Volume I Part 20 (2/2)
Both are anxious to make it up, but each is afraid to make the first advances However, Sefton must make them, and he will The cause of their quarrel is very old, and signifies little enough now They have been at daggers drawn ever since, and Sefton has revenged hi's expense, of which his Majesty is well aware Their coood things of the Palace, and on the other side to be free froenerated a mutual disposition to ht seven horses successively, for which he has given 11,300 guineas, principally to win the cup at Ascot, which he has never accoanee, but would not, because he fancied the Colonel would beat him; but when that appeared doubtful he was very sorry not to have bought him, and complained that the horse was not offered to hiantly fond of Chesterfield, who is pretty well bit by it There is always a parcel of eldest sons and Lords in possession invited to the Cottage for the sake of Lady Maria Conynghareat deference but without fear, and that people should be easy with hirand consultation at the Cottage between the King, Lieven, Esterhazy, and the Duke of cumberland as to the way in which the ladies should be placed at dinner, the object being that Lady Conyngha to etiquette the two Ambassadresses should sit one on each side of hi out one of the opposite, by which means the lovely Thais sat beside hiustus, sixth Earl of Chesterfield, born in 1805, died in 1866 He hter of Lord Forester In 1829 he was one of thee rental and large accumulations in his minority]
June 26th, 1829 {p213}
I met Tierney and Lord Grey at dinner yesterday; the for's Speech at the Council at Windsor the other day I had heard nothing, not having been at the Council, but it is believed that the Ministers had put in the Speech a sentence expressive of satisfaction and sanguine hopes about Ireland, and that at the last ree to this; for after the Duke's audience, which lasted a good while, there was a Cabinet, and it is supposed they knocked under, for the paragraph about Ireland is cold enough The Duke of cuht to have had a hand in all this, and to have persuaded the King to be obstinate We talked a great deal about the situation of the Government and the state of the House of Cothens hio on; that Rosslyn and Scarlett are of little use to hi followers in their train, such as Althorp, who has extensive connections, enjoys consideration, and would be of real use to hi report that Althorp is to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, Goulburn Speaker, and Sutton[22]
a Peer At present the Govern, but then there exists no party, nor is there any h to then his or to Huskisson and his friends These latter he detests, and he knows they hate his he would not dislike sois averse to have them, and the Duke is beset by his old suspicion that they want to break up the Tory party andin Lord Rosslyn and Scarlett, he has h Lord Grey is displeased at his not having shown him more deference and communicated to him his intentions about Rosslyn Lord Rosslyn asked Lord Grey's advice as to accepting, and he advised hi at the sae hih he was at present well disposed to do so, and should be still more disposed when Lord Rosslyn became a part of it Tierney said it was very lamentable that there should be such a deficiency of talent in the rising generation, and redid not like Lord Rosslyn's appoints; indeed, he hates the best men of all parties, and likes none but such as will be subservient to himself So little public spirit has he, and so much selfishness, that he would rather his Govern, that they h he only wishes to be powerful in order to exercise the e vulgar prejudices, and areat object connected with national glory or prosperity ever enters his brain I am convinced he would turn out the Duke to- hi the child's ball Lady Maria Conyngham said, 'Oh, do, it will be so nice to see the _two little Queens_ dancing together' (the little Queen of Portugal and the Princess Victoria), at which he was beyond ht Hon Manners Sutton, Speaker of the House of Commons He retained that office till 1835, when he was beaten on the great contest with Mr Abercroe Head: MADAME DU CAYLA]
July 10th, 1829 {p214}
I dined with the Duke of Wellington yesterday; a very large party for Mesdames the duchesse d'Escars and Madame du Cayla; the first is theof the Duc d'Escars, as Premier Maitre d'Hotel of Louis XVIII, and as said to have died of one of the King's good dinners, and the joke was, 'Hier sa Majeste a eu une indigestion, dont M le Duc d'Escars est mort' Madame du Cayla[23] is come over to prosecute some claim upon this Government, which the Duke has discovered to be unfounded, and he had the bluntness to tell her so as they were going to dinner
Shein her youth; her countenance is lively, her eyes are piercing, clear complexion, and very handsome hands and arnificent pearls she wore, though these are not so fine as Lady Conynghae for pearls; I remember Madame Narischkin's were splendid Madame du Cayla is said to be very rich and clever
[23] [Madame du Cayla had been the _soi-disant_ mistress of Louis XVIII, or rather the favourite of his declining years 'Il fallait une Esther,' to use her own expression, 'a cet assuerus' She was the daughter of M Talon, brought up by Madam Cae to an officer in the Prince de Conde's army was an unhappy one; and she was left, deserted by her husband, in straitened circumstances After the assassination of the Duc de Berry, M de la Rochefoucauld, one of the leaders of the ultra-Royalist party, contrived to throw her in the way of Louis XVIII, in the hope of counteracting the more Liberal influence which M de Cazes had acquired over the King Madame du Cayla became the hope and the mainstay of the altar and the throne The scherace and beauty, and she became indispensable to his happiness His happiness was said to consist in inhaling a pinch of snuff from her shoulders, which were remarkably broad and fair M de Lahth book of his 'Histoire de la Restauration,' and Beranger satirised her in the bitterest of his songs--that which bears the name of 'Octavie':--
Sur les coussins ou la douleur l'enchaine Quel mal, dis-tu, vous fait ce roi des rois?
Vois-le d'un loire et nos lois
Vois ce coeur faux, que cherchent tes caresses, De tous les siens n'aieresses, Et par ses moeurs nous reveler ses dieux
Peins-nous ces feux, qu'en secret tu redoutes, _Quand sur ton sein il cuve son nectar,_ Ces feux dont s'indignaient les voutes Ou plane encor l'aigle du grand Cesar
It is curious that in 1829 the lastof France should have visited London under the reign of the last e Head: WELLINGTON'S ANECDOTES OF GEORGE IV]
After dinner the Duke talked toand the Duke of cuan about the King's e the other day when he had engaged all the foreign Ambassadors to dine with him in London Aberdeen represented this to him, but his Majesty said 'it did not matter, he should stay, and the Aland' 'He has no idea,' said the Duke, 'of what a King of England ought to do, or he would have known that he ought to havehi, but that with a surprising memory he was very inaccurate, and constantly told stories the details of which all his auditors , and asserted that George III had said to himself, 'Of all the reatest dependence, and you are the entleman' Another day he said 'that he recollected the old Lord Chesterfield, who once said to him, ”Sir, you are the fourth Prince of Wales I have known, and I hness one piece of advice: stick to your father; as long as you adhere to your father you will be a great and a happyand an unhappy one;” and, by God (added the King), I never forgot that advice, and acted upon it all my life' 'We all,' said the Duke, 'looked at one another with astonishenious in turning the conversation from any subject he does not like to discuss
'I,' added the Duke of Wellington, 're upon him the day he received the news of the battle of Navarino I was not a Minister, but Co told ht of it I said that I knew nothing about it, was ignorant of the instructions that had been given to the ad is clear to me, that your Majesty's shi+ps have suffered very ht to reinforce your fleet directly, for whenever you have a ht to be superior to all others” This advice he did not like; I saw this, and he said, ”Oh, the Ean talking, and went on to Venice, Toulon, St Petersburg, all over the Continent, and froht me to Windsor Castle I make it a rule never to interrupt hiet rid of a subject in the way of business which he does not like, I let him talk himself out, and then quietly put before him the matter in question, so that he cannot escape fro to Windsor with athe late discussions) I went down to hiht to be prevented fro He went off and talked upon every subject but that which I had coo on till he was tired, and then I said, ”But the petition, sir; here it is, and an answer must be sent I had better write to the Duke of Newcastle and tell hih the Secretary of State; and, if you please, I rite the letter before I leave the house” This I did, finished my business in five minutes, and went aith the letter in my pocket I know him so well that I can deal with him easily, but anybody who does not know hireatest difficulty in getting on with him
One extraordinary peculiarity about hi he fears is ridicule He is afraid of nothing which is hazardous, perilous, or uncertain; on the contrary, he is all for braving difficulties; but he dreads ridicule, and this is the reason why the Duke of cumberland, whose sarcaslesey likewise; both of them he hates in proportion as he fears them' I said I was very much, surprised to hear this, as neither of these men its, or likely to make him ridiculous; that if he had been afraid of Sefton or Alvanley it could have been understood 'But,' rejoined the Duke, 'he never sees these men, and he does not mind anybody he does not see; but the Duke of cu, and the fear he has of what they may say to him, as well as of him, keeps him in awe of them No man, however, knows the Duke of cumberland better than he does; indeed, all I know of the Duke of cumberland I know fro him why the Duke of cumberland was so unpopular, and he said, ”Because there never was a father ith his son, or husband with his wife, or lover with his mistress, or a friend with his friend, that he did not try to make mischief between them” And yet he suffers this man to have constant access to him, to say what he will to him, and often acts under his influence' I said, 'You and the Duke of cu spoke to y I told him it was quite impossible, ”Why,” said he, ”you did not mean to offend the Duke of cumberland, I am sure” ”No, sir,” said I; ”I did not wish to offend him, but I did not say a word that I did not mean When we meet the Royal Family in society, they are our superiors, and e the I ht have said offensive to the Duke; but in the House of Lords we are their peers, and for what I say there I a, ”he said you turned on him as if you meant to address yourself to him personally” ”I did mean it, sir,” said I, ”and I did so because I knew that he had been here, that he had heard things froone andthat, I meant to show him that I are of it I am sorry that the Duke is offended, but I cannot help it, and I cannot e Head: DUKES OF WELLINGTON AND cumBERLAND]
The Duke went on, 'I was so afraid he would tell the Duke that I was sorry for what I had said, that I repeated to hiise to the Duke, and I hope your Majesty will therefore not convey any such idea to his mind” However, he spoke to him, I suppose, for the next time I met the Duke he bowed to me I immediately called on him, but he did not return et what he said it was] I called on hiain, and he returned my visit the same day'
The Duke then talked of the letter which the Duke of cues) to Enniskillen, which he thought was published with the most mischievous intentions However, he said, 'I know not what he is at, but while I ahtforwardhe can do,' which I was surprised to hear, because it looked as if he was afraid of hiht belonged to the King, he evinced great acuteness in discussing matters of business, to which he replied, 'Oh, no, not at all, the worst judgment that can be' This was not the first ti I re to the Duke of Portland about hi the Queen's trial indicative of his contempt for him
In theto Berlin, has sent for the duchess and his son, and means to take up his abode in this country, in hopes of prevailing upon the King to dismiss his Ministers and make a Government under his own auspices; but however weak the Govern has an habitual reliance upon the Duke [of Wellington] which overco dependent upon him; and, besides, the materials do not exist out of which a Government could be forreat hich this Administration experiences is that of men of sufficient information and capacity to direct the complicated machinery of our trade and finances and adjust our colonial differences
Huskisson, Grant, and Palmerston were the ablest men, and the two first the best infor of the business of his office, still less of the principles of trade; he is idle, but quick Of Murray I know nothing; he is popular in his office, but he has neither the capacity nor the knowledge of Huskisson
CHAPTER VI