  Anyone whose memory needs refreshing will find in the 'Edinburgh Reviews' of the next five years sufficient indication of the interest which Reeve continued to take in the great questions of the day, whether at home or abroad; but his private correspondence at this time is mainly devoted to social or literary topics. The death of Lord Clarendon in England, of M. Guizot in France, had deprived him of the living keys to the dark problems of policy, and there was no one with equal knowledge and opportunities to take their place. He was, too, in opposition. In form, at least, the principles of the 'Edinburgh Review' differed widely from those of the Government; and though many things even then told of a probable rapprochement of moderate Whigs and moderate Conservatives, it was still held by most to be an extravagant dream. But even had it been otherwise, the personal element was wanting. With Disraeli, Reeve's acquaintance was limited; with Lord Salisbury, though on friendly terms, he had never been intimate; his intimacy with Lord Derby was of a later date. From our foreign embassies and from India, his communications were on a more familiar footing; but many of these took the form of articles for the 'Review,' and of the rest, in view of the delicacy of the subjects discussed, the frankness with which they were discussed, and the comparatively recent date, it has seemed unadvisable to publish much. The result of all which is that during this peculiarly busy, exciting and important time, Reeve's available correspondence is more purely personal than at any other period of his working life. The Journal is seldom anything else. It records here:— October, 1874.—M. de Jarnac was now French Ambassador, to my great delight, as he was a very old and valued friend. The first planting at Foxholes was done in the course of this autumn, but the garden was not made till the following spring. November 17th.—Dined at Lord Derby's with several of the ministers, and was introduced to Count Schouvaloff. 20th.—Dinner at home to the Jarnacs, Lady Derby, Lady Cowley, Lady Molesworth, Chief Justice Cockburn and A. Elliot. Several pleasant dinners through the winter. December 22nd.—To Paris, with Christine and Hopie. Cold. On the 26th breakfasted with the Due d'Aumale, and went with him to the Institute. Evening, Duchesse de Chartres. 27th, dined at Versailles with Thiers; Mignet, BarthelÉmy St.-Hilaire and Vacherot. It was on this occasion that Thiers related the story of the Duc d'Enghien. January 1st, 1875.—We dined at the Embassy for the Jour de l'an. While there rain fell and the streets were covered with verglas. I walked with great difficulty to Thiers's at the HÔtel Bagration, three doors off, where the scene was burlesque. Not a carriage could move; not a horse could stand; and the company walked home with napkins tied round their feet. [But Mrs. Reeve, who was at the dinner, wrote: Our fiacre managed to crawl home with Hopie and me. Henry, who had gone to the Thiers's, returned safely on his feet tied up in dusters. M. Thiers suggested dusters on the hands also, so as to go À quatre pattes; but Henry did not become a quadruped. I was horribly uneasy till he came in, but his was the ludicrous side of the question; of the tragic, I heard next day plenty of instances.] January 3rd.—Dined with the Duc de Nemours, and went to the Duchesse Decazes's reception. Home on the 7th. From the Rev. G. W. Cox [Footnote: Now Sir George Cox, Bart.] February 5th.—Nothing but lack of leisure has prevented me from expressing sooner the very hearty satisfaction and delight with which I have read and re-read your article on Mill's Essays. I suppose it is this article which has sent the 'Edinburgh' into a second edition. I am rejoiced to think that it is so. The ground which you take is, I feel sure, impregnable; but the force of your whole argument, which is much what I have tried to work out for years past, only makes me lament the more the folly of the line taken by most of the writers who shrink from the materialistic and atheistic philosophy of Mill and Tyndall—for the latter seems to put himself into the same boat. I believe that the thought of England is, on this subject, taking, or is likely to take, a very healthy turn, which such an article as yours must greatly promote. From M. B. St.-Hilaire Paris, February 5th. My dear Reeve,—I have received your article on Mr. Stuart Mill, for which I thank you. I read it with the greatest interest, and congratulate you on your vigorous refutation of that supercilious and hollow materialism. I am glad, too, to see that you have profited by M. Dumas's last discourse on M. de la Rive. You have done well to record these declarations of a permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, M. Dumas's character has not the moral authority which is desirable in such serious matters. His taking part in public business, far from increasing his credit, has lessened it; even his scientific standing has suffered; people doubt his sincerity; and his interested flattery of the Empire does not show that greatness and purity of soul which inspire confidence. He is, however, everywhere recognised as a man of great ability, and I am truly glad that he should be counted among the partisans of spiritualism. I believe the other permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences is far from sharing these opinions; and it is, therefore, all the more important that M. Dumas should profess them publicly. With you, materialism is an exception and an eccentricity. With us, on the contrary, it is almost the rule of the learned world; and the Catholic clergy, given up to superstition and ultramontanism, do not in any way help us to combat it. It was an honour to the 'Edinburgh Review' to adhere so stoutly to the principles you uphold; and for this, it is indebted to you. AgrÉez, mon cher Reeve, mes salutations bien cordiales, que je prÉsente aussi À toute votre famille. Votre bien dÉvouÉ, B. ST.-HILAIRE.The Journal continues:— March 6th—Sir Arthur Helps died. [He caught a chill at the levee on the Monday, and died on the Saturday.] Charles Peel was appointed Clerk of the Council. 22nd.—Jarnac died—a great loss. I drove down with Lord Derby to the funeral. April 1st.—Saw Salvini in 'Othello' at Drury Lane. Very fine. 2nd.—To Christchurch. Roof on house at Foxholes. Garden beginning to be made. On the 6th, lunched with the Lord Chancellor at Bournemouth. Bought additional strip of land. From Professor Owen British Museum, May 13th. My dear Reeve,—Two portraits would be famous and instructive and replete with interest to all ages; to wit: the one of Miss Reeve (?) [Footnote: Lady Smith. The (?) presumably is whether the portrait was taken before or after her marriage.] by Opie, showing the 'human face divine' in a female of the highest race of mankind, at her prime of beauty; and the second—could it but be got—by Millais, of Lady Smith, giving the characteristics of the same face, of the same individual, at a stage of human life never again likely to be a subject for art, under the same circumstances. For the 'Natural History of the Human Species,' such a pair of portraits would be notable in every work thereon, as well as in countless collateral works; and that to all time. The present opportunity is worth every exertion to availment; if lost, it is most improbable that it may ever again occur. Can you enlist your sympathy and aid in bringing this about? [Footnote: Sir Richard Owen succeeded in obtaining a pair of photographs, taken from the Ople and the life. His grandson, the Rev. Richard Owen, has them now.] Yours always truly, RICHARD OWEN.From Lady Smith Lowestoft, May 14th.—Dear Mr. Reeve,—As we know not what the morning mail may bring forth, I look with impatient curiosity when I see letters on my breakfast table; so yesterday had the great pleasure of perceiving yours, knowing I should have something pleasant to hear, but little anticipating what followed—the news of Arthur Stanley. To be remembered kindly by the Dean of Westminster, anywhere, is honour; but to be [so] in so distinguished a manner and in a place dedicated to [such] a name as Fox is an honour never to be forgotten. Besides the domestic blessings I enjoy, I also reckon that of living to witness the progress of a new Reformation, in which the Dean of Westminster is the brightest light; and who, like Shakespeare among the poets, stood on a higher pedestal than they—exalted and good men as they are. I always rejoice that the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and Stanley are good friends and worthy of each other. If I could write better, I would tell you what my friend Mr. Leson Smith said of the Greville Memoirs,, quite approving all of it. In a second letter he turns the shafts aimed at yourself upon the calumniator. The Dean of Oxford also approves. I am in better health than I was two years since, and have nothing to complain of but a failing sight, which hinders my expressions of gratitude to you for your friendship to Pleasance Smith. Oh that you were here to see the wild beauty of the heath and dunes—a cloth of gold far as the eye can reach!—what was the Field of Cloth of Gold to this! Continuing the Journal:— May 20th.—Went to Holland, by Harwich, to see the Queen. Dined with Her Majesty at the House in the Wood. On the 24th, breakfasted with the Queen in the boudoir at the end of the Gallery in the Wood. Charming spring morning. Went on to Aix. Home by Ostend on the 31st. June 15th.—Helen Richardson was married to Sir Edward Blackett at Ottershaw. We went down the day before. 22nd.—The Queen of Holland came to London. Dined with Her Majesty at the Sandbachs' on July 1st. She came to see the statue of Lord Clarendon at the Foreign Office on July 2nd. July 6th.—I took the Queen of Holland to see the Novar pictures. Meadows Taylor stayed with us. Christine went to take the waters of St.-HonorÉ in France. Robert Lemon [Footnote: Son of Robert Lemon, a clerk in the State Paper Office, and editor of some of the Calendars of State Papers, who died in 1867.], my clerk for thirty-three years, died in a fit. Reeve deeply felt the loss of one who had been for so long associated with him; but, independently of this, Mr. Lemon's death at this particular time had an important influence on Reeve's immediate future. For some months he had been contemplating retiring from the office, which he had now held for close on forty years, in the view of devoting himself more exclusively to literary work—apparently to a task of some magnitude. He had also been in correspondence with Mr. Longman on a proposal from the firm that he should act as their literary adviser; and thus, after long consideration he had, on July 5th, mentioned, in a semi-official manner, his wish to retire in October. On July 6th he wrote to Mr. Longman, provisionally accepting the offer of the firm; but the next day had to write again— What a world is this! On Monday I told the Duke [of Richmond] I would resign on October 25th. Yesterday evening, my chief clerk, Robert Lemon, had an apoplectic fit, and he died in the course of last night. He was a most excellent and valuable assistant to me, and I looked forward to him to drill in my successor. It may now become impossible for me to leave the office as soon as I meant to do, for poor Lemon and myself are the only two men who know the detail of the business, and I can't leave the department derelict. It is a most melancholy and distressing occurrence. July 14th.—It is clear that the vacancy which has occurred in this office will detain me here six months, and perhaps a year longer than I wished or intended. This being so, our arrangements must remain in abeyance, with entire liberty to you to renew or withdraw your offer. At this distance of time it is superfluous to discuss details, but if I accept the duties you propose to me, I should of course adapt my movements and residence to the exigency of the case. At present, I find my work here vastly increased, because I have to look more to the detail of the business. The contemplated arrangement was thus postponed for the time, and was not again taken up in that form. Reeve continued—as he had long done—to act as confidential adviser to the firm; but he remained at the Council Office for another twelve years, and when he ultimately retired, it was not with the view of undertaking any heavy additional work. The Journal goes on:— August 2nd.—To Paris. Met Christine at Dijon on the 3rd. Then by Dole to Vevay. Binet came. Met the Wodehouses. Visit to the Blumenthals at their chalet. 13th, to the Gorges du Trient, and so to Chamonix, with Binet and Christine. Splendid weather at Chamonix. 16th, St. Martin's; full moon rising behind Mont Blanc. 17th, to ChambÉry, St. Laurent du Pont, and the Grande Chartreuse—very interesting. Geneva on the 20th, and back to Vevay on the 21st. Thence to BesanÇon, Belfort, and Nancy. 27th, Metz. Drove round the fields of battle of Gravelotte and St. Privat. To Brussels, by Luxembourg. Bought furniture at Brussels for Foxholes. Home by Antwerp on September 1st. October 7th.—To Bournemouth, to look over Foxholes. 26th, Timsbury. November 20th.—House nearly finished. Christmas at Farnborough. The workmen left Foxholes on December 28th. The Government bought the Khedive's shares in the Suez Canal. I attacked the bargain in the 'Edinburgh Review.' But from the earliest inception of the Suez Canal, Reeve had strongly opposed it. He held, and in fact all history warranted him in holding, that the opening of a water-way through the isthmus would be more than prejudicial, would be destructive, to English interests. He was very far from being alone in this opinion; it was one which he shared with several of the most able and experienced men of the day, quite irrespective of party. France, on her side, indulged in golden dreams. The wealth and grandeur of mediaeval Venice was to find its counterpart in the commercial prosperity of Marseilles; and it is permitted us to believe that much of the enthusiasm which the scheme excited was due to the hope that it would irretrievably damage England. Hence, too, the ill will rising out of the disappointment, out of the conviction forced on the people of France that, far from injuring us, it has turned out altogether to our advantage. French skill constructed the canal, French capital paid for it. England stood aloof till success was achieved, and then hastened to reap the profit; then, by buying up the shares, doubled that profit; and since then, by the occupation of Egypt, has usurped the control of the whole. Never has there been such a case of the Sic vos non vobis; and the French are very angry. Reeve's constant and familiar intercourse with French society had necessarily taught him the opinions so universally held in France, and had persuaded him that the only safe plan for England was to have nothing to do with the pestilent thing. Disraeli, on the other hand, with a wider grasp of the situation, understood that, in this, at any rate, inactivity was not masterly, and that by boldness the enemy would be hoist with their own petard. From Lady Smith Lowestoft, December 5th. Dear Mr. Reeve,—It gave me pleasure to see your handwriting again, and some surprise. In the first place, I must mention that I think you would prefer Opie's original portrait to that which I possess, which, though by Opie, is the copy of my portrait. When I last saw the original picture it was in the Royal Academy; where it is now, I do not know; but [that] may perhaps be ascertained. I must add that from its long residence in London it looked very dingy, and required a refreshment from some good picture-mender, and fresh varnish. If this picture is not come-at-able, I shall be happy to send that I have here, of which you will acquaint me, and send particular directions of the place and time it may be expected. I am glad to hear you, and Mrs. Reeve, and my amiable young friend your daughter are well. I hear you are building a superb mansion at Bournemouth; a charming place, I have no doubt. My kind regards to you and them, from your attached friend, PLEASANCE SMITH. Very sorry am I to hear of Lady Augusta Stanley's hopeless illness, and happy am I to observe the Dean's perpetual vigour. Long may he continue to illume the realm of mist in that Temple of Reconciliation where his light shines in so brilliant a lustre. In what a remarkable period do we live! The picture by Opie was exhibited from Mr. Botfield's [Footnote: Beriah Botfield, of Deckel's Hill, Shiffnal, Shropshire, and Grosvenor Square; died 1863.] collection (at one of the Old Masters' Exhibitions) about nine or ten years ago. The Journal notes:— January 1876.—I meant to go to Paris, but gout came on, and I gave it up. March 28th.—Sent down furniture, &c. by vans to Foxholes. April 2nd.—Took possession of Foxholes; cold and windy, and I gouty. To Mr. T. Longman Foxholes, April 19th.—Lady Holland has written me a note quite as amiable as her brother, and all the family seem to be satisfied with my article. The little crack of the whip just nicked the fly on Abraham's ear. A touch is often more keenly felt than a blow, when dealt in the right place. The only fault to be found with living here is that life glides away too rapidly, and I feel as if I should hardly have time to read over again the works of the Immortals, before I go to join them. We have just got a splendid billiard table, and Hopie and I intersperse cannons and winning hazards with literature. And the Journal:— April 27th.—Returned to town. Very bad fit of gout. This was the year of my grand climacteric (sixty-three), and I was uncommonly ill. I went to Aix, May 30th; but was worse there, and came back, June 19th. July 7th.—Garden party at Holland House; the only thing I was able to go to this year from incessant gout. 12th.—Came down to Foxholes. Great heat; no rain from April till August. To Lord Derby 62 Rutland Gate, April 28th. My Dear Lord Derby,—I cannot forbear to express to you our very great and cordial sympathy in the great loss you have sustained.[Footnote: The Dowager Countess of Derby died on April 26th, 1876.] It was Gray, I think, who said that a man can have but one mother, and in losing her one loses the only real witness of the tenderest part of the growth of life. Nobody else has any memory for infancy, childhood and youth, and no one else has the same claims to dutiful affection. The loss is irreparable. I find it so myself every day. Lady Derby had the happiness to see you combine with the most affectionate regard for her the public duties and honours which are almost hereditary in your family. Few women have seen life played out on a nobler scale. She was the link between two generations of statesmen, and lived in the entire intimacy and affection of both. But these considerations cannot alleviate sorrow! With every assurance of sincere regard to yourself and Lady Derby from Mrs. H. Reeve. Continuing the Journal:— August 12th.—Disraeli made Earl Beaconsfield. 14th.—From Southampton to Havre and Rouen with Christine and Hopie. Dined with the Cardinal de Bonnechose; Circourt joined us there. 17th.—To the ChÂteau d'Eu; found there the Duc de Montpensier and Infanta Christine, Duc and Duchesse de Chartres, Mme. de Rainneville and Lambert de Sainte-Croix. Drive in forest; very hot. 21st.—Celebrated our silver wedding at Eu. To Dieppe and back by Havre on the 24th. William Longman came to Foxholes. Saw Lady Charlotte Bacon [Footnote: See ante, vol. i. p. 88.] again. Mrs. Reeve gave 'Ianthe,' whom they met at a luncheon party at Bournemouth, a fuller notice. She wrote, 'A bad husband and narrow means kept her out of England for thirty-five years or so, and she is now a corpulent matron of seventy, with no trace of those charms sung by the poet.' All this autumn an immense agitation was kept up, chiefly by Gladstone, on the 'Bulgarian Atrocities.' Meetings were held all over the kingdom. I published an article in the 'Review' in October, which Lord Derby said was the first thing that turned the tide. It soon turned altogether; and in a few months the people were as anxious to attack the Russians as they had been to coerce the Turks. To Mr. Dempster Foxholes, October 17th.—Can you, who know all the genealogies of Scotland better than the Red Lion himself, tell me what relation Countess Purgstall was to Dugald Stewart? [Footnote: She was his wife's sister.] I know she was a Cranstoun; but was she related to the great Professor? When my father was in Vienna in 1805, she received him very kindly, because he had known Dugald Stewart, and followed his lectures in Edinburgh. I enjoy my life here above all things. Four months have slipped away in this Olympian calm, between the sea and the sky, and I fancy that the New Forest is the Highlands; but it is time to be up and doing, and next week I return to London, with a large stock of health and good spirits. Matters look very black in the East. I am afraid it is a deep-laid Russian plot, which Gladstone has done not a little to promote and encourage. You will see that I have held to my own line in the Blue and Yellow. To Mr. T. Longman Rutland Gate, November 1st.—I have a great dislike to the proposal of reprinting an article of my own in a cheap form. It seems to me to be descending to the level of Mr. Gladstone's sixpenny agitation. Moreover, the political situation is now considerably altered. Many things which were said hypothetically on October 12th have assumed a different shape on November 1st. But if any arrangement can be made to supply the Mayor of Bristol with one hundred copies of the 'Review,' at a cheap rate, I shall be very glad of it. The cheap republication of the attractive article would be just as injurious to booksellers who have copies of the 'Review' on hand as the distribution of copies of the 'Review.' Both measures interfere with the regular course of sale, and are therefore mischievous. The Journal notes:— January 23rd, 1877.—The Folkestone (Ritualist) case [Footnote: Ridsdale v. Clifton and others. See Times, January 24th and following days. Judgement, Times, July 19th.] heard by the Judicial Committee, by eleven privy councillors, and five bishops. It lasted nearly a fortnight. January 24th.—Christine and I went to pay a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Cleveland at Battle Abbey. It was singularly interesting and agreeable. Nothing could exceed the vivacity of the Duchess, or her attention to her guests. The party consisted of Maud Stanley, Charles Newton, Banks-Stanhope, Raglan Somerset, and the Mercer Hendersons. I have known the Duke these forty years, having first met him at the Duchesse de Mailly's, in Paris, about the year 1836. He is the only Englishman I ever knew who is perfectly at home in the best French society, and as Lord Harry Vane he was extremely popular in Paris. There is now nobody living who has known so many of my oldest and best friends—most of whom are now no more—both in Paris, Geneva, and London; and our talk of these old times was most abundant. Battle Abbey is certainly one of the most curious and beautiful remains in England, and as it was built on the morrow of the Conquest (1067), it is astonishing how much remains. The present drawing-room is a long, low-arched room, with Gothic arches springing from columns of Purbeck marble. Much of the great refectory and part of the cloisters still remains. This is part of the original building of William the Conqueror. The great gateway and outer wall is of the time of Edward III. The great hall is about two hundred years old. The Abbey was given by Henry VIII. to Sir Anthony Browne, and afterwards purchased in 1722 by the Websters, from whom the Duke of Cleveland bought it a few years ago. The Duchess drove us over to call at Ashburnham, about three miles on the other side of Battle. There we saw a most beautiful Sir Joshua of Lady St. Asaph (the present Earl's grandmother) and the shirt King Charles wore on the day of his execution. Lady Ashburnham told us that old women had, in our time, asked for leave to spread the cloth which is with it over children to cure the King's evil. Lord Ashburnham [Footnote: He died in June 1878, in his eighty-first year.] is himself a sight—a man of eighty, in high boots, very deaf, very caustic, and clever; possessing under lock and key most wonderful literary treasures and curiosities. He gave 3,000 £ for a manuscript bible, but that we did not see. February 3rd—Lady Smith died at Lowestoft, aged 103 and 9 months. March 13th—Tennyson dined at The Club; Archbishop and Chancellor there. 16th—To Foxholes. April 14th, back to town. It was about this time that Miss Agnes Clerke—who has since come into the foremost rank as a popular exponent of science and as the biographer of its votaries—was making her dÉbut in literature, and contributed two articles to the 'Edinburgh Review,' the one in April on 'Brigandage in Sicily,' and the other, which appeared in July, on 'Copernicus in Italy,' subjects which her residence in Italy had brought more immediately under her notice. Just before the publication of the first of these Reeve wrote to her, introducing M. de Circourt, who was then at Florence where Miss Clerke was. A fortnight later he wrote again in answer to her reply. Rutland Gate, April 19th. My Dear Miss Clerke,—It gives me very sincere pleasure to have contributed to introduce you to your first literary success. I hope it may be the prelude to many more. I can hardly venture to recommend to you the course in which you should steer your bark. On scientific subjects I am very ignorant, but there has been an article in the 'Review' on Spectrum Analysis, by Professor Roscoe, and another on the Transit of Venus last year. You have the advantage of seeing before your eyes the intellectual renaissance of Italy, and it has already supplied you with two very good subjects. It is probable that before October something else may turn up. If not, I will send you a book from England to review—for instance, Miss Wynne's Letters and Journals, which are being printed, and will come out in October. Miss Wynne was a delightful person, who lived in the society of Paris, when it was most agreeable. M. de Circourt is the last survivor of it—unless I may be reckoned a survivor too. I am glad you appreciate him. He was private secretary to M. de Polignac in 1830, and married in 1832 an incomparable Russian—Mlle. de Klustine. They used to say that she knew seventeen languages and he eighteen. She died some years ago from a burn, and Circourt now passes his life chiefly with Mme. d'Affry and her daughter, the Duchess Colonna. I have another cousin (besides Mrs. Ross) who passes her winters in Florence, or near it—Mrs. James Whittle. She is a great invalid, and never goes out. But she is now returning to a Schloss (Syrgenstein) they have in Bavaria. … You are right. I have left my hill, which overlooks the great seaway between the Needles and Hengistbury Head, and come to London for the next three months; but I had much rather stay in my hermitage. London is as disagreeable as an east wind can make it. Believe me, Yours faithfully, H. REEVE.The Journal here notes:— April 25th—Lord Derby gave a great dinner at the F.O. I sat between Stirling-Maxwell and Pender. May 9th—Lord Derby presided at the Literary Fund dinner. I proposed the health of the Chinese Ambassador. I retired this year from the council of the Literary Fund. 18th—Went to Paris alone. 20th, long interview with the Duc Decazes. Dined at the Embassy. Thiers in the evening. May 22nd—Dinner at Laugel's. [Footnote: The Duc d'Aumale's secretary.] Duc de Broglie, Duc Decazes, Chabaud-Latour and the Haussonvilles. The 'coup d'État of the Marshal,' as it was called, when Macmahon turned out Jules Simon and the Radicals, took place on May 16th, just before I reached Paris. Hence the agitation was extreme; and at this dinner at Laugel's I had to encounter the dukes, who wanted to know why we disapproved their measure. 23rd.—Dined with Thiers, who was depressed. I had, however, several important conversations with him during this visit, of which I took a note. He expected to become president again. If that had happened, much would have been altered, but he died on September 3rd. 28th.—Back to London. Related to Lord Derby what Thiers said. 31st.—Severe gale. To Foxholes for a day on June 2nd. June 12th.—The Duc d'Aumale came over to dine with The Club. 19th.—Mrs. Oliphant's party to Maga at Runnymead [to celebrate her 25th year of alliance with 'Blackwood's Magazine.' A lovely day, and an amusing party of littÉrateurs, publishers, writers, &c.] July 19th.—Came down to Foxholes. October 18th.—London to Durham, with Hopie. Durham Cathedral. 19th, to Matfen (Sir E. Blackett's); 24th, to Yester (Lord Tweeddale's) by Edinburgh; 29th, to Ormiston; and 31st to Minto. Back to town on November 3rd. Some London dinners. To Mr. T. Longman C. O., November 8th.—There ought to be, in the January number, an article on the Organisation of the Liberal Party. I have asked several leading politicians of the party to undertake it, but in vain. The truth is, that it is a very thankless and hopeless subject; and the recent discussion of the county franchise by Lowe and Gladstone renders it still more difficult. I put my own opinions wholly out of the question, and should give carte blanche to any competent and accredited writer to treat the subject. I think I shall ask Lord Hartington what he wishes to be done. My own opinion is that this county franchise move is suicidal to the Liberal party, and I clearly perceive that the Tories are preparing—when somewhat hard pressed—to take up and carry some such measure, accompanied by a redistribution of seats that will swamp a great many Liberal boroughs. They say, If the thing is to be done, we had better do it…. It is generally supposed that Gladstone published his article, which points to universal suffrage, in order to cut the ground from under Hartington's feet at the Scotch meetings. Hitherto Whig principles and the whole Whig party have been decidedly opposed to an unrestricted franchise. C.O., November 15th—Lord Granville is so cautious and reserved a man that it is impossible to extract any definite opinion or advice from him. I have tried repeatedly, and I never got so much as a hint from him worth anything How different from Lord Clarendon or Lord Aberdeen! The truth is that Granville is always waiting upon fortune; ready to take any course that may turn up, but utterly incapable of taking a strong resolution based on principle and conviction…. I dare say May's book will have success. It is very well written; but it is not what I expected. It is an historical survey of the political institutions of all nations, 'from China to Peru,' executed with care and great reading; but there are no traces of original thought, and it leaves you exactly where you were before in relation to the democratic element in society. Bagehot's books have ten times as much thought in them. A most excellent book, which I am reading with great delight, is Mr. Gardiner's 'Reign of Charles I. before the Rebellion.' It is, to me, as interesting as Macaulay, and singularly impartial. And the Journal winds up the year with:— December 12th—To Foxholes. Christmas at Farnborough. [Mrs. Reeve wrote on December 24th: We start this morning for Farnborough Hill. It is now eighteen years that we have spent Christmas with the Longmans.] Back to Foxholes. 1878.—We spent the first week of the New Year at Foxholes, the weather charming, and returned to London on January 11th. To Mr. T. Longman Foxholes, January 7th.—I know the authoress of the Russian letters very well. She is one of the boldest and keenest Russian agents in Europe, who was sent here three or four years ago to endeavour to prepare English society for the coming war, and she has returned here every winter. She has made repeated attempts to capture me, though, as you may suppose, without success. But on politicians of a sentimental cast her influence has been considerable, especially on Gladstone, who is singularly amenable to female flattery, and a perfect child in the hands of a clever intrigante of this kind. But I am certainly sorry that Froude should have attached his name to her letters. To suppose that this great and dreadful war has been undertaken for the sole purpose of 'liberating' the Southern Slavs, and that the Russians hate the Turks because the Tartars conquered Russia some centuries back, are assumptions which can hardly impose on the most credulous of men. This is a war of conquest, and the spirit of the Crusades has been evoked to stimulate an ignorant and enthusiastic people. One of the points of the Russian party in England is to denounce and misrepresent the Crimean war. That war was carried on in defence of great principles of European law—not for the sake of the Turks—by the statesmen to whom we are particularly attached—Palmerston, Clarendon, Russell, Lewis, Panmure, &c. Mr. Carlyle, Froude, Freeman, Goldwin Smith, Bright, and at last Gladstone, were opposed to it. I adhere to the views of the statesmen, which the 'Review' defended in 1854 and 1855. I am, therefore, extremely glad, and think it highly proper and necessary that the Queen should defend the course taken by her ministers and by the nation at that time; and it would be the excess of inconsistency in the 'Review' not to maintain, as a matter of history, the same principles for which we have invariably contended. C. O., January 12th.—One of the first persons I met on coming to London yesterday was Lord Granville, and I had a long talk with him. He was less reserved than usual. I don't know that there is any difference in our view of the foreign question, except that he thinks the Government should have said and done even less than they have done. But the disposition of many of the moderate Whigs, such as Lord Morley, Duke of Bedford, Duke of Cleveland, &c., is to support the foreign policy of the Government. The Duke of Sutherland is to dine at Disraeli's dinner, out of hatred of Gladstone. I believe Dizzy is to have the Garter! Lord Granville said, 'I saw that the last article in the last number of the "E. Review" was not Reeve. It might have been written by a contributor to the "Daily Telegraph."' To this I replied: 'It was written, in fact, by a very intimate friend of your own, who was, I think, staying at Walmer last summer; a man of great experience in political writing, not for the "D. T." but for the "Times;" and, although I don't think it a good article, and differ from many things in it, I thought myself pretty safe in the hands of Sir George Dasent.' It was amusing to see G.'s look of astonishment. Politically, the topic of 1878 was the settlement of the Russo-Turkish war. The fall of Plevna in the previous December, and the subsequent collapse of Turkey, led to the advance of the Russians to San Stefano and the treaty of March 3rd, which seemed a direct step towards the seizure of Constantinople, and the swallowing up of the Turkish Empire. In England public feeling ran very high, but, unfortunately, in opposing currents. The Government was resolved, at all risks, to prevent the extreme result foreshadowed by the Treaty of San Stefano, and to do so by acting on the si vis pacem, para bellum principle. In the East, the Mediterranean fleet was ordered to pass the Dardanelles and to anchor in the Sea of Marmora; whilst at home, a vote of credit to the amount of 6,000,000£. was rapidly passed through Parliament, the navy was strengthened, the army reserves were called out, and the initial preparations were made for the despatch of an expeditionary force. And at this time what threatened to be a serious blow to the Ministry, in reality strengthened it. Lord Derby, the foreign secretary, resigned, possibly influenced, it was said, by personal intimacy with Count Schouvaloff, and in any case disapproving of the measures of the Government. He was succeeded by the Marquis of Salisbury, who, in June, accompanied Lord Beaconsfield to Berlin to attend the Congress, from which they returned on July 16th, bringing back, in Beaconsfield's now classical words, 'Peace with honour.' From Mr. Richard Doyle 7 Finborough Road, January 15th. My Dear Reeve,—When at Foxholes, in August last, I began a sketch of the view from your house. It was my intention to ask you to accept the drawing when complete. In the presence, however, of the very attractive original, I, on leaving, was so little satisfied with my copy that I had not the heart to say anything about it. But, after an interval, and a little more work upon it, I begin to think that, after all, when in town, it perhaps may remind you imperfectly of the fresh skies and blue waters left out of town. So I return to my original intention, and herewith send you the little drawing for your acceptance. With best remembrance to Mrs. and Miss Reeve, yours very sincerely, Richard Doyle. From Mr. Theodore Martin 31 Onslow Square, January 16th. Dear Mr. Reeve,—I have been much gratified by reading the review of my third volume in the 'Edinburgh Review,' which my publishers have just sent me. It brings out with admirable effect the passages which bear on the present crisis—passages which I inserted in the volume from a strong feeling that there would be occasion to strengthen the sound view of the Eastern Question by the emphatic language of the Prince Consort. God grant they may not have come too late! With reference, especially, to what you say at the top of page 151, I must disabuse you of what seems to be the prevailing impression that things in this book have been written by the direct inspiration of the Queen. Not one word of it, from beginning to end, was prompted by Her Majesty, who has left me, from the first, unfettered, to draw my own conclusions, to select the documents to be made public, and to state my own convictions in my own way. What I have selected and what I have written has, when printed, been submitted, of course, for Her Majesty's approval, which, I am happy to say, I have always had. In regard to the third volume, it was written almost entirely last summer and autumn, at my country house, where I had no opportunity of even consulting Her Majesty. Your conjecture, therefore, as to the note you cite on page 151 is a mistaken one. That note only expresses a conviction which I have strongly felt for many years. You will, on reflection, I think, see that I could not with propriety refer to the circumstances alluded to in the note on the same page of the 'Review.' It is one of hundreds of cases where reticence seemed to myself, as, in some sense, representing Her Majesty, to be prescribed to me. When my book is complete, an abridged 'Life' will be published. I am sure this article must do good by being in the hands of the public before the meeting of Parliament. Believe me, very truly yours, THEODORE MARTIN.January 19th.—I have no doubt the Queen will be much pleased with the 'E. R.' article. Believe me, Her Majesty's mind is far too candid and sincere to take any umbrage at what you say about the Prince's Germanism. She may not think it went so far as you do; but she has always frankly acknowledged its existence, seeing, with her usual good sense, both the good and bad effects of any extreme views. If there be any one person more than another to whom the artificial language commonly addressed to royal personages is distasteful, it is the Queen herself. Such at least is my experience. I am delighted to see that the opinions of the Queen and Prince brought forward in this volume are causing some stir in the Parisian journals. They are being used to stimulate an active interest in the Eastern Question; and this, I venture to think, may produce results not unimportant at the present crisis. The Journal here notes:— January 25th.—Huxley lectured on Harvey. February 7th.—Dinner at Dicey's, to meet Mr. Welch, the U.S. minister. John Bright, Hayward, Chandos Leigh, Mme. Van de Weyer there. 8th.—To Foxholes, for three days only. 13th.—The fleet went up the Sea of Marmora, the Russians having approached Constantinople. 28th.—Marriage of Ellinor Locker to Lionel Tennyson in Westminster Abbey. All the literary world there. Imposing aspect of Alfred Tennyson, who looked round the Abbey as if he felt the Immortals were his compeers. The Journal mentions:— March 28th.—Lord Derby resigned the Foreign Office. From Lord Derby March 29th.—What has happened is disagreeable, as all political separations are; but it did not seem to me that there was any choice. As to discussion in Parliament, I suppose I cannot altogether help myself; but it will be a business unwillingly gone into, and not at all unless there seems some chance of being of use. And the Journal:— April 3rd.—Dinner at Longman's. Froude, Trevelyan, Walpoles, Quain. This was the last of the pleasant literary dinners which Longman used to give. 4th.—Great sale of the Novar collection. Fetched over 70,000£. Kirkman Hodgson gave 20,000£. for three Turners. April 13th.—To Foxholes. From Lord Lytton [Footnote: Governor-General of India.] Government House, Simla, April 29th. My dear Mr. Reeve,—I think you in nowise overestimate the value of Meadows Taylor's life and work in India, and I cordially recognise the exceptional claims of the two ladies, on whose behalf you have written to me, to the grant which I regret to hear they require. Their case is rather a difficult one to deal with, owing to the fact that nearly the whole work of Meadows Taylor's life was performed, not in the service of the Government of India, but in that of the Nizam's Government; and we are precluded, by rules as inflexible as the laws of the Medes and Persians, from granting public money to the distressed survivors of our own public servants on purely compassionate grounds. In my own opinion, however, the claim of these ladies may be fairly admitted on other grounds furnished by their father's eminence, not only as a literary man, but also as an administrator, and the fact that his work, though not performed in the service of the Government of India, has been, and is, in various ways, unquestionably beneficial to India. I am glad to say that I have obtained the concurrence of my council in this view of the case, and we propose to grant 100£. a year to each of these ladies from the Indian revenues. Our proposal, however, cannot be acted on without the sanction of the Secretary of State, to whom it will probably be submitted by this mail; and, as it is of a financial character, I think Lord Staplehurst [Footnote: Viscount Cranbrook is meant. The patent of his peerage was not dated till May 4th; but it had been previously understood, and telegraphed to India, that he would take his title from Staplehurst.] cannot deal with it except through his council. It is therefore fortunate that you have secured their suffrages, for at present it seems to be the invariable practice of the 'wise men of the East' at the India Office to reject every proposal, however trivial or however important, which emanates from the Government of India. Yours, my dear Mr. Reeve, very faithfully, LYTTON.Endorsed—The pension was granted on June 30th. From the Comte de Paris ChÂteau d'Eu, May 11th. … I am glad to see that the hope of peace is stronger. A war between England and Russia would be the greatest catastrophe that could fall upon the world at present; it would be the cause of incalculable ruin everywhere. Since the wars of 1866 and 1870 the maintenance of the peace of Europe depends solely upon the relations between England and Russia. To France the preservation of peace is of the deepest interest, for the day it is broken she may expect to see her own frontiers threatened by Germany, either directly or by the moral subjection of Holland, Switzerland, and Belgium. We wish no evil either to England or to Russia; but, above all things, we wish that these two Powers should live in harmony. Here the Journal has:— May 13th.—Returned to town. May 28th.—Gladstone dined at The Club. Six present; interesting. June 3rd.—Excursion to Greenwich to see the telegraph works. Great dinner at the Ship afterwards. |
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