Volume I Part 20 (1/2)

[16] [O'Connell was excluded fro his seat as member for Clare, for which he had been elected before the passing of the Relief Act, because it was held that he was bound to take the oath which was required by law at the time of his election, and not the oath imposed on Roman Catholics by the recent statutes He presented himself to be sworn at the table of the House of Commons on the 15th of May, and there refused to take the former oath, which was tendered to hiainst his ad the oath of supre previously been heard at the bar in person in support of his claim]

May 29th, 1829 {p208}

O'Connell is said to have ood speech at the bar of the House, and produced rather a favourable iood, that whereas it was pretty generally thought that he was likely to fail in the House of Commons as a speaker, he has now altered that i of excluding hih the Governed to enforce the provisions of their own Bill, everybody knows that the exclusion was the work of the King

O'Connell goes back to Clare (as he says) sure of his election; there will be a great uproar, but at present nobody expects any opposition, and all deprecate a contest

[Page Head: PRINCESS VICTORIA AT A CHILD'S BALL]

Yesterday the King gave a dinner to the Dukes of Orleans and Chartres, and in the evening there was a child's ball It was pretty enough, and I saw for the first tial[17] and our little Victoria The Queen was finely dressed, with a ribband and order over her shoulder, and she sat by the King She is good-looking and has a sensible Austrian countenance

In dancing she fell down and hurt her face, was frightened and bruised, and went away The King was very kind to her Our little Princess is a short, plain-looking child, and not near so good-looking as the Portuguese However, if nature has not done so reat deallooked very well, and stayed at the ball till two There were very few people, and neither Arbuthnot nor Mrs A were asked I suspect this is owing to what passed in the House about opening the Birdcage Walk It puts the King in a fury to have any such thing htest wish to acco money out of their pockets

[17] [Donna Maria II da Gloria, Queen of Portugal, on the abdication of her father, Don Pedro, succeeded to the throne on the 2nd of May, 1826 She was born on the 4th of April, 1819, and was consequently but a feeeks older than the Princess Victoria]

The day before yesterday there was a review for the Duke of Orleans, and the Marquis of Anglesey, as there at the head of his regiet a tu said to Lord Anglesey, 'Why, Paget, what's this I hear? they say you rolled off your horse at the review yesterday' The Duke as he left the ground was ied about his horse and would shake hands with hiive him an account of the intended review and the dispositions that had beenover your Shropshi+re horse, don't be surprised if you see st you'

The ne appointments have just been announced, and have created some surprise[18]

[18] [The Attorney-General, Sir Charles Wetherell, had resigned in consequence of his violent opposition to the Catholic Relief Bill, and was succeeded by Sir Jaer) The Solicitor-General, Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal, was raised on the 9th of June to the Chief Justiceshi+p of the Common Pleas; and was succeeded in the Solicitorshi+p by Sir Edward Burtenshaw Sugden (afterwards Lord St Leonards) The vacancy in the Conation of Sir William Draper Best, as created Lord Wynford for the purpose of assisting the Chancellor with the judicial business of the House of Lords]

June 11th, 1829 {p210}

I have been at Epsom for a week; the Duke of Grafton, Lords Wilton, Jersey, and Worcester, Russell, Anson, Irby, and myself took Down Hall for the races and lived very well Nothing particular has occurred Lord and Lady Ellenborough are separated, and he is supposed to have behaved very handsomely to her They say he does not no the whole story of her intrigue with Felix Schwarzenberg; that hero is gone to the Russian army All the new appointments were declared when I was out of town, and they excited some surprise and more disapprobation

They have made Best a Peer, who is poor and has a fae will be added to the list; and he is totally unfit for the situation he is to fill--that of Deputy-Speaker of the House of Lords, and to assist the Chancellor in deciding Scotch causes, of which he knows nothing whatever; and as the Chancellor knows nothing either, the Scotch law is likely to be strangely adreat court of appeal They would have done better to have made Alexander[19] a Peer, who is very old, understands Equity Law, and has no children; but he knows very little of Common Lahich Best is well versed in), and so they keep him on the bench and put Best on the Woolsack Lord Rosslyn is Privy Seal,[20] and Scarlett Attorney-General, which looks like a leaning towards the Whigs; but then Trench and Lord Edward Sooes back to the India Board, and Governainst William Cavendish This conduct is considered very unhandsome, and Tierney, ell disposed towards the Government, told ht he would get swas, that the way he went on was neither fish nor flesh, and he would offend more people than he would conciliate At present there is no party, and if Governreat body of supporters on who is in confusion--party, politics, and all

[19] [Sir William Alexander, then Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer The Court of Exchequer still retained its Equity jurisdiction]

[20] [Lord Rosslyn was considered to be a Whig, and Sir James Scarlett was better known for the Liberal opinions he once professed than for the Tory opinions he afterwards assue Head: LORD PALMERSTON ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

The event of last as Paluese question, which was delivered at a late hour and in an ely able and eloquent This is the second he has ainst Governuished himself before, a proof howout the talents which a man may possess The office he held was one of dull and dry detail, and he never travelled out of it He probably stood in awe of Canning and others, and was never in the Cabinet; but having lately held higher situations and having acquiredbeen removed from the House of Commons by death or pro success Lord Granville told ht Pal so, who did not believe it

Yesterday the King had his racing dinner, which was ave last year, but not half so gay and joyous I believe he had so and was in pain, for, contrary to his usual custom, he hardly spoke, and the Duke of Richmond, who sat next to him, told me that the little he did say was more about politics than the turf, and he fancied that soh, and was very cheerful before dinner When his health was drunk 'as Patron of the Jockey Club, andto accept that title,' he ratified by our kindness, and he could assure us that in withdrawing himself as he had done from the Jockey Club he was not influenced by any unkindness to any member of it, or any indifference to the interests of the turf'

[Page Head: THE COTTAGE]

June 24th, 1829 {p212}

Went to Stoke for the Ascot races There was such a crowd to see the cup run for as never was seen before The King was very anxious and disappointed I bought the winner for Chesterfield[21]

two hours before the race, he having previously asked the King's leave, which he gave witha reconciliation between the King and Lord Sefton