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.