I told him of the slave case just decided in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and of the sum of money it would cost our Government, to say nothing of the mortification. He said no doubt Palmerston would proclaim it to be a wrong decision, and would defend the Foreign Office and all the agents who had been concerned in the outrage.[2]

Hatchford, December 26th.—Christmas Day, usually coming in frost and snow, was yesterday like a fine day in May, the glorious weather being in unison with the general gladness at the good news from India and the tidings that Lucknow, with its wounded and its long suffering band of women and children, had been relieved at last, and for good and all. This news arrived on Christmas Eve, to make the day itself as merry as it is proverbially said to be.

Brougham has taken Normanby's book, 'A Year of Revolution,' under his protection, for what reason nobody can divine. He wrote to Mrs. Austin begging she would exert her influence with her nephew Reeve to get it noticed favourably in the 'Edinburgh Review,' that it was a good book, had the merit of being true, and that it was much approved by Louis Napoleon, who had encouraged its being translated. I had imagined Brougham was improved, but it is evident from his conduct on this occasion that he is the same man he ever was. The book contains page after page of matter the most offensive to Guizot and to Louis Philippe and his family, with which everybody is revolted, and its malice is not redeemed by literary merit or attractiveness in any shape. That Brougham should take up such a production is as unaccountable as it is indecent, for he affected to be exceedingly attached to the Orleans royalties, to be on very intimate terms with the King, and he treated Guizot with a familiarity quite at variance with good taste and propriety, and which had excited the astonishment, with no small disgust, of Guizot himself. It might have been expected that he would have resented such a production as Normanby's, instead of patronising it. He told Mrs. Austin he could not himself speak to Reeve about it, since he had made the 'Edinburgh Review' the vehicle of a personal attack upon himself. What he alluded to was, that when Lord Cockburn's life was published an article (anonymous of course) appeared in the 'Law Magazine' in which Lord Cockburn was very ill-used, and another in reply to this, and in vindication of Lord Cockburn, but without a word against Brougham, appeared in the 'Edinburgh.' This was what he called a personal attack upon himself. He was the author of the paper in the 'Law Magazine,' but the writer in the 'Edinburgh' had no right to assume this, or to know anything about it, though as a matter of fact he did know, or at least had good reason to suspect, that it was penned by Brougham. It had already been settled that the 'Edinburgh Review' should take no notice whatever of 'The Year of Revolution,' and Mrs. Austin having sent Brougham's letter to Reeve, Reeve answered it himself, utterly denying that he had made or intended to make any attack upon him, and telling him in plain terms what the general opinion is of Normanby's book.

Meanwhile Guizot writes to Reeve that the book is full of lies, and not worth notice; that he will take none of what concerns himself alone, but cannot leave uncontradicted such parts of it as relate to the King, and give utterly false statements of the relations between the King and himself. He then refers to various passages which he says are all false, and desires Reeve to show his letter to Lord Lansdowne, Granville, and me, and to anybody else he thinks fit. All this will contribute to bring Normanby into a very unpleasant dilemma about this ill-advised book, and it must be said that it is all Clarendon's fault for his weakness and good nature in abstaining from renewing his prohibition, and when Normanby was here giving a sort of tacit consent to its appearance, although that was accompanied with a strong expression of opinion that it ought to be suppressed. And now a report has got about that before the book came out Clarendon read and approved of it, which I requested Mrs. Austin to deny in the most peremptory manner, for it was to her that this assertion had been made.[1]

December 29th.—The long-pending dispute about the Crown jewels claimed by the King of Hanover was settled the other day. The history of it is this. The late King of Hanover on the death of William IV. claimed these jewels upon the ground that they were partly belonging to the Crown of Hanover and partly had been bequeathed to him by Queen Charlotte. Our Government, on behalf of the Queen, naturally resisted the claim. After a good deal of wrangling they were at last prevailed on to name a commission to investigate the question, and Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Langdale, and Chief Justice Tindal were appointed accordingly. After a considerable delay and a troublesome enquiry, they arrived at a conclusion, but when they were just about to give their award Chief Justice Tindal died. Lyndhurst and Langdale were divided in opinion, so no award could be given. The Chancellor, Lord Cottenham, refused to renew the Commission, and the matter has stood over ever since. In the present year, however, the Government thought the matter ought to be decided one way or another, and they issued a fresh Commission, consisting of Lord Wensleydale, Vice-Chancellor Page Wood, and Sir Lawrence Peel (ex-Indian judge), and they have given judgement unanimously in favour of the King of Hanover, i.e., with regard to the bulk of the jewels, some few seem to have been allotted to the Queen. Lord Wensleydale came into my room at the Council Office just after they had finished their award, and told me about it. I asked him if they had decided it on evidence or only by a sort of rough estimate, but he said they had ample evidence, and they were all quite satisfied upon the point. Last night I asked Lord Lyndhurst about his share in the question, when he told me their difficulty had been to make out whether the jewels which Queen Charlotte had disposed of by her will had really been hers to leave, or whether she had only had the use of them, but that this had been decided by the discovery of George III.'s will, in which he expressly left them to her. Tindal entirely agreed with Lyndhurst, and if he had lived a little longer, judgement would have been given then in favour of Hanover. Lyndhurst said the Court was very anxious about it, for Prince Albert had told him the pearls were the finest in Europe. The value of them has been enormously exaggerated, but is still considerable. Lord Lyndhurst said they were worth about 150,000l., and Kielmansegge told me the same thing.

By the Indian papers just arrived it appears that the relief of the Residency of Lucknow and the deliverance of all who were confined in it was complete, but there was no great battle (which everybody expected), though much severe fighting, and Lucknow itself was still untaken. The mutineers, though always worsted, seem to fight better than they were thought capable of doing, and everything tends to show that the suppression of the Mutiny is still far from being accomplished.

December 31st.—I met Clarendon last night, who talked about the Hanoverian jewel question; he said the Queen was very anxious to know Lord Lyndhurst's opinion upon the award, so last night I went to his house and asked him, telling him the reason why. He said he had no doubt the award was correct; that in their case the jewels were divided into two categories: first, those which came from George II. and were undoubtedly Hanoverian; and secondly, those which George III. had given Queen Charlotte. They had heard counsel on both sides, but neither side chose to produce the will of George III., which they never had before them, so they were in a difficulty about these latter stones. Tindal died the day they were to have met to draw up an award. He and Lyndhurst were agreed, Langdale doubted. Lyndhurst said he had no doubt if they had had King George III.'s will, which Wensleydale and his colleagues had before them, they should all three have agreed, and to the same award.

Clarendon complained of the recent pro-slavery articles in the 'Times,' and told Delane they were calculated to encourage the French in holding to their African operations. The French Government had told us that they must have labour, but they did not care if it was black or brown, and if we would undertake to find coolies for them in the same way as Mauritius is supplied, they would give up their scheme. Clarendon said this was fair enough, but it did not get rid of the difficulty, because it was impossible to get the coolies in sufficient numbers, and that our own Colonies, which were perishing for want of labour, would complain loudly, and not unjustly, if we brought the French into competition with them, thus enhancing the difficulty and the cost of supply to themselves. The probability then is that the French will go on, and that all other nations who have the same wants will follow their example, and we shall be reinvolved in endless remonstrances and squabbles under very disadvantageous circumstances.

January 1st.1858.—It is worth noticing that after a year of fine weather, of which nobody can recollect the like, this first day of the New Year has opened like one of a genial spring. This nearly unbroken course of wonderful weather for about nine or ten months gives rise to many speculations as to its cause, and no doubt there is some physical cause, although it has not yet been ascertained.

January 5th.—To-day the winter seems to have set in in earnest.

January 7th.—Not many days ago the 'Times' concluded an article on the Indian war in these words (it was after describing the relief of the Residence at Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell): 'thus ends the Indian Mutiny of 1857;' and to-day we have the news of Wyndham having been defeated by the Gwalior Force; of Sir Colin having been obliged to quit Lucknow, without having captured it, in order to repair this check (which he seems to have done very effectually) and deplorable event; of the death of Havelock, the hero of this war, who, after escaping unhurt through battle after battle, has succumbed to disease, not having lived long enough to know all that is said of him and all that has been done for him here. It is impossible not to feel the loss of this man as if he belonged to one individually, so deep is the interest which his gallantry and his brilliant career have excited in every heart.

Every account we receive only confirms the impression that this war will be a long and difficult affair, and if we are able by our military successes to put down all opposition and suppress the mutiny thoroughly, we shall have a still more difficult task to re-establish order and a quiet and regular government in the country, and this difficulty promises to be enormously increased by all that is passing here on the subject. Shaftesbury is stirring up all the fanaticism of the country, and clamouring for what he calls the emancipation of Christianity in India, and even the 'Times,' once celebrated for its strong sound sense and its fearless independence, is afraid to rebuke this nonsense, and endorses it by saying 'we have commited great errors,' but without explaining what it means, or giving any exemplification of the assertion. The real meaning, however, of the Exeter Hall clamour is, that we should commence as soon as we can a crusade against the religions of the natives of India, and attempt to force Christianity upon them. I begin to have the most dismal forebodings upon this Indian question. I continue indeed to believe that by dint of enormous exertions, by a vast expenditure of money, and sending out every man we can raise and make a soldier of, we shall sooner or later conquer the mutineers and suppress the rebellion, but I expect we shall lose our Indian Empire. I may possibly not live to see the catastrophe, but those who are twenty or may be ten years younger than I am in all probability will. All our legislation is conducting us to this end. We are taking this moment of war and confusion to revolutionize our Indian Empire and government, to root up all that the natives have been accustomed to regard with veneration, and to pronounce sentence of condemnation upon the only authority of which they know anything, and which has been the object of their fears and hopes, and sometimes of their attachment. The Government is about to hurry into this measure as if the existing system had been the cause of the present rebellion and conflict, and that the one they propose to substitute would be so much better and capable of repairing the mischief which the government of the Company has caused by its alleged mismanagement. I have no prejudice or partiality for the Company, but I believe any great change at this moment to be fraught with danger, and that the notion of improving the state of affairs by the abolition of what is called the double government is a mere delusion.[1]

January 16th.—I went to The Grange on Tuesday and returned yesterday morning, when I was met by the news of an attempted assassination of the Emperor Napoleon, whose escape seems to have been providential.

It is since I last wrote anything here that we have received the news from India of Wyndham's defeat at Cawnpore, and of Sir Colin's subsequent victory, but we are not yet informed of the details so as to be able to pass a judgement on these events, and upon Wyndham's conduct. It may be doubted, however, whether the small defeat in the one case is not more prejudicial than the considerable victory in the other is advantageous; and the inference to be derived from the whole is to my mind of a gloomy character, for I think unless we can manage to pour into India an unceasing stream of fresh troops for an indefinite period, we shall succumb in the contest by the mere weight of numbers, and the question is, whether we shall be able to do this, which seems to me exceedingly doubtful. The Government appear never to have been sufficiently alive to the danger and the difficulties of this warfare, and have contented themselves with going on leisurely and lazily, preparing reinforcements to be sent out from time to time, but have never thought it incumbent on them to make the extraordinary efforts that the case imperatively demands.

When Parliament meets I shall be surprised if there is not before long a great storm in both Houses, and if Palmerston means to rest upon his popularity, and to endeavour to conjure it by his habitual offhand manner and assurances that they have done all they could, expecting that such assurances will be accepted as a matter of course, I think he will be greatly mistaken. In spite of all that has been said to John Russell, and his not unfriendly disposition during the short autumnal session, his patience and prudence are evidently well-nigh exhausted, and we may soon expect to see him in vehement opposition. He writes to his brother that 'he is appalled at the part he may be obliged to take in the coming session,' and he seems to be under the influence of a fresh feeling of antipathy to Palmerston. It is not unlikely that he thinks it not worth his while to wait for the chance of Palmerston's being withdrawn from the field, and that he may as well gratify his inclination by going into Opposition, and it is likely enough that he fancies he has more influence in the House of Commons and the country than he really possesses, and may collect a party of his own, instead of being grudgingly accepted by the present Government as a matter of necessity, rather than one of choice. If this is his view, I believe he is egregiously mistaken. Lowe, whom I met at The Grange, and who knows something of both Parliamentary and public opinion, told me that John Russell would find no support in the House of Commons where his influence was extinct, and that so far from forming a party of his own, he did not believe if Palmerston were to die to-morrow, and Lord John take his place at the head of the Government, that the Government itself would stand.

Woburn Abbey, January 19th.—Yesterday morning we were astounded by the receipt of a telegraphic message informing Granville that the Duke of Devonshire had been found dead in his bed.[1] Nothing could be more sudden and unexpected, and the immediate cause of his death is not known. At different periods of my life I have lived in great intimacy with him, but he was capricious, so the intervals, were long and frequent during which we were almost strangers to each other. Spoiled by his mother as a boy, and becoming Duke of Devonshire with a colossal fortune at twenty-one years old, and besides afflicted with incurable deafness, his existence was manqu�, and he was a disappointed and unhappy man. His abilities were of a very high order, and if he had not been relieved by his position and wealth from the necessity of exertion and disqualified by his infirmities from taking an active part in public life, he might have been a considerable and important as well as a far happier man; but as he had unfortunately no positive tastes or active pursuits, no domestic ties to engage his affections, and no public duties to occupy his mind, he was reduced to fill up the vacuum of his existence by capricious engouements and frivolous society. He was very clever and very comical, with a keen sense of humour, frequently very droll with his intimate friends, and his letters were always very amusing. The Duke lived very much like a grand seigneur, hospitable and magnificent; he was very fond of his family, and very kind to them, as he was also to those of his friends whom he took into favour, many of the poorer of whom will have great reason to regret the loss of a benefactor. There was for a long time a vague notion that some mystery attached to his birth, and that he was not really the son, or at all events not the legitimate son, of his reputed father. The idea was that Lady Elizabeth Foster (whom the Duke afterwards married as his second wife) and the Duchess had been confined at the same time at Paris, and that the latter having a girl and the former a boy, the children had been changed, the Duke being the father of both children. I always treated this story as a myth, and this opinion has been confirmed by the deposition of the woman who had received the child in her arms upon his birth, which was conclusive evidence of his legitimacy. It is remarkable that the whole of the vast property of the late Duke was in his own power. The entail was cut off upon his majority, and his father died before the estates were resettled.

January 20th.—The more I hear from India and about Indian affairs, and the more I read and reflect upon the subject, the more desponding I become as to our future prospects there; first, as to our means of bringing the war to a successful issue, and secondly, as to our power to govern the country and keep it quiet and contented when the first object has been accomplished.

January 23rd.—On arriving in town yesterday, I received a visit from Disraeli, who said he had come to consult me in confidence, and to ask my opinion, by which his own course would be very much influenced. I was not a little surprised at this exordium, but told him I should be glad to hear what his object was, and that he was welcome to any opinion he wished for from me. He then began a rather hazy discourse, from which I gathered, or at least thought I gathered, that he thinks the present state of affairs very serious, and the position of the Government very precarious; that he is meditating on the possible chances there may be for him and his party in the event of Palmerston's fall, and knowing that some sort of coalition with some other party would be indispensable to form any other Government, an idea had crossed his mind that this might be practicable with some of the most moderate of the Whigs, especially with the younger ones, such as Granville and Argyll, and he wished to know if I thought this would be possible, and whether I could be in any way instrumental in promoting it, and if I did not think so what my ideas were as to the most advisable course in order to avert the threatened Reform, and to give the country a better Government than this. This, with a great deal of verbiage and mixed with digressions about the leading men of the present day, seemed to me to be the substance and object of his talk. He professed to speak to me of his own sentiments without disguise, and with entire confidence about everything, but I cannot call to mind that he imparted to me anything of the slightest interest or importance. It would be difficult and not very interesting to write down our somewhat vague and d�cousu conversation, but I told him that I knew very little of the dispositions of any of the men he alluded to, but I did not believe they any of them would be parties to any such combination as he looked to, or separate from their present colleagues.

January 25th.—We are still without any advices from India. The petition to Parliament of the East India Company, which is very able, and was written by John Mill, has produced a considerable effect in the world, and doubts are expressed in all quarters whether Government will be able to carry their Bill.

January 26th.—The Princess Royal's wedding went off yesterday with amazing �clat, and it is rather ludicrous to contrast the vehement articles with which the Press teemed (the 'Times' in particular) against the alliance two years ago with the popularity of it and the enthusiasm displayed now. The whole thing seems to have been very successful. At the breakfast after the wedding, to which none but the Royalties were invited, the French Princes were present, which was amiable and becoming on the part of the Queen.

January 28th.—As the day approaches for the re-assembling of Parliament there is an increasing impression that this Government is very likely not to get through the session, and the 'Times,' which is always ready to assist in the discomfiture of a losing party, is now showing unmistakeable symptoms of its own doubts whether the Government is any longer worth supporting, and Delane told me yesterday he thought they would not remain long in office, and that it is time they should go, and he ridiculed the idea of its not being practicable to form another Government. It is absurd, but nevertheless true, that nothing has damaged Palmerston so much as his making Clanricarde Privy Seal. It was an unwise appointment, but the fault of it is grossly exaggerated. Everybody agrees that from one end of the country to another there is a feeling of universal indignation against it. Then there is a great turn in the public mind in favour of the East India Company, or rather against the Government measure, of which nothing is known, but that the result of it will be to place the Indian Empire in the hands of Vernon Smith.

February 2nd.—The Indian question has for the moment been superseded by the French question as it may be called, that is, by the storm which is raging in France against this country, its institutions and laws, in reference to the assassination plot of January 14.[1] It was well known that the French Government had been urging our Ministers to adopt measures or to pass laws against the refugees and their machinations in this country; but while this question was under discussion, we were astounded by a speech made by Persigny in reply to an address from the City, and still more by the publication in the 'Moniteur' of certain addresses from corps or regiments of the French army to the Emperor, full of insult and menace to this country. These offensive manifestations naturally excited great indignation here, and the Press did not fail to hurl back these insults, and to retort with interest upon the persons from whom they had proceeded or who had permitted their appearance. On Sunday I spoke to Clarendon on the subject. He is very much annoyed and embarrassed by this posture of affairs as might be expected, but more than this he is very much alarmed, more than I think he need be. I said it seemed to be that the Emperor had forgotten his usual good sense, and that he who knows this country ought to have felt that if he wishes to have anything done here, he is taking the most effectual means to prevent it by permitting the military addresses to appear in the 'Moniteur,' since in the present state of the Press this is tantamount to their being published by the Government itself. I said I could not believe that these hot and enthusiastic expressions were to be taken entirely as proofs of a passionate attachment to the Emperor's person, but that these were outbreaks of that hatred of England which sometimes slumbered, but never died. He said the Emperor felt that his alliance with this country was indispensable to him, and regretted sincerely the displays of feeling in France, but that he did not dare to repress the sentiments evinced by the army, though he kept them in check as well as he could, and the truth was, as I have said above, that it was the undying animosity to us which had found a vent upon this occasion. He added that he had not blamed Morny, who could not say less than he did without being denounced by the Chamber as an inadequate exponent of its sentiments. The French, seeing how all our force is absorbed in our Indian war, think they may treat us as they please, and Clarendon fancies that if any accident were to befall the Emperor, any Government that might be able to establish itself would go to war with us as the best means of ingratiating itself with the nation and of being able to establish itself. He says they can march 50,000 men at a moment's notice to Cherbourg, where there is an abundance of war steamers ready to transport them across the Channel, while we have no soldiers and no ships to defend us in case of such a storm suddenly bursting. George Lewis says that Clarendon is haunted with this apprehension, which he does not share in the slightest degree.

Though there is some truth in this account of the Emperor's position, I cannot believe that he might not have kept matters more quiet in France than he has done, if he had exerted his influence and power for that end. There can be no doubt that our international relations are upon a very unpleasant and perilous footing, and that the evil is not corrected by the fact of the two Courts being on friendly terms, by mutual interchanges of soft sawder and proofs of friendship in the shape of handsome bridal gifts from the Emperor and Empress to the Princess Royal. We are going to do something to soothe the French; but as it will, I believe, be no more than to make that a felony which is now only a misdemeanour, it may be doubted if this will satisfy or appease them; but it would be impossible to do more even if it were desirable, which I think it is not, and I doubt if even this slight concession will be obtained from Parliament without some strong and indignant remarks upon the tone which has been adopted towards England.

February 3rd.—The Directors have got Tom Baring and Lord Grey to present their petition in the two Houses, and they mean to adopt the moderate and judicious course of not agitating any further, but trust to the course of events, which is now turning in their favour, and to ask for delay and a Committee. Graham, acting, I believe, independently, means to move for a Committee. John Russell intimated to him that he did not think he should support such a motion, but he has not finally determined what to do, and I rather expect he will end in voting for it. Palmerston's friends still tell him that his name is all powerful, and that he is sure of carrying through the House of Commons whatever he proposes, if the House thinks there is any possibility of a defeat leading to his resignation, and such is evidently his own opinion. In a Committee on Indian affairs and the intended bill, at which Bethell was present, on some objection or possible objection being suggested by one of the members, Palmerston said in his usual jaunty way, 'Oh, they will fall in love with our bill when they see it;' when Bethell, in his niminy-piminy manner and simper, said,'Oh, my dear Lord!' Granville, who told me, says it was very funny. They all seem conscious of the diminution of Palmerston's energy and power. He is always asleep, both in the Cabinet and in the House of Commons, where he endeavours to conceal it by wearing his hat over his eyes. Clarendon made me laugh heartily the other day at his account of the Cabinet, where one half of them seem to be almost always asleep, the first to be off being Lansdowne, closely followed by Palmerston and Charles Wood. I remember his giving me a very droll account of Melbourne's Cabinet, and of the drowsiness which used to reign there, more particularly with Melbourne himself.

February 11th.—I never remember Parliament meeting with much greater curiosity and excitement. The situation of the Government is generally regarded as so precarious, and the revolution in Palmerston's popularity and therefore his power is so extraordinary, that everybody is expecting some great events will occur, and the hopes of all who wish for a change and who expect to profit by it are reviving. The bill brought in by Palmerston on Tuesday for the purpose of punishing conspirators and with a view to satisfy the exigency of the French Government made a great stir. The leave to bring it in was carried by a large majority, thanks to the Conservatives, but its success was principally owing to the Emperor's apology arriving just before the debate began. This pacified most of those who were enraged at the publications in the 'Moniteur,' and disposed to oppose the measure on account of the conduct of the French Government. I have no sympathy with such a feeling, but it is well calculated to go down with the public, and to afford a plausible pretext to the Ultra-Liberals and the crotchety politicians. The greatest objection to this bill is that it will probably be quite useless for its alleged object, and though perhaps something more stringent might be useful, the Government do not dare propose anything beyond the present measure.

Perhaps the most serious reflexion to which this matter gives rise is the suspicion that the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon betrays either some strange infirmity in his faculties, or something so unsound and dangerous in the state of France, as to be pregnant with possible consequences it is frightful to contemplate. All that he has been doing, or has allowed to be done of late, is indicative of a change; for the moderation and prudence, together with firmness and decision, which have hitherto formed his best claim to the admiration and approbation of this country seem to have completely deserted him. The penal laws enacted or to be enacted in France are considered as the inauguration of a reign of terror, and there is rapidly growing up the same sort of feeling about the French Empire that there is here about the Palmerston Government. Nobody pretends to foresee what will happen, but everyone thinks that the state of France is rendered more combustible, and that any spark may produce an explosion. Those who are most attached or most favourable to the Imperial Government are the most alarmed, and, when they dare speak out, express the greatest regret and alarm at all that is passing in France.

To turn to the Government here, their two great rocks ahead are the India Bill and the Reform Bill, but with regard to these there seems no knowledge how parties will act, and how leading individuals will vote. Most people, however, are impressed with the idea that neither measure will be carried, and that the Government will in all probability not get through the session. It will be too absurd if Palmerston, after being the idol of the public, in spite of or in consequence of all his foolish speeches and his outrageous acts, should find himself deserted and his power shaken because he made Clanricarde Privy Seal; but there can be no doubt that this appointment has had more effect than any other cause in the change of public opinion about him.

February 14th.—Last week saw the debates in the House of Commons about the Conspiracy Bill, and the first act of the India Bill. The first is very unpopular, but it will be carried nevertheless. John Russell has taken it up with extraordinary vehemence and anger. His opposition to it is furious, on high constitutional grounds, which appear to me absurd and uncalled for. If I were in Parliament I should be puzzled how to vote, for there is much to be said against the Bill, and much against voting against it, particularly against leave to bring it in. Almost all the Tories voted with Government, and John Russell carried very few with him, and neither of his own nephews. He is more than ever exasperated against Palmerston for bringing it in. The apology tended by the Emperor, which was read to the House, reconciled a great many to the bill, but I have no notion that it will do any good, or that the French Government will be satisfied with it. After such a bill, which will certainly be carried, the British Lion must put his tail between his legs, and 'Civis Romanus' give up swaggering so loftily. If Aberdeen had attempted such a measure when Louis Philippe was King and Guizot minister, what would Palmerston have said, and what would not have been the indignant outcry throughout the country? The balance of opinion now seems to be that Government will carry their India Bill, and the report is that they are willing, if the second reading is carried, to consent to any alterations that may be pressed upon them in Committee. Lewis seems to have made a good speech on Friday, though rather of a didactic character.

February 20th.[1]—Unless I were to write down day by day the events and the impressions of each day I should fail in giving anything like a picture of the time, and I regret that my indolence or other occupations have prevented my doing this. I have each day promised myself I would not neglect it, and then, failing to keep that promise (to myself), I have found some fresh occurrence sweeping away the interest, and generally the accurate recollection, of what the preceding days have produced. The varieties of the aspects of public affairs have been like the figures in a kaleidoscope, and one ought to catch each fleeting symmetrical arrangement before it is changed into some other equally fleeting in order to comprehend the rapidity and importance of the changes which are going on. Not long ago (that is, not many weeks) a vague idea began to circulate that the Government would have difficulty in getting successfully through this session, and that their power had suffered some diminution. It was thought that the India Bill and the Reform Bill would be too much for them, and when a little later the events in France induced them to bring in the Conspiracy Bill, the excessive unpopularity of this last measure strengthened the impression of their instability. Everybody out of the pale of the Government itself admitted that Palmerston was not the man he was, and the diminution of his popularity was visible universally. This was attributed to several smaller causes, but the great one was the appointment of Clanricarde; which beyond all doubt has been regarded with a disgust and indignation to the last degree exaggerated and uncalled for. Such was the state of public feeling and opinion when the Parliamentary campaign opened with the discussions first of the Conspiracy Bill, and secondly of the Reform Bill. After a few days, however, a great change seemed to have taken place, though the country and the Press watched with great jealousy the progress of the Conspiracy Bill, keeping up a very loud growl of dislike to the Bill, and resentment against the French Government. In the division on the question of leave to bring in the bill the majority of the Conservatives came over to the Government, and they got a majority of the Conservatives of three to one. A few days after Palmerston brought in the India Bill, about which for a moment it was thought Baring with his amendment might run him hard, but after a very poor debate, in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a very good speech, and the President of the Board of Control made no speech at all, the Government got a majority of near 150. These two victories, though the first was obtained by the aid of opponents, raised the spirits of the Ministerialists, and were generally taken as indicative of more strength than they had been supposed to have, and as pretty clear proofs that Palmerston would at all events get unscathed through this session with not much diminished authority and influence.

But while they were triumphing in the fancied security which these divisions seemed to promise them, a storm was gathering, for the bursting of which, they were far from being prepared, nor did they estimate its importance. The public feeling had become more and more exasperated at the Conspiracy Bill, and at the conduct of France. The first reading of the bill would not have been carried as it was, perhaps not at all, but for the apology, as it was called, of the Emperor, and the soothing effect of Walewski's despatch carrying expressions of his master's regret and a sort of half disclaimer of the military addresses. But this soothing effect was very transitory. It was remarked that while the 'Moniteur' continued to insert fresh addresses of an offensive character, the apologetic despatch did not appear at all, and the original despatch of Walewski (January 20), which had excited so much indignation here, and which was not denied to have been the origin of the Conspiracy Bill, lay upon the table of the House of Commons unanswered by our Government. On this point a good deal of surprise and anger had been evinced in the Press and in society, and the discontent against the Government generally, and Palmerston in particular, was still spreading, when Milner Gibson took advantage of the prevailing temper, and moved a resolution in the shape of an amendment to the second reading of the bill, very skilfully concocted, but which was a direct vote of censure upon the Government (particularly of course directed against Palmerston and Clarendon) for not having answered that despatch.

Palmerston, I have been assured, when he saw the terms of this amendment, perceived that it might be dangerous, and that it was well calculated to get votes; but it is certain that the Government generally were in no apprehension, and that nobody of any party (I believe literally nobody) had the least idea that any vote of censure, which of course involved the existence of the Government, had the slightest chance of being carried. I met Sir Edward Lytton at the Athen�um on Friday, just as he was going to the House, and had some conversation with him. He treated Palmerston's position as impregnable, and said he would have a very large majority that evening. So confident were the Government whippers in that they made no exertions, and Hayter actually allowed some of his people to go away unpaired, telling them that they were quite safe, and their presence not necessary. I went to the House of Lords that evening to hear Macaulay, who was to have spoken but did not speak, and afterwards went home, hearing nothing more that night. Great was my astonishment when I read in the 'Times' this morning that Government had been beaten on Milner Gibson's motion by 19, and a few minutes after Granville came in and said that this defeat must be conclusive and nothing left for them but to resign. A Cabinet was held in the afternoon, at which it was decided that Palmerston should repair to Buckingham Palace with the resignations of himself and his colleagues.

February 21st.—Nothing more was known last night, but it was evident that Derby had been sent for in preference to Lord John, whom I met at Brooks's in the morning, and who did not expect the Queen to send for him. He told me Gladstone, he believed, and Graham, he knew, would not join Derby, and he thought neither Sidney Herbert nor Cardwell would either. As to the future, there really are quot homines tot sententi�. Some think Derby cannot form a Government, some that he will not try. The sanguine Palmerstonians think all other attempts will fail and Palmerston remain in power, as Lord Grey did in 1831, and some fancy he will endeavour to propitiate the House of Commons and public opinion by throwing overboard Clanricarde, to whose appointment the mischief is in great measure attributed. Such is at this moment the state of doubt and confusion which generally prevail.

February 23rd.—Nothing is yet known of Derby's progress except that he tried the Peelites, not one of whom would join. He sent for Newcastle from Clumber, who came up, saw him, and declined. It is evident that they mean to act in concert, except probably Graham, who has espoused John Russell, and who will not separate himself from Lord John's fortunes. There was a prevailing expectation yesterday that Derby would abandon his attempt, and that Palmerston would come back, but Derby seems quite determined to go on. The Palmerstonians certainly expect their exclusion to be of short duration, and nobody thinks that any Government Derby can possibly make will last long.

Never was there a great catastrophe so totally unexpected. Within an hour of the beginning of the debate no one doubted that the Government would have a majority, but Milner Gibson's speech was not concluded before it was evident that his amendment would be carried, and Palmerston's conduct was very unaccountable. It was clear from the tone of his speech, which was as bad as possible, feeble and intemperate, that he was aware of what was going to happen, and yet when the true state of the case was urged upon him, and he was pressed to adjourn the debate till Monday, which could easily have been done, he obstinately refused. If he had done this, there is little doubt that he would have whipped up a majority by Monday. Certainly no people ever so mismanaged their affairs. There is no excuse for their having put on the table of the House of Commons such a despatch as Walewski's, without any reply being made to it. It required no great sagacity to anticipate that such a course of proceeding could not fail to throw the House of Commons into a flame, and exasperate the country, already much excited, and all the excuses they made only made their case worse, and were generally inconsistent with each other. George Grey's was the most pitiful, when he said that after the second reading an answer should be sent. Then they made shuffling statements: at one time that they had sent no answer, and that to have answered it as alone it could be answered must have increased the irritation. Then, that they had given a verbal answer, and at last it transpired that an answer had been sent in the shape of a private letter from Clarendon to Cowley.