Chapter XIV (2)

_November 2nd._--Gout in my hand has prevented my writing anything, and adding some trifling particulars to what I have written above. In the meantime has arrived the news of the capture of Delhi, but though we have received it now a week ago we are still unacquainted with the particulars. All the advantages of the electric telegraph are dearly paid for by the agonies of suspense which are caused by the long intervals between the arrival of general facts and of their particular details. It still remains to be seen whether the results of this success turn out on the whole to be as advantageous as it appears to be brilliant. The Press goes on attacking Canning with great asperity and injustice, and nobody here defends him. Though I am not a very intimate or particular friend of his, I think him so unfairly and ungenerously treated that I mean to make an effort to get him such redress as the case admits of, and the only thing which occurs to me is that Palmerston, as head of the Government, should take the opportunity of the Lord Mayor's dinner to vindicate him, and assume the responsibility of his acts. His 'Clemency' proclamation, as it is stupidly and falsely called, was, I believe, not only proper and expedient, but necessary, and I expect he will be able to vindicate himself completely from all the charges which the newspapers have brought against him, but in the meantime they will have done him all the mischief they can. Amongst other things Clarendon told me at The Grove, he said, in reference to Canning's war against the press, that the license of the Indian press was intolerable, not of the native press only, but the English in Bengal. Certain papers are conducted there by low, disaffected people, who publish the most gross, false, and malignant attacks on the Government, which are translated into the native languages, and read extensively in the native regiments, and amongst the natives generally, and that to put down this pest was an absolute necessity.

_November 4th._--I have been speaking to Granville about Canning, and urged him to move Palmerston to stand forth in his defence at the Lord Mayor's dinner on the 9th. This morning he received a very strong and pressing letter from Clanricarde, in the same sense in which I had been urging him, and a very good letter, and this he is going to send to Palmerston. Clanricarde is struck, as I am, with the fact that nobody and no newspaper has said a word in Canning's favour, and he sees as I have done all the damage which has already been done to him by the long and uncontradicted course of abuse and reproach with which the press has teemed.

_Hatchford, November 8th._--Granville made a speech in defence of Canning, at a dinner given at the Mansion House to the Duke of Cambridge. He writes me word it was 'rather uphill work,' and I was told it was not very well received, but nevertheless it produced an effect, and it acted as a check upon the 'Times,' which without retracting (which it never does) has considerably mitigated its violence. It was the first word that has been said for Canning in public, and it has evidently been of great use to him.

The most interesting event during the last few days is the failure of the attempted launch of the big ship (now called 'Leviathan),' and it is not a little remarkable that all the _great_ experiments recently made have proved failures. Besides this one of the ship, there was a few weeks ago the cracking of the bell (Big Ben) for the Houses of Parliament, and not long before that the failure of the submarine telegraph in the attempt to lay it down in the sea. The bell will probably be replaced without much difficulty, but it is at present doubtful whether it will be found possible to launch the ship at all, and whether the telegraphic cable can ever be completed.

_November 10th._--Palmerston pronounced a glowing eulogium on Canning last night at the Lord Mayor's dinner, which will infallibly stop the current of abuse against him. It has already turned the 'Times.' He seems to have been induced to do this by the great pressure brought to bear on him, for otherwise he had no desire to stand forth and oppose public opinion and the press; but Clarendon, Lansdowne, and others all urged him strenuously to support Canning, and he did it handsomely enough. His speech in other respects was an injudicious one, full of _jactance_ and bow-wow, but well enough calculated to draw cheers from a miscellaneous audience.

[Sidenote: PALMERSTON'S SPEECH AT THE MANSION HOUSE.]

_November 11th._--I was told yesterday that Palmerston's swaggering speech would produce a bad effect in France, and those whom I have spoken to agree in thinking it very ill-timed and in very bad taste. It is the more objectionable because he might have said something very different that would have been very becoming and true. He might have observed upon the remarkable good taste and forbearance which had been so conspicuous in all foreign nations towards us, even those who may be supposed to be least friendly to us, or those whom we have most outraged by our violent and insulting language or conduct. It is at once creditable to other countries and honourable to us that no disposition has been shown in any quarter to act differently towards us, or to avail themselves of what they may suppose to be our weakness and difficulty; but, on the contrary, the same consideration and deference has been shown to us as if there had been no Indian outbreak to absorb our resources. Our position in Europe is not only as high as ever, but no one shows any disposition to degrade or diminish it; and while this is a gratifying homage to us and a flattering recognition of our power, it is, or at least ought to be, calculated to inspire us with amicable sentiments, and to be an inducement to us to depart from the insolent and offensive tone which has so long prevailed here, and which has made England universally an object of aversion. It was of course impossible that some expressions should not be given here and there and now and then to such feelings, but on the whole we have no reason to complain, but much the contrary; not even in Russia, whose power and pride we have so deeply wounded, and whom we have so outraged by every topic and expression of insult and injury which the bitterest hatred could suggest, has there been anything like asperity, or any rejoicing over our misfortunes.

_Frognal, November 14th._--The news of the capture of Delhi and the relief of Lucknow excited a transport of delight and triumph, and everybody jumped to the conclusion that the Indian contest was virtually at an end. Granville told me he thought there would be no more fighting, and that the work was done. I was not so sanguine, and though I thought the result of the contest was now secure, I thought we should still have a great deal on our hands and much more fighting to hear of before the curtain could drop. But I was not prepared to hear the dismal news which arrived to-day, and which has so cruelly damped the public joy and exultation. It appears that Havelock is in great danger and the long suffering garrison of Lucknow not yet out of their peril, for the victory of Havelock had not been complete, the natives were gathering round the small British force in vast numbers, and unless considerable reinforcements could be speedily brought up, the condition of the British, both military and civilians, of men, women, and children, would soon again be one of excessive danger.

[Sidenote: SUSPENSION OF THE BANK ACT.]

_The Grove, November 15th._--I talked with Clarendon about the Government letter to the Bank[1] and the state of financial affairs. It is evident that Clarendon knows very little about these questions, and takes very little part in them, but he told me one curious fact. A letter which appeared about a week ago, addressed by the Emperor of the French to his Finance Minister, made a great sensation here. In it the Emperor deprecated all empirical measures for the purpose of meeting the prevailing difficulties, financial and commercial, at Paris. About a week before this Clarendon received a letter from Cowley, who said that he had been conversing with the Emperor and with Walewski on these matters, and Walewski had begged him (by the desire of the Emperor) to write to Clarendon and request the advice of the English Government as to the course he should adopt. Clarendon said that George Lewis was out of town, but as there could be no delay, he sent his private secretary to the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank, and requested their advice and opinion. They said it was so important they would go down to the Foreign Office, which they did, when they told Clarendon that their advice was that the Emperor should insist on the Bank of France following as nearly as possible the example of the Bank of England, to keep their rates of discount high, and to avoid all rash experiments of any kind. He wrote to Cowley accordingly, who communicated the answer, and judging from the dates it would appear that the Emperor's letter was the consequence of the advice so tendered. But Clarendon seemed to think that the appearance of the Government letter was rather awkward, and would appear to the French Government very inconsistent with our communication to them. However, it will probably be easy to afford satisfactory explanations on this head. The measure itself here has apparently had the desired success, and they hope the panic and distress will gradually subside, without any more mischief happening. Lewis thinks that the best mode of dealing with Peel's Act will be to retain it, but to give a power to the Queen in Council to relax it in the same manner as has been now twice done by the interposition of Government, whenever an urgent necessity should arise, and I suppose this is the course that will be adopted, though not without a great deal of discussion and diversity of opinion. I have hitherto said nothing about the very curious and important state of affairs in America and in this country, because I am too ignorant of financial questions to talk about them, and I have not been apprised of any facts beyond what all the world knows that it was worth while to record, but this anecdote of the French Government and our own appears sufficiently curious to have a place in this book.

Footnote 1: [On the 12th of November a letter was addressed to the Governors of the Bank of England by Lord Palmerston and Sir George Cornewall Lewis, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, empowering the Bank to exceed the limits prescribed by the Bank Act of 1844 (if necessary) to meet the demands for discount and advances on approved security. This measure was rendered necessary by the extensive failures which had recently taken place, and the severe pressure on the money market. On the 4th November discount had advanced to 9 per cent. The Issue Department made over to the Banking Department two millions in excess of the statutable amount, of which about one million was advanced to the public. On the 1st December the whole amount was repaid. Parliament was summoned to pass a Bill of Indemnity, and public confidence was restored.]

_November 17th._--A council was held yesterday at Windsor to summon Parliament, where I found the ministers much dejected at the news from India. There was a letter from Colin Campbell, expressing great alarm at the position of Outram and Havelock, whom he thought to be in a great scrape, though without any fault of theirs, and there was also a report from Sir John Lawrence that affairs were in a ticklish state in the Punjaub, and expressing a great anxiety for reinforcements, which he had very little prospect of getting; in short the apparently bright sky in which we were rejoicing only a few days ago seems to be obscured by black clouds, and the great result to be as uncertain as ever.

[Sidenote: THE CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY.]

I met Clarendon at dinner this evening, when he told me that affairs were in a bad state in the City, and that Lewis had received very unsatisfactory accounts, so that it is not clear that the Government letter is producing the good which at first seemed to be following from it. There is a good deal of uneasiness in the financial and commercial world and no confidence. The very prudence of the trading community in arresting the course of production is becoming a source of distress, for already vast numbers of people are out of employment, or working short time with reduced wages. The prices of everything are falling, consumption will be diminished, and the revenue must be diminished likewise, while our expenses cannot but be increased by the war. A general cry is getting up for making India pay for the expense of this Indian war, which, even supposing it to be just and reasonable, will make the ultimate settlement of the Indian question more difficult, and a measure little calculated to reconcile the native population to our rule. Then, as if we had not embarrassments enough on our hands, America is going to add to them, for President Buchanan, who hates England with a mortal antipathy, threatens to repudiate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty upon the pretence that we have not abided by its conditions, and if he proposes to the Senate to declare it null and void, the Senate will do so at his bidding. This would be a flagrant violation of good faith, and of the obligations by which all civilized nations consider themselves bound. If this event happens, it will place us in a very perplexing dilemma, especially after Palmerston's absurd bravado and confident boastings of our power, for we are not in a condition to enable us to take a highline corresponding with that lofty language, and we shall have to eat humble pie and submit to the affront. Hitherto all other nations and governments have behaved to us as well and as respectfully as we could desire, and far more than we deserve; but if America bullies us in one instance, and we are found pocketing the affront, it is by no means improbable that other governments will begin to take advantage of our weakness, and adopt towards us a conduct injurious to our interests or a tone galling to our pride.[1]

Footnote 1: [These apprehensions were unfounded. Mr. Buchanan did not seek to abrogate the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with reference to the eventual construction of a passage through the Isthmus of Central America, and the neutral character of that undertaking, which is now said to be in progress by the Canal of Panama, has remained unchanged to the present time.]

_November 25th._--Last week I went to Ampthill from Wednesday till Saturday; on Saturday to The Grove, with the Duke of Bedford, the Lewises, Charles Villiers, and Ben Stanley. The Duke of Bedford told me he was very uneasy about his brother John, who seemed in an irritable frame of mind, and disposed to wage war against the Government when Parliament meets.[1] He told Sir George Grey the other day that they would not find him friendly. Clarendon told me of a conversation he had recently had with the Queen _à propos_ of Palmerston's health, concerning which Her Majesty was very uneasy, and what could be done in the not impossible contingency of his breaking down. It is a curious change from what we saw a few years ago, that she is become almost affectionately anxious about the health of Palmerston, whose death might then have been an event to be hailed with satisfaction. Clarendon said she might well be solicitous about it, for if anything happened to Palmerston she would be placed in the greatest difficulty. She said that in such a case she should look to _him_, and expect him to replace Palmerston, on which Clarendon said he was glad she had broached the subject, as it gave him an opportunity of saying what he was very anxious to impress upon her mind, and that was the absolute impossibility of his undertaking such an office, against which he enumerated various objections. He told her that Derby could not form a Government, and if she had the misfortune to lose Palmerston, nothing remained for her to do but to send for John Russell and put him at the head of the Government. She expressed her great repugnance to this, and especially to make him Prime Minister. Clarendon then entreated her to conquer her repugnance, and to be persuaded that it would never do to offer him anything else, which he neither would nor could accept; that the necessity was to have a man who could lead the House of Commons, and there was no other but him; that Lord John had consented to take a subordinate office under Lord Aberdeen, who was his senior in age, and occupied a high position, but he would never consent to take office under him (Clarendon), and the proposal he would consider as an insult. For every reason, therefore, he urged her, if driven to apply to him at all, to do it handsomely, to place the whole thing in his hands, and to give him her full confidence and support. He appears to have convinced her that this is the proper course, and he gave me to understand that if Lord John acts with prudence and moderation all the present Government would accept him for their head, and Clarendon is so anxious that this should be the turn affairs should take, that he urged me to talk to the Duke of Bedford about it, and to get him to exert all his influence with Lord John to conduct himself in such a manner as shall conduce to his restoration to office at a future time. I had only time to exchange a few words with the Duke before we parted the next morning, and we agreed that I should write him a letter on the subject which he may show to Lord John if he sees fit to do so. I went to Wrotham on Monday, and yesterday penned an epistle to be shown to Lord John, in which I set forth his position, and dilated on the great importance to himself and to the country of his conducting himself with patience and forbearance, and of his abstaining from any such vexatious opposition to the Government as might render his future union with them impossible. It remains to be seen whether my remonstrance (which I tried to couch in terms that would not be disagreeable to Lord John) will produce any effect.[2]

Footnote 1: [Lord John Russell had taken office in Lord Palmerston's first Administration as Colonial Secretary, but he resigned on June 13, 1855, and remained out of office.]

Footnote 2: [These speculations are curious, but happily the apprehensions caused by the supposed state of Lord Palmerston's health were unfounded, for with the short interval of the second Derby Government in 1858 and 1859, he continued to hold office and to discharge the duties of Prime Minister with his accustomed vigour and success until his death in October 1865, when he was succeeded by Lord Russell. At this particular moment (1857) the latent danger of the Government lay, not in the failing health of Lord Palmerston, but in an unforeseen occurrence which caused the unexpected defeat of Lord Palmerston's Ministry within four months of this date, and the accession of Lord Derby and his friends to office.]

[Sidenote: LORD JOHN RUSSELL IN OPPOSITION.]

_Hitchinbrook, November 28th._--I came here to-day from Riddlesworth, where I have now been for the first time for twenty years. I received there two letters from the Duke of Bedford, the first telling me he should show, and the second that he had shown, my letter to Lord John. He received it graciously, saying he agreed with almost all I said, but that it was easier to give than it was to take such advice, and that he had been blamed by certain persons for not having given more opposition to the Government last year on some questions than he had done, especially to the Persian War; but I rather infer on the whole that my letter made some impression on him, though it remains to be seen how much.

The last news from India is as good as could be expected, and the current there has evidently turned. I met Martin Smith (Indian Director) at Riddlesworth, and had much talk with him about Indian affairs. It is clear that the Company do not mean to submit to be summarily extinguished without a struggle. He told me that with regard to the great subject, the sending out troops by sailing vessels instead of by steamers, which is made matter of bitter reproach against the Directors, the fault lay entirely with the Government. The Directors wanted to send 10,000 men across Egypt, and the Government would not do it. They proposed it formally to the Board of Control, who referred it to the Foreign Office, and Clarendon said it could not be done on account of certain political considerations which rendered it inexpedient, so that if the Directors could have had their own way the thing would have been done. There may have been good grounds for the refusal of the Government, but in this instance the double Government was productive only of a sacrifice of Indian to Imperial interests, and it will not be easy to draw from this transaction any argument in favour of abolishing the East India Company and the Leadenhall Street Administration.

_London, December 2nd._--Yesterday morning Lord Sydney received a letter from Lady Canning, who said that although undoubtedly many horrible things had happened in India, the exaggeration of them had been very great, and that she had read for the first time in the English newspapers stories of atrocities of which she had never heard at Calcutta, and that statements made in India had turned out to be pure inventions and falsehoods. Yet our papers publish everything that is sent to them without caring whether it may be true or false, and the credulous public swallow it all without the slightest hesitation and doubt. Shaftesbury too, who is a prodigious authority with the public, and who has all the religious and pseudo-religious people at his back, does his utmost to make the case out to be as bad as possible and to excite the rage and indignation of the masses to the highest pitch. He is not satisfied with the revolting details with which the Press has been teeming, but complains that more of them have not been detailed and described, and that the particulars of mutilation and violation have not been more copiously and circumstantially given to the world. I have never been able to comprehend what his motives are for talking in this strange and extravagant strain, but it is no doubt something connected with the grand plan of Christianizing India, in the furtherance of which the High Church and the Low Church appear to be bidding against each other; and as their united force will in all probability be irresistible, so they will succeed in making any Government in India impossible.

[Sidenote: A QUEEN'S SPEECH.]

B---- showed me the Draft of the Queen's Speech this evening after dinner. Cobbett in his Grammar produces examples of bad English taken from Kings' Speeches, which he says might be expected to be the best written, but generally are the worst written documents in the world. It would be difficult to produce any former Speech more deplorably composed than this one. Long sentences, full of confusion, and of which the meaning is not always clear, and some faults of grammar for which a schoolboy would be whipped. B---- was so struck by one I pointed out that he said he would beg Palmerston to alter it. If this Speech escapes severe criticism and ridicule I shall be much surprised, as I am already that George Lewis, who has so lately been a literary critic, and is a correct writer himself, should have allowed it to pass in its present shape, and indeed the sentence he himself put in about his own business is as bad as any other part of it.

I have no idea what they mean to propose about the Bank Charter Act, but if it be what Lewis told me some time ago, to give the Queen the power of suspending the Act by Order in Council, I much doubt if they will carry such a proposal, and it appears to me on reflexion thoroughly unconstitutional, and as such I expect it will be vehemently attacked by all the opponents and the quasi-opponents of Government, and indeed by all except those who are prepared to follow Palmerston with blind submission, and to vote for anything rather than allow him to be put in jeopardy. John Russell, for instance, would hardly be able to resist the temptation of falling foul of such a proposal, though he would approve of their having followed a precedent which he had himself set in a case somewhat similar, though in some respects less urgent.