Dr. de Mussy had recommended Reeve to drink the water at Carlsbad, so to Carlsbad they went, and stayed there twenty-four days. The manner of life at Carlsbad may be very wholesome, but no one has ever ventured to speak of it as jovial. The Reeves thought it 'dull enough,' and left it with a feeling of release, on August 23rd. On the 24th they were at Dresden, and reached home on September 3rd. And then came a curious reaction; a disagreeable experience of the Carlsbad treatment. 'Henry,' wrote Mrs. Reeve a few days later, 'who had been quite well and quite free from gout all the time, had a tendency thereto on leaving Hamburg, which, on landing at Gravesend, was a sharp attack in the right hand. He cannot hold a pen…. His doctor and some fellow-patients all say that after Carlsbad waters such attacks are frequent, and that they in no way imply that the waters did not suit.' The Journal goes on:—

September 16th.—To Gorhambury [Lord Verulam's] with Christine. On leaving the house on the 18th to go to the station, the horse in the fly ran away. We were overturned near the park gates, and had a narrow escape. Nobody was hurt, and we drove on [in another fly] to Lord Ebury's at Moor Park.

October 2nd.—To Scotland on a visit to Moncreiff at Cultoquhey; thence to Minard (Mr. Pender's) on Loch Fyne; thence to Edinburgh; Ormiston on the 21st; the John Stanleys there and Lord Neaves. [Footnote: A lord of justiciary, one of the foremost authorities on criminal law in Scotland, and for more than forty years a regular contributor of prose and verse to Blackwood's Magazine.] Lady Ruthven to dinner.

26th.—To Auchin, and home on the 28th.

A bill had passed at the close of the last session for the appointment of four paid members of the Privy Council. They were Sir James Colvile, Sir Barnes Peacock, Sir Montague Smith, and Sir Robert Collier. These judges began to sit on November 6th of this year. The Court, from that time, sat continuously. I obtained an additional clerk, and also an addition of 300 £ a year to my own salary, which was fixed at 1,500 £.

Pleasant visit to New Lodge (Van de Weyer's) in November. Shooting at Lithe
Hill in December.

The Prince of Wales's serious illness. He very nearly died on December 6th.

December 20th.—The Broglies dined with us, to meet Beust and the Foresters.

22nd.—Mrs. Forester asked us, at my desire, to meet Disraeli and Lady Beaconsfield, at a small party. There was nobody else there but Lord and Lady Colville. It was very interesting and agreeable.

1872.—The year opened in Paris, where I had gone after Christmas; the first time I had been there since the war. M. Thiers was President of the Republic. I went to Versailles to see him on January 3rd, and found him in the PrÉfecture—the room that had been occupied just before by the German Emperor. M. Lesseps was there that evening, and we returned to Paris together. He and his friends were apparently very anxious to sell the Suez Canal. I dined with Thiers on the 6th also.

M. Thiers's conversation on the war, the Commune and the siege was very interesting. He said to me: 'Certainement je suis pour la RÉpublique! Sans la RÉpublique qu'est-ce que je serais, moi?—bourgeois, Adolphe Thiers.' He described the withdrawal of the troops from Paris, which was his own act. Then the siege, which he claims to have directed, the battery of Mouton Tout, adding, 'Nous avons enterrÉ, en entrant À Paris, vingt mille cadavres.'

Dined at Mme. Mohl's on the 5th with M. de LomÉnie and M. Chevreuil, who is about eighty-five.

The Duc d'Aumale had opened his house in the Faubourg St.-HonorÉ; reception there.

January 8th.—Dined with the Economists to meet the Emperor of Brazil. I was presented to him, and made a speech in French on the maintenance of the commercial treaty, which was applauded. Back to London on the 9th.

Reeve had already proposed to Mr. Longman to publish a volume of his articles from the 'Edinburgh Review.' He now wrote to him:—

C.O., January 11th.—I find that the French articles I wish to collect and publish amount to twelve. I enclose a list of them. They make about 380 pages of the 'Edinburgh Review' form. How much will that make if printed in a smaller form? The title of the volume is an important matter. I have thought of 'Royal and Republican France,' or 'A Cycle of French History;' but I may think of something better. If you will make the arrangements, I shall be able to supply copy very soon. The introduction can be printed afterwards, I suppose?

I conclude you will publish on the half-profit plan, though my past experience of that system does not lead me to regard it as the road to fortune. Of our military volume about 650 copies were sold, and Chesney and I made 2 £. 3_s_. 0_d_. apiece!

To this Mr. Longman replied:—

From Mr. T. Longman

January 14th.—I will have the calculation made of the articles you mention. I conclude you would wish to print in the usual demy 8vo. form, like Macaulay's Essays and all the other reprints from the 'E.R.'

The plan of a division of profits has been usual in such republications; and it seems peculiarly adapted to them, as neither the contributor nor the publisher can republish separately without the consent of the other. Whether that plan of publication may be a road to fortune or not depends on the demand for the book. I had once the satisfaction of paying 20,000 £ on one year's account, on that principle, to Lord Macaulay. I certainly had no expectation of a fortune from the republication which produced you 2 £ 3_s_. 0_d_.; but had I purchased the right of separate publication for 100 £, I hardly think you would have been satisfied that fortune should have so favoured you at my expense. It seems to be the fashion to decry that mode of publication; but there will always be books that can be published on no other terms, unless at the cost and risk of the author.

From Lord Westbury

Hinton St. George, January 12th.—I am glad to find that you have returned in safety from Paris with your oratorical honours [Footnote: Of the French speech in Paris on the 8th.] rich upon you. I do not think that even Cicero ventured on making an oration in Greek, in Athens; but you have charmed fastidious Paris with your pure accent and your classic French. I was in despair when I found your eloquence imputed to another name; but I heard the error was so generally corrected that you may count on your fame descending unchallenged to posterity.

I should agree with you that Franco was to be despaired of, if France were to be considered as subject to ordinary rules. But she is, and has ever been, so anomalous, that ordinary moral reasoning from history is wholly inapplicable to her. At present, one would think she had reached the lowest depth of moral degradation. She might be usefully touched to the quick, if she could only believe that she is becoming ridiculous in the eyes of Europe.

Not that we can expect a much better fate. When the Treaty of Washington was published, I strove to awaken in the minds of several leading men a full sense of its folly, and of the calamitous consequences that would be sure to follow from such an act of foolish, gratuitous submission; but I made no impression; not even as to the absurdity of introducing new and ill-considered rules, and giving them a retrospective operation. I succeeded with no one. I therefore concluded I must be in the wrong. Now, however, the American indictment bears testimony to the accuracy of my forebodings. I entreated Lord Granville not to permit the arbitration to go on upon such a basis, which it was never intended that the reference should cover or include. It is a fraudulent attempt to extend the reference most unwarrantably; and if the arbitration is permitted to proceed on such a claim, the consequences will be most disastrous. It is a sad spectacle to see a once gallant and high-spirited nation submitting tamely to be thus bullied. If not firmly protested against, and resisted in limine, you will have an award which England will repudiate with indignation; and war, the fear of which has made us submit to these indignities, will be sure to follow.

The relative attitudes of England and the United States in 1896 and 1897 have not materially differed from those of 1872. The policy which has been persistently followed by this country has not yet resulted in war, but it seems to many now, as it did to Lord Westbury then, extremely likely to do so. Peace between two such countries can only be assured when it rests on mutual respect and a community of interests. We may persuade ourselves that, in the main, our true interests are identical; but the recent diplomatic correspondence from the States does not tell of much respect.

But as to the point at issue in 1872, Reeve wrote in reply to Lord
Westbury, about January 15th:—

I agree very much with what you say of the Treaty of Washington, and have never been able to prevail on myself to say a word in its favour. The result is that the fate and honour of this country are placed in the hands of a Swiss and a Brazilian referee, neither of whom knows a word of the English language! Lord Lyons told me so last week in Paris.

The Journal notes:—

January 22nd.—Visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury at Addington—pleasant; but in going up from Croydon on the 23rd, I was nearly killed by a runaway hearse, which struck my cab and knocked it over. I was not hurt, but two accidents in a year made me nervous. [Footnote: See ante, p. 201.]

From Mr. H. F. Chorley

18 Eaton Place West, February 8th.

My dear Reeve,—I send you what I have done in re Hawthorne. I offer a character rather than a review, proved by extracts; since had I gone on in extenso I don't know where I should have stopped. Nothing but my strong wish to get my subject before the public could have made me carry out my article, poor as it is, seeing that I have written it half a leaf at a time, and with a weak, weary hand, the end of which will not impossibly be palsy. But I think as a character, when duly corrected, my work may not come out amiss. Ever yours faithfully, HENRY F. CHORLEY.

Endorsed—Chorley's last note. He died about a week afterwards [suddenly on February 16th. The article had apparently not been finished, and was not published].

From the Journal:—

January 24th.—Went to see the Sandhursts at Brighton, but gout came on worse, and I was ill for some weeks. I presided at The Club, however, on the 27th, the Thanksgiving Day for the recovery of the Prince of Wales, and proposed his health.

March 14th.—I published a collection of my articles on French history and affairs under the title of 'Royal and Republican France.'

From Lord Derby

23 St. James's Square, March 15th.—Many thanks for your book on France. Most of the articles were familiar to me, but all will bear reading again. You here show up the weakness of French public life and the faults of French parties as no one else has done; and I do not recollect to have seen anywhere else pointed out the intimate connexion between the social state of modern France—with every old tradition destroyed, and the continuance of a family, as we understand the word here, rendered impossible—and the political condition, in which every public man is either fighting for his own personal interest and nothing else, or for the triumph of his particular theory of politics, which, if successful, is to be enforced despotically by all the power of a centralised administration. I have never thought so badly of the French future as now—no energy except among the Reds, no power of united action; general apathy even as to the present, and utter indifference to the future.

The Journal continues:—

March 31st.—Came down to Bournemouth for the first time with Hopie and the horses.

April 8th.—Rode to Hengistbury Head and saw for the first time the Southbourne estate. Dined with Lord Cairns. Back to town on the 9th.

17th.—Dined at Lord Derby's. Sat next Lady Clanricarde, who, À propos of Sir H. Holland's 'Past Life,' talked about her father [Footnote: George Canning, d. 1827.] and his last illness. She said that in truth Holland saw Canning very little at Chiswick, and that it was Sir Matthew Tierney who really attended him; and then she told me the following story of Tierney:—News came from Clumber that the Duke of Newcastle was dangerously ill with typhus fever. Tierney was sent down as fast as post-horses could carry him. It was about 1823, in the pre-railway days; and when he arrived he was informed that the Duke had been dead about two hours. Shocked at this intelligence, he desired to see the corpse, which was already laid out. At his first glance he thought he was dead. At the second he doubted it. At the third he cried out, 'Bring me up a bucket of brandy!' They tore the clothes off the body and swathed it in a sheet imbibed with brandy, and then resorted to friction with brandy. In rather more than an hour symptoms of life began to manifest themselves, and in two hours the Duke was able to swallow. He recovered, and lived twenty-five years afterwards. Certainly this triumph over death beats even Dr. Gull's nursing of the Prince of Wales. It is the myth of Hercules and Alcestis.

May 4th.—Visit to Drummond Wolff at Boscombe. A further look at Southbourne. I chose the site I afterwards purchased.

8th.—The King of the Belgians presided at the Literary Fund dinner. Disraeli made a capital speech.

18th.—Visit to Mrs. Grote at Sheire. Called at Albury. Many London dinners.

The Bennett case was heard at this time by the Judicial Committee. Long deliberation on the judgement at the Chancellor's on June 1st. It was delivered on June 8th. [Footnote: See 'The Bennett Judgement' in Edinburgh Review, October 1872.]

From Lord Westbury

June 1st,—I am going to Oxford, and fear I may be late at the committee. There are very important subjects in which we wish to examine you; especially the danger, if not the illegality, of attempting by new legislation to create a new Appellate Jurisdiction for the Colonies.

From Mr. E. Twisleton

3 Rutland Gate, June 6th

Dear Reeve,—I send you herewith Francis's translation of Pinto on Credit, together with the original French work of Pinto. The attack on Pombal is in Francis's concluding observations. Some of the notes are very interesting, as illustrating the feeling of national superiority among the English, and of national depression among the French, between 1763 and the American War of Independence—see pp. 52, 66, 166. My impression is that the French felt more humiliated during that period than during an equal number of years after 1814. The loss of Canada and their expulsion from America wounded their national feelings of pride then nearly as much as the loss of Alsace and part of Lorraine wounds those feelings now. A hundred years ago there were very exaggerated ideas, both in England and in France, as to the strength which a nation derived from colonies.

Yours very truly,

EDWARD TWISLETON.

P.S.—In Francis's Fragment of Autobiography he speaks of this translation as his own; and says that upon accepting his appointment to India he surrendered all his papers to Stephen Baggs, 'in whose name the translation had been published.' See 'Memoir of Sir P.F.' vol. i. p. 366.

The Journal notes:—

June 28th.—Assembly at Grosvenor House. July 2nd, assembly at Lansdowne House. July 3rd, Queen's ball—a very brilliant season.

From Lady Smith

Lowestoft, July 9th.

Dear Mr. Reeve,—In one of your friendly letters to me, after the decease of our valued friend Emily Taylor, you kindly hinted that you would occasionally favour me with a note; but, knowing the demands upon your pen, I should not have reminded you of this kindness but for an incident which occurred last evening when my niece, Ina Reeve, came in to me, saying she had read such a severe and bitter review of your late publication as quite surprised her. As she brought the 'Saturday Review' with her, she read it to me, and perhaps, dear friend, you may have read it, and perhaps guess its author. To me it seems he is not so angry with your books as with yourself. Mr. Reeve floats uppermost in almost every line, and 'tis you he hates. I perceive he cannot endure you, and makes use of your books only to insult you. I hope you will take care how you come in his way, for I am sure he will do you a mischief. Beware of the evil eye! He talks of your ignorance of the New Testament. I could not help thinking how little he is acquainted with its spirit.

I also read with much concern of the treatment by Mr. Ayrton of that admirable Curator at the Kew Gardens—Dr. Hooker. Cruel it will be to science and the public if he is driven from the position he is so competent to fill with good results.

I have read at present only a part of your first volume, which I much enjoyed. Sir James was in Paris about two or three years before the Great Revolution began, but the fermentation was beginning. 'Tis time to relieve you from my imperfect writing, for my sight is not very perfect, and by candlelight I can neither see to read or write. About two months go I completed my ninety-ninth year; but I have health and a new source of happiness in my nephew James and his dear daughter, who are come to reside at Lowestoft. She is a daily friend to me, a second self; as our taste in literature, in poetry, and in morals agree. Only think, the Dean of Norwich sent me his defence of St. Athanasius' Creed!

I am your dear friend,

P. SMITH.

The next entry in the Journal introduces us to the place—a site on the Southbourne estate already spoken of—where, two years afterwards, Reeve built the house in which so much of the last twenty years of his life was passed. It will be seen that for some time he hesitated between this and the neighbourhood of Ascot where, in the autumn, he inherited a small property.

July 13th.—To Christchurch, with Parker and Cockerell, [Footnote: Frederick Pepys Cockerell, one of a family of distinguished architects, and himself of a high reputation. He died at the age of 45, in 1878.] about the house at Foxholes.

17th.—Dined at Duke of Argyll's. 20th, three days at Strawberry Hill. 27th, party at Aldermaston: Otway, Layards, H. Bruce.

Having taken Loch Gair House for the season, went there by Greenock on August 2nd. I paid about twelve guineas a week. [Loch Gair—wrote Mrs. Reeve—is a tiny, land-locked bay on the west shore of Loch Fyne. Park-like grounds, with a pretty burn rushing down, skirt this loch. There is a small kitchen garden, and a dairy of six cows. The best fishing is in Loch Clasken, about a mile and a half west. There is a boat on the loch. The house is a square structure, three stories high, and with underground larders, dairy, &c. and attics for servants, so that there is ample accommodation. I think Henry will enjoy the serene beauty of the place, the balmy air and fragrant odours, and idleness, delicious because earned by hard work.]

The Penders being at Minard, we had the benefit of their society and his yacht. Roland Richardson, Frank Hawkins, Mr. Dempster, the Worsleys, Edmund Wallace, Fairfax Taylor, Sir A. Grant, the Colebrookes, came to stay with us; and Colvile. The Derbys and Sir W. Thomson, [Footnote: Now Lord Kelvin.] Rawlinson, Massey, C. Villiers and the Lowes, staying at Minard.

[Of this time Mrs. Reeve wrote:—The sun is again ruling the day and the moon the night, to the very great glory of Loch Gair. On Sunday (August 18th) the whole Minard party, seventeen in number, came over to tea, much to the amusement of Mr. Dempster, to whom we talked of seclusion, and who did not expect a cabinet minister, a very 'swell' admiral, and sundry fine ladies. Mr. Dempster's was but a short visit, to our regret; and on Monday I took him in the dog-cart to meet the 'Iona' at Ardrishaig.]

October 2nd.—Left Loch Gair. Visit to Orde's at Kilmory; then to Invergarry (E. Ellice's) by the Caledonian Canal. Deer shooting. 11th, to Keir; 16th, to Ormiston; then to Abington—shooting there. To town on October 26th.

Miss Handley died in October. She left me the Winkfield portion of the Bracknell estate, which was afterwards confirmed by a decree of the Master of the Rolls.

November 13th.—Dined at Sandbach's with the Queen of Holland, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Lady Eastlake, and Bishop Wilberforce. A few other dinners.

Monday, 25th.—I have been down to the Van de Weyers at New Lodge, Windsor Forest, from Saturday till Monday, a thing I have frequently done of late. Van de Weyer is almost the last survivor of the brilliant London society of thirty or forty years ago, and to his great literary and social experience he unites an unequalled knowledge of the politics of Europe. During the whole of his reign King Leopold was his own foreign minister; and he succeeded, by his connexion with the Queen of England, and with Louis-Philippe, and with Germany, in creating a most influential position in the world, which he did not impart to his Belgian ministers. But Van de Weyer was the exception. He was the constant channel of communication with the Court of England. The King wrote to him two or three times a week, and he to the King. Their correspondence must be a complete history of the times. Baron Stockmar was to an equal degree in his King's confidence; but Stockmar never had the political position of Van de Weyer, nor do I think he was so able a man. I had hinted, in my review of Stockmar's Life, [Footnote: Edinburgh Review, October 1872.] that his oracular powers had been somewhat exaggerated, and that he was rather more attached to the interests of the House of Coburg than to those of England; for which I do not blame him. However, Van de Weyer and some others of Stockmar's friends (including the Queen) dispute this, and probably think I have not done him justice.

For instance, Van de Weyer asserts that when the marriage of the Queen of Spain was on the tapis, Leopold and Queen Victoria had it in their power to bring about the Coburg marriage, but that they deliberately refused to do so from respect to their engagements with France. And they acted in this with the full concurrence of Stockmar. The Queen of Spain had established, by private means, a correspondence with Queen Victoria. The letters passed through the hands of Mr. Huth, the merchant, and from him to Van de Weyer, who delivered them. Isabella complained in these letters of her desperate and forlorn condition; said she was bullied and threatened by the French, and expressed her abhorrence of the marriage Bresson was urging upon her. She declared that if Leopold and Queen Victoria would sanction the Coburg marriage, she would throw the French over, and marry Prince Leopold the next day.

The King and our Queen held a solemn conference and deliberation on the subject. Palmerston was informed of the transaction; but the ministers seem to have had no great voice in the matter, for the Queen considered the engagement she had entered into at Eu as a personal promise, and England had consistently declared that 'she had no candidate.' To put forward Leopold at the last hour would have been to forfeit this pledge, which, on the contrary, was most strictly and honourably maintained.

It was the knowledge of this, and the consciousness that a less conscientious policy might have rescued the Queen of Spain from a dreadful fate, that rendered the Queen of England and Stockmar so indignant when it turned out that the French Government had been far less scrupulous, and had not only forced on the marriage of the Queen to a man she detested, but had also married the other Infanta to Montpensier.

This communication of Queen Isabella to Queen Victoria is to this day wholly unrevealed.

With regard to Leopold's annuity (which I explained in the 'Edinburgh Review'), it was not only secured by act of Parliament, but by treaty; for there was a regular treaty of marriage concluded between Prince Leopold and the Crown of England on his marriage with the Princess Charlotte.

The intrigues going on with reference to Belgium, both in France and in Holland, during the Polignac Ministry have been alluded to in a former page. [Footnote: Ante, pp. 111-12.] But it is less generally known that at this same time, the Prince of Orange, afterwards William II., was intriguing to form a party to place him on the throne of France in the event of the overthrow of the Bourbons.

He spent thirty or forty millions of francs in bribing officers of the army and others, which was the cause of his subsequent embarrassment and debts. The French found the plot out, and demanded of the King of Holland that the Prince should be signally punished. He was accordingly deprived of his command and of his rank in the army, and even for a time arrested and put in confinement. He then found out that his French adherents had only been deluding him to get his money.

December 4th.—To Teddesley. Shooting there. Thence to Crewe, to meet Lady Egerton of Tatton.

12th.—Henry Greville died. To Farnborough. I determined to publish the Greville Journals.

To Bracknell to see the Winkfield land; and to Timsbury for Christmas.

1873.—At Bournemouth early in January, about the house. To London on January 11th.

January 25th.—Lord Lytton's funeral in Westminster Abbey.

February 14th.—Dined at Harvie Farquhar's. He was one of C. Greville's executors, and was curious about the Journals.

To Mr. W. Longman

C.O., March 4th.—Mr. Morris [Footnote: Edward E. Morris, editor of Epochs of Modern History.] writes under a complete delusion. I could not possibly write anything for him in less than two years; and I had rather not enter into any agreement. On reflection, I am satisfied that it would not answer my purpose to write a popular 'History of the French Revolution' for 100 £, and to surrender the copyright. An author never ought to surrender a copyright unless he is compelled to do so. If I wrote a History of the French Revolution which became a school book or an educational book, it might become a property of some little value.

But the truth is that the 'Review' suffers when I am too busy to write in it; and I have in my hands and before me literary work and materials of a far more remunerative character, which will suffice to fill the remainder of my life. It would be unwise in me to undertake a fresh task, which could not possibly pay me. Therefore, upon the whole, I think you had better put it in other hands. [Footnote: Eventually the work was written by Mrs. S. R. Gardiner, though from a point of view very different, we may believe, from that which Reeve would have taken.] O'Connor Morris would do it very well.

I am sorry to alter my mind. My first impulse was to accept from a wish to oblige you, and from interest in the subject; but further consideration says 'NO!'

The Journal notes:—

March 19th.—Dined at Goschen's at the Admiralty. Mme. Novikoff there, an active Russian agent.

Mr. Gladstone's Government was beaten by a majority of three. Most of the casual elections this year went against the Government. Gladstone resigned on this occasion, but came in again, which he had better not have done.

March 31st.—Dined with Charles Austin—very old and infirm; his last effort. Lord Belper was there.

To Bracknell at Easter, in Miss Handley's house. Took the horses; went to meet of Queen's Hounds; stayed there till April 19th.

To Mr. W. Longman

Old Bracknell House, April 13th.

My dear William,—I am glad you have been to see my scrap of land. I have taken a great fancy to the spot, and should be very well contented to end my days there, gazing on that magnificent view of the coast and the sea. At present I am spending this vacation in Berkshire, and only suffering from the excessive cold.

I am reading with the greatest interest Baron HÜbner's 'Promenade autour du Monde,' which was reviewed in the 'Times' two or three days ago. It is a work of extraordinary merit and importance. I shall review it in the next 'Edinburgh,' and I strongly recommend you to publish a translation of it, if you can. I have seldom read so wonderful a book.

Ever yours faithfully,

HENRY REEVE.

The Journal goes on to speak of perhaps the most remarkable 'centenarian' of the nineteenth century:—

May 23rd.—Dined at Lord Stanhope's with the Antiquaries. Dean Stanley proposed Lady Smith's health. She was just 100.

Pleasance Reeve, Lady Smith, widow of Sir James Smith, the botanist and founder of the Linnaean Society, was born on May 11, 1773, and christened on the following day at Lowestoft, where her baptismal register still exists. On May 13, 1873, having just completed her hundredth year, she caused a dinner to be given to the hundred oldest persons in Lowestoft, whose joint ages averaged seventy-seven years, and public rejoicings were held in the town. On May 24th I went down with my daughter to see her, and spent the best part of three days with her. Married in 1795 to Dr. Smith, afterwards Sir James, she had been the intimate friend, in Norwich, of my grandfather and grandmother. On my father's marriage in 1807, he took a house in Surrey Street, next door to the Smiths, and their intercourse was perpetual. I have myself no earlier recollection than that of her kindness to me and attachment to my mother. We used to sit in their pew at the Octagon Chapel, Norwich; and the first evening party I can remember was at her house, when Mrs. Opie and William Taylor were present—the latter I think rather drunk!

We found Lady Smith at Lowestoft on this 24th of May, sitting in her chair, looking extremely well, though shrunk; her voice was firm and unchanged; no deafness; no dulness of sight; and when they served a little collation she had ordered for us, she got up, moved to the table, and did the honours.

She complained, however, that the excitement of the last two or three weeks had impaired her strength and taken away her appetite, I told her that the evening before, when I was dining at Lord Stanhope's with the Antiquaries, her health had been proposed in a graceful speech by the Dean of Westminster. The venerable Society drank the most venerable lady. This affected her, and she exclaimed, 'You must not tell me such things as these. They drive me mad. I find it harder to support the many marks of kindness and distinction I have received than to bear the burden of a hundred years.'

I asked her what was the first thing she remembered. She said she was confident she remembered being taken to her aunt's at Saxmundham as an infant of nine months old, and still saw her eyes, the crocuses in the border, and the flutter of the fringe on her own robe. Of political events she thought the first in her memory was the taking of the Bastille, and she enlarged on the extraordinary enthusiasm excited by the French Revolution. I said the American war came before the Revolution of 1789; and she replied 'Yes, no doubt I remember hearing the American war talked about;' and then quoted the lines (Dr. Aikins' she said):—

See the justice of Heaven! America cries;
George loses his senses, North loses his eyes.
When first they provoked me, all Europe could find
That the Monarch was mad and the Minister blind.

But the date of this epigram must be somewhat later. Lord North became blind in 1787 [and the King's insanity was not publicly known till November 1788].

She remembered Mr. Windham as one of the most graceful and fascinating of men. Lady Morley [Footnote: Frances, daughter of Thomas Talbot, of Wymondham, Norfolk, married Lord Boringdon, afterwards Earl of Morley, in 1809.] (the present Earl's grandmother) was staying with the Smiths when she came out, and was equally remarkable for her wit, her beauty, and her fine hair. Her mother, Mrs. Talbot, was very ugly. We then talked over all the old Norwich families, Gower, Taylors, Aldersons, Bathurst, &c. She said she thought my mother a much finer character than Mrs. Austin, and, she added, a fine understanding too.

Her interest in all the events of the day—the last spider discovered by Dr. Carpenter at the bottom of the ocean and the last improvement at Burlington House—is as keen as the recollection of the past. 'Punch' and the 'Illustrated News' and the other newspapers bring it all before her.

May 28th.—Gladstone presided at the Literary Fund dinner. I took Meadows Taylor, who was staying with us.

From Lady Smith

Lowestoft, May 31st.—Many thanks, dear Mr. Reeve, for sending me the handsome present of turtle soup, which came on Thursday evening and made the best part of my dinner on Friday. My intellectual treat has been the speeches by the Premier and others at the Literary Fund dinner, and I much admire the eloquence of the several talented gentlemen. I write so badly I will spare you, and only send my affectionate regards to Mrs. Reeve and dear Hopie, and to yourself. I am very sincerely yours,

P. SMITH.

Continuing the Journal:—

To Bracknell again on June 1st. Attended Ascot for the last time. The Shah of Persia was in London this year, and was received in state. The Queen lent him Buckingham Palace.

June 25th.—Goschen's fÊte to the Shah of Persia at Greenwich Hospital. Fine sight. We steamed through the docks after the Shah.

29th.—Met M. de Laveleye at Van de Weyer's.

July 14th.—Dined at Merchant Taylors' Hall; made a speech.

17th.—Dined at Lambeth, to talk over the Judicature Bill with the Archbishop. Met Bishop Wilberforce as I was driving down Constitution Hill. He was killed two days afterwards (on the 19th) by a fall from his horse, riding with Lord Granville.

Count MÜnster came as German ambassador. I dined with him at Beust's and at
Houghton's.

Lord Westbury died in London on July 20th, 1873; a man whose bitter tongue made him many enemies, and procured for him a reputation as of one without respect or regard for aught human or divine. Those who knew him well told a different tale. He has been described by them as having a most kind and feeling nature. 'He did not make many professions, but had the good of his fellow-creatures at heart. He always found time to give advice and help.' Reeve, who had been thrown into frequent and familiar intercourse with him, was in the habit of speaking of him as one whose real character was very different indeed from that assigned him by popular repute; and the letter of sympathy which he wrote to Lord Westbury's daughter, the Hon. Augusta Bethell,[Footnote: Afterwards Mrs. Parker, and, by a second marriage, Mrs. Nash.] merely expressed his honest opinion.

Rutland Gate, July 23rd.

Dear Miss Bethell,—I should have written sooner if I had had the use of my hand, to express to you my profound sorrow and sympathy in the loss you have sustained.

I look back with unmixed satisfaction on the relations I maintained for so many years with your father. He honoured me with his confidence and friendship. I have the profoundest admiration, not only for his qualities as a lawyer, but for his just and enlarged mind, his vast reading, his memory, and the inexhaustible kindness of his heart. He was one of the greatest men I have known, and one of those whose loss to us all is most irreparable. How much more so to you!

Mrs. Reeve begs to unite her condolences to mine; and we remain always

Your much attached friends,

HENRY REEVE.

The Journal notes a six weeks' tour with Mrs. Reeve in Switzerland and
Germany:—

August 1st.—To Paris and Geneva, vi Dieppe. Saw Thiers in Paris. He had been turned out of office on May 4th. On August 4th reached Binet's campagne. Family dinners, &c., at Geneva. 12th, called at Blumenthal's chalet, near Vevey. 14th, to Berne, Grindelwald, and Ragaz, by Zurich. Took baths at Ragaz. Longmans came there on the 22nd. Pleasant excursion to Glarus. 26th, to Syrgenstein [near the Lake of Constance—wrote Mrs. Reeve—where some cousins of ours, the Whittles, bought an old schloss with some 300 acres, and settled about fifteen years ago]. 31st, by Ulm to Baden-Baden, Bonn, Aix, Antwerp; home on September 8th.

September 10th.—Sir Henry Holland dined with us. He had just been to Nijni Novgorod, and was starting for Naples. He died as soon as he got back, on October 27th. This was the last time I saw him. He was then eighty-five. To Bracknell in September.

September 27th.—To Christchurch. Ordered fences for Foxholes.

October 3rd.—To Cultoquhey (Lord Moncreiff's). 6th, fishing at Battleby (Maxtone Graham's), in the Tay. We killed seven fish; I, one of 19 lbs.; Hopie, two, one of 25 lbs. Thence to the Colviles', at Craigflower, and on the 11th to Minto. 14th, drove to Ancrum and Kirklands. Beautiful day.

We went from Minto to Dartrey, co. Monaghan, by Carlisle and Stranraer; crossed to Larne, but had to sleep at Dundalk, on the 17th. At Dartrey found the Ilchesters, Mr. Herbert, and others. Lady Craven and the Headforts came later. Returned to England on the 27th by Greenore and Holyhead.

For the October number of the 'Review,' Reeve had written an article on the Ashantee War, in which he would seem to have been assisted by Lord Kimberley, then Colonial Secretary. On its appearance, Mr. Pope Hennessy, at this time Governor of the Bahamas, but who, in the preceding year, had been Governor of the Gold Coast, wrote to 'The Editor of the "Edinburgh Review,"' objecting to some of the statements regarding his own conduct, which, he declared, were inaccurate. And, having given utterance to his objections, he continued:—

November 28th.—As I have ventured on fault-finding about one article, I must not deprive myself of the pleasure of congratulating you heartily on another. Since October 1802 no article on foreign affairs has been so apropos as your Cuban one of last October. Here it has been read with avidity and universal satisfaction, and I believe it will do much to guide influential opinion in England at this crisis. I hope to see you return to the subject in January. Remember that your January number, as far as the instruction of M.P.s is concerned, is always an important political one. In view of your dealing with the subject again, I give you a few facts that may perhaps add special interest once more to the 'Edinburgh's' mode of dealing with it.

England is directly concerned in Cuba by its close proximity to the Bahamas. Cay Lobos (British territory) is but fourteen miles from Cay Confites (Cuban territory). That leaves but eight miles of high seas in width. The people of the Bahamas have made frequent complaint to the governor about the conduct of the Spanish authorities in Cuba. In August this year the Governor of the Bahamas sent a memorial to the Captain-General of Cuba about the impediments to the Bahama sponging trade caused by the arbitrary acts of the Spaniards. No notice has been taken of this. It has not even been acknowledged. In 1870 complaints were made to Sir James Walker (my predecessor) that James Fraser and three other British subjects were captured in a Bahama schooner, taken ashore to Cuba, and there shot. The Spaniards justified this by saying that the ship was conveying supplies to the insurgents, and they (the Spaniards) executed Fraser and the others as pirates. In the same year a man named Williams complained that sixty or seventy Spanish soldiers landed at Berry Island (a part of the Bahama colony), chasing Cuban refugees, firing off their guns, and threatening to hang Williams if he did not aid them in their search. Subsequently the Spanish admiral, Melcampo, made a sort of apology for this; but the Captain-General of Cuba, on the other hand, wrote to Sir James Walker, complaining that the British lighthouse-keepers on Berry Island had refused to aid the Spaniards in pursuit of 'pirates' on British soil. Lord Granville took up the matter in a proper spirit. He sent energetic remonstrances to Madrid. He got the Admiralty to telegraph to Sir Rodney Mundy, at Halifax, to despatch ships of war to aid the Governor of the Bahamas in protecting the colony from the raids of the Spaniards. As to the seizing of ships on the high seas under neutral flags, he telegraphed to Sir John Crampton, at Madrid, to say that it would be 'a glaring violation of the law of nations.' The Madrid Government promised to get the Captain-General's proclamation revoked; but my predecessor reported that General Dulce had not revoked it, and he returned to Spain without doing so. The half-and-half revocation that took place left 'exceptional cases' at the discretion of the Spanish cruisers. Hence the case of the 'Virginius.'

The excitement here about the recent executions is intense. Twenty-nine of those shot resided at Nassau. The public feeling is now so strong that it deprives me of power (especially as all British troops are withdrawn) to stop expeditions against the Spaniard, though I am doing my best to allay it and to be strictly neutral. Indeed, in the interest of the peace and well-being of the Bahamas, I have had to write to Lord Kimberley, asking him to use his influence in getting some law-abiding government substituted in Cuba for the present lawless rule of the volunteers. Your article will do much to support H.M. Government in a decided course now.

Believe me, yours faithfully,

J. POPE HENNESSY.

The Journal records here:—

December 8th.—We went to Knowsley, with Lord Cairns. There were there Lord C. Hamilton, Henry Cowper, &c. Lord Sefton shot with us. We killed 827 head on the 9th, 784 head on the 10th, 366 head on the 11th. Went to Liverpool with Lord Cairns on the 12th, and home next day.

To Lord Derby

C. O., December 15th.—The last edition of my translation of Tocqueville's book on France has probably not yet found its way to Knowsley's library, and I shall be much gratified if you will allow me to place a copy there. This edition has the advantage of containing fourteen posthumous chapters not to be found in any other, and these certainly are not the least remarkable part of the work. I was moved to translate them partly by your saying to me one day, 'Can't you give us any more of Tocqueville?'

The Journal goes on:—

To Paris for Christmas. Saw M. Guizot; dined at the Embassy. Dined with Mme. Faucher on Christmas Day; with M. Guizot on the 27th; Camille Rousset and Taine there. On the 28th dined at the Duc de Broglie's, then home minister; Apponys, Prince Orloff, Lord Lyons, Lambert de Sainte-Croix there. Dined on the 29th with the Lyttons at Mme. Gavard's; and on the 30th with the Comte de Paris at De Mussy's.

1874.—The year opened at Paris. Called on M. Guizot and dined with the Raymonds on New Year's Day. Breakfasted with the Duc d'Aumale at Chantilly on the 2nd; first time I had seen him there. Dined at Mohl's with Haussonville, the Lyttons, and TourguÉneff.

Renewed my acquaintance with Drouyn de Lhuys, who related to me the affairs of 1866. Very curious. Dined at the Political Economy Club on the 5th; and at Lytton's on the 6th. Back to London on the 7th.

January 24th.—To Aldermaston, with Lord Aberdare, the Samuel Bakers, Herbert Spencer, Franks and others. Pleasant and interesting; but I had the gout and was laid up for a month. This was the day Gladstone published his fatal address to the electors at Greenwich. Parliament was dissolved on the 26th. We all told Lord Aberdare that the party would be smashed, and so it was. Disraeli's Government came in on February 21st.

21st.—The Master of the Rolls gave judgement in the Handley suit, which gave me the Winkfield property.

The case was shortly described by Mrs. Reeve:—

'There were two wills, one of Edwin Handley, the other that of his two surviving sisters. His will was good as to devise of money, bad as to land; therefore the land passed to the sisters, and their bequests of land come into effect. The property in Winkfield which comes to Henry is a little more than 30 acres. Of course the agricultural value is not very great; but we hope, as building and accommodation land, to make a good thing of it.'

It appears, indeed, that the advisability of settling on it themselves was considered; but there was no house on the property; so that as in either case a house had to be built, the Christchurch site was preferred. In June Reeve sold this Winkfield property for nearly 6,000 £., which—he added to a note of the sale—'enabled me to build Foxholes.'

The following is endorsed:—'M. Guizot on the death of [his daughter]
Pauline. The last letter he wrote me with his own hand.'

8 mars.—Je vous remercie de votre sympathie, my dear Sir. J'y comptais. Vous Êtes un des anciens tÉmoins de ma vie et de mon bonheur. Il a ÉtÉ grand; mais le bonheur se paye. Je me soumets douloureusement mais sans murmure. La vie est ainsi faite. C'est pour mon gendre CornÉlis de Witt que je ressens une pitiÉ profonde. Il a joui pendant vingt-cinq ans de ce que j'ai moi-mÊme appelÉ le bonheur parfait, l'amour dans le mariage. Il reste seul avec ses sept enfants. Ils viendront tous vivre avec moi, sous les yeux de ma fille Henriette,[Footnote: Mme. Guizot de Witt.] une vraie mÈre. Revenez nous voir.

Je n'ai pas le coeur À vous parler d'autre chose. Je n'ai pas encore reÇu 'l'Edinburgh Review' des mois d'octobre et janvier dernier. Je les fais demander. Je vis aussi en Angleterre. C'est beaucoup d'avoir deux vies et presque deux patries. Mr. Burton a-t-il publiÉ l'article qu'il projetait sur mon Histoire de France? Je vous envoie quelques pages que je viens d'Écrire sur mon excellent ami, M. Vitet. [Footnote: Louis Vitet, 'de l'AcadÉmie franÇaise,' d.June 1873. This is presumably the 'notice' prefixed to Vitet's Etudes philosophiques et littÉraires (8vo. 1875).] Encore un profond regret.

Adieu, my dear Sir. Tenez-moi un peu au courant de ce qui se passe chez vous et de ce que vous en pensez. Nous vÉgÉtons ici dans les tÉnÈbres, en attendant un mieux qui viendra, je ne sais quand ni comment. Mais je persiste À y croire. Tout À vous, GUIZOT.

The Journal here has:—

March 10th.—The Duc d'Aumale dined at The Club dinner.

18th.—Met Disraeli at Lady Derby's first party. A day or two before this, at Windsor, Lord Granville was chaffing Lady John Manners and said—referring to the Prime Minister's birth—'You must acknowledge that your chief's nose is very queer.' 'At all events,' was Lady John's ready rejoinder, 'it is not out of joint.'

28th.—Took the Duc de Rochefoucault (the French Ambassador) to the boat race at Mortlake.

April 2nd.—To Christchurch. On the 4th, in torrents of rain, we fixed, with Cockerell, the exact site of Foxholes House.

May 8th.—Ball to the Prince of Wales at the French Embassy. Duchess of Edinburgh there.

Lord Hertford, the Tory Lord Chamberlain, omitted me from the Court ball this year, for the first time since 1847. This was before the publication of the 'Greville Memoirs,' and not on account of it.

To Aix in the end of May. Longman was with me. Home on June 4th.

From M. Guizot

Val Richer, ce 22 juillet.

My Dear Sir,—Je rÉponds À votre aimable lettre du 14 juillet, et je commence par supprimer mon Écriture. J'en avais autrefois un qu'on trouvait trÈs jolie, mais, depuis quelques mois, ma main est devenue si tremblante que j'ai renoncÉ À Écrire moi-mÊme. Je ne veux cependant pas tarder davantage À vous dire avec quel plaisir j'ai lu l'article de Mr. Burton sur mon Histoire de France que je viens de trouver dans le numÉro 285 de 'l'Edinburgh Review.' C'est excellent; il est impossible de serrer de plus prÈs les diverses parties de mon ouvrage en les analysant d'une maniÈre plus claire et plus frappante. Les liens de l'histoire de France avec l'État, la Couronne, l'Église et les moeurs publiques y sont rÉsumÉs dans toute leur vÉritÉ. Je ne pourrais dans ce moment-ci, avec ma main tremblante, en remercier moi-mÊme Mr. Burton comme je le voudrais faire. Je me promets d'y revenir plus tard. En attendant, je vous prie de le remercier pour moi, en lui disant tout ce que je pense de son parfait rÉsumÉ. Vous me pardonnerez d'Être si bref; je suis encore assez souffrant et fatiguÉ. Je reprends pourtant dans ce moment mÊme la publication pÉriodique des livraisons de mon histoire; elles seront envoyÉes chaque semaine À Mr. Burton comme À vous, et je serai bienheureux si vous me dites qu'elles vous intÉressent autant que les prÉcÉdents volumes. Pardon, my dear Sir, de ne pas vous en dire davantage. Je suis au Val Richer jusqu'À la fin de l'annÉe. Ecrivez-moi quelquefois, je vous prie, et croyez-moi affectueusement tout À vous,

GUIZOT.

P.S.—C'est ma fille Henriette qui me sert de secrÉtaire pour ma correspondance comme pour mon histoire. Je n'en retrouverais nulle part un pareil.

This letter, written by Mme. Guizot de Witt, was the last Reeve received from his old friend, who died at Val Richer on September 12th, in his 87th year. A month later he received the following:—

From Mme. Guizot de Witt

Val Richer, ce 20 octobre.

Mon cher Monsieur,—Je savais bien ce que vous senteriez pour nous et aussi pour vous-mÊme. Mon pÈre avait pour vous beaucoup d'amitiÉ. En rangeant ses papiers, au milieu de toutes vos lettres, je trouve une foule de minutes de ses rÉponses; quelques-unes sont bien belles. Je ne vous parle pas du vide affreux de ma vie et de mon Âme. Je sais que Dieu me donnera la force de le supporter en travaillant encore pour ceux qui m'ont quittÉe. Et le jour du revoir viendra. Mon pÈre est parti tout entier, lui-mÊme jusqu'au bout, dans la possession de son esprit et de son Âme, plein de confiance en Dieu, nous recommandant de servir le pays qu'il avait suprÊmement aimÉ et dont les malheurs ont d'abord ÉbranlÉ sa santÉ. Ma Pauline aussi ne s'Était jamais relevÉe de la guerre. Us sont ensemble et en paix. Adieu, mon cher Monsieur. Vous viendrez certainement À Paris cet hiver, et nous vous verrons. Je compte aller dans six semaines retrouver tout mon monde qui y est dÉjÀ. Remerciez pour moi Mrs. Reeve et Hope, et croyez À tous mes meilleurs sentiments.

GUIZOT DE WITT.

Journal

July.—The building Foxholes was now going on. To Scotland, July 31st, having again taken Loch Gair. Also hired a 16-ton yacht—the 'Foam.' Got there on August 1st. John Binet came to Loch Gair, straight from Geneva.

Mrs. Reeve wrote of him:—'It is his first visit to North Britain, and his enthusiasm—at 62—is quite delightful to witness. He travelled here from Paris without stopping, and though a good deal tired and half-starved, was ready for a walk that afternoon and for climbing hills the next morning.'

I was engaged all the autumn at Loch Gair in revising the press of 'The
Greville Memoirs' and in preparing a new edition of the 'Democracy in
America.'

We left Loch Gair on October 8th: and after visits to Abington, Ormiston and Minto, returned to London on the 26th.

The publication of the first part of 'The Greville Memoirs' took place on October 17th. It excited far greater interest than I had expected, and the first edition sold very rapidly. Five editions were published in less than six months; the two first of 2,500 each, and the three last of 1,000; so that about 8,000 copies were sold.

The Press, in the main, was highly favourable. On the 28th the Queen—though I believe she had not yet read the book, but only newspaper extracts—sent me a message by Helps to express her disapproval of it, on these grounds 1. It was disparaging to her family. 2. It tended to weaken the monarchy. 3. It proceeded from official persons. I begged Helps to reply, with my humble duty, that the book showed that, if the monarchy had really been endangered, it was by the depravity of George IV. and the absurdities of William IV.; but that under Her Majesty's reign it had become stronger than ever.

It may, however, be believed that the Queen, who was, not unnaturally, much offended, never quite forgave the publication; and it is at least probable that the annoyance she had felt was the principal reason for Reeve's never receiving the K.G.B., to which his long service at the Council Office would seem to have, in a measure, entitled him.

I saw the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg the same day, October 28th, but I don't think the Cambridges were very angry. The old Duchess was having the book read to her, and frequently added amusing recollections to it.

This publication was one of the most important incidents in Reeve's literary life; one which was warmly discussed at the time and has been much commented on since. It is probably as the editor of this remarkable book that Reeve will be best known to future generations, and it is therefore well to relate the story in a clear and detailed manner. From the first, Reeve was fully alive to the responsibility he was undertaking; and the following memorandum was apparently drawn up at the time of Greville's death.

Memorandum on 'The Greville Memoirs,' and on the death of Charles Greville, 1865

On January 7th, 1865, I received from Mr. Greville, I being at Torry Hill, a note requesting me to call on him for a matter, as he expressed it, not very important, but partly of a personal and partly of a literary character. I answered directly that being out of town I could not call immediately, but would not fail to do so as soon as I returned to London.

I returned to London on the afternoon of Monday, the 9th, and called in Bruton Street about 11 A.M. on Tuesday the 10th. I thought Mr. Greville looked thin, but not ill, and he was free from gout. He said, however, that he was seriously unwell in other ways. The truth was (although he did not then tell me so) that he had an effusion of water on the heart. I know not how long it had been coming on; but in the preceding week he had been staying at the Grenfells' at Taplow, where Lady Colvile had the scarlatina. From Taplow he proceeded to Savernake; but Lady Ailesbury had so violent a fear of the infection that she sent a servant to stop Greville's fly on the way from the station to the house, on the ground that she could not receive him. He was therefore compelled to go to sleep at the inn at Marlborough, where, besides being excessively annoyed, he caught a bad cold. The next day he returned to Taplow, saying to Grenfell, 'I come back here because no one will receive me!' and he soon afterwards came back to Bruton Street. This was the history of the malady of which he died; but whether it was brought on by the cold he caught, or by any other cause, I do not know.

When I saw him on the 10th he was in no pain, and apparently not seriously ill. He began by talking about Privy Council affairs; he then gave me an account of the Windham papers, which Mrs. Henry Baring is preparing for publication; but I saw that these were not the subjects on which he wished to see me, and there was evidently a nervousness in his manner as he approached it. At last, sitting down in his easy-chair, he said—'And now I want to speak to you about my own affairs. Reeve, I am getting devilish old, and I think in all probability I have not long to live. I have therefore been considering what I ought to do with the journals I have kept on all important occasions for so many years of my life. They amount, I think, to ninety volumes [Footnote: These are now in the British Museum.], and extend over nearly fifty years. I left off writing them two years ago, finding that since I withdrew from the office I knew less of the course of events. Let us look at them.' He then opened the lower part of a bookcase in which I saw these volumes in a row. He then added, 'Now, will you take charge of them? I have been thinking a great deal of what I can do with them. They contain a good deal of curious matter, as you know, which may be of interest hereafter. I can do nothing better than leave them in your hands. You will be the judge whether any part of them, and what, can be published.'

To this I replied, that I was very much touched by so great a mark of his confidence and friendship; that as for the journals, he was quite right in supposing that I should set as much store by them as he did himself, and that in whatever I did with them hereafter, I should conform to what I might suppose to be his wishes; that it appeared to me that a broad distinction exists between the earlier half, including the reigns of George IV. and William IV., and the latter half, subsequent to the Queen's accession, and that if the former part might to a certain extent be published soon, the other part could not. That the person I should naturally consult in such a trust would be Lord Clarendon; but that at present it was not necessary to take any steps, as I hoped he would still be with us some years; that I would read the journals through, with his permission, and tell him what I thought.

To all this he assented. He said, 'They are all full of Clarendon, who has always been so intimate with me. I will bring you down a dozen of the volumes the first day I go out in my carriage; and if my life should be spared a few years, we will talk them over.'

He then spoke of his letters, particularly of his own letters to the late Duke of Bedford, which had been recently sent back to him. He said he would read them over; that some of them might serve to fill up and complete passages in the journals. To this I remarked, 'Do you mean, then, these letters are to go with the journals?' He replied, 'That requires consideration.' He did not therefore give me any power over the letters.

I was going that day (January 10th) to Ampthill, to see Lord Wensleydale; and on the 14th to the Grove. This led me to say, 'Am I at liberty to mention to Lord Clarendon what has passed on this subject?' He answered 'No. I had rather it should be entirely confidential.' I therefore of course said nothing to anyone.

On Monday, the 16th, I returned to town from the Grove, and went in the evening, about five, to Bruton Street. Lady Sydney and Lady Enfield were with him. He looked somewhat weaker, and complained of total loss of appetite. As soon as the ladies were gone, he resumed the subject of the journals, and immediately said, 'Now you are come back to town, you can take some of them.' He rang for his servant to hold a light to the bookcase, and by his directions I took vols. v., vi., vii., and viii., and carried them home with me. He said he had lent the first four vols. to his brother Henry, but that I should have them soon. He then again said, 'When you have read these, you will see what you think can be published; but as you advance they become more interesting.' I read these volumes nearly through the same evening, beginning from the death of Lord Liverpool.

On Tuesday, January 17th, I returned to Bruton Street about six. He was alone. Another volume of the journals was on the table by him, which he gave me, saying, 'You will find this more interesting'—but this was as I was going away. I told him that I had read the former volumes greedily, and that he had treated George IV. with great severity. He replied, 'What I have said of him is not flattering; but that is what he was.' I then asked him about the passages in cipher. He said he had invented this cipher himself for the purpose of his journal; that he could read it, but nobody else. That he would read to me the passages in cipher if I would bring them to him; but he added, 'For that matter, the truth is the greater part of them had better be omitted, as they relate to things which are better forgotten.' He then mentioned that he had told Henry Greville that 'I was to have the journals.' And I afterwards found that he had intimated his intention to Mr. Baring and I think to Lord Granville.

He said that Meryon (his doctor) thought him better to-day-that the day before had been a very bad one; but he had still no appetite, though he was going to try to eat a piece of woodcock for his dinner. It was then near seven o'clock, and I left him, taking the volume with me, but with no presentiment that we were parting for ever. He said, as I wished him good night, 'Come again to-morrow if you are near me.' I promised to come, and to come often, and left the room.

He can scarcely have seen anyone afterwards; for the evening was advancing, and between nine and ten he went to bed. His servant proposed to sleep near him. He said, 'No; I don't want that, unless I am very ill.' He fell asleep, and seems never to have waked, for when he was found in the morning he lay with his finger resting on his pillow in his accustomed attitude, like a child asleep.

On January 27th I received a letter from Henry Greville, stating that Charles had informed him of his intention, but that there was nothing about the journals or letters in the will or codicil. I answered this letter the same day, by giving him an abridged copy or version of the preceding statement.

I ought to have stated that, in the conversation of January 10th, Mr. Greville said that he thought it better not to fix any stated time within which the journals might or might not be published. Part might be published, but it was a mere question of discretion and propriety what and when.

I observed to him that in selecting me as his literary executor, the only question was whether some member of his own family might not more properly be selected. To this he replied that he had considered that, and preferred that I should have them. I have since found that, prior to the death of Sir George Lewis, he had been selected by Greville for this trust. He then hesitated for some time whom he should appoint, and then chose me.

Having made up his mind that the time was ripe for the publication of the earlier volumes of the journals, Reeve—as has been said—gave them to the world on October 17th, fully prepared to take all the responsibility of his act. And indeed he was quickly called on to do so; for some of Greville's relations, uneasy—it would appear—at the hostile attitude of the Court, called on him to make a public declaration that they had nothing to do with it, whilst others were disposed to question Reeve's legal right. Of this, however, he had plenty of evidence; amongst others, that of Mr. T. Longman, who wrote:—

Farnborough Hill, November 7th.—… In the interview I had with Mr. Harvie Farquhar, I stated that Mr. Greville consulted me some time before his death as to whom he should leave his journals to, and that Mr. Greville concurred in my suggestion that he should leave them to you. As Mr. Greville acted on this some time after our conference, it became obvious to Mr. H. Farquhar that, as between gentlemen, the main question that had been raised, as to your right of possession, fell to the ground.

After this the matter was settled in a perfectly amicable manner in a meeting between Reeve and Mr. Harvie Farquhar, representing the timorous kinsfolk, and together they wrote the following letter, which was published, under Reeve's signature, in the 'Times,' 'Pall Mall Gazette,' and some other papers, on November 7th.

Finding that statements are current that Mr. Charles Greville's and Mr. Henry Greville's executors had been consulted as to the publication of Mr. Charles Greville's Journals of the Reigns of George IV. and William IV., I think it right to say that they were in no way consulted by me, nor was their assent asked for, because I believed it to be the wish of Mr. Greville that his family and executors should be relieved from all responsibility in the matter.

The journals were not left to Mr. Henry Greville, nor did they pass to his executors, having been given to me by Mr. Greville himself before his death, as stated by me in the preface, for the purpose of eventual publication, but the time and manner of publication were left to my sole discretion. I am, therefore, alone responsible for the production of this portion of the journals at the present time, and any beneficial interest in them is a matter entirely between my publisher and myself. Beneficial interest in the publication had not, however, the slightest influence on the course I thought it right to pursue, and I take this opportunity of stating that, in my opinion, many years must elapse before the more recent portions of these journals can with propriety be published.

On the actual publication he received many encouraging letters, a few of which are here given, together with a remarkable expression of opinion from Lord Russell, one of the few public men then living who could speak of the regency and the reign of George IV. from personal knowledge.

From Mr. Delane

October 22nd.

Dear Reeve,—I am glad you are pleased with the first notice of Greville's Journals. There are at least two more to come, which will, I hope, be equally gratifying to you. Certainly you did not publish too soon. The world moves too quickly for long intervals of suppressed publication. I suppose the book is not really published, as I have only seen it in sheets. Yours ever faithfully,

J. T. DELANE.

From Lord Derby

Knowsley, October 31st.

Dear Reeve,—The Greville papers are quite the most interesting and amusing work of the year; and, considering the extreme difficulty of editing such a work without spoiling it—on the one hand, by too much suppression, or by leaving in it passages which would give reasonable cause of offence to private persons—I think you have been singularly judicious…. As to the journalist's criticisms on public men, they seem to me to be the harsh judgements of a man trying to be impartial, though inclined to be acrimonious. There is certainly nothing in them which you could have the slightest scruple about publishing, or which the relatives of those concerned can resent.

Very sincerely yours,

DERBY.

From Mr. E. Cheney

St. Anne's Hill, Chertsey, October 31st.

My dear Reeve,—… I have been reading Charles Greville with much interest and entertainment. I think you are quite right in publishing now, and not waiting for a generation 'who knew not Joseph.' There is always a clamour against those who tell the truth. Charles Greville may very likely [have been], and certainly was, very often wrong; but he believed he told the truth, and he certainly uttered his genuine sentiments. These journals throw a strong light on contemporary events, and will be very valuable to the future historians of the period. Ch. G. was a man who felt much and expressed himself strongly; and had you attempted to soften his language you would have injured the effect and destroyed the couleur locale.

He was a man naturally of a quick and irritable temper, and he had been a spoilt child all his life. His original education was defective. He lived with the selfish and the self-indulgent, and naturally became selfish and self-indulgent himself. At six years old an old friend of his mother's found him crying at dinner because he had not got the liver wing of the chicken; and to the last he would have wanted 'the liver wing.' But he had naturally a kind heart, and a just perception; and he admired what was noble and generous, if he did not always practise it. He suffered greatly in health, and he was too self-indulgent, even with the certainty of pain before his eyes, to moderate his appetite. His last years were unhappy. The indulgence of his temper made his company often disagreeable, and he very keenly felt the neglect of his old friends. With a better education he would have been a most valuable man, for his natural powers were considerable. Like so many other London men, he thought the whole world was bounded by Oxford Street, Pall Mall, the Parks, and the City; and he took his opinions from the clubs in St. James's Street and Pall-Mall, and, as those opinions varied, so we find his judgements in these journals vary. But he himself was convinced, and he uttered the genuine sentiments of the moment…. I hope you will publish the rest of the four vols. before long, and that you will preserve exactly the same plan you have done in these…. Yours very sincerely, E. C.

From Mr. Harvie Farquhar

16 St. James's Street, November 28th.

The yeast of society ferments easily, and—at present—C. G.'s manes are the best abused in or out of Hades; but all will settle down soon, and when people have done throwing stones, and the water is placid enough to enable them to see below the surface, they will better appreciate what lies at the bottom. Whether abused or not, the book will be in every library—on its merits.

From the Queen of Holland

The Hague, Monday, November 30th.

My dear Mr. Reeve,—Saturday night, November 28th, the books arrived. I am afraid, after Sunday church, more of my time than ought to have been Sunday's occupation was given to these three volumes. Of course, I have not read them; I rushed through, and am now going to read page by page. The interest is an immense one. Not only that I have known many of the persons named, but I have heard from all, and they seem to me like shadows reviving, returning to light and life. Dear Lord Clarendon's name struck me several times; and I remember, when Mr. Greville died, Lord Clarendon wrote me 'his papers had been given to the person most able to judge them.' At that time I did not know Mr. Reeve; but I recollect the words perfectly. Pray give my best compliments to Mrs. Reeve, and believe me very sincerely yours,

SOPHIE.

From Lord Russell to Mr. T. Norton Longman

December 9th.—I was much interested in C. Greville's Memoirs. He is not a bit too severe on George IV. A worse man has not lived in our time.

On the other hand, many of the papers criticised the work in a hostile and violent manner. It was, they said, a breach of official confidence for a man in Greville's position to keep a journal at all. Greville—whose name it was fatally easy to rhyme to Devil—was described as a man delighting in listening at keyholes, and habitually misrepresenting the only half-heard secrets. Here is a specimen; one epigram out of many, all to the same effect, and all ending with the same rhyme:—

For fifty years he listened at the door,
And heard some secrets, and invented more;
These he wrote down, and statesmen, queens and kings,
Are all degraded into common things.
Though most have passed away, some still remain
To whom such scandal gives a needless pain;
And though they smile, and say 'Tis only Greville,'
They wish him, Reeve, and Longman at the devil.

The 'Quarterly Review,' too, in a peculiarly venomous article, compared the relative positions of Greville and Reeve with those of Bolingbroke and Mallet, as painted by Dr. Johnson. Bolingbroke, he had said, was a cowardly blackguard, who loaded a gun which he was afraid to fire off himself, and left a shilling to a beggarly Scotchman to pull the trigger after his death. The inference was inevitable; and though Reeve was neither a Scotchman nor a beggar, he unquestionably felt the sting, coming, as it did, from a friend of more than forty years' standing, Abraham Hayward [Footnote: See ante, vol. i. pp. 12, 34.]. The friendship was not unnaturally broken, nor does the old intimacy appear to have been ever renewed.

Of course the gravamen of this charge, made not only by the 'Quarterly Review,' but by other less distinguished journals, was that Reeve had been mainly, if not solely, influenced by the idea of making a good thing out of it. The sale of the work—they said—was very great. Commercially, it had been a brilliant success. Reeve's trained insight into literary affairs had shown him that it must be so, and, tempted by the auri sacra fames, he had yielded, maugre the counsels of his better part. Never was charge more unjust, more untrue. Reeve, though not a wealthy man, was now in easy circumstances, with a sufficient and assured income. Prudent in the management of his property and in his expenditure he seems to have always been; but as far removed, both by temperament and education, from parsimony as from extravagance. Money he valued only for what it could give him; and both in fact and in sentiment he was in a position to say with the poet—

mihi parva rura et
Spiritum Graias tenuem Camoenae
Parca non mendax dedit, et malignum
Spernere vulgus.

Still, the charge was made at the time, was currently repeated, and has been believed by many. It happens, however, that the most complete contradiction of it remains in the shape of Reeve's letters to Mr. T. Longman, some of which we can now read.

C. O., November 7th.—Nothing could end better for me than the amicable discussion with H. Farquhar, and I am exceedingly glad to have had an opportunity of writing the letter which appears in the 'Times' and 'Post' to-day.

I have never desired to make this book a source of profit to myself, beyond a reasonable remuneration for the time and labour I have spent on it. The returns have already exceeded my expectation and desire. It is not, therefore, my wish or intention to press or urge the sale of the book. I have no doubt the second edition will go off fast enough—indeed a good part of it is already bespoken. But I have not at all made up my mind to proceed to a third edition if the second is exhausted. I am inclined to think I shall hold my hand. I have no wish to make more money out of the book, or to make it a very common popular work; and my feeling is that I should best consult my own dignity by leaving matters as they are, at any rate for the present.

However, it is needless to decide this now, as the demand for a third edition may never arise. But I think it right to let you know my view of the matter, because you are by no means called upon to advertise largely, or make efforts to extend the sale—at least, not more than you think necessary to cover your own interests. But I believe you would be sure to sell this second edition without any advertising at all. I certainly do not wish to have any puffing advertisements. I had rather that the book were to become scarce and dear than that you should sell ten thousand copies.

November 9th.—There is a good deal of truth in what you say about not publishing a third edition if the second is sold off. People would probably attribute it to the wrong motive, and say I had been stopped in some way, or was afraid; and nobody gets any credit for disinterestedness. Fortunately the first edition was a very small one, for you could have sold 5,000 as easily as 2,500, and this has given a check to the sale, which I do not regret. If necessary, I suppose these editions must go on as long as there is a demand for the book. But the desire to get hold of new books is a short-lived passion, and is soon turned aside by some other novelty. I shall not wish to publish the book at all in a cheaper form, and I think it will require very little outlay in advertising.

Reeve would, however, have been more than human if the continued success of the book had not greatly modified his views, and reconciled him to the steady sale; and some months later he wrote again:—

January 25th, 1875.—The general impression seems to be that Hayward's article is a fiasco. It has done me no harm, and his clients have no reason to thank him. The fourth edition of Greville will contain a good many improvements and corrections, and will be the best edition to keep. I believe they are printing 1,000. I wish they had made it 1,500, for this multiplication of editions is troublesome, and I have no doubt that 1,500 will ultimately be sold. The book has struck root below the stratum of the circulating libraries.

April 15th, 1875.—Nothing seems to be wanting to the indirect advertisement of Greville's Journals, though the usual advertisements were by my desire restricted. I do not recollect another instance of a book being made the subject of a hostile motion in the House of Commons.