Henry Reeve

“ The mere continuance of the struggle will be quite sufficient to make it impossible for anyone—for Lord Derby as much as for Lord Palmerston—to stop it or to foresee where it will lead. Has Austria the will and the strength to prolong the struggle? Or will she be alarmed and intimidated by her first defeats, and be persuaded to make such concessions as will give, if not Italy herself, at least her patrons for the time being, a decent pretext to declare themselves satisfied, and to retreat in triumph? ”

“ Kings can no longer claim to be guided only by their personal interests and passions; and now—when it is agreed that England cannot remain neutral in a war between France and a great Continental Power; when it is admitted that a Continental war, however short, would surely awaken the hatred of all princes and all neighbouring people, and would end in a coalition against France—now, I say, to plunge into such an adventure would be not only the most silly, but the most wicked thing which a Frenchman could do. ”

“ For a very able man his ambition was singularly moderate. As he once said, he had made it his object throughout life only to aim at things which were well within his power. He had very little respect for the judgement of the multitude, and he cared nothing for notoriety and not much for dignities. A moderate competence, congenial work, a sphere of wide and genuine influence, a close and intimate friendship with a large proportion of the guiding spirits of his time, were the things he really valued, and all these he fully attained. ”

“ From the Comte de Paris
Chateau d'Eu, le 2 janvier 1883.
Mon cher Monsieur Reeve,—Je suis bien touché de la bonne pensée que vous avez eue de m'écrire à l'occasion de la nouvelle année. Je vous remercie de tous vos bons voeux, et je vous prie de recevoir ici l'assurance de ceux que je forme pour vous et pour les vôtres.
I am greatly obliged by your remarks on the future of France. This is indeed dark; and, as you so well express it, the sterility of democracy and the impotence of the institutions based on it are most striking. They are especially so here. ”

“ La Celle, October 27th.
My dear Reeve,—I don't know whether the article 'Germany since the Peace of Frankfort' has done in Great Britain so much noise as the 'Affghanistan,' which has been, over here, an event in the literary-politic world. But the first one is quite equal to the second, and gives career to endless (alas! useless, too!) reflections. It is a sombre picture, quite in the style of Rembrandt, with a chiaroscuro much akin to darkness. It can be objected that the lights are sacrificed to the shades. ”

“ People are beginning to understand that the Conservatives cannot remain for ever on the sufferance of the Government. No Government shall he stable but that which they can support. For this they must form a compact and well-organised party. Encouraged by the results of the elections, every one has set to work with new ardour. My only trouble at present is the utter inexperience of the Conservative minority. It is made up of men almost all of whom are new to Parliament, are unacquainted with each other, and as yet are without a leader. ”

“ Since my visit to Paris I have never had a doubt that Louis Napoleon was pursuing, and pursuing actively, a scheme for the annexation of Savoy, and that nothing which this country can say—for doing is out of the question—will have any effect in preventing it. The King of Sardinia is the dog and the shadow. He drops his bone to clutch a phantom of Italian empire, which will dissolve as he approaches it. ”

“ I foresaw that General Boulanger would have no success in England; you are much too serious for such a nature as his. His popularity diminishes daily; and if the Cabinet act with judgement from now to the October elections, I have no doubt they may regain public favour. The triumph of Boulangism would be the signal for horrible anarchy at home and war abroad, provoked by the madmen who had climbed into power.
Monarchy, in the person of the Comte de Paris, is losing rather than gaining ground here. If France should ever return to a dynasty, it would be more likely to be the Bonapartes. ”

“ Paris, March 29th.
My dear friend, I am not surprised at your regret; my own is very keen. Throughout his whole life Sigismond Krasinski was obliged to conceal his true self. Out of regard for his father, who was always a pitiful courtier of success, he denied himself the liberty of saying what he thought, acknowledging what he wrote, or showing to whom he was attached. I was one of those whom he supported by his zealous co-operation. You knew him as a poet; he had become a politician, and seemed destined to exercise a great influence. His loss is irreparable. ”

“ Ceux qui admirent ses institutions et qui croient que leur pondération est la garantie du plus précieux de tous les biens—la liberté, se préoccupent vivement des tendances jacobines de notre ami Gladstone. L'extension du suffrage est logique, l'anéantissement de la chambre des Lords est logique. Mais les meilleures institutions ne sont pas les plus logiques. À force de logique on tend à remplacer le gouvernement pondéré de l'Angleterre par ce que nous appelons le gouvernement conventionnel, c'est à dire le despotisme d'une Assemblée unique appuyée sur la brutale loi du nombre. ”

“ I am disposed to accept gratefully such safeguards of practical justice, and also every possibility of improved education, though I put no great faith in the results of the latter; the great difficulty in the case of every female student being, in my opinion, not the want of power, or perseverance, or energy, but the simple yet much more inexorable fact that she is a woman, and liable, the moment she marries, to interruptions and breaks in her life, which must infallibly weaken all her chances of success. ”

“ In the severe and dangerous trial which she is now undergoing, France may strengthen herself with the thought that her present and personal policy is in exact agreement with the European policy of peace and the law of nations. France has no ambition, no remote designs or secret aim; she asks for nothing; she is defending her rights, her honour, and her territory. Will the Powers, who have hitherto proclaimed their neutrality, assist her by assisting to maintain the European policy of peace and the law of nations? ”

“ Foxholes, August 10th.—I never in my life read a better article than this of Froude on Copyright. It is incomparably good in force of argument, vigour of style, point, and truth, and, I think, will go far to settle the assailants of copyright. I confess I enjoy the smashing of the sages of the Board of Trade and old Trevelyan. They will see that if they attack literature, literature is able to defend itself. ”

“ From Lord Brougham
Cannes, April 10th.—Many thanks for your letter, which gives me information much beyond what my other letters give, but far from agreeable either as to home or foreign affairs. This destruction (I fear I must call it) of the Liberal party by the personal vanity, which they call by the higher name of ambition, of two persons is truly deplorable; and the conduct of the Government in dissolving is such as can hardly be exceeded in folly. We shall have an increased split, I fear, of the Liberals, and a weaker Government than ever. ”

“ A European war must be the consequence, a war in which England must ultimately take a part; and the man who calmly and dispassionately endeavours to open the eyes of his countrymen to the truth, and who, regardless of passing obloquy, dares to assert it, is their real benefactor; and though, at the first moment, he may share the fate of those who tell unwelcome truths, justice will ultimately be done him, though not, perhaps, till the cry of regret is raised that his warning and advice were both neglected. ”