Volume III Part 3 (2/2)

There is great talk of ith Russia, which I don't believe will take place I had a long talk with Madame de Lieven the day before yesterday, and was surprised to find her with such a lofty tone about war She said that it was '_chance egale_;' that they neither desired nor feared it; that our tone had latterly been so insulting that they had no option but that of replying with corresponding hauteur; that if we sent shi+ps to the Mediterranean they would send shi+ps: that if those e held, it was i about war, though equally against the wishes and interests of all parties In such a case we ht destroy their fleet and burn their harbours, but we could not exclude theain That we must not fancy we should be able, in conjunction with France, to keep the rest of Europe in check; for it was the opinion of the wisest heads, and of Louis Philippe hi about his downfall (This latter opinion is likewise, I find, that of the French ultra-Radicals; but they think the war must be a war of opinion, and that the extreain the ascendency, wouldthe first victie of our newspapers, and of our orators in Parlianation of the Russian Court, and the dignified resentment , but still there will be no war--I met Dedel afterwards, and he told me that at Broadlands, where they all met, some explanations in a tolerably friendly tone did take place The truth is that we have divested ourselves of the right of objecting to Russia's h we do not dare acknowledge e have done, nor our motives We were (and we are) in a false position, and she has played her cards with great dexterity; but the Treaty[5] is another thing, and is justly calculated to excite our jealousy and suspicions We have held this language to Russia with regard to the Treaty: 'We do not reht to ive you notice, that if any atteainst us, we shall not endure it, and you must be prepared for the consequences'

[5] The treaty of Unkiar Skelesi

1834

Belvoir Castle, January 7th, 1834 {p046}

[Page Head: BELVOIR CASTLE]

After many years of delay, I am here since the 3rd, to assist at the celebration of the Duke of Rutland's birthday The party is very large, and sufficiently dull: the Duke of Wellington, Esterhazy, Matuscewitz, Rokeby, Miss d'Este (afterwards Lady Truro), and the rest a rabble of fine people, without beauty or wit anificent, and the position of the castle unrivalled, though the interior is full of enormous faults, which are wholly irretrievable This results fro been entrusted to the duchess and Sir John Thurston (the fore), and they have consequently made a sad reat splendour and some comfort the Castle has been tumbled about until they have contrived to render it a very indifferent house; no two roo-roouous The gallery, though unfinished, is a delightful apartment, and one of the most comfortable I ever saw The outside of the Castle is faulty, but very grand; so grand as to sink criticisether, with its terraces and towers, its woods and hills, and its boundless prospect over a rich and fertile country, it is a very noble possession The Duke lives here for three or four months, from the end of October till the end of February or March, on and off, and the establish we are roused by the strains of i or quickening the guests with lively airs All the men hunt or shoot At dinner there is a different display of plate every day, and in the evening some play at whist or amuse themselves as they please, and some walk about the staircases and corridors to hear the band, which plays the whole evening in the hall On the Duke's birthday there was a great feast in the Castle; 200 people dined in the servants' hall alone, without counting the other tables We were about forty at dinner When the cloth was removed, Esterhazy proposed His Grace's health, who has always a speech prepared in which he returns thanks This tiht there is a ball for the servants, which could not take place on the real birthday, as it fell on a Saturday

I have had snatches of talk with the Duke of Wellington, and yesterdayconference with hi after the Duke, though their Ministers here can hardly look for his return to office; nor do I believe that if he was to coent to the projects of Russia, though he ht be disinclined to continue so very inti he thought the French King's speech to his Chaood He of course disapproves of all our foreign policy, particularly in the Peninsula He says he sees no daylight whatever through the Portuguese affair The Spanish may ter Liberalism He is convinced that if she introduces Liberal principles she will be lost He says that the Spanish Governuese contest (as in fact I know that they have offered to do), but that we never can allow this, which besides the consequences of interference (as a principle) would necessarily al dependent on Spain Arbuthnot, who is here, told s froreatest contempt for Palard to the latter, he had been norance I do not knohat points he meant, but it must be in history or diploht he was a eneral inforoes, competent to any discussion He likewise said that he found him slow of comprehension

Belvoir, January 8th, 1834 {p048}

There was a ball for all the servants and tenants on Monday, which the Duke of Rutland opened with Lady Georgina Fane, and the Duke of Wellington folloith Lady Bro Yesterday half the people went to Belton; it was nearly iet any talk with the Duke He told me that the Russians were in no hurry to do any overt act in Turkey, and that their policy was as it had always been--to work very gradually I asked hiht they really intended a permanent occupation of Turkey He said certainly not; that they could not bear the expense of a hich in that case would ensue; that the difference of the expense between their own and a foreign country was as between 10d and 4s a ements are admirable, and the order and cleanliness of every part of the offices and the nitude of the establishment are very remarkable, and such as I have never seen elsewhere This afternoon Gosh [Mr Arbuthnot] came and sat with me, and talked over all h he has forgotten it, which he well ht, seems to be als before, but as they are curious scraps of history they ain It all relates to the break-up of Lord Grey's Government in '32, and the abortive atte had given his word that he had never prole peer Doubts arose whether he had not told a lie; they pressed hiton and Lyndhurst); he persisted in his denial, upon which they requested Taylor ht be sent for, and all the correspondence produced, when they found he was pledged up to the throat, and without reserve The King then atte he had consented to call up the sons of Scotch peers and give to Irish peers English peerages, which he did not consider a creation of peers!

[Page Head: DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND MR PEEL]

When the Duke accepted the coue Parliao to Lord Grey and tell hiot it! In after times, those rite the history of these days will probably discuss the conduct of the great actors, and it will not fail to be matter of surprise that such an obvious expedient was not resorted to, in order to suspend violent discussions Aested, I doubt if it will occur to anybody that the real reason was that it was _forgotten_

Arbuthnot says they know that Lyndhurst was intriguing with the Whigs when the Duke was turned out in '30, and that it had been settled that he was to reham would have consented to be Attorney-General, and had not run restive, and given clear indications of his resolution to destroy the Govern the duplicity of Peel's conduct in 1832, he and the Duke are always on good teritated without Peel's co it over with his, and told hih Tories are just as uneable as ever Chandos caht to get up petitions against the ; that he thought the revenue of the country should be supported; for if it failed, recourse must be had to a property tax, which would fall on the aristocracy; and so he persuaded him to let the malt tax alone

January 26th, 1834 {p049}

I left Belvoir on Friday, the 10th, and went to Mrs Arkwright's,[6]

at Stoke, where I found nobody but her own fainal conversation and her singing, and her cousin, Miss Twiss, ith a face of uncommon plainness and the voice of a man, is sensible and well inforreat charreat way in the Peak, and it is not difficult to procure a triuood deal of power of appreciation, have very little opportunity for coht told me that it was reported by those ere better informed than himself of his father's circurandfather began life as a barber, invented soave hie which he disapproved of, and he quarrelled with hi of his father for reat wealth When Sir Richard served as Sheriff, his son thought it right to go out with the other gentleentlee, and asked to whoht a reconciliation with him, and was astonished to find that his son was as rich as hiood terms, and at his death he bequeathed hiht was a Keenius of that gifted fa, and soinality and expression]

Mrs Arkwright told ehters of Mrs Siddons

They were two sisters, one tall and very handsome, the other little, without rereeable

He fell in love with the first, and they were engaged to be married Of course under such circumstances he lived constantly and freely in the house, and after soed the current of his passion, and she supplanted the handsome one in the affection of the artist They concealed the double treachery, but one day a note which was intended for his new love fell into the hands of the old love, who, never doubting it was for herself, opened it, and discovered the fatal truth From that time she drooped, sickened, and shortly after died On her deathbed she exacted a promise from her sister that she would never marry Lawrence, who firmly adhered to it He continued his relations with her with more or less intimacy up to the period of her death, the date of which I do not recollect