Volume II Part 26 (2/2)

[4] [Williah, was appointed Chamberlain to Queen Adelaide at this time, and remained in the service of her Majesty--a most excellent and devoted servant--to the close of her life]

[Page Head: STATE OF THE TORY PARTY]

I received a few days ago at Brighton the draft of a Bill of Broughaates to the Privy Council, or rather for creating a new Court and sinking the Privy Council in it Lord Lansdowne sent it to me, and desired me to send him my opinion upon it I showed it to Stephen, and returned it to Lord Lansdoith soreed It is a very bungling piece of work, and one which Lord Lansdowne ought not to consent to, the object evidently being to ham shall be at the head, and to transfer to it much of the authority of the Crown, Parliament, and Privy Council; all frorandise the way for his own accession to power, striving to obtain popularity and influence with the King; that he will succeed to a great degree, and for a certain tiain Speaker Althorp wrote him a very flummery letter, and he accepted The Government wants to be out of the scrape they are in between Abercro see, the House of Coht respectable on the whole and safe, trade is brisk, funds rising, , Tories sulky

January 17th, 1833 {p343}

The Governo on the Dutch shi+ps Soon after they had laid it on they oods to go free; and thinking the whole thing would be soon over, they desired this ly oods ) under that order Now that the King of Holland continues obstinate they want to squeeze him, and to construe the order strictly There have been many consultations what to do, whether they shouldthe last or execute the former more strictly Both are liable to objections The first will appear like a cruel proceeding and evidence of uncertainty of purpose; the last will show a capricious variation in the practice of the Privy Council, hich the ether last night to settle this knotty point

Wharncliffe showed me a paper he has written, in which, after briefly recapitulating the present state of the Tory party and the condition of the new Parliament (particularly as to the mode in which it was elected, or rather under what influence), he proceeds to point out what ought to be the course for the Tories to adopt It is h, and he has iton, who concurs in his vieonder, however, that he is not sick of writing papers and i views, after all that passed last year, after his fruitless attempts, his false moves, and the treatment he received at the hands of the Tories; but he see, and is disposed to wriggle hies one thing fully, and that is the desperate and woebegone condition of the party itself, and the i _now_ as a party

Lord Lansdowne received very cohaed since he came to town that it would not do at all as it now stands The King has been delighting the Whigs, andhiant civilities to the new Peers--that is, _to_ Western and about Lord Stafford He now appears to be very fond of his Ministers

January 19th, 1833 {p344}

I have at last succeeded in sti like resistance (or rather the prohanity and his interest will both be compromised by this Bill, which intends to o_ of the Council, and to give hiainst these proposals he kicks; at least he is restive, and shows syain I sent the Bill to Stephen, who instantly and _currente calamo_ drew up a series of objections to it, as coht I sent it to Leach (who hates the Chancellor), and he has returned it totold me that Hoould be too happy to oppose this Bill, on account of the influence it would have on Colonial matters, particularly about Canada, I took it to hih he concurred in Stephen's ree Head: VISIT TO HARTWELL]

Dined with Talleyrand the day before yesterday nobody there but his _attaches_ After dinner he told land, and his acquaintance with Fox and Pitt He always talks in a kind of affectionate tone about the for a visit to Mrs Fox at St Anne's Hill, where he may see her surrounded with the busts, pictures, and recollections of her husband He delights to dwell on the siaiety, childishness, and profoundness of Fox I asked him if he had ever known Pitt He said that Pitt came to Rheims to learn French, and he was there at the same time on a visit to the Archbishop, his uncle (whom I remember at Hartwell,[5] a very old prelate with the tic-douloureux), and that he and Pitt lived together for nearly six weeks, reciprocally teaching each other French and English After Chauvelin had superseded hireed, he went to live near Epsom (at Juniper Hall) with Madame de Stael; afterwards they caot into the hands of the _eres_, who persuaded hily he received orders to quit England in twenty-four hours He embarked on board a vessel for America, but was detained in the river off Greenwich Dundas sent to him, and asked him to come and stay with him while the shi+p was detained, but he said he would not set his foot on English ground again, and remained three weeks on board the shi+p in the river It is strange to hear M de Talleyrand talk at seventy-eight He opens the stores of his memory and pours forth a strea seeone events

[5] [Mr Greville had paid a visit with his father to the little Court of Louis XVIII at Hartwell about two years before the Restoration, when he was eighteen years of age His narrative of this visit has been printed in the fifth volume of the 'Miscellany of the Philobiblon Society,' but it may not be inappropriately inserted here]

A VISIT TO HARTWELL

April 14th, 1814

I have often determined to commit to paper as much as I can re is about to ascend the throne of his ancestors, it is not uninteresting to recall to mind the particulars of a visit paid to hioWe dressed at Aylesbury, and proceeded to Hartwell in the afternoon

We had previously taken a walk in the environs of the town, and had ouleme on horseback, accompanied by a Madame Choisi At five o'clock we set out to Hartwell The house is large, but in a dreary, disagreeable situation The King had co subdivided alreater number of people There were numerous outhouses, in some of which small shops had been established by the servants, interspersed with gardens, so that the place rese the house ere conducted by the Duc de Graraciously and shook hands with both of us This aparter than a closet, and I re and Queen, Mada on the walls The King had ahis body backwards and forwards, which caused the most unpleasant sensations in that s sea-sick The room was just like a cabin, and theof a shi+p After our audience with the King ere taken to the _salon_ a large room with a billiard table at one end Here the party assembled before dinner, to all of ere presented--the duchesse d'Angouleouleme, the Duc de Berri, the Prince and Princess de Conde (_ci-devant_ Madame de Monaco), and a vast number of ducs, &c; Madame la duchesse de Serron (a little old _daes, the Duc d'Auray, the Archeveque de Rheims (an infirm old prelate, tortured with the tic-douloureux), and many others whose names I cannot remember At a little after six dinner was announced, ent into the next roo out first The dinner was extre of very few dishes, and no wines except port and sherry His Majesty did the honours hireeable We were a very short tiether Each of the ladies folded up her napkin, tied it round with a bit of ribbon, and carried it away After dinner we returned to the drawing-room and drank coffee The whole party remained in conversation about a quarter of an hour, when the King retired to his closet, upon which all repaired to their separate apart caoule and kissing his hand This little ceremony never failed to take place After the party had separated ere taken to the Duc de Gra there about three quarters of an hour ent to the apartreat part of the company were assembled, and where we stayed about a quarter of an hour After this we descended again to the drawing-roo played at whist with the Prince and Princess de Conde and a' The rest of the party played at billiards or o was so civil as to invite us to sleep there, instead of returning to the inn at Aylesbury When he invited us he said, 'Je crains que vous serez tres-es,retired, e separated for the night We were certainly 'tres-ot out of bed, I was alarmed by the appearance of an old wo linen to dry I was forced to retreat hastily to bed, not to shock the old lady'swe breakfasted, and at eleven we took leave of the King (who alent to Mass at that hour) and returned to London We saw the whole place before we caenuity in contriving to lodge such a number of people in and about the house--it was exactly like a s colony We were very much pleased with our expedition; and were invited to return whenever we could make it convenient

January 24th, 1833 {p346}

I have at last made Lord Lansdowne fire a shot at the Chancellor about this Bill He has written him a letter, in which he has embodied Stephen's objections and some of his own (as he says, for I did not see the letter) The Chancellor will be very angry, for he can't endure contradiction, and he has a prodigious contempt for the Lord President, whom he calls 'Mother Elizabeth' He probably arrives at the sobriquet through Petty, Betty, and so on

Dined with Talleyrand yesterday; Pozzo, who said little and seemed low; Talleyrand _talked_ after dinner, said that Cardinal Fleury was one of the greatest Ministers who ever governed France, and that justice had never been done him; he had maintained peace for twenty years, and acquired Lorraine for France He said this _a propos_ of the library he formed or left, or whatever he did in that line, at Paris He told oes very often to the British Museum, and has lately made them a present of a book

January 26th, 1833 {p347}

[Page Head: ABOLITION OF SLAVERY]