Chapter XIV: Literature and Politics (1)

Early in August Mrs. Henry Reeve had gone on a visit into Dorsetshire, and at the time of her husband's return from Aix was in Cornwall--at Pencarrow, near Bodmin--on a visit to her old friend, Lady Molesworth. Reeve, thus left to himself, started almost immediately for Scotland on a visit to Sir James Clark, who, with Lady Clark and his son--the present baronet--was then living up Dee-side at Birk Hall, lent him by the Queen.

The Journal's scanty notices of a very interesting visit can be happily replaced by extracts from the letters which he wrote almost daily to his wife at Pencarrow.

_To Mrs. Henry Reeve_

Birk Hall, Ballater, September 1st.

My dearest wife,--Matters have turned out here very pleasantly. I proceeded to Aboyne by rail, and then posted along the Dee-side to this place--the Strath most beautiful; a lovely mixture of wood, water, and heather, with mountains beyond. I got here just before six, and found the Clarks and Van de Weyers sitting down to an early dinner in order to go to the Gillies' Ball at Balmoral, in honour of the Prince's birthday, to which I found myself also invited. We drove up to the Castle, which is eight miles off, through a fine wooded glen, in the moonlight. The old house of Balmoral has quite disappeared, and the Castle is now a very fine edifice, decorated in excellent taste. On arriving, we waited in the library, where arrived Lady John Russell and her boys, the Farquharsons of Invercauld, young Peel [Footnote: Robert Kennedy Peel; son of Lady Alice and Colonel Peel, who had been Secretary of State for War in the Derby Ministry of 1858-9.] (Lady A.'s son), the William Russells, the Duke of Argyll--and then the Court. Nobody was in mourning, as it was a birthday; the Queen in white, with a floating sash of Royal Stuart tartan from her shoulders: about half the men in kilts. The Queen made a circle, and then we went into the ball-room, where about a hundred and fifty of the tenants, servants, &c., with their wives and daughters, were assembled. Reels then began, which were danced with great energy, and also jigs--very droll. Prince Arthur danced like mad; and Princess Alice was 'weel ta'en out' by the gamekeeper. I stood in a corner talking with the Duke of Argyll, &c. At last the Prince came round, and conversed very courteously for ten minutes. He had heard I had been in Germany lately, so we soon got into the heart of German and Austrian questions. All this lasted two hours, and then the Queen withdrew into the supper-room, where there were sandwiches and champagne. She went round again, and talked to Lord Melville, behind whom I was standing, and then made me a very gracious bow, but without saying anything to myself. Soon afterwards we drove home, and got back here at half-past one. To-day we are going up to Balmoral again to write our names and see the Castle; and to-morrow the Queen is coming here to call on Mme. Van de Weyer. I am rather amused, after divers recent occurrences, to find myself in so much royalty, and I had not anticipated any civility from them. But I see the Clarks are very kind about it, having had Helps here last week, and probably are desirous to remove any misconception which may have existed. So that, in fact, nothing can turn out better, and I have certainly no reason to be dissatisfied with my reception.

Ever yours most affectionately,

H. REEVE.

_Birk Hall, September 4th_.--At last we have got a beautiful day, quite warm and bright. Nothing can be more lovely than this Strath of the Dee, with its birch woods and pine-covered mountains. We went up a hill yesterday--the Coyle--and looked across the glen to the broad snow fields which still encircle the black cliffs of Lochnagar. To-day we are going up to Alt na Ghuissac, and shall lunch at the Queen's hut. H. M. called here on Sunday, and was remarkably pleasant and jolly. P. Albert drove, with P. Leiningen on the box; the Queen, Princess Alice, and Princess Leiningen in the carriage, and one man on a seat behind. Nothing can be more simple, courteous, and even droll, than she is, seen in this way, eating Scotch cakes, and asking for the 'prescription' to make them, and making Leiningen taste the birch wine--which is not bad. To-day they are gone on a wild expedition over the hills, and are to sleep in some little inn on the brae-side, where the people are supposed not to know who they are. The Queen will be seven hours on her pony. She rides through all weathers and over all places, and chaffs everybody for not taking exercise enough.

I shall leave this on Friday for Braemar--else I should have to appear at another Balmoral ball--and on Saturday proceed to Keir, where I spend Sunday with Stirling, who is very sorry you are not of the party. On Monday I go on to the Moncreiffs, at Alva (near Stirling), and on Thursday to Kirklands, making some calls in Edinburgh as I go through.

_Birk Hall, September 5th_.--The day kept its promise, and was fair to the end. We drove up this glen, which is Glen Muich, to the loch which terminates it, about six miles off. There stands the Queen's hut, with a few fir-trees about it. It deserves its name--a small Highland cottage, with a room on each side the door and two rooms behind; a little plain wooden furniture and a Kidderminster carpet. There are two or three other wooden cottages about for the attendants. Here we lunched--for everybody lunches in this royal region; and then mountain ponies to go up to the Dhu Loch, about 1,200 feet higher--very wild, grand scenery, and a very rough, boggy path, on which Van de Weyer's contortions were very droll. Madame stayed under the royal honeysuckles below.

I suppose Hopie and I shall go to Raith on the 15th, if they can take us in. At any rate, we shall leave Kirklands on that day; but our movements cannot be quite fixed till we hear.

_Braemar, September 7th_.--Very fortunately I have had magnificent weather just when I wanted it. Clark gave me two good days of shooting on the hill on Wednesday and yesterday; we got about ten brace each day, and I had a famous hard walk. This morning I came on here by the Queen's private road through Balmoral and Invercauld. The scenery is wonderfully beautiful; and, if it were not for my love of the sea, I should admit that Braemar is the finest thing in Scotland. I have been up the glen this afternoon, past Mar Lodge, to the Linn of Dee--a fine cascade through rocks; the water is so clear that you can see the rocks under it, and wild blasted pines growing all round. I was sorry to leave Birk Hall. The Clarks are admirable hosts, and made their house most agreeable.... You will have lamented, as I do, the untimely cutting off of our poor friend, the late Lord High--I mean Ward. [Footnote: See _ante_, vol. i. p. 314.] There seems to be a fatality about Madras. _Somme toute_, the more I see of the chances of life, the more I am persuaded that, as my lot has been cast on such small but easy cushions, I ought to be perfectly content.

The Queen came back on Wednesday night in high glee with her lark over the hills to Grantown. [Footnote: The Queen's account of this 'lark over the hills' is in _Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands_ (8vo. 1868), pp. 189-203.] They slept at a very little Highland inn, and were waited on by the maid only. The beds were awful, for they could not stand the feather bed, and, that being thrown aside, nothing soft remained beneath. General Grey found it so hard that he got up and put on his clothes to lie in. However, they were in high glee, and were not found out till they went away in the morning, when the man of the house said, 'Gin I'd known it was the Queen, I'd hae put on my Sunday claiths and waited on her mysel'.' They gave the Highland lassie a 5 L. note, at which she nearly fainted.

I hope by this time to-morrow I shall be at Keir. I am here at a little Highland inn for to-night, but not so ill off as H. M. I shall have to post to Blairgowrie to-morrow to get there in time for the train.

_Keir, near Dunblane, September 9th_.--I left Braemar yesterday morning at 6 A.M.; posted across the Grampians by a very wild pass; reached the railroad at Blairgowrie, and came on here in the afternoon. The first person I found in the hall was Motley. His wife and Lily arrived in the evening. Mrs. Norton, the Wyses, and Sir James Campbell also here. A most pleasant party to fall into, and your absence very much regretted. Keir is more beautiful than ever, and glorious in this fine weather which floods the Carse of Stirling with light. It really does seem as if the harvest would pick itself up after all.

I shall proceed to Alva to-morrow, and to Kirklands on Wednesday. I don't yet know whether the Fergusons can receive us on the 15th. If they can, we shall go to Raith on that day, and return to London from Edinburgh by sea.... At any rate, I expect to be in London either on Friday, 21st, or Monday, 24th--I'm not quite sure which. I suppose, if you don't go to Saltram, you will come up about the same time. There will be a good many things to look after and think of for the Spanish expedition. I am up to my neck here in Stirling's Spanish books.

P.S.--I am a year older to-day than I was yesterday.

The Journal records that he returned to London on September 22nd.

_From Lord Clarendon_

_Wiesbaden, September 14th._--I have been idle and absent at Baden, or I should sooner have answered your letter and told you with what pleasure we will execute your commission. [Footnote: See _post_, p. 54.] I was very sorry to have missed you here, though it would have been but a glimpse, as you were going next morning. I shall hope to see you before you start on your enviable Spanish tour, as I mean to go home as soon as my cure is complete, for Lady C. feels Alice's absence, [Footnote: Lady Alice Villiers, married on August 16th, 1860, to Lord Skelmersdale, created Earl of Lathom in 1880. She was accidentally killed by the overturning of her carriage on November 23rd, 1897.] and is lonely with only two children out of six.

I passed two very pleasant days at Baden with the Aug. Loftuses and the Princess of Prussia, who is domiciled there, and we returned last night.

_The Grove, September 30th_.--I returned here last night without touching at Grosvenor Crescent. If I had gone there, I should have been at home ten minutes within the twenty hours from Paris, which is a fair rate of speed when one remembers that in pre-railway days one travelled hard and got shaken much to arrive at Paris in three days; and in pre-steamer times I was once eighteen hours in getting from Calais to Dover. Yet people are not satisfied; and Rothschild told me he was bullied by everybody about the slowness of the Ligne du Nord.

I am afraid I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you, as I cannot go to London to-morrow, and from Tuesday till Friday we are engaged to the John Thynnes. In the improbable event of your charming expedition being postponed, we should be quite delighted if you and Mrs. and Miss Reeve would come here on Saturday.

As it is now nearly twenty-two years since I left Spain (how time flies!), new generations have sprung up of whom I know nothing. There are two persons--Mme. de Montijo and Olozaga [Footnote: Reeve had known him as the Spanish ambassador in Paris fifteen years.]--who I should have liked you to see as social and political _ciceroni_; but the former is at Paris, in the deepest affliction at the death of her daughter, and the latter is just gone to Italy, as I heard two days ago from Howden. Of course you know that clever, agreeable little fellow Comyn, who was _charge d'affaires_ here, and is now under-secretary at the F.O. in Madrid? If not, I will send you a letter to him.

I wound up at Wiesbaden by a severe attack of gout, which seemed to please my Esculapius more than it did me; for when I showed him my misshapen scarlet claw of a foot, he rubbed his hands and said, 'Oh dat is a beautiful manifest podagra.' It came just at the same time as the Skelmersdales, and prevented my going about with them. Wasn't that just like the gout?

I never doubted that as soon as the guerillero business was over and civil organisation began, Garibaldi would prove a mischievous, spoiled child.... The French Government and their friends want the Pope to remain at Rome, thinking that _la France Catholique_ would resent his evasion, as a proof of mistrust of the Emperor; but the Emperor wants him to go; as he would then withdraw his garrison and let Rome take its chance, which he thinks would close his accounts with the followers of Orsini; and he dislikes having to reinforce his garrison, which he must do if the Pope decides on remaining.

I have brought the amethyst beads you desired to have for Mme. Van de Weyer, and I dare say somebody will be going up to-morrow or next day by whom I can send them to you. The man wanted rather more than 5 L for them, but on my walking away from his shop, he, of course, gave them for that sum.

_From Lord Brougham_

_Brougham, October 1st_.--We have all here been greatly disappointed at not having seen you and our kinswoman,[Footnote: Miss Reeve, Brougham's second cousin twice removed. Through the Robertsons, Brougham and John Richardson were second cousins.] and I believe we have little chance now, as you talked of going abroad as soon as your quarterly labours were over. We shall be here the whole month; then take our southward flight....

If you can find an opportunity of noticing my volume on the Constitution which is to appear in November, it would be very serviceable to the publisher. It is only a reprint of that part of the 'Political Philosophy,' and lays down true and sound principles--at this time necessary to be well learnt.

_To Lord Brougham_

_62 Rutland Gate, October 2nd_.--I am extremely obliged to you for the copy of your Glasgow address, which in some degree consoles me for not having heard it, and for having lost the pleasure of seeing you this year at Brougham. Nothing can be more felicitous than some of the illustrations you have introduced, and the occasion of a mere scientific meeting has been turned to the best political purpose. No doubt in that region the absence of party gives a broader and a nobler aim to the exertions of your society, and it is gratifying to see how heartily men meet to combine, in these days, without party badges. But if this opinion were to be expressed by the 'Edinburgh Review,' we should be told by John Russell & Co. that we have no business to wear blue and buff, which is the final cause of reviews and editors.

The political article which I have just sent to the press is on the United States under Mr. Buchanan--a great show-up of that scandalous scene of corruption, slave-trading, and anarchy. I am afraid it is now too late to introduce an allusion to your discourse. As to home politics, there is little to be said; as to Continental affairs, there is too much. The mountebanks in Southern Italy have now very nearly upset the coach, and the question is whether the Sardinians or the French are to march to Naples. I hope it will be the former, but it is quite clear Louis Napoleon means to support the Pope in Rome.

Lord Clarendon is just come back from Wiesbaden. We start on Saturday for Madrid, _via_ Valencia, and shall be about six weeks in Spain and Portugal.

And so they started--Reeve, his wife, and daughter--Reeve, as usual, noting merely the stages of the tour, trusting to his wife to fill in the details. Extracts from Mrs. Reeve's Journal are here given in square brackets.

_Journal_

_October 8th_.--We started for Spain by Paris, Lyons, and Marseilles. Sailed in the 'Cephise' for Valencia on the 10th.

_11th_.--[Hopie and I came on deck soon after eight. We spent the day lying down, and only caught glimpses of the coast of Spain when a roll of the 'Cephise' brought land and sea above the line of her sides.]

_12th_.--[About 4 A.M. the wind changed, and we were able to use sail, which steadied the vessel, besides assisting her progress. I went on deck at nine, found the Mediterranean more like my 'Caire' experience, and was told that we should probably be at Grao by twelve.... Henry has set up an acquaintance with a Mexican who knows a little of England and English, and is going to pass the winter at Valencia. About one o'clock we were in the harbour of Grao. We landed in boats, and found ourselves surrounded by a crowd of clamorous porters and _tartana_ drivers--one of the scenes characteristic of landing in a country where police regulations do not exist ensued. However, Henry's Mexican acquaintance came to his rescue, and two courteous Gauls to mine. They were taking the French despatches into Valencia, and offered Hopie and me seats in their _tartana_--a covered cart not on springs, which is the cab of the country. We joyfully accepted, leaving Henry to struggle through custom-house and other difficulties as best he could. The drive (into Valencia) is about two miles, part shaded by an avenue and carefully watered by men stationed at intervals, who ladled the water in buckets out of the runlets on each side of the road. We took up our quarters at the Fonda de Paris, and congratulated each other on having arrived in Spain.]

_13th_.--[We went out at eight o'clock. Our first point was the market, which we found in full activity. Such supplies of fruit and vegetables can only be found in a city surrounded by leagues of _huerta_.... We went to the _plateria_, but found the shops poor, and the articles displayed were coarse and ill-wrought. We visited the churches of St. Martin, St. John, and the cathedral, and ascended the tower _del Miguelete_. The churches are so dark that it is quite impossible to distinguish the pictures, much less to judge of their beauty. The panorama from the tower is most beautiful: the city and plain of Valencia, the Mediterranean and the encircling mountains, the fertile _huerta_, and the glorious sky of deepest blue above....

Placards of a bull-fight on the morrow caught our eyes; and Hopie and I, taking the bull by the horns, declared our intention of going to it, and suggested that places should be taken. After a very feeble resistance, Henry consented, and our _valet-de-place_ was directed to ascertain the price of a box.]

_14th_.--[The price asked for a box being too high, we took reserved seats, and at two o'clock started on foot.... The Plaza de Toros at Valencia is a new building, only completed this year; it holds twenty thousand persons, and is the largest in Spain.... 'El Tato' is the second _matador_ of Spain: he is a well-looking and remarkably well-grown young man, and a well-grown figure is set off to great advantage by the dress. The horses used are only fit for the knacker's yard; they are contracted for at about six pounds each; on this occasion thirteen or fourteen were killed. As regards the horses, it is a cruel and disgusting sight; but as between the bull and the _matador_, the display of courage, eye and presence of mind, as well as of skill and agility, is most interesting and exciting.] We saw 'El Tato' kill six bulls.... [At dinner our conversation turned on the sight of the day. 'Tableau de moeurs espagnoles,' said a Frenchman, raising his shoulders. 'In Peru, where I have seen many bull-fights,' he went on, 'they use high-spirited and valuable horses, and the _picador_ would be for ever disgraced if he allowed the bull to touch his horse.']

_15th_. [From Valencia to Madrid is 308 miles; the time from 4 P.M. to 6.20 A.M., and our train was pretty punctual.]

_16th_.--Saw Isabella and her Court enter Madrid. She was shot at [by a foolish, half-witted lad, who did not know how to load his pistol, and had no motive for the crime, or rather attempt]. Delighted with the gallery. [There are a few seats and no visitors; and the wisest thing travellers can do, and by far the pleasantest, is to spend all the hours of all the days they are in Madrid that the gallery is open in contemplating its treasures.]

_17th_.--[Immediately after breakfast, Hopie and I went to the Museum. Henry joined us presently, and we remained till four o'clock.]

_18th, Thursday_.--[We had intended to make the Toledo excursion to-day, but an undoubted attack of gout confines Henry to the sofa. Hopie and I walked before breakfast to the Church of the Atocha, where we were shown ... in a wardrobe in the vestry, the crimson velvet robe which Isabella had on when the Cure Merino stabbed her. [Footnote: On her way to the church, February 2nd, 1852. The priest, a Franciscan, was garotted in due course.] It has the stain of blood on the lining; the massive embroidery in gold saved her life by turning aside the knife.... After breakfast we took a walk through the unfashionable parts of the town: narrow streets, noisy and crowded, where open stores with bright-coloured scarfs and petticoats collected round them men in the peasant dress--short jackets, breeches, and gaiters partly open. These were picturesque, but the streets and houses were uninteresting enough.

There can be no doubt that Madrid is the least interesting capital in Europe, and that it is only worth the traveller's while to go there for the sake of the pictures.... It is settled that we leave Madrid on Saturday evening, and Henry has therefore consented to our going to Toledo tomorrow without him.]

_19th_,--[Excursion to Toledo, fifty-six miles by rail.]

_20th, Saturday_.--[After dinner started for Granada, where, after thirty-six hours (rail and diligence), we arrived on Monday morning.]

_27th, Saturday_.--[At 6 P.M. we stow ourselves in the interior of the diligence, and pound along the dusty road towards Santa Fe. It is dusk before we get there, and dark after.]

_28th, Sunday_.--[From Granada to Malaga is seventy-six miles. Guards are not only stationed along the road, but two or three are taken on the diligence. The roads were not good; we seemed to be crossing a series of sierras, and when day dawned, after a fresh, almost cold night, we found ourselves amid ghaut-like hills, and wondered when the topmost point would be gained and the descent to Malaga begun. I think it is at Fuente de la Reina that the magnificent view of the Mediterranean, the port and city of Malaga, and the long perspective of zigzags down spurs of mountains is seen. Neither the French nor English Handbook speaks of this view with the enthusiasm it deserves. It is far finer than the view on the heights looking down on Trieste and the Adriatic.... We entered Malaga about 10 A.M.; the descent had taken about two hours.]

_29th_.--[Very early it was announced that an unexpected boat had come in, and was going on to Cadiz.... At 2 P.M. we went on board... but she did not steam till six. We should have been very irate at the delay but for the remarkably good dinner they gave us.... We made a detour and went very slow at starting, to avoid a vessel sunk in the harbour, on which a provisional pharo is placed. This vessel, the 'Genova,' had on board shells and powder for the Morocco war, when it was discovered that spontaneous combustion had broken out in the coal--a defect of Spanish coal--and, fearing she would not only blow up herself but also the city of Malaga, they determined to sink her; and, after a deal of bad practice by the guns of fort and fleet, she went under water, and there she has been eight months.]

_30th_.--[Cadiz. On the 31st crossed over to Puerto Santa Maria; and on November 1st to Seville by rail.]

_November 2nd_.--[Henry has again a threatening of gout, and must have recourse to rest and remedial measures. He sent us out to buy the works of 'Fernan Caballero;' but only one volume was to be had, and no explanation was given us of the strange fact that the writings of the most popular novelist in Spain are not to be obtained in the capital of Andalusia, where she lives, and whence all her characters and scenery are taken. No satisfactory map or guide-book of Seville could be found. I took a catalogue of the books that the shop contained back to Henry. They were chiefly of a religious character. Hopie and I took an exploring walk as far as the Plaza and Church of San Lorenzo, stopping now and then to peep into the cool _patios_ filled with flowers, and a murmuring fountain often in the middle, which you see through the corridor, sometimes with a door of iron trellis, sometimes open. All the windows of the basement have iron gratings and wooden shutters; and the courting and sweethearting is carried on with the lady inside and the lover outside the railing. Not that we saw anything of the kind as it takes place of an evening; but the construction of the houses explains the descriptions as given in these charming tales of 'Fernan Caballero.']

_3rd_.--[Hopie and I set out to 'do churches'... After breakfast to the Museum.... We then joined Henry, who was better, and had been to call at the Palace, and drove to Alfarache, about four miles' distance.]

_4th_.--[In the afternoon to Cordova (eighty-one miles), returning to Seville on the evening of the 5th.]

_6th_.--[A decidedly grey day, unfortunately for our plans of picture-seeing. We did a little shopping... and then went to the Museum; but, alas! there was not more light than you would have in Trafalgar Square; and those Murillos at a distance from the window were scarcely visible. We were so vexed on Henry's account. We spent the afternoon in writing letters, bathing our faces with milk, and hoping the mosquito bites, which have driven us well-nigh distracted, will be less conspicuous to-morrow, when we are to spend the morning at the Palace, and be presented to the Infanta.]

_7th_.--[Nine o'clock was the hour named by the Duke, and a few minutes after we were at the Palace of San Telmo (in bonnets and our tidiest dresses). We were shown into a room on the ground floor, and in a few seconds the Duc de Montpensier [Footnote: For the circumstances of the Duc de Montpensier's marriage, see _ante_, vol. i. p. 181.] came in attended by an A.D.C. He received us very graciously, asked if we would drive or walk round the grounds, and said he thought we had better see the gardens first, and then the house and pictures.... Our promenade, with an occasional rest, took nearly two hours; and then, returning to the Palace, H.R.H. showed us the state rooms and the pictures, many of great beauty and merit, all very interesting; and then, suggesting we should like to take off our bonnets, desired the A.D.C. to show us rooms.... A servant waiting outside the door showed us into a drawing-room upstairs, where we found two ladies of the Infanta's suite, and an old marquis, whose gold key showed he was the chamberlain. In a few minutes the double doors of a larger room were thrown open, and 'los Duques' and the four Infantas, their daughters, came in.... When the _dejeuner dinatoire_ was announced, the Duke told Henry to offer his arm to the Duchess, then he advanced towards me, the chamberlain took Hopie, the children and the suite followed. We were eighteen at table. ... Servants stood behind us with paper flappers, whisking away the flies, who swarmed round the sweet dishes on the table; and H.R.H. complaining of _les mouches_, I ventured to complain of _les moustiques_. He smiled, and said, 'I noticed that you had been victimised.' Breakfast was very gay and agreeable; the Duke has the family talent for conversation, and the Duchess is very amiable, and of course speaks French. She wore a high, plain silk dress of the prevailing colour, and a black chenille net. The Infantas had black silk skirts with a broad piece of black velvet at the bottom, and white pique shirts. We left the table in the same order as before, and, after a few minutes in the salon, the Duke took Henry into his private room. The Duchess requested us to be seated, and asked us questions about our tour, &c.... and then, rising, she said Adieu, and left the room. The Duke took us to the large library on the ground floor, to show us the albums and other things of interest.... There was an interesting portrait of an elderly lady in a black dress and mantilla, which H.R.H. pointed out as being that of the lady who writes under the name of 'Fernan Caballero;' and on Henry's mentioning that we had tried in vain to purchase her novels, he desired the librarian to see whether there were duplicate copies, and, on hearing there were, gave us a set, as well as a coloured lithograph of the Palace and photographs of the Duchess, himself, and the princesses.... It was altogether a most interesting and agreeable morning, and we came away charmed with the courtesy and kindness of 'los Duques.']

_9th_.--Back to Cadiz; very stormy voyage to Lisbon. Home to Southampton, November 22nd.

_From Lord Clarendon_

_The Grove, December 6th_.--I was glad to get your letter, as I thought you must be due about this time, and I had not heard of your arrival. I can imagine no change for the worse equal to that of coming from the blue sky and thermometer of Andalusia to the fogs and hydrometer of London, and your impaired respiratory organs must make that change peculiarly pleasant.

I am very glad your impressions of Spain are the same as Granville's. He raves of the things he has seen, and of the good hotels and general civility; and says he tasted no garlic since he dined at the Maison Doree at Paris. Spain must indeed be changed since my time!

We returned from Ashridge [Footnote: The seat of Lord Brownlow.] this afternoon, and are off again next week. Paterfamilias is obliged to drink the cup of gaiety to the dregs, which is almost worse than being in office.

Pray remember us very kindly to Mrs. Reeve. As soon as we are free agents, we shall hope for the pleasure of seeing you here.

_To Lord Brougham_

_C. O., December 10th_. I have not the slightest intention of plunging at present into the turbid waters of Indian finance, still less of engaging in the personal controversy of Trevelyan's merits or grievances.... I am not sure that his view of extensive reduction is not, in reality, more rational and possible than Wilson's view of extensive taxation. Probably, however, both will be needed before we have done. But I suspend my judgement on the question, and I shall not venture to discuss it in the 'Review' at present.

We returned from Spain and Portugal a few days after you had the kindness to call in Rutland Gate. I proceeded immediately to call on you in Grafton Street, but you had already gone north. Since then I have been unceasingly occupied at the Judicial Committee. Our journey was very successful and agreeable. We coasted round the whole peninsula, and went up to Madrid, Grenada, Seville, Cordova, &c.

The changes taking place in France are (if sincere) most remarkable. My friends think that one of L. N.'s objects is to have a debate on his foreign policy and his relations with Italy, which--as he well knows--will be extremely adverse to the Italian cause, and afford him a pretext for abandoning Victor Emanuel. There is some idea that when Francis II. evacuates Gaeta, he will surrender it, not to Victor Emanuel, but to France. I expect this affair in Southern Italy to end by a Muratist demonstration; in other words, the Neapolitans will place themselves under the protection of France to escape from the Piedmontese.... Thank God, your namesake and my friend, Henry Brougham Loch,[Footnote: Now Lord Loch, then secretary to Lord Elgin, in China. He and Harry Parkes had been treacherously seized by the Chinese on September 18th, and kept in vilest durance and imminent danger of being put to death till October 8th, when, after the capture of the Summer Palace, both the prisoners were released.] is safe. We have been very uneasy about him, and not without cause. The China war is a slough of despond: the further we advance the more we shall flounder, until we are half ruined by our successes.

_62 Rutland Gate, December 24th_.--I have shut myself up for some days, to try to get rid of an irritation in the larynx, which has troubled me for some time past; but in this weather one's library is the most secure retreat.

_62 Rutland Gate, January 3rd_.--I see the Court of Queen's Bench in Canada has decided in favour of the extradition of the fugitive slave who turned and slew his pursuer. This surprises me; for surely, by our law, such an act is not murder. What, however, interests me most is to know whether the case can be brought up to the Privy Council by way of appeal. I do not know what form the proceedings in Canada have taken; but I apprehend the proceedings are civil, not criminal, and therefore appealable. If it does come here, it will be a matter of great interest.

The reference is to the celebrated case of John Anderson--or Jack--a negro of Missouri, who, in 1853, had been met by one Diggs, a white man, thirty miles away from his home. In accordance with the laws of the State, Diggs attempted to seize him. Anderson killed Diggs, and--by 'the underground railway'--made good his escape to Canada, where he had lived ever since. In 1860 he had been recognised, and, on formal application for his extradition, he had been arrested. The Court of Queen's Bench in Canada accepted the argument that they had to decide only as to the evidence of the commission of the crime, not as to the nature of it, and remanded the prisoner. In England the excitement was very great. The Secretary of State sent out an order that Anderson was not to be given up without instructions from him; and the Court of Queen's Bench sent out a writ of _habeas corpus_, directing the man to be brought before it. But meanwhile an application for a writ of _habeas corpus_ had been made to the Court of Common Pleas in Canada, and the prisoner had been discharged on the technical ground that he was not charged with any crime included in the Extradition Treaty, as, for instance, murder; for the indictment was that he did 'wilfully, maliciously and feloniously stab and kill, &c.,' words which meant, inferentially, manslaughter; and manslaughter was not recognised by the treaty.[Footnote: See _Annual Register_, 1831, part ii. p. 520.]

The Journal here mentions the awfully sudden death of a friend of many years' standing:--

_January 8th_.--The Frederick Elliots and Marochettis dined with us. There was a frost, and torches on the Serpentine. Mrs. F. Elliot drove round to see it, and went home and died in the night [of a spasm of the heart. The news reached Reeve by a note from Mr. Elliot, dated seven o'clock in the morning].

_From Mr. E. Twisleton_

Bonchurch, January 24th.

My dear Reeve,--I am much obliged to you for your letter of the 18th instant, which has been forwarded to me here. I am sorry to say that I have so much on my hands at present that I could not undertake to write an article on American affairs; though I am equally obliged to you for the proposal.

I lament what has taken place in the United States. Although, in a narrow political sense, a disruption may be useful to England, in another point of view it is a misfortune, inasmuch as the maintenance of one confederation during seventy-two years, over such a vast extent of territory, with no civil war, and only two foreign wars, is the greatest thing which the English race has done out of England, and its dissolution is sure to be viewed with pleasure by all who in their hearts hate free institutions and the English race.

Since Brown's attempt to excite an insurrection of the slaves in Virginia, I have thought it impossible to avoid a civil war, if the anti-slavery feeling in the North went on increasing in intensity, as I have known it to increase during the last ten years; but I had not the most distant idea that Lincoln's election would lead to immediate secession on the part of even a single state. In the north of the Union they have been absolutely taken by surprise, and have hardly yet made up their minds as to the course they will pursue. If Congress had merely to deal with South Carolina, it could easily checkmate that one state; but the difficulty arises from the _number_ of states, which either side with South Carolina or will not act against her.

I have the highest respect for Tocqueville's opinion; but I do not happen to remember what he has written respecting secession. I well understand the difficulty for a confederation if any one state has a settled permanent determination to secede from it. But, under the constitution, Congress has ample powers to levy the federal revenue and maintain the laws of the Union in South Carolina--and to pass all laws necessary for this purpose. Moreover, everyone in the Union who levies war against the United States Government is guilty of treason, and there is no recognition in the constitution of any right in any state to secede from the Union. Under these circumstances, everyone in South Carolina caught in arms against the federal Government is liable to be hanged. With such laws and powers, an united Congress and a resolute president, like General Jackson, would soon reduce South Carolina to submission; and my belief is that the same might be the case if there were a league against the Union of the cotton states alone. For a time Congress would baffle such a league quite as effectually as the Swiss Confederation put down the Sonderbund.

Pray give my kind regards to Mrs. Reeve. I expect to be in London at the end of next week, and I shall be happy to communicate and receive ideas on American politics. The critical point at present is the course which will be pursued by Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Yours very truly,

EDWARD TWISLETON.

The Journal notes:--

_February 26th_.--Dined with the Apponyis, now Austrian ambassador; Duchess of Wellington, Clarendon, Lewis, Lady Westmorland, and Mme. de Bury, who was in great favour at Vienna.

_To Lord Brougham_

_62 Rutland Gate, March 1st_.--Never was a session opened with so little interest. I believe it is quite true that the Tories are resolved to _menager_ Palmerston as much as possible, and to enter into no hostile combinations against him with the Radicals. In fact, Palmerston is gaining ground with the Conservatives, and losing it with some sections of the Liberals. He has exasperated the Irish Catholics to the last degree; and for my own part, I think his language and conduct about Mr. Turnbull's resignation highly discreditable. It is another specimen of the unhappy influence of Shaftesbury's ignorance and bigotry. However, the practical result is that the Government have lost Cork by a large majority, and that at the next election there will hardly be a ministerial candidate returned in Ireland.

It is impossible not to see that the general tendency of the public mind in this country is rather towards conservatism than reform. Even the reformers are compelled to haul down their bill; and if the Tories had better men to fill the offices, I think they would, in two or three years, have a fair chance of regaining power and keeping it.

At the present moment, the bishops seem to be the most eager combatants; in France they are denouncing the Emperor [Footnote: In January 1860 Reeve was told in Paris that the Pope spoke of him as the beast of the Apocalypse.] as Pontius Pilate; in England they are thirsting for the blood of a few heterodox parsons. Nothing is talked of here but 'Essays and Reviews.' In my humble opinion they by no means deserve the importance attached to them, either in point of style or in point of substance.

Keep my secret, but I have in preparation a regular mine under Eton College. There has been of late a good deal of discussion about it, with very little knowledge. Fortunately, I have lighted upon the evidence taken by you before your celebrated committee in 1818, all which is still quite applicable. Eton is very little improved, and the depredations of the Fellows go on with shameless audacity. I mention this to you because your committee has been of so much use to us; but I wish to keep the thing very quiet till the next number of the 'Review' makes its appearance.

_From Lord Brougham_

_Cannes, March 4th_.--It is very odd that for two or three days I had been reading and discussing with one or two Eton men here the subject on which you propose to do infinite service, but of course I shall not even drop the most remote allusion to your plan. The conduct at Eton is perfectly scandalous; our two boys never cost less than 200 L. a year while they were there; and I believe the case is understated, and not overstated, in the 'Cornhill Magazine,' and other places. One of the men who spoke to me about it said it was no fault of mine, but of Eldon, that it had not all been set right forty years ago--alluding to the Education Commission to which you refer. I recollect being reluctantly forced to insert the exemption in the Act and in the commission of inquiry. He had opposed the whole bill, and we defeated him in the Lords when he attempted to throw it out--a very extraordinary event in those days. But Rosslyn, Holland, and others who had charge of the bill, were apprehensive of being beaten on a further stage if we held out on the exemptions. In 1819 (the year after) I endeavoured to remove the exemptions in the Extensions Act to all charities, and this gave rise to Peel's very shabby attack on the whole inquiry when I was very unwell, and wholly unprepared, and to my defence in the speech which I have often said I could not now make if I would, and would not if I could. I venture to refer to it, however, as the most remarkable I ever made in all respects.

When you have sprung your mine, I hope and trust the 'Quarterly' will follow your example. If Elwin was still in command I feel confident he would, for he has always joined against Eldon & Co. I highly approve your keeping it quite secret on every account.

Here the Journal has:--

_April 9th_.--I was elected a member of 'The Club,' in place of Lord Aberdeen--proposed by Lord Stanhope; the greatest social distinction I ever received.

This was the literary club founded in 1764 by Reynolds and Johnson, which, in the course of years, had dropped all extraneous title, and become simply The Club. 'It still continues the most famous of the dining societies of London, and in the 133 years of its existence has perhaps seen at its tables more men of note than any other society.'[Footnote: _Edinburgh Review_, April 1897, p. 291.] Gibbon, who became a member of it in 1774, had suggested the form in which a new member was to be apprised of the distinction conferred on him. This has continued in use to the present day, and on April 9th, 1861, a copy of it was sent to Reeve, signed by the president of the evening:--

Sir,--I have the pleasure to inform you that you have this evening had the honour of being elected a member of The Club.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

GEORGE RICHMOND.

This was followed, a week later, by another letter from the same writer:--

10 York Street, Portman Square, April 16th.

My dear Mr. Reeve,--I have just returned to town and found your note of the 10th inst., and I lose not a minute in writing to say that the election which I had so much pleasure in announcing to you, I announced as president for the night, and in the form of words prescribed by Gibbon. The moment I had written it I began a note to you in my own proper person, but I did not know whether it would be quite regular to send it, and I had to leave town on the following morning. The 'Sir,' and 'I am, Sir,' which anything but express what I feel, I most gladly exchange now, if you will allow it, for a very different greeting, and I beg to remain, my dear Mr. Reeve,

Very faithfully yours,

GEORGE RICHMOND.

The Bishop of London was elected on the same night with you, and it may interest you to know that the members present were:--

Lord Lansdowne.
Lord Clarendon.
Sir H. Holland.
Sir David Dundas.
The Dean of St. Paul's.
Sir Charles Eastlake.
Lord Stanley.
Lord Cranworth.
Lord Stanhope.
Duke of Argyll.

_To Madame de Tocqueville_

62 Rutland Gate, April 17th.

My dear Madame de Tocqueville,--I have just published, in the 'Edinburgh Review,' a short notice of that book and that life which are to you the dearest things in the world, and to all of us, his friends, among the dearest. A few separate copies have been struck off, and I send one to you by this post, which will, I hope, reach you with this letter. It was a matter of sincere regret to me that I found it impossible to execute my intention of translating the two volumes, [Footnote: Oeuvres et Correspondance inedites d'Alexis de Tocqueville, publiees et precedees d'une notice par Gustave de Beaumont.] partly because I found that I was too prominently noticed in them, and partly because our friends, the Seniors, were much bent on the undertaking. I therefore relinquished it in their favour. But I always intended to express in my own manner my deep affection for the memory of your husband, and my estimate of his genius as a man of letters and a statesman. This I have attempted to do in this article, and though I am sensible that it falls far short of the subject of it, yet you will discover in it traces and reminiscences of that which was one of the greatest happinesses and honours of my life--our mutual friendship.

_From Lord Brougham_

_Cannes, April 24th_.--I have read the Eton article with great satisfaction, and I really think it must have the best effect. But Ker, to whom I lent my copy of the number, is not quite satisfied; but he takes extreme views. He also thinks you have not ascribed enough to the Education Committee of 1818, or rather to the effect of our being thwarted by Eldon, Peel, &c. But he was very deep in that controversy at the time, having defended the committee in a pamphlet, and I believe also in the 'Edinburgh Review,' and may be apt, therefore, to take an exaggerated view of the subject.

I am still cruelly hurt at the Newton monument being for ever cushioned. If Elwin had remained editor of the 'Quarterly' it would have been taken up, and on right grounds. Indeed, a learned professor had actually prepared a scientific and popular article on the subject; but Elwin retired, and the 'Quarterly Review' will now do nothing. Altogether I believe there never will be a monument to the greatest man that England ever had, or will have.

I am anxious to read the rest of the number, but have only just got it, and I sent it to Ker after I had read the Eton; and I am unwilling to delay thanking you for that.

The Journal notes:--

Went down to Weymouth alone for a few days in May, Read Buckle's second volume on the way.

_June 17th_.--Dinner at Lansdowne House to the Comte de Paris and the Due de Chartres; Elgins, Holfords, Bishop of Oxford, Grotes, &c.

_From Lord Clarendon_

_G. G., June 28th_.--I did not expect that any answer to the Eton article would be attempted, for it was unanswerable; the facts were real facts, and the moderation with which they were stated made them all the more telling. The commission is the proper corollary to it; and so many parents of ill-educated boys appear to think.

_To Mr. G. Dempster_

_62 Rutland Gate, August 5th_.--In spite of Sir H. Holland's drugs, I see my fate is sealed; and as I cannot even now put on a shoe, it is vain to hope that I shall be able to walk for some time; and, indeed, to avoid relapses, I must undergo a regular cure of Vichy water. Therefore, with extreme regret, I make up my mind to turn my face south, instead of north, as soon as I can move.... I fear that, having lost the present month, there is little hope of our reaching Scotland at all this year.

Accordingly, the Journal has:--

Bad fit of gout in July and August. Went to Vichy on August 10th. The heat was extreme, and the waters made me worse. Thence to Clermont, Pontgibaud, Gergovia. Home on the 31st.

_September 1st_.--To Torry Hill [Lord Kingsdown's]--first time; shot there. Farnborough; Atherstone; Torry Hill again on the 21st. Stetchworth-good shooting.

_From Lord Clarendon_

_Harpton Court, September 22nd_.--I would have gladly escaped the Prussian mission,[Footnote: For the coronation of the King.] which is not much to my taste, but the Queen insisted, and the Viscount [Footnote: Lord Palmerston.] and the Earl [Footnote: Lord John, created Earl Russell on July 30th, 1861.] attached political importance to it, so I yielded, and Lady C. and Constance and Emily are, also on royal recommendation, to accompany me. The two latter are of an age to like a lark, which is more than their respected parents do. I need not say that my hope of doing any good by a flying visit in the midst of a carousal is exceedingly small; but I know the King well, and shall have no difficulty in telling him what I believe to be the truth concerning his interests.

I am sorry to hear that you have been worried by gout, and that Vichy did you no good. I am inclined to speak well of Wiesbaden, for the glorious weather I had there (94 deg. in the shade always) made the waters effective, and somehow I felt younger; but that pleasant sensation is now rather on the decline.

_From M. Guizot_

Val Richer, 7 Octobre.

My dear Sir,--Votre tante, Madame Austin, qui est ici depuis quinze jours, a fait hier, en se promenant dans une petite voiture trainee par un ane, et qu'elle menait elle-meme, une chute dans laquelle elle s'est fait, au coude du bras droit, une luxation qui nous a fait craindre d'abord une fracture grave. Mon medecin de Lisieux, que j'ai envoye chercher sur le champ, a reduit la luxation, c'est-a-dire ramene les os du coude dans leur emboitement naturel. Petite operation fort douloureuse, mais simple et sans gravite au fond. Madame Austin en sera quitte pour deux ou trois semaines de repos et d'immobilite absolue de son bras, qui est contenu dans des eclisses. Au premier moment, elle a ete fort ebranlee par cet accident. Mon medecin une fois arrive, elle s'est remise; elle a eu un peu de fievre cette nuit; mais elle a dormi, et elle est assez bien ce matin, presque sans souffrance de son bras. J'espere qu'elle se remettra promptement; mais je n'ai pas voulu que vous ignorassiez la cause de la prolongation de son absence. Ma fille Henriette ecrit a Sir Alexander Gordon. Avec la sante de Madame Austin, tout accident peut etre grave; mais je crois que vous pouvez etre sans inquietude sur les consequences de celui-ci. Mon medecin est un homme habile qui soignera tres bien votre tante, et mes filles lui epargneront un mal tres penible, l'ennui de l'immobilite.