-grown young man, and a well-grown +figure is set off to great advantage by the dress. The horses used are only +fit for the knacker's yard; they are contracted for at about six pounds +each; on this occasion thirteen or fourteen were killed. As regards the +horses, it is a cruel and disgusting sight; but as between the bull and the +_matador_, the display of courage, eye and presence of mind, as well as of +skill and agility, is most interesting and exciting.] We saw 'El Tato' kill +six bulls.... [At dinner our conversation turned on the sight of the day. +'Tableau de moeurs espagnoles,' said a Frenchman, raising his shoulders. +'In Peru, where I have seen many bull-fights,' he went on, 'they use +high-spirited and valuable horses, and the _picador_ would be for ever +disgraced if he allowed the bull to touch his horse.'] + +_15th_. [From Valencia to Madrid is 308 miles; the time from 4 P.M. to 6.20 +A.M., and our train was pretty punctual.] + +_16th_.--Saw Isabella and her Court enter Madrid. She was shot at [by a +foolish, half-witted lad, who did not know how to load his pistol, and had +no motive for the crime, or rather attempt]. Delighted with the gallery. +[There are a few seats and no visitors; and the wisest thing travellers can +do, and by far the pleasantest, is to spend all the hours of all the +days they are in Madrid that the gallery is open in contemplating its +treasures.] + +_17th_.--[Immediately after breakfast, Hopie and I went to the Museum. +Henry joined us presently, and we remained till four o'clock.] + +_18th, Thursday_.--[We had intended to make the Toledo excursion to-day, +but an undoubted attack of gout confines Henry to the sofa. Hopie and I +walked before breakfast to the Church of the Atocha, where we were shown +... in a wardrobe in the vestry, the crimson velvet robe which Isabella had +on when the Curé Merino stabbed her. [Footnote: On her way to the church, +February 2nd, 1852. The priest, a Franciscan, was garotted in due course.] +It has the stain of blood on the lining; the massive embroidery in gold +saved her life by turning aside the knife.... After breakfast we took a +walk through the unfashionable parts of the town: narrow streets, noisy +and crowded, where open stores with bright-coloured scarfs and petticoats +collected round them men in the peasant dress--short jackets, breeches, and +gaiters partly open. These were picturesque, but the streets and houses +were uninteresting enough. + +There can be no doubt that Madrid is the least interesting capital in +Europe, and that it is only worth the traveller's while to go there for the +sake of the pictures.... It is settled that we leave Madrid on Saturday +evening, and Henry has therefore consented to our going to Toledo tomorrow +without him.] + +_19th_,--[Excursion to Toledo, fifty-six miles by rail.] + +_20th, Saturday_.--[After dinner started for Granada, where, after +thirty-six hours (rail and diligence), we arrived on Monday morning.] + +_27th, Saturday_.--[At 6 P.M. we stow ourselves in the interior of the +diligence, and pound along the dusty road towards Santa Fé. It is dusk +before we get there, and dark after.] + +_28th, Sunday_.--[From Granada to Malaga is seventy-six miles. Guards +are not only stationed along the road, but two or three are taken on the +diligence. The roads were not good; we seemed to be crossing a series of +sierras, and when day dawned, after a fresh, almost cold night, we found +ourselves amid ghaut-like hills, and wondered when the topmost point would +be gained and the descent to Malaga begun. I think it is at Fuente de la +Reina that the magnificent view of the Mediterranean, the port and city +of Malaga, and the long perspective of zigzags down spurs of mountains is +seen. Neither the French nor English Handbook speaks of this view with +the enthusiasm it deserves. It is far finer than the view on the heights +looking down on Trieste and the Adriatic.... We entered Malaga about 10 +A.M.; the descent had taken about two hours.] + +_29th_.--[Very early it was announced that an unexpected boat had come in, +and was going on to Cadiz.... At 2 P.M. we went on board... but she did not +steam till six. We should have been very irate at the delay but for the +remarkably good dinner they gave us.... We made a détour and went very slow +at starting, to avoid a vessel sunk in the harbour, on which a provisional +pharo is placed. This vessel, the 'Genova,' had on board shells and powder +for the Morocco war, when it was discovered that spontaneous combustion had +broken out in the coal--a defect of Spanish coal--and, fearing she would +not only blow up herself but also the city of Malaga, they determined to +sink her; and, after a deal of bad practice by the guns of fort and fleet, +she went under water, and there she has been eight months.] + +_30th_.--[Cadiz. On the 31st crossed over to Puerto Santa Maria; and on +November 1st to Seville by rail.] + +_November 2nd_.--[Henry has again a threatening of gout, and must have +recourse to rest and remedial measures. He sent us out to buy the works of +'Fernan Caballero;' but only one volume was to be had, and no explanation +was given us of the strange fact that the writings of the most popular +novelist in Spain are not to be obtained in the capital of Andalusia, +where she lives, and whence all her characters and scenery are taken. +No satisfactory map or guide-book of Seville could be found. I took a +catalogue of the books that the shop contained back to Henry. They were +chiefly of a religious character. Hopie and I took an exploring walk as far +as the Plaza and Church of San Lorenzo, stopping now and then to peep into +the cool _patios_ filled with flowers, and a murmuring fountain often in +the middle, which you see through the corridor, sometimes with a door of +iron trellis, sometimes open. All the windows of the basement have iron +gratings and wooden shutters; and the courting and sweethearting is carried +on with the lady inside and the lover outside the railing. Not that we saw +anything of the kind as it takes place of an evening; but the construction +of the houses explains the descriptions as given in these charming tales of +'Fernan Caballero.'] + +_3rd_.--[Hopie and I set out to 'do churches'... After breakfast to the +Museum.... We then joined Henry, who was better, and had been to call at +the Palace, and drove to Alfarache, about four miles' distance.] + +_4th_.--[In the afternoon to Cordova (eighty-one miles), returning to +Seville on the evening of the 5th.] + +_6th_.--[A decidedly grey day, unfortunately for our plans of +picture-seeing. We did a little shopping... and then went to the Museum; +but, alas! there was not more light than you would have in Trafalgar +Square; and those Murillos at a distance from the window were scarcely +visible. We were so vexed on Henry's account. We spent the afternoon in +writing letters, bathing our faces with milk, and hoping the mosquito +bites, which have driven us well-nigh distracted, will be less conspicuous +to-morrow, when we are to spend the morning at the Palace, and be presented +to the Infanta.] + +_7th_.--[Nine o'clock was the hour named by the Duke, and a few minutes +after we were at the Palace of San Telmo (in bonnets and our tidiest +dresses). We were shown into a room on the ground floor, and in a few +seconds the Duc de Montpensier [Footnote: For the circumstances of the Duc +de Montpensier's marriage, see _ante_, vol. i. p. 181.] came in attended by +an A.D.C. He received us very graciously, asked if we would drive or walk +round the grounds, and said he thought we had better see the gardens first, +and then the house and pictures.... Our promenade, with an occasional rest, +took nearly two hours; and then, returning to the Palace, H.R.H. showed us +the state rooms and the pictures, many of great beauty and merit, all very +interesting; and then, suggesting we should like to take off our bonnets, +desired the A.D.C. to show us rooms.... A servant waiting outside the door +showed us into a drawing-room upstairs, where we found two ladies of the +Infanta's suite, and an old marquis, whose gold key showed he was the +chamberlain. In a few minutes the double doors of a larger room were thrown +open, and 'los Duques' and the four Infantas, their daughters, came in.... +When the _dejeuner dinatoire_ was announced, the Duke told Henry to offer +his arm to the Duchess, then he advanced towards me, the chamberlain took +Hopie, the children and the suite followed. We were eighteen at table. ... +Servants stood behind us with paper flappers, whisking away the flies, who +swarmed round the sweet dishes on the table; and H.R.H. complaining of _les +mouches_, I ventured to complain of _les moustiques_. He smiled, and said, +'I noticed that you had been victimised.' Breakfast was very gay and +agreeable; the Duke has the family talent for conversation, and the Duchess +is very amiable, and of course speaks French. She wore a high, plain silk +dress of the prevailing colour, and a black chenille net. The Infantas had +black silk skirts with a broad piece of black velvet at the bottom, and +white piqué shirts. We left the table in the same order as before, and, +after a few minutes in the salon, the Duke took Henry into his private +room. The Duchess requested us to be seated, and asked us questions about +our tour, &c.... and then, rising, she said Adieu, and left the room. The +Duke took us to the large library on the ground floor, to show us the +albums and other things of interest.... There was an interesting portrait +of an elderly lady in a black dress and mantilla, which H.R.H. pointed out +as being that of the lady who writes under the name of 'Fernan Caballero;' +and on Henry's mentioning that we had tried in vain to purchase her novels, +he desired the librarian to see whether there were duplicate copies, and, +on hearing there were, gave us a set, as well as a coloured lithograph of +the Palace and photographs of the Duchess, himself, and the princesses.... +It was altogether a most interesting and agreeable morning, and we came +away charmed with the courtesy and kindness of 'los Duques.'] + +_9th_.--Back to Cadiz; very stormy voyage to Lisbon. Home to Southampton, +November 22nd. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, December 6th_.--I was glad to get your letter, as I thought you +must be due about this time, and I had not heard of your arrival. I can +imagine no change for the worse equal to that of coming from the blue sky +and thermometer of Andalusia to the fogs and hydrometer of London, and your +impaired respiratory organs must make that change peculiarly pleasant. + +I am very glad your impressions of Spain are the same as Granville's. +He raves of the things he has seen, and of the good hotels and general +civility; and says he tasted no garlic since he dined at the Maison Dorée +at Paris. Spain must indeed be changed since my time! + +We returned from Ashridge [Footnote: The seat of Lord Brownlow.] this +afternoon, and are off again next week. Paterfamilias is obliged to drink +the cup of gaiety to the dregs, which is almost worse than being in office. + +Pray remember us very kindly to Mrs. Reeve. As soon as we are free agents, +we shall hope for the pleasure of seeing you here. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., December 10th_. I have not the slightest intention of plunging at +present into the turbid waters of Indian finance, still less of engaging in +the personal controversy of Trevelyan's merits or grievances.... I am not +sure that his view of extensive reduction is not, in reality, more rational +and possible than Wilson's view of extensive taxation. Probably, however, +both will be needed before we have done. But I suspend my judgement on the +question, and I shall not venture to discuss it in the 'Review' at present. + +We returned from Spain and Portugal a few days after you had the kindness +to call in Rutland Gate. I proceeded immediately to call on you in Grafton +Street, but you had already gone north. Since then I have been unceasingly +occupied at the Judicial Committee. Our journey was very successful and +agreeable. We coasted round the whole peninsula, and went up to Madrid, +Grenada, Seville, Cordova, &c. + +The changes taking place in France are (if sincere) most remarkable. My +friends think that one of L. N.'s objects is to have a debate on his +foreign policy and his relations with Italy, which--as he well knows--will +be extremely adverse to the Italian cause, and afford him a pretext for +abandoning Victor Emanuel. There is some idea that when Francis II. +evacuates Gaëta, he will surrender it, not to Victor Emanuel, but to +France. I expect this affair in Southern Italy to end by a Muratist +demonstration; in other words, the Neapolitans will place themselves under +the protection of France to escape from the Piedmontese.... Thank God, your +namesake and my friend, Henry Brougham Loch,[Footnote: Now Lord Loch, +then secretary to Lord Elgin, in China. He and Harry Parkes had been +treacherously seized by the Chinese on September 18th, and kept in vilest +durance and imminent danger of being put to death till October 8th, when, +after the capture of the Summer Palace, both the prisoners were released.] +is safe. We have been very uneasy about him, and not without cause. The +China war is a slough of despond: the further we advance the more we shall +flounder, until we are half ruined by our successes. + +_62 Rutland Gate, December 24th_.--I have shut myself up for some days, to +try to get rid of an irritation in the larynx, which has troubled me for +some time past; but in this weather one's library is the most secure +retreat. + +_62 Rutland Gate, January 3rd_.--I see the Court of Queen's Bench in Canada +has decided in favour of the extradition of the fugitive slave who turned +and slew his pursuer. This surprises me; for surely, by our law, such an +act is not murder. What, however, interests me most is to know whether the +case can be brought up to the Privy Council by way of appeal. I do not +know what form the proceedings in Canada have taken; but I apprehend the +proceedings are civil, not criminal, and therefore appealable. If it does +come here, it will be a matter of great interest. + +The reference is to the celebrated case of John Anderson--or Jack--a negro +of Missouri, who, in 1853, had been met by one Diggs, a white man, thirty +miles away from his home. In accordance with the laws of the State, Diggs +attempted to seize him. Anderson killed Diggs, and--by 'the underground +railway'--made good his escape to Canada, where he had lived ever since. +In 1860 he had been recognised, and, on formal application for his +extradition, he had been arrested. The Court of Queen's Bench in Canada +accepted the argument that they had to decide only as to the evidence of +the commission of the crime, not as to the nature of it, and remanded the +prisoner. In England the excitement was very great. The Secretary of State +sent out an order that Anderson was not to be given up without instructions +from him; and the Court of Queen's Bench sent out a writ of _habeas +corpus_, directing the man to be brought before it. But meanwhile an +application for a writ of _habeas corpus_ had been made to the Court +of Common Pleas in Canada, and the prisoner had been discharged on the +technical ground that he was not charged with any crime included in the +Extradition Treaty, as, for instance, murder; for the indictment was that +he did 'wilfully, maliciously and feloniously stab and kill, &c.,' words +which meant, inferentially, manslaughter; and manslaughter was not +recognised by the treaty.[Footnote: See _Annual Register_, 1831, part ii. +p. 520.] + +The Journal here mentions the awfully sudden death of a friend of many +years' standing:-- + +_January 8th_.--The Frederick Elliots and Marochettis dined with us. There +was a frost, and torches on the Serpentine. Mrs. F. Elliot drove round to +see it, and went home and died in the night [of a spasm of the heart. The +news reached Reeve by a note from Mr. Elliot, dated seven o'clock in the +morning]. + +_From Mr. E. Twisleton_ + +Bonchurch, January 24th. + +My dear Reeve,--I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 18th +instant, which has been forwarded to me here. I am sorry to say that I +have so much on my hands at present that I could not undertake to write an +article on American affairs; though I am equally obliged to you for the +proposal. + +I lament what has taken place in the United States. Although, in a narrow +political sense, a disruption may be useful to England, in another point of +view it is a misfortune, inasmuch as the maintenance of one confederation +during seventy-two years, over such a vast extent of territory, with no +civil war, and only two foreign wars, is the greatest thing which the +English race has done out of England, and its dissolution is sure to be +viewed with pleasure by all who in their hearts hate free institutions and +the English race. + +Since Brown's attempt to excite an insurrection of the slaves in Virginia, +I have thought it impossible to avoid a civil war, if the anti-slavery +feeling in the North went on increasing in intensity, as I have known it +to increase during the last ten years; but I had not the most distant idea +that Lincoln's election would lead to immediate secession on the part of +even a single state. In the north of the Union they have been absolutely +taken by surprise, and have hardly yet made up their minds as to the course +they will pursue. If Congress had merely to deal with South Carolina, it +could easily checkmate that one state; but the difficulty arises from the +_number_ of states, which either side with South Carolina or will not act +against her. + +I have the highest respect for Tocqueville's opinion; but I do not happen +to remember what he has written respecting secession. I well understand the +difficulty for a confederation if any one state has a settled permanent +determination to secede from it. But, under the constitution, Congress has +ample powers to levy the federal revenue and maintain the laws of the +Union in South Carolina--and to pass all laws necessary for this purpose. +Moreover, everyone in the Union who levies war against the United States +Government is guilty of treason, and there is no recognition in the +constitution of any right in any state to secede from the Union. Under +these circumstances, everyone in South Carolina caught in arms against the +federal Government is liable to be hanged. With such laws and powers, an +united Congress and a resolute president, like General Jackson, would soon +reduce South Carolina to submission; and my belief is that the same might +be the case if there were a league against the Union of the cotton states +alone. For a time Congress would baffle such a league quite as effectually +as the Swiss Confederation put down the Sonderbund. + +Pray give my kind regards to Mrs. Reeve. I expect to be in London at the +end of next week, and I shall be happy to communicate and receive ideas on +American politics. The critical point at present is the course which will +be pursued by Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Yours very truly, + +EDWARD TWISLETON. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_February 26th_.--Dined with the Apponyis, now Austrian ambassador; Duchess +of Wellington, Clarendon, Lewis, Lady Westmorland, and Mme. de Bury, who +was in great favour at Vienna. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, March 1st_.--Never was a session opened with so little +interest. I believe it is quite true that the Tories are resolved to +_ménager_ Palmerston as much as possible, and to enter into no hostile +combinations against him with the Radicals. In fact, Palmerston is gaining +ground with the Conservatives, and losing it with some sections of the +Liberals. He has exasperated the Irish Catholics to the last degree; and +for my own part, I think his language and conduct about Mr. Turnbull's +resignation highly discreditable. It is another specimen of the unhappy +influence of Shaftesbury's ignorance and bigotry. However, the practical +result is that the Government have lost Cork by a large majority, and that +at the next election there will hardly be a ministerial candidate returned +in Ireland. + +It is impossible not to see that the general tendency of the public mind in +this country is rather towards conservatism than reform. Even the reformers +are compelled to haul down their bill; and if the Tories had better men to +fill the offices, I think they would, in two or three years, have a fair +chance of regaining power and keeping it. + +At the present moment, the bishops seem to be the most eager combatants; in +France they are denouncing the Emperor [Footnote: In January 1860 Reeve was +told in Paris that the Pope spoke of him as the beast of the Apocalypse.] +as Pontius Pilate; in England they are thirsting for the blood of a few +heterodox parsons. Nothing is talked of here but 'Essays and Reviews.' In +my humble opinion they by no means deserve the importance attached to them, +either in point of style or in point of substance. + +Keep my secret, but I have in preparation a regular mine under Eton +College. There has been of late a good deal of discussion about it, with +very little knowledge. Fortunately, I have lighted upon the evidence taken +by you before your celebrated committee in 1818, all which is still quite +applicable. Eton is very little improved, and the depredations of the +Fellows go on with shameless audacity. I mention this to you because your +committee has been of so much use to us; but I wish to keep the thing very +quiet till the next number of the 'Review' makes its appearance. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, March 4th_.--It is very odd that for two or three days I had been +reading and discussing with one or two Eton men here the subject on which +you propose to do infinite service, but of course I shall not even drop +the most remote allusion to your plan. The conduct at Eton is perfectly +scandalous; our two boys never cost less than 200 £. a year while they were +there; and I believe the case is understated, and not overstated, in the +'Cornhill Magazine,' and other places. One of the men who spoke to me about +it said it was no fault of mine, but of Eldon, that it had not all been set +right forty years ago--alluding to the Education Commission to which you +refer. I recollect being reluctantly forced to insert the exemption in the +Act and in the commission of inquiry. He had opposed the whole bill, and +we defeated him in the Lords when he attempted to throw it out--a very +extraordinary event in those days. But Rosslyn, Holland, and others who had +charge of the bill, were apprehensive of being beaten on a further stage if +we held out on the exemptions. In 1819 (the year after) I endeavoured to +remove the exemptions in the Extensions Act to all charities, and this gave +rise to Peel's very shabby attack on the whole inquiry when I was very +unwell, and wholly unprepared, and to my defence in the speech which I have +often said I could not now make if I would, and would not if I could. I +venture to refer to it, however, as the most remarkable I ever made in all +respects. + +When you have sprung your mine, I hope and trust the 'Quarterly' will +follow your example. If Elwin was still in command I feel confident he +would, for he has always joined against Eldon & Co. I highly approve your +keeping it quite secret on every account. + +Here the Journal has:-- + +_April 9th_.--I was elected a member of 'The Club,' in place of Lord +Aberdeen--proposed by Lord Stanhope; the greatest social distinction I ever +received. + +This was the literary club founded in 1764 by Reynolds and Johnson, which, +in the course of years, had dropped all extraneous title, and become simply +The Club. 'It still continues the most famous of the dining societies of +London, and in the 133 years of its existence has perhaps seen at its +tables more men of note than any other society.'[Footnote: _Edinburgh +Review_, April 1897, p. 291.] Gibbon, who became a member of it in 1774, +had suggested the form in which a new member was to be apprised of the +distinction conferred on him. This has continued in use to the present +day, and on April 9th, 1861, a copy of it was sent to Reeve, signed by the +president of the evening:-- + +Sir,--I have the pleasure to inform you that you have this evening had the +honour of being elected a member of The Club. + +I am, Sir, + +Your obedient servant, + +GEORGE RICHMOND. + +This was followed, a week later, by another letter from the same writer:-- + +10 York Street, Portman Square, April 16th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I have just returned to town and found your note of the +10th inst., and I lose not a minute in writing to say that the election +which I had so much pleasure in announcing to you, I announced as president +for the night, and in the form of words prescribed by Gibbon. The moment I +had written it I began a note to you in my own proper person, but I did not +know whether it would be quite regular to send it, and I had to leave town +on the following morning. The 'Sir,' and 'I am, Sir,' which anything but +express what I feel, I most gladly exchange now, if you will allow it, for +a very different greeting, and I beg to remain, my dear Mr. Reeve, + +Very faithfully yours, + +GEORGE RICHMOND. + +The Bishop of London was elected on the same night with you, and it may +interest you to know that the members present were:-- + + Lord Lansdowne. + Lord Clarendon. + Sir H. Holland. + Sir David Dundas. + The Dean of St. Paul's. + Sir Charles Eastlake. + Lord Stanley. + Lord Cranworth. + Lord Stanhope. + Duke of Argyll. + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ + +62 Rutland Gate, April 17th. + +My dear Madame de Tocqueville,--I have just published, in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' a short notice of that book and that life which are to you the +dearest things in the world, and to all of us, his friends, among the +dearest. A few separate copies have been struck off, and I send one to you +by this post, which will, I hope, reach you with this letter. It was a +matter of sincere regret to me that I found it impossible to execute +my intention of translating the two volumes, [Footnote: Oeuvres et +Correspondance inédites d'Alexis de Tocqueville, publiées et précédées +d'une notice par Gustave de Beaumont.] partly because I found that I was +too prominently noticed in them, and partly because our friends, the +Seniors, were much bent on the undertaking. I therefore relinquished it in +their favour. But I always intended to express in my own manner my deep +affection for the memory of your husband, and my estimate of his genius +as a man of letters and a statesman. This I have attempted to do in this +article, and though I am sensible that it falls far short of the subject of +it, yet you will discover in it traces and reminiscences of that which +was one of the greatest happinesses and honours of my life--our mutual +friendship. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 24th_.--I have read the Eton article with great +satisfaction, and I really think it must have the best effect. But Ker, to +whom I lent my copy of the number, is not quite satisfied; but he takes +extreme views. He also thinks you have not ascribed enough to the Education +Committee of 1818, or rather to the effect of our being thwarted by Eldon, +Peel, &c. But he was very deep in that controversy at the time, having +defended the committee in a pamphlet, and I believe also in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' and may be apt, therefore, to take an exaggerated view of the +subject. + +I am still cruelly hurt at the Newton monument being for ever cushioned. If +Elwin had remained editor of the 'Quarterly' it would have been taken up, +and on right grounds. Indeed, a learned professor had actually prepared a +scientific and popular article on the subject; but Elwin retired, and the +'Quarterly Review' will now do nothing. Altogether I believe there never +will be a monument to the greatest man that England ever had, or will have. + +I am anxious to read the rest of the number, but have only just got it, and +I sent it to Ker after I had read the Eton; and I am unwilling to delay +thanking you for that. + +The Journal notes:-- + +Went down to Weymouth alone for a few days in May, Read Buckle's second +volume on the way. + +_June 17th_.--Dinner at Lansdowne House to the Comte de Paris and the Due +de Chartres; Elgins, Holfords, Bishop of Oxford, Grotes, &c. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. G., June 28th_.--I did not expect that any answer to the Eton article +would be attempted, for it was unanswerable; the facts were real facts, and +the moderation with which they were stated made them all the more telling. +The commission is the proper corollary to it; and so many parents of +ill-educated boys appear to think. + +_To Mr. G. Dempster_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, August 5th_.--In spite of Sir H. Holland's drugs, I see +my fate is sealed; and as I cannot even now put on a shoe, it is vain to +hope that I shall be able to walk for some time; and, indeed, to avoid +relapses, I must undergo a regular cure of Vichy water. Therefore, with +extreme regret, I make up my mind to turn my face south, instead of north, +as soon as I can move.... I fear that, having lost the present month, there +is little hope of our reaching Scotland at all this year. + +Accordingly, the Journal has:-- + +Bad fit of gout in July and August. Went to Vichy on August 10th. The heat +was extreme, and the waters made me worse. Thence to Clermont, Pontgibaud, +Gergovia. Home on the 31st. + +_September 1st_.--To Torry Hill [Lord Kingsdown's]--first time; shot there. +Farnborough; Atherstone; Torry Hill again on the 21st. Stetchworth-good +shooting. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Harpton Court, September 22nd_.--I would have gladly escaped the Prussian +mission,[Footnote: For the coronation of the King.] which is not much to +my taste, but the Queen insisted, and the Viscount [Footnote: Lord +Palmerston.] and the Earl [Footnote: Lord John, created Earl Russell on +July 30th, 1861.] attached political importance to it, so I yielded, and +Lady C. and Constance and Emily are, also on royal recommendation, to +accompany me. The two latter are of an age to like a lark, which is more +than their respected parents do. I need not say that my hope of doing any +good by a flying visit in the midst of a carousal is exceedingly small; but +I know the King well, and shall have no difficulty in telling him what I +believe to be the truth concerning his interests. + +I am sorry to hear that you have been worried by gout, and that Vichy did +you no good. I am inclined to speak well of Wiesbaden, for the glorious +weather I had there (94° in the shade always) made the waters effective, +and somehow I felt younger; but that pleasant sensation is now rather on +the decline. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, 7 Octobre. + +My dear Sir,--Votre tante, Madame Austin, qui est ici depuis quinze jours, +a fait hier, en se promenant dans une petite voiture traînée par un âne, et +qu'elle menait elle-même, une chute dans laquelle elle s'est fait, au coude +du bras droit, une luxation qui nous a fait craindre d'abord une fracture +grave. Mon médecin de Lisieux, que j'ai envoyé chercher sur le champ, +a réduit la luxation, c'est-à-dire ramené les os du coude dans leur +emboîtement naturel. Petite opération fort douloureuse, mais simple et sans +gravité au fond. Madame Austin en sera quitte pour deux ou trois semaines +de repos et d'immobilité absolue de son bras, qui est contenu dans des +éclisses. Au premier moment, elle a été fort ébranlée par cet accident. +Mon médecin une fois arrivé, elle s'est remise; elle a eu un peu de fièvre +cette nuit; mais elle a dormi, et elle est assez bien ce matin, presque +sans souffrance de son bras. J'espère qu'elle se remettra promptement; mais +je n'ai pas voulu que vous ignorassiez la cause de la prolongation de son +absence. Ma fille Henriette écrit à Sir Alexander Gordon. Avec la santé de +Madame Austin, tout accident peut être grave; mais je crois que vous pouvez +être sans inquiétude sur les conséquences de celui-ci. Mon médecin est +un homme habile qui soignera très bien votre tante, et mes filles lui +épargneront un mal très pénible, l'ennui de l'immobilité. + +Je ne vous parle pas aujourd'hui d'autre chose. Si vous étiez là, nous +causerions. De loin, il n'y a rien qui vaille la peine d'être écrit. Tout à +vous, my dear Sir, + +GUIZOT. + +The gout was still threatening; so, according to the Journal:-- + +To Aix in October; back by Paris. Went to stay with Lord and Lady Cowley at +Chantilly; they had hired the _chasse_ and the _château_. Shooting there, +November 11th. Home on the 16th. + +At this time Lord Brougham was preparing the autobiography which was +published shortly after his death. Early in November his brother, Mr. +Brougham, wrote to Reeve, begging him to bring his influence to bear, and +induce Lord Brougham to make this biography interesting and amusing. He +wrote:-- + +_From Mr. W. Brougham_ + +_Paris, November 14th_.--Mind you dwell on books of biography which have +failed for lack of personal matter and anecdotes, and use this argument, +which (for reasons I need not trouble you with) will, I know, have more +weight than anything you can urge--that, irrespective of any question +of his own fame or reputation, if he wishes the book to be eminently +successful in a commercial point of view, he must give as much as possible +every detail, no matter how minute, and tell everything connected with his +own history and doings. That circumstances he may consider trivial all have +the greatest interest with the general public, who are the buyers he must +look to; that people don't want to read history in such a book as his +autobiography; what they want is his life, and not a history of his +times--anecdotes or peculiarities of his Bar and Bench friends; how he +worked as a boy to make himself mathematician and orator; how he worked +for the English Bar; his early associates in Edinburgh, both at school and +college, and all connected with the beginnings of the 'Edinburgh Review;' +his early associates in London before he came into Parliament in 1809, and +for years afterwards; all he did at Birmingham in '90, '91, and '92, when +he lived there with his tutor; all he can recollect of his mother and +grandmother-paternal, but more especially maternal. In short, every +personal thing, no matter how trifling, will be the making, as the omission +will be the marring, of the book. + +I am persuaded that a good strong letter from you will have immense effect; +and don't be afraid of making it too long; the more topics like those I +have hastily put down above you can give him to think over, now he is +quietly at Cannes, the more chance we have of his digging into his mind and +early recollections, and producing what we want. + +Don't forget to quote Guizot; also tell him that Lord Malmesbury's heavy +book was saved solely by the gossip in the third and fourth volumes. The +first two are heavy historical matter that would have sunk a 74. + +The letter which Reeve wrote in consequence of this has unfortunately +not been preserved, but it is evident from Lord Brougham's reply that it +closely followed the lines suggested by his brother. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, November 17th_.--I have not words to express how grateful I feel +for your most kind letter, which arrived this morning. I fear I must admit +all you say on the necessity of much personal matter. However, I really +feel certain that, with the political and general, there will be a number +of personal anecdotes interspersed. Thus in the Queen's trial, numberless +singular anecdotes, professional and other; and on the changes of +government and the unity of our administration, strange things of +individuals: e.g. Lord Grey having, six months before taking office in +1830, positively declared to Lansdowne that he had resolved never to take +office; and in 1822, to me, that unless I would consent to take office, and +be leader in the Commons, nothing should induce him to take part in any +administration--there being then an expectation of an offer to us; in +answer to which I positively refused leaving the progressives. I give these +as examples of what the correspondence contains. I quite feel, however, +that something personal and in early life will be desiderated. If you look +at my 'Life of Robertson' you will see all you refer to about his being at +Brougham, and about the translation of 'Florus,' and other anecdotes, and +a good deal about my grandmother. Indeed, in that Life, and in my +contributions to the 'Law Review,' there are numberless anecdotes of +interest. + +I cannot conclude on this subject without expressing how grieved I am to +see what you say of my old and dear friend Richardson. He wrote in very +good spirits last spring, and I fear he has had some severe illness since. +Pray let me know how this is. + +The mention of him reminds me of an instance that matters which derive +their whole interest from connexion with myself are thus very hateful to +set down. He had given me a sermon and a hymn, written by the Principal's +father--my great-grandfather. When I attended the Glasgow congress last +year, the hymn was by mere accident sung in the church where we were on the +morning after our arrival: + + Let not your hearts with anxious thoughts + Be troubled and dismayed, &c. + +I believe I was the only person in Glasgow who knew that the old minister +was the author, or who knew of his existence. [Footnote: Cf. _Life and +Times of Lord Brougham_, i. 30.] Now such things would make the narrative +a tissue of mere egotism. However, I feel the force of your remarks +exceedingly. Certainly when Guizot's book came out, and I was asked my +opinion of it, and some defects were pointed out, I could not avoid saying +there was a worse defect than all they mentioned; there would be a defect +of readers. And so it has proved; I have, with all my respect for him, and +desire to read, been unable to get through a volume. + +I must set about digging in my published works for anecdotes; and, as in +the case of Robertson's Life, I may find a great number which, apart from +personality, may be interesting in their connexion with events. Again +repeating my gratitude, believe me, most sincerely yours, + +H. BROUGHAM. + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ + +Paris, November 15th. + +My dear Madame De Tocqueville,--Although on the point of leaving Paris, +I must write two lines to express to you my gratitude for allowing M. de +Beaumont to return to me some of my own letters, which derive some value in +my eyes from their connexion with my ever-lamented and illustrious friend. +I have had a melancholy satisfaction here in seeing the bust which M. +Salaman has made. It surpasses my expectations, especially as regards +the mouth and forehead, and I trust that even you will not be entirely +disappointed in it. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, November 19th_.--I have only a minute for writing, as we have +had Princess Alice here all day, and I, of course, could do nothing but the +very easy task of entertaining her. + +I was very glad to get your letter, as I thought you were still abroad, and +I only hope you are as glad to find yourself at home again as I am, though +I am not sorry to have been to Berlin. I rather envy you being at Paris +during the late crisis, and getting the first impressions upon it.... I +have no doubt the deficit is about what Senex [Footnote: Reeve was at this +time writing occasional letters in the _Times_ under the signature of +'Senex.' Lord Clarendon seems to have known this. Other correspondents did +not; notably Lord Kingsdown, some of whose letters innocently comment on +the opinions expressed by Senex.] puts it at. I read your admirable letter +with great pleasure, and thought it must be yours, though I did not +understand whence it was written. + +I should very much like to have a talk with you. If you are not engaged, +why shouldn't you and Mrs. and Miss Reeve come here on Saturday? We have +asked Granville and C. C. G.; and I believe Lewis is coming. Miladi would +write to propose this to Mrs. Reeve, but thinks she will consider two +letters unnecessary. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, December 8th_. There is a new complication of the American case, +and I fear, though I don't join in what I find the universal feeling in +England, that the Government of Washington will hold out. But even if they +give in, this hesitation, and their manifest fear of the mob, is the most +complete confirmation of all I have been so long and so often preaching, +of the extreme mischief of mob-government. They are in the hands of the +mob--and one of the worst mobs in the world. You see they even are under +this dominion as to their military operations; for their disaster at Bull's +Run was owing to the clamour forcing their comrades to advance and do +something; and now no one can have the least doubt that, if Lincoln and +Seward were left to themselves, a war with England would be the thing they +most dreaded; yet it is very possible they may feel unable to resist the +mob-clamour, and may bring on that calamity. The mob of Paris threw France +into all the horrors of the reign of terror (1793-4), which have left such +indelible disgrace on the French, and which stopped all improvement both in +France and in Europe for a quarter of a century, and which even now create +such a force in favour of despotism--as they did in the first Napoleon's +time. But I don't think the evils of mob-government--that is, of the +supreme power being in persons not individually responsible--can be more +clearly manifested, though they may not lead to such atrocious crimes, than +in the States of America--and the southern as well as the northern--for +the mob governs in both. My opinion will be the same, even if, contrary to +probability, the Washington men are stout enough to resist the mob; for +this hesitation and this struggle against the insanity of war could only be +occasioned by the mob tyranny. + +Prince Albert died on December 14th. It was impossible to allow an event so +important in the political as well as in the social history of the reign to +pass without a notice in the 'Edinburgh Review,' and that on the earliest +occasion; though, in the middle of December, some special arrangement had +to be made for it. It was, in fact, brought into the concluding pages of +the article on 'May's Constitutional History of England.' But the subject +was one which called for exceeding care and delicacy in the handling. The +services of Prince Albert to the Crown had been many and great; but by the +country at large they were still looked on with jealousy and suspicion. A +profound sympathy was everywhere felt for the death of the Queen's husband; +the death of a man regarded by an ignorant prejudice as the embodiment of +German influence in the Cabinet might easily be considered as no great +loss. Reeve seems to have consulted Lord Clarendon as to how much or how +little it was prudent to say; in answer to which Lord Clarendon wrote:-- + +_The Grove, December 31st_.--I feel, as you do, that the events of the last +month are too vast in themselves and in their consequences for discussion +by letter, though I should much like to have a day's talk over them with +you. + +I am very glad that you mean to undertake the task--a labour of love--of +doing honour to the Prince, as I am sure it will be admirably performed; +but I would suggest to you not to be too precise as to the manner in which +he exercised his political influence.... There is a vague belief that his +influence was great and useful; but there is a very dim perception of the +_modus operandi_.... Peel certainly took the Prince into council much more +than Melbourne, who had his own established position with the Queen before +the Prince came to this country; but I cannot tell you whether it was Peel +who first gave him a cabinet key. My impression is that Lord Duncannon, +during the short time he was Home Secretary, sent the Prince a key when the +Queen was confined, and the contents of the boxes had to be read or signed +by her. + +The concluding sentence in the next letter from Lord Clarendon refers to +the feeling which had been roused in Canada by the threat of war between +England and the United States. The Canadians showed an exemplary loyalty; +and great numbers of Irish--many of whom (like O'Reilly) had been known at +home as turbulent characters--now not only pressed forward to be enrolled +in the militia, but formed themselves into special regiments. + +_The Grove, January 21st_.--I cannot help telling you how excellent I think +your article on the Prince. You have said the right thing in the right way, +and have so hit the happy medium between justice to him and no flattery +or exaggeration, that I am sure the article will be read with pleasure by +everybody, because it exactly reflects the public feeling. + +The Belligerent and Neutral article is also very good, and I expect +that the temperate and sensible way in which the author recommends the +abandonment of rights we can never again exercise will have some useful +results. + +The loyalty of Canada is far greater than I expected; but that the French +and Irish there should come out so strong for the Crown against Democracy +is indeed a surprise. That Captain Eugene O'Reilly was a tremendous patriot +in '48; and if I had not put him in prison for a little time to cool, he +would have made a greater donkey of himself than he did. + +The next letter from Lord Clarendon relates to a point on which widely +different opinions have been and will be held, till it is decided in the +only practical way. It would be foreign to our present purpose to argue +it here; but it is interesting to see the opinion of the man who, +more distinctly than any other, was responsible for the great change +theoretically introduced into our maritime code by the Declaration of +Paris. + +_The Grove, January 28th_.--With respect to alterations in our maritime law +and usages, I don't know what Russell's opinion may be, but I know that +Palmerston does, or did, think the time come for relinquishing rights that +we can no longer exercise. He readily assented to the doctrines laid down +at Paris in '56, and was so entirely of my opinion about going further that +he tried it on at Liverpool some time afterwards; but that part of his +speech was so ill received, and he received so many remonstrances against +giving up the _palladium_, &c. &c., that he told me when he returned to +London that the pear was not ripe, and that we must give public opinion a +little more time to become reasonable. + +On January 9th Charles Sumner had spoken at great length in the United +States Senate, proving, very much to his own satisfaction and that of his +fellow-citizens, that the surrender of Mason and Slidell was a great moral +victory, confirming the principles of maritime law for which they had +always contended, and which the English now admitted. A short telegraphic +summary of this had caught the mail at Halifax, and been published in the +'Times' of the 20th; but it was not till the 27th that the United States +papers, with the full report, reached England. Of this the 'Times'--on its +own part--took no further notice; but on February 1st it published a long +and most scathing criticism of it by 'Historicus' (Mr., now Sir, William +Harcourt). + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, January 30th_.--When you can spare it, I shall be very glad to +see Sumner's speech.... + +Russell was, of course, guided in his despatches by the law officers, and +it is no wonder, therefore, that they should resemble the papers that had +previously appeared--many of which were written by lawyers--or that they +should be a reproduction of them; as a government could not, without risk +of failure in its peaceful object, express itself with the vigour of Senex +or the 'Edinburgh Review.' The most important despatch of all, however, and +the one upon which everything hung--viz. the demand for reparation--was +well conceived and executed, and did its work effectually. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, February 16th_.--I yesterday met Miss Courtenay, who gave me the +very pleasing information that Mrs. Austin had excellent accounts of Lady +Duff Gordon, and was quite easy about her. I trust you will confirm this +account, and also add to it a general good account of Mrs. Austin herself. + +I hope there is a good article on the Amendment Cases in the 'E. R.' They +have stupidly omitted to send it from Grafton Street. The 'Quarterly' came, +and a better article than our friend your neighbour's never was written. I +admired it so much that I wrote to him about it. Pray tell him my opinion +of it, in case my letter should have miscarried, and that I admired it far +more than I did the very spiteful article of someone inspired by a personal +enmity against myself, and who has not the common sense and fairness, when +relying on the wholly immaterial circumstance of my mis-stating the day of +the Westminster election (the night of Princess Charlotte's running away), +to see that Dundonald [Footnote: _Autobiography of a Seaman_, ii. 892. It +has, however, been recently shown (Atlay's _Trial of Lord Cochrane_, pp. +330 _et seq._) that Lord Dundonald had very little to do with it.] makes +the Duke of Sussex fall into the very same mistake. + +_Cannes_ [_February_].--I am much obliged to you for your kind letter, and +rejoice to hear of the good intelligence [Footnote: As to the health of +Lady Duff Gordon.] from the Cape which will be such a relief to my valued +friend, her mother. + +The American news is a good deal more favourable, but still they are +not out of the wood, or anything like it; and, even if they beat the +Southerners in the field, the re-union is as far off as ever. Their only +safe course is to regard the whole campaign as a kind of drawn battle, and +both sides to negotiate as to terms of separation. + +I have no doubt that a certain most intriguing ambassadress is at the +bottom of the spiteful attack in the 'Quarterly,' and she will find her own +letters rise up in judgement against her. She never will forgive my having +been at the dancing school with her, because that makes her near eighty, +and she pretends only to be seventy-four. + +I am in constant expectation of a paper from a great mathematician, to +which will be added, by B. Ker, artistic matter on monuments. It will be +all sent to you, in the hope that it may assist whoever you have put on the +monument question. + +_Cannes, March 17th._--I am extremely sorry to find that, after all, I +cannot finish you the Cambridge article on Newton, to be used at your +discretion, or that of your contributor; for Mr. Routh has no less than +five wranglers, including the senior, as his pupils, and this has entirely +occupied him, to the exclusion of all other work. I trust it will not +prevent the article. In truth, my discourse at Grantham contains all the +learning on the subject, and it may be used without any acknowledgement +whatever, and I shall never complain of the plagiarism. + +The Journal records:-- + +_April 4th._--Breakfast to the Philobiblon at home. There came the Due +d'Aumale, Van de Weyer, Milman, Lord Taunton. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Exeter, April 25th_.--If that providence which shapes our ends will but +finish those I rough-hew, I trust that the second week in October, or +perhaps a few days earlier, will see us at Skibo. We hope to start straight +for the far North as soon as ever my autumnal egg is laid.... + +We have hit on an Easter ramble, original and agreeable. I sent down my +horses to my father's-in-law, in Dorset, and for the last week Christine +and I have been riding gently along the coast of South Devon. Yesterday we +went to see Sir John Coleridge's place at Ottery St. Mary, and he drove +us also round the neighbourhood. To-day we have been at Lady Rolle's, at +Bicton, on our way from Sidmouth, to see her gardens and arboretum, which +are really marvels of beauty and growth. To-morrow we shall saunter on to +Dawlish, and so at last reach Plymouth, I believe. I want to get out of the +way of the Exhibition opening, which bores me. At Torquay we expect to find +the Fergusons of Raith and the Scotts of Ancrum. + +I hear that other literary entrepreneurs have been as much struck as I am +by the power and judgement there is in all that is written by a certain +young author of our acquaintance.[Footnote: See ante, vol. i. p. 374.] +To write as well as that is a gift; but it is more for it cannot be done +without infinite practice, labour, and good sense. + +At Devonport they saw Mount Edgcumbe and the ironclad frigate 'Warrior' +then still a novelty, and unquestionably the most powerful ship of war +afloat. The Journal adds: 'Back to town on May 3rd.' + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, April 22nd_.--I have just got the new number, and hasten to say +how much I am pleased with the only article I have had time to read with +care, the Alison.[Footnote: 'Alison's Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir C. +Stewart,' April 1862.]Nothing can be more able or more triumphant, and +it is quite fair and candid towards Castlereagh, and much more than fair +towards Ch. Stewart, Indeed, if the letter to me deserves half what is said +in its praise,[Footnote: _Sc_.' one of the most caustic and successful +pamphlets that have appeared in defence of an unpopular cause.'] he never +could have written it himself; and his gross stupidity in construing what +I have said of his brother, and affixing a meaning which none but himself +ever did, or could, was at the time admitted by his friends, whom he had +consulted, and in spite of whom he had published--among others, Strangford, +from whom I heard what had passed. I have a copy of my own, which I should +like the author of the article to see, and shall send it through you when I +return, for it is out of print. One of the blockhead's follies was the not +perceiving how great a panegyric I had bestowed on his brother's speaking +in the H. of Commons, after fully stating its defects. In fact, he had much +greater weight as leader than Canning, who, by the way, is too much praised +in the article. Such a book as Alison's is almost incredible for its +badness of all kinds; but the author (on p. 521, line six from foot) gives +him a pull or two as to style by 'ineligible for election'--though that is +a trifle. The care with which the whole subject is treated, and the gross +errors--partly from ignorance, partly from adulation--exposed is quite +admirable. + +I have naturally been attracted to the Monument article, but have not had +time fully to profit by it; only I am greatly indebted to the learned +author for what he says of my Grantham address.[Footnote: 'Public +Monuments,' April 1862, p. 550.] However, I should have been far better +pleased had he left me out altogether, and dwelt at more length on the +disgrace of the country never having erected a monument to the greatest man +she ever produced--indeed, the greatest [that has] ever been. He seems +not to be aware of the one in Westminster Abbey having been raised by his +niece's family, and not by the public. + +_Cannes, April 27th_.--I have a complaint to make of the 'E. R.' last +number. In the learned and able article on 'Jesse's Richard III.,' at p. +307, Lingard is referred to as having quoted the commission of the High +Constable. I have scanned every line and every word of Lingard and find no +such commission. But in a note to the third volume of Hume, note R, the +commission is given verbatim from Rymer. Jock Campbell used to hold that a +false reference was an offence that ought to be made penal. I don't go +so far, but the evil is very great. I have lost three or four hours in +consequence. Therefore, pray have inquiry made of your contributor whether +or not I am right; and if not, where in Lingard the quotation is. + +Reeve referred the 'complaint' to Hayward, the writer of the article, who +replied:-- + +I believe B. is right, for when I corrected the proof I looked in vain in +Lingard, although I was firmly convinced that he had quoted the document. +But pray remind his lordship that, when Campbell spoke of a false +reference, he meant one with volume and page. + +Lord Brougham's answer to this defence is not given, but it is impossible +to allow it to pass without protest; for, whatever Campbell may have meant, +it is very certain that a false reference, with volume and page cited, +by which the falsehood is at once made manifest, is a venial offence in +comparison with a false reference given vaguely, which may keep the victim +hunting for it for hours, as this one actually did keep Lord Brougham. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, May 7th_.--I wish to suggest to you the positive duty of taking +care that justice is done upon the trumpery, and one-sided, and altogether +insignificant Life of Pitt by Stanhope. Murray having published it, of +course the 'Quarterly' has puffed it, and done so with an entire ignorance +of the subject which is hardly conceivable. Therefore take great care +before you commit the subject to any unsafe hands. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_62 Rutland Gate, May 11th_.--As I have lived for many years on terms +of personal friendship, and indeed intimacy, with Lord Stanhope, and am +indebted to him for many acts of kindness, it would be quite impossible for +me to attack his book, even if I thought as ill of it as you do. I shall, +therefore, content myself with recording the very different view which I +entertain of the success of Mr. Pitt's administration. I think it may be +shown that both in peace and in war he was one of the most unsuccessful +ministers who ever exercised great power. + +On these lines Reeve himself wrote the article, which was published in the +'Review' of July, and brought him the following:-- + +_From Lord Stanhope_ + +Grosvenor Place, July 17th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--Allow me to say how very much I have been gratified +in reading the article on my 'Life of Pitt' in the new number of the +'Edinburgh.' Had the criticism been hostile I assure you that I should not +have felt that I had the smallest reason to complain; nor should I have +inquired or even wished to know the writer's name. But as the matter +stands, I would ask to convey to him through you my acknowledgement for his +very indulgent appreciation of myself, as well as for the perfect fairness +and honourable candour with which the public questions at issue between us +are discussed. It would be a pleasure to me if either now or at some time +hereafter he would permit me to become acquainted with the name of a critic +who is evidently so accomplished as to render the praise of no slight or +mean account. Believe me, + +Very faithfully yours, + +STANHOPE. + +It does not appear that Lord Stanhope ever knew who the writer was. + +Meantime the Journal notes:-- + +This was the year of the second Great Exhibition. + +_May 15th_.--The Binets came to see us. On the 21st the Duc d'Aumale's +_fête_ to the Fine Arts Club; took Binet there. Went to the Derby with +Binet and Stewart Hodgson. Xavier Raymond came. + +_July 22nd_.--Dined at the Clarendon with the Comtes de Paris and Chartres, +on their return from the American war. Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar and the +Due d'Aumale were there. + +_July 31st_.--Left London for Germany. By Ostend and Cologne to Wiesbaden, +where the Boothbys and Hathertons were. Then to Nuremberg, Munich, +Salzburg, and through the Tyrol to Venice. Stayed there till the 24th. + +_August 25th_.--Went to Arquà to see Petrarch's house and tomb. Milan; +Italian lakes. Back over the St. Gothard, Lucerne, Paris. Home, September +9th. + +_To Lord Brougham_ + +_C. O., September 11th_.--Your very kind letter of last month would +certainly not have remained so long unanswered if I had been in England. +But we have been travelling for the last five weeks in the Tyrol and the +north of Italy; my letters were not forwarded, and I only received that +which you had been good enough to address to me on my return to London +yesterday. There is probably no living opinion upon the character and +administration of Mr. Pitt so enlightened and valuable as your own, and I +am gratified in the highest degree to find that my attempt to place the +leading acts of his administration in a somewhat new light meets with your +approval. The chief defect in Lord Stanhope's book is, in my opinion, that +it does not present any connected view of Mr. Pitt as a statesman at all; +and this the reader of the article may infer from every page of it. I began +to write with a disposition to place Mr. Pitt rather higher than he had +been placed before in the 'Review;' but upon a careful survey of his +conduct on each of these questions, I found the ground crumble away under +me. + +As to the state of the army from 1783 to 1803, it was deplorable. Did you +ever see Sir Frederick Adam's notes on what the army was when, at the age +of 14, he entered it.[Footnote: In 1795. These notes do not seem to have +been published.] When the Duke of Wellington first went to the Peninsula, +he gives a wretched account of the forces--ignorant officers and rascally +men. One of the grandest services the Duke rendered to his country was +that he raised the character of the army and made it a most admirable +instrument. But that was long after the days of Pitt. + +The present Duke of Wellington tells me he is very well pleased with the +article on his father's supplementary despatches in the last number of +the 'Review,' and I think it is fairly done. They are a mass of most +interesting and instructive materials, but very few persons will master +them, whilst the trash that Thiers calls history circulates broadcast in +Europe. I heard in Paris on Sunday that 65,000 copies of his 20th volume +are already sold. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., September 12th_.--We returned to England on Tuesday, after a +pleasant tour, but the weather drove us from the mountains to the plains, +and instead of preparing ourselves to graduate in the Alpine Club, we +loitered in the galleries of Munich, Venice, and Milan, or amongst the +remains of Padua and Verona. On the Lago Maggiore we met the Speaker +[Footnote: Mr. Denison, afterwards Lord Ossington.] and Lady Charlotte, and +with them crossed the St. Gothard to Lucerne.... We still hope, if it suits +you, to come down to you when I have got quit of the 'Review.' I shall be +engaged in London till October 7th, and then we are going for a few days to +Raith... but I hope about the 12th or 13th we may reach the far North. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Brougham, September 14th_.--I can well believe that Wellington is +satisfied with the review [Footnote: "Wellington's Supplementary +Despatches," July 1862.] of his father's correspondence. It is very ably +and very fairly done. But I wish it had reprimanded the Duke for making +the publication nearly useless by giving no table of contents. When I +complained of this, he said it had been considered, and that an index would +have been hardly possible. My answer was that I did not want an index, but +only a dozen of pages giving the dates and the titles of the letters in +succession. As it is, one can find no letter without turning over the whole +of a volume. + +Well, what shall we now say of the Disunited States? My last letter from +J. Parkes,[Footnote: Probably Joseph Parkes, the well-known agent of the +Liberal party. He died August 11th, 1865, but none of the obituary notices +mention his wife.] who is married to a Yankee, and in correspondence with +many men of note in the North, represents the feeling to be growing for +mediation, but mediation on the ground of a re-uniting of the South, +which means no mediation at all. But he says that the real feeling of the +Americans, both N. and S., is of great respect for England, and pride in +their descent from and connexion with us. The tone of the press, however, +shows that this feeling dares not be shown, and that the popular +clamour--that is, the mob-cry--is t'other way. + +The Journal has:-- + +_September 12th_.--To Torry Hill; shooting for ten days. + +_22nd_.--Rode over to Leeds Castle with Lord Kingsdown. Farnborough, +Stetchworth, Chorleywood (W. Longman's). + +_October 8th_.--To Raith, with Christine and Hopie. Mrs. Norton there. +Then by Elgin and Burgh Head to Skibo. Shooting there. To Novar; back to +Edinburgh and Kirklands, October 26th. Then to Abington on the 29th, and +to Brougham--amusing visit. I was asked to read Lord B.'s Memoirs, and +dissuade him from publishing them. To Ambleside to see Harriet Martineau. +Thence to Badger Hall [Cheney's], November 8th. Went over Old Park iron +works. Home on November 11th. + +_December 17th_.--We went to Chevening, and met there the Grotes, Milman, +Lord Stanley, Scharf, and Hayward. Lewis came on the 19th. Most agreeable +party. + +_22nd_.--Shooting at Stetchworth. + +_31st_.--To the Duke of Newcastle's at Clumber. Sir F. Rogers [afterwards +Lord Blachford] there. + +_1863_.--The year opened at Clumber. The Webbes of Newstead, the +Manners-Suttons, Venables, and Herbert came there. Shooting good; caught +three pike; rode with the Duke to Thoresby and Welbeck, through Sherwood +Forest. + +_January 6th_.--To the Speaker's at Ossington. + +_12th_.--I was made treasurer of the Literary Club [Footnote: This must not +be confused with The Club (see _post_, 133), which had long since dropped +the 'Literary.'] (Walpole's) on Adolphus' death. + +_February 25th_.--Prince of Wales' first levee. + +_March 7th_.--The Princess of Wales entered London on her marriage. I saw +it from the Board of Trade rooms on London Bridge. Took the Dempsters +there. + +_27th_.--The Duke of Newcastle, Baron Gros (French ambassador), Lord +Stanley, Mr. Adam, Lady Molesworth, Lord Kingsdown, and the Heads dined +with us. + +It appears by the next letter, from Lord Clarendon, that Reeve had asked +him to review the first two volumes of Kinglake's 'Invasion of the Crimea,' +then on the point of publication. + +_The Grove, January 11th_. Some time ago I desired my booksellers to send +me the first copy they could procure of Kinglake's book, and I shall read +it most carefully.... There are many reasons why I should not like to +review the work; but I am equally obliged to you for the offer, and I +shall, of course, communicate to you unreservedly my opinions upon it. + +With this promise of help at first hand, Reeve undertook the review +himself; but the letters which follow show that, though the hand was the +hand of Reeve, the voice was the voice of Clarendon--a collaboration that +gives the article a very singular interest. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, January 23rd_.--Although I'm sure it is unnecessary, yet it +occurs to me to ask you not to quote my opinion of Kinglake's book; as, for +the present, and for a variety of reasons, I should prefer its not reaching +him in an indirect manner. I long for a quiet talk with you, and am sorry +that it must be postponed for a few days; but in the meanwhile I +may perhaps be able to refresh my memory by referring to my private +correspondence, which is in London. Let me have a line to say what +impression the book makes in the world, as far as you have yet been able +to observe. I shall look with curiosity and some anxiety for the effect it +produces at Paris. + +_January 25th_.--Hayward has written to ask my opinion of the book. He is +at Broadlands, and says that Palmerston is, on the whole, well pleased with +the portrait of himself, and that Lady P. is enchanted. + +I think as you do of the second volume; there is nothing finer, that I know +of, in the English language than those successive battle pictures. He beats +Napier out of the field. The 'Times' does not seem to like the portrait of +itself. I thought the article yesterday ingenious. I shall hear shortly +what effect the book produces at Paris. Persigny will, of course, prohibit +its entrance, but he will not be able to shut out all the papers that +contain extracts. + +_The Grove, February 8th_.--I fear that my notes would not be legible or +intelligible to anyone but myself, and I should much like to have a little +talk with you on the book. Could you come here on Saturday next and stay +till Monday? or if you should chance to be engaged on Saturday, would you +come down by the ten o'clock train on Sunday morning? I do not propose +Saturday morning, as I must myself be in London at the Schools Commission +on that day. + +_G. C., February 25th_.--I shall be very glad to see the article in print. +I am sure it will make a great sensation. Kinglake would induce people to +believe that the Emperor was under an urgent necessity to turn away the +attention of his subjects from his action at home, and that he therefore +dragged us into the war fourteen or fifteen months after the _coup d'état_. +It would, I think, be worth while to get some facts respecting his status +in France at that time. If I am not mistaken, he was in no trouble or +danger at all; for the nation had accepted him as a sort of deliverer from +the _rouges_, the fear of whom had been terrifying people out of their +senses. + +_G. C., March 4th_.--The article quite comes up to my expectations, and I +like it very much. I cannot think it obnoxious to the charge of dulness; +but on that point I may not be an impartial judge, as the diplomatic +details are to me intensely interesting. + +I have hardly any observations to make that would be worth your attending +to, but I will mention one or two things that have occurred to me. + +And this he did at considerable length, suggesting several confirmations, +modifications, or additions. + +So long as this article was to be considered as an ordinary contribution +to the 'Edinburgh Review,' it bore merely the authority of the 'Review,' +which, however great, was in no sense official; but now that the share +of Lord Clarendon in its authorship is revealed, it assumes an extreme +importance, as an original, though necessarily partial, account of what +took place, and may be held as definitely settling the fate of some of the +extraordinary misstatements which--foisted on the credulity of the public +by the literary skill, the brilliant language, and the unblushing audacity +of Mr. Kinglake--have been accepted as history, and have passed into +current belief. Perhaps nothing concerning the Russian war is more commonly +repeated than the statement that we were tricked into it by the Emperor of +the French for his own selfish ends, and in his desire to be received into +the brotherhood of sovereigns; that our ministers were blindly following +the lead of Louis Napoleon, and were guilty of a very gross blunder. It is +unnecessary and would be out of place to enter here on the examination and +demolition of all this, as given in the pages of the 'Edinburgh Review;' +and equally would it be out of place to discuss the question--as unknown to +Kinglake or to Reeve in 1863 as it was to Palmerston or Clarendon ten years +earlier--whether we were not then, whether we have not been ever since, +'putting our money on the wrong horse.' If we were, if we have been--a +thing which many among us are still unwilling to believe--it is at least +certain that in 1853, as in 1840, it was all but universally held in this +country that it would be prejudicial and dangerous to our most important +interests for either Russia or France to obtain sovereign control over the +Ottoman dominions, and that all the resources of diplomacy or of war ought +to be exerted to prevent it. In the joint article before us, the condition +of affairs in 1853 is thus stated in a few words:--'Russia had formed the +design to extort from Turkey, in one form or another, a right of protection +over the Christians. She never abandoned that design. She thought she could +enforce it. The Western Powers interposed and the strife began.... England +has no call to throw off the responsibility of the measures taken on any +other Power. Those measures were taken because they were demanded by her +own conception of the duty she had to perform; and by far the largest share +of that responsibility rests with this country. We see no reason to deny +it; and if the case occurred again, we should see no reason to act with +less determination.' And again as to the prosecution of the war after +the raising of the siege of Silistria--which, according to Kinglake, was +unnecessary; or the invasion of the Crimea--which was unjustifiable, to be +accounted for, not by any large views of politics or of war, but by paltry +personal passions and influences of the most contemptible kind:--England +and France declared by their despatches of July 22nd, that the sacrifices +already imposed on them were too great, and the cause they had taken in +hand too important, for them to desist, unless they obtained from Russia +adequate securities against the renewal of hostilities. They therefore +demanded:--l. That the protectorate claimed by Russia over the +Principalities by virtue of former treaties now abrogated, should cease. 2. +That the navigation of the mouths of the Danube should be free. 3. That the +treaty of July 13th, 1841, should be revised in the sense of a restriction +of the naval power of Russia in the Black Sea. 4. That no Power should +claim an official protectorate over the Christian subjects of the Porte. On +August 8th, Austria entirely adopted these principles, and on the 10th she +urged Russia to accede to these demands. On the 26th Russia positively +rejected these terms. Had they been accepted, it is needless to add that +the Crimean expedition would not have taken place. Here, then, is the clear +and precise ground on which the war assumed an offensive character against +Russia--viz. to compel her to submit to terms of peace, which England and +France held to be necessary to the future safety of Turkey, and which +Austria had fully adopted. This is the political explanation of the war, +and it was fully justified, as each preceding step of the allies had been +justified, by a fresh refusal on the part of Russia to agree to the terms +proposed by the allies. It is unnecessary to carry this examination +further. It has been introduced here merely as an illustration and a proof +of the historical importance of the article now that Lord Clarendon's +share in it is understood, and we are made acquainted with the peculiar +opportunities which Reeve possessed--not only as Clarendon's friend, but as +in actual, confidential conversation with Lord Stratford when he ordered up +the fleets. [Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 312.] + +The fine old motto of the 'Edinburgh Review,' _Judex damnatur cum nocens +absolvitur_, is, when reduced to practice, apt to strain the relations +between the 'judex' and the 'nocens;' and in this case the very outspoken +review, published under Reeve's sanction, caused a coolness between the two +men, the editor and the author, who had previously been on friendly terms. +It is, in fact, easily conceivable that, in earlier years or in other +lands, powder would have burnt or small swords flashed. Being when and +where they were, they dropped out of each other's circle. And this +continued for upwards of three years, when a chance meeting opened the door +to reconciliation. + +_From Mr. Kinglake_ + +9 St. George's Terrace, Marble Arch, + +November 14th, 1866. + +Dear Reeve,--I think I perceived yesterday that my malice--malice founded, +I believe, on a couple of words, and now of some three years' standing--had +not engendered any corresponding anger in you; and if my impression was a +right one, I trust we may meet for the future upon our old terms. Shall it +be so? + +Faithfully yours, + +A. W. KINGLAKE. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +LAW AND LITERATURE + + +By what must seem a curious coincidence, in 1863 and the two years +immediately following, death carried off all who had been mainly +instrumental in forming Reeve's career. Greville, who introduced him to the +'Times,' died in 1865; his mother died in 1864; in 1863, his early patron +and assured friend, the Marquis of Lansdowne, died on January 31st, at the +ripe age of 82; his uncle, John Taylor, the head of the Taylor family, a +man of singular ability as a mining engineer, died on April 5th; and Sir +George Lewis, whose retirement from the editorship of the 'Edinburgh +Review' had paved the way for Reeve's succession, died on April 13th. +Much of Reeve's correspondence with Lord Clarendon--Lewis's +brother-in-law--refers to the wish of the widow, the Lady Theresa Lewis, +that a collected edition of her husband's contributions to the 'Review' +should be published. The wish was only partially carried into effect; seven +of the articles were collected in a volume published in 1864 under the +title of 'Essays on the Administrations of Great Britain from 1783 to +1830;' and Lewis's brother, Sir Gilbert Lewis, who succeeded to the +baronetcy, published his letters in 1870. The following letter from +Lord Clarendon refers to the death (on January 31st) of Lewis's +stepdaughter--Lady Theresa's daughter by a former marriage--and wife of +Mr., now Sir, William Harcourt:-- + +_G. C., February 3rd_.--I came up early yesterday morning, and only +received this evening your most kind letter directed to The Grove, or I +should have thanked you for it sooner. + +A great misfortune has befallen us, and we are all very sad, but derive +some comfort from the calmness and resignation with which my sister is +bearing up against her grief. To William Harcourt it is, indeed, as you +say, a wreck of all happiness and hope; but no man under such trying +circumstances could have displayed more fortitude, or more tender concern +for others. I meet him to-morrow at Nuneham for the last sad office. + +I grieve for Lord Lansdowne, and yet it is impossible not to feel that, +at his age, and with rapidly increasing infirmities, a prolongation +of existence was not to be desired. He was a rare combination of high +qualities, and we shall not look upon his like again. + +The next letter, also from Lord Clarendon, refers to the 'Albert +Memorial':-- + +_The Grove, March 29th_.--I knew you would approve of the Cross. I myself +should prefer it to any other form of memorial, if it was in the centre of +converging roads, or of a great place surrounded by buildings more or less +harmonising with it; but placed in Hyde Park, with no local assistance +beyond its imaginary connexion with the Exhibitions of '51 and '62, I have +my fears that it will be thought unmeaning. + +I forget at this moment the exact height of the design, but I do not think +it is to be 300 feet; and Mr. Scott is to consider whether the proportions +may not generally be reduced. He may wish to build the largest cross in the +world, but neither the Queen nor her committee have any such desire.... +I don't think that a grant by the representatives of the people, as a +supplement to their voluntary contributions, and aided by the subscription +of the Queen, would destroy the feeling of the monument. There might +perhaps be less sentiment, but the whole would be more national. + +From the Journal:-- + +_May 4th_.--Lord Hatherton died at Teddesley. His illness had been long. +When we parted at Wiesbaden in August last, I knew we should not meet +again. Never was there a kinder and more active friend. The confidence he +showed me was unbounded; insomuch that in November he placed in my hands +the original correspondence of the ministers with himself in June and July, +1834, on the Irish Coercion Bill, which led to the breaking up of Earl +Grey's Cabinet. These I have power to publish; but, if not published, I +mean eventually to return them to the Littleton family. + +This I did in July 1864. The volume was published in 1872. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., July 10th_.--I am rather like a boy to whom some benevolent genius +offers a basket of peaches, and who feels rather shy of taking the biggest +of them; but, on the other hand, it would be a shabby return for great +kindness to keep you in suspense. I, therefore, answer that, _sauf cause +majeure_, we hope to be with you on the evening of Tuesday, August 11th. We +shall probably go down to Aberdeen by sea, starting on Saturday, the 8th, +if decent berths can be obtained, and I have sent to take them. If this +fails we should start on Sunday evening by rail. I cannot express to you +how delightful to me is the thought of the kind welcome of Skibo, and the +fresh air of your hills, after a very long and laborious season. But I have +still a month in the mill, and a huge list of causes to be disposed of. + +The 'Edinburgh' will be out on Thursday. You will find it very Scotch. + +The Journal notes:-- + +We went to Chichester, on a visit to Dr. McCarogher; and from there to +Goodwood races. + +_August 8th_.--To Scotland by sea. Beached Skibo on the 11th. Shooting on +the 12th with Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, Seaforth, and Dempster. + +_25th_.--To Brahan. Little old General Kmety there; very good fun; but he +does not look a hero. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Brahan Castle, August 26th_.--We performed our pleasant but slow journey +very well, and arrived at five P.M. The weather yesterday was the worst I +have seen this year in Scotland. I declined to face the woods, but we got +a walk by the Conan in a gleam of sunshine. However, the house and its +collections, and their most amusing and hospitable owner, afforded us ample +amusement. I am sorry, for my own sake, that this country is constantly +gaining stronger claims on my affection and regard; for am I not born a +dweller by our inglorious southern streams and downs? If, however, there be +such a thing as transmigration hereafter, let me hope that I shall come out +at last as a Highland laird. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_August 28th_.--To Invergarry, where we lunched with Mr. Peabody; and to +Glenquoich--Ed. Ellice's. The Elchos, Sir F. and Lady Grey, and Lowe there. + +_31st_.--Excursion from Glenquoich to Loch Hourn. Then by Oban to Glasgow. +Visit to the Belhavens at Wishaw, September 4th, and to Abington. Home on +the 10th. + +_September 15th_.--Torry Hill. Shooting there for some days. + +_17th_.--Mr. Ellice died suddenly [Footnote: Of heart disease and +eighty-two years. He was found dead in his bed.] at Ardochy, only a +fortnight after we left his house. That excursion to Loch Hourn was his +last. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Torry Hill, September 21st_.--What a sudden and painful loss is this +abrupt termination of the life of our kind friend at Glenquoich! It is +scarcely three weeks since we left him in his usual health and spirits, +and now--as Evelyn says--all is in the dust.... I have had an unpleasant +accident, though--thank God!--not a serious one. Turning round very +suddenly to shoot a partridge behind me, without seeing that Lord Kingsdown +was on his pony about fifty yards off, a pellet of shot from my gun hit +him in the cheek, and another hit his pony in the eye. Conceive my horror! +Fortunately, the wound was very slight, and, indeed, was well in half an +hour; but if it had hit him in the eye I never should have forgiven myself. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, October 4th_.--I was very glad to hear from you this morning, +but very sorry to learn that you have cause for deep anxiety respecting +your mother, and I fear, from what you say, that she is hopelessly ill and +suffering much. I sympathise with you sincerely. I joined my people at +Lathom a month ago, and we returned last week from our peregrinations, +all well, except myself, who can't shake off the gout, which is a +disappointment after having taken the trouble of a Wiesbaden cure. + +On the day of my last bath there I received an urgent request from our +Foreign Secretary that I should proceed to Frankfort and observe the +conference. I did so, and was interested and amused. It was an opportunity +that may never occur again of meeting the sovereigns of Germany, great and +small.... + +The impression made upon me by the E. of Austria was very agreeable. He had +none of the proud manner of which at one time we heard so much, but, on the +contrary, he was frank and gentlemanlike, and told me the difficulties in +which Germany was placed by such an effete institution as the Diet, and the +advances making by Democracy, which, for the first time, were dangerous, +because the people had reason and justice on their side. He told me, also, +all the steps he had taken to secure the co-operation of the K. of Prussia, +which were straightforward and deferential; and he complained, though +without bitterness, of the manner in which they had been misrepresented.... +It may be that some good will come, perhaps before the close of the present +century, from a public avowal by congregated sovereigns that their subjects +had grievances of magnitude, and that delay in redressing them was full of +dynastic danger. + +One can conceive no more complete diplomatic fiasco than the three great +Powers of Europe giving a triumph to Gortschakoff. The mistake originally +made was thinking that Russia was weak and in trouble, and would therefore +yield to menace. Several months ago I took the liberty of suggesting that, +although Russia was powerless for an aggressive war, she would be found as +strong and formidable as ever in resisting any attack from without, and +that foreign dictation would probably have the effect of uniting all the +parties into which Russia was divided. I don't mean to deny, however, that +intervention of some kind was inevitable; but the difficulties attending it +were either overlooked or not foreseen, and the mode of dealing with them +has consequently been unskilful. + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +_October 5th_.--To Aiupthill. On the 17th to the Grove; Odo Russell there. +24th, to Torry Hill, with Christine and Hopie. Met the Roger Leighs there; +also the Heads and Sir Lawrence Peel. High jinks on Hopie's twenty-first +birthday. + +_November 19th_.--To Shoeburyness, to see the trial of Sir William +Armstrong's 600-pounder gun. + +My mother was exceedingly ill during the autumn, and it became apparent +that her illness was mortal. She was attended with great assiduity by Dr. +Fyfe. For this reason we remained within reach of London. + +_From Lord Westbury_ [Footnote: At this time Lord Chancellor.] + +_Basingstoke, November 28th_.--I shall be much obliged to you if, by the +application of the whip to the printer, you can get him to strike off a +few copies of the notes of my opinion on the appeals in the matter of the +'Essays and Reviews' by Tuesday afternoon, so that a copy may, on the +evening of Tuesday, be sent to Lords Cranworth, Chelmsford, and Kingsdown. +The notes are not long, but I am anxious that they should be, as soon as +possible, in the hands of the three noble lords I have named. I hope we +shall be able to give judgement about December 15th. + +Lord Brougham's next letter refers to one of the few unpleasant passages in +Reeve's life. In October 1863 the 'Edinburgh Review' had an article on J. +G. Phillimore's 'Reign of George III.,' in which the book was somewhat +roughly handled. That the comment was honest is quite certain; that it was +just would probably be the opinion of most historical students; but Mr. +Phillimore thought that it was neither one nor the other, and being--as the +'Saturday Review' described him--one whose 'normal position was that of +a belligerent,' he replied to the review by a studiously offensive and +personal pamphlet, [Footnote: This sensitiveness to literary criticism was, +perhaps, a family failing. Some forty years before, Phillimore's uncle, Sir +John Phillimore, was fined 100£. for bludgeoning James, the author of the +_Naval History_, for some unflattering remarks on the discipline of the +'Eurotas' whilst under his command.] bearing the title 'Reply to the +Misrepresentations of the "Edinburgh Review."' According to this, the +article was a spiteful attack made by 'Mr. Reeve' himself; it was mainly +noticeable for its ignorance, its malice, its time-serving toadyism of Lord +Stanhope, and should be contrasted with another article in the same number +of the 'Review' on 'Austin on Jurisprudence,' which was outrageously +belauded because Austin was 'Mr. Reeve's' uncle. In point of fact, the +article on Phillimore was written by the present Judge O'Connor Morris, and +that on Austin by John Stuart Mill, neither of whom was an intimate friend +of the editor's. Phillimore did not notice, or was not sufficiently +acquainted with Reeve's family history to appraise yet another article on +'Tara: a Mahratta Tale,' by Captain Meadows Taylor--Reeve's cousin. If he +had, he would certainly have made it the subject of some more scurrilities. + +_Cannes, January 7th_.--I have only a moment before the post goes to write, +and it may be too late another day. Pray allude to Phillimore's pamphlet, +and give some explanation on certain parts of it. I have not read the whole +of it, but friends here who borrowed it of me have, and they tell me that +some explanation is required. They are a good deal prejudiced, however, +owing to your having praised Stanhope's book, of which they have a very +bad opinion. I myself rather agree with them, though not going to the same +length. Of Phillimore, I only know that he did good service in the Commons +for a public prosecutor, and was very shabbily supported by the friends of +Law Amendment. But I had a very poor opinion of the book, though he is a +very clever man, and the Yankees considered him the first man in the House +of Commons. + +Reeve's letters for several months had been leading up to the next sad +entry in the Journal. For a woman of seventy-five, a serious and prolonged +illness could scarcely have any other issue. + +My mother's illness was approaching its melancholy end. On January 8th I +sat up all night at Brompton. On the 9th she was speechless. On Sunday, +the 10th, at 3 P.M., she died. On the 16th she was buried in the Brompton +Cemetery. Edward James Reeve read the service. Arthur Taylor, John, +Richard, John Edward, and Fairfax Taylor, Sir A, Gordon, P. Worsley, W. +Wallace, J. P. Simpson, R. Lane, Dr. Fyfe, and John Cox attended. + +On the 17th I went to Essex Street Chapel, where Madge preached her funeral +sermon. He had preached my father's funeral sermon just fifty years before. +My mother survived my father nearly fifty years. This is not the place to +comment on her singular virtues! + +We went to Boulogne on the 18th for the first period of mourning, and +visited Amiens and Abbéville. Home on the 25th. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, January 11th_.--Your long kindness and friendship tell +me how much I may rely on your sympathy. My dear mother expired yesterday +afternoon, in perfect serenity. However long one may have anticipated such +a stroke and, as I told you in July, I knew it was impending--one cannot +realise it till it falls. As Gray said to Mason, 'A man has but one +mother;' it is a blank that cannot be filled up. But I have the consolatory +thought that my dear mother's life was complete in its usefulness, its +energy, its unquenchable zeal for the good of others, its Christian +endurance of sorrow and of pain; and no one ever lived in this world more +fitted to enter upon another. Christine was with her to the last. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Orleans House_, 11 _Janvier_.--Hélas! cher Monsieur; je n'ai pas de +consolation à vous offrir; je ne puis que vous assurer de ma profonde +sympathie. Je juge de ce que vous devez souffrir par ce que je ressentirais +à votre place. Mon coeur est avec le vôtre. H. D'ORLÉANS. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +January 11th. + +My Dear Reeve,--I heard to my great regret a little while ago that the +day of your affliction was fast approaching, and I knew at once by your +envelope this afternoon that the hour had come. I thank you for your kind +thought of not allowing me to hear by public report an event that so deeply +affects your happiness; and I know from my own sad experience how to feel +for you in this trial--the loss of a mother's never-failing love and +sympathy, and of one's own daily occupation, that real labour of love, in +ministering to her comfort and soothing the ills of declining years. You +have the consolation, and it is one to be grateful for, my dear Reeve, that +your last impressions are of a calm and painless passage from this life, +such as you would have most desired for her whom you have so loved and can +never forget. Lady Clarendon and my daughters desire me to send you their +kind regards and the expression of their sincerest sympathy. + +Believe me, my dear Reeve, + +Ever yours truly, + +CLARENDON. + +_To Madame de Tocqueville_ + +Boulogne-sur-mer, January 20th. + +My dear Madame de Tocqueville,--One's own sorrows bring back with increased +vivacity the sorrows of others and the melancholy recollections of other +years, for at each successive blow a great gap is made in life, and one +feels that another record of the past is closed. We have come to this place +for a few days to regain a little health and spirits after the long and +anxious year we have passed by my dear mother's sick bed. All our cares +have unhappily been vain, and about ten days ago she breathed her last. I +cannot express how great a loss this is to me, or how deeply I feel it. +Your dear and ever-lamented husband was one of those who appreciated the +exquisite simplicity and energy of my mother's character, and the words he +let fall from time to time about her are very precious to me. + +To any one who now reads the book, [Footnote: See _ante_, vol. ii. p. 66.] +and considers the later course of the lives of its authors, it is difficult +to conceive the excitement which was raised about the case referred to in +the next note from the Journal. The remembrance of it seems to throw a +doubt on the reality or immutability of 'first principles.' + +_February 8th_.--Judgement was given by the Judicial Committee on the great +ecclesiastical cause of 'Essays and Reviews.' It was drawn with great care +by Lord Westbury, who read it all over with me before it was submitted to +the committee. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Cannes, February 13th_.--I received your melancholy letter [Footnote: +Announcing the death of his mother.] some time ago, but I did not answer +it because I felt that your excuse for not taking notice of Phillimore's +attack was too good, and I had no comfort to offer you. I suffered most +severely myself by the same loss, and I have not, after above twenty +years, learnt to forget it. Your letter brought it back strongly to my +mind, as it also did the memory of my excellent friend your father. + +I find my opinion, and those I cited in support of it, is confirmed by +the articles in the journals--such as the 'Saturday Review' [Footnote: +February 6th, 1864.]--which, though attacking Phillimore in some +particulars, yet show that some answer to him, or explanation of matters +which he represents, was wanted. But I dare say his attacks will be +forgotten, and you may be right in doing nothing that can help to keep +them in people's recollection. [Footnote: Reeve, who was always averse +from any controversy of this nature, took no public notice of the +pamphlet, and Phillimore died early the next year.] + +I have just got your new number and not read a page of it, as the +'Quarterly' came with it, and I was anxious to read the review of our +friend your neighbour's book, [Footnote: _The Life of Marcus Tullius +Cicero_.] which is learnedly and most justly praised, and the value of +the praise not impaired, like that of the 'Saturday Review,' [Footnote: +February 6th, 1864.] by praising Houghton's (Dick Milnes') poems in +another article. + +The Journal has:-- + +_February 20th_.--Went to Farnborough. The Longmans just installed in their +new house. + +To Ampthill at Easter. On April 1st to Paris, with Christine and the +Dempsters. I had the gout all the time. + +_April 3rd_.--Races at Vincennes. Embassy ball on the 5th. Persignys and +Morny there. Breakfast at Vaux with Marochettis on the 6th. Met Sigismond +Krasinski's son Ladislas at his mother's. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. C., April 6th_.--As five years of freedom had augmented my inveterate +dislike of office, you may suppose that I made a gallant resistance--quite +_à la Danoise_; but at last I could not help taking an oar with old friends +in a boat which they believed to be sinking, and in which they fancied I +might be of some use. If the Government had been as clear of some of the +worst shoals a fortnight ago as it is now, nothing would have induced me to +say 'Yes.' + +I hope that Stansfeld's exit and Palmerston's speech, and, more important +still, the feeling throughout the country upon the Mazzini affair, will +mend our relations with France by showing Frenchmen of all classes and +colours that the alliance is here estimated at its real value; indeed, +nothing will go well in Europe if England and France are supposed to be +pulling different ways; and if they had been acting together, instead of +being _en froid_ six months ago, the Dano-German difficulty would never +have attained its present developement. Some soreness was natural at our +not agreeing to the congress; but too much has been made of the tone of J. +R.'s answer, and offence ought not to be taken where none was intended, but +quite the reverse, as I can certify from the conversations I had at the +time with the writer.... + +It was this letter which suggested to Reeve to propose to Lord Clarendon +the advisability of coming over to Paris himself 'to see the Emperor and +endeavour to settle joint action on the Danish question.' He wrote also to +the same effect to Lord Granville. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +London, April 9th. + +My dear Reeve,--Many thanks for your note, and for the suggestion it +contains. I [had] already had some talk with Clarendon and Russell on the +subject. The first thought that it was too late now, and urged some minor +objections, but in my opinion he is wrong, and I hope the matter will be +arranged. Yours sincerely, + +GRANVILLE. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_London, April 9th._--Your letter is very important. It has been settled at +the Cabinet that I shall go over on Tuesday. It is particularly troublesome +and inconvenient to me; but I shan't mind that, if any good is to be done +and that the friendly motive of my going is appreciated. + +_From M. Fould_ + +Dimanche [April 10th]. + +Mon cher Monsieuer,--Je me suis empressé de transmettre à l'empereur la +nouvelle que vous voulez bien me donner et qui me fait grand plaisir. + +Mille compliments bien désirés, + +ACHILLE FOULD. + +The visit led to no result, as the French refused to act. The Journal +continues:-- + +_April 20th_.--Interesting day at Versailles with Feuillet de Conches and +Soulié; took the Dempsters and Hamiltons of Dalziel. + +My father's old friend Dr. de Roches died at Geneva on April 18th. On the +23rd, Christine and I went to Geneva on a visit to the Binets. Saw Mme. +de Roches, who also died a few days afterwards. Returned by Lausanne and +Neufchatel to Paris, and home on May 1st. + +_From Lord Brougham_ + +_Paris, May 15th_.--I have been reading the new number of the 'E. R.,' and +have been greatly interested in it. The review [Footnote: Sc. of Renan's +_Life of Jesus_.] is most ably and learnedly done, though in one or two +places a little obscure. But the subject was most difficult to handle, and +I think no one can complain of Renan being unfairly treated; indeed he is +lavishly praised, though he is rejected--but rejected most candidly. + +I have also read the first article, [Footnote: _Diaries of a Lady of +Quality._] on Miss Wynn's book. I am convinced that the facts must be taken +with large allowance; some of them are to my personal knowledge erroneously +given--from no intention to deceive, but from hasty belief. But there is +one story which on the face of it is not only untrue, but impossible; which +she appears to have had from a Mrs. Kemble, and to have swallowed whole. +How could any being believe in Lord Loughborough's telling such a tale? +Mrs. K. may have, from ignorance, supposed that a prisoner on trial for his +life can be examined by the prosecutor's counsel; but can anyone suppose +that such a story as Davison's murder of his old companion could have +happened, and no one even heard of it, or of his being hanged, as he must +have been, on his own confession? I knew intimately those friends of Miss +Baillie who are said to have been present, and I never heard a word of it +from them--probably because they regarded the story as ridiculous. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Claremont, le 23 mai. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--N'ayant pas eu le plaisir de vous rencontrer +depuis mon retour d'Espagne, j'ai passé samedi chez vous pour vous parler +d'une affaire que j'aurais préféré traiter de vive voix. Ne vous ayant +pas trouvé, il me faut aujourd'hui avoir recours à la plume, car le temps +presse. Je voulais vous dire que mon mariage avec ma cousine Isabelle +sera décidément célébré lundi prochain, le 30 mai. Je n'ai pas _issued_ +d'invitations pour assister à cette cérémonie, mais il y a certaines +personnes dont la présence serait pour moi une grande satisfaction à cause +des anciennes relations qui ont existé entre elles et ma famille. Je n'ai +pas besoin de vous dire que vous êtes de ce nombre, mon cher Monsieur +Reeve, et surtout après la lettre si aimable que vous m'avez écrite à +propos de mon mariage je ne puis me refuser le plaisir de vous avertir de +sa célébration, afin que, si vous le pouvez, vous veniez y assister. Si +j'avais pu vous en parler de vive voix, je vous aurais mieux dit que je +n'ai adressé à personne d'invitation formelle, qu'en vous faisant cette +proposition je ne veux vous imposer aucune gêne, mais que par cela même +votre présence n'aurait que plus de prix à mes yeux. + +Vous m'excuserez de n'avoir cherché ce matin qu'à vous expliquer ma pensée +aussi brièvement que possible. En ce temps-ci tous mes moments sont +comptés. + +La cérémonie aura lieu à la chapelle catholique de Kingston à 10-1/2h. a.m. +Le train qui part de Waterloo Station à 9h.40 pour Surbiton arrive à temps. + +Votre bien affectionné, + +LOUIS PHILIPPE D'ORLÉANS. + +As to which the Journal says:-- + +_May 23rd_--The Raymonds and Mlle. Lebreton came. + +_24th_.--Dined with Raymond at Claremont. Great royal dinner; fifty-two +persons; was presented to the Infanta Isabella. + +_30th_.--Marriage of the Comte de Paris. Banquet at Claremont. Ball at the +Duc de Chartres'--Ham House. I drove Chartres from Claremont to the ball. + +_June 7th_.--The centenary dinner of The Club; twenty-five members present; +Milman in the chair. Lord Brougham was there. I sat between the Bishop of +London (Tait) and Eastlake. + +There was at this time much sentimental sympathy with Denmark in her +unequal struggle against the combined forces of Prussia and Austria; but as +France, Russia, and Sweden, which, equally with England, were parties +to the treaty of 1852, refused to give Denmark any active support, the +practical feeling was that English interests were not involved to such an +extent as to render it advisable to assert them by force of arms. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_G. C., June 24th_.--As far as I can make out there is no real war feeling +in the country, though a great disposition in the H. of C. to turn out +the Government, whether it decides upon being pacific or bellicose; and I +expect that a vote of censure, or want of confidence, will be successful. +If you hear anything reliable on the subject, pray let me know. + +_June 26th_.--The island-occupation plan is very well devised, and if our +cat was jumping that way, it would be worthy of very serious consideration; +but it won't do to embark single-handed in such operations.... The peace +feeling at home becomes stronger every day, except for mere party purposes, +and I don't believe that sending the fleet to the Baltic even would meet +with support, as we are under no obligation to do so; though if German +operations were to extend beyond the peninsula, and Copenhagen was menaced, +a different policy must, of course, be adopted. + +The Journal goes on:-- + +_July 20th_.--The Duc d'Aumale's ball to the Prince of Wales; beautiful +night. + +_21st_.--To Ongar, to see my uncle, Edward Reeve. + +_24th_.--Went to Aix by Rotterdam, with W. Wallace; met the James Watneys +at Aix. Back by Ostend, August 3rd. + +_August 9th_.--Joined Christine and Hopie at Perth, and proceeded to Skibo. +Marochetti and Seaforth there. Shot with Marochetti. On the 25th left +Skibo. Thence to Brahan. On the 31st, pic-nic to the Falls of Rogie, with +Lord Blandford playing on the bugle. + +_September 1st_.--To Raith. 7th, to Arniston. 10th, to Ancrum, Kirklands. +16th, to see Harriet Martineau at Ambleside. 18th.--Home. + +_September 22nd_.--Torry Hill. 23rd, excursion to Margate races, with Lord +Kingsdown. Shooting at Torry Hill. + +Mr. Richardson died at Kirklands on October 4th. Attended the funeral at +Ancrum on the 10th. Mr. Liddell read the English service at the grave. To +Brougham on my way back. + +_October 13th_.--Left London on a visit to the Marochettis at Vaux. + +_23rd_.--Visit to the Guizots at Val Richer. 27th, to Caen. 28th, to +Angers. 30th, to Saumur. + +_November 1st_.--Amboise. 2nd, Loches. 4th, Paris. + +_7th_.--Home. + +_8th_.--Dinner at Lord Granville's. + +_23rd_.--Munro of Novar died very suddenly. He was buried at Kensal Green +on December 1st. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., November 24th_. You may conceive with how much surprise and concern +I received this morning a telegram from the factor at Novar, to announce +the sudden death last night of my old and much-valued friend, the Laird +of Novar, for whom, in spite of his singularities, I had a most sincere +regard. I have telegraphed to Butler Johnstone, in Dumfriesshire, and +to his son at Rokeby, and urged them to go down immediately; but it has +occurred to me that perhaps you would take the train and go over yourself, +as there is no one there to give any directions, and the factor is a new +man. I have also telegraphed to Raith at Cannes.... Let me know if you hear +any particulars. I wonder whether he left a will; very probably none. + +_C. O., November 28th_.--We felt so much alike in our regard for Novar, +that I was confident that we should feel exactly alike in this most sudden +and terrible catastrophe. I could well have spared many a better man, and, +in spite of his peculiarities, there are few persons for whom I could feel +a more sincere and painful regret. For more than twenty years I have shared +with Novar many of the pleasantest hours of life; and although we were in +many respects very dissimilar, there are few persons for whom I felt a +greater sympathy. I have no doubt you decided rightly as to not going to +Novar. My telegram, fortunately, reached Butler Johnstone and his son, both +of whom were in the country, and they speedily got down to Novar. I am told +they have decided to inter our poor friend in London--a decision I should +not have taken myself, but which I bow to, as it is their wish. + +Mrs. Butler Johnstone was so much agitated by this event--for she was +passionately attached to her brother--and so entirely solitary--for there +was no one with her but young Theobald Butler--that my wife thought it her +duty to go down to Brighton with her on Saturday, to endeavour to calm and +comfort her until Harry can come back to his mother, which I hope will be +to-morrow.... + +I have heard from Ferguson, who little expected to survive his cousin and +inherit Novar. + +_C. O., December 1st_.--I am just returned from the funeral of our poor +friend at Kensal Green. It was as quiet as possible.... There is no will +at all; but every paper and letter of Novar's is carefully preserved, and +accurately docketed, so that the whole state of his affairs and accounts +may be seen in a moment. The personal property is enormous; he cannot +have had much less than 24,000 £ a year. Ferguson's share of the entailed +estates is about 5,000 £ gross rental; everything else goes to the B. J.'s. +I am very much pleased with the spirit in which B. J. takes all this--a +great desire to do whatever is right to those who may have any claim on +Novar, and no brag or ostentation. He and Harry immediately determined, as +money is no object to them, they would allow nothing to be sold, but would +keep together the gallery of pictures and everything else Novar collected. +The quantities of things are incalculable.... I thought these details would +interest you. For my part, I feel that I have lost one of the persons in +the world with whom I had spent the most pleasant hours, and for whom I had +an extreme regard. + +The Journal mentions:-- + +Shooting at Haslemere and Farnborough to the end of the year. + +_January 2nd_, 1865.--Went to Strawberry Hill. A large party in the house; +Clarendon, Duc d'Aumale, Lady Hislop, Perrys, &c. On the 5th to Torry Hill. +12th, to Ampthill. 13th, down to Woburn with Lord Wensleydale and Froude. +14th, to the Grove. + +When at Torry Hill I got a note from Charles Greville asking me to come up +to see him. I did so on the 10th. It was then he asked me to take charge of +his journals. Some further conversation took place between us. On the +17th I was with him till half-past seven, and in the same night he died. +[Footnote: See _post_, p. 230.] + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Paris, 1 février. + +My dear sir,--Je regrette Charles Greville. C'etait l'un des spectateurs +politiques les plus clairvoyants, les plus fins et les plus équitables que +j'aie rencontrés en ma vie; et un ami fidèle sans se donner tout entier à +personne. Vous devez regretter beaucoup son amitié et sa société. Ses +mémoires seront bien curieux. Je suis charmé qu'il vous les ait légués. +Personne ne saura mieux choisir ce qu'il en faut publier, et le moment +opportun pour les publier. Quand vous prendrez une résolution à cet égard, +je vous prie de m'en avertir; vous en désirerez, ce me semble, une édition +française.... + +The Journal here gives a remarkable contribution to the history of the +French Revolution of 1830, the substance of which Reeve afterwards +published in the 'Edinburgh Review,' in an article on 'Circourt' (October +1881). + +_March 14th_.--The Club elected the Duc d'Aumale and Tennyson. + +_19th_.--Mrs. Gollop [Mrs. Reeve's mother] died. I joined Christine at +Strode, and attended the funeral at Lillington. + +_April 5th_.--M. de Circourt has been staying with us for three weeks; +inexhaustible in memory, anecdote, and conversation. I first knew him at +Geneva in 1830, where he took refuge after the storm of the Revolution, and +where he soon afterwards married Anastasia de Klustine. + +I asked him the other day what he knew of the 'Ordonnances' of July. He +was at that time, with Bois-le-Comte and Vieil-Castel, one of the chief +employés of Prince Polignac, in the Office of Foreign Affairs; and from his +wonderful memory and facility, Polignac used often to send him to Charles +X., to relate the substance of the despatches from foreign Courts. But, +although he was thus versed in foreign affairs, he knew very little of what +was passing in the interior of France, though from the violence of the +conflict between the Court and the Chamber he foreboded a catastrophe. + +Polignac told him nothing of the Ordinances, nor had he told the Princess, +his wife; for Circourt dined with them on the day they were signed--it was +Sunday, July 25th, 1830. The minister was _distrait_. The Princess got C. +aside to the piano after dinner, and said to him: 'Il se passe quelque +chose;--do you know what it is?' Neither of them knew. C. thinks, however, +that Bois-le-Comte was in Polignac's confidence. + +In consequence of the absence of Marshal Bourmont on the Algerian +expedition, Polignac was minister of war _ad interim_ [as well as +minister of foreign affairs]; but he had not made the smallest military +preparations, or even inquiries, as to the possibility of putting down +a popular tumult. On that Sunday, for the first time, he sent for the +officers in command of the troops. A dispute arose between them, which +Polignac had to settle. It then turned out that in the whole of the first +military division, which included not only Paris, but Orleans and Rouen and +all the intermediate places, there were not 12,000 men. In Paris itself +about 3,400 at that moment, including the _gendarmerie_. + +The reason of this was a political and military combination which the +Government had formed, but which I never before heard mentioned by anyone. +Polignac had for some time been intriguing to detach Belgium from the +King of Holland's dominions--chiefly from a fanatical desire to release a +Catholic population from their Protestant connexion, but in part, also, +from a notion that a military demonstration on the side of Belgium would be +popular in France, and would disarm the Opposition. So that the movement +which took place at Brussels shortly after the Revolution of July, and was +attributed to the example of that democratic explosion, had, in fact, been +prepared by Polignac himself. This is strange enough; but what is still +more strange is that the very means taken to promote this lawless object +proved to be the ruin of Charles X. and his minister. + +With a view to the occupation of Belgium, or at least of a demonstration on +the frontier, they had assembled two large camps at Luneville and St.-Omer; +and in these camps the bulk of the available forces of the kingdom +were collected, especially as Bourmont had with him a considerable and +well-appointed army in Africa. So that at the very moment when troops were +most needed in Paris, one portion of the King's army was beyond the seas, +and another out of reach on the Belgian frontier. + +Bourmont was perfectly aware that some such scheme as that of the +Ordinances was hatching, and the King had given him special orders to +terminate the campaign in Algeria, to carry off the treasure from the +Kasbah, and bring the troops back to France, as soon as possible. About +a month before the Revolution, a ciphered despatch came from Bourmont +--which, I think, Circourt said he was told to transcribe--in which the +marshal earnestly entreated the King to take no important step till his +return; adding that he hoped in a few weeks to terminate the African +expedition, and to prove to the King what he was capable of in his +Majesty's service. He had calculated that by the month of September he +could bring the greater part of the army hack to Paris, and that the +success they had recently had in Africa had attached the troops to himself, +as their commander, so that he would be in a condition to crush all +resistance; and had this plan been pursued, it is by no means impossible +that the _coup d'état_ might have succeeded, as we have seen on some +subsequent occasions. + +But Bourmont's despatch in cipher had exactly the opposite effect from that +contemplated by the marshal. It produced in the mind of Polignac a violent +jealousy of his military colleague, and the determination to act in +Bourmont's absence, so as to have all the credit to himself, and remain at +the head of the King's Government. On the day the Ordinances were signed, +Polignac said to Circourt: 'From this day the King begins to reign, which +he has not done before.' These were the motives which precipitated the +blow, and caused it to overwhelm its authors with ruin and confusion. + +_April 8th_.--I was elected a corresponding member of the Académie des +Sciences Morales et Politiques, in France. + +_14th_.--Went to Paris, and on the 22nd took my seat at the Institute. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, April 23rd_.--Fould is not reasonable about Mexico; for he well +knows that it is we who had to complain of France, and not France of us, in +the original convention, and that ever since we got out of it, so far from +thwarting French designs, we have done what was in our power to support +them; our Government can't help to float a bad loan, but I am sure we have +done the French no harm at Washington. It will be good policy on the part +of Maximilian to encourage Confederate soldiers, provided they don't come +and squat in too great numbers. I understand that the French army is not to +be withdrawn until it is no longer wanted by Maximilian, but that will not +be till the day of judgement--if then. + +The journey to Algeria is an inscrutable business. McMahon, I am told, has +insisted strongly upon it, and says that the Imperial presence is +indispensable to _relever_ the tone of the colony; but that is hardly +reason enough for such a _grosse affaire_ as absenting himself from Paris +for six weeks; but if he wishes to create alarm and make people feel how +much he and social order are bound up together, and that they want him +more than he them, then the expedition has a motive, and may have a great +success. + +Palmerston had the gout all last week, and was unable to attend the Cabinet +yesterday, but he is expected in town tomorrow, so I hope it is a slight +attack. The uneasiness on one side and excitement on the other, whenever he +is ailing, are curious to observe; for it is pretty generally understood +that until he dies there will be no real shuffle of cards. Last autumn the +Tories talked tall about the majority that the general election was to give +them, but of late they have come down very much, and the best informed +among them now say that things will remain pretty much as they are. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_April 27th_.--Excursion to Port Royal and Dampierre, where we were +received by order of the Duc de Luynes. Circourt was with us. 28th, to +Fontainebleau. Met William Stirling and Lady Anna there; they were just +married. 30th, races in Bois de Boulogne. Took Mrs. Henry Baring there. +Dined at the Embassy. + +_May 3rd_.--Excursion to Reims with Circourt and Belvèze.[Footnote: The +Comte de Belvèze, an intimate friend of the Circourts, a man, Reeve wrote, +'of great wit and discernment.' In 1873 he had printed, for private +circulation, a small volume of _Pensées, Maximes et Reflèxions_, a copy of +which he gave Reeve, who 'highly valued it for its intrinsic merit and its +rarity.'] Back to London by Lille and Laon. + +_13th_.--My uncle, Tom Reeve, the rector, died. I attended the funeral, and +went on to Thorpe Abbotts. + +_June 10th_.--Party given by the Hudson's Bay Company to see their ships at +Gravesend. Dined there. + +Went to Bracknell and Ascot. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, June 11th_. I make you my sincere compliment upon the article, +[Footnote: 'Dissolution of Parliament,' by Reeve. It appeared in the July +number of the _Review_.] and thank you for giving me an early read of it. +It is by far the ablest defence I have yet seen for the donothingness of +the Government about Reform; and you have most skilfully brought all the +different schemes face to face, in order to knock their heads together, at +the same time that you show yourself, as the organ of the Whig party, to be +liberal and progressive, and not only ready, but anxious, to adopt any +plan of Reform that will really effect that which reasonable men unite in +desiring. I think the article will do great good; and I only wish that it +could be circulated among classes rather lower than the ordinary readers of +the 'Edinburgh Review.' + +Might you not in the last page enlarge a little more upon the opposition +which the Tories, for party purposes, or from shortsightedness, have always +made to Liberal measures? For that in reality is the strong case against +them; and in judging of their fitness for power, the electors should +consider how the country would have stood if their persistent opposition +had been successful; how we should have passed through the political crisis +of '48 if the Corn Laws had been unrepealed; or the cotton famine, if +Free-trade had not been established. The electors should also well consider +whether they will accept, as governors and guides, men who predicted evils +of the worst kind from measures which have produced the happiest results. + +All these points are well alluded to in the last page, but they seem to me +to want a few grains of salt; and we may be sure that Lord Robert Cecil +[Footnote: The present Marquis of Salisbury. His elder brother, Viscount +Cranborne, died three days after the date of this letter, June 14th.] in +the 'Quarterly' will pepper the Whigs abundantly. + +The Journal at this time has:-- + +Gout in July. Went to Aix on the 25th. The Aumales, Alcocks, and Lord St. +Germans there. Home on August 17th. + +_August 9th_.--To Scotland. We went again to Skibo. Harry Butler Johnstone +there. Stayed at Skibo till the 30th. Then to Brahan. Found the Fergusons +at Novar. Lord Kingsdown had taken Holme House, near Nairn. Went to see him +there. Cawdor Castle. Then to Pitcorthie [James Moncreiff's] [Footnote: At +this time Lord Advocate. Created a baronet in 1871, and a peer, as Lord +Moncreiff, in 1874.] and Raith and Abington. + +_September 23rd_.--Dined with Lord Granville to meet Castalia Campbell and +Lady Acton. Lord G. was married on the 26th [to Miss Campbell]. + +To Torry Hill in October; also to Badger Hall and High Legh, and Loseley +(then rented by Thomson Hankey). + +_November 15th_.--Went down to Woodnorton [near Evesham], to see the +Aumales at their farm. Shot there. + +But the great topic of the latter part of the year, the subject which was +in everyone's mind, was the cattle plague--the rinderpest--which threatened +to become a matter of extreme national importance. When, at the time that +now is, people are inclined to grumble at the precautionary measures +adopted by Government, they should look back to the records of 1865 and +read of the very serious alarm then felt. Writing to Dempster, himself a +high authority on agricultural questions, Reeve naturally spoke of this, +and the correspondence is largely filled with such sentences as:-- + +_September 22nd_.--A nearer acquaintance with the cattle disease is a very +disagreeable addition to one's knowledge. They are afraid it will last for +many years, and sweep off a great portion of the cattle in the kingdom.... +You'll think I have got the rinderpest myself to write about nothing but +these brutes. + +_September 28th_.--The disease has now spread to sheep, and I verily +believe we shall have a meat famine. + +_October 12th_.--The ravages of the disease increase. We were to have gone +to pay two visits in Essex this week, but our hosts are so distracted by +the loss of their kine and the absence of dairy produce that they broke up +their party and put us off. + +_October 18th_.--The opinion of the Cattle Commission is that nothing can +be done to stay the plague without putting a stop to all transport or +movement of live cattle; and I expect this will be done. But how are we to +be fed? + +_November 23rd_.--The Lords of the Council have at last resolved to give +all local authorities in Britain the power of stopping the entry of cattle +into their own district, and all beasts brought to the Metropolitan Market +are to be killed there. + +And thus this plague, the illness and death of Lord Palmerston, and--more +personal--the alarming illness and slow, lingering convalescence of Miss +Charlotte Dempster--'my fair contributor,' as Reeve used to call her--fill +the correspondence of the year. One note only, an account of Reeve's visit +to Woodnorton, has a more particular interest. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., November 23rd_.--My last campaign has been in Worcestershire, where +I went to see a barnful of princes and princesses in a house much more like +a very wild Highland shooting quarter than an Englishman's hunting-box. +However, this only made the whole party more jolly; and as the stables are +very superior to the house, I shall entreat them, the next time I go, to +give me a loose box instead of a bedroom. Cutbush is supposed to have slept +on a dresser in the servants' hall; and a stray Frenchman who arrived one +evening was laid up in the smoking-room, on a sofa. + +And, according to the Journal, the year closed with-- + +Visits to Farnborough, Denbigh (Haslemere), and Timsbury [Ralph Dutton's, +near Romsey]. + +Between Reeve and the Duttons there was a friendship of many years' +standing, and they were there, wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'a pleasant little party +of ten, only Henry has had a very bad fit of gout and could not join the +shooters, or even the dinner-table some days: too provoking!' They remained +at Timsbury for a week, and then:-- + +_January 10th_.--A pleasant party at Torry Hill, with Sir E. Head and Kit. +Pemberton. Shooting in the snow, which was heavy. + +_18th_.--Sir C. Eastlake was buried. + +One day at a dinner party of Royal Academicians at Eastlake's, they were +discussing the merits of Solomon the painter and praising him. 'Yes,' said +Valentine Prinsep, 'but Solomon in all his glory is not R.A.ed like one of +these.' + +_24th_. We were invited rather late in the morning to the christening +of Sir Robert and Lady Emily Peel's infant daughter, and to a banquet +afterwards. Christine came down to my office at two o'clock, and we went +across to Whitehall Chapel. Sir Robert stood _rayonnant_ at the door; Lady +Emily looked the picture of maternal beauty; and in the chapel we found a +small but remarkable party--Duke and Duchess of Wellington, Lord and Lady +Russell, the Gladstones, Lady Ely, the Dufferins, &c., about fifty in all. +Lord Russell said he had never been inside that building [Footnote: Now the +Museum of the Royal United Service Institution.] before. Gladstone was very +cordial, and we joined our enthusiasm about the roof of the building and +the Rubenses. The Queen stood Godmother. + +After the ceremony we all adjourned to Whitehall Gardens. I was unluckily +obliged to go away, but Christine stayed for the luncheon, which was +superb. Gladstone proposed the health of the infant. + +_25th_.--Dinner at Orleans House, on Condé's departure for his journey to +the East; Murchison and Trevelyan there. The Prince de Condé [Footnote: The +eldest son of the Duc d'Aumale, born in 1845, died at Sydney on May 24th, +1866. The Duke's second and third sons lived only a few weeks; the fourth, +the Duc de Guise, born in 1854, died in 1872.] reached Sydney, but caught a +fever there and died. His poor mother never recovered the shock. + +_27th_.--John Edward Taylor, my oldest friend,[Footnote: A first cousin, +elder son of Edward Taylor; see _ante_, vol. i. p. 167.] died. + +A couple of months later Mr. Taylor's daughter, Lucy, was married to +William Markby, going out to Calcutta as a judge on a salary of 4,000 £ +a year. 'She is a very lucky girl' wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'her face her sole +fortune, to win the love of a man so clear-headed and warm-hearted.' + +Circourt came on a visit to us in March. We went together to Lincoln. I +spent Easter at Lord Wharncliffe's at Wortley, with the Samuel Bakers (the +African traveller) and the Tankervilles, and rejoined Circourt at Frystone +(R. M. Milnes'). Thence to Ampthill, also with Circourt. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_March 1st_.--I send you the proof of the judgement in Edwards _v_. +Moss, corrected and purged of some of its colloquial pleonastic forms of +expression. It is very difficult to reduce a speech to the accuracy of a +written composition. In doing so, the merit of the speech is lost, and the +'redacted' elements form a very bad paper. Old Tommy Townshend, when he +heard of a good speech being printed, used to ask 'How does it read?--for +if it reads well, it was not a good speech.' A judgement orally delivered +extempore may be satisfactory to the ear, but when reduced to paper, the +sentences become involved and jejune. + +The diction of a good composition is [Greek: lexis katestrammeon], +the diction of a speech is [Greek: lexis eiromeon]. I cannot understand +how the senators or the Roman plebs could follow or endure the elaborate +periods of Cicero, if they were delivered as written. I am sure with the +funeral oration of Pericles, a common audience would have sat with mouths +open, incapable of following a single sentence. So also with the orations +of Livy. In fact, if the speeches delivered in the Roman Senate or the +Athenian Forum were anything like the speeches reported, to listen to them +must have been a great strain upon the mind and attention of the hearer. + +I am writing to you whilst a learned counsel is arguing, but whose words +and meaning are so obscure and involved that I am much in the condition of +my supposed [Greek: aplous hakroataes] of the funeral oration. + +The Journal goes on to speak of a subject of peculiar literary and +historical interest. + +_April 11th_.--Started with Christine and Circourt for Paris _viâ_ Havre, +and at Rouen paid a visit to the Cardinal-Archbishop (Bonnechose). + +The publication in 1864 of three volumes of the letters of Marie +Antoinette, under the title 'Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette et Madame +Elisabeth. Lettres et Documents inédits;' publiés par F. Feuillet de +Conches, and of another volume--' Correspondance inédite de Marie +Antoinette. Publiée sur les Documents originaux;' par le Comte Paul Vogt +d'Hunolstein--had excited a keen controversy, in which one party, led by +Professor von Sybel, the historian of the Revolution, maintained that the +letters were forgeries. On the other hand, Reeve wrote an article for +the 'Edinburgh Review' of April 1866, on the 'Correspondence of Marie +Antoinette' in which he argued that the letters edited by M. d'Hunolstein +were of very doubtful authenticity, but that those of the larger work of +M. Feuillet de Conches were genuine. His visit to Paris gave him the +opportunity to make a further examination, of which, and his interview with +Sybel, he wrote a curious account. + +_Sunday, April 15th_.--I called on M. Feuillet de Conches, the editor +of the Marie Antoinette letters, whose authenticity is impugned, and on +leaving his house I called on Lavergne, where I met M. de Sybel, the German +professor, by whom these charges have been most actively brought and +disseminated. I found that M. de Sybel, though in Paris, had not seen +anything of Feuillet's collection, though he had publicly stated that he +was going to Paris to clear up the whole story. Upon this I assured him +(as was the fact) that I knew Feuillet would receive him with the utmost +courtesy, if he would call upon him, and would show him anything and +everything in his collections bearing on this matter; and as he appeared +to hesitate, I offered myself to conduct and introduce him. Upon this he +hesitated still more, and at last said that the fact was that his mind was +so fully made up on the subject, and his conviction that these documents +are forged is so complete, that no amount of ocular evidence would shake +it, and he should only conclude that the author of these fabrications was a +very skilful fellow. + +Upon this I desisted from any further attempt to bring M. de Sybel +acquainted with M. Feuillet's collection, but I made this note of the +conversation (which took place in the presence of M. de Lavergne) to show +how strong M. de Sybel's prepossessions are. I have myself again examined +the documents, and though I have doubts as to one or two of them, said to +proceed from the Abbé Vermond's papers, I see no reason to disbelieve the +genuineness of the vast majority of the letters of the Queen which Feuillet +possesses. + +Home on April 26th. + +_May_.--Dr. Watson said, dining at the Literary Club, that he had been +present at the death of Lord Palmerston. He retained his usual courtesy and +cheerfulness in his last illness, and when Lady Palmerston came into the +room he kissed his hand to her. The immediate cause of his death was his +taking a walk on the terrace at Brocket without his hat. The apothecary +remonstrated--upon which he said: 'Oh! it's only what the bathers call +taking a "header."' As the hour of dissolution approached he lost +his consciousness, but still spoke occasionally. His last words were +(apparently as if his mind was at work on a treaty) 'That's article +ninety-eight; now go on to the next.' Very characteristic end. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, June 9th_.--I had little doubt of the war, and I now consider +it as begun. With the exception of the Italians and M. de Bismarck, +everyone is entering on it with regret and uneasiness. I have never known +France so unanimous in the desire for peace; but notwithstanding the +injury to our interests and the shock to our opinions, the country has no +confidence in its right to resist, and has lost the habit of it. There +will be grumblings and prophecies of misfortune, but there will be no +opposition; and if there should be any military success, followed by +territorial aggrandisement, people will forget their ill humour, and will +even applaud a little, but always without confidence. It is impossible to +stray with impunity from the path of sound policy; as soon as we leave it, +we enter on the wrong path and advance by that. In this life it is not +possible to remain stationary. + +I understand your political attitude. There is no reason why you should +take part in the struggle; but what I do not understand, what I regret, is +the manifest uncertainty of your opinions. Not only do you do nothing, but +you seem as if you did not know what to believe. As lookers-on you are +undecided, as actors you are inert. In the state of trouble and weakness +in which the intelligence of Europe is now plunged, you, simply by letting +your opinions be clearly seen, by the directness of your language, might +have an enormous influence on the course of events. But in England, as +everywhere else, the idea of moral force seems lost. It is true that such +idea requires a knowledge of what one thinks, and of what one desires. It +is possible not to give material support to a cause, but it is necessary to +have one. + +In any case, I am extremely glad that Lord Clarendon remains at the Foreign +Office. He will, perhaps, see more clearly, will act with less want of +foresight than others. Is it true that, on account of the state of affairs +on the Continent, there is in England a tacit suspension of hostilities +between the two parties, and that the Cabinet is no longer seriously +attacked?... + +Je suis charmé que le second volume de mes 'Meditations' vous ait +intéressé. Je ne sais pas le nom de la personne qui fait, dans 'l'Edinburgh +Review,' un article sur le premier volume. Dites-moi si elle aurait quelque +envie de parler du second, et si vous voulez que je vous en fasse envoyer, +pour elle, un exemplaire. Most cordially yours, + +GUIZOT. + +War broke out between Prussia and Austria in June. + +_June 9th_.--Party down to Gravesend by water to see the Hudson's Bay +Company's ships. Dinner at Gravesend. + +_July 13th_.--To Aix-la-Chapelle by way of Paris. Heard Mignet read his +notice of Tocqueville at the Institute. Spent a fortnight at Aix, and +visited Bruges in our way home. + +_August 11th_.--Went to Novar, by Perth. Thence to Braban, to Ardross, and +to Foss, where Lord Kingsdown had taken a moor. Then to Dunnichen; called +at Glamis and Kinnaird Castle. Then to Eaith, and to Lord Belhaven's at +Wishaw; the Warwicks and Sir A. Alison there. Home on September 17th. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Dunnichen, September 10th_.--Your kind letter from Paris reached me at +Novar, at the precise moment when I was about to take the field with the +new laird on August 13th. It gave me real pleasure to have something of +your company on that day; and when we had reached the back of Fyrish, and +could command the Dornoch Firth and the hills beyond it, even to Dunrobin, +I looked with affectionate eyes to the woods of Skibo. + +The season has been favourable. Raith and I--neither of us a first-class +walker--killed seventy brace on the Monday, and I got thirty brace alone on +several succeeding days. From Novar we went to Brahan, where everything +is as lively as usual, and Seaforth in great force,... I then joined Lord +Kingsdown at Foss, on Loch Tummel, a delightful place in the centre of the +Perthshire Highlands, where you see all Scotland at your feet, from Ben +Nevis to Lochnagar. By this time the grouse were becoming wild, and we had +descended to fifteen or sixteen brace a day, but we had a splendid drive of +blue hares, and slew 367 of them. I then came on here, where I find a +most comfortable house, a most kind reception, and a most sociable +neighbourhood.... All in short is extremely pleasant, and it is most +agreeable to see George so perfectly in his place, and at the head of a +well-managed estate.... + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_September 5th_.--I am anxious, before I leave for the Continent, to know +if I can be of any service at the sittings of the Judicial Committee. My +present purpose is to go to Biarritz, and thence to Italy. But if I can be +of utility, and am really wanted, I would return from Biarritz by November +1st, and could devote the whole of November to diligent attendance on +the Judicial Committee. I am sorry that I cannot offer to attend during +December, as matters of a pressing nature will then require my presence in +Italy. + +It is, I think, very desirable that the sittings of the Judicial Committee +should be certain and continuous at and during a considerable portion of +the year; and I should be glad to see the practice adopted of its beginning +to sit on November 1st in every year, and continuing its sittings until +Christmas if required. You will know whether the state of business at +present renders this desirable.... + +Lord Justice Knight Bruce is a great invalid, and it is hardly fair to +expect that, after a laborious term, the Lords Justices should at once +commence sitting at the Privy Council. These considerations induce me to +write to you. But you will fully understand that, if it is possible to do +without further aid, I shall be much obliged to you not to accept my offer. +I shall not write to the President or the Lord Chancellor until I have +heard from you. + +_To Lord Westbury_ + +_C. O., September 28th_.--Under the peculiar circumstances of the present +year and the state of business in the Court, the Lord Chancellor thinks +it right to acquiesce in your lordship's suggestion that the Judicial +Committee should sit one month earlier than usual in order to dispose of +the existing arrear of causes. The Lord Chancellor is, however, of opinion +that this sitting in Michaelmas term should be regarded as exceptional and +not to be drawn into a precedent, and that it will be expedient hereafter +to adhere to the established practice and to the order in Council which +directs the sittings to be held after each term. For many years the +sittings have been invariably so held in December, February, and June and +July; and at each sitting the whole of the business ready for hearing has +been disposed of. The only exception to this order occurred last summer in +consequence of the illness of Sir James Colvile; and the consequence is +that (for the first time for many years) there is now an arrear to be +disposed of. Your lordship's timely assistance will, however, enable the +court to clear off this arrear by this extraordinary sitting; and it is not +to be anticipated that the same necessity will occur again, although it +undoubtedly exists at the present time. When November 1st approaches, I +shall have the honour to send the printed cases and the usual summons to +your lordship's residence in London, and I shall give ample notice to the +parties that the Judicial Committee will meet for the despatch of business +on that day. + +_From Lord Chelmsford_[Footnote: At this time Lord Chancellor.] + +7 Eaton Square, October 3rd. + +Dear Reeve,--Lord Westbury's letter is satisfactory. Your communication to +him, which was highly judicious, has contributed mainly to put things on +the right footing. + +Knight Bruce's state of health, following upon what I should think must +have been for some time his felt incapacity for work, ought to be a warning +to him to terminate a life of useful labour by an honourable retirement. If +the hint is lost upon him, he will be a great impediment to the efficiency +of the Judicial Committee. + +I suppose the temporary assistance of Lord Westbury will not dispense with +the necessity of providing some permanent addition to the strength of the +tribunal. Your suggestion as to Vice-Chancellor Kindersley quite met my +views, and I suppose might still be carried out with advantage. Of course I +can do nothing of this sort without Lord Derby's sanction, and therefore I +should like to have your confirmation of my opinion that this is the best +plan that can be resorted to for the present, before I communicate with him +on the subject. A letter sent to my house will be forwarded in my box which +I receive daily. Yours sincerely, CHELMSFORD. + +The Journal notes:-- + +Visits to Sparrow's Herne and to Shendish (Charles Longman's), Parnborough +and Torry Hill. The Judicial Committee sat early-November 1st. + +_November 8th_.--Lord Westbury, Froude, Lecky, Mrs. Norton, Bayleys, +Simpson, and Longman dined with us. It was very amusing. [Mrs. Reeve wrote +of it as 'brilliant;' and of Lord Westbury as resembling Falstaff and Lord +Bacon rolled into one.] + +The earliest critical notice of the battle of Lissa, fought on July 20th, +appeared in the 'Revue des deux Mondes' of November 15th. It was at the +time, and has been ever since, generally attributed to the Prince de +Joinville; an error which gives the following letter a more especial +interest, though it may be thought doubtful whether the suggestion offered +by the Prince was correct:-- + +_From the Prince de Joinville_ + +Woodnorton, 22 novembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Mon frère Aumale vient de me communiquer votre +aimable lettre, à laquelle je m'empresse de répondre. Les éloges que vous +donnez à l'auteur de l'article sur Lissa sont très-mérités, car le +travail est très-intéressant; mais ils ne sont pas pour moi, car je suis +_complètement_ étranger à la paternité de ce remarquable morceau, auquel je +ne reproche qu'une chose--la sevérité de ses jugements sur un homme dans la +position de Persano. + +J'ignore absolument le nom de l'auteur; mais le style élégant, la précision +des informations et quelques détails d'opinion que je ne partage pas +m'avaient fait supposer que nous devions attribuer à Jurien de la Gravière +le travail en question. En tous cas, quelque soit l'auteur, je demande +à tous mes amis de lui renvoyer le mérite et la responsabilité qui lui +appartiennent. + +Croyez toujours, Monsieur, à mes sentiments d'amitié. + +FR. D'ORLÉANS. + +_To Lord Westbury_ + +_G. O., November 28th_.--I received the revised judgements yesterday, and +have sent them to the printers for correction. I will take care that your +emendations are carefully made, and I will again look them all carefully +over. Unless I hear again from you to the contrary, I do not understand +that you wish to see another revise of them (as it is termed) before they +are issued. + +In spite of your own preference for the 'wild freshness of morning' and all +the dewdrops hanging on the roses, I must be allowed to assure you that, in +my poor judgement, they are improved by this severe revision, and that the +judicial style is, like Musidora, when 'unadorned adorned the most.' Of +that style I think these judgements will be quoted hereafter as masterly +specimens. + +_From Lord Kingsdown_ + +Torry Hill, Sittingbourne: January 7th, 1867. + +My dear Reeve,--I have read your paper, and have no hesitation in saying +that I think the smallness of your salary quite a scandal and a disgrace +to the Court of which you are so important an officer. Knowing as I do the +past services which, during a period of more than twenty years, you have +rendered to the board, whilst its position has been gradually settling, +I should say that 2,000 £. a year would be not at all more than a fair +remuneration to you during the remainder of your term of office. If the +country could be certain, by the same salary, of securing an equally +efficient successor, I should think it money well laid out. Your duties +are of a very peculiar character; and often require, in addition to the +qualities required for the discharge of the ordinary routine duties of a +registrar, others of a much rarer description. The correspondence with the +different tribunals whose decisions are reviewed, and with the different +departments of the Government, which are sometimes disposed to shift to the +Judicial Committee the determination of matters not properly belonging to +it, demand not unfrequently the exercise of great tact, discretion, and +delicacy. But unfortunately a large salary does not always secure services +of corresponding value, and sometimes, I am afraid, rather has an opposite +tendency, and operates as a temptation to jobbery. On the whole, I should +say that 1,500 £. a year would be a fair offer to a new man; but I think +that the Treasury should have the power to increase it to any amount +not exceeding 2,000 £. after ten or fifteen years' service, on the +recommendation of the committee. + +The next letter, from Lord Wensleydale, is interesting as a piece of verbal +criticism; showing, also, how a pilot in avoiding Scylla may easily run +his bark into Charybdis, or how a writer, whilst objecting to a harmless +'firstly,' may perpetrate an atrocious 'differ with.' + +Ampthill Park, January 31st. + +My dear Reeve,--I was much pleased to hear that 'firstly' was an error. I +hope you will take some course to indicate your judgement--'a very best +authority'--and to prevent the 'Edinburgh Review' giving the word its high +authority. I have taken every opportunity to amend Acts of Parliament when +I find the error in Dom. Proc. I have a sort of mania on the subject. + +I have not had an opportunity of looking at the Bishop of Oxford's case. +I differ with him entirely about the Banns case, and, between ourselves, +think he is oily and saponaceous.--Yours ever sincerely, + +WENSLEYDALE. + +The following, from Professor--afterwards Sir Richard--Owen, seems to refer +to a proposed review of the Duke of Argyll's 'Reign of Law,' and possibly, +also, of the Rev. Edwin Sidney's 'Conversations on the Bible and Science.' +Whether Owen was too drastic in his methods or not does not certainly +appear; but, for some reason, the article was either not written or not +published, though the friendly relations between Owen and Reeve remained +unaffected. + +Sheen Lodge, Richmond Park, March 9th. + +My dear Reeve,--The end and aim of the 'Reign of Law' is to exalt our +conceptions of its head, and to destroy pretenders to the throne. The Duke +has shown, as you observe, caution in avoiding the latter application. But +the old 'Edinburgh' was once eminently iconoclastic, and its reputation +still floats on the brave work of its youth. I fear, too we should have +lost some best bits and hits of dear old Sydney had his editor been too +precise in defining a personality. As to the other old Sidney, I, too, know +him well; his libellus _is_ small game, but it is the type of a class doing +much mischief. You think I have been too outspoken. Believe me, it is only +a question of time; and _you_ will speak out quite as plainly when the +'Forlorn' has made the breach safe. But one would wish to see the 'Blue and +Yellow' in the post of honour. + +I had misgivings at the first that I might be unfit for your want. My time +draws on, and, under a sense of responsibility for its use, I cannot write +platitudes. + +Sincerely yours, + +RICHD. OWEN. + +The Journal for 1867 begins with-- + +Usual engagements in the early part of the year. Circourt came in April, +and we went together to Norwich. + +To Paris in April. Met Mrs. Grote and Hayward on the road. Morny gave me a +card to see the Great Exhibition before it opened. A great banquet at the +Embassy on the 25th. On the 30th with Chevalier to Lemaire's fabrique. He +gave me my aluminium binocle. Ball at the Marine. Dined at Julian Fane's. +[Footnote: The secretary of the embassy.] Binet came to Paris from Geneva. +May 6th, went to see Thiers on the last evening. May 7th, dined with Mon, +the Spanish ambassador. Home on the 8th. + +_May 11th_.--Some of the Novar pictures were sold. I bought my Cuyp, small +Claude, P. Veronese, Watts, Rubens' drawing, Palma Vecchio, and some small +ones. + +Visit to Torry Hill in June, but Lord Kingsdown was dying. [Footnote: He +died on October 7th.] I took De Mussy down to see him. I went there again +in July. + +_From Lord Kingsdown_ + +_Torry Hill, June 26th_.--It is most kind in you to write to me as often as +you do, and always whenever you have anything agreeable to tell me. Both +your last letters are full of such matter. It is inexpressibly pleasing to +me to receive so many marks as I do of the kindness and affection of my +friends; and if any or all of those who professed a disposition to come and +see me would do so, I should be delighted to receive them, collectively +or individually. I have a letter from Cranworth this morning, most kindly +offering to come down here on Saturday next. If you could look up and send +down anybody as a companion to him, it would be more agreeable to him and +to me. Possibly Peel [Footnote: Sir Lawrence Peel.] might be induced to +come. + +I have not, of course, the face to ask you to come down on Saturday, but I +hold you to your promise to see me again here before you go to the North. + +I am, truly and gratefully yours, + +KINGSDOWN. + +The Journal mentions some of the functions of the season. + +_June 27th_.--Dinner at home to the F. Stanleys, [Footnote: The present +Earl and Countess of Derby.] Mme. Mohl, Seaforth, Lecky, Blumenthal, T. +Bruces, Fords remarkably pleasant. + +_29th_.--Dinner at the Duc de Chartres', at Ham. The Russells, Clarendons, +Saxe-Weimars, Waldegraves, A. Kinnaird. + +_July 10th_.--Holland House garden party. Lady Derby's party to the Pasha +of Egypt. On the 19th, grand ball, at the India Office, to the Sultan. + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +5 Cromwell Houses, South Kensington, July 17th. + +Dear Reeve,--I enclose the Indian judgement, revised, and also the 'Agra' +judgement [Footnote: A case of collision in the Channel between the ship +'Agra' and a bark, 'Elizabeth Jenkins.' The judgement was delivered on the +20th by Sir William Erle.] with a few verbal alterations. I am sorry I +cannot deliver the latter; but the state of our work in Chancery is such +that the sittings cannot be well curtailed, even for an hour. I trust some +member of the board, with a strong nautical twang, will be so good as to +deliver it; and if the speaker could but adopt that hitch of the trouser +which made Lord Clarence Paget so effective in the House of Commons, it +would, I have no doubt, add much to the effect of a composition otherwise +so tame. + +Yours faithfully, CAIRNS. + +_From Lord Kingsdown_ + +_Torry Hill, July 30th_.--I hear you are starting for Scotland the end of +this week, and I cannot let you go without repeating to you once more my +earnest and most cordial thanks for the great kindness which you have shown +to me during my long sickness, both in constantly writing to me and in many +other ways. I wish I had a letter from you this morning, for the upshot of +what passed last night in the House of Lords far passes my comprehension. +If you should find occasionally a leisure half-hour, and will employ it in +informing me of your proceedings on the moors, I shall be very grateful. + +I think it not impossible that in the course of your wanderings you may +fall in with Jowett. If you do, pray explain to him how very sensible I was +of his friendship in offering to come down here to see me, and how very +much I was mortified at being obliged to decline his offer. In my present +condition, it is absurd even to suppose plans for the future; but I do not +_quite_ despair of seeing you here during this next partridge or pheasant +season. + +The Journal mentions that-- + +Gladstone agreed to write the political article for the 'Edinburgh' in +October. It was called 'Sequel to the Session.' Curious conversation with +him about the Irish Church. + +_August 3rd_.--Went down to Weybridge to see Mrs. Austin. It was the last +time, for she died on the 8th, when I was at sea, on my way to Scotland. We +arrived at Aberdeen on the 9th, and learned it there. To Novar and Ardross, +where good shooting. Then to Uppat, boating and fishing with the Duke of +Sutherland, George Loch, and Forsyth. + +We went from Uppat to Brahan; then to Dunnichen and Springfield, a place +near Roslyn the Dempsters had taken. Then to Abington and home. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, 15 Août. + +My dear Sir,--Sir Alexander Gordon m'avait annoncé la perte que nous +venons de faire. Je dis nous, car Madame Austin était pour moi une vraie +et intime amie. Je l'ai connue dans mes joies et mes tristesses, dans mes +succès et mes revers. Je l'ai trouvée toujours la même, la même élévation +d'esprit, le même coeur sympathique et dévoué. Je n'espérais plus la +revoir; je le lui disais dans la dernière lettre que je lui ai écrite, et +en me répondant il y a un mois, elle me disait presque adieu. Mais la +distance est grande entre l'adieu annoncé et l'adieu réel. Sa mort est +pour moi un vrai chagrin. Et pour mes filles aussi, à qui elle a temoigné +tant d'affection et de bonté. + +J'ai prié Sir Alexander de m'envoyer la meilleure gravure en photographie +qui existe d'elle. Envoyez moi aussi, je vous prie, ce qui sera publié sur +son compte, et ajoutez y tous les détails que vous recueillerez. + +Sadly and sincerely yours, + +GUIZOT. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +CHURCH POLITICS + + +Early in October, Reeve, with his wife--Miss Reeve--was staying in +Scotland--set out for Geneva, and, travelling by easy stages through +Antwerp, Luxembourg, Metz--'a very pretty, attractive town,' not yet +brought into vulgar repute by its siege and surrender in the Franco-German +war--Nancy, Strasbourg, and Bale, arrived on the 12th. The weather was +cold and wintry; and, after a short stay at Geneva, they went on to +Marseilles, where Reeve's uncle, Philip Taylor, the founder of the 'Forges +et Chantiers,' was still living, a hale old man of eighty, with his wife, +'some seven years younger, and not at all old in figure, look, and voice.' +Then to Cannes, which was coming fast into note--'building going on with +great activity, and ground fetching higher prices every year'; and, after +an excursion to Nice and Mentone, they turned northwards, were at Paris on +November 6th, and reached home on the 10th. The Journal adds:-- + +_January 6th, 1868_.--Went on a visit to Loseley Park, then occupied by the +Thomson Hankeys--the old seat of Sir Thomas More. Mlle. Ernestine declaimed +there. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_January 14th_.--Pray, if you can, give us a paper with some variety, and +not wholly composed of dreary Indian appeals, the hearing of which always +reminded me of the toil of Pharaoh's charioteers, when they drave heavily +their wheelless chariots in the deep sands of the Red Sea. + +Who is it that has dug so deep into the Talmud, and written that remarkable +paper, [Footnote: 'The Talmud,' _Quarterly Review,_ October 1867.] for +which, a century ago, he would have been the subject of a writ _De +haeretico comburendo_? + +_Hinton St. George, January 16th_.--Your arrangement is a very good one, +but, for fear of accident, I will certainly leave this place on Monday, +February 3rd, so that you may count on me for Tuesday if required. The +gorge rises at the thought of being fed on curry, rice, and chutnee sauce +for three weeks; I shall certainly contract a disease of the liver. If you +can send us occasionally to sea on an Admiralty case, it will be a little +relief. I have observed that petitions for prolongation of patents +frequently occupy an (apparently) undue time. If there are any such, I +think we may despatch them. I hope Lord Justice Cairns will use the days he +gains for reducing the arrears in Chancery. I am much obliged to him for +his kind expressions. + +The best advice that his friends can give Rolt [Footnote: Sir John Rolt +resigned in February 1868, and died in June 1871.] is to resign. It is the +only chance of long life. Let him not be afraid of ennui from idleness. +He has a great love of the country and country pursuits, and that is +all-sufficient. Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale its infinite +variety. And it is so much better to be a looker-on than an actor in life. +Aristotle, in the last chapter of his 'Nicomachean Ethics,' sets himself +to consider what can be the happiness of the gods; and he finds nothing in +which he can put it but in contemplation. And it might be so, if it were +still true. 'And God saw (contemplated) all that He had made, and behold it +was very good.' + +I thought it was an 'Ebrew Jew' that wrote the article entitled 'Talmud.' I +have only read a few extracts. It is quite in keeping with the times that +it should be in a Tory journal. The Conservatives have begun by being +avowed reformers, and next they will be declared free-thinkers. This is the +first step to their confession. Their great schoolmaster, Dizzy, gets his +compatriot to publish this article. I am glad to hear from you that it is +shallow; but novelty and originality now are nothing but the reproduction +of forgotten things; and, to speak seriously, I thought it seemed a thing +likely to lead many to some form or other of Arian opinions. + +The following refers to a work recently published by Longmans. Mr. Longman +had apparently suggested it as a fit subject for an article in the 'Review +':-- + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_C. O., January 31st_.--I have read Rudd's translation of Aristophanes with +a good deal of interest. It is as good as it can possibly be without the +slightest gleam of fun or genius. Frere's translations are blazing with +both, and that constitutes their charm. Rudd is evidently a worthy, dull +man, who administers the Aristophanic champagne as if it were mere brown +stout. It is for this reason that I have felt a difficulty about reviewing +him, and the more so as I am overladen with all kinds of articles. But if a +favourable opportunity occurs, I will not forget it. + +I am deeply grieved at the loss of poor Head. [Footnote: Sir Edmund Head +died suddenly on January 28th.] He was one of the best and pleasantest +companions I have ever known, and latterly we have lived very much indeed +together. It is frightful to think how very many are already gone of those +who made life agreeable; and gone, most of them, suddenly and prematurely. + +The Journal records:-- + +_February 11th_--I was elected to be treasurer of The Club in place of +Sir Edmund Head [deceased]. I proposed Lord Cranborne, afterwards Lord +Salisbury, at The Club. + +For many years from this time The Club was such an important factor in +Reeve's social life, and enters so largely into both his Journal and his +correspondence, that a list of its members, as it stood in 1867, has a +strong personal interest. + +_The Club_ + + March, 1867 Date of Election + + 1 Lord Brougham March 9th, 1830. + + 2 Earl Stanhope May 14th, 1833. + + 3 The Dean of St. Paul's February 23rd, 1836. + + 4 Sir Henry Holland February 18th, 1840. + + 5 Mr. Charles Austin March 7th, 1843. + + 6 Lord Kingsdown February 25th, 1845. + + 7 Earl of Clarendon May 20th, 1845. + + 8 Professor Owen May 20th, 1845. + + 9 Monsieur Van de Weyer February 9th, 1847. + + 10 Sir David Dundas February 23rd, 1847. + + 11 The Duke of Cleveland June 5th, 1849. + + 12 The Bishop of Oxford June 5th, 1849. + + 13 Lord Overstone June 25th, 1850. + + 14 The Duke of Argyll June 17th, 1851. + + 15 Lord Cranworth June 17th, 1851. + + 16 Sir Wm. Stirling Maxwell February 21st, 1854. + + 17 Mr. Gladstone March 10th, 1857. + + 18 Earl Russell April 21st, 1857. + + 19 Mr. George Grote March 9th, 1858. + + 20 Lord Stanley February 14th, 1860. + + 21 Sir W. Page Wood February 14th, 1860. + + 22 Mr. George Richmond February 14th, 1860. + + 23 The Bishop of London April 9th, 1861. + + 24 Mr. Henry Reeve April 9th, 1861. + + 25 Sir Roderick I. Murchison June 18th, 1861. + + 26 Sir Edmund Head February 25th, 1862. + + 27 Mr. Robert Lowe May 12th, 1863. + + 28 Mr. Spencer Walpole March 8th, 1864. + + 29 The Dean of Westminster February 28th, 1865. + + 30 Mr. J. A. Froude February 28th, 1865. + + 31 The Duc d'Anmale March 14th, 1865. + + 32 Mr. Alfred Tennyson March 14th, 1865. + + 33 Lord Cairns February 27th, 1866. + + 34 Mr. Edward Twisleton April 24th, 1866. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_Rome, February 2nd_.--I cannot let an old friend like yourself hear by +common report an event most interesting to us, and which will therefore, I +am sure, not be without interest to you. Emily [Footnote: Lord Clarendon's +youngest daughter. The marriage took place on May 5th.] is to marry Odo +Russell. [Footnote: Afterwards Lord Ampthill.] It has been an attachment of +some standing on his part, and as she has become very certain of its depth +and sincerity, they came to an understanding two days ago. His worldly +goods are not superabundant, but he is very rich in all the qualities +likely to make a woman happy; he is very clever and accomplished, and I +speak with a knowledge of him for many years when I say that he is one of +the best-tempered and kindest-hearted men I ever was acquainted with. Such +a son as he has always been must make a good husband. In short, we are all +very happy.... + +How I should like to have a talk with you upon home and foreign affairs, +and how I should like to think that you viewed them less gloomily than I +do! There is great expectation at Rome that Italy will break up, and that +the Holy Father will recover his provinces. Italy, mishandled as she has +been by quacks, is doubtless very sick; but she is still proud of the +union, and will fight for it against all comers. Things look black, and +are, to my mind, getting blacker, every day in France. That _paries +proximus_ concerns us, in our present uneasy condition, more than one likes +to think of. + +_From Lord Chelmsford_ + +_7 Eaton Square, February 10th, 11 P.M._--Your letter, just received, has +caused me the greatest perplexity. To provide you help on the sudden is +impossible; and, agreeing with you that it is desirable to supply Lord +Kingsdown's place with a strong man, I ask, Where is the judicial Samson +to be found? I think it highly improbable that Mellish would abandon his +professional profits for the barren honour of a right honourable title and +a seat at the board. Besides, there is no knowing what the Commission, +which is inquiring into all the superior Courts, both original and +appellate, may recommend; and I hear of very sweeping suggestions being +made. I therefore feel that, at present, I am fettered in my attempts to +add strength to the Judicial Committee. In your difficulties, I hardly know +what to advise; but could you not take the Admiralty cases and postpone the +others, getting Phillimore to join you till Kindersley can return? This is +the only possible escape from the necessity of closing your sittings that +occurs to me at the present moment. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_February 12th_--The Duc d'Aumale dined with us, to meet Lady Minto, G. +Lefevre, and E. Cheney. A spy got hold of this little dinner, and it +was reported to the French Government as a conspiracy. Mon [the Spanish +Ambassador in Paris] told Raymond of it afterwards. + +_14th_--I dined with the Joinvilles; and on the 16th with the Duc de +Nemours at Bushey. Xavier Raymond was staying with us. + +_February 23rd_--I walked back from the Temple Church with Lord Chancellor +Chelmsford. Two days afterwards he was turned out of office by Disraeli. + +_From Mr. Robert Lytton_ [Footnote: At this time secretary of legation at +Lisbon, and known in the world of letters as 'Owen Meredith.' Afterwards +Earl Lytton.] + +Lisbon, February 22nd. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I am ashamed of having left so long unanswered your +last very kind letter. But for the last three weeks I have had little +leisure, and less health to enjoy it. Indeed, this is really my first free +moment since your letter reached me. Your excellent and welcome news of +Emily's engagement [Footnote: Lady Emily Villiers. See _ante_.] to Odo +Russell was confirmed by the same post in a line from Emily to Edith, +[Footnote: Mrs. Lytton, the Lady Emily's first cousin.] and has given us +the greatest pleasure--me especially; for I have a great regard for Odo, +and any other settlement of this particular Roman question [Footnote: Odo +Russell was at this time, and had been for the last ten years, living at +Rome, practically--though not formally--ambassador to the Vatican.] would +have much disappointed my hopes. Emily, in her letter to my wife, spoke of +remaining at Rome for another month or more (the marriage not being fixed +to take place before May, at the Grove); but I see by the papers that Lord +Clarendon is already on his way homeward, and I am much _intrigué_ by that +article in the 'Times,' which has, I see, been re-echoed by other papers, +suggesting some modification in the present Cabinet on account of Lord +Derby's health. + +The present Portuguese Government does not seem to be at all favourably +disposed towards Mr. Flores, or to think more highly of him than you do. +But in this country one can never be quite sure what the pressure of +political opposition or support may wring from a weak Government in the way +of concession to any _intriguant;_ and, if Flores can command votes, he may +be listened to; otherwise not, I fancy. + +The monthly F. O. bag has just brought me the January 'Edinburgh,' for +which a thousand thanks. I have not yet had time to cut the leaves of it. +Pray accept my best thanks for the cheque mentioned in your letter. I am +all the more grateful to you for the good will on behalf of 'Chronicles and +Characters,' to which you so kindly and generously give renewed expression, +because I have just seen what I cannot but think a very unjust notice of +the book in the 'Athenaeum.' In endeavouring to illustrate a continuous +strain of thought passing over a wide range of subject, one of my chief +aims was diversity of form and variety of style; but there can be no doubt +that versatility is always in danger of running into imitation. Play always +on the Jew's harp, and no one will accuse you of imitating the tone of any +other instrument. I do not pretend that my own instrument is an organ: but +I would rather it should be the smallest harmonicum than the strongest and +shrillest Jew's harp. + +_From Mr. S. H. Walpole_ + +Ealing, March 29th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I am quite ashamed of myself for not having thanked you +before for your valuable hints about the effect and ultimate consequences +of Gladstone's motion. [Footnote: March 30th, for the Disestablishment of +the Irish Church, of which notice was given on March 23rd.] I have long +thought that his aim and object has been for years to separate the Church +from the State, and so set up an episcopal and sacerdotal power, which +would endeavour to exercise an unbounded control over the consciences, +actions, and private judgement of men. The only check upon this is the +supremacy of the civil power in the external government of the Church, and +the obligation of the clergy to submit and subscribe to the doctrine +and liturgy which, once for all, the Church and State have concurred in +prescribing. All ritualism, all tractarianism, and much high-churchism is +in secret, if not in avowed, rebellion against such a supremacy; and if it +[Footnote: _Sc_. the supremacy of the civil power.] could only be struck +down in Ireland, it would not be long before an attack on it was made in +England. What may happen to-morrow I cannot regard with much satisfaction. +Gladstone's motion is the most impudent assault on the Crown which any +ex-minister ever made; and Stanley's amendment is an illogical surrender +of our best defence. He ought to have ended in plain words, by saying that +'the House is of opinion that the disestablishment and disendowment of the +Church in Ireland would be contrary to, and in direct violation of, the +fundamental and essential articles of the Treaty of Union.' The country +would have then understood what we were about; it can hardly understand it +now. + +I am out of heart and have many misgivings when ex-ministers of the Crown, +and the actual minister of the Crown, assail or abandon the Crown's +prerogative for the value of place and power. + +Yours always very sincerely, + +S. H. WALPOLE. + +Walpole's interpretation of Gladstone's 'aim and object' may now appear +strained. It was, however, certainly held, at the time, by many who argued +that Gladstone's character was itself a direct contradiction to the charge +of his proposed measure being one of spoliation and robbery. [Footnote: See +_post_.] It is, perhaps, more probable that he was greatly influenced by +the Utopian sentimentalism which so powerfully influenced his later career, +and led him to the extreme courses so bitterly condemned by many of his old +colleagues and adherents. At the same time it must be remembered that when, +nearly thirty years later, a Radical measure was brought forward for the +disestablishment of the Church in Wales, with the avowed intention of +advancing by it to the disestablishment of the Church of England, although +the great body of the Church, clergy and laity, vehemently denounced it as +antagonistic to the best interests of the Church and the country, there +were many of the extreme ritualistic section who openly favoured and +supported it, with freedom on their tongues and sacerdotalism in their +hearts. + +The Journal here has:-- + +Went to St. Leonard's with the Watneys for Good Friday (April 10th). On +Easter Sunday to Holland, with Circourt. Dined with Baudin, [Footnote: +The son of Charles Baudin, the distinguished admiral. Cf. _Les Gloires +Maritimes de France_, par Jurien de la Gravière.] the French minister at +the Hague. + +_April 13th_.--Spent the evening with the Queen of Holland at the Old +Palace. 14th, evening with the Queen. 16th, went on, by Utrecht, to Aix, +where Circourt and I remained ten days. Came home by Antwerp. + +_From Mr. Robert Lytton_ + +Madrid, April 29th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I must apologise for not having sooner thanked you for +your very kind letter of the 8th, which reached me just as I was starting +(paperless and penless) for Madrid. The cares of this world (in the shape +of house-hunting), quite unaccompanied by the deceitfulness of riches, +have, I am sorry to say, eaten up every hour of my time not otherwise +absorbed by official visits and presentations, &c., since we reached--a +week ago--this pretty, busy, but horribly hot and dear, town. + +I am really pained to think that your kind intention on behalf of my book +should already have been the occasion of so much trouble to you, dear Mr. +Reeve; and I can only say that I am all the more grateful to you for not +having altogether abandoned it. A notice in the 'Edinburgh' will at all +times be most valuable; and the more touches there may be in it from your +pen, the more valuable it will be. The notice in the 'Times' was indeed +very kindly written, and very kindly inserted, and I doubt not that it will +be very advantageous to the book in many ways. + +I am greatly and agreeably struck by the animation and showiness of +Madrid--after Lisbon, which is one of the dullest towns I ever saw. Life +at Lisbon is _en robe de chambre_; here it is all _en toilette_. Madrid is +like a pretty provincial who has been to Paris, and come back _mise à la +mode_, and with a decided taste for spending more money than she has at +her bankers'. The beauty of the women's faces, too, as you see them in the +streets, the Prado, and at the opera (for I have not yet seen the _beau +monde_ at home), is very agreeable. Pretty faces seem to be as plentiful +here as gold nuggets in the streets of Eldorado, when Candide saw them. + +The day after we got to Madrid, Narvaes died, and till yesterday he has +been lying in state and receiving the visits of a grateful public at all +hours of the day. Yesterday his body, _empaillé_, was removed with due +honours to be buried in Andalusia. The story goes about the town that on +his deathbed his confessor, having told him to forgive his enemies, he +replied: 'I have none.' 'Impossible! A man who has been governing Spain so +long must have many.' 'But I assure you there is no man alive whom I even +suspect to be my enemy.' 'No enemies?' 'None; I have shot them all!' + +I sincerely hope that you will be able to visit Spain in the autumn. About +that time, if still here, I shall try to see Seville and the South. But my +plans are entirely dependent on Crampton's [Footnote: Sir John Crampton, +minister plenipotentiary at Madrid, retired from the public service on +July 1st, 1869.] movements; and I fear we shall have to pass the summer at +Madrid, which I rather dread on account of the children, who have already +caught feverish colds. With my wife's affectionate greetings, and my own +respects, to Mrs. Reeve, pray believe me to be yours very faithfully, + +R. LYTTON. + +The Journal records:-- + +_May 6th_.--Disraeli was in the chair at the Literary Fund dinner. [He +spoke--wrote Mrs. Reeve--with grace, and had a brilliant reception. I never +heard such cheering at any previous dinner. He has stormy nights in the +House of Commons, and how it will end is still uncertain; but his +wonderful tact and control of feature, voice, and language give him marked +advantage.] + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +York House, Twickenham, le 20 mai. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je ne puis résister au désir d'appeler votre +bienveillante attention sur le dernier numéro de la 'Revue des deux +Mondes,' que je ne vous envoie pas, sachant que vous la recevez, où notre +excellent ami X. Raymond a traité la question de l'église d'Irlande. + +Je veux en même temps réclamer votre indulgence pour son travail, et vous +demander de ne pas vous étonner si vous n'y retrouvez ni la clarté de +style ni la variété de connaissances qui distinguent votre ami. Ne le lui +reprochez pas trop sévèrement, car, s'il est coupable, ce n'est pas de +cela. + +Élevé dans le respect de la loi, je ne puis vous en dire davantage, et je +me bornerai à vous rappeler qu'il y a actuellement dans la loi française +deux articles, l'un interdisant aux exilés d'écrire dans les journaux, +qui ne me permet pas de me présenter comme collaborateur de la 'Revue;' +l'autre, punissant les journaux qui publient des articles sous des +signatures autres que celle de l'auteur, qui ne me permet pas de vous en +dire davantage. + +Je termine en vous priant de me croire toujours + +Votre bien affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLÉANS. + +_From the Dean of St. Paul's_ + +Deanery, St. Paul's, June 19th. + +My Dear Reeve,--Your article [Footnote: 'The National Church,' which +appeared in the _Edinburgh Review_ of July.] I think admirable. I have +ventured to make one or two verbal suggestions, but on the main of your +argument I am fully with you. There are only two points which I should +propose for your reconsideration. I do not quite see the bearing of your +argument about the Cardross case, and do not quite understand the decision +of the Scotch judges. [Footnote: The Free Church minister of Cardross had +been deposed by the Church Courts for drunkenness. He applied to the civil +court for redress, and was thereupon summarily ejected from the Free +Church. The Court of Session decided that the defenders--the Church +Courts--'are invested with no jurisdiction whatever, ecclesiastical or +civil.'] Surely every corporation, or, indeed, every club, has, and must +have, the power of excluding--excommunicating is only the theologian's term +for the same thing--any member who flagrantly violates its rules and first +principles. If a member of the Athenaeum were to get roaring drunk and +disturb the place, and endanger the character of the club, the committee or +a general meeting might eject him, though he would have some plea in his +vested right in the property of the club--the house, library, &c. If the +mistake in the Cardross case was that the culprit was ejected without +trial, that, I think, should be distinctly stated. If the flaw is that it +was done by the Church officers, without the general consent or sanction of +the Kirk, this also should be made clear. I rather demur to the division +of the ecclesiastical property now held by the Irish Church, according +strictly to the proportion of its members to the rest of the population. +Possession, and possession for three centuries, ought, I think, to be taken +into account. But this is a question rather of detail than of principle. +But the real difficulty you have stated fairly and clearly: On what terms, +and under what character, is the Protestant Church, when disestablished, +to hold the property--the churches, parsonages, &c.--which is to remain to +her? The Church must have a constitution--I do not see why not ratified by +Act of Parliament--by which the trustees which represent her will legally +hold that property. She must not be exposed in a few years to a Lady +Hewley's charity case. [Footnote: Sarah, Lady Hewley, at her death, in +1710, left landed property in trust for the support of 'poor and godly +preachers of Christ's holy Gospel.' The original trustees were all +Presbyterians; but in the course of a hundred years the trust had got into +the hands of Unitarians, and the case was brought to the notice of the +Charity Commissioners. After a prolonged litigation, it was finally decided +by the House of Lords (August 5th, 1842) that, by the terms of the bequest, +Unitarians were excluded from participating in the charity.] I suggested +to the Archbishop of Armagh--a good-natured, but not a very powerful, +man--that the Irish Church, when in one sense free, should yet retain, of +its own will, the advantages of the supremacy of the Crown and of the law. +She should take, as the fundamental tenet of her constitution, conformity +to the Articles and Formularies of the Church of England, which the +majority of the English hold, in their meaning and interpretation. On +this principle she might retain a jurisdiction, amenable to law, over her +members; her members be protected against episcopal tyranny, against that +which is now the great danger, parsonocracy, which I rejoice to find that +you repudiate as strongly as I or Stanley. Ever very truly yours, + +H. H. MILMAN. + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +_July 23rd_.--Many thanks for the copy of your article on the National +Church. I had begun to read it with great interest in the 'Edinburgh +Review,' not knowing that it was directly from your pen, and I shall now +continue the perusal with increased pleasure.... I will enclose with this, +in exchange for your paper, a copy of my speech on the Irish Church--a +Diomedean exchange; the value of ten oxen for a hundred. + +During all this spring Reeve had suffered a great deal from gout, so, by +the advice of Sir Henry Holland, who spoke strongly of the necessity of +change of air and of rest from all work and effort, he and his wife started +for the Continent on July 24th. Passing through Paris, and staying a few +days at Fontainebleau, they went on to Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne, and +to Royat, then newly come into vogue as a health resort. After about three +weeks of the baths and the mountain air, Reeve was so far recovered as to +be able to walk a little; and on August 18th they passed on to Geneva, +where they were joined by their friends the Watneys, with whom they went +on to Evian, and thence by the Valais to the Bel Alp, an hotel 7,000 feet +above the sea-level, commanding magnificent views. 'Christine,' wrote Reeve +in his Journal, 'went up the Sparrenhorn with Binet,' whilst, according +to Mrs. Reeve, 'Henry and Mrs. Watney, not being moveable bodies, sat at +windows and pooh-poohed the energetic use of legs.' From the Bel Alp, +Reeve, still very much of a cripple, 'was carried'--the expression is his +own--to Brieg. Thence, by the Furca, to Hospenthal and to Zurich, the falls +of the Rhine, Bâle, and Paris, where they stayed a few days, and returned +to London on September 10th. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +_York House, July 26th_.--I had already seen the remarkable article which +you have just published in the 'Edinburgh Review,' when I received the copy +you so kindly thought of sending me, and which I shall keep as a souvenir +of the author. I hasten to thank you, and to tell you with what interest +I have read this study, so full of curious facts and remarkable +appreciations. If I was called on to decide the question in its entirety, +I should decline, in the first place as a Catholic. Indeed I cannot place +myself at the Protestant point of view so as to judge what services the +union of Church and State has rendered to the religious principles which +are the basis of the Protestant faith. And the lay system of the official +Church of England is so foreign to our ideas of religious authority that it +is difficult for us to be impartial towards it. Those who do not belong to +the Anglican Church are naturally tempted to attribute to this subjection +everything in her which, in their eyes, is error or change. I should also +decline as a Frenchman, for I confess that what troubles me most at the +present time is the relation between the Catholic Church and the State, +a relation which has been equally prejudicial to both, when founded on a +political union. + +But without trying to judge such a delicate question, which will be a +subject of controversy as long as the world is given up to the disputes of +man, I have found a real pleasure in seeing this clear explanation of the +principles which form the basis of a system whose adherents are so many and +so distinguished.... + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +_The Grove, August 2nd._--Lord Russell does not much like some parts of the +article on the Irish Church, and wishes to write five or six pages on the +subject for the November [Footnote: _Sic_ for October.] number; but +not feeling sure whether you would accept them, he has asked me to +inquire--which I hereby do. If you have not set out for Russia, [Footnote: +_Sc._ or other out-of-the-way place. It has been seen that, at the time, +Reeve was at Royal.] perhaps you will write him a line yourself, as I start +for Wiesbaden on Tuesday. + +As no note from Lord Russell appeared in the October number, it would seem +probable that Reeve did not encourage the idea. His own relations to Lord +Russell were not such as to prompt him to any undue complacence, and he was +at all times extremely averse from anything like a controversy either in +or about the 'Review.' It has happened to the present writer to have +statements or opinions put forward in his contributions to the 'Review' +called in question in the daily or weekly papers, and to have been +pointedly requested by the editor to take no notice of the hostile letters +or criticisms. As the articles were strictly anonymous, the responsibility, +of course, rested with the editor, who, probably for that very reason, was +strongly opposed to an early revelation of a writer's personality. + +The Journal notes visits to Farnborough and Denbigh, and some shooting at +Torry Hill; but the gout was still troublesome, and in October Reeve and +his wife went into Cornwall, where, after a week's visit to Lady Molesworth +at Pencarrow, they went to Penzance, to the Land's End and the Logan +Stone--on to which Mrs. Reeve clambered--and thence to Falmouth and +Torquay, where they met the Queen of Holland and Prince Napoleon, with whom +they spent two evenings. 'Her Majesty,' wrote Mrs. Reeve on November +4th, 'is a clever, original woman, speaking four tongues perfectly well, +conversant with literature and politics, and finding in them consolation +for an uncongenial family.' The sittings of the Judicial Committee, which +began on November 10th, called Reeve back to town, where, on the 27th, he +had the sad news of the death of his old friend Colonel Ferguson of Raith, +and, for the last three years, of Novar. + +_From Lord Clarendon_ + +Grosvenor Crescent, November 13th. + +My dear Reeve,--The Queen of Holland has proposed to dine here in the +unfurnished cupboard where we have our frugal repasts, on Monday next at +eight. We have no servants, plate, or usual appurtenances, and only six can +be crammed into the locale. Will you be one of them? and will Mrs. Reeve +excuse us for asking you alone on account of our no room? Please let me +have an answer as soon as you can. + +Ever yours truly, + +CLARENDON. + +_Endorsed_--The dinner consisted of the Queen, Cockburn, Seymour, and self. + +From the Bishop of Lincoln [Footnote: Christopher Wordsworth. Cf. _ante,_ +vol. i. pp. 31, 68. VOL. II.] + +November 21st. + +My dear Reeve,--It is very good of you to write as you do concerning my +promotion. I should indeed have been well content to remain in the peaceful +harbour of Westminster for the remainder of my days, instead of putting out +to sea in a rather weather-beaten bark in stormy weather. But such kind +words as yours encourage me to hope that, if I am wrecked in the storm, I +may be picked up by some friendly vessel and brought to land again. I have, +my dear friend, your congratulations, and let me have also your prayers. I +am, my dear Reeve, + +Yours sincerely, + +CHR. WORDSWORTH. [Footnote: He had not yet adopted the episcopal +signature.] + +I send you three pamphlets. Do not think me troublesome, but you ought +really to take up (pardon me for saying so) the question of the approaching +great Roman Council, which will probably affirm the personal infallibility +of the Pope, and be fraught with the most important results to Europe, +political as well as ecclesiastical. + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +Windsor Castle, November 29th. + +My dear Reeve,--I send you in a separate cover my notes of a judgement in +Rugg _v._ Bishop of W. for printing and circulation; and I enclose in this +a letter which I have had from Lord Westbury, which is in accordance with +the judgement as it stands, but which it would perhaps be best to put in +print and circulate along with the judgement. I hope in a week or ten days +to have Mackonochie ready--that is, if I am not smothered in the meantime +by the books and pamphlets which the Ritualists daily shower upon me. + +Yours faithfully, CAIRNS. + +As the general election had left his party in a minority of about 130, +Disraeli resigned on December 4th, and Mr. Gladstone, who had put the +disestablishment of the Irish Church prominently before the electors, +formed a ministry which was from the beginning pledged to the measure. It +was known that this would meet with no support from Lord Westbury, so that +he was necessarily 'left out in the cold,' not without some misgivings as +to what a man so cunning in fence might say or write when his opinions were +sharpened by a sense of personal injury. To Lord Westbury, however, +the slight was lost in his wrath at the barefaced avowal of a plan of +spoliation; and, without taking the trouble to date his letter, he wrote:-- + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +[_December_].--These written judgements are a great bore. I imagine +(no doubt from vanity) that, at the end of the argument, I could have +pronounced _viva voce_ a much more effective and convincing judgement than +that which I have written. The _vis animi_ evaporates during the slow +process of writing; the conception fades and the expression becomes feeble. +What we shall do with the other case of Mackonochie I dread to think. I +wish we had knocked it off while the iron was hot, as we used to do +the running down cases. There is no chance of a decision this side of +Christmas. + +I have come up to town on some private matters, and have not the least +notion of mingling in any political matters. In fact, I gave my people to +understand so clearly last session that I would reject with abhorrence +any measure that embodied these two wicked things--l. Stripping the Irish +Church of its property to convert it to secular uses, which is robbery; 2. +Destroying episcopacy in, and the Queen's supremacy over, the Established +Church in Ireland, which is a wanton, unnecessary, and most mischievous +act--that of course I could not expect any communication from them. + +The weakness of the Government in its legal staff in the House of Commons +will be very great, but the opposition will be weaker. It cannot be +expected that Palmer [Footnote: Sir Roundell Palmer, afterwards Earl of +Selborne, had been successively Solicitor--and Attorney-General during the +whole of the Liberal Administration 1859-66; but on the formation of Mr. +Gladstone's Government declined the Great Seal with a peerage, on account +of his disapproval of the proposed disestablishment and disendowment of the +Irish Church. Notwithstanding Lord Westbury's forecast, he did speak very +strongly against the Bill on the second reading (March 22nd, 1869), voted +with the minority against it, and took an active part against it in the +Committee.] will take a very active part in opposition. Then what lawyer +have they? But in the House of Lords I hope the principles of English law +and of political expediency will be abundantly illustrated and explained, +and shown to be in direct opposition to the Government's destructive and +revolutionary measure; and if this be done, as the people of England are a +law-loving and law-abiding people, there may be a great reaction in public +feeling. And what will Wood be able to do against those opposed to him? + +What a Cabinet! 'Misery,' says Trinculo, 'makes one acquainted with strange +bedfellows'--so, it seems, does unlooked-for prosperity. Only fancy +Granville, Clarendon, and the rest, pigging heads and tails with John +Bright in the same truckle bed! I am very thankful that I have an +opportunity of conversing in quiet with philosophers and poets at Hinton. + +The following, written in a feminine hand on a half-sheet of note-paper, +belongs to this time. It is endorsed by Reeve--'Lord Derby's acrostic on +Gladstone;' but it does not appear whether the attributing it to Lord Derby +was on positive knowledge or on mere current gossip. The name of the author +was certainly not generally known. + + G was a Genius and mountain of mind; + L a Logician expert and refined; + A an Adept at rhetorical art; + D was the Dark spot that lurked in his heart; + S was the Subtlety that led him astray; + T was the Truth that he bartered away; + O was the Cypher his conscience became; + N was the New-light that lit up the same; + E was the Evil-One shouting for joy,-- + 'Down with it! down with it! Gladstone, my boy! + +[Footnote: Another, slightly different, edition of this acrostic, with the +answer to it from the Radical point of view, is given in Sir M. E. Grant +Duff's _Notes from a Diary,_ 1873-81, vol. i. p. 126.] + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +_December 7th_--Putting aside the well-regulated party feeling which we +ought all to endeavour to cultivate, the sensation of a period of repose +after twenty-five years of hardish work is, to me, so novel and agreeable +that I fear I do not look on my exit from office [Footnote: On the fall of +Disraeli's ministry.] with the solicitude that I ought. But I do not the +less appreciate the kind sentiments in your note, and I can safely say that +upon the Judicial Committee, whether as Chancellor or as Lord Justice, +it has been a very great pleasure to me to co-operate with anyone whose +anxiety and efforts for the efficiency of the tribunal, and whose ability +to contribute to that end, are as great as yours. + +I am most desirous that the two ecclesiastical judgements should be given +before Christmas, as I may be absent for some weeks after that day. I hope +to send you my draft in Mackonochie on Wednesday, and I will beg you to +print and circulate it as soon as possible. I wish I could have done it +sooner; but it is _magnum opus et difficile_, and I have had judgements in +chancery and other work on hand, and in this I felt obliged to trust to no +amanuensis. + +The following letter is from the widow of Sir James Smith, the botanist +(_d_. 1828), and at this time in her ninety-sixth year. By her maiden name +she was Pleasance Reeve, an old family friend, but not a relation of +her namesake. Her letters are not less remarkable for the clearness and +strength of the writing, than they are for the vigour of the thought and +the lucidity of the expression. Five years later, just as she had completed +her one hundredth year, Reeve and his daughter paid her a visit at +Lowestoft, which is recorded on a later page. [Footnote: See _post_, p. +215.] + +_Lowestoft, December 16th_--Surely, dear Mr. Reeve, this is not the first +time you have inquired of me concerning Lowestoft china? Either you, or Dr. +Hooker it might be; whichever it was, I sent him all that I knew about it, +and that all is very little, for I am one of the sceptics, and have been +filled with doubt and surprise at the reports I have heard. But I am told +I am quite mistaken, and that it surely had arrived at a great state of +perfection; that foreign artists had been employed; and that, if what is +shown is not Lowestoft china, what other is it? For there is a peculiarity +in it which those acquainted with [it] know at first sight, and which +is totally different from Chelsea, or Derby, or Worcestershire, or +Staffordshire. This I admit. One peculiarity Mr. S. Martin observed. The +bottoms of the saucers have very slight undulations, looking, as he said, +like a ribbon that requires ironing to be perfectly flat and smooth. This, +when he showed me, I also noticed; and, I must add, I have seen the same in +real Chinese china; but he told me he could distinguish better, and that it +was not the same. Also, there is a uniformity in certain little flowers +and roses which is seen in no others. The shapes are good, and as the +manufacture advanced the painting was improved; armorial bearings were +represented, and gilding. + +S. Martin, who could send you a much more perfect account than I can, +always calls on an old woman--the widow of Rose, a painter--who recollects +their melting guineas for gold to gild with. She, perhaps, is dead now, for +when he last called she was bedrid, and nearly insensible. I recommend you +to ask of Mr. S. Martin, Liverpool, who, I am sure, would give you much +information I cannot. + +What I do know I will tell as well as I can--That in my early youth there +was a manufactory; that I often went and _saw_ Mr. Allen dab a piece of +white clay on a wheel, and, with his foot turning the wheel, with his +right hand he formed a handsome basin or cup in a minute or two. The china +basins, cups, saucers, pots, jugs--everything was made here, painted here, +by poor sickly looking boys and girls, for it was a very unwholesome +trade--baked here; and they had a shop in London, which, I suppose, +took off the bulk of their manufactured articles. I remember the great +water-wheel which ground the clay--a fearful monster, sublime, I must say, +for it 'hid its limits in its greatness;' but the beautiful lake that +supplied it with water, and was covered with water-lilies, was one of my +favourite resorts. + +Gillingwater [Footnote: _Historical Account of the Ancient Town of +Lowestoft_ (1790).] tells us that Mr. Hewling Luson found the clay on his +estate in 1756, made experiments, was defeated; other persons took it up, +and were also hindered through jealousy; another trial proved unsuccessful, +but repeated efforts succeeded, and the manufacture began, and went on till +about the end of the century, or early in 1800, when my brother bought a +few articles at the final sale by way of remembrance, but these, though +pretty, are by no means the choicest specimens. A man in the town has a +whole dinner service, with, I think, ducal bearings; and only last summer +Mr. Bohn [Footnote: Henry George Bohn, the well-known publisher, and almost +equally well-known collector of articles of vertu.] gave 5 £ to an old +man for one little cup, which the poor fellow intended as a legacy to his +daughter, and he unwillingly sold it; but 5 £ bribed him--or it might be +more; the original price was probably 4_d_. or 6_d_. at most. + +Pray, dear Mr. Reeve, take no trouble to correct the name in Mrs. +Palliser's book of pottery. I never was a patroness of the Lowestoft china, +know but little about it, and do not wish my name to appear as being in +any other way connected with it than as being an inhabitant of the same +town.--I am, dear Mr. Reeve, yours faithfully, + +P. SMITH. + +And the Journal winds up the year with-- + +_December 31st_--To Hinton St. George, on a visit to Lord Westbury. + +1869. The year opened at Hinton, shooting with Lord Westbury. Montague +Smith was there. Nothing ever amused me more than Lord Westbury's society, +and I became intimate with him. He was a strange mixture of intellectual +power and moral weakness, and his peculiar mode of speaking was at once +precise, pertinent, and comical. He had hired Hinton from Lord Paulet, and +lived there with a host of children and grandchildren. On Sundays all dined +together--I think, thirty-two of them. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Woodnorton_, 16 _janvier_.--... Nous aurons une passable chasse à tir le +jour sacramental du lr février. Voulez-vous en être? L'ennui est que +c'est un lundi, et que le train du dimanche est d'une lenteur fabuleuse. +Voulez-vous venir dîner et coucher ici samedi 30, ou dimanche 31? + +H. D'O. + +From a later note of the Duke's, it appears that Reeve was unable to accept +the invitation to the _passable chasse,_ which he would have enjoyed, +especially as after four years there was no longer a question of the 'loose +box' or the 'kitchen dresser.' + +The next letter, from Lord Westbury, is in evident answer to one from +Reeve about Lord Campbell's 'Lives of Lyndhurst and Brougham,' then newly +published, of which a very severe--not, it was thought, too severe--article +appeared in the 'Review' for April. The article was not by Reeve; but we +may fairly suppose that he--to some extent, at least--inspired it; and +that--also to some extent--the inspiration was supplied by Lord Westbury. + +_Hinton St. George, January 24th_--I wish you were here for two or three +days' shooting before the season closes, as the weather is so mild and +beautiful, and I hear that in London it is miserably cold. So tell Mrs. +Reeve that her Zomerzet is a favoured county after all. + +As to what you say about the book, I remember a celebrated dinner at the +Temple, to which I invited Lyndhurst, Brougham, Campbell, and Charlie +Wetherell, when the latter warned Lyndhurst and Brougham of Campbell's +design, in terms almost prophetic of what has occurred. 'My biographical +friend will excel in exhibiting every little foible; _Hunc tu Romane +caveto_.' I cannot describe the whole scene to you, but will some day _vivâ +voce_. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Woodnorton, January 31st. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--An absence at Badminton, where I struggled for a few +hours' sport, first with the frost and then with hurricanes, has prevented +me from sooner answering your letter of the 26th. + +I have searched the archives at Monte Cassino very minutely; I do not know +those of La Cava, which have the reputation of being very curious, but +more local and of less general interest than those of Monte Cassino. +The Cassinesi had a printing press, to which we owe many beautiful +publications, some unpublished sermons of St. Augustine's, several works by +the eloquent and learned Father Tosti, &c. They had prepared an edition of +an unpublished Commentary on Dante, and also of the valuable correspondence +of Mabillon, Montfaucon, and other clerics of the Congregation of St. Maur, +when, in consequence of the events of 1848, their printing presses were +sequestrated. At that time they were suspected of Liberalism. Now, when +secularisation has replaced sequestration, it seems to me that the Italian +Government ought to continue the literary and archaeological work of the +monks, as it has substituted itself in their proprietary rights; just as, +after the French Revolution, the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres +carried on the immense work of the clerics of the Congrégation de St.-Maur. + +This is my first impulse on reading M. de Circourt's letter. However, we +will speak of it further when I have the pleasure of seeing you again, +which I hope will be soon. _Mille amitiés._ + +H. D'ORLÉANS + +The Journal notes:-- + +In London the usual dinners. Dined at Mr. Gladstone's on February 1st. This +was the first dinner he gave after becoming Prime Minister. There were +present Lord Lansdowne, Clarendon, Hammond, Northbrook, Helps, Kinnaird, +Doyle, Hamilton, and Salomons [Footnote: Created a baronet on October 26th +of the same year.]--an odd party. He received us in the hall. + +_April 9th_--To Paris. 10th, at the Institute; saw Guizot, Mignet, +St.-Hilaire, Wolowski, Chevalier, &c., there. 18th, Chapel at the +Tuileries; saw the Emperor there--I think for the last time. 20th, went to +La Celle, [Footnote: La Celle St.-Cloud, about four miles from Versailles, +where M. de Circourt lived throughout the evening of his life.] and spent +some days there with Circourt. ['Henry,' wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'enjoyed his +days in the country with M. de Circourt vastly. We thought it unreasonable +to go all three, and a maid, to his small house; so Hopie and I careered +about the streets, went to a play, and to a dance at the Chinese +Embassy!--not very Chinese, as the minister is American, so also is his +wife, and the guests were mostly his country-folk.'] + +_23rd--Dined at M. Guizot's. 25th_--Dined with Thiers, and met Mignet, +St.-Hilaire, Duvergier, and Rémusat. + +The Royal Academy Exhibition took place for the first time in Burlington +House. I dined with the R.A.s at Pender's. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, May 13th_--I took up my summer quarters here a week ago, +leaving the fifth volume of my 'Mémoires' in Paris, ready printed and on +the eve of publication. You will receive it next week. It deals entirely +with my embassy to England in 1840. I am anxious to know what will be +said of it in England; it will be very kind of you to supply me with the +information. You know that I love and honour England sufficiently always +to say what I think of her; and what she thinks of me concerns me closely, +whether our opinions are or are not the same. + +I have found many letters and conversations of yours for 1840. But it was +more especially after this, and during the first year of my ministry, +that you helped me so effectively in preserving peace and re-establishing +friendly relations between our two countries. I hope you will not object to +my saying so.... + +The Journal mentions:-- + +_May 22nd._--Visit to Tom Baring's, at Norman Court. [Mr. Baring--wrote +Mrs. Reeve--is the head of the house of Baring Brothers; an elderly +gentleman and a bachelor, very simple, but very kindly. The house is not +large for the park and property, which is, all together, about 7,000 acres; +but pictures and china are renowned; so is the cooking; and, with such +wealth as is at our host's command, all the details are in perfection. +In the park there are many fine beech and other trees, and the yew grows +wonderfully, contrasting its dark tint with the soft, white may. On the +slope of the hill, about three miles off, grow service-trees and juniper; +and, from the ridge, one sees across the New Forest to the Solent and the +Isle of Wight.] + +_June 4th_--Went to Windsor to see Mr. Woodward and the Queen's library. +Then to Farnborough for the Ascot week. + +_July 2nd._--Watney's water-party to Medmenham Abbey, where we were all +photographed. + +_13th_--Lucy Duff Gordon died at Cairo. Alexander asked me to write an +epitaph, which was put up there. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, July 14th_--When your letter of the 8th arrived I was on the +point of writing to ask you to tell me what is the best History of England +from the accession of Queen Anne to that of Queen Victoria. I have the +'Pictorial History of England,' Lord Stanhope's 'Eighteenth Century,' and +Mr. Alison's big volumes on the recent revolutionary times. These do not +satisfy me; I do not want political or moral appreciations. What I should +like would be a book in which all the events of any importance are related +in chronological order. I particularly hold to knowing the correct dates. +It is only on this condition that history can be materially known and +morally understood. It will be very kind of you to give me the information +I want. I amuse myself by relating to my grandchildren, at one time, the +history of France, at another, the history of England. They take great +interest in it. I want them to know both correctly, and understand them +well. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_July 16th_.--Met the Duke of Leinster at Robartes' at dinner. He had made +a capital speech in the House of Lords a few days before, which I heard. It +lasted only three minutes; but it stated these facts:--That he had given +land and houses, with complete success, to priests, Presbyterians, and +Episcopalians; that all were grateful, and they lived happily together. + +He afterwards told me, at this dinner, that he had not given the houses and +glebes to any ecclesiastical persons, but to certain lay members of each +congregation, in trust for their respective ministers. This was exactly +what I had suggested some little time before. The Duke said that, having +called one day to inquire for a very old Catholic priest living in one +of these houses, while he was sitting by his bedside, the Episcopalian +clergyman came into the room for the same purpose. + +_Sunday, 18th_.--Dinner at Lord Granville's. I had not dined with him for +some years--since his marriage. The room was rather dark when I went in. +Lord Granville said something, as I understood, about a foreign countess to +whom he presented me, but I did not catch her name, and concluded she was +some Italian relative of the Marochettis. Lady Granville did not appear, +being unwell; and Lady Ailesbury, the only other lady present, did the +honours. The party consisted of the Duc de Richelieu (whom I had met the +night before at the Clarendons'), the Duca di Ripalta, Lord Clanwilliam, +Lord Tankerville, Baron Brunnow, Count Strogonoff, Chief Justice Cockburn, +and myself. + +Upon sitting down at table I found myself between the Duc de Richelieu and +Lord Clanwilliam, and one removed from the foreign lady, who turned out +to be H.I.H. the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia. Strogonoff is the man she +married three years after her first husband's death--but she had to wait +till Nicholas died too. When Nicholas first observed his daughter's +preference for the young officer, he took him by the arm and pointed out +from the window the view of Fort George. Strogonoff thought the Emperor's +manner strange, but did not take the hint till his brother officers +reminded him that Fort George is a State prison; so there was no more +love-making till after the Tsar's death. + +The Princess is at this time fifty, still extremely handsome, with a long +string of enormous pearls round her neck. Nothing could be more lively and +agreeable. She first carried on a contest with my neighbour, the Duc, about +the Emperor Napoleon; said he was only _trop bon_, and lauded him to the +skies. The Duc came out as the pure Legitimist, though he said his own +party had not a shadow of a chance; that the Emperor had been going down +ever since the fatal Italian campaign; that there were no Orleanists in +France, and that the Duc d'Aumale was conspiring against the Comte de +Paris, &c. &c.--a tissue of absurdity. Then, _sotto voce_ to me, 'Je +voudrais bien jouir davantage de votre société, mais vous voyez comme +je suis placé' (i.e. next the Princess). 'Très conservative dans mes +principes, je n'aime pas les princes. Il faut vivre avec ses égaux.' He +said this twice. The second time I replied, 'Monsieur, cela est bon pour +les ducs--mais nous autres?' + +'Ah! sous ce rapport je ne fais aucune distinction. Hors des princes, tout +est égal.' + +A good deal of conversation about the Irish Church Bill which is just now +in the crisis of the Lords' amendments. H.I.H. asked me my opinion. I +replied that they were now disputing about nothing at all--i.e. the +application of a surplus which will not exist for many years. Brunnow said +he was of the same opinion. + +Lord Clanwilliam and I had a great deal of talk. He had been with Lord +Castlereagh at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818. Spoke a good deal +of Metternich, justly. When M. met Guizot in London after 1848, he +was struck by the motto G. had adopted--_via recta brevissima_. Lord +Clanwilliam said that the shortest way was also the best. 'Yes,' added +Metternich, 'and it has also the advantage that on that path you don't meet +anybody'--'auf diesen Weg wird niemand begegnet.' + +Sitting upstairs after this dinner I had a curious conversation with +Brunnow and Lord Granville on the causes of the Crimean War. They agreed +that had either Aberdeen or Palmerston been in power alone, the war would +have been prevented; but that the combination of the two rendered it +inevitable. + +Brunnow said that there was, at one moment, a period of about ten days +during which the war might have been prevented, if Lord Granville had been +sent off on a special mission to St. Petersburg, but the Cabinet refused; +and then came Sinope. He declared that he had always told the Emperor that +Aberdeen, though averse to war, had not the power to prevent it; and in +proof of his own sincerity he caused a million of Russian money which was +in the Bank of England to be removed, as early as September 1853, though +this was against the opinion of Nesselrode. + +After his return to England on the peace, Lord Aberdeen said to him, +with great emotion, 'I never deceived you, my dear Brunnow.' To which B. +replied: 'No; my dear lord, you never did.' He said that at Paris in 1856 +Walewski had at once told him that the Emperor Napoleon was resolved to +have peace. + +It was a most pleasant and curious evening, and everyone went away in good +humour. + +_25th_--Went to Aix with Helen Richardson. Over to Cologne and Kreuznach +with the Watneys and Boothbys. Dined with Goldsmid at Bonn. Saw Professor +Sybel there. + +The following letter, on a subject in which Mrs. Oliphant took much +interest, was addressed to Reeve rather in his editorial than his personal +capacity. The two were very well acquainted, but do not seem to have +corresponded in ordinary course. + +Dunkerque, August 14th. + +Dear Sir,--You will, I have no doubt, think it extremely womanish and +unreasonable on my part to have proposed writing a paper on such a +much-discussed subject as Mr. Mill's book, without indicating the manner in +which I should treat it; but my object was, first, to know whether it was +open, and if you would be disposed, other things harmonising, to entrust it +to me. I will not say, as was my first impulse, that your own intention of +taking up the subject is quite sufficient answer for me; for, of course, +you are the best judge in that respect, and I am really anxious to have +an opportunity of saying my say, with gravity and pains, on a matter so +important. + +I entirely agree with you in your opinion of Mr. Mill's theory of marriage +and the relations between men and women. I think it is not only fallacious, +but a strangely superficial way of regarding a question which is made +only the more serious by the fact that a great deal of suffering and much +injustice result, not from arbitrary and removable causes, but from nature +herself, and those fundamental laws which no agitation can abrogate. + +My own idea is that woman is neither lesser man, nor the rival of man, but +a creature with her share of work so well defined and so untransferable, as +to make it impossible for her, whatsoever might be her gifts and training, +to compete with him on perfectly fair terms. There may or may not be +general inferiority of intellect--I have no theory on the subject; but +intellect, in my opinion, is not the matter in question. Could the burdens +of maternity be transferred, or could a class of female celibates be +instituted, legislation might be able to do everything for them. But beyond +this, I do not see how we can go, except in the case of such measures as +those you refer to for the protection of the property of married women, +which has already been anticipated by ordinary good sense and prudence, and +thus been proved as practicable as it is evidently needful. + +I am disposed to accept gratefully such safeguards of practical justice, +and also every possibility of improved education, though I put no great +faith in the results of the latter; the great difficulty in the case of +every female student being, in my opinion, not the want of power, or +perseverance, or energy, but the simple yet much more inexorable fact that +she is a woman, and liable, the moment she marries, to interruptions +and breaks in her life, which must infallibly weaken all her chances of +success. This is the line I should take in any paper on the subject; and +as few people could speak more fully from experience, I think perhaps my +contribution to the discussion--from within, as it were, and not from +without--might be worth having. Believe me, truly yours, + +M. O. W. OLIPHANT. + +And, on the lines here indicated, Mrs. Oliphant wrote the article on 'Mill +and the Subjection of Women' in the October number of the 'Review.' + +On August 24th, Reeve with his wife started for Scotland; but the grouse +had been nearly exterminated by the disease, the shooting was everywhere +very indifferent, and a month was passed in a number of friendly visits, of +which little trace is left beyond the bare names. On September 21st they +returned to London, where, in preparing for a contemplated journey to +Portugal, he had to arrange for the sittings of the Judicial Committee +immediately after his return. The following shows the kind of difficulty he +had to contend with:-- + +_From Lord Cairns_ + +_September 27th_--I am very sorry that I shall be unable to take part in +your sittings after Michaelmas Term. I have arranged to give up November to +that dreadful arbitration of the London, Chatham, and Dover, which, in a +weak moment, Salisbury and I undertook; and, after that, I go to Mentone, +where I have taken a house for the winter.... I should regret very much to +dissever myself from the sittings of the Judicial Committee, which I +have always found agreeable, both from the interesting character of the +business, and from the pleasant composition of the tribunal; and I hope in +next year to be able to afford more service than I have in this; but for +the next sitting I must not be reckoned on. I hope you will enjoy your run +to Portugal. + +This contemplated tour was, no doubt, mainly for the pleasure and interest +of visiting a country still unknown to him, but with a slight pretext of +business, as chairman of the Lusitanian Mining Company. A few days before +his departure he received the following from Lord Clarendon:-- + +_The Grove, October 3rd_--You will not find Murray at Lisbon, as he is +on leave; but a letter shall be written, and to Doria, the _chargé +d'affaires_, to render you any service in his power. Do you want one to the +consul at Oporto? + +I am glad you approved what I said at Watford. I never dreamt of the speech +making a sensation, but it has; and as there was nothing remarkable in it, +it is a proof that people were looking for an assurance from somebody that +a policy of spoliation was not meditated. + +I can't say I got much good from Wiesbaden, where mental torpor, and not a +dozen red boxes per day, is required. + + * * * * * + +And so, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and armed with these letters +of introduction and 'a Foreign Office bag, more,' wrote Mrs. Reeve, 'to +give us importance, I suspect, than to convey despatches,' Reeve started as +soon as his work was cleared off and the October number of the 'Review' was +fairly out of his hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR + + +For some reason best known to himself, Portugal is not a favourite +hunting-ground of the tourist; and the country--though almost at our door, +though bound to us by alliance in war and friendship in peace for more than +two hundred years, though possessing beautiful scenery and the grandest of +historical associations--remains comparatively unknown. So far as he was +concerned, Reeve had long wished to dispel this darkness, and the fact of +his being Chairman of the Lusitanian Mining Company gave him the desired +opportunity. His Journal of the tour is here, as on former occasions, +elaborated by extracts (in square brackets) from Mrs. Reeve's. + +_October 9th_--Started for Portugal on board the 'Douro' from Southampton. +Fine passage. Landed at Lisbon on October 13th. Hôtel Bragança. Kindly +received by Pinto Basto. Excursion to Cintra on the 14th. + +_15th_.--Dined with Pinto Basto and met Fonseca. 16th, to Caldas. 17th, +to Alcobaça; then drove on to Batalha, and slept at Leiria. These great +monasteries, now deserted, with their architecture and their tombs, are of +the highest interest. + +_18th_.--From Leiria to Pombal, and thence by rail to Coimbra [armed with +letters of introduction from Count Lavradio, including one to the 'Rector +Magnificus,' described as 'homme aimable et fort instruit, surtout dans les +sciences physiques.'] + +[The buildings of the University are not remarkable either way. The Rector +received us very courteously; showed us himself the splendid view from the +tower, the Salle where degrees are conferred, and allowed us to peep into +a gallery and through a window to see the lecture-rooms; then, making his +bow, sent us with an attendant to the chapel, where we were joined by the +Professor of German, Herr Dürzen, clad in the ample cape or cloak and with +the black jelly-bag cap which is the academic costume. He took us to the +library, a large and striking saloon with carved and gilt pilasters and +galleries.... There are about 900 students, of whom a large proportion +comes from the Brazils. They look very picturesque in their floating +drapery and hanging headgear; but the cape must be always impeding the free +use of arms and legs, and the cap--now that its original use as a begging +purse has ceased--might well be exchanged for a 'sombrero.' Herr Dürzen +accompanied us to the Botanic Gardens, where his friend and countryman, +Götze, showed us a splendid magnolia, Australian pines, and a great variety +of eucalypti.... We then drove to the entrance of the footway leading to +the Penedo da Saudade, a walk much affected by the Coimbrese. Then to the +Quinta da Santa Cruz, the summer residence of the monks. Truly they had +made them lordly pleasure-grounds, orange groves, hedges like tall walls +of arbor-vitae, terraces leading to fountains and cascades, azulejo-lined +benches surrounding marble floors, shaded by grand old laurels.... The +Quinta now belongs to a rich butter factor, who lets everything ornamental +go to wreck and ruin, or just clears it off for farm purposes.... The +butter factor's dogs came out barking and biting as we left the garden. +Henry made a timely retreat; the professor showed fight, and came off +second best, with his mantle torn. Then to the Church of Santa Cruz and to +the monastic buildings attached....] + +_20th_.--Coimbra to Mealhada, then to Luso, and walked to Busaco. Convent +of Busaco. Scene of battle. Rail to Estarreja [which we reached at 6 P.M. +A splendid full moon lighted our drive to Palhal. Mr. Cruikshank met us at +the station, and drove Henry in his dog-cart; Hopie and I, with our bags, +went in the _char-à-banc_ which had been procured from Aveiro. The distance +is about eight miles, seven of which are a gentle ascent, and then a steep +pitch down of one mile. Flags were flying in honour of the arrival of +the chairman of the 'Lusitanian Company,' and after dinner a display of +fireworks. Mr. and Mrs. Cruikshank are a pleasing and intelligent young +Scotch couple. Three of their children are at Granja, a little bathing +village two or three stations further, and Mrs. Cruikshank and her eldest +little girl came back to receive us.] + +_21st_.--[The mine at Palhal yields copper ore; that of Carvalhal lead ore. +The Pinto Basto family have the concession of the mines, and own much +of the surface. From five to eight hundred persons are employed--all +Portuguese, except the three mining captains, the dresser of the ores, a +carpenter, and a blacksmith. The English colony consists of about thirty +souls; there is a school for the children, and on Sundays they meet for +Divine worship after the manner of Wesleyans. The wages of these Cornishmen +are eight, ten, twelve pounds a month, and there are very tidy houses +on the property, with a large cottage, or house, for the agent--Mr. +Cruikshank. The works are in the ravine below the house, and the Caima +furnishes ample water power.... Many women and girls are employed preparing +the ores, some of them remarkably good-looking.... Their wages are from two +to three shillings a week. The scenery--pine-clad hills, streams on the +hill-side, ravines, and burns--reminded one of Scotland; but oranges and +camellias in the gardens, arbutus, myrtle, laurustinus, cistus, all wild, +tell of a different climate.... We explored Palhal on Thursday, and +Carvalhal on Friday; Henry and Mr. Cruikshank going into details at the +works, whilst we went, with Mrs. Cruikshank, to call on the wives, visit +the school, &c.... On Friday evening we took the train at Estarreja, and so +to Oporto.] + +_25th_.--Adolph Pinto Basto [a nephew of our Lisbon friends] gave us an +entertainment in a boat on the Douro, and a collation at Avintes. Dinner at +the Crystal Palace, Oporto. + +_26th_.--Drove to Carvalho with Elles. + +_27th_.--Drove to Leça do Balio with Oswald Crawford, the consul. +Interesting Templars' church. + +_28th-30th_.--By rail from Oporto to Madrid, thirty-six hours by Badajos, +Merida, Alcazar. + +_31st_.--Madrid. Gallery. Bull-fight for the benefit of 'El Tato.' [We +had seen him at Valencia, nine years ago, in the pride and bloom of his +career--a career cut short not so much by the fury of the bull as by +the ignorance of the surgeon. Presently the chief door of the arena was +unbarred, and an open carriage, with three men in the dress of matadors and +'El Tato' in the 'plain clothes' of a peasant drove round. Great was the +sensation. The men shouted, the women wept, the old lady at my elbow shed +floods of tears; cigars and hats were flung to him; he bowed, kissed his +hand, wiped his eyes. Then the regular work of the day commenced.] Very +cold. + +_November 2nd_.--Left Madrid for Avila, passing the Escorial. + +_3rd_.--Avila and then on to Burgos. + +_4th_.--Burgos. Cathedral. Monuments. + +_5th_.--Reached Biarritz at 10 P.M., and so to Paris. + +_8th_.--Paris. Saw Désclès in 'Frou-frou.' Great actress. + +Home on the 9th. A well-spent month. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +York House, le 11 novembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Mon oncle Aumale et moi nous vous remercions des +paquets que vous nous avez envoyés ce matin; mon oncle me charge de vous +dire qu'il n'a pu vous écrire aujourd'hui, étant fort occupé des soins à +donner à la Duchesse d'Aumale, qui est toujours dans un état assez grave, +mais que vous lui ferez grand plaisir si vous voulez venir passer au +Woodnorton la semaine du 22 au 29 novembre; il y aura quelques chasses à +tir. + +Je viens de mon côté vous demander de nous faire le plaisir de venir, avec +Madame et Mademoiselle Reeve, déjeuner ici dimanche prochain à midi et +demie; c'est le seul jour où je puisse vous voir, car je pars lundi matin +pour le Worcestershire. + +Veuillez me croire votre bien affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLÉANS. + +As to which the Journal has:-- + +_November 14th_.--Breakfasted at York House. The Duc d'Aumale came, but the +Duchesse was ill, and on December 6th she died. + +The Comte de Paris telegraphed the news to Reeve the same evening, and +wrote the next day asking him to charge himself with sending a little +notice of it to the principal newspapers--a thing Reeve readily undertook +to do. Before receiving the request, he had already written expressing +his wish to attend the funeral, and the Comte de Paris acknowledged both +letters at the same time. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +York House, le 7 décembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de vos deux +lettres et de la manière dont vous avez répondu à ma demande. + +Mon oncle Aumale est bien touché de l'intention que vous exprimez de venir +vous associer à sa douleur le jour des funérailles de ma tante. Elles son +fixées à vendredi prochain. La première cérémonie aura lieu à Orléans House +à 9-1/2h du matin, après quoi nous conduirons le corps à Weybridge, pour le +déposer dans le caveau de famille. Nous y serons vers midi, ou peut-être un +peu plus tard, car il est difficile de calculer très exactement l'arrivée +de ce triste convoi. Ce ne sera en tous cas pas avant midi. + +Je termine en vous priant de me croire + +Votre bien affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLÉANS + +'I attended her funeral on the 10th'--Reeve noted in his Journal--'and went +in an immense procession from Twickenham to Weybridge.' + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, November 21st_.--I never had any taste for travelling. I would +willingly go a hundred miles for an hour's conversation with such or such a +person; but the miles themselves have little interest for me. However, +your tour in Portugal, as you describe it, would have tempted me. I like a +country which is different from all others. Still, I am quite sure that, +after having amused yourself in Portugal, you are very glad to be back in +England.... + +Lord Clarendon may be quite easy; no difficulty affecting his department +will come from here. Country and Government are equally inclined to peace. +As to our home affairs, which alone have any interest just now, I am a +little sad, but not uneasy. We are returning--quietly, ignorantly, and with +tottering steps--into the right path, the parliamentary system. The country +is coming back to it. The Emperor does not, and will not, offer any serious +resistance to it. We shall make blunders, both in our procedure and +debates, but shall, nevertheless, make sensible progress. What we are in +want of is the men. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_Hinton St. George, November 25th._--Mrs. Reeve, when I had the pleasure of +seeing her at Hinton, gave me an assurance that I should not be troubled +this year with any request to attend the Privy Council. Your letter, +therefore, is an act of _gross domestic insubordination_--a kind of petty +treason. Formerly it was the act of the husband that bound the wife; _mais +nous avons changé tout cela_; the act of the wife binds the husband. I +appeal unto Caesar. It is very easy for Lord Chelmsford and yourself, who +have your town houses in order, your servants, horses, carriages, and whole +establishments, not omitting the _placens uxor_, to talk of the 'patriotic +duty' of attending the Privy Council--having nothing else to do, and +wanting amusement; but my house is thoroughly dismantled, having been under +repair; I have not a room to sit down in with comfort, nor servants to +attend to me, nor a cook to cook my dinner, nor any of those _solatia_ or +_solamina_ which you have in profusion. Yet you, with great unconcern, +desire me to quit my family, and all my amusements and enjoyments, that I +may come to town to endure complete wretchedness, and have a bad dinner +and an indigestion everyday, _ut plebi placeam et declamatio fiam_. If +you think this reasonable and right, I am sure you have left all sense of +reasonableness in Lusitania. Besides, have you not a plethora of judicial +wealth and power? Have you not the Lord Justice, who has little else to do; +and the Admiralty Judge; and that great Adminiculum, the learned and pious +man whom, _honoris causâ_, I call Holy Joe? [Footnote: Probably sir Joseph +Napier, nominated to a place on the Judicial Committee by Disraeli in March +1868.] But to speak more gravely. Had I had the least conception that I +should have been wanted--that is, _really_ wanted--I would have made other +arrangements than I have done.... We shall now have a house full of people +until December 20th, and I cannot, without much offence, relieve myself +from these deferred engagements. A little while ago I was thrown out of my +shooting-cart; I injured my arm, which has brought on rheumatism, and I am +not in a condition to come up to a solitary and dismantled house in London +without anything requisite for the comfort of an old man. On January 20th, +until the beginning of appeals in the Lords, I will, if you need it, sit +and dispose of all the colonial and admiralty appeals. When will you come +down and shoot? + +_To Lord Derby_ + +62 Rutland Gate, December 19th. + +My dear Lord Derby, [Footnote: For some years Reeve had known him as Lord +Stanley. He had succeeded to the title on October 23rd.]--I cannot without +emotion address you by your present name. Although I never had the honour +of much personal acquaintance with your father, he has been, for the last +thirty years, an object of familiar interest even to those with whom he was +not familiar. His high spirit, his splendid eloquence, his public services, +have endeared him to thousands whom he hardly knew, and caused them to +share the feelings with which you, in a far higher degree, must regard this +great loss. I have no doubt, however, that you will support and increase +the honour of a name so illustrious, and I know no one more fit to bear +it.... Mrs. Reeve begs to join with me in again presenting to you our very +sincere regards, and I remain, + +Very faithfully yours, + +HENRY REEVE. + +Of social engagements, the Journal mentions-- + +To Farnborough for Christmas, and thence to Timsbury till the end of the +year. I called at Broadlands, now occupied by the Cowper Temples. + +_January 5th_, 1870.--To Hinton. Vice-Chancellor Stuart there. Lord +Westbury very amusing. Shooting every day. In Cudworth covers killed 192 +head. + +The following letter from M. Guizot refers to an incident which caused a +tremendous sensation at the time, and--judged by the later events--may +be considered as a portent of the downfall of the Empire. Prince Pierre +Bonaparte had challenged M. Henri Rochefort, the editor of a violent +Republican journal which had published a scurrilous and abusive article. +M. Grousset, the writer of the article, took the responsibility, and, on +January 10th, sent his friends, Victor Noir and Ulric Fonvielle, to wait on +the Prince at his house in the Rue d'Auteuil. The Prince said his challenge +was to M. Rochefort; to M. Grousset he had nothing to say. A quarrel and a +free fight followed. Each man drew his revolver, and Victor Noir, mortally +wounded, broke out of the room, staggered into the street, and fell dead. +Fonvielle escaped uninjured. He and the Prince were the only witnesses of +what took place, and their stories directly contradicted each other. The +Prince was tried on a charge of murder, but was acquitted. On a civil trial +he was sentenced to pay 1,000 £ damages to the father of Victor Noir, as +compensation for the loss of his son's services. + +_Val Richer, January 12th_.--I do not yet rightly understand the tragic +incident at Auteuil. I am inclined to think that Prince Pierre Bonaparte +was threatened and assaulted before using his revolver; the probabilities +are that he acted in self-defence. The trial will be curious. In any case, +it is a great misfortune for the Imperial Government, more so than for the +new Cabinet, which will certainly not be wanting in courage, and will be +supported by whoever is anxious to practise 'economy of revolution,' as a +friend of mine says. + +I have friends in this Cabinet, honourable, liberal-minded, and sensible +men. Will a leader be found among them? We shall see. Hitherto organisation +has been everywhere wanting; in the Legislative Body, as in the Cabinet. I +see no reason to change the opinion I formed some time since, and perhaps +already mentioned to you; I am sad, rather than uneasy, for the future of +my country. She will not fall into the abyss; but, for want of political +foresight and firmness, will allow herself to be dragged along the edge of +it. Men's minds and characters are narrowed rather than corrupted. + +In connexion with which the Journal has:-- + +_January 16th_.--Dined at Lord Granville's, with Lavalette, the new French +ambassador. The Emperor had just formed a more liberal ministry, with Daru +and Ollivier, which soon broke down owing to Buffet's _entêtement_. + +_26th_.--Dinner at Clarendon's, to meet the Queen of Holland. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Paris, January 31st_.--I have just read the article on Calvin with a real +and lively satisfaction, complete, so far as I am concerned; I am very +grateful to Mr. Cunningham (I think that is the author's name) for his kind +words, and for his sympathy with my description of Calvin and his time. Be +so good as to thank him for me; it is a pleasure to be so well understood +and set forth. As to Calvin, Mr. Cunningham does full justice to his +merits; I ask a little more indulgence for his faults, which belonged to +the time quite as much as to the man. Very few, even among superior men, +admitted the rights of conscience and liberty. Marnix de Ste.-Aldegonde +bitterly reproached the hero of the Reformation, William the Silent, with +tolerating Catholics in Holland. Melanchthon unreservedly approved of +the burning of Servetus. Catholic Europe was covered with stakes for the +Protestants, and, if Servetus had had the upper hand, I doubt if Calvin +would have received from him any better treatment than he received from +Calvin. I do not on that account detest the burning of Servetus any the +less; but I do not count it as a fault personal and peculiar to Calvin. In +every-day life and in systematic theology he ignored the rights of freedom. +The twofold error was enormous; but his policy and philosophy were equally +sincere, and, of all the eminent despots of history, he was, I think, one +of the least ambitious and most disinterested. He was almost forced into +power against his will, and he wielded it harshly, tyrannically, but +without seeking any personal gain, and he was still more severe to himself +than to those whom he treated so severely.... + +The Journal goes on:-- + +_March 5th_.--Visit to the Watneys, at Leamington, and to +Stratford-upon-Avon. Beautiful effect in the church, the organ playing +'Rest in the Lord.' + +_12th_.--Evening at Lady Cowley's, for Queen of Holland. + +Went to Isle of Wight with W. Wallace at Easter. The Bishop of Winchester +preached in Ventnor Church on April 24th (first Sunday after Easter). + +_From M. Gulzot_ + +_Paris, April 7th_.--... It is curious to watch France, and I am also +curious as to the possible consequences of what is happening in England. +France has never been so liberal and so anti-revolutionary at the same +time. England is making a thoroughly liberal reform in Ireland, and at the +same time a severe law of repression for the defence of order. I wish and +hope for your success in both. I also hope that our attempt at quiet and +liberal reform will not fall through. But both for you and for us there +are rugged paths yet to traverse; the future is still darkly clouded. Even +after the success of our respective undertakings, Ireland will not be +pacified, and political liberty will not be established in France. There +is no need to be discouraged, the best of human works are incomplete and +insufficient; but there is need to beware of illusions, to be prepared for +disappointments, to be always ready to begin again. I moralise on politics. +Good sense is the law of politics, and what I have learnt from history, +above all, is that good sense is essentially moral. You will, therefore, +not be surprised that I mix morals and politics.... + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_April 13th_.--How shall I thank you for your inspiriting letter, which was +as the sound of the trumpet to the aged war-horse! I fear my contemporaries +have taken a more accurate measurement of my power, and that I shall never +fulfil any such glorious destiny as you hold before my eyes. It is true of +many men that _possunt quia posse videntur_; and that they accomplish many +things simply because they are not fastidious. I should never do anything, +simply because I should tear up one day what I had written the preceding. +It would be Penelope's web. Our education is too aesthetical. Unless a +cultivated taste be overpowered by personal vanity, it is very difficult +to complete any composition. I can most truly say that I have never done +anything, speaking or writing, of which I could say, on the review, _mihi +plaudo_. + +We have a great difference of opinion in the members of the Digest +Commission. Many think that the work should be handed over to two or three +very able men (not judges or Emeriti Chancellors), who should be well paid; +and that to them, with a staff of subordinates, all the work should be +committed. Others think that there should be added to this establishment +some presiding power, consisting of one, two, or three distinguished +judges, to whom all questions should be referred, and whose duty it +should be to give an _imprimatur_ to the work. So we cannot agree on a +recommendation to the Government; and when we shall do so, but little +weight will attach to it. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_May 6th_.--Mansfield came back from India. + +At the time of the Russian war, Reeve and Mansfield had been on terms of +intimacy, and, in fact, it was largely through Reeve's interest with Lord +Clarendon that Mansfield had been sent to Constantinople in 1855, as +military adviser to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. Since then the intimacy +had been interrupted by Mansfield's absence in India, where he had served +with distinction during the Mutiny, and afterwards in command of the Bombay +army and as commander-in-chief since 1865. In the following year he was +raised to the peerage as Lord Sandhurst. The Journal notes:-- + +_May 26th_.--The King of Portugal made me a Commander of the Order of +Christ; but this was solely as chairman of the Lusitanian Mining Company. +The Duc d'Aumale, Mansfield, Lord Dunsany, Lord Northbrook, Stirling +Maxwell, Lady Molesworth dined with us. + +_From the Marquis of Salisbury_ + +40 Dover Street, June 1st. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--It is my pleasing duty to inform you that the University +of Oxford wish to express their sense of your literary services and +attainments by conferring on you an honorary degree at the approaching +commemoration. I trust that it will not be disagreeable to you to accede +to their wishes in this matter, and that you will be able without +inconvenience to attend at Oxford to receive the degree. The day on which +they will be conferred will be on Tuesday, the 21st inst. + +Believe me, yours very truly, + +SALISBURY. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_June 3rd_.--Excursion to Malvern, Hereford, and Worcester. Xavier Raymond +came to Bushey [Duc de Nemours']. I breakfasted there on the 10th. [On the +11th the Duke wrote]:-- + +Cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je lis ce matin en tête des colonnes du journal le +'Times,' un charmant premier article sur mon fils aîné, et portant même son +nom pour titre. Cet article inspiré par un bienveillant sentiment envers +lui et ma famille en général, met dans un brillant relief les services que +mon fils vient de rendre à son pays d'adoption. Cela a donc été pour moi +une extrême satisfaction que de le voir placé en première ligne dans le +journal le plus répandu du monde. + +Je sais qu'il n'est pas permis de s'enquérir du nom de ceux qui écrivent +dans la presse anglaise. Mais si à vous le nom de l'auteur était connu, +dans ce cas-ci, cher Monsieur Reeve, et si vous appreniez aussi à qui est +due l'insertion de cet article, je vous serais très reconnaissant (dans le +cas toutefois où vous le jugerez convenable) de faire connaître à l'une et +à l'autre de ces personnes combien j'en ai été heureux et touché. + +Plein du bon souvenir de votre visite d'hier, je vous renouvelle ici, cher +Monsieur Reeve, l'assurance de mes bien affectueux sentiments. + +LOUIS D'ORLÉANS. + +_From Mr. Delane_ + +_June 13th_.--I return the Duke's letter with many thanks. The story of +the Brazilian article is curious enough to be worth telling. At the +Rothschilds' ball on Wednesday last I was by an inadvertence placed at +supper next but one to the Duc de Nemours, and next to a beautiful young +lady. I had long been honoured by the Duc d'Aumale's acquaintance, but had +never before met his brother, and I only slowly became aware who were my +neighbours. Then, actually at the supper, among ortolans and peaches, it +occurred to me that the Comte d'Eu, of whose exploits I had been reading +that morning, and whom I had stupidly regarded as merely a Brazilian +general, must be the brother of the beautiful young lady next me, and +therefore a personage in whom the European public would take a very +different sort of interest from any that Marshal Coxios could command, +that, in short, as an Orleans prince, he would be worth an article, though +no one would have cared for a mere Brazilian general. + +_From the Due de Nemours_ + +_Bushey Park, 15 juin_.--J'ai à la fois des remercîments et des +félicitations à vous adresser pour avoir pris la peine de chercher de qui +émanait l'aimable article du 'Times' sur mon fils aîné, et pour l'avoir si +bien découvert. Le compliment est assurément de très bon goût, et j'y suis +très sensible. Il augmente seulement encore mon regret de n'avoir pu, moi +aussi, faire à ce même bal la connaissance de l'auteur de cette aimable +attention. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_June 17th_.--I read with 'perfect horror' last night the return of +business before the Judicial Committee which you were so good as to send +me. There are 350 appeals in all, of which 248 are from India. I do not +think less than two days can be allotted to each of these Indian appeals, +taking the average; that will require 496 days of sitting, being more than +two years; for you cannot, if the committee sat every day the Court of +Chancery does, exceed more than 210 days in the year. Now if to this amount +of duty for the Indian appeals be added the time required for the remaining +102 appeals, you cannot attribute to them less than 102 days, making in all +598 days, being at least three years' work for a committee sitting every +day. + +Whilst these arrears are being disposed of, a new crop of appeals to at +least the same amount, will be mature. What shall we do? 'Hills over hills +and Alps on Alps arise.' I shall mention the subject to-night. Pray, send +me this morning any suggestions that occur to you. + +_June 18th_.--I am engaged to leave town for a short cruise at sea, +to-morrow early. I shall remain until Sunday evening. But it is for the +best that I cannot see you to-morrow, because I hope to 'interview' you on +Wednesday, after your return, with that renovation of genius and accretion +of knowledge which will accompany you on your return from Parnassus, after +having bathed in the fountain of the Muses. You must bring Mrs. Reeve a +faithful copy of the eulogistic speech of the public orator, and I will +translate it to her. + +My notice is for Thursday. I shall propose the immediate creation of three +judges, the giving Colvile and Peel fitting remuneration--2,000 £. a year +each--and a large addition to the salary of the registrar. + +The Journal then has:-- + +_June 20th_.--To Oxford, to stay with the Dean of Christchurch, on the +accession of Lord Salisbury. Went down with Sir E. Landseer. + +_21st_.--Received the degree of D.C.L. from the University, in the +Sheldonian Theatre. Lord Salisbury greeted me as 'Vir potentissime in +republicâ literarum,' at which I looked up and laughed. Dined afterwards in +All Souls' library with the Vice-Chancellor. + + * * * * * + +Among the other distinguished persons who received the honorary D.C.L. at +the same time were Admirals Sir Henry Keppel and Sir John Hay, Sir William +Mansfield, and Sir Francis Grant, the President of the Royal Academy. +Mansfield gave the 'Gallery' some amusement by wearing a cocked hat and +feathers with his red doctor's gown, instead of the regulation academic +cap. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_June 22nd_.--O vir doctissime et in republicâ literarum potentissime! So +said or sung the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, in violation of +all the traditions of the place; for Oxford never used before the phrase +'respublica literarum' which words and the thing signified she has ever +repudiated and abhorred; and to be _potentissimus in republicâ_ are jarring +and incoherent things. But let this hypercriticism pass, and when I see +Mrs. Reeve I shall tell her that the words were chosen with singular +felicity, and that they are not more remarkable for their truth and justice +than they are for their elegant latinity; but I will not say that you are a +doctor only _honoris causâ_, which are most emphatic words, and are cruelly +made to accompany the dignity; for, when translated, they mean: 'Oh, +doctor, do not presume to teach by virtue of this _semiplena graduatio_, +for it is only _honoris causâ_, or merely complimentary; and do not boast +this title as evidence of skill or erudition in laws, for they are +sounding words that signify nothing. How easy it is for envy and malice to +depreciate! + +I hope Mrs. Reeve and your daughter were there, because it is something fit +and able to give genuine pleasure; and if I had been there I would have +answered with stentorian voice to the well-known question: 'Placetne vobis, +Domini Doctores? placetne vobis, Magistri?' 'Placet, imo valde placet.'... + +It is difficult to tell the Government what ought to be done; for, first, +there should be great alteration in the Courts in the East Indies, and, +secondly, it is clear that the colonists and Indians will not be satisfied +unless the Privy Council is presided over by a first-chop man; and I am +assured that transferring three puisne judges from the Common Law Courts +would not be satisfactory. Can you call at my room in the House of Lords +to-morrow, at a few minutes after four? + +Yours sincerely, and with deeper respect than ever, + +WESTBURY. + +I don't suppose you will now miss a single bird. + +_From Senhor D. Jose Ferreira Pinto Basto_ + +_Lisbon, June 18th_.--The Portuguese Government do not present those on +whom the orders of knighthood are conferred with the decorations they are +entitled to wear. These consist, for a commander, in a placard, which is +worn on the coat over the left side of the breast; a large cross hanging +from a wide ribbon fastened round the neck; and a small cross, fastened by +a narrow ribbon to the upper button-hole, on the left side of the coat. + +The crosses corresponding to the degree of commander are, for the Order of +Christ, the same as those allowed to simple chevaliers, but having a heart +over them for distinction, and the ribbons are red. The large pendant cross +is scarcely ever worn, unless it be on a very solemn Court day, and even +then not generally; and the small cross, which was formerly in constant +use, when the pendant one was not worn, is now out of fashion, and either +entirely left off or, at the most, substituted by a small ribbon on the +coat buttonhole, when no other decoration is worn. What is generally worn +on ceremonial occasions is simply the placard, such as I now send you; if, +however, you should wish to have the other insignia, please to let me know +it, that I may send them. These insignia are, of course, made more costly +with diamonds and rubies, to be worn on great festivities; but even then, +and for general use, they are usually in silver and enamel, as the placard +now forwarded. + +I don't think there is any need of your directly expressing to anyone here +your thanks for the distinction conferred upon you; the more so since you +have already expressed them through the Portuguese Minister in London. + +It is here that the Journal mentions the death of the friend whose letters +have occupied such a prominent place in these pages:-- + +_June 22nd_.--Fête at Strawberry Hill. Lord Clarendon was there, looking +very ill, and on the 27th he died--'Multis ille flebilis occidit, nulli +flebilior quam mihi.' + +To 'Fraser's Magazine' for August Reeve contributed a graceful article, 'In +Memory of George Villiers, Earl of Clarendon,' in which, recording his many +public services, he especially dwelt on the very important service he had +rendered to his country during the period of his being Lord-Lieutenant of +Ireland, and on the fact that this service had had the singular honour of +being directly referred to in the Queen's Speech on proroguing Parliament +on September 5th, 1848, which concluded, 'The energy and decision shown by +the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland deserve my warmest approbation.' Reeve was +told by Lady Clarendon that her husband 'regarded these emphatic words as +the most enviable distinction of his life.' + +At the same time another article, 'In Memoriam,' appeared in 'Macmillan's +Magazine.' This was by Reeve's colleague at the Privy Council Office, Mr. +Arthur Helps, whose acquaintance with Lord Clarendon had been by no means +so intimate. His appreciation was thus written from general repute rather +than from personal knowledge, but it contains one remarkable passage that +may be repeated in order to emphasise it:-- + +'He--Lord Clarendon--was a man who indulged, notwithstanding his public +labours, in an immense private correspondence. There were some persons to +whom, I believe, he wrote daily; and perhaps in after years we shall be +favoured--those of us who live to see it--with a correspondence which will +enlighten us as to many of the principal topics of our own period.' + +Whether Reeve was one of the persons Helps alluded to must remain doubtful. +In the strict sense of the words, Lord Clarendon did not write to him +daily; but at times he wrote not only daily, but three times a day, +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. pp. 296-7.] and the letters, or extracts of +letters, now printed, form but a very small portion of the great number +which Reeve preserved. + +The Journal then mentions:-- + +_July 3rd_.--Breakfasted at Orleans House with Prince Philip of Würtemberg. +Matters looked threatening abroad, and on the 14th the rupture took place +between Franco and Prussia. On the 18th war was declared. On the 25th we +dined at York House. I said to the Comte de Paris, 'How is the Emperor to +attack Germany?' Nobody thought at first that the war would be in France; +but we were soon undeceived, and I speedily discovered the danger. The +Duc d'Aumale wrote to me, 'Vous avez deviné ma pensée de Français et de +soldat.' + +I had hired a small moor at Ballachulish from Cameron, the innkeeper there. +Maclean of Ardgour, to whom it belonged, lent me a keeper and some dogs. +The hills were steep, the shooting bad; but the life there most agreeable. +I went down on August 3rd. W. Wallace was with us; and on the 5th we were +installed at Ballachulish for six weeks. They were spent in shooting, +sea-fishing, boating, &c. Fairfax Taylor [Footnote: Son of John Edward +Taylor; see _ante_, p. 117.] came, and Longman. The Trevelyans Fyfes, and +Forsters were at the hotel on the other side of the ferry. We were there +forty-five days. I went back to town by Greenock on September 21st. + +Meanwhile the course of the war was most eventful. On August 6th the battle +of Wörth was won by the Prussians, followed by a series of French defeats. +On September 2nd Macmahon and the Emperor capitulated at Sedan. William +Forster was at Ballachulish, and, as despatches were sent from the F. O. to +cabinet ministers, we learnt the fact from him at 8.30 P.M. on September +3rd. Gladstone, though prime minister, volunteered to write an article in +the 'Review' on the war, which he did. I kept the secret, but it leaked +out through the 'Daily News' on November 3rd, and made a great noise. The +'silver streak' was in that article. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, July 29th_.--Among the many bad actions described in history, +there is one which is very rare; it is the artifice of a tempter who throws +the blame of his attempt at seduction upon the person who rejected it, +perhaps after listening to it. But this is what Bismarck has done. You have +probably not forgotten what happened in 1868, and what I wrote about it at +the time, in the 'Revue des deux Mondes' of September 15th. I take pleasure +in here quoting my own words:-- + +'It is said that M. de Bismarck attempted to engage France on the side of +Prussia; and, in order to tempt the Imperial Government, offered to remodel +Europe as well as Germany, and to give France a large share in this +redistribution of nations. I do not know how much truth there was in these +rumours, which so deeply moved Belgium and Holland, amongst others; I will +not stop to discuss reports and suppositions. However this may be, if such +offers were really made, Napoleon III. did wisely in refusing them; he did +not raise himself to the throne as a victorious warrior, and France has no +longer a passion for conquest. But did he, in refusing, do all he could to +stop or restrain Prussia in the ambitious course into which M. de Bismarck +was forcing her, and to influence the reorganisation of Germany according +to the legitimate interests of France? I do not think so; but I put this +question also on one side,' &c. &c. + +I need not say that I did not lightly credit the rumours of the overtures +made by Bismarck to the French Government; they were not only widespread +and believed by those who had the best information, but my friends in +Holland sent me precise details, and I immediately got the 'Journal des +Débats' to publish an article which treated this attempted temptation as it +deserved, and pointed out the honourable and pacific policy which France +ought to follow on this occasion. I have reason to think that men of good +sense in the French Government, who were trying to make the policy of law +and peace prevail, congratulated themselves on being thus loudly upheld and +encouraged. + +Never forget, 'my dear sir,' what the position of the friends of law and +peace is in our general policy. You must some time have read Bürger's +ballad of the 'Wild Huntsman,' founded on the legend of a certain nobleman, +on the banks of the Rhine, a great hunter, who, if I mistake not, could +never mount his horse for the chase without being accompanied, on either +side, by a good and a bad angel, one urging him to follow the beaten track, +and respect the rights of property, the other urging him to rush across the +fields, trampling down harvest, gardens, and passers-by, careless of what +injury he inflicted. + +For a long time France, both as to her Government and her people, has been +in the position of this hunter, always accompanied by the two angels; all +that has happened in France and in Europe during the last eighty years has +put us in that position, and it is sometimes the good angel, sometimes the +bad, which has made itself heard, and has seemed on the point of becoming +the hunter's master. There is not a right-minded and sensible man in Europe +who has not endeavoured to help the good angel and defeat the efforts of +the wicked tempter. + +In my opinion, the Imperial Government was wrong in not accepting the +withdrawal of the candidateship of the Prince of Hohenzollern; a withdrawal +announced by the Prince himself, accepted by the King of Prussia, and +accepted and officially communicated to France by the Spanish Government. +This was held to be insufficient satisfaction for France, though I think +neither necessity nor prudence called for a second demand, which offended +the pride of all parties; and the manner in which it was rejected has +destroyed the last chance of peace. Till that moment, the good angel had +prevailed; but now the bad angel is speaking. But if there is one man in +Europe who cannot avail himself of this blunder to rid himself of the +responsibility of war, that man is surely the tempter of 1868.... + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_Ballachulish, August 14th_.--As it is entirely to you that we owe our +residence in this enchanting place, it would be very ungrateful not to tell +you how much we are enjoying it. I think it is by far the most picturesque +spot in all Scotland; and ever since we arrived, ten days ago, the sea has +been as blue as the Aegean, and the hills as clear as the isles of Greece. +Not one cloud or shower in ten days, but the heat so great that we find +shooting arduous work. There is not much game, but I am better off than +most of my neighbours, who complain loudly. I think I can insure any day +five or six brace. It certainly is not a good year, nor is this a grouse +country.... I think, whatever else this war may bring about, it has +finished the Empire and the Emperor, and so far I rejoice; but I confess I +have no sympathy at all with the Prussians. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, September 10th_.--I am just up, my dear Sir, having been in +bed for a fortnight. Grief and indignation are unhealthy at eighty-three. I +am better, and only wish I was as sure of the convalescence of France as of +my own. It is true that France has before her more time for recovery than I +have. + +I will say nothing of the fallen Empire. I should say more than is seemly +and less than is true. Never was fall more deserved, more necessary, and +more absolute. + +Neither will I say anything of the new Government. It is what it professes +to be, a power pledged to defend the country. A national constituent +Assembly has just been convoked, and meanwhile everything will be done to +preserve the honour and integrity of France. This, for the present, is the +one idea and the one passion of the whole country, especially of Paris. I +hope that the deeds will correspond to the passion. + +There are two points on which, in spite of my present weakness, I wish +to give you my opinion at once, so as to awaken your interest, and the +interest of all the friends of European order and of France now in England. + +There is much to be regretted in the general policy of Europe since 1815. +Many faults have been committed which might have been avoided, many +improvements which might have been made have been miscalculated or have +passed as dreams. But throughout this age, and for more than half a +century, rising above all faults and blunders, royal or popular, +diplomatic or parliamentary, one great and novel fact has dominated the +policy of Europe--there has been no question of a war of ambition and of +conquest; no State has attempted to aggrandise itself by force at the +expense of other States; [Footnote: Guizot's enthusiasm or patriotism here +led him into a somewhat reckless assertion. In point of fact, there was +not one of the great Continental Powers which, during the previous fifty +years, had not 'attempted to aggrandise itself by force,' and, +necessarily, 'at the expense of other States.' With the exception of +Austria, they had done more than 'attempt'--they had effected the +aggrandisement.] respect for peace and the law of nations has become a +ruling maxim of international policy. When internal revolution in any +State has rendered territorial changes necessary, these changes have been +recognised and accepted only after the examination and consent of Europe. +Belgium and Greece have taken rank as European States only by the putting +on one side all the yearnings of French, Russian, or English ambition. And +when, in 1844 and 1848, the Emperor Nicholas, in his familiar interviews +with your ambassador at St. Petersburg, proposed that Russia and England +should act in concert, and by joint conquest, as he said, put an end to +the decrepitude of the Ottoman Empire, two English ministers, Lord +Aberdeen and Lord John Russell, to their great honour, rejected any such +idea, as an outrage on the law of nations, and the peace of Europe. + +I have no hesitation in affirming, my dear Sir, that this is the greatest +and most salutary feature of the first half of this century, and has +contributed more than anything else to the revival of principles of equity +and justice in the relations between governments and their people, to +the increased prosperity of different nations, and to the progress of +civilisation in the world. And, new as its rule yet is, this fact has been +sufficient to stop, or at least to check in their evil developements, the +noxious germs of an ambitious and violent policy, revivified in Europe +by the revolutionary crises of 1848. Temptations have certainly not been +wanting to governments and parties since that date. But in 1848 the French +Republic respected the peace of Europe and the law of nations; in 1852 the +French Empire hastened to declare that it was peace; and when, leaving +that, she threw herself into the Italian war, is it credible that she would +have been contented with Nice and Savoy as the price of the support she +gave to the Italians if she had not been restrained by the good modern +principle of European policy, the condemnation of the spirit of ambition +and conquest? [Footnote: Not to speak of the chance of having to deal with +Prussia. Cf. _ante_, p. 27.] + +It is this legitimate and guiding principle which is at present ignored, +attacked, and in great danger. I have no intention of entering here upon +the question of German unity, or of inquiring how far the consequences of +Sadowa are to be attributed to the real and spontaneous effort of national +sentiment amongst the Germans. I waive all discussion on this point. + +I do not suppose anyone will say that in this great German event Prussian +ambition had no share, or that force and conquest did not act side by side +with the impulse of national sentiment. But I do not now meddle with what +has been done in Germany; that has nothing in common with the present +pretensions of Prussia to Alsace and Lorraine. Have these provinces given +any manifestation, any appearance, of a desire to be included in the German +unity? Is not the Prussian policy in this openly and exclusively a policy +of ambition and of conquest, such as would have been followed, from more or +less specious motives of royal or national selfishness, by Louis XIV. in +the seventeenth, by Frederick II. in the eighteenth, by Napoleon I. in the +nineteenth century? such as the modern publicists and moralists have so +often condemned and fought against? such, in fine, as all nations, in all +ages--and especially Europe in our own times--have so cruelly suffered +from? I say no more. I should be ashamed to insist upon what is so clear. + +I have nothing to do with Utopian ideas. I do not believe in perpetual +peace, nor in the absolute rule of the law of nations as affecting the +rivalries of governments and the facts of history. I know that ambitious +intrigue and violent enterprise will always have a part in the destinies of +nations. I only ask that ambition and force shall not be permitted to take +that part, controlled only by their own will. At least they ought to be +recognised for what they are, and called by their right names; their +claims, and the results of them, ought to be placed face to face with the +policy of peace and the law of nations; and, lastly, it ought not to be +forgotten that this, the only durable and good policy, has prevailed in +Europe for half a century, and that it would be shameful and unfortunate to +allow it to fall undefended before the first success of the old policy of +ambition and conquest. + +In the severe and dangerous trial which she is now undergoing, France may +strengthen herself with the thought that her present and personal policy +is in exact agreement with the European policy of peace and the law of +nations. France has no ambition, no remote designs or secret aim; she asks +for nothing; she is defending her rights, her honour, and her territory. +Will the Powers, who have hitherto proclaimed their neutrality, assist +her by assisting to maintain the European policy of peace and the law of +nations? I shall be surprised if they do not, the more so as they could +do it without seriously compromising themselves. If their intervention by +force of arms were necessary, it would undoubtedly be at once effective; +but any such necessity is quite out of the question; the neutral Powers are +stronger than they themselves are perhaps aware, and their moral strength +is amply sufficient. Let them plainly assert their disapproval of this +attack on the territorial integrity of France; and in support of their +disapproval, let them declare that, in any case, they will not recognise +any change in the territory of France which France herself will not accept. +It is my deep and firm conviction that this would be sufficient to put an +end to any such attempt, and to check the policy of ambition and conquest, +without which the peace of Europe cannot be re-established. Is France to be +left alone to sustain this great and good cause at all risks? or will the +neutral Powers, without any great risk to themselves, give her such support +as will ensure her triumph? It is for the Powers to answer this question. I +am very old to be surprised at anything; and yet I should be surprised if +England did not see the greatness of the part she is called upon to play +under existing circumstances. For many years she sustained in Europe, by +war, the policy of respect for the laws of nations; will she not uphold it +to-day by peace? + +Adieu, my dear Sir, je suis fatigué. Je vais me coucher, et tout à vous, + +GUIZOT. + +Should you think proper to make any use of this letter, either by privately +showing it to anyone, or by giving it a wider publicity, I have no +objection. I leave the question of fitness and opportunity in England to +you. For my part, my only wish is that my opinions and sentiments in this +important crisis should be well known both in France and England. + +The following note is endorsed by Reeve 'Due d'Aumale on the capitulation +of Sedan,' which took place on September 2nd. It is, however, impossible to +suppose that the Due d'Aumale did not hear of an event so astounding till +three weeks after it had happened, and the note probably refers more +immediately to the occupation of Versailles by the Prussians under the +Crown Prince, on September 20th, or the reported arrival on the 23rd of +General Bourbaki at Chislehurst, to consult with the Empress about the +surrender of Metz. The endorsement was most likely written some time +afterwards, and in momentary forgetfulness of the date. + +_From the Due d'Aumale_ + +Orleans House, 23 septembre. + +Cher Monsieur,---Jamais je n'aurais cru que je vivrais assez pour voir un +pareil jour. Vous devinez tout ce que mon coeur éprouve. + +Vous êtes du bien petit nombre de ceux avec qui il m'est possible de causer +en ce moment, et vous me ferez du bien si vous venez déjeuner ici dimanche +prochain, 25, à midi 1/2. Mille amitiés, + +H. D'ORLÉANS. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +Walmer Castle, October 2nd. + +My dear Reeve,--I was very sorry to miss an opportunity of seeing you twice +last week. Our hours are late, while you adopt the judicious maxim of +Charles Lamb. I thought the article [Footnote: Gladstone's article (see +_ante_, p.178) which was published in the October number of the _Review_. +Lord Granville saw the proof slips.] excellent and very instructive; not +always quite judicial. It will be read with immense pleasure on its own +merits. + +As far as we have gone we have surely adhered to the declaration made to +Parliament--'Neutrality, with as friendly relations as is compatible with +impartiality; exercise of the duties and maintenance of our rights, as +neutrals.' We have protected Belgium with minimum risk to ourselves. We +have given advice when it was acceptable and effective, such as that which +led to the meeting of Favre and Bismarck. We have not obtruded advice when +it would have been impotent excepting for harm. We hae reserved complete +liberty of action for any contingency. All the neutral nations have been +at our feet, anxious to know what we would do, professing to be ready to +follow our example. One of the belligerents has already come to us for +assistance. Those who think we have done nothing of course consider it an +easy and inglorious task; but it requires a little firmness to resist not +only the complaints of belligerents and the cajoleries of neutrals, but +also the changeable gusts of public opinion at home. Yours sincerely, + +GRANVILLE. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, October 2nd._--I understand you, my dear Sir; 'you' meaning +your Cabinet. You want to see if France will defend herself energetically +enough, obstinately enough, to warrant the neutral Powers saying to +the Prussians, 'What you attempt is impossible; you are stirring up an +interminable contest, which is becoming an evil and a peril for Europe.' +Until that moment comes, your Cabinet does not think that the intervention +of the neutral Powers in favour of peace could be effective. + +Many reasons, some good, some plausible, may be adduced in support of +a waiting policy. But take care! it often aggravates the questions it +postpones. Consider what is actually taking place at the present moment. +Prussia puts forward her claims more and more distinctly; France is +exasperated and rejects them more and more positively. You can have no +idea of the effect produced throughout France by the conversation of M. de +Bismarck with M. Jules Favre. Bismarck, indeed, seems to have some +notion of it, for he attempts to extenuate what he said or allowed to be +understood. Evidently the result of this interview has been to leave the +belligerents mutually more embittered than they were before; and the +intervention of the neutral Powers at the present time is thus rendered +more difficult. + +I now put this incident on one side, and am going to the root of the +matter. You want to see if France will defend herself energetically +and obstinately. Look at what she has done already. The Prussians have +certainly obtained great successes. They have beaten two of our regular +armies. At this moment they are before Paris. Is Paris terror-struck? +Do the Prussians enter it? I am not trusting to child's talk and vulgar +boasting. My son William, and my son-in-law Cornelis de Witt, are now +both in Paris, both in the National Guard, both clever, sensible men, not +credulous, not given to boasting, and good judges of what is going on +around them. They both write that Paris is able and determined to defend +itself obstinately. And among the most cautious of my friends, those who +doubted it at first are now of the same opinion as my sons. By the last +balloon from Paris I received a letter, dated September 21st, from a +simple, obscure citizen. He writes:--'Our Paris, bristling with bayonets, +is a splendid sight; perfect order, glowing patriotism, and a resolve to +fight to the death. The insolence of Bismarck's reply to Jules Favre has +enraged and electrified all hearts. The Prussians will pay dearly for their +blunder in condemning us to heroism or despair. Yesterday was a good day; +in two places, Villejuif and St. Denis, we attacked the Prussians and +defeated them.' + +I do not know if this degree of ardour and confidence is to be accepted +as general. I quote it as an illustration of the feeling in Paris on +the seventh day of the siege. The fighting is at present round the +fortifications; later on it will be on the ramparts, and then in the +streets. First the detached forts; then the _enceinte_; then the +barricades. And when it comes to these--if it ever gets so far--independent +of the organised forces of all kinds, there will be the populace, the Paris +mob, intelligent and bold men, who fight well on the barricades for the +very fun of it. + +How long will this defence of Paris last? I do not know, and am not going +to prophesy. But what I do know, what I hear from all sides, is that it +will last long enough to excite a patriotic and warlike sentiment through +the whole land. France is not peopled with heroes; there are the bold and +the timid, as in every other country; but there are heroes enough--and +others will arise--to keep the nation in a state of fever, and consequently +Europe in a state of alarm inconsistent with true peace, with the +prosperity of the nations and the security of European order. + +The Prussians, and, as I am told, Bismarck himself, have reckoned, and are +perhaps still reckoning, on our internal dissensions and quarrels, kept +alive by the traditions and the hopes of the old parties. It is a natural +error, but made in complete ignorance of the actual state of things. +National sentiment has overcome the old discord. One sole, universal and +absorbing passion dominates all parties--the passion of defending the +soil and honour of France. Two of the most illustrious Vendéens, MM. de +Cathelineau et Stofflet, have asked for and received from the Government +an authorisation to assist them against the Prussians. MM. Rochefort and +Gustave Flourens, formerly the most ardent democrats, have joined the +government of General Trochu, and are preparing barricades, to maintain a +fierce struggle against the besiegers at the gates and in the streets of +Paris, if it should ever be necessary. + +7 P.M.--My letter was interrupted by the arrival of the evening papers, +and a letter from my daughter Pauline, dated September 25th, brought by a +balloon. I copy the following, _verbatim_:-- + +'After being on guard the day before yesterday, for twenty-six hours, +without anything worse than repeated alarms, my husband and son returned +and are somewhat rested. Yesterday we went to Montmartre--a very populous +and stirring quarter. I cannot tell you often enough how well Paris is +behaving; enthusiasm and unanimity prevail everywhere; the good and the +wise have silenced the fools. This will raise up France; it is a balm for +many sorrows. I can assure you the country is not demoralised. I do not +know how long the trial will last, but we shall be the better for it.' + +Admit that if this conduct is maintained, if Paris--which in June 1848 +suppressed the revolutionary anarchy in her own bosom--in 1870 stops a +foreign invasion, and holds it at bay before her ramparts, it will be a +great deed, worthy of esteem and sympathy. If in presence of such a fact, +your neutrality should continue cold and inert, the friends of European +peace and of the good understanding between France and England would have +great cause for astonishment. It is for this reason that I conjure England +and her Government to give the matter their serious consideration. + +The Journal here gives a short sketch of a month's holiday:-- + +October 12th.--Started for Ireland. Crossed in a gale. To Dunsany on the +14th. 15th, drove with Lord Dunsany to Trim; saw the castle; Larachor, +Swift's living; Dangan, now quite ruined; and back by Lord Longford's. +17th, to Dartrey. Met the Verulams there, and Lady Meath. 21st, drove to +Coote Hill fair. 24th, to Belfast and Clandeboye. Some days with Lord +Dufferin at Clandeboye. Professor Andrews came over from Belfast. 30th, +back to Dublin to stay with Mansfield, who was now commander-in-chief +in Ireland. Saw Lord Spencer--lord-lieutenant. November 1st, crossed to +Holyhead and went to Teddesley, where Christine joined me. Back to town on +the 5th. + +_From Lord Stanhope_ + +_Chevening, October 11th_.--I have been reading with much interest the +article on Queen Anne in the 'Edinburgh,' and I hope you will allow me to +express to you how much I am gratified at the favourable view which it +takes of my performance. The reviewer and I, as I am glad to find, +often agree in our views of men and things; and whenever we differ, our +difference is expressed in terms that cannot but give great pleasure to any +author. + +The reviewer, in this case, has certainly one main advantage over some of +my other critics. They seem to have no knowledge of Queen Anne's reign +except what my book imparted to them, and they therefore criticised my book +on its own merits or demerits alone. Here, on the contrary, the writer is, +I see, most deeply versed in all the memoirs and published records of those +times, which he can bring to bear with great effect upon any passage that +he desires either to controvert or to confirm. + +It strikes me very forcibly, from my acquaintance with your style, that the +writer of this article is no other than yourself. [Footnote: The article +was by Herman Merivale (d. 1874).] If so, pray accept my sincere thanks; if +not, pray convey them from me to the critic unknown. + +Lady Stanhope and I have been to North Wales and Devonshire, but settled at +Chevening ten or twelve days ago. From here we went without delay to call +upon the Empress at Chislehurst; as indeed we were bound to do, having in +former years received great kindness from them, and been their guests for +a week at Compiègne. Nothing could be more touching and gracious than her +manner. She had tears in her eyes all the while we were with her, and her +voice was often choked by emotion; yet she did not let fall a single word +of invective or personal reproach against her enemies in France. She told +me that her first wish on reaching England had been to proceed with her +son to the Emperor at Wilhelmshöhe; but on applying to the Prussian +authorities, she could obtain no assurance that she and her son should not +be treated as prisoners of war; and under these circumstances the Emperor +forbade her to come. + +Poor, poor Paris! when shall you and I ever see it again? + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_Hinton, November 11th_. I kept myself free from engagements during the +first three weeks of November, thinking I might be called on to do suit and +service at the Judicial Committee; but I have not made any provision for +December, as I thought it was fully understood (certainly by me) at the end +of last session, that, from the end of Michaelmas term until Christmas, the +Lords Justices would have charge of the Judicial Committee for the whole +of each week, or certainly four days in every week. We calculated that the +most important business on the appeal side in Chancery would be so reduced +by the two courts of appeal during Michaelmas term that the Lord Chancellor +alone would suffice for all necessities during December. I have therefore +postponed every engagement here until December. My house will be full; I +cannot therefore give you any aid; but I am not sorry for it, for if the +arrears were at all reduced, _nothing would be done_ in the appointment +of a permanent tribunal, with a proper staff of judges. You must still be +Atlas staggering under the weight of your huge _Orbis Causarum_. Around +your feet must be millions of Hindoos, crying aloud for justice. It is only +this spectacle for gods and men that will move the Government to do its +duty. + +It would be easy for me to attend if my establishment and family were +in town. But if I promised you a fortnight in December, I must put off +numerous engagements and remove my servants, horses, &c., to London, only +to bring them down again here for Christmas; or, at the risk of being ill +as well as wretched, I must go to London alone, into a cold deserted house, +with the attendance at most of two female servants. No; you must get as +much as you can out of the Lords Justices, who must begin the task of +learning Hindoo and Mahomedan law. Besides, if I disposed of twenty Indian +appeals in December (a most unlikely thing), it would be the signal for +adding forty more to the list, and so you would be more encumbered than +ever. It is useless to make these poor spasmodic efforts. The thing must be +done effectually. You are hopelessly bankrupt, and the driblets of aid you +solicit will not enable you to stave off ruin. + +An article by Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen on the 'Business of the House of +Commons,' published in the 'Edinburgh Review' for January 1871, was +submitted in proof to the Speaker, Mr. Denison, whose comments drew from +the writer the following reply:-- + +_From Mr. E. H. Knatchbull-Hugessen_ [Footnote: At this time +under-secretary of state for the Home Department: created Lord Brabourne in +1880; died in 1893.] + +_Smeeth, November 23rd_.--The Speaker knows more than I do, if he knows +that it is an understood thing 'that a committee shall next session be +appointed to consider the present mode of conducting the public business.' +It is not generally known; and I doubt the policy of alluding, in an +article which may be read by the public generally, to that which is only +known to a privileged few. You, however, must be the best judge, and of +course I have no objection to insert a sentence or two of allusion to this +fact (?) [Footnote: The (?) is Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen's.] if you wish it; +but if pressing business--or war--postpones this committee, the 'Review' +will look rather foolish. + +When you say the article is 'rather too multifarious,' I quite agree that +it might be condensed and curtailed. But even had I time to go through it +again with this intention, I frankly own that I should doubt the expediency +of doing so. I wrote it _currente calamo_, and my object was to attack the +existing system upon many points at once, in order to carry some--just as +an army besieging a town may make half a dozen attacks, of which three, +being feints, give a better chance of success to the other three. You +will observe that I do sum up the four prominent points: 1, _clôture_; 2, +limitations of motions for adjournment; 3, public bill revision committee; +4, restrictions upon counts-out. + +I quite agree with what the Speaker writes about our 'absurdly late hours.' +I have no strong feeling upon the Wednesday question, and perhaps the +Speaker is right, although I think the point is alluded to in a manner not +too strong nor too 'disparaging' to the fixed hour, as I only recommend +that a division, instead of an adjournment, either upon main question or +adjournment, should take place compulsorily at the fixed hour. + +I return you the Speaker's letter. I don't know whether you could +conveniently run down here on Saturday and spend a quiet Sunday. You would +find my wife and me alone, excepting Godfrey Lushington, who is coming to +discuss highway bills. We could have a talk over the matter then. If you +cannot manage it, write me word how you wish the article altered, and I +will do it. I confess, however, that I think, as a preliminary attack +upon abuses which will require closer and more detailed grappling with +hereafter, it had better not be much altered. + +_From the Queen of Holland_ + +Hague, December 26th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve, [Footnote: The Queen of Holland seems to have laid down +a somewhat curious rule in regard to her correspondence with Reeve: when +she was in Holland, she wrote to him in English; when she was in England, +she wrote in French.]--Your most interesting letter reached me a few days +ago. Ever since, I have been trying to get some of the papers relating to +the Luxembourg question; however, the one enclosed is the only one I have +been able to obtain. Such is the fear of the kingdom of the Netherlands +to be involved in any of the impending Luxembourg difficulties, that +everything relating to that part of the world is scrupulously ignored; and +if the papers are not claimed at Luxembourg, where the most jealous of men, +Prince Henry, governs, you cannot obtain the real truth. The fact is, Mr. +de Bismarck _a cherché une querelle d'Allemand_, first to obtain a free +passage through the Luxembourg railroads; in the future, to annex the +little grand duchy, to close the frontier on that side entirely. + +This, however, is still kept for a few months hence, as Mr. de B. would not +be put quite on the same line with Prince Gortschakoff, though they are +perfectly of the same opinion. + +It is a sad time, a very bad symptom, when principles, engagements, +treaties, are all _à la merci_ of two or three unscrupulous men. + +Forgive the haste in which I am compelled to write, this time of the year +being particularly busy. Remember me kindly to Mrs. Reeve, and believe me, +dear Mr. Reeve, very sincerely yours, + +SOPHIA. + +The Journal here has:-- + +The French artists being driven over by the war, Millais gave a dinner, on +December 20th, to Gérôme and Heilbuth--interesting. I took Gérôme to see +Herbert's Moses in the House of Lords, but it was invisible from a fog. + +We all dined with Lady Molesworth on Christmas Day, and ended the year with +the Van de Weyers at New Lodge. + +January 3rd, 1871.--We had a small dinner to Sir William Mansfield and Lord +Elcho. On the 5th to Aldermaston (Higford Burr), with Bruce, [Footnote: +Afterwards Lord Aberdare.] Colvile, [Frank Buckland], &c. + +Professor Sybel was not one of Reeve's frequent correspondents, and the +following extract is from the only letter of his which has been preserved, +probably the only one ever written. The primary cause of it was some +trifling business connected with the exchange of publications--the +'Edinburgh Review' and Sybel's 'Historische Zeitschrift;' but, having +settled that, the course of events tempted him, as a German and an +historian, to continue. + +_From Professor von Sybel_ + +Bonn, January 9th. + +Hochgeehrter Herr,--... What a change in our circumstances since I had last +the pleasure of seeing you! To us, Germans, it would often appear as a +dream, did not our sacrifices and our efforts bring the reality vividly +before us. The desire for a speedy conclusion of the war is general; but, I +am proud to say, no less general is the determination to fight and to bleed +till we have brought it to a satisfactory issue. We are resolved not to be +attacked again as we were in July, and on that account we will move our +frontier to the Vosges. We will fight until the French acknowledge us as +having rights and position equal to their own, till the organs of their +Government cease from their New Year animadversion, such as the 'Siècle' +has published, and we will crush everyone who calls in question our place +as one of the Great Powers of Europe; and in thus rooting out this boast of +supremacy, we believe we are earning the gratitude of all Europe. + +Hochachtungsvoll und ergebenst + +H. v. SYBEL. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, January 16th._--I received the 'Edinburgh Review' yesterday, +and read your article at once. It is excellent--the language of a profound +observer, and of a true friend of France. There are pages I should like +all my countrymen at all able to understand them to learn by heart, among +others from these words (p. 22): 'The life of man is so short,' to these: +'the collective strength of a nation may be sensibly diminished by it.' You +have here laid your finger on the great evil of our democracy: 'It readily +sacrifices the past and the future to what is supposed to be the interest +of the present.' If I were in Paris, I should like to have a translation of +nearly the whole article [Footnote: 'France,' in the _Review_ for January +1871. The article was republished in _Royal and Revolutionary France_, with +the title 'France in 1871.'] published in our newspapers. But I am not +there; the Prussian shells go in my stead. + +I am told that the opening of your Parliament is fixed for February 8th. I +will wait until you can let me know this with certainty, and will then send +you the letter I mentioned. But I must beg you not to forward it to its +address till my translator--Miss Martin--reports to you that it is ready. +It seems to me very desirable that the translation should be published as +soon as the letter itself has been delivered. I understand that, on this +condition, the 'Times' will give the whole of it, which will ensure it +the widest possible publicity in England, where its publicity is the most +important. The French edition will not appear till after the translation +has been published in the 'Times.' + +_From the Queen of Holland_ + +Hague, January 17th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I have received your letter. I have received the +'Edinburgh Review.' I did not glance over the pages, I read and re-read +them; and I thank you for the real enjoyment they have afforded me. True in +thought, admirable in expression, there can be but one judgement on both +your articles, and I will certainly endeavour to have them translated into +Dutch, to spread the truth. Allow me only to regret the great severity with +which you treat the fallen Empire. I put aside every personal feeling, but +I remain convinced that posterity will be more lenient in judgement than +the present in the raging storm. There were faults in the system, inherent +and inherited. As to the head of the system, few men have been more +naturally kind and good. He had the weakness of these natures--wishing to +content everyone. No question of principle seemed to him worthy of the +inestimable enjoyment of peace. Avec les différents partis il se laissait +aller à des paroles, à des engagements contradictoires; de là une apparence +de dissimulation, bien éloignée de sa nature. The prisoner of Wilhelmshöhe +belongs to the past. To those that have known and loved him falls the task +of obtaining justice for him. I cannot talk of the present events, of the +destruction of Paris. I bow my head and I hope in God's justice. + +Will you remember me kindly to Mrs. Reeve? and believe me, with real +gratitude, truly and sincerely yours, + +SOPHIA. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, February 7th._--I have received from Mr. Gladstone a letter +dated January 30th, as friendly as possible towards myself, but vague and +evasive in respect to the policy of the Cabinet in the present situation. +Not only does he postpone every measure, every indication of his intentions +till after the election and the opening of the National Assembly, which is +very natural, but he gives no hint as to how far his Government will insist +respecting the conditions of peace. It is, of course, impossible for me to +argue the point with him--such a discussion would be unbecoming both on +his part and mine. I understand his reserve, but I can neither accept the +reasons for it nor its results. It is therefore to you that I address my +further observations in support of my letter of January 18th, begging you +to communicate them to Mr. Gladstone, who will quite understand why I do +not address them to himself. I should also be glad to know if he would +object to the publication of his letter of January 30th, and of that which +I am now sending you? For my part I wish this publicity, in both England +and France; but I will not authorise it without his approval. + +If this should be agreed on, pray let me know your opinion as to publishing +it in the 'Times.' I am sure that, in this case, Miss Martin would +undertake the translation. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_February 18th_--Pleasant dinner at Mansfields', though Mansfield himself +was carried off by the Prince of Wales. + +_26th_.--Dinner at Lord Granville's, to meet the Duc de Broglie, who came +as ambassador. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +_Val Richer, March 4th_.--Your sad predictions were well founded; the +painful abscission has been made; we bore it at least with good sense and +dignity. Without discussion or delay, the National Assembly has accepted +the peace imposed upon it; and the population of Paris left the Prussian +corps to parade through one single quarter of the town in solitude and +silence. The Prussians have not seen Paris, and Paris did not go to see the +Prussians. Their triumph had no spectators. Their present policy is one +more example, after so many others, of the insolent and blind folly of +victors who sow the seeds of war at the moment they are making peace. You +can have no idea of the passionate sentiment of sorrow and anger which +fills the soul of France, in all classes and in every part of the country. +It is impossible to say when and under what form the future will mark this +feeling, but it is written. One cannot tire of repeating the last words of +the Chancellor Oxenstiern to his son when starting for the tour through +Europe: 'Ito mi fili et inspice quam parvâ sapientiâ mundus regitur' ... + +The Journal continues:-- + +_March 16th_.--Dinner at home to the Duc de Broglie, the Dartreys, Mintos, +Houghton, and Lady Molesworth. + +_April 1st_.--Went to Draycott on a visit to the Cowleys. The Lavalettes +there and the old Duchess of Cleveland. Went on to Bath to try the waters +there. Bath, however, did no good to the gout, of which I had, all this +spring, repeated attacks. Saw Wells Cathedral, Glastonbury, and Longleat. +Over to Bristol, and then back to town on April 15th. + +No sooner was the siege of Paris ended and peace signed, than the frightful +insurrection of the Commune broke out in Paris; the city was for many +weeks in complete possession of the mob; Thiers and the army retired on +Versailles, and recommenced the siege of Paris by French troops. The +Archbishop and other hostages were murdered, and at last the city was set +on fire. Nothing even in the First Revolution equalled the madness of this +period. What a curious contrast to the even tenour of London life! I find +in my diaries no trace of these tremendous catastrophes. + +_May 1st_.--International Art Exhibition opened. I went in my doctor's +robes and orders; the only time I ever wore them. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, 4 juin. + +My dear Sir,--La destruction a atteint son terme, l'oeuvre de +reconstruction commence. Elle sera très difficile, mais je n'en désespère +pas, et j'y prendrai quelque part sans sortir de ma cellule. Quelle vie que +la mienne! Mon plus ancien souvenir politique est d'avoir vu de loin, du +haut d'une terrasse de la petite maison de campagne où ma mère s'était +réfugiée pendant la Terreur, en 1794, les Jacobins poursuivis et assommés +par la réaction contre Robespierre au 9 thermidor. La scène se passait sur +les boulevards de Nismes. J'assiste en 1871, de la campagne aussi, à la +chûte des nouveaux Jacobins, vrais héritiers et élèves de la Terreur. Et +que n'ai-je pas vu, en fait d'événement, dans cet intervalle de 77 ans! + +Sur ce je vous dis adieu. Je me porte assez bien, malgré mes 83 ans et ces +spectacles Shakspeariens. La France est, depuis 1789, une immense tragedie +de Shakspeare. + +Tout à vous, + +GUIZOT. + +Reverting to the Journal:-- + +Mr. Grote died on June 18th. I attended the funeral in Westminster Abbey on +the 24th. John Mill and Overstone were among the pall-bearers. + +At The Club dinner, on June 20th, the Duc d'Aumale took leave of us before +returning to France. There were present: the Lord Chancellor (Hatherley), +Master of the Rolls [Romilly], Duke of Cleveland, Lord Salisbury, Lord +Derby, Sir H. Holland, Dean Stanley, W. Smith, and self. + +About this time I was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Lord +Ripon, then Lord President, had asked them to make me a K.C.B., but +Gladstone wrote me word that it was a rule that men should pass through the +third grade to arrive at the second. [Footnote: That there was such a rule +has been very fully proved by numerous exceptions.] Arthur Helps and +William Stephenson were made C.B.'s at the same time, and afterwards +K.C.B.'s. I was gazetted a C.B. on June 30th. + +The following from Lord Granville refers to a conversation in the House of +Lords on the constitution of the Appellate Court of the Judicial Committee. +The Marquis of Salisbury had said that in his opinion it should be a court +of fixed constitution. + +At present it was often difficult to discover who were the judges in the +particular case. He believed the President of the Council in every case +appointed the judges; but, as he understood, it was practically done by +a gentleman for whom all had the greatest respect, Mr. Henry Reeve, the +Registrar. This did not seem a satisfactory state of things for a tribunal +dealing with matters which excited people's passions and feelings to +the highest degree, and on which parties were angrily divided. Nobody +conversant with the matter could harbour the unworthy suspicion that +the Court was ever packed for the trial of a particular case--he had no +apprehensions on that score; but it was because the action and constitution +of the Court should be above all suspicion that he would urge the noble and +learned lord on the woolsack to provide some fixed constitution, so that +the Court should not be constituted afresh for each particular case it had +to consider. + +Lord Granville replied in the sense of his letter to Reeve, except that he +said 'Mr. Reeve invariably consulted _the Lord President_, who, on some +occasions, called a Cabinet Council.' The Lord President at that time was +the Marquis of Ripon. Granville was followed by Lord Cairns, who said:-- + +He could testify from considerable experience to the way in which Mr. Reeve +performed his duties. The fact was that there was a great unwillingness +to attend, and undergo the great labour and responsibility of hearing +important cases. Mr. Reeve, knowing this, and having an earnest desire +to perform the duties of his office effectively--no public officer could +discharge them better--was in the habit of making himself acquainted with +the arrangements of those who might be expected to attend, with a view--not +to decide who ought to attend to hear particular cases--but as to whose +services were obtainable, in order that some kind of Court might be +constituted.... It ought to be understood that no person had any power of +selecting some and excluding others, and that the Registrar's endeavour to +procure the attendance of individuals had merely arisen from anxiety lest +there should be no quorum. [Footnote: Hansard, 1871, June 22nd, cols. +389-91.] + +_From Lord Granville_ + +16 _Bruton Street, June 23rd_.--I see the report in the 'Times' is +defective. I stated that the Lord President was undoubtedly responsible for +all that you did. I paid a high tribute to your services to the Judicial +Committee (which was cheered by the law lords); I said the difficulty was +often great to collect sufficient members to attend; that you took great +pains, by ascertaining the wishes and possible dates, to ensure this; that +for ordinary meetings of the Court you acted on your own judgement; but +that in all cases where there was a possibility of party or personal +feeling being made a cause of want of confidence in the composition of the +Court, you had always consulted me; and I had, on some occasions, not only +consulted the Home Office, but the Cabinet, in order to do that which would +ensure public confidence. I should not be sorry if you could show that I +was not in the wrong. I was delighted to hear of your C.B. None could be +more deserved. + +The Journal records:-- + +_July 7th_.--I dined with Mrs. Grote; one of the first persons she saw +after Grote's death. + +_8th_.--A banquet was given at the Crystal Palace to the members of the +Comédie Française, who had been driven over to London by the siege of Paris +and the Commune. + +This 'banquet' was of the nature of a lunch, beginning at two o'clock. +Lord Dufferin was in the chair, supported by Lords Granville, Stanhope, +Powerscourt, Lytton, Houghton, Mr. Disraeli, Tennyson, Macready, and +others. When 'the desire of eating was taken away,' the chairman, speaking +in French, proposed the health of the guests. M. Got responded. Horace +Wigan, too, spoke; and Lord Granville, 'whose fluent command of extempore +French excited general admiration,' gave 'The Health of the Chairman,' and, +with a neat reference to the 'Letters from High Latitudes,' then 14, not +41 years old, said: 'L'accueil que vous avez donné à son discours doit +rassurer Lord Dufferin et lui faire même oublier les succès oratoires +que--Latiniste incomparable, et voué au purisme Cicéronien--il a obtenus +dans les régions plus septentrionales.' To this chaff Lord Dufferin replied +in English: 'Lord Granville has been good enough to allude to what he is +pleased to describe as an oratorical triumph in a distant country; and I +would venture to remind you--and you may take the word of an experienced +person in confirmation of what I am about to say--that when anybody wishes +to make a speech in a foreign language, he will find it much more easy to +do so after dinner than at an early hour in the morning.' + +For Reeve this wound up the season. A few days later, July 23rd, he, with +his wife, started for Germany. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE GREVILLE MEMOIRS + + +Dr. de Mussy had recommended Reeve to drink the water at Carlsbad, so to +Carlsbad they went, and stayed there twenty-four days. The manner of life +at Carlsbad may be very wholesome, but no one has ever ventured to speak +of it as jovial. The Reeves thought it 'dull enough,' and left it with a +feeling of release, on August 23rd. On the 24th they were at Dresden, +and reached home on September 3rd. And then came a curious reaction; a +disagreeable experience of the Carlsbad treatment. 'Henry,' wrote Mrs. +Reeve a few days later, 'who had been quite well and quite free from gout +all the time, had a tendency thereto on leaving Hamburg, which, on landing +at Gravesend, was a sharp attack in the right hand. He cannot hold a +pen.... His doctor and some fellow-patients all say that after Carlsbad +waters such attacks are frequent, and that they in no way imply that the +waters did not suit.' The Journal goes on:-- + +_September 16th_.--To Gorhambury [Lord Verulam's] with Christine. On +leaving the house on the 18th to go to the station, the horse in the fly +ran away. We were overturned near the park gates, and had a narrow escape. +Nobody was hurt, and we drove on [in another fly] to Lord Ebury's at Moor +Park. + +_October 2nd_.--To Scotland on a visit to Moncreiff at Cultoquhey; thence +to Minard (Mr. Pender's) on Loch Fyne; thence to Edinburgh; Ormiston on +the 21st; the John Stanleys there and Lord Neaves. [Footnote: A lord of +justiciary, one of the foremost authorities on criminal law in Scotland, +and for more than forty years a regular contributor of prose and verse to +_Blackwood's Magazine_.] Lady Ruthven to dinner. + +_26th_.--To Auchin, and home on the 28th. + +A bill had passed at the close of the last session for the appointment of +four paid members of the Privy Council. They were Sir James Colvile, Sir +Barnes Peacock, Sir Montague Smith, and Sir Robert Collier. These judges +began to sit on November 6th of this year. The Court, from that time, sat +continuously. I obtained an additional clerk, and also an addition of 300 £ +a year to my own salary, which was fixed at 1,500 £. + +Pleasant visit to New Lodge (Van de Weyer's) in November. Shooting at Lithe +Hill in December. + +The Prince of Wales's serious illness. He very nearly died on December 6th. + +_December 20th_.--The Broglies dined with us, to meet Beust and the +Foresters. + +_22nd_.--Mrs. Forester asked us, at my desire, to meet Disraeli and Lady +Beaconsfield, at a small party. There was nobody else there but Lord and +Lady Colville. It was very interesting and agreeable. + +1872.--The year opened in Paris, where I had gone after Christmas; the +first time I had been there since the war. M. Thiers was President of the +Republic. I went to Versailles to see him on January 3rd, and found him in +the Préfecture--the room that had been occupied just before by the German +Emperor. M. Lesseps was there that evening, and we returned to Paris +together. He and his friends were apparently very anxious to sell the Suez +Canal. I dined with Thiers on the 6th also. + +M. Thiers's conversation on the war, the Commune and the siege was very +interesting. He said to me: 'Certainement je suis pour la République! Sans +la République qu'est-ce que je serais, moi?--bourgeois, Adolphe Thiers.' He +described the withdrawal of the troops from Paris, which was his own act. +Then the siege, which he claims to have directed, the battery of Mouton +Tout, adding, 'Nous avons enterré, en entrant à Paris, vingt mille +cadavres.' + +Dined at Mme. Mohl's on the 5th with M. de Loménie and M. Chevreuil, who is +about eighty-five. + +The Duc d'Aumale had opened his house in the Faubourg St.-Honoré; reception +there. + +_January 8th_.--Dined with the Economists to meet the Emperor of Brazil. I +was presented to him, and made a speech in French on the maintenance of the +commercial treaty, which was applauded. Back to London on the 9th. + +Reeve had already proposed to Mr. Longman to publish a volume of his +articles from the 'Edinburgh Review.' He now wrote to him:-- + +_C.O., January 11th_.--I find that the French articles I wish to collect +and publish amount to _twelve_. I enclose a list of them. They make about +380 pages of the 'Edinburgh Review' form. How much will that make if +printed in a smaller form? The title of the volume is an important matter. +I have thought of 'Royal and Republican France,' or 'A Cycle of French +History;' but I may think of something better. If you will make the +arrangements, I shall be able to supply copy very soon. The introduction +can be printed afterwards, I suppose? + +I conclude you will publish on the half-profit plan, though my past +experience of that system does not lead me to regard it as the road to +fortune. Of our military volume about 650 copies were sold, and Chesney and +I made 2 £. 3_s_. 0_d_. apiece! + +To this Mr. Longman replied:-- + +_From Mr. T. Longman_ + +_January 14th_.--I will have the calculation made of the articles you +mention. I conclude you would wish to print in the usual demy 8vo. form, +like Macaulay's Essays and all the other reprints from the 'E.R.' + +The plan of a division of profits has been usual in such republications; +and it seems peculiarly adapted to them, as neither the contributor nor +the publisher can republish separately without the consent of the other. +Whether that plan of publication may be a road to fortune or not depends on +the demand for the book. I had once the satisfaction of paying 20,000 £ on +one year's account, on that principle, to Lord Macaulay. I certainly had +no expectation of a fortune from the republication which produced you 2 £ +3_s_. 0_d_.; but had I purchased the right of separate publication for 100 +£, I hardly think you would have been satisfied that fortune should have so +favoured you at my expense. It seems to be the fashion to decry that mode +of publication; but there will always be books that can be published on no +other terms, unless at the cost and risk of the author. + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_Hinton St. George, January 12th._--I am glad to find that you have +returned in safety from Paris with your oratorical honours [Footnote: Of +the French speech in Paris on the 8th.] rich upon you. I do not think that +even Cicero ventured on making an oration in Greek, in Athens; but you have +charmed fastidious Paris with your pure accent and your classic French. I +was in despair when I found your eloquence imputed to another name; but I +heard the error was so generally corrected that you may count on your fame +descending unchallenged to posterity. + +I should agree with you that Franco was to be despaired of, if France were +to be considered as subject to ordinary rules. But she is, and has ever +been, so anomalous, that ordinary moral reasoning from history is wholly +inapplicable to her. At present, one would think she had reached the lowest +depth of moral degradation. She might be usefully touched to the quick, +if she could only believe that she is becoming ridiculous in the eyes of +Europe. + +Not that _we_ can expect a much better fate. When the Treaty of Washington +was published, I strove to awaken in the minds of several leading men a +full sense of its folly, and of the calamitous consequences that would be +sure to follow from such an act of foolish, gratuitous submission; but I +made no impression; not even as to the absurdity of introducing new +and ill-considered rules, and giving them a retrospective operation. I +succeeded with no one. I therefore concluded I must be in the wrong. Now, +however, the American indictment bears testimony to the accuracy of my +forebodings. I entreated Lord Granville not to permit the arbitration to go +on upon such a basis, which it was never intended that the reference should +cover or include. It is a fraudulent attempt to extend the reference most +unwarrantably; and if the arbitration is permitted to proceed on such a +claim, the consequences will be most disastrous. It is a sad spectacle to +see a once gallant and high-spirited nation submitting tamely to be thus +bullied. If not firmly protested against, and resisted _in limine_, you +will have an award which England will repudiate with indignation; and war, +the fear of which has made us submit to these indignities, will be sure to +follow. + +The relative attitudes of England and the United States in 1896 and 1897 +have not materially differed from those of 1872. The policy which has been +persistently followed by this country has not yet resulted in war, but it +seems to many now, as it did to Lord Westbury then, extremely likely to do +so. Peace between two such countries can only be assured when it rests on +mutual respect and a community of interests. We may persuade ourselves +that, in the main, our true interests are identical; but the recent +diplomatic correspondence from the States does not tell of much respect. + +But as to the point at issue in 1872, Reeve wrote in reply to Lord +Westbury, about January 15th:-- + +I agree very much with what you say of the Treaty of Washington, and have +never been able to prevail on myself to say a word in its favour. The +result is that the fate and honour of this country are placed in the hands +of a Swiss and a Brazilian referee, neither of whom knows a word of the +English language! Lord Lyons told me so last week in Paris. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_January 22nd_.--Visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury at +Addington--pleasant; but in going up from Croydon on the 23rd, I was nearly +killed by a runaway _hearse_, which struck my cab and knocked it over. I +was not hurt, but two accidents in a year made me nervous. [Footnote: See +ante, p. 201.] + +_From Mr. H. F. Chorley_ + +18 Eaton Place West, February 8th. + +My dear Reeve,--I send you what I have done _in re_ Hawthorne. I offer a +character rather than a review, proved by extracts; since had I gone on _in +extenso_ I don't know where I should have stopped. Nothing but my strong +wish to get my subject before the public could have made me carry out my +article, poor as it is, seeing that I have written it half a leaf at a +time, and with a weak, weary hand, the end of which will not impossibly be +palsy. But I think as a character, when duly corrected, my work may not +come out amiss. Ever yours faithfully, HENRY F. CHORLEY. + +_Endorsed_--Chorley's last note. He died about a week afterwards [suddenly +on February 16th. The article had apparently not been finished, and was not +published]. + +From the Journal:-- + +_January 24th_.--Went to see the Sandhursts at Brighton, but gout came on +worse, and I was ill for some weeks. I presided at The Club, however, on +the 27th, the Thanksgiving Day for the recovery of the Prince of Wales, and +proposed his health. + +_March 14th_.--I published a collection of my articles on French history +and affairs under the title of 'Royal and Republican France.' + +_From Lord Derby_ + +23 _St. James's Square, March 15th_.--Many thanks for your book on France. +Most of the articles were familiar to me, but all will bear reading again. +You here show up the weakness of French public life and the faults of +French parties as no one else has done; and I do not recollect to have seen +anywhere else pointed out the intimate connexion between the social state +of modern France--with every old tradition destroyed, and the continuance +of a family, as we understand the word here, rendered impossible--and the +political condition, in which every public man is either fighting for +his own personal interest and nothing else, or for the triumph of his +particular theory of politics, which, if successful, is to be enforced +despotically by all the power of a centralised administration. I have never +thought so badly of the French future as now--no energy except among the +Reds, no power of united action; general apathy even as to the present, and +utter indifference to the future. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_March 31st_.--Came down to Bournemouth for the first time with Hopie and +the horses. + +_April 8th_.--Rode to Hengistbury Head and saw for the first time the +Southbourne estate. Dined with Lord Cairns. Back to town on the 9th. + +_17th_.--Dined at Lord Derby's. Sat next Lady Clanricarde, who, _à propos_ +of Sir H. Holland's 'Past Life,' talked about her father [Footnote: George +Canning, _d_. 1827.] and his last illness. She said that in truth Holland +saw Canning very little at Chiswick, and that it was Sir Matthew Tierney +who really attended him; and then she told me the following story of +Tierney:--News came from Clumber that the Duke of Newcastle was dangerously +ill with typhus fever. Tierney was sent down as fast as post-horses could +carry him. It was about 1823, in the pre-railway days; and when he arrived +he was informed that the Duke had been dead about two hours. Shocked at +this intelligence, he desired to see the corpse, which was already laid +out. At his first glance he thought he was dead. At the second he doubted +it. At the third he cried out, 'Bring me up a bucket of brandy!' They tore +the clothes off the body and swathed it in a sheet imbibed with brandy, and +then resorted to friction with brandy. In rather more than an hour symptoms +of life began to manifest themselves, and in two hours the Duke was able to +swallow. He recovered, and lived twenty-five years afterwards. Certainly +this triumph over death beats even Dr. Gull's nursing of the Prince of +Wales. It is the myth of Hercules and Alcestis. + +_May 4th_.--Visit to Drummond Wolff at Boscombe. A further look at +Southbourne. I chose the site I afterwards purchased. + +_8th_.--The King of the Belgians presided at the Literary Fund dinner. +Disraeli made a capital speech. + +_18th_.--Visit to Mrs. Grote at Sheire. Called at Albury. Many London +dinners. + +The Bennett case was heard at this time by the Judicial Committee. Long +deliberation on the judgement at the Chancellor's on June 1st. It was +delivered on June 8th. [Footnote: See 'The Bennett Judgement' in _Edinburgh +Review_, October 1872.] + +_From Lord Westbury_ + +_June 1st_,--I am going to Oxford, and fear I may be late at the committee. +There are very important subjects in which we wish to examine you; +especially the danger, if not the illegality, of attempting by new +legislation to create a new Appellate Jurisdiction for the Colonies. + +_From Mr. E. Twisleton_ + +3 Rutland Gate, June 6th + +Dear Reeve,--I send you herewith Francis's translation of Pinto on Credit, +together with the original French work of Pinto. The attack on Pombal is in +Francis's concluding observations. Some of the notes are very interesting, +as illustrating the feeling of national superiority among the English, and +of national depression among the French, between 1763 and the American War +of Independence--see pp. 52, 66, 166. My impression is that the French felt +more humiliated during that period than during an equal number of years +after 1814. The loss of Canada and their expulsion from America wounded +their national feelings of pride _then_ nearly as much as the loss of +Alsace and part of Lorraine wounds those feelings now. A hundred years ago +there were very exaggerated ideas, both in England and in France, as to the +strength which a nation derived from colonies. + +Yours very truly, + +EDWARD TWISLETON. + +P.S.--In Francis's Fragment of Autobiography he speaks of this translation +as his own; and says that upon accepting his appointment to India he +surrendered all his papers to Stephen Baggs, 'in whose name the translation +had been published.' See 'Memoir of Sir P.F.' vol. i. p. 366. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_June 28th_.--Assembly at Grosvenor House. July 2nd, assembly at Lansdowne +House. July 3rd, Queen's ball--a very brilliant season. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +Lowestoft, July 9th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--In one of your friendly letters to me, after the decease +of our valued friend Emily Taylor, you kindly hinted that you would +occasionally favour me with a note; but, knowing the demands upon your pen, +I should not have reminded you of this kindness but for an incident which +occurred last evening when my niece, Ina Reeve, came in to me, saying she +had read such a severe and bitter review of your late publication as quite +surprised her. As she brought the 'Saturday Review' with her, she read it +to me, and perhaps, dear friend, you may have read it, and perhaps guess +its author. To me it seems he is not so angry with your books as with +yourself. Mr. Reeve floats uppermost in almost every line, and 'tis you he +hates. I perceive he cannot endure you, and makes use of your books only +to insult you. I hope you will take care how you come in his way, for I am +sure he will do you a mischief. Beware of the evil eye! He talks of your +ignorance of the New Testament. I could not help thinking how little he is +acquainted with its spirit. + +I also read with much concern of the treatment by Mr. Ayrton of that +admirable Curator at the Kew Gardens--Dr. Hooker. Cruel it will be to +science and the public if he is driven from the position he is so competent +to fill with good results. + +I have read at present only a part of your first volume, which I much +enjoyed. Sir James was in Paris about two or three years before the Great +Revolution began, but the fermentation was beginning. 'Tis time to relieve +you from my imperfect writing, for my sight is not very perfect, and by +candlelight I can neither see to read or write. About two months go I +completed my ninety-ninth year; but I have health and a new source of +happiness in my nephew James and his dear daughter, who are come to reside +at Lowestoft. _She_ is a daily friend to me, a second self; as our taste in +literature, in poetry, and in morals agree. Only think, the Dean of Norwich +sent me his defence of St. Athanasius' Creed! + +I am your dear friend, + +P. SMITH. + +The next entry in the Journal introduces us to the place--a site on the +Southbourne estate already spoken of--where, two years afterwards, Reeve +built the house in which so much of the last twenty years of his life was +passed. It will be seen that for some time he hesitated between this and +the neighbourhood of Ascot where, in the autumn, he inherited a small +property. + +_July 13th_.--To Christchurch, with Parker and Cockerell, [Footnote: +Frederick Pepys Cockerell, one of a family of distinguished architects, and +himself of a high reputation. He died at the age of 45, in 1878.] about the +house at Foxholes. + +_17th_.--Dined at Duke of Argyll's. 20th, three days at Strawberry Hill. +27th, party at Aldermaston: Otway, Layards, H. Bruce. + +Having taken Loch Gair House for the season, went there by Greenock on +August 2nd. I paid about twelve guineas a week. [Loch Gair--wrote Mrs. +Reeve--is a tiny, land-locked bay on the west shore of Loch Fyne. Park-like +grounds, with a pretty burn rushing down, skirt this loch. There is a +small kitchen garden, and a dairy of six cows. The best fishing is in Loch +Clasken, about a mile and a half west. There is a boat on the loch. The +house is a square structure, three stories high, and with underground +larders, dairy, &c. and attics for servants, so that there is ample +accommodation. I think Henry will enjoy the serene beauty of the place, the +balmy air and fragrant odours, and idleness, delicious because earned by +hard work.] + +The Penders being at Minard, we had the benefit of their society and his +yacht. Roland Richardson, Frank Hawkins, Mr. Dempster, the Worsleys, Edmund +Wallace, Fairfax Taylor, Sir A. Grant, the Colebrookes, came to stay +with us; and Colvile. The Derbys and Sir W. Thomson, [Footnote: Now Lord +Kelvin.] Rawlinson, Massey, C. Villiers and the Lowes, staying at Minard. + +[Of this time Mrs. Reeve wrote:--The sun is again ruling the day and the +moon the night, to the very great glory of Loch Gair. On Sunday (August +18th) the whole Minard party, seventeen in number, came over to tea, much +to the amusement of Mr. Dempster, to whom we talked of seclusion, and who +did not expect a cabinet minister, a very 'swell' admiral, and sundry fine +ladies. Mr. Dempster's was but a short visit, to our regret; and on Monday +I took him in the dog-cart to meet the 'Iona' at Ardrishaig.] + +_October 2nd_.--Left Loch Gair. Visit to Orde's at Kilmory; then to +Invergarry (E. Ellice's) by the Caledonian Canal. Deer shooting. 11th, +to Keir; 16th, to Ormiston; then to Abington--shooting there. To town on +October 26th. + +Miss Handley died in October. She left me the Winkfield portion of the +Bracknell estate, which was afterwards confirmed by a decree of the Master +of the Rolls. + +_November 13th_.--Dined at Sandbach's with the Queen of Holland, Prince +Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Lady Eastlake, and Bishop Wilberforce. A few other +dinners. + +_Monday, 25th_.--I have been down to the Van de Weyers at New Lodge, +Windsor Forest, from Saturday till Monday, a thing I have frequently done +of late. Van de Weyer is almost the last survivor of the brilliant London +society of thirty or forty years ago, and to his great literary and social +experience he unites an unequalled knowledge of the politics of Europe. +During the whole of his reign King Leopold was his own foreign minister; +and he succeeded, by his connexion with the Queen of England, and with +Louis-Philippe, and with Germany, in creating a most influential position +in the world, which he did not impart to his Belgian ministers. But Van de +Weyer was the exception. He was the constant channel of communication with +the Court of England. The King wrote to him two or three times a week, and +he to the King. Their correspondence must be a complete history of the +times. Baron Stockmar was to an equal degree in his King's confidence; but +Stockmar never had the political position of Van de Weyer, nor do I think +he was so able a man. I had hinted, in my review of Stockmar's Life, +[Footnote: _Edinburgh Review_, October 1872.] that his oracular powers had +been somewhat exaggerated, and that he was rather more attached to the +interests of the House of Coburg than to those of England; for which I do +not blame him. However, Van de Weyer and some others of Stockmar's friends +(including the Queen) dispute this, and probably think I have not done him +justice. + +For instance, Van de Weyer asserts that when the marriage of the Queen of +Spain was on the _tapis_, Leopold and Queen Victoria had it in their power +to bring about the Coburg marriage, but that they deliberately refused to +do so from respect to their engagements with France. And they acted in this +with the full concurrence of Stockmar. The Queen of Spain had established, +by private means, a correspondence with Queen Victoria. The letters passed +through the hands of Mr. Huth, the merchant, and from him to Van de Weyer, +who delivered them. Isabella complained in these letters of her desperate +and forlorn condition; said she was bullied and threatened by the French, +and expressed her abhorrence of the marriage Bresson was urging upon her. +She declared that if Leopold and Queen Victoria would sanction the Coburg +marriage, she would throw the French over, and marry Prince Leopold the +next day. + +The King and our Queen held a solemn conference and deliberation on the +subject. Palmerston was informed of the transaction; but the ministers seem +to have had no great voice in the matter, for the Queen considered the +engagement she had entered into at Eu as a personal promise, and England +had consistently declared that 'she had no candidate.' To put forward +Leopold at the last hour would have been to forfeit this pledge, which, on +the contrary, was most strictly and honourably maintained. + +It was the knowledge of this, and the consciousness that a less +conscientious policy might have rescued the Queen of Spain from a dreadful +fate, that rendered the Queen of England and Stockmar so indignant when it +turned out that the French Government had been far less scrupulous, and had +not only forced on the marriage of the Queen to a man she detested, but had +also married the other Infanta to Montpensier. + +This communication of Queen Isabella to Queen Victoria is to this day +wholly unrevealed. + +With regard to Leopold's annuity (which I explained in the 'Edinburgh +Review'), it was not only secured by act of Parliament, but by treaty; for +there was a regular treaty of marriage concluded between Prince Leopold and +the Crown of England on his marriage with the Princess Charlotte. + +The intrigues going on with reference to Belgium, both in France and in +Holland, during the Polignac Ministry have been alluded to in a former +page. [Footnote: _Ante_, pp. 111-12.] But it is less generally known that +at this same time, the Prince of Orange, afterwards William II., was +intriguing to form a party to place him on the throne of France in the +event of the overthrow of the Bourbons. + +He spent thirty or forty millions of francs in bribing officers of the army +and others, which was the cause of his subsequent embarrassment and debts. +The French found the plot out, and demanded of the King of Holland that +the Prince should be signally punished. He was accordingly deprived of his +command and of his rank in the army, and even for a time arrested and put +in confinement. He then found out that his French adherents had only been +deluding him to get his money. + +_December 4th_.--To Teddesley. Shooting there. Thence to Crewe, to meet +Lady Egerton of Tatton. + +_12th_.--Henry Greville died. To Farnborough. I determined to publish the +Greville Journals. + +To Bracknell to see the Winkfield land; and to Timsbury for Christmas. + +1873.--At Bournemouth early in January, about the house. To London on +January 11th. + +_January 25th_.--Lord Lytton's funeral in Westminster Abbey. + +_February 14th_.--Dined at Harvie Farquhar's. He was one of C. Greville's +executors, and was curious about the Journals. + +_To Mr. W. Longman_ + +_C.O., March 4th_.--Mr. Morris [Footnote: Edward E. Morris, editor of +_Epochs of Modern History_.] writes under a complete delusion. I could not +possibly write anything for him in less than two years; and I had rather +not enter into any agreement. On reflection, I am satisfied that it would +not answer my purpose to write a popular 'History of the French Revolution' +for 100 £, and to surrender the copyright. An author never ought to +surrender a copyright unless he is compelled to do so. If I wrote a History +of the French Revolution which became a school book or an educational book, +it might become a property of some little value. + +But the truth is that the 'Review' suffers when I am too busy to write in +it; and I have in my hands and before me literary work and materials of a +far more remunerative character, which will suffice to fill the remainder +of my life. It would be unwise in me to undertake a fresh task, which could +not possibly pay me. Therefore, upon the whole, I think you had better put +it in other hands. [Footnote: Eventually the work was written by Mrs. S. R. +Gardiner, though from a point of view very different, we may believe, from +that which Reeve would have taken.] O'Connor Morris would do it very well. + +I am sorry to alter my mind. My first impulse was to accept from a wish to +oblige you, and from interest in the subject; but further consideration +says 'NO!' + +The Journal notes:-- + +_March 19th_.--Dined at Goschen's at the Admiralty. Mme. Novikoff there, an +active Russian agent. + +Mr. Gladstone's Government was beaten by a majority of three. Most of the +casual elections this year went against the Government. Gladstone resigned +on this occasion, but came in again, which he had better not have done. + +_March 31st_.--Dined with Charles Austin--very old and infirm; his last +effort. Lord Belper was there. + +To Bracknell at Easter, in Miss Handley's house. Took the horses; went to +meet of Queen's Hounds; stayed there till April 19th. + +_To Mr. W. Longman_ + +Old Bracknell House, April 13th. + +My dear William,--I am glad you have been to see my scrap of land. I have +taken a great fancy to the spot, and should be very well contented to end +my days there, gazing on that magnificent view of the coast and the sea. At +present I am spending this vacation in Berkshire, and only suffering from +the excessive cold. + +I am reading with the greatest interest Baron Hübner's 'Promenade autour du +Monde,' which was reviewed in the 'Times' two or three days ago. It is a +work of extraordinary merit and importance. I shall review it in the next +'Edinburgh,' and I strongly recommend you to publish a translation of it, +if you can. I have seldom read so wonderful a book. + +Ever yours faithfully, + +HENRY REEVE. + +The Journal goes on to speak of perhaps the most remarkable 'centenarian' +of the nineteenth century:-- + +_May 23rd_.--Dined at Lord Stanhope's with the Antiquaries. Dean Stanley +proposed Lady Smith's health. She was just 100. + +Pleasance Reeve, Lady Smith, widow of Sir James Smith, the botanist and +founder of the Linnaean Society, was born on May 11, 1773, and christened +on the following day at Lowestoft, where her baptismal register still +exists. On May 13, 1873, having just completed her hundredth year, she +caused a dinner to be given to the hundred oldest persons in Lowestoft, +whose joint ages averaged seventy-seven years, and public rejoicings were +held in the town. On May 24th I went down with my daughter to see her, and +spent the best part of three days with her. Married in 1795 to Dr. Smith, +afterwards Sir James, she had been the intimate friend, in Norwich, of my +grandfather and grandmother. On my father's marriage in 1807, he took a +house in Surrey Street, next door to the Smiths, and their intercourse was +perpetual. I have myself no earlier recollection than that of her kindness +to me and attachment to my mother. We used to sit in their pew at the +Octagon Chapel, Norwich; and the first evening party I can remember was at +her house, when Mrs. Opie and William Taylor were present--the latter I +think rather drunk! + +We found Lady Smith at Lowestoft on this 24th of May, sitting in her chair, +looking extremely well, though shrunk; her voice was firm and unchanged; no +deafness; no dulness of sight; and when they served a little collation she +had ordered for us, she got up, moved to the table, and did the honours. + +She complained, however, that the excitement of the last two or three weeks +had impaired her strength and taken away her appetite, I told her that the +evening before, when I was dining at Lord Stanhope's with the Antiquaries, +her health had been proposed in a graceful speech by the Dean of +Westminster. The venerable Society drank the most venerable lady. This +affected her, and she exclaimed, 'You must not tell me such things as +these. They drive me mad. I find it harder to support the many marks of +kindness and distinction I have received than to bear the burden of a +hundred years.' + +I asked her what was the first thing she remembered. She said she was +confident she remembered being taken to her aunt's at Saxmundham as an +infant of nine months old, and still saw her eyes, the crocuses in the +border, and the flutter of the fringe on her own robe. Of political events +she thought the first in her memory was the taking of the Bastille, and she +enlarged on the extraordinary enthusiasm excited by the French Revolution. +I said the American war came before the Revolution of 1789; and she replied +'Yes, no doubt I remember hearing the American war talked about;' and then +quoted the lines (Dr. Aikins' she said):-- + + See the justice of Heaven! America cries; + George loses his senses, North loses his eyes. + When first they provoked me, all Europe could find + That the Monarch was mad and the Minister blind. + +But the date of this epigram must be somewhat later. Lord North became +blind in 1787 [and the King's insanity was not publicly known till November +1788]. + +She remembered Mr. Windham as one of the most graceful and fascinating +of men. Lady Morley [Footnote: Frances, daughter of Thomas Talbot, of +Wymondham, Norfolk, married Lord Boringdon, afterwards Earl of Morley, in +1809.] (the present Earl's grandmother) was staying with the Smiths when +she came out, and was equally remarkable for her wit, her beauty, and her +fine hair. Her mother, Mrs. Talbot, was very ugly. We then talked over all +the old Norwich families, Gower, Taylors, Aldersons, Bathurst, &c. She said +she thought my mother a much finer character than Mrs. Austin, and, she +added, a fine understanding too. + +Her interest in all the events of the day--the last spider discovered +by Dr. Carpenter at the bottom of the ocean and the last improvement at +Burlington House--is as keen as the recollection of the past. 'Punch' and +the 'Illustrated News' and the other newspapers bring it all before her. + +_May 28th_.--Gladstone presided at the Literary Fund dinner. I took Meadows +Taylor, who was staying with us. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +_Lowestoft, May 31st_.--Many thanks, dear Mr. Reeve, for sending me the +handsome present of turtle soup, which came on Thursday evening and made +the best part of my dinner on Friday. My intellectual treat has been the +speeches by the Premier and others at the Literary Fund dinner, and I much +admire the eloquence of the several talented gentlemen. I write so badly +I will spare you, and only send my affectionate regards to Mrs. Reeve and +dear Hopie, and to yourself. I am very sincerely yours, + +P. SMITH. + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +To Bracknell again on June 1st. Attended Ascot for the last time. The Shah +of Persia was in London this year, and was received in state. The Queen +lent him Buckingham Palace. + +_June 25th_.--Goschen's fête to the Shah of Persia at Greenwich Hospital. +Fine sight. We steamed through the docks after the Shah. + +_29th_.--Met M. de Laveleye at Van de Weyer's. + +_July 14th_.--Dined at Merchant Taylors' Hall; made a speech. + +_17th_.--Dined at Lambeth, to talk over the Judicature Bill with the +Archbishop. Met Bishop Wilberforce as I was driving down Constitution Hill. +He was killed two days afterwards (on the 19th) by a fall from his horse, +riding with Lord Granville. + +Count Münster came as German ambassador. I dined with him at Beust's and at +Houghton's. + +Lord Westbury died in London on July 20th, 1873; a man whose bitter tongue +made him many enemies, and procured for him a reputation as of one without +respect or regard for aught human or divine. Those who knew him well told +a different tale. He has been described by them as having a most kind and +feeling nature. 'He did not make many professions, but had the good of his +fellow-creatures at heart. He always found time to give advice and help.' +Reeve, who had been thrown into frequent and familiar intercourse with him, +was in the habit of speaking of him as one whose real character was very +different indeed from that assigned him by popular repute; and the letter +of sympathy which he wrote to Lord Westbury's daughter, the Hon. Augusta +Bethell,[Footnote: Afterwards Mrs. Parker, and, by a second marriage, Mrs. +Nash.] merely expressed his honest opinion. + +Rutland Gate, July 23rd. + +Dear Miss Bethell,--I should have written sooner if I had had the use of +my hand, to express to you my profound sorrow and sympathy in the loss you +have sustained. + +I look back with unmixed satisfaction on the relations I maintained for +so many years with your father. He honoured me with his confidence and +friendship. I have the profoundest admiration, not only for his qualities +as a lawyer, but for his just and enlarged mind, his vast reading, his +memory, and the inexhaustible kindness of his heart. He was one of the +greatest men I have known, and one of those whose loss to us all is most +irreparable. How much more so to you! + +Mrs. Reeve begs to unite her condolences to mine; and we remain always + +Your much attached friends, + +HENRY REEVE. + +The Journal notes a six weeks' tour with Mrs. Reeve in Switzerland and +Germany:-- + +_August 1st_.--To Paris and Geneva, _viâ_ Dieppe. Saw Thiers in Paris. He +had been turned out of office on May 4th. On August 4th reached Binet's +_campagne_. Family dinners, &c., at Geneva. 12th, called at Blumenthal's +_chalet_, near Vevey. 14th, to Berne, Grindelwald, and Ragaz, by Zurich. +Took baths at Ragaz. Longmans came there on the 22nd. Pleasant excursion +to Glarus. 26th, to Syrgenstein [near the Lake of Constance--wrote Mrs. +Reeve--where some cousins of ours, the Whittles, bought an old schloss +with some 300 acres, and settled about fifteen years ago]. 31st, by Ulm to +Baden-Baden, Bonn, Aix, Antwerp; home on September 8th. + +_September 10th_.--Sir Henry Holland dined with us. He had just been to +Nijni Novgorod, and was starting for Naples. He died as soon as he got +back, on October 27th. This was the last time I saw him. He was then +eighty-five. To Bracknell in September. + +_September 27th_.--To Christchurch. Ordered fences for Foxholes. + +_October 3rd_.--To Cultoquhey (Lord Moncreiff's). 6th, fishing at Battleby +(Maxtone Graham's), in the Tay. We killed seven fish; I, one of 19 lbs.; +Hopie, two, one of 25 lbs. Thence to the Colviles', at Craigflower, and on +the 11th to Minto. 14th, drove to Ancrum and Kirklands. Beautiful day. + +We went from Minto to Dartrey, co. Monaghan, by Carlisle and Stranraer; +crossed to Larne, but had to sleep at Dundalk, on the 17th. At Dartrey +found the Ilchesters, Mr. Herbert, and others. Lady Craven and the +Headforts came later. Returned to England on the 27th by Greenore and +Holyhead. + +For the October number of the 'Review,' Reeve had written an article on +the Ashantee War, in which he would seem to have been assisted by Lord +Kimberley, then Colonial Secretary. On its appearance, Mr. Pope Hennessy, +at this time Governor of the Bahamas, but who, in the preceding year, had +been Governor of the Gold Coast, wrote to 'The Editor of the "Edinburgh +Review,"' objecting to some of the statements regarding his own conduct, +which, he declared, were inaccurate. And, having given utterance to his +objections, he continued:-- + +_November 28th_.--As I have ventured on fault-finding about one article, I +must not deprive myself of the pleasure of congratulating you heartily +on another. Since October 1802 no article on foreign affairs has been so +apropos as your Cuban one of last October. Here it has been read with +avidity and universal satisfaction, and I believe it will do much to guide +influential opinion in England at this crisis. I hope to see you return to +the subject in January. Remember that your January number, as far as the +instruction of M.P.s is concerned, is always an important political one. In +view of your dealing with the subject again, I give you a few facts that +may perhaps add special interest once more to the 'Edinburgh's' mode of +dealing with it. + +England is directly concerned in Cuba by its close proximity to the +Bahamas. Cay Lobos (British territory) is but fourteen miles from Cay +Confites (Cuban territory). That leaves but eight miles of high seas in +width. The people of the Bahamas have made frequent complaint to the +governor about the conduct of the Spanish authorities in Cuba. In +August this year the Governor of the Bahamas sent a memorial to the +Captain-General of Cuba about the impediments to the Bahama sponging trade +caused by the arbitrary acts of the Spaniards. No notice has been taken of +this. It has not even been acknowledged. In 1870 complaints were made to +Sir James Walker (my predecessor) that James Fraser and three other British +subjects were captured in a Bahama schooner, taken ashore to Cuba, and +there shot. The Spaniards justified this by saying that the ship was +conveying supplies to the insurgents, and they (the Spaniards) executed +Fraser and the others as pirates. In the same year a man named Williams +complained that sixty or seventy Spanish soldiers landed at Berry Island (a +part of the Bahama colony), chasing Cuban refugees, firing off their guns, +and threatening to hang Williams if he did not aid them in their search. +Subsequently the Spanish admiral, Melcampo, made a sort of apology for +this; but the Captain-General of Cuba, on the other hand, wrote to Sir +James Walker, complaining that the British lighthouse-keepers on Berry +Island had refused to aid the Spaniards in pursuit of 'pirates' on British +soil. Lord Granville took up the matter in a proper spirit. He sent +energetic remonstrances to Madrid. He got the Admiralty to telegraph to Sir +Rodney Mundy, at Halifax, to despatch ships of war to aid the Governor of +the Bahamas in protecting the colony from the raids of the Spaniards. As to +the seizing of ships on the high seas under neutral flags, he telegraphed +to Sir John Crampton, at Madrid, to say that it would be 'a glaring +violation of the law of nations.' The Madrid Government promised to get the +Captain-General's proclamation revoked; but my predecessor reported that +General Dulce had not revoked it, and he returned to Spain without doing +so. The half-and-half revocation that took place left 'exceptional +cases' at the discretion of the Spanish cruisers. Hence the case of the +'Virginius.' + +The excitement here about the recent executions is intense. Twenty-nine of +those shot resided at Nassau. The public feeling is now so strong that it +deprives me of power (especially as all British troops are withdrawn) to +stop expeditions against the Spaniard, though I am doing my best to allay +it and to be strictly neutral. Indeed, in the interest of the peace and +well-being of the Bahamas, I have had to write to Lord Kimberley, asking +him to use his influence in getting some law-abiding government substituted +in Cuba for the present lawless rule of the volunteers. Your article will +do much to support H.M. Government in a decided course now. + +Believe me, yours faithfully, + +J. POPE HENNESSY. + +The Journal records here:-- + +_December 8th_.--We went to Knowsley, with Lord Cairns. There were there +Lord C. Hamilton, Henry Cowper, &c. Lord Sefton shot with us. We killed +827 head on the 9th, 784 head on the 10th, 366 head on the 11th. Went to +Liverpool with Lord Cairns on the 12th, and home next day. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_C. O., December 15th_.--The last edition of my translation of +Tocqueville's book on France has probably not yet found its way to +Knowsley's library, and I shall be much gratified if you will allow me to +place a copy there. This edition has the advantage of containing fourteen +posthumous chapters not to be found in any other, and these certainly are +not the least remarkable part of the work. I was moved to translate them +partly by your saying to me one day, 'Can't you give us any more of +Tocqueville?' + +The Journal goes on:-- + +To Paris for Christmas. Saw M. Guizot; dined at the Embassy. Dined with +Mme. Faucher on Christmas Day; with M. Guizot on the 27th; Camille Rousset +and Taine there. On the 28th dined at the Duc de Broglie's, then home +minister; Apponys, Prince Orloff, Lord Lyons, Lambert de Sainte-Croix +there. Dined on the 29th with the Lyttons at Mme. Gavard's; and on the 30th +with the Comte de Paris at De Mussy's. + +1874.--The year opened at Paris. Called on M. Guizot and dined with the +Raymonds on New Year's Day. Breakfasted with the Duc d'Aumale at Chantilly +on the 2nd; first time I had seen him there. Dined at Mohl's with +Haussonville, the Lyttons, and Tourguéneff. + +Renewed my acquaintance with Drouyn de Lhuys, who related to me the affairs +of 1866. Very curious. Dined at the Political Economy Club on the 5th; and +at Lytton's on the 6th. Back to London on the 7th. + +_January 24th_.--To Aldermaston, with Lord Aberdare, the Samuel Bakers, +Herbert Spencer, Franks and others. Pleasant and interesting; but I had the +gout and was laid up for a month. This was the day Gladstone published his +fatal address to the electors at Greenwich. Parliament was dissolved on the +26th. We all told Lord Aberdare that the party would be smashed, and so it +was. Disraeli's Government came in on February 21st. + +_21st_.--The Master of the Rolls gave judgement in the Handley suit, which +gave me the Winkfield property. + +The case was shortly described by Mrs. Reeve:-- + +'There were two wills, one of Edwin Handley, the other that of his two +surviving sisters. His will was good as to devise of money, bad as to land; +therefore the land passed to the sisters, and their bequests of land come +into effect. The property in Winkfield which comes to Henry is a little +more than 30 acres. Of course the agricultural value is not very great; but +we hope, as building and accommodation land, to make a good thing of it.' + +It appears, indeed, that the advisability of settling on it themselves was +considered; but there was no house on the property; so that as in either +case a house had to be built, the Christchurch site was preferred. In June +Reeve sold this Winkfield property for nearly 6,000 £., which--he added to +a note of the sale--'enabled me to build Foxholes.' + +The following is endorsed:--'M. Guizot on the death of [his daughter] +Pauline. The last letter he wrote me with his own hand.' + +8 _mars_.--Je vous remercie de votre sympathie, my dear Sir. J'y comptais. +Vous êtes un des anciens témoins de ma vie et de mon bonheur. Il a été +grand; mais le bonheur se paye. Je me soumets douloureusement mais sans +murmure. La vie est ainsi faite. C'est pour mon gendre Cornélis de Witt que +je ressens une pitié profonde. Il a joui pendant vingt-cinq ans de ce que +j'ai moi-même appelé le bonheur parfait, l'amour dans le mariage. Il reste +seul avec ses sept enfants. Ils viendront tous vivre avec moi, sous les +yeux de ma fille Henriette,[Footnote: Mme. Guizot de Witt.] une vraie mère. +Revenez nous voir. + +Je n'ai pas le coeur à vous parler d'autre chose. Je n'ai pas encore reçu +'l'Edinburgh Review' des mois d'octobre et janvier dernier. Je les fais +demander. Je vis aussi en Angleterre. C'est beaucoup d'avoir deux vies et +presque deux patries. Mr. Burton a-t-il publié l'article qu'il projetait +sur mon Histoire de France? Je vous envoie quelques pages que je viens +d'écrire sur mon excellent ami, M. Vitet. [Footnote: Louis Vitet, 'de +l'Académie française,' _d_.June 1873. This is presumably the 'notice' +prefixed to Vitet's _Etudes philosophiques et littéraires_ (8vo. 1875).] +Encore un profond regret. + +Adieu, my dear Sir. Tenez-moi un peu au courant de ce qui se passe chez +vous et de ce que vous en pensez. Nous végétons ici dans les ténèbres, +en attendant un mieux qui viendra, je ne sais quand ni comment. Mais je +persiste à y croire. Tout à vous, GUIZOT. + +The Journal here has:-- + +_March 10th_.--The Duc d'Aumale dined at The Club dinner. + +_18th_.--Met Disraeli at Lady Derby's first party. A day or two before +this, at Windsor, Lord Granville was chaffing Lady John Manners and +said--referring to the Prime Minister's birth--'You must acknowledge that +your chief's nose is very queer.' 'At all events,' was Lady John's ready +rejoinder, 'it is not out of joint.' + +_28th_.--Took the Duc de Rochefoucault (the French Ambassador) to the boat +race at Mortlake. + +_April 2nd_.--To Christchurch. On the 4th, in torrents of rain, we fixed, +with Cockerell, the exact site of Foxholes House. + +_May 8th_.--Ball to the Prince of Wales at the French Embassy. Duchess of +Edinburgh there. + +Lord Hertford, the Tory Lord Chamberlain, omitted me from the Court ball +this year, for the first time since 1847. This was before the publication +of the 'Greville Memoirs,' and not on account of it. + +To Aix in the end of May. Longman was with me. Home on June 4th. + +_From M. Guizot_ + +Val Richer, ce 22 juillet. + +My Dear Sir,--Je réponds à votre aimable lettre du 14 juillet, et je +commence par supprimer mon écriture. J'en avais autrefois un qu'on trouvait +très jolie, mais, depuis quelques mois, ma main est devenue si tremblante +que j'ai renoncé à écrire moi-même. Je ne veux cependant pas tarder +davantage à vous dire avec quel plaisir j'ai lu l'article de Mr. Burton +sur mon Histoire de France que je viens de trouver dans le numéro 285 de +'l'Edinburgh Review.' C'est excellent; il est impossible de serrer de plus +près les diverses parties de mon ouvrage en les analysant d'une manière +plus claire et plus frappante. Les liens de l'histoire de France avec +l'État, la Couronne, l'Église et les moeurs publiques y sont résumés +dans toute leur vérité. Je ne pourrais dans ce moment-ci, avec ma main +tremblante, en remercier moi-même Mr. Burton comme je le voudrais faire. +Je me promets d'y revenir plus tard. En attendant, je vous prie de le +remercier pour moi, en lui disant tout ce que je pense de son parfait +résumé. Vous me pardonnerez d'être si bref; je suis encore assez souffrant +et fatigué. Je reprends pourtant dans ce moment même la publication +périodique des livraisons de mon histoire; elles seront envoyées chaque +semaine à Mr. Burton comme à vous, et je serai bienheureux si vous me dites +qu'elles vous intéressent autant que les précédents volumes. Pardon, my +dear Sir, de ne pas vous en dire davantage. Je suis au Val Richer jusqu'à +la fin de l'année. Ecrivez-moi quelquefois, je vous prie, et croyez-moi +affectueusement tout à vous, + +GUIZOT. + +P.S.--C'est ma fille Henriette qui me sert de secrétaire pour ma +correspondance comme pour mon histoire. Je n'en retrouverais nulle part un +pareil. + +This letter, written by Mme. Guizot de Witt, was the last Reeve received +from his old friend, who died at Val Richer on September 12th, in his 87th +year. A month later he received the following:-- + +_From Mme. Guizot de Witt_ + +Val Richer, ce 20 octobre. + +Mon cher Monsieur,--Je savais bien ce que vous senteriez pour nous et aussi +pour vous-même. Mon père avait pour vous beaucoup d'amitié. En rangeant ses +papiers, au milieu de toutes vos lettres, je trouve une foule de minutes de +ses réponses; quelques-unes sont bien belles. Je ne vous parle pas du vide +affreux de ma vie et de mon âme. Je sais que Dieu me donnera la force de le +supporter en travaillant encore pour ceux qui m'ont quittée. Et le jour du +revoir viendra. Mon père est parti tout entier, lui-même jusqu'au bout, +dans la possession de son esprit et de son âme, plein de confiance en Dieu, +nous recommandant de servir le pays qu'il avait suprêmement aimé et dont +les malheurs ont d'abord ébranlé sa santé. Ma Pauline aussi ne s'était +jamais relevée de la guerre. Us sont ensemble et en paix. Adieu, mon cher +Monsieur. Vous viendrez certainement à Paris cet hiver, et nous vous +verrons. Je compte aller dans six semaines retrouver tout mon monde qui +y est déjà. Remerciez pour moi Mrs. Reeve et Hope, et croyez à tous mes +meilleurs sentiments. + +GUIZOT DE WITT. + +_Journal_ + +_July_.--The building Foxholes was now going on. To Scotland, July 31st, +having again taken Loch Gair. Also hired a 16-ton yacht--the 'Foam.' Got +there on August 1st. John Binet came to Loch Gair, straight from Geneva. + +Mrs. Reeve wrote of him:--'It is his first visit to North Britain, and his +enthusiasm--at 62--is quite delightful to witness. He travelled here from +Paris without stopping, and though a good deal tired and half-starved, was +ready for a walk that afternoon and for climbing hills the next morning.' + +I was engaged all the autumn at Loch Gair in revising the press of 'The +Greville Memoirs' and in preparing a new edition of the 'Democracy in +America.' + +We left Loch Gair on October 8th: and after visits to Abington, Ormiston +and Minto, returned to London on the 26th. + +The publication of the first part of 'The Greville Memoirs' took place on +October 17th. It excited far greater interest than I had expected, and the +first edition sold very rapidly. Five editions were published in less than +six months; the two first of 2,500 each, and the three last of 1,000; so +that about 8,000 copies were sold. + +The Press, in the main, was highly favourable. On the 28th the +Queen--though I believe she had not yet read the book, but only newspaper +extracts--sent me a message by Helps to express her disapproval of it, on +these grounds 1. It was disparaging to her family. 2. It tended to weaken +the monarchy. 3. It proceeded from official persons. I begged Helps to +reply, with my humble duty, that the book showed that, if the monarchy +had really been endangered, it was by the depravity of George IV. and the +absurdities of William IV.; but that under Her Majesty's reign it had +become stronger than ever. + +It may, however, be believed that the Queen, who was, not unnaturally, much +offended, never quite forgave the publication; and it is at least probable +that the annoyance she had felt was the principal reason for Reeve's never +receiving the K.G.B., to which his long service at the Council Office would +seem to have, in a measure, entitled him. + +I saw the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg the same day, October 28th, but I +don't think the Cambridges were very angry. The old Duchess was having the +book read to her, and frequently added amusing recollections to it. + +This publication was one of the most important incidents in Reeve's +literary life; one which was warmly discussed at the time and has been much +commented on since. It is probably as the editor of this remarkable book +that Reeve will be best known to future generations, and it is therefore +well to relate the story in a clear and detailed manner. From the first, +Reeve was fully alive to the responsibility he was undertaking; and the +following memorandum was apparently drawn up at the time of Greville's +death. + +_Memorandum on 'The Greville Memoirs,' and on the death of Charles +Greville_, 1865 + +On January 7th, 1865, I received from Mr. Greville, I being at Torry Hill, +a note requesting me to call on him for a matter, as he expressed it, +not very important, but partly of a personal and partly of a literary +character. I answered directly that being out of town I could not call +immediately, but would not fail to do so as soon as I returned to London. + +I returned to London on the afternoon of Monday, the 9th, and called in +Bruton Street about 11 A.M. on Tuesday the 10th. I thought Mr. Greville +looked thin, but not ill, and he was free from gout. He said, however, that +he was seriously unwell in other ways. The truth was (although he did not +then tell me so) that he had an effusion of water on the heart. I know +not how long it had been coming on; but in the preceding week he had been +staying at the Grenfells' at Taplow, where Lady Colvile had the scarlatina. +From Taplow he proceeded to Savernake; but Lady Ailesbury had so violent a +fear of the infection that she sent a servant to stop Greville's fly on the +way from the station to the house, on the ground that she could not receive +him. He was therefore compelled to go to sleep at the inn at Marlborough, +where, besides being excessively annoyed, he caught a bad cold. The next +day he returned to Taplow, saying to Grenfell, 'I come back here because no +one will receive me!' and he soon afterwards came back to Bruton Street. +This was the history of the malady of which he died; but whether it was +brought on by the cold he caught, or by any other cause, I do not know. + +When I saw him on the 10th he was in no pain, and apparently not seriously +ill. He began by talking about Privy Council affairs; he then gave me an +account of the Windham papers, which Mrs. Henry Baring is preparing for +publication; but I saw that these were not the subjects on which he wished +to see me, and there was evidently a nervousness in his manner as he +approached it. At last, sitting down in his easy-chair, he said--'And now +I want to speak to you about my own affairs. Reeve, I am getting devilish +old, and I think in all probability I have not long to live. I have +therefore been considering what I ought to do with the journals I have kept +on all important occasions for so many years of my life. They amount, I +think, to ninety volumes [Footnote: These are now in the British Museum.], +and extend over nearly fifty years. I left off writing them two years ago, +finding that since I withdrew from the office I knew less of the course of +events. Let us look at them.' He then opened the lower part of a bookcase +in which I saw these volumes in a row. He then added, 'Now, will you take +charge of them? I have been thinking a great deal of what I can do with +them. They contain a good deal of curious matter, as you know, which may +be of interest hereafter. I can do nothing better than leave them in your +hands. You will be the judge whether any part of them, and what, can be +published.' + +To this I replied, that I was very much touched by so great a mark of his +confidence and friendship; that as for the journals, he was quite right in +supposing that I should set as much store by them as he did himself, and +that in whatever I did with them hereafter, I should conform to what +I might suppose to be his wishes; that it appeared to me that a broad +distinction exists between the earlier half, including the reigns of +George IV. and William IV., and the latter half, subsequent to the Queen's +accession, and that if the former part might to a certain extent be +published soon, the other part could not. That the person I should +naturally consult in such a trust would be Lord Clarendon; but that at +present it was not necessary to take any steps, as I hoped he would still +be with us some years; that I would read the journals through, with his +permission, and tell him what I thought. + +To all this he assented. He said, 'They are all full of Clarendon, who +has always been so intimate with me. I will bring you down a dozen of the +volumes the first day I go out in my carriage; and if my life should be +spared a few years, we will talk them over.' + +He then spoke of his letters, particularly of his own letters to the late +Duke of Bedford, which had been recently sent back to him. He said he would +read them over; that some of them might serve to fill up and complete +passages in the journals. To this I remarked, 'Do you mean, then, +these letters are to go with the journals?' He replied, 'That requires +consideration.' He did not therefore give me any power over the letters. + +I was going that day (January 10th) to Ampthill, to see Lord Wensleydale; +and on the 14th to the Grove. This led me to say, 'Am I at liberty to +mention to Lord Clarendon what has passed on this subject?' He answered +'No. I had rather it should be entirely confidential.' I therefore of +course said nothing to anyone. + +On Monday, the 16th, I returned to town from the Grove, and went in the +evening, about five, to Bruton Street. Lady Sydney and Lady Enfield were +with him. He looked somewhat weaker, and complained of total loss of +appetite. As soon as the ladies were gone, he resumed the subject of the +journals, and immediately said, 'Now you are come back to town, you +can take some of them.' He rang for his servant to hold a light to the +bookcase, and by his directions I took vols. v., vi., vii., and viii., and +carried them home with me. He said he had lent the first four vols. to his +brother Henry, but that I should have them soon. He then again said, 'When +you have read these, you will see what you think can be published; but as +you advance they become more interesting.' I read these volumes nearly +through the same evening, beginning from the death of Lord Liverpool. + +On Tuesday, January 17th, I returned to Bruton Street about six. He was +alone. Another volume of the journals was on the table by him, which he +gave me, saying, 'You will find this more interesting'--but this was as I +was going away. I told him that I had read the former volumes greedily, and +that he had treated George IV. with great severity. He replied, 'What I +have said of him is not flattering; but that is what he was.' I then asked +him about the passages in cipher. He said he had invented this cipher +himself for the purpose of his journal; that he could read it, but nobody +else. That he would read to me the passages in cipher if I would bring them +to him; but he added, 'For that matter, the truth is the greater part of +them had better be omitted, as they relate to things which are better +forgotten.' He then mentioned that he had told Henry Greville that 'I was +to have the journals.' And I afterwards found that he had intimated his +intention to Mr. Baring and I think to Lord Granville. + +He said that Meryon (his doctor) thought him better to-day-that the day +before had been a very bad one; but he had still no appetite, though he was +going to try to eat a piece of woodcock for his dinner. It was then near +seven o'clock, and I left him, taking the volume with me, but with no +presentiment that we were parting for ever. He said, as I wished him good +night, 'Come again to-morrow if you are near me.' I promised to come, and +to come often, and left the room. + +He can scarcely have seen anyone afterwards; for the evening was advancing, +and between nine and ten he went to bed. His servant proposed to sleep +near him. He said, 'No; I don't want that, unless I am very ill.' He fell +asleep, and seems never to have waked, for when he was found in the morning +he lay with his finger resting on his pillow in his accustomed attitude, +like a child asleep. + +On January 27th I received a letter from Henry Greville, stating that +Charles had informed him of his intention, but that there was nothing about +the journals or letters in the will or codicil. I answered this letter +the same day, by giving him an abridged copy or version of the preceding +statement. + +I ought to have stated that, in the conversation of January 10th, Mr. +Greville said that he thought it better not to fix any stated time +within which the journals might or might not be published. Part might be +published, but it was a mere question of discretion and propriety what and +when. + +I observed to him that in selecting me as his literary executor, the only +question was whether some member of his own family might not more properly +be selected. To this he replied that he had considered that, and preferred +that I should have them. I have since found that, prior to the death of +Sir George Lewis, he had been selected by Greville for this trust. He then +hesitated for some time whom he should appoint, and then chose me. + +Having made up his mind that the time was ripe for the publication of the +earlier volumes of the journals, Reeve--as has been said--gave them to the +world on October 17th, fully prepared to take all the responsibility of his +act. And indeed he was quickly called on to do so; for some of Greville's +relations, uneasy--it would appear--at the hostile attitude of the Court, +called on him to make a public declaration that they had nothing to do with +it, whilst others were disposed to question Reeve's legal right. Of this, +however, he had plenty of evidence; amongst others, that of Mr. T. Longman, +who wrote:-- + +_Farnborough Hill, November 7th._--... In the interview I had with Mr. +Harvie Farquhar, I stated that Mr. Greville consulted me some time before +his death as to whom he should leave his journals to, and that Mr. Greville +concurred in my suggestion that he should leave them to you. As Mr. +Greville acted on this some time after our conference, it became obvious to +Mr. H. Farquhar that, as between gentlemen, the main question that had been +raised, as to your right of possession, fell to the ground. + +After this the matter was settled in a perfectly amicable manner in a +meeting between Reeve and Mr. Harvie Farquhar, representing the timorous +kinsfolk, and together they wrote the following letter, which was +published, under Reeve's signature, in the 'Times,' 'Pall Mall Gazette,' +and some other papers, on November 7th. + +Finding that statements are current that Mr. Charles Greville's and Mr. +Henry Greville's executors had been consulted as to the publication of Mr. +Charles Greville's Journals of the Reigns of George IV. and William IV., +I think it right to say that they were in no way consulted by me, nor +was their assent asked for, because I believed it to be the wish of +Mr. Greville that his family and executors should be relieved from all +responsibility in the matter. + +The journals were not left to Mr. Henry Greville, nor did they pass to +his executors, having been given to me by Mr. Greville himself before +his death, as stated by me in the preface, for the purpose of eventual +publication, but the time and manner of publication were left to my sole +discretion. I am, therefore, alone responsible for the production of this +portion of the journals at the present time, and any beneficial interest +in them is a matter entirely between my publisher and myself. Beneficial +interest in the publication had not, however, the slightest influence on +the course I thought it right to pursue, and I take this opportunity of +stating that, in my opinion, many years must elapse before the more recent +portions of these journals can with propriety be published. + +On the actual publication he received many encouraging letters, a few of +which are here given, together with a remarkable expression of opinion from +Lord Russell, one of the few public men then living who could speak of the +regency and the reign of George IV. from personal knowledge. + +_From Mr. Delane_ + +October 22nd. + +Dear Reeve,--I am glad you are pleased with the first notice of Greville's +Journals. There are at least two more to come, which will, I hope, be +equally gratifying to you. Certainly you did not publish too soon. The +world moves too quickly for long intervals of suppressed publication. I +suppose the book is not really published, as I have only seen it in sheets. +Yours ever faithfully, + +J. T. DELANE. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +Knowsley, October 31st. + +Dear Reeve,--The Greville papers are quite the most interesting and amusing +work of the year; and, considering the extreme difficulty of editing such a +work without spoiling it--on the one hand, by too much suppression, or by +leaving in it passages which would give reasonable cause of offence to +private persons--I think you have been singularly judicious.... As to the +journalist's criticisms on public men, they seem to me to be the harsh +judgements of a man trying to be impartial, though inclined to be +acrimonious. There is certainly nothing in them which you could have +the slightest scruple about publishing, or which the relatives of those +concerned can resent. + +Very sincerely yours, + +DERBY. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +St. Anne's Hill, Chertsey, October 31st. + +My dear Reeve,--... I have been reading Charles Greville with much interest +and entertainment. I think you are quite right in publishing now, and not +waiting for a generation 'who knew not Joseph.' There is always a clamour +against those who tell the truth. Charles Greville may very likely [have +been], and certainly was, very often wrong; but he believed he told the +truth, and he certainly uttered his genuine sentiments. These journals +throw a strong light on contemporary events, and will be very valuable to +the future historians of the period. Ch. G. was a man who felt much and +expressed himself strongly; and had you attempted to soften his language +you would have injured the effect and destroyed the _couleur locale_. + +He was a man naturally of a quick and irritable temper, and he had been a +spoilt child all his life. His original education was defective. He lived +with the selfish and the self-indulgent, and naturally became selfish and +self-indulgent himself. At six years old an old friend of his mother's +found him crying at dinner because he had not got the liver wing of the +chicken; and to the last he would have wanted 'the liver wing.' But he had +naturally a kind heart, and a just perception; and he admired what was +noble and generous, if he did not always practise it. He suffered greatly +in health, and he was too self-indulgent, even with the certainty of pain +before his eyes, to moderate his appetite. His last years were unhappy. The +indulgence of his temper made his company often disagreeable, and he very +keenly felt the neglect of his old friends. With a better education +he would have been a most valuable man, for his natural powers were +considerable. Like so many other London men, he thought the whole world was +bounded by Oxford Street, Pall Mall, the Parks, and the City; and he took +his opinions from the clubs in St. James's Street and Pall-Mall, and, as +those opinions varied, so we find his judgements in these journals vary. +But he himself was convinced, and he uttered the genuine sentiments of the +moment.... I hope you will publish the rest of the four vols. before long, +and that you will preserve exactly the same plan you have done in these.... +Yours very sincerely, E. C. + +_From Mr. Harvie Farquhar_ + +16 St. James's Street, November 28th. + +The yeast of society ferments easily, and--at present--C. G.'s manes are +the best abused in or out of Hades; but all will settle down soon, and when +people have done throwing stones, and the water is placid enough to enable +them to see below the surface, they will better appreciate what lies at the +bottom. Whether abused or not, the book will be in every library--on its +merits. + +_From the Queen of Holland_ + +The Hague, Monday, November 30th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--Saturday night, November 28th, the books arrived. I +am afraid, after Sunday church, more of my time than ought to have been +Sunday's occupation was given to these three volumes. Of course, I have not +_read_ them; I _rushed_ through, and am now going to read page by page. +The interest is an immense one. Not only that I have _known many_ of the +persons named, but I have _heard_ from all, and they seem to me like +shadows reviving, returning to light and life. Dear Lord Clarendon's name +struck me several times; and I remember, when Mr. Greville died, Lord +Clarendon wrote me 'his papers had been given to the person most able to +judge them.' At that time I did not know Mr. Reeve; but I recollect the +words perfectly. Pray give my best compliments to Mrs. Reeve, and believe +me very sincerely yours, + +SOPHIE. + +_From Lord Russell to Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_December 9th_.--I was much interested in C. Greville's Memoirs. He is not +a bit too severe on George IV. A worse man has not lived in our time. + +On the other hand, many of the papers criticised the work in a hostile and +violent manner. It was, they said, a breach of official confidence for a +man in Greville's position to keep a journal at all. Greville--whose name +it was fatally easy to rhyme to Devil--was described as a man delighting in +listening at keyholes, and habitually misrepresenting the only half-heard +secrets. Here is a specimen; one epigram out of many, all to the same +effect, and all ending with the same rhyme:-- + + For fifty years he listened at the door, + And heard some secrets, and invented more; + These he wrote down, and statesmen, queens and kings, + Are all degraded into common things. + Though most have passed away, some still remain + To whom such scandal gives a needless pain; + And though they smile, and say 'Tis only Greville,' + They wish him, Reeve, and Longman at the devil. + +The 'Quarterly Review,' too, in a peculiarly venomous article, compared +the relative positions of Greville and Reeve with those of Bolingbroke and +Mallet, as painted by Dr. Johnson. Bolingbroke, he had said, was a cowardly +blackguard, who loaded a gun which he was afraid to fire off himself, and +left a shilling to a beggarly Scotchman to pull the trigger after his +death. The inference was inevitable; and though Reeve was neither a +Scotchman nor a beggar, he unquestionably felt the sting, coming, as it +did, from a friend of more than forty years' standing, Abraham Hayward +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. pp. 12, 34.]. The friendship was not +unnaturally broken, nor does the old intimacy appear to have been ever +renewed. + +Of course the gravamen of this charge, made not only by the 'Quarterly +Review,' but by other less distinguished journals, was that Reeve had been +mainly, if not solely, influenced by the idea of making a good thing out of +it. The sale of the work--they said--was very great. Commercially, it had +been a brilliant success. Reeve's trained insight into literary affairs had +shown him that it must be so, and, tempted by the _auri sacra fames_, he +had yielded, maugre the counsels of his better part. Never was charge more +unjust, more untrue. Reeve, though not a wealthy man, was now in easy +circumstances, with a sufficient and assured income. Prudent in the +management of his property and in his expenditure he seems to have always +been; but as far removed, both by temperament and education, from parsimony +as from extravagance. Money he valued only for what it could give him; and +both in fact and in sentiment he was in a position to say with the poet-- + + mihi parva rura et + Spiritum Graias tenuem Camoenae + Parca non mendax dedit, et malignum + Spernere vulgus. + +Still, the charge was made at the time, was currently repeated, and +has been believed by many. It happens, however, that the most complete +contradiction of it remains in the shape of Reeve's letters to Mr. T. +Longman, some of which we can now read. + +_C. O., November 7th_.--Nothing could end better for me than the amicable +discussion with H. Farquhar, and I am exceedingly glad to have had an +opportunity of writing the letter which appears in the 'Times' and 'Post' +to-day. + +I have never desired to make this book a source of profit to myself, beyond +a reasonable remuneration for the time and labour I have spent on it. +The returns have already exceeded my expectation and desire. It is not, +therefore, my wish or intention to press or urge the sale of the book. I +have no doubt the second edition will go off fast enough--indeed a good +part of it is already bespoken. But I have not at all made up my mind to +proceed to a third edition if the second is exhausted. I am inclined to +think I shall hold my hand. I have no wish to make more money out of the +book, or to make it a very common popular work; and my feeling is that I +should best consult my own dignity by leaving matters as they are, at any +rate for the present. + +However, it is needless to decide this now, as the demand for a third +edition may never arise. But I think it right to let you know my view of +the matter, because you are by no means called upon to advertise largely, +or make efforts to extend the sale--at least, not more than you think +necessary to cover your own interests. But I believe you would be sure to +sell this second edition without any advertising at all. I certainly do not +wish to have any puffing advertisements. I had rather that the book were to +become scarce and dear than that you should sell ten thousand copies. + +_November 9th_.--There is a good deal of truth in what you say about not +publishing a third edition if the second is sold off. People would probably +attribute it to the wrong motive, and say I had been stopped in some +way, or was afraid; and nobody gets any credit for disinterestedness. +Fortunately the first edition was a very small one, for you could have sold +5,000 as easily as 2,500, and this has given a check to the sale, which I +do not regret. If necessary, I suppose these editions must go on as long as +there is a demand for the book. But the desire to get hold of new books is +a short-lived passion, and is soon turned aside by some other novelty. I +shall not wish to publish the book at all in a cheaper form, and I think it +will require very little outlay in advertising. + +Reeve would, however, have been more than human if the continued success +of the book had not greatly modified his views, and reconciled him to the +steady sale; and some months later he wrote again:-- + +_January 25th_, 1875.--The general impression seems to be that Hayward's +article is a fiasco. It has done me no harm, and his clients have no reason +to thank him. The fourth edition of Greville will contain a good many +improvements and corrections, and will be the best edition to keep. I +believe they are printing 1,000. I wish they had made it 1,500, for this +multiplication of editions is troublesome, and I have no doubt that 1,500 +will ultimately be sold. The book has struck root below the stratum of the +circulating libraries. + +_April 15th_, 1875.--Nothing seems to be wanting to the indirect +advertisement of Greville's Journals, though the usual advertisements were +by my desire restricted. I do not recollect another instance of a book +being made the subject of a hostile motion in the House of Commons. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FOXHOLES + + +Anyone whose memory needs refreshing will find in the 'Edinburgh Reviews' +of the next five years sufficient indication of the interest which Reeve +continued to take in the great questions of the day, whether at home or +abroad; but his private correspondence at this time is mainly devoted to +social or literary topics. The death of Lord Clarendon in England, of M. +Guizot in France, had deprived him of the living keys to the dark problems +of policy, and there was no one with equal knowledge and opportunities +to take their place. He was, too, in opposition. In form, at least, the +principles of the 'Edinburgh Review' differed widely from those of +the Government; and though many things even then told of a probable +_rapprochement_ of moderate Whigs and moderate Conservatives, it was still +held by most to be an extravagant dream. But even had it been otherwise, +the personal element was wanting. With Disraeli, Reeve's acquaintance was +limited; with Lord Salisbury, though on friendly terms, he had never been +intimate; his intimacy with Lord Derby was of a later date. From our +foreign embassies and from India, his communications were on a more +familiar footing; but many of these took the form of articles for the +'Review,' and of the rest, in view of the delicacy of the subjects +discussed, the frankness with which they were discussed, and the +comparatively recent date, it has seemed unadvisable to publish much. The +result of all which is that during this peculiarly busy, exciting and +important time, Reeve's available correspondence is more purely personal +than at any other period of his working life. The Journal is seldom +anything else. It records here:-- + +_October, 1874_.--M. de Jarnac was now French Ambassador, to my great +delight, as he was a very old and valued friend. The first planting at +Foxholes was done in the course of this autumn, but the garden was not made +till the following spring. + +_November 17th_.--Dined at Lord Derby's with several of the ministers, and +was introduced to Count Schouvaloff. + +_20th_.--Dinner at home to the Jarnacs, Lady Derby, Lady Cowley, Lady +Molesworth, Chief Justice Cockburn and A. Elliot. Several pleasant dinners +through the winter. + +_December 22nd_.--To Paris, with Christine and Hopie. Cold. On the 26th +breakfasted with the Due d'Aumale, and went with him to the Institute. +Evening, Duchesse de Chartres. 27th, dined at Versailles with Thiers; +Mignet, Barthelémy St.-Hilaire and Vacherot. It was on this occasion that +Thiers related the story of the Duc d'Enghien. + +_January 1st_, 1875.--We dined at the Embassy for the _Jour de l'an_. While +there rain fell and the streets were covered with _verglas_. I walked with +great difficulty to Thiers's at the Hôtel Bagration, three doors off, where +the scene was burlesque. Not a carriage could move; not a horse could +stand; and the company walked home with napkins tied round their feet. [But +Mrs. Reeve, who was at the dinner, wrote: Our _fiacre_ managed to crawl +home with Hopie and me. Henry, who had gone to the Thiers's, returned +safely on his feet tied up in dusters. M. Thiers suggested dusters on the +hands also, so as to go _à quatre pattes_; but Henry did not become a +quadruped. I was horribly uneasy till he came in, but his was the ludicrous +side of the question; of the tragic, I heard next day plenty of instances.] + +_January 3rd_.--Dined with the Duc de Nemours, and went to the Duchesse +Decazes's reception. Home on the 7th. + +_From the Rev. G. W. Cox_ [Footnote: Now Sir George Cox, Bart.] + +_February 5th_.--Nothing but lack of leisure has prevented me from +expressing sooner the very hearty satisfaction and delight with which I +have read and re-read your article on Mill's Essays. I suppose it is this +article which has sent the 'Edinburgh' into a second edition. I am rejoiced +to think that it is so. The ground which you take is, I feel sure, +impregnable; but the force of your whole argument, which is much what I +have tried to work out for years past, only makes me lament the more +the folly of the line taken by most of the writers who shrink from the +materialistic and atheistic philosophy of Mill and Tyndall--for the latter +seems to put himself into the same boat. I believe that the thought of +England is, on this subject, taking, or is likely to take, a very healthy +turn, which such an article as yours must greatly promote. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +Paris, February 5th. + +My dear Reeve,--I have received your article on Mr. Stuart Mill, for which +I thank you. I read it with the greatest interest, and congratulate you on +your vigorous refutation of that supercilious and hollow materialism. I am +glad, too, to see that you have profited by M. Dumas's last discourse on M. +de la Rive. You have done well to record these declarations of a permanent +secretary of the Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, M. Dumas's character +has not the moral authority which is desirable in such serious matters. +His taking part in public business, far from increasing his credit, has +lessened it; even his scientific standing has suffered; people doubt his +sincerity; and his interested flattery of the Empire does not show that +greatness and purity of soul which inspire confidence. He is, however, +everywhere recognised as a man of great ability, and I am truly glad that +he should be counted among the partisans of spiritualism. I believe the +other permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences is far from sharing +these opinions; and it is, therefore, all the more important that M. Dumas +should profess them publicly. With you, materialism is an exception and +an eccentricity. With us, on the contrary, it is almost the rule of the +learned world; and the Catholic clergy, given up to superstition and +ultramontanism, do not in any way help us to combat it. It was an honour to +the 'Edinburgh Review' to adhere so stoutly to the principles you uphold; +and for this, it is indebted to you. + +Agréez, mon cher Reeve, mes salutations bien cordiales, que je présente +aussi à toute votre famille. Votre bien dévoué, + +B. ST.-HILAIRE. + +The Journal continues:-- + +_March 6th_--Sir Arthur Helps died. [He caught a chill at the levee on the +Monday, and died on the Saturday.] + +Charles Peel was appointed Clerk of the Council. + +_22nd_.--Jarnac died--a great loss. I drove down with Lord Derby to the +funeral. + +_April 1st_.--Saw Salvini in 'Othello' at Drury Lane. Very fine. + +_2nd_.--To Christchurch. Roof on house at Foxholes. Garden beginning to be +made. On the 6th, lunched with the Lord Chancellor at Bournemouth. Bought +additional strip of land. + +_From Professor Owen_ + +British Museum, May 13th. + +My dear Reeve,--Two portraits would be famous and instructive and replete +with interest to all ages; to wit: the one of Miss Reeve (?) [Footnote: +Lady Smith. The (?) presumably is whether the portrait was taken before or +after her marriage.] by Opie, showing the 'human face divine' in a +female of the highest race of mankind, at her prime of beauty; and the +second--could it but be got--by Millais, of Lady Smith, giving the +characteristics of the same face, of the same individual, at a stage of +human life never again likely to be a subject for art, under the same +circumstances. For the 'Natural History of the Human Species,' such a +pair of portraits would be notable in every work thereon, as well as in +countless collateral works; and that to all time. The present opportunity +is worth every exertion to availment; if lost, it is most improbable that +it may ever again occur. Can you enlist your sympathy and aid in bringing +this about? [Footnote: Sir Richard Owen succeeded in obtaining a pair of +photographs, taken from the Ople and the life. His grandson, the Rev. +Richard Owen, has them now.] + +Yours always truly, + +RICHARD OWEN. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +_Lowestoft, May 14th_.--Dear Mr. Reeve,--As we know not what the morning +mail may bring forth, I look with impatient curiosity when I see letters +on my breakfast table; so yesterday had the great pleasure of perceiving +yours, knowing I should have something pleasant to hear, but little +anticipating what followed--the news of Arthur Stanley. To be remembered +kindly by the Dean of Westminster, anywhere, is honour; but to be [so] in +so distinguished a manner and in a place dedicated to [such] a name as Fox +is an honour never to be forgotten. Besides the domestic blessings I enjoy, +I also reckon that of living to witness the progress of a new Reformation, +in which the Dean of Westminster is the brightest light; and who, like +Shakespeare among the poets, stood on a higher pedestal than they--exalted +and good men as they are. I always rejoice that the Dean of Christ Church, +Oxford, and Stanley are good friends and worthy of each other. If I could +write better, I would tell you what my friend Mr. Leson Smith said of the +Greville Memoirs,, quite approving all of it. In a second letter he turns +the shafts aimed at yourself upon the calumniator. The Dean of Oxford +also approves. I am in better health than I was two years since, and have +nothing to complain of but a failing sight, which hinders my expressions of +gratitude to you for your friendship to Pleasance Smith. + +Oh that you were here to see the wild beauty of the heath and dunes--a +cloth of gold far as the eye can reach!--what was the Field of Cloth of +Gold to this! + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +_May 20th_.--Went to Holland, by Harwich, to see the Queen. Dined with Her +Majesty at the House in the Wood. On the 24th, breakfasted with the Queen +in the boudoir at the end of the Gallery in the Wood. Charming spring +morning. Went on to Aix. Home by Ostend on the 31st. + +_June 15th_.--Helen Richardson was married to Sir Edward Blackett at +Ottershaw. We went down the day before. + +_22nd_.--The Queen of Holland came to London. Dined with Her Majesty at the +Sandbachs' on July 1st. She came to see the statue of Lord Clarendon at the +Foreign Office on July 2nd. + +_July 6th._--I took the Queen of Holland to see the Novar pictures. Meadows +Taylor stayed with us. Christine went to take the waters of St.-Honoré in +France. + +Robert Lemon [Footnote: Son of Robert Lemon, a clerk in the State Paper +Office, and editor of some of the Calendars of State Papers, who died in +1867.], my clerk for thirty-three years, died in a fit. + +Reeve deeply felt the loss of one who had been for so long associated with +him; but, independently of this, Mr. Lemon's death at this particular time +had an important influence on Reeve's immediate future. For some months he +had been contemplating retiring from the office, which he had now held for +close on forty years, in the view of devoting himself more exclusively to +literary work--apparently to a task of some magnitude. He had also been in +correspondence with Mr. Longman on a proposal from the firm that he should +act as their literary adviser; and thus, after long consideration he had, +on July 5th, mentioned, in a semi-official manner, his wish to retire in +October. On July 6th he wrote to Mr. Longman, provisionally accepting the +offer of the firm; but the next day had to write again-- + +What a world is this! On Monday I told the Duke [of Richmond] I would +resign on October 25th. Yesterday evening, my chief clerk, Robert Lemon, +had an apoplectic fit, and he died in the course of last night. He was a +most excellent and valuable assistant to me, and I looked forward to him +to drill in my successor. It may now become impossible for me to leave the +office as soon as I meant to do, for poor Lemon and myself are the only two +men who know the detail of the business, and I can't leave the department +derelict. + +It is a most melancholy and distressing occurrence. + +_July 14th_.--It is clear that the vacancy which has occurred in this +office will detain me here six months, and perhaps a year longer than +I wished or intended. This being so, our arrangements must remain in +abeyance, with entire liberty to you to renew or withdraw your offer. At +this distance of time it is superfluous to discuss details, but if I accept +the duties you propose to me, I should of course adapt my movements and +residence to the exigency of the case. At present, I find my work here +vastly increased, because I have to look more to the detail of the +business. + +The contemplated arrangement was thus postponed for the time, and was not +again taken up in that form. Reeve continued--as he had long done--to act +as confidential adviser to the firm; but he remained at the Council Office +for another twelve years, and when he ultimately retired, it was not with +the view of undertaking any heavy additional work. The Journal goes on:-- + +_August 2nd_.--To Paris. Met Christine at Dijon on the 3rd. Then by Dole to +Vevay. Binet came. Met the Wodehouses. Visit to the Blumenthals at their +_chalet_. 13th, to the Gorges du Trient, and so to Chamonix, with Binet +and Christine. Splendid weather at Chamonix. 16th, St. Martin's; full moon +rising behind Mont Blanc. 17th, to Chambéry, St. Laurent du Pont, and the +Grande Chartreuse--very interesting. Geneva on the 20th, and back to Vevay +on the 21st. Thence to Besançon, Belfort, and Nancy. 27th, Metz. Drove +round the fields of battle of Gravelotte and St. Privat. To Brussels, by +Luxembourg. Bought furniture at Brussels for Foxholes. Home by Antwerp on +September 1st. + +_October 7th_.--To Bournemouth, to look over Foxholes. 26th, Timsbury. + +_November 20th_.--House nearly finished. Christmas at Farnborough. The +workmen left Foxholes on December 28th. + +The Government bought the Khedive's shares in the Suez Canal. I attacked +the bargain in the 'Edinburgh Review.' + +But from the earliest inception of the Suez Canal, Reeve had strongly +opposed it. He held, and in fact all history warranted him in holding, +that the opening of a water-way through the isthmus would be more than +prejudicial, would be destructive, to English interests. He was very far +from being alone in this opinion; it was one which he shared with several +of the most able and experienced men of the day, quite irrespective of +party. France, on her side, indulged in golden dreams. The wealth and +grandeur of mediaeval Venice was to find its counterpart in the commercial +prosperity of Marseilles; and it is permitted us to believe that much of +the enthusiasm which the scheme excited was due to the hope that it would +irretrievably damage England. Hence, too, the ill will rising out of the +disappointment, out of the conviction forced on the people of France that, +far from injuring us, it has turned out altogether to our advantage. French +skill constructed the canal, French capital paid for it. England stood +aloof till success was achieved, and then hastened to reap the profit; +then, by buying up the shares, doubled that profit; and since then, by the +occupation of Egypt, has usurped the control of the whole. Never has there +been such a case of the _Sic vos non vobis_; and the French are very +angry. Reeve's constant and familiar intercourse with French society had +necessarily taught him the opinions so universally held in France, and had +persuaded him that the only safe plan for England was to have nothing to do +with the pestilent thing. Disraeli, on the other hand, with a wider grasp +of the situation, understood that, in this, at any rate, inactivity was +not masterly, and that by boldness the enemy would be hoist with their own +petard. + +_From Lady Smith_ + +Lowestoft, December 5th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--It gave me pleasure to see your handwriting again, and +some surprise. In the first place, I must mention that I think you would +prefer Opie's original portrait to that which I possess, which, though by +Opie, is the copy of my portrait. When I last saw the original picture it +was in the Royal Academy; where it is now, I do not know; but [that] may +perhaps be ascertained. I must add that from its long residence in +London it looked very dingy, and required a refreshment from some good +picture-mender, and fresh varnish. If this picture is not come-at-able, I +shall be happy to send that I have here, of which you will acquaint me, and +send particular directions of the place and time it may be expected. + +I am glad to hear you, and Mrs. Reeve, and my amiable young friend your +daughter are well. I hear you are building a superb mansion at Bournemouth; +a charming place, I have no doubt. My kind regards to you and them, from +your attached friend, PLEASANCE SMITH. + +Very sorry am I to hear of Lady Augusta Stanley's hopeless illness, and +happy am I to observe the Dean's perpetual vigour. Long may he continue to +illume the realm of mist in that Temple of Reconciliation where his light +shines in so brilliant a lustre. In what a remarkable period do we live! + +The picture by Opie was exhibited from Mr. Botfield's [Footnote: Beriah +Botfield, of Deckel's Hill, Shiffnal, Shropshire, and Grosvenor Square; +died 1863.] collection (at one of the Old Masters' Exhibitions) about nine +or ten years ago. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_January 1876_.--I meant to go to Paris, but gout came on, and I gave it +up. + +_March 28th_.--Sent down furniture, &c. by vans to Foxholes. + +_April 2nd_.--Took possession of Foxholes; cold and windy, and I gouty. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, April 19th_.--Lady Holland has written me a note quite as +amiable as her brother, and all the family seem to be satisfied with my +article. The little crack of the whip just nicked the fly on Abraham's ear. +A touch is often more keenly felt than a blow, when dealt in the right +place. + +The only fault to be found with living here is that life glides away too +rapidly, and I feel as if I should hardly have time to read over again the +works of the Immortals, before I go to join them. + +We have just got a splendid billiard table, and Hopie and I intersperse +cannons and winning hazards with literature. + +And the Journal:-- + +_April 27th_.--Returned to town. Very bad fit of gout. This was the year +of my grand climacteric (sixty-three), and I was uncommonly ill. I went to +Aix, May 30th; but was worse there, and came back, June 19th. + +_July 7th_.--Garden party at Holland House; the only thing I was able to go +to this year from incessant gout. + +_12th_.--Came down to Foxholes. Great heat; no rain from April till August. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +62 Rutland Gate, April 28th. + +My Dear Lord Derby,--I cannot forbear to express to you our very great +and cordial sympathy in the great loss you have sustained.[Footnote: The +Dowager Countess of Derby died on April 26th, 1876.] It was Gray, I think, +who said that a man can have but one mother, and in losing her one loses +the only real witness of the tenderest part of the growth of life. Nobody +else has any memory for infancy, childhood and youth, and no one else has +the same claims to dutiful affection. The loss is irreparable. I find it so +myself every day. Lady Derby had the happiness to see you combine with the +most affectionate regard for her the public duties and honours which are +almost hereditary in your family. Few women have seen life played out on a +nobler scale. She was the link between two generations of statesmen, +and lived in the entire intimacy and affection of both. But these +considerations cannot alleviate sorrow! + +With every assurance of sincere regard to yourself and Lady Derby from Mrs. +Reeve and myself, believe me, always faithfully yours, + +H. Reeve. + +Continuing the Journal:-- + +_August 12th_.--Disraeli made Earl Beaconsfield. + +_14th_.--From Southampton to Havre and Rouen with Christine and Hopie. +Dined with the Cardinal de Bonnechose; Circourt joined us there. + +_17th_.--To the Château d'Eu; found there the Duc de Montpensier and +Infanta Christine, Duc and Duchesse de Chartres, Mme. de Rainneville and +Lambert de Sainte-Croix. Drive in forest; very hot. + +_21st_.--Celebrated our silver wedding at Eu. To Dieppe and back by Havre +on the 24th. William Longman came to Foxholes. Saw Lady Charlotte Bacon +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 88.] again. + +Mrs. Reeve gave 'Ianthe,' whom they met at a luncheon party at Bournemouth, +a fuller notice. She wrote, 'A bad husband and narrow means kept her out of +England for thirty-five years or so, and she is now a corpulent matron of +seventy, with no trace of those charms sung by the poet.' + +All this autumn an immense agitation was kept up, chiefly by Gladstone, +on the 'Bulgarian Atrocities.' Meetings were held all over the kingdom. I +published an article in the 'Review' in October, which Lord Derby said was +the first thing that turned the tide. It soon turned altogether; and in a +few months the people were as anxious to attack the Russians as they had +been to coerce the Turks. + +To Mr. Dempster + +_Foxholes, October 17th._--Can you, who know all the genealogies of +Scotland better than the Red Lion himself, tell me what relation Countess +Purgstall was to Dugald Stewart? [Footnote: She was his wife's sister.] I +know she was a Cranstoun; but was she related to the great Professor? When +my father was in Vienna in 1805, she received him very kindly, because he +had known Dugald Stewart, and followed his lectures in Edinburgh. + +I enjoy my life here above all things. Four months have slipped away in +this Olympian calm, between the sea and the sky, and I fancy that the New +Forest is the Highlands; but it is time to be up and doing, and next week I +return to London, with a large stock of health and good spirits. + +Matters look very black in the East. I am afraid it is a deep-laid Russian +plot, which Gladstone has done not a little to promote and encourage. You +will see that I have held to my own line in the Blue and Yellow. + +To Mr. T. Longman + +_Rutland Gate, November 1st._--I have a great dislike to the proposal of +reprinting an article of my own in a cheap form. It seems to me to be +descending to the level of Mr. Gladstone's sixpenny agitation. Moreover, +the political situation is now considerably altered. Many things which +were said hypothetically on October 12th have assumed a different shape on +November 1st. But if any arrangement can be made to supply the Mayor of +Bristol with one hundred copies of the 'Review,' at a cheap rate, I shall +be very glad of it. The cheap republication of the attractive article would +be just as injurious to booksellers who have copies of the 'Review' on hand +as the distribution of copies of the 'Review.' Both measures interfere with +the regular course of sale, and are therefore mischievous. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_January 23rd_, 1877.--The Folkestone (Ritualist) case [Footnote: Ridsdale +_v._ Clifton and others. See _Times_, January 24th and following days. +Judgement, _Times_, July 19th.] heard by the Judicial Committee, by eleven +privy councillors, and five bishops. It lasted nearly a fortnight. + +_January 24th_.--Christine and I went to pay a visit to the Duke and +Duchess of Cleveland at Battle Abbey. It was singularly interesting and +agreeable. Nothing could exceed the vivacity of the Duchess, or her +attention to her guests. The party consisted of Maud Stanley, Charles +Newton, Banks-Stanhope, Raglan Somerset, and the Mercer Hendersons. + +I have known the Duke these forty years, having first met him at the +Duchesse de Mailly's, in Paris, about the year 1836. He is the only +Englishman I ever knew who is perfectly at home in the best French society, +and as Lord Harry Vane he was extremely popular in Paris. There is now +nobody living who has known so many of my oldest and best friends--most of +whom are now no more--both in Paris, Geneva, and London; and our talk of +these old times was most abundant. + +Battle Abbey is certainly one of the most curious and beautiful remains in +England, and as it was built on the morrow of the Conquest (1067), it +is astonishing how much remains. The present drawing-room is a long, +low-arched room, with Gothic arches springing from columns of Purbeck +marble. Much of the great refectory and part of the cloisters still +remains. This is part of the original building of William the Conqueror. +The great gateway and outer wall is of the time of Edward III. The great +hall is about two hundred years old. The Abbey was given by Henry VIII. to +Sir Anthony Browne, and afterwards purchased in 1722 by the Websters, from +whom the Duke of Cleveland bought it a few years ago. + +The Duchess drove us over to call at Ashburnham, about three miles on the +other side of Battle. There we saw a most beautiful Sir Joshua of Lady St. +Asaph (the present Earl's grandmother) and the shirt King Charles wore on +the day of his execution. Lady Ashburnham told us that old women had, +in our time, asked for leave to spread the cloth which is with it over +children to cure the King's evil. + +Lord Ashburnham [Footnote: He died in June 1878, in his eighty-first +year.] is himself a sight--a man of eighty, in high boots, very deaf, very +caustic, and clever; possessing under lock and key most wonderful literary +treasures and curiosities. He gave 3,000 £ for a manuscript bible, but that +we did not see. + +_February 3rd_--Lady Smith died at Lowestoft, aged 103 and 9 months. + +_March 13th_--Tennyson dined at The Club; Archbishop and Chancellor there. + +_16th_--To Foxholes. April 14th, back to town. + +It was about this time that Miss Agnes Clerke--who has since come into the +foremost rank as a popular exponent of science and as the biographer of +its votaries--was making her _début_ in literature, and contributed two +articles to the 'Edinburgh Review,' the one in April on 'Brigandage in +Sicily,' and the other, which appeared in July, on 'Copernicus in Italy,' +subjects which her residence in Italy had brought more immediately under +her notice. Just before the publication of the first of these Reeve wrote +to her, introducing M. de Circourt, who was then at Florence where Miss +Clerke was. A fortnight later he wrote again in answer to her reply. + +Rutland Gate, April 19th. + +My Dear Miss Clerke,--It gives me very sincere pleasure to have contributed +to introduce you to your first literary success. I hope it may be the +prelude to many more. I can hardly venture to recommend to you the course +in which you should steer your bark. On scientific subjects I am very +ignorant, but there has been an article in the 'Review' on Spectrum +Analysis, by Professor Roscoe, and another on the Transit of Venus last +year. You have the advantage of seeing before your eyes the intellectual +_renaissance_ of Italy, and it has already supplied you with two very good +subjects. + +It is probable that before October something else may turn up. If not, I +will send you a book from England to review--for instance, Miss Wynne's +Letters and Journals, which are being printed, and will come out in +October. Miss Wynne was a delightful person, who lived in the society of +Paris, when it was most agreeable. M. de Circourt is the last survivor of +it--unless I may be reckoned a survivor too. I am glad you appreciate him. +He was private secretary to M. de Polignac in 1830, and married in 1832 an +incomparable Russian--Mlle. de Klustine. They used to say that she knew +seventeen languages and he eighteen. She died some years ago from a +burn, and Circourt now passes his life chiefly with Mme. d'Affry and her +daughter, the Duchess Colonna. + +I have another cousin (besides Mrs. Ross) who passes her winters in +Florence, or near it--Mrs. James Whittle. She is a great invalid, and never +goes out. But she is now returning to a Schloss (Syrgenstein) they have in +Bavaria. ... You are right. I have left my hill, which overlooks the great +seaway between the Needles and Hengistbury Head, and come to London for the +next three months; but I had much rather stay in my hermitage. London is as +disagreeable as an east wind can make it. Believe me, + +Yours faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_April 25th_--Lord Derby gave a great dinner at the F.O. I sat between +Stirling-Maxwell and Pender. + +_May 9th_--Lord Derby presided at the Literary Fund dinner. I proposed the +health of the Chinese Ambassador. I retired this year from the council of +the Literary Fund. + +_18th_--Went to Paris alone. 20th, long interview with the Duc Decazes. +Dined at the Embassy. Thiers in the evening. + +_May 22nd_--Dinner at Laugel's. [Footnote: The Duc d'Aumale's secretary.] +Duc de Broglie, Duc Decazes, Chabaud-Latour and the Haussonvilles. The +'_coup d'état_ of the Marshal,' as it was called, when Macmahon turned out +Jules Simon and the Radicals, took place on May 16th, just before I reached +Paris. Hence the agitation was extreme; and at this dinner at Laugel's I +had to encounter the dukes, who wanted to know why we disapproved their +measure. + +_23rd_.--Dined with Thiers, who was depressed. I had, however, several +important conversations with him during this visit, of which I took a note. +He expected to become president again. If that had happened, much would +have been altered, but he died on September 3rd. + +_28th_.--Back to London. Related to Lord Derby what Thiers said. + +_31st_.--Severe gale. To Foxholes for a day on June 2nd. + +_June 12th_.--The Duc d'Aumale came over to dine with The Club. + +_19th_.--Mrs. Oliphant's party to Maga at Runnymead [to celebrate her 25th +year of alliance with 'Blackwood's Magazine.' A lovely day, and an amusing +party of littérateurs, publishers, writers, &c.] + +_July 19th_.--Came down to Foxholes. + +_October 18th_.--London to Durham, with Hopie. Durham Cathedral. 19th, +to Matfen (Sir E. Blackett's); 24th, to Yester (Lord Tweeddale's) by +Edinburgh; 29th, to Ormiston; and 31st to Minto. Back to town on November +3rd. Some London dinners. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_C. O., November 8th_.--There ought to be, in the January number, an +article on the Organisation of the Liberal Party. I have asked several +leading politicians of the party to undertake it, but in vain. The truth +is, that it is a very thankless and hopeless subject; and the recent +discussion of the county franchise by Lowe and Gladstone renders it still +more difficult. I put my own opinions wholly out of the question, and +should give _carte blanche_ to any competent and accredited writer to treat +the subject. I think I shall ask Lord Hartington what he wishes to be done. + +My own opinion is that this county franchise move is suicidal to the +Liberal party, and I clearly perceive that the Tories are preparing--when +somewhat hard pressed--to take up and carry some such measure, accompanied +by a redistribution of seats that will swamp a great many Liberal boroughs. +They say, If the thing is to be done, we had better do it.... + +It is generally supposed that Gladstone published his article, which points +to universal suffrage, in order to cut the ground from under Hartington's +feet at the Scotch meetings. Hitherto Whig principles and the whole Whig +party have been decidedly opposed to an unrestricted franchise. + +_C.O., November 15th_--Lord Granville is so cautious and reserved a man +that it is impossible to extract any definite opinion or advice from him. +I have tried repeatedly, and I never got so much as a hint from him worth +anything How different from Lord Clarendon or Lord Aberdeen! The truth is +that Granville is always waiting upon fortune; ready to take any course +that may turn up, but utterly incapable of taking a strong resolution based +on principle and conviction.... + +I dare say May's book will have success. It is very well written; but it +is not what I expected. It is an historical survey of the political +institutions of all nations, 'from China to Peru,' executed with care and +great reading; but there are no traces of original thought, and it leaves +you exactly where you were before in relation to the democratic element in +society. Bagehot's books have ten times as much _thought_ in them. + +A most excellent book, which I am reading with great delight, is Mr. +Gardiner's 'Reign of Charles I. before the Rebellion.' It is, to me, as +interesting as Macaulay, and singularly impartial. + +And the Journal winds up the year with:-- + +_December 12th_--To Foxholes. Christmas at Farnborough. [Mrs. Reeve wrote +on December 24th: We start this morning for Farnborough Hill. It is now +eighteen years that we have spent Christmas with the Longmans.] Back to +Foxholes. + +1878.--We spent the first week of the New Year at Foxholes, the weather +charming, and returned to London on January 11th. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, January 7th._--I know the authoress of the Russian letters very +well. She is one of the boldest and keenest Russian agents in Europe, who +was sent here three or four years ago to endeavour to prepare English +society for the coming war, and she has returned here every winter. She has +made repeated attempts to capture me, though, as you may suppose, without +success. But on politicians of a sentimental cast her influence has been +considerable, especially on Gladstone, who is singularly amenable to female +flattery, and a perfect child in the hands of a clever _intrigante_ of this +kind. + +But I am certainly sorry that Froude should have attached his name to her +letters. To suppose that this great and dreadful war has been undertaken +for the sole purpose of 'liberating' the Southern Slavs, and that the +Russians hate the Turks because the Tartars conquered Russia some centuries +back, are assumptions which can hardly impose on the most credulous of men. +This is a war of conquest, and the spirit of the Crusades has been evoked +to stimulate an ignorant and enthusiastic people. + +One of the points of the Russian party in England is to denounce and +misrepresent the Crimean war. That war was carried on in defence of great +principles of European law--not for the sake of the Turks--by the statesmen +to whom we are particularly attached--Palmerston, Clarendon, Russell, +Lewis, Panmure, &c. Mr. Carlyle, Froude, Freeman, Goldwin Smith, Bright, +and at last Gladstone, were opposed to it. I adhere to the views of the +statesmen, which the 'Review' defended in 1854 and 1855. I am, therefore, +extremely glad, and think it highly proper and necessary that the Queen +should defend the course taken by her ministers and by the nation at that +time; and it would be the excess of inconsistency in the 'Review' not to +maintain, as a matter of history, the same principles for which we have +invariably contended. + +_C. O., January 12th_.--One of the first persons I met on coming to London +yesterday was Lord Granville, and I had a long talk with him. He was less +reserved than usual. I don't know that there is any difference in our view +of the foreign question, except that he thinks the Government should have +said and done even less than they have done. But the disposition of many +of the moderate Whigs, such as Lord Morley, Duke of Bedford, Duke of +Cleveland, &c., is to support the foreign policy of the Government. The +Duke of Sutherland is to dine at Disraeli's dinner, out of hatred of +Gladstone. I believe Dizzy is to have the Garter! + +Lord Granville said, 'I saw that the last article in the last number of the +"E. Review" was _not_ Reeve. It might have been written by a contributor to +the "Daily Telegraph."' To this I replied: 'It was written, in fact, by a +very intimate friend of your own, who was, I think, staying at Walmer last +summer; a man of great experience in political writing, not for the "D. T." +but for the "Times;" and, although I don't think it a good article, and +differ from many things in it, I thought myself pretty safe in the hands of +Sir George Dasent.' It was amusing to see G.'s look of astonishment. + +Politically, the topic of 1878 was the settlement of the Russo-Turkish war. +The fall of Plevna in the previous December, and the subsequent collapse of +Turkey, led to the advance of the Russians to San Stefano and the treaty +of March 3rd, which seemed a direct step towards the seizure of +Constantinople, and the swallowing up of the Turkish Empire. In England +public feeling ran very high, but, unfortunately, in opposing currents. +The Government was resolved, at all risks, to prevent the extreme result +foreshadowed by the Treaty of San Stefano, and to do so by acting on the +_si vis pacem, para bellum_ principle. In the East, the Mediterranean fleet +was ordered to pass the Dardanelles and to anchor in the Sea of Marmora; +whilst at home, a vote of credit to the amount of 6,000,000£. was rapidly +passed through Parliament, the navy was strengthened, the army reserves +were called out, and the initial preparations were made for the despatch of +an expeditionary force. And at this time what threatened to be a serious +blow to the Ministry, in reality strengthened it. Lord Derby, the foreign +secretary, resigned, possibly influenced, it was said, by personal intimacy +with Count Schouvaloff, and in any case disapproving of the measures of the +Government. He was succeeded by the Marquis of Salisbury, who, in June, +accompanied Lord Beaconsfield to Berlin to attend the Congress, from which +they returned on July 16th, bringing back, in Beaconsfield's now classical +words, 'Peace with honour.' + +_From Mr. Richard Doyle_ + +7 Finborough Road, January 15th. + +My Dear Reeve,--When at Foxholes, in August last, I began a sketch of the +view from your house. It was my intention to ask you to accept the drawing +when complete. In the presence, however, of the very attractive original, +I, on leaving, was so little satisfied with my copy that I had not the +heart to say anything about it. But, after an interval, and a little more +work upon it, I begin to think that, after all, when in town, it perhaps +may remind you imperfectly of the fresh skies and blue waters left out +of town. So I return to my original intention, and herewith send you the +little drawing for your acceptance. With best remembrance to Mrs. and Miss +Reeve, yours very sincerely, + +Richard Doyle. + +_From Mr. Theodore Martin_ + +31 Onslow Square, January 16th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I have been much gratified by reading the review of my +third volume in the 'Edinburgh Review,' which my publishers have just sent +me. It brings out with admirable effect the passages which bear on the +present crisis--passages which I inserted in the volume from a strong +feeling that there would be occasion to strengthen the sound view of the +Eastern Question by the emphatic language of the Prince Consort. God grant +they may not have come too late! + +With reference, especially, to what you say at the top of page 151, I must +disabuse you of what seems to be the prevailing impression that things in +this book have been written by the direct inspiration of the Queen. Not one +word of it, from beginning to end, was prompted by Her Majesty, who has +left me, from the first, unfettered, to draw my own conclusions, to select +the documents to be made public, and to state my own convictions in my own +way. + +What I have selected and what I have written has, when printed, been +submitted, of course, for Her Majesty's approval, which, I am happy to say, +I have always had. In regard to the third volume, it was written almost +entirely last summer and autumn, at my country house, where I had no +opportunity of even consulting Her Majesty. Your conjecture, therefore, +as to the note you cite on page 151 is a mistaken one. That note only +expresses a conviction which I have strongly felt for many years. You will, +on reflection, I think, see that I could not with propriety refer to the +circumstances alluded to in the note on the same page of the 'Review.' It +is one of hundreds of cases where reticence seemed to myself, as, in some +sense, representing Her Majesty, to be prescribed to me. When my book is +complete, an abridged 'Life' will be published. I am sure this article +must do good by being in the hands of the public before the meeting of +Parliament. + +Believe me, very truly yours, + +THEODORE MARTIN. + +_January 19th_.--I have no doubt the Queen will be much pleased with the +'E. R.' article. Believe me, Her Majesty's mind is far too candid and +sincere to take any umbrage at what you say about the Prince's _Germanism_. +She may not think it went so far as you do; but she has always frankly +acknowledged its existence, seeing, with her usual good sense, both the +good and bad effects of any extreme views. If there be any one person more +than another to whom the artificial language commonly addressed to royal +personages is distasteful, it is the Queen herself. Such at least is my +experience. I am delighted to see that the opinions of the Queen and Prince +brought forward in this volume are causing some stir in the Parisian +journals. They are being used to stimulate an active interest in the +Eastern Question; and this, I venture to think, may produce results not +unimportant at the present crisis. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_January 25th_.--Huxley lectured on Harvey. + +_February 7th_.--Dinner at Dicey's, to meet Mr. Welch, the U.S. minister. +John Bright, Hayward, Chandos Leigh, Mme. Van de Weyer there. + +_8th_.--To Foxholes, for three days only. + +_13th_.--The fleet went up the Sea of Marmora, the Russians having +approached Constantinople. + +_28th_.--Marriage of Ellinor Locker to Lionel Tennyson in Westminster +Abbey. All the literary world there. Imposing aspect of Alfred Tennyson, +who looked round the Abbey as if he felt the Immortals were his compeers. + +The Journal mentions:-- + +_March 28th_.--Lord Derby resigned the Foreign Office. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_March 29th_.--What has happened is disagreeable, as all political +separations are; but it did not seem to me that there was any choice. As to +discussion in Parliament, I suppose I cannot altogether help myself; but it +will be a business unwillingly gone into, and not at all unless there seems +some chance of being of use. + +And the Journal:-- + +_April 3rd_.--Dinner at Longman's. Froude, Trevelyan, Walpoles, Quain. This +was the last of the pleasant literary dinners which Longman used to give. + +_4th_.--Great sale of the Novar collection. Fetched over 70,000£. Kirkman +Hodgson gave 20,000£. for three Turners. + +_April 13th_.--To Foxholes. + +From Lord Lytton [Footnote: Governor-General of India.] + +Government House, Simla, April 29th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I think you in nowise overestimate the value of Meadows +Taylor's life and work in India, and I cordially recognise the exceptional +claims of the two ladies, on whose behalf you have written to me, to the +grant which I regret to hear they require. Their case is rather a difficult +one to deal with, owing to the fact that nearly the whole work of Meadows +Taylor's life was performed, not in the service of the Government of India, +but in that of the Nizam's Government; and we are precluded, by rules as +inflexible as the laws of the Medes and Persians, from granting public +money to the distressed survivors of our own public servants on purely +compassionate grounds. In my own opinion, however, the claim of these +ladies may be fairly admitted on other grounds furnished by their father's +eminence, not only as a literary man, but also as an administrator, and the +fact that his work, though not performed in the service of the Government +of India, has been, and is, in various ways, unquestionably beneficial to +India. I am glad to say that I have obtained the concurrence of my council +in this view of the case, and we propose to grant 100£. a year to each of +these ladies from the Indian revenues. Our proposal, however, cannot be +acted on without the sanction of the Secretary of State, to whom it will +probably be submitted by this mail; and, as it is of a financial character, +I think Lord Staplehurst [Footnote: Viscount Cranbrook is meant. The patent +of his peerage was not dated till May 4th; but it had been previously +understood, and telegraphed to India, that he would take his title from +Staplehurst.] cannot deal with it except through his council. It is +therefore fortunate that you have secured their suffrages, for at present +it seems to be the invariable practice of the 'wise men of the East' at +the India Office to reject every proposal, however trivial or however +important, which emanates from the Government of India. + +Yours, my dear Mr. Reeve, very faithfully, + +LYTTON. + +_Endorsed_--The pension was granted on June 30th. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ Château d'Eu, May 11th. + +... I am glad to see that the hope of peace is stronger. A war between +England and Russia would be the greatest catastrophe that could fall +upon the world at present; it would be the cause of incalculable ruin +everywhere. Since the wars of 1866 and 1870 the maintenance of the peace +of Europe depends solely upon the relations between England and Russia. To +France the preservation of peace is of the deepest interest, for the day it +is broken she may expect to see her own frontiers threatened by Germany, +either directly or by the moral subjection of Holland, Switzerland, and +Belgium. We wish no evil either to England or to Russia; but, above all +things, we wish that these two Powers should live in harmony. + +Here the Journal has:-- + +_May 13th_.--Returned to town. + +_May 28th_.--Gladstone dined at The Club. Six present; interesting. + +_June 3rd_.--Excursion to Greenwich to see the telegraph works. Great +dinner at the Ship afterwards. + +_8th_.--All to Norwich, to stay with Dean Goulburn at the Deanery. I had +scarcely been there for fifty years. Dr. Jessop, Canon Heaviside, and Canon +Robinson to dinner--very pleasant. + +_9th_.--Communion in Norwich Cathedral. 10th, drove to Costessy (Lord +Stafford's); 11th, to Spixworth; 12th, to Ely, on a visit to Dean Merivale; +13th, to Peterborough; 14th, back to town. + +_June_.--Very hot weather. 26th, dinner of the Antiquaries at Lord +Carnarvon's. + +_July 5th_.--Lady Northcote's garden party. Helen Blackett there, looking +ill. I never saw her again. [Footnote: See _post_. p. 265.] + +_July 13th_.--To Foxholes. Gout prevented me from going to Paris, where the +exhibition was going on, and to La Celle. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, July 15th_.--I send just a line to say that _no part_ of the +article on 'The Constitution and the Crown' is written by me. I thought +it due to the writer to leave it untouched, and I don't think it is too +severe. + +The article in the 'Quarterly' was certainly not written by Dr. Smith, and +I have reason to know that he is a good deal ashamed of it. Nobody seems to +know who wrote it. I do not expect they will reply upon us; but nothing is +more beneficial to the two Reviews than a little controversy, especially +when serious principles are concerned. This question is precisely the +_crux_ or test of Whig and Tory principles; it is the old fight of +parliamentary power against prerogative. There has not been in England, for +a hundred years, a minister so indifferent to Parliament and so subservient +to the Court as Lord Beaconsfield. + +_Foxholes, July 16th_.--Dizzy's fireworks will soon burn out; and when +people come to reflect on these transactions, and their consequences, +they will be found to be some of the most questionable in modern English +history. He has the merit of presenting a bold front to Europe and of +avoiding war; but the cost will be great and the ulterior consequences +formidable. I suppose they are going to give him a Roman triumph this +afternoon from Charing Cross to Downing Street. + + Sed quid + Turba Remi?... + ...... Idem populus... + ... hac ipsa Sejanum diceret hora + Augustum. + +To my old eyes all this is a sham--a scene out of 'Tancred' and 'Lothair.' +Depend upon it, the article on the 'Constitution and the Crown' will be +read. + +_Foxholes, August 10th_.--I never in my life read a better article than +this of Froude on Copyright. It is incomparably good in force of argument, +vigour of style, point, and truth, and, I think, will go far to settle the +assailants of copyright. I confess I enjoy the smashing of the sages of +the Board of Trade and old Trevelyan. They will see that if they attack +literature, literature is able to defend itself. + +_From Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Farnborough Hill, August 14th_.--... I entirely agree with you in the +excellence of Froude's article [on Copyright]. ... I see that he thinks +that copyright may be in danger, and that the tendency of writing will +flow into periodical literature. That I know has long been XIXth Century +Knowles's opinion. He says he cares nothing for any copyright, and never +asks for it. Like the 'Times,' he does not, in fact, need it. His writers +are highly paid, and he and they are satisfied. + +_To Mr. T Longman_ + +_Foxholes, August 15th_.--... No doubt any restriction of copyright in +permanent works would have the effect of inducing literary men to write +more and more in periodicals, which are not permanent but well paid. This +argument is very important. I am not sure that Froude has laid sufficient +stress upon it. Good and solid literature already suffers considerably from +the fact that fugitive literature is far better paid, and that a literary +man can rarely afford to write a large and substantial book requiring years +of labour. Herbert Spencer's evidence is very interesting; but few men have +the courage to risk their all in labouring for the future. + +I shall make Froude's article the first in the next number, as I think it +will attract great attention. + +_August 24th_.--Froude's article will make nearly fifty pages of the +Review, which is more than I like; but I don't know what to leave out, it +is all so good and amusing to literary people, so I think we must swallow +it whole. + +A note from the Journal:-- + +_August 23rd_.--Visit to Highclere (Lord Carnarvon's). A good deal of gout +in October. To Farnborough on the 30th. Back to town on November 4th. + +_To Mr. T. Longman_ + +_Foxholes, October 10th_.--I see the 'Quarterly' announces an article on my +'Petrarch.' Unless Smith is the falsest of men, it will be a civil article, +for he was enthusiastic in his praises of the book to me personally. But I +shall not be surprised if it is another flourish of Hayward's stiletto. + +_October 19th_.--The article in the 'Quarterly' on my 'Petrarch' is very +courteous, and certainly _not_ by Abraham. + +_C. O., December 2nd_.--This day's post brings me the melancholy +intelligence that our friend Kirkman is so ill he is not expected to +survive, and that dear old Mrs. Grote is in much the same condition. To me, +by far the most painful part of advancing years is the loss of those who +made life delightful. It is the only thing I regret. These friendships of +forty or fifty years are quite irreparable. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_December 5th_.--Parliament met. 9th, first dinner of the Club. 24th, to +Ottershaw Park for Christmas. 28th, to Farnborough--last time. 29th, Mrs. +Grote died. 31st, returned to town. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_December 13th_.--I brought up two volumes of the MS. Journals for you to +read when you come to town. But I perceive the further you proceed the less +can you publish. I dismiss all thoughts of that from my mind, and bequeath +the task to posterity. + +The debate in the Commons has been very dull, [Footnote: On a motion to +condemn the policy of the Government in Afghanistan. It was defeated by a +majority of 101 in a House of 555.] but the Government will have a very +large majority. They tell me Dizzy is negotiating another little purchase +of Seleucia and Scanderoon. Jerusalem is in the next lot. + +I gave the 'Secret du Roi' to an Irishman to review, and the wretch has +disappointed me. I am afraid it is now too late, or I would do it myself. +[Footnote: It was reviewed in the April number (1879), but neither by +Reeve nor the Irishman.] Read M. de Lomenie's book, 'Les Mirabeau'--a very +amiable family. + +_Rutland Gate, January 4th_, 1879.--This Christmas has been marked beyond +all others by the most tragical events. To me, Mrs. Grote and Lord +Tweeddale are deplorable losses, and I could add a catalogue of names of +less note, besides those of public interest. What irony to call it the +season of mirth and gaiety! + +Mrs. Grote has very kindly left Hayward l,000£. I am glad of it, for it +will make him more comfortable, and, I hope, less cross. + +The Journal then has:-- + +_January 7th_.--Dined at Sir P. Shelley's; Spedding, Browning. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_January 18th_.--I fully intended to come to see you to-day, and to bring +you the MS. volumes of C. C. G.; but I am very lame with rheumatism in my +knee, and the weather is so infernal that I cannot use the carriage, and I +am afraid to make the expedition in a cab. I must therefore defer my call +till I can move better. On such a day as this one can only burrow like the +rabbits. + +I think the Cenci article in the new 'Ed. Rev.' will interest you. + +_January 22nd_.--I send you Vols. III. and IV. of the mystic record. Pray +keep it locked up. + +In the 'True Tale of the Cenci,' by T. Adolphus Trollope, there was much +that Mr. Cheney dissented from, and he wrote a long letter on the subject, +which Reeve in due course forwarded to Trollope. This led to a reply, with +which, as far as Reeve's correspondence shows, the discussion dropped. If +it was continued further, it was without Reeve's assistance. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_January 23rd_.--I saw Lady Shelley to-day, and, as I told her you could +not call on her, she very obligingly said she would be happy to call on +you and bring you the enlarged photograph of the poet to look at. These +photographs are done on porcelain. There are only three copies of them, +which Lady S. has got. The negative is destroyed. ... She says the drawing +is the image of Shelley's sister, Helen Shelley. + +_January 31st_.--Many thanks for your prompt return of the volumes. I am +glad they have amused you, and you can give evidence that they are not very +wicked. I am afraid I cannot supply any more until I have been down to +Foxholes, as I find I have locked up part of the MS. there; and I must now +have the whole of it bound. + +_February 3rd_.--I send you Trelawny's book on Shelley, and I also enclose +an interesting letter from Mr. Trollope in answer to your remarks on the +Cenci article. You will see he has taken pains with the subject. I did +not mention your name to him in connexion with the remarks, but only with +reference to the Philobiblon notes. He therefore does not know that you are +as well acquainted with the Italians as he is. + +_To Mr. Dempster_ + +_C. O., February 26th_.--I hope this will not arrive too late to +congratulate you on having achieved in health and good spirits +three-quarters of the road to our centenary. Unluckily, the last quarter is +the most difficult. But _sursum corda_! When I look back and about me, I +am astonished to have got so far. The great pleasure of advancing years +is retrospection. One sees such groups and groups of pleasant people. The +prospective eyes of youth see nothing so real or charming. I fancy I am +sitting with you on a flowery bank of heather in the Highlands, about +August 15th, talking of these things. There are a dozen brace of dead +grouse in the bag. Donald is at the well. Don't remind me that it is +February, 1 in London, the wind in the northeast. + +Here the Journal records:-- + +_February 27th_.--My sister-in-law, Helen Blackett, died at Matfen. + +_March 4th_.--Charles Newton and Sir J. Hooker elected by The Club. + +_April 28th_.--I was named Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries for +four years. + +_From Lord Kimberley_ + +_35 Lowndes Square, May 3rd_.--There is a savage article in the 'Quarterly' +(by Froude, I believe), many of the statements in which arise from mere +ignorance. Whatever chance of success Carnarvon's scheme of confederation +had--it was in any case small--was destroyed by Froude's blundering, which +was caused mainly by his knowing nothing whatever about the political +history and literature of the colony. But, for all that, his article is +worthy of attention. Like you, I am very apprehensive about the Zulu war; +but this is too long a story for a short note. I should very much like to +talk the matter over with you. + +The Journal again:-- + +_May 15th_.--Presided at Antiquaries as V.-P. + +_June 11th_.--Great party at Count Münster's for the golden wedding of +Emperor Wilhelm. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Audley Square, July 1st_.--I have an impression of Shelley's portrait, +which Colnaghi has just engraved. Sir Percy wishes it not to be re-copied, +and he entertains no doubt of its authenticity. He says it is extremely +like a maiden aunt of his--the only survivor of the past generation of the +Shelleys. I beg your acceptance of an impression. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_July 1st_.--I am uncommonly obliged to you for the exquisite engraving of +the drawing of Shelley. I shall cherish it alike in memory of him, and of a +better man--yourself, and for the strange legend about it. + +I am sorry to hear that ------ has taken offence at the mention of her +father in the 'Greville Memoirs.' I was wholly unconscious of the offence, +and indeed had forgotten that he was mentioned in them at all.... I should +like, with great simplicity, to say to these eminent persons that I value +the honour of being the Editor of Charles Greville's Journals infinitely +more than any distinction that Queens or Duchesses could bestow on me. But +I esteem the talents and good qualities of ------ and certainly I never +dreamed she was offended. + +And then the Journal:-- + +_July 5th_.--Lady Waldegrave died. The news came while we were attending +Lord Lawrence's funeral in Westminster Abbey. + +_26th_.--To Foxholes. _August 16th_.--Visit to Weymouth; 18th, drove to +Abbotsbury. + +_August 30th_.--Tom Longman died at Farnborough--seventy-five. + +_September 3rd_.--His funeral. + +_5th_.--To St. Malo with Christine and Hopie; 6th, to Dinard and on to +Dinan; 8th, to Guingamp; 9th, to Lannion, seeing Chateau de Tonguebec on +the way; 10th, to Louannec--fine rocky coast; 11th, Morlaix--drove to +St. Pol de Léon; 12th, Brest, but it rained; 13th, to Auray; 14th, +expedition to Carnac; 15th, expedition to Locmaria-quer; 16th, Auray to St. +Malo; 18th, home again--a pleasant tour. + +_24th_.--To Stratton, to see Lord Northbrook about article on Affghan War. +Read him the article. + +_October 21st_.--Lord Northbrook at Foxholes. + +_30th_.--Left Foxholes. Visit to Pember's [at Lymington], Beaulieu Abbey. +To town on November 1st. + +Frequent mention has been made of M. de Circourt's letters, the writing of +which occupied a great part of his time. In a short memoir, or, rather, an +appreciation, which Reeve contributed to the 'Edinburgh Review' of October +1881, he wrote: 'It was his pleasure and his desire to live and die +comparatively unknown. With an insatiable curiosity and love of knowledge, +with an extraordinary facility in mastering languages, and a universal +love of literature; with a memory so precise and so inexhaustible that it +retained without effort all he had acquired, he found in the mere exercise +of these singular gifts a sufficient employment for a long and not inactive +life.... He possessed and enjoyed the friendship of an extraordinary number +of men of the highest distinction, not only in France, but in all lands. +The correspondence he carried on with his friends in Germany, Italy, +England, Switzerland, America, and Russia was inconceivably voluminous. To +each of them he wrote in their own respective language, equally vehement +and profuse in every tongue.' + +The bulk of his letters to Reeve alone is truly formidable. But these, and +presumably most others, were to a very great extent political or literary +pamphlets, which, though not given to the press, were--there can be little +doubt--intended to be circulated among a select public such as he delighted +in addressing. Two of the latest of these, written very shortly before his +death, are here given:-- + +_From M. de Circourt_ + +La Celle, October 27th. + +My dear Reeve,--I don't know whether the article 'Germany since the +Peace of Frankfort' has done in Great Britain so much noise as the +'Affghanistan,' which has been, over here, an event in the literary-politic +world. But the first one is quite equal to the second, and gives career to +endless (alas! useless, too!) reflections. It is a sombre picture, quite in +the style of Rembrandt, with a _chiaroscuro_ much akin to darkness. It can +be objected that the lights are sacrificed to the shades. But, excepting +the strong constitution of the Imperial army, and the perfection to which, +according to competent judges, the preparations for an offensive and +defensive war have been pushed, I cannot see anything, in the condition of +finances, industry, husbandry, and, above all, public morals, which is not +threatening, if not absolutely disheartening. No traveller comes back from +Germany without a tale of woe. _Savior armis Luxuria incubuit, victamque +ulciscitur Galliam_. And while the rancour and the thirst for vengeance are +still, in France, what they were in 1871, the whole of power, riches, +and fashion in Germany crowding to Paris, give it a sort of transient +popularity, and suffers itself to be led by what is among us most +frivolous, most immoral, and even less French, in the old and legitimate +sense of that word. It is very curious to observe how the strangers flock +to Paris in order to enjoy the spectacle of themselves, reckoning the +French for nothing save the ministers of their pleasures, _et improbi turba +impia vici_. If, in the midst of these brilliant saturnalia, the _pares_ +were to rise, and another Commune spring from the kennel to the day, how +many of the lords of the Philistines would be buried under the ruins of the +temple of Dagon? But to revert to Germany, or, rather, to her ruler. + +Prince Bismarck, I apprehend, has lived too long. He begins to feel the +fickleness of fortune. He has never had any friends; he begins to be +burdensome to his associates. I don't know whether he could have managed a +Parliament elected after the actual method on the Continent; I am certain +that he did not, and never was able to, uphold a consistent and honourable +system whatever. He is no financier, no economist; and as he does always +act upon the interests of the present hour, without regard to past +engagements, he can have with him but those who superstitiously deem him +a prophet, or those who choose to _servir à tout prix_. He is rude, +suspicious, and vindictive. The only great minister with whom he can be +compared, Richelieu, was at least frank and open towards friend and foe. +Bismarck has never negotiated with any man, nor charged any man with an +important measure, without becoming their ruin, or changed them into +implacable enemies--Savigny, Usedom, Arnim, Gortschakoff. The good genius +of his country has protected Moltke against his insidious praises and +bitter censures. It is easy to prove that, during the late war, all the +good advice given to the King came from Moltke; all hurried, or lame, or +improvident, or perfidiously cruel measures came from the Chancellor. Why +did he leave half of the forts round Paris in the power, not of our +army, but of the armed rabble, to which he left the possession of 1,500 +field-pieces and 300,000 guns, while he disarmed the regulars to the last +man? To his calculations we owe the Commune; posterity will hold him +responsible for that incalculable calamity, which it was at every hour in +his power to avert, or to crush instantly. Presently his tenure of office +is very precarious. The Emperor is eighty-two, and has never liked +Bismarck; he has given recently some signs that he feels galled by the +chain. The Crown Prince may make use of him, and sacrify his personal +feelings to the advantage not to upset suddenly the system of government; +but, under Friedrich Wilhelm V., it is more than probable that Bismarck +shall have to choose between retire or obey. Even in the present +occurrence, considering that France is wholly taken up with her internal +dissensions, which are not likely to become soon better, and that Russia +has need of time for recruiting her exhausted resources, it was certainly +not sound policy to blow the trumpet of a coalition which was, presently, +dreamed of by nobody, and shall, in the future, result from the necessity +of things. + +The article upon the Code of Criminal Law is an excellent treatise of +_Criminalison_; we, too, want a _refonte_ of our criminal law. What is +called civilisation has gorged our society with an infinity of malpractices +unknown to our ruder but better fathers; and we suffer from the bane of +modern civilisation, that idiot charity towards the refuse of mankind, +coupled to a perfect indifference for the honest people they assail or +bring to ruin. To that endemic disease of the mind no penal statute can +afford a remedy. MacMahon was as weak as a school-girl on such occasions; +Grévy is scarce better; at least he does not call weakness Christian +charity. + +'The Impressions of Theophrastus Such' are little intelligible to me, +merely because I have read so few books of the authoress. Doudan [Footnote: +Ximenes Doudan (1800-72) was in early life a tutor in the family of the +Due de Broglie, and remained attached to him. His critical judgement and +sparkling conversation made him a special feature of the Duchess's _salon_. +He was well known in literary society, and was compared by Reeve (_Ed. +Rev._, July 1878) with John Allen of Holland House. Like Allen, his +reputation was based almost entirely on his conversation and encyclopaedic +knowledge. After his death, his few essays and numerous letters were +collected and edited by the Comte d'Haussonville, under the title of +_Mélanges et Lettres_(4 tomn. 8vo. 1876).] wrote that he could never be +quite unhappy while he had _des romans anglais à lire_; I confess that, +when they are not first-rate, they seem to me to belong rather to the +department of industry than to that of literature. The article upon the +civil engineers of Britain is an admirable compilation of much that's +useful to know and easy to understand; the magnificence of the _tableau_ +strikes the fancy and weighs upon the mind. But, after all, is humanity +become grander, or better, or happier by so many performances of the +inquisitive and constructive genius? _That's the question_. With trembling +hope I'll answer Yes! Life is less dark, a little longer, and better +provided against the material plagues of nature: but farther? + +I am pent up with a severe cold, and losing the last day of a capricious +autumn. Mme. d'Affry has promised me a visit. + +What of the parliamentary strife between Disraeli and his rivals? At least, +it is _Diomedes cum Glauco_, statesman pitched against statesman. But in +our camp: _non melius compositus cum Bitho Bacchius_. Yours truly, + +A. C. + +The letter that follows is endorsed by Reeve 'M. de Circourt's last letter +to me. He was struck with apoplexy on the 15th, and died on the 17th of +November. The last token of fifty years' friendship':-- + +_From the Comte de Circourt_ + +La Celle, November 12th. + +My dear Sir,--Many thanks for your kind letter of the 6th. I am still an +invalid, _conjuguant_ in all its tenses the verb _grippe_, with its +near relation bronchitis. However, I am recovering by-and-by, and the +weather--not fine, still very mild--helps me towards recovering my liberty +of locomotion. I am the more sorry for my _réclusion_ that I had begun some +plantations in my garden. Fancy what it is to plant trees by half-dozens +and to buy land by wheelbarrows! + +We are in a state of partial fermentation and general disgust. The +President _videt meliora probatque, deteriora sequitur_; he is absolutely +sunken in the opinions, but tolerated, because he lets every party at +freedom to plot and to hope. Waddington does not fare better, but Jules +Simon has presently no chance of replacing him. The sympathy which Ferry +has proclaimed for the Reformed Church [Footnote: See _Times_, November +8th.]--very natural in itself--may be mischievous for them; our nation has +never any sympathy for minorities. The leaders of the Clerical party have +lowered their teaching and their practices to the level of the most obtuse +intellects and the most childish enthusiasms; they make conquests by +myriads; and as, in our present state of society, numbers are accounted for +everything, the Government and ruling party have already encountered, and +shall encounter more and more, a formidable opposition, which, if it +does not drag the country into civil war, cannot fail to accelerate and +precipitate the fate of the Republican Government. As the Duc d'Aumale +seems resolved never to put himself forward, the conjectures hover between +Galliffet [Footnote: General de Galliffet was more especially known for the +stern justice he had meted out to the Communards of 1871.] and several +others, all men of action, although none of them has the prestige which +made, in 1799, the task of Bonaparte so wonderfully easy. The 'Great +Unknown' will be revealed to us by some sudden stroke; our people is +perfectly disposed to acknowledge a master, and prays only that 'nous ayons +un bon tyran,' since we must have one. + +Lord Beaconsfield's speech [Footnote: At the Mansion House on the 10th. See +_Times_, November 11th.] shall not put an end to the embarrassments of +our Exchange, shaken to its foundations by the curiously tragical episode +[Footnote: 'Gigantic swindle' would more correctly designate it. See +_Times_, November 7th. Philippart, having made away with some 100,000,000 +francs, had judiciously vanished.] of Philippart. _Imperium et Libertas_, +i.e. 'Domination abroad and Freedom at home,' is a proud legacy of 'the +most high and palmy days of Rome'; but it will be difficult to force the +submission to that maxim upon all the powers of the world. If the Turks had +studied the history of classical times, they would believe that the days of +_Civis Romanus sum_ and the _Reges clientes Populi Romani_ are come again +for the East; and what immense space does this name design, since the +exclusive and dominating influence claimed by the Premier begins at the +Adriatic and ends--nowhere; for the whole of Affghanistan being brought +under British control, and Turkish Asia on the other side being claimed as +a protected and indirectly governed country, it will become necessary +that the intermediate region, Persia, be assimilated to the rest of the +dependencies of an Empire which, at the farthest end, shall soon be +contiguous to China. + +The task of the Russian people is very different. The stern decrees of +Providence have made of it the antagonist and hereditary foe of the Asiatic +barbarics, which it has faced under the walls of Kief and Moscow, and +pressed, by dint of repeated battles and immense sacrifices, to the foot +of the Himalaya range and the course of the Upper Oxus. Sooner or later, a +tremendous shock must happen between the two gigantic Empires which meet +upon that debateable ground. I hope I may never witness it; but I do +regret much the disparition of the ample neutral ground, which till lately +stretched from the Indus to the Yaxartes.... + +Many wishes for your health and occupations. + +Yours very truly, + +A. CIRCOURT. + +The Journal gives the chronicle of the last weeks of the year:-- + +_November 22nd_.--Visit to Chatsworth. Delane died. _23rd_.--Chatsworth. +Long talk with Lord Hartington. + +_29th_.--Delane's funeral at Easthampstead. Went down with Barlow and +Stebbing; then across by Woking to Lithe Hill (Haslemere); very cold. + +At Christmas severe illness came on--gout and violent bleeding of the nose. +I was totally laid up for two months. + +The year had been a sad one, and had marked its progress by the death of +many of Reeve's dearest and oldest friends--Lady Blackett (to whom he had +always been tenderly attached), Longman, Circourt, and Delane. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +OUTRAGE AND DISLOYALTY + + +The very serious illness which ushered in the year 1880, and which confined +Reeve to his room till near the end of January, formed a very important era +in his life. Though it passed away, so that, after a fortnight at Brighton, +he was able, by the middle of February, to attend to his official duties at +the Council Office, the bad effects remained. He was no longer a young man, +but he had carried his years well. He had travelled, he had occasionally +shot, and always with a keen sense of enjoyment. Now, the full weight of +his age told at once. His illness left him ten years older; unable to +undergo the fatigue of field sports, and feeling that of travel sometimes +irksome. + +And Foxholes afforded him a tempting excuse. From this time, instead of +going for his holiday to Scotland, to France, or to Geneva, it seemed so +much easier to go to Foxholes, so much more comfortable to spend it there. +And for the next fifteen years a large part of his time was passed at +Foxholes, where, in the most delightful climate known in this country, +surrounded by beautiful scenery and with a commanding view of the sea, +amid the comforts of home and in the company of his books and his chosen +friends, he could say, from both the material and moral point of view: + + Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis, + E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem. + +Of course, his duties at the Council Office required him to be in town +during the season and while the Court was sitting; and in the April of this +year he noted a breakfast at Lord Houghton's, to meet Renan, and presiding +as a Vice-President at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries. Otherwise +the Journal is almost a blank, containing little beyond the dates of going +to Foxholes or returning to town. + +But though thus in a measure withdrawing from the swirl of society in which +so much of his life had been passed, he in no sense lost touch with the +movements of the day, and in none of these did he take a more lively +interest than in those which affected the state of France. And that seemed +particularly unsettled. No one could attempt a forecast of the future, +though wild guessing was easy. Nothing was certain; everything was +possible. Hope was guided rather by fancy than by reason, and tinted the +years to come in brighter colours than--now that those years have passed +--history has warranted. For many years back the French Princes had been +Reeve's occasional correspondents, but their letters had seldom had any +political significance. At this time they began to have a more serious +importance; and during the next six years those of the Comte de Paris, more +especially, are full of deep and pregnant meaning. In England, the topics +of the day were the dissolution in March, Mr. Gladstone's Mid-Lothian +campaign, which will live in history as an instance of the noxious +admixture of sentiment and politics, and the overwhelming success of the +Liberal party at the polls, which brought Mr. Gladstone back to office, at +the head of an absolute majority in the House of Commons of 56. Reeve, of +course, followed the progress of the election with anxious eyes. To Mr. T. +Norton Longman he wrote:-- + +_Foxholes, April 2nd_.--The Liberal gain on the Elections is far more than +I anticipated, and I begin to hope there may be a decided Liberal majority. +What I most deprecate is an even balance of parties. If the Liberals are +strong, they will be moderate; if weak, they will be violent. + +It is raining heavily to-day--rather damp for the electors, but a capital +thing for the country and for my shrubs. + +The further course of the election brought him the following letters from +the Comte de Paris:-- + +_Château d'Eu, le 12 avril_.--Je vous remercie de tout mon coeur des voeux +que vous m'adressez à l'occasion de la naissance de mon fils, et je suis +heureux de pouvoir vous donner les meilleures nouvelles de la mère et de +l'enfant. + +Je suis bien peiné d'apprendre que vous avez été si longtemps souffrant cet +hiver. La rigueur de la saison peut bien en avoir été la cause, et j'espère +que l'été achèvera de vous remettre. Nous serions heureux, la Comtesse de +Paris et moi, si durant cet été vous pouviez, avec Madame et Mademoiselle +Reeve, renouveler la visite que vous nous avez faite au château d'Eu il y a +trois ans. Depuis lors la maison a été toujours en deuil; l'événement qui +vient de s'accomplir ici nous permet, j'aime à le croire, une année plus +heureuse. + +The result of the elections in England has caused great surprise in France. +Nothing led us to expect such a complete change in the opinion of the +electorate. When I saw Mr. Gladstone a few months since, he did not seem at +all confident of his party's speedy return to power. A year or two ago I +should have greatly regretted the fall of Lord Beaconsfield; but my +opinion is entirely changed since Lord Salisbury's speech in honour of the +Austro-German alliance. Lord Beaconsfield's term of power has had the one +good result of obliging the Government which succeeds him to pay more and +closer attention to Continental politics than the English Cabinet did in +1870 and 1871. But for some time back the Russophobia of the Foreign Office +and its agents has been so great that it looked as if England was going to +give up the idea of preserving the equilibrium of the Continent, and become +the accomplice or the dupe of those who played on this passion. + +_20 avril_.--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de votre lettre et de vous +dire tout le plaisir que la Comtesse de Paris et moi nous aurons à vous +voir ici avec Madame et Mademoiselle Reeve. Malheureusement les trois +dernières semaines d'août sont le seul moment où je ne serai pas ici, et si +vous venez un peu plus tôt en France je vous prierais de commencer par le +château d'Eu.... I have read the article on M'Clellan by Mr. Curtis, in the +last number of the 'North American Review.' It did not teach me much, for I +have often talked it all over with M'Clellan, in his visits to Europe. But +the article is good, and all the facts alleged are perfectly true. Lincoln +was very weak in this business, the tool--without knowing it--of Stanton +and Halleck. The author sometimes closes his eyes to M'Clellan's faults, +which, though they do not excuse Lincoln, impartiality will not permit us +to ignore. M'Clellan was an excellent organiser and a skilful general, but +he made blunders; he could not take a decided resolution at the proper +time, and it is not correct to say that he was considered a faultless +general: he was loved, appreciated, and respected by all, and justly +considered as the best chief of the Federal armies, when Grant, Sherman, +and Thomas were as yet little known. Personally, he was, at times, very +indiscreet: he permitted those about him to speak of the President in +insulting terms, and he wrote the letter quoted by Mr. Curtis. An extremely +silly thing, for it could not possibly do any good, and it was easy to +see that his enemies would use it against him. With these exceptions, I +entirely share the views of the author of the article. + +We await the formation of your new ministry with curiosity. I agree with +you that it is better that Gladstone should be its recognised head than its +unofficial and irresponsible leader. I hope the experience of 1871, and the +verdict of the electors in 1874, have opened his eyes to the dangers of a +_far niente_ policy, as practised by the Foreign Office during his last +administration. + +_27 avril_.--Je vous remercie infiniment de votre lettre du 21 et je me +réjouis bien de penser que nous aurons probablement votre visite ici au +mois de juillet. Je vous remercie de l'intention que vous m'exprimez +d'arranger vos projets de manière à pouvoir venir en France à cette époque. + +I see Mr. Gladstone has not been afraid of the fatigue you thought would +be too much for him. I quite understand that after his disaster in 1874 he +should insist on a material proof of his wondrous political rehabilitation. +But it seems to me that he ought not to have combined the Exchequer with +the leadership--unless, indeed, his friends wanted to handicap him by +allowing him to take upon his strong shoulders a burden which is usually +divided between two ministers. I am not surprised at this change, so +complete, so striking to one who thinks of the time when Mr. Gladstone, +almost disavowed by the party he had so imprudently led to defeat, could +hardly find a constituency to open the doors of the House to him. It is +a spectacle presented by all free countries, a salutary warning to the +victors of the day, and a consolation to the vanquished, to whom hope is +always left. But what does astound me is that the change should not have +been foreseen. It is rather a severe democratic shock to the parliamentary +machine. Is it the effect of the lowering of the franchise, or of the +secret ballot? I do not know. But does not the astonishment of the leaders +of the victorious party prove that their followers are escaping from their +control? And if so, where and to whom will they go? However, I am confident +that the practical spirit which has hitherto inspired all classes of the +English people, as they have been successively called upon to take +their part in the government--from the old nobility to the petty +shopkeepers--will not be found wanting in the new electoral body, +constituted by the last reform. + +_4 juin_.--Si, comme je l'espère bien, vous pouvez réaliser la bonne +promesse que vous m'avez faite de venir ici avec Madame et Mademoiselle +Reeve dans la seconde moitié de juillet, je serais heureux de vous voir +fixer votre visite aux environs du 22: en effet, nous attendons ce jour-là +ou le suivant quelques personnes qui vous intéresseront certainement et qui +seront charmées de vous rencontrer: le Comte et la Comtesse d'Eu, le Duc et +la Duchesse d'Audiffret-Pasquier, M. et Madame de Rainneville (Rainnevillea +formosa, d'après votre botanique spéciale). + +_19 juillet_.--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de votre lettre, et de vous +dire que je vous enverrai jeudi, à Dieppe, une voiture pour vous chercher à +l'Hôtel de la Plage à deux heures après midi, à moins d'avis contraire. + +Toutefois je dois vous prévenir que M. Alexandre Dumas, qui habite près de +Dieppe, et auquel j'avais demandé de venir déjeuner ici l'un de ces jours, +en lui laissant le choix du jour, m'annonce qu'il viendra déjeuner au +château le jeudi 22. Le déjeuner est à onze heures et demie. Si vous +désiriez le rencontrer il faudrait que vous partiez le matin de Dieppe. +Dans ce cas, sur un avis de vous, je vous enverrais la voiture à neuf +heures du matin, au lieu de deux heures après midi. + +So on July 21st, Reeve, with Mrs. Reeve, left London for Dieppe, whence +they went on to the Château d'Eu. On the 26th they went on, through St. +Quentin, Namur, and Liège, to Aix, where, for the next fortnight, Reeve +drank waters and took baths. They then returned through Brussels and +London, reaching Foxholes on August 14th. + +And there they stayed for nearly three months, during which time, beyond +noting a few visits or visitors, the Journal is a blank. On November 6th +they returned to London. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_C. O., November 26th_.--I have not for a long time read a book so +fascinating to me as these Reminiscences of Carlyle; for though he calls +them reminiscences of Irving &c., they are, in fact, essentially an +autobiography. It is impossible to present the details of life with more +attractive clearness and picturesque effect. The most curious thing is +that the style, instead of being a mass of cloudy affectation, is simple, +flowing, and natural. To me, especially, all this is most captivating. The +account of Mrs. Montagu, Coleridge, the Bullers, the Stracheys, &c. revives +a thousand recollections. It was through the Bullers that we first knew +Carlyle, and I suppose in due time he will relate his intimacy with the +Austins and Sterlings in the same manner. + +It is right to say that there are many persons still alive who will not be +pleased at having their portraits drawn by so strong a hand--Mrs. Procter, +for instance. + +Altogether, I think the book is eminently interesting and valuable, and +will have a very large circulation indeed. It is the sort of book everybody +likes to read, and in this case it is backed by names of great celebrity. I +will send the MS. back to you on Monday. What a wonderful thing it is +that Froude should have had the patience to copy all this out in his own +handwriting! + +I dined last night with the Chancellor, and found both him and the Home +Secretary deep in 'Endymion.' Everybody abuses it more or less, but +everybody reads it, so the abuse does not go for much. Only Lady Stanley +(the dowager) declares she could not get through the first volume. Such is +the strength of party feeling. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Chantilly, 2 décembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je me fais une fête de vous revoir. J'ai vendu +mon hôtel de Paris et n'ai pas encore pu y reconstituer d'établissement. +Mais Chantilly [Footnote: During the next few years, before he was again +exiled, the Duc d'Aumale restored Chantilly on a magnificent scale (see +_post_, pp. 319, 320), making it a repository for his splendid collection +of pictures, works of art, and library, which included many precious MSS. +By a will dated June 3,1884, he bequeathed the whole to the 'Institut de +France,' in trust for the nation.] est si près! Dès que vous pourrez, +donnez-moi votre adresse de Paris, et indiquez-moi quels jours vous serez +libre, afin que je puisse en choisir un et vous demander de venir à +Chantilly. Dites-moi aussi quels jours il vous serait agréable d'avoir ma +loge aux Français. + +J'espère bien avoir lu 'Endymion' d'ici là. Je vous serre la main. + +H. D'ORLÉANS. + +Reeve was thus meditating a visit to Paris for Christmas, as soon as the +Court rose. Its session ended in the death of one of its most esteemed +members. Sir James Colvile, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court +of Bengal, had a house in Rutland Gate, and a great intimacy had grown up +between the two. On Friday, December 3rd, he had dined with the Reeves, 'in +fair health and excellent spirits,' as Mrs. Reeve wrote a few days later. +'He, with Lady Colvile and his brother-in-law, Lord Blachford, sat on for +quite half an hour after the other guests left' On Saturday morning he went +down to the office with Reeve. On the Monday he was dead. Sir Lawrence +Peel,[Footnote: First cousin of Sir Robert Peel (the statesman), formerly +Chief Justice of Calcutta, and since 1856 a member of the Judicial +Committee. He died in 1884, in his 85th year.] one of his colleagues in the +Judicial Committee, himself now old and feeble, wrote, apparently the same +day:-- + +My dear Reeve,--A blow terrible indeed to all of us, to me most terrible. A +man so close to death as I think myself feels more deeply the awe a sudden +death causes. I know not the man to whom a sudden death could come and find +more well prepared than he was. I thank you for your kind forethought. Say +for me to his late colleagues that I feel his loss to them and to all of +us irreparable. That he should go first! Oh God, preserve me and bless you +all. Ever yours truly, + +L. PEEL. + +Could you say or write a line in season to Lady Colvile? They say I am +better. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Rutland Gate, December 7th_.--I have been and am horribly upset by the +sudden death of Sir James Colvile, which took place yesterday morning. He +was really my most intimate friend; for twenty-two years we have worked and +lived together, and to all of us the loss is irreparable, + +_From Sir Lawrence Peel_ + +_December 11th_,--One word about your 'resignation.' 'Don't.' The weaker +the thing is, the more your value will be felt. Sir Montague [Footnote: +Sir Montague Smith, one of the paid members of the Judicial Committee. He +resigned the office on December 12th, 1881, and died, in his 82nd year, in +1891.] will go. He has as much as told me so, not very lately. It will be a +new Court, not the old P. C., nor can it have the character of the House of +Lords. It will have its entire way to make, and where is the stuff? It may +in time win approval; but it will be a child at first. Of course if things +are made unpleasant to you, Go; but my impression is the other way. + +I think I do get better, but I am very bad. It [the death of Sir James +Colvile] was a terrible shock; and I lie and think, yet cannot throw it +off. To-day is the funeral. Alas! Alas! _Nulli flebilior quam mihi!_ +When earth covers him, not a better man will be left on its face. _Tibi +constabat_. Ever the servant of Duty and of his God, and letting no man +note in him a sign that he thought himself better than the ruck.... God +bless you! Don't resign--wait. + +On December 15th Reeve went to Paris alone. His Journal notes:-- + +_17th_.--Opera 'Aïda,' with the Comte de Paris and the Duc d'Aumale. + +_18th_.--To the Français, with the Duc d'Aumale. + +_19th_.--Breakfasted at Chantilly; went all over the Château, rebuilt. + +_24th_.--Dined alone with Lord Lyons. + +But a few letters written at this time to his wife give the best +description of his visit, and call more particular attention to what seems +to have been in great measure the cause of it--the paper to be read before +the Institute. + +_Paris, December 21st_.--I dined yesterday with Laugel to meet the De +Witts, the young De Barantes and M. de Mérode. The Duc de Broglie came in +the evening. The eldest son of Cornélis de Witt is about to marry Mlle. +de Labruyère, a considerable heiress, dans l'Agénois. This is a capital +marriage for the family. To-morrow I am going to a lecture by M. Caro at +the Sorbonne. On Thursday there is the reception of M. Maxime du Camp (who +wrote about the Commune) by M. Caro at the Académie Française, when I +shall take my seat amongst the Forty Immortals. It will be interesting. On +Wednesday 29th I shall probably make an address to the Institute (simple +énoncé de faits) on the State of Landed Property in Ireland--a formidable +undertaking! + +I think now that the Radicals will break up the Government and break their +own necks. I cannot conceive that the English people and Parliament will +condone such monstrous conduct. I therefore now hope that they will play +out their abominable game. Mr. Plunket's speech is admirable. + +_December 23rd_.--I am just come back from the Institute, where there has +been a grand function--the reception of Maxime du Camp by M. Caro on behalf +of the Académie Française. All Paris was mad to go, and I believe they +expected the Communards would storm the sacred building. I sat aloft among +the Immortals, with the Duc de Broglie, Haussonville, Lesseps, Vieil +Castel, and next Alexandre Dumas, who was very pleasant. The Duc d'Aumale +was on the other side. + +Yesterday we had a very pleasant dinner at the De Broglies'--Gavard, +Lambert de Ste.-Croix and Cornélis de Witt. They shot 1,250 pheasants +at Ferrières [Footnote: It was here that the celebrated meeting between +Bismarck and Jules Favre (cf. _ante_, pp. 186-7) took place, on September +19th, 1870.] (Baron Rothschild's) on Sunday. The Comte de Paris brought +down 300 himself. + +I have written out my speech on Irish Land and read it to Gavard. It will +take about fifteen or twenty minutes in the delivery. I breakfast tomorrow +morning with St. Hilaire. + +_December 27th_.--I went to the English Church in the Rue d'Aguesseau on +Christmas Day--full congregation and nice service--but saw nobody I knew. +Mme. Faucher's dinner was dull, but Passy and Leroy-Beaulieu were there, +and there was some good music after dinner. I called yesterday on Feuillet +de Conches and Mme. Mohl, each looking a thousand and older than the hills; +and I spent some time in the galleries of the Louvre with my old favourites +in their eternal youth. It is infinitely touching, when so much else is +gone, to look at those pictures which I myself remember for sixty years in +unchanging beauty. I perfectly remember the impression made on me when I +was seven years old by the picture of the Entry of Henry IV into Paris. + +I have copied out my whole oration to be read on Wednesday, and, in +copying, enlarged it. It is chiefly taken from the Irish Land Pamphlet. + +_December 30th_.--My discourse at the Institute went off very well. I was +told by the best French writer, Mignet, that it was well written, and by +the best French speaker, Jules Simon, that it was well delivered, which is +enough to satisfy a modest man. The MS. will be printed and published in +several forms. Léon Say sat by my side. There were about thirty people +present. + +I went to the Due de Broglie's reception last night. Nothing can exceed the +dulness of French society--ten or twelve men sitting in a circle to discuss +miserable municipal politics; not another subject, or a book, or an idea +so much as mentioned. I am now going to breakfast with the Duc d'Aumale at +Laugel's. + +Gladstone seems to think that everything must go right since he is in +power. It is a case of mental delusion, but I am curious to see how the +House of Commons will deal with him. + +_December 31st_.--We had a very pleasant breakfast with the Duc d'Aumale at +Laugel's yesterday. He was most agreeable. He had a narrow escape on Monday +from a stag at bay, which pursued him with fury, killed a hound and wounded +a horse. He said, 'J'ai fui comme je n'ai jamais fui de ma vie.' The stags +they hunt are wild red deer. He asked me to go in the evening with him +to the Français to see 'Hernani,' which I did; glad to see the old piece +again, though I thought it not well acted. + +I am now going to breakfast with St.-Hilaire. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Paris, December 29th_.--I am very anxious to learn what the bulk of the +Liberal party in England now think of the results of a Radical policy in +Ireland and elsewhere. Unhappily our friends, the Whigs, are to a certain +extent responsible for having assented to it, though reluctantly; but the +real author of this Irish policy is Mr. Bright. The consequences of it +appear so disastrous that I cannot conceive it will last. But we are on the +eve of stormy times. + +The Journal continues:-- + +1881, _January 2nd_.--Returned to London in 8 1/2 hours. + +The Club met in January as Parliament was sitting. + +_14th_.--Dinner at home. Prince Lobanow,[Footnote: The Russian Ambassador.] +Acton, Burys, C. Villiers, Leckys. + +_15th_.--Small dinner at Lord Derby's. + +_18th_.--Tremendous snow-storm. 21st. Excessive cold. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Audley Square, January 5th_.--I must apologise for having kept your +precious manuscript [Footnote: The _Greville Memoirs_, second part], so +long. The truth is, I left town for a month, and left the volumes carefully +locked up, and only finished them on my return. I have read them with the +deepest interest, and am truly obliged to you for having procured me so +much amusement. I think these volumes even surpassing the last in interest. + +I see you have marked several passages for omission which I should retain. +I allude particularly to those relating to the French Revolution and the +conduct of the Orleans family. It is impossible that any relation of those +facts can be made so as to be agreeable to that family; and no omissions +could be made that would render the narration palatable to them. Besides, +these are Charles Greville's opinions, and not yours; and you are not +answerable for them. + +His remarks on the state of Ireland and the conduct of the Government are +curious, as being exactly those which people are making at this moment. +Gladstone's policy is exactly that of Lord John Russell; but the urgency of +action is now still greater, and the outrages committed still more heinous. +Gladstone may apply the words of the poet to himself--'In not forbidding, +you command the crime.' Also the Duke of Wellington's opinions on army +reform are applicable to the present moment, when such determined attacks +are made upon its efficiency. The Duke said, 'We had a damned good army, +and they are trying to make it a damned bad one.' Our present patriotic +Government, he might say, 'are trying to make it a damned deal worse.' + +What would be personally offensive to the Queen should be omitted; but as +to his criticisms on public men and their measures, I cannot see why they +should be suppressed. The daily newspapers all over England are free to +make what comments they please, and I cannot see that a well-informed +individual is not entitled to the same privilege. + +His account of his quarrel with Lord G. Bentinck should in justice to him +be printed; Lord G. told his own story, and Greville has every right to +give his version of it. He certainly intended it, for he read me that part +of his journal. The name of the Duchess of ------ should of course be left +in blank, but, with this exception, I think the whole might be printed. +There is no private scandal, and public men and their friends should not +be thin-skinned, and must learn to bear adverse criticism. The affectation +of calling Lord Russell 'John' and 'Johnny' is offensive and tiresome; +also, by omitting persons' titles there is frequently some ambiguity-- +'Grey' may mean Sir George or the Earl, and the context does not always +make his meaning clear. + +I think a few lines of preface from you explaining your motives for leaving +Greville to express his own views and opinions would quite clear you with +all reasonable people. + +_From M. B. St. Hilaire_ [Footnote: At this time Ministre des Affaires +Etrangères.] + +Paris: January 10. + +Cher Monsieur Reeve,--I quite understand that the reticence of the Tories +is very wise. Office is not tempting, and it is prudent to leave it to +those who actually have it. But the situation is very precarious, as Mr. +Gladstone will no doubt soon learn. Meanwhile he has given me powerful +assistance by speaking of arbitration as he has done, supported by the +complete and unanimous assent of the English Cabinet. This may very likely +decide the Greeks and Turks to adopt more sensible notions. But the thing +is giving me a great deal of trouble... + +I hope you may be able to pacify Ireland, but it will be very difficult. +Against such atrocious and persistent determination, force is almost as +unavailing as gentleness. If, as we may believe, that is what Cromwell met +with, we can understand the excesses into which the barbarity of his age +led him; but in two hundred and thirty years we have not gained much. Even +emigration has had no good effect. 'Tis a frightful sore; though during the +last forty years England has done wonders to cure it. + +Much might be said on this subject. I see by the newspapers that you have +read before our Academy a most interesting paper on Property in Ireland. If +you should print it, I hope you will not forget me. Towards the end of this +month I will send you one of my latest works--to wit, a Yellow Book on +Greece. It will at least be curious. + +Agréez, cher Monsieur Reeve, tous mes voeux de nouvel an pour vous et pour +tous ceux qui vous sont chers. Bonne santé. + +Votre bien dévoué, + +B. ST. HILAIRE. + +_Paris, January 11th_.--I am greatly obliged for the account of your +interview with Musurus Pasha. If the key to this business is in our views +on the Conference of Berlin, the house is open, and we have nothing to do +but enter. I have written with my own hand three long despatches, showing +by a reference to Vattel that the Conference was nothing more than the +mediation promised by the XXIVth article of the Treaty of Berlin. +These despatches I have communicated in the first place to Athens and +Constantinople, and afterwards to all the foreign ambassadors here, as well +as to Essad Pasha and to Braïlas Arméni. + +If there is one thing certain, it is that the Conference of Berlin neither +did nor could do anything but mediate; it merely gave advice; it did not +deliver judgement to be enforced. I am doing what I can to convince the +Greeks of this all-important fact, but hitherto without much success. I +have even gone farther, and have pointed out to them in these despatches +the limits within which arbitration will probably have to confine itself. +As I am only one out of six, I can do no more, and even this was perhaps +too much. The Porte and Greece cannot help knowing all this. The public +also will know it by the end of the present month, when I shall publish the +despatches in the yellow book which I am preparing, and which I will send +to you. + +The state of Ireland appears to us here to be truly dreadful. We do not see +how such crimes can be tolerated. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_January 13th_.--I see no reason why this sequel [of the 'Greville +Memoirs'] should not be published whenever it is convenient, but of this +you only can be judge. There is very little private scandal, and that +little should of course be omitted. + +The Queen should always be spared; but as to Lord J. Russell and Lord +Palmerston, they are public men, and their public conduct requires no +reserve in the discussion of it;--the Queen herself, in her own Journals, +speaks of them and of Gladstone in terms that prove how little reserve she +thought necessary. It is amazing to me that a man who lived so much in the +world [as Greville], and who had great curiosity and a taste for gossip, +should so carefully have avoided all scandal. + +The criticism that was sometimes made on the former volumes reminds me +rather of the note on the quiz on Crabbe in the 'Rejected Addresses':--'The +author is well aware how ill it becomes his clerical profession to give any +pain, however slight, to any individual, however foolish or wicked.' Pain +must be given, and offence will be taken; but you will do what is right and +must be indifferent. I think these last volumes even more amusing than the +first, and the discussions about Ireland are of peculiar interest at this +moment--I am very glad that these precious volumes are again in your hands. +I felt quite uneasy whilst they were in mine. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, le 2 février. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Nous ne pouvions douter, ma femme et moi, de la +part que vous et Madame Reeve prendriez au malheur si cruel et si inattendu +qui vient de nous frapper. Vous aviez vu ici le bel enfant que Dieu +nous avait envoyé il y a dix mois [Footnote: _Ante, p. 275_] et dont la +naissance nous avait causé une si grande joie. Il était si fort et si bien +portant que jusqu'à la veille de sa mort nous n'avions pas eu un instant +d'inquiétude. Vous comprenez done bien notre douleur. Je ne doute pas que +Mademoiselle votre fille ne s'y associe, car nous connaissons et nous +apprécions les sentiments dont vous nous avez donné, tons les trois, tant +de preuves. + +Ma femme, qui depuis dix ans a perdu trois soeurs, deux frères, et deux +fils, est, comme vous le pensez, bien accablée; mais les enfants qui lui +restent l'obligeront heureusement à reprendre à la vie. Ne voulant plus +après notre malheur laisser derrière elle notre dernière fille, la petite +Isabelle, et ne pouvant l'emmener en Espagne dans cette rude saison, elle a +remis ce voyage à l'automne prochain, et s'est décidée à ne pas quitter le +château d'Eu, où l'hiver a été rude. Mais si nous avons eu le froid et la +neige, l'Andalousie n'a pas été épargnée par la tempête, et les inondations +y sont terribles. + +Je termine en vous priant de croire aux sentiments bien sincères de +Votre affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLÉANS. + +During the preceding autumn the state of Ireland had been exceptionally +bad. There were many who believed that the attempt was being made, by a +cold-blooded calculation, to work on the sentimental instincts of Mr. +Gladstone's character. The verb 'to boycott' had been introduced into the +English language; murders and agrarian outrages had been frequent; but +witnesses and juries were so terrorised, that prosecution was found to be +difficult and conviction impossible. In charging the grand jury at Galway +on December 10th, the judge had commented on the fact that, out of +698 criminal offences committed in Connaught during the four months, +thirty-nine only were for trial, no sufficient evidence as to the other +659 being obtainable. On November 2nd, fourteen members of the Land +League--including five members of Parliament--were arrested and committed +for trial on the charge of inciting to crime. The facts were matter of +public notoriety, but the jury refused to convict, and the prisoners were +discharged. The Government was compelled to act; and on January 24th Mr. +Forster moved for leave to bring in a bill for the better protection of +person and property in Ireland. After an unprecedented obstruction on the +part of the Irish members, and after a continuous sitting of forty-one +hours, the Speaker summarily closed the debate, and the bill, commonly +known as the Coercion Bill, passed the first reading on February 2nd. On +the 3rd, twenty-seven of the Irish members were suspended; and the bill, +having passed through the succeeding stages, finally became law on March +2nd. + + * * * * * + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, February 6th_.--I am happy in your approval, and permit me to add +that I am proud of it. I know the value and sincerity of your judgements. +You have a long experience of politics, and every reason not to be deceived +even by the most obscure complications. There was certainly an intrigue on +foot against the Cabinet, but I believe a stop has been put to it for some +time to come, and we shall now probably have all the trouble of the general +election, which will be very advantageous for the republic; but, from +a personal point of view, I am anything but charmed with the prospect, +finding myself chained up for several months. Nothing could be more +vexatious, though I put as good a face on it as I can. + +We do not understand here how a political assembly can endure what your +Parliament has put up with. Thanks to Mr. Gladstone, the Speaker is now +armed with sufficient power, and I take for granted he will know how to +use it. But Ireland, terrible Ireland, is always there. If an insurrection +break out, it will be necessary to have recourse to repressive measures, +more or less similar to those of Cromwell. I do not believe that there +would be many in Europe to blame you. How can you do otherwise? Of their +own free will, the Irish sink to the level of brute beasts, which are to be +tamed only by force. + + * * * * * + +The next letter, and many others following it, from M. Barthélemy +St.-Hilaire, refer to the action of France in regard to Tunis, as to which +there was a strong feeling in England both then and since. France, it may +be admitted, had grievances; whether she would have taken the steps she did +for their settlement if the English Government had been stronger in its +foreign policy may very well be doubted. + +For many years, almost since the first establishment of the French in +Algeria, there had been differences between France and Tunis, over which +the French pretended a protectorate which neither Tunis nor Constantinople +would allow. There had been also many commercial difficulties--some +honest, some dishonest; but what led to the acute stage which these +difficulties and differences assumed in 1881 was the purchase, in 1880, by +the Société Marseillaise, for 100,000 £, of a large tract of land known as +the Enfida--subject, it had been stipulated, 'to the provisions of the +local law.' But the purchase was no sooner publicly declared than its +legality was disputed; a Maltese--therefore an English subject--named +Levy claiming that by the local law he had a right of pre-emption and was +prepared to buy. This right the French Government denied, and alleged that +the intending purchasers were really Italians--private or official--Levy +being only a man of straw put forward to strengthen their case by the +English name. Lord Granville, the then Foreign Secretary, instructed the +English Consul at Tunis that it was an affair of Tunis law, and that he was +not to interfere beyond seeing that the English subject got what the law +entitled him to. The French Government, however--of which M. St.-Hilaire +was the exponent--refused to be bound by Tunis law, and on May 1st landed +10,000 soldiers, and took military possession of Tunis, disclaiming all +idea of being at war with Tunis, but being obliged--they said--to defend +and maintain their just rights. They were neither going to annex Tunis nor +to rebuild Carthage. + + * * * * * + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, February 25th_.--I should be quite as deeply vexed as you if any +coolness should arise between England and France. I am doing everything in +my power to maintain and even strengthen the good relations. I am happy to +say we have a better understanding than ever in Egypt; but at Tunis matters +are not so favourable, and I fear that the English Cabinet has been too +hasty in taking under its protection a person who is but little deserving +of it. I hope to show this very plainly. The Marseilles Company which we +defend is quite _en règle_, in every respect, and what M. Levy is aiming at +against it is simply a forcible spoliation by means of an intrigue hatched +by the principal members of the Tunis Government, [Footnote: It is quite +possible that this was true, but it was merely an assertion based on the +one-sided declaration of the Marseilles Company and its agents.] with the +prime minister at their head. And whatever difference of opinion there may +be, Lord Granville, of his own accord, said to M. Challemel-Lacour that in +this there was no cause of quarrel between the two countries. That is my +opinion also, and I hope to bring the English Cabinet to it; but it is not +for us to sacrifice the Marseilles Company, by subjecting it to tribunals +whose hostile decision is known beforehand. The whole trouble has been +caused by the Italians, who have started and are prosecuting this intrigue, +at the very moment in which they are asking us for a loan of six hundred +and fifty millions. + +The speech of M. Gambetta was eloquent, and above all dramatic, but not +convincing; and it is really very difficult to believe that he knew nothing +of the Thomassin mission till after it had failed. I have no knowledge of +what passed between M. de Freycinet and M. Gambetta; but it is certain that +for the last five months Gambetta has made no attempt to control me and my +policy. He affects to show his sympathy and approval whenever he meets me, +and notably so last Monday. At the same time, his newspapers attack me in +every way they can, whilst he, verbally, disavows them, as he did for M. +Proust and M. Reinach. This double game does not tell in Gambetta's favour; +he has lost much during the last two months, and if the _scrutin de liste_ +is not passed, his influence will be greatly diminished. In short, he is +playing a very equivocal part, which is injurious both to himself and to +this republic. What saves him are attacks of the kind which M. de Broglie +ineffectually made yesterday in the Senate.... + +Of current and social events the Journal notes:-- + +_March 5th._--Visit to Battle Abbey. Duke and Duchess of Somerset there. +Ed. Stanhope, Arthur Balfour, H. Brougham, Lord Strathnairn. + +_11th._--Dinner at home for General Roberts: but he had been ordered off to +the Transvaal. + +_13th._--Emperor of Russia (Alexander II.) murdered. + +_16th._--Tennyson gave an evening party in Eaton Square. + +_April 7th._--To Foxholes. Cold: gouty. Lady Colvile came. + +_20th._--My cousin, John Taylor, died. + +_26th._--Lord Beaconsfield's funeral. + +Of this last, he received the following account from Mr. T. Norton +Longman:-- + +_April 28th._--The sad ceremony I had the honour of attending the day +before yesterday will for ever live in the memory of all who were present. +Nothing could have been more simple in its character, nothing more striking +in its solemnity, and nothing more in strict accordance with his wishes. +I may well say I shall not forget so great an occasion, not only from the +fact that the ceremony was the burial of a great man, but from the very +select band of followers I had the privilege of joining. There were only +120 invitations sent out, and all these were not made use of. I travelled +down in a saloon carriage with Drs. Quain, Bruce, Lord Lytton, Lord +Alington, Count Münster, with all of whom I had very pleasant conversation. +Sir William Harcourt, Lord Rosebery, the Danish Minister, and another +ambassador were also in the carriage; so I had plenty of good company. +I had a little conversation with poor Lord Rowton, and thanked him for +thinking of me. 'Not at all,' he said; 'I am quite sure it would be _his_ +wish that you should be here to-day.' This was, to say the least of it, +gratifying. The persons who appeared to be most touched were poor Bruce and +Lord Henry Lennox. On our return to the Manor about fifty of us went into +the drawing-room to hear the will read, and a very interesting document it +proved to be. It is perfectly clear Lord Beaconsfield contemplated a great +deal of publication. After the reading was finished and those present had +mostly left the room, I waited behind a little for the three Princes to +move first; and, much to my surprise, the Duke of Connaught turned round +and shook me by the hand. This little incident makes it all a peculiarly +interesting and eventful day. We all returned to town together (I mean the +Princes and the guests); and I think I may safely say that a train never +arrived at Paddington Station with a more distinguished company on board. + +As I walked up from the church I could not help thinking that the last +time I walked up that hill I had poor Lord B. on my arm. The demand for +'Endymion' is very great, and in fact the demand for all his novels is +greater than we can meet. We are printing night and day to try and keep the +trade supplied. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, 27 avril_. Il y a bien des jours que je voulais vous écrire, et ce +long silence me faisait craindre que vous ne fussiez malade, comme vous +l'étiez en effet; mais je me disais aussi que les vacances de Pâques vous +ameneraient sans doute à Paris. J'espère que le printemps vous guérira +complètement de cet accès; et que vous serez délivré de ce mal si +douloureux, dès que la chaleur nous sera revenue. Ici, nous avons un temps +des plus maussades. + +I have done everything in my power to keep clear of this Tunis business; +but the Khroumirs' affair has filled the cup to overflowing, and we are +obliged to resort to force. I shall finish the business off as quickly as +I can, and as we have no idea of annexation, all that we want is a treaty +with the Bey, giving a lasting guarantee for the security of our frontier +and our interests. I believe that even in Italy people are beginning to +understand or to admit the necessity which is pressing on us; but they will +owe us a grudge, and later on will resent it, if they can. For the present, +the loan of six hundred and fifty millions paralyses their wrath. We are +no more going to refound Carthage than Italy is going to re-establish the +Roman Empire. + +The death of Lord Beaconsfield is a great blow for England. I have noticed, +not without some surprise, that I am of the same age as he was. + +I have reason to believe that Lord Dufferin is quite of your opinion about +Russia, and thinks that the most truly sick man is not at Constantinople. +He may be right. Meanwhile the Conference will fail. I happen to know that +three of us will refuse--England, Italy, and France. Austria would like to +do the same. + +People are speaking no more of the _scrutin de liste_ than if the question +did not exist. It was in fact altogether artificial; but the talk will +begin again with the meeting of the Chamber. The _scrutin d'arrondissement_ +appears to gain ground. Its success is much to be desired; for if it is +rejected, we shall pretty quickly find ourselves in a critical position. + +_May 16th_.--Your letter is gloomy indeed, and should your forebodings be +realised you may be sure that I should be as grieved as yourself. All my +life, and now as much as ever, I have looked upon the alliance of France +and England as infinitely desirable for both; and if I were so unfortunate +as to cause a breach between the two countries, it would be very much +against my will, and without my knowledge. Tunis cannot be a source of +discord between us, and I hope that public opinion, over-excited at +present, will return to a more calm and just appreciation of the case. We +have declared to Europe that we wish for no annexations or conquests, and +will attempt none; we have quite enough with the two million five hundred +thousand Mussulmans in Algeria; it would be madness to add fifteen or +sixteen hundred thousand more to them, and a hundred and fifty leagues +to our frontier. For Algeria thus extended we should require an army of +100,000 men, who would be much missed in case of any complication in +Europe. All that we want in Tunis is a power which will not be hostile to +us, and continually threaten our African possessions. We shall only occupy +Biserta and the other places as long as appears necessary; but we will not +make a port of it; for that, as Sir Charles Dilke has said, would involve a +cost of some 200 millions. I have just sent Lord Lyons a despatch upon that +special subject, which will appear in the next Blue Book. + +Tunis will never belong to France; she does not want it; but should it +belong to Italy, who already owns Sicily, the passage to Malta might be +made difficult. I know that England has not much to fear from Italy; but +circumstances may change; and the gratitude she shows towards us now proves +how much she will have for other benefactors. I cannot understand how my +despatch of May 9th can have been interpreted as the announcement of our +taking possession. In form and intention it was quite the contrary. Our +actions will show that we only speak the truth. Neither can I admit that +even the conquest of Tunis can ever equal in importance the taking of +Constantinople by the Russians, which in my eyes will be the greatest event +of modern times, as the taking of it by the Turks in 1453 was an important +event in the fifteenth century. + +As to the Treaty of Commerce, I am doing all in my power to facilitate +the negotiations. I suppose that public opinion in England is at present +principally occupied with this; and that, if it is satisfactorily arranged, +Tunis will very soon be forgotten. A thousand more interests are engaged +in the agreement on a specific tariff than could ever be involved in this +unfortunate Regency. + +But I content myself with saying with the poet--_Di avertant omen_; and I +desire that England may be as well disposed towards us as we are towards +her. + +_May 23rd_.--I knew of the correspondence between Lord Salisbury and Mr. +Waddington long ago. I should never have thought myself authorised to +publish it; but I will take it from the Blue Book and publish it in the +Yellow Book. It is quite allowable. + +My declarations of our intentions in Tunis are the exact truth. Annexation +would be an act of folly. We have quite enough with three million +Mussulmans in Algeria without adding another two million in Tunis, and +another hundred and fifty leagues to the length of our frontier, which +already reaches from Nemours to La Calle. In doing good to the Regency we +are serving ourselves, and we only ask one thing in return--that it should +be as well disposed to us as we are towards it. But it is not easy to +establish the good terms which would be so profitable to all. England ought +to be very well pleased that both sides of the passage to Malta are not in +the hands of the same Power, which would be the case if Italy, who already +possesses Sicily, had possession of Tunis on the other side. Geography +demonstrates the fact. As to us, we wish to do nothing at Biserta. Our port +is necessarily at Algiers in the centre of our possessions. + +Like you, I deplore the _scrutin de liste_. It will give rise to formidable +difficulties in the near future. I am an optimist by nature, but that +future seems to me very dark. I do all I can to prevent it by foretelling +it to everyone; but I only play the part of Cassandra. In the Council, +M. Ferry and myself were the only ones who supported the _scrutin +d'arrondissement_. + +_July 9th_.--I did not think that the Tunis affair was concluded by the +treaty of May 12th; that is the first stage if you like; but it was rather +difficult. The difficulties which arise are very simple consequences; we +will put down rebellion, but this will not incite us to conquest, which +we do not want. The interests of the English, and those of other nations, +would not suffer by our preponderance; and unless all the advantages of +civilisation are ignored, it is certainly better to treat with the French +than with the Moors. Europe will soon see [Footnote: Europe has seen; +though not quite in the sense that St.-Hilaire wished to convey.] that our +promises are not vain, and that we have only good intentions towards Tunis. +We wish for nothing but the security of our great African colony. + +The commercial negotiations have been transferred to Paris, at the request +of the English Cabinet, which had at first expressed a wish that they +should take place in London. This seems to me to imply the very opposite of +a rupture, which, for our part, I can answer for it, we ardently desire +to avoid. We only wish for an equitable treaty, and this I hope we shall +manage.... + +Est-ce qu'on ne vous verra pas durant les vacances? Mistress Ross est +passée par Paris il y a huit ou dix jours; elle est venue me voir un +instant; elle m'a paru très bien portante. Bonne santé et bien des amitiés. + +_July 22nd_.--I assure you that should any rupture take place between +England and France, it will be very much in spite of all my efforts to +preserve harmony between two great nations. The English alliance is, in my +opinion, the right one for France; for many reasons, with which you are +as familiar as myself, it is the one which should take precedence of all +others. I do not by any means disdain other alliances, but the English is +the first, the most important, and, I may add, the most natural. It was +sincerely desired under Louis Philippe, in spite of a few passing clouds. +Under Napoleon III. they were, in reality, strongly inclined to break it, +notwithstanding the Crimean war. To-day we are anxious for an agreement +with England, if both sides will consent to reciprocal concessions. + +I am deeply grieved--surprised too--at the death of Dean Stanley. Sixty-two +is too early to die, and nothing seemed to foretell his premature end. He +passed through Paris, scarcely two months ago, and came to see me at the +Ministère. + +Like yourself, I should be happy to escape, but my chain is too short; and +whilst I am minister I shall not go the length of a day's journey away. We +must be at the command of circumstances, since they are not at ours, and +the shortest absence is enough to spoil many things. But I shall be happy +on the day when I can break my bonds, and return to philosophy. + +_July 27th_.--I hope that my answer to the Duc de Broglie the day +before yesterday will convince England of the value I set upon our good +intelligence, and of the open honesty of French policy. I hope, too, that +my declarations may appease Italy and Turkey. I have done my best, and if I +do not succeed it will not be my fault. + +Our treaty of commerce is my chief source of anxiety, and for my part I +am trying to avoid a rupture. But there are the resolutions of the two +Chambers which cripple the negotiators and above all our minister of +commerce. These are impassable limits to the best will. The negotiations +will doubtless begin again in Paris, in about a fortnight, but it is not +yet certain. The incident you point out is very curious, and England +becoming Protectionist, and England becoming Protectionist again under Mr. +Gladstone, would be an astonishing spectacle.... + +Je ne savais pas que l'île de Man fût 'le royaume des chats sans queue.' + +The Journal meantime notes:-- + +_June 3rd_.--To Foxholes: beautiful weather; 13th, back to town. More +dinners. + +_30th_.--To Drury Lane to see the German company act 'Julius Caesar.' + +_July 2nd_.--Dinner at Walpole's to meet Archbishop Tait, Arthur Stanley, +Lord Coleridge, Lord Eustace Cecil. + +_6th_.--Arthur Stanley's garden party at the Abbey. Lord Carnarvon's dinner +to the Antiquaries. [Footnote: Lord Carnarvon was president of the Society +of Antiquaries, of which Reeve was, at this time, a vice-president.] + +_July 13th_.--Breakfast of Philobiblon at Lord Crawford's. Large garden +party at Holland House. Great heat. + +_16th_.--To Foxholes and back. 18th, Arthur Stanley died. + +_July 23rd_.--From London to Government House, Isle of Man, on a visit to +the Henry Lochs--eleven hours. + +_25th_.--To Peel Castle with Loch and Coleridge; thence to Castletown. +27th, Ramsay. + +_July 29th_.--To Barrow in Furness. Furness Abbey. [Thence to +Scotland--Ormiston, Novar, Perth, Abington, &c.] + +_August 24th_.--Back at Foxholes. + +_From Archbishop Tait_ + +August 16th. + +My dear Reeve,--It seems to me that a most important service might be +done if a good article was published in the 'Edinburgh' on the pernicious +periodical literature which spreads low Radicalism and second-hand scraps +of infidelity amongst the labouring classes, both of town and country. My +friend Mr. Benham lately gave a lecture at Birmingham on the literature of +this or a kindred style, written for boys--'Police News' and the like. We +do little for the people if we only educate them to read and rejoice in +this trash. Ever yours, + +A. C. CANTUAR. + +The hint was not lost on Reeve, but it did not bear fruit till nearly six +years later. In January 1887 the 'Edinburgh Review' contained a strong +article on 'The Literature of the Streets,' in which the proposal was +definitely made for the issue of wholesome fiction and good works of good +writers, sensational and otherwise, in penny booklets. Eight or nine years +later the idea was taken up by at least two publishers; such penny books +are now issued by thousands, and, together with the countless number +of halfpenny and penny periodicals, do something to mitigate the evil +complained of by the Archbishop. The Journal notes:-- + +_September 9th_.--Picnic in New Forest with the Lochs and Clerkes. 30th, +steamed round the Isle of Wight. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, October 6th_.--I must express to you the very great pleasure +with which I have read your article [Footnote: 'Ireland and the Land Act,' +in the _Nineteenth Century_ for October. It does not attempt to argue the +question of Home Rule, but concludes with the pregnant words: 'My present +object will be sufficiently accomplished if I have indicated some of +the difficulties which lie before us, and explained why--at least in my +belief--it is premature to say, "Now we have settled our Irish troubles and +may deal in peace with questions that concern England."'] on the Irish Land +Act. It states in the most terse and telling language precisely the views +I have entertained for the last two years; and the conclusions it suggests +are even more striking than those it expresses. The ministers of England, +be they who they may, have a difficult task before them. The odd thing is +that our present ministers seem totally unconscious of the difficulty and +the dangers. I am told that they view the state of Ireland with great +complacency. It is astonishing how office blinds people's eyes. + +We have lost two members of The Club--Lord Hatherley and alas! Arthur +Stanley. I hope you will be able to suggest somebody to replace them. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_October 8th_.--I am glad you liked the article in the 'Nineteenth +Century.' I do believe it comes near to an accurate statement of the facts +of the case--no one can hope for more than approximate accuracy in such +matters--and on that account I expected it to be equally disagreeable to +both sides. Its reception has been better than seemed probable. Gladstone +has spoken out his mind about Parnell, and quite right too; but I wish he +had not accused the unlucky loyalists in Ireland of being slack in their +own defence. He does not know, evidently, how much they are overmatched... + +As to The Club. Two names have occurred to me--one, Browning the poet, +who is an excellent talker (I have heard him), and as unlike his books as +possible; the other, Sir John Lubbock. What do you say? + +The opening sentence of the next letter, from Lord Derby, appears to refer +to an after-dinner speech made by Mr. Gladstone at Leeds, on the 7th, when +he had alternately complimented Mr. Dillon and denounced Mr. Parnell. The +latter part, the denunciation of Mr. Parnell and his faction, is unusually +straightforward, and might profitably be studied in connection with some of +Mr. Gladstone's later speeches. + +_October 11th_.--I don't understand Gladstone's phrase any better than +you. Probably the explanation of it is that in Ireland it will be read as +meaning fresh concession, in England as meaning coercion. For anybody who +had leisure and disposition to take it up, I think a very interesting and +useful article for the 'Edinburgh Review' might be made out of the present +state of Irish literature and journalism. I do not believe the Irish lower +and middle classes ever read an English book or newspaper, and their native +literature is saturated throughout with the bitterest hatred to England and +all that belongs to our side the water. We do not in the least know here +the kind of mental food which is supplied to the amiable Celt. A good +analysis of it would throw more light on the very old subject of why they +hate us so. + +Reeve adopted the suggestion, and the subject was discussed in an article +on 'Irish Discontent' in the next number of the 'Review.' Lord Derby goes +on:-- + +_October 15th_.--Since you wrote the Government has screwed up its courage +to act. I never knew any proceedings so universally approved as the arrest +of Parnell. [Footnote: Mr. Parnell, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Sexton, and the chief +officials of the League were arrested in Dublin on the 13th and lodged in +Kilmainham.] But we have not seen the end yet. + +_October 21st_.--Many thanks for your letter, which is returned. I do +believe that it would be of use, as making intelligible the present state +of Irish feeling, to show to the English public (which is absolutely +ignorant on the subject) what the kind of instruction is that the Irish +peasant and farmer receives. + +Another matter. What do you think of Matthew Arnold as a possible member +of The Club? He is a good fellow and his literary reputation is very +considerable. I think we could do with him if he would attend. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_November 22nd_.--You know how little value I set on my office; I only +accepted it from a sense of duty, and quit it to-day, not only without +regret but with great pleasure. I am glad to receive your congratulations +because you correctly estimate the person to whom they are addressed. + +Like yourself, I am not without anxiety for the future. In placing matters +in the hands of M. Gambetta, I said all I possibly could on the affairs +of Europe and our relations with Germany; but I will not swear that more +attention will be paid to my advice than to that of many others. + +The Journal has:-- + +_December 10th_.--To Timsbury; 13th to Foxholes. The Mintos were living at +Bournemouth. Lunched with them on the 31st. + +1882, _January 1st_.--At Foxholes. Sir A. Lyall came. + +_9th_.--Returned to London. A few dinners. + +_From Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Badger Hall, January 19th_.--I have been reading the political articles in +the last number of the 'Edinburgh' with great interest and pleasure. The +one on 'The Bonapartes,' though not strictly political, amused me much, +as at one time of my life I knew Hortense and Louis Bonaparte intimately. +Hortense was an agreeable woman, very French, but lively and full of +anecdote. She had been and was _très galante_, but with decency. When I +knew her at Rome she was near fifty, and though not handsome, had still the +appearance of once having been a desirable woman.... Her son was then with +her--a youth of my own age, with whom I was intimate without liking him. He +was cold, disagreeable, and full of pretension, silent and reserved in his +own family, and anxious for distinction, which no one seemed willing to +accord him. I believe--contrary to the usual opinion--that he was the +son of Louis Bonaparte; he was like him. He was short, not ill-made, but +ungraceful; his face was plain, his skin bad, complexion muddy; small pig's +eyes, a coarse nose and mouth, lank hair, with little expression, and what +he had far from good. Neither I, nor any that then knew him, thought him +at all clever. I remember he got into a ludicrous scrape by intruding, +in female attire, into the apartments of the mistress of the Spanish +ambassador, from whence he was kicked out with every circumstance of +ignominy. + +When the disturbances broke out in the Papal States, he took a part in them +which was eminently unfitting, as he and his mother had found hospitality +in the States of the Church which they were refused in every other country. +I saw Hortense at night, just before her hurried departure from Rome, when +the news of her son's participation in the revolt at Ancona became public. +I had always been well treated by her, and had tasted her hospitality both +at Rome and at Arenenberg, and wished to show her sympathy and interest, +though I had nothing else in my power.... She received a passport from +Sir Hamilton Seymour and travelled through France. In Paris she had an +interview with Louis Philippe, who was kind to her. In the days of her +prosperity she had had an opportunity of showing kindness to the King's +mother. She showed me a letter from that princess, in which there were very +ardent expressions of gratitude for the service rendered to her. This she +told me she intended to show to L. Philippe as the certificate for her +claims on his protection. I saw her in London several times during her +stay; she returned to Switzerland, and I never saw her again. + +Louis Bonaparte I only spoke to once afterwards. I happened to be at Cork +when he landed there from America. I was at the same inn, and I understood +he was in great distress for money. I asked to see him, and we met. I asked +him if he required any trifling service that I could render him, thinking +a five-pound note might take him to London. He thanked me, but said he was +supplied for the moment. He lived with the D'Orsay and Blessington set, +which I did not frequent. I did not call on him, and in Paris I never +afterwards made the slightest effort to renew my former acquaintance with +him.... + +I had intended saying something about the two other articles that relate +to home politics, but I have been already too prolix. I must tell you, +however, how much I like them. Whigs as well as Tories will soon cease to +be separate; the struggle will soon be between those who have _culottes_ +and those who have not. We have got already to the Girondist ministry--a +party I hate particularly, in spite of their pretensions to virtue and +philosophy, or perhaps in consequence of it. There are some men of +birth and distinction who belong to the party; but the Levesons and the +Cavendishes may soon find themselves stranded like the Narbonnes and +Montmorencies amongst the Rolands and the Condorcets.... + +When are your new volumes to make their appearance? I long to have them as +though I had not already read them. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Rutland Gate, January 20th_.--I am uncommonly glad to hear from you again, +and I have to thank you for a most interesting and amusing letter. My +acquaintance with Louis Napoleon began when yours left off, and I saw a +good deal of him in 1838 and 1839. He wanted me to translate his 'Idées +Napoléoniennes.' But when he became a great man I dropped his acquaintance. + +I am glad you like my tirade. I suspect my Whig friends do not; for the +more one asserts Whig principles, the bitterer is the reflection on those +who desert and betray them. I do not believe that the majority of the +country or of the Liberal Party is Radical; but the danger is that a +violent minority always overpowers an inert majority. I care nothing at all +for any political persons, and but little for parties. It seems to me that +the right and the wrong of government lies in the principles that regulate +it, some of which are as certain as the truths of mathematics. + +The 'Greville Memoirs' have rather slumbered of late, but I am gradually +screwing up my courage to begin printing, slowly. + +We are very well, and spent our Christmas pleasantly in Hampshire, the +weather being delightful. London is dark and _un_delightful. + +Then the Journal:-- + +_February 24th_.--Visit to the Markbys at Oxford. Vespers at New College. +Dined at All Souls. + +_28th_.--The Club. I was in the Chair. Mr. Gladstone attended; Lord Derby, +Maine, Hewett, Tyndall, Coleridge. Matthew Arnold elected. + +_March 23rd_.--Electrical Exhibition at Crystal Palace, with Dr. Mann. + +_April 1st_.--To Foxholes. Very fine weather. No rain for three months. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, April 4th_.--I like the concluding pages by Froude in the +Carlyle book, but I am disappointed in Mrs. Carlyle's letters. They are +pleasant and cheery, but there are thousands of women who write as well. +As for Carlyle himself, he is _odious_--arrogance, vanity, self-conceit, +ingratitude to old friends--I never thought I should dislike him so much. +He seems to have looked at everything the wrong side outwards. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_April 11th_.--Lunched with the Mintos. They drove me to Christchurch. Lady +Minto died on the 21st. + +_29th_.--A great salt hurricane that singed the trees all over the country, +and also in France. + +_May 5th_.--Saw Lord Frederick Cavendish before he started for Dublin. On +the 6th he was murdered. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +_May 8th_.--You ask a difficult question about politics. On the one hand, I +see no possibility of a Conservative Government being formed just now, +nor do I believe that a Liberal Government could be formed on purely Whig +lines. On the other hand, I have the deepest conviction of the mischievous +tendencies of Gladstone's leadership, and of the utter instability he is +imparting to all the fundamental principles of government as hitherto +understood in all civilised countries. I can only advise that the truth +in this matter should be spoken freely, in the hope that when Gladstone +disappears from the stage, there may be some return to sounder principles +of legislation. I do not wish to see a change of Government just now. The +Tories could not govern Ireland in its present condition; at least it would +be a dangerous experiment. Half the Liberal party, which now supports +coercion when it is forced on Gladstone, would undoubtedly oppose every +possible form of it if proposed by Tories. The deplorable disaster made +known to-day will have its effect. I hope it will force the Government +to give form and substance to an amended Coercion Act--strengthening the +ordinary law and widely extending the sphere of summary jurisdiction. If +this be done well and sufficiently, it will be better than the power +of arbitrary arrest. But before this event, I really feared that die +Government might do nothing of the kind. + +The Journal mentions:-- + +_May 20th_.--At Foxholes, till June 13th. Bought rowing boat. + +_June 20th_.--Great dinner at The Club to the Duc d'Aumale. Nineteen +present. + +_21st_.--Great dinner at Archbishop Tait's at Lambeth. Forty-three people. +Evening service in Lambeth Chapel. + +_22nd_.--Wagner's 'Meistersinger' at Drury Lane. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ [Footnote: A very old friend of Reeve's. See +_ante_, vol. i. p. 91.] + +Bournemouth, June 22nd. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--Thanks for telling me what splendours I missed at The Club +dinner. You ask what Dr. Johnson would have said if he had stepped in. As +it was his own Club, he would have been gracious; but it was not every +dinner that could please him. Do you remember his remark as he went +away with Boswell from a dinner at one of the colleges at Oxford? 'This +merriment amongst parsons is mighty offensive.' + +I always remember the singularly representative character of the only +dinner I have had an opportunity of attending since I was elected. +Literature and Learning represented by yourself, Dr. Dictionary Smith, +Lecky and Lord Acton; the Church by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dean +Stanley; political life by Lord Derby and Spencer Walpole; the Law by Lord +Romilly, and the Dukes by the Duke of Cleveland--and there was no one else. +It was very pleasant, and there were not too many for conversation in +common. + +I always feel that, as I have not been in London for more than a day since +that dinner, and am not likely to be there again, it is hardly right to +occupy a place which might afford so much pleasure to some one else; but I +have said this before, and your answer was that no one ever retired from +The Club. As I am in my eighty-second year, I suppose it will not be long +[Footnote: He lived four years longer, dying in 1886.] before Providence +will place my seat at the disposal of some one who will turn it to more +account. Believe me, yours sincerely, + +Henry Taylor. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Château d'Eu, 22 juin. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'apprends par M. Gavard que vous avez +l'intention de venir en France vers le 20 juillet. Je m'empresse de vous +dire tout le plaisir que vous nous ferez, à la comtesse de Paris et à +moi, en commençant ce voyage par un séjour au Château d'Eu. Je regrette +seulement que vous ayez l'intention de l'entreprendre seul. J'ai fait ici, +il y a trois semaines, de fort belles pêches à la truite, qui m'ont fait +regretter que Mademoiselle Reeve ne fût pas ici. Vous trouverez chez nous +le Duc d'Audiffret Pasquier, que vous avez déjà vu ici, je crois, il y a +deux ans; et un général américain, qui a servi avec moi sous M'Clellan, M. +de Trobriand. + +Je ne vous parle pas de la situation de nos deux pays en Orient: elle est +pénible, et il me semble que le dernier numéro du _Punch_ l'exprime avec +une vérité parfaite. + +Veuillez offrir mes hommages à Madame Reeve et me croire votre affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLÉANS. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_July_.--The Egyptian Expedition was now resolved on. [Alexandria was +bombarded on the 11th: the Army Reserves were called out on the 25th.] Lord +Granville thought it would be finished before the end of August. + +_16th_.--Crossed to Boulogne. Thence by Abbeville to Château d'Eu. Duc +d'Audiffret, St. Marc Girardin, Duchesse de Montpensier. 21st, drive in the +Great Park. Tréport. 24th, returned to London. 28th, to Foxholes: quiet +life. + +_To Mr. E. Cheney_ + +_Foxholes, October 20th_.--I am glad the article on Shelley [Footnote: +'Shelley and Mary,' _Edinburgh Review_, October 1882.] has interested you. +The perusal of these private letters and correspondence has considerably +altered and raised my estimate of Shelley as a man. As to his poetry, it +produces on me exactly the effect of delicious music, which enchants the +ear even when you can't understand it. But these papers, which Lady Shelley +has had printed in order to secure their preservation, are a sealed book. I +believe she never can show them again to anyone--at least not at present. +The copy she lent me has been returned to her and I do not possess it. +Nobody else does. It is, therefore, impossible to ask her for a copy. I +undertook to compile an article--as I did for Lady Dorchester, on her +father--_omissis omittendis_. But that is all. I think the history of +Allegra is in great part new, and one of the difficulties in this matter is +the connexion existing between these papers and the papers of Lord Byron, +which are unpublished. + +Are you going to stay in London? I hope so. I shall return to town on +November 6, and should be very glad to find you there. + +And the Journal accordingly has:-- + +_November 6th_.--Returned to London. + +_18th_.--The troops came back from Egypt. + +_December 3rd_.--Archbishop of Canterbury (Tait) died. + +_4th_.--The Law Courts opened. + +_16th_.--To Foxholes till the end of the year. Gambetta died just as the +year expired. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, December 23rd_.--The Club has lost one of its most respected +members in the Archbishop, and all parties seem now to feel how great +and wise a man he was. Huxley would be rather an odd successor to an +archbishop; but I am inclined to think that he ought to be one of our next +additions. + +I am a very old and fervent supporter of the Anglo-French alliance, but in +the present state of France I doubt whether anything is to be gained by +making sacrifices to her pretensions. In justice to other States, such as +Italy and Austria, I see no reason for conceding to France any exceptional +position in Egypt, and I think all countries should be treated with equal +justice and liberality. It is probable that a firm though friendly attitude +towards the French will answer best for them and for us. Their expeditions +to Congo, Tonkin, and Madagascar will do more harm to themselves than to +anyone else; but they prove the weakness of the present French Government. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_Knowsley, December 25th_.--I agree in what you say about France, if you +mean that the dual control is dead and cannot be revived; nor ought it, if +it could. Other nations may fairly claim a voice in Egyptian affairs. What +I lay stress upon is that we should make it clear that we are not going to +take Egypt for ourselves; which nearly all foreigners suppose to be our +intention, and give us credit for disguising it so well. + +It is odd that the French are doing badly. The country is fairly +prosperous, there is no war of classes, no apparent revolutionary feeling, +yet distrust and doubt as to the future seem universal. It almost looks +as if revolutions had driven the better sort of men out of public life. I +cannot believe that their colonial craze will last long. There is, in all +Europe, no country to which colonies are so entirely useless; for the +French never emigrate and seldom even travel; and to send conscripts to +tropical settlements cannot be popular with the peasantry. + +As to The Club--I am quite in favour of Huxley's admission; but have we +only one vacancy? Would not any possible opposition to him be disarmed, if +he were brought in, not singly, but as one of two or three? We must talk +over candidates when we meet.... Poor old Owen cannot, in the course of +nature, last long. [Footnote: He lived, however, for another ten years, +dying at the age of eighty-eight in 1892.] Huxley would be his natural +heir; more than the Archbishop's. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, December 27th_.--To return to what you say of France. Do you not +think that a democratic republic, in which every citizen is striving to get +all he can for his vote at the expense of the State, necessarily becomes +the most rapacious and corrupt form of government? It is this which has +raised the budgets of France for 1883 to 122 millions sterling; and if you +add the communal expense, to 154 millions. It is this which compels them +to persist in a reckless expenditure, and to invent new modes of spending +money and creating places by absurd expeditions abroad. The system there, +as you say, drives every man of honour and honesty out of political life, +and substitutes for them adventurers and idiots. The evil will become more +intolerable still, and there will come another revolution, probably +at first violent in form and ultimately put down by force. This is a +melancholy forecast, but it is that of all the persons in France whose +judgement is of value. + +As to The Club--we had better not propose Huxley while Owen is amongst us. +But we have several octogenarians--Overstone, Henry Taylor; and as for the +lower grade of septuagenarians, they are numerous; but I will say nothing +of them, as I shall shortly join that body. Altogether The Club presents +a respectable array of years, and tends to longevity. I should like an +engineer, if we could catch an agreeable one. What would you say to Sir +Henry Loch? Few men have seen more of the world--in India, China, the +Crimea, down to the Isle of Man; and I think him vastly agreeable. However, +we can talk this over when we meet. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE FRENCH ROYALISTS + + +Many others besides Lord Derby were at this time speculating on the chances +of one more revolution in France. The state of public opinion seemed to +point to a coming weariness of the corruption incidental to a republic, and +a desire for the restoration of the monarchy. Since the obstinate refusal +of the Comte de Chambord, in 1873, to accept the change from the _drapeau +blanc_ of the Bourbon dynasty to the flaunting _tricolor_ which savoured of +democracy, monarchy had seemed impossible. But the Comte de Chambord was +known to be in feeble health, and he had no children. If he should die, the +fusion of the antagonistic parties was possible, was indeed probable; and +it was generally understood that the Comte de Paris was singularly free +from the prejudices which had rendered impossible a restoration in the +person of his cousin. He was, indeed, not ambitious, and he was wealthy. +The two ordinary motives of conspirators were wanting; but he loved France +by force of sympathy and education, and he honestly believed that a +restoration would be the best thing for his country. As a matter of love +and duty he felt bound to work in order to bring about this most desirable +of changes. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Chateau d'Eu, le 2 janvier 1883. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je suis bien touché de la bonne pensée que vous +avez eue de m'écrire à l'occasion de la nouvelle année. Je vous remercie +de tous vos bons voeux, et je vous prie de recevoir ici l'assurance de +ceux que je forme pour vous et pour les vôtres. + +I am greatly obliged by your remarks on the future of France. This is +indeed dark; and, as you so well express it, the sterility of democracy and +the impotence of the institutions based on it are most striking. They are +especially so here. This dearth, this void, of which you speak increases +from day to day. The men of note who were formed under a different rule, +and who came to the front under special circumstances, are dying off and +are not replaced. It is only a few days since one, [Footnote: Gambetta, +died December 31st, 1882.] the most able we have had since the death of M. +Thiers, has been carried off by an obscure--a mysterious--illness. Of those +left, there is no one who can take his place. In some respects he was a +truly remarkable man. He, and he alone, was known from one end of France +to the other; he, and none but he, could even for one day have united the +blind and jealous forces of democracy; he alone could give the republicans +the organisation and appearance of a party, but owing to the violence of +his temperament he could never have held the reins of government. He would +have been exceedingly dangerous in the department of foreign affairs, which +would have been his choice. He would, indeed, have brought to it a most +honourable sentiment of the dignity of France, but he had neither prudence +nor experience. There were in Europe some who counted on him; others who +feared him; every one, I think, exaggerated what he would have done or +tried to do. + +I regret extremely the difficulties which are rising between France and +England about Egypt, and I confess I do not understand the attitude of our +Government. The temper of France towards England resembles that of a man +who has been offered an equal share in a profitable adventure, who has +refused to accept the risk, and who is now vexed at the success of his +neighbour. But no Government worthy of the name will allow itself to be +influenced by such feelings, or is unable to adapt itself to the changes +which circumstances may give rise to. And besides, so little attention is +paid in France to foreign politics that the Government may do whatever it +likes, provided that does not lead to war--under any form or against any +enemy.... + +J'ai bien regretté de ne pas pouvoir rencontrer Mlle. Reeve à Paris. +Veuillez lui dire que si elle veut prendre quelques truites, elle devrait +venir ici du 28 ou 29 mai au 5 ou 6 pin. C'est la date exacte de l'éclosion +du May-fly, et à ce moment-là nous faisons vraiment de très belles pêches. +En attendant nous partons pour Cannes la semaine prochaine. J'espère +y rencontrer quelques amis d'Angleterre, dont plusieurs sont déjà fort +anciens--comme Lord Cardwell, Sir C. Murray, Lord Clarence Paget, le Duc +d'Argyll, &c. + +Veuillez offrir mes hommages à Madame Reeve, et me croire. + +Votre bien affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILLIPE D'ORLEANS. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +_Walmer Castle, January 7th_.--I return you, with many thanks, the Comte de +Paris' remarkable letter. If the Duc de Bordeaux would follow the example +which has been sadly set by Gambetta and Chanzy, [Footnote: Chanzy had died +two days before, January 5th. The Duc de Bordeaux better known at this +time as the Comte de Chambord, did follow the example a few months later, +August 24th.] the prospects at Eu would be good. + +With you, I do not feel inclined to gush over Gambetta. It is true that +he was well disposed towards England, but his love would have been of a +troublesome and exacting character. + +The Journal has little of interest. It notes the return to London on +January 13th; a journey to York on the 29th, on a visit to the Archbishop +[Thomson], who wrote an article for the 'Review' on the Ecclesiastical +Commission; and, on February 17th, to Battle Abbey. Beyond these trivial +entries, nothing except the mention of several dinner parties--some 'good,' +some 'dull.' Then, later:-- + +_April 16th to May 22nd_.--At Foxholes. Very cold. Snow in May. + +_June 8th_.--Dinner at Lord Carnarvon's. Sir R. and Lady Wallace, Lord +Salisbury, Lady Portsmouth. + +_15th_.--Dinner at Alfred Morrison's, [Footnote: Mr. Morrison, so well +known to historical students by his splendid collection of MSS., died on +December 22nd, 1897.] first time. Splendid house. + +_21st_.--Dinner at home. Duc d'Aumale, Granvilles, Malmesburys, +Carlingford, G. Trevelyans, and others. + +_23rd_.--Philobiblon breakfast at Gibbs's. Duc d'Aumale, Duke of Albany. To +Military Tournament with Lady Malmesbury. + +_25th_.--Duke of Cleveland's dinner to Duc d'Aumale. Duke of Grafton, Lady +Cork. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Château d'Eu, 16 juin. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'ai hâte de répondre à votre aimable lettre du +8, et de vous remercier de votre bienveillante appréciation d'un travail +qui prend des proportions vraiment formidables. Je suis en effet en train +d'imprimer le 7me volume, et d'écrire le 8me, qui sera suivi encore de deux +autres, si Dieu me prête vie. Je suis obligé d'entrer dans beaucoup de +détails pour donner à cette histoire un véritable intérêt aux yeux du +public américain, qui est celui auquel je m'adresse particuliérement, le +seul qui puisse me fournir beaucoup de lecteurs. La traduction anglaise en +un gros volume a dû paraître ou paraîtra incessamment à Philadelphie. + +Vous trouverez le Duc d'Aumale en fort bellé sante et très brillant, malgré +toutes les préoccupations que nous avons eues, et la blessure très vive +que lui a faite l'odieuse mesure militaire [Footnote: The removal of the +Orleanist princes from the active list of the army in February.] dont il a +été l'objet. Je regrette de ne pouvoir l'accompagner en Angleterre, où +j'ai tant d'amis que je serais heureux de revoir. Mais ne puis-je au moins +espérer que vous nous ferez cette année, avec Madame et Mademoiselle Reeve, +une visite au Château d'Eu? Nous resterons ici tout le mois de Juillet. +J'ai été assez heureux à la pêche ici dans notre petite rivéire. Pendant +une quinzaine, du 25 mai au 10 juin, j'ai pris à la mouche 82 truites +pesant 42 livres. + +This was the sport to which he had particularly invited Miss Reeve in +January, and which, he goes on to say, has given him the idea of going to +Norway in August. As to this, he begs Reeve to make some inquiries for him, +and concludes--Veuillez me croire votre bien affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLEANS. + +Another chatty letter, four days later, June 20th, has:-- + +Nous serons charmés de vous voir venir ici vers le 24 juillet avec Madame +Reeve, tout en regrettant que Mademoiselle votre fille ne puisse pas vous +accompagner. Nous espérons qu'elle pourra venir ici l'année prochaine en +mai. Mais qui peut faire sous un gouvernement démocratique des projets à si +longue échéance? + +The visit was, however, prevented by an event of the most serious political +importance; an event which during the next three or four years was thought +by many to be likely to change the destinies of France, to affect the +fortunes of Europe. It may be best told in the words of the person most +affected. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Château d'Eu, le 18 juillet. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je suis revenu ici il y a deux jours après avoir +fait en Autriche un voyage imprévu dont vous avez connu le motif et le +résultat. J'ai été reçu par l'auguste malade [Footnote: The Comte de +Chambord, known among the Legitimists as Henri V.] avec une affectueuse +cordialité qui m'a profondément touché, et j'ai quitté Vienne en conservant +quelque espoir de le voir sortir de la crise cruelle qu'il vient de +traverser. Les dernières nouvelles reçues ne démentent pas cet espoir, +quoique son état soit toujours fort grave et plein de périls. Je ne puis +naturellement faire dans une pareille situation de projets à longue +échéance. Non seulement tout plan de voyage est abandonné pour le moment, +mais je vis au jour le jour, toujours prêt à partir au reçu d'une dépêche +annonçant le dénouement fatal. Aussi ne puis-je dans ce moment insister +pour vous engager à faire au Château d'Eu cette visite dont je me +promettais tant de plaisir et d'intérêt, mais qui, dans les circonstances +actuelles, risquerait fort d'être brusquement interrompue. Je le regrette +vivement, et j'espère pouvoir m'en dédommager plus tard. + +En attendant, j'ai hâte de vous remercier de tout ce que vous me dites sur +ma situation actuelle et sur l'intérêt que vous y portez. Je vous remercie +également de ce que vous avez écrit sur ce sujet à la fin du dernier numéro +de la _Revue d'Edimbourg_. On sent en lisant ce morceau combien celui qui +l'a écrit aime et connaît bien la France. Il a été fort remarqué chez nous. +Si vous me permettez d'ajouter un seul mot qui vous prouvera que je l'ai lu +avec attention, je vous signalerai un _lapsus calami_ qui vous a échappé. +Le fondateur de notre branche d'Orléans, fils de Louis XIII, frère de Louis +XIV, s'appelait Philippe et non Gaston. Gaston était le nom du fils de +Henri IV, frère de Louis XIII, le Duc d'Orléans de la Fronde, qui ne laissa +que des filles, entre autres Mlle. de Montpensier. + +Like you, I am uneasy at the existing relations of France and England, +though I fully believe that the two Governments are respectively animated +by the most conciliatory intentions. In my opinion, the blame rests on +what is now called 'the colonial policy,' which consists in scattering our +forces to the four corners of the world, while Continental Europe is armed +to the teeth and does not afford us a single ally. But even this policy +might be followed without causing any difficulty with England, if there was +a readiness to anticipate it by frank explanations. The world is big enough +for it. Unfortunately, since the Egyptian business--which might easily have +been the opportunity for a friendly agreement, but which we have made such +a mess of--all these questions are confused and taken amiss.... + +Je termine en vous renouvelant encore tous mes remerciments, et en vous +priant de me croire votre bien affectionné, + +LOUIS-PHILIPPE D'ORLÉANS. + +The Journal then has:-- + +_July 24th_.--Great dinner at the Granvilles' to receive Waddington +[Footnote: M. Waddington had a career that has perhaps no parallel. The son +of an Englishman settled in France, he was educated at Rugby and at Trinity +College, Cambridge; and was second classic, Chancellor's medallist, and +No. 6 in the University boat in 1849. Having elected to be a Frenchman, he +travelled in Asia Minor, and achieved a reputation as an archaeologist and +numismatist. After the fall of the Empire he entered into public life; was +foreign minister and the representative of France at Berlin in 1878; was +prime minister and the representative of France at the Coronation of the +Tsar in 1881, and was French ambassador in London from 1883 to 1893. +He died in 1894 at the age of 68.] [the new French Ambassador]. I was +introduced to Count Herbert Bismarck. Sat by Errington. Forty-two people +there at several tables. + +_26th_.--To Foxholes. + +_September 10th_.--Left Foxholes for Broglie _viâ_ Havre. Slept at Rouen. +11th, Broglie, by rail to Bernay; at Broglie, Vieil Castel, Laugel, Target, +Gavard. Old name of Broglie, Chambrey. + +_15th_.--Left Broglie for Val Richer. Drive with De Witt. + +_17th_.--Gout coming on in foot. Started for Honfleur and Havre; quite +lame. Spent the day on board the Wolf; met Prothero again. Managed to get +home on the 18th. Laid up in bed for a week. + +_From Lord Granville_ + +_September 29th_.--The Comte de Paris has a difficult game to play; and the +large intelligent family, living in great luxury and consideration, is not +the best machine for carrying hopes more or less forlorn; but I expect it +would be difficult to find an abler or more judicious pretender. My fear is +that--as you say--their way to success lies through some disaster. I do +not feel convinced, if an opportunity or a necessity arose, that men like +Waddington and Ferry would not be among the first to act as civil Moncks. + +In the meantime, we shall know in a very few days whether the wisest among +the present ministry will have their way and do the right thing by us in +the Madagascar matter. It will take a little longer to settle the Chinese +difficulty. This can only be done by great sacrifices on the part of the +French. The Chinese will not hurry themselves, and believe they have the +French in their pockets. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Château d'Eu, 3 octobre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'ai reçu votre lettre du 4 septembre à mon +retour de Frohsdorf, mais j'ai eu tant à faire depuis lors que je n'ai +pas, jusqu'à ce jour, trouvé un instant pour vous remercier de la preuve +d'amitié et de sympathie que vous m'avez donnée dans ces circonstances si +graves pour moi. J'ai eu depuis des nouvelles de votre séjour à Broglie et +au Val Richcr par Messieurs Gavard et de Witt, et j'ai bien regretté que +les convenances du deuil ne m'aient pas permis de vous demander cette année +de venir an Château d'Eu. J'aurais été, en effet, fort heureux de pouvoir +causer avec vous de toutes les graves questions qui se posent aujourd'hui +devant nous, tant à l'intérieur qu'à l'extérieur. + +Je serai heureux d'en retrouver l'occasion; car, plus les événements +rendent ma situation grave et difficile, plus ils grandissent ma +responsabilité, plus naturellement je tiens à recueillir les avis d'un +observateur éclairé, impartial et bienveillant pour la France. Dans cette +situation si nouvelle, et, je puis dire, sans précédents, je tiens à +resserrer les liens de mes vieilles amitiés, et je tiens particulièrement +à entretenir mes relations avec la société anglaise, ce grand centre +intellectuel qui recueille et juge les affaires du monde entier.... + +Je vous prie d'offrir mes hommages à Madame et à Mademoiselle Reeve et de +me croire Votre bien affectionné, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PAEIS. + +All the Comte de Paris' earlier letters are signed Louis-Philippe +D'Orleans, the capital D' being a noticeable peculiarity. By the death of +the Comte de Chambord at Frohsdorf on August 24th, the Comte de Paris had +become the head of the Bourbons, [Footnote: Always excepting the impossible +Don Carlos.] and linked the Legitimists and Orleanists in the person of one +capable man. At the same time he changed his signature, as now claiming +the throne by hereditary right. Among the Orleanists, however, there were +many--including the Duc d'Aumale--who considered the change ill-judged, +as implying that his grandfather, Louis Philippe, was a usurper--as, +of course, he was, if the will of the people is to count for nothing. +[Footnote: Cf. _Le Duc d'Aumale_, par Ernest Daudet, pp. 334-5.] Among the +Legitimists, on the other hand, there were many who protested that under +no circumstances could they accept one of the line of Philippe Égalité as +their lawful sovereign. Still, for the next two or three years, it seemed +not impossible that the Comte de Paris might be called to the throne by a +constitutional reaction and a popular vote. He does not seem to have had +any wish to head or stir up a revolution of force and bloodshed. + +The Journal records:-- + +_October 29th_.--To Oxford. Dined at the Deanery. Jowett, Duke of +Buckingham, Max Müller, Brodrick. 31st, dined at All Souls. Sir William +Anson. November 1st, lunched with Max Müller. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_November 21st_.--I notice that to you, as to me, the situation of France +appears very sad. I conceive that it is a source of alarm to all Europe. We +are falling lower and lower towards the Radicals and the Extreme Left. If +that party should come into power, it would be a very serious threat to the +peace of the world. From the weakness of our Government, everything is to +be feared; and as this weakness must become greater, there does not seem +any remedy in the near future. Notwithstanding our wealth, our finances +are in a bad state, and it is on that side that the inevitable storm will +burst. To ward it off an entire change of conduct would be necessary; and +at the present time we have no one strong enough to guide our policy in the +right direction. + +_To Mrs. Parker_ + +_Foxholes, December 18th_.--If anyone is to write Lord Westbury's Life, +yours is the pen to do it. Nobody expects a daughter to be impartial, or +wishes it. I will see what letters I can find, and will write again when I +have looked over my packets of letters. + +This promise was afterwards fulfilled. Lord Westbury's letters were sent to +Mrs. Parker, and several of them, with some of Reeve's, were incorporated +in the 'Life of Lord Westbury' (2 vols. 8vo. 1888), by Mr. T. A. Nash, whom +Mrs. Parker afterwards married. + +Early in January 1884, Mrs. Reeve went to Paris, on a visit to Lady +Metcalfe--one of Mr. Dempster's nieces. On the 16th Reeve joined her there. +Among other entries, the Journal notes a breakfast at Chantilly on the +27th--'château finished, galleries splendid'--and on the 30th, dinner at +the Embassy. They returned to London on the 31st. A few dinners in town are +noted, and a visit to Covent Garden on March 5th, to see Salvini in 'King +Lear.' To Foxholes on April 9th. + +This meagre chronicle of course gives no idea of Reeve's intellectual +activity at the time, which was really very great. With his official +duties, the conduct of the 'Review,' an extensive correspondence, and, at +this time, the preparation of the second part of the 'Greville Memoirs,' +with dinner parties or receptions three or four times a week, it would seem +as if Reeve's days must have consisted of an abnormal number of hours. And +effectively they did; for, though on pleasure--at proper seasons--Reeve +might be bent, he had always a frugal mind as to the disposal of time. +Most, if not all, of his correspondence, much even of his more serious +work, was got through in spare half-hours at the Council Office; and when +at home, in his study in the house in Rutland Gate, it was a standing rule +that he was not to be disturbed. The study was a cosy room on the ground +floor, built out at the back, and so removed from all noise of passing to +and fro. It had no outlook to distract the attention, and no man was ever +less addicted to day-dreaming. To work whilst he worked and play whilst he +played was the golden rule which enabled Reeve for over fifty years to +get through as much hard work as a successful lawyer, to do as much hard +writing as a successful novelist, to hunt, shoot, or travel whenever +opportunity offered, and to be one of the best known figures in the world +of London society. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +_March 8th_.--Many thanks for your letter. I am pleased to know that the +scientists find my science accurate. Writers in the interest of religion +have generally, of late, been disposed to make as much as possible of the +distinction between man and nature. The speciality of my book [Footnote: +_The Unity of Nature._ There is an article on it in the April number of the +Review.] is, on the contrary, to maintain the unity, as really essential to +all belief, thus going back to the paths of Butler. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, 15 avril._--Cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'étais bien sûr de vous faire +plaisir en vous envoyant les discours prononcés sur la tombe de M. Mignet. +Celui de M. Martha est le plus remarquable; M. Jules Simon a très bien +parlé aussi; mais on peut trouver cependant que M. Martha l'emporte. + +Je suis très sensible à votre amicale invitation, et je serai heureux de +visiter cet été votre ermitage de Foxholes. Nos vacances commenceront +probablement en août, et je réglerai mes mouvements sur les vôtres. + +Je vous remercie de votre bienveillance pour l'Histoire des Animaux; je ne +crois pas que nulle part le génie d'Aristote se soit montré plus grand, +plus scientifique et, l'on peut ajouter, plus moderne. Entre lui et Linné, +Buffon et Cuvier, il n'y a rien. L'histoire de la science a beaucoup à +profiter de cet exemple frappant. + +Je suis absolument de votre avis sur le rôle de l'Angleterre en Égypte; +vous n'avez qu'à faire ce que nous avons fait à Tunis, où les choses +marchent à souhait. C'est l'intérêt de votre grand pays, en même temps que +l'intérêt de la civilisation et de l'humanité. Les affaires égyptiennes ne +peuvent rester dans l'état où elles sont; et il faut les régler au plus +vite, pour l'honneur de tout le monde. + +Je présente mes hommages bien respectueux a Madame Reeve, en attendant le +petit voyage a Foxholes vers l'automne. Votre bien dévoué, + +B. St.-HILAIRE. + +And here the Journal notes:-- + +April 16th.--Edward Cheney died, aetat. 82. + +From Dr. Vaughan [Footnote: Then Master of the Temple; he died November 15, +1897, aged 81.] + +The Deanery, Llandaff: April 19th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I am grateful to you for your kind letter. I will try to +remember to make the reference with which you furnish me when I am again at +the Athenaeum. + +The year 1185 is always in my recollection as the date of the consecration +of the Round Church by the Patriarch Heraclius. I am already in +communication with Dr. Hopkins about the musical part of its celebration, +on or about the day (I think February 10) next year. And there must be a +sermon about it on the nearest Sunday. So you see how exactly your thoughts +and mine agree on the subject. + +Ever truly yours, + +C. J. VAUGHAN. + +The other part of the church was consecrated on Ascension Day 1240. Who +will be Master when _that_ seventh centenary comes round? + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +Argyll Lodge, Kensington: April 19th. + +My Dear Mr. Reeve,[Footnote: Written in pencil.]--I am laid up with a very +sudden and sharp attack of the enemy; but I must write a line from bed to +say how _more_ than satisfied I am by the article in the Review, which goes +straight to the main points of my Essay, and which distinguishes exactly +those which best deserve notice. I am the more grateful as all the others +I have seen--whether laudatory or not--have all been the production of +ignorant men who did not see, or of learned men who did not wish to see, +any of the specialties of the book. + +I am better, but unfit for any work. + +Yours very truly, + +ARGYLL. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, April 20th_.--Much obliged to you for the Beaconsfield book, +[Footnote: The _Beaconsfield Birthday-Book_.] which is very pretty. I hope +you will sell as many as there are bunches of primroses in Covent Garden +Market. The extent of Lord Beaconsfield's popularity is really curious. Yet +this is the man whom Gladstone hunted to death and called a fiend!! + +And the Journal for the summer runs:-- + +At Foxholes all May. + +_June 26th_.--Marriage of Hallam Tennyson and Miss Boyle in Henry VII.'s +Chapel. + +_July 12th_.--Dinner at Sir Henry Maine's. The Actons, Lindleys, Evelyn +Barings, Brookfield, Venables--interesting party. + +_16th_.--Duchess of Argyll's garden party. + +_17th_.--The great Canadian case between the Provinces of Ontario and +Manitoba was argued for six days before the Judicial Committee. + +_24th_.--To Foxholes. On August 11th we went to Strode, to see Mr. Gollop, +aetat. 93. 15th, back to Foxholes. + + * * * * * + +At this time, on behalf of Sir Henry Taylor, Reeve had been conducting a +negotiation with Longmans for the publication of Taylor's Autobiography, +and an agreement had been come to which was to take effect after Taylor's +death. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ + +Bournemouth, August 26th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--Thanks for your very kind letter. I am so glad you can +take a favourable view of my autobiography. + +I am rather surprised myself that there is nothing in it of Mrs. Austin +and Lucy. I was intimately acquainted with them, and I may perhaps find +something said of them in letters, as I proceed with the task of sorting +my correspondence. Of Mr. Austin I saw very little. He led such a secluded +life. But one could not see him at all without knowing something of the +intellect which lay hidden in him for so many years. + +As to the date of publication, I shall leave the necessary instructions. I +wish the work to be published as soon as possible after my death. + +Believe me, yours sincerely, + +HENRY TAYLOR. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Château d'Eu, 17 septembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Je ne veux pas tarder un instant à vous remercier +de votre lettre du 14, et des félicitations que vous m'adressez à +l'occasion de la naissance de mon fils Ferdinand.... Grâces à Dieu, tout +s'est passé aussi bien que possible et, depuis l'événement, la mère et +l'enfant vont à merveille. Je vous remercie bien cordialement des voeux que +vous formez pour celui-ci. Je connais de longue date les sentiments qui +vous inspirent, et vous savez tout le prix que j'y attache. + +Vous avez raison de dire que l'avenir se montre assez sombre pour toutes +les nations de l'Europe. Les opérations de l'Amiral Courbet au Tonkin et +en Chine montrent que notre marine se maintient à la hauteur de sa +vieille réputation; elle le doit aux traditions, à l'esprit de corps, aux +sentiments de respect pour les chefs qui s'est conservé chez elle tandis +qu'il disparaissait ou s'affaiblissait partout ailleurs. Mais cette +démonstration nous coûte bien cher. La guerre avec la Chine nous alarme, +parce qu'il n'y a pas de guerre plus difficile à terminer que celle-là. La +politique coloniale est un luxe que nous aurions pu nous donner dans un +autre temps, mais que ne nous convient pas dans notre situation européenne. +Elle a de plus été conduite d'une façon irrégulière, l'action au Tonkin +succédant à l'inaction en Egypte. Cette affaire d'Egypte aurait pu servir +de base à une entente avec l'Angleterre. Au lieu de cela on n'a pas voulu +l'aider, puis on a boudé parce qu'elle agissait seule, et lorsque les +difficultés ont commencé pour elle, on n'a su ni s'entendre absolument +pour agir en commun, ni s'effacer derrière l'Europe pour ne pas assumer la +responsabilité de l'echec de la conférence. Bien des gens croient ici que +toute cette politique a eu pour but de sauver le ministère Gladstone. Cela +n'en valait pas la peine. Il en est résulté de l'aigreur dans les journaux. +Mais cette aigreur sent bien un peu le fonds des reptiles, et personne n'a +sérieusement envie de chercher querelle à la perfide Albion. + +Ceux qui admirent ses institutions et qui croient que leur pondération est +la garantie du plus précieux de tous les biens--la liberté, se préoccupent +vivement des tendances jacobines de notre ami Gladstone. L'extension du +suffrage est logique, l'anéantissement de la chambre des Lords est logique. +Mais les meilleures institutions ne sont pas les plus logiques. À force de +logique on tend à remplacer le gouvernement pondéré de l'Angleterre par ce +que nous appelons le gouvernement conventionnel, c'est à dire le despotisme +d'une Assemblée unique appuyée sur la brutale loi du nombre. Que Dieu vous +garde d'un tel avenir. C'est le voeu d'un ami sincère de vos institutions. + +Ce qui préoccupe ici bien plus, et à bon titre, que les aventures +coloniales, c'est la situation économique. La France s'appauvrit parce +qu'elle perd en impôts improductifs une partie de son épargne, parce que +ses fils travaillent moins, dépensent plus et boivent davantage, parce +qu'ils demandent des salaires trop élevés, et parce que la concurrence +allemande, américaine, italienne, anglaise, nous ferme peu à peu tous les +marchés, et enfin parce que le phylloxera ruine la moitié du pays. Le +courant protectionniste se prononce avec une force irrésistible en ce +moment. + +Je vous prie d'offrir mes hommages à Madame et à Mademoiselle Reeve, et de +me croire Votre bien affectionné, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PARIS. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +Paris, 19 octobre. + +Cher Monsieur Reeve,--J'ai reçu le numéro de la _Revue d'Edimbourg_, et je +vous en remercie. Le rédacteur de l'article a été plein de bienveillance à +mon égard, et je vous prie de lui faire savoir que je suis fort touché de +l'appréciation qu'il veut bien faire de mes travaux. Je profiterai de ses +justes critiques pour mes autres traductions; mais il est un point où je ne +suis pas tout à fait d'accord avec lui. Je ne trouve pas qu'il tienne assez +compte à Aristote d'avoir commencé la science, et de l'avoir fondée. +Les débuts sont toujours excessivement difficiles, et il ne serait pas +équitable de demander à ces temps reculés de savoir tout ce que nous savons +aujourd'hui. Nous devons toujours nous dire que dans deux mille ans d'ici +on en saura beaucoup plus que nous, tout savants que nous sommes. Ceci doit +nous engager à être reconnaissants et modestes. + +Je vais mettre sous presse le Traité des Parties des Animaux en deux +volumes, et je prépare celui de la Génération, qui, sans doute, en aura +trois. + +J'espère que vous vous portez bien, ainsi que Madame Henry Reeve; je lui +présente mes respects et mes amitiés, avec tons mes voeux pour sa santé et +pour la vôtre. + +Votre bien dévoué, + +B. ST.-HILAIRE. + +The Journal here has:-- + +_October 28th_.--Dinner of The Club to Lord Dufferin before his departure +for India. + +_November 14th_.--Dinner at Lady Molesworth's to the Waddingtons. + +_December 3rd_.--Small dinner at Lord Cork's, with Gladstone and Sir H. +James. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ + +Bournemouth, December 10th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--It has come into the head of my family, and through theirs +into mine, that there is no particular reason why my Autobiography should +not be published now, instead of posthumously, and that there are some +motives for giving a preference to present publication. The agreement +with Messrs. Longman which you brought about has been, perhaps, a sort of +suggestion of this change of purpose; so I write to mention it. The work +was written with more unreserve than would be natural to a man who hears +what he says, and some erasures will be required; but a man in his +eighty-fifth year is, in some respects, as good as dead, or, at all +events, as deaf: so there need not be much alteration. I hope you will not +disapprove. + +Believe me, yours very sincerely, + +HENRY TAYLOR. + +On December 17th the Reeves went to Foxholes, where they spent Christmas, +ushered in the New Year, and returned to London on January 15th, 1885. The +entries in the Journal are for the most part trivial, though politically +the year was one of extreme interest and excitement, much of which is +reflected in the correspondence. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +6 _janvier_.--J'ai été vivement touché de la lettre que vous m'avez écrite, +des voeux que vous m'adressez au moment où nous entrons dans une année qui +semble nous réserver bien des surprises. L'avenir est plein d'incertitudes +et de dangers. Je n'ai pas besoin de vous dire que j'observe avec une +sérieuse inquiétude l'état des relations entre l'Angleterre et la France, +non que je croie même à la possibilité d'un conflit qui répugnerait +également à tous les membres des deux nations voisines, mais parce qu'une +hostilité diplomatique seule serait déjà un grand malheur pour l'une et +pour l'autre.... Vous avez raison de croire que le désir universel de la +paix prévaudra sur les périls de la situation internationale. Ce désir +est bien puissant en France, et les aventures de l'extrême Orient, dans +lesquelles on nous a lancés si mal à propos, ne font que lui donner +l'occasion de se manifester. + +Ces aventures ne font pas diversion à la crise si grave qui éprouve notre +industrie et notre agriculture. Les causes de cette crise sont multiples. +Quelques-unes sont communes à toute l'Europe, d'autres le sont aux quelques +nations qui avaient le monopole de certaines industries, et le +perdent, grâce aux facilités actuelles des transports. Il en est une, +malheureusement très-active, qui nous est propre; c'est la tendance des +ouvriers depuis l'établissement de la Rèpublique à chercher l'amélioration +de leur sort, moins dans l'accroissement de leur salaire que dans la +diminution de leur travail. Cette funeste tendance leur a été inspirée +par les flatteries de tous ceux qui briguent leurs suffrages, et leur +rappellent que toute législation émane d'eux. Le pays produit moins, et +par conséquent s'appauvrit. L'imprévoyance de nos gouvernants a aggravé +la crise. Aujourd'hui un cri puissant s'élève en faveur des droits +protecteurs, même sur le blé. Il est probable qu'on en fera assez pour +inquiéter les consommateurs des villes, pas assez pour satisfaire +l'agriculture.... Si Mademoiselle Reeve voulait faire de jolies pêches de +truites, c'est le 1er juin qu'elle devrait venir à Eu. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +_Inveraray, February 13th_.--The Nile affair is too miserable. No possible +issue can be otherwise than a misfortune. The despatch in which the +Government asked Gordon to advise them how to relieve him--in April last, +when he was closely beleaguered--reads like a horrible joke now. + +A horrible joke indeed:--for on February 5th news had come of the fall of +Khartoum and the death of Gordon. On the 26th a vote of censure on the +Government was carried in the House of Lords by 189 to 63; but a similar +motion in the Commons was rejected by 302 to 288. The Government majority +had fallen from 56 to 14. + +On March 8th a special service was held in the Temple Church to commemorate +the completion of the seventh century since its consecration. [Footnote: +See _ante_, p. 322.] The Master preached the sermon on the text Psalm xc. +1--'Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.' [Footnote: +The _Times_ of March 9th gave a pretty full abstract of the sermon.] Reeve, +who was present, considered it one of Dr. Vaughan's happiest efforts, +and wrote to say how greatly he had been pleased by it. Vaughan's +acknowledgement of the kindly feeling which dictated the letter has +otherwise no particular interest. + +_From Sir Alfred Lyall_ [Footnote: At that time lieutenant-governor of the +North-West Provinces.] + +_March 31st_.--When we closed in 1881 the second act of the Affghan drama, +I calculated on an interval of at least five years; and I thought that if +we could get a joint commission to settle some boundary that Russia could +provisionally agree to, the interval might be longer. But the Boundary +Commission, which I first pressed for in 1881, has propelled, instead of +delaying, the crisis. I suppose our Egyptian entanglement seemed to Russia +to offer an irresistible opportunity; at any rate, the Russians have some +reason for precipitating the issue between us, and at this moment we may be +on the verge of a war. It is very curious to find ourselves so close to the +collision that we have been so long trying to fend off, and to realise that +a land invasion of India by a European Power, which has been the nightmare +of Anglo-Indian statesmen since Bonaparte seized Egypt in 1798, is now no +longer a matter of remote speculation. The Russian menace is, however, +already producing one result that I had always anticipated; it is evoking +among all substantial classes of Indians a strong desire to support the +British Government in India. You may remember that in my paper of January +1884 I wrote that the natives would, in times of rumoured invasion, hold by +any Power that could keep the gates of India against Central Asia; and this +is now strongly showing itself. The adventurous classes are ready to +enlist and follow our colours; the propertied classes look to us as the +representatives of order and security; the educated classes depend wholly +upon our system; if the Russians calculate on any serious rising against +us in India, they will be mistaken. Of course a series of reverses would +change the whole face of affairs.... We are very fortunate in having Lord +Dufferin here at this time. Everyone likes him, and has confidence in him. +He is clearly a Viceroy who listens to everyone, but makes up his own mind +independently. And Lady Dufferin charms us all.... + +The Mahdi's fortunes do not interest India. The talk in some of the papers +about the necessity of smashing him, in order to avert the risk of some +general Mahomedan uprising, is futile and imaginative. The Indians think +the English rather mad to go crusading against him in the Soudan, and they +may soon get irritated at the waste of Indian lives at Suakin, when we want +our best men on the N.W. frontier; but, for the rest, they do not concern +themselves about remote Arab tribes. Of course everyone sees that the +English Government has now an excellent pretext for getting partially out +of a hopeless mess by transferring most of our English troops from the Red +Sea to the Punjab. + + * * * * * + +On April 9th news reached London that on March 30th the Russians, under +General Komaroff, had attacked and carried the Affghan positions at +Penjdeh, concerning which negotiations were going on. As our Government was +pledged meanwhile to the support of the Amir, this action of Komaroff's was +held to be a very aggravated insult to England. Explanations were demanded, +but preparations for war were hurried on, and on April 27th, after an +impassioned speech by Mr. Gladstone, a vote of credit for eleven millions +was passed almost by acclamation. The negotiations, however, were +continued; explanations were given: the Russians kept Penjdeh; the Affghans +had lost their territory, their guns, and 500 men; and Mr. Gladstone +expressed himself satisfied. Four days afterwards, May 8th, the Government +was defeated on the budget, and resigned a few days later, the Marquis of +Salisbury forming the new ministry. + +_From Sir Alfred Lyall_ + +_June 5th_.--Probably you know more in England than we do in India of the +course of negotiations with Russia, It seems just now more smooth than +satisfactory. I fear we have lost credit in India over that unlucky Penjdeh +business. One would fancy that our representatives on the spot might have +been wary enough to discern that where the Russians and the Affghans were +drawing close to each other, there lay the risk and the strain of the +situation. I have a very moderate trust in our ally the Amir, though he is +a very able, if unscrupulous, ruler. I hope fervently he has sense enough +not to use those breech-loaders we are sending in such quantities, and that +he won't repeat the Penjdeh blunder by provoking some collision with the +Russians on his border.... + +India is very quiet. The Russian scare of the spring has turned rather to +our advantage, as I always prophesied it would, by bringing home to the +natives their dependence on England for protection from foreign invasion. + +_From Sir Henry Taylor_ + +_Bournemouth, July 14th_.--I have just read the excellent article in the +'Edinburgh Review' on my Autobiography; and as there is no amount of +kindness on your part which I cannot believe in, I am disposed to think +that it is you who have written it. [Footnote: It was written by Reeve.] +Whoever it is, I should like him to know that I am very thankful. + +_From Sir Alfred Lyall_ + +_August 1st_--India is now perfectly quiet; but the new generation of +hungry, ambitious, English-speaking natives are persuading themselves +that they can have all the benefits of English rule without the burden of +English officialism. If they are encouraged and supported by the English +_Demos_, there will be confusion before long. + + * * * * * + +On August 14th Parliament was prorogued, with the clear understanding that +the dissolution would follow. This, however, was put off for three months, +during which time the country was turned upside down by the excitement of +the electoral campaign and the unbridled license which many of the most +distinguished candidates permitted themselves; rank Socialism, the +abolition of property, 'three acres and a cow,' being freely spoken of by +the irresponsible, and hinted at, in no obscure language, by some who had +borne office in the Gladstone ministry. By a curious coincidence, the +French elections were nearly synchronous with ours, and the results were +keenly watched by one, at least, of Reeve's correspondents. But of all this +excitement and agitation the Journal has no trace. The only entries of any +interest are:-- + +Foxholes: very hot: no rain for two months. + +_August 22nd_.--Excursion to Studland with the Denisons, Lord Canterbury, +and Prothero. + +_26th_.--To Malvern with Hopie; 27th, Worcester; 28th, Tewkesbury; 29th, +Hereford Cathedral; then Boss, Monmouth, and Chepstow. + +_September 1st_.--Chepstow Castle, Tintern Abbey, then to Clifton across +the Severn. 2nd, rain, so returned to Foxholes. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +18 _septembre_.--Je m'empresse de vous remercier de votre lettre du 15, qui +m'est parvenue hier. Vous savez avec quel plaisir je reçois toujours de +vos nouvelles, avec quel intérêt je lis toujours vos appreciations sur la +situation de nos deux pays. Malgré de bien grandes différences dans l'état +politique, qui sont tout à l'avantage du vôtre, et dans l'état social, qui +le sont peut-étre moins, ces deux situations ne sont pas sans analogies. +Les modérés, de part et d'autre, comme vous le dites, semblent être +peu écoutés, et cependant je suis persuadé que leurs vues finiront par +l'emporter des deux côtés du détroit, parce que, sous une surface agitée en +apparence, aucune passion violente ne bouillonne dans l'une ou l'autre des +deux nations. Vous avez devant vous le grand inconnu de la nouvelle loi +électorale; dangereux, parce que l'omnipotence de la Chambre des Communes, +favorable au gouvernement parlementaire lorsque cette Chambre se recrutait +exclusivement dans la haute classe et en avait l'esprit, pourra être un +instrument redoutable pour la liberté et pour toute l'organisation sociale +le jour où MM. Chamberlain, Parnell et Bradlaugh auront chacun un parti +derrière eux. Heureusement pour vous, l'institution monarchique vous +permettra de traverser la crise qu'entraînera la modification de la +composition et de l'esprit de la Chambre des Communes. Grâce à cette +institution, l'esprit politique du pays pourra rétablir l'équilibre entre +les pouvoirs publics. En France, l'expérience de la République démocratique +et pacifique s'est faite dans les conditions les plus favorables, et a +échoué. Elle n'est ni conservatrice ni réformatrice. Tout en restant +bourgeoise, elle est pardessus tout prodigue. Les classes qui payent +l'impôt sont parfaitement édifiées sur son compte; celles qui nele +payent pas, et qui votent cependant, sont frappées indirectement par +l'appauvrissement national et commencent à s'étonner que la République, +dont le nom les flatte encore, réponde si mal à leur attente. La République +reste bourgeoise parce que le suffrage universel est trop défiant pour +chercher des représentants dans le sein de la classe la plus nombreuse. +Mais il n'est pas difficile dans les choix qu'il fait dans les rangs d'une +classe plus élevée. Le niveau intellectuel et moral des Assemblées qu'il +élit s'abaisse à chaque renouvellement. C'est un fait qu'il faudra accepter +désormais comme inévitable, et dont il faudra tenir compte dans l'avenir. +La République est essentiellement prodigue parce que, toute la machine +gouvernementale reposant sur l'élection, les ministres sont obligés de +donner aux deputés des places innombrables pour satisfaire la foule encore +plus nombreuse de leurs agents électoraux, et de permettre des travaux, des +dépenses exagérés dans chaque arrondissement, ici pour favoriser le député +républicain, là pour nuire au député conservateur. C'est par là qu'elle +périra, parce que le mal est sans remède et s'aggrave chaque jour. Loi +générale d'ailleurs. C'est par les finances que périssent les gouvernements +définitivement condamnés: témoin l'ancien regime. Cette mort-là est sans +résurrection. + +Le caractère nouveau de la période électorale qui s'est ouverte +pratiquement depuis quelques mois est le réveil des Conservateurs. Ils +comprennent enfin qu'ils peuvent et doivent lutter pour défendre la société +menacée, les richesses nationales compromises. Ils apportent à cette lutte +une ardeur tout à fait nouvelle. Depuis deux ans [Footnote: Since the death +of the Comte de Chambord.] je me suis efforcé de faire comprendre à nos +amis que la politique avait sub les mêèmes transformations que la guerre; +que, pour gagner la victoire sur le terrain politique, il ne fallait rien +laisser au hasard, rien confier aux petites coteries; qu'il fallait agir +avec de gros bataillons, et que, pour les mouvoir il fallait un système de +mobilisation aussi parfait que celui de l'armée allemande. Ces conseils ont +été suivis, et les monarchistes se sont préparés à entreprendre la +lutte électorale avec une organisation de comités de départeméent, +d'arrondissement et de canton, appuyés le plus souvent sur des réunions +plénières qui marquent un grand changement dans la vie politique du parti +conservateur. Cette organisation se perfectionnera dans les élections +mêmes. Elle doit donner un jour, et par l'élection et par l'action plus +puissante encore de l'opinion publique, le pouvoir à ceux qui l'auront +constituée et qui sauront s'en servir. + +A la veille des elections... tandis que tous les autres partis faisaient +faire leur programme par un petit comité parisien, craignant qu'une grande +réunion ne trahît leurs divisions, les monarchistes ont envoyé des quatre +coins de la France des délégués qui, tous animés du même esprit, ont adopté +par acclamation le programme soumis à leur approbation. Je dois même dire +que nous avons tous été frappés de leur extrême modération. Pas une voix ne +s'est élevée pour réclamer en faveur d'un ton plus aggressif. Le programme, +retouché sur place par une commission de neuf membres, avait, vous le +pensez bien, été soigneusement préparé d'avance; toutes les expressions en +avaient été pesées. Aussi suis-je heureux qu'il ait eu l'approbation d'un +aussi bon juge que vous. + +21 _septembre_.--Depuis gue je vous al écrit, j'ai lu le grand manifeste +de M. Gladstone. De celui-là, on ne peut pas dire qu'il brille par la +modération. Il y a des phrases redoutables et effrayantes à l'adresse de la +richesse et de la propriété, base de la société. Jamais je n'aurais cru le +Gladstone que j'ai connu capable de parler de la Chambre des pairs comme il +le fait. Et cependant, une profonde modification dans la composition de +la Chambre Haute ne sera-t-elle pas un jour le salut de la cause et des +intérêts conservateurs en Angleterre? Si cette Chambre se retrempe au +moins partiellement dans l'élection, elle y trouvera, peut-être, une force +capable de lui assurer dans le gouvernement une part au moins égale à celle +de la Chambre des Communes, au moment où celle-ci baissera en valeur morale +proportionnellement à l'extension du suffrage.... + +En ce moment, il serait bien désirable, également en France et en +Angleterre, de voir les modérés de nuances diverses se rapprocher, pour +former un véritable parti conservateur: chez vous, anciens whigs et anciens +tories; chez nous, les centres droits et les centres gauches. Mais c'est +entre ceux qui sont le plus rapprochés en politique que le souvenir des +luttes passées laisse les plus profondes rancunes. + + * * * * * + +The Journal notes:-- + +_October 12th_--Went to town for the Riel [Footnote: Louis Riel had +stirred up a rebellion in Manitoba, had been captured, tried, and sentenced +to death. He appealed, and the case thus came before the Judicial +Committee. On October 22nd the appeal was dismissed, and on November 16th +Riel was duly hanged at Regina.] case. Dined with Captain Bridge [Footnote: +Now Rear-Admiral Bridge, lately commander-in-chief on the Australian +station.] at the United Service Club. + +_14th_.--Second part of 'Greville' published; 2,700 copies subscribed. + + * * * * * + +In comparison with the tremendous excitement caused by the publication of +the first part of the Greville Memoirs, the second part attracted little +notice, although large sales testified to the interest it raised. Reeve +mentions 2,700 as the number of copies subscribed for: but the first +edition of 4,000 was exhausted almost immediately, and a second large +edition was sold out within a few months. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, October 28th_--I am much obliged to you for your note. We might +elect three new members of The Club, because there remain two vacancies +caused by the honorary list, besides the death of Houghton. I should very +much like to see Edward Stanhope and Harry Holland in The Club. They are +among the most rising men of the day--accomplished and agreeable--and their +fathers were respectively two of our most faithful members. We should, +I think, choose men from the younger generation, for many of us are +frightfully old. It is more difficult to point out eligible men in the +literary or scientific world. To say the truth, there is a remarkable +dearth of distinguished authors. Violent politicians are objectionable. + +I am very much gratified by what you say of the new volumes of Greville's +Journals. Your estimate of their value exactly coincides with my own. I am +happy to say that I have not yet heard that anyone is annoyed or offended. +I sent a copy to Henry Ponsonby, who laid it before the Queen, but I have +not heard what sentence Her Majesty has passed upon me. + +There is a great deal of political noise, but very little light. In the +south of England I think the Conservatives will carry a good many seats. If +I were to venture on a prognostic, I should say that the opposition will +have a majority in Great Britain, though by no means so large a one as the +Radicals expect. The effect of this would be that the Irish can turn the +scale, and I think Mr. Parnell would refuse, for the present, to turn out +the present Government in order to bring in Mr. Gladstone. In that case, +the existence of the present ministry may be prolonged for some time, but +it would be on sufferance and by Irish support. On the other hand, if a +Liberal Government were formed, it could only exist with the support of the +Irish vote. Eventually, I hope, this anomalous state of things may bring +the moderate men of both the British parties together, and throw both +extremes into opposition. That, I am convinced, is the real wish of the +country, and the obstacles to such a combination are chiefly personal. +I fancy the next parliaments will be very impracticable and probably +shortlived. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +22 _novembre._--Je vous remercie de ce que vous me dites à propos des +Mémoires de M. Greville. [Footnote: Sc. that there were passages in it not +complimentary to the Orleans family.] + +Je comprends parfaitement que vous ne pouviez supprimer certains passages +dont vous ne voulez cependant pas assumer la solidarité. Ces passages +ne m'empêcheront pas de lire avec intérêt la suite des oeuvres de cet +observateur peu bien-veillant, mais fin et spirituel. + +Ne croyez pas que je vous écrive avec d'autre pensée que de faire part de +mes vues à un êtranger qui connaît, comprend et aime la France. + +On November 18th Parliament was dissolved by proclamation and the elections +were held from the 23rd to December 18th. In the English towns, where the +elections were first held, the Conservatives had a large majority, and it +seemed as if they were going to sweep the board. In the counties, however, +the 'three acres and a cow' was taken by the ignorant rustics, just +admitted to the franchise, as a splendid reality, and their votes went +strongly in favour of the Liberals, or rather--as it would be more correct +to say--the Radicals. Mr. Gladstone had appealed to the country to give him +a working majority. He had, in fact, a majority of eighty-four over the +Conservatives; but the Irish, or so-called Nationalist, party numbered +eighty-six; and as these were bound by their bond of union to oppose the +Government, whatever it was, they had to be counted with the Conservatives +as soon as the Conservative Government had fallen. And the comparison of +the numbers showed that it must fall as soon as Parliament met. As Reeve +had forecast, neither party could form an effective administration without +the support of the Nationalists, a position which seemed for the moment to +render them the arbiters of the nation's destiny. + +_From Count Vitzthum_ + +Paris, December 1st. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--Many thanks for your kind letter. You will find me here +in my winter quarters until the end of May, then from June to the end of +October at Baden-Baden, where we have built a villa. I would always be +happy to see you and talk over old times. + +I have just finished reading the third volume of Greville's Memoirs and +have been very much struck by your notes, without which some passages would +not have been intelligible. Old Greville was a portrait-painter rather in +Rembrandt's style. In putting together all he says of Palmerston, Peel, and +the Duke of Wellington, very remarkable full-length portraits would come +out. He seems rather partial for John Russell. + +My little book makes more noise in Germany than I expected. W. Oncken, the +celebrated historian of Austria and Prussia in 1813, will review it for +the 'Allgemeine Zeitung,' and the Vienna press has been unexpectedly +favourable. An English friend of mine wants to translate it. I think it +would be 'love's labour lost;' for everybody who cares for such trifles and +photographs taken on the spot understands German nowadays in England, and +will prefer the original. Still, if you thought it worth your while to send +a short notice to the 'Times,' it would be a favour. My old friend Delane +is no more, else I should have asked him. Cotta writes me that he has +secured the English copyright, and sent some copies to the principal +Reviews and the 'Times.' Believe me, very faithfully yours, + +VITZTHUM. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Château d'Eu, 9 décembre. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,--Un de mes amis va partir pour la Belgique. Je +tiens à en profiter pour lui confier une lettre à votre adresse, qu'il +mettra à la poste chez nos voisins. En effet, je connais par expérience +I'indiscrétion dont la poste française a pris la mauvaise habitude sous +l'Empire, habitude qu'elle n'a pas perdue sous la République. J'ai hâte de +vous remercier de votre lettre du lr qui m'a vivement intéressé. J'ai été +un peu confus d'apprendre l'usage que vous aviez fait de la mienne, car +je l'avais écrite au courant de la plume, et uniquement pour me donner le +plaisir de causer avec vous. Mais, puisque vous l'avez trouvée bonne à +montrer, je m'en rapporte à votre amitié, et j'espère qu'elle n'a pas été +trop indulgente. Je suis d'ailleurs fort heureux d'avoir quelquefois, par +votre intermédiaire, des relations avec Lord Salisbury, pour le caractère +et le talent duquel j'ai toujours eu une si haute estime, et que j'aime +d'ailleurs toujours à considérer comme mon proche voisin de campagne. + +The success of the Conservatives in the towns, their defeat in the country, +is the very opposite of what is taking place here; so that we foreigners +must exercise great reserve in giving an opinion on the political situation +created in England by these last elections. It is, however, evident +that there, as everywhere else, the old parties are in process of +disintegration, and that, in a new social state, in presence of new +problems, a new distribution of parties is called for. In the history of +all nations there are periods when the need of political progress renders +it necessary for the reformers to remain long in power; and if from time to +time they yield it to their adversaries, it should only be for long enough +to recover breath in climbing the long ascent. On the other hand, there +are also periods when the wearied people long for repose; when progress no +longer aims at completeness, but at change; when reforms are mere Utopian +fancies or appeals to evil passions; and when the partisans of the _status +quo_ ought to have the direction of affairs for as long a time as possible. +I believe that we are now entering on one of these periods. But it becomes +the duty of the Conservatives to defend existing institutions by taking the +initiative in such modifications as may be necessary. This is what, with a +true political insight, they have always done in England. The vote of the +counties does not affect the justice of your appreciation of the general +character of the elections. It is not a return to the old Tory party, but +rather the condemnation of the Radical programme; and from this point of +view they have an international importance which nothing can weaken. All +the same, this vote of the counties seems to me to render absolutely +necessary the modification of parties which the complete success of the +Ministry would have postponed. After the redistribution of seats, there +is need of a redistribution of persons and of political groupings. Either +Parliament will be controlled by the Irish Nationalists, and Ireland by Mr. +Parnell, or, in opposition to the Nationalists and the Radicals, there will +be formed a Government which will be Conservative in its respect for +the great social institutions, in its antagonism to the levelling and +centralising spirit, and withal Liberal in the manner in which it will +handle the agrarian question. + +Judging by what I see here, where over three millions of rural proprietors +are 'a tower of strength' for the Conservatives, I am persuaded that in +England also the Conservatives have no greater interest--after the defeat +of the socialist and revolutionary plans of Mr. Chamberlain--than to work +vigorously at the formation of a numerous class of small landowners. +_Mutatis mutandis_, we have here also the corresponding phenomenon of the +transformation of parties. We are unquestionably entering on a period of +lassitude. The Conservatives have gained one hundred and twenty seats at +the last elections, for four principal reasons, all of which spring from +the faults of their adversaries. + +1. The Tonkin expedition. + +2. The waste of the national and municipal finances. + +3. The aggravation of the agricultural and industrial crises by the gross +errors in the conclusion of treaties of commerce and the establishment of +transit tariffs. + +4. The war on the clergy, foreshadowing the separation of Church and State. + +To these particular reasons must be added the general dissatisfaction with +an administration at once weak and corrupt, which is not in accord with +those instincts which a thousand years of monarchy have impressed on our +manners and tone of thought. + +The moderate Republicans have been beaten because they allied themselves +with the Radicals, and because they themselves have not shown the governing +qualities which could gain the confidence of the country. If the check +has not been still greater, it is because the country has a horror of all +change; because the interest of the Government is exceedingly strong; +because the electors do not care to vote for the opposition candidate, who +cannot do anything for them; and lastly, because, at the second _tour de +scrutin_, the Government, in the most shameless manner, brought pressure to +bear on all who are directly or indirectly dependent on it, the number of +whom is very great. + +We have then two hundred Conservatives deputies, who represent three and a +half millions of electors. Three-fourths of these are Monarchists more or +less avowed; one-fourth represents the Bonapartist element, and among these +last are many with whom I have well-established personal relations. It is +not, however, the part of this large minority to set forth any opinions as +to the form of the Government, nor even to cause obstruction; still less to +ally itself with the Radicals for the vain satisfaction of overturning the +Ministry. Its aim must always be to promote the passing of Conservative +laws, and by every possible means to oppose such Radical measures as will +be proposed to the Chamber. It is for this that it has been elected. If it +fulfils its task aright, when the dissolution comes--and this cannot be +far off--it will reap the fruits of its policy. It will have merited +the country's confidence, which the Radicals will have lost; and, +notwithstanding the pressure, perhaps even the violence of the Government, +the current of public opinion will be so strong that it will send a +Conservative majority to the Palais Bourbon. Under the influence of this +current we may hope to see the collective or individual conversion of +the moderate Republicans, which must lead to the reconstruction of the +Conservative party and to placing the direction of it in the hands of the +Monarchists. For, though by temperament these moderate Republicans ought +to be the last to come to us, the Radical danger must bring them; they are +bound to come; their place is marked in our ranks. They will never go to +Bonapartism: on the contrary, they will one day enable us to rid ourselves +of the _intransigeunt_ element which forms a disturbing minority in the +party. + +This will be the work of to-morrow. To-day, the principal task which I +recommend to my friends is the reconstitution, or rather the creation, of +the 'active list' of the Conservative array. We have the model in Belgium. +People are beginning to understand that the Conservatives cannot remain for +ever on the sufferance of the Government. No Government shall he stable +but that which they can support. For this they must form a compact and +well-organised party. Encouraged by the results of the elections, every one +has set to work with new ardour. My only trouble at present is the utter +inexperience of the Conservative minority. It is made up of men almost all +of whom are new to Parliament, are unacquainted with each other, and as +yet are without a leader. I reckon, however, that such blunders as it may +commit will be balanced and amended by those of its opponents. + +Je tennine sur cette pensée consolante, et je vous prie de me croire. + +Votre bien affectionné, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PARIS. + +It is interesting to compare with this another view of the French elections +and of the probable course of events, taken from a very different +standpoint. + +_From the Due de Broglie_ + +8 _novembre_.--Vous avez vu le rèsultat de nos élections, qui ont été plus +heureuses pour la cause générale du parti conservateur que pour ce qui me +regarde particulièrement. Si nous ne vivions pas dans un temps oú toutes +les prévisions sont trompées par une certaine inertie générale qui amortit +toutes les passions et ralentit le cours naturel des événements, je +croirais qu'une crise violente est assez prochaine, les éléments extrêmes +se trouvant réums et rapprochés dans l'Assemblée nouvelle, de manière à +former un mélange explosible comme la chimie redoute d'en amener. De part +ni d'autre, d'ailleurs, il n'y a d'homme en état de diriger les événements; +ils iront done probablement tout seuls, commes des chevaux qui n'ont pas de +cocher, ce qui est le moyen à peu près sûr d'aller dans le fossé. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +RETIREMENT + + +Christmas and the early days of the New Year were passed at Foxholes. On +January 15th the Reeves returned to Rutland Gate. Parliament met on +the 21st, and, as had been foreseen, the Government was defeated on an +amendment to the Address. Lord Salisbury's resignation was announced on +February 1st, and, on the 3rd, Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet was formed, Sir +William Harcourt being Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Rosebery Foreign +Secretary, and Mr. John Morley Secretary for Ireland. Sir Henry James, +now Lord James of Hereford, declined the office of Lord Chancellor; Lord +Hartington, the present Duke of Devonshire, declined office of any sort in +a Ministry whose policy, as yet but dimly shown, was generally understood +to be on the lines of advanced Radicalism. For his part, Reeve abhorred +Radicalism. He had never approved of Gladstone as a politician, and now +less than ever. He looked on him as a danger to the Empire, to be fought +against, to be resisted, to be crushed. Nor was he singular in this. It +is customary to speak of the extraordinary influence which Gladstone +exercised. It was this influence, directed by sentiment or by vanity, which +constituted the danger. There were many who believed the country to be +on the eve of a violent, perhaps a sanguinary, revolution, fomented and +abetted by Mr. Gladstone; and this belief was strengthened when, on +February 8th, an East-end mob, meeting in Trafalgar Square, was allowed, +without opposition, to march by Pall Mall, St. James' Street and +Piccadilly, to Hyde Park, breaking the windows and plundering the shops on +the way. When to this supposed revolutionary tendency of the new Ministry +was added their avowed intention to bring in a measure for the pacification +of Ireland, which--in the absence of details--was believed to mean the +disintegration of the kingdom, the feeling of alarm, which must be very +well remembered by many who read these pages, can be easily understood. + +_From Lord Ebury_ [Footnote: Lord Ebury died at the age of 92, in 1893.] + +Moor Park, January 4th, 1886. + +Dear Reeve,--Allow me to wish you and Mrs. Reeve a happy New Year, and +to say how much I have been interested in the second part of our common +friend's Memoirs, which--if you care to know it--pleased me more than the +first; but the most characteristic passage of the writer, and which made me +laugh aloud, is the three pages in which he vents all his wrath against the +public for their approbation of Lady Blessington as an authoress, and the +pedestal upon which they placed her. I was glad to read the editor's note, +which completed the page. When once he got into that sort of mood, and +perhaps was influenced by a touch of gout, and let himself go, it was very +funny to listen to him; and really he was a good-natured man. I wonder +what he would have said of Parnell and his ragged regiment, and the G. O. +M.[Footnote: As even in twelve years the name has become quite obsolete, it +may be as well to note that Mr. Gladstone was generally designated by these +letters, said by his friends and admirers to stand for Grand Old Man.] as +he now appears. What in the world are we to do? The 'Times' is working most +patriotically; but why, in the world, did it or he not find out earlier +what the G. O. M. really was and is?... + +With my best regards to Mrs. Reeve, + +I remain, yours very truly, + +EBURY. + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +_8 janvier_.--Je vous remercie bien sincèrement des bons voeux que vous +m'adressez pour la nouvelle aimée. Comme vous le dites fort bien, il y a +des bonheurs que la politique ne peut pas empoisonner, et ce sont les plus +solides. + +L'année 1886, je le crois comme vous, nous réserve des surprises plus +dramatiques que celle don't nous venons de voir la fin. En France, ce +renouvellement de l'année nous donne un Président renommé mais non rajeuni, +un Ministère reconstitué mais non raffermi ... En Angleterre, Gladstone +et les Irlandais vous auront pour une fois rendu service s'ils forcent à +s'unir les conservateurs, aujourd'hui séparés par d'anciennes divisions +en whigs et en tories. Ce jour-la vous pourrez de nonveau avoir un +gouvcrnement fort et national. + +_From Lord Ebury_ + +_February 13th_--I cannot recollect anything about Charles Greville's +pamphlet on Ireland, though I imagine I must have read it at the time. Can +one get it now to look at it? or are things so much changed by the march +of events since that its interest has passed away? I re-read Gustave de +Beaumont's marvellous work, with which no doubt you are acquainted. +I confess it rather staggered me when it first came out; and how the +prophecies it contained are accomplished, almost to the letter! I remember +calling the old Duke's attention to it; especially to that strange +phrase-speaking of the then Irish landowners--'C'est une mauvaise +aristocratic; il faut la détruire.' Was it ever reviewed in the +'Edinburgh'? + +When will this horrible Government be overthrown? + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Rutland Gate, March 29th_--From what I learned yesterday as to the +probable course of proceeding in the House of Commons, I am strongly of +opinion that it will be necessary to accelerate the publication of the +'Review' by two days, instead of postponing it, as we had proposed to do. +The 'Review' would be of use in the debate which will then be going on, and +will probably be noticed; whereas, after the division on leave to bring in +the Bill, it would be less opportune. The article on Ireland is complete, +and it would be premature to speculate on the details of an unknown +measure. + +The 'Review' was published on April 13th, and, as Reeve had expected, the +article on 'England's Duty to Ireland' was in everyone's mouth. It was a +powerful appeal to the Liberals, as distinct from the Gladstonians, which +may even now be read with advantage as a lucid exposition of the principles +of the Union. + +_From Lord Ebury_ + +_April 14th_.--Thank you for so speedily answering my question: also for +pointing my attention to the concluding article of the 'Edinburgh'--just +published--written by yourself. I have just finished its perusal, and am +very much pleased with it. No doubt you have had a certain advantage +in seeing what has been already said upon this insane proposition of +Gladstone's; but I have hitherto seen nothing which so completely exposes +the dangers that threaten us, and gives so much historical information to +guide opinion upon the subject; and you have put forward a subject which +to my astonishment has not (or scarcely) been noticed at all. I mean +the danger to the throne of England. I see you dismiss with scarcely a +remark--which, indeed, in your province, would have been injudicious--the +responsibility of those, our grandees--I won't mention names--who have +assisted in giving the G. O. M. power to do the almost irreparable mischief +he has perpetrated. + +The Journal here has:-- + +_April 17th_.--To Foxholes. On the 29th, Unionist meeting at Christchurch; +Lord Malmesbury in the chair. I read an address [which was printed and +circulated as a leaflet]. This was one of the first Unionist meetings in +England. + +_May 3rd_.--To Portsmouth, on a visit to Captain Bridge, on board the +'Colossus.' + +On May 10th Gladstone, in moving the second reading of his 'Home Rule' +Bill, seemed to accept the truth of the maxim that 'Speech is given to man +to conceal his thoughts,' and led someone--commonly believed to be Mr. +Labouchere, who made no attempt to hide his own opinions--to say, 'How is +it possible to play with an old sinner who has got an ace up each sleeve, +and says God Almighty put them there?' What Gladstone wanted to do was, +in fact, never exactly known; all that could be made out was that he was +prepared to grant whatever the Irish Nationalist party demanded. It was for +Mr. Parnell to speak; for him to obey. Such an attitude was revolting to +a very great many of the Liberal party. They maintained--they rightly +maintained--that the name 'Liberal' belonged to principles, not to men; and +that those who sacrificed their principles to follow the lead of one man, +even of Gladstone's eminence, ceased to be Liberals, and could only be +called Gladstonians. The Bill was discussed for many days, and on June +7th it was negatived by the House of Commons in the fullest division ever +known; the numbers being: + + _Against the Bill. For the Bill._ + + Conservatives. . . . 250 Gladstonians. . . . 230 + Liberals. . . . . . 93 Nationalists. . . . 83 + ___ ___ + 343 313 + + Majority against the Bill, 30. + +Reeve was triumphant, and wrote to Mr. T. Norton Longman the next day, +'What a triumphant division! What a defeat for the G. O. M.! Even he must +believe this. I think his colleagues will hardly agree to dissolve. If they +do, they will be annihilated.' + +They did, and they were. The General Election held in July fully ratified +the vote of the House on June 7th, and left the Gladstonians and +Parnellites combined in a minority of 115. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_C. O., June 23rd_.--Sir Francis Doyle's Epilogue [Footnote: The last +chapter of Doyle's _Reminiscences and Opinions_ (8vo. 1886). It is +more than 'invective;' it contains much sound argument and admirable +illustration.] is a powerful piece of invective; but it is essentially +addressed to Gladstone's public career and conduct, and if he likes to +publish it, I see no objection. Doyle was at Eton with Gladstone, and is +one of his oldest and most intimate friends--or rather, _was so_. What he +has written is not stronger than what George Anthony Denison has published +on Gladstone, he too being a friend of forty years. I do not remember +another instance in which a man's best and earliest friends have turned +upon him, to unmask him, and that without any motive of personal +resentment. It is the noble motive which led Brutus to strike Caesar. + +If this is to appear, it should be published _immediately_, as it relates +to the affairs of the day. + +_C. O., July 21st_.--I think Gladstone has fulfilled all my predictions and +completed the ruin of the Liberal party and his own. The net result is that +he has brought in the Tories for several years. + +Whilst this tremendous storm was raging in the political world in England, +France also had been much excited. The letters of the Comte de Paris +have shown that he was, in point of fact, conducting an intrigue for the +subversion of the republic, the re-establishment of the monarchy; and it +is not surprising that the Government, more or less cognisant of what was +going on, struck in defence of the constitution under which they ruled. +Their action was said to be illegal; but in time of war the laws depend on, +are upheld by, and interpreted by the greater force; and on June 23rd +the Comte de Paris, with his family, was ordered to quit France, and the +Orleanist princes, including the Duc d'Aumale, were deprived of their rank +in the army, their names being erased from the army list. On June 29th +Reeve noted in his Journal, 'To Tunbridge Wells, to see the Comte de +Paris, exiled the week before;' but that is all; the home interest was too +absorbing, though even of that the only trace in the Journal is on July +5th, 'Unionist meeting at Tuckton. I took the chair. Election.' + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_C. O., July 10th_.--I am much obliged to you for the copy of your +excellent speech. In this remarkable debate _coram populo_, it seems to me +that the defeat of the Home Rulers in argument has been even more complete +than their rout at the polling booths. The people have shown more serious +intelligence than I had given them credit for. I saw this even in our +Hampshire bumpkins. + +On July 20th the Gladstonian Ministry resigned, and before the end of the +month the new ministry was formed under Lord Salisbury as premier and first +lord of the treasury. The Journal is occupied with personal and family +affairs of special interest. + +_July 25th_.--To Antwerp by the 'Baron Osy.' Forty-seven Americans on +board. Aix very dull. Back to London on August 11th. + +_August 18th_.--Letter from Hopie announcing her intended marriage. + +_September 6th_.--Hopie married at Kirklands to Thomas Ogilvie of Chesters. + +Chesters is in the immediate neighbourhood of Kirklands, and the friendship +between Miss Reeve and Mr. Ogilvie was of many years' standing, though the +determination to marry was rather sudden, and the engagement very short. +Mr. Ogilvie was a man of good family and property, and though several years +older than his bride, Reeve appears to have been very well satisfied; his +relations with his son-in-law were always cordial, though the distance at +which they lived restricted the intercourse, and the formed habits of both +prevented anything like intimacy. + +Amidst the political excitement and the family interest of the summer, the +following comes in almost like the Fool in 'King Lear' or Caleb Balderstone +in the 'Bride of Lammermoor.' It refers to a proposition--surely one of the +strangest ever submitted to a publisher--which, in ordinary course, had +been sent to Reeve for an opinion. And this is what Reeve wrote:-- + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, August 24th_.--Your correspondent is the coolest fellow I ever +heard of. He not only proposes to complete Macaulay's 'Lays' by some new +ones, but to re-edit and correct the original Lays, which, he says, 'are +very irregular.' His own verses have not a spark of poetry or fire in them; +they are mere trash, and he is an impertinent fellow. + +Here the Journal has:-- + +_September 7th_.--Went to Exeter with Christine; 8th, to Chagford and +Dartmoor; 10th, back to Foxholes. + +_29th_.--To Holyhead and Penrhos with Christine. Bad weather at Penrhos; +gout in hand came on. + +_October 2nd_.--To Knowsley; Lord Lyons there. + +_6th_.--To London and Foxholes. Christine went on to Chesters. On the 20th, +Mrs. Ogilvie came from Scotland. November 2nd, James Watney died. + +_From Count Vitzthum_ + +Paris, November 7th. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I beg you to accept kindly a copy of my memoirs 'St. +Petersburg and London,' 1852-1864, which Cotta will send you from the +author. Please to remember, if you find time to read these two little +volumes, that it is a German book, written for Germans, by one who is +neither Whig, nor Tory, nor Red; who is very fond of Old England,, but +has nothing to do with your party feelings and prejudices. I see men and +things, not from the English, but from the European standpoint, and leave +it, as far as possible, to the leading men of the day to tell their own +tale. If you find time, read the book and tell me what you think of it. + +Yours very truly, + +VITZTHUM. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +C.O., _November 12th_.--My old friend, Count Vitzthum, formerly Saxon +Minister in London, has sent me his 'Reminiscences of St. Petersburg +and London from 1852 to 1864' in German, 2 vols. This is a book of +extraordinary interest to the English public, full of conversations and +confidential details of Prince Albert, Lord Palmerston, Lord Clarendon, +Disraeli, &c.--quite a contemporary political history, as amusing and +interesting as Greville himself. Vitzthum knew this country well, and all +its society. + +I shall write on Monday [15th] to thank him for the book, and I propose to +ask him whether he has made any arrangements for the translation of it. I +am not much in favour of translations; but this book is of such peculiar +and exciting interest that I should strongly recommend you to secure it +if possible. I think the Taylors, who did Luther, would undertake the +translation. + +I think this an important affair. + +_November 15th_.--I am afraid you are out of town, but it is of great +importance to come to an immediate decision about Count Vitzthum's book. It +is a work of the greatest possible interest and importance, and contains +many entirely new facts and anecdotes as to contemporary history. You will +perceive this from the enclosed notice of the book which appeared last +week in the 'Daily News.' [Footnote: November 6th, 'From our Berlin +Correspondent,' a notice mostly made up of extracts from the book, then +described as 'just about' to be published by Cotta of Stuttgart.] + +The Queen has seen the sheets and approved them. + +The result of this notice was that three English publishers at once applied +to Cotta for the right of translation; but the Count has retained that in +his own hands, and he says that, if _you_ will publish the translation on +suitable terms, and if _I_ will edit the translation with my name, and +write a preface to it, he will make an arrangement with us. This I am ready +to do, and I shall tell him so to-day. There is not a moment to lose; and +as you appear not to be in town, I must act myself in the matter. I want +to know as soon as possible what terms you would offer. I think the Count +would accept either a sum down or a share of the profits; you might propose +either alternative. The Taylors would execute the translation promptly and +the book would appear in May. I do not suppose that you will hesitate to +agree to so important a proposal; but if it does not please you, I am +certain that Murray or Macmillan would jump at it. + +_C.O., November 17th._--Max Müller has written to Count Vitzthum, to make +exactly the same suggestion I have done. He highly applauds the book and +recommends the Count to make arrangements with _you_ for the translation. I +have seen Fairfax Taylor. He will undertake to complete the translation by +the 15th or 20th of February. The printing can go on when he has got some +copy in hand, and the book can be brought out early in April, which is a +very good time. I have given him my copy of the first volume to begin upon. +Pray get another copy of the book. + +_November 18th._--Count Vitzthum accepts your proposal. He asks me whether +he should write to you; but that is unnecessary. _Four_ other English +publishers have applied to him for the right of translation. + +_November 23rd._--It will be necessary that the translation of Vitzthum's +book should be set up in slips, in order that he and I may have an +opportunity of adding notes or making omissions. + +At this time the question of having him elected as a foreign member of the +Institute was mooted by Reeve's friends in Paris. It is to this that +the following letters refer. Though not successful on this occasion, +because--as Reeve was afterwards told--two out of the six foreign members +were already English, they carried their point some eighteen months later, +on an English vacancy. + +_From M. Jules Simon_ + +Paris, 18 décembre. + +Cher Monsieur,--J'ai en effet exprimé à notre ami commun, M. Gavard, le +désir que j'éprouve de vous attacher plus complètement à notre Académie. +C'est line opération assez difficile, car les associés étrangers pouvant +être choisis indistinctement dans tous les peuples du monde, il y a +rarement disette de candidats. A chaque vacance, une commission est nominée +au scrutin. Elle présente trois noms à l'Académie, qui consacre une séance +à les discuter, et vote dans la séance suivante. Nous devons élire tout à +l'heure le successeur de Ranke. Parmi les deux noms qui ne sortiront pas de +l'urne, il y en a un qui pourra bien réussir quand on élira le successeur +de Minghetti. En général on est porté deux ou trois fois avant de passer. +Vos amis s'occuperont d'abord de vous faire figurer sur la liste. Il faut +pour cela qu'un d'entre eux ait la liste exacte de vos écrits, et de tous +les titres que l'on peut invoquer en votre faveur. Les débats ne sont pas +publics; les candidats n'écrivent pas de demande; celui qui les propose +parle en son propre noni, ct est même censé les proposer à leur insu. +Enfin, le public ne connaît que le nom de l'élu. Je crois que vous avez +envoyé a M. Barthélemy St.-Hilaire les renseignements nécessaires. Si cela +n'est pas fait, faites-le, je vous prie, sans délai. Vous pouvez, si vous +le préférez, les envoyer à M. Gavard, qui me les remettra, ou m'écrire +directement. Je vous prie, cher monsieur, de croire à mes sentiments +cordialement dévoués. + +JULES SIMON. + +_From M. Leon Say_ + +Paris, 25 décembre. + +Mon bien Cher M. Reeve,--Je ferai naturellement tous mes efforts pour vous +rapprocher encore plus de l'Institut, et vous y donner un rang digne de +vous; mais je ne dois pas vous laisser ignorer qu'il y aura lutte. Je ne +sais s'il vous conviendra que votre nom soit discuté. Pour vous éclairer +sur ce point, je vous envoie à titre confidentiel un billet que me fait +parvenir M. Aucoc pour faire suite à un entretien que j'ai eu avec lui. + +Je vous prie de croire à mes sentiments les plus distingués et les plus +affectueux. + +LÉON SAY. + +Jules Simon m'a promis une note qui me servirait à soutenir vos titres, et +me permettrait de dire aux Français de ma section, passablement ignorants +de l'étranger, avec exactitude ce que vous avez fait. + +Meantime the Journal notes:-- + +_December 7th._--Meeting of the Liberal-Unionist party. On the 11th, dinner +at home. Duc d'Aumale, Froude, Carnarvon, Lady Stanley, Colonel Knollys, F. +Villiers, Lady Metcalfe, Newton. + +_19th_--Dined at the Duc d'Aumale's, who had bought Moncorvo House in +Ennismore Gardens. Comte and Comtesse de Paris, Haussonville, Ségur, +Target, Audiffret, Leighton. + +_December 21st_.--To Timsbury. 24th, to Foxholes. The Ogilvies there. + +1887. _January 3rd_.--Came to London. 10th, dinner at Pender's to meet +Stanley, the African traveller, before he went to find Emin Bey. + +_19th_.--The third part of Greville published, 3,007 copies subscribed. + +Among the many letters which the publication of these last volumes of +the 'Greville Memoirs' brought him, the following from Sir Arthur Gordon +[Footnote: Fourth son of the Earl of Aberdeen.]--now Lord Stanmore, +and then Governor of Ceylon--have a peculiar interest from their exact +criticism of a point of detail with which the writer was personally +acquainted at first hand:-- + +Queen's House, Colombo, June 18th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I have very long delayed answering your last letter, in +the hope that, when I did so, I might at the same time be able to send you +my notes on the two last volumes of 'Greville.' But these notes will +be numerous, and my time is scant for such work. On one point, the +'graspingness' alleged to have been shown by the Peclites after the +formation of the Government in December 1852, and its modification to +satisfy their exigencies, I have felt constrained to address the 'Times.' +[Footnote: June 13th. The letter is reprinted in the Appenduxm _post_, p. +411.] The truth happens to have been exactly the other way, and Greville's +notes are only the echo of the grumblings of the disappointed Whig placemen +who talked to him. It is decidedly unjust not only to my father, Graham, +and Gladstone, who are indirectly charged with this trafficking, but to the +Duke of Newcastle and Herbert also, who more directly are so. + +I have, of course, read the volumes with great interest, but have had +my suspicions greatly heightened that whatever may have been the case +before--say 1841, the confidences Mr. Greville received in the later years +of his life were not unfrequently only half-confidences, for the sake +of obtaining his opinion on some collateral point, or of flattering or +pleasing him by the show of confidence. There are, of course, many matters +treated of in these volumes as to which I have no personal or private +information, and I have no reason to question what he says about them; but +I have some inclination to doubt, even as to these; for I find that as +regards almost every transaction of which I do happen to know the whole +history, he knows a good deal about it, but not _all_ about it. He was +kept specially in the dark about the real history of Lord Palmerston's +resignation in 1853 which is all the odder because he very nearly found it +out. Hardly anybody does know what lay behind, though the difference about +Reform was a very real one, so far as it went, and quite sufficient to +justify--at all events, ostensibly--Lord P.'s virtual dismissal. Again, on +another occasion, I see Mr. G.'s special friend, Lord Clarendon--I will +not say, deliberately deceived him, but, certainly with full knowledge +--allowed him to deceive himself on the strength of a half-confidence. +[Footnote: A politic reticence, that has been called 'an economy of +truth.'] + +I am more disappointed than I can say to find that M. de Sainte-Aulaire's +elaborate Memoirs have been 'used up' for that stupid book of Victor de +Nouvion's, [Footnote: Histoire du Règne de Louis Philippe (4 tom 8vo. +1857-61)], if--as I suppose-that is the book you refer to. I thought it had +never got beyond the first two volumes, and have never seen any more of it. +I am vexed that M. de Sainte-Aulaire's elaborate Memoirs should have been +utilised for such a book; generally, because I know M. de Sainte-Aulaire +contemplated their publication, and because they deserved to appear in +a separate form; and, personally and specially, because, of course, his +accounts of his intercourse with my father, and the elaborate study of his +character which he had written, are thus lost.... + +Yours ever faithfully, + +A. GORDON. + +_To Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_C.O., June 13th_.--I have just read in the 'Times' of this morning your +interesting letter on the formation of Lord Aberdeen's ministry. I have no +doubt you are quite right. It _was_ John Russell and the Whigs who were +rapacious for office--much more than the Peelites. John Russell, I know, +kept Cardwell out of the Cabinet. You observe that Greville only notes what +Lord Clarendon told him; and I have no doubt that Clarendon was rather out +of humour with arrangements which were personally disagreeable to himself. +But that again was John Russell's fault, because he insisted on taking the +Foreign Office _pro tem_. I shall probably publish another complete edition +of Greville next year, and I think it would be well to insert in a note the +whole of your letter, or at least the greater part of it. [Footnote: See +Appendix, post, p. 411.] If you have any other criticisms to make, they +would be valuable to me. I have availed myself of those you were so good as +to send me on the second series. + +You are aware that Mme. de Jarnac is dead. I do not know who has her +husband's papers; but the Comte de Paris is here, and as I frequently see +him, I will take an early opportunity of asking him whether he can give me +any information about Lord Aberdeen's letters. M. Thureau's 'Histoire de +la Monarchic de Juillet' is a remarkable book, because he has access to +original sources and quotes largely from them, especially from the Memoirs +of M. de Sainte-Aulaire which are still in MS. [Footnote: And _still_ so in +1898.] They appear to be extremely interesting. + +We are getting on here pretty well. If the Whigs had joined the Government, +there might have been a scramble for office, as there was in 1853; for +the Whigs are now in the same position as the Peelites were at that +time--officers without an army. It is much more to the credit of my friends +to give a disinterested support to Lord Salisbury; and this alliance gives +a sufficiently Liberal colour to the measures of the administration. There +is every appearance that the Unionists will hold together. Mr. Gladstone +continues to be in a state of hallucination and excitement which exceeds +belief. It is a case of moral and political suicide. The crisis will +probably end by the death of Mr. Parnell, the falling [off] of the American +subscriptions, and the extinction of Mr. Gladstone; but in the meantime +they have totally ruined Ireland. + +_From Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_August 30th_.--Your letter of June 13th must have crossed one from me, +in which I explained to you why I had written to the 'Times' about +the formation of the Government of 1853 instead of merely sending my +observations to you as a note for future use. I need not say that I am much +flattered by your proposal to insert the letter--or part of it--in a note +to a future edition of Mr. Greville's Memoirs... I am struck very much +by what I think I mentioned once before--the frequency with which Mr. +Greville's friends gave him what may be called 'a three-quarters knowledge' +of pending affairs. They told him a great deal, but frequently not _all_. +In the affairs with which I am really acquainted, there is almost always +something--and that an important something--which does not appear in his +notes... I have specially noticed this with regard to Lord Palmerston's +'resignation' in 1853, It is the more remarkable, because it is apparent +from various passages that he 'burnt'--as they say in a game of hide and +seek--but never actually quite caught the true facts. I have never known +a secret better guarded than the fact--which, after a lapse of four and +thirty years, one may, I think, mention--that Lord P.'s resignation on +that occasion was _not_ voluntary, and that he was, in fact, extruded. +[Footnote: In a later letter, June 5th, 1888, Sir Arthur Gordon wrote:--'He +had given great offence to the Queen; and his colleagues--at least, his +most important colleagues--distrusted his action in reference to pending +negotiations, Lord Clarendon especially resenting the intrigues he believed +he was carrying on. Things being in this state, he announced his hostility +to Reform, and it was determined to take advantage of this announcement to +remove him; and removed he would have been, but for the two causes I have +noted.'] But, to be sure, half the Cabinet did not know this; and it was +their ignorance, coupled with Newcastle's and Gladstone's dislike of Lord +John, that brought him back again. + +I must get M. Thureau's 'Histoire de la Monarchic de Juillet,' of which I +never even heard. It is dreadful to reflect how utterly behindhand one gets +in all things, literary, artistic, and political, through long sojourns out +of Europe. But I do hope there is some prospect of M. de Sainte-Aulaire's +Memoirs themselves being published at full length. I know it was M. de +Sainte-Aulaire's wish and deliberate intention that they should be given to +the world, and he took much trouble with them. + +_From the Duke of Argyll_ + +Inveraray, January 22nd. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I have been longer in getting the book off my hands +than I had hoped. It is now in the press, and Douglas talks of getting it +out about February 10th or a little later.... There is a good deal in +the book which, in one sense, may be called 'padding,' because I have +endeavoured to relieve the very dry subject of Tenures and Agricultural +Improvement with historical episodes, with pictures of manners, and even +with personal anecdote. But I think there is a considerable bulk of new +matter, or at least of old matter put in new points of view, and every part +is written with an aim to establish the principles which _we_ think 'sound' +on Law, on Property, and on Union. Your new Greville seems to be very +interesting. + +Yours very sincerely, + +ARGYLL. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris_, 29 _janvier_.--Je vous remercie de la peine que vous voulez +bien prendre, et j'ai profité des corrections que vous avez bien +voulu m'indiquer. J'avais déjá profité des deux articles de la 'Revue +d'Edimbourg' sur les chemins de fer russes en Asie et sur l'armée indienne. + +I have no wish to appear more royalist than the king himself; but I cannot +feel so sure as you do about the security of India. The Russians are +already threatening it, and I do not think they are near stopping. The base +of their operations will be in the Caucasus, where they already have very +considerable forces. It is true that their finances are in bad order; but +this may perhaps be an additional motive to them to undertake a war of +conquest. I agree with you, however, that before the attack on India will +come the attack on Constantinople, the consequences of which will be very +great. On the other hand, the railway connecting Candahar with the Indus +will certainly be a great obstacle to the advance of the Russians on Cabul. +In all this I see many of the elements of catastrophes which the next +generation will witness. I hope I may be out of this world before they +come. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes_, _April 17th_.--I see the 'Athenaeum' complains that I did not +correct all Vitzthum's mistakes and rearrange his book; but that is more +than I undertook to do. We did correct a good many mistakes, natural enough +in a foreigner; but I do not hold myself responsible for his facts or his +opinions. + +_April 22nd_.--I know more about M. Barthélemy St.-Hilaire's book on India +than any other Englishman, for I revised and corrected the proof-sheets for +him. A French writer on the subject was sure to make blunders. The book is +most valuable to _foreigners_, for it is a perfectly fair account of the +British administration of India; but it would be entirely useless in this +country, inasmuch as it is a mere compilation from well-known English +documents. I think, therefore, that a translation into English would be a +work of supererogation and a failure. + +_Journal_ + +_April 30th_.--Dined at the Royal Academy dinner. + +_May 9th_.--Great Unionist meeting at Winchester. + +_28th_.--Barthélemy St.-Hilaire came to Foxholes on a visit. + +_June 10th_.--Dined with the Duc d'Aumale, Moncorvo House. Electric light. + +_15th_.--Dined at the Middle Temple. Grand day; Prince of Wales in the +chair. + +_18th_.--Dined with the Lord Mayor. Literature, Science, and Art. + +_21st_.--Celebration of the Jubilee. Splendid day. + +_July 3rd_.--Went to Eastbourne. + +_7th_.--Dined at East Sheen with the Comte de Paris. Duc and Duchesse +of Braganza there. Duke of St. Albans, Arran and daughter, Duc de la +Tremoille--twenty. + +_18th_.--Duc d'Aumale's evening party; very brilliant. + +_25th_.--To Ostend and Brussels. 26th, to Cologne. Great heat. + +_27th_.--To Wiesbaden. Lady Dartrey died while I was at Wiesbaden. I took +leave of her on her death-bed just before I started. It was the loss of a +most kind, faithful, and affectionate friend. + +_August 5th_.--Ill in the night; incipient fever. 6th, to Cologne. 7th, to +Aix, very unwell. 9th, got back to London by Ostend-Dover. + +_From Captain Bridge, R.N._ + +H.M.S. 'Colossus,' Gibraltar, August 3rd. + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--The Naval Review and the ensuing operations have not, I +hope, given you such a surfeit of naval affairs as to indispose you to hear +a little of the recent cruise of the Mediterranean squadron. We left Malta, +under the command of the Duke of Edinburgh, in May, and visited several +ports on the coast of Italy. During H.R.H.'s absence in England, when +attending the Jubilee, we stayed at the convenient harbour of Aranci Bay +in the island of Sardinia. There we carried out a series of instructive +torpedo and under-water mining exercises. After leaving Sardinia, we +called at several Spanish ports--Barcelona, Valencia, Cartagena and +Malaga--eventually reaching this place last Friday evening. + +The effect of our visits to both Italy and Spain has been--especially in +the case of the latter country--remarkably gratifying. The presence of +a son of the Queen was evidently taken as a compliment by Italians and +Spaniards of all classes. Barcelona, Cartagena, and Malaga are notoriously +anti-monarchical in sentiment. Yet in every one H.R.H. had a most +flattering reception. The enthusiasm of the populace at Cartagena was fully +equal to any shown by an English crowd for any popular royal personage. +People may say what they like, but the advantages to the country of +having a prince in the position held by the Duke are considerable. The +friendliness of the Italians is striking; and I am confident the feelings +of Spaniards of all classes are more favourable to England than they have +been for half a century. We hear now that we are to go on to Cadiz, where a +maritime exhibition is to be opened this month; and it is understood that +this extension of our cruise is at the request of the Spaniards themselves. +I have visited Spanish ports often before now, and never noticed any +friendliness towards us. Should the necessity of looking for allies arise, +it is nearly certain that both Italy and Spain would be disposed to range +themselves on our side. It will be a pity if diplomatic bungling occurs to +alter this satisfactory condition of things.... + +Pray give my kind remembrances to Mrs. Reeve. + +Yours sincerely, + +CYPRIAN A. G. BRIDGE. + +It has been seen that for some years back Reeve had been occasionally +thinking of retiring from his post of Registrar. The near completion of +fifty years' service revived the notion, and his illness at Wiesbaden, +following an earlier attack in April, confirmed it. When his mind was once +made up, the rest was a matter of detail. The Journal notes:-- + +_August 10th_.--Taxed costs and wound up business at the Council Office for +the last time again; but went there again on October 11th. + +_12th_.--To Foxholes, where fever and bad fit of gout came on; I was very +unwell till September 3rd. + +_21st_.--My dog Sylvia [Footnote: A collie, so called after her donor, M. +Sylvain van de Weyer. A brother of hers belonged to the Queen.] died. A +fond and faithful companion of sixteen years. + +_September 5th_.--Mr. G. H. Dorrell came as my secretary, and I dictated an +article on foreign affairs. + +_From Mr. C. L. Peel_ [Footnote: Clerk of the Council in succession to Sir +Arthur Helps. Now Sir Charles Peel.] + +56 Eccleston Square, October 5th. + +My Dear Reeve,--I was so taken aback by your announcement to-day, that I +really could not find words in which to express the sincere regret with +which I heard it. You are so thoroughly identified in my mind with the +Council Office, and I am so much indebted to you for advice and assistance +during the last twelve years, that I shall feel quite lost when I can +no longer rely upon the experience, judgement, and kindness which have +hitherto been available to me in any difficulty. + +I only trust that by relieving yourself in good time from the ties of +office, you may enjoy a long spell of happy and active retirement, which +you have so well earned, and into which you will be followed by the best +wishes of all you leave behind. Believe me always, + +Yours most sincerely, + +C. L. PEEL. + +It appears from the Journal that the resignation was not officially made +till some days later. + +_October 24th_.--I resigned the Registrarship of the Privy Council, which I +had held, as Clerk of Appeals and Registrar, since November 17th, 1837. The +rest of the year at Foxholes. + +At the sitting of the Judicial Committee on November 2nd, Sir Barnes +Peacock formally announced to the Bar the resignation of the Registrar, and +after briefly mentioning the dates of his service as Clerk of Appeals since +1837 and Registrar since the creation of the office in 1853, he went on:-- + +'It is unnecessary to state to the Bar the manner in which the duties of +that office have been performed by Mr. Reeve. He is not present to-day. He +has been prevented, I believe, by the state of his health, from travelling +to London. Their Lordships are sorry that he is not present, that they +might personally bid him farewell. They have given me, as the oldest member +of the Judicial Committee now present, the privilege of expressing and +recording their deep sense of the loss which must be sustained, both by +the Judicial Committee and the public, by being deprived of the valuable +services of Mr. Henry Reeve. His long and varied experience, extending over +a period of nearly half a century, his extensive knowledge, his great tact +and the sound judgement which he brought to bear in the discharge of the +duties of his office, render his retirement a serious loss both to the +Judicial Committee and to the public. Their Lordships could not allow Mr. +Reeve to depart from his office in silence. They trust that he may long +enjoy in health and happiness that rest, relaxation, and repose which +he has so fully and meritoriously earned, and to which he is so justly +entitled. Many men retire from an arduous profession or office, and when +they are relieved from the duties which they have for many years been +called upon to discharge, sink into a state of _ennui_ and listlessness +which are not conducive either to a long life or to health or happiness. +But their Lordships feel sure that that will not be the case with Mr. +Henry Reeve. His literary and other congenial tastes and pursuits, and his +industrious habits, will no doubt supply him with full employment for his +still active and vigorous mind. In taking their leave of Mr. Henry Reeve +on his departure from office their Lordships will only add, 'Let honour be +where honour is justly deserved.' + +To this Mr. Aston, Q.C., replied, as the oldest member of the Bar +present:-- + +'I refrain from attempting to add anything to what your Lordship has said, +for fear that the feebleness of my addition might detract from the force +of that which your Lordship has expressed. But I cannot help saying that, +after having appeared at your Lordships' Bar in this place for upwards of +a quarter of a century, I have myself personally received, and I have seen +the members of the Bar who have practised with me always receive, from Mr. +Reeve the utmost courtesy, attention, and assistance. We often have, my +Lords, in practising before you, a difficult task to discharge. Our clients +are not familiar with the practice of your Lordships' Court, if I may use +the term. But on all occasions Mr. Registrar Reeve has given the utmost +assistance, and therefore I beg to say, on behalf of the Bar whom I venture +to represent, that we cordially endorse all that your Lordship has said, +and express our unfeigned regret that we shall no longer have the services +of Mr. Reeve in your Lordships' chamber.' + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, November 4th._--I hope you saw the funeral oration Sir Barnes +Peacock pronounced on me in the Privy Council. It is in the outer sheet of +the 'Times' of Tuesday [Nov. 1st], and perhaps in some other papers; a very +kind and handsome tribute; and it is pleasanter to have these things said +when one is alive than when one is dead. + +The notice in the 'Times' brought Reeve many letters from his friends; +amongst others, the following:-- + +_From Lord Ebury_ + +_November 9th._--I see you are going to desert the Council altogether. I +hope you will long enjoy the _otium_ which you have so worthily merited, +and will have time to assist in extinguishing Gladstone. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Woodnorton, 15 novembre._--Je regrette d'apprendre que votre santé a été +si eprouvée.... Je suis toujours affligée de voir mes amis se retirer de +la vie active; mais je comprends les motifs qui vous ont dicté votre +demission.... + +Je suis si honteux de ce qui se passe en France que je n'ose pas vous en +parler, et je me borne a vous serrer bien cordialement la main. + +The Journal then notes:-- + +1888.--The year began at Foxholes. The Ogilvies there for three weeks. Came +to London on January 3rd. + +_February 4th._--Sir Henry Maine died at Cannes. A great loss. + +_March 5th._--The railroad from Brockenhurst to Christchurch opened. Went +down to the ceremony. Came back at 7 and dined with Millais to meet the +Lord Chancellor. Mrs. Procter died. + +_9th_--Emperor William of Germany died. Various dinners. + +_April 10th._--Gladstone dined at The Club. Froude, Smith, Hewett, and +Hooker there. + +_27th_--Left London for Basle with Christine at 11 A.M. and arrived there, +and thence, at Lucerne, on the 28th at 9 A.M. Capital journey. + +From Lucerne they went on to Milan and Bologna and to Florence, which they +reached on May 3rd, which they made their headquarters for the next three +weeks, seeing all that was interesting in the city and the neighbourhood, +and visiting Siena, Chiusi, Perugia, and Assisi. Then to Spezia, Turin, +Geneva, and to Paris on the 24th. + +Meantime Reeve, having been proposed by St.-Hilaire, supported by the Duc +d'Aumale, Jules Simon, and Duruy, as a foreign member of the Institut de +France, in succession to Sir Henry Maine, had been elected by a large +majority on May 8th. He seems to have received the first news of this from +the Duc d'Aumale, who wrote from Palermo on May 10th:-- + +Mon ancien maître, confrère et ami, Duruy, m'ecrit que vous venez d'etre +nommé associé étranger de son Académie par vingt-sept voix. C'est un beau +succès dont je veux tout de suite me réjouir avec vous, en attendant que je +puisse le faire de vive voix. Je compte être le 20 de ce mois à Bruxelles, +et dîner avec le Club quelque jour du mois de juin. + +The election had to be approved by the President of the Republic, and the +result was not officially communicated till the 19th. It would seem that +Reeve did not receive it till his arrival in Paris, and on the next day, +May 25th, St.-Hilaire wrote:-- + +Demain je vous accompagnerai pour votre entrée à l'Académie. Vous verrez +que le cérémonial est des plus simples. Je vous présenterai spécialement à +M. Franck, qui, sur ma demande, a été votre rapporteur, et qui a parlé de +vous en termes excellents. + +From the Duc d'Aumale he received, a few days later:-- + +_Bruxelles, 31 mai._--Je ne doutais pas du bon accueil qui vous serait fait +à l'Institut, et je suis ravi d'en recevoir le témoignage par votre lettre. +Je voudrais bien pouvoir assister au dîner du Club du 12 juin; mais j'en +ai quelque doute, tandis que je crois être certain, _Deo adjuvante_, de +pouvoir m'asseoir à notre table fraternelle le mardi 26. Je vous serre +affectueusement la main. + +On May 28th Reeve returned to London. The entries in the Journal are of +little interest, but he noted:-- + +_June 12th._--At Lady Knutsford's, evening, met Lord and Lady Lansdowne, +just back from Canada. + +_15th_.--To Foxholes. The Emperor Fritz of Germany died. During the whole +of his short reign, which lasted ninety-nine days, the most bitter quarrels +went on about his medical treatment. It was a great tragedy. + +_25th_.--To London again. 26th, breakfasted with the Duc d'Aumale, who +dined at The Club. + +_July 2nd._--To Winchester Quarter Sessions to qualify as J.P. for +Hampshire, having been recently appointed by Lord Carnarvon. + +_9th_.--Attended Petty Sessions at Christchurch. + +_30th_.--Winchester Assizes. On the Grand Jury. + +The next letter, from Sir Arthur Gordon, refers to an incident alluded to +in the 'Greville Memoirs,' [Footnote: Third Part, i. 54-5.] which Reeve +had commented on at some length, with a reference to the Memoirs of Lord +Malmesbury, published some four years before. + +What Lord Malmesbury had said amounted to this--that in 1844, when the +Russian Emperor Nicholas was in London, 'he, Sir Robert Peel (then prime +minister) and Lord Aberdeen (then foreign secretary) drew up and _signed_ +a memorandum' to the effect that England 'would support Russia in her +legitimate protectorship of the Greek religion and the Holy Shrines, +without consulting France. Lord Malmesbury added that the fact of Lord +Aberdeen, one of the signers of this paper, being prime minister in 1853, +was taken by Nicholas as a ground for believing that England would not +join France to restrain the pretensions of Russia, and therefore, by +implication, that Lord Aberdeen's being prime minister was a--if not +the--principal cause of the war. [Footnote: _Lord Malmesbury's Memoirs of +an Ex-Minister_ (1st edit.), i. 402-3.] + +The memorandum itself, as printed in the Blue Book, differs essentially, +both in matter and form, from Lord Malmesbury's description of it. It +is entitled 'Memorandum by Count Nesselrode delivered to Her Majesty's +Government and founded on communications received from the Emperor of +Russia subsequently to His Imperial Majesty's visit to England in June +1844.' [Footnote: _Parliamentary Papers_, 1854, lxxi. 863.] It is unsigned, +and from the nature of it must be so; it is in no sense an agreement, but +a proposal that England should agree to act in concert with Russia and +Austria; and nothing whatever is said about the Greek religion, the +Holy Places, or the Russian protectorate. It is of course possible that +conversations between Nicholas and Lord Aberdeen, which preceded the +drawing up of this memorandum, may have encouraged the one and hampered +the other; but of this there is no evidence, and Lord Malmesbury could +not possibly know anything about it, though he did know something--very +inaccurately it appears--about the memorandum. The discrepancies had, +in fact, led Reeve to suppose that Malmesbury's statement must refer +to another memorandum; and thus Lord Stanmore's letter has a singular +historical interest, bearing, as it does, on a point that has been much +discussed. + +_From Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_Queen's House, Colombo, July 30th_--I am very sorry that I did not +contrive to meet you while in England.... I am almost equally sorry--in +fact, am equally sorry--that my laziness and procrastination in sending you +my notes prevented their being of any use in the revision of the seventh +volume [of the Greville Memoirs]. I am the more sorry because I confess +I greatly regret that the mare's-nest of the Russian Memorandum of 1844 +should remain unpulled to pieces. You seem half-incredulous as to my +explanation, and ask very naturally, If that is all, why should there have +been any secrecy about it? The secrecy was due to the form, not the matter. +The memorandum was the Emperor's own account of his conversations with +the Duke, Sir R. Peel, and Lord Aberdeen, and a copy of it was sent in a +private letter from Count Nesselrode to Lord Aberdeen. It was never in the +hands of the ordinary diplomatic agents for official communication to the +English Government, nor was it ever treated as an official document. But +its importance was too great to allow its being treated as an ordinary +private letter, and my father personally handed it to Lord Palmerston when +replaced at the F. O. by him. Lord Palmerston delivered it in the same way +to Lord Granville, Lord Granville to Lord Malmesbury, Lord Malmesbury to +Lord John Russell, and Lord John to Lord Clarendon. In 1853 the Emperor +made some reference to this paper which was supposed to make it a public +document, and it was then printed and laid before Parliament soon after the +beginning of the war. This I assure you is the whole history and mystery +of the Russian Memorandum, Lord M. notwithstanding. This is not the only +instance in which Lord M. has mixed up, in singular fashion, what he +himself knew and what was the club gossip at the time. + +The Journal here notes:-- + +_August 20th._--Drove over to Lytchet Heath, to stay with the Eustace +Cecils. + +_September 10th._--Joined Mrs. Watney in the 'Palatine' yacht at +Bournemouth. Crossed to Trouville in the night. Lay in 'the ditch' for +twenty hours. 12th, Cherbourg. Met the French fleet and saw the arsenal. +13th, back to Southampton and to Foxholes. Pleasant trip; good weather. + +_20th_--The Eustace Cecils came: took them to Heron Court. This was the +last time Lord Malmesbury saw people there. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +Woodnorton, 26 septembre. + +Très cher ami,--Vous êtes bien heureux de pouvoir aller vous promener à +Cherbourg et à Paris. Enfin! + +Oui, j'ai reçu un peu de plomb, et même assez près de l'oeil gauche; mais +le proverbe dit que ce métal est ami de l'homme. J'en serai quitte pour +quelques petites bosses sous la peau, et je vous souhaite de vous porter +aussi bien que je le fais en ce moment. + +J'irai à Knowsley dans la seconde quinzaine d'octobre; à Sandringham, +dans les premiers jours de novembre; puis mes neveux viendront tirer mes +faisans. J'espère bien prendre part aux agapes du Club le 27 novembre et 11 +décembre, et serai bien heureux de vous revoir un peu. En attendant je vous +serre la main, mon cher confrère. + +H. D'ORLÉANS. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +_Foxholes, October 2nd._--I am amused by the Court quarrel in Germany, +though I am afraid the broken heads will not be royal heads. Bismarck will +wreak his vengeance on numberless victims. Geffcken is a very old friend +of mine, and an occasional contributor to the 'Edinburgh Review;' but I am +afraid it will go hard with him, for Bismarck regards him as a personal +enemy. If the Prince had lived Bismarck could not have remained in office, +and the course of affairs might have been materially changed. + + * * * * * + +On October 25th Reeve, with his wife, crossed over to Paris. He attended +the Institut on the 26th, and heard mass at Notre Dame on the 27th; but his +principal object seems to have been to consult Dr. Perrin about his eyes, +which for some time back had caused him some uneasiness. A literary man of +seventy-five is naturally quick to take alarm, and an English oculist had +recommended an operation. This Reeve was unwilling to undergo, at any +rate without another and entirely independent opinion; and as Dr. Perrin +pronounced strongly against it, no operation was performed; and with care +and good glasses his eyes continued serviceable to the last. On November +8th the Reeves returned to London, where, as Parliament was sitting, they +remained till Christmas; and, according to the Journal:-- + +_November 27th._--The Club was brilliant with the Duc d'Aumale, Wolseley, +Lord Derby, and Coleridge. Boehm and Maunde Thompson were elected. + +_December 1st_.--To All Souls, Oxford. Prothero, Dicey, Oman, George +Curzon, &c. Stayed over Sunday. + +_27th_.--To Timsbury: thence to Foxholes on the 29th. + +_January 15th_, 1889.--Returned to London. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, January 20th_.--It was very good of you to think of my book on +'L'Inde Anglaise,' and I thank you for the 'Edinburgh Review' which you +have sent me. I read the article with great interest. It is very well done, +and I beg you to thank the author in my name for having taken the trouble +to read me with so much attention and good will. I do not think I have +exaggerated the danger which threatens your great enterprise in India. The +Transcaspian Railway, which will very soon run from Samarkand to Tashkend, +seems to me one source of it. Yours will, indeed, soon reach to Candahar; +but Russia is at home in the country, whilst England is very far off. +The magnanimous confidence you have in your own strength is most +praiseworthy--provided that your watchfulness is not allowed to slumber.... +Meanwhile I remain constant in my admiration of what the English are doing +in India; and the administration of Lord Dufferin may well confirm me in my +opinion. There is nothing like it, or so great as it, in the history of the +past. + +_From Lord Dufferin_ + +British Embassy, Rome, January 27th. + +My dear Reeve,--Many thanks for your letter of the 16th. As you may well +suppose, I am delighted with Lyall's article; for he is acknowledged, both +by Indian and by so much of English public opinion as knows anything of +the matter, to have been the best Indian public servant that the present +generation has produced. In addition, or, as perhaps some would say, in +spite of possessing real literary genius, he proved himself a most wise, +shrewd, and capable administrator. I do not believe he made a single +mistake during his whole career. At all events, I never heard of his having +done so; and a slip is scarcely made in India without the fact being duly +recorded. What pleases me most is that the kind words he uses about myself +should be embedded in the exposition of his own opinions upon Indian +questions--opinions full of acuteness, justice, and knowledge. It is +these that will really make the article interesting to your readers, and +consequently give a greater importance to what he has said about me than +otherwise would have been the case. I have obeyed your orders in regard to +sending a copy of my speech to M. Barthelemy St.-Hilaire. + +The social history of the season is adequately chronicled in the Journal:-- + +_February 5th_.--The Ogilvies in London. + +_22nd_.--Mr. Gollop [Mrs. Reeve's father] died; born October 11th, 1791. +Christine had been down just before. + +_March 12th_.--The Club. Good party: Lord Salisbury, Walpole, Tyndall, +Hooker, Hewett, Lecky, Lyall, A. Russell, Layard, and self. + +_March 20th_.--Meeting at Lord Carnarvon's about the bust of Sir C. Newton. + +_25th_.--Breakfast at Sheen House with Comte and Comtesse de Paris, to meet +Lefèvre-Pontalis and Bocher. + +_28th_.--Lunched with Major Dawson at Woolwich and went over the Arsenal. +Very interesting. + +_April 12th_.--Meeting for Matthew Arnold's Memorial. 7,000 _l_. raised. + +_May 4th_.--Dined at the Royal Academy dinner. Sat by Horsley, Tyndall, and +Chitty. + +_From Sir Arthur Gordon_ + +_May 5th_.--You may rely upon it that I am absolutely right as to the +Russian Memorandum--Lord Malmesbury does not himself assert that he ever +saw it, which, had it existed, he must have done when Foreign Secretary. I +cannot, of course, expect you to attach the same weight that I do to what +I may call the personal reasons which make me utterly incredulous of Lord +Malmesbury's story; but there are other reasons for doubting it, some of +which may have already occurred to you. One is the alleged form of the +document, which is said to be signed by the Emperor, the Duke, my father, +and Sir R. Peel. Lord Malmesbury prides himself on the knowledge of +diplomatic forms and etiquettes derived from his grandfather's papers. He +might have known that the signature of an engagement by a Sovereign (and +such a Sovereign!) on the one side and _three ministers_ of another +Sovereign on the other (thereby putting them on species of equality) was +an impossibility. Such a paper, if it existed, would be signed either by +_both_ Sovereigns or by the ministers of both. I think I may say with +confidence that the Emperor Nicholas was a most unlikely man to perform +such an act of condescension. And why should he? He had his confidential +minister with him. Another, and I think fatal, objection is that neither +my father nor Lord Clarendon were altogether absolute fools, and when, in +answer to the Emperor's challenge, they published the secret memorandum +which had till then been handed on privately from minister to minister, +they knew what they were about, and would never have put it into the power +of the Emperor to retort that _that_ was not what he referred to, but to a +paper which would not improve the cordiality of the Anglo-French alliance. +Again, is it likely that, if the Emperor had entered into such an +agreement, he would take the trouble to write another long memorandum, +containing the 'substance' of his discussions with the English ministers? +This is the memorandum which was sent in a private letter, which I possess, +from Count Nesselrode to my father; which was handed from minister to +minister, and which was published in 1854. The original draft, Count +Nesselrode said, was in the Emperor's own hand. I have another little bit +of evidence which I think also goes to prove that no such agreement was +entered into in 1844, as Lord Malmesbury supposes. In 1845 Count Nesselrode +visited England. My father, writing to the Queen, gives an account of his +conversations with Nesselrode, and says: 'His language very much resembled +that held by the Emperor; and _although he made no specific proposals_, his +declarations of support, in case of necessity, were _more_ unequivocal.' +(The italics are mine.) Could he have written this if he had already, +some months before, signed an agreement with the Emperor, which was both +unequivocal and specific? + +_From the Comte de Paris_ + +Sheen House, 7 mai. + +Mon cher Monsieur Reeve ,--Nous aussi, nous n'avons pas oublié votre +présence à notre mariage le 30 mai 1864. La Comtesse de Paris et moi nous +sommes bien touchés de la manière dont vous nous le rappelez, et je vous +remercie de tout coeur de ce que vous me dites et des voeux que vous +m'adressez en cette occasion. Au milieu de toutes les vicissitudes de notre +vie pendant ces vingt-cinq ans nous avons été constamment soutenus par +le bonheur domestique que cette union nous a donné et par toutes les +satisfactions que nous ont causées nos enfants. + +Lorsque j'ai reçu votre lettre j'allais vous écrire, ainsi qu'à Madame +Reeve, de vouloir bien venir ici le 30 mai dans l'après-midi: nous recevons +entre 2 et 5 tous les amis qui viendront fêter cet anniversaire avec nous. +Je me souviens bien que Madame Reeve était avec vous à la chapelle de +Kingston, mais ma mémoire n'est pas sûre en ce qui concerne Madame votre +fille. Je vous serais bien reconnaissant de me faire savoir si elle était +avec vous ce jour-là. En attendant je vous prie de me croire Votre bien +affectionné, + +PHILIPPE COMTE DE PARIS. + +The Journal notes:-- + +_May 7th._--The Club: Due d'Aumale, Lord Salisbury, Wolseley, Carlisle, A. +Russell, Hewett, Stephen--very brilliant. + +_8th_.--Returned to Foxholes. + +_16th_.--Drove to Heron Court. Lord Malmesbury dying. + +_17th_.--Lord Malmesbury died. 22nd, attended his funeral in Priory Church. +29th, to London. + +_30th_.--The silver wedding of the Comte and Comtesse de Paris at Sheen. +All the French Royalties, Prince of Wales, &c. About five hundred people; +169 persons still alive who were at the wedding in 1864. A silver medal was +sent to all the survivors. + +_From M. B. St.-Hilaire_ + +_Paris, June 6th_.--If I am free in the autumn, it will give me great +pleasure to pay you another visit at Foxholes; the first has left a +pleasant memory, and I ask no better than to repeat it. But, without having +to complain of old age, I find more difficulty in going about. I am not +exactly ill, but my strength gradually fails--a sign that the end is not +far off. + +I foresaw that General Boulanger would have no success in England; you are +much too serious for such a nature as his. His popularity diminishes daily; +and if the Cabinet act with judgement from now to the October elections, +I have no doubt they may regain public favour. The triumph of Boulangism +would be the signal for horrible anarchy at home and war abroad, provoked +by the madmen who had climbed into power. + +Monarchy, in the person of the Comte de Paris, is losing rather than +gaining ground here. If France should ever return to a dynasty, it would be +more likely to be the Bonapartes. The terrible name of Napoleon has still +an immense _prestige_, however unworthy his successors. + +M. St.-Hilaire's visit did not come off. The Journal mentions many dinners, +receptions, and garden parties in town during June and July, and eleven +days in August on board Mrs. Watney's yacht 'Palatine,' to see the naval +review on the 5th. 'Very rough weather all the time.' In September a +journey to Edinburgh and on the 14th to Chesters, chronicled as 'my first +visit to my daughter.' A week later Reeve returned south; and, paying a few +short visits on the way, including a day at Knowsley, was back at Foxholes +by the 26th. + +_From Count Vitzthum_ + +Villa Vitzthum, Baden Baden, August 30th. + +My dear Mr. Reeve,--I beg to send you the proofs of the preface and +contents, in order to show you the plan of my book. + +I am very sorry that you do not approve of the account I have given of our +interview in September 1866. It was unfortunately too late to cancel the +letter, but nothing would prevent leaving it out if those memoirs should +ever be translated. On further consideration, and after reading the +foregoing pages, you will find, I am sure, that your comment on the +situation in September 1866 was not only correct, but very valuable. The +peace of Europe then was threatened by two eventualities, of which one +happened: by an ostensible alliance between Prussia and France, or by an +immediate war between both. Rouher and Lavalette worked very hard for the +alliance, and your sound judgement indicated the consequences which such an +alliance would have had. I quite agree with you about these relations. But +the opinion of a man like you is a fact, and an important fact; because you +have been in those days what they call a representative man; because you +represented a great portion of the Liberal party. It does not take one iota +off the value of your opinion--which, you may depend upon it, was correctly +recorded--if the course of events took another turn, and if this monster +alliance remained a dream of adventurous French politicians. The thing was +on the cards. + +As for Napoleon's malady, all I can say [is] that Nelaton, who then was +consulted for the first time, wrote a letter to King Leopold of Belgium, +stating that it was very probable the Emperor of the French would be found +any morning dead in his bed, and that he would most likely die before the +end of November. Very truly yours, + +VITZTHUM. + +In consequence of this letter Mr. Reeve wrote to Mr. T. Norton Longman:-- + +_Foxholes, September 3rd._--Count Vitzthum is about to publish two more +volumes of his political reminiscences during his mission in London. I send +you the index of the work, from which you will see that it contains a good +deal of matter, anecdotes, &c., of interest to English readers. You will +judge from the result of the former work whether you think it worth while +to engage in the publication of a translation of these later volumes. But, +as I am going away till the end of the month, I cannot negotiate with Count +Vitzthum or with the translator, and I must beg you to take that upon +yourself. + +A month later, however, on October 2nd, he wrote that, after seeing the +book, he was of opinion that it would not stand translation. It was +reviewed in the 'Edinburgh' of January 1890, but was not translated. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_November 11th_.--I have only begun the Life of Lord John. It would be a +very difficult one to write in a spirit at once of fairness and friendship. +My impression of the man was and is that he was more thoroughly and +essentially a partisan than anyone I have known; and sometimes open to the +comment, that he seemed to consider the Universe as existing for the sake +of the Whig party. Perhaps this would not strike anyone who was trained up +in the same school, as strongly as it did me. On the other hand, I think he +was more generally consistent, and had fewer of his own words to eat, than +any politician of his time or of ours. His religious politics were his weak +part; they were rather narrow and sectarian. I suppose he was forced by the +Court into his quarrel with Palmerston; which was the trouble of his later +official life, and caused these uneasy struggles to recover a lost position +which did him harm. But with all drawbacks he has left an honoured and +distinguished name. Do you think there is any ground for the idea which +Lady Russell puts about that, if he had lived till now, he would have gone +for Home Rule? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ONE MORE CHANGE + + +The very wide range of Reeve's studies has appeared from many indications +scattered through these pages, and it has been seen how, at different +times, he was occupying himself with various subjects far outside the +ordinary course of reading. These were, however, connected by some general +idea which pervaded the whole. Of natural science he knew little. As a boy, +the study of mathematics was irksome to him and repulsive, nor was he at +any later time more favourably inclined towards it. His acquaintance +with astronomy, chemistry, physics, and the cognate sciences was very +limited--not more, perhaps, than he picked up in his careful and +intelligent study of the articles published in the 'Edinburgh Review' +during the forty years of his editorship. His real knowledge was confined +by a band of history, but of history in its very widest sense, including +not only war and politics and law, but political economy, literature, +religion, and superstition. Of military science he had read sufficient to +take a technical interest in the details of battles and campaigns, and +he was perhaps one of the first landsmen of this age to understand the +'influence of sea-power.' His attention had been called to this at a very +early period in his career by the utter collapse of Mehemet Ali in Syria; +and reasoning on that, he had learned that 'sea-power,' or, as he preferred +to call it, 'maritime-power,' controlled and directed affairs with which, +at first sight, it seemed to have absolutely nothing to do. + +Long before Captain Mahan began to teach, or to write those admirable works +which came as a revelation to the English and the European public, he had +opened the pages of the 'Edinburgh Review' to writers who, in different +ways and in different degrees, were inculcating the same doctrine, which +during the long peace, and by reason of the overwhelming superiority of the +allies in the Russian war, had been almost forgotten, even by professional +men. It would not be difficult to show how, during the thirty years which +preceded the publication of Captain Mahan's 'Influence of Sea-Power,' its +most important theories were illustrated and discussed in the pages of the +'Review.' The following, by one of the most accomplished officers in our +navy, refers to such an article in the January number:-- + +_From Captain Bridge, R.N._ + +_January 19th_.--As an Englishman and a sailor, I feel it to be a duty +again to congratulate you on the article 'Naval Supremacy,' &c., in the new +number of the 'Edinburgh Review.' That article and the one concerning which +I previously addressed you can hardly fail to do good. The Maurician school +and its 'two Army-corps and a cavalry division,' which were to be launched +at the Caucasus, must have received a severe check from the earlier +article. The disaster-breeding facts of the fort-builders can hardly +survive many more such assaults as that so sharply driven home in 'Naval +Supremacy.' The opinions of the writer of the latter, I venture to think, +foreshadow those of the Navy on the subject of huge ships and huge guns. +I hold it to be highly beneficial to the country that the editor of the +'Edinburgh Review' should have so keen an appreciation and, for a civilian, +so rare a knowledge of naval affairs. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_April 3rd_--What a new Europe is beginning! Bismarck dismissed; Emperors +holding Socialist conferences; more attempts to murder the Tsar; strikes +all over the world; Germans going to Prussianise Central Africa! No want of +novelty in our time and amusing enough, if one is far enough off. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 14 _juin_.--Où diable avais-je la tête, mon cher ami? (ne +montrez pas ce préambule à nos amis puritains.) Je croyais bien vous avoir +écrit que je comptais passer la mer vers le 22, dîner avec le Club le 24, +embrasser mes neveux et nièces de toutes générations, voir quelques amis, +et rentrer ici vers la fin de la semaine. Je persiste dans ce projet, +_weather permitting_; c'est-à-dire sauf le cas de tempête que l'on est bien +forcé de prévoir avec une pareille saison. A bientôt donc, s'il plaît à +Dieu. Je finis mieux que je ne commence, et je vous serre la main. + +H. D'O. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 26 _juillet_.--J'essaye de chasser par le travail les +préoccupations qui m'obsèdent. Je n'y réussis pas toujours. Est-ce l'effet +de l'âge? mais je suis de plus en plus anxieux sur l'avenir de mon pays et +même de l'Europe. Nous sommes dans le faux depuis 1848, et il est sorti de +la guerre de '70 un état de choses bien périlleux. + +Au revoir et mille amitiés. + +The diary and the correspondence for the rest of the year are singularly +barren of interest. A troublesome attack of sciatica in the end of July led +to Reeve's being advised to try Harrogate, whither he accordingly went +in the beginning of August. He found the place--possibly also the +water--disagreeable, and after a week's stay he went on to Bolton Abbey, to +Minto, and to Chesters. By the end of the month he was back at Foxholes, +where he remained throughout September. Early in October he went for a ten +days' visit to Knowsley, where he met Froude and the Duc d'Aumale, with +whom he returned to London. Then to Foxholes for a month, coming up to +town in the middle of November, and--with the exception of a week at +Easter--staying there till May 1891. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_Knowsley, January 20th_.--What do you think of Home Rule in its present +phase? Chamberlain says it is dead; I say it is badly crippled, but capable +of a good deal of mischief still. I see no new question coming forward, +except that of strikes, eight-hours legislation, and Socialism generally. + +Do you ever see the 'New Review'? I picked it up yesterday, and read a very +pretty Socialist programme by Morris and a Mr. Bernard Shaw, whom I never +heard of before, but who is apparently rather clever and rather cracked. I +suspect ideas of that class are making progress. + +This letter, though not calling for any hurry, Reeve answered immediately, +as was his general custom. It was indeed only by this prompt attention +that, with the enormous correspondence which he carried on, he could +prevent an accumulation which would have been overwhelming. + +_To Lord Derby_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, January 21st_.--I think Home Rule, as an English party +cry, has received a death blow, and cannot be used to bring a party into +power. But Ireland remains open, an eternal field of agitation, and the +Irishmen are still in the House of Commons. Perhaps the want of funds may +embarrass them. I have not seen the 'New Review,' but there is a vast deal +of lawlessness and wild speculation in the air, injurious to the first +conditions of social life, and I confess I have no unbounded confidence in +the boasted good sense of the English people; they are very ignorant and +very selfish. No one tells them so many sensible home truths as yourself. +As for the strikes, the strikers are the greatest sufferers. + +I have published a remarkable article on the fiscal system of the United +States--by an American--which I hope you will read. My contributor thinks +there are great difficulties ahead in America, and Mr. Blaine's bluster is +an attempt to direct public attention into another channel. + +I have been laid up for some days with a cold and gout, but have been out +to-day and am better. I never remember so terrible a winter; but we hope it +is passing away, though it is still freezing here. + +_Foxholes, May 12th_.--I was sorry to leave London without seeing you and +Lady Derby again; but the Fates were against me: you were laid up with +cold, and I have been troubled for some weeks with sciatica, which impedes +my movements. I hope you have shaken off your attack and will get out of +town. The atmosphere of London seems to be in a very noxious state, and I +don't know that the atmosphere of the House of Commons is much better. A +committee of the whole House strikes an outsider as the clumsiest machine +for legislation that was ever invented. + +An unlimited power of moving amendments brings us to the same results as +the Polish Veto. + +I hope to come up to the dinners of The Club on June 2nd and 16th. On the +latter day the Duc d'Aumale will dine with us, so I trust you will keep it +free. + +_From Lord Derby_ + +_May 13th_.--You are quite right about the House of Commons. They will +pass the Land Bill, I suppose, but scarcely anything else. Most of the +obstruction is unintended; loquacity, vanity, and fear of constituents do +more mischief than faction. I am not sure that it is an unmixed evil that +the legislative coach should be compelled to drive slowly. + +For Reeve the principal social event of the year, or rather the one most +out of ordinary course, was the conferring an honorary degree on the Duc +d'Aumale by the University of Oxford. Of the preliminary step no record +remains, but it would seem that at a very early stage Reeve was requested +to sound the Duke, who wrote on November 30th, 1890, that he should feel +greatly honoured if the University of Oxford should confer on him the +degree of D.C.L.--'si pauvre légiste que je sois.' On this Reeve wrote to +Dr. Liddell, then Dean of Christ Church, [Footnote: After having held this +office for thirty-six years, Dr. Liddell retired in 1891, and died at the +age of 87, on January 18th, 1898.] who replied on December 2nd:-- + +Dear Mr. Reeve,--I shall be proud to propose H.R.H.'s (the Duc d'Aumale's) +name for an Honorary Degree at the next Encaenia. This will not be till +June 17th, 1891. I hope his R.H. will be my guest on the occasion. +Meantime, it is our rule that no mention should be made of the name to be +proposed. Yours very truly, + +H. G. LIDDELL. + +Other correspondence about this there was, and on February 25th, 1891, Dr. +Liddell again wrote:-- + +The arrangements you suggest for the Duc d'Aumale will suit very well. Of +course it is running it rather fine to arrive at 11.13; but we will see +about this as the time approaches. Meantime I must ask you and the Duke's +friends not to say anything about the matter at present. I shall have to +give notice to our Council in May. A fortnight after, his name will be +submitted to ballot; and though there can be no reasonable doubt that +H.R.H.'s name will be received with acclamation, they make a great point of +secrecy till the ballot takes place. + +Perhaps about the beginning of May you will be so good as to send me a +complete statement of H.R.H.'s claims to an Honorary Degree. I know much +about them, but should be glad to be fully equipped. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 9 _juin_.--Bon! très cher ami, nous irons, s'il plaît à Dieu, +ensemble à Oxford, le 17, par 9.55 en cravate blanche. Je compte arriver le +14 au soir à Claridge's, où je serai présent le lundi, 15, de 10 à midi, +et de 6 à 7; le mardi, 16, de 10 à midi. Si vous pouvez venir m'y voir, +je serai très heureux, car j'ai encore besoin de quelques renseignements +complimentaires. + +Vous m'avez offert l'hospitalité du Dean, et je lui ai écrit que je +l'acceptais. Mais en quoi consiste cette hospitalité? Simple luncheon suivi +d'un départ, ou dîner et coucher au doyenné? Je ne voudrais pas manquer de +courtoisie; but above all I would not intrude--et je suis _très disposé_ +à me retirer de très bonne heure. Seulement j'aimerais à être fixé pour +prendre tous mes arrangements. + +The Journal simply notes that on June 16th the Duc d'Aumale dined at The +Club; and on the 17th 'with Duc d'Aumale to Oxford, where he was made +D.C.L. Lunch at All Souls; very pleasant day.' Reeve left early and +returned at once to Foxholes. + +_From the Duc d'Aumale_ + +_Chantilly_, 1er _juillet_.--Après votre départ de Christ Church [Oxford] +le 17 nous avons eu le ou la 'Gaudy.' Ainsi que vous l'aviez prévu, j'ai dû +dire quelques mots à peine préparés. Comme il n'y avait pas de _reporter_, +et que je n'avais aucune note, et comme l'auditoire, y compris nos +Seigneurs les évêques, avait accueilli mon _speech_ avec bienveillance, je +l'ai noté sur le papier--comme disent les musiciens--avant de me coucher. +Vous avez été presque mon parrain à Oxford, je vous en dois bien la copie. +C'est, en tous cas, un témoignage de ma fidèle amitié. + +The speech which follows, although delivered under circumstances which +necessitated a complimentary tone, is a more than usually graceful tribute +to our old Universities, and the introduction of the little analogue is +singularly happy. The Duke, whose letters to Reeve are all in French, wrote +this _verbatim_ as here given, in correct English, perfectly well spelt. + +Mr. Dean, my Lords and Gentlemen,--Let me first express how highly I prize +the honour which has been conferred upon me to-day, and how glad I am to be +so connected with your illustrious University. I have always admired the +University of Oxford. I have more than once visited this town, when I +received a princely hospitality in the noble baronial halls of this +neighbourhood--Nuneham, Blenheim--or when I was quietly living on the banks +of the Avon. Often I brought here my French friends, and I tried to +explain the peculiarities, the complicated machinery of this illustrious +corporation; to show how, remaining faithful to the traditions, preserving +your old customs, you did not remain deaf to what might be said without, +nor blind to the movement of the world; how, slowly perhaps, but prudently, +step by step, you managed to bring the necessary changes, the wanted +modifications, so as to keep pace with the times without breaking with the +past. + +'Mais c'est le couteau de Jeannot que cette Université,' said one of my +interlocutors. Well, I will give you the tale of Jeannot's knife. + +There was once a young peasant called Jeannot, and he had a knife of which +he took great care. He found that the blade was rusting and he changed the +blade. Then he found that the handle was decaying from dry-rot, and he +changed the handle; and so on. His friends laughed at him, and would not +take the same care of their knives, which they lost--one breaking the +blade, another the handle. But Jeannot, having always kept his knife in +good order, could always make use of it, cleverly and powerfully. + +Well, I think there is some analogy between the tale of this humble man and +the history of your great University. It seems to me I see the huge frame +of a large fabric which has stood for centuries glorious and proud. The +stones are changed, the bricks, the mortar, or the roof are renewed; and +the fabric still stands through the ages, through the storms, glorious and +proud. And I hope it will so remain and stand everlasting, with its old +frame and the new materials; and I wish glory and prosperity to the +University of Oxford. + +To all who have thought of my name and conferred upon me the honour I have +just received, and to those who have given me such a kindly reception, I +send my best thanks, and I wish prosperity and success. + +At this time, and indeed ever since his retirement from the Council Office, +Reeve's chief work was in connexion with the 'Review;' but he also did a +very great deal as literary adviser of the Longmans. He had indeed, to some +extent, acted in this capacity ever since he undertook the conduct of the +'Review;' the two offices fitted into and were supplementary to each other; +and it will be remembered that in 1875 [Footnote: See _ante_, p. 243.] +he had contemplated retiring from the public service, with the view +of undertaking the main responsibility of this work for the firm. +Circumstances had delayed his retirement; but by an arrangement with the +firm in 1878, which continued in force during the rest of his life, the +number of works he examined and reported on was considerably increased, and +must have been very large. Books in French, German, or Italian offered for +translation, MSS. in English offered for publication--whatever there was of +grave, serious, or important, as well as a good deal that was not, was sent +to him for a first or a revised opinion. And this opinion was given very +frankly, and most commonly in the fewest possible words: 'My advice is that +you have nothing to do with it' was a not unfrequent formula. Another, +less frequent, was, 'He--the aspirant to literary fame and emolument--can +neither write nor spell English;' 'I wish they wouldn't send their trash to +me' was an occasional prayer; 'Seems to me sheer nonsense;'--'What a waste +of time and labour!'--'It is very provoking that people should attempt to +write books who cannot write English,' were occasional reports. Of course +many of his judgements were very different: 'A work of great interest which +must have a large sale;' 'Secure this if you possibly can;' 'A most +able work, but will scarcely command a remunerative sale;' 'Not worth +translating, but send me a copy for the "Review,"' are some of his more +favourable verdicts. But in all cases the judgements were sharp and +decisive; there was about them nothing of the celebrated 'This work might +be very good if it was not extremely bad,' or its converse. These reports +were, of course, in the highest degree confidential; and, especially of the +unfavourable ones, Reeve made a point of forgetting all about the origin of +them. On one occasion, when a reference was made to a work he had reported +on a few weeks before, he wrote in reply, 'The numerous MSS. &c. sent for +an opinion leave no trace on my memory.' + +As it was with printed books and larger MSS., so it was with articles +submitted for the 'Review;' but he did not encourage casual contributions, +and seldom--perhaps never--accepted any without some previous +understanding. The political articles and the reviews of important books +were almost invariably written in response to a direct invitation; but +whether the articles sent in were invited or offered, he equally reserved +the right to express his approval or disapproval or disagreement, and to +insist, if necessary, on the article being remodelled or withdrawn. Such +an insistence is more than once noticed in his correspondence, quite +irrespective of the high reputation of the author. Probably every one whose +contributions have been at all numerous has had an opportunity of noticing +how perfectly candid and yet how courteous his remarks always were. If an +article pleased him, he said so in terms that from anyone else might have +seemed extravagant. Many letters of this type might be given; one must +suffice, written to a valued contributor, dead, unfortunately, many years +ago--Colonel Charles Cornwallis Chesney:-- + +_C. O., February 26th, 1873_.--I received the proofs of your article on Lee +last night, and therefore I conclude that you have received them also. I +don't exaggerate the least when I say that the article strikes me as +a _chef d'oeuvre_ of military biography. You have drawn a most heroic +character with peculiar grace and fervour, and the account of the military +operations is singularly clear and interesting. It only strikes me that you +have repeated the comparison with Hannibal rather too often. + +Pray be so good as to return the proofs to _me_ as soon as you can, that I +may have the article made up and printed off. I feel infinitely obliged to +you for it. + +The value of such praise was heightened, its apparent extravagance done +away with, by the knowledge that dissatisfaction would be expressed in +language equally unmistakable, and that either by the contributor or the +editor the modifications which seemed to him desirable would be made. It +was partly because he reserved to himself this power and accepted all the +responsibility, that he insisted so strenuously on the anonymous character +of the articles. But more even than that was his abhorrence of anything +like 'log-rolling,' which, in his opinion, was inseparable from signed +reviews. To the very last he discouraged, and indeed openly expressed his +disapproval and dislike of the presumably inspired announcements of +authors' names in the 'Athenaeum' or other journals. Here is an extract +from a letter dated October 6th, 1891, which illustrates this objection:-- +'The only objection I have to the republication of articles with the name +of the writer is that it destroys their anonymous character, which ought +especially to be retained when they contain criticism of contemporaries.' +So careful was he lest anything might warp the perfect fairness of +criticism, which should 'nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.' +I, who write these lines, can say positively, after having written for the +'Review' under Reeve for upwards of twenty years, that in all that time I +never received a hint or suggestion that any book should be dealt with +otherwise than on its merits; and whilst engaged on this present work I +have learned, for the first time, that men whose books I have reviewed, +not always favourably, were personal friends of the editor. The following +letter, addressed to Mr. T. N. Longman, is merely a concrete illustration +of this:-- + +_December 26th_, 1891.--I thought it best to tell Froude frankly that the +review of his book [Footnote: The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon,' in the +_Review_ of January 1892.] in the 'Edinburgh' would be an unfavourable one. +At the same time I disclaimed in the strongest language any disposition +to make a personal attack on himself. Unfortunately he seems to ascribe +adverse criticism of his works to personal animosity, which, in his case, +is entirely wanting. + +It is a painful necessity. Froude and his book are too important to be +passed over in silence. But the judicial character and consistency, and I +may say honour, of the 'Review' absolutely require that the truth should be +told about the book. I should consider it a derogation to my duty to the +'Review' if, from personal motives or affection, I suppressed an adverse +criticism of a work which imperatively demands an answer. The independence +of the 'Review' requires an independent judgement; but I expressly +stipulated with the writer of the article that he should abstain from +_bitterness_, which was carried too far in Goldwin Smith's article on +the same subject in 1858. The 'Review' is pledged to the views already +expressed on that occasion. + +I have therefore modified as far as possible any expressions which appeared +to be of too censorious a character; but it is impossible to avoid +condemning a mistaken book because the author is a personal friend. _Judex +damnatur si nocens absolvitur_ is our motto. + +Froude does not like Mr. Gardiner's book. He says, 'It's a menagerie of +tame beasts.' I think very highly of the book; and as we differ, I have +yielded to his wish to be released from the engagement. + +Nobody can regret more than I do any differences between old friends; but +my duty is to look solely to the consistency and integrity of the 'Review,' +without which criticism is worthless; and this consideration leaves me no +other course. + +Another point, of a similar nature, I can illustrate by my own experience. +I had undertaken, at Reeve's request, to review a rather important +historical work published by Longmans, but on reading it was so +unfavourably impressed by it that I wrote to say that the best thing I +could do would be to return the volumes; that the book was bad, and if +I reviewed it I must say so; but that doing this in the publisher's own +Review would have a certain resemblance to seething a kid in its mother's +milk, and might probably be objected to. 'Not a bit of it,' was the sense +of the reply I received by return of post: 'a bad book may be the text for +an interesting article, and we have nothing to do with who published it.' +So I expressed my opinion of the book in very plain terms; the review was +printed exactly as I wrote it, and the editor thanked me warmly for what +he was pleased to speak of as an 'excellent article.' It may, perhaps, be +assumed that this was not an isolated case; but written evidence of any +others is not before me. + +After returning from Oxford, Reeve spent the rest of the year at Foxholes, +He had intended going to London and possibly to Scotland in October, but an +accidental stumble in his library over a heavy despatch box made a nasty +wound on the left shin, which took many weeks in healing and prevented his +travelling till the middle of December. On the 19th he went to town, where, +with the exception of some short visits to Bath or to Foxholes, he remained +till June, dining several times at The Club, entertaining at home in his +customary manner, and keeping up a constant--almost daily--correspondence, +such as has been indicated, with the Longmans, for the most part with the +head of the firm, whom he had known from childhood and habitually addressed +by his Christian name. + +As he returned to Foxholes the country was in the throes of a general +election. Tired, it would seem, of steady and consistent government, it +longed for a change--anything for a change; and so opened the door for an +administration whose almost avowed object was to play skittles with the +Constitution--to bowl down the Union, the Established Church, the House +of Lords, the rights of property, and any other little trifles that were +sacred to law and religion. It was with deep regret that Reeve watched the +overthrow of what he considered the true Liberal party, and he wrote to Mr. +T. Norton Longman:-- + +_Foxholes_, _July 14th_--The results of the elections are far worse than +could be expected. Some of them are very odd. I have to deplore the defeat +of many of my friends. I suppose the Queen will have to make up her mind +to a ministry composed of men she abhors; but the majority will have in it +inherent weakness and the seeds of dissolution. + +I have found it difficult to say anything about the elections and have been +as short as possible. + +From a somewhat different point of view, he wrote a few days later to Lord +Derby:-- + +_Foxholes, July 22nd._--I have, of course, been watching with great +interest the progress of the elections, and I am happy to say that +Hampshire, like all the southern counties, comes out with a clean Unionist +bill. If the ultimate majority was to be small, is it not better to be in +opposition than in power? Mr. Gladstone's position, as the man responsible +for the conduct of affairs, is much less desirable than that of Lord +Salisbury, for he has the better half of the country dead against him. How +curious it is to trace on the map in the 'Times' the old traditions of +Saxon, Celtic, Mercian, and Danish origin in the counties of England, +Ireland, and Wales! Are the Celts to govern the Saxons? + +Early in August Reeve was visited at Foxholes by Count Adam Krasinski +[Footnote: Son of Ladislas and grandson of Reeve's early friend Sigismond +Krasinski. He was born in 1870, and married at Vienna in 1897.]--a +connecting link with the past, the merry days when he was young; and on +Krasinski's departure, he went north to visit some friends in Wales and +thence on to Chesters. + +Parliament met on August 4th, and on a simple motion of want of confidence, +as an amendment to the Address, the Ministry was defeated. Lord Salisbury +resigned, and Mr. Gladstone came into office with a Cabinet in which every +shade of unconstitutional opinion and every socially destructive fad were +fully represented. Reeve consoled himself with the belief that such a +ministry could not last. To Mr. T. Norton Longman he wrote:-- + +_Chesters, August 22nd_.--I have been paying some visits in Wales and have +come on here, where Mrs. Reeve preceded me. We find the Ogilvies very +flourishing, and the place beautiful. Here, at least, it is not hot, which +seems to be the grievance elsewhere. + +We are going to Rutland Gate on Friday and to Foxholes on Monday, and shall +remain there, except for a visit to a neighbour. + +I think Mr. Gladstone's Ministry a wretched affair. The old ones are worn +out, and the young ones are not broken in, and bring no weight at all. +The sole gratification of every one of them is absolute submission and +obedience to the Chief. But he will have some troublesome outsiders. + +_Foxholes, September 7th_.--We shall stay here till October 6th, when I +mean to come to London for two or three days, on our way to Knowsley. The +world seems fast asleep after the excitement of the summer, and people have +nothing to talk or write about but the cholera--which is not amusing. + +It was whilst at Chesters that Reeve received a curious note from the +Marquis of Lorne, written to 'The Editor of the "Edinburgh Review,"' as to +a total stranger:-- + +Osborne, August 21st. + +SIR,--I have found a number of original unpublished letters written by the +Duke of Argyll in 1705 and the Earl of Leven in 1706, from Edinburgh, to +Queen Anne and Godolphin, on the measures taken in the Scots Parliament +for the Union between England and Scotland, and am writing a notice of and +giving extracts from these papers, and wish to ask if you would care to +have this notice as an article in your 'Review.' + +I remain, yours faithfully, + +LORNE. + +Reeve's answer corrected the mistake, and in forwarding the MS. referred +to, to Foxholes, Lord Lorne wrote:-- + +Kensington Palace, September 5th. + +My dear and ancient friend and editor,--I did not know, to my disgrace, +that you are still in command. I never thought when the grey mare subsided +under you at Inveraray, in--year, [Footnote: Blank in the original; meaning +presumably--'so long ago that I've forgotten.' Reeve's one recorded visit +to Inveraray was in August 1858 (_ante_, vol. i. p. 395), when the Marquis +of Lorne was a boy of thirteen.] that in 1892 I should be writing to you +about proofs! It makes me feel young again to think of you in your old +capacity. If old times' gossip suits the 'Review,' please send the proofs +to me here--to Kensington Palace--whence, if I be away, they will be +forwarded to me. + +Yours very faithfully, + +LORNE. + +A few days later came the following letter from Count Adam Krasinski, to +whom, when at Foxholes, Reeve had given the letters of his grandfather, +Sigismond Krasinski. + +Royalin, September 10th. + +SIR,--On arriving in Warsaw a few days ago, I took the liberty of sending +you some bottles of wine from our cellar, among which is some +Hungarian Tokay, one of the oldest wines we have, bought by my +great-great-grandfather, the father of General Vincent, in the year of the +latter's birth. I hope you will be so good as to accept this little +present and make it welcome; for, being young myself, I have chosen an old +ambassador to thank you for your kindness to me. I can never sufficiently +thank you for the charming way in which you have made me the handsome +present of my grandfather's correspondence, which is of inestimable value +to me. The more I read it the more I realise its value. It contains the +whole developement of a noble character, and a fine nature, set forth in +long, full, and frequent letters to a trusted friend. And what a pleasure +it is to have the answers of this friend, so clearly showing your relations +to each other, and the reciprocal influence of two minds! Thanks, and again +thanks. + +I am very well, and am at present with my stepfather in the Grand Duchy of +Posnanie. Our plans for the winter are not yet fixed. Paris attracts me +greatly; but, on the other hand, I am advised to go to Heidelberg, where +there is better air and a milder climate. In any case, I will endeavour to +revisit England next year, and so recall myself to your memory. + +Agréez, Monsieur, l'expression de ma très grande considération, à laquelle +je joins des sentiments respectueux pour Madame votre femme. + +ADAM KRASINSKI. + +To Mr. Norton Longman at this time Reeve wrote--primarily on the business +of the 'Review,' but incidentally on a literary conundrum which was just +then causing a little excitement:-- + +_Foxholes, September 16th_.--I do not think the translation of a French +book on Political Economy is _primâ facie_ advisable. But the book seems +(from the accounts in the 'Nation') to be so excellent that I should be +glad to see it, and may have it reviewed in the 'Edinburgh.' The title is, +'Le Capital, la Spéculation et la Finance au XIXe Siècle;' par Claudio +Jannet. Published by Plon. + +No one who knew Sir Richard Wallace could believe that he wrote 'The +Englishman in Paris.' I said from the first that it was a mere collection +of old gossip to be passed off on the English public as something racy. If +Grenville Murray were alive, this is exactly the sort of thing he would +have done. But Grenville Murray left a son, who must now be grown up, and +who may have inherited some of his father's sinister talents. They have +lived for many years in Paris. Sir Richard Wallace was the very type of a +gentleman of the highest breeding--rather stern, melancholy, not at all +humorous, and incapable of vulgarity or pretence. + +October slipped away in visits to Stratton (Lord Northbrook's) and to +Knowsley, and the remainder of the year for the most part at Foxholes. In +December Reeve was proposing to have a review of Sir Mountstuart Grant +Duff's 'Life of Sir Henry Maine,' and consulted the author as to who would +be the best fitted to write it. This is what Sir Mountstuart wrote in +reply:-- + +_Twickenham, December 11th_.--I am very proud to find that so excellent a +judge thinks well of my little memoir of Maine. As to the article about +which you write, I think Sir Frederick Pollock would be very much the best +man to undertake it--the only man who could tell us, without any bias, what +I exceedingly want to know: how much of Maine's juridical speculations, +especially in 'Ancient Law,' is finally accepted. He may say that he has +said his say about Maine; but he has not; he has said a little, but I am +sure he has a great deal more to say. I wish to know the real value of each +of Maine's books.... I am writing a quite small book about Renan--the only +great Frenchman of our day whom you did not know very well. + +The next was a Christmas greeting from Lord Derby, with an interesting +comment on the situation in France:-- + +_Knowsley, December 5th_.--Thanks for your letter of inquiry and good +wishes; the latter are cordially returned. Lady Derby joins me in the hope +that the coming year may be one of health and happiness to you and yours. I +cannot give a very rosy account of myself, being still ill and weak; even +if all goes well, I expect to have to lead in future a life of quiet +and privacy. My days of speeches are almost certainly ended; and after +forty-four years of public life, I do not much regret it. + +The developement of events in 1893 will be interesting to watch. All +reports agree that Gladstone is taking the work of his office very easily, +and that he leaves nearly everything to his colleagues. That will not be so +easy in the Session. The Cabinet will be prevented by fear of ridicule +from breaking up on the Irish Bill, but all their friends and backers seem +prepared for its failure. + +You are a hopeless pessimist as to French affairs. They certainly are not +going on smoothly, but where is the new Boulanger? Bourbons and Bonapartes +are played out; and France might advertise for a dictator without finding +one. If that be so, what threatens the republic? A socialist outbreak would +only strengthen it. Surely a nation may go on muddling its affairs a long +while without mortal harm. + +Waddington, I am told, was informed by his friends that he had no right +to remain a Senator without taking his seat, and that he must give up one +position or the other. This is the excuse made for his recall. The truth, I +suppose, is that his place was wanted. He will be a real loss. + +With the new year the party from Foxholes came to town, and there Reeve was +laid up with a serious illness which lasted nearly a month. The Journal +notes on February 7th--'I attended a dinner of The Club, and resigned the +treasurership, which I had held for twenty-five years.' A corresponding +entry a month later, on March 7th, is 'At the third dinner of The Club. +Lord Salisbury came "to my obsequies" and Gladstone wrote to me. Grant Duff +elected to the treasurership.' + +Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff has been so good as to amplify this by a note +from his own diary. 'At the dinner on February 7th, 1893'--he writes--'I +was in the chair.... Reeve made a statement for which he had prepared me +by letter, to the effect that his great age, breaking health, and frequent +absences from London, would oblige him to resign ere long the treasurership +of The Club--the only office which exists in connection with it. He has +held it for some five-and-twenty years, and it is not surprising that his +voice faltered as he addressed us.... + +_March 21st_--Dined with The Club, taking my seat for the first time as +treasurer. After the last meeting mentioned, Reeve wrote to me to say that +there was a feeling in favour of my becoming his successor, and asked +whether I should object. I replied in the negative, and on the 7th I was +unanimously elected, upon the proposal of Sir Henry Elliot, who was in the +chair, and was seconded by Lord Salisbury.' + +Of the correspondence of this period there is little. Lord Derby, who was +almost, or quite, the last of his political correspondents, was too ill +to write, and died on April 21st. On the 27th Reeve attended the funeral +service at St. Margaret's. Letters relating to the 'Review,' of course, +continued. Here are three referring to a political problem which, so lately +as five years ago, few could have the patience to be bothered with. That +Reeve, at his advanced age, could take it up with such interest is a strong +proof of the vitality and even freshness of his intellect. + +_To Rear-Admiral Bridge_ + +62 Rutland Gate: April 27th. + +My dear admiral,--I wish you would read an article in 'Blackwood's +Magazine' for May (just out) on the Russian occupation of Manchuria. I +never read a more impudent piece of _blague._ ------ must have written it. +Nobody else would boast of swindling the Chinese with a false map. + +This induces me to ask whether you could not give me a short article for +the 'Review' on The Russians on the Pacific' and the naval effects of their +position at Vladivostock. They have made it a fortress, but it will take a +long time to make it a settlement. But it may become important. + +Yours very faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + +_April 30th._--I am very glad you will revert to the North Pacific. You +should refer to your excellent article of 1880, which I have read over +again. It seems to exhaust the subject as far as relates to the settlements +on the Amoor, and even as to Vladivostock; but I suppose that thirteen +years have materially augmented the strength of Russia on the Pacific, and +any additional information would be valuable. + +_Foxholes, May 23rd_.--I am much obliged to you for your interesting +article. I think the best heading would be 'Russia on the Pacific.' As I am +much pressed for room, I have ventured to excise some of your introductory +remarks, which are not essential to the main objects of the paper; but when +you come to positive business at Vladivostock, all that you say is most +excellent and important. I believe the Siberian railroad--like the line to +Samarkand--is only a single line. Such a line 5,000 miles long is a very +ineffective instrument for military and commercial purposes. How much can +it carry, allowing for return trains, chiefly empty? Where is Russia, with +a debt equal in charge to our own, to find forty millions sterling for such +a work, which would be wholly unproductive? It is true that, by employing +troops and Turkomans, the work may be done cheaply; but all this will take +a long time. + +I am very glad you touch on the question between France and Siam: it is a +serious one. + +In the early days of July the Reeves settled down for the summer at +Foxholes, avoiding the great heat, with the thermometer at 80° F. when in +London it was reaching as high as 93° F. In the beginning of September +Reeve, together with his wife, returned to London, crossed over to +Boulogne, and so to Chantilly, where, as the guests of the Due d'Aumale, +they spent his 80th birthday. They stayed there till the 12th, and +returned, again by Boulogne and London, to Foxholes. It was his last visit +to the France he had loved so well. The year was in many respects a sad +one. His own health was becoming very uncertain, and gout, feverish colds, +and violent bleeding of the nose laid him up for weeks at a time. The +deaths of his friends, too, recurring in rapid succession, were frequent +reminders of what he had written nearly sixty-two years before: 'Between +seventy and eighty there rarely remains more than one change to be made.' +[Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 17.] He had now exceeded the higher +limit, and it happened that the obituary of 1893 contained an unusual +number of men of high literary and scientific distinction. Through all, +however, Reeve's head remained clear, and his work was seldom disturbed. +There is no sickness or feebleness in the following:-- + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, October 3rd._--I have read a great part of the 'Life of +Pusey'--an appalling book from the length of the letters in it. In my +opinion it lays bare, as nothing else has done, the total weakness and +inconsistency of the Tractarians, and their absolute disloyalty to the +Church of England. It is very difficult and very important to find a +suitable person to review such a work, for it must be done in the spirit +of the articles of Arnold, Tait, and Arthur Stanley, which express the +principles of the 'Edinburgh Review.' I incline to think it had better be +done by a layman. The parsons are all hostile to their own Church. + +_To Rear-Admiral Bridge_ + +62 _Rutland Gate, November 12th._--We are come to town, and I hope it will +not be long before I have the pleasure of seeing you. Meanwhile, I have +been reading again the article on Mediterranean Politics which you gave us +last autumn. The combination of the French and Russian fleets seems to me +to be a matter of grave importance. Both those countries are unhappily +animated by very hostile intentions to us. They have discovered that it +is only by a superiority of sea power in the Mediterranean that they can +accomplish their twofold object, which I take to be for Russia to force the +Dardanelles and for France to compel us to evacuate Egypt. This seems to me +to be the _but_ of the alliance, in as far as it is an alliance. It is all +very well to talk of our maritime supremacy, but have we got it? You +know, and I do not. But to my mind, the worst is that we have got a +Government--or rather a minister--profoundly incapable of foreseeing a +great emergency or providing against it. It is quite possible that the +Gladstone administration may be blown up by a tremendous catastrophe. These +thoughts perplex me; but I hope you will tell me that I am quite wrong and +that Britannia rules the waves. + +An exceptional chance gives us a picture of Foxholes, at this time, when +twenty years' occupation had enabled its owner to perfect all the details +which go to make up comfort. + +During his absence in London in the beginning of 1894, he let it, for the +only time, to his friend, Lord Hobhouse, for many years a member of the +Judicial Committee, and just then convalescent after a serious illness. A +couple of notes which Lord Hobhouse wrote during his four weeks' tenancy +may be classed as 'Interiors' or 'Exteriors' from the practical point of +view. + +Foxholes, February 16th. + +My dear Reeve,--I imagine that this morning Mrs. Reeve will have got a note +from my wife telling her of our settlement here. I was contemplating 'a +few words' to you, when Lady H. told me of her writing; and now comes your +letter, partly of welcome, partly of information. + +I don't think it possible that we could be more happily housed. Size, +arrangement, warmth, beauty, inside and out, evidences everywhere of +cultivated taste and refined pursuits--all is calculated for enjoyment and +repose, probably for anybody, certainly for an invalid. I have established +myself in a corner of the library--which, partly from its intrinsic +advantages and partly from the presence of a thick cushion in the seat of +the armchair, I conjecture to be yours--between the writing desk and the +N.W. bookcase, with the N.E. window at my back and my legs protruding +beyond the jamb of the mantelpiece into the sacred [Greek: temeuos], which +is guarded by a low marble fence, and over which the fire which I +worship has sway. Both by day and by night the situation is perfect for +distribution of light and warmth. And I can read almost all my waking +hours; for all through my illness my head has been clear. My principal +embarrassment is to choose among the many temptations with which your +goodly bookcases beset me. However, after reading Traill's 'William III.' +(a rather thin composition, I think) I have settled into Gardiner's 'Civil +War,' which is much more solid and satisfying. + +This morning I have been reading your little notice of Lord Derby; and I +think you do not speak at all too highly of his capacity for examining +political and social movements. In 1880 I delivered a lecture, which +was printed and circulated, on the eternal division of political +tendencies--movement and rest; and I took Lord Derby (then temporarily in +the Liberal Camp) as the best type of conservatism; cool, patient, +keen, sceptical, critical, just, impartial, with a mind always open +to conviction, but refusing to move until convinced. Such men are an +invaluable element in the deliberative stages of every question; but their +very critical powers paralyse action, and when movement becomes necessary +their hesitations are a drawback. I fancy that Cornewall Lewis was just +such another, but I did not know so much about him.... + +For me, I improve, slowly but enough, I think, to show at least that our +move was not premature. In the pick of the day (would that it were always +afternoon) I am able to walk for an hour or more, and I get good sleep in +the most luxurious of beds. Pray give my kind remembrances to Mrs. Reeve, +and believe me, + +Sincerely yours, + +HOBHOUSE. + +_Foxholes, March 6th._--Alas, alas! time flies away, and pleasant things +come to an end, and I shall not have many days' more enjoyment of your +charming house and library and outlook. But my time has not been wasted. I +have recovered strength, a good deal more than I expected, and am probably +now--at all events hope, by our return next Monday or Tuesday, to be--able +to re-enter the ordinary routine of life. Of course, we have had, like +other people, a great deal of blustering wind--for the most part from +north-west--very cold and very noisy in your chimneys. But there has also +been a great deal of sunshine with the gales, and the exposure of your +house to south-east has, on most days, given us a sheltered walk. Moreover, +your soil is so porous and absorbent, that one gets dry walking immediately +after rain. I have only been kept indoors two days since our arrival. + +A few letters from Reeve himself show the continued activity of his mind, +and at the same time his consciousness of, his readiness for, the end which +was drawing nigh. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, May 29th._--Lord Derby's Speeches contain more political wisdom +than any other book of our time. I think people will find out its permanent +value. + +_June 13th._--I have nothing to correct or alter in the Greville Memoirs, +and am glad to find that some sale of them goes on. + +I am much touched by the [approaching] death of Coleridge, whom I have +known so well and so long. I expect he will not survive to-day. He dined +with us at The Club on April 24th, and was then very well. _Sic transit._ + +_Foxholes, October 23rd_.--The notices of our old friend Froude +[Footnote: He died on October 20th, in his 77th year.] have been very +gratifying--especially the leader in the 'Times.' He leaves the world quite +glorified, and they now find out what a great man he was. I wonder +whether you are going to attend the funeral. I never send wreaths on such +occasions, but if I ever did send one it would be now, for I am truly +affected by the loss of such a friend. The newspapers seem to have +discovered that there were some big men in the last generation, and that +there are very few of them in the present. + +_Rutland Gate, February 16th, 1895._--I am pretty well--not worse than +usual; but I don't go out. + +My dear old friend, Lady Stanley of Alderley, died this morning. She was +only ill four days, and expired without pain or suffering at eighty-seven. +To me an irreparable loss, and to a vast circle of descendants and friends. +[Footnote: Among Reeve's papers there are a great many letters from Lady +Stanley of Alderley, telling plainly of the long and close friendship +between the two. Unfortunately, there are no available letters from Reeve +to her.] + +_To Rear-Admiral Bridge_ [Footnote: At this time Commander-in-Chief in +Australian waters.] + +62 Rutland Gate, May 2nd. + +My dear admiral,--I wish you were in reach of us, to discuss the +extraordinary events which are taking place in the North Pacific, to which +your articles on that subject have for some time pointed; but no one +foresaw the sudden uprising of Japan. + +It seems to me that, in spite of her victories, Japan is in a very critical +position, politically speaking. She lies between two huge empires, and she +has undertaken to occupy more than she can hold. Her position is absolutely +fatal to the grand design of Russia, of crossing the north of Asia to the +Pacific, and I expect Russia will not submit to it. But Russia would find +it extremely difficult to carry on military and naval operations at such +an enormous distance from her base. I doubt whether she could destroy the +Japanese fleet, and it certainly is not for our interest that it should be +destroyed. The disposition here is to observe strict neutrality and watch +the course of events. + +It is curious that nobody points out that the United States are the country +with the largest future interest in the Pacific, and that they must have +a voice in this controversy. It also largely affects our own Australian +colonies. A Russian establishment in Corea would effect a momentous change +in the Pacific, and Japan will doubtless resist it to the uttermost. + +We are very dull here. Lord Rosebery has sunk into complete insignificance, +and his state of health is doubtful. The Government is rotten, but +continues to hold together. I think something must occur before long to +stir the waters. + +We are going to Foxholes on May 20th to stay there. I have spent a dreary +winter, being unable to go out, but I am not seriously ill--suffering +chiefly from old age. Mrs. Reeve sends you her kind regards, and I am +always + +Yours very faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + + * * * * * + +_To Miss A. M. Clerke_ + +_Foxholes, September 8th_.--Many thanks, dear Miss Clerke, for your elegant +and instructive Life of the Herschels; they could not have had a more +accomplished biographer, if they had waited for it another century. Your +article on Argon fills me with amazement and admiration. How can the +human mind fathom such things! I beg you to send me the corrected proofs +to-morrow by return of post, as I want to make it up immediately. If +anything new is said on the subject at the British Association, you can add +a note to be printed at the end of the number. + +To-morrow is my 82nd birthday--probably the last. But I am not ill, only +feeble and tired of living so long. + +Yours most faithfully, + +H. REEVE. + +_To Captain S. P. Oliver, R.A._ + +_Foxholes, September 12th._--I have sent your corrected proofs [Footnote: +'The French in Madagascar,' October 1895.] to Spottiswoode, with a few +slight suggestions of my own. They will send you a revise.... I see you +have now so far modified your opinion that you think with me that the +position of the French is most critical. Unless they can announce some +signal success in the next two weeks, there will be a disaster and an awful +row. I see by the map that on the 5th of this month they were still +at Andriba, which I take to be about three-fifths of the distance to +Antananarivo. They have been five months getting there, and as they advance +the difficulty of bringing up stores, supplies, and reliefs increases, and +will increase. In my opinion, the Hovas are quite right _not_ to treat for +peace till they see what the rains will do for them. I hope they will hold +out, but avoid fighting. + +Captain Oliver writes that 'One of Reeve's last pieces of work connected +with the "Edinburgh Review" must have been the paragraphs which he +substituted for my ending to the article. He was doubtful of the eventual +French success, whereas I felt pretty certain that affairs would terminate +as they have done in that island.' The forecast of the result of a +complicated business was erroneous, but to make one at all, and to commit +it to paper, was a remarkable display of energy in a dying man who was now +in his eighty-third year. + +_To Mr. T. Norton Longman_ + +_Foxholes, September 12th_.--Thanks for your birthday congratulations, but +I doubt whether great age is a subject of congratulation at all. + +_29th_.--I am extremely feeble, faculties low, eyesight weak. I should +like, if I live so long, to edit the January number of the 'Review;' but +after that I must stop. + +_October 2nd._--Much obliged to you for your very kind note.... You will +doubtless pay me on November 15th the sum due then; but I wish to say that +I cannot go on to receive remuneration for services I am scarcely capable +of rendering. Therefore this payment in November will be the last on that +account [as literary adviser]. + +This was probably the last letter Reeve wrote with his own hand. For +several months he had been very much of an invalid, though he had persisted +in continuing his work, in which he found distraction and relief. And no +complaint passed his lips. 'The kindest thing you can do for me,' he said +to his anxious wife, 'is to leave me alone.' He made a point of coming down +to breakfast; but his strength was gradually failing, and he moved with +difficulty. His medical attendant recommended an operation, but this he was +unwilling to undergo, feeling doubtful whether at his advanced age it could +be successful. Sunday, October 13th, he passed in the library among the +books he prized. He dictated a letter, listened to the Psalms of the day, +and asked his wife to read also the First Epistle General of St. Peter. +In the afternoon Dr. Roberts Thomson and Dr. Davison saw him, and after a +consultation wrote to the distinguished specialist, Mr. Buckston Browne, to +be prepared to come on receipt of a telegram. On Monday Reeve was unable +to get up; he consented to undergo the operation, and Mr. Browne was +telegraphed for. On his arrival, about 7 o'clock in the evening, it was +decided to lose no more time. The operation was successfully performed, +under chloroform, and everything, the surgeons hoped, would go well. And +this they repeated for the next few days; the wound, they thought, was +closing nicely. At 82, however, wounds do not close readily, and Reeve's +system was weakened by some years of bad health. He never regained entire +consciousness; and though from time to time he gave some directions about +the 'Review,' they were not intelligible to those who heard; they probably +had no meaning even to himself. On Monday, October 21st, at half-past +one in the morning, 'the one last change was made,' and he passed away +peacefully and without suffering. + +In a letter of sympathy to Mrs. Reeve Dr. Roberts Thomson wrote:-- + +'I was very much struck with your husband's wonderful patience when I saw +him, and the calm way in which he was able to face the future--whatever it +had in store for him. It is some consolation to know that he did not suffer +much, and that perhaps, had he recovered from the illness, his health +would have been so affected that great valetudinarianism would have been +inevitable. To him, this would have been suffering; and for his sake we are +thankful that he was spared it.' + +His remains were interred in the Brookwood cemetery at Woking on October +24th. + +He died, literally in harness. On Saturday, October 12th, he dictated a +last letter on the business of the 'Review;' and his indistinct words +during the few days of partial unconsciousness showed that his mind was +still endeavouring to fix itself on what had occupied it for so many years. + +It was in his editorial capacity that I, who write these lines, first knew +him in 1866, though I did not make his personal acquaintance till 1877, +when he was a few months over 63. I found him a tall, stout, and--though +not strictly handsome--a good-looking man, who might very well have passed +for ten years younger than he actually was, and whose burly figure might +have seemed more at home in the covers or the turnip-fields than in the +Privy Council Office; his weight, which cannot, even then, have been much +under eighteen stone, must have stopped his hunting some time before. But +in his manner there was no trace of this fancied rusticity--how could there +be, indeed, in one trained in society almost from the cradle?--and his +voice was soft and musical. I have seen it stated that he was pompous, +self-assertive, and dictatorial. That his manners, formed by his mother and +his aunt on eighteenth-century models, and perfected in Paris among the +traditions of the _ancien regime_, had about them nothing of the 'hail +fellow, well met' fashion of the present day is very certain, and, joined +to his height (about 6 ft. 1 in.) and his great bulk, may sometimes +have given him the appearance of speaking _de haut en bas_, and must, +unquestionably, have enabled him to repress any unwelcome or undue +familiarity. As an editor, of course, he was dictatorial. We may talk of +the Republic of Letters; but in point of fact a successful journal is +and must be an autocracy. In his private capacity, I never found in his +conversation that habit of 'laying down the law' which some, with probably +inferior opportunities of judging, have complained of. Of his untiring +application and power of work enough has already been said; but the uniform +good luck which attended him through life is worthy of notice. In the +course of eighty-two years he experienced no reverse of fortune, no great +disappointment, and--with the one, though terrible, exception of the death +of his first wife--no great sorrow beyond what is the lot of all men. We +know that fortune favours the brave. It favours also those who to ability +and temper join prudence, courtesy, and careful, systematic, painstaking +industry. + +At the age of 82 Reeve had outlived all of his contemporaries--the men who +had associated with him and worked with him in his youth. Their opinion of +him is only to be gauged by the fact that, with but few and easily explained +exceptions, the friendships of his early manhood were broken only by the +grave. The number of friends of forty or fifty years' standing who died +during the last decade of his life is very remarkable. As these are +wanting, I am happy in being able to conclude this tribute to his memory +by two appreciations, one English, the other French; the first, from and +representing the 'Edinburgh Review' to which it was contributed in January +1896, by Mr. W. E. H. Lecky. + +'Although it has never been the custom of this "Review" to withdraw the +veil of anonymity from its writers and its administration, it would be mere +affectation to suffer this number to appear before the public without some +allusion to the great Editor whom we have just lost, and who for forty +years has watched with indefatigable care over our pages. + +'The career of Mr. Henry Reeve is perhaps the most striking illustration in +our time of how little in English life influence is measured by notoriety. +To the outer world his name was but little known. He is remembered as the +translator of Tocqueville, as the editor of the "Greville Memoirs," as +the author of a not quite forgotten book on Royal and Republican France, +showing much knowledge of French literature and politics; as the holder +during fifty years of the respectable, but not very prominent, post of +Registrar of the Privy Council. To those who have a more intimate knowledge +of the political and literary life of England, it is well known that during +nearly the whole of his long life he was a powerful and living force in +English literature; that few men of his time have filled a larger place +in some of the most select circles of English social life; and that he +exercised during many years a political influence such as rarely falls +to the lot of any Englishman outside Parliament, or indeed outside the +Cabinet. + +'He was born at Norwich in 1813, and brought up in a highly cultivated, +and even brilliant, literary circle. His father, Dr. Reeve, was one of the +earliest contributors to this Review. The Austins, the Opies, the Taylors, +and the Aldersons were closely related to him, and he is said to have been +indebted to his gifted aunt, Sarah Austin, for his appointment in the Privy +Council. The family income was not large, and a great part of Mr. Reeve's +education took place on the Continent, chiefly at Geneva and Munich. He +went with excellent introductions, and the years he spent abroad were +abundantly fruitful. He learned German so well that he was at one time a +contributor to a German periodical. He was one of the rare Englishmen who +spoke French almost like a Frenchman, and at a very early age he formed +friendships with several eminent French writers. His translation of +the "Democracy in America," by Tocqueville, which appeared in 1835, +strengthened his hold on French society. Two years later he obtained the +appointment in the Privy Council, which he held until 1887. It was in this +office that he became the colleague and fast friend of Charles Greville, +who on his death-bed entrusted him with the publication of his "Memoirs." + +'Mr. Reeve had now obtained an assured income and a steady occupation, but +it was far from satisfying his desire for work. He became a contributor, +and very soon a leading contributor, to the "Times," while his close and +confidential intercourse with Mr. Delane gave him a considerable voice in +its management. The penny newspaper was still unborn, and the "Times" at +this period was the undisputed monarch of the press, and exercised an +influence over public opinion, both in England and on the Continent, +such as no existing paper can be said to possess. It is, we believe, no +exaggeration to say that for the space of fifteen years nearly every +article that appeared in its columns on foreign politics was written by +Mr. Reeve, and the period during which he wrote for it included the year +1848,--when foreign politics were of transcendent importance. + +'The great political influence which he at this time exercised naturally +drew him into close connexion with many of the chief statesmen of his time. +With Lord Clarendon especially his friendship was close and confidential, +and he received from that statesman almost weekly letters during his +Viceroyalty in Ireland and during other of the more critical periods of his +career. In France Mr. Reeve's connexions were scarcely less numerous than +in England. Guizot, Thiers, Cousin, Tocqueville, Villemain, Circourt--in +fact, nearly all the leading figures in French literature and +politics during the reign of Louis Philippe were among his friends or +correspondents. He was at all times singularly international in his +sympathies and friendships, and he appears to have been more than once +made the channel of confidential communications between English and French +statesmen. + +'It was a task for which he was eminently suited. The qualities which most +impressed all who came into close communication with him were the strength, +swiftness, and soundness of his judgement, and his unfailing tact and +discretion in dealing with delicate questions. He was eminently a man of +the world, and had quite as much knowledge of men as of books. Probably +few men of his time have been so frequently and so variously consulted. +He always spoke with confidence and authority, and his clear, keen-cut, +decisive sentences, a certain stateliness of manner which did not so much +claim as assume ascendency, and a somewhat elaborate formality of courtesy +which was very efficacious in repelling intruders, sometimes concealed from +strangers the softer side of his character. But those who knew him well +soon learnt to recognise the genuine kindliness of his nature, his +remarkable skill in avoiding friction, and the rare steadiness of his +friendships. + +'One great source of his influence was the just belief in his complete +independence and disinterestedness. For a very able man his ambition was +singularly moderate. As he once said, he had made it his object throughout +life only to aim at things which were well within his power. He had very +little respect for the judgement of the multitude, and he cared nothing +for notoriety and not much for dignities. A moderate competence, congenial +work, a sphere of wide and genuine influence, a close and intimate +friendship with a large proportion of the guiding spirits of his time, were +the things he really valued, and all these he fully attained. He had great +conversational powers, which never degenerated into monologue, a singularly +equable, happy, and sanguine temperament, and a keen delight in cultivated +society. He might be seen to special advantage in two small and very select +dining clubs which have included most of the more distinguished English +statesmen and men of letters of the century. He became a member of the +Literary Society in 1857 and of Dr. Johnson's Club in 1861, and it is a +remarkable evidence of the appreciation of his social tact that both bodies +speedily selected him as their treasurer. He held that position in "The +Club" from 1868 till 1893, when failing health and absence from +London obliged him to relinquish it. The French Institute elected him +"Correspondant" in 1865 and Associated Member in 1888, in which latter +dignity he succeeded Sir Henry Maine. In 1870 the University of Oxford +conferred on him the honorary degree of D.C.L. + +'It was in 1855, on the resignation of Sir George Cornewall Lewis, that he +assumed the editorship of this "Review," which he retained till the day +of his death. Both on the political and the literary side he was in full +harmony with its traditions. His rare and minute knowledge of recent +English and foreign political history; his vast fund of political anecdote; +his personal acquaintance with so many of the chief actors on the political +scene, both in England and France, gave a great weight and authority to his +judgements, and his mind was essentially of the Whig cast. He was a genuine +Liberal of the school of Russell, Palmerston, Clarendon, and Cornewall +Lewis. It was a sober and tolerant Liberalism, rooted in the traditions +of the past, and deeply attached to the historical elements in the +Constitution. The dislike and distrust with which he had always viewed the +progress of democracy deepened with age, and it was his firm conviction +that it could never become the permanent basis of good government. Like +most men of his type of thought and character, he was strongly repelled by +the later career of Mr. Gladstone, and the Home Rule policy at last severed +him definitely from the bulk of the Liberal party. From this time the +present Duke of Devonshire was the leader of his party. + +'His literary judgements had much analogy to his political ones. His +leanings were all towards the old standards of thought and style. He had +been formed in the school of Macaulay and Milman, and of the great French +writers under Louis Philippe. Sober thought, clear reasoning, solid +scholarship, a transparent, vivid, and restrained style were the literary +qualities he most appreciated. He was a great purist, inexorably hostile +to a new word. In philosophy he was a devoted disciple of Kant, and his +decided orthodoxy in religious belief affected many of his judgements. He +could not appreciate Carlyle; he looked with much distrust on Darwinism and +the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, and he had very little patience with +some of the moral and intellectual extravagances of modern literature. But, +according to his own standards and in the wide range of his own subjects, +his literary judgement was eminently sound, and he was quick and generous +in recognising rising eminence. In at least one case the first considerable +recognition of a prominent historian was an article in this "Review" from +his pen. + +'He had a strong sense of the responsibility of an editor, and especially +of the editor of a Review of unsigned articles. No article appeared which +he did not carefully consider. His powerful individuality was deeply +stamped upon the "Review," and he carefully maintained its unity and +consistency of sentiments. It was one of the chief occupations and +pleasures of his closing days, and the very last letter he dictated +referred to it. + +'Time, as might be expected, had greatly thinned the circle of his friends. +Of the France which he knew so well scarcely anything remained, but his old +friend and senior, Barthélemy St.-Hilaire, visited him at Christ-Church, +and he kept up to the end a warm friendship with the Duc d'Aumale. He spent +his 80th birthday at Chantilly, and until the very last year of his life he +was never absent when the Duke dined at "The Club." In Lord Derby he lost +the statesman with whom in his later years he was most closely connected by +private friendship and political sympathy, while the death of Lady Stanley +of Alderley deprived him of an attached and lifelong friend. + +'Growing infirmities prevented him in his latter days from mixing much in +general society in London, but his life was brightened by all that loving +companionship could give; his mental powers were unfaded, and he could +still enjoy the society of younger friends. He looked forward to the end +with a perfect and a most characteristic calm, without fear and without +regret. It was the placid close of a long, dignified, and useful life.' + +The second, the French appreciation, was spoken at the meeting of the +'Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques,' on November 16th, 1895, +by the Duc d'Aumale, who, after regretting his absence on the previous +occasion when the President had announced the death of their foreign +member, Mr. Henry Reeve, continued: + +'Je n'aurais sans doute rien pu ajouter à ce qui a été si bien dit par M. +le Président, mais je tenais à rendre personnellement hommage à la mémoire +d'un confrère éminent, pour lequel je professais une haute estime et une +sincère amitié, et je demande à l'Académie la permission de lui adresser +quelques mots. + +'Qu'on l'envisage au point de vue littéraire ou au point de vue social, +la figure d'Henry Reeve était essentiellement originale, et il devait ce +caractère non seulement à la nature de son esprit, mais à l'éducation qu'il +avait reçue. Sur la base anglaise de la forte instruction classique son +père [Footnote: A momentary lapse of memory. It is scarcely possible that +the Duc d'Aumale did not know that Reeve's father died whilst Reeve was +still an infant, and that his education was directed by his mother.] voulut +ajouter le couronnement des hautes études continentales, et, pour que cette +culture intellectuelle n'eût rien d'exclusif ou d'absolu il fit choix de +Genève et de Munich. C'cst dans ces deux villes, dans ces deux grands +centres intellectuels, que Reeve passa une partie de sa jeunesse. Ce séjour +dans des milieux si différents laissa dans son esprit une double impression +qui se refléta sur toute sa vie. + +'Peu de personnes, de nos jours, ont aussi bien connu que lui cette +charmante et originale société de Genève, qui semblait dater du +dix-huitième siècle, et qui en a si longtemps conservé les traditions. +C'est là qu'il acquit la connaissance approfondie de notre langue; il en +avait saisi les nuances délicates; il connaissait toute notre littérature. +Je ne connais guère d'étrangers qui puissent parler, comprendre, écrire le +français mieux que lui. + +'L'allemand ne lui était pas moins familier. Le séjour à Munich lui inspira +aussi le goût des arts envisagés à un point de vue qui n'est pas tout à +fait le nôtre. Dans un petit volume, oeuvre de jeunesse, "Graphidae," il +traduisit sous une forme poétique l'impression que lui avaient laissée les +oeuvres des premiers maîtres italiens. On y retrouve, avec la mesure qui +etait un des caractères de cet esprit bien pondéré, la trace des théories +qui prévalaient alors dans l'Allemagne méridionale. + +'À d'autres points de vue ce long séjour à l'étranger lui avait laissé +des traces plus profondes encore. Il en avait rapporté une sorte de +cosmopolitisme éclairé, tempéré, entretenu par ses nombreuses relations. +Je ne veux pas dire qu'il ne fut pas Anglais avant tout. Passionnément +patriote--et ce n'est pas moi qui lui en ferai un reproche--il épousait les +passions, les colères de son pays, mais sans rudesse, sans hauteur, sans +haine ou mépris des autres peuples, sans préjugés contre aucune nation +étrangère. + +'Il ne cessa d'entretenir des relations intimes et constantes avec tout le +parti libéral français (je prends le mot libéral dans le vrai sens, le sens +le plus large), depuis M. le Duc de Broglie et M. Gruizot jusqu'à notre +vénéré confrère M. Barthelémy Saint-Hilaire. + +'Malgré son impartialité j'oserai dire qu'il avait une certaine faiblesse +pour la France. Certes il n'aurait jamais épousé la cause de la France +engagée contre l'Angleterre; mais quand il voyait la France et l'Angleterre +d'accord sa joie était vive. Et lors de nos malheurs, sans prendre parti +dans la querelle, il n'a jamais cachée la sympathie que lui inspirait la +France vaincue. + +'Je ne sache pas que Reeve ait écrit aucun ouvrage de longue haleine, sauf +certaines traductions difficiles, importantes: quelques-unes rappellent à +cette compagnie des noms qui lui sont chers--la "Vie de Washington," par +Guizot; la "Démocratic," de Tocqueville, un de ses plus intimes amis. + +'Il n'a pas pris une part directe au mouvement des affaires de son pays, +n'ayant siégé ni dans le parlement ni dans aucun cabinet; mais son +influence était considérable: sans cesse consulté, souvent chargé de +messages importants; enfin sa plume, sa plume surtout, ne restait jamais +inactive, et ses écrits portaient coup. Le "Times" l'a compte longtemps +parmi ses principaux collaborateurs; plus tard il se recueillit et se +consacra exclusivement à la direction de la "Revue d'Edimbourg," dont il +avait été longtemps un des principaux redacteurs. [Footnote: The Duke would +seem to have misunderstood Reeve's position, or, more probably, his +memory was confused by the lapse of forty years. Reeve was never _'un des +principaux rédacteurs'_ of the Edinburgh Review. Till he became sole editor +and, in a literary sense, autocrat, he had no part in the conduct of it, +nor was he a constant contributor (cf. _ante_, vol. i. p. 173).] + +'Je n'ai pas besoin de rappeler à l'Académie quel rôle appartient à +"l'editeur" dans les grandes revues anglaises, quelle part il prend au +choix des sujets, à la rédaction des articles, quelle autorité il exerce, +ni de m'etendre sur l'histoire du plus ancien, je crois, des recueils +périodiques, assurément un des plus importants. La "Revue d'Edimbourg" est +plus qu'un simple organe; souvent elle donne la note, la formule des idées +acceptées par le parti dont elle continue d'arborer les couleurs sur sa +couverture bleue et chamois, les couleurs de M. Fox. + +'J'ai dit que Reeve n'avait pas pris part au gouvernement. Il exerçait +cependant une charge, un veritable office de judicature, dont les +attributions ne sont pas d'accord avec nos moeurs et dont le titre même se +traduit difficilement dans notre langue. Attaché au Conseil privé comme +_Appeal Clerk_, puis comme Registrar, il jugeait des appels des îles de la +Manche. [Footnote: This, as has been seen (ante, vol. i. pp. 85-6), is a +very inexact and imperfect description of Reeve's duties, either as Clerk +of Appeals or as Registrar.] On comprend qu'une connaissance si parfaite +de la langue et des usages français le qualifiait particulièrement pour +remplir ces fonctions, quand on songe que la langue officielle de ces +îles est encore aujourd'hui le français et que dans les questions de +jurisprudence la coutume de Normandie y est constamment invoquée. + +'Officiellement Reeve était sous les ordres du secrétaire du Conseil privé, +et ces rapports de subordination avaient créé des relations intimes entre +son supérieur et lui. M. Charles Gréville avait tenu la plume du Conseil +dans des circonstances deélicates et s'était trouvé mêlé à une foule +d'incidents; en mourant il chargea Reeve de publier ses mémoires. Cette +publication eut un grand retentissement. + +'Reeve était fier d'appartenir à votre compagnie. Lorsque l'Université +d'Oxford me conféra le degré de docteur il était près de moi. +"Rappelez-vous," me dit-il en souriant, "que l'Académie des Sciences +Morales a sa part dans l'honneur que vous venez de recevoir." Fort répandu, +fort apprécie dans le monde, il menait de front ses travaux littéraires, +ses devoirs de juge, ses relations sociales, ses excursions; son activité +était extraordinaire. La goutte le gênait quelquefois, et d'année en année +ses visites devenaient plus fréquentes. + +'Il avait bâti au bord la mer, en face de l'île de Wight, sous un climat +doux, une charmante villa, où il aimait a s'enfermer avec ses livres, +poursuivant ses travaux auprès de la digne et gracieuse compagne de sa vie. +Ses dernières années s'écoulèrent ainsi entre cette résidence et la maison +bien connue de Rutland Gate, où sa table hospitalière était toujours +ouverte à ses amis de France ou d'ailleurs. C'est à Foxholes que la mort +est venue le chercher. + +'Je n'ai pas la préention de prononcer devant vous l'éloge d'Henry Reeve; +la competence me manque comme la preparation. En vous rappelant quelques +traits de cette noble figure je voulais, comme je vous l'ai dit tout à +l'heure, acquitter une dette de coeur envers un ami qui, jusqu'aux derniers +moments de sa vie, m'a prodigué les marques d'affection. Il voulut célébrer +à Chantilly le 80e anniversaire de sa naissance, et un de ses derniers +soucis était de réclamer les bonnes feuilles du septième volume de +"L'Histoire des Condé," dont il voulait rendre compte dans sa Revue. +[Footnote: The present writer feels a personal satisfaction in adding +that one of the last letters which Reeve dictated about the work of the +_Review_, was to him, asking him to undertake this article.] + +'La mémoire du philosophe, du lettré, de l'érudit, dn confrère éminent, de +l'homme bon et aimable, mérite de rester honorée dans notre compagnie.' + + + + + + +APPENDIX + + + + + +It has been seen (_ante_, vol. ii.) that Reeve intended quoting Lord +Stanmore's letter on the formation of the Aberdeen Cabinet, in a future +edition of the 'Greville Memoirs.' There seems, however, to have been no +opportunity for doing so, and the letter has remained buried in the +columns of the 'Times' of June 13, 1887, becoming each year more and more +inaccessible. As relating to an interesting point raised by the 'Greville +Memoirs,' and also as, to some extent, carrying out Reeve's intention, it +is here reprinted, with Lord Stanmore's express permission. + +_To the Editor of the 'Times'_ + +Sir,--It is only recently that the two new volumes of the 'Greville +Memoirs' lately published have reached Ceylon. I fear that before this +letter can arrive in England the interest excited by their appearance will +have passed away, and that, consequently, comments upon their contents +addressed to you may seem as much out of place as would a letter written +for the purpose of correcting some error in any well-known collection of +memoirs which have been long before the world. It is therefore not without +some hesitation that I venture to request permission from you to point out +the inaccuracy of a statement which appears near the commencement of the +first of these two volumes, and casts an undeserved imputation upon the +conduct, in 1852, of the chief members of the Peelite party. + +Mr. Greville, under the date of December 28, 1852, writes thus:-- + +'Clarendon told me last night that the Peelites have behaved very ill, and +have grasped at everything; and he mentioned some very flagrant cases, in +which, after the distribution had been settled between Aberdeen and John +Russell, Newcastle and Sidney Herbert--for they appear to have been the +most active in the matter--persuaded Aberdeen to alter it, and bestow or +offer offices intended for Whigs to Peelites, and in some instances to +Derbyites who had been Peelites' (vol. i.). + +In the next two pages lie comments with severity on the selfishness and +shortsightedness of the Peelites in reference to this matter. Now, the +reflection thus cast on the foresight and disinterestedness of the Peelite +leaders is in no wise warranted by the facts. What really occurred at the +formation of the Cabinet of December 1852 was, in truth, the exact reverse +of what is stated in Mr. Greville's pages. It was not the Peelites, but +Lord John Russell and the Whigs, who, after the list of the Cabinet and of +the chief officers of the State had been agreed on between Lord Aberdeen +and Lord John Russell, and had been submitted to and approved by the Queen, +objected to the composition of the Cabinet as 'too Peelite,' and strove to +change the arrangements made originally with Lord John Russell's entire +acquiescence. I will not, however, occupy your space with remarks of my +own; I will at once produce incontestable proof of what I have asserted. I +have now before me a manuscript journal kept by Sir James Graham, and from +it I quote the following extracts. In reading them it should be borne in +mind that the proposed distribution of offices agreed on between Lord +Aberdeen and Lord John Russell had been formally approved by the Queen on +December 23rd. + +_December 24th_.--'Lord John Russell most unexpectedly raised fresh +difficulties this morning, on the ground that the Whigs are not represented +in the new Cabinet sufficiently. He wished that Sir F. Baring should be +placed at the Board of Trade to the exclusion of Cardwell; that Lord +Clarendon should have the Duchy, with a seat in the Cabinet; and that Lord +Granville should be President of the Council. He thus proposed at one +_coup_ an infusion of three additional Whigs, and talked of Lord Carlisle +as the fittest person for the Lieutenancy of Ireland. It became necessary +to make a stand and to bring the Whigs to their ultimatum. Lord Aberdeen +consented to Lord Granville as President, and proposed that Lord Lansdowne +should sit in the Cabinet, without an office. This proposition, which +reduced the Whig addition, from three to two, saved the Board of Trade for +Cardwell, but excluded both him and Canning from the Cabinet. Lord John +did not regard it as satisfactory, and fought the point so long and so +pertinaciously, that the new writs could not be moved to-day, and the +House was adjourned till Monday. Towards evening, at the instance of Lord +Lansdowne, Lord John Russell yielded an unwilling assent to Lord Aberdeen's +last proposals...' + +_December 25th_.--'Lord John Russell is very much annoyed by the +disparaging tone of the articles in the "Times," which, while it supports +Lord Aberdeen, attacks him [Russell] and the Whigs. He is still also +dissatisfied in the exclusion of Lord Clarendon and of Sir George Grey from +the Cabinet, and thinks that the Whig share of the spoil is insufficient. +It is melancholy to see how little fitness for office is regarded on all +sides, and how much the public employments are treated as booty to be +divided among successful combatants. The Irish Government, also, is still +a matter of contest. The Whigs are anxious to displace Blackburne and to +replace him with Brady, their former Chancellor; they are jealous also of +St. Germans and Young, as Lord-Lieutenant and Chief Secretary, and want to +have Lord Carlisle substituted for the former. I discussed these matters at +Argyll House with Lord John and Lord Aberdeen. If we three were left +alone, we could easily adjust every difficulty; it is the intervention of +interested parties on opposite sides which mars every settlement...' + +_December 27th_.--'The Whigs returned to the charge, and claimed in a most +menacing manner a larger share of the minor offices. Sir C. Wood and Mr. +Hayter came to me in the first instance and tried to shake me individually +in my opinion. I was stout and combated all their arguments, which assumed +an angry tone. We came to no satisfactory conclusion in my house, and the +discussion was adjourned to Lord John's. I found Lord John more amenable to +reason; but the whole arrangement was on the point of being broken off. +It was 1 o'clock. The House of Commons was to meet at 2 by special +adjournment, and the writs were to be issued punctually at that hour. +Sir C. Wood intimated that unless some further concessions were made +the arrangement was at an end, and that the moving of the writs must be +postponed. I said I should go down to the House, and make then and there +a full statement of the case, and recall by telegraph my address to +the electors of Carlisle, which declared my acceptance of office. This +firmness, coupled with my rising to leave the room, brought the gentlemen +to reason. I had a note in my pocket from Lord Aberdeen, which placed the +Duchy of Lancaster at their disposal, and Strutt was in the House ready to +receive it at the hands of Lord John. This offer was snatched immediately; +Strutt was consulted and accepted on the spot, and Hayter was sent to the +House of Commons, and he moved the writs of the Cabinet Ministers, of +Strutt also, and of Baines...' + +_December 28th_.--'The contest as to minor offices was renewed with equal +pertinacity, but with less effect, after the moving of the principal writs. +A battle was fought for the Great Seal of Ireland, which was ultimately +yielded to Brady, the ex-Whig Chancellor. This concession was no sooner +made than an attempt to force Reddington as the Under-Secretary for Ireland +was commenced. He, being a Catholic, had consented to the Ecclesiastical +Titles Bill, against his private judgement and in defiance of his +coreligionists. His appointment would have been war with the Brigade, and +it was necessary to refuse it peremptorily. The dissatisfaction of +Lord Clarendon and of Lord John Russell was eagerly expressed, but was +ultimately mitigated by the offer to Reddington of the Secretaryship of +the Board of Control. The suggestion that Lord John might provide for him +abroad was not so favourably entertained. I have never passed a week so +unpleasantly. It was a battle for places from hostile camps, and the Whigs +disregarded fitness for the public service altogether. They fought +for their men as partisans, and all other considerations, as well as +consequences, were disregarded. Lord Aberdeen's patience and justice are +exemplary; he is firm and yet conciliatory, and has ended by making an +arrangement which is, on the whole, impartial and quite as satisfactory as +circumstances would permit.' + +The evidence of Sir James Graham on points of fact will hardly be disputed, +nor will it be denied that he, who took an active part in the construction +of the Government and was in the most intimate confidence of Lord Aberdeen, +was in a better position for knowing what passed than Mr. Greville, who +was dependent on the information which he received from others. But if any +confirmation be desired it will be found in the extracts which I add from +the correspondence of Lord Aberdeen. The Queen, as I have before said, +approved the lists submitted to her on December 23rd. The same evening, +Lord John Russell wrote to Lord Aberdeen as follows:-- + +'I am told that the whole complexion of the Government will look too +Peelite. G. Grey suggests, and I concur, that Clarendon should be President +of the Council immediately, and when he leaves it someone else may be +named--Harrowby or Granville. I am seriously afraid that the whole thing +will break down from the weakness of the old Liberal party (I must not say +Whig) in the Cabinet. To this must be added:--President of the Board of +Trade, Postmaster, Chief Secretary for Ireland, all in Peelite hands. I +send a note which Bessborough has given me, and which is said to convey the +opinion of the Irish Liberal members. _It is not very reasonable_, but I +think Blackburne should be changed for Moore, and St. Germans for Lord +Carlisle. Palmerston consents to Bernal Osborne. You should write or see +Cranworth. Forgive all this trouble.' + +Lord Aberdeen replied:-- + +'I do not admit the justice of the criticism made on the composition of the +Cabinet, if you fairly estimate the persons and the offices they fill. I do +not object to Clarendon; but my fear is that he will not be able to do the +business of the office in the House of Lords, and we are so weak there that +I entertain very great apprehensions.' + +Lord John rejoined:-- + +'What I suggest is (1) that, as I have frequently proposed, with your +consent, Lord Granville should be Lord President; (2) that Sir F. Baring +should be President of the Board of Trade, with a seat in the Cabinet; (3) +that Clarendon should at once enter the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy +of Lancaster; (4) that Lord Stanley of Alderley should be Vice-President, +not in the Cabinet. Let me add to what I have said that ten Whigs, members +of former Cabinets, are omitted in this, while only two Peelites are +omitted, and one entirely new is admitted--Argyll. Let me propose further +that the minor posts be recast with less disproportion. Cardwell ought not +to have office while Labouchere, Vernon Smith, and others are excluded. + +'Pray let me have an answer before the writs are moved. I have sent for F. +Baring. If he will not join, G. Grey will. + +'P.S.--About Ireland afterwards.' + +On the receipt of this letter Lord Aberdeen wrote to the Queen that it +put it entirely out of his power to go to Windsor on that day as had been +intended, and that 'he regretted to say that the new propositions, which +had been made by Lord John that morning, although the scheme submitted to +the Queen had been approved of, were so extensive as very seriously to +endanger the success of his [Lord Aberdeen's] undertaking.' + +It appears to me to be thus shown, beyond dispute or question, that it was +the Whigs and not the Peelites who, after the distribution of offices had +been fully agreed on, and approved by the Queen, sought to modify the +arrangements effected. Whether the Whigs had or had not cause for their +discontent is another question, on which it is unnecessary now to enter. +That such discontent was (considering their numerical strength) extremely +natural, none can deny. That, on the other hand, it would have been +impossible to exclude Sir James Graham, Mr. Gladstone, or the Duke of +Newcastle from a Cabinet formed and presided over by Lord Aberdeen, and +that the important share taken by Mr. Sidney Herbert in the overthrow of +Lord Derby's Government rendered him also entitled to claim Cabinet office, +most men will admit. + +While anxious to correct a statement which appears to me injurious to the +reputation of public men, some of whom are still living, I trust I may +be permitted at the same time to record my strong sense of the general +accuracy of Mr. Greville's information. Where his notes are inaccurate, +their inaccuracy may, I believe, be more generally accounted for by his +omission in those cases to insert in his diary (as in many other instances +he has done) a subsequent correction of the erroneous reports which had in +the first instance reached him. + +I am, Sir, your obedient servant, + +ARTHUR GORDON. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Life and +Correspondence of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L., by John Knox Laughton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF HENRY REEVE *** + +This file should be named 8rev210.txt or 8rev210.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8rev211.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8rev210a.txt + +Produced by Charles Franks, Keren Vergon, Charles Aldarondo +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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