Chapter XVII: The Franco-German War (2)

As far as we have gone we have surely adhered to the declaration made to Parliament--'Neutrality, with as friendly relations as is compatible with impartiality; exercise of the duties and maintenance of our rights, as neutrals.' We have protected Belgium with minimum risk to ourselves. We have given advice when it was acceptable and effective, such as that which led to the meeting of Favre and Bismarck. We have not obtruded advice when it would have been impotent excepting for harm. We hae reserved complete liberty of action for any contingency. All the neutral nations have been at our feet, anxious to know what we would do, professing to be ready to follow our example. One of the belligerents has already come to us for assistance. Those who think we have done nothing of course consider it an easy and inglorious task; but it requires a little firmness to resist not only the complaints of belligerents and the cajoleries of neutrals, but also the changeable gusts of public opinion at home. Yours sincerely,

GRANVILLE.

_From M. Guizot_

_Val Richer, October 2nd._--I understand you, my dear Sir; 'you' meaning your Cabinet. You want to see if France will defend herself energetically enough, obstinately enough, to warrant the neutral Powers saying to the Prussians, 'What you attempt is impossible; you are stirring up an interminable contest, which is becoming an evil and a peril for Europe.' Until that moment comes, your Cabinet does not think that the intervention of the neutral Powers in favour of peace could be effective.

Many reasons, some good, some plausible, may be adduced in support of a waiting policy. But take care! it often aggravates the questions it postpones. Consider what is actually taking place at the present moment. Prussia puts forward her claims more and more distinctly; France is exasperated and rejects them more and more positively. You can have no idea of the effect produced throughout France by the conversation of M. de Bismarck with M. Jules Favre. Bismarck, indeed, seems to have some notion of it, for he attempts to extenuate what he said or allowed to be understood. Evidently the result of this interview has been to leave the belligerents mutually more embittered than they were before; and the intervention of the neutral Powers at the present time is thus rendered more difficult.

I now put this incident on one side, and am going to the root of the matter. You want to see if France will defend herself energetically and obstinately. Look at what she has done already. The Prussians have certainly obtained great successes. They have beaten two of our regular armies. At this moment they are before Paris. Is Paris terror-struck? Do the Prussians enter it? I am not trusting to child's talk and vulgar boasting. My son William, and my son-in-law Cornelis de Witt, are now both in Paris, both in the National Guard, both clever, sensible men, not credulous, not given to boasting, and good judges of what is going on around them. They both write that Paris is able and determined to defend itself obstinately. And among the most cautious of my friends, those who doubted it at first are now of the same opinion as my sons. By the last balloon from Paris I received a letter, dated September 21st, from a simple, obscure citizen. He writes:--'Our Paris, bristling with bayonets, is a splendid sight; perfect order, glowing patriotism, and a resolve to fight to the death. The insolence of Bismarck's reply to Jules Favre has enraged and electrified all hearts. The Prussians will pay dearly for their blunder in condemning us to heroism or despair. Yesterday was a good day; in two places, Villejuif and St. Denis, we attacked the Prussians and defeated them.'

I do not know if this degree of ardour and confidence is to be accepted as general. I quote it as an illustration of the feeling in Paris on the seventh day of the siege. The fighting is at present round the fortifications; later on it will be on the ramparts, and then in the streets. First the detached forts; then the _enceinte_; then the barricades. And when it comes to these--if it ever gets so far--independent of the organised forces of all kinds, there will be the populace, the Paris mob, intelligent and bold men, who fight well on the barricades for the very fun of it.

How long will this defence of Paris last? I do not know, and am not going to prophesy. But what I do know, what I hear from all sides, is that it will last long enough to excite a patriotic and warlike sentiment through the whole land. France is not peopled with heroes; there are the bold and the timid, as in every other country; but there are heroes enough--and others will arise--to keep the nation in a state of fever, and consequently Europe in a state of alarm inconsistent with true peace, with the prosperity of the nations and the security of European order.

The Prussians, and, as I am told, Bismarck himself, have reckoned, and are perhaps still reckoning, on our internal dissensions and quarrels, kept alive by the traditions and the hopes of the old parties. It is a natural error, but made in complete ignorance of the actual state of things. National sentiment has overcome the old discord. One sole, universal and absorbing passion dominates all parties--the passion of defending the soil and honour of France. Two of the most illustrious Vendeens, MM. de Cathelineau et Stofflet, have asked for and received from the Government an authorisation to assist them against the Prussians. MM. Rochefort and Gustave Flourens, formerly the most ardent democrats, have joined the government of General Trochu, and are preparing barricades, to maintain a fierce struggle against the besiegers at the gates and in the streets of Paris, if it should ever be necessary.

7 P.M.--My letter was interrupted by the arrival of the evening papers, and a letter from my daughter Pauline, dated September 25th, brought by a balloon. I copy the following, _verbatim_:--

'After being on guard the day before yesterday, for twenty-six hours, without anything worse than repeated alarms, my husband and son returned and are somewhat rested. Yesterday we went to Montmartre--a very populous and stirring quarter. I cannot tell you often enough how well Paris is behaving; enthusiasm and unanimity prevail everywhere; the good and the wise have silenced the fools. This will raise up France; it is a balm for many sorrows. I can assure you the country is not demoralised. I do not know how long the trial will last, but we shall be the better for it.'

Admit that if this conduct is maintained, if Paris--which in June 1848 suppressed the revolutionary anarchy in her own bosom--in 1870 stops a foreign invasion, and holds it at bay before her ramparts, it will be a great deed, worthy of esteem and sympathy. If in presence of such a fact, your neutrality should continue cold and inert, the friends of European peace and of the good understanding between France and England would have great cause for astonishment. It is for this reason that I conjure England and her Government to give the matter their serious consideration.

The Journal here gives a short sketch of a month's holiday:--

October 12th.--Started for Ireland. Crossed in a gale. To Dunsany on the 14th. 15th, drove with Lord Dunsany to Trim; saw the castle; Larachor, Swift's living; Dangan, now quite ruined; and back by Lord Longford's. 17th, to Dartrey. Met the Verulams there, and Lady Meath. 21st, drove to Coote Hill fair. 24th, to Belfast and Clandeboye. Some days with Lord Dufferin at Clandeboye. Professor Andrews came over from Belfast. 30th, back to Dublin to stay with Mansfield, who was now commander-in-chief in Ireland. Saw Lord Spencer--lord-lieutenant. November 1st, crossed to Holyhead and went to Teddesley, where Christine joined me. Back to town on the 5th.

_From Lord Stanhope_

_Chevening, October 11th_.--I have been reading with much interest the article on Queen Anne in the 'Edinburgh,' and I hope you will allow me to express to you how much I am gratified at the favourable view which it takes of my performance. The reviewer and I, as I am glad to find, often agree in our views of men and things; and whenever we differ, our difference is expressed in terms that cannot but give great pleasure to any author.

The reviewer, in this case, has certainly one main advantage over some of my other critics. They seem to have no knowledge of Queen Anne's reign except what my book imparted to them, and they therefore criticised my book on its own merits or demerits alone. Here, on the contrary, the writer is, I see, most deeply versed in all the memoirs and published records of those times, which he can bring to bear with great effect upon any passage that he desires either to controvert or to confirm.

It strikes me very forcibly, from my acquaintance with your style, that the writer of this article is no other than yourself. [Footnote: The article was by Herman Merivale (d. 1874).] If so, pray accept my sincere thanks; if not, pray convey them from me to the critic unknown.

Lady Stanhope and I have been to North Wales and Devonshire, but settled at Chevening ten or twelve days ago. From here we went without delay to call upon the Empress at Chislehurst; as indeed we were bound to do, having in former years received great kindness from them, and been their guests for a week at Compiegne. Nothing could be more touching and gracious than her manner. She had tears in her eyes all the while we were with her, and her voice was often choked by emotion; yet she did not let fall a single word of invective or personal reproach against her enemies in France. She told me that her first wish on reaching England had been to proceed with her son to the Emperor at Wilhelmshoehe; but on applying to the Prussian authorities, she could obtain no assurance that she and her son should not be treated as prisoners of war; and under these circumstances the Emperor forbade her to come.

Poor, poor Paris! when shall you and I ever see it again?

_From Lord Westbury_

_Hinton, November 11th_. I kept myself free from engagements during the first three weeks of November, thinking I might be called on to do suit and service at the Judicial Committee; but I have not made any provision for December, as I thought it was fully understood (certainly by me) at the end of last session, that, from the end of Michaelmas term until Christmas, the Lords Justices would have charge of the Judicial Committee for the whole of each week, or certainly four days in every week. We calculated that the most important business on the appeal side in Chancery would be so reduced by the two courts of appeal during Michaelmas term that the Lord Chancellor alone would suffice for all necessities during December. I have therefore postponed every engagement here until December. My house will be full; I cannot therefore give you any aid; but I am not sorry for it, for if the arrears were at all reduced, _nothing would be done_ in the appointment of a permanent tribunal, with a proper staff of judges. You must still be Atlas staggering under the weight of your huge _Orbis Causarum_. Around your feet must be millions of Hindoos, crying aloud for justice. It is only this spectacle for gods and men that will move the Government to do its duty.

It would be easy for me to attend if my establishment and family were in town. But if I promised you a fortnight in December, I must put off numerous engagements and remove my servants, horses, &c., to London, only to bring them down again here for Christmas; or, at the risk of being ill as well as wretched, I must go to London alone, into a cold deserted house, with the attendance at most of two female servants. No; you must get as much as you can out of the Lords Justices, who must begin the task of learning Hindoo and Mahomedan law. Besides, if I disposed of twenty Indian appeals in December (a most unlikely thing), it would be the signal for adding forty more to the list, and so you would be more encumbered than ever. It is useless to make these poor spasmodic efforts. The thing must be done effectually. You are hopelessly bankrupt, and the driblets of aid you solicit will not enable you to stave off ruin.

An article by Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen on the 'Business of the House of Commons,' published in the 'Edinburgh Review' for January 1871, was submitted in proof to the Speaker, Mr. Denison, whose comments drew from the writer the following reply:--

_From Mr. E. H. Knatchbull-Hugessen_ [Footnote: At this time under-secretary of state for the Home Department: created Lord Brabourne in 1880; died in 1893.]

_Smeeth, November 23rd_.--The Speaker knows more than I do, if he knows that it is an understood thing 'that a committee shall next session be appointed to consider the present mode of conducting the public business.' It is not generally known; and I doubt the policy of alluding, in an article which may be read by the public generally, to that which is only known to a privileged few. You, however, must be the best judge, and of course I have no objection to insert a sentence or two of allusion to this fact (?) [Footnote: The (?) is Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen's.] if you wish it; but if pressing business--or war--postpones this committee, the 'Review' will look rather foolish.

When you say the article is 'rather too multifarious,' I quite agree that it might be condensed and curtailed. But even had I time to go through it again with this intention, I frankly own that I should doubt the expediency of doing so. I wrote it _currente calamo_, and my object was to attack the existing system upon many points at once, in order to carry some--just as an army besieging a town may make half a dozen attacks, of which three, being feints, give a better chance of success to the other three. You will observe that I do sum up the four prominent points: 1, _cloture_; 2, limitations of motions for adjournment; 3, public bill revision committee; 4, restrictions upon counts-out.

I quite agree with what the Speaker writes about our 'absurdly late hours.' I have no strong feeling upon the Wednesday question, and perhaps the Speaker is right, although I think the point is alluded to in a manner not too strong nor too 'disparaging' to the fixed hour, as I only recommend that a division, instead of an adjournment, either upon main question or adjournment, should take place compulsorily at the fixed hour.

I return you the Speaker's letter. I don't know whether you could conveniently run down here on Saturday and spend a quiet Sunday. You would find my wife and me alone, excepting Godfrey Lushington, who is coming to discuss highway bills. We could have a talk over the matter then. If you cannot manage it, write me word how you wish the article altered, and I will do it. I confess, however, that I think, as a preliminary attack upon abuses which will require closer and more detailed grappling with hereafter, it had better not be much altered.

_From the Queen of Holland_

Hague, December 26th.

My dear Mr. Reeve, [Footnote: The Queen of Holland seems to have laid down a somewhat curious rule in regard to her correspondence with Reeve: when she was in Holland, she wrote to him in English; when she was in England, she wrote in French.]--Your most interesting letter reached me a few days ago. Ever since, I have been trying to get some of the papers relating to the Luxembourg question; however, the one enclosed is the only one I have been able to obtain. Such is the fear of the kingdom of the Netherlands to be involved in any of the impending Luxembourg difficulties, that everything relating to that part of the world is scrupulously ignored; and if the papers are not claimed at Luxembourg, where the most jealous of men, Prince Henry, governs, you cannot obtain the real truth. The fact is, Mr. de Bismarck _a cherche une querelle d'Allemand_, first to obtain a free passage through the Luxembourg railroads; in the future, to annex the little grand duchy, to close the frontier on that side entirely.

This, however, is still kept for a few months hence, as Mr. de B. would not be put quite on the same line with Prince Gortschakoff, though they are perfectly of the same opinion.

It is a sad time, a very bad symptom, when principles, engagements, treaties, are all _a la merci_ of two or three unscrupulous men.

Forgive the haste in which I am compelled to write, this time of the year being particularly busy. Remember me kindly to Mrs. Reeve, and believe me, dear Mr. Reeve, very sincerely yours,

SOPHIA.

The Journal here has:--

The French artists being driven over by the war, Millais gave a dinner, on December 20th, to Gerome and Heilbuth--interesting. I took Gerome to see Herbert's Moses in the House of Lords, but it was invisible from a fog.

We all dined with Lady Molesworth on Christmas Day, and ended the year with the Van de Weyers at New Lodge.

January 3rd, 1871.--We had a small dinner to Sir William Mansfield and Lord Elcho. On the 5th to Aldermaston (Higford Burr), with Bruce, [Footnote: Afterwards Lord Aberdare.] Colvile, [Frank Buckland], &c.

Professor Sybel was not one of Reeve's frequent correspondents, and the following extract is from the only letter of his which has been preserved, probably the only one ever written. The primary cause of it was some trifling business connected with the exchange of publications--the 'Edinburgh Review' and Sybel's 'Historische Zeitschrift;' but, having settled that, the course of events tempted him, as a German and an historian, to continue.

_From Professor von Sybel_

Bonn, January 9th.

Hochgeehrter Herr,--... What a change in our circumstances since I had last the pleasure of seeing you! To us, Germans, it would often appear as a dream, did not our sacrifices and our efforts bring the reality vividly before us. The desire for a speedy conclusion of the war is general; but, I am proud to say, no less general is the determination to fight and to bleed till we have brought it to a satisfactory issue. We are resolved not to be attacked again as we were in July, and on that account we will move our frontier to the Vosges. We will fight until the French acknowledge us as having rights and position equal to their own, till the organs of their Government cease from their New Year animadversion, such as the 'Siecle' has published, and we will crush everyone who calls in question our place as one of the Great Powers of Europe; and in thus rooting out this boast of supremacy, we believe we are earning the gratitude of all Europe.

Hochachtungsvoll und ergebenst

H. v. SYBEL.

_From M. Guizot_

_Val Richer, January 16th._--I received the 'Edinburgh Review' yesterday, and read your article at once. It is excellent--the language of a profound observer, and of a true friend of France. There are pages I should like all my countrymen at all able to understand them to learn by heart, among others from these words (p. 22): 'The life of man is so short,' to these: 'the collective strength of a nation may be sensibly diminished by it.' You have here laid your finger on the great evil of our democracy: 'It readily sacrifices the past and the future to what is supposed to be the interest of the present.' If I were in Paris, I should like to have a translation of nearly the whole article [Footnote: 'France,' in the _Review_ for January 1871. The article was republished in _Royal and Revolutionary France_, with the title 'France in 1871.'] published in our newspapers. But I am not there; the Prussian shells go in my stead.

I am told that the opening of your Parliament is fixed for February 8th. I will wait until you can let me know this with certainty, and will then send you the letter I mentioned. But I must beg you not to forward it to its address till my translator--Miss Martin--reports to you that it is ready. It seems to me very desirable that the translation should be published as soon as the letter itself has been delivered. I understand that, on this condition, the 'Times' will give the whole of it, which will ensure it the widest possible publicity in England, where its publicity is the most important. The French edition will not appear till after the translation has been published in the 'Times.'

_From the Queen of Holland_

Hague, January 17th.

Dear Mr. Reeve,--I have received your letter. I have received the 'Edinburgh Review.' I did not glance over the pages, I read and re-read them; and I thank you for the real enjoyment they have afforded me. True in thought, admirable in expression, there can be but one judgement on both your articles, and I will certainly endeavour to have them translated into Dutch, to spread the truth. Allow me only to regret the great severity with which you treat the fallen Empire. I put aside every personal feeling, but I remain convinced that posterity will be more lenient in judgement than the present in the raging storm. There were faults in the system, inherent and inherited. As to the head of the system, few men have been more naturally kind and good. He had the weakness of these natures--wishing to content everyone. No question of principle seemed to him worthy of the inestimable enjoyment of peace. Avec les differents partis il se laissait aller a des paroles, a des engagements contradictoires; de la une apparence de dissimulation, bien eloignee de sa nature. The prisoner of Wilhelmshoehe belongs to the past. To those that have known and loved him falls the task of obtaining justice for him. I cannot talk of the present events, of the destruction of Paris. I bow my head and I hope in God's justice.

Will you remember me kindly to Mrs. Reeve? and believe me, with real gratitude, truly and sincerely yours,

SOPHIA.

_From M. Guizot_

_Val Richer, February 7th._--I have received from Mr. Gladstone a letter dated January 30th, as friendly as possible towards myself, but vague and evasive in respect to the policy of the Cabinet in the present situation. Not only does he postpone every measure, every indication of his intentions till after the election and the opening of the National Assembly, which is very natural, but he gives no hint as to how far his Government will insist respecting the conditions of peace. It is, of course, impossible for me to argue the point with him--such a discussion would be unbecoming both on his part and mine. I understand his reserve, but I can neither accept the reasons for it nor its results. It is therefore to you that I address my further observations in support of my letter of January 18th, begging you to communicate them to Mr. Gladstone, who will quite understand why I do not address them to himself. I should also be glad to know if he would object to the publication of his letter of January 30th, and of that which I am now sending you? For my part I wish this publicity, in both England and France; but I will not authorise it without his approval.

If this should be agreed on, pray let me know your opinion as to publishing it in the 'Times.' I am sure that, in this case, Miss Martin would undertake the translation.

The Journal notes:--

_February 18th_--Pleasant dinner at Mansfields', though Mansfield himself was carried off by the Prince of Wales.

_26th_.--Dinner at Lord Granville's, to meet the Duc de Broglie, who came as ambassador.

_From M. Guizot_

_Val Richer, March 4th_.--Your sad predictions were well founded; the painful abscission has been made; we bore it at least with good sense and dignity. Without discussion or delay, the National Assembly has accepted the peace imposed upon it; and the population of Paris left the Prussian corps to parade through one single quarter of the town in solitude and silence. The Prussians have not seen Paris, and Paris did not go to see the Prussians. Their triumph had no spectators. Their present policy is one more example, after so many others, of the insolent and blind folly of victors who sow the seeds of war at the moment they are making peace. You can have no idea of the passionate sentiment of sorrow and anger which fills the soul of France, in all classes and in every part of the country. It is impossible to say when and under what form the future will mark this feeling, but it is written. One cannot tire of repeating the last words of the Chancellor Oxenstiern to his son when starting for the tour through Europe: 'Ito mi fili et inspice quam parva sapientia mundus regitur' ...

The Journal continues:--

_March 16th_.--Dinner at home to the Duc de Broglie, the Dartreys, Mintos, Houghton, and Lady Molesworth.

_April 1st_.--Went to Draycott on a visit to the Cowleys. The Lavalettes there and the old Duchess of Cleveland. Went on to Bath to try the waters there. Bath, however, did no good to the gout, of which I had, all this spring, repeated attacks. Saw Wells Cathedral, Glastonbury, and Longleat. Over to Bristol, and then back to town on April 15th.

No sooner was the siege of Paris ended and peace signed, than the frightful insurrection of the Commune broke out in Paris; the city was for many weeks in complete possession of the mob; Thiers and the army retired on Versailles, and recommenced the siege of Paris by French troops. The Archbishop and other hostages were murdered, and at last the city was set on fire. Nothing even in the First Revolution equalled the madness of this period. What a curious contrast to the even tenour of London life! I find in my diaries no trace of these tremendous catastrophes.

_May 1st_.--International Art Exhibition opened. I went in my doctor's robes and orders; the only time I ever wore them.

_From M. Guizot_

Val Richer, 4 juin.

My dear Sir,--La destruction a atteint son terme, l'oeuvre de reconstruction commence. Elle sera tres difficile, mais je n'en desespere pas, et j'y prendrai quelque part sans sortir de ma cellule. Quelle vie que la mienne! Mon plus ancien souvenir politique est d'avoir vu de loin, du haut d'une terrasse de la petite maison de campagne ou ma mere s'etait refugiee pendant la Terreur, en 1794, les Jacobins poursuivis et assommes par la reaction contre Robespierre au 9 thermidor. La scene se passait sur les boulevards de Nismes. J'assiste en 1871, de la campagne aussi, a la chute des nouveaux Jacobins, vrais heritiers et eleves de la Terreur. Et que n'ai-je pas vu, en fait d'evenement, dans cet intervalle de 77 ans!

Sur ce je vous dis adieu. Je me porte assez bien, malgre mes 83 ans et ces spectacles Shakspeariens. La France est, depuis 1789, une immense tragedie de Shakspeare.

Tout a vous,

GUIZOT.

Reverting to the Journal:--

Mr. Grote died on June 18th. I attended the funeral in Westminster Abbey on the 24th. John Mill and Overstone were among the pall-bearers.

At The Club dinner, on June 20th, the Duc d'Aumale took leave of us before returning to France. There were present: the Lord Chancellor (Hatherley), Master of the Rolls [Romilly], Duke of Cleveland, Lord Salisbury, Lord Derby, Sir H. Holland, Dean Stanley, W. Smith, and self.

About this time I was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Lord Ripon, then Lord President, had asked them to make me a K.C.B., but Gladstone wrote me word that it was a rule that men should pass through the third grade to arrive at the second. [Footnote: That there was such a rule has been very fully proved by numerous exceptions.] Arthur Helps and William Stephenson were made C.B.'s at the same time, and afterwards K.C.B.'s. I was gazetted a C.B. on June 30th.

The following from Lord Granville refers to a conversation in the House of Lords on the constitution of the Appellate Court of the Judicial Committee. The Marquis of Salisbury had said that in his opinion it should be a court of fixed constitution.

At present it was often difficult to discover who were the judges in the particular case. He believed the President of the Council in every case appointed the judges; but, as he understood, it was practically done by a gentleman for whom all had the greatest respect, Mr. Henry Reeve, the Registrar. This did not seem a satisfactory state of things for a tribunal dealing with matters which excited people's passions and feelings to the highest degree, and on which parties were angrily divided. Nobody conversant with the matter could harbour the unworthy suspicion that the Court was ever packed for the trial of a particular case--he had no apprehensions on that score; but it was because the action and constitution of the Court should be above all suspicion that he would urge the noble and learned lord on the woolsack to provide some fixed constitution, so that the Court should not be constituted afresh for each particular case it had to consider.

Lord Granville replied in the sense of his letter to Reeve, except that he said 'Mr. Reeve invariably consulted _the Lord President_, who, on some occasions, called a Cabinet Council.' The Lord President at that time was the Marquis of Ripon. Granville was followed by Lord Cairns, who said:--

He could testify from considerable experience to the way in which Mr. Reeve performed his duties. The fact was that there was a great unwillingness to attend, and undergo the great labour and responsibility of hearing important cases. Mr. Reeve, knowing this, and having an earnest desire to perform the duties of his office effectively--no public officer could discharge them better--was in the habit of making himself acquainted with the arrangements of those who might be expected to attend, with a view--not to decide who ought to attend to hear particular cases--but as to whose services were obtainable, in order that some kind of Court might be constituted.... It ought to be understood that no person had any power of selecting some and excluding others, and that the Registrar's endeavour to procure the attendance of individuals had merely arisen from anxiety lest there should be no quorum. [Footnote: Hansard, 1871, June 22nd, cols. 389-91.]

_From Lord Granville_

16 _Bruton Street, June 23rd_.--I see the report in the 'Times' is defective. I stated that the Lord President was undoubtedly responsible for all that you did. I paid a high tribute to your services to the Judicial Committee (which was cheered by the law lords); I said the difficulty was often great to collect sufficient members to attend; that you took great pains, by ascertaining the wishes and possible dates, to ensure this; that for ordinary meetings of the Court you acted on your own judgement; but that in all cases where there was a possibility of party or personal feeling being made a cause of want of confidence in the composition of the Court, you had always consulted me; and I had, on some occasions, not only consulted the Home Office, but the Cabinet, in order to do that which would ensure public confidence. I should not be sorry if you could show that I was not in the wrong. I was delighted to hear of your C.B. None could be more deserved.

The Journal records:--

_July 7th_.--I dined with Mrs. Grote; one of the first persons she saw after Grote's death.

_8th_.--A banquet was given at the Crystal Palace to the members of the Comedie Francaise, who had been driven over to London by the siege of Paris and the Commune.

This 'banquet' was of the nature of a lunch, beginning at two o'clock. Lord Dufferin was in the chair, supported by Lords Granville, Stanhope, Powerscourt, Lytton, Houghton, Mr. Disraeli, Tennyson, Macready, and others. When 'the desire of eating was taken away,' the chairman, speaking in French, proposed the health of the guests. M. Got responded. Horace Wigan, too, spoke; and Lord Granville, 'whose fluent command of extempore French excited general admiration,' gave 'The Health of the Chairman,' and, with a neat reference to the 'Letters from High Latitudes,' then 14, not 41 years old, said: 'L'accueil que vous avez donne a son discours doit rassurer Lord Dufferin et lui faire meme oublier les succes oratoires que--Latiniste incomparable, et voue au purisme Ciceronien--il a obtenus dans les regions plus septentrionales.' To this chaff Lord Dufferin replied in English: 'Lord Granville has been good enough to allude to what he is pleased to describe as an oratorical triumph in a distant country; and I would venture to remind you--and you may take the word of an experienced person in confirmation of what I am about to say--that when anybody wishes to make a speech in a foreign language, he will find it much more easy to do so after dinner than at an early hour in the morning.'

For Reeve this wound up the season. A few days later, July 23rd, he, with his wife, started for Germany.