On Friday night the first reading of the Coercion Bill was at last carried; the minority large. It is generally supposed, by the very distant day Peel has fixed for the second reading, that he has no notion of passing it eventually. It is not improbable that by the end of the month he may be out of office.
May 4th.—There has been something unpleasant between Peel and John Russell (not personal, but political), which was set right through Arbuthnot. Peel was annoyed at Lord John's not coming up during the last week's debate on the Coercion Bill, and they believed, as they thought on good grounds, that he had made a case against Lord John with the Queen thereupon. The Duke of Bedford went to Arbuthnot and desired him to speak to Peel, explaining that Lord John really had business in the country, that his wife's health required his presence, and that he had left word that he would come whenever he was sent for. Arbuthnot communicated this to Peel, who wrote a letter that was perfectly satisfactory to Lord John's friends. The Duke told me the other day that Bessborough was the man most anxious for the Protectionist alliance, and that Normanby, who is come over, takes the same line.
May 7th.—The day before yesterday I met Sir Robert Peel in the Park, and for the first time for many years had some communication with him. He was in high spirits; asked me what I heard and what I thought of the Lords. I told him I believed they were prepared to pass the second reading of his Corn Bill, and meant to muster their strength in Committee to perpetuate the 5s. duty. He said he believed so too, but thought they would not carry it, because he did not think Stanley would be a party to it, and that he is not prepared to accept office and make a Government, as he must be if he did this. I told him that the Protectionists had no object or desire but to drive him out, and if they could only succeed in this, they cared not who came in, whether there was a good or bad, or strong or weak Government. He said he was quite aware of it, and that they could have no difficulty in getting him out; that there never had been known in the history of this country such a state of things, with three parties, neither of which had sufficient strength to stand alone. The case it most resembled was that of Lord Shelburne's Government before the Coalition, a state of things which was brought about by its weakness; that what was wanting was a man, and if Lord John had been what last year he believed him to be, there would have been no difficulty. This was remarkable enough from him, and I have no doubt it is what he tells the Queen; there is a great deal of truth in it. I told him that overtures had been made to the Whigs, that there were men in the Whig party who wanted to have them accepted, but that John Russell, like a man of honour and sense, had at once declared he would have nothing to do with people with whom he had no agreement. Lord John had in fact spoken the night before, and well, in a corresponding sense, and Peel must have been pleased with his speech. I was not sorry to let him know that the Whigs could get other support than his if they chose. He replied to this, 'Yes; Lord John would rather rely on my support than on theirs.' I told the Duke of Bedford this, and desired him to tell Lord John.
May 11th. I was with Graham for two hours yesterday, and talked about the whole state of affairs, telling him their real condition and the strenuous endeavours that were making to retain a fixed duty. He said, come what might, he and Peel would be no parties to it. He is convinced that Stanley will and must take the Government if he succeeds in making this alteration in the Committee of the Lords. I told him I was convinced he did not mean to try to form a Government. Graham thinks he would be lost as a public man if he shrank from it. I said Lord Derby with 60,000l. a year, and the finest debater in Parliament, could never be lost. I suggested the possible case of this alteration accepted as a compromise by all the Protectionists in the House of Commons, and what then? It had not struck him so much before; but he thought, if Palmerston could be got to join Stanley, a Government on this basis might be formed and stand, though there would then be a strong Opposition with Peel and John Russell acting in concert if not united, and a good stand-up fight. He said he should like to see such a combination and such a Government, and he thinks now that there is no solution of the present difficulties but through the attempt and the failure of a Protectionist Ministry; that is, of course, supposing the Bill to be mutilated.
But a great part of our conversation turned on the Factory Bill on Wednesday next, and on John Russell's vote on it, together with the votes of those who go with him. He thinks this a matter of the greatest importance, and one which will have a most serious effect on future events. John Russell's extraordinary change of opinion on this question is now producing the most disastrous effects. It will not improbably determine the resignation of the Government, if carried against them, though they will not stir till the Corn Law question is decided; but as the Protectionists will vote against Government in a body merely to turn out Peel, if they are beaten it will be by a union of John Russell with them, the majority avowedly being animated (though he may not be) by mere hostility to the Minister. Graham said that this would be most unfortunate in every way for the Whigs, the disunion of the leaders on such a vital question, the separation of the manufacturing interest from them, and the difference it could not fail to make in Peel's future relations with the Government of John Russell if he did come in; he added that their conduct indeed would be the same in reference to the measures of the Government, but that the feeling would be necessarily different.
May 21st.—Last week the debate in the House of Commons came to a close at last, wound up by a speech of Disraeli's, very clever, in which he hacked and mangled Peel with the most unsparing severity, and positively tortured his victim. It was a miserable and degrading spectacle. The whole mass of the Protectionists cheered him with vociferous delight, making the roof ring again; and when Peel spoke, they screamed and hooted at him in the most brutal manner. When he vindicated himself, and talked of honour and conscience, they assailed him with shouts of derision and gestures of contempt. Such treatment in a House of Commons where for years he had been an object of deference and respect, nearly overcame him. The Speaker told me that for a minute and more he was obliged to stop, and for the first time in his life, probably, he lost his self-possession; and the Speaker thought he would have been obliged to sit down, and expected him to burst into tears. They hunt him like a fox, and they are eager to run him down and kill him in the open, and they are full of exultation at thinking they have nearly accomplished this object. It is high time such a state of things should finish. To see the Prime Minister and leader in the House of Commons thus beaten and degraded, treated with contumely by three-fourths of the party he has been used to lead, is a sorry sight, and very prejudicial to the public weal. He is no longer able to conduct the business of the country in Parliament. It matters not what the Government proposes; the Protectionists are ready to oppose anything and everything for the mere pleasure of beating it, and defeats are only prevented by the grudging, lukewarm, casual support of the Whigs, who, many of them, desire no better than to see the Government in difficulties. Such is the deplorable state of things in the House of Commons. Meanwhile the greatest doubt and anxiety prevail among the friends of the Bill as to its success in Committee, and the Protectionists are full of confidence that they shall succeed in making the alterations they contemplate. There is an active attempt going on to bring about this end by a coalition of a part of the Whigs with the whole of the Protectionists, and the greatest lies are unscrupulously told to advance it. Among others, stories are circulated of the Duke of Wellington's undisguised wish that the Bill may not pass. It is true enough that he dislikes the whole concern, and laments over the breaking up of his party, but it is false that he has ever said anything to induce anybody to oppose the measure; and having consented to act in the cause, he is sure to prove faithful to it. It is from conversations here and there one gathers the secret wishes of different parties. Lady Ashley, who of course speaks the sentiments of Palmerston House, told me the other night that she was convinced this would be the end of the contest, and that John Russell would be induced to acquiesce in the compromise, which would be agreeable to many of the Whigs, and would bring about a union between them and the Protectionists. She said that Palmerston would not separate from John Russell and take this line alone; but that Lord John would (she was persuaded) go with him. Last night Cecil Forester, who passes every evening with Bessborough at Mrs. Lane Fox's, told me the same thing; and he said that the Whig party was not less disunited than the Tory party; so that there is a sort of intrigue on foot adding to the general confusion, and indicating the discordance of opinions and objects which undoubtedly prevails among the Whigs. The Ministers, however, are confident the Bill will pass; and Aberdeen told Delane the other day that they have made up their minds to employ all the means the forms of Parliament will admit of, and, if beaten in Committee, to restore the integrity of the measure on the report. This design is already bruited about, but the Protectionists maintain that it is impossible; that the Government will not attempt it, and would not succeed if they did.
June 1st.—So entirely occupied with Epsom all last week, that I had not a moment of time to attend to politics. I must, therefore, now that I have an interval of leisure, narrate briefly what I ought to have recorded at the time more in detail. On May 21, I mentioned the sanguine hopes and expectations of the Protectionists, which were suddenly and entirely overthrown by a bold, judicious, and successful move of John Russell's. It reached his ears, from various quarters, that certain proceedings, very like intrigues, were going on, principally hatched at Palmerston House, and that it was confidently asserted by Protectionists and by Whigs who wanted to coalesce with the Protectionists, that a compromise and a coalition would certainly be brought about, to which he (John Russell) would be a party. He resolved at once and decisively to crush these hopes, and put an end to such reports. He accordingly begged Lord Lansdowne to convoke a meeting of Whig Peers at Lansdowne House, for the purpose of deciding what they should do. This was very unpalateable to the malcontents; but Lord Lansdowne did it. The meeting was attended by about sixty Peers, all who were in London, and by John Russell, Labouchere, and Palmerston. Lord John made a very stout speech, announcing his intention to support the measure in toto, saying he had once been for a fixed duty, which would then have settled the question, but would not do so now; and after the course Peel had taken, it would be inconsistent with his personal and political honour to be a party to any attempt to alter or mutilate it. Lord Fitzwilliam spoke, and said he had always been for a fixed duty, but that the time was come when he thought he ought to waive his own opinion and join in promoting the success of the measure as it was, and that he was ready to make this sacrifice. Melbourne made a bitter speech against Peel, and said that as he saw everybody was resolved to take what he considered a very mischievous course, he should not separate from his friends, but would assist in doing the mischief. There was some discontent evinced, but little or no disunion. Lord De Mauley declared he would vote in Committee against the Bill; but the rest were nearly unanimous. Lord Clarendon said that it was very desirable they should be apprised of the intentions of the Government, and that he was authorised to make them known to the meeting. He had had a conversation with the Chancellor, who had told him that the Government were resolved, in the event of any alteration being made in Committee, to have recourse to the expedient of restoring the original clauses on the report, and that he was at liberty to communicate to his friends this determination. Normanby protested in strong terms against such a course, and declared he would oppose it. On this, Lord Cottenham rose, and made a speech, setting forth that it was justifiable both on precedent and principle, and he was supported by Lord Campbell so strongly that the meeting generally acquiesced in their views. This meeting and the result of it was speedily bruited through the town, and nothing could exceed the despair and mortification of the Protectionists at the news. It at once extinguished the hopes even of the most sanguine. The Duchess of Beaufort, of all men or women the most violent, owned to me that their game was up; their depression was in exact proportion to their previous elation.
On the Monday came on the debate in the Lords, very creditably conducted. Stanley made, by the acknowledgement of everybody, a magnificent speech. Palmerston told me it was far the best he ever made, and that nobody could make a better. Lord Lansdowne told somebody it was the finest speech he ever heard in Parliament. He spoke for three hours—with the exception of a few strong expressions—restraining his temper, and speaking of his former colleagues in decent and respectful terms. Ashburton spoke well on his side; on the other, the two best speeches were Clarendon's and Dalhousie's;129 both very good, particularly the latter. He will be a very leading man, for he is popular, pleasing, and has a virgin, unsoiled reputation, nothing to apologise for, and nothing to recant; and he is a good man of business and an excellent speaker. The majority was pretty much what was expected, and is considered conclusive as to the Committee.
June 14th.—All last week at Ascot at a house of Lady Mary Berkeley's with a racing party. I won the Emperor's Cup with Alarm, but won little more than 2,000l. on it: small compensation for the loss of the Derby last year, which would have made me independent and allowed me to quit office and be my own master. It was a moment of excitement and joy when I won this fine piece of plate, in the midst of thousands of spectators; but that past, there returned the undying consciousness of the unworthiness of the pursuit, filling my thoughts, hopes, and wishes to the exclusion of all other objects and occupations, agitating me, rendering me incapable of application, thought, and reflexion, and paralysing my power of reading or busying myself with books of any kind. All this is very bad and unworthy of a reasonable creature. I ought to throw off these trammels, and abandon a pursuit so replete with moral mischief to me. Ibrahim Pacha was at Ascot on the Cup day, and desired to shake hands with me when I won the Cup. He is a coarse-looking ruffian, and his character is said not to belie his countenance.
The past week has been occupied by the Irish Coercion Bill in the House of Commons, on which George Bentinck made a furious and outrageous speech, attacking Peel with a coarseness and virulence which disgusted all but those to whom scurrility and insolence are particularly palateable. Stanley was very much annoyed at it, and nothing could be more injurious to the Protectionist party than such a speech from their elected leader. The gist of it was an accusation of his having 'hunted Mr. Canning to death' nineteen years ago. Peel replied on Friday night with a moderation that savoured of lowness of tone, and, as the House was with him, he had a fine opportunity for annihilating George Bentinck, if he had chosen to do so. He treated him much too leniently, but he vindicated himself in the matter of Canning with great success, and he is really indebted to his opponent for having given him the opportunity of doing so. I had myself been always under the impression that he had behaved very ill to Canning, and that he had avowed a change of opinion antecedent to his refusal to join him when he formed his Government in 1827; but he certainly proved that this was not the case, and made out that his refusal to join Canning was almost inevitable in his position. It was his misfortune to be the leader and advocate of a cause which was rapidly declining, but which it was becoming dangerous to sustain any longer. It should not be forgotten that when Canning took office it was with the understanding, probably with a stipulation, that he should not urge the Catholic question, and he never attempted to advance it.
Stanley got a tremendous dressing on Friday night from Grey, and still more from Brougham, who spoke, they say, in his very best House of Commons style, cutting up Stanley with admirable wit, and keeping the House of Lords in a roar at his expense for three-quarters of an hour, the very thing that would annoy him the most. He had been very arrogant about his own speech, talking of nobody having answered it, though the many fallacies it contained had been exposed and refuted over and over again. There are now again all sorts of reports and speculations about Peel's destiny and his intentions. Some fancy that, notwithstanding the declared opposition of George Bentinck and John Russell, the Coercion Bill will be carried, and again, that if it is lost, he will dissolve instead of resigning. I think nothing of either report, and am persuaded he will be beaten and will resign. The best thing for him would be to resign without being beaten, and if the Corn Bill passes the Lords in the next few days he may still do this. But I cannot make out that he and his friends are taking the right and dignified view of their position. They are very angry with the Whigs for opposing the Coercion Bill, and a very bitter and acrimonious conversation took place at Lady Peel's the other evening between Aberdeen and Clarendon, the former attacking the party of the latter and their conduct in respect to this Bill in terms wholly unwarrantable. It was a curious outbreak of temper, because Aberdeen and Clarendon have always been great friends, and the latter has constantly abstained from any opposition to his foreign policy, and lent himself on all occasions to any explanation he desired to make in the House of Lords, a forbearance and assistance not palateable to many of his own friends. Clarendon was very indignant, and poured in a broadside in reply; but they cooled afterwards, parted amicably, and Aberdeen next day wrote him a friendly note.
Clarendon told me yesterday that John Russell had done himself an injury by letting it be seen how anxious he is to go back into office, and that what the Speaker had said to me about his cold and uncordial support of Peel was felt and disliked by many others. He is not aware how little he is regarded in the country in comparison with Peel, or, if aware of it, the consciousness rankles in his mind, and embitters his naturally sour feelings against Peel. While Peel is thus tottering and about to fall, there is a disposition in the great towns, London included, to get up a manifestation in his favour, and to present addresses to him begging him not to resign.
June 19th.—A day or two after Peel's speech in reply to George Bentinck, Disraeli came down and renewed the fight not without effect, treating Peel's defence of himself as an attack on George Bentinck, who could not speak again. Dizzy undertook to speak for him. It was a labour of love to him, and he accordingly delivered a bitter philippic against Peel, reviewing the charge of George Bentinck and supporting it with a mass of fresh evidence culled out of Hansard, and worked very adroitly into a plausible and formidable attack, and again putting Peel on his defence. It was to the last degree virulent, but very able, and considerably effective. Peel rose (as it was said very much annoyed), begged the House to suspend its judgement, and promised a future and full explanation. The Protectionists have ever since been uproarious, and their papers have teemed with articles abusive of Peel. The Whigs, though more reserved and decorous in their language, are not indisposed to chime in, and treat the matter as a serious blow very damaging to Peel, and in short rejoice greatly in the injury which they think his character sustains, and whisper to the same effect as the Protectionists go bawling about. Meanwhile Peel has buckled on his armour, and declared that to-night he will make his defence. It is certainly a great occasion, and he has always rejoiced in personal altercation. If he has a clear conscience and a good case, this is the moment for his firing with effect upon his assailants, and he ought to take a far higher tone than he has ever yet done. It is at all events a curious and exciting exhibition, and wonderfully interesting to see how he comes out of it. There are generally in all matters of this sort various important details which it is impossible to produce, and I have little doubt that such is the case here. The real reason why so many of Canning's colleagues refused to serve under him in 1827 was that they had a bad opinion of him, and would not trust him. They knew of his intriguing, underhand practices, and though for the sake of not breaking up the party they would have gone on with him, some other person being head of the Government, they would not consent to his assuming that powerful and responsible post. This was a reason they did not and could not give at the time, and which it would be still more impossible to give now; and it is exceedingly possible that they, Peel as well as others, may have given reasons for their refusal which, though containing a part of the truth, did not contain the whole truth. Nothing is so difficult as to analyse such a case at such a distance of time, and, where something must be concealed, to present it in a perfect shape to public discussion. I well remember the correspondence between the Duke and Canning at the time, and how very much the Duke had the best of it, the sincerity and straightforwardness of the one appearing to great advantage against the finessing of the other. They knew very well that Canning was secretly negotiating with Brougham and Wilson.
June 20th.—Though ill with the gout, I made shift to hobble down to the House of Commons to hear Peel's defence last night. It was very triumphant, crushing George Bentinck and Disraeli, and was received with something like enthusiasm by the House. George Bentinck rose, in the midst of a storm of cheers at the end of Peel's speech, which lasted some minutes, in a fury which his well-known expression revealed to me, and, with the dogged obstinacy which super-eminently distinguishes him, and a no less characteristic want of tact and judgement, against all the feelings and sympathies of the House, endeavoured to renew and insist upon his charges. Nothing could be more injurious to himself and his party. I never heard him speak before, and was induced to stay for five minutes out of curiosity. I was surprised at his self-possession and fluency, and his noise and gesticulation were even greater than I was prepared for. John Russell spoke handsomely of Peel, and so did Morpeth, which was very wise of them and will be very useful. Nothing could be more miserable than the figure which the choice pair, George Bentinck and Disraeli, cut; and they got pretty well lectured from different sides of the House, but not half so well as they ought and might have been. However, this affair has been of great service to Peel, and sheds something of lustre over his last days. The abortive attempt to ruin his character, which has so signally failed and recoiled on the heads of his accusers, has gathered round him feelings of sympathy which will find a loud and general echo in the country.
CHAPTER XXII.
Fall of Sir Robert Peel—Lord John's Interview with Peel—Lord John and the Duke—Lord Clarendon and Lord Aberdeen—Favourable Position of the new Ministry—Lord Melbourne's Disappointment—Smooth Water—Generous Conduct of Lord Aberdeen—Restoration of Magistrates removed from the Commission as Repealers—The Irish Arms Bill—Distrust of Lord Palmerston—The Arms Bill given up—The Bishop of Oxford's Exhortations—Differences with France—An Exchange of Appointments—Squabble between Lord George Bentinck and Lord Lyndhurst—Macaulay on Junius—Lord Chesterfield—Bretby and Woburn—Lord John Russell's Moderation—The Spanish Marriage—Bad Faith of the French Government—Unanimous Censure of the Spanish Marriages—Lord Bessborough in Ireland—Correspondence on the Spanish Marriages—Council of the Duchy—The Annexation of Cracow to Austria—Action of Lewis Ferrand—Strange Intrigue imputed to Louis Philippe—Conversation with Count Jarnac on the Spanish Marriages—The Queen and Sir Robert Peel—M. Guizot's Note on the Spanish Marriages—Decoration of the Peninsular Soldiers—State of Ireland.
London, July 4th, 1846.—The day after I went to the House of Commons, I was much worse, and an attack of fever and gout came on, such as I never had in my life before. It was during the worst of my illness that the divisions took place in both Houses, and Peel's resignation.130 I need not fatigue myself with writing details which are generally known, and will be recorded in a hundred places. A few of the general impressions either less known or more evanescent, it will suffice to notice. Peel fell with great éclat, and amidst a sort of halo of popularity; but his speech on the occasion, and a great occasion it was, if he had made the most of it, gave inexpressible offence, and was, I think, very generally condemned. Almost every part of it offended somebody; but his unnecessary panegyric of Cobden, his allusion to the selfish monopolists, and his clap-trap about cheap bread in the peroration, exasperated to the last degree his former friends and adherents, were unpalateable to those he has kept, were condemned by all parties indiscriminately, and above all deeply offended the Duke of Wellington. He might have wound up with something much more becoming, dignified, and conciliatory; but his taste, or his temper, or his judgement, were completely in fault, and he marred all the grace and dignity of his final address, and left a bad, when he might so easily have stamped a good, impression. With this exception his conduct has been admirable, and has won the esteem of his successors. Such a transfer of power from one Minister to another the world never saw before—no rivalry, no mortification, no disappointment, no triumph, no coldness; all has been civility, cordiality, and the expression of feelings, not merely amicable, but cordial.
Lord John Russell went to Peel and was with him an hour. The Duke of Bedford told me the conversation was most curious; on Peel's part, cordial and unreserved, open beyond anything that Lord John could have expected, telling him everything that it could be useful to him to know, much more than he need have done; unqualified promises of support, and, in short, everything that was most handsome and satisfactory. He said he would tell me more details another day. Not long after, Lord John called on the Duke of Wellington, who received him with equal frankness and cordiality, talked over everything that had passed, said that his own political career was at an end, that his age and the progress of events would deter him from ever taking a part any more, that he should speak no more in the House of Lords, except upon matters relating to his own department, or such questions as Gough's and Hardinge's pensions; talked of Peel, and said he did not believe he contemplated ever coming back to office, and did not think he ever could. This conversation was just as satisfactory as the other. About the same time Clarendon had a conversation with Aberdeen similar in spirit and meaning. Aberdeen told him that they might count upon both his support and Peel's; that though it was impossible to foresee every political contingency and necessity that might occur, both he and Peel quitted office with a resolution never to take it again; that they were no longer young, and the labours and anxieties of office were so great that they had no desire ever again to encounter them. He told Clarendon, moreover, that, of all the new Cabinet, it was to him that the Queen and the Prince looked with the greatest confidence. They cared little for any of the others, but had a great opinion of him, and a great reliance on him, and mainly counted on his judgement and influence to make matters go on smoothly abroad. He said that Peel entertained the same opinion, and had said that Clarendon in the Cabinet was the best security for peace. This, for which Clarendon was not at all prepared, it was very kind of Aberdeen to tell him, and it is certainly very important, and gives him a fund of secret strength and influence, which may hereafter be very valuable and important to him. To me it is all intelligible enough. The Queen and Prince care more about foreign affairs than anything else, and have always had more to do with Aberdeen than any of the Ministers, except Peel. Throughout Aberdeen's foreign administration, Clarendon has constantly acted in concert with him, and has made his position in the House of Lords a bed of roses. Never was there a Minister for Foreign Affairs who had such an easy time of it. He no doubt talked often of Clarendon to the Queen, praised his sense and moderation, and acknowledged his constant obligations to him. This (added probably to a liking for his society) created a favourable impression. Small as is the direct authority of the Sovereign, it is by no means inconvenient or unimportant to have her preference and good will. It is a source of strength, and it may often turn a balance; in short, it is a very good thing and may possibly hereafter be turned to great account. In spite of small difficulties, rival pretensions, dissatisfactions, and disappointments here and there, the formation of the Government has gone on smoothly. Lord Grey made no difficulties, but, on the contrary, was conciliatory, and apologetical. He said everything was changed since last December, and he owned that he had often been in the wrong when he had disturbed the harmony of the Cabinet in Lord Melbourne's time.
The Protectionists don't seem to know what to do; they are more indignant than ever with Peel; they are disgusted at their overtures not being accepted by the Whig Government; they are provoked exceedingly at places having been offered to Dalhousie, Sidney Herbert, and Lincoln, thus marking more strongly the determination of John Russell to look for support to Peel and his friends, and not to them. Nevertheless their organ and whipper-in, Major Beresford, told one of the Whig people (to be told to Lord John) that after having contributed to drive Peel out, and thereby forced the Government on Lord John, they should not feel justified in raising any opposition to his Government, so that, in fact, for the present there is no Opposition of any sort or kind; everybody seems to be acquiescent, and the swords are universally sheathed. So curious a change in so short a time was never seen. A few weeks ago hundreds of people fancied Peel would never go out, they could not tell why, but they insisted that the difficulty of forming another Government, and its weakness when formed, would be insurmountable. If Lord John came in, how was he to stay in? everybody asked, and the most sanguine Whigs did not pretend to answer and explain how, and generally professed no wish to turn out Peel. Well, Lord John comes in, forms a very strong Government with unparalleled facility, receives every assistance and every assurance of support from the Ministers he has turned out, finds himself not only without an organised Opposition in Parliament, but without an enemy or a malcontent in any quarter. His advent to power is received, in the country at least, with acquiescence, if not with delight; he has no difficulties to encounter, no legacy of embarrassments to perplex him, and as far as all appearances go, his Government is, and for some time at least promises to be, the strongest the country has ever seen.131
July 9th.—The Duke of Bedford comes here most days and tells me what is going on, but the only thing worth recording is what he told me about Melbourne, which is curious. It seems he was mortified at not having a place offered him in the new Cabinet! It came out thus. The Duke was with George Anson, when the latter showed him a letter he had received from Melbourne, in which he said that nothing had been offered to him; and though he could not have taken a very active employment (such as Secretary of State, for instance), that there were places he might have held, and of which he should have liked at least to have had the offer. The Duke told Lord John, and Lord John took an opportunity, without appearing to know anything of this letter, to write to Melbourne and tell him the arrangements he had made, and then added that he had not proposed to him to take any office, because he knew that it was essential to his health that he should abstain from taking any active part in politics, and this alone had deterred him from proposing to him to be Privy Seal. This pacified him; but how extraordinary his thinking of office, and, after having been Prime Minister, to wish to join his old colleagues in a subordinate capacity and under another head!
July 14th.—All things have apparently gone very smoothly with the new Government. They have been everywhere re-elected without difficulty, and there seems universal contentment in the country. Lord John Russell was extraordinarily well received in the City the other day at a great dinner given to Ibrahim Pasha, and they have concluded an alliance with the leviathan of the press—the 'Times'—which gives them a temperate, judicious, but very useful support. The 'Morning Chronicle' is furious at seeing the position of the 'Times' vis-à-vis of the Government, and the editor went to John Russell to remonstrate, but he got no satisfaction. He merely replied he did not wish to have any Government paper, but could not repudiate the support of the 'Times.' He remembers that the 'Morning Chronicle' was the paper of Palmerston, devoted exclusively to him, and not that of the Government. Aberdeen has behaved beautifully to Palmerston. He desired to have an interview with him, when he said, 'When I came into office five years ago, you wanted to come back again and turn me out, and you accordingly attacked me in every way you could, as you had a perfect right to do. Circumstances are very different now. I do not want to turn you out, and I never mean to come into office again, and I am therefore come to tell you that I am ready to give you every information that may be of use to you, and every assistance I can. I have been so long in office that there are many matters of interest, on which it may be of great use to you to receive information from me; and if you will ask me any questions, I will tell you all I can that you may desire to know, and everything that occurs to me as desirable you should know.' Palmerston was exceedingly touched at this frank and generous behaviour, and they had a conversation of two hours. Nothing can be more honourable and more patriotic than this. One feels a pride and satisfaction in such examples among our public men. It is peculiarly generous in Aberdeen, because Palmerston has incessantly assailed him with great bitterness, and (though he failed) endeavoured to bring his administration of Foreign Affairs into discredit and contempt.
Brighton, July 18th.—The Government have begun very well; they got a large majority on Gough's and Hardinge's annuities in the House of Lords; the Duke of Wellington very friendly and speaking very well. In the House of Commons, in reply to interpellations of Tom Duncombe's and Denison's, Lord John made a very clever and judicious speech, declaratory of his principles and intentions. However, there is a question now in agitation, which, I think, will be very injurious to the Government; it is that of restoring the Repeal magistrates removed by the late Government. They propose to restore the Orangemen also, but there are only four of the latter and sixty of the former. It was to be discussed in the Cabinet yesterday, and, I fear, would be decided in the affirmative, for all the Irish Government and a majority of the English seem to be for it. I can conceive nothing so calculated to excite and knit together the Tories in opposition, and I believe it would have a very bad effect here; besides, it would make it impossible for them to dismiss any man again, no matter how violent his language or conduct. It will infallibly be represented as an indication of the intention of the Government to administer Irish affairs through and in conjunction with Conciliation Hall; and it is impossible it should not give encouragement to Repeal, when it is found that the profession of Repeal principles is no longer considered as a disqualification, but is, to say the least of it, tolerated by the Government. The Protectionists, while professing amicable sentiments towards the new Government, disclaiming all desire to turn them out, and talking of a fair trial, are all the time very busy in rallying and remodelling the party, and desire nothing better than a good and popular ground of opposition. I do not know any that could be offered to them more plausible and available than this.
August 13th.—I had no inclination to write while I was at Brighton and Goodwood, and have had little or nothing to say since I came to town. At Goodwood, Lord Stanley was laid up with the gout; the Duke of Richmond was as violent and talkative as usual, and incessantly clamouring against Peel, the renegades, and the Bill, and arranging 'Cabinets' to be held in Stanley's bedroom, with his Protectionist friends—George Bentinck, Beaufort, Stradbroke, and Eglinton, Stanley's new friends! The Government got a much better division in the House of Commons on the sugar duties than they expected, but the Lords were very near playing them a very shabby trick. Lord Stanley and his party had a meeting, at which they resolved not to divide in the Lords. This resolution Stanley imparted to Bessborough, and begged him to arrange matters in such a manner as to enable him to get away to Scotland as soon as possible. This Bessborough did, and he got the House of Commons to sit on Saturday (very unusual), in order to send the Bill up to the Lords on Monday, and then to take the debate (also unusual) on the first reading. Meanwhile, Brougham, who had gone to Westmoreland, returned, intending to speak and to divide on the Bill. The debate came on with a general understanding there should be no division. Stanley made a speech, and so did Brougham, and, at the end of the night, Stanley said that though he had no intention of dividing the House, if anybody else did, he should vote with them. The Government was in a minority in the House, and in a great fright they sent emissaries all over the town to bring Peers down. The Duke of Devonshire was brought from the Opera, and Granville from his bed, and they got enough to make it not worth while for the Opposition to divide.
This matter is settled, but there is another still pending, much more serious, and which has occasioned great discontent among the friends of Government, great perplexity to the Government itself, and done much mischief. This is the Irish Arms Bill, which Labouchere has proposed to renew for nine months. The resolution to do this was hastily taken, without much consideration on the part of the Government, without consulting their friends, and in consequence of the unanimous opinion of the Irish Government, law officers and all, that it is necessary. When this opinion was notified to John Russell, he at once assented to the renewal, though not liking it. It was very ill-received by his adherents, and has thrown the Government into great embarrassment. They are now trying to make it palateable by cancelling some of the strongest clauses, the effect of which is to exasperate Bessborough132 (who talks of not going unless they are retained) without much conciliating others. It is not yet settled how it is to end, but everybody connected with the Government feels that it has been a very unfortunate and damaging occurrence.
X—— has been here this morning to talk of this and many other things. He says that already many disagreeable things are occurring, and there are elements of disunion and causes of danger in operation. The first of these originates with Palmerston. The French complain that Palmerston has already begun to disturb the harmony which subsisted in Aberdeen's time, and to alter the amicable relations which the latter had established. They complain of his tone and manner, and of what he was saying and doing at Madrid in reference to Louis Philippe, who was in a state of violent excitement on the subject, so much so that he had suddenly sent for Guizot, who was one hundred miles off, and ordered Jarnac133 to repair to Paris. Jarnac asked if he might see Lord John and speak to him on the subject. He said he knew how jealous Palmerston was of any diplomatic communications with anybody but himself. Lord John, however, consented to receive him; but Jarnac being meanwhile ordered off to Paris, did not see Lord John till his return. He then told him several things, I know not what, which it seems Lord John was not previously aware of, and he promised to speak to Palmerston on the subject. X—— said Lord John was well disposed to interfere in foreign affairs, and indeed as a Prime Minister ought in every department; but what he feared was that he would not find time, and that he would be overwhelmed with the multifarious functions that were heaped upon him, the endless correspondence, the innumerable deputations, and the attendance in the House of Commons, where, for example, he was kept yesterday from twelve in the morning to twelve at night. All this he thinks will be too much for his health and strength, and above all will baffle his good intention of overlooking and controlling the other departments. It appears that he has got on very good terms with the Queen, whose displeasure has subsided. The Ministers, however, find the Prince in a very different situation from that in which they left him, more prominent, more important, with increased authority. This was the result of Peel's and Aberdeen's administration, and their continual care and attention to all his wishes and the Queen's. They must take things as they find them. These details show that even in so short a time, under all the apparent smoothness on the surface, there are jealousies and suspicions rankling, and difficulties preparing, which may at any time break out and shake the Government to pieces. If this catastrophe happens, Palmerston will be the cause of it; he is evidently dissatisfied and suspicious, and his colleagues are suspicious of him. The Protectionists are dying to entice him on their side; his family desire no better, and would like of all things to see the Whig Cabinet fall to pieces, and a Protectionist Cabinet formed, with Palmerston its leader in the House of Commons. Such a combination is by no means impossible, hardly improbable.
August 18th.—Last night John Russell gave up the Arms Bill altogether. It was the best course he had left; but it has been an unlucky affair altogether. Very bad accounts of potatoes all over the country, nearly total destruction, in Ireland, and now the disease is ravaging Scotland and England.
Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, made a very brilliant speech a few nights ago on the Sugar Bill. As his father's son he thought it necessary to make an Anti-Slavery oration; it was very able and eloquent, and in tone and manner so well regulated as to show that he has profited by the criticisms which were made on his former speeches. He is certainly a remarkable man, full of cleverness and vivacity, very unlike a Churchman in society and in Parliament, and yet he must be deficient in that worldly tact which it might be thought he would most surely have acquired. I judge of this from what has passed between him and myself, which is certainly extraordinary. I met him for the first time the year before last at the Grange, where I spent a couple of days with him, and afterwards I dined once or twice in his company, but never had much conversation with him. One morning I met him at breakfast at Macaulay's (this year), and shortly afterwards he asked me to breakfast with him, which I did. This is all the intercourse I ever had with him, never amounting to anything like intimacy. Just as I was recovering from my illness, Lord Lansdowne sent me a letter from the Bishop about the Eton College case,134 which was pending before the Privy Council, entreating an early decision of it. I put the matter in train, and a few days after I went to Brighton. Just before I went the Bishop called at my house, but I was out, and after I got to Brighton I heard that he had called again, and expressed some disappointment at not having seen me. Meanwhile I learnt that a day was fixed for the hearing of his case. Never imagining that he had called on me for any other purpose than to urge this matter, by no means giving him credit for any especial interest in my health, but wishing to be very civil to him, I wrote him a letter from Brighton, saying that I concluded he had called on me about the Eton College case, and that I therefore wished to inform him that a day was fixed for the argument. I received a letter from him by return of post, in which he told me that that was not his object in calling on me; that he had heard I had been dangerously ill, and that he had called to tender his spiritual advice and aid, and (in a rather commonplace style of writing) he urged me to listen to his religious exhortations. In the whole course of my life I never was so astonished, for he was about the last clergyman from whom I should have expected such an overture, and my acquaintance with him was so slight, that I could not conceive why he had selected me as the subject of a spiritual experiment. I was not a little puzzled how to reply to him. I determined, however, to take his letter in excellent part, to give him credit for the best motive, to express much gratitude, but to decline entering with him into any religious discussion; and to give him to understand, though with great civility, that his proposal was extraordinary and uncalled for. I think I succeeded tolerably well; but he never took any notice of my answer, so I do not know what he felt upon it, and I have not seen him since.
August 19th.—I asked Clarendon yesterday what it is they complain of in Palmerston. He said 'Something about Spain, that we do not put an absolute veto on a Coburg.'135 He said the King had a monomania on this subject, and that Guizot rather encouraged him than not, in order that by humouring him on this point he might have his own way on all others. As to matters going on just as they did with Aberdeen, that is impossible, nor is it desirable, for Aberdeen transacted the business of the two countries by private letters between himself and Guizot, not employing his own agents at all, and consequently there is no record whatever of this correspondence in the Foreign Office.