Charles Greville

“ But what is incomprehensible is that in such a numerous Cabinet as the present, and containing many men who certainly once had strong Conservative opinions, he should not have met with a more strenuous opposition, and have been forced to alter his most obnoxious propositions, and I think those who were better informed than Lord John, and saw whither his plan of Reform was leading them, are more to blame than himself. It is impossible to meet with any man who approves of this Bill, and who does not abhor the idea of any Reform whatever. ”

“ Europe behaves well to us, for though we have made ourselves universally odious by our insolence and our domination, and our long habit of bullying all the world, nobody triumphs over us in the hour of our distress, and even Russia, who has no cause to feel anything but ill will towards us, evinces her regret and sympathy in courteous terms. Whatever the result of this contest may be, it will certainly absorb all our efforts and occupy our full strength and power so that we shall not be able to take any active or influential part in European affairs for some time to come. ”

“ Clarendon seemed to think that there was no more danger now of the pacific purpose of Cowley being obstructed at Vienna than at Paris, for he said that the Austrians are so proud, and moreover so greatly incensed at the conduct of France, that it is very doubtful whether they will be induced to make any concessions at all, and whether the Emperor of Austria will not prefer to encounter all the danger of war, prepared as he is, than consent to anything which should have the appearance of humbling himself before the outrageous pretences and intolerable insolence of the Emperor of the French. ”

“ Gladstone seems bent on leading Sir George Lewis a weary life, but Lewis is just the man to encounter and baffle such an opponent, for he is cold-blooded as a fish, totally devoid of sensibility or nervousness, of an imperturbable temper, calm and resolute, laborious and indefatigable, and exceedingly popular in the House of Commons from his general good humour and civility, and the credit given him for honour, sincerity, plain dealing, and good intentions. ”

“ Never had Minister such a peaceful and undisturbed reign as Palmerston's. There is something almost alarming in his prodigious felicity and success. Everything prospers with him. In the House of Commons there is scarcely a semblance of opposition to anything he proposes; a speech or two here and there from Roebuck, or some stray Radical, against some part of the Princess Royal's dowry, but hardly any attempt at divisions; and when there have been any, the minorities have been so ridiculously small as to show the hopelessness of opposition. ”

“ The earth under our feet may be mined with plots; we know not what any of the Great Powers are really designing; the only certainty for us is that we are going on blindly and obstinately spending our wealth and our blood in a war in which we have no interest, and in keeping Europe in a state of ferment and uncertainty the ultimate consequences of which it is appalling to contemplate. ”

“ I cannot say I am sorry for it, but I do in fairness think that this reaction is overdone and exaggerated, and the hostility to Palmerston greater than there is any reason for. I do not wish to see him again at the head of affairs, but I should be sorry to see a man so distinguished, who has been exalted so high, and who has many good qualities, end his life, or at least his political career, under circumstances of mortification and humiliation. ”

“ Last night, Disraeli made a bitter attack on the Government, to which Labouchere replied with a spirit for which nobody gave him credit. The Opposition displayed great warmth, and a disposition to show serious fight on any occasion they could find. Certainly the Government cuts a very poor figure, and it is difficult not to think that as soon as the all absorbing question of peace or war is decided, they will be much put to it to defend themselves, unless they conduct affairs much better for the future than they have done up to the present time. ”

“ It is marvellous, therefore, that so clever a man should have acted so foolish a part as he has done. Having disgusted his own party by his concession, he is now disgusting everybody else and all other parties by his hesitation and pusillanimity in carrying it out, and, with an absence of dignity and firmness which is utterly unworthy of the high position he holds, he has permitted his Chancellor and some half-dozen subordinate members of his Government to do all they can to thwart the settlement of the question, and prolong the exclusion of the Jews. ”

“ Nothing is more within the bounds of probability than that the Emperor may determine, if he is obliged to make war, to make it for a French object, and on some enemy from whom a good spoil may be taken, a war which will gratify French vanity and cupidity, and which will therefore not be unpopular. He may think, and most probably not erroneously, that in the present temper of this country the people would be quite willing to let him do what he pleases with Prussia, Belgium, or any other part of the continent, if he will only concur with us in making fierce war against Russia. ”

“ It is absurd, but nevertheless true, that nothing has damaged Palmerston so much as his making Clanricarde Privy Seal. It was an unwise appointment, but the fault of it is grossly exaggerated. Everybody agrees that from one end of the country to another there is a feeling of universal indignation against it. Then there is a great turn in the public mind in favour of the East India Company, or rather against the Government measure, of which nothing is known, but that the result of it will be to place the Indian Empire in the hands of Vernon Smith. ”

“ The Triumvirate of Palmerston, John Russell, and Gladstone, who have it all their own way, dragging after them the Cabinet, the House of Commons, and the country, will probably be the ruin of this country. They are playing into the Emperor Napoleon's hands, who has only to be patient and bide his time, and he will be able to treat all Europe, England included, in any way he pleases. Nothing but some speedy change of Government and of system can avert the impending ruin. ”

“ April 15th.—I have been reading over to George Lewis my account of what took place about the Reform Bill of 1832, to assist him in reviewing that period of history, and in so doing it is impossible not to be struck with the contrast between the public excitement which prevailed then and the apathy and absence of interest which we witness now. At every general election there is a great deal of bustle, activity, party zeal, and contention, but there are not more of these now than on ordinary occasions, if anything less. ”

“ Though our Government was willing enough to enter into anything that the passion of the multitude suggested, they were not so insane as all that; but as it is, we may consider it most providential that the mutiny did not show itself during the Russian, or indeed during the Persian war. If it had happened while we were still fighting in the Crimea, we could not have sent out the force that would have been indispensable to save India. At the present moment the interest of the public is not greater than its apprehensions and alarm. ”

“ Never was there a greater failure; the bill was received with general aversion and contempt. The Radicals, who want to keep the Government in for the present, could not stomach it, Roebuck pronounced it a sham, and Bright, who detests Palmerston, said he preferred his bill of the two. It is evidently impossible that this bill can pass, and everybody sees what a fix it places public affairs in, and what difficulties and uncertainties present themselves on all sides. The only people who are pleased are the Palmerstonians. ”

“ Our position in Europe is not only as high as ever, but no one shows any disposition to degrade or diminish it; and while this is a gratifying homage to us and a flattering recognition of our power, it is, or at least ought to be, calculated to inspire us with amicable sentiments, and to be an inducement to us to depart from the insolent and offensive tone which has so long prevailed here, and which has made England universally an object of aversion. ”

“ All that he has been doing, or has allowed to be done of late, is indicative of a change; for the moderation and prudence, together with firmness and decision, which have hitherto formed his best claim to the admiration and approbation of this country seem to have completely deserted him. The penal laws enacted or to be enacted in France are considered as the inauguration of a reign of terror, and there is rapidly growing up the same sort of feeling about the French Empire that there is here about the Palmerston Government. ”

“ Palmerston's popularity does not extend to his colleagues, for not one of whom does anybody care a straw. It is purely personal, and I do not think he would strengthen himself by any other alliance he could form. This fact of his popularity just at the end of his strange and chequered career is most remarkable and not a little unaccountable; but innumerable circumstances prove this to be the undoubted truth, and that it is manifested more decidedly out of the House than in it, for in the House of Commons it does not amount to a certainty of his having always a majority. ”

“ In this state of confusion many Liberal-Conservatives are beginning to wish for the consolidation of the Government, and are inclining to support it, if the Government itself will give them an opportunity of doing so, by asserting their own independence as a Conservative Government, and will leave off truckling to the Radicals, by accepting measures which everyone knows to be repugnant to their feelings and opinions, and inconsistent with the principles they have always professed. ”

“ April 29th.—Every day the position of the Government gets worse and worse. The disposition there was to give them a fair opportunity of carrying on public affairs as well as they could has given way to disgust and contempt at their blundering and stupidity, and those who have all along resented their attempt to hold office at all are becoming more impatient and more anxious to turn them out. ”

“ Even I myself am compelled in candour to acknowledge that he does at least as well as anybody else would be likely to do, and no complaints can justly be made against the Government of any supineness in sending out adequate reinforcements to India. Lewis told me, just as Parliament was prorogued, that they were thoroughly impressed with the gravity of the case, and conscious of the danger, and that they were going to send out every man they could muster here or in the Colonies, and they have already despatched troops in great numbers with remarkable celerity. ”

“ They gather together and assail our people when a good opportunity presents itself, and when they are repulsed (as is always the case) their masses are dissolved and scattered abroad, without any material diminution of their numbers, and ready to assemble and attack any other vulnerable point, while the British troops are harassed to death by unceasing pursuits of foes so much more nimble and able to endure the climate than themselves. This species of warfare must be disheartening and disgusting, and it involves a consumption of life requiring more reinforcements than we can supply. ”

“ Disraeli and Gladstone seem verging towards each other in opposition, but there is no appearance of a coalition between them; the only striking fact is that the Opposition, of whose disunion we have heard so much, and of the internal repulsion supposed to prevail among them, seems to be as united as ever it has been, and the usual people appeared at Derby's and Disraeli's gatherings. I take it that any appearance of vulnerability of the Government silences all manifestations of their mutual antipathies, and puts them on the qui vive to turn out their opponents. ”

“ They therefore now confine themselves to a sort of undergrowl, muttering abuse against Russia and Austria, calling out for more stringent terms, and still indulging in a desperate hope that some unexpected difficulty may occur to break off the negotiations and plunge us into war again. The Opposition are as much perplexed as the press, and do not know what course to take, or what is the most vulnerable part of the Government, and they are not agreed among themselves. ”

“ June 26th.—The India Bill appears now likely to pass rather rapidly and in the shape presented by the Government. Everybody is tired to death of the subject and anxious to have it over, and the general impatience is increased by alarm at the foul state of the Thames, which (long discussed in a negligent way, and without much public attention or care) has suddenly assumed vast proportions, and is become an object of general interest and apprehension. ”

“ Lord Lansdowne has declined the offered Dukedom, which I rather regret, for such a public recognition of his character and services during a long life would have been graceful and becoming, and the report of it elicited from all quarters expressions of satisfaction at such an honour having been so worthily conferred.
While Macaulay is thus ascending to the House of Peers, his old enemy and rival Croker has descended to the grave, very noiselessly and almost without observation, for he had been for some time so withdrawn from the world that he was nearly forgotten. ”

“ His popularity is a fact beyond all doubt or cavil, and it is the more decisive, because not only is there no rival popularity, but every one of the other public men who have been, are, or might be his rivals are absolutely unpopular. Nobody cares any longer for John Russell; everybody detests Gladstone; Disraeli has no influence in the country, and a very doubtful position with his own party. ”

“ Political necessities which compel men to act thus insincerely, and to strive to make the worse appear the better cause, with the full consciousness that they are fighting against truth, appear to me frightfully demoralising, a sad sealing of the political conscience, the spectacle of which is enough to scare honourable minds from entering into an arena where the contest is to be carried on in such a manner. ”

“ We can never trust the Emperor again, and must take measures for our own security as best we may; but unhappily the Indian war has so materially diminished our power and absorbed our resources, and France has so enormously gained upon us in point of naval strength, that we are not in a condition to hold the language and play the part that befit the dignity and the honour of the country. ”

“ It seems to be entirely forgotten that in times when the Royal and ministerial authority were much stronger than they are supposed to be now, and before the Reform Bill had effected a sort of revolution in favour of the democratic principle, all governments, however powerful or popular, sustained occasional defeats and were obliged to submit to them, it being of course perfectly understood that defeats which conveyed want of confidence and the withdrawal of the general support of the House of Commons were to be deemed fatal and conclusive. ”

“ If he had done this, there is little doubt that he would have whipped up a majority by Monday. Certainly no people ever so mismanaged their affairs. There is no excuse for their having put on the table of the House of Commons such a despatch as Walewski's, without any reply being made to it. It required no great sagacity to anticipate that such a course of proceeding could not fail to throw the House of Commons into a flame, and exasperate the country, already much excited, and all the excuses they made only made their case worse, and were generally inconsistent with each other. ”

“ While we have been settling our Government for good or for evil, the war has continued to pursue its course of uninterrupted success of the Allies, and unless something almost miraculous should occur, the Austrian dominion in Italy may be considered as at an end. The sentiments of people here are of a very mixed and almost contradictory character, for they are on the whole anti-Austrian, anti-French, and though more indulgent than they deserve to the Sardinians, not favourable to them. ”