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B E N J A M I N D I S R A E h L I L E T T E R S : 1857-1859
BENJAMIN DISRAELI LETTERS
The Disraeli Project, Queen's University at Kingston
V O L U M E SEVEN 1857-1859
Edited by M.G. WIEBE General Editor
MARY S. M I L L A R Co-editor ANN P. ROBSON Co-editor
E L L E N L. H A W M A N Research Associate
University of Toronto Press Toronto, Buffalo, London
www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2004 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN O-8020-8728-O
Printed on acid-free paper Graphic Design: Peter Dorn, RCA, FGDC Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Disraeli, Benjamin, 1804-1881 [Correspondence] Benjamin Disraeli letters Vol. 7. edited by M.G. Wiebe, Mary S. Millar, Ann P. Robson, and Ellen Hawman Partial contents: [v. i] 1815-1834 - [v. 2] 1835-1837 [v. 3] 1838-1841 - [v. 4] 1842-1847 - [v. 5] 1848-1851 [v. 6] 1852-1856. Includes index. ISBN 0-8020-5523-0 (v. l) ISBN 0-8020-5736-5 (v. 3) ISBN O-8O2O-2927-2 (v. 5)
ISBN 0-8020-5587-7 (v. 2) ISBN 0-8020-5810-8 (v. 4) ISBN O-8O2O-4137-X (v. 6)
l. Disraeli, Benjamin, 1804-1881. 2. Prime ministers Great Britain - Correspondence. 3. Great Britain - Politics and government - 1837-1901. I. Gunn, J. A. (John Alexander Wilson), 1937- . II. Wiebe, M. G. (Melvin George) 1939- . III. Millar, Mary Symington, 1939- . IV. Robson, Ann P. (Ann Provost), 1931- . V. Ellen Hawman. VI. Title. DA564.B3A4 1982
94i.o8i'og2'4
082-094169-7
The Disraeli Project has received generous funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from the Principal's Development Fund and the Advisory Research Council of Queen's University. Publication of this volume is made possible by a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
CONTENTS
Illustrations I vi Acknowledgements I vii Introduction I ix Editorial Principles I xxiv Disraeli Chronology 1857-1859 I xxvi Abbreviations in Volume Seven I xli Chronological List of Letters 1857-1859 I xlvi Letters I 3 Appendices I 443 I Pre-l85/ Letters Newly Found I
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II The Derby government of 1858-1859 I 514 III Disraeli's memorandum on administrative reform I 521 IV Disraeli's memoirs, extracts 1857-1859 I 522
Recipients, Volume Seven I 524 Index to Volume Seven I 528
ILLUSTRATIONS
Hughenden Manor I xxiii The Blue Riband of the Turf!' I Ixiv 'The Indian Juggle.' I Ixv 'Great Poaching Affray on the Liberal Preserves.' I Ixvi 'The Anglers' Return.' I 527
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We acknowledge with gratitude our deep indebtedness to the sources of our financial support, both public and private: The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; Queen's University; Queen's Programme in Jewish Studies; The Davies Charitable Foundation; The Henry N.R. Jackman Foundation; Norman and Rita MacKenzie; The James Wallace McCutcheon Foundation; Kenneth Millar; N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd; Southam Inc. We acknowledge most especially the helpful interest in the Project taken by Sir Patrick Cormack, FSA, MP. We remain indebted to the individuals and institutions named in the earlier volumes to which lists we add: Institutions
Sean D. Noel, Boston University Library; Charles Cutter, Brandeis University Library; AJ. Farrington, Oriental and India Office Collections, British Library; Kathleen Whalen, Bryn Mawr College Library; Ray Stokes, University of California Library, Berkeley; P.M. Meadows, Cambridge University Library; Sue Hanson, Case Western Reserve University Library; K.M. Topping, Centre for Kentish Studies; Catherine Rod, Grinnell College Archives; Rosemary Dunhill, Hampshire County Council; Mary S. Smith, Widener Library, Harvard University; Brian Dyson, University of Hull; Robert McCown, University of Iowa Library; Anne Hyde, University of Kansas Libraries; Mark Ballard, Kent County Council; Claire McCann, University of Kentucky; Andrew McLean, Mount Stuart Trust Archive; Kai Kin Yung, National Portrait Gallery; Susan Corrigall, National Register of Archives (Scotland); Robert J. Bertholf, State University of New York Library, Buffalo; Colin Shrimpton, The Northumberland Estates; Dorothy B. Johnston, Nottingham University Library; Nancy M. Shawcross, University of Pennsylvania Library; Margaret M. Sherry, Princeton University Library; Ian Montgomery, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland; Michael Bott, Reading University Library; Sarina Wyant, University of Rhode Island Library; Fiona M. Clark, Royal Literary Fund; Laura Mitchell, Scottish Record Office; Tim Baker-Jones, W.H. Smith Archive; D.V. Fowkes, Staffordshire Record Office; Lennart Ploom, Stockholms Stadsarkiv; Ola Weinberg, Sveriges Nationalbibliotek; Lawrence Linehan, Texas Tech University; G.M. Furlong, Univer-
sity College London; Rebekah Higgitt, University College London; Janet McLean, The Watts Gallery; Nicole Bouche, Yale University Library. Individuals Gary Anstey; Stephen Ball; Erika Behrisch; Scott Boomhour;John Brooke; Gerhard Diinnhaupt; Walter Erhart; Gerald A. Evans; Hon Mrs Crispin Gascoigne; Catherine Harland; David Holland, Esq C.B.; Bernard Kavanagh; Shelley King; Robert Luke; Ken Millar; John Pierce; Fred Lock; Richard Pollard; Martin Rudwick; Ann Saab; Andrew Shields; Jana Sims; John Ulrich; Henry Vivian-Neal; Katharina Wulff; the anonymous reviewers of the typescript of this volume. We acknowledge especially the years of faithful service to the Disraeli Project of Peter Campbell.
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INTRODUCTION
'We must accommodate the settlement of 1832 to the England of 1859.' With this determined declaration, Disraeli sums up the tone of his letters in Volume VII, 1857-9. When Volume VI ended in December 1856, with the Derby Conservatives four years out of office, he could muster only restrained optimism. In Volume VII, however, there is a new sense of purpose, of moving, as the 18505 close, into a new era and of taking British politics with him. From opposition in 1857, he moved with a vigour and resolution which culminated in his party's return to power for eighteen months in 1858-9 and his own second stint as chancellor of the exchequer. Even after another defeat by Palmerston and his own proposal to step down as House leader, he sustained his drive, faltering only under the personal tragedy the death of his beloved sister, Sarah —which overwhelmed him in December 1859. Volume VII contains 670 letters, of which 457 have never before been published, in part or in whole. 555 letters, to no recipients, make up the main body covering 1857-9, and 219 more are described in the Chronological List. Appendix I, thanks to diligent research in the resources of the Internet, contains an unprecedented 115 letters, to 59 recipients, newly discovered from earlier years. Three more Appendixes give a comprehensive list of the office-holders in Derby's 1858-9 government, Disraeli's important 1859 memorandum on the provisions of the Conservatives' Reform Bill, and a selection of his memoirs from the period with sketches of contemporary personalities and opinions. In these letters, how much happens! This is a period often neglected by historians or dismissed as unimportant, but the events and political decisions which pack his correspondence simplv disprove that view. Primarily, it was in these years that Disraeli laid the groundwork for the later achievements associated with his name, notably the Reform Bill of 1867 and his great foreign and imperial policies. Unlike most of his colleagues and opponents, he was acutely aware that the seemingly countless crises which he recorded were those of an unprecedented time of transition, making extraordinary demands but offering opportunities that must be recognized and decisively grasped. Midway, he reflected, 'I don't know I ever passed thro' a period of so much excitement, labor, & anxiety' (3126), but, no matter how they exhausted him, he was exhilarated by his efforts - 'Labor, anxiety, & responsibility, seem to act on me as tonics' (3304) - and by the excitement of a changing world: These are wonderful times! Wars are as brief as the lightning, & as quick as the telegraph!' (3388).
As his final simile indicates, the modern era was at hand. In this volume, names begin to appear that we associate with the twentieth century. Victoria's first grandchild, the future Kaiser Wilhelm, was born (33048011); Franz Joseph of Austria, whose attack on Serbia would set off the First World War, here confronted Napoleon III of France (3327&m). Growing cities arid a population shifting from rural to urban increasingly demanded more equitable representation in political and even colonial matters (3067&nni&2; 3069); when in response Disraeli visited Manchester, The Times called it 'an innovation upon Tory traditions greater than a revolution' (34168011). The Times must have forgotten its glowing coverage of his triumphant visit in 1844 (IV 13788014). Disraeli and Derby renewed and now brought forward their plans for a Reform Bill. Religious barriers here and there gave at the edges: in 1858 the Roman Catholic Cardinal Wiseman was a fellow guest with Disraeli at the Rothschilds' (3Oi8&n7); later that year Lionel de Rothschild was able at last, eleven years after his first election for London, to take his seat in the Commons after the passing of the Oaths Abjuration Bill which admitted Jews to parliament (31108011). Disraeli himself, with Wiseman's assistance (3350nn2&8), tried hard to increase Catholic representation in Ireland despite opposition from ultra-Protestants in his party (33448012). Advances in technology made rapid communication so commonplace that the Rothschilds could request an RSVP by telegraph, there were telegraph offices in the House of Commons lobby (3362), news from India arrived by telegraph (29478omi8c3), Disraeli used it to keep in touch on holiday (2994) and he and Prince Albert conferred about a transatlantic cable (3247). Postal delivery from Knowsley in Lancashire to Torquay in Devon took only one day (3250); on the other hand, in parts of the country it had got slower (3182, 3196). Special trains carried the cabinet 'at the rate of sixty miles an hour' to meetings with the Queen at Windsor and Osborne (3191). Wars were waged with recognizably modern artillery - the Enfield rifle (2946ni), the Armstrong cannon (34368013). De Lesseps was about to begin the Suez Canal, which, eighteen years later, Disraeli and the Rothschilds would acquire for Britain (31348012). And, in a further portent of things to come, the Thames at London became so polluted that the summer stench shut down parliament and necessitated a bill for urgent cleanup (3i58&n2, 31658015). In domestic politics, the factions within the party bodies continued in flux, amorphous cells enlarging, contracting and splitting like so many amoebae. Much of Disraeli's energy was expended in trying to find working compromises which would unite the Conservatives (2896&m, 2898, 3236), and at an historic meeting at Willis's Rooms in June 1859, the Whigs (with a few Peelites) agreed to combine into a nominally united Liberal party, but the perpetual shifts in the balance of power kept up the frenetic cycles of the previous years. The first three months of 1857 alone saw 'A meeting of Parliament, a Queens speech & banquetting, a month of unceasing debating, a Government [Palmerston's] outvoted, a dissolution, a new speaker, another Queen's speech - new faces, new parties, a complete revolution of persons' (2936). After another dissolution in 1859, Disraeli succinctly identified the 'real issue - ... whether parliamentary government is compatible with our existing institutions'; as things are, the Commons factions 'can always combine to overthrow the Queen's Government, however formed' (3324).
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Of the world-wide catastrophes prophesied for the advent of a Great Comet he was dryly sceptical: 'so in 4 & 20 hours we may be shrivelled or drowned. In the meantime, if the catastrophe do not occur, we hope to be at Torquay by the end of next month' (2941). Perpetual threats of disaster in foreign affairs, however, had very real effects, on a continental and, increasingly, a global scale. There were the familiar insults overseas to the British flag and to its citizens (29l6&nni&2, 2947&n2, 3055&n2); France and Britain once again waged war in China (3l84n5). A financial crash in the USA quickly spread across the Atlantic to Britain, creating a panic which recalled parliament and suspended the Bank Act (2995&ni). The movement towards unification of Italy by activists and political leaders alike had huge repercussions throughout Europe. An attempted assassination of Napoleon III by Italian terrorists threatened Anglo-French relations when it was revealed that the bombs, as well as their plot, were made in England (30l6&n3, 3O99&ni). When Austria infringed on Piedmont sovereignty, France intervened, war was declared but just as suddenly ended after six weeks (3327&ni, 3388&ni). Meanwhile there continued uncertainty about the power-hungry Napoleon's intentions towards almost every European nation and doubt about his friendliness to Britain (3Ol8&nn, 34o6&n4). Thanks to his network of informants at home and abroad, Disraeli was often more connected to events and therefore concerned with foreign threats than were his colleagues (3275, 3366&ni), and for an upcoming speech he advised Derby that, for the benefit of the belligerent French, he 'cannot take too high a tone as to the condition, moral & material, i.e., the high spirit & great resources of this country' (3415). Overshadowing even these wras the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny - in Disraeli's metaphor, the 'whirl-pool in wh: all merges - great or small' (2948). Five years before, he had vehemently opposed the renewal of the East India Company's charter as inimical to Indian sensitivities (VI 2497&ni). His letters in the present volume not only document the progress of the revolt and the ensuing military actions (2947&ni and ff; see also Index) but also record his own level-headed reactions. Early on, he lashed the Whig government for dismissing too lightly what he rightly believed would prove a national rebellion, and for causing the outbreak with policies which had no respect for Indian nationalism, religions and traditions (2948114, 2960). Later he rejected the exaggerated stories of atrocities which reached Britain - 'Who can have seen these things? Who heard them? ... who that wd. tell these things, could have escaped?' (2964) - and maintained, against the tide of public feeling, that there must be no correspondingly exaggerated response: 'of all the awful circumstances of this terrible affair, is the spirit of vengeance' (2968). As he had done in the Crimean War, he used the pages of his newspaper, the Press, to spread his opinions, counter public calls for retaliation and attack Whig policies. On 24 October, for example, the Press strongly countered Russell's forecast of a quick end to the mutiny with a daunting list of the army equipment required for the campaign (29878012). A series of letters (here given in their entirety) to Colonel Anthony Rathborne, a former colonial official and writer for the Press, documents how minutely Disraeli instructed his new ally and how closely Rathborne followed his mandate for the content of each article on India (296o&ni, 2961, 2963). 'Your article is admirable. You have completely developed the train of
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thought which I touched upon very imperfectly. Indeed, I was dancing in fetters ...' (2972). Subsequent letters chart the political consequences of the mutiny. Back in power, Disraeli and his colonial minister, Lord Stanley, shepherded through the Commons the India Bill abolishing the hegemony of the East India Company, completely overhauled the government of India and, by announcing this legislation through a Queen's Proclamation in India, began Disraeli's strategy of appealing to Indian sympathies by creating a close personal bond with Victoria herself. The new regime, he advised her, was 'the ante-chamber of an imperial Palace' and 'The name of Yr Majesty ought to be impressed upon their native life' (3157) • On the same basis, eighteen years later, he would have her proclaimed 'Empress of India.' The dominant theme of these years is reform. The letters show how tenaciously, in and out of office, Disraeli worked at two principal tasks, the often frustrating processes of uniting his party and reforming the system of electoral representation, now a quarter of a century old and signally inadequate for the rapidly changing social fabric of mid-century Britain. In previous years he had suggested changes to parliamentary procedure (for example V i668&m, i7OO&ni) and drawn up plans for streamlining government administration (VI 28o4&m). He now formulated, with the help of the stalwart Philip Rose and a new private secretary, the young and extraordinarily able Ralph Earle, specific measures to 'reconstruct the party on a wider basis, & ... lay the foundation of a permanent system' (3178). The two tasks went together. Without party unity and identity, there could be no certainty of a viable majority, either at elections or on specific issues, and without that majority, no hope of moving reforms through parliament. Party reform was something he had managed before from inside Conservative ranks (see, eg, VI 2574 and Introduction xi, xiv), but now the dissension within parties and the irresolute affiliations of individual members made unity an immediate necessity. Gladstone, for example, who had begun as a Conservative, then spent ten years as a Liberal-Conservative (though supporting both Disraeli's 1858 Budget and 1859 Reform Bill), before becoming a Liberal in 1859 (3lo8&m, 332O&nn2&3). What Disraeli wanted was party solidarity and identity: 'what is necessary for the good government of this country [is] two great political parties with definite opinions' (29l6n4). 'I can truly say,' he told Palmerston, 'that my principal object has ever been the consolidation of the Conservative party' (3343), but the moves he made were not governed (as is sometimes charged) by mere expediency and personal ambition but by 'our policy of elevating & enlightening conservative sentiment, not outraging it, or mimicking mere liberalism' (3220). In opposition, however, or with a frail majority which forced them to conciliate likely adherents from all parties, this was impossible. 'Under present circumstances,' he reiterated to Derby, 'there is no reason, why there should not be a Dissolution, or a Ministerial Crisis, every February' (3324). To the Queen he pointed out: The difficulty is fighting in a hostile house. To reduce a majority of 120, demands an extraordinary combination of circumstances' (3116). It was for this reason that, at the beginning of this volume, he reminded Derby of the need to make concrete their earlier discussions of reform, and 'whether a juster apportionment of M.Ps may not be the question on wh: a powerful & enduring party may not be established' (2932). That re-approaching his leader required
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caution shows in his syntax (the double negatives, conditional tense and passive construction), but in raising the subject he was realistic: only a strong party could hope to stay in office long enough to see its legislation enacted (3324). The only flaw in the Conservatives' 1858 India Bill, he told Lytton, was that it was 'not brought forward by a Ministry with ioo majority. However, this must be the fate of all our measures in the present Parliament, even if they were concocted by the Angel Gabriel' (30.80). They must have more members, and some interesting letters here allow glimpses of behind-the-scenes dialogue in both the 1857 and 1859 General Elections, when every seat counted. In 1857, when the Conservatives lost to the Liberals, he wrote day-by-day and poll-by-poll accounts to his wife, Mary Anne, which indicate how closely their attentions were focused. In 1859, the preelection correspondence is startlingly candid and shows how important it was to weigh the placing of existing candidates and the local influence available ('Sir Stafford must not stand for Devonport. I have seen Lord Exeter' (3331)). Disraeli had to propitiate some without promising too much (3334) or to argue, sometimes abrasively, another into standing for a new constituency ('All I want now from you, is to hold yr. tongue, & throw no cold water on the movement' (3332)). In numerous cases he had to walk a tactical tightrope, as in dealing with the perennial problem of a peerage for the Berkeley family, who had influence in several constituencies (3336). The proper sequence of the letters, too, reveals the day-by-day interplay in 1858-9 behind Disraeli's and Derby's approaches to non-Derbyites in the hopes of consolidating the Conservative government's position. In 1858, for example, when Rose urged that they 'strengthen the Cabinet from outside' (3H3ni), Disraeli began correspondence with influential former Peelites through Sir James Graham, to the extent of offering Graham Disraeli's position as House leader (3118, 3119, 3123). When Graham refused, Stanley - a stark contrast to Lytton, who pettishly threatened to desert to the Whigs (3130) - agreed to give up his colonial office if they could entice Gladstone to join them for either that or India ('the only post,' Disraeli later observed, 'wh: would absorb his superfluous energies' (3345)). While Gladstone took time to discuss the offer with other Peelites, Disraeli dashed off a letter to him in an extravagantly propitiatory tone, aimed at smoothing out their past animosities but largely indicating how pressing he felt the situation to be (3128). As argument he stressed his own willingness to suppress personal considerations, but probably hit the wrong note in challenging Gladstone: 'Don't you think the time has come, when you might deign to be magnanimous?' In 1859, without Derby's knowledge, he made a similar overture to Palmerston, pointing out the divisions among the Whigs and implying that if Palmerston joined the Conservatives he might bring in his own Reform Bill, 'as conservative as you please,' and might expect to succeed Derby as head of the party (3343). Palmerston, however, preferred to maintain his position, correctly foreseeing the Conservatives' demise and his own selection as next prime minister. Having failed to attract Peelites or Whigs, and seeing Palmerston and Russell apparently reconciled at the Liberals' meeting of 6 June, Disraeli made a more desperate suggestion, that both he and Derby step down in favour of Stanley, the only man, he thought, who could combine the disparate Conservative elements into one cohesive party and reconstruct the warring cabinet - ' It wd. entirely sell the Whigs' (3366). Nothing came of the proposal,
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which was intended as a consolidating step, not a solution to the immediate crisis; the Conservatives were defeated that night on a Liberal non-confidence motion, Palmerston succeeded as prime minister and Disraeli returned to opposition, still House leader. The letters in this volume are also important in assessing the extent of Disraeli's role in the Reform Bill of 1859. It was he who, in early 1857, broached the subject, first in his election speech at Aylesbury (29i6&n4) and then to Derby, recalling their earlier discussions in 1851 (V2i9i&ni, 2205&n3, 2209) and in 1853 (VI 2574), when Russell's government was also considering it (2932). By then it was obvious that reform of some kind was inevitable, implemented by one side or the other. He was devastatingly direct - 'our party is now a corpse' - but severely practical in his perception that party reconstruction was inseparable from electoral reform: 'in the present perplexed state of affairs, a conservative public pledged to parliamentary reform, a bold & decided course, might not only put us on our legs, but greatly help the country & serve the state.' This is the language of a professional, who must work with what is possible, as opposed to the amateur (however enlightened), who focuses on what is desirable. 'I am anxious,' he told Stanley, 'that we should carry our measure, and that we should not get the reputation of being theorists, pursuing an ideal perfection, and, in that pursuit, throwing away the opportunity of achieving a reasonable success' (3289). To make his motives perfectly clear, he added the postscript quoted earlier: 'I would thus describe the practical position. We must accommodate the settlement of 1832 to the England of 1859.' Thus, through these years, in addition to the demands of his positions as House leader and chancellor of the exchequer, he busied himself with the details of a bill fitted to a changing Britain. At Hughenden in the summer of 1858 he discussed with Stanley the questions of extending the franchise, redistributing seats and disfranchising obsolete constituencies. In a later memorandum, however, in order to appease reactionaries in the cabinet, he revised some of their conclusions to reflect Derby's own memorandum recommending delay of disfranchisement (3287&m and Appendix III). To Stanley's angry objections he replied spiritedly, again on practical grounds: T have no abstract wish to save small Boroughs: but I do not want to take away their Members, until I know what we are to do with them' (3289). Practical too were the contributions he asked for from his agent, Rose, and statistician William Guy. Rose worked hard on figures, local representation and proposals, sending detailed memoranda to Disraeli and discussing specific measures with Derby, with whom he was most impressed: 'no one,' he declared on his return, 'ought to venture to talk to Lord Derby who does not thoroughly understand his subject' (3l84ni). The succeeding letters comprehensively chart the progress of the bill, showing how Disraeli and Derby had continually to modify their proposals to avoid splits in their ranks (as it was, two cabinet members resigned) and to appeal to opposition sentiments while preserving a moderate and equitable 'Conservative' measure (3261). In the end, however, the bill's defeat was due to the opposition's partisan motives - the desire to oust the Conservatives - rather than political principle. Not many were broad-minded enough to emulate Gladstone in supporting it as a chance to settle the reform question (3320&n2). With these huge political concerns, the largest number of letters (over a quarter)
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are to Disraeli's closest colleagues, Derby (71) and Stanley (38), followed by his parliamentary whip, Sir William Jolliffe (30). The relationship with Derby has noticeably matured; they deal with each other as respected equals and there are few signs of Disraeli's earlier frustration with his chief. The inclusion here of Derby's letters alongside Disraeli's provides an informative perspective on the way in which they now complemented one another in the give-and-take of political decision making. Throughout his party's fluctuating fortunes, these letters show why Disraeli continually insisted that Derby must remain at its head. Disraeli was more often the originator, but his ideas and proposals were given Derby's equally measured consideration; for example, when Disraeli raised the possibility of replacing the foreign minister, Lord Malmesbury, with Lord Elgin, Derby reminded him that Elgin was in the Lords, 'while you want strength in the Commons' (3345&n9). They corrected each other's arithmetic as they planned a response to the Whigs' 1857 Budget (29H&ni, 29l2&nni&2, 29l3&ni, 2932&IH), and as they put together their own for the 1859 session. Disraeli as chancellor of the exchequer was closer to the practical working problems of the individual government departments while Derby as premier had to take a wider view. Disraeli, who inherited over-spending and shoddy administration from the Whigs and would have to face the Commons with his estimates, was understandably cautious. On navy expenditure he had major concerns about presenting proposals for increases: 'There ought to be reduction, & it is quite compatible with increased efficiency ... a good management of the finances is the only thing, wh: really will get the country with us.' Derby, however, pointed out that advances in technology coupled with a foreign threat absolutely demanded conversion from sail to steam and from wood to iron: 'We must have a naval preponderance over France, however inconvenient the outlay may be' (32l3&n8). (Interestingly, though Disraeli never got to present his budget, the next chancellor, Gladstone, waged the same battle between naval costs and conversion against his prime minister, Palmerston.) On the return to power in 1858, Derby and Disraeli conferred amid the difficulties of filling cabinet posts and joined in exasperation at the flighty behaviour of Lytton, who accepted the colonies and then backed out, hoping to be further enticed with a peerage, 'which,' Derby thundered, 'I will riot do for him' (3030, 3O32&ni). They had their differences of opinion and strategy. Derby's concern with maintaining Britain's non-interventionist position in Europe on occasion overrode Disraeli's repeated warnings on the 'critical' state of foreign affairs, quickly justified by the threat to Italy and war between France and Austria. Similarly, Disraeli's doubts about Malmesbury's capability as foreign minister were disallowed by Derby, concerned with the problem of unanimity in a cabinet which he knew would soon suffer two prominent resignations, by Walpole and Henley, at a crucial point in presenting Reform (3272&nni-5, 3275&nn2-n, 3301). On only one occasion in this volume, however, do their paths seriously diverge, when Disraeli submitted their resolutions on India to parliament with amendments which had not been discussed and agreed upon in cabinet and was courteously but severely admonished by Derby. In almost everything else, the evidence of their letters confirms Derby's splendid description of their working partnership in these years as 'an entire and perfect sympathy ... personally and politically, in reference to public affairs' (3lo6&ni).
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The relationship with Stanley was more mercurial. Disraeli's letters to him (most previously unpublished) are unusually vigorous and open, making this substantial correspondence the liveliest of these years. Sometimes warmly, sometimes irritably, they wrote to each other with a frankness and lack of calculation not often found in politicians' letters. Their differences on political goals and principles only enhance what Disraeli terms 'one of my chief sources of interest in existence.' Conservative, but with strong liberal, even radical, leanings, Stanley was able and intelligent, but he resisted any attempt, by Disraeli or Derby, to have greatness thrust upon him at the expense of his independence. As he explained to Disraeli, who was wounded by his refusal to attend a party dinner, he drew a distinction between personal ties and convictions and those that party men like Disraeli must adopt for political reasons, thereby implying his own distance from any enforced motives and from complete identification with party expectations (28948012). Disraeli, however, saw the potential in him, both for Stanley's own promotion and for the benefits his ability would bring to the party. When in 1857 Stanley threatened to split with the Conservatives altogether, voted with Palmerston's government and refused Disraeli's request to take up the case of the ousted King of Oude, Disraeli took care to keep the younger man involved in political issues and encourage his talents. In one of the causes dearest to both, admission of Jews to parliament, they sat together on the committee looking for a legal loophole to allow it, and they shared the chagrin of defeat by 'the lawyers' (2950&m). When, in 1858, Stanley initially refused to join his father's government, Disraeli echoed Derby's personal disappointment but was even more disturbed at the possible harm refusal at this stage might do to Stanley's career (3024). Stanley's reasons (3O24n3), however, included mistrust of Disraeli. 'Able as he is,' he confided to his diary with, considering the closeness of their relationship, surprising lack of prescience, 'this man will never command public confidence.' After Stanley did accept the colonies, Disraeli's careful nurturing of the connection helped allay the doubts, as he asked Stanley's advice on India, praised him to his face and to the Queen as a speaker, guided him through the niceties of addressing his sovereign and entrusted him with House strategy (it 'requires great energy & vigilance') on the successful Jewish Oaths Bill (3150). In the 1859 election, however, when Disraeli hoped to use Stanley's popularity and reputation for integrity to add another Conservative seat, Stanley steadfastly refused to leave his own constituency at King's Lynn to stand for Manchester, or London, or Marylebone (where he polled 1,000 votes nevertheless) (322l&ni, 3339&n2). By the end of the volume in 1859, again out of office, they had again relaxed into intimacy, planning their next moves in financial affairs for the 1860 session (3399). Stanley might be Disraeli's 'comrade and counsellor,' but for the laborious tasks behind the scenes of administering a country in his longest period of office so far, Disraeli relied on four principal assistants. G.A. Hamilton was financial secretary to the treasury, but he also contributed to the groundwork for reform and pre-election assessments. Jolliffe's business was to manage the House, contact MPs and wield the party whip (3021). Rose wore many hats, as election manager, personal agent, reform consultant, even public relations man, arranging for newspapers to report Stanley's 1858 visit to Hughenden 'as it shows union - of the utmost importance at this
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moment' (3185). Rose, who had set up the Press for Disraeli in 1853, had the responsibility in 1857-8 of selling it and buying the Morning Herald as a Conservative mouthpiece (2955&n2, 2997&n2,3iO3ni). He looked after the copyrights of Disraeli's and his father's literary works, reported on popular feeling about religious issues (3i79&m), voter distribution and qualifications (3l84&nni&2) and kept track of Disraeli's shares, debts and mortgage (302O&ni, 3420&n3). Rose, who had acted for Disraeli since 1846 (see IV 1484), in this volume at last receives his reward, the longdesired county court treasurership, granted by Derby, though, Rose told Disraeli, 'I know well enough how much I owe to your share in the arrangement' (31858011). Since he too was known for his integrity, his embroilment in a bribery scandal in August 1859 so shocked him that he asked to be replaced as party political agent (3393&nl)> though he clearly continued in an advisory capacity. On a day-to-day basis, Disraeli relied heavily on his new private secretary, Ralph Earle, 'only 23 - but a man in matured thought & power of observation' (3352). Throughout 1857 Earle was one of Disraeli's network of spies, forwarding confidential diplomatic information from his post inside the Paris embassy. The letters are tantalizingly suggestive about these informants (2905&n2, 2907&n2, 291?n2, 295i&nni&3), such as Georg Klindworth, who is paid from the public purse (3292&ni, 3294&n5, 3379&n2), or Lord Henry Lennox, whose activities are multifarious but ineffectual, whether as political gossip-monger, middleman to European contacts or assistant with the Press and Herald (3027, 295l&ni, 297l&nm&2, 3356&nni&2). Much more able than Lennox, Earle is a constant, if hidden, presence behind Disraeli's letters in this period. It was Earle's Paris despatches, arriving daily, that allowed Disraeli in February 1857 to discomfit Palmerston after the latter's repeated denials that his government had signed a secret treaty to guarantee Austria's Italian possessions in return for support in the Crimean War (2909). A year later, Earle supplied documentary evidence which contributed to Disraeli's support of the Conspiracy Bill amendment that defeated Palmerston (3021, 3O22). As secretary (3040), Earle was thorough and efficient. He dispensed detailed sound advice on everything, from the India appointments (3l63&n2) to the strength of the navy (3239&nni&2), on which Disraeli almost at once began to act (303l&ni). Again and again in this volume, Disraeli's letters on foreign affairs are directly based on Earle's information, which kept Disraeli in close touch with potentially threatening European political movements (3269). An astounding proportion of it at this time (particularly to Derby) was direct repetition of Earle's notes and memoranda. When, for example, in January 1859 Disraeli wrote to Derby about Napoleon Ill's position on Austria, Italy and Britain (3275) > his letter virtually reproduced reports Earle had made (3253&nm&2) on his mission to Napoleon in December 1858, down to the figures of speech. Earle's words on the British ambassador, Lord Cowley - 'We were evidently off the Rails, thanks to Ld. Cowley's reports' - are echoed in Disraeli's: 'Throughout all this Italian pother, Cowley has been oft[«V] the rails.' A month later, Disraeli's long report on the European situation repeated Earle's letter on the subject based on information brought by Klindworth (3294&n5). For his unstinting backroom efforts, Earle was rewarded in April with a public position, a Conservative seat at Berwick, but the subsequent accusations of bribery and collusion were those which implicated Rose (and would
xvn
at the later inquiry involve Disraeli) and Earle wisely withdrew to continue as Disraeli's indispensable assistant (3309, 3393, 3398). Disraeli's jubilant return to office in 1858 ('Behold me installed, at the old place, to the astonishment of the recent occupiers' (3048)) brought the resumption of the correspondence with Queen Victoria. In the 53 letters here, he continues his vivid epigrammatic epistles on the day's events in the Commons that, in spite of herself, she had found so piquant in 1852. In the first letter to her of this term he reminded her that his approach accorded with her own expressed wishes: 'Yr Majesty once deigned to say, that Your Majesty wished, in these remarks, to have the temper of the House placed before yr. Majesty, & to find what yr Majesty cd. not meet in newspapers' (3055). Where in earlier days he had dashed off personal correspondence from his seat in mid-debate, it was now very often his official report to the Queen (3301). She would not have found in any newspaper the romantic imagery in his description of the temper in the Commons during the Reform Bill: 'The House proceeds tranquilly, voting estimates & with ordinary business, tho', beneath the surface, there are ceaseless intrigues & restless passions' (3307). To calm her worries about his government's staying power, he relayed extra-parliamentary anecdotes, like Labouchere's assurance of the opposition's non-interference: '"In about a year's time", he added "we shall begin to look after what you are doing"' (3061, and cf 3060). To give her a sense of contact with the debates, he wrote thumbnail impressions of individual speakers: Fitzgerald is 'very acute & quick in his points, but does not speak loud enough' (3065); Stanley's debut as colonial secretary showed 'the energy, vigor, & physical power, before always wanting' (31O7); Horsman gave 'a brief & perplexed speech' (3365). Disraeli never forgot that he was addressing royalty, though occasionally one wonders if, from her sheltered position, she could have fully appreciated his simile that resolutions 'will rarely be introduced until a late hour: like half price at a theatre' (3108). On the other hand, the selections from her responses that are given in the annotations show that she was anything but passive in her interaction with Disraeli and Derby. She made it plain that their draft of her 1859 throne speech was too conciliatory towards foreign powers for her liking (3359ni), while on the India Bill she was thoroughly displeased at Disraeli's support of a military clause which, she told him, infringed on the sovereign's prerogative (3l63&n2, 3l65ni). Since he now regularly visited Buckingham Palace, Windsor and Osborne, his letters also give glimpses of royalty at home, where, he felt, the Queen 'rather expands too much in form' (3018). Staying overnight at Windsor, he had hurriedly to send home for the correct formal dress for dining with the Queen (one assumes that Mary Anne got it to him in time), and it is instructive to learn that the Castle did not seem to take The Times (3283). One unexpected aspect of the royal correspondence which demonstrates the progress he has made is the increase of letters to Prince Albert. Albert had initially been mistrustful, but he now appeared ready, indeed eager, to consult with Disraeli on state matters as well as social issues. When Disraeli visited Windsor before his 1858 budget, he took a copy with him at Albert's request and explained the provisions to him at length (3o85&m, 3095). They served together on the commission of the 1851 Exhibition, agreeing on how to dissolve the government's contract
xvm
with it (3iO5&nni&2) as well as on using the money to establish a national museum of Science and Art (forerunner of the South Kensington Museum) (3139, 3146, 3148, 3152, 3159). In the contretemps over royal prerogative in the India Bill, Disraeli and Albert mediated with Stanley and the Queen respectively to restore calm (3233&nm,2&5). In many ways, his tone to Albert is much more formally deferential than it is to the Queen (see, for example, the repeated 'Sir's in 3233), but there is only the occasional hint that he may have found Albert's new interest in him wearisome: there was a definite note of exasperation when he wrote to Mary Anne from Windsor: 'My visit has been an endless conversation with the Prince' (3232). Amid his political duties, he was aware that his personal correspondence inevitably suffered. His wife recorded that he was working 15 hours a day, from 11 am to 2 am, and was more at Downing Street than at home in Grosvenor Gate (3l26ni). The frequency of cabinet meetings, he told Lady Londonderry, gave him 'as hard work ... as I ever recollect in public life' (3240). Like a general in the field, he observed, 'the sense of responsibility prevents one from doing anything but what is a fulfilment of pressing & immediate duty' (3352), though he conscientiously tried 10 help family and friends with official patronage ('the outward & visible sign of an inward & spiritual grace - & that is Power' (3177)): a commissionership of excise for his brother James (3184), a foreign office position for the natural son of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (324l&nni&2). The correspondents to whom he used to write his most sparkling letters are fewer, and in some cases are no more. Old friends like Lord Jersey (3409) or Pemberton Milnes (3230), a mentor, Prince Metternich (3410), or a former disciple, George Smythe (2982&n6), will not appear again in these pages. Even the letters to his wife and sister are fewer, the notes between husband and wife usually cryptic, implying earlier conversations. His terse 'All right' in February 1858 was to reassure her about the meeting to decide cabinet appointments for Derby's new government (a fact which, like many others, we would not know without her added endorsement). In this volume, we know Mary Anne best from her faithful correspondence with Mrs Brydges Willyams. There is, for example, her energetic rebuttal (clearly an echo of her husband's) of any suggestion that Disraeli accept honours proposed for his public service: 'He would not ... go to the upper House for the world, not for many many years he enjoys his fame too much in the lower House. He could not take the red ribbon, without being knighted & that would be dreadful, to be calld Sir B Disraeli' (3377n2). Although the newspapers and her own correspondence attest to her own busy social life, and she was still the first person he told about political events (2919, 292O, 2921), she appears here primarily as domestic manager and caregiver to her busy husband, as well as his capable hostess at private and political dinners. Their official duties prevented them from visiting Hughenden as often, but her landscaping was showing good results: one of their visitors described it as a 'wonderfully beautiful place ... Mrs. Disraeli's paradise on the hill' (32l5n3). She was now 65, with health problems of her own, but she packed him a sandwich when Grosvenor Gate was occupied by painters and scaffolds (3228), sent a flask of brandy and dry boots on a snowy day, despatched the footman with his court dress, had his laxative made up arid administered laudanum to help him relax before an
xix
important speech (3364), as unseen but essential in her own sphere as any of his official aides. He was still, however, keeping some things from her. He still corresponded, for example, with Sarah through their old poste restante, the Carlton Club (32l5n7), and concealed some financial matters. Although Rose was his chief agent, Disraeli's extensive work on the continuing saga of Frank Villiers's affairs (see VI and VII, Indexes) had brought him in 1855 into contact with Lord Jersey's advisor, Henry Padwick. In January 1857, perhaps hoping for a stroke of pecuniary reform when he could not anticipate a public salary, he drew up for Padwick a detailed statement of his and Mary Anne's financial situation, including debts, carrying costs and rental income from Mary Anne's estates (2895). Word of this was not to reach her; Padwick was instructed to communicate only in person at Grosvenor Gate, or, if writing was essential, at the Carlton Club. The statement reveals that the once and future chancellor of the exchequer was carrying an astounding £25,750 in 'Incumbrances' at an annual cost of £2,375, half of his wife's income of £4,798 from a total estate valued at £67,000. (See VI 2764&m.) Any income from wood at Hughenden was swallowed up in maintaining the house and grounds. Meanwhile, other letters show, he had been applying through Rose to buy shares in foreign companies, for one of which he was able to present a cash payment of £2,500 (294On3). There is not much to clarify what action Padwick took (see, for example, 2915), but Disraeli's situation was strained enough that in the March general election he was relieved to be, for the first time, unopposed in Bucks (2918), thus reducing the associated expenses. Even at that, he delayed paying them for over a year (3O4im, 3l82&ni). It seems more than coincidence that only three days after the election he wrote to the German publisher Bernhard Tauchnitz, urging European publication of his literary works (2924). The election brought another problem, much more serious. The Duke of Portland, successor to Lord George Bentinck's father, whose financial arrangement enabled Disraeli to buy Hughenden in 1848 (v i7O2&ni), became politically estranged from the Conservative cause and, possibly anticipating his own enormous outlays on Welbeck Abbey, called in the £25,000 loan to Disraeli (2945). At one stroke, Disraeli's debt was doubled, which fully accounts for the testy manner in which he outlined to the Duke his fulfilment of his side of the bargain. Thereafter fund raising becomes an implicit factor in these letters. See, for example, the spread of letters for one day, 17 May 1858, where among political letters, to Graham, trying to reconcile Conservatives and Peelites, and to the Queen, with his official report, we also find one to G.M. Peacocke, trying to postpone payment of the £2,000 loan that had gone into the Press, and (perhaps as a result) to Mary Anne, for a dose of his rhubarb draught 'to take tonight' (3119-22). In January 1858, the Hughenden mortgage was transferred to Peacocke and then in April to Charles Greville 'and another,' while Rose managed to reshuffle some of the longstanding debts and bonds (302O&nm-3).The return to office and salary in February 1858 must have relieved matters, but throughout 1858, via Rose and William Lovell, he tried to interest publishers in new editions of his own and his father's works, reclaiming the copyright by arranging for new annotations supervised by Sarah (3O63&ni). In October, there is a personal note detectable in his description of the
xx
visiting Canadian ministers, 'who have come over here, & who want, like all of us & all the world, some money' (3218). Even here, however, there are signs of a new era. Although he had not yet succeeded in bringing about electoral reform, the defeat of Derby's government in June 1859 brought a huge personal increase in his regular income. By then, including the period in 1852, he had served in a top cabinet post for two years and therefore qualified for a government pension of a very welcome £2,000 a year (3366&n2). It was nevertheless of prime importance that he maintain his relationship with the wealthy Mrs Brydges Willyams. Even on days when he was harried with public business, he made time to write to her letters that are the best source for his personal and social life at this time. They are usually sprightly and optimistic, though the ripple of gossip is sometimes weighed down by the elaborate phraseology and ponderous chivalry he knew she liked, and at least once he forgot to shift from the style he adopted to his monarch into the more expansive personal mode (3058). This relationship too progressed in intimacy and warmth in this period. He sent her his first letter of 1857 (2883), he moved from his customary 'Ever yrs' to the terminology he used to his family: 'With many loves' (2941), 'with my love' (3271), and he addressed her with the salutation he once reserved for Sarah, 'My dearest' (2958). The subjects cover every topic, from parliamentary debates to summer heatwaves: 'People put blocks of ice in their rooms, wh: produce a refreshing temperature ... Try some thirty pounds of rough ice in this fashion. It will revive you' (3389). The only letter directly describing his Manchester visit was to her, and his descriptions of meetings with royalty mixed adulation with wit: 'There were as many Princes as at the Congress of Vienna' (3019). He advised her on her ailments - belladonna for erysipelas (2996) - told her of his own influenza (3006) and, amazingly in the midst of pressing political problems, found time to send her genealogical information about her Spanish ancestors (3389). He seemed genuinely to welcome the respite of his visits to her in Torquay, one of which affords the wonderfully anomalous image of the party leader and statesman meekly sitting down to play whist and ecarte round her Mount Braddon parlour table (2968). The only comparable letters, when he had time, are those to 'Dear Lady' Londonderry, still, despite increasing complaints, a faithful correspondent - perhaps too faithful, as she repeatedly asked his help with financial matters and in finding a post for her pathetically deranged son Lord Adolphus. Disraeli's letters to her also help fill out the picture of his extra-parliamentary life; from them we learn what, in his few leisure hours, he was reading (George Sand's La Petite Fadette and Michelet's L'Oiseau (3410)), and she inspired some of his most cutting wit. At a garden party for the Queen of Holland, he told her, there was 'so much Royalty, that our friend, Lady Jersey, seemed to me rushing about the gardens in perplexed ecstasy' (2948). The 14 letters to Lady Londonderry from this period are now supplemented by 8 earlier ones in Appendix I, which at 115 letters is almost a volume in itself. It provides a chronology in miniature of the developments of his career, from his first publication, the pamphlet on American mines (1825), through his dandy years as a novelist and socialite in the 18305, the start of his political career in the 18408 as member for Maidstone and Shrewsbury, his speeches on repeal of the corn laws, his role as Protectionist (with an interesting letter to Mary Anne on the leadership
xxi
question in 1849), and the group to Lady Londonderry, which further amplify his thoughts on the Crimean War (see volume VI). Another group sheds more light on the association with Padwick, as they attempted in 1855 and 1856 to clear up Frank Villiers's tangled financial affairs. Other letters are to John Murray and J.G. Lockhart, from their pre-Representative period of rapport, and to his Gloucester agent, Thomas Bailey, on debts and election matters. A group of nine to the eccentric Henry Drummond shows a closer relationship, in frequency of correspondence and personal visits, than had previously appeared, along with discussion of topics ranging from colonial policy to protection, taxation and the future of Lord Stanley. In one important letter, Disraeli explained with some acerbity his silence in December 1849 on tne Jewish Disabilities Bill: 'I am silent about the Jews, because no
single member of the house of Commons agrees with me in my view of the question ... What use in addressing an assembly where there is not a single sympathiser?' (1929X). One group in this Appendix, to his sister, Sarah, makes a particularly poignant context for her last appearance in 1859. The letters recall their close early relationship when her 'devoted Brother' addressed her as 'My love' and 'My dearest,' when they collaborated on A Year at Hartlebury and when he could boast to her of his social conquests and his first speeches, sure of her unqualified admiration. Some are the originals of those which Ralph Disraeli later hacked about for his corrupt edition of Disraeli's letters, and it is salutary to compare his conflated versions, for example of Disraeli's letter on the Coronation, with the manuscript ones (79OR). Since the death of her fiance, William Meredith (I 112-113), Sarah had led a hidden life, first as nurse to her aging parents and then in quiet retirement at Twickenham, sharing vicariously in her brother's triumphs. In 1857-9, it seems that she was surrounded by death. Frail herself, she nursed James Disraeli's ailing pregnant wife, Isabella, taking her by train to the sea in the hope of restoring her to health (2914). While they were there, Mrs Meredith, William's mother, died (2928&ni), leaving Sarah a legacy of £2,000. Two weeks after, still in Sarah's care, Isabella's baby, a girl, was born, but lived only three days (2928&n2). Isabella herself died, probably of consumption, in June (2899&ni, 29l4&ni, 2943&ni, 2944&ni) and Sarah took on the task of wording her tombstone (2959). Partly because of her health, partly because of Disraeli's hectic schedule, she could not participate fully in his triumphs, achieving only an exchange of notes after his 1859 election victory (3342ni) and apparently later helping with a political dinner at Grosvenor Gate (3362ns), even though she was now becoming 'very delicate' (34OOn3). In December she became seriously ill, with severe abdominal pain and periods of unconsciousness which lasted for two weeks, and which Disraeli feared might last even longer. His letters during this distressing time reveal his anxiety and grief. 'I cannot express to you,' he told Jolliffe, 'how unhappy, & overwhelmed, I am' (3427)- On 19 December, with Ralph and James at her bedside, she died in Ralph's London home aged 57 (343lni). There is no record of where she is buried (3432&ni). Her death marked the definitive end of that early period of Disraeli's life; she had been, he wrote movingly to his brother, 'the harbor of refuge in all the storms of my life, & I had hoped she wd. have closed my eyes' (3425). The volume so vigorously begun thus ends with the bleakest of notes. 'I feel as
xxn
if I cd. work no more,' he toldjolliffe (3427)- As the last third of the nineteenth century approached, it would be hard, for the time at least, to recall his colleague's words of encouragement after his fall in June, though they would be an accurate prophecy: 'You will be wanted again ere long' (3385ni).
Hughenden Manor
xxm
EDITORIAL PRINCIPLES
For the complete description of the editorial principles and conventions used in this edition see VOL I xxvii, reprinted in VOL II vii. The following is an abbreviated list summarizing the main points. Headnote ADDRESSEE: the name is given in the shortest form consistent with clear identification. DATE: square brackets indicate the parts of the date not actually in the text or on the cover. A question mark is placed after any parts of the date about which doubt remains (see dating note in EDITORIAL COMMENT). LOCATION OF ORIGINAL: given in short form: see Abbreviations. A PS indicates a printed source, the MS not having been found (see PUBLICATION HISTORY). REFERENCE NUMBER: the archival number used by the holder of the original MS, numbers in square brackets added by us if necessary. In the case of a PS, the number refers to the Project's system of reference. COVER: vertical solidi indicate line divisions in the address. Integral covers and separate envelopes are not distinguished. POSTMARKS: see VOL I xxxiii for illustrations of the most common ones. PUBLICATION HISTORY: not exhaustive; first and perhaps subsequent important publication, especially in LBCS, M&B and Blake, are cited. EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: list of words and phrases from the text that are incorrect (according to SOED), unusual or otherwise puzzling; includes incorrect, but not omitted, accents and punctuation. Dating: cites the logic by which a date has been attributed. Text
No silent corrections have been made. D's erasures have been noted whenever possible. Square brackets have been used to add material to facilitate easy reading. When abbreviations ending in periods are thus expanded, the periods have been dropped unless otherwise needed for punctuation. Editorial comments in square brackets are italicized. Catchwords are not repeated or noted, and are given before the page break sign (/). VERTICAL SOLIDI (I) are used to indicate line divisions in the date, address, addressee and signature sections to allow us to render them in continuous form. DIAGONAL SOLIDI (/ with space both before and after) indicate page breaks. This is a change from the usage in VOL I and VOL II.
DATE, ADDRESS AND ADDRESSEE, if present in the text, are always given at the beginning of the letter (unless it is a fragment), regardless of where D put them in the MS. [ f ] follows any reading on which some doubt remains. Italics indicate single underlining. Small capitals indicate multiple underlining. D's abbreviation of 'the' as 'ye', ie using the thorn to represent 'th', has been rendered as 'the'. Sources cited are given a short form (see List of Abbreviations and Short Titles) if Annotations used more than a few times. Standard reference works (tfg-DNB, EB XI, OED) are cited only if directly quoted. Each name is normally identified by a main note (in bold type in the index) the first time it occurs in the text of a letter, and thereafter only as required for clarification of a letter. Of the material in the appendices, only the pre-i8,57 letters in Appendix I have been annotated. In transcriptions of MA's writing, we have eschewed the use of 'sic, despite her unconventional grammar and spelling. We also do not comment on eccentric punctuation (egLennox's). All names in the text arid annotation of the letters have been indexed, main notes Index being indicated by bold type. The subject matter of the letters and notes has also been indexed. All references are to letter numbers, not pages. Except for the pre1857 letters in Appendix I, the appendices and introductory materials have not been indexed.
XXV
D I S R A E L I C H R O N O L O G Y 1857-1859
1857
1 Jan 5 Jan 1O Jan 12 Jan 15 Jan 17 Jan 2O Jan 26 Jan 1 Feb 2 Feb 3 Feb 6 Feb 10 Feb 12 Feb
13 Feb 14 Feb 16 Feb 2O Feb 23 Feb 27 Feb 2 Mar 3 Mar 5 Mar 6 Mar 9 Mar 10 Mar 11 Mar 17 Mar
at Paris (since 21 Nov 1856) attends Countess Walewski's dinner dines with Prince Napoleon dines with Hollands attends ball at Tuileries arr Grosvenor Gate death of Duke of Rutland death of Princess de Lieven receives Derby at Grosvenor Gate gives dinner for MPs at Grosvenor Gate address in answer to the speech explanation of the address; comments on the Bank Acts committee speech on alleged treaty between France and Austria comments on alleged treaty between France and Austria; speech on General Sir George Pollock; comments on Moldavia and Wallachia comments on the Bank Acts committee; comments on war with Persia; comments on the budget attends meeting at Derby's comments on the budget comments on relations with China; speech on the budget comments on the budget comments on relations with China comments on relations with China speech on relations with China comments on ministerial statement speech on ways and means speech on income tax (2nd reading) speech on navy estimates comments on Mr Speaker's retirement; gives dinner at Grosvenor Gate comments on affairs of Italy
1857 continued 21 Mar 27 Mar 30 Mar 31 Mar 6 Apr 7 Apr 14 Apr 18 Apr 21 Apr 24 Apr 25 Apr 30 Apr 1 May 3 May 6 May 14 May 16 May 18 May 20 May 21 May 22 May 28 May 29 May 30 May 4jun 6 Jun 11 Jun I2juri 19 Jun
20 Jun 25 Jun 29 Jun 2 Jul 3 Jul 6 Jul 7 Jul 13 Jul 14 Jul
dissolution of parliament general election begins to Aylesbury to attend nomination acceptance speech for nomination; to Grosvenor Gate attends Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury; to Hughenden death of Mrs Meredith arr Norman Court, Stockbridge; birth of Princess Beatrice arr Hughenden arr Brickhill Manor, Bletchley (Pauncefort Duncombes); visits Col Hanmer, Leighton Buzzard birth and death of James and Isabella Disraeli's daughter arr Hughenden arr Grosvenor Gate; opening of parliament; election of new Speaker, John Evelyn Denison arr Hughenden to London and back; dines with Buckingham at Carlton Club arr Grosvenor Gate comments on Ministers' Money (Ireland) Bill betrothal of Princess Royal comments on marriage of the Princess Royal speech at Newport Pagnell farmers' dinner comments on Dublin port speech on marriage of the Princess Royal speech on relations with Brazil questions on Honduras; speech on Princess Royal's Annuity Bill; speech on army estimates arr Hughenden arr Grosvenor Gate attends Queen's drawing room comments on civil service estimates comments on supply — civil service estimates — royal palaces attends concert at Buckingham Palace; speech on the bombardment of Greytown; speech on supply - miscellaneous estimates death of Isabella Disraeli Albert designated Prince Consort speech on the mutiny in India comments on new writs speech on new writs comments on property tax and population returns; comments on new writs speech on the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland comments on the Indian mutiny speech on the Indian mutiny
xxvu
1857 continued i6Jul 17 Jul 24 Jul 27 Jul 29 Jul 3 Aug 4 Aug 5 Aug 6 Aug 7 Aug 9 Aug 10 Aug 11 Aug 12 Aug 17 Aug 18 Aug 20 Aug 21 Aug 22 Aug 26 Aug 28 Aug 24 Sep 28 Sep 30 Sep 1 Oct 10 Oct 2 Oct 19 Oct 27 Oct 29 Oct 30 Oct 31 Oct 2 Nov 4 Nov
xxvm
question on the militia; speech on the Persian war; comments on the Indian mutiny speech on the state of India; speech on supply - Persian expedition comments on affairs of India speech on affairs of India speech on Superannuation Act Amendment Bill (2nd reading) question on the Bengal army question on business of the House question on artillery for India Napoleon and Eugenie visit Osborne comments on Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Bill gives dinner party at Grosvenor Gate (Baron de Rothschild, Prince Frederick of Holstein, Col Vyse) speech on supply - gallery of historical portraits; comments on supply - industrial museums at Edinburgh speech on troops for India speech on ways and means - tea and sugar duties comments on Mersey Conservancy and Docks Bill question on compensation for the sufferers by the Indian mutiny question on East India loans; comment on losses by Europeans in India; speech on Militia Bill (2nd reading) attends meeting of commissioners of 1851 Exhibition at Palace of Westminster entertains Mrs Dyce Sombre arr Hughenden prorogation of parliament arr Ashridge Castle (Lady Marianne Alford and Lord Brownlow) arr Newport Pagnell (Mr and Miss Chester of Chicheley Hall) speech about India at agricultural meeting, Newport Pagnell arr Hughenden entertains Sir George and Lady Dashwood and Miss Broadwood attends lunch given for D by Baron and Mme de Rothschild attends Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury speech at Amersham Agricultural Association arr Grosvenor Gate arr Gunnersbury in London for the day arr Grosvenor Gate arr Torquay
185? continued 12 Nov 16 Nov 19 Nov 20 Nov 23 Nov 23-24 Nov 25 Nov 2? Nov-2 Dec 3 Dec 4 Dec 10 Dec 11 Dec 12 Dec 21 Dec 24 Dec 26 Dec
1858 4 Jan 5jan 9 Jan
11 Jan 13 Jan 18 Jan 2O Jan 4 Feb 5 Feb 6 Feb 8 Feb
9 Feb 13 Feb
18 Feb 19 Feb 20 Feb 21 Feb
suspension of the Bank Charter Act summoning of parliament for 3 Dec arr Grosvenor Gate arr Hatfield (Lord Salisbury) arr Grosvenor Gate at Albury Park (Henry Drummond) arr Grosvenor Gate ill with influenza parliament reassembles; address in answer to the speech speech on Bank Issues Indemnity Bill comments on Bank Acts (notice of amendment) speech on Bank Acts House adjourned (until 4 Feb 1858) arr Middleton Park (Jerseys) arr Grosvenor Gate arr Hughenden
attends Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury atAston Clinton (Sir Anthony de Rothschild); arr Hughenden attends luncheon at Aston Clinton (Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild); arr Mentmore Towers (Baron and Baroness Meyer de Rothschild) arr Hughenden arr Grosvenor Gate attends dinner at Gunnersbury attends bridal ball at Court House resumes sitting; speech on transport of troops to India address to Her Majesty moved - the Princess Royal's marriage; speech on East India Loan Bill (leave) gives dinner at Grosvenor Gate (Lady William Powlett, Lord Elmley, Baron de Rothschild, Sir John Pakington) comments on chapel in Paris for British residents; speech on vote of thanks to the civil service, army and navy in India; previous question moved; appointed to select committee on Bank Acts speech on Conspiracy to Murder Bill (leave) gives dinner at Grosvenor Gate (Countess Glengall, Bulwer Lytton, Lord A. Gordon-Lennox, Baron de Rothschild, Earl of Powis) speech on Government of India Bill (No i) (leave) speech on Conspiracy to Murder Bill (2nd reading); Palmerston resigns attends Speaker's dinner Derby accepts office
XXIX
1858 continued 22 Feb 23 Feb 25 Feb 26 Feb 27 Feb
i Mar 6 Mar 8 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar
13 Mar 15 Mar
16 Mar
17 Mar 18 Mar
2O Mar 22 Mar
23 Mar 24 Mar 25 Mar 26 Mar
27 Mar 29 Mar
XXX
comments on Ameer All Moorad's claim attends cabinet meeting at Derby's attends cabinet meeting at Derby's new government appointed attends cabinet meeting at Derby's; gives dinner at Grosvenor Gate (Earl of Eglinton, Sir William Fraser, Lord Henry Lennox, C. Trefusis) parliament adjourned arr Aston Clinton, Tring (Sir Anthony and Lady de Rothschild attends Aylesbury election; arr Grosvenor Gate attends Queen's levee parliament reassembled; speech on relations with France; speech on the capture of the Cagliari; speech on East India Loan Bill attends Speaker's levee; holds cabinet meeting at 11 Downing Street comments on East India Loan Bill (3rd reading); speech on the capture of the Cagliari; speech on the policy of the government; comments on army estimates; comments on supply - customs department comments on the case of Mr Hodge; vote of thanks to the civil service, army and navy in India (amended resolution); comments on supply - report attends Queen's levee at St James's Palace comments on bribery at elections (response to question); comments on the Earl of Malmesbury's despatch to the French government holds cabinet meeting at 11 Downing Street comments on the capture of the Cagliari; notices of Government of India Bill and adjournment for Easter; comments on colonization of India comments on the passport system in France attends Queen's levee at St James's Palace; attends cabinet meeting; dines at Palace comments on the capture of the Cagliari; comments on the Galway Freemen Disfranchisement Bill (2nd reading) comments on the officers of the dockyard; comments on department of justice; comments on compensation under the probate act; speech on Government of India Bill (No 2) (leave, 1st reading); comments on canal across the Isthmus of Suez; parliament adjourned holds cabinet meeting at 11 Downing Street holds meeting of commissioners for reduction of national debt at 11 Downing Street
1858 continued 31 Mar 5 Apr 7 Apr 9 Apr 10 Apr 12 Apr
13 Apr
14 Apr 16 Apr
17 Apr 19 Apr 20 Apr
21 Apr 22 Apr 23 Apr
26 Apr 27 Apr
28 Apr 30 Apr i May
attends Queen's levee at St James's Palace speech at Lord Mayor's banquet at Mansion House attends Queen's levee at St James's Palace holds cabinet meeting at 11 Downing Street holds cabinet meeting at 11 Downing Street; to Windsor to London; parliament reassembled; comments on public business - the financial statement; comments on the capture of the Cagliari; speech on Government of India Bill (No 2) (Supply); comments on navy estimates comments on Mediterranean telegraphs; comments on the national collection of pictures; comments on the British envoy at Turin; comments on the fall of Lucknow; comments on enlistment of negroes (papers moved for) attends Queen's levee at St James's Palace; attends cabinet meeting comments on the capture of the Cagliari; comments on proctors' claims for compensation; comments on Tibet; speech on the Nelson monument attends cabinet meeting speech on the budget (resolution); comments on Government of India Bill (No 2) (2nd reading deferred) comments on committee on public monies; comments on the disembodied militia; comments on the army - warrant of 1854; comments on Dublin port dues (committee moved for) attends Queen's levee at St James's Palace; comments on Church Rates Abolition Bill (committee) comments on decimal coinage; comments on the capture of the Cagliari; comments on decimal coinage comments on the Danubian principalities; comments on Government of India Bill (No 2) (2nd reading deferred); speech on public business; comments on ways and means (committee); speech on the estimates; comments on army estimates speech on Government of India Bill (No 3) (committee moved for); comments on supply - report speech on County Franchise Bill (leave, previous question moved); comments on Church Rates Abolition Bill; comments on church rates amendment attends Queen's levee at Stjames's Palace; comments on JointStock Banking Companies Bill (2nd reading deferred) speech on Government of India Bill (No 3) (committee moved for; ist and 2nd resolutions) attends cabinet meeting; attends meeting of royal commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851
XXXI
1858 continued 3 May
4 May
5 May 6 May
7 May 10 May
11 May
13 May
14 May
15 May 17 May 18 May 20 May 21 May 24 May 25 May 26 May 28 May
29 May
xxxn
speech on Exchequer Bonds (£2,000,000) Bill (2nd reading); speech on Stamp Duty on Drafts Bill (2nd reading); comments on Government of India Bill (No 3) (committee moved for) (2nd resolution) comments on Western Bank of Scotland; comments on mission to Portugal; speech on Danubian principalities (address moved) attends cabinet meeting; attends Queen's drawing room comments on commercial relations with the Porte; comments on confiscation of land in Oude - Lord Canning's proclamation; comments on the case of the Cagliari; comments on Stamp Duties on Drafts Bill (committee) speech on the case of the Cagliari; comments on government of India (committee) comments on Oaths Bill - Lords Amendments - that Baron de Rothschild be a member of the committee; comments on ways and means (committee) comments on Governor-General of India (Oude) (notice); comments on mining operations, Duchy of Lancaster (committee moved for) comments on the resignation of Lord Ellenborough; comments on the Oude proclamation (notice); speech on Joint-Stock Banking Companies Bill; comments on Property Qualification Bill comments on public business - the Whitsuntide holiday; comments on confiscation of land in Oude - Lord Canning's proclamation gives party for Queen's birthday at Grosvenor Gate comments on confiscation of land in Oude - Lord Canning's proclamation comments on Oude - the proclamation; speech on real property, etc — probate duty; comments on valuation (Ireland) comments on Oude - Lord Canning's proclamation - the private letter; comments on the Indian despatches speech on the Oude proclamation - adjournment of the House at Hughenden for the day; to London elected honorary fellow All Souls College, Oxford speech at dinner in gardens of Royal Hotel at Slough; to London comments on breach of privilege - Washington Wilks; speech on his speech at Slough; comments on supply - civil service estimates - office of works - poor law board - civil contingencies sworn in as chancellor of the exchequer
1858 continued 31 May
I Jim
3 Jun
4 Jun
5 Jun 8 Jun
9 Jun 10 Jun I1 Jun
12 Jun 14 Jun 15 Jun 17 Jun
18 Jun
21 Jun
comments on the case of the Cagliari; comments on the educational estimates; comments on business of the House; speech on his speech at Slough; comments on supply civil service estimates - secretary to the Lord Lieutenant (Ireland) comments on adhesive stamps on cheques; comments on bankers' drafts; speech on breach of privilege - the case of Mr Washington Wilks; speech on Isthmus of Suez canal (resolution); comments on Church Rates Abolition Bill (3rd reading) comments on the government of the army; comments on negotiations with China; comments on supply - civil service estimates - prosecutions - county courts - general register house, Edinburgh; comments on Joint-Stock Banking Companies Bill (committee); comments on Funded Debt Bill (leave, 1st reading) speech on the deanery of York; speech on relations with China; speech on supply - civil service estimates - British Museum - general register house, Edinburgh attends cabinet meeting comments on Government of India Bill (committee); comments on Marriage Law Amendment Bill (committee); comments on government property - exemption from rates (committee moved for); comments on Weedon Establishment (commission moved for) attends cabinet meeting comments on Joint-Stock Banking Companies Bill (committee) speecli on the national defences; speech on Government of India Bill (committee); comments on Chelsea Bridge Act Amendment Bill (2nd reading) attends cabinet meeting comments on the confessional in Belgravia; comments on Government of India Bill (committee) speech on under-secretary of state (Scotland) speech on government of India (committee); speech on Commissioners for Exhibition 1851 Bill (2nd reading); comments on Galway Freemen Disfranchisement Bill (committee) comments on the slave trade - relations with the United States; comments on Sale and Transfer of Land (Ireland) Bill (committee - cl 47) speech on Commissioners for Exhibition 1851 Bill (committee); speech on the paper duty (resolution); comments on Sale and Transfer of Land (Ireland) Bill (cl 51)
XXXlll
1858 continued 22jun
24 Jun 25 Jun
28 Jun
29 Jun
1 Jul
2 Jul
3 Jul 5 Jul
6 Jul
7 Jul 8 Jul
9 Jul
10 Jul
xxxiv
comments on barracks at Kensington Gore; comments on assessed and income taxes (resolution); comments on coroners' inquests (committee moved for) visits King of the Belgians at Buckingham Palace; comments on Commissioners for Exhibition 1851 Bill (consideration) speech on the state of the Thames; comments on Government of India Bill (No 3) - cl 3 - cl 7; comments on Sale and Transfer of Land (Ireland) Bill (committee - cl 51) (includes comments on Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Bill) speech on Funded Debt Bill (committee); speech on military organization; comments on the state of the Thames (resolution) comments on business of the House; comments on Orange Lodges (Ireland) - appointment of Mr Cecil Moore (resolution) comments on London Corporation Bill; comments on Government of India Bill (No 3) - cl 8 - cl 11 - cl 12; Jewish Disabilities Bill passes in Lords comments on Government of India Bill (No 3) - cl 13 - cl 14 - cl 15 - cl 20 - cl 36 - cl 38 - cl 48 - add cl; comments on public business - adjournment of the House; comments on Hainault Forest; comments on the Danubian principalities attends cabinet meeting; attends dinner at Trinity House comments on Government of India Bill (No 3) - cl 34; comments on the case of William Henry Barber (that Viscount Goderich be discharged from attendance on the committee) (adjournment moved) comments on public business - question on the House going into committee of supply; speech on Government of India Bill (No 3) - considering additional clause - cl 27 attends cabinet meeting comments on the slave trade - right of search; comments on superannuation to dockyard officers; comments on Hudson's Bay Company; comments on Government of India Bill (No 3) (3rd reading) comments on the purification of the Thames (resolution); comments on the Leviathan and the Atlantic telegraph cable; speech on the case of the Cormacks (includes answers to questions on Dept of Justice, church rates abolition, sitting of parliament); comments on supply theological professors, Belfast; comments on Cornwall submarine mines (leave) attends cabinet meeting
1858 continued I2jul
13 Jul
14 Jul 15 Jul
16 Jul
19 Jul 20 Jul
21 Jul 22 Jul
23 Jul 24 Jul 26 Jul 27 Jul
28 Jul 30 Jul
comments on Westminster Bridge; comments on supply civil service estimates - embassies and missions abroad superannuation - general board of health; comments on telegraphic communication with India; comments on the sitting after midnight comments on destruction of British property in the Baltic; comments on the Oaths Bill and the Jews Bill; comments on supply - National Gallery report - civil service estimates - temporary commissions - patent law fees &c - lighthouses abroad - gallery of portraits - new public office, Belfast - Nelson column - main drainage of London comments on supply — civil service estimates — Major General Chesney comments on Civil Service Superannuation Bill; comments on subalterns of the army; comments on Hudson's Bay Territories; comments on Duchy of Cornwall; speech on Metropolis Local Management Act Amendment Bill (leave; 1st reading) comments on business of the House; speech on ways and means (committee); comments on Cornwall Submarine Mines Bill (committee) comments on withdrawal of bills attends cabinet meeting; comments on Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill (2nd reading); comments on the Oaths Bill and the Jews Bill (3rd reading) comments on opening of the National Gallery on Saturdays speech on Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill (committee); comments on Metropolis Local Management Act Amendment Bill (committee) - cl i - cl 17; comments on Militia (Service Abroad) Act Continuance Bill (committee) - cl i comments on the slave trade - right of search; comments on India and America attends cabinet meeting; attends whitebait dinner at Greenwich Baron de Rothschild takes his seat in the House of Commons; comments on removal of troops from the West Indies comments on private business - standing orders; comments on Government of India Bill (No 3) - Lords amendments cl 27 attends cabinet meeting attends cabinet meeting; comments on telegraphic communication with India; comments on law of bankruptcy and insolvency; speech on Government of India Bill (No 3) Lords amendments cl 27
XXXV
1858 continued 2 Aug
3 Aug 4 Aug 17 Aug 18 Aug 23-30 Aug 23 Aug 28-30 Aug 1 Sep 6 Sep 20-23 Sep 22-23 Sep 29-30 Sep 1-2 Oct 2 Oct 2-3 Oct 4-18 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 21 Oct 30 Oct i Nov 4 Nov 6 Nov 8 Nov 10 Nov 15-17 Nov 17 Nov 18 Nov 19 Nov-6 Dec 13 Dec 16 Dec 18 Dec 21 Dec 31 Dec
1859 11 Jan 20 Jan
xxxvi
attends cabinet meeting; comments on relations with Naples; comments on military operation in China; comments on opening the National Gallery on Saturdays; prorogation of parliament (until 19 Oct) attends cabinet meeting arr Hughenden to London arr Hughenden Sa at Hughenden gives dinner at Hughenden (Roses, Clubbes, Graves, Sa) Stanley at Hughenden arr Grosvenor Gate arr Hughenden Baron and Baroness Meyer de Rothschild and Mr Lloyd at Hughenden Mr Graves at Hughenden Sir E. Bulwer Lytton at Hughenden Sir William Jolliffe at Hughenden gives dinner at Hughenden (Sir H. and Lady Dashwood and Mr and Mrs Evetts) Thomas Baring and Ralph Earle at Hughenden arr Grosvenor Gate attends Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury; to Hughenden sees Earle in London receives Canadian ministers at Downing Street arr Gunnersbury arr Grosvenor Gate arr Hughenden attends committee meeting in London arr Grosvenor Gate receives Canadian ministers at Downing Street at Windsor arr Grosvenor Gate prorogation of parliament (until 13 Jan 1859) attends cabinet meetings or committees every day arr Hatfield arr Knowsley arr Grosvenor Gate arr Torquay arr Grosvenor Gate; Lord Stanley dines with Ds attends privy council at Windsor attends cabinet council at Downing Street; to Windsor to visit the Queen
1859 continued 22 Jan 27 Jan 2 Feb 3 Feb 7 Feb
8 Feb 10 Feb 11 Feb 14 Feb
15 Feb
17 Feb 18 Feb 21 Feb 22 Feb 25 Feb
28 Feb 3 Mar
4 Mar 7 Mar 8 Mar
9 Mar 10 Mar
arr Grosvenor Gate birth of Victoria's grandson gives political dinner at Grosvenor Gate meeting of parliament; address in answer to the speech comments on parliamentary reform; comments on the Queen's speech - supply; speech on superannuation of civil servants (leave and 1st reading) speech on the National Gallery; comments on the Atlantic telegraph; comments on funding of exchequer bills comments on sugar duties comments on the British Museum; comments on duty on Irish spirits comments on fire insurance duty; comments on the Reform Bill for Scotland; comments on savings banks account; comments on appointment of Mr Higgins (master in lunacy); comments on public monies; comments on East India loan comments on appointment of Mr Higgins (master in lunacy); comments on rating of government property; comments on subsidies to telegraph companies comments on telegraph to Alexandria; comments on parliamentary reform (India) comments on the consul in Japan; comments on adjournment of the House comments on business of the House comments on reports of inspectors of education (motion) comments on the Atlantic Telegraph Company; comments on Reform Bills for Scotland and Ireland; speech on evacuation of the Roman states comments on the Atlantic Telegraph Company; speech on Representation of the People Bill (leave and 1st reading) comments on county voters; comments on army estimates; comments on Jews Act (leave); comments on colonial and foreign wood (resolution) comments on the Reform Bills comments on Kingstown Harbour; comments on Church Rates Bill; comments on Highway Bill comments on the Atlantic Telegraph Company; comments on Ecclesiastical Commission Bill; comments on Charles et Georges (address moved) comments on Church Rates Bill (2nd reading) comments on borough electors; comments on Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Bill; speech on exchequer bills (resolution); comments on Hudson's Bay Company (papers moved for)
xxxvn
1859 continued 11 Mar
14 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 21 Mar 22 Mar 23 Mar 24 Mar 25 Mar 28 Mar
29 Mar
31 Mar i Apr 4 Apr 5 Apr 6 Apr 7 Apr 8 Apr
11 Apr 12 Apr 14 Apr 15 Apr
18 Apr 19 Apr 29 Apr 1 May 2 May
xxxvm
comments on the Reform Bill; comments on savings banks (Ireland); comments on church rates; speech on compensation to proctors; speech on dockyard expenditure; comments on ways and means (committee) comments on inland bonding warehouses comments on the Reform Bill; comments on the British Museum comments on decimal currency; speech on Superannuation Bill (committee), cl 11 comments on Representation of the People Bill (2nd reading) comments on church rates (committee) holds a cabinet meeting at Downing Street comments on the Representation of the People Bill comments on day of thanksgiving (India); comments on the National Gallery ('The Apollo and Marsyas ') comments on inland bonding warehouses; comments on the Representation of the People Bill (rules of debate); comments on mail contracts comments on the Church Rates Bill; comments on the Representation of the People Bill; comments on the debate on the Reform Bill speech on Representation of the People Bill (2nd reading) attends cabinet council and party meeting comments on stamps on patents of appointments; speech on the ministerial statement - the vote of Thursday night comments on public business; comments on Superannuation Bill (committee - cl 13) attends Queen's levee comments on supply - exchequer bonds comments on the state of Europe; comments on the Phoenix Society trials; comments on Reform Bill; speech on the dissolution of parliament (re Reform Bill) comments on the dissolution of parliament (re foreign affairs) speech on the Lords of the Admiralty comments on the candidate for Berwick; comments on foreign affairs comments on Jamaica immigration (re the dissolution); comments on the National Gallery (re the dissolution); comments on the dissolution of parliament speech on the state of Europe - the Italian question comments on the dissolution of parliament; prorogation of parliament general election begins to Aylesbury for election re-elected for Bucks; to Grosvenor Gate
1859 continued 7 May 11 May 19 May 31 May 6Jun 7 Jun 9 Jun 11 Jun 12 Jun 15 Jun 17 Jun 18 Jun 19 Jun 22 Jun 23 Jun 26 Jun 28 Jun 1 Jul 2 Jul 4 Jul 7 Jul 8 Jul 11 Jul 12 Jul
13 Jul 18 Jul 19 Jul 21 Jul 22 Jul 28 Jul 30 Jul 4 Aug 8 Aug 10 Aug
attends Queen's drawing room dines at Court hosts Queen's birthday dinner at Grosvenor Gate meeting of parliament; comments on choice of a Speaker attends privy council at Buckingham Palace; gives political dinner at Grosvenor Gate; attends Lady Salisbury's assembly address in answer to the speech comments on address in answer to the speech Derby visits Queen Victoria; cabinet to resign receives a lifetime pension an Hughenden an Grosvenor Gate; comments on resignation of ministers to Windsor to resign office and have interview with the Queen; to Grosvenor Gate attends cabinet council at Derby's attends state concert at Buckingham Palace arr Hughenden attends Duchess of Manchester's reception an Grosvenor Gate comments on business of the House attends Lady Londonderry's afternoon party comments on military organization - committee moved for speech on packet contracts - committee moved for comments on the correspondence with Germany; comments on affairs of Italy - foreign policy speech on Red Sea and India Telegraph Company Bill (No 2); comments on affairs of Italy - armistice question comments on affairs of Italy - the peace; comments on packet and telegraphic contracts committee; speech on Roman Catholic Relief Act Amendment Bill (2nd reading) speech on Church Rates Abolition Bill comments on financial statement - the budget comments on packet and telegraphic contracts speech on financial policy of the late government; speech on ways and means - resolution (income tax) - amendment comments on Hayter's picture of the First Reformed parliament speech on Prussia (neutrality) - foreign affairs; comments on business of the session attends dinner at Orleans House speech on election compromises - Bodmin election; comments on supply - civil contingencies speech on affairs of Italy - the conference speech on Pontefract election; question on vice-president of the board of trade
XXXIX
1859 continued 12 Aug 13 Aug 21 Aug 24 Aug-14 Sep 25 Aug
27-30 Aug 29 Aug 1012 Sep 11-12 Sep 25 Sep 5 Oct 6 Oct 6-7 Oct 6-8 Oct 6-10 Oct 7-8 Oct 7 Oct 14-17 Oct 15-16 Oct 15 Oct 16 Oct 17 Oct 19 Oct 28 Oct 29 Oct 1 Nov 5 Nov 9-23 Nov 23 Nov 25 Nov 27 Nov 29 Nov-2 Dec 2 Dec 19 Dec
xl
arr Hughenden prorogation of parliament gives dinner at Hughenden (Clubbes, Capt Stanhope) Sa at Hughenden gives dinner at Hughenden for 21 guests, including 8 children (Bings, Evetts, Mrs Lloyd, Lord George and Lady Dashwood, Johnsons, Clubbes, Capt Stanhope, Sa, Mrs Hephyrnine and a governess) Baron and Baroness de Rothschild at Hughenden with four children gives dinner at Hughenden for 13 guests (Sir George and Lady Dashwood, Clubbes, Capt Stanhope, Mr Crew) Lord Elmley at Hughenden Cameron of Lochiel and Henry Fitzroy at Hughenden dinner at Hughenden (Lady de Rothschild, two daughters, two nieces, Clubbes, Capt Stanhope) speech at annual meeting of Royal Bucks Agricultural Association gives dinner at Hughenden (Capt Stanhope) Baron and Baroness Meyer de Rothschild at Hughenden Marquis of Salisbury at Hughenden Lord Stanley at Hughenden Sir William Jolliffe at Hughenden gives dinner at Hughenden (Camerons) Palks at Hughenden Sir Anthony de Rothschild at Hughenden gives dinner at Hughenden (Lord Gilbert Kennedy and Capt Stanhope) gives dinner at Hughenden (Clubbes and Capt Stanhope) attends Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury arr Grosvenor Gate arr Knowsley to Liverpool for the banquet for Derby (Sir James and Lady Watts) chairs meeting and gives speech at Association of Mechanics' Institutes, Manchester (Earl of Wilton, Wilton Park) arr Grosvenor Gate at Torquay arr the Pynes (Sir Stafford and Lady Northcote) arr Grosvenor Gate dines at Charlotte de Rothschild's at Hatfield arr Grosvenor Gate death of Sa
A B B R E V I A T I O N S I N V O L U M E SEVEN
A
app AR BA BAR BCP BEA
Bell Palmerston BH BHF BL
Blake Boase BOOL BOS
Bourne Bradford Bright BRN BRY
BSP:HC BSU BUG
CARR
Chadwick CIB Clapham Economic History Clergy List
Conacher Peelites D
denotes an additional letter to be inserted into the sequence Appendix Annual Register (followed by year) British Almanac (followed by year) Baring Brothers, collection of Lady Beauchamp, collection of Belvoir Castle, Lincolnshire Herbert Bell Lord Palmerston 2 vols (1936 repr 1966) The Bucks Herald Chris Cook and Brendan Keith British Historical Facts (1975) The British Library, London Robert Blake Disraeli (1966) Frederick Boase Modern English Biography (1892 repr 1965) Bodleian Library, Oxford Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts H.R. Fox Bourne English Newspapers 2 vols (1887) Sarah Bradford Disraeli (1982) John Bright The Diaries of John Bright (1930) Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania British Sessional Papers: House of Commons (followed by year) State University of New York at Buffalo, New York Buckinghamshire Record Office, Aylesbury (Harrington Collection, Bodleian Library, Oxford Owen Chadwick The Victorian Church 2 vols (New York 1966) Charles I. Ball, collection of f.H. Clapham An Economic History of Modern Britain III (Cambridge 1932; repr 1967) The (Clerical Guide and Ecclesiastical Directory publ by Rivington, later The. Clerical Directory publ by Crockford (followed by year of edition) }.B, Conacher The Peelites and the Party System 1846-52 (Newton Abbot 1972) Benjamin Disraeli (and thus also 'the Ds' = D and MA)
DBF
DCB DENL Dino
Disraeli, Derby
Disraeli Newsletter DNB DR
DUB DUL DUR EB XI
ec ECK EH
EIC EJM
Foster Furtado GDL
Gladstone Diaries GLS CM GMF
Greville
GRO H
H acc Hansard HARV Haydn HAT HCC HCR HFD
Hibbert H/Life
xlii
Derby Papers, 14th & 15th Earls, Liverpool City Libraries Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Toronto 1966- ) St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales Duchesse de Dino Chronique de 1831 a 1862 (Paris 1909), followed by volume number John Vincent ed Disraeli, Derby and the Conservative Party: Journals and Memoirs of Edward Henry, Lord Stanley i84Q-i86g (Hassocks, Sussex 1978) The Disraeli Project Newsletter (1976-81) Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee eds The Dictionary of National Biography (1917 repr 1973) Helen M. Swartz and Martin Swartz eds Disraeli's Reminiscences (1975) Dublin University Library Duke University Library Durham County Record Office Encyclopcedia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910-11) Editorial comment section of the headnote Peter Eckstein, collection of The Evening Herald East India Company ex-Jewish Museum (see abbreviations in Volume II) J. Foster Alumni Oxonienses (1887, 1888) Peter Furtado et al eds The Ordnance Survey Guide to Historic Houses in Britain (New York 1987) Glasgow District Council Library M.R.D. Foot and H.C.G. Matthew eds The Gladstone Diaries (1968-94) Gloucestershire Record Office The Gentleman's Magazine John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Lytton Strachey and Roger Fulford eds The Greville Memoirs, 1814-60 7 vols (1938) C.P. Grogan, collection of The Hughenden papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford H WMA 4498 - MA's account book Hansard's Parliamentary Debates Harvard University, Baker Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts Joseph Haydn The Book of Dignities 3rd ed (1894 repr Baltimore 1970) Richard Hatchwell, collection of Hampshire County Council Hertford County Record Office Hatfield House Christopher Hibbert The Great Mutiny, India 1857 (1978) Monypenny papers in H for his Life of Disraeli
HOL HUNT HWD ILLU ING INL
Isaac James or Jem Jenkins Gladstone JHC JWA KCR
Kebbel Kenealy Koss Political Press Lady Londonderry
Law List LBCS LCC LCO LEL US
Londonderrys Lowell LPOD LQ\'
MA
Malmesbury M&B MC McCalmont
Meynell MH
MJR
David C.L. Holland, collection of Huntington Library, San Marino, California Denis Hill-Wood, collection of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne, Illinois Maj-Gen Sir Joslan Ingilby, collection of National Library of Ireland, Dublin Isaac Disraeli James Disraeli Roy Jenkins Gladstone (1995) Journals of the House of Commons John Wilson Autographs, London Kent County Record Office, Maidstone Kebbel, Thomas Edward Lord Beaconsjleld and Other Tory Memories (1907) Arabella Kenealy Memoirs of Edward Vaughan Kenealy, LL.D, by his daughter Arabella Kenealy (1908) Stephen Koss The Rise and Fall of the Political Press in Britain (Chapel Hill, NC 1981) The Marchioness of Londonderry ed Letters from Benjamin Disraeli to Frances Anne Marchioness of Londonderry 1837-1861 (1938) Clarke's New Law List compiled by S. Hill and later by T. Cockell (followed by year of edition) Ralph Disraeli ed Lord Beaconsfield's Correspondence with his Sister; 1832-1852 (1886) Lowry-Corry Collection Loras College, Wahlert Memorial Library, Dubuque, Iowa Letitia Elizabeth Landon Raymond Lister, collection of H. Montgomery Hyde The Londonderrys: AFamily Portrait (1979) A. Lawrence Lowell The Government of England (1921) 2 vols London Post Of/Ice Directory (followed by year of edition) Arthur C. Benson and Viscount Esher eds The Letters of Queen Victoria: A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861 (1908) Man An lie Disraeli ^rd Earl of Malmesbury Memoirs of an Ex-minister (1884) 2 vols William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (191020) 6 vols The Morning Chronicle McCalmont's Parliamentary Poll Book: British Election Results 1832-1918 (1971) Wilfred Meynell Benjamin Disraeli: An Unconventional Biography (1908) The Morning Herald John Rylands University Library of Manchester
xliii
MOPSIK
Morley Cobden Morley Gladstone MP MTL NHS NIPR NOR NOT NYPL
occ Ogden PAA Parker Graham Pevsner ph PML PP PRC
Press (annot) Prest Russell PRIN PRO PS PSU QUA R
RAG
RD or Ralph RDG
Ridley Palmerston RLF ROSE RTC
Sa or Sarah SBW SCR
Sheahan
xliv
The Donald and Delores Mopsik Collection John Morley The Life of Richard Cobden (i4th ed, 1910) John Morley The Life of William Ewart Gladstone (1903) 3 vols The Morning Post Mitchell Library, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, New Jersey Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast Duke of Northumberland, Alnwick Castle, collection of University of Nottingham New York Public Library Christ Church College, Oxford James Ogden Isaac D 'Israeli (Oxford 1969) Paris Archives Charles Stuart Parker Life and Letters of Sir James Graham 2 vols (1907) Nikolaus Pevsner The Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire (Harmondsworth 1960) Publication history section of the headnote Pierpont Morgan Library Palmerston Papers, Southampton University Library Pennington-Ramsden Collection, Muncaster Castle Lord Stanley's annotated copy of The Press (1853) John Prest Lord John Russell (1972) Princeton University Library Public Record Office, London Printed Source, identified in ph, used when the original MS has not been located Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania Disraeli Papers, formerly in the Queen's University Archives, Kingston, Ontario denotes a letter now available from a manuscript or a more complete or reliable printed source replacing a fragmentary letter published in a previous volume (eg '123R' replaces '123') Royal Archives Ralph Disraeli University of Reading Jasper Ridley Lord Palmerston (1970) Royal Literary Fund Lady Rosebery, collection of Lord Rothschild, collection of Sarah Disraeli Sarah Brydges Willyams Somerset County Record Office James Joseph Sheahan History and Topography of Buckinghamshire (1862 repr 1971)
SPI SPR SRO Stenton
Stewart Conservative Party Stewart Writings
SUAP TIA TTU
UCB UCL UCLA UKY UO UPEN Venn Victorian Travellers
VH-B WES Whiblev Woodham-Smith QV WRC
WSRO WWK X
YAU
Harry and Brigitte Spiro, collection of Sir Philip Rose, collection of Scottish Record Office Michael Stenton Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I, 1832-1885; Volume II, 1886-1918 (Hassocks, Sussex 1976, 1978) Robert Stewart The Foundation of the Conservative Party 18301867 (1978) R.W. Stewart Benjamin Disraeli: A list of writings by him, and unitings about him, with notes (Metuchen, New Jersey 1972). Citations are of item numbers. Statni Ustredni Archiv v Praz, Czechoslovakia Archives of The Times Texas Tech University, Rare Books, Weiselberg Collection, Lubbock, Texas University of California, Berkeley University College London University of California, Los Angeles University of Kentucky, Lexington A source that cannot be divulged for reasons such as requested confidentiality (rarely used) University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia John Venn and John Archibald Venn eds Alumni Cantabrigienses (1922-54) The Victorian Travellers Guide to igth Century England and Wales (1864 repr 1965) The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of Buckinghamshire (1969) Wesleyan University, Olin Library, Middleton, Connecticut Charles Whibley Lord John Manners and His Friends (1925) 2 vols Cecil Woodham-Smith Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times Vol I 1819-1861 (1972) Worcestershire Record Office, Shirehall West Sussex Record Office, Chichester Lord Brooke, Warwick Castle, collection of denotes an entirely new letter or fragment to be placed in chronological sequence after the corresponding letter number in a previous volume (eg-'l23X' follows '123') Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
xlv
C H R O N O L O G I C A L LIST OF LETTERS 1857-1859
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
2883
I JAN '57
S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS
PARIS
RTC
2884
1 JAN '57
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
HOTEL BRIGHTON
SCR
2885
3 JAN '57
LADY L O N D O N D E R R Y
PARIS
DUR
2886
3 JAN '57
LORD STANLEY
PARIS
DBP
2887
3 JAN '57
SPENCER WALPOLE
PARIS
BL
2888
3 JAN '57
LORD JOHN M A N N E R S
PARIS
BEA
2889
3 JAN '57
JONATHAN PEEL
PARIS
BL
2890
7 JAN '57
JOHN NORTH
PARIS
QUA
2891
7 JAN '57
SIR JOSEPH BAILEY
PARIS
QUA
2892
DAN '57]
MARY A N N E DISRAELI
[PARIS]
H
2893
18 JAN '57
MONTAGU PEACOCKE
[LONDON]
SPI
2894
23 JAN '57
LORD STANLEY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2895
25 JAN '57
H E N R Y PADWICK
GROSVENOR GT
LCC
2896
26 JAN '57
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[LONDON]
SCR
2897
27 JAN '57
SIR JOHN PAKINGTON
[LONDON]
WRC
2898
28 JAN '57
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2899
28 JAN ['57]
SARAH DISRAELI
[LONDON]
H
2900
[28 JAN '57]
LORD STANLEY
[LONDON]
DBP
2901
[28 JAN '57]
LORD DERBY
CARLTON CLUB
DBP
2902
31 JAN '57
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[LONDON]
SCR
2903
4 FEE '57
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2904
[4 FEB '57]
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2905
[8 FEB '57]
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2906
[lO FEB '57?]
MARY A N N E DISRAELI
H OF COMMONS
H
2907
[ l l ] FEB ['57]
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2908
[ll] FEB ['57]
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
299
[12 FEB '57]
[LORD DERBY?]
H OF COMMONS
H H/LIFE
2910
[14 FEB '57]
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
BL
2911
[22 FEB '57]
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2912
[22 FEB '57]
LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT
DBP
2913
[23 FEB '57]
LORD DERBY
[LONDON]
DBP
2914
9 MAR '57
SARAH DISRAELI
[LONDON]
H
2915
11 MAR ['57?]
H E N R Y PADWICK
[LONDON]
BRN
2916
17 MAR '57
ELECTORS OF BUCKS
HUGHENDEN
H
2917
17 MAR '57
CHARLES LUCAS
H OF COMMONS
CIB
2918
23 MAR '57
S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS
GROSVENOR GT
RTC
2919
[27 MAR '57]
MARY A N N E DISRAELI
[LONDON]
H
2920
[27 MAR '57]
MARY A N N E DISRAELI
[LONDON]
H
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
2921 2922 2923 2924 2925 2926 2927 2928 2929 2930 2931 2932 2933 2934 2935 2936 2937 2938 2939 2940 2941 2942
|28 MAR '57] 31 MAR '57 I 1 APR '57] 3 APR '57 12 [ A P R ] '57 12 APR '57 12 APR '57 13 APR '57 13 APR '57 20 APR '57 20 APR '57 21 APR '57 21 APR '57 26 APR '57 29 APR ['57] 2Q APR '57 13 MAY '57 [14 MAY '57] ! l(l MAY '57?! 4 J U N l'57l 7 ) U N '57 7 JUN '57
[MARY A N N E DISRAELI?] ELECTORS OF BUCKS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE H E N R Y PADWICK LORD HENRY LENNOX SARAH DISRAELI S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS THOMAS OUSELEY W I L L I A M VY.F. HUME LORI) DERBY BURLEY A N D CARLISLE SIR W I L L I A M JOLLIFFE SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE LADY L O N D O N D E R R Y SIR FIT ZROY KELLY ANTHONY CHESTER SIR W I L L I A M JOLLIFFE P H I L I P ROSE S. BRYDGF.S WILLYAMS W I L L I A M CARLISLE
[LONDON] [AYLESBURY?] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS [LONDON] CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT [LONDON]
ROSE PS RTC PS SCR BRN H H/LIFE H RTC QUA BRN DBF MOPSIK SCR SCR DUR MJR HAT SCR H RTC MOPSIK
2943
l f > J L ' N i'57]
SARAH D I S R A E L I
2944 2945 2946 2947 2948 2949 2950
22 J U N '57 22 JUN "57 28 JUN \57 13 Jl 'I-.'57 31 J U L '57 4 AUG '57 iAUG'57
SARAH DISRAELI D U K E OF PORTLAND LORD PALMERSTON s BRYDGES WILLYAMS LADY L O N D O N D E R R Y SIR W I L L I A M N A P I E R I LORD JOHN RUSSELL]
[LONDON]
GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT [H OF COMMONS]
H
H NOT PS RTC DUR BODL H
2951
10 A U G '57
LORD HI-.NRY LENNOX
H OF C O M M O N S
H H/LIFE
2952
13 AUG '57
LADY L O N D O N D E R R Y
G R O S V E N O R GT
DUR
2953
13 A U G '57
LORD STANHOPE
G R O S V E N O R GT
KCR
2954
l'» AUG '57
SIR W I L L I A M N A P I E R
GROSVENOR GT
BODL
2955
'*"* AUG '57
SIR T H O M A S G L A D S T O N E
GROSVENOR GT
DENL
2956
24 AUG '57
CHARLES l.AHURE
[LONDON]
PS
2957
25 AUG '57
LORD H E N R Y L E N N O X
GROSVENOR GT
H H/LIFE
2958
25 AUG '57
S. B R Y D G E S W I L L Y A M S
[ G R O S V E N O R GT]
RTC
2959
31 AUG 57
SARAH DISRAELI
[HUGHENDEN]
H
2960
31 AUG '57
\ N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
HUGHENDEN
PS
2961
1 SEP '57
A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
HUGHENDEN
PS
2962
i SEP '57
[JAMES DISRAELI?]
HUGHENDEN
HUNT
2963
7 SEP '57
A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
HUGHENDEN
PS
2964
1 < ) S E P '57
! ADY L O N D O N D E R R Y
HUGHENDEN
DUR
2965
i(i SEP 57
A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
HUGHENDEN
PS
2966
20 SEP 57
A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
HUGHENDEN
NHS
2967
20 SEP '57
S A M U E I LUCAS
HUGHENDEN
MOPSIK
2968
23 SEP "57
S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
HUGHENDEN
RTC
2969
23 SEP 57
A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
HUGHENDEN
PS
2970
2~ SEP 57
ANTHONY RATHBORNE
A S H R I D G E CASTLE
PS
2971
2 OCT '57
LORD H E N R Y LENNOX
HUGHENDEN
H H/LIFE
2972
4 OCT '57
A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
HUGHENDEN
PS
2973
4 OCT '57
P H I L I P ROSE
HUGHENDEN
H
xlvii
NO
2974 2975 2976 2977 2978 2979 2980 2981 2982 2983 2984 2985 2986 2987 2988 2989 2990 2991 2992 2993 2994 2995 2996 2997 2998 2999 3000 3001 3002 3003 3004 3005 3006 3007 3008 3009 3010 3011 3012 3013 3014 3015 30166 30177 3018 3019 3020 3021 3022 3023 3024 3025 3026
xlviii
DATE
TO
5 OCT '57 FREDERIC HAYDON 6 OCT '57 SIR JOHN PAKINGTON 8 OCT '57 LADY LONDONDERRY 8 OCT '57 LORD STANLEY 15 OCT '57 LADY F. RUSSELL 15 OCT '57 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 15 OCT '57 LORD STANLEY l8 OCT '57 ANTHONY RATHBORNE 20 OCT '57 MONTAGU PEACOCKE 25 OGT '57 SIR HENRY RAWLINSON 26 OCT '57 LORD BROUGHAM 26 OCT '57 DUKE OF RUTLAND 26 OCT '57 WILLIAM CARLISLE 26 OCT '57 ANTHONY RATHBORNE 28 OCT '57 WILLIAM CARLISLE 30 OCT '57 ANTHONY RATHBORNE 31 OCT '57 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 7 NOV '57 LORD HENRY LENNOX 9 NOV '57 HENRY DRUMMOND 9 NOV '57 ANTHONY RATHBORNE [14 NOV '57] S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 18 NOV '57 LORD DERBY 20 NOV '57 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 2O NOV '57 SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE 23 NOV '57 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 24 NOV '57 LORD DERBY [26 NOV '57] MARY ANNE DISRAELI 27 [NOV] '57 LORD DERBY [27 NOV '57?] ANTHONY RATHBORNE [27 NOV? '57] LORD HENRY LENNOX [NOV/DEC '57?] PHILIP ROSE 2 DEC ['57] LORD DERBY 5 DEC '57 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS [15 DEC '57] S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 28 DEC '57 LORD HENRY LENNOX 28 DEC '57 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 30 DEC '57 LORD DERBY 30 DEC '57 LADY LONDONDERRY 3O DEC '57 WILLIAM CARLISLE [31 DEC '57] [THOMAS LOFTUS] 4 JAN '58 LORD HENRY LENNOX 7 JAN '58 LADY LONDONDERRY 15 JAN '58 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 18 JAN '58 LORD JOHN MANNERS 23 JAN '58 LADY LONDONDERRY 23 JAN '58 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 5 FEB '58 PHILIP ROSE [14?] FEB '58 [SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE?] 2O FEB '58 S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS 22 FEB '58 JOHN DELANE 22 FEB '58 LORD DERBY 23 FEB '58 SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE [23 FEB '58] MARY ANNE DISRAELI
PLACE OF ORIGIN-
HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT GUNNERSBURY TORQUAY TORQUAY TORQUAY [TORQUAY] TORQUAY GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT HATFIELD HOUSE ALBURY PARK GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB [LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] CARLTON CLUB CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON]
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
H H/LIFE WRC DUR DBF BL RTC DBF PS SPI PS UCL BEA MOPSIK PS MOPSIK PS RTC H H/LIFE NOR PS RTC PS RTC SCR RTC DBP WES DBP PS PS H DBP RTC RTC H H/LIFE RTC DBP DUR MOPSIK H H H/LIFE DUR RTC BEA DUR RTC H H H/LIFE RTC PS DBP SCR H
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
3027 3028 3029 3030 3031 3032 3033 3034 3035 3036 3037 3038 3039 3040
[24 FEB '58?] 24 FEB '58 24 FEB '58 [24 FEB '58] 24 FEB 58 [23 FEB '58] [25 FEB '58] [25 FEB '58] 25 FEB '58 26 FEB '58 26 FEB '58 [26 FEB '58] 27 FEB '58 28 FEB '58
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE G.A.HAMILTON EDWARD CARDWELL SIR E. BU1.WER LYTTON SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE [SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE] [JOHN DELANE] [JOHN NEEl.D] SIR E. BULWER LYTTON ELECTORS OF BUCKS SIR G. CORNEWALL LEWIS SIR E. BULWER LYTTON SIR (., CORNEWALL LEWIS LORD HENRY LENNOX
[LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT
SCR QUA QUA HCR SCR DBF TIA PS HCR PRIN QUA HCR BRY H H/LIFE
3041
[late FEB? '38]
[ W I L L I A M POWELL]
[LONDON]
H
3042 3043 3044 3045 3046 3047 3048 3049 3050 3051 3052 3053 3054 3055 3056 3057 3058 3059 3060 3061
2 MAR '58 [2? MAR '58] 2 MAR 58 3 MAR '58 3 MAR '58 3 MAR '58 4 MAR '58 3 MAR 38 7 MAR '58 9 MAR '58 MAR ',',8 MAR '58 L I MAR "58 12 MAk '58 14 MAR '58 [13 MAR '-,8j 1(5 MAR '-,8 16 MAR '58 [18 MAR '38] [19 MAR '38]
[CONSERVATIVE MPS] LORD DERBY LORD GAI.WAY MARY A N N E DISRAELI S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS P H I L I P ROSE SARAH DISRAELI PRINCE ALBERT LORD DERBY El E( TORS OF BUCKS A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE HENRY DRUMMOND C O U N T WAL.EWSKI Q U E E N VICTORIA LORI) D E R B Y Q U E E N VICTORIA S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS Q U E E N VICTORIA LORD DERBY Q U E E N VICTORIA
DOWNING ST [DOWNING ST] DOWNING ST [GROSVENOR GT] DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST [LONDON] ASTON CLINTON GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS
PS DBF NOT HUNT RTC H H RAC DBF PS HUNT NOR PAA RAC DBP RAC RTC RAC DBP RAC
3062 3063 3064 3065 3066 3067 3068 3069 3070 3071
2O MAR '38 21 MAR ['38] [22 MAR "38] 23 MAR '38 [24 MAR '38] [23 M A R ? 38] [23 MAR '38] [2() MAR '38] [2~ MAR '38] [29 MAR '38]
LORh STANLEY P H I L I P ROSE M A R Y A N N E DISRAELI Ql El N V I C T O R I A P H I L I P ROSE LORD S T A N L E Y Q U E E N VICTORIA Q U E E N VICTORIA P H I L I P ROSE P H I L I P ROSE
DOWNING ST [LONDON] [LONDON] H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST
DBP H H RAC H DBP RAC RAC H H
3072 3073 3074 3075 3076 3077 3078
30 MAR '38 1 APR 38 2 APR 38 [2 A P R ] 38 3 APR "38 3 APR '38 [3 APR? '38]
LORD DERBY S I R T H O M A S FREMANTLE L O R D DERBY SIR T H O M A S FREMANTLE SIR J O H N PAKINGTON S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT DOWNNG STREET DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT
DBF BUG DBP BUG WRC RTC DBP
3079
3 APR '38
SIR T H O M A S FREMANTLE
DOWNING ST
BUG
xlix
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
3080 3081 3082 3083 3084 3085 3086 3087 3088 3089 3090 3091 3092 3093 3094 3095 3096 3097 3098 3099 3100 3101 3102 3103 3104 3105 3106 3107 3108 3109 3110 3111 3112 3113 3114 3115 3116 3117 3118 3119 3120 3121 3122 3123 3124 3125 3126 3127 3128 3129 3130
7 APR '58 9 APR '58 [lOAPR'58?] 11 APR '58 11 APR '58 11 APR '58 12 APR '58 12 APR ['58] 12 APR ['58] [13 APR '58] [14 APR '58] [17 APR '58?] [17 APR '58?] 18 APR'58 l8 APR '58 l8 APR '58 19 APR ['58] [19 APR '58] 2O APR ['58] 21 APR ['58] 22 APR '58 23 APR '58 24 APR '58 24 APR '58 [27 APR '58] 30 APR '58 30 APR '58 30 APR '58 3 MAY '58 4 MAY ['58] 6 MAY '58 7 MAY '58 8 MAY '58 10 MAY '58 [13 MAY '58] [14 MAY '58] 14 MAY '58 l6 MAY '58 l6 MAY '58 17 MAY ['58] 17 MAY '58 17 MAY '58 [17 MAY '58] l8 MAY ['58] 19 MAY '58 21 MAY '58 22 MAY '58 24 MAY ['58] 25 MAY '58 25 MAY ['58] 25 MAY ['58]
SIR E. BULWER LYTTON LORD STANLEY MARY ANNE DISRAELI LADY DOROTHY NEVILL SARAH DISRAELI MARY ANNE DISRAELI S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS MARY ANNE DISRAELI QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY SIRJ.E. TENNENT [PHILIP ROSE] [G.A.HAMILTON] CABINET COLLEAGUES PRINCE ALBERT SPENCER WALPOLE QUEEN VICTORIA SPENCER WALPOLE LORD DERBY QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS MONTAGU PEACOCKE QUEEN VICTORIA PRINCE ALBERT LORD DERBY QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA LORD JOHN RUSSELL QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY QUEEN VICTORIA SIR E. BULWER LYTTON LORD DERBY QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY SIR JAMES GRAHAM SIR JAMES GRAHAM MONTAGU PEACOCKE MARY ANNE DISRAELI QUEEN VICTORIA SIR JAMES GRAHAM SIR E. BULWER LYTTON QUEEN VICTORIA S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD DERBY WILLIAM GLADSTONE LORD DERBY LORD DERBY
GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST DOWNING ST WINDSOR CASTLE WINDSOR CASTLE WINDSOR CASTLE WINDSOR CASTLE DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS [LONDON] H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST [LONDON] H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST HOUSE OF LORDS H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] DOWNING ST DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS [LONDON] [LONDON] H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [GROSVENOR GT]
HCR DBF MOPSIK MOPSIK H H RTC H RAG RAG DBF MOPSIK H INL H RAG HOL RAG QUA DBP RAG RAC RTC SPI RAC RAC DBP RAC RAC RAC PRO RAC DBP RAC HCR DBP RAC DBP PS PS SPI H RAC PS HCR RAC RTC DBP BL DBP DBP
3132
29 MAY '58
LORD CARNARVON
DOWNING ST
QUA
3131
1
[28 MAY '58]
LORD STANLEY
[GROSVENOR GT]
DBP
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
3133
30 MAY '58
SIR E. BULWER LYTTON
[LONDON]
HCR
3134
1JUN'58
Q U E E N VICTORIA
H OF COMMONS
RAG
3135
3 J t T N '58
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF COMMONS
RAG
3136
[ 7 J U N '58]
MARY A N N E DISRAELI
[H OF COMMONS?]
H
3137
7 J U N '58
Q U E E N VICTORIA
H OF COMMONS
RAG
3138
[ 8 J U N '58?]
SIR E. B U L W E R LYTTON
[LONDON]
HGR
3139
9 J U N '58
P R I N C E ALBERT
D O W N I N G ST
RAC
3140
11JUN'58
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF COMMONS
RAC
3141
11 J U N '58
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF COMMONS
RAC
3142
U 5 . J U N '58?]
[LORD BURY?]
[ D O W N I N G ST?]
DUL
3143
1 6 J U N '58
S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
31444
[l7Jl'N'58]
LORD D E R B Y
H OF COMMONS
DBP
31455
1 ? J I T N 58
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF COMMONS
RAC
31466
17JUN
PRINCE ALBERT
H OF COMMONS
RAC
3147
18 JUN '58
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF C O M M O N S
RAC
3148
18 JUN "58
P R I N C E ALBERT
H OF COMMONS
RAC
3149
1 9 J I - N '58
S P E N C E R WALPOLE
D O W N I N G ST
HOL
3150
20 JUN ('58]
LORD STANLEY
D O W N I N G ST
DBP
58
31511
a I J U N '58
[SIR FREDERICK CURRIE?]
D O W N I N G ST
LCO
31522
21 JUN '58
P R I N C E ALBERT
H OF COMMONS
RAC HOC
3153
23 J U N '58
LORI) MALMESBURY
[LONDON]
31544
24 J U N
58
SIR F R E D E R I C K POLLOCK
D O W N I N G ST
BODL
31555
24 J U N
58
JOHN DENISON
D O W N I N G ST
NOT
3156 6
2 4 J U N '58
S P E N C E R WALPOLE
[LONDON]
HOL
31577
24 JUN '58
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF COMMONS
RAC
3158 8
25 JUN
58
S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
DOWNING ST
RTC
31599
25 JUN
58
P R I N C E ALBERT
H OF COMMONS
RAC
0 3160
2(5 JUN '38
1 3161
[28 J U N 'r-,8]
QUEEN VICTORIA
QUEEN VICTORIA
[LONDON] H OF COMMONS
RAC RAC
3162 2
[ J U I . '^8j
LORD S T A N L E Y
[LONDON]
DBP
3163 3
4 J U I ['58]
L O R D STANLEY
DOWNING ST
DBP
3164
[7 j u i r>8]
[ S P E N C E R WALPOLE]
[LONDON]
HOL
31655
8 J U I '58
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF C O M M O N S
RAC
31666
[15 J U I '-,8?]
W I L L I A M W.F. H U M E
GROSVENOR GT
BRN
31677
24 J U I . '58
LADY LONDONDERRY
D O W N I N G ST
DUR DBP
31688
26 J U L . '58
LORD STANLEY
D O W N I N G ST
3169 9
2(3 JUL
S. B R Y D G E S W I L L Y A M S
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
31700
31 J U L 'f,8
SARAH DISRAELI
D O W N I N G ST
H
31711
31 J U I '58
S A M U E L GETTY
DOWNING ST
PML
31722
31 JUI
MRS V E N A B L E S
[LONDON]
BRN
31733
3 A U G '58
S B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
31744
5 AUG "58
S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
HUGHENDEN
H
3175 5
f> A t C '58
SIR H F N R Y FOULIS
[HUGHENDEN]
MOPSIK
3176 6
9 AUG 'f,8
LORD S T A N L E Y
HUGHENDEN
DBP
f>8
58
3177 7
10AUC'58
LORI) STANLEY
HUGHENDEN
DBP
31788
13 A U ( . '38
LORD DERBY
HUGHENDEN
DBP
3179 9
13 AUG \-,8
LORD STANLEY
HUGHENDEN
DBP
3180 0
I f i A U f . ['58]
WILLIAM FERRAND
HUGHENDEN
PS
3181 1
If, AUG '58
S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
HUGHENDEN
RTC
3182 2
20 A U G '^8
P H I L I P ROSE
HUGHENDEN
H
31835
23 AUG '58
SIR W I L L I A M J O L L I F F E
HUGHENDEN
SCR
3184 4
26 AUG ['58]
LORD D E R B Y
HUGHENDEN
DBP
3185 5
27 AUG [ 5 8 ]
P H I L I P ROSE
HUGHENDEN
SPR
li
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
3186 3187 3188 3189 3190 3191 3192 3193 3194 3195 3196 3197 3198 3199 3200 3201 3202 3203 3204 3205 3206 3207 3208 3209 32101
28 AUG '58 3O AUG '58 31 AUG '58 3 SEP '58 4 SEP '58 7 SEP '58 9 SEP ['58] 12 SEP '58 14 SEP '58 14 SEP '58 15 SEP '58 16 SEP '58 19 SEP '58 19 SEP '58 19 SEP '58 2O SEP '58 23 SEP '58 27 SEP '58 29 SEP '58 30 SEP '58 3O SEP '58 [2 OCT '58] 3 OCT '58 4 OCT '58 6 OCT '58
S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SAMUEL LUCAS DUKE OF RICHMOND MRS BUELE[?] S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY LORD ROBERT CECIL LADY LONDONDERRY WILLIAM PARTRIDGE LORD MALMESBURY LORD STANLEY FREDERICK LYGON S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS THOMAS BARING BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE LORD MALMESBURY LORD STANLEY RICHARD WRIGHT CHARLES FULLER LORD DERBY SIR E. BULWER LYTTON LORD STANLEY
HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN DOWNING ST [DOWNING ST] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HORSENDEN HOUSE HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT
RTC RTC NYPL WSRO PS RTC DBP DBP OCC DUR BLA HCC DBP BCP RTC BAR PS SCR HCC DBP QUA PS DBP HCR DBP
3216
[l8 OCT '58?]
[RALPH EARLE?]
[LONDON]
NYPL
[20 OCT '58]
LORD STANLEY
3211 3212 3213 3214 3215 3217
3218 3219 3220 3221 3222 3223 3224 3225 3226 3227 3228 3229 3230 3231 3232 3233
lii
7 OCT '58 7 OCT ['58] 9 OCT '58 9 OCT'58 11 OCT ['58]
2O OCT '58 21 OCT '58 24 OCT '58 26 OCT '58 26 OCT '58 28 OCT '58 28 OCT '58 29 OCT '58 30 OCT '58 5 NOV '58 [6 NOV '58] [8 NOV '58?] 13 NOV '58 15 NOV '58 16 NOV '58 18 NOV '58
LORD MALMESBURY GROSVENOR GT LORD JOHN MANNERS DOWNING ST LORD DERBY GROSVENOR GT [SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE] [LONDON] S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS GROSVENOR GT
S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY LORD DERBY LORD STANLEY SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE LORD MALMESBURY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY MARY ANNE DISRAELI SIR E. BULWER LYTTON R. MONCKTON MILNES S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS MARY ANNE DISRAELI PRINCE ALBERT
HUGHENDEN
HUGHENDEN DOWNING ST HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN DOWNING ST [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [WINDSOR] [DOWNING ST] GROSVENOR GT
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
HCC NOT DBP SCR RTC
DBP
RTC H DBP DBP DBP DBP SCR HCC RTC DBP H HCR H H/LIFE RTC H RAG
3234
18 NOV ['58]
PHILIP ROSE
GROSVENOR GT
H
3235
19 NOV ['58]
SIR E. BULWER LYTTON
DOWNING ST
HCR
3236
23 NOV '58
PRINCE METTERNICH
[LONDON]
SUAP
3237
23 NOV ['58]
S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
3238
25 NOV '58
SIR E. BULWER LYTTON
D O W N I N G ST
QUA
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF O R I G I N
3239 3240
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
26 NOY '58
LORD D E R B Y
DOWNING ST
DBF
27 NOV '58
LADY LONDONDERRY
D O W N I N G ST
DUR
3241
1 DEC '58
D U K E OF B U C K I N G H A M
D O W N I N G ST
HUNT
3242
2 DEC '58
H E N R Y PADWICK
D O W N I N G ST
LCC
3243
9 DEC '58
SIR E. B U L W E R LYTTON
D O W N I N G ST
HCR
3244
9 DEC '58
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE
[LONDON]
PML
3245
I I DEC '58
LORD DERBY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3246
11 DEC '58
S, B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
3247
12 DEC '58
P R I N C E ALBERT
D O W N I N G ST
RAC
3248
[19 D E C , '58]
SIR W I L L I A M J O L L I F F E
[LONDON]
SCR
3249
1C) DEC '58
3250
20 D E C "58
L O R D DERBY
3251
2O DEC '58
SIR E. B U L W E R LYTTON
D O W N I N G ST
PS
3252
20 DEC '58
LORD C A R R I N G T O N
D O W N I N G ST
CARR
SIR J O H N P A K I N G T O N
[LONDON]
H
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3253
20 DEC >,8
( R A L P H EARLE]
DOWNING ST
H
3254
20 DEC '58
S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
3255
2O DEC ['58]
MAR 1 ! A N N E D I S R A E L I
[LONDON]
H
3256
22 DEC '58
LORD DERBY
TORQUAY
DBF
3257
22 DEC '58
LORD S A L I S B U R Y
TORQUAY
HFD
3258
26 DEC ['58]
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
TORQUAY
SCR
3259
27 DEC '58
EMPEROR NAPOLEON
TORQUAY
H
3260
27 DEC '58
SIR W I L L I A M J O L L I F F E
TORQUAY
SCR
3261
27 D E C . '58
LORD D E R B Y
TORQUAY
DBF
3262
27 DEC '58
LORI) MAl.MESBURY
TORQUAY
HCC
3263
27 DEC '58
LORD WARWICK
TORQUAY
WWK
3264
28 DEC '58
LORD SALISBURY
TORQUAY
HFD
3265
29 DEC '58
SIR W I L L I A M J O L L I F F E
TORQUAY
SCR
3266
[30] DEC '58
SIR W I L L I A M J O L L I F F E
TORQUAY
SCR
3267
30 DEC '58
LORI) STANLEY
TORQUAY
DBF
3268
1 J A N '59
LORD DERBY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3269
2 JAN 59
LORD M A l . M E S B U R Y
GROSVENOR GT
HCC
3270
3 JAN '59
LORD S T A N L E Y
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3271
3 J A N '59
S. B R Y D G F S WILLYAMS
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
3272
4 JAN 59
LORI) DERBY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3273
6 JAN '59
LORD DERBY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3274
6 (AN '59
B U R l . E Y AND CARLISLE
D O W N I N G ST
MOPSIK
3275
7 |AN '59
LORI) DERBY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3276
10 JAN '59
LORD STANLEY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3277
11 JAN 59
LORI) D E R B Y
GROSVENOR GT
DBF
3278
1 I J A N '59
GEORGE ARBUTHNOT
[LONDON]
H
3279
13 JAN '59
H E N R Y PADWICK
D O W N I N G ST
LCC
3280
1^ JAN '59
C O N S E R V A T I V E MPS
D O W N I N G ST
SCR
3281
[13 JAN '59]
LORD DERBY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3282
15 J A N '59
S. B R Y D G F S WILLYAMS
D O W N I N G ST
RTC
3283
[21 JAN '59]
MARY A N N E DISRAELI
W I N D S O R CASTLE
H
3284
21 JAN '59
S. B R Y D G F S W I L L Y A M S
W I N D S O R CASTLE
RTC
3285
1 FEB '59
PRINCE ALBERT
D O W N I N G ST
RAC
3286
$ FEB ['59]
QUEEN VICTORIA
H OF C O M M O N S
RAC DBF
3287
8 FEB 59
LORD DERBY
H OF COMMONS
3288
9 FEB 59
LORD STANLEY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3289
10 FEB '59
LORD STANLEY
D O W N I N G ST
DBF
3290
10 FEB '59
P H I L I P ROSE
[LONDON]
SPI
3291
11 FEB '59
LORI) DERBY
H OF COMMONS
DBF
liii
NO
liv
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
3292 3*93 3294 3295 3296 3297 3298 3299 3300 3301 3302 3303 3304 3305 3306 3307 3308 3309 3310 3311 3312 3313 3314 3315 3316 3317 3318 3319 3320 3321 3322 3323 3324 3325 3326 3327 3328 3329 3330 3331 3332
14 FEE '59 17 FEE '59 2O FEE '59 [21 FEE '59] 21 FEE ['59] 23 FEE '59 23 FEB '59 [25 FEB '59] [28 FEB '59] 28 FEB ['59] 1 MAR '59 1 MAR '59 5 MAR '59 7 MAR '59 1O MAR '59 14 MAR '59 [l6?] MAR '59 [l8?] MAR '59 [19 MAR '59] 21 MAR '59 [21 MAR '59] [22 MAR '59] 23 MAR '59 [24 MAR '59?] [25 MAR '59] [25 MAR '59] 27 MAR ['59] 28 MAR '59 29 MAR '59 30 MAR '59 [APR?] '59 1 APR '59 3 APR ['59] [3 APR '59] [4 APR '59?] 4 APR '59 4 APR '59 6 APR ['59] [7 APR '59?] 7 APR '59 8 APR '59
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD DERBY [RALPH EARLE] QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY LORD STANHOPE QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY QUEEN VICTORIA LORD HENRY LENNOX QUEEN VICTORIA S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD CAMPDEN QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA MESSRS ROUTLEDGE CHARLES GORDON LORD DERBY LORD ELCHO QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA SIR E. BULWER LYTTON SPENCER WALPOLE QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA LORD A. VANE-TEMPEST QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY WILLIAM GIBB QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY LORD DERBY SAMUEL LUCAS ELECTORS OF BUCKS QUEEN VICTORIA SIR S. NORTHCOTE SIR E. BULWER LYTTON [RALPH EARLE] LORD STANLEY
[LONDON] DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST [LONDON] H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT [LONDON?] H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST DOWNING ST [LONDON] DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST [LONDON] [LONDON] DOWNING ST
SCR RTC DBF H RAG DBF KCR RAG DBF RAG H H/LIFE RAC RTC UCLA RAC RAC PS H H/LIFE DBF SRO RAC RAC HCR HOL RAC RAC DUR RAC RAC DBF H RAC DBF DBF MOPSIK PS RAC BL HCR H DBF
3333
9 APR '59
s. BRYDGES WILLYAMS
DOWNING ST
H
3334 3335 3336
11 APR '59 14 APR '59 16 APR '59
LORD LECONFIELD QUEEN VICTORIA SIR MAURICE BERKELEY
[LONDON] H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST
WSRO RAC H
3337 3338 3339 3340 3341 3342
19 APR '59 19 APR '59 20 APR ['59] 25 APR '59 29 APR '59 2 MAY '59
QUEEN VICTORIA S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY SIR S. NORTHCOTE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS ELECTORS OF BUCKS
DOWNING ST DOWNING ST [LONDON] DOWNING ST DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT
RAC RTC DBF BL RTC PS
3343
3 MAY '59
LORD PALMERSTON
GROSVENOR GT
pp
3344
5 MAY '59
EDWARD HORSMAN
GROSVENOR GT
PRC
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
3345 3346 3347 3348 3349 3350 3351 3352 3353 3354 3355 3356 3357 3358 3359 3360 3361 3362
8 MAY '59 9 MAY '59 9 MAY '59 12 MAY '59 l6 MAY '59 20 MAY '59 20 MAY '59 20 MAY '59 21 MAY '59 26 MAY'59 26 MAY '59 27 MAY '59 28 MAY '59 31 MAY '59 2 JUN;'59 [2 JUN '59] 6 JUN '59 6JUN l'59l
LORD DERBY LORD SALISBURY LORD NAAS LORD NAAS CONSERVATIVE MPS [LORD NAAS] JOHN DENISON S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD NAAS [LORD DERBY] [LORD NAAS] LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD NAAS QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE LORD CARNARVON [RALPH EARLE?]
GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON]
DBF HFD INL INL SCR INL NOT RTC INL DBF INL PS INL RAG DBF SCR BL H
3363 3364 3365 3366 3367 3368 3369 3370 3371 3372
[7 J U N '59] 7 JUN '59 [9 JUN '59] 10 JUN '59 [ l l JUN '59] 11 JUN '59 [12JUN'59J 1 2 J U N '59 13 JUN '59 13 JUN '59
Q U E E N VICTORIA MARY A N N E DISRAELI QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY Q U E E N VICTORIA S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD D E R B Y LORD S T A N L E Y LORD DERBY S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS DOWNING ST [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST DOWNING ST
RAG H RAG DBP RAC RTC DBP DBP DBP RTC
3373 3374 3375 3376
13 Jl'N 13J l : N 16 J U N 16 JUN
JOHN BLACK LORD DERBY LORD DERBY S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN
QUA DBP DBP RTC
DOWNING ST
RTC
'59 [59] '59 '59
3377
i? J I - T N '59
s
3378 3379 3380
[23?] JUN '59 23 JUN '59 23 JUN '59
G E O R G E BOWYER EDMUND HAMMOND H U R L E Y AND CARLISLE
GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT
PS HOL MOPSIK
3381 3382 3383 3384 3385
24 JUN '59 26 JUN "59 27 JUN '59 [28] JUN '59 IJUN '59?]
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS S, BRYDGES WILLYAMS [UNKNOWN]
HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN CARLTON CLUB [LONDON]
SCR SCR RTC RTC PS
3386 3387 3388 3389 3390 3391 3392
[ l l J U l '59] [ll?JUL'59] 13 J U I ['59] 20 JUI '59 23 J U I '59 26 J U I . '59 [early AUG '59]
LADY HOLLAND MARY A N N E DISRAELI S, BRYDGES WILLYAMS S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS 8. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS S A M U F l A. A I . L I B O N E P H I L I P ROSE
GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT
PS H RTC RTC RTC HUNT H
3393 3394
5 AUG '59 5 AUG '59
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE s, BRYDGES WILLYAMS
GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB
SCR RTC
3395 3396
*' AUG '59 11 AUC '59
E D M U N D HAMMOND T H O M A S RUSSELL
GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT
QUA MTL
3397
'7 AUC '59
S. B R Y D G E S WILLYAMS
HUGHENDEN
RTC
BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Iv
NO
DATE
TO
PLACE OF ORIGIN
LOCATION OF ORIGINAL
3398 3399 3400 3401 3402 3403 3404 3405 3406 3407 3408 3409 3410 3411 3412 3413 3414 3415 3416 3417 3418 3419 3420 3421 3422 3423 3424 3425 3426 3427 3428 3429 3430 3431 3432 3433 3434 3435 3436
19AUG'59 21 AUG '59 31 AUG '59 31 AUG '59 2 SEP '59 5 SEP '59 7 SEP '59 10 SEP '59 22 SEP '59 27 SEP '59 2 OCT ['59] 11 OCT '59 13 OCT '59 [ig] OCT '59 22 OCT '59 24 OCT '59 24 OCT '59 27 OCT '59 7 NOV '59 [14 NOV '59?] 14 NOV '59 17 NOV '59 17 NOV '59 [28] NOV '59 4 DEC '59 5 DEC '59 5 DEC '59 9 DEC '59 9 DEC '59 10 DEC '59 12 DEC '59 12 DEC '59 [17 DEC '59] ig DEC ['59] 2O DEC '59 25 DEC '59 25 DEC ['59] 28 DEC '59 28 DEC '59
SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE LORD STANLEY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS WILLIAM FERRAND LORD ELMLEY JAMES HUDSON LORD ELMLEY LORD SALISBURY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY LORD CAMPDEN S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LADY LONDONDERRY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD DERBY LORD STANLEY WILLIAM LINDSAY LORD DERBY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS [WILLIAM LINDSAY?] WILLIAM LINDSAY PHILIP ROSE THOMAS LOFTUS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY S I R J . E . TENNENT S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS RALPH DISRAELI S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE LADY LONDONDERRY LORD REDESDALE MARY A N N E DISRAELI MARY ANNE DISRAELI RALPH DISRAELI LORD JOHN MANNERS LORD HENRY LENNOX S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB [LONDON] [TORQUAY?] TORQUAY [TORQUAY] TORQUAY GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GLOUCESTER PL GLOUCESTER PL GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT
SCR DBF RTC ING BCP QUA BCP HFD RTC DBF PS RTC DUR RTC DBP DBP H DBP RTC PS PS H H RTC DBP MOPSIK RTC BL RTC SCR DUR GLS H H BL BEA H H/LIFE RTC SCR
3437
3° DEC '59
WILLIAM PARTRIDGE
GROSVENOR GT
GMF
The following is the available information (source indicated) about Disraeli letters that have not been located, and for which no significant portion of the text is available, but which seem to belong to the 1857-9 period, or earlier. Some of them have been used in the notes of this volume, as indicated. The references to items in H are to items from which a specific D letter can be inferred. For pre-l8$7 letters newly found see Appendix I. about 9 May '46
19 May '46
before 7 Apr ['49?] before 29jun '49
Ivi
To To To tee To
Thomas Bailey, about bills. See (App I) 1490x8011. Thomas Bailey, about bills. See (App I) I4gox&ni. Henry Hope, in a 'friendly tone', regarding West India Commitspeech. H B/XXI/H/661. See V 1664^19. Thomas Thompson. H B/XXl/T/ii8. See (App I) 27O4Xni.
before 6 Nov '49 Oct '53 about 25 Dec '56 ['57?1 ['57?1
[Jan '57?] 5 Jan '57 before 7 Jan '57 before 7 Jan '57 before 9 Jan '57 before 9 Jan '57 before 12 Jan '57 before 15 Jan '57 before 15 fan '57 before 17 Jan '57 before 17 Jan '57
17 Jan 57 before 19 Jan '57 before 20 Jan '57 before 22 Jan '57 before 24 Jan '57 before 25 Jan '57 before 27 Jan '57 before 29 Jan '57 before 2 Feb '57
2 Feb '57 16 Feb ['57?] before i Mar '57 before i Mar '57
To MA. See (App I) 191911115. To Samuel Triscott. H D/lll/c/2626. See 3214111. To Lord Blandford, an invitation to D's 2 February 1857 political dinner. See 2884&n3. To Sir William Rae, giving parliamentary news. Sotheby's catalogue (29 October 1975) item 124. To Sir Joseph Bailey, refusing an invitation. Sotheby's catalogue (29 October 1975) item 124. To Ralph Earle, 'sent thro' our common friend'. H B/XX/E/4. To R.C. Nisbet-Hamilton, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/H/97. See 2884&n3. To Lord Chandos, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/B/1202. See 2884&n3_ To H.G. Liddell, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/xxi/L/162. See 2884^013. To Sir John Yarde Buller, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/C/228. See 2884&n3To E.G. Egerton, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H A/IV/L/Q5. See 2884&n3. To Lord Adolphus Vane-Tempest, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/V/13. See 2884&n3. To Lord Elmley, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/xxi/L/422. See 2884&ng. To Sir John Trollope, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/K/134. See 2884&n3_ To George Bentinck, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/B/316. See 2884&n3. To Lord Galway, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/xxi/G/43. See 2884&n3. To Lord Henniker, who thanks D for his 'kind mention of my return', an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/H/ 517. See 2884&n3. To Sir William Heathcote, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/H/43O. See 2884&n3. To Alexander Baillie Cochrane, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner, and congratulating him on being re-elected. H B/XXI/L/21. See 2884&n3. To George Stucley Buck, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XIX/ADDS. See 2884&n3. To Sir James Fergusson, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/F/1O1. See 2884&n3Two notes to Derby. See 2897nl. To Lord Chandos, requesting a meeting. H B/XXI/B/12O3. See 29O1. To Isabella Disraeli, inquiring after her health. H D/III/B/92. See 2899ni. To G.C. Du Pre, an invitation to D's 2 February political dinner. H B/XXI/D/437- See 2884&n3To Frederick Biddle, a 'highly prized' letter which includes the 'kind consideration of Mrs. Disraeli'. H B/XXI/B/5O8. To Henry Wyndham, arranging a meeting. H B/XIX/ADDS. To A. Duncombe, requesting his presence in the House for a division on the China question. H B/XXI/D/4O6. To Sir William Miles, requesting his presence in the House for a division on the China question. H B/XXI/M/384.
Ivii
before 3 Mar '57 before 3 Mar '57 before 11 Mar '57 before 22 Mar '57 before 26 Mar '57 [Apr?] '57 before 4 Apr '57 before 8 Apr '57 before 10 Apr ['57?] before 17 Apr '57 before 18 Apr '57 before 22 Apr '57 before 27 Apr '57 29 Apr '57 before 9 May '57 before 28 May ['57?] I2jun '57 before and after I7jun '57 25jun '57
[8?] Jul '57 8 Aug '57
between 2-14 Sep '57 before 3 Sep '57 3 Sep '57 before 11 Sep '57
23 Sep '57 24 Sep '57 before 25 Sep '57
before 27 Sep '57
Iviii
To Lord Adolphus Vane-Tempest, regarding his opinion about Cobden's resolution. H B/XXI/V/14. To Lord Lisburne, requesting his presence in the House for a division on the China question. H B/XXI/L/216. To Ralph Earle, telling him to apply for leave and return to London; also remarks on the Persian treaty. H B/XX/E/15. See 29l?&n2. To Lord Chandos, asking for his reasons for retiring. H B/XXI/B/ 1205. To Lady Poltimore, a 'charming letter'. H B/XIX/ADDS. To David Coulton, inquiring where his copy of the Press was sent. H B/VI/147. To William Powell, about D's address appearing in The Times. H B/I/D/21. To Col R.T. Gilpin, congratulating him on his election. H B/XXI/G/ 83To D.O. Maddyn, expressing concern about quantity of material for the Press. H B/VI/248. To David Coulton, a 'kind and encouraging note' regarding the Press. H B/VI/141. To Edward Gleig. H B/XXI/G/146. See 2994&n4. To T.E. (Edward) Taylor. H B/XX/H/6l. See 2925n3. To Philip Rose, with 'uniform kindness'. H R/I/B/3O. To Edmund Hammond, a 'kind' letter. H B/XXI/H/no. To William Powell, regarding D's visit to Newport Pagnell 20 May. H B/I/D/25. See 29388011. To Samuel Wilberforce (Bishop of Oxford), regarding a curate for Hughenden church. H R/I/C/4O. To William Fisher, regarding Francis Villiers's Ceylon estate. H A/IV/J/53. See 2942&nl and 2986&ni. Several letters to Samuel Triscott. H 0/111/0/2626-38. See 32i4ni. To Mrs Duncombe, offering her seats for the military ceremony on Friday. American Book-Prices Current (1984), p 32, described as '3 pp, 12mo.' To Lord Strangford, about Strangford's affair with Margaret Lennox. BEA [file 9]. See 2982&n6. To Anthony Rathborne. American Book-Prices Current (1945) p 559. See 296o&nl. To Lord Strangford, describing Strangford as 'a bed-ridden Lovelace' and commenting on his poor health and affair with Margaret Lennox. BEA [file 9]. See 2982&n6. To Frederic Haydon, two letters, apparently with material for the Press. H B/XXI/H/330. To Lady Forester, a 'kind note'. H B/XXI/F/2O5. To Thomas Loftus, regarding Gillett and the lease at 2 Grosvenor Gate. H 0/11/8/131. See 3Ol3&ni. To William Lovell, about a fundraising matter. H A/V/G/188. To Francis Villiers. H A/rv/J/58. See 2986&ni. To Frederic Haydon, expressing an unspecified opinion and stressing the importance of destroying mss after copying them. H B/xxi/H/334. To Anne Buck (Mrs L.W.), a 'very kind and welcome letter' regarding her husband's health. H B/XXI/B/1118.
before 27 Sep '57 5Oct'57 before 24 Oct '57
To Sir William Miles, regarding 'the letter from the Frenchman'. H B/XXI/M/385. To Miss Steinmeitz, Temple House, Brighton. Cover only in PRIN [31]. To Bulwer Lytton, an invitation to visit 'your own sylvan retreat'. H B/XX/LY/85.
before 26 Oct '57 26 Oct '57
before 13 Nov '57
before 15 Nov '57 before 18 Nov '57 before 19 Nov '57
24 Nov '57 before 30 Nov '57 21 Dec '57
before 23 Dec '57 before 30 Dec '57 Monday [Jan '58] before 6 Jan '58 before 8 Jan '58 before 11 Jan '58 18 Jan '58 before 26 Jan ['58?] 5 Feb '58 before 9 Feb '58 before 26 Feb '58 before 26 Feb '58 before 27 Feb '58 late Feb? '58 before 3 Mar '58 before 2O Mar '58 [24 Mar '58] before 30 Mar '58 15 Apr '58 before 30 Apr '58
To Ralph Earle, regarding 'the Ms [who] served you so zealously'; also regarding the Principalities. H B/XX/E/2O. To an unknown recipient, concerning the Scottish Literary Institute's proposal to make D an honorary member. American Book-Prices Current (1970) p 1319, described as 'about 3 pp, 8vo.' To Pauncefort Duncombe, announcing Cavendish's retirement and elevation to the peerage and offering Duncombe a parliamentary career. H B/XH/D/416. See 3008111. To Ralph Earle, asking about the position on Union of the Principalities of major countries and personages. H B/XX/E/21. To Frederick Riddle, a 'favor of the 14th instant'. H B/XXI/B/5O6. To Lord Strangford, several 'kind letters, wh have been amongst his [S's] greatest pleasures' and inquiring after his health. H B/XXI/S/ 653. See 2982n6. To Thomas Baring, requesting a meeting See 2999 and 3OOOn2. To Edward Gleig, acknowledging a packet of papers. H B/XXI/G/ 150. See 2994&n4. To Count Buol? Jahrbuch Der Auktionspreise (1976) p 603, described as 'E. Br. m. U. Grosvenor Gate 21.XII.1857. 3 SS. - An Comte Bud. [sicY To W.G. Cookesley, regarding convict prisons. H B/XXI/C/4OO. To Thomas Loftus, regarding Gillett and the lease on 2 Grosvenor Gate. H D/III/B/132. See 3Ol3&ni. To Frederic Haydon, expressing 'approval' regarding the Press. H B/XXI/H/426. To Lord Brougham, regarding the 'India arrangement'. H B/XXI/B/ 1020. See 3OO7&n3. To Lady Jersey. H A/rv/j/66. To Lord Villiers. H A/rv/J/G?. To Ralph Earle, asking about a 'statement'. H B/XX/E/27. To D.O. Maddyn, setting the time for a meeting. H B/V1/25O. To C.A. Avery, regarding the military in New Zealand. H B/XXI/A/ 284. To Lady Holland, inquiring after her health. H B/XXI/H/585. To Sir FitzRoy Kelly, regarding appointment as attorney-general. See 3O48ni. To Hugh Cairns, regarding appointment as solicitor-general. See 3O48ni. To Pauncefort Duncombe, asking him to give his public support to D. H B/I/D/32. To William Powell, anticipating an election. See 3041. To Philip Dauncey, requesting that he propose D at Aylesbury and asking 'are you in the humor?' H 6/1/0/34. To Henry Wellington, regarding a Taff Vale Railway debenture bond for £9,000 in favour of W.P. Lewis and MA. H D/H/B/2O6. To Edward Moxon, perhaps two letters. See 3O66&nl and 307l&ni. To Jonathan Peel. See 3O72&n2. To Francis Villiers. H A/rv/J/72. To Charles Barnett, an invitation to dine 15 May. H A/iV/L/gi.
lix
[May '58?] before 4 May '58 before 8 May '58 before 20 May '58 about 23 May '58 Qun '58?]
before 4 Jun '58 about 7 Jun '58 before 22 Jun '58 before 25 Jun '58 about 26 Jun '58 before 6Jul '58 mid-Jul '58 2ojul '58 before 26 Jul '58 2Qjul '58 before 8 Aug '58 12 Aug '58 before 14 Aug '58 15 Aug '58
before 16 Aug '58 before 20 Aug '58 20 Aug '58 before 22 Aug '58 29 Aug '58 before 2 Sep ['58?] 3 Sep '58
before 10 Sep '58 10 Sep '58
before 11 Sep '58 before 13 Sep '58 before 14 Sep '58
Ix
To Sarah Disraeli, possibly several letters. H D/IH/A/477. To Lord Palmerston, about a pension for Outram. H B/XXI/P/83. To Lady Dorothy Nevill, 'a nice little note' thanking her for strawberries. H 0/111/0/1489. See 3083n2. To Lord Ellenborough, regarding the 'Proclamation in Oude'. H B/XXI/E/175. To George W. Peacocke, regarding payment of £2,000 owing by D. H R/II/G/60. To Lord Chandos, offering him a cabinet appointment. H B/XXI/ B/1211. To Lord Chandos, requesting a meeting. H B/XXI/B/12O6. To Lord Stanley, requesting statistics. H B/XX/S/633- See 3i37n3. To Lord Malmesbury, a 'note wh puts me [M] in a position wh I cannot accept'. H B/XX/HS/65To Lady Forester, requesting a meeting. H B/XXI/F/2O7. To Philip Rose, with 'suggested corrections' to Curiosities. H R/III/B/ 25B. To Lord Exeter, asking him to be presented to Sir Stafford Northcote 7 July. H B/XXI/E/301. To William Monsell. Charles Dessain The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman (1961-99) vol 18, 4i6ni. To Joseph Bailey, granting an interview. H B/XIX/ADDS. To Anne Buck (Mrs L.W.), expressing sympathy for her husband's death and informing her of her husband's request for 'the Barony of Scotland'. H C/I/A/2OA. To G.F. Young. Cover in BLA [1057] . H B/XX/X/17Q. To M. Kalisch, congratulating him on his second volume on Genesis. H B/XXI/K/3. To Charles Pressly, regarding excise taxes. H B/XXI/P/447. To James Disraeli, several letters regarding 'the move' requested by James. H A/I/D/15. See 3i77n3. To Lady Georgiana James, stating that he will show her letter to Manners. Richards catalogue (1987). To Edward Kenealy, encouraging him to 'not yield to Huddleston' in the matter of a vacant office. H B/XXl/K/8i. To Eliot Yorke, a 'very kind' letter about 'the wishes [Y] expressed'. H B/xxi/Y/4. See 3i77n3. To Joseph Parrott, regarding election expenses. See 3l82&ni. To Philip Rose, a 'kind invitation ... for tomorrow (Monday)'. H R/I/B/47A. To Lord Derby. See 3l88&m. To D.O. Maddyn, regarding Rose's claims. H B/VI/261. See 3i95n6. To William Powell, regarding election registrations (number of gentlemen in various parishes). H B/I/D/39A. To Lord Henry Lennox, offering a secretaryship at Brussels. H B/xx/LX/113. See 3204n3. To Coldney & [?] Co, asking when the last payment to the account of Mrs Williams was made. H D/H/B/135A. To Anthony Rathborne, regarding his request for a knighthood. H B/XXI/R/23. See 3!93&n4. To Charles Southey, regarding Isaac's letters to Southey's father, Robert. H B/XXI/S/377. To Lord Eglinton, regarding a position in Ireland for Maddyn. H B/xxi/E/iog. See 3i95&n6.
about 15 Sep '58
17 Sep '58
To Lord Henry Lennox, defending RD's appointment to a county court treasurership. H B/XX/LX/H3- See 3204n3. To Lord Henry Lennox, expressing his annoyance at L's refusal of the Brussels appointment. H B/XX/LX/115. See 32O4n3. To Ralph Earle, regarding nominations and his success 'in behalf
before 21 Sep '58
To Lord Henry Lennox, a 'cordial & affectionate' letter. H B/XX/
about 24 Sep '58
To Bulwer Lytton, inviting him to visit. H B/XX/LY/95- See 3209ni, To Lady Jersey. H A/PV/J/78. To Lord Brougham, regarding his speech. H B/XXI/B/1O22. See 32l5&n6. To Sir John Pakington, with views about finance. H B/XX/P/4O. See 3222nl. To Bulwer Lytton via Earle, regarding the Ionian Islands. H B/XX/
before 17 Sep '58
of Cox'. H B/XX/E/46. LX/llG.
before 30 Sep '58 before 10 Oct '58 before 24 Oct '58 before 14 Nov '58
LY/103.
before 13 Dec '58 before 15 Dec '58 before 21 Dec '58
before 26 Dec '58 before 29 Dec '58 late Dec '58 ['59?] Jan '59 before l Jan '59
before before before before
l Jan l Jan l Jan 4 Jan
'59 '59 '59 '59
before 5 Jan '59 before 8 Jan '59 lojan '59 14 Jan '59
before 19 Jan '59 before 22 Jan '59 before 7 Feb '59 14 Feb '59
To Lord Malmesbury, regarding Earle's appointment. H B/XX/HS/ 74. See 3245"2. To Lady Jersey, a letter of sympathy regarding the death of her daughter, Lady Clementine. H A/rv/J/84. To Sir Francis Grant, with 'information [regarding] the safety of the Europeans at Sarawak', and also a letter to Grant's brother, Gen Sir James Hope Grant. H B/XXI/G/299. To the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, regarding Murray. H B/xxi/B/1171. See 324in2. To Lord Chelmsford, regarding church patronage. See 3265&n2. To Frederic Haydon, about the identity of a British Quarterly writer. H B/XXI/H/350. To John Neeld, still hoping to get to Grittleton. Winifred A. Myers (Autographs) Ltd (Spring 1969) item 290, where it is dated '1889 [.sir]'. To Lord Villiers, with a note to be forwarded. H A/rv/j/91. To Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, regarding the county franchise. See 3268. To Robert Palmer, regarding the county franchise. See 3268. To William Miles, regarding the county franchise. See 3268. To Rainald Knightley, regarding the county franchise. See 3268. To Charles Lloyd, a 'kind note' regarding appointments. H B/XXI/ L/227To Sir Charles Morgan, regarding his son's election and the county franchise. See 3268&n7. To Charles Trefusis, requesting that he move the Address to the Queen and offering his assistance. H B/XXI/C/272. See 3286&ni. To George Beecroft, requesting that he second the Address to the Crown. H B/XXI/B/295. To Henry Drummond at Albury Park, Guildford. Cover in MOPSIK [199]. To Francis Villiers, regarding Price. H A/IV/J/Sg. See 338om. To Frederic Haydon, asking to know the author of an article. H B/xxi/H/349. To Thomas Loftus, regarding investments. H 0/11/6/137. To Mary Anne Disraeli, referring to precautions which he intended to take against influenza. Unidentified catalogue (1924?) p 45i(?),
Ixi
before 7 Mar '59 before 18 Mar '59 before 24 Mar '59 before 31 Mar '59 before 4 Apr '59 5 Apr '59
before 6 Apr '59 before 7 Apr '59 13 Apr '59 before 15 Apr '59 before 18 Apr '59 before 21 Apr '59
[May '59?] 10 May '59
before 16 May '59 before 17 May '59 before 17 May '59 before 2O May '59 23 May ['59] 27 May '59
before 2 Jun '59 before 7 Jun '59 13 Jun '59 20 Jun '59
22 Jun '59 23 Jun '59
Ixii
item 533(?), described as: 'ALS "D" to Mrs Disraeli 3pp., 8vo. 14th February, 1859, with addressed envelope'. To Lord Elcho, asking that he speak in the debate. H B/XXl/E/n8. To Charles Maynors (?), saying he had 'laid before Lord Derby [M's] claims' to a peerage. H C/I/A/24. To George Bowyer, asking him to 'not ask the question of which I have given notice'. H B/XXI/B/7O9. To Mr Price of Price & Clark, requesting proceedings (in Villiers affair) be again suspended. H A/IV/J/94. See 338onl. To Bulwer Lytton, 'an insult' regarding his resignation. See 3330&ni. To Maurice F.F. Berkeley, regarding managing the 'unruly spirits'. H B/XXI/B/445. To Bulwer Lytton, offering him another seat. H B/XX/LY/121. See 3330&ni. To A. Bagge (?), recognizing his family's services. H C/II/A/12B. To Messrs Bogenall, on a political matter. Unidentified catalogue 2029 (i Feb 1926) item 191, described as: 'ALS 4pp 13 April 1859 to Messrs Bogenall'. To Sir Maurice Berkeley, regarding the creation of a new barony. H C/I/A/3OB. See 3336&n2. To George Gleed, an election letter asking him to 'rally round "Her Majesty's Government"'. H B/I/D/35. To Miles Glynn & Co, regarding an investment in the names of MA, W.W. Lewis and Mr Loftus. H D/II/B/2H. To Lady Campden, regarding 'concessions to the Catholics'. H B/xxi/G/ig. To Lord Eglinton and Winton, stating that prospects depend on how they employ next month and play the political game. H B/XXI/E/iio. See 3348&ni. To William Napier, regarding Roman Catholic appointments. H B/XXI/W/301. See 3348&nio. To W.S. Lindsay, a memo regarding shipping. See 3345&n4. To Lord Monteagle, 'a very lively & agreeable note [regarding] a disagreeable question.' H B/XXI/M/469. To W.S. Lindsay, inviting him to meet on Sunday. H B/XXI/L/igo. See 3345&n4 and 3354&n5. To W.S. Lindsay, regarding vote of no confidence. H B/XXI/L/193. See 3345&IH and 3354&n5. To Sir James Elphinstone, asking him 'to be ready to act as proposed'. H B/XXI/E/229To Edward Kenealy, regarding his standing for Newcastle under Lyme. H B/XXI/K/84. To Samuel Laing, regarding 'the possibility of [L] supporting the Government at the approaching division'. H B/XXI/L/5. To Grenville Pigott, regarding an appointment. H C/H/A/15. See 337i&ni. To William Gladstone, setting an appointment. Paul C. Richards Autographs The Beacon Bulletin catalogue 23, issue 14 (Sept 1967), item 770, described as: 'ALS, 3pp., 8vo. Grosvenor Gate, (London), June 20, 1859. To W.E. Gladstone setting an appointment.' To W.S. Lindsay, with 'compliments'. H B/XXi/L/igG. See 3345&>H and 3385&ni. To Ralph Earle, regarding 'the S.S. money'. See 3379&n2.
before 26Jun '59 before 27 Jun '59
1 Jul '59 before 6 Jul '59 before 8 Jul '59
10 Aug '59 before 11 Aug '59 before 12 Aug '59 12 Aug '59 before 15 Aug ['59] before 31 Aug '59 2 Sep '59 before 3 Sep '59 before 3 Sep '59 before 4 Sep '59 before 6 Sep '59
To Mrs C.F. Gore, regarding her son. H B/XXI/G/23O. To Spencer Walpole, two letters regarding chairmanship of committees. H B/XXi/w/47. See 3382&n3. To Francis Villiers, regarding his affairs. H A/IV/J/1O4. See 338onl. To Emile de Girardin, regarding electoral reform in England. H B/XXI/G/85. To Henry Edwards, a 'most welcome note with its enclosure'. H C/II/A/14C. To Francis Villiers, regarding Lord Jersey's illness. See 34O9n5. To a late colleague, to obtain and present a petition. See 33g6&ni. To Lady Campden. H B/XXI/G/21. To Francis Villiers, regarding Lord Jersey's illness. See 34O9n5. To Lady Portarlington, an invitation to Hughenden. H B/XXI/P/414. See 3387&ni. To William Fergusson. See 3400. To Edgar Bowring, subscribing 40 guineas for a life membership in the Horticultural Society. H A/IV/N/44. To Frederic Haydon, two letters regarding Press articles and Col Rathborne. H B/XXI/H/33O. To Thomson Hankey, regarding 'the Postmaster General' and asking for 'some of the Leoville '44 or '46 which Barton offers [H]'. H B/XXI/H/125To the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, regarding the consulgeneral at Odessa. H B/XXl/B/n8l. To Philip Rose, an invitation to Hughenden for 8-9 September. H R/I/B/60.
before 6 Sep '59 before 9 Sep '59 before 10 Sep '59 before ll Sep '59 before 12 Sep '59 before 13 Sep '59 before 15 Sep 59 before 16 Sep '59 before 28 Sep '59 before 30 Sep '59 before l Oct '59 before 3 Oct '59 before 3 Oct '59
10 Oct '59 before 11 Oct '59 7 Nov '59 before 27 Nov '59
To Lady Jersey, a letter which 'frightens' her. H A/IV/J/114. To Charles Lloyd, regarding an appointment for his son. H B/XXI/ 1/223. To Lordjohn Manners, an invitation to Hughenden. H B/XX/M/ 110. To Lady Jersey, regarding Lord Jersey's illness. H A/IV/J/115. See 340915 To Frederic Haydon, with 'kind criticism'. H B/XXI/H/332. To Lady Jersey, regarding Lord Jersey's illness. H A/rv/J/ll6. See 340915 To Frederic Haydon, conveying MA's thanks for some game, and with advice on political matters. H B/XXI/H/357. To Lady Jersey, regarding Lord Jersey's illness. H A/IV/J/li8. See 340915 To Lord Ingestre, an invitation to visit. H B/XXI/S/186. See 3422ni. To Lady Jersey, regarding Lord Jersey's illness. H A/rv/J/llQ. See 349n5
To G.A. Hamilton, an invitation. H B/XX/H/gi. To Lady Jersey, regarding Lord Jersey's illness. H A/FV/J/13O. See 3409n5 To Sir William Jolliffe, an invitation; also reporting having enjoyed some quiet at home. H B/XX/J/So. To R.S. Wright, enclosing a £100 cheque. See 32O6nl. To Lady Jersey, regarding Lord Jersey's death. H A/IV/J/12O. See 3409n5 To Thomas Loftus, regarding MA's income. H 0/11/6/143. See 3420m. To W.S. Lindsay, regarding Miller's charge of falsehood. H B/XXI/ T /O/~U1 Q«0 ft A 1 fin O
Ixiii
before 4 Dec '59 before 8 Dec '59 before 9 Dec '59
To Miss L. Parry, Brighton. Cover in WSRO [19b]. To Henry Edwards, expressing his opinion that 'a Conservative demonstration on a large scale in the West Riding [would be] for the present premature'. H B/xxi/e/39. To Spencer Walpole, with 'information respecting the Emperor'. H B/XXI/W/50.
about 19 Dec '59
To Lord Henry Lennox, regarding Sa's death. H B/xx/LX/130. See 3434&nl.
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI,—MAY 30, 1857.
THE BLUE RIBAND OF THE TURF! M». POUCH. "WELL, MY LORD! HOW ABOUT THIS YEAR'S DERBY?" Ix>»n DOTBT. "WHY, YOU SEE, THIS IS AU, WE'VE GOT IN THE STABLE, AND HE'S NO USE.'
from Punchvol xxxn (Jan-June 1857) 217
Ixiv
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CH.\HIVARI.—MAV 15,
1858.
THE INDIAN JUGGLE. (As Performed at the Theatre Royal, Westminster.)
from Punchvol xxxiv (Jan-June 1858) 197
Ixv
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI—MARCH 2G, 1850.
8HEAT POACHING AFFBAY ON THE LIBEBAL PRESERVES. j_ N R_ss_u, « NOW THEN, YOU SIR! GIVE UP THAT GUN 1"
from Punch vol xxxvi (Jan-June 1859) 125
Ixvi
B E N J A M I N D I S R A E L I LETTERS: 1857-1859
This page intentionally left blank
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Paris [Thursday] i January 1857 ^883
ORIGINAL: RTC [6l]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 56, dated i January 1857 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Sic: Thuilleries.
Paris. Jany. i. 1857 I wish you a happy New Year from the Imperial City. It is the first letter, that I have written this year, & I will accept it as a good omen, that it is addressed to Mount Braddon. Ten years, / as long as the siege of Troy, since I found myself last in this place. Troy could not be more changed in the time. Everything squalid has been pulled down, or driven out of sight - a city of palaces & glittering streets, & illimitable parks & pleasure gardens, & lakes & / gondolas, & beautiful birds & deer. The Thuilleries & Louvre, joined, form a kingly residence worthy of Babylon: the Rue de Rivoli, with its bright arcades, extends from the Place de la Concorde & the Elysian fields, to the Hotel de Ville & Notre Dame: the old Bois de / Boulogne is converted into a Paradise, compared with wh:, in extent, all the Parks in London, together, would form an insignificant section.1 Paris is a beautiful woman, & London an ugly man - still, the masculine quality counts for something." Our reception here has not turned our heads, but / has tried the strength of our constitutions. Once, we dined out eleven days running.3 The Ministers here live in palaces, with appointments & service, quite as gorgeous & stately, as our own Court - very different from the position of English Ministers. Nevertheless I don't think English / gentlemen would ever feel easy under roofs, wh: were not their own, however splendid. They would think, they were too much like the Lord Mayor.4 Our most interesting dinner was, however, certainly at the Thuilleries,5 for my wife sate by the Emperor, & / I sate by the side of the beautiful Empress: I have seen such faces, often, among the ladies at a bull fight - & I dare say many a Mendez da Costa has worn such. Her Round her swanlike neck she wore a necklace of emeralds & diamonds such as might have been found in the cave of Aladdeen; &, / yet, tho' colossal gems, for her, they were not too vast. After this, I will tell you no more — the curtain shd. fall amid the brightest fire.
1 Paris was extensively rebuilt by Napoleon III under the supervision of Baron Haussmann, prefect of the Seine 1853; much of the work was completed in late 1856 and early 1857, coinciding with the Ds' visit. One of Napoleon's motives was to make the boulevards too broad for barricades to be easily erected. New Cambridge Modern History X 460. 2 Evidently D was pleased with this bon mot; cfVl 2880, 2881 and, in this volume, (app l) 288lX, 2884, 2885 and 2886. 3 A list of the Ds' social engagements in Paris from (30) November to 29 December has an entry for every day except 6, 11-13, 15 and 20 December. H D/IV/H/35. 4 The Mansion House is the residence during the year in office of the Lord Mayor of London; in 1856-7 he was Thomas Quested Finnis, a merchant. 5 The Ds dined at the Tuileries on 3 December and attended a soiree there on the i8th; their last Paris engagement would be a grand ball at the Tuileries on 15 January. H D/IV/H/35.
3
Send me, if only one line, a word to say you are well, to Grosvenor Gate, 8c it will reach me. Mrs. D. sends you more than a word - 1000 kind thoughts & wishes. Ever yrs, I D.6
2884 TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
Hotel Brighton
[Paris, Thursday] i January 1857
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY/C/2165 [39]
Hotel Brighton. R. Rivoli I Jan. 1. 1857. My dear Jolliffe, Your faithful handwriting1 met my eye this morning, &, by return of post, I wish you a happy new year from the imperial city. It has surprised me after an absence as long as the siege of Troy. Paris is a / beautiful woman, & London an ugly man, but the masculine quality is not to be despised. What you tell me is good. Altho' very much engaged here, I have not been idle as to domestic affairs altogether.2 I wrote, a week ago, to Granby, Blandford, March, & Lovaine, & one or two others, requesting / their company on the 2nd. Feb: but I have received no reply from any of them,3 wh: is inconvenient, altho' my bag from G. Gate arrived here this morning. Their answers were to be addressed there, as the P.O. here, they say, is not too safe. I shall, however, trust it today in yr. instance. My bag arrives fitfully, as it depends upon / the couriers of the friends who aid me, & wh: are irregular.4 Yours ever, I D. I can't hear too frequently - but I don't suppose I shall be here much more than another ten days.5
6 SBW on 12 January thanked D for the letter, the first she had received in 1857: 'Your views of Paris remind me of Contarinis charming poetic scenes on his route to Venice ...' In a postscript she asked D to thank MA 'for the finest Woodcocks I ever tasted like all the good things you spoil me with', and concluded: 'I am quite as well as usual.' RTC [3OOQJ. 1 Jolliffe on 27 December had reported stirring Derby into action in anticipation of a general election; see VI 28?7n2. 2 In addition to his heavy social schedule and conversations with Napoleon III (see M&B rv 56-8), D was arranging to be kept informed about 'domestic affairs' such as confidential embassy business; see VI 288on2. Also, he was keeping himself informed on more private matters; Rose on 2 January 1857 would report on the 'treachery' of D's tenant George Hussey in a matter before the tithe commissioners, despite which (Rose had learned) they were ruling in D's favour on 'all the main points'. H R/I/B/28. 3 For D's Christmas Day letters to Granby and to Lovaine see VI 288l&ni and (app I) 2881X5 his letters to the others have not been found. Lovaine would accept D's invitation on 2 January and Granby on 5 January. H B/XXI/L/344, R/338. March and Lovaine would be among the 45 MPs who attended the 2 February dinner to discuss the Queen's speech; Granby, being prevented by the death of his father, would be one of the six who sent regrets. MP (3 Feb 1857). 4 The 'friends' were the Rothschilds; see 2894. 5 Jolliffe from Petersfield on 5 January (D's letter had arrived the day before) said he would now write often, and asked if there was anything he could do about 'these noble Lords [who] do not answer their invitations ...' H B/XX/J/42.
4
TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Paris [Saturday] 3 January 1857 ^885
O R I G I N A L : DUR D/I.O/C 172 [148]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Sic: Thuilleries; Waleskis.
Paris -Jan: 3. 1857 I send you the Compliments of the season from the Imperial City. As I have not been here for a period as long as the siege of Troy, you may suppose that I find some changes both material & moral. Of the excellence of the former, I think there can / be little question. Paris is a beautiful woman, & London is an ugly man: nevertheless, the masculine quality is not to be despised. I found the Emperor extremely well: I shd. say, in excellent health: a little stouter than of yore; a rounder face; no wrinkles; & with that animated mien, wh: prosperity & success inspire. I had the honor of sitting next to / the Empress at dinner She was gay & gracious. I have seen such faces at a bullfight; where the Spanish ladies sit. She wore a necklace of colossal emeralds & brilliants; as large as the gems in the cave of Aladdeen. Nothing has struck me more, than the beauty of the horses in this city. The Ministers live here in palaces with appointments, & service, not inferior to those of their sovereign, or even of our own royalty. We dined one day with / Fould,1 who lives dwells in a pavilion of the Thuilleries: a banquet of 50 persons. I never saw anything more gorgeous. The Waleskis not less superb.2 I doubt, however, whether our English ministers would be quite at ease under any roof, except their own. They would feel too much like the Lord Mayor. At the Hollands, I made the acquaintance of Prince Napoleon:3 the Prince, they say, of mauvais sujets: I have seldom met a wittier, &, rarely, apparently, a wiser man - but they tell me it was all a performance, & that he is a Borgia. What, however, is that to you or me? All that we require of our acquaintance is that they shall be agreeable. You must require more than that from me, because I am your friend.4 D. 1 The Ds dined with Fould, the prime minister, on 24 December. H D/IV/H/35. 2 The Ds attended Countess Walewski's soirees on i and 22 December and would be her dinner guests on 5 January. H D/IV/H/35. 3 4th Baron Holland in 1833 had married Lady Mary Augusta Coventry (1812-1889), only daughter of 8th Earl of Coventry. See VI 257Oni for Lennox's attempts to get D and the Hollands together. Holland's invitation to D on i December anticipated 'the pleasure of making an acquaintance we have so long desired ...' On 27 December he had written: 'Prince Napoleon has let me know this morning that he will dine here at 7 tomorrow so I hope you will be able to come and meet him as he is very anxious to make your acquaintance and looks forward to this opportunity of doing so.' H B/XXI/H/582, 584. The Ds dined with the Hollands on 4, 17, 28 December and 12 January, and they went to Lady Holland's on Christmas Day after dinner with the Cowleys. They would be Prince Napoleon's dinner guests on 10 January. H D/IV/H/35. 4 Lady Londonderry (who in a recent note docketed by MA '1856 Novr l8th March of Londonderry' had asked D: 'Would you come & see me - late') seems at this point to have needed this reassurance. Her 13 December letter from Seaham refers enigmatically to D's 'advice' (possibly on a court case involving her son Ernest): 'What can I tell you from here - you in the midst of excitement & interest I in the midst of all that is bleak & dull.' She had been very ill after D left ('poisoned with paint and broken down with worry'), but had got 'a very clever man here' to help her with 'a deal that was unmanageable' because figures were not her 'vocation ... He is a gt snob - drops his H's puts his knife in his mouth & such like but what does it signify. He is a gt. admirer of yours & said today at dinner he wished you
5
2886 TO: LORD STANLEY
Paris [Saturday] 3 January 1857
ORIGINAL: DBF [1548]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Stanley on the fourth page: 'Disraeli. Jan. 57. Declined'.
Lord Stanley I M.P. Paris / Jany. 3. 57 My dear Stanley, I quite count on the honor, & pleasure, of yr company at G. Gate on Monday, the 2nd. Feby, to talk over the Queen's / speech. Pray, don't disappoint me. I have not been here for ten years, as long as the siege of Troy; so you may fancy I find some changes material / as well as moral. Of the excellence of the former, there can be little question. Paris is a beautiful woman, & London an ugly man: but / the masculine quality is not be be despised. I hope the chief is well. Yours ever, I D . R.S.V.P. I to Grosvenor Gate1
2887 TO: SPENCER WALPOLE
Paris [Saturday] 3 January 1857
ORIGINAL: BL ADD MSS 32645 ff22-3
The Rt Honble. I Spencer Walpole I M.P. Paris. Jan. 3. 1857 My dear Walpole, I hope, very much, that you will give me the honor, & great pleasure, of your company at Grosvenor Gate, / on Monday, the 2nd. Feby., to hear, & talk over, the Queen's speech. We dine at Va past seven o'ck. Mrs. Disraeli unites with me in all the happy / wishes of the season to Mrs. Walpole, & yourself. Yours sincerely, I B. Disraeli R.S.VP. to Grosvenor Gate.1
2888 TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS
Paris [Saturday] 3 January 1857
ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl-8o]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Manners on the fourth page: 'Accepted conditionally on Duke's health to write again few days before 2nd.'
The Rt Honble I LordJ. Manners I M.P. Paris. Jan. 3. 1857. My dear J.M. I hope I shall have the honor, & pleasure, of your company at Grosvenor Gate on Monday, the / 2nd. Feby, to talk over the Queen's speech.
wd. take up the question of the Saving's Bank & that nothing wd be so popular. I tell you the remark & you will know what it is worth.' For a possible identification of the man see SiQS&nni&n. Adolphus was 'going to lecture on Crimean reminiscences' and, she concluded, 'This is a very stupid letter to send you but I want to hear fr. you - & I really have neither health or spirits to say much.' H B/XX/V/2O4. 1 Stanley declined on 22 January; see 2894. 1 Walpole accepted on 10 January. H B/XXI/W/38.
6
We dine at '/2 past seven, & I trust we shall muster strong. I shall send this to Belvoir, & if it reaches you / there, remember me kindly to all - from the Duke to your dear little boy. Yours ever, I D. R.S.V.P. to Grosvenor Gate.'
TO: JONATHAN PEEL
Paris [Saturday] 3 January 1857 2880
O R I G I N A L : BL ADD MSS 44110 1295
E D I T O R I A L C O M M E N T : A ropy, not in D'S hand. In the salutation, 'General' has been written over 'Sir'.
Copy Paris. Jan. 3. 1857 Private To Gen. Peel I M.P. My dear General, I wish I could induce you to do me the very great honor of dining at Grosvenor Gate on Feb. the 2d. to talk over the Queens speech. I am quite convinced, that your presence would have a very beneficial effect on that consolidation of / parties wh. we alike desire. You will meet many of your friends but no one who entertains a higher respect & regard for you than Yours sincerely I (Signed) B Disraeli R.S.V.P to Grosvenor Gate. 1
TO: JOHN NORTH
Paris [Wednesday] 7 January 1857 ^SQO
O R I G I N A L : QUA 103
Colonel North I M.P. Paris. Jany. 7. 1857 Dear North, I shall feel honored, &r gratified, if you will dine at Grosvenor Gate, on Monday, the 2nd. Feby, to hear, & / talk over, the Queen's speech. We dine at ]/>2 past seven o'ck. Mrs. Disraeli unites with me in all the happy wishes of the season to / Baroness North, & yourself. Yours very truly, ! B. Disraeli R.S.V.P. to Grosvenor Gate.1
1 Manners replied on 9 January that, much as he wished to attend D's dinner, his acceptance depended on his father's precarious health; he conveyed the Duke's thanks for D's 'kind recollection of him.' The Duke of Rutland would live only until 20 January; on 30 January Manners confirmed that he could not attend. H B/XX/M/99-ioo. 1 Peel, after consulting Gladstone, replied from Twickenham on lojanuary that, much as he was honored by D's invitation, he was 'not sufficiently acquainted with the future intentions of the Opposition to identify myself entirely with them, although no person can wish more sincerely than I do for a consolidation of parties.' H B/XXI/P/149; Morley Gladstone \ 555. 1 John Sidney Doyle (1804-1894) in 1835 had married Lady Susan North (1797-1884) and in 1838 had assumed the surname of North. In 1841 Lady Susan, 2nd daughter of 3rd Earl of Guilford and gth Baron North and maternal granddaughter of Thomas Coutts the banker, had become Baroness North
7
2891 TO: SIR JOSEPH BAILEY
Paris [Wednesday] 7 January 1857
ORIGINAL: QUA 88 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Bailey on the second page: 'i6th. in health & shall not be in Town till after the 2nd.'
Sir Joseph Bailey I Bart: M.P. Paris, Jany. 7. 1857 Dear Sir Joseph, I shall feel honored, & gratified, if you will dine at Grosvenor Gate, on Monday, the 2nd. Feby., to hear, & talk over, the / Queen's speech. We dine at ]/2 past seven o'ck. Yours very truly, I B. Disraeli R.S.V.P. to Grosvenor Gate[.]! SSQ^
TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI
[Paris, January 1857]
ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/283
COVER: No entrance on I Marigny 13 I Mme. Disraeli EDITORIAL COMMENT: Docketed by MA on the cover: 'Paris Jan 1857'.
My dearest, I will pay the visits. Yrs I D.
2893 T0: MONTAGU PEACOCKE
[London, Sunday] 18 January 1857
ORIGINAL: SPI [5]
G.M.W. Peacocke I Esqr. M.P. Jany. 18. 1857 My dear Peacocke, I hope you will give me the pleasure of your company at Grosvenor Gate, on Monday, the 2nd. Feby, to / hear, & talk over, the Queen's Speech. We dine at ]/2 past seven o'ck. Yours very truly, I D.1
when her late father's lesser title had devolved on her. Col North, educated at Sandhurst, It-col and Tower Hamlets Militia 1836, of the Oxfordshire Rifle Volunteers 1860, JP for Oxfordshire, DL for Cambridgeshire (1853), DCL, PC 1886, was Conservative MP for Oxfordshire 1852-85. He wrote on 29 January from Wroxton Abbey that he could not attend because of a cold, and in the press announcement is listed as one of those 'absent through indisposition.' H B/XXI/N/i6g; fvlP (3 Feb 1857). 1 Sir Joseph Bailey (1783-1858), 1st Bt (1852), of Glanusk Park, co Brecon, high sheriff of co Monmouth 1826, chairman of Birkenhead Docks, Conservative MP for Worcester City 1835-47, for co Brecon 1847-58, did not attend the dinner (see ec). MP (3 Feb 1857). 1 Peacocke attended the dinner. MP (3 Feb 1857). The Ds had returned to Grosvenor Gate from Paris on 17 January. H ace.
8
TO: LORD STANLEY
Grosvenor Gate, Friday 23 January 1857 2894
ORIGINAL: DBF [1544]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV Got, dated 23 January 1857 at Grosvenor Gate, with some differences and omissions EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Stanley on the first page: 'D. JAN. 57.' There is a much-altered draft in D's hand in H B/II/42, the basis of the M&B version.
Grosvenor Gate I Friday morning. Jany. 23. 57 Lord Stanley, I M.P. My dear Stanley, Your letter, this instant received, greatly afflicts me.1 Certainly, if I had contemplated your refusal, I should not have ventured on soliciting the presence of the chief followers of your father, for I am quite sure, that your absence, under such circumstances, would injure him much more, than the gathering, however numerous & influential, of / others, would bear him benefit. I wrote to you, & three more persons, before I sent out the general invitations. They answered me by return of post; I still waited a week, & as no reply came from you, I construed your silence favorably, & consonant with your declaration to me last year, that so long as your father retained the position wh: he now occupies, your presence, on such an occasion, might be counted on. With respect to requesting your reply to be sent to Grosvenor Gate, that was not because it was held unimportant, but because my letters being opened by the French P.O., / it was necessary, that they should be forwarded to me, wh: they were regularly, by Rothschild's couriers. These few words as to the political considerations, wh: yr letter calls forth. Grave as they are, they are slight compared with the sad impression, that its tone involves a sentiment of personal estrangement. As I am not conscious, that I have ever been wanting in that feeling of deep attachment & high appreciation, wh: I have, now for many years, entertained for you, I cannot conceal, that my feelings are deeply wounded. My friendships, tho' I have to deal with many men, are rare, / I counted yours among my chief & most enduring possessions, & notst notwithstanding the many circumstances, public & private, wh: might, for the moment, modify, or diminish, our intimacy, I had such confidence in the depth & stability of your character, that I have ever looked forward to our mutual relations as forming furnishing, during the remaining years of my life, one of the my chief sources of interest in existence. D.2
1 Stanley on 22 January at Knowsley had written to decline D's invitation (2886), as he probably would not be in London that day: '1 delayed my answer, hearing you were still at Paris.' H B/XX/S/6272 Stanley replied at length from St James's Square on 27 January; see M&B IV 61-3 for a substantial extract. He apologized for his handling of the invitation, protested his enduring friendship, and then explained why 'within the last two years any semblance of alienation has arisen between us,' namely, his increasing divergence from the 'agricultural Gonservatism' that D represented on topics such as 'Church rates, religious tests in Parliament, religious tests for the Universities, the repeal of the newspaper stamp, the constitution of the army, the constitution of the civil service, Irish education, [and] English education'. He appreciated the distinction between D's 'private convictions, and those in which your position
9
2895 T0: HENRY PADWICK
Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 25 January 1857
ORIGINAL: LCC LC.l Items 2, 2a COVER: Private & Confidential I Henry Padwick Esqr I 2 Hill Street I Berkeley Square. I D. EDITORIAL COMMENT: The financial statement has three pages numbered '2'. Sic: 13,500 [twice; ie 'Carried over'].
Confidential
Grosvenor Gate I Jan: 25. 1857
Henry Padwick Esqr My dear Sir, I have been so much pressed with public business, since we talked together, that it has been quite out of my power to seize an hour to prepare for you the information I promised. I now enclose it, not in the ample &: businesslike manner I could have wished, but complete as to the facts, & as I place the matter before / you not in a professional capacity, wh:, as you properly observed, you no longer fill,1 but as my friend, these absences of form will matter less, & little. Do not communicate, when you have occasion to Grosvenor Gate on this subject except in person. If you have occasion to write to me, otherwise than making an appointment, write to me at / the Carlton.2 The initial letters in the schedule of Mrs. D's income, wh: appear somewhat mysterious (D. & G.) are the initials of the different bankers, (Drummonds & Glyn) who receive the various funds. Yours sincerely, I D. I shall be very much engaged for the next week or ten days - after that, comparatively free, or rather freer.
T.O. / The affairs wd. require much illustrative conversation, when you have digested them. Mem: the surplus income to count on is £3000 pr ann: / Strictly confidential
compels you to acquiesce', but had declined being D's 'POLITICAL guest' for fear of being more of an embarrassment than a help to D. Nevertheless, he would accept D's invitation 'with personal pleasure' if renewed despite his position, and on 29 January he did so; see 29OO&n2. H B/XX/S/628. See also Disraeli, Derby 148. 1 Padwick had been employed by Lord Jersey to work with D in the Villiers affair; see VI 2764m. Contra that note, the Henry Padwick with whom D has had dealings since 1855 was Henry Padwick senior (18051879), not his only son, the barrister of the same name. Padwick pere, sometimes signing himself 'H.J. Padwick', of the Manor House, Horsham, Sussex, a solicitor (retired 1855), JP for London and Westminster, DL for Sussex, deputy keeper of Holyrood palace, Scotland, had been in horse racing (under the in 1854, for example, he had won (on Virago) and lost (on the stock name Howard) since 1849; m exchange) £80,000. He was also 'a well known money lender'. He resided at 2 Hill Street, Berkeley Square (at 4 Hill Street after 1868). His few letters to D show him to be a man of the turf on social terms with the aristocracy, placing bets of the order of £1,500 and evidently handling bets for D as well. In the 1859 election he would stand unsuccessfully for Bridgwater as a Conservative. Boase; H B/XXI/P/319; Law List (1852); LPOD (1856). See further 3242&ni. 2 Judging from the fact that his letters in H make no reference to the matters described in this letter, Padwick followed these instructions scrupulously.
10
Incumbrances &c. Jany. 1857. / The Balance unpaid of a sum of £15,500 This is at 5 pr Ct, & is at present secured to the extent of £5000 by an Insurance, & the balance after that, whatr. it may be, by a general charge on real estate.1 An Instalment of £2000. is coming due on this sum - /
£ 10,500.
annl. charge £ 650
2
An old annuity at 10 pr Ct & Insurance This was a settlement of a very ancient claim. The same person has at times advanced other sums on bond & promissory notes, wh: have recently been cancelled & consolidated by a deed of loan of 3OOo£ for some years at 10 pr Ct. with temporary policies but to be paid off, at the will of the borrower, at any preceding period
3,ooo
400
3,OOO
350
13,500
1400
1400 / 2.
Incumbrances &c. Incumbrances
Ann: Charge 1050
Carried over Loan of Mr P.4 xr Note of arrears. Loan by Drunimonds ^ All at 5 pr Ct Private Loan. > but for particular Private Loan, ' reasons, urgent
13,500 5,ooo 1 f 750 J 2,000 3000 1500
1400 about
650 100 150 75 2375 /
There is a liability of some amount in the Spring of next year, but tho' Mr. D's name appears, it is really only in the character of a trustee, & he possesses a complete & countervailing security, wh: may be realised before that period. /
3 See IV 129303; there is a £5,000 Economic Life Assurance Society policy (number 9309) on D's life drawn by Lord Exmouth dated 31 July 1850, with annual premiums for 1855-9 of £157.14.2. H A/V/G/137. 4 Probably Montagu Peacocke; cfv\ 2857&m and 2858.
11
COPY Tax deducted.
Strictly Confidential Schedule of Mrs. Disraeli's Income: 1855: £:
D. Jan. 10 ^ & \ July 10 ' G
G G
G
G
Feby. 3 ^ & \ Aug. 3 J Mar. 4 A & > Sept. 4 ' Mar 22 ^ & > Sept 22 J
Consols £21,579.4.5
s:
d:
302:
2:
2
(ex[ecut]ors of Wyndham Lewis) Consols £20,359.4 (Price Lewis & T. Loftus) French 3 pr Cts.
297:
6:
4
404:
O:
o /
Taff Mortgage
189:
o:
o
Greek Bonds
70:
o:
o
French 5 pr Cts.
44:
n:
1
carried over
1306:
19:
7 /
Carried over
£: 1306:
s: 19:
d: 7
2. Confidential
D
G G
April 15 i & \ Octr. 15 * Do 1 Do J D Do 1
DQ |
Bank Stock £4881.6 Reduced 1 12,600 J 1, 1,121.10.7
Total Dividends
244: J
76:
1:
o
8:
o
15: 14: o 1743:
2:
7 2
3486:
5:
2 /
Mrs. Disraeli's Rental D.
12
Deer. 24 & June 24.
No 2. Grosvenor Gate 1 Park Lane I
113:
April & Octr.
Lly[n]vi Valley Mtge.
101:
3:
4
January & 1 t Taynton Farms Gloucesr T . July J Do .. Do Bath & Gloucester Houses
280:
O:
O
162:
O:
o
3
4
656:::
2
3486:5:2 1312:6:8 Income
1312:
4798:11:10
Strictly confidential
6:
8
D. /
MR. 5 DISRAELI'S ESTATES
There is no rental, or any paper connected with these estates in London - & therefore a brief summary can only be given. They consist of 1. Four considerable farms, & twenty inferior holdings. 2. Of very extensive & profitable woods 5 Of the Mansion, immediate domain, & advowson / The rent derivable from cultivated land is £1200 pr ann: The profits from the woods, wh: are all in hand, are absorbed in the maintenance of the Establishment at Hughenden Manor, in repairs, management &c. The whole of the estates are valued at 67,ooo£.
TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[London, Monday] 26 January 1857 ^896
O R I G I N A L : SCR DD/HY C/2lr>5 [()]
Jan 26. 1857 My dear J I am very anxious to see you & talk over affairs, wh: are more critical, than I had anticipated.1 Yours ever, I D.
TO: SIR JOHN PAKINGTON
[London, Tuesday] 27 January 1857 ^89?
O R I G I N A L : WRC 705:349 BA 3835/7(0)8
P U B L I C A T I O N HISTORY: M&B IV 63, the third paragraph and altered extracts from the fourth, fifth and final paragraphs E D I T O R I A L C O M M E N T : Endorsed by Pakington on the seventh page: 'Disraeli'. Sic: battaile.
Private The Rt Hble. I Sir John Pakington
Jany. 27- 1857
5 'MR.' is written over 'MRS. 1 1 The party was indeed at a critical point, with Gladstone and Derby discussing union (see 2903) while others such as Stanley and Pakington were threatening to leave the party; see 2897&ni and Disraeli, Derty 148.
13
My dear Pakington, The matter, you write to me on, is of too grave a character to be discussed in a correspondence, necessarily hurried at a moment when I am pressed / with affairs.1 Involving as it does the possible loss, for me, of the ablest, readiest, & most faithful, of my colleagues in the parliamentary strife, it is natural, that I should not read & receive yr letter witht. emotion[.] I am / opposed to all secessions from the front bench of an opposition. They never are happy in their results, & are always imputed to unworthy motives, or looked on as a coup de theatre[.] The affair is not urgent. However important the question, the country is not particularly disposed at present for its revival. It requires / to digest the past, & I think, myself, a new parliament wd. have been a happier scene for the introduction. However, under any circumstances, even if it were our cheval de battaile as a party, I shd. not recommend an immediate notice to be given, or any until the financial position of the government / & the House becomes more clear. It is now critical, & if we play our cards with dexterity & courage, I think even the month of Feby. may witness some change. At all events, I / shall count on your presence on the 2nd, particularly as under my roof you will never meet the grim form visage of our amiable colleague, Henley. Yours very sincerely, I D.2
1 Pakington was again trying to introduce an education bill; see VI 271O&ni and 27lQ&n2 for his failed attempt in 1855. On 19 November 1856 at the Manchester Athenaeum he had argued that the education system could no longer be sustained by voluntary effort, and although he was not in favour of a grand, uniform centralized system, he believed it to be prudent to assist and supplement the existing state of things. On 21 January, while a guest at Knowsley, he had attended a meeting of the General Committee on Education in Manchester and Salford, and would again on 6 February. The Times (20 Nov 1856, 22 Jan, 9 Feb 1857). Having on 11 January accepted D's invitation for 2 February, he had described on 23 January 'a long conversation' with Derby at Knowsley 'on the subject of my position in connection with the question of education, and the embarrassment which has been caused by Henley's strong & active opposition to my views ..." If Derby, D and the opposition 'cabinet' thought national education too important to be treated as an open question, he would move his intended bill from another seat. On the 26th he had just received 'a full and very kind answer from Lord Derby [who] wishes, very naturally, to consult his friends before any decision is taken ...' H B/XX/P/28-3O. Meanwhile Derby on the 23rd had also written to D about Pakington's visit (Walpole and Lytton had also been at Knowsley): '... I am sorry to see that Pakington is hampered by his engagements with the Manchester folks on the Subject of Education.' He expected to see D at Burghley: 'I hope you are not come home entirely imbued with the French views of our foreign Policy.' On the 25th Derby acknowledged receiving that morning D's 'two notes' (not found), and enclosed a long letter from Pakington with a draft of his bill; Derby had advised Pakington to do nothing hastily, to attend D's dinner and to explain his position to his 'quondam Colleagues' before deciding what his future relations to the party should be. H B/XX/S/ 140-1. See further 28g8&nnl&2. 2 Pakington would attend D's dinner on 2 February, but the next day gave notice, as in his last letter to D (ni) he had said he would, that on the iyth he would move for leave to bring in a bill for the promotion of elementary education in cities and corporate towns. Henley did not attend the dinner. Atf>(3, 4 Feb 1857).
14
TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 28 January 1857 2808
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [Ri-96] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B iv 64, dated at Grosvenor Gate 28 January 1857, the fourth paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT. Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Disraeli B.' Sic: St James'.
The Rt Honble I The Earl of Derby Jany. 28 1857 My dear Lord, The Haunch has arrived, & I thank you much.1 I saw Jolliffe last night, £ told him a great deal on wh: I don't like to trust the / post. He will communicate all to you, wh: will prepare you, in some degree, for our discussions when you arrive. I shall arrive about St James' Sqre. on Saturday afternoon. I cannot bring my / mind to Education at present. I am as sick of it as the country is. Nobody wanted it to be mooted till a new Parliament. The public wants to digest all the perplexities of recent debates, & John Russell's resolutions were the climax of confusion, & there the curtain, / for the present, ought to have fallen.2 Two days ago, I wrote to Pakington, that if ever his measure were the cheval de bataille of the party, I shd. still be of opinion, that, in the present critical state of affairs with respect to finance, it wd. be most inexpedient, & injurious to the parry & our prospects, to give a first-night notice./ Yrs ever, ! D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[London] Wednesday 28 January [1857] 2809
ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/3 at / least, be at the head of a powerful & popular opposition. I am here working witht. any aid, Hamilton in Ireland, & Chandos, our only other financier, & who was helping me, seized with sore throat & fever / this morning at Wotton[.] Yours sincerely, I D. TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
2QO2
[London, Saturday] 31 January 1857
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C/2165 [40]
Private Jan: 31. 1857 Sir W.H. Jolliffe I Bart: M.P. My dear Jolliffe, I have been obliged to nurse a queer throat today, & could not keep my engagement with the Captain, wh: / is very annoying. He calls on me, however, tomorrow, at 2 o'ck.1 I have seen Hamilton. Could you send me a list of the Baronets? I want to know the dates of their creations, that / I may not make any mistake in their precedency. I have ten Baronets dining with me! And I might outrage the feelings of the order, wh: is notoriously a sensitive one.2 Yours ever, I D.
29O3 T0: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 4 February 1857
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [Ri-94] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Ansd Disraeli B.'
The Rt Honble I Earl of Derby Feb 4. 1857 My dear Lord, I think Jolliffe is with you & send this. It is of the utmost importance, that not a moment shd be lost in preventing our influential / friends from damaging the prospects of the division of the 17th Inst. by their observations. It is an undercurrent wh: leads to shipwreck.1 1 Derby on this day had written to say he had arrived in town at i o'clock and had been expecting to see D: 'I am very sincerely sorry for the cause which prevents your coming ... I will therefore call at Grosvenor Gate and take the chance of your being able to see me soon after 2 o'clock tomorrow when I hope to find you better.' H B/XX/S/143. 2 The ten baronets who would attend D's dinner were (in order of precedence by date of creation of their respective baronetages): Trollope (1642); Smijth (1661); Wynn (1688); Fergusson (1703, Scotland); Buller (1789); Campbell (1808);Jolliffe (1821); Meux (1831); Lytton (1838); and Pakington (1846). Press (7 Feb 1857). 1 17 February was the scheduled date of Pakington's education motion; see 28Q7n2. In the event the motion was delayed to 18 February, when leave was granted without a division for his bill to be brought in. HansardCXLIV cols 776-802. D was presumably concerned about statements his colleagues might make on other education-related topics that were scheduled to be discussed in the House before that date, such as Sir George Grey's Reformatory Schools Bill (iR on 9 February) and Northcote's Industrial Schools Bill (iR 10 February). Hansard CXLIV cols 418-20, 474-7.
18
Lytton has just left me, & has greatly impressed this on me. Had / you not better call a council for tomorrow, or see Pakington & Walpole, if the first suggestion be inconvenient to you? 2 Yours ever, I D. I feel quite easy about the "Secret Treaty"!3 TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate, Wednesday [4 February 1857]
2QO4
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [Rl-93] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the first page after 'Wednesday': 'Feb 4' and on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' Dating: cf2Q03-
Wednesday My dear Lord, After such stately game, don't trouble yourself about small deer.1 I have seen Pakington today, who / came in like a lion, but went out like a lamb. Walpole also, I hear is reconverted.2 I shall take the chance of seeing you tomorrow / early - about '/2 past eleven [inserted: -11] - as I am obliged to receive people here later in the morning. Ever yours, I D. TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate, Sunday [8 February 1857]
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [R1-1O2] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' Dating: by context; see nni&2. Sic: untill.
Private Sunday The E. of Derby My dear Lord, Henley suggested, that the motion shd. consist merely of a repeal of the War Acts. Another, that the Repeal of the 2dy Act was sufficient, wh: alone has the obnoxious words. The / enclosed is drawn in another vein, but is worth attention. The act of 1853, as I thought, goes on with 5d/ untill iSGot.] 1
2 Derby replied from St James's Square at 7 pm: 'Jolliffe was not with me when your note arrived, but Gladstone was - and has only just left me after four hours conversation - on the whole very satisfactory, and on his part very cordial. I think matters look well. Pakington called, but I could not, of course, see him, and sent him a message to call tomorrow. I can also see Walpole, if you wish it... I had settled with Jolliffe that we should have a Council on Monday or Tuesday next - of both Peers & Commoners - but only five of each - not including Henley.' H B/XX/8/144. See 2904. 3 In his long 3 February speech on the Address, D had accused Palmerston of duplicity in publicly supporting the cause of Italian nationalism while having concurred with a secret treaty whereby France guaranteed Austria her Italian provinces. Palmerston categorically denied the allegation, attributing it to D's gullibility in Paris. Hansard CXLTV cols 86-192 (D 102-35, 138-9). See further 29O5&n2. 1 See 29O3n2. 2 As recently as his 23 January letter to D (see 2897m), Pakington had assumed that D and Lytton were his supporters, and Walpole, Henley and Manners his opponents. 1 For the resolution (amendment to the budget) being worked on by the shadow cabinet in conjunction
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2QO5
MOST CONFIDENTIAL
I cannot well bring my mind to the consideration of this motion at present, & / send you, therefore, rough materials for yr thought. I am absorbed with the "Secret Treaty" having heard, 1st by telegraph, & now by a written despatch. I have the provisions & the date. If P. be in his place tomorrow, I shall give notice / for Tuesday at -5- time of public business; but the theme is so critical, & the consequences may be so considerable, that I am hardly fitted for the other kind of work.2 Yours ever, I D.
with Gladstone see 297&ni, 298&nni&2 and 29lO&nm&2. See VI 25l?n4 and 2526m for Gladstone's 1853 renewal of the income tax for seven years at a rate diminishing to fyd in the pound in 1857 and remaining at that level until 1860; Lewis proposed to set it at jd. For Gladstone's budget of March 1854 and the supplementary budget two months later ('the 2dy Act'), in which he doubled the income tax and then issued exchequer bonds to pay for the war, see VI 2643112 and 2653ni; the second act (in an 'equivocal' manner, D would charge on 20 February) also doubled the duration of the war income tax to two years after the end of the war. Derby had written this day (8 February) from St James's Square: 'I send you a note which I have just received from Gladstone: my answer is that I have not seen you since the Chancellor of the Exchequer's notice [on 6 February that he would on Monday or Tuesday fix the day for his financial statement], but that I apprehend it will make no difference in the substance, if it does in the form of your motion, unless he concedes both points, viz: the immediate abandonment of the War addition, and the final extinction of the Tax in 1860. By the way, I think the Chancellor's announcement may be a very good ground for your delaying to state the precise terms of your notice, if you are so disposed. You have not sent in your idea of the form.' H B/XX/S/145; Hansard CXLrv cols 2523. The 'enclosed' may have been G.A. Hamilton's letter to D also of this day strongly recommending 'that your question ought not to be mixed up with that of the Finance of the coming year.' H B/XX/H/96. For a treatment of the Gladstone/Conservative party relationship at this time, see H.C.G. Matthew Gladstone 1809-1874 (Oxford 1986) 106-7: 'His personal inclination in the period 1855 to 1859 lay on the whole with the Conservatives ... but ... he had little intimacy with Conservatives of Cabinet rank ... Gladstone, however, consistently argued that the problem of party ... could not be solved by men, but by measures. By measures, he meant the fulfilment of the programme of financial reform which he worked out in February 1856. Other Peelites, however, without exception worked to push him away from Derby ...' 2 See 293&n3. Derby (nl) had also written: 'Have you heard any more from your informant as to the guarantee? It has crossed my mind whether you may have been misled by an offer which I believe certainly was made by France, when Austria was on the point of joining her forces to ours, that She would guarantee her Italian Dominions, during the time the Austrian Troops might be so engaged, against the consequences of their withdrawal — but the Expedition to the Crimea was resolved on, Austria withdrew her offer, and the whole agreement fell to the ground. I hope this is not your Informant's basis.' Ralph Earle had sent D an undated 'Copy' of a letter addressed 'My dear E': 'I wd. suggest that something should be said about the perfidy of Ld. P, who, having encouraged the Italians to cherish schemes of national independence, never attempted to obtain the publication of the secret treaty ... [and] allowed the Italian liberals to fight on, under the masked battery of France. How many plots, how many assassinations &c &c wd the publication of that treaty have spared!' Another 'Copy , dated 5 February 1857 at Paris, reads: 'The secret treaty was so framed as to show that it owed its existence to the secret article [regarding Austria's possible participation in the war] in the tripartite treaty [of 2 December 1854; see VI 2717^2]. It is possible ... that the treaty between Austria & France was only to remain in force as long as the treaty of the 2nd. Deer, continued to be binding on the 3 powers ... However, the treaty of the 2nd. Deer, proved inoperative & I conclude that Austria obtained the guarantee, without contracting any substantial engagement in return ... The treaty was signed a little before Xmas day perhaps on the 22nd. of DECR ..." H B/XX/E/4-5- On Monday 9 February, when he was assured that Palmerston would be in the House the next day, D gave notice that he would at that time 'make some observations upon a contradiction which I received from him on the first evening of our meeting on a matter of great moment.' MP (10 Feb 1857). See further 29O7&n2. For a possible identification of D's and Earle's informant see Blake 371.
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TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI
House of Commons 2QO6 [Tuesday 10 February 1857?]
ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/305 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. Endorsed in another hand: '?i85Q'. Dating: conjectural; see ni.
V2 pt. 8. o'ck My dearest, I made the speech - two hours exactly - but coldly received - however, I made it. Palmn. had nothing / to say - very flat - & then some others of no moment.1 I am just going to look in the Carlton, where I / shall take something & then come home. Your own I D
TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate, Wednesday [11] February [1857]
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [R1-1O?]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' D has drawn two short diagonal lines after the first paragraph. Dating: see nl. Sic: Wednesday Feh 10.
private Wednesday Feb 10 The Rt Hon I The Earl of Derby My dear Lord, I was working at the Income Tax when your packet arrived. I cannot return it by the messenger, as it requires deep consideration, but / will endeavour to forward it in an hour or two.1 The written Instrument between France & Austria is a "TREATY" : is signed; : has been acted on; & / contains no limitation on its surface.2 Yours sincerely, I D.
1 The tone and details of this letter fit well the speech D made against advice on 10 February 1857; see 29O7&n2. MC (11 Feb 1857) records that the House adjourned at 8:35 on this date. 1 Derby had written on this day ( i i February): 'As I hope you will now be able to turn your attention to the subject of the Income Tax, I send you, confidentially, four Resolutions which Gladstone left with me yesterday, as embodying not only his own views, but those of Sidney Herbert & Graham, and a Memorandum which he left with them. I told him that we should come to no decision till after die Budget on Friday.' He also enclosed a copy of his letter to Gladstone written after reading the resolutions, and asked that Gladstone's papers be returned. H B/XX/s/146. See further 29o8&ni. 2 In the House the previous evening D had returned to his secret treaty allegations (see Z9O3&n3 and 29O5&n2), stating that the guarantee had been successfully negotiated and put in writing, had been signed on 22 December 1854, and subsequently had been extensively acted upon with the full knowledge of the British government; he challenged Palmerston to give him access to the foreign office papers for December 1854 and January 1855 to document his statement. Palmerston replied that a convention to have effect only during the war might have been considered, but that it was never signed, and therefore he had been correct in stating that no treaty such as D described existed. Hansard CXLIV cols 458-72 (D 458-67). Evidently D had received the copy of Earle's informant's letter dated 10 February in Paris, which also mentions 'two telegraphic messages, which I sent yesterday ... [and] two letters on Monday morning & two on Monday evening'; three letters in H, dated 8, 9 and 10 February (the first and third marked
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2QO?
Are you aware that the Prince has called a meeting of the R. Commissioners on Saturday morning at 11 o'ck? What will you do?3 29O8
TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate, Wednesday [11] February [1857]
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [Ri-io6] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Disraeli B.' Sic: Wednesday Feb. 10.
Private Wednesday Feb. 10 The Rt Honble I The Earl of Derby My dear Lord, I highly approve of your letter to Gladstone],1 & I think, that the Resolutions, as at present drawn, would alarm, & repel support. I propose, with great diffidence, for your consideration: / 1st. That the first resolution shd. be adopted. 2nd. That the second might be adopted, leaving out all the words from "whether", in second line, to the words "tax or taxes" in ninth line[.] 3rd. That the third shd be / adopted with your amendment. And that the fourth shd be adopted to please G. Yours ever, I D. P.S. /
'Copy , the second a letter from Earle to D signed 'Your affte), contain most of the substance of D's speech. Derby (nl) had added a postscript: 'Your Treaty appears to have been what I was afraid it would turn out to be - the old arrangement limited to the war, and according to Palmerston, never executed.' On 12 February Palmerston would concede that a 'convention' had been signed, but insist that it had never come into effect, while D would reiterate the allegations here itemized; see 29O9&m. H B/xx/E/y9; Hansard CXLIV cols 535-9 (D 536-7, 538). 3 Derby (ni) had hoped D would attend a noon meeting he was having on Saturday with 'those who were here yesterday ... [to] decide upon our course.' The meeting would comprise Derby, Malmesbury, Hardwicke, D, Pakington, Walpole and Lytton. Gladstone Diaries V 198. Prince Albert at 11:00 am on Saturday morning, 14 February, at the Palace of Westminister would preside at a meeting of the royal commission for the 1851 exhibition; neither Derby nor D attended. MP (16 Feb 1857). 1 See 29O7&ni. Derby had written to Gladstone: '... the 2nd & 3rd Resolutions, and more especially the 2nd, not only point distincdy to an infraction of the implied engagement that the Income Tax should terminate in 1860, but also to an alteration of its positive enactments during the term of its continuance; and this, not to meet any sudden and unforseen emergency, but to enable the Government to reduce other Taxes, by again raising the Income Tax to its original amount: I think such a measure would be alike inconsistent with good faith and policy: and if once admitted, it would go far to make the Income Tax permanent'. Gladstone recorded in his diary on 11 February: T called on Lord Derby at two today to take a survey of the questions connected with the Budget - especially i. the motion on Tea & Sugar Dudes 2. the motion on expenditure 3. a motion to impound the outstanding '/2 year of i6d Income Tax for the discharge of Exchequer Bonds or other public engagements 4. a motion - as announced in Lord D.s letter to me - respecting the introduction of a descending scale into the Income Tax Act.' Gladstone Diaries V ig6&nng (citing DBF Box 133) &14 (citing BL ADD MSS 44140 f2i4). Gladstone's original four resolutions have not been found, but perhaps they can be inferred from the note he would draft for Derby on 14 February after their two meetings (see n2): 'To maintain a steady surplus of income over expenditure - to lower indirect taxes when excessive in amount for the relief of the people and bearing in mind the reproductive power inherent in such operations - to simplify our fiscal system by concentrating its pressure on a few well chosen articles of extended consumption - and to conciliate support to the Income Tax by marking its temporary character & by associating it with beneficial changes in the laws; these aims have been for fifteen years the labour of our life. By the Budget of last night they are in principle utterly reversed[.]' Gladstone Diaries V 197. See also H.C.G. Matthew, 'Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Politics of MidVictorian Budgets' in Historical Journal^, 3 (1979) 615-43, at 637.
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I think it dangerous to continue the Income Tax on the plea of unsettled war expenses, claims &x. See what Alexander Baring said on this head in 1816. I think his expression was "Ministers wd. always show some tail of war expenses'[.]'
TO: [LORD DERBY?]
House of Commons 2QO9 Thursday [12 February 1857]
O R I G I N A L : H H/Life [Ri47~34b] EDITORIAL C O M M E N T : From a typewritten copy headed: 'D. to Ld. H. Lennox, presumably.' In light of 29O7&nni&2, Derby seems the more likely recipient.
Thursday I House of Commons Palmerston has been obliged to confess in the House, that the "Secret" Treaty was signed. His exhibition was most humiliating, and he quite lost himself. ..-1 TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate, Saturday [14 February 1857] 2Q1O
O R I G I N A L : BL ADO MSS 44140 felH
P U B L I C A T I O N HISTORY: Morley Gladstone 561 E D I T O R I A I C O M M E N T : A ropy in another hand on the verso of Derby's 14 February 1857 letter to Gladstone (BL ADD MSS 44140 (217). .S'ic; ammended.
Copy My dear Lord I like the Res. as ammended. It is improved.1 Yours ever D.2
Grovr. Gate I Sat. 7 oc
2 G.A. Hamilton in his 8 February letter (see 2905111) urging D to propose repeal of the war/income tax had remarked- 'And - as Ponsonby said in 1816 - so long as the tax remains there will be no real Peace Establishment.' Gladstone on 14 February would record: '...I knew from Ld Derby that he was to see his friends at noon. So 1 went to him ... to point out the deficit of between 5 & 6 millions for 1858-9 which is created by this Budget ... and secondly to say that in my opinion it was hopeless to attack the scheme in detail & that it must be resisted, on the ground of deficit, as a whole, to give a hope of success .. 1 again went to Derby as he had requested at five ... They had all agreed that the best motion would be a resolution (from Disraeli) on Monday ... corresponding with our No. 5 of last Tuesday: which would virtually rest the question on deficit. I made two verbal suggestions on the Resolution to improve its form ... He said that the Resolution he proposed if it should be rejected would serve to shield from responsibility next year those who voted for it if they should then be in office ...' Gladstone Diaries V 1Q78&n3 (citing HI ADD MSS 44747 fH) See further 2910&nnl&2. 1 See 2907112. Greville (Ml 267) recorded the House's response to the 'very imprudent and very improper' language Palmerston used in his attempt to remain on the offensive against D's allegations: '... (unlike what he had ever experienced before) he sat down without a single cheer, his own people even not venturing to challenge the approbation of the House in a matter in which, though Disraeli was not right, P. was so clearlv wrong . . . " 1 See 29O8&nni&2. Derb\ on this day ('Saturday') had written from St James's Square: 'I have this moment seen Gladstone. He had brought another Resolution, but ultimately concurred in the course we proposed to take. He suggested however an amendment which I have inserted in brackets, and which I think improves our Resolution by directing attention more immediately to the danger of a deficiency. 1 am to let him know tomorrow morning if you approve of the Resolution as amended - in which case 1 think we may confidently rely on the active support of himself, Graham, Herbert, and Cardwell. If we can get F. Baring, we shall have a heavy five.' H B/XX/S/157- Derby immediately forwarded D's response to Gladstone (see ec): '"1 hope 1 may take it for granted that there is now a complete understanding between us as to the move on Monday night."' Morley Gladstone 561. 2 Derby on 'Mondav' sent n 'satisfactory' notes received on Sunday from Gladstone and Henley; the
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2911 T0: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate, Sunday [22 February 1857]
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1 [R2-66]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed by Derby upside down on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' Dating: by D's amendment; see ZQlO&ni.
Private Sunday The Rt Honble. I Earl of Derby My dear Lord I have just come in, & found your note.1 With great deference, you appear to me not to have deducted the million & a half surplus of 1857-8 from the four / million deficiency of 1858-9. That would reduce the deficiency to something about what I anticipated. I assumed, at least, two millions to be dealt with, [date inserted:] in -58-9, by way of reduction: there wo[ul]d appear / on your figures two millions & a half. I see nothing in these results to prevent the [word inserted:] course we thought desirable. But I say all this with great diffidence, not having my papers by / me - Only, I thought before dinner, I would send you this line.2 Yours sincerely, I D. former reads: 'I am still, as I was yesterday afternoon, doubtful whether the terms of the Resolution, which with your friends you had then resolved to move, are those best calculated for a clear and telling exposure of the deficiencies which the Budget will create. As, however, it embodies one of our main objections to the plan of the Government, and as we concur in the intention to place Parliament in a condition to remit the Income Tax in 1860, we shall give it our best support ...' Henley's note reads: 'I am not particular about the form of any motion to be made but I am strongly of opinion that the House of Commons ought not to be pledged to the proposed Budget until they have considered the estimates for if establishments are to be sanctioned such as are now proposed I see no reason to think the income Tax can in 1860 be got rid of.' H B/XX/S/l47,a,b. D on Monday 16 February would give notice and on 20 February move as an amendment to Lewis's financial statement "That ... it would be expedient, before sanctioning the financial arrangements for the ensuing year, to adjust the estimated Income and Expenditure ... to secure the country against the risk of a deficiency in the years 1858-9 and 1859-60, and to provide for such a balance of Revenue and Charge respectively in the year 1860 as may place it in die power of Parliament at that period ... altogether to remit the Income Tax."' After two nights of debate, and despite strong support from Gladstone, the resolution was defeated 286-206 on 23 February. Hansard CXLTV col 723, 947-1028 (D 948-71, 972, 976, 983), 1060-1154 (D 1131-2, 1154). See 2908111 and 29i2&ni. 1 Derby had written on 'Sunday' from St James's Square: 'After you left me, I sat down to calculate the financial result of the scheme which we talked over; and I am sorry to say it does not come out as satisfactorily as we had anticipated. You will find my lucubrations on the other side. I wish you may be able to show me that I am wrong. The result of your suggestion, as compared with Cornewall Lewis's proposal, is that in 1858-9 we should have an Income diminished by 2d. Income Tax = 2,000,000; and (say) £700,000 Tea duties together 2,700,000: while we should have a diminished Expenditure by 2,000,000 Exchequer Bonds not paid off, and £1,500,000 Sinking Fund not paid together £3,500,000 leaving a balance in our favour, as compared with now, of £800,000 only, against which we should have to set the interest of Four Million of Exchequer Bonds not redeemed, and we should still have a deficiency of £4,000,000 to make good by reduction, if we bind ourselves to the principle of No new Taxes. I do not see, from such a result, how I can urge upon Gladstone a point which he will be very reluctant to surrender, and tie him to a principle which I think we cannot carry out. At all events I will not see him till I have heard from, or seen, you again. I wish you may find that I have made a blunder.' The verso of the first sheet of the letter is covered with Derby's more detailed calculations by which he arrives at a projected 1858 net income of £58,800,000, expenditure of £62,850,000, leaving a deficiency of £4,050,000. H B/XX/S/155. 2
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See further
TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate, Sunday [22 February 1857] 2Q12
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1 [R2-68]
EDITORIAL. COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed by Derby at the top of the first page: 'Disraeli B. Ansd '. Dating: cfZQllScni.
R. H. I Earl of Derby Sunday night My dear Lord, It comes out quite well. We have forgotten, that we have now the official estimate, in detail, of the revenues / 58-9 & 59-60. After allowing for loss by tea & sugar - the C of Excr makes the estimate of each year a million more than the assumed items in my speech.1 Thus deduct / from the 4 mill: Deficy, reduced by surplus to 2,500, another million, leaving only i'/2 mill: to be dealt with by way of reduction. I have written to Hamilton to come to me / tomorrow, & work it all out - but I thought you ought to know this at once. The 1st. Resolution is the Income Tax: if on this, Gladstone moves his Tea Duty resolution, he will upset the Coach. The battle must be fought at once & broadly. His resolution shd. be on the Tea Resolution of the C. of E.2 Ever &c, I D. TO: LORD DERBY
[London] Monday [23 February 1857] 2Q13
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1 [R2-6?]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Derby on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' Dating: cfzgiZ. l
/z pt. 9. o'ck I Monday morning
I have just received yr. note of last night. You ought to have received this morning one I wrote to you last night. 1 1 Cornewall Lewis had given his estimates for these years in the House on 16 February prior to going into committee of supply; Gladstone chided him for not having included them in his financial statement the previous Friday (13 February). The figures that D had offered in his speech on Friday turned out to differ from Lewis's by £900,000, not 'a million', because of a misprint in one of the items in the estimates. See 291On2. 2 After many delays (see 2Ql4&n2 and 29l6&nnl&2) and discussions on procedure, Lewis on 6 March would propose the first resolution of his financial statement, reducing the income tax from l6d to id in the pound, the deficiency thus created to be partially offset by suspending for one year the scheduled decrease in tea duty to l s $d. Gladstone at that time would make his announced motion on the tea and sugar duties (that they be 15 3^) when the House went into committee of ways and means. Hansard GXLIV cols 1007-18, 2023. 1 Derby had written on 'Sunday Night' from St James's Square, evidently after reading D's letter of the same evening as he marked it 'Ansd' (see ZQlZec): 'I am afraidl am right, & you are mistaken. I admit a surplus in 57/8 of a Million & a half or thereabouts - but that surplus cannot be carried to the credit of 58/9. If it could, no doubt it would diminish the deficiency for that year to 2'/2 Millions, leaving the other Million & [a] half to be added to the deficiency of the next year - but this would be in fact the old story of borrowing to make good the sinking fund. The utmost, we could say would be that out of the l Vz Million surplus, we would pay off a Million of Exchequer Bonds, instead of cancelling other portions of [the] National debt, postponing for five years the payment of the remaining Million; but that would still leave us in 58/9 with the deficiency which I estimated in my note of this morning, of Four Millions, even supposing the postponing operation to be applied to the whole of the Exchequer Bonds falling due in that year, besides the sinking fund, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has now abandoned for us. If you can make the case any better, let me see you early tomorrow.' H B/XX/S/154.
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I did not mean that the identical sum, called surplus / of 1857-8, cd. be appropriated to diminishing [the] deficiency of 1858-9. What I meant was, that the same sources, wh: produced that sum in 1857-8 wd. be at work / [word inserted:] again during 1858-9, simultaneously with the sources of deficiency, & wd., in that year, diminish that deficiency to the amount of i mill. & V2. D. Hamilton will be here at eleven o'ck this morning[.] 2914
T0:
SARAH DISRAELI
[London, Monday] 9 March 1857
ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/366
COVER: Miss Disraeli I i Grand Parade I St Leonards I at Sea I D. POSTMARK: (i) In a circle: [illegible] I MR 9 I 1857 (2) in circular form: ST LEONARDS ON [illegible] MR 10 I [illegible] (3) a cancelled one-penny stamp EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: [cover] at Sea.
Mar: 9. 1857 My dear Sa, Ralph gave me your direction yesterday, & I was about to write you a line to day for some news of Isabella & yourself when yours arrived - on the whole, not unsatisfactory.1 I trust / you will send us some fresh bulletins, & that they may all be progressive. Here we are in the midst of infinite confusion: but it must end, tho' the term be long. I hope to have no contest in my county; & / I suspect that the general Election will leave matters much as they find us now - the same relative elements in the new House; & with certainty, tho' not with precipitation, the same Row in due / course.2 The Speaker is going to retire - it was a great secret confided on Friday only to D[erby], P[almerston] & myself- & now there is an art: in the "Times" this morning. The Speaker is much annoyed, & something is to be said when the Ho: meets.3 My kindest wishes for Isabella. Yrs ever I D . 3 1 Sarah's letter to MA is dated ' l Grand Parade St. Leonards March 8': 'We came here the beginning of this last week & are so much interested & excited by all the political events that have happened since that we almost forget our trials. Pray give the enclosed [not found] to Dis to show him that one of his political agitators is at work already. I am thankful to say that our invalid got through the perils of her journey without any increase of illness — there is on this line an invalid's carriage — a sort of saloon with a bed in it & a dressing-room attached - & they allow you to drive your own carriage close up to it on to the Platform so that you have only to step from one carriage to the other - & for all this convenience they charge only double fare for the invalid ... You will easily believe that we do nothing but read the papers, & never have enough of news to satisfy our hunger & thirst.' H D/III/A/415. For Isabella's illness, see 2899&m. She would live only until 20 June; see 2944. St Leonard's-on-Sea, in the borough of Hastings in Sussex, had been developed as a watering place earlier in the century. The journey to reach it had required four changes of train. H D/III/A/4i7-i8. Sarah had previously spent a year at Hastings; see V l8z6&n3. 2 After his government on 3 March was defeated 263-247 on Cobden's censuring motion on China, Palmerston on 5 March had announced that he would ask for a dissolution of parliament. Hansard CXLIV cols 1846-50, 1894-7, 1933-6. Parliament would be dissolved on 21 March, the general election begin on 27 March, and D would be returned unopposed as one of the three members for Bucks on 31 March. The overall result was Liberals 373, Conservatives 281, compared to 323 and 331 respectively in 1852. BHF 139-40. See further 29l8&n4. Several prominent radicals (including Cobden) and Peelites were defeated, marking the end of the Manchester School and the Peelites; see 2928&nn5&7. 3 In the House later this day (9 March), Shaw-Lefevre would formally announce his retirement as Speaker at the close of the session, but no reference was made to the lead article in The Times that morning that had anticipated the announcement. Hansard CXLIV cols 2054-5.
26
TO: HENRY PADWICK
[London, Wednesday] 11 March [1857?]
2Q15
ORIGINAL: BRN [19]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: problematic; the last figure in the year could be a '7' or a '9', and definite internal evidence is lacking.
confidential Mar 11. 1857 [?] H. Padwick Esq My dear Sir It was with the greatest pain, that I remembered today that the enclosed had not been forwarded / to you. As you remember, it was to have been done by my Gloucestershire agent, Mr Lovegrove, but alas! I forgot to write / to him amidst the whirl in wh:, at this moment, I live. Yours sincerely, I D Put on a stamp, if you please.1 TO: ELECTORS OF BUCKS
Hughenden [Tuesday] 17 March 1857 29l6
O R I G I N A L : H B/I/D/90
PUBLICATION HISTORY: BH (21, 28 Mar 1857) dated 17 March 1857; Press (21 Mar 1857, supplement) dated 17 March 1857; The Times (19, 20 Mar 1857); MP (20 Mar 1857) EDITORIAL COMMENT: A printed broadsheet. There is in H an adjacent earlier broadsheet version that omits the second paragraph and has a few other, minor, differences. On 4 April William Powell would explain that the problem of the missing second paragraph had been corrected in time for the version that was sent to the London papers. H B/I/D/21. Sic: HUGHENDON. HUGHENDON MANOR, I March 17,
1857.
TO THE I ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM. GENTLEMEN,
The House of Commons having, by a solemn vote, in which the leading men of all parties concurred, censured the cruel and double-dealing policy pursued by the agents of the Government towards the Chinese, Parliament has been dissolved. Since the announcement of the dissolution the Minister has declared that his Agents in China will be superseded, thus acknowledging the justness of the vote of the House of Commons. 1 1 There is a 12 March 1859 Lovegrove letter to D which sheds some light on D's business with him at this time each year: 'It being now about the time of our annual audit &c may I beg the favor of your giving me half an hour one day next week to go into our matter &c? ...' H D/II/B/298. The stamp reference indicates that the 'enclosed' is a legal document such as a cheque, such transactions being subject to taxation. 1 See 2914112. For a treatment of the Iate-i856 Arrow incident, in which the British consul at Canton, Harry Parkes, and the governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Bowring, decided to protect a Chinese pirate ship flying a British flag under an expired registration, setting off a series of events which culminated in the bombardment of Canton and all-out war, see Ridley Palmerston 464-70. The cabinet's decision to support their agents' provocative actions led to acrimonious debates in both Houses (D on 3 March calling it 'an attempt by force to increase our commercial relations with the East') which ended with Palmerston on 5 March taking up D's challenge to call an election. In the debate following his statement that night he announced that, without undervaluing Bowring's merits, he planned to send to Peking to negotiate improved relations with China an emissary who 'would be likely to carry more weight than any person who might happen now to be in China'. Hansard CXLIV cols 1155-1245, 1310-88, 1391-1485. 1495-1585, 1589-1684, 1726-1850, 1894-1938 (D 1834-40, 1897-8, quoted at 1836, Palmerston at 1936). Lord Elgin would supersede Bowring later in 1857.
27
It is clear, therefore, that the plea for dissolution is a pretext. What then is the real object? To waste a year. Lord PALMERSTON is an eminent man, who has deserved well of his Country; but as Prime Minister he occupies a false position. He is the Tory chief of a Radical Cabinet. With no domestic policy, he is obliged to divert the attention of the people, from the consideration of their own affairs, to the distraction of foreign politics. His external system is turbulent and aggressive that his rule at home may be tranquil and unassailed. Hence arise excessive expenditure, heavy taxation, and the stoppage of all social improvement.2 His scheme of conduct is so devoid of all political principle that when forced to appeal to the people his only claim to their confidence is his name.3 Such arts and resources may suit the despotic ruler of a Continental State exhausted by revolutions, but they do not become a British Minister governing a country proud, free, and progressive, animated by glorious traditions, and aspiring to future excellence. The honour and the best interests of the country require that men should be returned to the new Parliament with definite principles.4 If you will confer on me, for the fourth time, the high distinction of being your Member, I will, as heretofore, uphold our Constitution in Church and State, and support those popular and aristocratic Institutions which, in this Country, have made power a privilege, but have extended the possession of that privilege to all who exert themselves to deserve it - Institutions which have educated a Nation to aspire and excel. The general policy which I would enforce at this juncture may be contained in these words, — Honourable peace, reduced taxation, and social improvement. There is an attempt at the present day to play off the parties which exist, and have always to a certain degree existed in the Church, against each other for political objects. This is a dangerous course for Churchmen to sanction. The Church which, irrespective of its higher functions, is one of the great guarantees of English happiness, has foes enough without seeking for them in her own bosom; and it would appear to me that, instead of quarrelling among themselves, Churchmen should evince mutual forbearance, unite on the common ground of Ecclesiastical Polity, and oppose all efforts to impair the integrity of that Reformed Church of England which is the best security for the Religious Liberty of all classes and creeds of Her Majesty's subjects.5 I have the honour to remain, I Your obliged and faithful Servant, I B. DISRAELI 2 In his 3 March speech in the China debate (ni) D had characterized Palmerston's program as '"No Reform! New Taxes! Canton Blazing! Persia Invaded!"' (col 1840). 3 D is right in predicting that Palmerston's name would be the focus of the election (see M&B TV 74). 4 In his speech at Aylesbury after his own election, D in response to a taunt about the general election result would state (cf 29148012): 'I think the tendency of this dissolution will be to bring back what is necessary for the good government of this country- two great political parties with definite opinions... I think there is nothing more disadvantageous than that the opinions of the foremost man in the country [the prime minister] ... upon all vital questions should be unknown [or] ... ambiguous ... I think this system, which prevailed in the last Parliament, would have continued for a very considerable period if the dissolution had not taken place, but I do not believe that ambiguity can now long exist.' BH (4 Apr 1857). 5 Palmerston under the influence of his stepson-in-law Shaftesbury was appointing only low-churchmen
28
TO: CHARLES LUCAS
House of Commons [Tuesday] 17 March 1857
%\)L/
O R I G I N A L : GIB [ l ]
EDITORIAL GOMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'D'hraeli'.
Chas Lucas I Esqr 1 H of Comm: I Mar: 17. 1857 Dear Lucas I have given a friend of mine, Mr Earle, a letter of introduction to you, / on a subject in wh: I am much interested.2 He will tell you all. Yrs flly I B Disraeli
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 23 March 1857 2Q1& O R I G I N A L : RTG [62]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 75 dated at Grosvenor Gate 23 March 1857, the fourth and fifth paragraphs EDITORIAL G O M M E N T : Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. There is no salutation.
Mar 23. 1857 I wrote to you at the commencement of a New Year, wh: I hoped might be happy to both of us. I have no cause to complain of it, but, hitherto, it has brought me only unceasing / exertion & events. From the day I landed in England, to the present hour, I have had not a moments repose - & the present is only a lull before a more awful struggle.'
as bishops, a policy popular in the country but not with the Church of England or the Conservatives; Derby in his long 16 March speech in the Lords on second reading of the Income Tax Bill had regretted that the government appeared to have thrown 'the whole weight of their influence and authority into one end of that scale within which the wise latitude of the Church of England allows a diversity of opinion.' Hansard cxi.IV col 2333; Chadwick I 468-76. 1 Presumably the Charles Lucas who was one of D's election agents in 1847 (see IV I537nl), although no evidence has been found that he participated in the 1857 election on D's behalf. Possibly he is the Charles Rose Lucas, solicitor, of Meredith, Reeve, Lucas & Chrimes, solicitors, 8 New Sq, Lincoln's Inn, listed in IPOD (1856). 2 Earle's regular reports from Paris give no hint of this 'subject', although on 4 March he had offered to serve as D's private secretary if D became foreign secretary, and on 8 March he had written: 'I have not forgotten those kind 8c flattering words, with which you cheered me, when you were here. I would now remind you of them, as my excuse for asking whether you think it possible that, during the coming elections, any opportunity will be offered to me.' He also asked for 'practical information ... to guide my financial arrangements.' On 11 March he had written: 'Your letter [not found] arrived this morning & I have lost no time in taking steps to comply with your injunction. Lord Cowley has written to Ld. Clarendon to ask him to grant me leave of absence. The answer will be favourable, of course, & I shall be in London on Saturday morning ... Pray let me assure you, once more, of my gratitude, affection and devotion.' H B/XX/E/12-15. Ralph Anstruther Earle (1835-1879) was attache to the British embassy in Paris 1854-8, D's private secretary 1858-66, Conservative MP for Berwick 1859, f°r Maldon 1865-8, secretary to the poor law board 1866-7. He undertook secret missions from D to Napoleon III in 1858 and 1860, and in 1866 negotiated with the disaffected Liberal 'Adullamites' who assisted the Conservative return to power. Furiously jealous in 1867 over D's transfer of confidence to Montagu Cony, his new secretary, he attacked I) in the House, effectively ending his own political career. 1 The Ds had returned to England on 17 January, as MA had told SBW in her letter of 4 February. RTC [301Q]. On 21 March parliament had been prorogued (until 30 April) and then dissolved. Hansard GXLIV col 2482.
29
This / is the tenth time, that I have stood upon the Hustings, & it is the first, that I have been «p unopposed.2 You, also, in Devonshire, are not very tranquil. Buller & Palk in the South tranquil undisturbed, / but Lady Rolle, in the North, seems in a great bustle, &, I fear, somewhat in a mess.3 When all the hubbub is over, & men have melted down to their right position in the new Parliament, I suspect / it will be found, that there is little difference in the relative strength & influence of parties; & that the same situation will be reproduced. Identical elements, in due time, will produce / the same results. However a man must be very prescient, who foresees the consequence of 650 popular elections. An election, a play, a race, a speech - to a certain degree, are always a chance. Public appeals made in favor / of a name, 8c not a policy, are convenient, but tk, at the same time, deceptive. A man returned pledged to support Palmerston, really means nothing, for there is always the proper mental reservation, when Palmerston, in his, / the pledger's opinion, is not wrong. It is not like a specific measure, the ballot &c., wh: admits of no shuffling. I think the Boroughs will be about the same; many of the Whig counties, robbed from their lords by the plea of protection, will revert to their natural influences; in Ireland, I think the Government will / suffer greatly, as much as will compensate the Tories for their loss in the English Counties.4 So much for Politics - in wh:, at present, I am obliged to live. You exist, I / hope, among books & flowers, & music. I hope you are well & happy, & that we may soon meet & talk over all that has happened, since we were last together. The / County Election will be, I think, Tuesday week. I hope you got my address. Ever yours, I D.5
2 The opposition in the August 1847 election (see IV is88ni) and the March 1852 election (see VI 225001) was minimal, but D's claim is correct. 3 Sir John Yarde Buller and Lawrence Palk (both Conservative, although Palk had supported Palmerston on 3 March and Buller had been absent) would be returned unopposed for S Devon on 30 March. On 6 April at N Devon, where the incumbent Conservatives had both resigned, James W. Buller (a Liberal requisitioned late to prevent a Conservative sweep and pledging to support Palmerston) would head the poll and Charles H.R. Trefusis (Liberal-Conservative, nephew of Lady Rolle) would narrowly defeat Sir Stafford Northcote (Liberal-Conservative) for the second seat. The Times (19, 21 Mar 1857). See 2929&n6. 4 A total of 654 (243 county and 411 borough) members were elected in the 1857 general election; the Liberals gained 50 seats in England, 3 in Wales, 5 in Scotland, and lost 8 in Ireland, for a majority of 92 (minority of 8 in 1852). BHF139-40. The Times on 8 April tallied that, in England, Wales and Scotland up to that date, the Liberals had gained 28 counties and lost only one, for a net gain of 27 counties. On 30 April it calculated that 170 members in the new parliament had not been in the previous one. For the Conservative party's own figures (showing for one thing a net loss of 23 county seats) and an analysis of the 1857 results see Stewart Conservative Party 339-46. See further SS928&nn5&7 and Z936&ni. 5 SBW on 29 March thanked D for his letter and his 'eloquent convincing address', which she had read in the Press (see 29l6&ph): 'My chief amusement is cultivating roses, and my best companions are of the silent order ...' RTC [3030].
30
TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI
[London, Thursday 27 March 1857] 2Q19
ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/285
COVER: Mrs Disraeli I to be called for EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by MA on the cover: '1857 March 27th'. There is no salutation.
The Telegraph brings 35 nominations, & the Tories have the show of hands in each. Among / these places, Leeds & Portsmouth.1 We have won Carlisle. Our man at the head of the Poll. / Graham: second.2 Lady G. died last night." TO: MARY A N N E DISRAELI
[London, Thursday 27 March 1857] 2Q2O
ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/284
COVER: Mrs Disraeli EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by MA on the cover: '1857 March 27th'. There is no salutation.
At 2 o'ck:
Hertford & Windsor Our men a* at the head of the poll, & looking well.1 TO: [MARY A N N E DISRAELI?]
[London, Saturday 28 March 1857] 2Q21
O R I G I N A L : ROSE [23]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. For the conjectured recipient cfZQig and 2920. Dating: see n i ; evidently this note was written before the second edition of MP appeared on 28 March. Sic: Selwyn.
A great many polls, but so early, that one cannot depend on the final result.
1 Nominations were held in 167 constituencies on 27 March. MP (27 Mar 1857). At the poll at Leeds on 28 March, Robert Hall (1801-1857), a barrister (Lincoln's Inn 1828), recorder of Doncaster 1845, would win the seat he had unsuccessfully contested in 1852; the other seat would be won by a Liberal, who headed the poll. Hall would live only until 26 May and be replaced by another Conservative on 5 June. At Portsmouth, which the Conservatives had not contested since 1837, Sir James Dalrymple Horn Elphinstone (1805-1886), 2nd Bt, would head the poll on 30 March and sit as Liberal-Conservative MP 1857-65, 1868-80, lord of the treasury 1874-80. 2 At Carlisle on this day (27 March), the poll was headed by William Nicholson Hodgson (1807-1876), Conservative MP for Carlisle 1847-52, 1857-9, 1865-8, for E Cumberland 1868-76. Sir James Graham, who had headed the poll in 1852 when both seats were won by Liberals and Hodgson was defeated, was also elected. McCalmont. 3 Lady Graham had been ill and would live only until 25 October; confusion may have arisen from the announcement on 27 March of the death on 24 March of Lady Caroline Graham, an elder sister of 4th Duke of Montrose. MP (27 Mar 1857); Arvel B. Erickson The Public Career of Sir James Graham (1952) 380. 1 On this day (27 March), Sir Walter Minto Townshend Farquhar (1809-1866), 2nd Bt, was returned for Hertford (although not finally at the head of the poll), where both seats had been held by Liberals; he would be Independent Conservative MP for that borough until his death. William Vansittart (1813-1878) was returned at the head of the poll for Windsor, where also both seats had been previously held by Liberals; he would be Liberal Conservative MP for Windsor 1857-65.
31
Our man well at / Leeds: bad at Norwich one in at Liverpool only the promise of Ipswich is good. Cobbold & Selwyn at / the head of the poll, tho' at an early hour. Peacocke bad Ingestre in[;] Fred: Cadogan beaten to pieces. Shrewsbury bad / Maidstone good. No news from Dover. D.1 TO: ELECTORS OF BUCKS
2Q22
[Aylesbury? Tuesday] 31 March 1857
ORIGINAL: PS 709 PUBLICATION HISTORY: BH (4 Apr 185?)
EDITORIAL COMMENT: MA's account entries for 30 March read: 'Monday Railroad to Aylesbury & 2 seats back. 2/6'; and: 'We left G Gate at 2 for Aylesbury to attend the nomination.' H ace. The Ds were both present for the proceedings that began at 10 am on Tuesday 31 March. BH (4 Apr 1857). MA's entry for 6 April reads: 'Monday we left G Gate for Hughenden. Dizzy to the Quarter Sessions first'. Hence it seems unlikely that the Ds went to Hughenden on 31 March after the election, although of course D would use that as his address for this letter.
1 The polls mentioned are for contested ridings all of which had held nominations on 27 March and held polls the next (this) day and/or Monday 30 March. For Leeds see zgig&ni. At Norwich, Sir Samuel Bignold (1791-1875), mayor of Norwich 1833, 1848, 1853, 1872, Conservative MP for Norwich since 1854, would be defeated by a Liberal on 30 March. At Liverpool, where the Conservatives had been reduced to one seat in 1855, Thomas Berry Horsfall (1805-1878), mayor of Liverpool 1847-8, Conservative MP for Derby 1852-3, for Liverpool 1853-68, would retain his seat on the 3Oth; a noon Saturday result showed the other Conservative (Lib-Cons) candidate trailing. A 10:45 om. Saturday tally showed John Chevallier Cobbold (1797-1882), chairman of the Eastern Union and of the Ipswich and Bury St Edmund's Railways, Conservative MP for Ipswich 1847-68, and Henry John Selwin, a first-time Conservative candidate, leading the poll at Ipswich. Cobbold maintained his lead, but Selwin lost to a Liberal on the 28th. Selwin, who would take the additional surname of Ibbetson in 1867 and succeed his father as 7th Bt in 1869, would be Conservative MP for S Essex 1865-8, for w Essex 1868-85, for Epping 1885-92, undersecretary to the home department 1874-8, secretary to the treasury 1878-80. G.M.W. Peacocke lost his seat at Maldon to a Liberal on the 28th. Charles John Chetwynd Talbot (1830-1877), Viscount Ingestre, who in 1868 would succeed as igth Earl of Shrewsbury and 4th Earl Talbot, Conservative MP for Stafford 1857-9, f°r Staffordshire N 1859-65, for Stamford 1868, on the 28th won one of the two seats previously held by Liberals at Stafford, easily defeating Frederick William Cadogan (1821-1904), youngest son of 3rd Earl Cadogan, a barrister (Inner Temple 1847), Liberal MP for Cricklade 1868-74. Also on the 28th, the Liberals took both seats at Shrewsbury, taking one away from the Conservatives. At Maidstone on the 3Oth, both seats would be won from the Liberals by Conservatives. At Dover on the 28th, Liberals won both seats, one of which had been held by a Conservative; a 10:45 ®m Saturday report showed the Liberals holding substantial leads. MP (27, 28 Mar 1857).
32
Hughenden Manor, I gist March, 1857. TO THE ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM. GENTLEMEN, I BEG to RETURN YOU MY SINCERE THANKS for the great honor you have conferred upon me, by returning me, for the fourth time, to Parliament as your Representative. I hope, by a faithful discharge of my public duties and an earnest attention to your local Interests, to merit the proud position in which you have placed me. I have the honour to remain, I GENTLEMEN I Your obliged and faithful Servant, I B. DISRAELI TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
[London] Wednesday [i April 1857] 29^3
ORIGINAL.: RTC [63] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'Ap i. 1857'. There is no salutation. Dating: see ni. For place of origin r/2922ec.
Wednesday You will be glad to hear, that I was returned, yesterday, with great eclat, for the / County of Bucks, a bloodless victory, but not less a triumph. 1 Yrs ever, I D. TO: BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ
Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 3 April 1857 29^4
ORIGINAL: PS 635 P U B L I C A T I O N HISTORY: Der Verlag Bern hard Tauchnitz l83/-igi2 (Leipzig 1912) 83
Grosvenor Gate, April 3rd, 1857. I have been much on the Continent during the last year, and have found great and frequent complaints of the omission of many of my works in the reprints which you have published of those productions. I have often intended to write to you on the subject, but the great pressure of affairs has always prevented me ... Probably the fault is mine, as I ought, perhaps, to have furnished you, as heretofore, with corrected copies, but the Revolution of 1848 seemed to terminate these literary speculations and since then I have always been too busy ... The works omitted are some of those most eagerly sought at home ...'
1 At Aylesbury on 31 March after the nomination of the incumbents for the three seats (D had been nominated by Col Hanmer and seconded by John Newman), the three candidates had been declared elected by acclamation. «// (4 Apr 1857). 1 Tauchnitz wrote more than a year later, on 12 August 1858, referring to this letter. He was confused by 'the interference of a third person,' William Lovell, who had written to him twice about the republication of some of D's books; he offered to republish Venetia (for his purchase of the continental rights to it in 1838 see IV I363ni). Evidently Lovell was acting as D's literary agent, in March 1858 reporting offers from two publishers for the copyright of D's works rumoured as being for sale, and that he had threatened proceedings against Bryce, 'who holds back from delivering the rest of the copies.' H E/VLl/J/4, R/III/B/5-6. For D'S dealings with Bryce see VI 258onl. Tauchnitz, who had published an edition of Tanrred in 1847, would publish editions of Venetia in 1858 and of Vivian Grey and Henrietta Temple in 1859. William B. Todd Tauchnitz International Editions in English 1841-1955: A Bibliographical History (New York 1988)
33
2925 TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[Hughenden] Sunday 12 [April] 1857
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY/C/2165 [43] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see nni-3.
Sir Wm. H. Jolliffe I Bart: M.P. Sunday 12. 1857 My dear Jolliffe, I fear the affair is hopeless - I return the letters. I shall not write to Knowsley, for I know nothing to ask advice about. All we / can do, is to be silent, & watch events. My impression is, that Ld. John will approve of E. D[enison], & if so, all is up.1 After tomorrow, write to me at Norman Court Stockbridge - Thos: Baring's, where we go on a visit, Tuesday.2 I hope Taylor is safe - the Irish Elections make me very nervous[.]3 Our love to all, I Yours ever, I D. SQ^G
TO: HENRY PAD WICK
Hughenden, Sunday 12 April 1857
ORIGINAL: BRN [6l]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'.
Private Sunday 12. Ap. 1857 Henry Padwick I Esqr My dear Sir, Your letter was much appreciated. I had previously seen your bulletin, posted up in the Hall of the Carlton. I am of opinion, that we owe the / seat entirely to your exertions & influence, & I have mentioned this in the proper quarter.1 I do not wish to conceal, that I am disappointed about your own case, but I am resolved, that it shall be accomplished.2 After tomorrow, / if you have any cause to write, direct to me 1 Jolliffe had written on 10 April about the Speakership (see 2914). Walpole badly wanted it, but Jolliffe had learned that Russell favoured Evelyn Denison. He enclosed letters on the subject from Isabella Walpole (Walpole's wife; see also app I 2774X&ni) and Henry Drummond, and suggested D write to Derby at Knowsley on the matter. H B/XX/J/44. See further 2934&n2. Denison would be elected Speaker on 30 April. 2 Baring had written to MA on 6 April reminding her that D had long ago promised him a visit. H D/III/ C/26. The Ds would return to Hughenden from Norman Court on 18 April. H ace. 3 T.E. Taylor (assistant party whip) would be one of two Conservatives returned for Dublin co on 16 April. G.A. Hamilton (the other assistant whip) on 22 April would tell D that Taylor 'was much gratified' by D's letter (not found) to him. H B/XX/H/61. Rose on 18 April would write to D: 'All our elections excepting Leitrim are over and I hope you are satisfied with the result. Ireland has quite answered our expectations ..." H R/I/B/29. See Stewart Conservative Party 340, which shows that in 1857 the Conservatives (according to their party managers) elected 260 members, gaining 5 seats in Ireland although sustaining a net loss of 20 seats overall; Stewart comments (341): 'the losses of 1857 cut most deeply into the fringe of the party.' ty29l8&n4 and 2928&n5. 1 Padwick's letter has not been found; presumably he had been active in the election at Horsham (his home constituency), in which W.R.S. Fitzgerald (Lib-Cons) on 28 March had defeated the Liberal candidate 173-117. 2 Padwick may have tried to be made a magistrate; see 3242. Alternatively, he may have tried to find a constituency in which to stand for election; he would be an unsuccessful candidate in 1859.
34
Norman Court Stockb ridge, as we go on a visit to Mr. Thomas Baring on Tuesday. I shall be in town / towards the end of the month, when I shall hope to see you on several points, both public & private. Yours sincerely, I D. Lord V[illiers] writes to me that Mrs. Edmonds is at Paris!3 TO: LORD HENRY L E N N O X
[Hughenden, Sunday] 12 April 1857 2Q2*J
ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R143-1200]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a handwritten note headed: 'Apr. 12. 57 D. to Ld Henry Lennox'.
Then to G.G., eventful G.G.! What will happen then & there?1 TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[Hughenden, Monday] 13 April 1857 2Q28
ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/367 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Blake 375, extract dated 13 April [1857] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: via; Boro's; get in time.
April 13 1857. My dear Sa, I am happy to hear of what has happened to you, tho' I think you deserved much more - however, it is well.1 What tidings of your invalid? about whom I am very anxious.2 3 The notorious Mrs Edmonds (for whom see IV isogna) was evidently one of Francis Villiers's creditors; see VI 284Oni and 28sini. Lady Jersey in October 1862 would ask D what she is to do with the papers involving her, on 23 October asking 'Shall I burn all letters of 1855 - Mrs. Edmunds [sic] included ...[?]' H A/IV/J/225, 227. Lord Villiers's letter has not been found. 1 Lennox, who had been returned unopposed for one of the two seats at Chichester on 27 March, had written on 'Sunday' (postmarked 5 April 1857 at Chichester): '... I cannot resist writing one line, just now, when matters appear to be going so very badly; to renew the expression of my hommage [sic] to you & your service &: my ardent hopes that something more cheery may turn up ... What a perfect Inkermann has the Dissolution proved ...' He reported that his father hoped that D and Derby would counter any government reform proposal 'with a raider, £5 instead of £10 in Counties.' H B/XX/LX/Sg. Evidently in his response D told of his round of county visits before the session resumed on 30 April. 1 Sarah had written to MA from St Leonards on 9 April of the death on 'Tuesday' of her 'kind & faithful friend' Mrs Meredith. On 10 April ('Good Friday') she wrote of having just learned that Mrs Meredith had left her £2,000: 'I know it will please Dis ... - the magnitude of the amount quite surprises me ...' H D/Ill/A/4i7-i8. Mrs Meredith's son William, who died in 1831, had been Sarah's fiance. 2 See 2899&nl and 2gi4&m. On 23 March Sarah had written to MA: 'The Doctor here who is reckoned very skilful assures us our patient is stronger, but she varies so much that 1 never know what to say ..." On 21 April she would write again: '... these two days my charge has been out in an open carriage, & if the cough be not increased by it, 1 shall believe that at last she has made an advance ... Isabella desires me to offer her kind regards with love to Dis ...' On 24 April she would report that Isabella had that day given birth to a daughter, two months prematurely: '... the doctor assures us she is doing perfectly well - the child is naturally a poor thing ..." A telegraphed message had brought James and a nurse by i o'clock '- a great relief to me ..." On the 27th she reported that Isabella was doing well, although the baby had not lived long, Sarah would regularly send mostly favourable reports from St Leonards, until 17 June, when it was evident Isabella was dying. On 2Ojune she would inform the Ds that Isabella had died that morning. H I)/III/A/4iri. 419-28. See further 2943&nl.
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We go tomorrow to Norman Court on a visit to Tom Baring. I / cd. not stand the agitation of changing my line four times across country, wh: you do so coolly, & therefore we go via Paddington, & shall just get in time for Waterloo Bridge.3 In another week we have to pay some county visits in the north: the Pauncefort Duncombes, Hanmers, Chester &c., the result of the general Election.4 I am not at all dissatisfied with the new Parliamt. The total destruction / of sections, & of conceited individuals, will render the state of the New Ho: of Commons much more wholesome, & tho' nominally the Conservative party may be a little lessened, still whenever a due occasion offers, I think we shall bring a greater force into the field than heretofore. In the last Parlt., we had 280 on our muster roll, but when the hour of battle arrived, cd. never count on more than 22O; the rest away, or / against us - now, Jolliffe tells me, I have 260 true men, fresh & not jaded with the mortifying traditions of the last parliament. I don't think Palmn's name really carried a single vote. In the Boro's for a Tory oppos[iti]on, we were really successful in many great seats, & only lost four on the whole. As for the Counties, Protection being dead, they returned to their natural influences as was always foreseen. In Ireland, the Govt. was positively unpopular.5 It is a great thing also, irrespective of the Peelites, to have got rid of Deedes & Co.6 - & in little matters, Sampson & W. W. the latter the most offensively conceited fellow, that ever obtruded himself.7 Yours affly I D.
3 See 2914111 and 2Q25&n2. The Ds on 14 April would take the Great Western Railway from Wycombe to Paddington, then a four-shilling cab ride to Waterloo, and there the South Western Railway to Winchester, 8'/2 miles from Stockbridge. H ace. 4 The Ds would visit the Pauncefort Duncombes 21-25 April, returning to Hughenden. H ace. Philip Duncombe Pauncefort Duncombe (1818-1890), 1st Bt (1859), of Great Brickhill Manor, Bucks, JP and DL, in 1844 had married Sophia Caroline Maunsell (d 1889), youngest daughter of Col Thomas Philip Maunsell MP, of Thorpe Malsor, Northants. Col Hanmer on 2O April would repeat his invitation of 23 March to visit his wife and him at Stockgrove, suggesting the end of the following week (2-3 May). H B/XXI/H/135-6. The visit to the Chesters would be postponed; see further 29388011. 5 See 29l8&n4 and 2Q25&n3; see also the analysis in Robert Blake The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill (1970) 46. On 4 April, the Press had crowed that 'the Peelites are completely extinguished ... [and] the rout of the [Anti-Corn Law] League party and of the Administrative Reformers has not been less signal ...' It argued that parliament was now polarized between Conservatives and Radicals, with the former probably in the majority. For an analysis of the Peelite decline from 89 in 1847 to 26 in 1857 (the last election in which they would be a distinct group), see Robert Blake op tit 96. D's analysis of the election would be repeated in the Press's lead article on 18 April, when Northants S and Norfolk E would be cited as examples of counties in which, 'when there is no stirring political question before the public mind, ... traditional names and territorial influences must command success.' 6 Wm Deedes, an ultra-Protestant, had been defeated at E Kent, but would be re-elected there in December. In his 5 April letter (see 2927ni), Lennox had listed Deedes with Lord Wm Cholmondeley (retired, Hampshire S), Lord George Manners (defeated at Cambridgeshire) and Sir Wm Bowyer-Smijth (defeated at Essex S) as losses he would not regret. 7 There was no MP named 'Sampson' in D's time; the reference may be to Samson Ricardo (1792-1862), brother of David Ricardo, who on 27 March 1857 had been defeated at Windsor, where he had been first elected Liberal MP in 1855. The only 'W.W.' to suffer defeat in 1857 was William Wells (1818-1889), grandson of 1st Earl of Carysport and son-in-law of 8th Earl of Wemyss, 1st Life Guards 1839-43, JP and DL for Kent and Huntingdonshire, Liberal MP for Beverley 1852-7, for Peterborough 1868-74. Ricardo never spoke in the House, and Wells up to this time had spoken only once.
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TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Hughenden [Monday] 13 April 1857 ^9^9
ORIGINAL: RTC [64]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 76, dated at Hughenden 13 April 1857; Blake 375, extract dated 13 April [1857] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. There is no salutation. Sic: Lipscombe.
April 13. 1857 I thought you might like to have a little line from Hughenden Manor, after all this tumult, from wh: we are just recovering. I am, by no means, dissatisfied / by the results of the general Election, strange & startling as they have been. They realize what I foretold: we shall, now, have a House of Commons with two parties & with definite opinions. All the sections, / all the conceited individuals, who were, what they styled themselves, "independent," have been swept away, erased, obliterated, expunged. The state of affairs wkr will be / much more wholesome, & more agreeable. The Conservative party have got thro' the ordeal very well. Tho' numerically a little lessened, they are much more compact & united, & even as regards numbers, when a due occasion offers, will bring a / larger force into the field, than in the last Parliament. Altho' we had then 280 & more on the muster roll, still when the hour of battle arrived, we never cd. count on more than 22O, the rest absent, or worse, against us. Now we have, / I am assured by Sir William Jolliffe, the Chief of my staff, 260 good men & true, fresh & not jaded by the mortifying traditions of the last Parliament. Enough of all this. How are you, & your sweet & silent companions, roses &: / violets?1 We were nearly paying you a visit, but must postpone it for a while, to go thro' a series of County visits wh: are the inevitable consequence of a general Election, & being returned Knight of the Shire. Tomorrow we go to Norman Court, / Mr Thomas Baring's, for two or three days, long promised, &: then to the North of this County, to the Pauncefort Duncombes of Brickhill Manor, who proposed me in 1847,2 & then to Colonel Hanmer of Stockgrove Park, who proposed me in 1857 - then to the Chesters of Chicheley, & to the Lovetts / of Lipscombe,3 & the Dayrells of Lillingstone Dayrell,4 & a great many more, all of whom, by their ancestors, came in with the Conqueror, tho' Colonel Hanmer had an ancestor, or something like one, I find much more interesting, for / he married a Miss Ximenes, a descendant of Cardinal X, & yet a daughter of Israel notwithstanding, so I think he must have been quite gratified proposing me as member for Bucks.5 1 See 29l8n5. 2 In 1847 D's proposer had been Philip Dauncey; see IV 157?n3. Pauncefort Duncombe had proposed him in 1852; see VI 225001. 3 Phillips Cosby Lovett (1821-1891), who inherited the Liscombe estate in Bucks in 1856, JP, DL, high sheriff 1863, at one time captain of the Royal Bucks Yeomanry, in 1846 had married Catherine Smithwick, daughter of Peter Smithwick, of Barranlough, co Tipperary. D's spelling of the estate's name may be explained by the fact thai 'there is a plate of Liscombe House in Lipscomb's History of Buckinghamshire.' Sheahan 750. 4 E.F. Dayrell (see IV 1557ni) in 1823 had married Letitia Jane Lyster, daughter of William Lyster, of Belmont, co Wexford. 5 Col Hanmer in 1815 had married Sarah Ximenes, only daughter of Sir Moris Ximenes, Kt (1806), of
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I have had some terribly / agitated letters from Lady Rolle with respect to the Devon Election. It seems to me, that notwithstanding her great confidence, that Trefusis wd. come in at the head of the Poll, the boy was in great danger / of not coming in at all, & only succeeded by throwing over his intended colleague.6 This letter ends, as it began, by elections - such is the catching vein, or "spirit of the times", as they call it. Ever yrs, I D. 293O
TO: THOMAS OUSELEY
Hughenden [Monday] 20 April 185?
ORIGINAL: QUA 142
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'.
Private April 20, 1857 1 TJ. Ouseley I Esqr My dear Sir, I am sorry to hear, that the Doctor is abusing me - for his own sake. The market is so overstocked with that article, that I shd. hardly think its production / would pay.2 As for persons asking me for places when I was in office, allow me to say, that I have no recollection of anything, wh: took place then, except where the public interests / were concerned. On one subject, however, I can be more positive, the pleasure I feel at hearing you are well & prosperous. Honesty, courage, & perseverance, entitle you to be successful. Believe / me, I dear Sir, I Yours faithfully, I B. Disraeli
Bear Place, Berks, sheriff of Berks. Francisco Jimenes (or Ximenes) de Cisneros (1436-1517) was created cardinal in 1507 and appointed regent of Spain in 1516. Dod's Peerage... (1842) in its entry for Sir David Ximenes KCH, of Bear Ash, Berks, states: 'the family is descended from Jean Ximenes (bro. of Cardinal Ximenes, regent of Spain), and settled in England about 100 years ago.' 6 See 29i8&n3. Lady Rolle's correspondence has not been found. 1 T.J. Ouseley, one of D's staunch press supporters at Shrewsbury (see IV I372ni), had written on 19 January 1856 from the '"Herald" Office, 12 Parker St, Liverpool': 'I forward you by this post a New Paper I have started in this great maritime town. You will find your name mentioned in two of the leading articles ... I hope if the paper prospers to do some good service to the great National Cause you so ably champion, & trust soon to see you the Leader of this Country.' H B/XXI/O/71. Neither the letter to which D is here replying, nor any Liverpool newspaper started by Ouseley, has been found. 2 The 'Doctor' has not been identified; see, however, V 1948&nQ. D.O. Maddyn, writing on 21 April in place of the ill Coulton (who would live only a few more weeks) for advice on the line to be pursued in the Press on the resumption of the session, would mention some of the assaults on D and the Conservatives: 'The political article in the Edin: Review looks like the composition of Mr. [Robert] Lowe [confirmed by Wellesley Index I 506 #2344]. The Times of today reprints an extremely gross passage from the intensely personal Punch, and I havt little doubt, but that the Liberals will use up the press in all directions against the Conservative Party. Their cry will be "We have the country with us - look to our majority - trust the public press &c."' H B/V1/255.
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TO: WILLIAM W.F. H U M E
[Hughenden, Monday] 20 April 1857 293*
ORIG1NAL: BRN [15]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'B.D. '57'.
W.F. Hume Esq I M. P. April 20. 1857. Dear Hume, I must steal a moment, from the pressure of affairs, to congratulate you on your return, & under such triumphant / circumstances. The Irish elections went well; but neither Countv nor Borough, in the sister isle, sent a stauncher supporter of sound principles, or a more valuable Member of / Parliament, than yourself.1 Yours very sincerely, I B. Disraeli TO: LORD DERBY
Hughenden [Tuesday] 21 April 1857
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 lRl-83] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B rv 78-80, dated at Hughenden, 21 April 1857, the second and third paragraphs and the last paragraph before the signature omitted; M&B IV 81, short extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Disraeli B. Ansd '. In the third paragraph, D has drawn the dash over the comma. Sic: [D's arithmetic]; M.P.; Sess:: [double colons]; having only two members.
Confidential April 21. 1857 The I Earl of Derby My dear Lord, I hope you have quite recovered. I found my papers, here, about the New Reform Bill talked of in 1853,1 & they give rise, at this moment, to very grave considerations. Here is the great result, to be modified by the / last census, I apprehend, - but I am not sure. Eng: Counties return MPs to Population H4 - 9,777-210 = i .. 67,883x D[itt]o Boro[ugh]s 319 .. 7,144.678 = i .. 22,384.x Or if a million be transferred for unrepresented towns Counties 144 8,777.210 - i .. 60,869 Boros 319 8,144,678 = i .. 25,535 Then / as to the Electoral Bodv:
1 William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Hume (1805-1892), who assumed the surname Dick instead of Hume in 1864, of Humewood, co Wicklow, JP and DL for Wicklow, high sheriff 1844, Conservative MP for co Wicklow 1852-80, had been re-elected on 16 April. The result was included in a list of final polls from Ireland in the Press on 18 April. At the nomination, Hume had lost the show of hands to Capt Richard Monck (mistakenly listed in the later tally and in McCalmont as C.S. Monck), a well-connected wounded war veteran, but had then defeated Monck at the polls 1610-1030 after Lord Milton (the Liberal MP who headed the poll) denied that there was a coalition between himself and Monck and declared his tenants free to vote as they pleased. The Times (4, 8, 10, 11, 16 Apr 1857). Hume was particularly 'valuable' to the party as the designated heir (after his mother's death) to the estates (valued at £2-3 million) of his ailing uncle, Quintin Dick, who would live only until March 1858; his mother died in 1864. 1 See XT 2555&ni and 2574&nn6&7.
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2Q$2
Regd El[ect]ors Counties 144 .. 482,774 = i •• 3,352 Boros 319 .. 389,722 = i •• 1,234 This also includes the large constituencies of the metropolitan Boros - without them, the case would be still more striking. Add to Boro' constituencies, for the unrepresented towns, 1/18 of the population (the average proportion) / or 55,674 voters, & it wd. run thus: Counties : 482,774 Boros : 445,396 Proportion of M.P. for Counties to Boros according to population should be - about 19:14. Transferring the million 18:16 according / to Electors, should be largVz With 1,000,000 Transfer. 12:11. Actual proportion 144:319 = 7:16 or less than 1:2 I wish you wd. think over this state of things very much. As Conservatives, it was not for us to disturb the setdement of / 1832 - but that settlement is disturbed, &, so far as "true reformers" are concerned, is to be disturbed in a sense still more unjust, than the existing arrangement. I don't think the country, dinned to death with the unjust representation of large towns compared with small ones, has the slightest idea of the real state of affairs: & nothing but discussion in Parliament, in an authoritative manner, can enlighten them. / I suggest to you, whether a juster apportionment of M.Ps may not be the question ef- on wh: a powerful & enduring party may not be established: whether we shd. not at once originate such a discussion: by a resolution something like the following (or by other means) "That in the opinion of this House in all measures for improving the representation of the Commons in Parliament, it is expedient that there shd. be a juster apportionment of members / to Counties & Boros, than at present exists": whether a notice of "a resolution, on the subject of Parliamentary Reform", shd. not be given the first night of the Sess:: and that, whether the Queen's speech refers to the subject or not: In either case, it might convey to the Government the / spirit in wh: we wish the Reform should take place, & prove the strength of the Conservative view on the subject: Also consider, whether a reform, in such a spirit, wd. not be extremely beneficial to the Conservative party, as the present arrangement, wh: leaves the balance of power in small Boros, wh: are ruled / by cliques of Dissenters, seems fatal to the maintenance of the present aristocratic & ecclesiastical institutions.
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I think it highly inexpedient, that, if such a motion is made, we shd. at all meddle, at present, with the question of the suffrage - we shd. confine ourselves to the point expressed in the resolution. / But the question of the suffrage may be dealt with extensively, but in an eminent[ly] conservative manner. If fifty members were added to the Counties, by tak reducing the small Boros to one member - & every ten pound householder in the County population were annexed to a Boro constituency, you would [illegible deletion] add much to the Constituency of the Boroughs - & / greatly increase the Conservative power at the same time. There are 10,000 other things to say, but I have roughly jotted down these materials for reflection - our party is now a corpse, but if- it appears to me, that, in the present perplexed state of affairs, a conservative public pledged to parliamentary reform, a bold & decided course, / might not only put us on our legs, but greatly help the country &c serve the state. But I am for beginning mildly - in a conciliatory spirit - giving the governmt. credit for justice & patriotism, & placing our case before them, that they & Parliamt may not otherwise become pledged / to a further development of the present unjust & injurious system. I hope you will be able to make out this conversational despatch. Yours ever, I D. Remember the great effect produced by statements wh: I made in H. of C. in 1852, (on / Hume's motion for Parity reform, i.e. giving more members to great towns, & disfranchising small ones) as to the injustice of counties like N. Lincolnshire] &c with 2, or 300,000 inhabitants, exclusive of represent[ativ]e town population, having only two members when a City or Boro', with 2O, or 30,000 inhabitants, had the same number. 2 Ld. J.R., -p- when he introduced his R Bill in 1853-43 referred to this view of the case, & acknowledged its justice. The more extensive view appears still more telling.4 TO: MESSRS BURLEY AND CARLISLE [Hughenden, Tuesday] 21 April 1857 ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [27]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the second page: 'Right Honrble. B. Disraeli I 21 April 1857 '.
Messrs I Burley & Carlisle April 21. 1857 Gentlemen, I have had great trouble in the business, on wh: you have corresponded with me;
2 See VI 2262&n i. 3 See VI 263l&m. 4 Derby replied on 24 April from Knowsley; for much of the text see M&B IV 80-1. With their own party 'in a state of suspended animation,' Derby thought they must encourage Palmerston-supporting Conservatives and avoid attacking the government. He agreed with D's analysis of the figures, but felt there would be no reform bill in that session. Any hint of reform must wait until after the budget. H B/XX/S/148.
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2Q33
but when I return to town, / wh: will be very shortly, I will intimate to you, personally, the course, wh:, on the whole, appears to me the most advisable to pursue.1 Yours faithfully, I B. Disraeli 2934
TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[Hughenden] Sunday 26 April 1857
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY/C/2165 [41]
Sir W.H. Jolliffe I Bart: M.P. Sunday Apl. 26.57 My dear Jolliffe On my return, last night, from some visits in the North of the County,1 I found the enclosed from Walpole without / comment. You know much more about this matter than I do, or can; but, so far, as I can judge, there would be no difficulty in yr assuring Hayter tomorrow, that it / would be unnecessary to trouble his friends. Yours ever, I D. I heard from Ld. Derby yesterday on general matters: incidentally he speaks of the affair writes of the Speakership, & in the same vein.2 T.O./ 3 Can you tell me at what hour the House meets on Thursday?
2935 T0: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[Hughenden] Wednesday 29 April [1857]
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY/C/2165 [93]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see nni-3.
Private Wednesday Ap. 29 Sir W.H. Jolliffe Bart: I M.P. My dear Jolliffe I am annoyed, but much more astonished, to hear from you, that Walpole is disappointed, & perhaps angry with his friends from their assumed lukewarmness about the Speakership. I am sure, / that all, that zeal & judgment cd. effect on his behalf, by yr. influential means, was completely put in play.1 With regard to myself, I have no hesitation in saying that the result of my obser-
1 For the Villiers affair see VI index; for the specific matter of Villiers's Ceylon estate, the 'business' to which D is here referring, see VI 284O&m and, in this volume, 2942&m. 1 See 2928&nn3-4 and 2929&nn2-52 See 2925&H1 on the Speakership, which Walpole badly wanted. Derby had written on 24 April (see 2932n4): 'I am afraid we can do nothing for Walpole, and I hear our men are not unanimous even in his favour.' The Press on 25 April had strongly preferred Walpole to Denison. Also on 25 April, Hamilton had urged D not to bring the matter to a vote: '... if we give them the advantage of their numbers on one or two occasions - beginning with the appointment of Speaker - our party will melt away, and theirs be consolidated, till their nominal majority becomes a real one ..." H B/XX/H/62. Jolliffe replied on Tuesday' from London: 'Perhaps I had better say nothing to Hayter [the parliamentary secretary], or it may be called settling the matter out of the House, which I think they have been, most improperly, attempting to do ... Walpole is greatly disappointed, and thinks more might have been done by his political Friends to put him forward, and is therefore I fear angry with us all.' H B/XX/J/5O. See further 2935n3. 3 Jolliffe replied (n2): 'The hour on Thursday is, I believe, four oClock.' He was wrong; see 2936n2. 1 See 2934n2 for Jolliffe's letter of 28 April.
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vation & enquiry was, that if we had brought him forward, we should have / been defeated by a majority of not less than 140. This wd have been deeply mortifying to him, but to us, it wd. have been annihilation. Our party is in a most delicate position, & altho' its essential strength has carried it thro' the late trial with marvellous fair fortune, all / things considered, the hearts & humors of the very people, who supported us in the country, are not very sunny towards us at this moment, & it requires the utmost forbearance, vigilance, & tact, to bring things round to the healthy position of 1850 or even 1854. I am sure that the commencement of the new campaign by / an attempt to deprive Palmerston of his Speaker would have finished us for this year, &, I think, a much longer time. It is useless to conceal it from ourselves, that the people of England have not forgiven, &, probably, never will forgive, the shrinking from responsibility in the spring of 1855: all their / other causes of complaint are mere pretexts & ill humor. This is the root of all evil, & it is a very deep one. They hate the Peelites, but us they . Had a vacancy in the Chair occurred in the last Parliamt, I always thought with tact & combination, Walpole might have / had a chance. Altho' there was a considerable party among our own men, who preferred Thesiger, I have no doubt we cd. have effected unanimity in favor of Walpole, & this, with the help of the defunct sections, Peelites & Leaguers, & perhaps of Johnny in the event / of an unpopular mongrel like Fitz-roy2 being put forward, might have accomplished our purpose - but Lord Eversley, who humbugged Walpole as he humbugged H Fitzroy, was was b too wide awake for that. He took care to leave his chair to a Whig, & to the Whig, who, if I remember right, was his original proposer[.]3 Yours ever, I D. TO: LADY L O N D O N D E R R Y
[Hughenden, Wednesday] 29 April 1857 293^
ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [112] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 158-61, dated at Hughenden 29 April 1857; M&B IV 77, dated at Hughenden 29 April 1857, the first three and the last paragraphs omitted; Blake 279 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: recal.
April 29. 185? Dear Lady, I have been intending, & wishing, to write to you - almost four months - but events have been so great, so rapid, so doubtful as to their result, & still so / ambiguous as to their character, that I have found myself shrink from attempts to convey, with any satisfaction & precision, my views & feelings. All private & personal affairs seemed so / petty in the comparison, that they did not seem worthy of yr acceptance; indeed, in my life, such incidents & impressions are apt to disappear amid the tumult & throes of political confusion. A / meeting of Parliament, a Queens speech & banquetting, a month of unceas-
2 Fitzroy, originally a Tory and then a Peelite, had retained his seat for Lewes as a Liberal in the recent election. 3 Shaw-Lefevre had been elevated to the Lords as Viscount Eversley on his retirement as Speaker; he had in 1839 been proposed by Henry Handley, not by Denison. MP (28 May 1839).
43
ing debating, a Government outvoted, a dissolution, a new speaker, another Queen's speech - new faces, new parties, a complete revolution of persons - & all in less / than three months!1 Tomorrow, I go up, but only for the morning, to see the Speaker chosen.2 There are many heartburnings as to the Selection - some on my side - among the opposite, yr. old friend Henry Fitzroy. You wou'd be amused by the visits we have been paying to some of my principal / supporters in the north of this county during the last few weeks: people you never heard of before, yet living with a refinement & splendor quite remarkable. Nothing more striking, than some of yr. English gentry with chateaux, parks, & broad domains; greater men by a good deal, than many German Princes, & yet / utterly unknown in London society - among these one of our greatest Bucks Squires, a Mr. Pauncefort Buncombe, whose home was really radiant, & contrasted very much with Woburn Abbey, wh: he took us over to see; larger, but the most gloomy & squalid palace that you can conceive.3 One / day we went to see Mentmore, wh: one of the Rothschilds is building or rather has built in the midst of the Vale of Aylesbury - a hunting palace, wh: will be to this county, what Belvoir is to the vale of that name. But all that even you can recal or fancy of interior taste, splendor, & magnificence 8c curiosity of art, can give you only a faint idea of the reality of this gorgeous palace. I have / been told, for more than fifteen years, Rothsd. has had agents in every part of Europe, regardless of cost, collecting its contents - but the taste of their distribution is as remarkable as their curiosity & costliness. The Hall appears to me the masterpiece of modern art & decoration - glowing with color, lit by gorgeous Venetian lamps of golden filagree, that / once were at the head of Bucentaurs. Such chairs - Titian alone cd. paint them - such clocks of lapis lazuli - such cabinets of all forms & colors - such marble busts of turbaned Moors - such a staircase of polished marble from this vast central saloon, for such it really is, glittering with its precious contents, & yet the most / comfortable & liveable in apartment in the world.4 1 According to the Press (18 Apr 1857), the new parliament had 186 new members, 66 Conservatives and 120 Liberals replacing 94 and 92 respectively (cf 2918114); the swearing-in ceremonies would occupy the House 2-6 May, and the Queen's speech would be read by the lord chancellor on 7 May, D refusing even to have a meeting of party leaders to discuss it. Malmesbury II 69 (2 May 1857); M&B IV 82 (4 May 1857). 2 The Ds went to Grosvenor Gate on 30 April and returned to Hughenden 1-6 May. H ace. However, D missed the unopposed selection of J.E. Denison as speaker because of Jolliffe's mistake about the hour (see 2934n3; members had been summoned for 2 o'clock and the business was concluded by 3 o'clock), and it fell to Walpole, one of the disappointed aspirants for the Speakership, to explain D's absence and extend his party's congratulations to Denison. Hansard CXLV cols 4-11; The Times (l May 1857). Punch on 9 May would facetiously remark that D had been deliberately absent to give Walpole a chance to do 'a pleasant thing'. 3 Great Brickhill Manor, built by E.B. Lamb, is now demolished. Woburn Abbey, seat of the Dukes of Bedford on the site of a Cistercian abbey near Leighton Buzzard and largely rebuilt in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is now a major entertainment centre. Furtado 214. 4 Baron Meyer Amschel de Rothschild had built Mentmore Towers near Leighton Buzzard in 1855; designed by Joseph Paxton in Jacobean style with interiors in the 'Versailles' and 'Italian palazzo' styles and a huge central hall with plate-glass doors and windows. Mentmore did become a famous English hunt; the pack, however, were staghounds while the Belvoir were foxhounds. Roger Longrigg The English Squire and His Sport (1977) 229. Mentmore until recently was the headquarters of the Maharishi University of Natural Law. Furtado 150.
44
I suppose your flag will soon wave at Holdernesse - I leave this place with little relish for a second campaign - but I suppose we shall be at Grosvenor Gate in a week. May we meet soon, & may I / find you as well, & as well looking, as when I last kissed your hand by yr gracious permission[.] Yours ever, I D. TO: SIR FITZROY KELLY
House of Commons [Wednesday] 13 May 1857
2Q37
ORIGINAL: MJR [l]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the seal of the House of Commons. Endorsed in another hand after D's signature: 'The Hon B. D'Israeli'.
Private May 13. 1857. Sir F. Kelly I M.P My dear Kelly, I counted on seeing you in the House. I have no direct means of communication with the / managers of the Journal in question, but I forwarded your letter to a gentleman, who has that opportunity, & who, I have no doubt, / will pay the utmost attention to any suggestion from you.1 Yours sincerely, I D.
TO: ANTHONY CHESTER
House of Commons, Thursday [14 May 1857] 293^
ORIGINAL: HAT [l]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the seal of the House of Commons. Dating: see ni.
Revd I Anthony Chester Thursday Va pt 6. My dear Chester, 2Oth. is the day fixed, & I am told the "very latest" that cd. be arranged. It / makes me leave, & return to, London the same day,1 &, therefore, prevents me shaking 1 Kelly, who in 1853 nad given £500 in support of the Press (see VI 25O2n2), may have been one of those party members increasingly inclined to give up on the Press and instead try to start another paper or take over MH, in which case the 'gentleman' may have been G.A. Hamilton; see 2997&n2. Rose, another possibility, on 18 April (see 2925n3) had written: T am in active communication with Lord Malmesbury as to a daily organ price 2d. which I hope will come out on the day the Queen's Speech is read. In addition to the objects of the party which it will be designed to serve I hope to make it effectually aid yours in regard to the financial position of the P.' On 20 October 1857 he would write: 'I had a long interview with Sir F. Kelly yesterday. He has not seen the P's at present but intimates there will be no difficulty in their doing something, whether to the extent formerly indicated or to the half only must depend upon the state of their Exchequer which is not very flourishing, owing to their having hitherto declined to accept the pension of £150,000 settled upon them by the East India Company.' H R/l/B/32a. 1 On Wednesday 20 May 1857, D would make a major speech at Newport Pagnell. On 23 April, William Powell, the main Conservative agent in Bucks, had written from Newport that local farmers would like D and Du Pre to dine with them on a mutually convenient Wednesday, possibly 6 May. On 29 April, Chester accordingly invited D to Chicheley for 6-7 May, but Powell, not having heard from D, also then suggested the igth, and, on 6 May, an ultimate date of 2O May. He thought it politic for D to stay at Chicheley, as Chester was anxious for neighbours to meet him, 'and his Interest is considerable in many respects and particularly with the Church.' On 9 May he acknowledged D's note (not found) agreeing to 20 May at 2 pm. H B/l/D/22-5, A/IV/L/51; Richard W. Davis Political Change and Continuity 1760-1885: A Buckinghamshire Study (Newton Abbot 1972) 199. In his speech, D would elaborate on his reform ideas announced at his election at Aylesbury on 31 March (see M&B rv 78) and expounded to Derby in 2932. Both speeches were fully reported in The Times, which in a leader called the 2O May speech 'a clever
45
yr hand in yr. own beautiful Hall - but I hope the / visit to Chicheley is only postponed, & that you will fee permit me to be yr. guest, for a day, in the summer - & not only that - / but will let me bring my wife to view a scene, of wh: I have so often spoken to her.2 Excuse a scrawl in the midst of a debate.3 Yrs sincerely, I D.
2939 T0: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[London] Saturday [16 May 1857?]
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C/2l65 [94]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: conjectural; see n2.
Saturday. My dear J. Affairs are critical. We must not divide, or P. will be set up with an immense majo[rit]y. Stanley, I hear, goes with the government, & openlyt?]. 1 Can you come on to me and consult. Yrs ever I D / Don't you think it wd. be well to send the news to Herald & Standard, so that our people may be on their guard?2
reply to those Parliamentary Reformers who insist on what they call the anomalies of our representative system.' The Times (l Apr, 15, 21, 22 May 1857). 2 Powell suggested D write to Chester, who felt 'a little piqued' at D's delay in replying to the Chicheley invitation. D did intend to include the Chesters among the N Bucks constituents to be visited after the election; see 2928 and 2929. 3 On 14 May, the main items debated in the Commons, which met from 4 to 6:40 pm, were motions for a married women's property bill and for a bill to abolish ministers' money in Ireland, D objecting that the latter should be a government bill. Hansard CXLV cols 257-86 (D 281-2). 1 The word here rendered as 'openly' is badly smudged in MS. 2 The strategy of avoiding divisions as much as possible was adopted by the Conservatives after the 1857 general election had given Palmerston a strong personal endorsement which the Conservatives hoped would not be turned into permanent support for the Liberals; see 2932&n4 and 2934&n2. It is possible that the division D is here trying to avoid is the one on 19 May on the Ministers' Money (Ireland) Bill (see 2938n3), a private-member's bill which Palmerston had decided to support and which the government would win 313-174 against the ultra-Protestants, Stanley voting with the government (as he had done once before, on 23 May 1854 (Hansard CXXXIII cols 834-6; see also VI 256sn8) and D with the minority. Hansard CXLV cols 542-621. The printed bill was issued on 16 May. MP (18 May 1857). Another awkward issue that arose at this time was that of a dowry and annuity for the Princess Royal. Derby's letter to D on 12 May seems to be about this matter; it enclosed a letter from Palmerston and Derby's reply to it (neither found). Derby remarked to D: 'This latter, you will see, leaves us quite at liberty as to our course; but I suppose that we must "combine" with the Government to protect them against their Radical supporters.' He asked to see D in London on the 15th. H B/XX/S/149. On 18 May, Palmerston would inform D that he would be introducing a bill to give the Princess Royal on her upcoming marriage an annuity of £8,OOO and a dowry of £40,000. When the matter was brought before the Commons on Friday 22 May, Roebuck objected to the annuity; D thought it not desirable (and most ungracious) to resort to 'the painful ceremony of dividing' on the resolution, and urged unanimity. Roebuck finally withdrew his hostile amendment and the resolution was agreed to without a division and scheduled to be reported on Monday. On Monday 25 May, an amendment to reduce the annuity to £6,OOO was defeated 328-14, and the dowry of £40,000 was approved in committee of supply by 361-18. Hansard CXLV cols 720-48 (D 743-6), 837-9. The Standard and MH were catering to party interest before they were bought; see 2955&n2 and 2997&n2.
46
TO: PHILIP ROSE
Carlton Club, Thursday 4 June [1857] 2Q40
ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/128
COVER: Philip Rose Esqr I Victoria Street I B Disraeli EDITORIAL COMMENT: Carlton Club stationery. Endorsed in another hand on the first page: '1855?'. Dating: by context; see n2.
P Rose Esqr Thursday June 4. My dear Rose, I merely send you this, that no mistake may arise about my shares, in consequence of your absence from town.1 / I, therefore tell you, that I forwarded the allotment immediately to you at Vic. 2 St - I think Monday, or Saturday / last.3 Yrs ever I D TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 7 June 1857 2Q41
ORIGINAL: RTC [65] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 83, dated at Grosvenor Gate 7 June 1857, the third paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. There is no salutation. Sic: chesnuts.
June 7 1857. We passed our Whitsun Holidays at Hughenden - five days of lustre & perfume;
1 A memorandum drawn up by Rose on 17 November 1859 to remind D of facts that had 'escaped [his] recollection' gives an account of Rose's role as trustee of D's Llynvi Valley Railway shares as security for a £2,500 debt to 'Hogg & Lindsell' (see V 2O19&nnl&2, 2Og6ni, 2138&ni, 2139, 2l47&ni, 2150 and 2187) that had been transferred to a Mr Ringrow (?) on 17 February 1858. According to the memorandum, Rose was chosen as trustee because he was already the trustee of D's shares to the value of £1,000. H R/I/B/62. See also VI 25O3&m and 2§19&n2. This letter is probably about the shares Rose is holding in trust. Rose was planning a holiday (although on 29 August he would write to say he was interrupting his planned continuous absence briefly in mid-September); on 5 October he would report from Park Street that he was back from his holiday. H R/I/B/31, 41. 2 The first extant Rose letter bearing the address '6, Victoria Street, Westminster Abbey S.W.' (see also cover) is dated 2 January 1857; by 20 October the letterhead has added to it 'NOTE CHANGE OF OFFICES' with a hand pointing to the address. Some 1857 Rose letters are still addressed at Park Street. H R/I/B/28, 32a. The possibility of confusion between the two addresses therefore points to 1857, a year in which 4 June fell on a Thursday. 3 Because it is so sparse, any information about D's financial dealings is intriguing. For example, adjacent to this letter is a January 1856 application by D for £50,000 in an 'Italian Five Per Cent State Domain Loan'; according to the compteted form, D enclosed £2,500, the 5% down payment on his application, but there is no indication the application was processed or approved. H R/I/A/129- Then there is a Rose letter dated only 'Saturday night': 'Mackenzie [presumably James Thompson Mackenzie, on the board of the General Credit and Finance Company Ltd when it was formed by Rose's firm in 186$} gave me two papers relating to the Swedish loan today which I think comes out on Monday thro' Schroeders house, but in which I understand Mackenzie & his party share, and when he gave me the paper He said 'These are for you and your friend D and I will do something for both of you but do not mention it to anyone else" I said is it good? He said VERY good indeed, as you will see and you may reckon upon a moderate slice. Could you not ascertain from Rothschild, what you had better do. I dare say I can find the money for both but I should like to feel we were on safe ground. We ought to act on Monday, and if Mackenzie will engage that we shall have what we ask for I am for selling at once and making sure. If you hear anything Pray let me know before Monday morning ... [P.S.] I will send you the paper to sign on Monday morning.' H R/l/B/ao?. The Swedish bonds were issued in late 1855. The Times (21 Nov 1855); Andrew St George A History of Norton Rose (Cambridge 1995) 86.
47
a great festival of Nature.1 The park looked illuminated from the great quantity of thorns in blossom, & the splendor of the chesnuts. When / I returned to town, rather depressed to leave such sweets & sunshine, I was quite charmed to find I had been remembered in my absence, & that there were some roses on my table, which from their form, & color, & / fragrance, could only have been born in South Devon, &, I believe, in only a» one garden of that favored province, where a quick eye, & a vigilant hand, guided by an affectionate spirit, tended them with the sedulousness, wh: / alike creates, & encourages, beauty.2 Yesterday, we went to Court - wh: was most crowded. Fortunately, having the entree, we experienced only the pleasures of the reception, but it was seven o'ck before the last carriages drove off. The Queen & / the Prince were most smiling & gracious, & H.R.H. did me the honor of extending -h- me his hand. The young Princess Royal stood on the left hand of P. Albert & looked very happy & sparkling. Her eyes are bright with / intelligence. On the igth. we are invited to a private concert at the Palace.3 The world is very much frightened about the Comet, Dr Gumming having declared the last day is certainly at hand; Sebastopol meaning Armageddon; but it seems that / Sebastopol literally means "blessed city" & the received version of Armageddon, is "accursed plain" - so they don't exactly agree. A philosopher, who laughs at the theological view of the question, & therefore shocks the ladies, has however frightened them equally by his scientific announcement that the world has already been destroyed sev 27 times, that, reasoning by analogy, it must be / destroyed again & probably often; that he rather imagines it will not be destroyed on the 13th. Inst, but there is no reason why it shd. not be destroyed before that, as the destructive agencies are all rife - in the centre of the earth a raging fire, while the misty tail of the comet wd, if it touched us, pour forth an overwhelming deluge - so in 4 & 20 hours we may be shrivelled or drowned. In the meantime, if the catastrophe do not occur, we hope to be at Torquay by the end of next month.4 With many loves. I D.
1 The Ds were at Hughenden from Saturday 30 May to Thursday 4 June. H ace. 2 MA in her letter of 15 June hoping that SBW had received D's letter would mention the roses: 'the moment Dizzy saw [them] ... he knew them to be yours, & gave them a most affectionate welcome.' RTC [3050J-
3 The Ds attended the Queen's first drawing room of the season on Saturday afternoon, 6 June, at St James's Palace, and a concert on 19 June, at Buckingham Palace; the program for the latter is in H D/V/A/70. MP (8, 20jun 1857). In her 15 June letter (n2), MA would explain that they had been asked 'also to the Ball - and to the French & Russian Embassy at dinner, but we shall not go to either as poor Mrs. James Disraeli ... is not expected to live another day ...' 4 J.R. Hind, director of Bishop's observatory, in two pamphlets had predicted the return of the great comet of 1556 (on the mistaken assumption that it was the same one that had appeared in 1264), first for 1848, and then (in 1857) for about 1858. A German astrologer in an almanac had displaced the scientific discussion and induced both panic and amusement with a prediction that the comet would strike the earth on 13 June 1857. The Times on 23 May had reprinted an article that pooh-poohed the current spate of end-of-the-world-by-comet predictions, and the Press on 6 June had had an advertisement for '"a pleasant satire"' on the comet scare that quoted from a notice: '"Enough of the horrible in the details to frighten female readers into hysterics."' The day would pass without comment in the press, although on 23 June The Times would report that a comet had been briefly sighted in the late
48
TO: WILLIAM CARLISLE
[London, Sunday] 7 June 1857
2Q42
ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [28]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: '7 June 1857 I THE HON'BLE B DISRAELI'.
W.T. Carlisle I Esqr June 7. 1857 Dear Sir, I have written to Captain Fisher to make such an admission of Mr Villiers debt, in the Courts at Ceylon, as will constitute a legal / charge upon the plantations, and will enable Mr. Magenis to compel a sale, if necessary, by ordinary procedure. I have also directed Captain Fisher to remit to / me any proceeds from the property, wh: he may receive, and I will apply these to the payment of the interest on Mr Magenis' m[or]t[ga]ge, the liquidation of the arrears, and the ultimate / satisfaction of his claim. But I must decline entering into any written, or personal, engagement to this effect. I will do my best for all parties interested, but I can incur no liability beyond this honorable engagement.1 Yours faithfully I B. DISRAELI TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[London, Monday] 15 June [1857] 2Q43
ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/368
COVER: Miss Disraeli I Eversfiejd Place I St Leonards I on Sea I D. POSTMARK: (i) a cancelled one-penny stamp EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see ni.
June 15.
afternoon of 14 June over Malta, where, as in many places, there had been several days of services asking for divine protection. John Russell Hind The Comet 0/1556 ... (1857); The Times (22 Jan, 23 May, 23June 1857); Honore Daumier La Comete de 1857 (series of 10 lithographs published in Charivari beginning 7 March 1857); Donald K. Yeomans Comets ... (New York 1991) 186-7. John Gumming (1807-1881), a preacher in the National Scottish Church, was known for his prediction that the '"last vial" of the Apocalypse was to be poured out from 1848 to 1867.' DNB. Alcide C.V.D. d'Orbigny (1802-1857/6/30), since 1853 chair of paleontology at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris and twice winner of the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London, earlier in the decade had published works purporting to demonstrate that the fossil record showed 27 successive destructions and creations of fauna, from which he inferred 27 destructions of the earth. Charles Coulston Gillespie ed Dictionary of Scientific Biography X (New York 1974) 221-2. In her 16 June reply to MA's letter (n2), SBW would be enthusiastic about the Ds' visit, and remark: '... shd the Comet interrupt us I am prepared to enjoy with you the sublimity of the event. I hope the Government will order the requisite ventilations to keep the central Fires within bounds.' RTC [3060.]. The Ds would not get to Torquay until 4 November; see 2990. 1 For D's previous correspondence with Messrs Burley & Carlisle in connection with Francis Villiers's Ceylon estate, see VI 28l7&ni and z84O∋ as there noted, Burley & Carlisle on 27 June would report Magenis's approval of the settlement scheme, and that they had instructed their Ceylon agents to arrange matters accordingly with Captain William Fisher, Villiers's Ceylon attorney. Fisher in his 2O July response to D's letter of 12 June (not found), although agreeable to the plan, would worry whether Magenis had been given unlimited power of attorney. H A/lV/J/5i-53b. See further 2986. Frederick Richard Magenis (or Maggenis) (1816-1866), of 13 Grosvenor Place, was the only child of the second marriage of Col Richard Magenis (or Magennis), of Chanter Hill, co Fermanagh, the latter previously son-in-law of 1st Earl of Enniskillen. U'OD (1856). Capt William Fisher (b 1811), 78th Highlanders, was ADC to Gen Sir Robert Arbuthnot, GOC Ceylon, and then to Sir R.W. Horton, Bt, Governor of Ceylon. He was the father of the future 1st Lord Fisher.
49
My dearest Sa, I do not write, but I am sure you will feel, how deeply we sympathise with James, & yourself, in this / great sorrow. MA. heard from Ralph today, & I have since had a line from him.1 One clings to hope. Yr affec[tionat]e I D. 2Q44 T0: SARAH DISRAELI
GGrosvenor Gate [Monday] 22 June 1857
ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/369
COVER: Miss Disraeli I Eversfield Place I St Leonards I on Sea I D. POSTMARK: (l) [in a circle] JU 23 1857 (2) a cancelled one-penny stamp EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: recal.
G.G. I June 22. 1857 My dearest Sa, Consolation is very feeble under such great sorrow - but I must assure you, & James, how much my heart is with you. The tragedy has / been so swift, that one can scarcely realize it, but the time will come, when we may talk of her, whom we have so cruelly lost, & who, I had hoped, was destined to have contributed to the happiness / of all of us. That time, too, will bring solace to the most afflicted. Yours too has been a terrible trial, tho' you will always recal your sedulousness & sacrifice with alleviation. Adieu, with my love to all about you.1 D. 1 There are two extant notes from Ralph to MA (none to D) about Isabella Disraeli's final illness at St Leonard's (see 2914), one dated 'Friday morning' (docketed June 1857 by MA) reporting 'that Isabella has had a very serious attack & the doctors have taken away all hope ...', and one dated 'Friday night' at Cork Street (docketed by MA as answered on 14 June): 'All was not over when I left, & the dear Patient has passed a day without suffering ... This morning early, they thought she was quietly passing away, but she rallied just as suddenly as she had just previously sunk. It is a terrible shock for poor James & tho he is aware all hope has fled, still it is impossible for him at times to believe there is not a chance. It is a great trial too for dear Sa, she is tolerably well ...' Sarah's most recent extant letter to MA is dated 3june at St Leonard's: '... our invalid has been out for a drive ... I hope this is an advance, but she gains no strength ..." On the 17th Sarah would write to MA: 'Ralph will have told you that everything here continues the same; but I write a few words that you may not think me forgetful of the interest you & Dis express ...James knows I am writing & sends his love to you & Dis, as I do too.' On the 2Oth she would report that Isabella had died peacefully at four that morning, and that James was 'quite overwhelmed': '... I hope that God will support him & me too ...' H D/ni/A/426-8, B/22, 23. See further 2944&ni. 1 See 2943nl. Sarah replied on the 23rd: 'We both feel very grateful for your affectionate expressions of sympathy. Poor dear James cannot be consoled but he is soothed by love & kindness.' Isabella's immediate family (her mother, two sisters and brother-in-law Edward Miles), visiting them the last ten days, had just left; their sympathy had 'upheld'James, but now he was 'very dejected'. The funeral would be on Friday the 26th, and they hoped to return to London the following Tuesday or Wednesday, although James was dreading returning to the house that showed Isabella's attention in every detail. James wrote to MA on 'Wednesday night' (l July?) from his residence in Eaton Terrace: 'This moment having returned from Twickenham I find yr. beautiful present; I lose not a moment, to offer to you and Dis my warmest thanks, and to assure you any mark of sympathy from you at this moment is most grateful. I am vexed that an engagement on urgent private affairs prevents me offering to you in person my devotion & to Dis my affection.' H D/III/A/429, 6/56.
50
TO: THE DUKE OF PORTLAND
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 22 June 1857 2945
ORIGINAL: NOT PWK 146ya-d
COVER: Private & confidential I His Grace I The Duke of Portland. I Harcourt House. EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the blackedged envelope: 'Private Ld. Beaconsfd. & the answer to be burnt UNREAD at my death C.O Feb 8th.' Sic: embarassment.
Confidential June 22. 1857 His Grace I The Duke of Portland I cannot resist the conviction, that it wo[ul]d be more than ungracious on my part, were I to permit the confidential relations, wh: have, so strangely, / subsisted between us, to terminate in silence.1 I am aware of the personal interposition, wh: Your Grace made, on my behalf, at the time of the catastrophe. It must have cost you great pain & solicitude, & it merited, & obtained, my gratitude. I am / not insensible to the forbearance, wh: I have experienced from Your Grace during the two last twe years. A course of kind & considerate conduct, wh: has ranged over so long a period, whatever the motive, ought not to be disregarded by the / recipient, & I wish to offer you my thanks, in terms, not conventional, but cordial. Having relieved myself so far, I would hope, that yr Grace may not be offended, if I express myself, with equal frankness, on another point. It has been impossible for / me, from observations, that have occasionally dropped, since the death of the late Duke, to resist the inference, that yr Grace was of opinion, that I had taken advantage adroitly of circumstances, & dexterously installed myself in a profitable position. The time has come when I can touch upon this / matter witht. embarassment. And in the first place: I neither suggested, nor sanctioned, the original scheme, & if it be thought, that I yielded with too great facility, it may be remembered, that I was acting under the influence of a person, whose position, & whose character, were alike commanding.
1 For the Duke of Portland's role (behind the facade maintained by Rose) in the financing of the Hughenden purchase that allowed D to stand for election as squire of Bucks to support his increasingly prominent position in the party, see V l7O2&m, i73O&nni-3 and 20068013; it had originally been the plan of Portland's brother, Lord George Bentinck, whose death would have scuttled it but for the intervention of the Duke, at that time Lord Titchfield. Lord Henry Bentinck, the Duke's younger brother, on 30 April 1857 had warned D that he was 'very jealous of the course that my Brother may take with us in Re Hughenden & as the blow may be sudden it may be as well that arrangements shd be ready for the worst. I have been quite mistaken in my man.' On 22 May he had written: 'It will be necessary to get hold of the Bonds &: wash our Hands of my Brother without delay - any negotiation with him or arrangement of any kind is out of the Question.' In a note dated only 'Friday' Bentinck wrote: 'It will be essential for us to get out of my Brothers hands without delay - for depend upon it, that in using the dagger he will drive it to the very haft.' H B/XXI/B/373-4, 383. A further clue to the Duke's motives may be found in a 4 April 1857 letter to D from Sir James Fergusson, attributing his loss that day of the seat for Ayrshire 'entirely [to] the loss of the Duke of Portland's, and Lord Bute's interests ...'; ie, these interests were not being used as they had been by the previous title-holders (the current Lord Bute, who had succeeded in 1848, was only ten years old). H B/XXI/F/1O3. Possibly relevant is that Lord Henry in 1858 would give Drummonds a 'Pacquet of securities' to be conveyed 'without examination and without the cognizance of my Executors' to D after his (Lord Henrv's) death (1870) H B/XXI/B/384.
51
With respect to the subsequent results, / the accounts of the estate have been regularly kept, & it appears by the balance, wh: has been recently struck, that the pecuniary loss of the project to myself has been little short of ten thousand pounds. I feel assured, that Yr Grace will hear these unreserved remarks with a / manly spirit. There is nothing so painful as to be misjudged by those from whom, whatever may have been the cause, you have received favors, & whom you respect. I have the honor to remain, I Your Grace's obliged & I faithful Servt I B. Disraeli2 2946
TO: LORD PALMERSTON
Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 28 June 1857
ORIGINAL: PS 655
PUBLICATION HISTORY: Sotheby's catalogue (Dec 1989) item 241, described as: 'Autograph letter to Lord Palmerston ... 2 pages, 8vo ... Grosvenor Gate, 28 June 1857'
[presenting his compliments and informing him that] Mr Disraeli proposes tomorrow, before going into Committee of Supply to address some enquiries to H.M. government, respecting the state of India1 2947
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 13 July 1857
ORIGINAL: RTC [66]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 86-7, dated at Grosvenor Gate 13 July 1857, the fourth, eighth and ninth paragraphs omitted EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Sic: know to deal; Castiglion; Emperor of the France.
Grosvenor Gate I July 13. 1857 The Indian news is really alarming. Besides the telegraph in the newspapers, there are said, undoubtedly, to be several others last night, & I am now going down to the House to enquire of the government the real state of/ affairs.1 It is the most serious 2 The Duke replied from Harcourt House on the 23rd: 'I hasten to acknowledge the receipt this afternoon of your letter of yesterdays date & to express my very great regret that you should have felt it in the slightest degree called for or expected. I can assure you nothing has ever fallen from me to justify the impression you refer to from "occasional observations". It was very unfortunate that I should have had to take any part whatever in what has passed but unavoidable & I could but endeavour to reconcile as well as might be contending duties. The whole subject has been a most embarrassing one & I felt fm the first it was impossible I could ever enter on it in detail personally with yourself and you will forgive me for continuing to abstain fm doing so. I much regret the pecuniary loss you mention having sustained but trust it has been more than counterbalanced in your mind by the high position you have attained.' NOT PWK 1468. 1 Tensions in the Bengal army brought to a head by the introduction of the Enfield rifle and the belief that its cartridges were greased with beef and pork fat had erupted into open mutiny at Meerut, near Delhi, on 10 May, and by the end of June it had spread to several dozen stations. The Times on 27 June had published a telegraphic report from Alexandria dated 21 June that the mutineers had taken Delhi and massacred the European inhabitants, and on the 29th, published reports from Calcutta, Bombay and Meerut, and a list of the mutinous regiments at Meerut, Delhi and Barrackpore. Also on the 2gth, D in the House observed that England's empire, which it had recently fought three wars to protect, was now in danger from 'internal enemies'; he asked the government's opinion as to the causes of the calamity, and what measures were proposed 'to prevent the evil consequences which may be apprehended.' Vernon Smith replied that 14,000 troops would be sent within weeks. Hansard CXLVI cols 536-45 (D 536-40). See further 8947. 1 The Times on this day, 13 July, published a report (received by 'Submarine and British Telegraph') that the rebels had been defeated outside Delhi, and that the situation was in hand. The next day it
52
thing of the kind, that has yet happened, & if it had occurred, as was perhaps att intended, during the Russian war, the consequences might have been fatal. As it is, it is combined with a Chinese war, & perhaps still a Persian, for Orientals will / care little for treaties, of wh: the ink is not dry, if they think we are in danger.2 We were at the Duchess of Manchesters on Friday night; a ball of very haut ton, & Mrs. Anson was there, very gay. I talked to her a good deal, & of the opportunity, wh: was now offered to her husband, General / Anson, for showing those abilities, wh: his friends always knew he possessed - a man of singular firmness & intrepidity. She was of the same opinion, & evidently saw, in the future, victories & a coronet. Alas! at that moment, her husband had been six weeks dead! Hastening from the hills to take the command of the forces / before Delhi, he was struck by cholera, & carried off.3 Anson had been a roue in his youth, & of singular success. Then he took much to play, & when he left England, had been long considered, the finest whist player in Europe. When the news first arrived, about ten days ago, & some were doubting whether / Anson had sufficient experience for the occasion; the native army in revolt, the ancient capital of Hindostan in possession of the rebels, & the Great Mogul declared Sovereign; I said that, for my part, I had confidence in George Anson, because he had seen the Great Mogul so often on the ace of spades, that he would know / to deal with him.4 All the world laughed very much, & Mrs. Anson sent off the joke to the General. Alas! Alas! We were turning our thoughts towards Torquay, & I was beginning to wonder, whether the baths were yet finished there5 - but I think these events, & the necessity for more money, & more taxes, / will delay the close of the Session.6 London is very gay; fetes every night, & the Court itself at many, for the Prince
2
3 4
5 6
published much more extensive reports that corroborated the Delhi report but included news (evidently already rumoured) of more widespread insurrection, massacres, and killing of officers. In the House, D asked the government, in light of these contradictory reports, to make an authentic statement of information received. Palmerston replied that the government knew no more than the public did. Hansard CXLVI cols 1367-71 (D at 1367). A peace treaty ending the war between England and Persia, the latter relinquishing claims on Afghanistan and the city of Herat, had been signed in Paris on 4 March 1857 and ratified in Baghdad on 2 May. In early July, Lord Elgin had been sent to China charged with ending the war (see 29l6&ni) by negotiation or force, but some of his forces were diverted by the Indian mutiny; a peace treaty would be signed on 26 June 1858. D (ni, col 1369) had also asked whether it was true that the Shah of Persia had accepted the allegiance of the governor of Herat in violation of the treaty recently submitted to parliament; the reply was that official information had not yet been received. The telegraph report (ni) contained the news that General Anson, commander-in-chief in India, had died of cholera on 27 May. Bahadur Shah II (1775-1862), the last of the line of Moghul emperors and nominally King of Delhi, had allowed himself, although on a British pension, to be declared sovereign of India by the mutineers; in 1859 he would be banished to Rangoon, where he died. Hibbert 91-2, 387-8. A picture of a Moghul was used on the best-quality playing cards, called 'Moguls'. In a postscript to her 17 July reply SBW would write: 'I have just seen the new bath house, it is almost finished, except for warm bathing I much prefer the bathing machine in the open sea canopied by the Heavens and a splendid Sun what can be more beautiful and tempting.' RTC [3070]. Although parliament was not prorogued until 28 August, the only additional supply debates for military purposes occurred briefly on 2O and 23 July and 10 and 11 August. Hansard CXLVH cols 28-49, 297-304, 1338-41. 1459-67.
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of Prussia is here wit visiting his fiancee, the Princess Royal, & young Princes & Princesses require balls. There are also, the Duke & Duchess of Montpensier,7 the King of the Belgians, his / pretty daughter, the Princess Charlotte, & his son, the Comte of Flanders;8 also Princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen,9 & Schleswig Holstein &c. &c. so the Court is very brilliant. There is also a famous beauty here, the Comtesse Castiglion, who having charmed the Emperor of the France, is now on a tour of conquest in foreign parts, / & as she is universally decried by all the grand ladies, I take it is of ravishing excellence.10 The most remarkable fete of the season, & indeed of many seasons, was given by the Prussian Minister at Prussia House, to the Queen & Court last Monday. We had the honor to be invited. It recalled old days of Carlton House splendor; fanciful illuminations, / & golden fish in endless fountains. There was a pavilion, two hundred feet long with lined with the most splendid trees & shrubs I ever saw aracarias, & Norfolk Island pines.11 In the midst of all this we have been in seclusion for ten days - my brothers wife having died. She was a bride, a mother, & a corpse in eight months!12 A sad story, for / she appears to have been a most amiable, accomplished, & intelligent young lady, & tho' from our absence from England last year, & her absence from town (at Hastings where she was ordered) during the present year, we had had little opportunity of cultivating her, we had seen enough greatly to deplore her loss.13 My wife sends her love to you. Yours ever, I D.14
7 The due de Montpensier in 1846 had married Maria Luisa Fernanda (1832-1897), youngest daughter of Ferdinand VII of Spain. 8 King Leopold's eldest daughter was Princess Charlotte (18401927), who later this month would marry Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, the future Maximilian I of Mexico. His fourth son was Prince Philippe (1837-1905), since 1840 Count of Flanders, later father of the future King Albert I. 9 Charles Anthony (1811-1885), Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 1848 (but who had ceded his sovereign rights in 1849), would assume the title of Prince of Hohenzollern in 1869. 10 Virginia Oldoini, Countess di Castiglione (1835-1899), a celebrated beauty, was the daughter of Marquess Philip Oldoini, of Tuscany, Italian minister to Portugal; in 1854 she had married Count Francesco Verasis di Castiglione. She lived apart from her husband in Paris, where 1855-9 she had an affair with the French emperor and tried to influence him on behalf of Italian nationalism at the instigation of Cavour, her cousin. A notice in MPon 8 July read: 'The Count and Countess Castiglione will arrive early this day at Holland House.' D had been at Holland House on 12 July. Dino IV 446; The Earl of Ilchester Chronicles of Holland House 1820-1900 (1937) 413-17; Frank J. Coppa Camilla di Cavour (New York 1973) 126-7; EB (1982). 11 Count and Countess Bernstorff had given a grand ball at Prussia House on Monday 6 July which the Queen and her court attended in a state visit; the Ds are listed among the guests attending. MP (7 July 1857). Carlton House, pulled down in 1828, was a focus of political faction and the site of much lavish entertainment while occupied by the Prince Regent in the late eighteenth century. Edward Walford Old London: Westminster to St. James's (repr 1989) 86-99. 12 Isabella Disraeli had been married on 24 September 1856, had given birth to a two-months-premature baby on 24 April and died on 20 June. See VI 288o&ni and, in this volume, 29148011, 2928&n2, 2943&ni and 2944&ni. 13 No evidence has been found that D ever met her in person. 14 SBW (ntj) replied with sincere condolences, finding comfort in imagining that D had the resources to 'dissipate' grief, 'and that after devoting so much time to polities' he would 'not be disinclined to come and inhale the refreshing breezes ...'
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TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Carlton Club [Friday] 31 July 1857 294^
ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [113]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 162-4, dated at Carlton Club 31 July 1857; M&B IV 94-5, dated at Carlton Club 31 July 1857, the first two paragraphs omitted EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper.
Carlton I July 31. 1857 Dearest Lady, I called upon you the day you had left Holdernesse, & have been wishing to write to you every day since - but the absorbing life / I have led of late, leaves me only moments of action or meditation, & all the gentler duties of life seem too delicate to be fulfilled. But the 8th. of August is at hand, & as / you were so kind as to permit me to arrange my course according to circumstances, I have delayed saying, what, during the last three or four days, seemed growing inevitable, how much I regret that I / cannot find myself under yr roof on that occasion.1 I have many things I cd. say, if we were in yr boudoir, but India is a whirl-pool in wh: all merges - great or small. The season is / over, but the Park will last a long time. Everybody is alarmed, & shocked at the private tone of the government wh: is flippant. Her Majesty sorely oppressed, & believes like her Grandmother, she is destined to lose provinces.2 The / Queen of Holland has been the heroine of the last fortnight - indefatigably intelligent - and the fete champetre at Orleans House the most considerable social incident since yr departure. So much Royalty, that our friend, Lady Jersey, seemed / to me rushing about the gardens in perplexed ecstasy.3 The Princesses in fantastic hats, sate under the trees to receive their guests; & never was a prettier Court circle - the tables for the banquet - a variety of round tables were laid in a / bosquet, surrounded with tall green trees, & as the day was burning, the site was delicious. Everything was well done, & the whole thing successful. The Comte de Paris, & the Due d'Aumale came to me after my Indian speech, wh: they heard on Monday,4 & dined at Bellamys!5 / What do you think of that? Do
1 Lady Londonderry on Saturday 8 August at Seaham would give a dinner to about 3,000 of her colliery workers, a repetition of what she had first done a year ago; see VI 283O&ni and, in this volume, 2952&ni. 2 George HI in 1761 had married Charlotte Sophia (1744-1818), youngest daughter of Charles Louis Frederick, reigning Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and younger sister of Adolph Frederick IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; she was queen at the time of the American Revolution. 3 Queen Sophie Frederica Matilda (1818-1877), second daughter of William I, King of Wurttemberg, had married King William in of the Netherlands in 1839; she had arrived in England on 14 July, travelling as comtesse de Buren (ie, not on a state visit). The Times (i5jul 1857). On 22 July, as part of her heavy social schedule, she was the guest of honour at ajete champetre hosted by the due and duchesse d'Aumale at Orleans House, their villa at Twickenham. Among the numerous guests, in addition to Lady Jersey and the Ds, were several members of the ex-royal family of France and other royalty. MP (23 Jul 1857). 4 On Monday 27 July, D in the House had moved for the production of papers, including the report to Wellington on the organization of the Bengal army by Lt-Gen Sir Charles Napier. In his three-hour speech he chided the government for their slight interest in what might be a mere mutiny, but which he believed was a national revolt. He blamed the situation on the new policy (since 1848) of destroying rather than retaining Indian nationality; he cited two recent Acts that contravened ancient practices, allowing converts to keep inheritances and allowing Hindu widows to remarry. The crowning offence,
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you know the young Ascanius? He is at present, too slender, being much above six feet — but his countenance is intelligent & H his manner simple but refined. / This is sad scribblement - but I must go down to the House to fight about Sir Chas Napier's despatches & Hindoo protests against Supreme Legislation about widows / & converts.6 Yours ever, I D.
2949 T0: SIR WILLIAM NAPIER
Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 4 August 1857
ORIGINAL: BODL MS Eng Lett C250 ffiQ7-8
Lt. Genl I William Napier Grosvenor Gate I Aug: 4. 1857 Sir, I duly received yr letters.1 The despatch, wh: I wish to obtain, is one addressed by Sir Charles to the D. of Wellington on the / organisation of the Indian Army, & not the despatch, on the Defences of India, to wh: yr. communications refer. You will observe, by turning to the proceedings of last night in the H: of / Commons, that its existence is no longer denied, & that it is to be produced.2
he said, had been the annexation of Oude, leading the sepoys who had thereby been deprived of their rights and privileges to look for an opportunity to revolt, finding occasion when English troops departed for Persia and China, and a pretext in the greased-cartridge issue. He concluded at 8 o'clock by calling for a royal commission on native grievances and a royal proclamation that Indian laws, customs and especially religion would be respected. Later in an acrimonious debate in which a motion to adjourn was defeated, D responded harshly to the charge that he took an interest in India only during troubled times for political purposes. The motion was defeated without a division. Hansard CXLVII cols 440-546 (D 440-81, 489, 534-41, 545). Col W.H.L. Frith (unsuccessful Liberal candidate at Carrickfergus in 1852) in a letter to D of 20 July in connection with D's upcoming speech had argued, citing the military experience in India of members of his family and others, that the mutiny was caused by the annexation of Oude, not the greased cartridges. H B/XXI/F/337. 5 Bellamy's, a chop house instituted near the Houses of Parliament by John Bellamy after his appointment as deputy housekeeper in 1773, was virtually the dining-room and club for MPs. The name survived the rebuilding of parliament after the 1834 fire. Patrick Cormack Westminster: Palace and Parliament (1981) 145-7- See also Coningsby VII ch 3. 6 On this night, 31 July, Pakington would move that Napier's report (n4) be tabled; D did not speak during the brief discussion diat touched on the issues of converts and widows, after which the motion passed. Hansard CXLVII cols 815-25. Sir Charles James Napier (1782-1853) was the conqueror of Sind, KCB 1838, given a command in India 1841, commander-in-chief in Sind 1842-7, in India 1849-50; his Defects, Civil and Military, of the Indian Government had been published posthumously in 1853 by his brother William, and Records of the Indian Command of General Sir C.J. Napier..., by J. Mawson, had been published in Calcutta in 1854. See further 2949&nm&2. 1 Sir William Francis Patrick Napier (1785-1860), Peninsular War veteran and historian, lieut-governor of Guernsey 1842-7, KCB 1848, It-general 1851, general 1859, in 1844-6 had published a defence of his brother Charles's conquest of Sind, in 1851 a history of the administration of Sind, in 1853 his late brother's Defects ... of the Indian Government, and in 1857 a life of his brother. He had written to D on 28 July from Sind House in Clapham about the 'absurdity' of the government's refusing D a copy of Sir Charles's report (see Z948&n4), as he (Sir William) had published most of it three years ago in "'Indian Misgovmf". On 3 August, he had written to ask if D had received his previous letter. H B/XXI/N/15-16. 2 See 2948&n6. Napier replied on 5 August; he now knew which 'memoir' D desired, and offered 'corrections' if the government gave D 'a garbled & foul copy such as they have done in the return to your former motion ...' He also apologized for 'seeming pomposity' about his correct military tide in
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I have the honor to be, I Sir, I with great consideration, I Yrs faithfully, I B. Disraeli
TO: [LORD JOHN RUSSELL] [House of Commons, Monday] 10 August 1857 295^ ORIGINAL: H B/II/94a-d EDITORIAL COMMENT: A fair copy of a note docketed by MA: 'Committee Jews August loth 1857' and on the verso: '1857 August loth Lord John Russell Lord Stanley Sir John Packinton [sic] at Committee on the Jew Bill'.
I think all the Lawyers are against us - & that the attorney was rather weak.1 TO: LORD HENRY L E N N O X
House of Commons [Monday] 10 August 1857 295*
ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R143-1176] EDITORIAL COMMENT From a typescript copy headed: 'D. to Ld. H. Lennox, H. of C., Aug. 10. '57.' Sic: Waleski.
....I can't bear your coming up for such a queer chance. I almost despair now, loth. Aug:, of saving the ship. A great pity, for I think the last No. excellent, and the revelations on the Dan: Princip:, startling.1
his earlier letters; this was because of postal confusion with two other William Napiers. On 1O August he would write: 'I have got the return containing extracts from Sir C Napiers letter 15th June 1852. The refusal to give what relates to the British troops is easily understood. He praises the Duke's system ... but he exposes the Indian misgovernment, the system by which the troops were Maltreated ...' He then made some corrections to and provided extracts omitted from the return, and assured D that Sir Charles's correspondence amply supported D's contention in the House 'that it was misgovernt that had caused the present awful troubles.' H B/XXI/N/17-18. 1 Russell on 3 August as part of his perennial attempts to get Jews admitted to the House and prior to proceeding with his Oaths Validity Act amendment bill (introduced 21 July) had moved for a committee predominantly of members learned in the law to consider whether the terms of the Acts that reduced the requirements for oaths and affirmations in certain departments of state, and at Oxford and Cambridge, could be extended to include parliament as Russell's bill proposed. The committee of 25 'and all gentlemen of the Long Robe, Members of this House' (ie in the legal or clerical professions) included D, Russell, Stanley, Pakington and Sir Richard Bethell, the attorney-general. D's note (docketed 'Dis' by MA), evidently written during the committee deliberations, was answered by Russell at the bottom of the same sheet (docketed by MA: 'answered by Lord John Russell'); several more sheets have comments by Pakington and Stanley similarly docketed by MA. Russell wrote: 'I think the Attorney spoke very well, but the current of ordinary decisions is against us.' H B/ll/94a-c. Stanley on id August described the committee in his journal and concluded: 'We divided 16-13, 29 being present: deciding that the H.C. was not included ..." DBF Box 46/2. This was the result reported to the House on 10 August, whereupon Russell abandoned his bill. Hansard CXLVII cols 135-47, 933-40, 1287-8. 1 For the attempt being made to buy the Press, which D was still guiding, see 2955&nn2-4 and 2975&n6. On 8 August, under the heading 'Lord Palmerston And The Principalities', it had published correspondence supporting its allegation that Palmerston and his government were paradoxically (given the Liberal tradition on nationalism) fully supporting Turkey and especially Austria in their intrigues to prevent self-government by the united Danubian principalities as allowed by the Treaty of Paris. Since early in the session, D had been corresponding with Earle on topics including the principalities issue, and Earle from Paris sent D information and strategy recommendations; in an undated report evidently early in the current session he had written: 'To retain the friendship of France the Ministers sacrificed their convictions on the great question of Peace or War. But they allowed that friendship to be impaired by differences about Bolgrad & Serpent's Island.' Earle suggested D should try 'to secure the assistance or at least the silence of the French Govt. With this object in view, you may perhaps see fit to accredit our common friend f Lennox?] as your Plenipotentiary at Paris. A short visit wd. suffice & he might turn
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Prince Frederick of Holstein, who often knows things, told me yesterday, that Pam was in such a mess, anent Princip:, that, in ordinary times of party discipline, a change of government must be inevitable.2 Find out, where you are, what is doing at Osborne. Surely the Corsican eye and heart of Waleski have a vendetta for Bolgrad.3 2952 TO: LADY LONDONDERRY ORIGINAL: DURD/LO/C 530
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 13 August 1857
[114]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Black-edged paper. There is no salutation.
Grosvenor Gate I Aug. 13. 1857 I hear great, & sound praises, of yr address - from many quarters, & not merely social ones; yesterday in the City. It seems to have been a very impressive / & successful assembly.1 The India news arrived last evening, but the telegraph gives no new features. After all, it is only ten days later than our last report.2 Would you have / the it to account to explain other things & to keep up the link.' On i June Earle had reported that the Emperor was strongly supportive of union of the principalities. H B/XX/E/iy, 25. 2 Prince Frederick, further to his and D's 'conversation on the subject the evening before last', on II August would send D a quotation from a letter dated 23 July 1857 at Bucharest: '"The Russians have thrown off the mask and have shown themselves as strong partisans of Union as the Frensh [sic]."' H B/XXI/H/631. 3 The French Emperor and Empress paid the Queen a closely guarded visit at Osborne 6-10 August to discuss with her ministers some problems in Anglo-French relations, especially about the Danubian principalities; the Walewskis were among the French entourage. With respect to Bolgrad (the Russians having discovered there were two places with that name), the reconvened Congress of Paris had taken the more southerly Bolgrad claimed by Russia and given it to Moldavia; MP (i Dec 1856) had explained what was at issue: '... the Plenipotentiaries know quite well that when they said and wrote Bolgrad, they meant the Bolgrad of die maps which would run the Russian boundary away from the Danube, and not New Bolgrad, which would seat the Russians in the very position the Treaty [of Paris] was framed to .exclude diem from.' See Winfried Baumgart (Ann Pottinger Saab trans) The Peace of Paris 1856 (Santa Barbara & Oxford 1981) 195-6. On 26 October Earle, as he had before, would recommend pressing Palmerston on the principalities issue, so that 'we might see him again in collision with the liberal party ... What is necessary to this object is to restore die courage of this fickle, wavering Government. At Osborne they seem to have come to the agreement that the English Govt. should leave to France the apparent triumph but that the question, in its important features, shd. ultimately be setded according to the wishes of England ..." H B/XX/E/2O. The 'triumph' of the unification of the principalities as Romania would be announced in September, but on terms that made it very unstable. 1 See 2948&H1. Lady Londonderry's address to her colliers, after stressing safe practices in the pits, had developed her policy on the schools and teachers she was providing; 'before allowing any boy to go down to work, I shall require that they have a certain amount of education, that they should be able to read and write ..." She also hoped to add a requirement of religious education in any of the Christian churches, and would promote further education for the colliers by providing night schools or time off. She would also establish a '"Pitman's Home"' for aged colliers. She concluded: 'Surrounded by the sturdy producers of coal on my estate, I feel that you enable me to contribute my share in the development of the commercial interests of the country, and in return I wish to devote a woman's head and a woman's heart, however feeble they may be, to the care of your interests, praying ever that God may assist and guide me in my endeavours. (Loud cheers.)' MP (11 Aug 1857). 2 The Times on this day published a report received by 'submarine and British telegraph' from India; the previous such report had been published on 29 July. The earlier report was unclear about whether Delhi had been recaptured, while the second stated that, as of 27 June, it had not fallen and that the first reinforcements had arrived, from China. Both reports were otherwise mixtures of failures and successes by the rebels.
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kindness to tell Adolphus, that I do not anticipate any further India debate now; the news apparently being so neutral; & the unexpected motion of Genl Evans, on Tuesday, / having been a valve for observations.3 I wish he had been there. I would write to him myself, but am greatly pressed at this moment, with impending preparations for departure.4 Always yours, I D. TO: LORD STANHOPE
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 13 August 1857 2953
ORIGINAL: KCR Stanhope MSS 690(5) [2]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Black-edged paper. Sic: breaker's a-head.
The I Earl of Stanhope Grosvenor Gate I Aug: 13. 1857 My dear Lord, We had a narrow escape. I came into the House in the middle of the discussion, not being aware of the vote coming on. I found the Committee very / wicked, & intent on mischief, wh: they proved later in the evening by putting an end to the French Chapel, & making the government withdraw other fe«»€t votes. I found the chief of my staff, Jolliffe, had already declared against us, & all the pack fullmouthed. I, / therefore, did what I cd. to save the game, but am conscious I did it very badly, as I had no case prepared, & I doubt not we might have made a good one.1 We must be on the alert next year, as there are breaker's a-head, / & we must be satisfied, at present, that we have escaped shipwreck.2 I hope Lady Stanhope is quite well. Ever yrs sincerely, I D, 3 The celebrated soldier Sir George de Lacy Evans in 1854 had been invalided home from the Crimea, where he had served with great distinction; on Tuesday 11 August he had addressed the House on its failure to appreciate the significance of the Indian mutiny, and analysed the measures that had already been implemented as the basis for detailed advice on more effective government action. Palmerston replied with deference and respect, but thought Evans had overestimated the effect of the mutiny on Europe; D supported Evans's analysis, and repeated some of the charges from his previous India speech. Hansard CXLVII cols 1392-1447 (D 1426-39, 1446, 1447). India would not again be discussed in the Commons before prorogation. 4 The Ds would not leave for Hughenden until 26 August. H ace. 1 The House on 10 August in committee of supply had voted a second annual instalment of £2,OOO towards a national portrait gallery, a project launched by Lord Stanhope (Lord Mahon until 1855) in 1856. Jolliffe had opposed the further outlay as there were already more pictures collected than could be exhibited. D, as a member of the commission (appointed late 1856), had defended the idea of the gallery as having great national significance, and vindicated Stanhope's 'profound historical knowledge' as well as the reputation of Sir Charles Easdake, who, as the only 'professional trustee' on the commission, had been attacked. The committee subsequently rejected a vote of £10,500 for an English chapel in Paris, and caused the government to withdraw a vote of £10,000 for an industrial museum at Edinburgh (D arguing that it might be deserving of support at a more opportune time); other votes were postponed. Hansard CXLVII cols 1316-64 (D 1323-8, 1356, 1363). Stanhope, trustee of the British Museum since 1846, had written on 12 August with profuse thanks for D's help in the debate on 'our Portrait Gallery ... The obliging manner in which you referred to me personally gave me much gratification ... 1 hope that in the course of next winter our Board of Trustees may also be indebted to you from time to time (as they have been heretofore) for your presence & cooperation ...' H B/XXI/S/4832 On 6 May 1858, Stanhope would send D a copy of the first annual report of 'our National Portrait Gallery', which he thought might be advantageously included in the miscellaneous estimates that contained the allocation voted for that year. H B/XXI/S/484.
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2Q54 T0: SIR WILLIAM NAPIER
Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 16 August 1857
ORIGINAL: BODL MS Eng Lett 0250 ffigo-200 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Black-edged paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'.
Lt Genl I Sir W. Napier I K.C.B. August 16. 1857 Sir, I thank you, very much, for your courteous communication of the loth. Inst: & I beg to assure you, that / I am sensible of the honor of having had so distinguished a correspondent.1 Believe me, I with great consideration, I Your obliged Servt, I B. Disraeli
2955 to:sir thomas gladstone grosvernor gate [saturday]22 accenture 1857 ORIGINAL: DENL GLYNNE-GLADSTONE MSS 403 [5]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Endorsed in another hand on the seventh page: 'B. D'Israeli Aug 22/57 and [answered?] I. 23 and - 24 Copy [illegible}.'' Sic: embarassing.
Confidential
1
August 22. 1857
Sir Thos Gladstone I Bart: My dear Sir Thomas, When we last met, we had some conversation about our Conservative press lamenting its inefficient & spiritless condition. Since then, a mysterious body of Capitalists have been buying up, systematically, almost all the / Tory papers - but their efforts are more remarkable, I think, for their command of money, than of talent, as I see little difference in the result, altho' they have, not however without great distrust on my side, in some degree, from their position, connected themselves with persons of authority in our party.2 I have just learned, that / they are now in negotiation to purchase the "Press" newspaper. This I greatly deprecate. It ought to be prevented. Troublous & critical times are at hand, & the command of such an organ as the "Press", now well established, with a considerable circulation, & some intellectual repute, may be of great moment[.] The "Press" is at the mercy / of a mortgagee.3
1 See 2949&ni. 1 Sir Thomas Gladstone (1804-1889), 2nd Bt, LL and CR for Kincardineshire, Conservative MP for Queenborough 1830-1, Portarlington 1832-4, Leicester 1835-7, Ipswich 1842, was W.E. Gladstone's eldest brother. In a letter to D of 24 April 1857 he had referred to an item he had seen in the Press. H B/XXI/ G/1342 One of the mysterious capitalists was James Johnstone; see 2997&n3. A few months earlier he had bought MH and the Standard, immediately changing the latter to a morning paper, doubling its size to 8 pages and reducing its price to 2d; he also started the Evening Herald. On 17 June, Jolliffe in a circular had informed the party 'that the Morning Herald newspaper has been bought in the Conservative interest ...' H B/XX/J/46. The first issues of each paper under the new management had appeared on 29 June, Malmesbury noting in his journal that MH seemed 'well arranged, with plenty of fashionable news to amuse ladies.' Robert Knox, Stanley's friend at MH, in the spring of 1857 had proposed with John Blackwood's support to start three Conservative newspapers, but the project came to nothing. Bourne II 239-40; Koss Political Press 134-5; Malmesbury II 73. BHF (204-5) mentions a John Maxwell as Johnstone's partner in these purchases, but nothing further on him has been found. 3 Possibly Peacocke; see VI 28s7&ni and 28s8&ni.
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I have offered them the loan of a £1000: at four pr Ct., the interest to be paid regularly into my bankers, & the capital to be repaid, when required, with fair notice. Another of my friends has agreed to do the same, & I have written to another who has just gone abroad, who I have little doubt will also consent. But the world is scattered at / this season, the matter is rather urgent, & there are really at any time very few to whom I shd. care to mention the circumstances. Are you inclined to help? Forgive my frankness - but, between us, there has always been that good understanding, wh: will prevent such an appeal from being embarassing to either of us. If you are disposed, the money / might be paid into the acct. of Mr Rose, who will give a receipt & undertaking to repay, such as I have intimated. If you have any objection to having business affairs about newspapers, I would give you the receipt &: undertaking myself, having entire confidence in / yr. discretion[.] I write this on the eve of leaving town for Bucks. It is necessarily rather hurried - but I am sure you will pardon its apparent abruptness, & always believe me, I sincerely yours, I B. Disraeli4 TO: CHARLES LAHORE
[London, Monday] 24 August 1857 295^
ORIGINAL: PS 618 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Irena Murray 'Disraeli writes to Paris' Disraeli Newsletter III i (Spring 1978) 3, citing Archives Hachette Traites T II Fo 231 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is a draft in D's hand in H E/VII/K/2. Sic: Vaugerard [correct in the draft]; Une traite formelle; paru jusque' a ce [correct in the draft]; St James'.
M. Ch: Lahure I Rue de Vaugerard 7 Aug: 24, 1857 Monsieur, Vous avez raison. Une traite formelle n'est pas necessaire pour 1'entente cordiale, etablie, il y a une quinzaine, entre nous, a Grosvenor Gate. Je vous cede, avec plaisir, le droit exclusif de faire traduire et publier, en francais, toutes celles de mes oeuvres, qui ont paru jusque' a ce jour. Mon homme d'affaires, M. Lovell, Great Ryder Street Nro. 4, St. James', Londres a recu mes instructions de vous envoyer deux exemplaires de chacun de mes romans, & de disposer sur vous, a trois jours de vue, pour la somme de deux mille francs. Quand je me trouve, en peu de jours a la campagne, j'espere de vous donner une courte preface, comme vous desirez. Tout a vous, I Disraeli 1 4 Sir Thomas kept a copy of his reply of 25 August; he was 'obliged to decline entering into pecuniary transactions with Newspapers ...', although he entirely agreed with D's opinion of the Press, and would be glad, if D were ever in Scotland, to receive a visit from him. DENL GLYNNE-GLADSTONE MSS [iQj. For D's account of how the sale of the Press was prevented at this time, see 2957&nl and 2975&n6. 1 Charles Lahure (1809-1887), French printer and heir to Imprimerie Crapelet, rue de Vaugirard, Paris, was in England to obtain publication rights, usually in association with the publisher Louis Hachette, to some popular English novels (England and France having in 1851 ratified a copyright agreement). On 19 August Lahure had written to D to confirm an agreement they had made about French translation rights on 7 August in London. D did not want the agreement to include future works, but Lahure hoped to persuade D to give him first refusal. A cancelled passage in D's draft of this letter agrees to
6l
2957 T0: LORD HENRY LENNOX
Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 25 August 1857
ORIGINAL: H H/Life [11143-1176] EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a typescript copy headed: 'D. to Ld. H. Lennox, Grosvenor Gate, Aug. 25- '57-' *
We have had a terrible squeak about the "P": but details will keep. At present Rose, quite exhausted, is gone abroad, and George Hamilton, having been proposed by the "Morning Herald" Co. to be the arbitrator as to all controverted points, I contrived to get the whole affair suspended until Rose's return, which gains time - everything.1 I also induced him to increase the salaries somewhat
2958 TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
[Grosvenor Gate]
[Tuesday] 25 August 1857
ORIGINAL: RTC [67]
Mrs. Brydges Willyams August 25. 1857 My dearest,1 We are now off for Hughenden Manor, & I shall be very glad once more to find myself in my woods; as Euripides says "the deep silence of the / mighty woods".2 I shall write to you when we have got a little settled there & give you due notice of our visit to Devon. I shd. think it would be about the same time as last year. Yesterday, there arrived / a box of grouse from Gordon Castle. When they opened the box, a couple of brace flew out, & I shd. not be surprised if, by this time, they shd. have found their way to Torquay.3 Yours ever, I D. this. As he had done widi Dickens, Lahure wanted the copies of D's works to ensure that the translation was based on editions which D approved. The short preface (which D apparently never wrote) was to imitate an enclosed sample. H E/VII/K/1-2. In 1858, Lahure printed 3,000 copies of Sybil for Hachette's series Bibliotheque des meilleurs romans etrangers, but with no author's introduction. In 1863, Lahure sold this agreement to Hachette, who added a note to that effect after D's signature. Irena Murray 'Disraeli Writes to Paris' in Disraeli Newsletter III, i (Spring 1978) 2-4. 1 For the attempt to buy the Press see 2955&nn2&3; for Rose's absence see 2940111; for his handling of affairs after his return see 2973&ni. Koss Political Press (135) suggests that Malmesbury's 29 June journal entry referring to 'Mr. Hamilton, who has the management of the "Morning Herald,"' is probably meant to refer to Captain Thomas Hamber, 'in whom Johnstone invested complete editorial control over his multiple ventures'. But on the evidence of this letter, G.A. Hamilton was probably the person meant, as hereafter some of his letters to D show him in a managerial role; for example, on 24 September he would write: 'I was anxious to know from you whether you thought the time is come when it is desireable [sic] to deal with the subject of Reform in the Morning Herald ... I should not like any view to be expressed in the Morning Herald which was inconsistent with your views [on the Bank Charter]'. H B/XX/ H/63. See further 2997&nn2,3&5. 1 This appears to be the first time D used this affectionate form of address to SBW. 2 Possibly a rendering of Bacchae line 1138, of which a more literal translation is 'In the deep-woody leafage of the forest.' 3 SBW acknowledged to MA on this day, 25 August, the 'beautiful present of Grouse' as on 14 August she had acknowledged the 'many fine first birds of the season' sent by D the previous day. RTC [309-100,]. For D's next extant letter to SBW, see 2968. The Ds left for Hughenden on 26 August, and would be at Torquay 4-19 November. H ace.
62
TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[Hughenden, Monday] 31 August 1857
2959
O R I G I N A L : H A/l/B/371
COVER: Miss Disraeli I Ailsa i Twickenham I Middx. I D. POSTMARK: ( i ) a cancelled one-penny stamp (2) [in double circle] HIGH WYCOMBE I AU31 I 1857 I C (3) [in double circle] HOl'NSLOW I [illegible] i I 1857 I [illegible]
August 31 1857 My dear Sa, "Marriage" is a state of union, as well as the act of being united, & good English in the sense you use it. It is preferable to "wedded / life": indeed, it is quite unobjectionable, & the right word. I myself prefer No. i, but with no strong preference, if any.1 We are here all well, & wish you were with us. We are anxious to / know how you get on, I have not seen Layard's speech: I suppose it was turned out of the 1st Edit: of the "Times" to make room for the columns of the 2nd. Edit: wh: is the one we receive here.2 Yours affec, I D. TO: A N T H O N Y RATHBORNE
Hughenden [Monday] 31 August 1857 2Q&O
O R I G I N A L : PS 1495 PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to ColonelRathborne (1858) i. Many of D's letters in this edition are also extracted in Mr. Disraeli, Colonel Rathborne, and The Council of India. A Letter Addressed to [Palmerston and other MPs] in Explanation of a Petition for Enquiry, presented from Colonel Rathborne, on the gth August, iH-jC) (London 1860); these extracts will not be further noticed. EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text in Rathborne's edition.
MY DEAR Coi.ONEl.. 1
High Wycombe, August 3ist, 1857.
1 Sarah in an undated note had asked D's help with the wording of Isabella Disraeli's tombstone; she offered two choices: 'No. i In Memory of I the wife ofJ.D. who died at St. L.June 2O 1857 in the first year of their Marriage aged 28. No. 2. In this Grave lie interred the mortal remains of I the wife of J.D. who died at St. L.June 1857 in the first year of their Marriage aged 28.' She asked: 'Will you please to tell me if the word Marriage on the other side is English? - would not wedded life be too pedantic? & which do you think best No. i or 2. - "In Memory of is very common, almost universal, which takes off its meaning, but perhaps the simple fact of the old-fashioned way is too homely & not reverent. I hope these queries will not trouble you much, but I have to decide, as the words are waited for, & have no head & no one to consult.' On 2 September Sarah would write from Eaton Terrace (James's residence, where she had arrived the day before): 'As soon as James is at leisure, which I hope will be the beginning of next week, we shall go to St. Leonards.' H A/l/B/678-92 A.H. Layard's supporters at Aylesbury, where he had failed to be re-elected on 28 March, on 27 August had given him a testimonial dinner, fully reported in The Times on 29 August. In his speech, Layard castigated the government's handling of India along lines similar to those taken by D in the House. In her 29 August letter from Twickenham to MA (in which her letter to D was evidently enclosed), Sarah had remarked: 'You will see Mr. Layard's speech - he had not the honesty to say that Dis was the only man in the right - people are now beginning to feel it.' H D/III/A/444. On Monday 31 August, The Times had several columns on 'The Mutinies in India', noting that 'a portion of the following appeared in our second edition of Saturday'. Sarah concluded her 2 September letter thanking D for his 'kind & speedy response i'ni i l.avard s speech was good - but his testimonial too absurd! a teapot &: tea service!!' 1 Anthony Blake Rathborne (d 1885), at one time a resident of New Zealand and a barrister, It-col (1856) in the East Indian army and formerly a member of Sir Charles Napier's staff in Sind, was the author of legal books, of A Defence of Sir C. Mapier's Government of Scinde (1854), and of the pamphlets already
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The Times is all for vengeance and against discussion?
Qy. Can you have vengeance without discussion? e.g. It seems now pretty universally agreed, that the annexation of Oude occasioned the insurrection; all its dangers and all its horrors. Who occasioned the annexation of Oude? In responsibility no difference can be made between Indian and English Governments. There is only one Imperial Government. But, in this case, we need not insist upon a point, which is, however, indubitable. During the administration of Lord Palmerston, Lord Dalhousie annexed Oude: and when the matter was mentioned, and complained of, in the House of Commons, Mr. Vernon Smith, who had previously circulated a Blue Book to justify the policy, declared in Parliament that it was done with the entire approbation of the English Government, and that he was ready to defend that policy, at all times, and against all comers.3
mentioned (see ph). For D's account of his connection to the Press see 2975. According to a more detailed letter, of 7 February 1860 (to be published in the next volume), and corroborated by Rathborne's account in his 1860 Letter (see ph), D did not know Rathborne until introduced to him in 1857. Rathborne's Letter states that he began writing for the Press at its inception in 1853, left it in 1856 because of what he saw to be the party's tergiversation on India, and returned to it in the spring of 1857 when, at the outbreak of the Indian mutiny, they saw their mistake. 'Mr. Disraeli saw in this [development], no doubt, the prospect of great advantage for himself and his party, and was of course only too glad to escape the Dalhousie and Leadenhall Street entanglement of the previous year. So he sent his friend, Lord Henry Lennox, to arrange with the gentleman who then conducted the party paper, for an interview with me on the ensuing Sunday [28 June?], and it took place accordingly at his house, at Grosvenor Gate. He received me most cordially, and was profuse in his expressions of admiration for my writings; he said he saw at once when the mutiny broke out that I was the man for the occasion: he lamented greatly that I should have been led to discontinue my labours in the previous year; but at the same time, he hoped that the public might not, amid other matters, have noticed this, so as to interfere in any way with the position, which the party had now determined to take up on the subject of Indian affairs. He expressed to me his entire agreement with me on every point advocated by me in the party paper; and on none more decidedly than on the necessity of getting rid of the Company and its Directors ... — he induced me to devote my whole time arid talents to the party, for whom I worked harder than any of its paid labourers; furnishing him with materials for his speeches (particularly that of the 2?th of July, 1857, which he always afterwards called "our speech," in speaking of it to me); and constantly seeing him, or corresponding with him, on the state of affairs in India ... until the party attained office in February, 1858' (pp 27-8, 67). The first extant letter from Rathborne to D is dated 16 August 1857; he returns Sir William Napier's 10 August letter (see 2949&n2 and 2954) and offers a draft of the query and request for papers on India that D made in the House on 17 August. H B/XXI/R/8; Hansard CXLVII cols 1735-6. For the acrimony that developed over Rathborne's later claim for recognition of his services, see 3l92&m, 3i93&n4 and 3198^3. 2 The Times on Saturday 29 August had called for a policy of vengeance, specifically for the utter destruction of Delhi as retaliation for what it saw to have been done deliberately 'to degrade England, to degrade Europe, to degrade a Christian empire and a Christian Queen.' A second leader, reviewing the performance of political leaders during the session just ended, had found D to be increasingly 'pompous and tiresome', and lacking in patriotism and judiciousness in his attempts to turn to partisan advantage the causes of the Indian mutiny. F.W. Haydon (now the Press editor) had written to D on 31 August: 'I could not induce the Colonel to venture upon a hypothetical article last week. He is painfully matter of fact, & will wait for letters & full intelligence before he writes upon the position of affairs.' H B/XXI/ H/3293 Dalhousie had issued the proclamation annexing the province of Oude on 13 February 1856. Vernon Smith, president of the India board, in response to a motion for papers in the House on 4 March 1856 had said that Dalhousie had been given orders to deal with the situation in Oude as he saw fit. On 21 July when the House in committee was considering the Indian budget, he had defended the annexation,
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The present ministry are virtually, not merely formally, identified with the annexation of Oude. They have, therefore, by their policy, caused all the dangers and disgrace which are now on us; all the defeats, massacres, rapes, and defilements. If vengeance is the necessity of the nation, the first examples, as they were the prime criminals, should be Her Majesty's present advisers. I doubt whether this view of the case could be too strongly, or too frequently, urged. Excuse my troubling you with this line, which you will accept in lieu of a Sunday chat. Yours sincerely, I D. It might be as well to turn to Hansard of 1856, and see what was the date of the Blue Book issued, as nothing could be said or done till that appeared. As for this year, dissolution, &c., prevented Sir Fitzroy Kelly from bringing the motion forward. All this in answer to V. Smith, that no one in Parliament disapproved, &c.4 TO: ANTHONY RATHBORNE
Hughenden [Tuesday] 1 September 1857 2Q6l
ORIGINAL: PS 1496 PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to Colonel Rathborne (1858) l EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text in Rathborne's edition.
MY DEAR COLONEL, September 1st, 1857. There was one point which I omitted to mention yesterday. Assuming that the annexation of Oude was a sagacious act, it was surely a critical experiment. Was it wise simultaneously to reduce the European forces in India, and involve ourselves in Persian wars?1 There seems such a total absence of all statesman-like qualities in our government of India at this conjuncture! What should produce revolt and rebellion but such courses.2 Yours, I D.
saying he took the silence in both Houses in the nearly two months since he had presented all the papers on the matter as evidence of general approval. Hansard CXL col 1856, CXLIII cols 1121-49. See also 2948n4. 4 On l September, Rathborne would thank D for a 'note just received and for the hints which it contains. It is of course easy for the Times Editor ... to say what dreadful things he is about to do [at Delhi] but it will not be [so] easy to carry his threats into effect ..." He then summarized his review for D of parliament's discussions of the annexation of Oude, beginning with 'the Oude Blue Book [that] was issued on the 2Oth. May 1846.' H B/XXI/R/12. See further zgGl&ni. 1 Dalhousie had declared war against Persia on i November 1856 and had sent out two divisions that did not return to India until after the outbreak of the mutiny. 2 On 3 September Rathborne would reply: 'I have only just received your note of the day before yesterday having been away from home when it came. The additional points you mention shall be borne in mind ...' On 3 September, Haydon would assure D that he quite appreciated the value of Rathborne's services, although the two of them had had differences: '... by the valuable help of your kindness & condescension to him, I think Sir I may now rely upon him in security.' The next day he reported that Rathborne was 'evidently highly flattered by the honour of your suggestions and correspondence. Indeed Sir the effect of your confidence has been most beneficial.' H B/XXI/H/33O1, R/lO. The points D makes in 2960 and here would be the focus of the Press leader of 5 September.
65
2962
TO: [LORD HENRY LENNOX?]
Hughenden [Tuesday] i September 1857
ORIGINAL: HUNT HM 52649
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. A vertical line has been drawn in the right-hand margin to mark the first paragraph, and the first sentence of the second paragraph (except for the first two words) has been underlined, presumably by a later reader. There is no salutation.
Private September i. 1857. You make a mistake: you are not, & never have been, neglected. Try to pull on: we have seen even rougher times. At the end of this month, we go into Devonshire, & returning, thro / town, I shall try to see you, & hope to find you in better cue.1 Yours truly, I D.
2963 T0: ANTHONY RATHBORNE
Hughenden [Monday] 7 September 1857
ORIGINAL: PS 1497
PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to Colonel Rathborne (1858) i EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text in Rathborne's edition.
MY DEAR COLONEL, Hughenden Manor, September 7th, 1857. A capital article,1 and the number generally spirited. What does the responsibility of ministers mean? Is it to be confined merely to petty acts of administration? If it apply to anything, it should surely be to a policy. Now the policy which annexes a state, is a policy of the highest class, la haute politique. Such a step should be well weighed and matured, as necessarily involving vast consequences. The annexation of Oude was projected and rejected before finally adopted. The concocters, therefore, must have been aware of their critical course. We have a right to assume that it was sifted by V. Smith in his department; formally and seriously brought before the Cabinet before sanctioned. Who can doubt it? If not so, the crime is the greater. But assuming it was, the credit of the ministry, as statesmen, was staked on the venture. What is the result? And when are public men to be visited by national disapprobation, if such men, under such circumstances, are not?2 Yours sincerely, I D.
1 The recipient of this rebuke is probably Lennox, possibly in connection with the selling of the Press (see 2957&ni); for his querulousness towards D, see 33O2&nni&2. James Disraeli, who habitually accused D of neglect (see V 1822, l826&n2, 2l8s&n4) is another possible recipient; the recent death of his wife (2943&ni, 2944&ni) would account for depression. A possible political recipient is G.H. Moore, who since July had been complaining to D that he had not been getting the party support he deserved and had been promised. H B/XIII/2OO-3. 1 See 2Q6o&n4 and 296l&n2 for Rathborne's leader in the Press on 5 September based on those letters from D; Rathborne is further confirmed as the author in Haydon's 4 September letter to D. H B/XXI/H/331. 2 On 9 September Rathborne would reply: 'I am very glad you liked the article last week. The points mentioned in your note shall be my text for this.' The Press leader on 12 September duly echoed D's points. Rathborne in his letter discussed the atrocities by Indians as reactions to 'previous pressure', concluding 'that in fact they are only acts of a nature practised in similar cir[cumstan]ces of excitement by people of the most civilized nations', and that they should be addressed accordingly. H B/XXI/R/n. Earlier articles in the Press, on 22 March and 5 April 1856 and presumably written by Rathborne, had already taken this line on the annexation of Oude. See further 296s&ni.
66
TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Hughenden [Wednesday] 16 September 1857 2Q64
ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [115]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 164-7, dated at Hughenden 16 September 1857; M&B IV 96-7, dated at Hughenden 16 September 1857, the first, third and last paragraphs omitted; Bradford 235 undated and recipient incorrectly identified as SBW; Bradford 246, extract dated September 1857 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Sic: is suspicious.
Hughenden I Septr. 16. 57 It was very kind of you to write to me.1 I shd. have replied sooner, had I anything to give you worth receiving. I live in a perfect, nay, a profound, solitude. I have not seen a human being for three weeks. A certain term of this sort of life suits me, is indeed necessary, after all the / strife, & tearing racket, of practical existence. I wish, like you, I cd. console myself with reading novels, or even writing them; but I have lost all zest for fiction, & have for many years. I have never read anything of Dickens, except an extract in a newspaper, &, therefore, I cannot help to decide on the, merits of Little Dorrit.2 I never went to Manchester; tho' / the newspapers gave an account of my visit.3 And even, if I had, there is no opinion on that affair, that I shd. so much value as yr own. I hope, therefore, you will tell me what you thought of it, & what struck you as to its relative position with the other great galleries of Europe - the Roman, Florentine, Saxon &c. One ought not to prophesy / about India, when probably the new mail has by this time arrived, tho' it has not reached me, for altho' little more than 30 miles from town, I live in a forest, or what once was one - but I take a gloomy view of affairs. The Ministers underrated the business from the first; they are in a scrape, & trying to get out of it by the bullying of the "Times." I cannot altogether repress / a suspicion, tho' it is only for yr own ear, that many of the details of horrors, wh: have so outraged the sensibility of the country, are manufactured. The striking story of Skene at Jhansi, his deeds of heroic romance, worthy of a Paladin, then kissing his wife & shooting her &c. &c. - all appear, now, to be complete invention.4 This story has produced a great effect in this neighbourhood, 1 Lady Londonderry had written from Garron Tower on 28 August, astonished that D was still working and wondering whether he would be coming to see her this year. H B/XX/V/2O5. 2 Lady Londonderry (nl) had discussed novels she was reading: 'I waited till all of little Dorritt was out & now am disap[pointe]d. What do you think of it. It will never di[s]possess (if equal) David Copperfield. I had that book 3 times & cried & laughed over it all by myself. It is true it was 5 or 6 yrs ago when I had nothing to do.' Dickens's Little Dorrit had appeared in monthly numbers from December 1855 to June 1857, David Copperfield from May 1849 to November 1850. For D's earlier familiarity with Dickens, see, eg, III 741, 889, IV 1283, etc. 3 Lady Londonderry had written (nl): 'I finished up my matters in the North & went to Manchester which as you have seen, I will not enlarge upon.' The Times on l July had reported that the Ds on 29 June had attended the Manchester Exhibition of Art Treasures. 4 The massacre at Jhansi, in Bundelcund, had occurred on 8 June, when the rebels broke their promise of safety for the Europeans if arms were laid down and killed all the officers, their wives and children, including Captain Alexander Skene, 68th Regt, Bengal N.I., the superintendent of Jhansi and Jaloun, Beatrice Margaret Herschel Skene, his 21-year-old wife, and their two infant daughters. Skene's vakil gave an account of the brutal massacre according to which Captain Gordon, the deputy superintendent of Jhansi, shot himself instead of surrendering. AR (1857 History) 258, (Chronicle) 355-6; Hibbert
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& I doubt not, in all others, & / I have no doubt dare say stimulated subscriptions, as it certainly has the warlike passions of the people. We must remember Captain Jenkins' ears. He appeared without them before the H of Commons, & the House declared war against Spain in consequence. It afterwards turned out, that he had lost them in the pillory, or deserved to do so.5 The details of all these stories is suspicious. Details are a feature of the Myth. The accounts are too graphic; I hate the word. Who can / have seen these things? Who heard them? The rows of ladies standing with their babes in their arms to be massacred, with the elder children clutching to their robes - who that wd. tell these things, could have escaped? One lady says to a miscreant "I do not ask you to spare my life, but give some water to my child." The child is instantly tossed in the air & caught upon a bayonet! Those, who invented the Skene story, might / invent others. It was no rude hand, that forged that tale of plaintive horror. What can there be, even in your Copperfield, like that!6 I hope you are very well. I am glad to see, that in Ireland, as well as in this Isle, you are fulfilling, in a manner worthy of you, the duties of yr high station.7 You set a great example, & one, wh:, while it pleases all, does not astonish me, who have known you so long. And so, with great affection, I will now say Good bye! I D.
377-9- The Press on 12 September had commented: 'It appears that the first report of Captain Skene having at the last moment of defence of the fort at this place first shot his wife and then himself, is incorrect.' 5 The ear of Robert Jenkins (Jl 1731-1738), master mariner, was cut off by the captain of a Spanish guardacosta while plundering Jenkins's ship, on 9 April 1731, and Jenkins's testimony about the incident before a committee of the House in 1738 helped bring about war with Spain the following year. Later there were questions whether Jenkins had not in fact lost the ear in the pillory, but the incident had been confirmed by an official report from the West Indies in September 1731, long before the ear became politically significant. DNB. 6 The British papers were full of purported first-hand accounts of atrocities in India which were inflaming the nation to revenge. The Timers leader on 6 August had cited the bayoneted children and on 10 September it had reprinted a report of a child killed when its mother asked that it be given water; for The Times'* pro-vengeance policy see 296o&n2. Lady Londonderry had written (ni): 'How terrible all this India business is & especially for those who have relatives there!' While no one questioned that atrocities were being committed by both sides, D was not the only one (the Queen was another) concerned that the embellishments with their racist foundation were undermining sound judgement, and could possibly be attributed to (among others) the Europeans in India who had enormous stakes in having their positions restored by force. Later in 1857, despite some cabinet misgivings, Delane would send his famous Crimean correspondent W.H. Russell to India to find what evidence there was for the horror stories. Russell would be sympathetically received by Sir Colin Campbell, and would find little evidence to support the contentious reports, instead being impressed by the evidence of extreme provocation by the British and disgusted by their many acts of cruel retaliation. Christopher Hibbert Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals (1985) 137-8; Alan Hankinson Man of Wars: William Howard Russell o/The Times (1982) 116-28. See further 2972n3. 7 Lady Londonderry would give her annual dinner to 300 of her tenants on 24 September in the new town hall at Carnlough, near Garron Tower, and was reported to be 'exerting all her influence for the improvement of their social condition, and the development of industrial resources upon her estate.' MP (9 Sept 1857). C/2948&m.
68
TO: ANTHONY RATHBORNE
Hughenden [Wednesday] 16 September 1857 2Q&t
ORIGINAL: PS 1498 PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to Colonel Rathborne (1858) 2 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text in Rathborne's edition. Sic: COLOLEL.
Hughenden, September i6th, 1857. MY DEAR COLOLEL, I was very much pleased, indeed, with your article, which sustained, and more than sustained, its excellent predecessor.1 The continuous efforts must ultimately produce effect; and it is the only means by which effect can be achieved. We must remember that the Press is the only journal which, at this crisis, dares speak the truth. The influence of the East India company, in the middle classes, is immense; it is they who have pastured on the patronage of India, and not the aristocracy; and nothing but national calamity will ever counteract such corrupt influences. You have also a Government in a great scrape, trying to bully through by the aid of the Times. I approve very much of the ideas sketched out in your last letter.2 In the present infuriate state of the public mind, we must proceed with caution, otherwise I cannot entirely repress a suspicion, that many of these details of outrage have been manufactured. The striking story of Skene, atjhansi, his deeds of heroic romance, worthy of a Paladin, there, kissing his wife and shooting her, &c., &c., all appear now to be complete inventions. This story has produced an enormous effect in this neighbourhood, and I have no doubt stimulated the subscription, as it certainly has the warlike passions, of the people. We must remember Captain Jenkins' ears. He, I think, appeared without them at the bar of the House of Commons, and the House declared war against Spain in consequence. I forget whether he had previously lost them in the pillory or not, but he deserved to do so. The detail of those stories is suspicious. Details are always a feature of the myth. The accounts are often too graphic; I hate the word. Who can have seen these things? The row of ladies standing with their babes in their arms to be massacred, with the elder children clutching to their robes: who that would tell these things could have escaped? One lady says to a ruffian, "I do not ask you to spare my life, but give some water to my child." The child is, of course, cut in two before the mother immediately. Those who invented the Skene story might invent others. It was no rude hand that forged that tale of simple horror. All this for your private ear and mind, and to relieve mine, as I do not fancy, at this moment, John Bull cares to be undeceived. But, perhaps, while I am writing this, you will have received the new Indian Mail intelligence, which may change the colour of all your thoughts. If it have arrived, it will not reach us till to-morrow, for though only thirty miles from town, we live in the midst of a forest, or what once was one.3 Yours sincerely, I D. 1 See 2960 and ag6l&n2 for Rathborne's Press leader of 5 September, and 29638012 for his of 12 September. 2 See 2g63n2 for Rathborne's 9 September letter. D's letter from this point onward is virtually identical to the corresponding part of 2964&nn4-6. 17 September would respond: 'I will attend to the advice you give and be very careful on
3 Rathborne on
6Q
2Q66
TO: ANTHONY RATHBORNE
Hughenden [Sunday] 20 September 1857
ORIGINAL: NHS [l]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to Colonel Rathborne (1858) 2 COVER: [black-edged envelope] Lt Col[one]l Rathborne I 15 St. James' Square I London I D. POSTMARK: (l) a cancelled one-penny stamp (2) [in double circle:] HUGHENDEN I SP2O I 1857 I O (3) [in circle-.] JY I LONDON I SP-21 I 57 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'.
Private Septr. 20. 1857 Lt Col [one] 1 Rathborne My dear Colonel, I cannot permit a post to pass witht. expressing to you, how greatly I admire, & how entirely I approve, your labors / this week. They are pre-eminent.1 Yours very sincerely, I D. T0:
2967
SAMUEL LUCAS
Hughenden [Sunday] 20 September 1857
ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [93]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. There is no salutation.
Private Septr 20. 1857 S. Lucas Esqr I am very much obliged to you for yr kind note, & am always glad to hear from you.1
the subject of wounding the sensibilities of the Public. The late news from India does not strike me as very "cheering", whatever effect it may have on the Times.' H B/XXI/R/12. He was commenting on The Times report of 17 September from the Bombay Telegraph that began: 'The news by this mail is of a more cheering nature than any we have yet sent home ...' The Press leader on 19 September would contend that the report that the worst of the mutiny might be over (which in any case could be attributed to press censorship) was cheering only to those interested in maintaining the exploitative status quo of the East India Company by force instead of addressing the root problem of just administration in India. It argued that this policy was costly to every class in England, and concluded by quoting from D's 27 July speech that a policy of authoritative justice would ' "do more than all the devices of all the masterminds to secure the tranquillity of India. "' The rest of the issue was filled with material not conducive to optimism about the Indian situation, including reports published in a second edition about Havelock's retreat to Cawnpore causing 'grave apprehensions.' See further 2966&m. 1 For Rathborne's 19 September Press leader see 29653013. Haydon on 19 September had written to D: 'I trust Sir that our efforts this week will meet with your approbation ...' Rathborne replied on 22 September with profuse thanks for D's 'most kind and flattering letter ...' H B/XXI/H/333, R/131 Lucas had written on 19 September: 'I have a reference to yourself far more courteous than usual in the 3rd Leader of the Times of this day. It is but a straw but I will tell you just what it signifies when we meet.' The Times in its third leader on 19 September had commented on the universal boon of railway travel despite strenuous opposition for half of its 20 years; '"Railways," said Mr. Disraeli prophetically some years ago, "will do more than ever monasteries did," and, though the comparison may strike some readers as singular, it gives honourable evidence of discernment and candour.' The leader extended the lesson of the futility of opposition to progress to several recent pieces of progressive legislation. The significance of the more courteous reference may be discerned in Lucas's next letter, on 26 September: 'You will not have failed to observe how public opinion as to the causes of the outbreak is tiding round to your own point of view, and especially how much is now ascribed to our annexation policy.' In this letter and the next, on 6 October, he conveyed recent information about India as D had asked. H B/XXI/L/381-3.
70
I have read yr Excelsis, with great attention. 2 / Affairs appear grave.3 Yours very Sincerely, I D. TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Hughenden 2068 [Wednesday] 23 September 1857
ORIGINAL: RTC [68]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 97, dated at Hughenden 23 September 1857, the fourth paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. The second sheet is numbered '2.' Sic: ecarte.
Hughenden Manor I Septr. 23. 1857 The newspapers say, that I am en route for Torquay: I am in imagination, but not yet quite in fact. The truth is, that our visits must be paid to you in August, or a good deal later, for September, & the beginning of October, are / the period of rural business - when agricultural societies of all shades & forms hold their meetings, crowned with the assemblage of the ancient Estates of the Province, to wit, the time-honored Quarter Sessions. At all these gatherings, I have to be present, & very often have to / do, & to say, many things not very easy, or very agreeable to accomplish. But these are the taxes, wh: we must pay for public life, & wh:, like the Income Tax, can have no end. Tomorrow we go on a visit to Lady Marian Alford, at Ashridge Castle. She is the guardian of her / son, who, by the decision of the House of Lords in the long controverted case of the will of the Earl of Bridgewater, is now the heir 8c possessor of both the vast estates of his grandfather Lord Brownlow, whose title he inherits & bears, & his maternal ancestor, Lord Bridgewater.1 The great object / of Lady Marian's life is to make her son equal to this position - more than £100,000 pr. annm. clear, & great power. She is a woman of remarkable abilities, & common sense united with them - & Nature assists her in her hopes & projects, for a betterlooking, more modest, intelligent, & truly noble youth, than her son, / aged 15 cd. rarely be met with, or even imagined. Tho' his pursuits are manly, his health
2 The Press on 12 September had prominently reviewed Lucas's Dacoitee in Excelsis; or, the Spoliation ofOude by the East India Company, but without identifying the author. The reviewer — presumably Rathborne, who on 9 September (see 2963n2) had told D there would be this review 'in which the views expressed of the folly of the act will be further enforced' — took the established Press line on the topic. 3 Lucas replied ( n i ) : 'the impression in Town is that affairs are much graver than Indian mails or telegraphs convey to us ...' 1 Lady Marianne (or Marian) Alford (1817-1888), born Lady Marianne Margaret Compton, eldest daughter of 2nd Marquess of Northampton, in 1841 had married Viscount Alford, elder son of 1st Earl Brownlow (whom he had predeceased in 1851); Alford's maternal grandmother (Lady Amelia Hume, born Egerton) was the sister and heir of the 8th and last Earl of Bridgewater. The Alfords' only son, John William Spencer Brownlow Egerton (1842-1867), in 1853 had succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Earl Brownlow, assuming the name Egerton in lieu of Hume Gust (in 1863 he would reassume Gust in addition to Egerton) The issue before the Lords for several months in 1853 was the interpretation of Bridgewater's will, which had left estates worth £70,000 p.a. to Alford on condition that he attain the title of Duke or Marquess of Bridgewater; the first ruling, against Alford and his heir in 1851, was reversed on appeal to the Lords a month before Brownlow succeeded his grandfather. MP (24, 29 Jun, 2O Aug 1853). The Bridgewatei title was never revived. See further 29?6&n4 and 2979.
71
is somewhat delicate unfortunately. He has a pulmonary tendency, but if he be spared, he is calculated to sustain the character of this still famous country. But how long will it remain famous? / The Indian news is most grave. The world has now found out - it is a rebellion, not a mutiny. But of all the awful circumstances of this terrible affair, is the spirit of vengeance, wh: is preached - as if we were to take our enemies for our model. In a political, a military, a religious, point of view, nothing can be more unwise, or more heinous. / But the passions of the people are diverted thus from the misconduct of their governors. On the 30th. we go to Chicheley Hall in the North of the County, to attend the meeting of the Royal Bucks Agricl. Association.2 By the first Octr., I hope to find myself returned safe here: Quarter / Sess: are held the first week of the month,3 & very soon after that, we shall be steering westward. The sea breeze will suit very well, when the leaf is falling. I have not played cards since my whist & ecarte last year at Mt. Braddon, therefore I think / I ought to have a point given me, if I join a rubber, or if you take me in hand. So many, & so great events have occurred, since we met last; we have been to so many places, & seen so many people, that I think there ought to be / sufficient matter for private conversation at least. I shall write to you, however, before we meet, & give you good notice of all that happens to us, & all our intended movements.4 Mrs. Di. sends iooo kind loves, Yours ever, I D. 2969 TO: ANTHONY RATHBORNE Hughenden [Wednesday] 23 September 1857 ORIGINAL: PS 1499
PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to Colonel Rathborne (1858) 2 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text in Rathborne's edition. Sic: two; Askridge.
Hughenden, September 23rd, 1857. MY DEAR COLONEL, I do not think you can write too fully, or two strongly, on the subject of your late conversation with Sir William Napier.1
2 D would use the 25th anniversary celebration of the Royal Bucks Agricultural Association at Newport Pagnell on 30 September to expound his views on India, forecasting more gloomy developments, and denouncing the policy of vengeance instead of justice. He stressed 'sympathy with our suffering fellowcountrymen and countrywomen in India; and also a determination to enforce upon the Government that the preparations for the future shall be adequate to the gravity of the occasion.' The Times on 2 October would denounce him for trying 'to turn the present trials of the country into a means of attacking the Ministry.' The Times (i, 2 Oct 1857). Anthony Chester had sent him the invitation to Chicheley on 3 September. H A/rv/L/52. See also 2928&n4, 2938&m and 2979. 3 The Bucks Michaelmas quarter sessions would in fact open at Aylesbury on 19 October this year, on which day D attended and made one minor contribution to the magistrates' deliberations on county business. BH (24 Oct 1857). 4 See 2979 1 In a postscript to his 22 September letter (see 2966m) Rathborne had written: 'Yesterday I had a long
72
In a political, military, or a religious point of view, the present popular emotion in this country is equally fatal and perilous. Yours sincerely, I D. My direction, until Tuesday's delivery inclusive, will be Askridge Castle, Great Berkhampstead,' in case you have any cause to write to me. TO: ANTHONY RATHBORNE
Ashridge Castle [Sunday] 27 September 1857 2Q^JO
ORIGINAL: PS 1500
PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to Colonel Rathborne (1858) 2 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text in Rathborne's edition. Sic: Askridge; Chichely.
Askridge, Great Berkhampstead, September 27th, 1857. MY DEAR COLONEL., I received yours yesterday.1 When I presume to send you any observations, they are merely suggestions offered with the utmost deference to your own judgment, and still more to the passing incidents of the moment. It would have been a great mistake not to have commented, as you have done most ably, on the Calcutta petition;2 and, very probably, by the time you receive this, you may be in possession of information which may open up quite new trains of thought and feeling. I see that Bernal Osborne is all for razing Delhi to the ground, - the original policy of the Board of Control.3 Yours sincerely, I D. My direction, if required, till Thursday inclusive, Chichely Hall, Newport Pagnell,4 afterwards Hughenden.
talk with Sir Wm. Napier about India and he agrees entirely in thinking that nothing could be worse even in a military and political point of view (setting the question of national Character for the moment aside) than any attempt to meet atrocity by atrocity or going one step beyond what the solemn necessity of the case requires. Perhaps if Sir Henry Lawrence had not been quite so free with his hanging we might not have had to lament the massacre at Cawnpore.' See further 297O&nl2 See 2968&n i. 1 Rathborne on the 26th had written to D at Ashridge Castle: 'I will not fail to attend to what you say in your last when writing future articles, but the one published today had been written before I received your note.' H B/XXI/R/H2 The Press on the 26th had published the 3 August petition to parliament by the British inhabitants of Calcutta asking that India be governed by the British crown rather than by the East India Company, whose mismanagement they held responsible for the mutinies. Rathborne's leader pointed out 'that both the charges made in it against the Government, and the remedies suggested, are in entire accordance with what has been constantly put forth by ourselves.' 3 Osborne in a speech to his constituents at Dover on 24 September had said: 'I for one shall not be satisfied until I hear that Delhi, on which I look as the modern Gomorrah, has been razed to the ground.' The Times (26 Sept 1857). The Press on 3 October would focus on Osborne's concession that errors had been made in India, and that the policy of annexation had been most destructive. 4 See 8968&H2.
73
29711
T0: LORD HENRY LENNOX
Hughenden [Friday] 2 October 1857
ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R147-13] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 99-10O, dated at Hughenden, 2 October 1857, to Lord Henry Lennox, the first and last paragraphs omitted EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a typewritten copy headed: 'D. to Ld. H. Lennox, Hughenden, Oct. 2, '&•'
My dear Henry, We returned here last night from Ashridge, and I found your interesting letter.1 C[harles] G[reville]'s facts are always more valuable than his opinions, or rather what he chooses to circulate as his opinions, for he does not always pronounce what he believes. I am not, however, surprised that he should say what he does about Derby; nevertheless, I recollect that in January, 1855, he used to several persons, and among them, I think, to yourself, exactly the same phrase. Nevertheless, we know what occurred in a couple of months. Returning from Ashridge, I contrived to pass a day at Chicheley and dine with the farmers at Newport Pagnell, and, tho' the assemblage was intensely bucolic, managed to say a few words in the right direction, tho' with great difficulty and caution. Mills's opinion, or that of any E.I. Director, goes for nothing, and no £ s. d. view can now affect this question.2 What the fate of the Government may be I do not foresee: what it ought to be is not very difficult to pronounce. The act which brought about the rebellion is entirely attributable to them, and they ought to be held responsible for it. Vfernon] S[mith] 's words, in answer to me, remain: 'There is not the slightest reason to suppose that the annexation of Oude has anything to do with this outbreak.'3 Every paper now says that Oude is the centre of the rebellion. We shall stay here till Q. Sess. are over, late this year, and then go to Devon. Yours ever, D.
1 Lennox had written on 15 September from Gordon Castle, where Newcastle had told him 'that he expected worse accounts until October; but that then, he thought, complete victory would be with the English.' He had written from the same place again on 27 September to convey 'the report, our friend Charles Greville, brings us from Balmoral, where, he has been to the Council... He says, he is in a maze of doubt, about our future in India; that Granville & Clarendon, with the other Ministers, are in a great state of anxious alarm; but, that Pam alone, laughs at any real danger, & is confident of complete success ... Pam seems low in CGs estimation, but he says, nothing else will or can go down ... Derby, he considers, quite an impossibility ... The Times appears to be at its wits end & not to know, at all what to do or say.' H B/XX/LX/go-i. Greville VII 300 corroborates Lennox's report. 2 Lennox (ni) had written on 27 September: '[Greville] saw Chas Mills, who is an E.I. Director last week, & he told him he had grave doubts, whether it would be worth while, to reconquer India; that the cost, would be so enormous ...' Charles Mills (1792-1872), of Hillingdon Court, Middlesex, JP and DL, 1st Bt 1868, a director of the East India Company, would in 1858 be one of the original members of the Council of India (chosen by the company). 3 Vernon Smith, as president of the board of control and therefore the member of cabinet directly responsible for the East India Company and the government's India policy, had responded in this fashion to D's three-hour speech on India on 27 July (see 2948&n4): The right hon. Gentleman has completely failed to connect the case of Oude with this outbreak. I can see no connection between the two, nor can I imagine that there can be any ...' Hansard CXLVII cols 481-505 (quoted at 490).
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TO: ANTHONY RATHBORNE
Hughenden [Sunday] 4 October 1857 2Q72
ORIGINAL: PS 1501
PUBLICATION HISTORY: A.B. Rathborne ed Mr. Disraeli to Colonel Rathborne (1858) 3 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text in Rathborne's edition.
Hughenden, October 4th, 1857 MY DEAR COLONEL, Your article1 is admirable. You have completely developed the train of thought which I touched upon very imperfectly. Indeed, I was dancing in fetters, and could scarcely squeeze in what I contrived to do, which was very little to my satisfaction, but better than nothing. I long to make a speech on India, where "politics are admitted," but after all, the best place for that is the House of Commons.2 I think your article, both as respects knowledge, correctness of view, and style, one of the best, if not the best, of leading articles I know. The number, also, is very spirited, the third article especially, "Ministers on India," is extremely telling, and ought to be circulated throughout the country.3 I heard from a source, not to be mistaken, that up to nearly the last day of the month, the ministers, with the exception of Palmerston, were quite in despair about India, especially Clarendon and Granville, from whom the Times, mainly by the aid of C. Greville,4 obtain their cue. This was the cause of the flattering tone of the Times; but the arrival of the Calcutta Mail changed everything, and out came the bullying article of Friday, "Mutiny, and nothing but Mutiny, as we always said," &c., &c.5
1 See 297On3 for Rathborne's 3 October leader. 2 See 2968112 for D's 30 September speech at Newport Pagnell. D had prefaced his remarks on India with a reference to the chairman's strictness 'in preventing any admixture, however slight, of party politics in these agricultural assemblages - a principle which I always uphold ..." Rathborne replied on 5 October: '... how ardently I long for the moment when you will be able to touch in the House of Commons those Chords which when touched rightly find a response in every breast throughout the land ... What could be a more glorious claim on the nation's gratitude[,] what bring more undying renown upon themselves, than to have restored that Empire in India which the Whigs had all but lost.' H B/XXI/R/153 The third article in the Press of 3 October had recounted the 'mass of imbecility, ignorance, and neglect' comprising the statements and behaviour of ministers since 21 July 1856 when Vernon Smith, in announcing the annexation of Oude, had allowed that this had caused disaffection among the sepoys: '... [ministers] systematically depreciated the danger, distorted facts, rejected the advice of experience, and for months repudiated the only means by which the insurrection could have been restrained ...' See further 2974&n4. 4 As recently as 1855, Greville had expressed contempt for The Times and shame at his (very slight) connection with it. Greville VII 132; Koss Political Press 113-14. 5 Lennox was the 'source' of this information; see zgyi&ni. Lucas seems to have been one of D's current contacts at The Times; on 26 September he had written: 'Vernon Smith and Delane were anticipating last night that they should hear that General Havelock's force was used up or destroyed, that Lucknow might be gone and Agra in great danger ..." H B/XXI/L/382. The Times in a second edition on i October, and again on 2 October, had published Tiles of Calcutta papers to the 23d of August' just received. Its leader based on them predicted that 'the real war ... must begin in September, and end in May ... and that next Spring will find us holding India with a stronger grasp than we ever did before ... Notwithstanding certain taunts at our want of prescience or want of capacity to comprehend the fact, this is only a military revolt, inspired by those causes and motives that prevail most with the military character ...' The Press on 3 October had countered by declaring the public's gratitude 'that, amid the shoals and quicksands that beset us, there has stood forth a statesman like Mr. Disraeli to point out from the first the true nature of the crisis ... and to show us the means by which alone it could successfully be met.'
75
They have staked all, therefore, on the next news, and if that proves disastrous, - Delhi not taken, Lucknow fallen, &c., - I should think Parliament would be called for November.6 Yours sincerely, I D.
2973 T0: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/ISQ
Hughenden [Sunday] 4 October 1857
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: Tress'.
Private Hughenden I Oct. 4: 1857 Phil: Rose Esq My dear Rose, I hear, accidentally, that you have returned, & I trust, renovated. I conclude you have a great pressure for the first days, but, when a little satiated, I will come up, any day, to town, & talk / matters over with you. In the meantime, do not conclude anything about the "Press", until you see me.1 The Quart: Sess: are so late this year, the igth, that our visit to Devonshire will not take / place till the end of this month. I hope Mrs & Miss Rose greatly enjoyed their tour.2 Yours ever, I D.
2974 T0: FREDERIC HAYDON
Hughenden [Monday] 5 October 1857
ORIGINAL: H H/Life 0143-1175]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a typescript copy headed: 'D. to Ld. H. Lennox, Hughenden, Oct. 5. '57.' Haydon's response to this letter (n3) establishes that he is the 'H' of D's salutation; see also 2973nl-
Rathborne (n2) was glad that D liked the article: 'Knowing what your feelings were I thought I could not be wrong in going a little more fully into the grounds for the conviction you had expressed that repaying atrocity by atrocity was both an error and a crime ..." 6 Delhi had already fallen to the British, on 20 September, and Agra would be taken on 10 October. Hibbert 323. The news would arrive at the foreign office by telegram on 26 October. AR (1857 Chronicle) 204, 215. Lucknow would not be finally recovered until March 1858; see 3o8g&n4. Parliament had been prorogued until 6 November; on 4 November this would be extended to 17 December but on 16 November would be moved up to 3 December, the date on which it eventually assembled. Hansard CXLVII col 2094; The Times (5, 17 Nov 1857). 1 See 2957&ni. Haydon had written to D on 3 October that he thought Rose, who had been looking over the Press, was 'disposed to give up the paper. I confess,' he allowed, 'I should be glad to get it from him ..." Lennox had written on 'Wednesday': 'I heard yesterday a few alarmed lines, from Poor Haydon; announcing Roses return.' Rose would reply to D on 5 October from Park Street that he had returned 'quite invigorated in health and energy.' See also 294Oni. He and his wife had set out to visit the Ds at Hughenden on Wednesday, but had gone no farther than Wycombe on learning they were not at home. He was eager to see D, as he had been looking into Press matters and found them 'on the whole satisfactory' with practically no debt, a growing balance at the bank, and receipts exceeding expenses; 'the ship is therefore afloat, my chief difficulty now arises from occasional insubordination among the crew, which has too much Irish material in its composition.' H B/XXI/H/335, XX/LX/gg, R/I/B/31. See further 2975&n6. 2 Rose replied (ni) that his wife and daughter had 'benefitted' as much as he had from their holiday. The Roses' eldest daughter was Margaret Amelia Rose (1842-1882).
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My dear H., 1 I hear from a 1st. rate quarter, that things were thought so bad at the end of last month, that the "Times" was on the point of publishing a Crimean Manifesto, and attacking everybody and everything, when the Calcutta mail, four days later than the Bombay, arrived, and then everything changed, and the extra bullying article of Thursday "Mutiny, nothing but a mutiny, as we always said" &c. appeared.2 They have now, i.e., the Government, evidently staked all upon Delhi immediately falling, and Agra at least being saved. If the next news do not bear this out, I should not be surprised they would call Parliament together in November....3 I think the manner in which the "Press" has been conducted during the last six weeks, has never been excelled, and that in the best columns of the "Times" more masterly leaders, both as regards matter, and style, and tone, never appeared. The No. of yesterday, I think, perfect. The leader first rate, and the 3rd. article: "Ministers on India" ought to be printed separately and circulated throughout the country...4 TO: SIR JOHN PAKINGTON
Hughenden [Tuesday] 6 October 1857 2Q75
ORIGINAL: WRO; 705:349 BA 3835/7(1!) 1O PUBLICATION HISTORY M&B IV 1OO, dated at Hughenden, 6 October 1857, the third and part of the fourth paragraphs omitted
Private & confdl: Hughenden I Octr. 6. 1857 The Rt Honble I Sir John Pakington My dear Pakington, I read your speech today with great satisfaction. I am glad we are agreed.1 I am
1 Frederic Wordsworth Wellesley Haydon (1827-1886), second son of Benjamin Haydon the historical painter, at about this time took over as editor of the Press; the first extant dated letter from him in this capacity is one of 31 August 1857. H B/XXI/H/329. After the paper was sold (see 3l03ni; as late as 1870 he would think that 'Rose would have done better to have sold it to me, than to have utterly destroyed it as he did'), 1) was instrumental in getting him appointed sub-inspector in the factory department of the home office. U'on (1859). In 1858-9 he would also be involved with the New Quarterly Review ('my first Literary Property' - see also 2993&:ni and app I I366xni) and taking direction from D for its political position. Fired by Gathorne Hardy in 1867 for criticizing officials in the home office, Haydon for the rest of n's life would periodically write to him about his dismissal (petitions for inquiries) and for help getting a pension or another public appointment; a detailed printed petition addressed to the Queen accompanies a copy of his letter to Home Secretary Bruce dated 14 April 1869. H B/XXI/H/345, 347, 358, 397-400. 404, -406, 4ajj. He would publish Benjamin Robert Haydon, his Correspondence and Table Talk in 1876. 2 See 2972&n>v 3 See 2972&n6. 4 Rathborne in his letter to D of this day (see 2972n3) wrote: The third article was Haydon's. He showed it me before he inserted it. and it then struck me as excellent and entirely to the point.' Haydon on 8 October would express his pleasure at the praise in D's letter of 'Monday last'. On 10 October Haydon would write: 'If 1 had been well enough I intended Sir to have followed up the "Ministers upon India" by showing what they had done, based upon the Military Return I have obtained from Head Quarters.' H B/XX/H/33r>-7. 1 Pakington had spoken on India to the Worcester Agricultural Association on 2 October, seeing the 'magnitude of the crisis' as 'a deeply organized, long matured conspiracy, with the object of exterminating the English from India.' The 'crime must be punished,' but it should be 'done in no vindictive spirit. Let justice be tempered with mercy.' In India, he said, tortures had been practised with English knowledge, if not authority, l i t t l e less horrible than those which we now deplored.' The crown's
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confident, that, if the party will only act like sensible men, they may attain a far higher position, than / any, that, for years past, they have held. What could be a more sure basis for public confidence, & a more glorious claim for a nations gratitude, than to restore that Empire in India, wh: the Whigs have all but lost?2 I see old Henley is at his tricks again. It is really intolerable, / that, because his father was an E. Ind: shipbuilder, the party is to be broken up at such a crisis.3 He it was, who mainly threw us in 1853 mto that painful minority on Stanleys motion for the postponement of legislation until the enquiry was concluded; a motion, wh:, if / largely supported, wd. have been now a stepping stone to power, & the defeat of wh:, I really believe, was the true cause, that Stanley refused my proposal in 1856 to bring forward the Oude case. However, I am resolved, that Henley shall not again play this game. The government of India must be one of the main / springs on wh: any ministry can now be formed, & I have myself not a doubt, that, if the Tories go straight on this & hold together, the defection from the commercial ranks of the Government wd. be large.4 We have been here, with the exception of a few days at Ashridge, since the middle of August, enjoying this charming season. My wife unites with / me in kind remembrances to Lady Pakington, who I hope is quite well. I trust you see the "Press". The series of articles on India in that paper are from a master hand, Colonel Rathborne, the right hand of Napier, & formerly Collector in Scinde. He is lord of his subject, &, both in point of knowledge 8c commanding style, his writings must produce / considerable influence on opinion. He wrote, about two years ago, a series of articles on Indian affairs in the "Press" against Dalhousiism but Ld. D:, by the agency of Lady Ely, choked them off: that is, frightened or cajoled the Editor. However, sufficient appeared to establish the paper as some authority on these matters.5 It was with the utmost difficulty, & only
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authority must be re-established, and India thereafter be better governed. The Times (5 Oct 1857); Press (10 Oct 1857). For D's speech at Newport Pagnell along similar lines see 2968n2 and 29?2n2. Pakington on 8 October 'was very glad to find that we had spoken so much in the same spirit on India ...' He had not seen the report of D'S speech until after making his own. H B/XX/P/33Taken from Rathborne's 5 October letter; see 29?2n2. Henley, president of the board of control in the 1852 Derby government, in a speech on 10 September at Thame, Oxon, had made a bloodthirsty call for vengeance in India, regarding it as 'futile to say that England has in its government of India exercised too strict a control.' BH (12 Sept 1857). The Times (12 Sept 1857) reported his contention that '... the events which had occurred in India had taken the wisest and best men by surprise.' Henley's father was Joseph Henley (1766-1832), of Waterperry, Oxon, high sheriff 1817, originally a prominent London merchant. Pakington (ni) agreed that India ought to be 'our great card', but he was 'less sanguine than you appear to be as to the result. 1st. I suspect that Palmerston ... will defend the Ministry at the expense of the Company. 2nd. I must confess that I distrust our party & have little confidence in their enabling us to act ... I suspect that you & Ld. Ellenborough & Stanley & I have little in common with the party behind us, & that the party know it - & I suspect that we four have little in common with Ld. Derby & Walpole & John Manners & Henley. Lytton I presume should be added to the first four.' For the party's division over India in 1853 see VI 25l7&n2 and 2537&ni. Just as he had rebuffed D's proposal in 1856, Stanley had refused an invitation on 29 January 1857 by the ex-King of Oude (via an agent) to take up his grievance in parliament; Stanley acknowledged the wrong done the king by confiscating his kingdom ('an act of violent usurpation'), but felt the king had been well compensated and in any case the legislation could not be changed now. DBF Box 46/1. Among many articles on India in the Press in 1855, several severely criticize Dalhousie and his imperious
by the forebearance & aid of Mr Rose, / that I prevented, before I left town, the "Press" being sold to that lot of mysterious capitalists, who are buying up all the Tory papers, &, in all probability, by this time, it wd. be writing up the E.I. Compy. & Ld. P. As it is, I do not know whether this may not yet happen before Parlt. meets. It will be a great blow to us.6 Yours sincerely, I D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
[Hughenden, Thursday] 8 October 1857 2Q?6
ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [ll6]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 167-9, dated at Hughenden 8 October 1857, the last three paragraphs omitted; M&B IV 97-8, dated at Hughenden 8 October 1857, extracts from the fourth paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Sic: Levison.
Octr. 8 1857 Your proposition was reed: with three times three, & one cheer more.1 I shall return from the Q. Sess: on the / iQth;2 therefore, the 2Oth. wd. suit us excellently, or any other day more convenient to you. We anticipate very great pleasure indeed from the visit with wh: / you so kindly propose to honor us. Your letter was very interesting indeed. I see Hamilton very distinctly; a mixture of Caliph Vathek £ the late Duke; the first / contributing the rosy tapestry, & the last the black marble staircase.3
policies such as annexation; for example, on 24 February 1855, an article on the termination of the Burmese embassy to Calcutta over Pegu focuses on the 'very self-sufficient personage the Marquis of Dalhousie, who, at a cost for salary of twenty-four thousand a year, and for expenses of fifty thousand a year more, is sowing the seeds of the ruin of India, and at the same time is building up his own fortune at Calcutta.' The article continues with a savage indictment of Dalhousie's military and diplomatic incompetence. Dalhousie was related by marriage to Lady Ely, a favoured lady of the bedchamber. According to Rathborne s 1860 Letter (see 296o&ph&ni), it was Derby's suppression of his Dalhousie articles that led him to leave the Press at that time. 6 See 295i&ni, 2955&nn2-4, 2957&ni, 2973&ni and 2974&m. Pakington (ni) agreed that to sell the Press, which he saw regularly, 'would be a serious loss to us ...' D evidently reported similarly to Malmesbury, who in his 15 October reply was confused by D's pronouns, and thought the India articles had been written by Sir William Napier, not Rathborne. H B/XX/HS/sg. On 8 October Haydon would again write to D about buying the Press; he felt £5,000 was too high, especially as the type was originally bought cheaply and would have to be replaced, and he asked D for a clear idea of what price might be acceptable. H B/XXI/H/336. See further 3060111. 1 Lady Londonderry had writtervon 'Sunday' from Glasgow (postmarked 6 October), where she and Lord Adolphus were stopping on their way to Wynyard and had been reading D's "admirable speech* (see 2968&n2): 'It is impossible not to feel very anxious abt things in India which seems in a fearfully critical state - had the Govt only sent troops overland how much might have been spared!' She continued: 'Do you know I am seriously meditating a visit to you. I have always wished it ever since that most kind & feeling invitation you gave me 3 yrs ago [see VI 26g6&nn2&3] but I never saw my way to accomplishing it ... I think of going to London the 2Oth for a few days & I have promised to go for 2 or 3 to Blenheim & I could go to you for one I think "if so be & purvided" all suited ... Mrs D'Israeli may have settled something quite opposed to this.' H B/XX/V/2O6. 2 See 2968£n3. 3 Lady Londonderry (ni > had written: 'I have been to see Hamilton Palace which is very fine ... I should like to be allowed to pick things out of it like plums out of a cake ... but I declare if I had it I should not know how to live in it. There is a black marble staircase (oh so gloomy) & a picture gallery 12O feet long £ a most quaint shaped Library ... for the Beckford books ... There are miles of rooms & such
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We have been here since the middle of August, enjoying the charming scene & season, with the exception / of a visit to Ashridge, who counts as a neighbour, & is a constituent.4 The castle is of Wyatt Gothic, but very costly, & with all its faults, its extended principal front produces a fine & great effect. The / Park, for extent, scenery, 8c timber is beyond all praise. It is in fact a castle in a forest, & only thirty miles from the largest city known in ancient or modern times.5 We met therefor there a lively party: / the Ebringtons,6 Lady Brownlow,7 F. & Lady Margaret Levison,8 the female Lyndhursts,9 Stafford, Powis family,10 & a troop of cavaliers. In the evening they performed charades, with all the neighbours & servants assembled / & admitted. Nothing cd. be worse. Except Stafford, who is capital, not a person performer had the slightest dramatic talent. They all seemed to cluster round Stafford like bees, with their backs to the audience & mumbling / in a nervous whisper; occasionally a giggle, the last despair of mauvaise honte. Our hostess, who is as kind as she is agreeable, thought they were not applauded enough, & we organised some claqueurs; / but this finished the business. The rehearsal in the morning of a charade took three hours, & the performance cd. never be spun out to ten minutes! At last Mr Stafford went away in despair & the / company took refuge in a more congenial round game.11 Tell Adolph: that I have read the pamphlet, wh: was well worth reading.
lovely old tapestry - rose de Boni [sic] & flowers as if it was painted. I hate tapestry generally & gt. grim figures but this ought to be under glass. No flower garden - mag[nificen]t Park & such a hideous heavy Mausoleum the Duke built for himself & there he lies in a sort of Egyptian marble mummyl all covered with hieroglyphics.' The current palace had been built in the classical style in 1822-9 by Alexander Hamilton Douglas (1767-1852), loth Duke of Hamilton and 7th Duke of Brandon, KG 1836, FRS, FSA, LL of Lanarkshire, son-in-law of William Beckford (author of Vathek - cf VI 23OO&m), MP for Lancaster 1802-6. 4 See 2968&ni. The Bridgewater estates inherited by Lord Brownlow included property in Bucks such as Slapton Manor. VH-B III 412. 5 Ashridge Castle, Berkhampstead, Herts, had been extensively rebuilt in 1808-14 in the Gothic style by James Wyatt (1746-1813), also the architect for William Beckford's Fonthill; the interior of Ashridge was currently (1855-63) being remodelled in the Italian style by Matthew Digby Wyatt, of the same family. Furtado 227. 6 Lord Ebrington in 1847 had married Georgiana Augusta Charlotte Caroline Dawson Darner (1826-1866), eldest daughter of Col George Lionel Dawson Damer and his wife, Mary Georgiana Emma, daughter of Lord Hugh Seymour; Lady Ebrington was thus the granddaughter of 1st Earl of Portarlington and great-granddaughter of 1st Marquess of Hertford. 7 The Dowager Countess Brownlow (1791-1872); see II 408ni7. 8 Edward Frederick Leveson Gower (1819-1907), 3rd son of 1st Earl Granville, a barrister (Inner Temple 1845), JP, DL for Surrey, Liberal MP for Derby 1847, for Stoke-upon-Trent 1852-7, for Bodmin 1859-85, in 1853 had married Lady Margaret Compton (1830-1858), sister of 3rd Marquess of Northampton. 9 Lady Lyndhurst's only child and Lyndhurst's only surviving unmarried daughter was Georgiana Susan Copley (1838-1926), who in 1863 would marry Sir Charles Du Cane. 10 The (unmarried) Lord Powis and his brother Col Percy Herbert were currently at Ashridge. MP (13 Oct 1857). 11 In her 13 October reply from Wynyard Lady Londonderry remarked: 'Your description of the acting is impayable.' H B/XX/V/2O7. In the meantime, Sarah had written to MA, on i October: 'I heard from Miss Copley yesterday all about the Charade & the Epilogue. I did not betray your opinion of the acting, but it could not be worse than her own ...' The 45-year-old Stafford would live only until 15 November; Sarah would write to MA on the 26th: 'Poor Mr Stafford - it is a lesson to a man not to die, however he may live, a bachelor - a sensible tender woman would have saved him from his nurses, if not from his Doctors ..." H D/III/A/436, 439.
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We quite count on seeing him here.12 I duly received the Irish / paper, & knowing all the characters, I was extremely amused. Yours ever, I D. TO: LORD STANLEY
[Hughenden, Thursday] 8 October 1857
2Q77
ORIGINAL: DBF (1545]
EDITORIAL C O M M E N T - Endorsed by Stanley on the fourth page: 'Disraeli. Oct. 57.'
Private Octr. 8. 1857 Lord Stanley My dear S. Where are you, & what are you doing, & thinking? I have heard of you several times indirectly. I want / you very much to come & pay us a visit, if yr 10,000 engagements will let you. Frances Anne, the great Marchion[e]ss & orator, has announced her gracious / intention of coming here towards the end of the month, in her progress to Blenheim I think about the 22nd. I particularly wish you to meet her, ;*^ she is an / element of power, &c &c. Are you by chance in town for the moment, & in humor for a lark? If so, come down to us on Saturday next, & meet one or two agreeable people. Come like a man; it will be capital Yours ever, ! D.1 TO: LADY F R A N K L A N D RUSSELL Hughenden [Thursday] 15 October 1857 O R I G I N A L : BI. ADD MS 69391 ff?5-6
Hughenden Manor I Octr 15. 1857 Dear Lady Frankland, Mrs. Disraeli is out in the woods, & I do not like to keep yr messenger.1 I regret 12 Lady Londonderry ( n i ) had added a postscript: 'Adolphus begs me to add all kind regards & to tell you to read a pamphlet (if you have not) called Mutiny of the Bengal army by one who served under Sir Charles Napier.' She replied ( n i l ) : 'Thanks for yr kind welcome - Wedy 28th. is the day I propose to visit you 8c Mrs D'Israeli remaining Thursday & returning to Town friday. Je me fais fete of a good talk ... Adolphus is dying to accompany me but I do not know if he will be able to manage it.' Adolphus would write to MA on 11 October that he might not be able to leave his regimental duties at the time of his mother's visit to the Ds. H B/xxl/V/15- See further 2983&ni. 1 Stanley on 10 October from Hatfield would send his regrets because he was tied up with engagements 'public & private. I go to Birmingham next week, and thence into Lancashire.' He trusted he and D could 'meet in the course of the winter, and talk over the momentous events of the year - I fear hasty legislation about India even more than apathy.' H B/XX/S/63O. See further zgSo&ni. On Saturday 10 October, the Ds at Hughenden would entertain at dinner 'Sir George & Ly Dashwood & Miss Broadwood'. The latter may have been Lady Dashwood's younger sister Fanny Broadhead, who appears in later peerages simply a.s deceased' but may have still been 'in humor for a lark' at this time. MA recorded that the company drank i Shampaign but l glass, l Sherry [and] i Port.' H ace. 1 Lady Frankland Russell at Chequers Court had written to MA on this day: 'I fear from what you said that it may be impossible that you & Mr Disraeli can give me the pleasure of your company to Dinner today - & stay on here till the n>ening- at any rate of the next day, but I send over in hopes of persuading you to think of this plan - I shall regret it so much if you are not able to stay here one night.' She asked for a mere verbal replv H D/Hl ' A.E. Scanes, the first Hughenden archivist): 'As far as I can see, they have failed to get up any cry, at all. I dont think we ought to commit ourselves against Ld. John's Bill, - as we may find it convenient to propose it ourselves some day.' Another note, dated only '10 a.m.' and similarly docketed (but see 330Oni), establishes that Earle and D exchanged documents by box: 'I have just received a most curious & important document. I am burning to show it you - but dare not trust it to a box.' H B/XX/E/159, 160.
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Confidl Apl. 8. 1859 My dear Stanley, From some information wh: has reached me, I believe that you will be returned for London at the head of the / Poll.1 It is the opinion of your opponents. All I want now from you, is to hold yr. tongue, 8c throw no cold water on the movement, wh: is / hourly assuming gigantic proportions[.] 2 If you are returned, it wd. do us more good, than ten small Boro' seats, & give a tone to the whole Election. I have much / to say to you on this head - but all I wish for now is reserve on your part - a grand talent for silence.3 Yrs I D
3333 T0: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Downing Street
[Saturday] 9 April 1859
ORIGINAL: H R/II/E/303
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 214, dated at Downing Street, 9 April 1859, tne last paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a fair copy in another hand in the Rose papers. There is no salutation.
Downing Street I Apl 9. 1859. What roses, and this morning some more members of the same fragrant family have arrived, before, in the storm in which I live, I could thank you for their sweet predecessors! They gave me, I assure you, all the freshness of Spring and all the radiance of Summer. The flowers were beautiful, but I thought the leaves were still more wonderful and lustrous, not a speck on them! Not the breath of a single animalcula! They really seemed fairy work and quite enchanted.1
1 There is an undated note from Earle on Downing Street paper: 'From all I hear, I believe Stanley will be returned for the City, at the head of the poll. This wd. do us more good than 10 small Borough seats. Pray urge him to accept, if the requisition justifies his candidature. Should he decline, urge him to do so, in a manifesto, accepting the requisition, as guaranteeing success, but declining the honor on grounds of personal inconvenience & official restraint. Some other Cabinet Minister ought to put forth a manifesto. The dose ought to be repeated. I attach the greatest importance to Stanley's movements. Even in -52, we had one seat for London & one for Greenwich now we have no share in the metropolitan representation.' H B/XX/E/162. Stanley had just published an address, dated 6 April, to his constituents at King's Lynn offering to represent them again. The next day saw the announcement that 'Lord Stanley is invited to offer himself for the City of London as "a man of high position, influence, and independence ..."' This evoked an address from 'the committee of Liberal electors of London ... deprecat[ing] the idea of excluding Lord John Russell in order to make way for a Tory Cabinet Minister.' The Times (8, 9, 14 Apr 1859). See further 3339&n2. 2 M&B IV 235 identifies the 'movement' as 'City Conservatives' enthusiastic about Stanley's handling of the India Bill and the India Office. 3 An undated note to D is possibly Stanley's response to this letter: 'I have not much faith in electioneering statistics, and am decided against standing, for various reasons.' H B/XX/S/658. 1 MA had acknowledged gifts of flowers from SBW on 30 March and 5 and 6 April; she said D was quite well, but she would leave him 'to speak for himself.' SBW on the lith would respond to D's letter: 'It is a real pleasure to cultivate roses for you & dear Mrs Disraeli who are so sensitive of the beautiful ...' RTC [366-71Q].
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Here all is convulsion. What did you think of our coup d'etat?2 I hope, and believe, the country will rally round us, as war seems at hand!" Ever yours, I D. TO: LORD LECONFIELD
[London, Monday] 11 April 1859
3334
ORIGINAL: WSRO Petworth House Archives 711 f~4
Private Apl 11 1859 Colonel Wyndham Dear Colonel Wyndham, I have done all I could - but alas! not successfully.1 Let me, however, have the gratification of congratulating you on / your elevation, wh:, I feel, the country will learn with satisfaction. We are embarked in a critical struggle, but, I think, we shall win. Pray help us as much as you can, & / believe me, with great consideration, your faithful Servt I B. Disraeli2 TO: QUEEN VICTORIA
House of Commons [Thursday] 14 April 1859 3335
O R I G I N A L : RAG Biy 124
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons.
April 14 1859 The Chanr of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to Yr Majesty: Lord Stanley proposed the votes of thanks to the Indian Authorities in a highly effective and / finished oration. It was full of thought & feeling, & the various individuals & exploits were touched with happy, picturesque, & discriminating, expressions.1
2 In her letter of the 5th ( n i ) , MA had told SBW that 'the Dissolution is call'd Disraeli's Coup d'etat.' See 3337&ni. 3 The press on this day carried reports dated 'Friday Evening' from Vienna that troops were being sent to Italy beginning the following day. The Times (9 Apr 1859). Malmesbury (II 167) on this day recorded: 'Bad news from Paris. Lord Cowley had a long conversation with the Emperor yesterday, and it is quite clear that he is determined upon war.' SBW in her response (ni) thought that 'there appears a very good chance that the art of destruction will arrive at that height as to defy all opposition and so lead to peace.' 1 George Wyndham (1787-1869), eldest natural son of the late (d 1837) 3rd Earl of Egremont (who adopted him as his heir and bequeathed him the estate of Petworth in Sussex, but whose titles became extinct in 1845), colonel in the army 1848, had been elevated to the peerage as Baron Leconfield on the ministry's recent list. Ml' (2 Apr 1859). On 8 April he had written D to ask if the title he had chosen could be changed, as 'he finds his family very much prefers that of Lord Wyndham of Petworth - to Leconfield.' His daughter Blanche, Lady Naas, had written to D on the gth: 'you thought there was still time to change the name ... I do hope there is time ...' H C/l/A/27a,b. 2 Leconfield would reply from Petworth on the 12th with thanks for D's kind letter and congratulations: 'The name is of no consequence as it is now settled ... We [his son Henry was Conservative MP for Sussex W] are doing all that can be done here.' H G/I/A/27C. See further 3349ni. 1 In the House on 14 April, Stanley moved a resolution of thanks to the leaders and their men in India, civil, military and naval, European and Native, who had succeeded in suppressing the Indian Mutiny and restoring peace. Palmerston seconded the motion, which was agreed to without a division. The Times the
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It produced a considerable / effect, & will still more in the country. It was delivered with unusual animation, & witht. any reference to notes. The Cr of Exr, in communication with Lord / Malmesbury, postponed until Monday, the statement respecting the present negotiations.2 The general accounts from the country, respecting the impending elections, far exceed the most sanguine estimates of the Government. 3336 TO: SIR MAURICE BERKELEY
Downing Street [Saturday] 16 April 1859
ORIGINAL: H B/II/49, 50
EDITORIAL COMMENT: There are in H two drafts in D's hand of the same letter, which has not been found. Both drafts are here given, as they show the letter evolving; also, each provides somewhat different information on the enigmatic transaction involved. In the first draft, D has drawn a vertical line through the first and second paragraphs (two pages). The last two full paragraphs of the second draft also appear in a typed version in H H/Life, headed 'DRAFT. D. to Sir Maurice Berkeley, C. of E. April 16. '59.' Handwritten in the margin is 'XIX 4'.
[H B/II/49:] Private & C[onfidentia]l Apl 16 1859 Rt. Honble I Sir Maurice Berkeley I K.C.B My dear Sir Maurice, [Block deletion begins:] I fear it is somewhat difficult to correspond on our affairs, wh: are of a complicated character. In your letter of the 14th. I interpreted the expressions, that "I / hope no time may be lost in laying the case before Her Majesty" into the expectation, that immediate elevation as a condition of immediate creation.1 [Block deletion ends.] Correspondence, I fear, on our affairs will always never be quite as comprehensible as it ought to be I cd wish, for the subject] is comp[licate]d, the1 my letter was I assure you written with the best & kindest intentions to yourself.2
next day thought Stanley an orator who had risen to the great occasion: 'Justice was ... fully done to our Indian heroes.' Hansard CLIII cols 1729-65. 2 See 3327&m. D on Friday 8 April had asked Palmerston to postpone his questions about the state of foreign affairs until Monday or the week following, when D proposed to make a statement about the negotiations that were currently going on. On this day (i4th), he announced that during Stanley's speech (ni) he had received a communication from Malmesbury that a statement about the negotiations should be postponed until the following Monday. Hansard CLIII cols 1546-7, 1765. 1 See 333l&n2. Sir Maurice had written to D from Berkeley Castle on 14 April: 'I have had a satisfactory and clear understanding with William Lennox who returns to Town on Saturday. My sole reason for requesting you to stay proceeding[s], was the fear that you might expect more than I should be able to perform. Cheltenham is my only difficulty. I cannot compromise my Son. Should he be returned for that place, which is somewhat doubtful, for reasons you will readily understand, Time would be required to withdraw him from Parliament. The four points having been conceded, I hope that no time may be lost in laying the case before Her Majesty ...' H c/I/A/3Oa. 2 This letter has not been found. Sir Maurice had responded to it on the 15th: T am at a loss to comprehend your letter. I have through-out consider'd I had no claim on your Leader, unless he thought that I had a reasonable chance of establishing my claim to the Territorial Barony, and in consequence would assist me in the endeavour to place me in the Upper House, rather than that I should obtain a seat in that assembly by such claim. I willingly acceded to the four points; not only from self interest but also from the feeling that it was time to make a stand - against dangerous innovations on the Constitution [.] The business part I consider'd concluded - the moral might have been left to your Leader and the Duke of Richmond.' He concluded with assurances of secrecy and friendship. H C/I/A/3ob.
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Whnf T
T » ~L~M. t* I, T
Your expression that the four points being settled "You hoped no time wd be lost in laying the case bef[or]e H M" seemed to require immediate notice lest you might be unintentionally be misled. What / I meant to convey was this that whether if compromise were decided on the creation of a new barony whether by way of compromise, or as a fair concession to yr. territorial position as a large great landed proprietor & member of our party, cd. not be arranged with[ou]t a certain interval of time; otherwise it cd. lead to public misconception / So you can make your arrangements, while in the meantime, I have been able to advance yr wishes about the hearing of yr case. [H B/II/50:] confidential April 16 1859 Rt Honble I Sir Maurice Berkeley I K.C.B. My dear Sir Maurice, Anxious as I am to fulfil your wish, I am still more desirous, that we shd. proceed in this delicate & / most difficult affair, without any misconception between you & myself. From the tone of your letter this morning, I fear you are under the misapprehension, that / Lord William your guest had the authority to make you a definitive proposal. That was not the case. All that he could do was, as the representative of your interests, & as a mutual friend, / to ascertain the grounds on wh: an arrangement might be brought about. The four points disposed of the material questions at issue; the suggested interview with the assistance of the D. of Richmond referred to the moral considerations. / In consequence of your letter, however, of this morning, I think it right not to lose a moment in impressing you with my conviction, that it wd. be quite impossible to make the / arrangement you suggest off hand; it must be as the consequence in due season of yr having joined the party; «et it must not for a moment be supposed that you have joined the party as the consequence of the elev[ati]on. I feel persuaded from all that / has happened, this I have heard & observed that this last arrangement wd. be absolutely out of «ay our power. Now you may fairly demur to such a course - & therefore I send this by special messenger that you may / not lose a moment any further time & may have also the advantage of consult [in] g yr friend. What the result My consol[ati]on is that you will not have been injured by our confid[entia]l communi[catio]ns with [caret but no insertion} as it is yet a week & more to the dissol[utio]n. / This I had ascertained - the reasons not personal to yourself, but on public grounds. I therefore thought you ought immediate]ly to be freed from any oblig[ati]on to know this. My own opinion is, confirmed every day, that the genl. Election will turn / out triumphantly for Ld. D. & confirm him in power. Under these circ[umstanc]es if you carry out the four points, I will express my
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conviction that Lord Derby will, in due season, & at as early a period as is consistent with propriety, lay yr name before / H. M. & that whether it be on the legal ground, or on that of yr assisting in the consolid[ati]on of the Cons[ervativ]e Govt, your object will be achieved. I feep have endeavoured to put3
3337 T0: QUEEN VICTORIA
Downing Street [Tuesday] 19 April 1859
ORIGINAL: RAG Fl3 5
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer.
April 19 1859 The Chanr of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to Yr Majesty: Your Majesty's fifth Parliament was prorogued to day, previous to its Dissolution.1 The Chanr of the Exchequer has / sate in all these five Parliaments, having entered public life at Yr Majesty's happy accession. He places before Yr Majesty authentic details of the prospects of the coming Election up to / last night. Then, The Government were attacking 105 seats of the Opposition in the English Boroughs; & The Opposition, in the same class of seats, were attacking IQ of the Governmt. / The Chanr. of the Exchequer ventures to believe, that a gain of forty seats, on the balance, is highly probable in the English Boroughs. In the English Counties, the Government will probably win from five to seven seats. In Scotland, all the Boroughs / being occupied by the Opposition, the Government cannot lose on that head, & will probably gain none, tho' they assail two. 3 Sir Maurice would reply on the iyth: 'Ours is not a subject for correspondence. I fully admit the great difficulties you point out. I have also my troubles and hardly know how to steer my course[.] However I compromise myself I cannot, and will not compromise others .... [Berkeley's ellipsis] Neither can I relinquish my present position in this Neighbourhood upon an uncertainty. I give you full credit for your kind intentionsf;] in this complicated case both of us must be guided by circumstances.' He concluded by predicting the Conservatives would not gain enough seats to stop Russell's reform bill. Rose would write D on the i8th: 'I am veiy sorry for the B affair but I dont see so much discouraging Bef Cheltenham & Gloucester are gone too far to be now capable of being much influenced. I know nothing of the County and as to Bristol I am satisfied that the member of the County family who sits for that place [F.H.F. Berkeley, Sir Maurice's younger brother] is quite ready to make his game with us if he can do so to his own advantage[.]' H R/I/B/56. There is a final letter from Sir Maurice dated 27 June: 'Much has come to my knowledge - more than I had a right to expect. I feel I have been generously dealt with - and am most grateful. I doubt not you will perfectly understand me.' H C/I/A/3od,e. Sir Maurice (brother-in-law to the 5th Duke of Richmond and his younger brother Lord William Pitt Lennox) would be elevated to the peerage as Baron FitzHardinge in 1861. 1 The Commons on this day (19 April) assembled at 1:45 pm, with about 50 members in attendance. D in response to a question said that a council was scheduled for Saturday morning, the day on which ministers had advised the Queen to dissolve parliament so the writs could go out that evening. The Commons then proceeded to the Lords to listen to the reading of the Queen's speech announcing her intention to dissolve parliament, after which the lord chancellor prorogued parliament until 5 May; the proceedings lasted only about a quarter of an hour. Hansard CLIII cols 1897-1900 (D 1900); The Times (20 Apr 1859)-
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In the Scotch Counties, the Opposition assail two Government seats, wh: are considered quite secure, & / are attacked, in their turn, in two seats, Ayrshire & Fifeshire - in the last, it may be, with success.2 But the C. of Exr thinks it prudent to assume, that the Genl Election in Scotland will make no difference in the balance of strength. In / Ireland, the Government, with present appearances, cannot gain less than six votes. On the whole, the Cr of the Exr is of opinion, that a gain to the Government from the General Election of not less than fifty votes, on the balance, may be fairly / relied on, but if the Goddess of Fortune touches their standard, the results to your Majesty's servants may be more considerable[.]3 The temper of the public is in favor of the appeal, & the only genuine Sentiment prevalent is an anxiety to see a Ministry with a majority. TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS Downing Street [Tuesday] 19 April 1859 333^ ORIGINAL: RTC [108] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 214, dated at Downing Street, April 19, 1859, the second and third paragraphs omitted EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation.
April 19 1859 I wound up the affair today, & prorogued Parliament. Tho' not of a very vindictive nature, I must confess some satisfaction / in paying off the gentlemen, who thought themselves so very clever in placing Her Majesty's Government in a minority. I should think, at least, two hundred of them will never / see the inside of a Senate again, where they might have remained, for three or four years, had they been a little less factious.1 Your flowers are delicious, & are my constant / companions. I hope you are well. Notwithstanding unceasing labor, I feel unflagged in heart & spirit.
2 Both Ayrshire and Fifeshire would be retained by Liberals, the former without a contest, the latter in a vote of 1,087 to 850. 3 In Stanley's letterbook (DBF Box 47/2) there is an undated entry: 'Mr. Disraeli's calculation of the result of the Elections. Certain Gain Loss Mod: Luck. Great Luck.
35-
13-
2
Estimate
3-
25.
22
Two thirds of Mod. Luck. One third of Great Luck.
15 8 45. without Ireland.' Greville (VII 413-14) would record a conversation with D the following day (20th) in which D estimated that with luck they would gain 60 seats, and without it 40. See also M&B IV 232-3. In the event, they would gain 31; see 3345n2.
1 In the event, only 91 new MPs would be elected: 524 MPs would be re-elected (13 of them in a different constituency) and 40 who had been formerly in parliament. AR (1859 Chronicle) 508.
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We shall preserve Peace. The news of this morning is very favorable.2 Yours ever, I D. 3339
TO: LORD STANLEY
[London] Wednesday 20 April [1859]
ORIGINAL: DBF [1578]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Stanley on the first page: 'Note is enclosed of alterations made. Ansd "Will alter so as not to prejudice another candidate, but decline to stand, or sit if elected. ["] S.'
My dear S. Wednesday Apl 20 At a very large meeting in the City today, they have pledged themselves to put you up, & go to the Poll.1 Nothing now can prevent it. You forgot to your kind / promise to show me your reply. There is an expression in it, wh: prevents its publication. Will you authorise me to make the omission? / - I entreat you to do so! I send it up marked with pencil.2 Yours ever, I D. 334^
TO: SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTE Downing Street [Monday] 25 April 1859 O R I G I N A L : BL ADD MS 5OO15 fjCK)
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer.
Private
Apl. 25/59
2 The news featured prominently in the press this day was that Sardinia had agreed, if Italy stopped sending troops into Lombardy, to comply with the request of the British cabinet and consent to the principle of a simultaneous disarmament prior to a peace congress of the five great European powers. The Times (19 Apr 1859). As recently as the previous night, Malmesbury in the Lords and D in the Commons had made the long-awaited statement on the state of the negotiations, explaining that the current sticking point was that, while Austria and France had agreed to the principle of disarmament before the congress was convened, Sardinia had not, as she was not included in it. D ended his statement trusting that peace could still be preserved. Hansard CLIII cols 183057, 1863-97 (D 1863-73). Hopes that peace could be preserved would be dashed within a week; see 3342ni. 1 See 3332&ni. The meeting of Conservative electors of London on this day (2Oth) was told that the written response to their requisition that Stanley had promised them had not yet been received because he had fallen ill, but it was decided to put him in nomination nevertheless. The Times (21 Apr 1859). 2 Stanley replied immediately: 'I have no objection to alter the words so as not to prejudice another candidate — but I shall neither come forward, nor sit if elected.' H B/XX/S/684- Attached to D's letter is a note in which Stanley recorded his response to D's suggestions: '"Come" altered to "put myself Rejected. "Even were success assured" altered from "more assured than it appears to be t me to be" accepted. Words proposed to be added after "flattering offer made me" "to put myself forward as a candidate for the City of London." Rejected'. Stanley's letter to the committee, dated 20 April, would be published on the 23rd; it would acknowledge the great honour of being requisitioned by more than 2,ooo electors, and then continue: 'Various circumstances, however, have forced on me the conviction that I ought not to come forward as a candidate for the representation of the city, even were success assured, and were it certain that I should be able to retain, on a future occasion, the support of all by whom I might be supported now.' The responsibilities of office would conflict with those of such an important constituency, and prevent any election activity on his part: 'On all these grounds I feel compelled to decline availing myself of the very flattering offer which you have made me.' The Times (23 Apr 1859). Stanley would also be put up for Marylebone at the last minute and get over l,ooo votes at the 28 April poll; asked if this had been done with his consent he replied: '"I know nothing of the proceedings at Marylebone, and intend to sit for Lynn."' A/P (29 Apr 1859).
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Sir Stafford Northcote I Bart: My dear Sir Stafford, You have misconceived my object in sending you the letter as to May 1. Hop Payment. It appeared to me, that the Kent Election might a / great deal depend upon it, & what I wanted to know was, whether we could devise any means by wh: our ultimate decision could be / postponed until after the contest. Is it possible?1 Yrs sincerely, I D. TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Downing Street [Friday] 29 April 1859 3341
ORIGINAL: RTC [log]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 233, dated at Downing Street, April 29, 1859, altered extracts from the first and third paragraphs EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation.
April 29. 1859 The great battle commences today, &, in eight & forty hours, we shall know, whether we are men or mice. The only polls the telegraph has, as yet, brought, / are very favorable - our candidates, in every instance, at the head, even at Bristol which I did not expect. I hope their position will not / vary, for the worse, before sunset.1 / Tomorrow, however, is the great day.2
1 The tactic was both possible and successful, as the decision giving only modest relief to hop farmers was not announced until after a successful contest. After a requisition signed by nearly 1,500 hop planters, more than 3,000 tenant farmers had met on 21 April near Maidstone in Kent and decided to petition D to remit the May instalment of the 1858 hop duty. In Kent W, Lord Holmesdale and Sir Edmund Filmer would defeat the two Liberal incumbents on 3 May; the two seats for Kent E would be won by Conservatives without contest on 2 May (an increase of one). On 9 May, D and Northcote would receive a deputation of about 60 Kent and Sussex hop planters, who explained that the recent abundant crops had reduced the price to the point at which the duty was ruinous, and promise them a reply within three days; Northcote's published non-committal reply is dated 11 May. The Times (22 Apr, 10, 16 May 1859). Gathorne Hardy would write D from 43 Grosvenor Square, evidently on 17 May, that he, Holmesdale and Filmer had called to ask him to receive another planters' deputation that day, adding 'that hope of something being done had its influence in the W. Kent Election.' H B/XX/HA/i. The result would be a published letter to Holmesdale signed by Earle dated 17 May at Downing Street: '"My Lord, - I am directed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to inform your Lordship that, in consequence of the representations which were made to him this morning by Sir Edmund Filmer and yourself, he will instruct the Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue to give effect to the arrangement which is detailed in the accompanying note."' The accompanying memorandum, also dated 17 May, reads: "The collection having commenced, must be completed; but no distress, during the period of collection, will be levied on defaulters. After the collection the list of defaulters will be examined, and, in all instances where just cause can be shown, time will be granted, as was done on a previous occasion, on condition that security is given and 4 per cent interest charged."' The Times (18 May 1859). 1 At Bristol the next day, two Liberals (F.H.F. Berkeley and W.H. Gore-Langton) would be declared elected, defeating the sole Conservative candidate, F.W. Slade, by polling 4,432, 4.285 and 4,205 votes respectively. See 3336n3. 2 Nominations were scheduled for 29 April in 174 constituencies, with the polling where necessary typically ending the next day. This was more than was scheduled for the remaining days of the election period combined. The Times (29 Apr 1859). On 30 April Malmesbury (II 175-6) would note: 'The elections are going on badly for our Government.'
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It is nervous work. In the midst of it, your fragrant messengers still flourish. One would think you were / living in the Vale of Cashmere! Yrs ever, I D. 3342
TO: ELECTORS OF BUCKS
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 2 May 1859
ORIGINAL: PS 711 PUBLICATION HISTORY: BH (f May 1859)
Grosvenor Gate, London, I 2nd May, 1859. To the Electors of the County of Buckingham. Gentlemen, I beg to return you my warmest acknowledgments for the high distinction you have again been pleased to confer upon me in Electing me one of your Representatives in Parliament.1 I have the honor to be, I Gentlemen, I Your obliged and faithful Servant. I B. Disraeli.
3343 T0: LORD PALMERSTON
Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 3 May 1859
ORIGINAL: PP GC/DI/140/1 [6]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 235-7, dated '[? May 3, 1859]', a version based on the draft in H (see ec); Bradford 239 and Blake 402, undated extract from M&B EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Palmerston on the eighth page: '3 May 1859 Mr Disraeli asking me to join Ld Derby' and 'same day answered as by Copy within'. The copy of the reply is attached to D's letter. There is a heavily revised draft of D's letter in H B/II/53a; in addition to minor differences between the two, the paragraph beginning 'For myself,' in the draft does not have the words 'in conducting the business of the House of Commons, & indeed generally,' and the draft's final sentence ('You must be aware ... and to the country.') is expanded into the last two paragraphs of the letter. In the draft, the paragraph beginning 'Considering the state ...' has been crossed out and then marked 'stet'.
1 At Aylesbury on 2 May, the three incumbents for Bucks were reelected without opposition; D was proposed by Lord Chandos, and seconded by Philip Dauncey. In a long, statesmanlike speech, D vindicated the government's actions on its reform bill and its attempts at mediation in Europe, and waxed eloquent on England as the world's leading power before expressing confidence that the government would emerge from the election with adherents and occasional supporters 'not inconsiderably exceeding 300.' Whatever the outcome, the new parliament would have 'a deeper and much more serious sense of public duty than did that somewhat haphazard assembly which last met at Westminster.' The Times the next day in a leader was reminded of a politician who triumphantly exclaimed: '"I am no longer an obscure individual! You must hear me now." Even after the long probation of economical science and financial accuracy, Mr. Disraeli still betrays the more poetic ingredient of his composition. He can still imagine that which is not, and dissemble that which is, as in the days when he alternately composed a pamphlet, a speech, or a tale, as fancy or fact prevailed for the hour.' It then responded at length to D's charge in his speech that its publication of a false report of a secret Franco-Russian treaty had contributed to the breakdown of the peace efforts. The Times (3 May 1859). MA recorded: 'May i&2 Sunday We left G Gate for Aylesbury for the Election tomorrow. In purse §5 66-1-7 ••• 1 May &2 Sunday To Aylesbury & back return tickets 2 Ser[van]t[s] £1-14-0, Waiter at Inn /2s Cham[be]r Maid /2s Little boy & girl [2s]'. H ace. Sarah Disraeli would try to be a part of the last of D's victories she would live to see; on 3 May she would leave a note for MA at Grosvenor Gate: 'I find your little note awaiting me in the Hall, so will not disturb you. I only came to talk over our battles yesterdayf;] we have fought some good fights though not always as successful as we wished - but some great victories. My love to Dis[.] God bless you both[.]' D would go to see her and RD on 10 May. H D/III/A/48i-2.
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Confidential Grosvenor Gate. May 3. 1859 The Rt. Honble I Viscount Palmerston, K.G. My dear Lord, I address you in our ancient confidence.1 Consider well the views I am taking the liberty of placing before you. Lord Derby will count, at the meeting of Parliament, not less than 300 followers,2 probably a little in excess of that number. He has the offer of some irregular assistance, which may be relied on at an emergency. If you were to unite with him in / forming a Government, & bring with you a following of about 20 or 30 gentlemen, you would have more, than an absolute majority of the House, wh. would be constantly increasing. Considering the state of Continental affairs, the extreme views expressed on domestic politics by leading members of the Opposition, & the ample means of official promotion, wh: could be placed at your disposal, it may be not an unreasonable assumption, that such a number, at least, would follow your advice. You would, then, be entire master of the situation. The foreign policy of every government of / wh: you are a member, must be yours, even if you might think it expedient, that another sho[ul]d undertake the duties of P.O. As for domestic policy, when the occasion serves, you could bring in your own Reform Bill, wh:, with our increased force, may be as conservative as you please. You might dictate the terms[.] There is yet one point, on wh: I speak with delicacy, but without reserve. I have worked with Lord Derby for ten years, &: a shade of disagreement or estrangement has never risen between us, & for the seven last years, I have possessed his / unlimited confidence. A point of honor alone attaches him to the party post, wh: he fills. He feels, that he can never desert the Conservative party while it is in a minority, & while there is no member of it to succeed him. I have not written this with his knowledge; when I called on him this morning he was out of town. I have, however, frequently, & amply, brought the general views of this letter before him, & he has received them always with approbation. Indeed, one of our reasons for the dissolution was, that it must so much increase our strength, that it would facilitate the reconstruction desirable. I say nothing, on this occasion, about / individual arrangements. When I cheerfully set the example of personal sacrifice for a public purpose, I feel there is no one of my colleagues, who can demur at any change deemed necessary for the public interest. For myself, I can truly say, that my principal object has ever been the consolidation of the Conservative party, & that what I am now proposing is only an arrangement, that I have long meditated, &, more than once, endeavoured to accomplish. You would receive from me in conducting the business of the House of Commons, & indeed generally, not / merely a cordial co-operation, but a devoted fidelity[.]
1 C/iv 1453. 2 See 3345 for the basis of D's prediction. The returns published on this day showed 250 Liberals and 176 Conservatives elected. The Times (3 May 1859).
369
Let us consider for a moment, if you do not, unhappily, embrace these views, the probable future. It is possible, that Lord John Russell, by some resolution or amendment on the subject of Parliamentary Reform, with no definite pledge, but with a radical bias, may place the Government in a minority. Whatever may be the disposition of the Court, or whatever may be our desire to encourage & support your nomination, I think it would be impossible for the Queen to send for any one but Lord / John Russell. It is possible, that, under these circumstances, you might become a member of his Government, but you would sit among men who do not sympathise with you, &, probably, in the natural course of events, would quit his administration. But, even if Her Majesty were to send for Yr Lordship, what would be your position? The extreme party would watch their opportunity to destroy you, & no government can permanently depend on the forbearance of an Opposition. The union between Lord Derby & yourself would establish an enduring Government; it would be gratifying to an anxious Court & to the Country generally; indeed, from my observation, it / is somewhat expected from by the middle classes; &, at this moment, would, I believe, be received even with a certain degree of enthusiasm. I trust, for the public good, that you will favorably consider this confidential appeal, which you can, however, communicate to the only counsellor of whose sagacity & devotion there can be no doubt. Believe me, dear Lord Palmerston, I Always sincerely yours, I B. Disraeli3 3344
T0:
EDWARD HORSMAN
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 5 May 1859
ORIGINAL: PRC [3]
COVERS: (i) To be forwarded I The Right Honble I Edward Horsman I M.P. I Byram I Milford Junction I Yorkshire (2) Secret I The Rt. Honble. Edward Horsman I M.P. I B Disraeli POSTMARKS: (cover i) a cancelled stamp; [in square:] LONDON I MY 5 I 59; [in circle:] MILFORD JUNCTION I [illegibk]; (cover 2) none PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 238, undated, the penultimate paragraph; see also n3 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Both envelopes have the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer on the flap.
Secret Grosvenor Gate, I May 5. 1859 The I Rt Honble: Ed: Horsman My dear Horsman, Read this with deep attention. The condition of the country is critical, & a government, commanding a majority, would be a national blessing[.]
3 Palmerston replied the same day (not mentioning whether he had consulted Lady Palmerston): 'I am sorry I was out when your messenger arrived, and that I have thereby caused him to be detained here longer than he ought to have beenf.] I am much obliged to you for the kind and friendly Terms of your Letter, and if I say in answer that many Reasons which it is unnecessary to go into would prevent me from entering into such an arrangement as that which you suggest might be possible I trust it is needless for me to assure you that no want of personal good Feeling towards Lord Derby or yourself, or towards any other members of your Government could form Part of those Reasons[.]' Palmerston's copy (see ec) has 'very' added to 'much obliged'. H B/XXI/P/84.
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I have got 310 pledged to support the government. There is now no single public question on which the slightest difference subsists between us.1 The retirement of Walpole & Henley removed that "religious" yoke, wh: hung about the neck of the party, wh: I have been so long reconstructing[.]2 My colleagues are admirable men to act with, &, as administrators, need fear no rivals; but they have no disposition for the general conduct of affairs, & the management of Parliaments & parties. Bulwer is dying, or thinks he is, which is the same thing.3 I do not ask you merely to join a party; I ask you virtually to assist me in reconstructing a government with myself. / You would, of course, receive one of the highest posts in the Cabinet; there is another seat in it at your disposal, if you have any friend of calibre. There are high posts, of the second class, for your followers. There would be greater things, if necessary. As for myself, I offer you unbounded confidence & perfect sympathy. You will, at least, find in me a colleague incapable of jealousy, & I should find in you one, with whom I could face any array. The occasion is a great one, &: not for ordinary men. But you have energy, / courage, & resource, equal to it. A following of fifteen would do the business. It would be a coup d'etat; a great triumph; & the final blow to those personal traditions, whose pompous mediocrity, for a quarter of a century, has oppressed the House of Commons. If you are disposed to consider these views, it would be desirable to come to town, when we could talk affairs over, with the same absence of all reserve, wh: marks this communication. Yours sincerely, I B. Disraeli4
1 Horsman, chief secretary for Ireland 1855-7, had been one of the Liberals voting with the government in the reform bill division on 31 March. Hansard CLIII col 1258. In 1858 he had supported the government on the Oaths Bill. 2 Walpole and Henley were ultra-Protestants who in 1858 had opposed the Oaths Bill and would obviously not be sympathetic to D's attempts to increase the party's Catholic component, especially in Ireland. 3 At this point in the draft there is a paragraph marked to be deleted: 'If the usual comb[inat]ion throws us out, Ld Palmn is to be the next man & will form a govt with his friends, «et & is to be supported not generally, but unvaryingly, by mine, sitting opposite to him. I have no doubt he will govern the country well, but I don't see why he shd do it better than us, nor do I see any reason why this hocus-pocus shd be perpetually repeated.' H B/H/53b; M&B IV 238. 4 Horsman would reply the next day from Yorkshire, agreeing with D that he and his colleagues were justified in seeking new combinations that might produce a strong government; he continued: 'If my public position were such that I could really do the state service by entertaining your proposal & helping to clear the uncomfortable future that is before us, I should not hesitate to undertake what would thus be a public duty & brave the personal consequences that might possibly embitter my future life. But, happily, my unimportance saves me. He must be a strong man nowadays who can venture by one act to change his Party & take an office. Stronger men than I can ever hope to be have tried it in less fastidious times & with but indifferent success. Were I weak enough to make the experiment, the consequences could be hardly less damaging to my new allies than to myself. I can therefore only thank you for the frank & handsome terms in which you have conveyed to me an offer which my views of public policy & duty do not allow me to hesitate for one moment in declining.' PRC [llQ, draft copy dated 6 May 1859]. In an undated note, Earle thought it was pointless to pursue Horsman unless he could deliver 60 Liberals. H B/XX/E/172.
371
3345 T0: LORD DERBY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1
Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 8 May 1859
[R2-46]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 238-41, dated at Grosvenor Gate 8 May 1859 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the twelfth (last, folded outside) page: 'Mr Disraeli May 8 1859. Position of Party in the new House of Park: and possible reconstruction of the Cabinet.' Sic: reconnoitering; Stewart.
Confidential
Grosvenor Gate - May 8. 1859.
Rt Honble I The Earl of Derby My dear Lord, I called on you yesterday, after the Court,1 to give you the result of my reconnoitering, & consult over affairs. Time is so precious, & so much depends on the manner, in wh: the next three weeks are employed, that I forward this to you at once. I estimate our pure gains, for they must still be an estimate, at 26. There are six Borough seats, in addition, wh: really have been won from the enemy. The "independent" Irish party will, I hear, probably be increased to / 15. This would make a force, on wh: we could now depend, on a trial of strength, to the amount of 322 - out of a house of 652, deducting the Speaker & Aylesbury.2 Horsman has been confidentially sounded. He recognises the critical state of affairs foreign & domestic, believes that the strongest man cannot change his political connection witht. sacrifices, wh: pursue him thro' life, but would not hesitate to do his duty, tho' it might embitter his future existence. Fortunately, however, he is spared the cruel dilemma, as he feels he is not important enough for such an occasion, & that his adhesion would only destroy himself, witht. aiding us.3 I expected this sort of response to the appeal; / it will however prevent him from precipitating himself into any combination agst the Government. Mr. Lindsay, who is supposed to be the type of some dozen men of doubtful liberal allegiance, has also been sounded; replied very favorably, but expressed a wish for an interview with myself, wh: he will have.4 What effect the growing impression, that Palmerston is to be the new minister,
1 The Queen had held a drawing-room at St James's Palace on Saturday afternoon. The Times (9 May 1859). 2 At the fiercely (even violently) contested Aylesbury election on Saturday 30 April, the final poll had shown S.G. Smith (Cons) and T.V. Wentworth (Lib) tied at 535 votes, with T.T. Bernard (Cons) heading the poll with 552 votes. On Wednesday 4 May, the returning officers declared all three elected for the two-seat constituency, leaving it to a Commons committee to decide who was entitled to the second seat. After extensive hearings in July and August of petitions against all three, Wentworth would be unseated for bribery. BH (7 May, 30 July, 6 Aug 1859). For the election of the speaker, see 3351&m. For the Irish situation, see 3347&m. For the work done by Rose andjolliffe in 26 boroughs with the resources of the central fund, for a net gain of 6, see Stewart Conservative Party 341. The final totals for the 1859 election would give the Conservatives 306 seats (all other parties 348), representing a net gain of 31 (English counties 8, boroughs 15, Welsh boroughs i, Irish counties 6, boroughs l). Ibid 340. 3 See 3344&n4. 4 Several undated notes from Earle mention Lindsay, in one that he was anxious to see D about 'shipping'. H B/XX/E/165, 168. Lindsay on 17 May would write to thank D for his 'Memo:' (not found) that Earle had forwarded to him, and offer advice about the proclamation to clarify the neutral status of British shipping during the current war. He continued: 'Allow me to say that the interviews with which you have honoured me have very materially tended to confirm the confidence I have long privately felt in the Government of which you are virtually the distinguished head ...' See further 3354&n5.
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will have on the Manchester party, I have not yet ascertained, tho' I have made arrangements, wh: will probably obtain us that information ere long. P. will serve under no one, & considers himself already installed. J.R., it is said, is starved out, & would serve under P. if he could manage to / get rid of his new allies with decency, & the appearance of honor.5 The Whigs wish to precipitate the attack, that liberal claims & liberal dissensions shd. not have time to develope. They want a vague vote on wh: all would be obliged to unite, & then a Whig administration under Palmerston. I suppose you observed the Marq: of Stafford's speech.6 My own opinion is, that a permanent working majority may be obtained from the present Ho: of Commons on two conditions: i: that we gain Time. 2: that the Cabinet shd. obtain some additional weight & character. I will reserve, for conversation, the tactics by wh:, I think, Time may be obtained & the scheme / of an immediate vote be baffled. I will consider now the second point, for it is urgent. There is no doubt a very general wish, not confined to the unattached Liberals, that the Cabinet shd. be strengthened. Any scheme by wh: numerical force cd. be secured, thro' a process of reconstruction, I think must be abandoned. We must confine ourselves to an addition wh: will increase its intellectual authority. The following are the only persons by wh:, it appears to me, this result could be obtained. Lord Elgin - Mr. Gladstone - Stuart Wortley - Frederick Peel. The latter is / not popular; I think highly of him. If Lord Elgin in one house, & Mr. Gladstone in the other, joined the administration, I think it would rise in public estimation, & would permanently be established. When Gladstone was reconnoitred two months ago, it resulted; that no personal feeling any longer existed, wh: prevented him joining the administration; that he could not join alone; &, thirdly, that he wished all invitations shd. be direct from yourself. This latter point was also much insisted upon by Mrs. Gladstone in private conversation with Sir Stafford Northcote[.]7 You would of course be careful that this / direct communication, if you decide upon it, shd. not take place by letter; you would send for him, confer on the state of public affairs, & ask him really what he wanted. The application to Lord Elgin would probably greatly influence him. With regard to Lord Elgin, who is at Paris, any mere offer forwarded to him
5 Malmesbury (II 178-9) on this day (8 May) would note: 'Lady Palmerston is quite sure of turning us out, and of her husband being sent for, and will not hear of Lord John Russell being a more likely man. She says that Lord Palmerston had already formed his Government, and was quite ready to accept office.' 6 George Granville William Sutherland Leveson Gower (1828-1892), Marquess of Stafford, eldest son of 2nd Duke of Sutherland (whom he would succeed as 3rd Duke in 1861), was Liberal MP for Sutherland 1852-61; in his 3 May acceptance speech he had confidently predicted an early return to a Palmerston government. The Times (5, 7 May 1859). 7 Catherine Gladstone (1812-1900), daughter of Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, gth Bt, of Hawarden Castle, Flintshire, and his wife, Mary, Lady Glynne, daughter of 2nd Baron Braybrooke, had married Gladstone in 1839. John Morley in his Life of Gladstone (1903) 1623 quotes Sir Charles Wood'sjournal entry for 22 May reporting Mrs Gladstone's assumption that her husband would be joining Derby and not Palmerston.
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would probably be fruitless. The Court, our own Ambassador there, & the "Times" newspaper, form Ld Elgins opinion as to the political position, & of course he thinks we are in an overwhelming minority as the Emperor does himself,8 & Ld. E. would decline. He must be informed, if you resolve on the step, that you are about to reconstruct / the government, & that you wish, consequently, to confer with him in London. Mr Gladstone's knowledge of the Ho: of Commons would permit him to form a juster estimate of our Parliamentary position, than Lord Elgin, & you would have a natural & easy opportunity of enlightening him on the subject. But what is Lord Elgin to be? He must have a post of high administration, & it is difficult to place any other, than that of the For: Office, in the Ho: of Lords. Lord Malmesbury once told me, but in absolute confidence, that if we succeeded in obtaining an absolute a majority at the Genl Election, he intended to retire from his post, & recommend you / to take Lord Elgin in his stead. I cannot presume to give an opinion on such a subject. I think it would be a great misfortune to lose Malmesbury from the Cabinet, & that he should, under any circumstances, remain there, in as high a post as is practicable. If Mr. Gladstone joins, I think that India shd. be his office. It is the only post wh: would absorb his superfluous energies. This arrangement wd. not be disagreeable to Stanley, who wishes to return to the Col: Off: Assuming, that it may be desirable to / provide for others, Stewart Wortley might be Chancellor of Lancaster - & Frederick Peel might be Secy, of the Admiry.; Henry Corry succeeding to the Chairmanship of the Inland Revenue. My dear Lord, I have now placed before you my general views, wh: it would have been much more agreeable, & more easy, to have discussed in conversation, but I feel, that no time can be lost in their consideration. There is a great deal at stake: I think, really, the welfare of the country; certainly, your honor in history. For myself, I will merely observe, / that I am prepared to take any step, & make any sacrifice, provided you remain at the head of the Administration. If, therefore, any other arrangements, more feasible than I have submitted for your consideration, occur to you, you can have no delicacy in intimating your opinions to me, wh: I shall in that, as I hope I have done in every other instance, loyally endeavour to ea assist you in carrying into operation.9 Yours sincerely, I D. 8 Cowley had returned from Paris on 6 May and presumably was D's source. The Times (7 May 1859). 9 Derby replied from Roehampton (where, according to MP of 29 April, he had rented a villa for three months) the same day ('Sunday'): 'Your secret communication, just received, is too important to be answered hastily. I will ponder it well over before tomorrow. Elgin had occurred to me; but the difficulty, supposing him willing to accept, would be his being in the House of Lords, while you want strength in the Commons - otherwise the Col Office would have suited him better than the For. Office. I should, I confess, be very sorry to see any change made in that Department at the present moment. It is of great importance to have a man there who has at his fingers' ends the whole thread of the complicated negotiations in which we have been engaged - and whatever may be Elgin's ability, he has been for nearly two years wholly out of the way of European politics. I should much deprecate such a change, though he would be useful in the Government, and his accession would facilitate that of Gladstone, if he is a desirable acquisition. Recollect however his extreme opinions on Italian affairs, which would be very embarrassing just now. Of F. Peel I know little; and what little I do know I do not
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TO: LORD SALISBURY
Downing Street [Monday] 9 May 1859 334^
ORIGINAL: HFD [12] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. Endorsed in another hand (Salisbury's?) on the first page: 'Mr Disraeli'.
Private May 9 1859 The I Marq: of Salisbury I K.G. My dear Ld President, What am I to say about this? He is one of our best men; has not only brought in himself, but a / colleague!1 Yrs ever, I D.
TO: LORD NAAS
Downing Street [Monday] 9 May 1859 3347
ORIGINAL: INL MS 11,036 (4) EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'VN May 12'; and on the second page: 'Disraeli May 12. 59 Elections'. This information and the following text is from a copy kindly provided by Andrew Shields.
Private
May 9 1859
much admire - but he is an able man, though unpopular. S. Wortley, if his health is quite restored, would be useful - but how about Yorkshire? If he should even carry the seat now [he had in fact already been defeated in the West Riding the previous day], he would not be much inclined to vacate it again immediately, and stand the chance of a second Election for such a Constituency. I will however consider fully all your suggestions, and let you have the result tomorrow. I shall also wish to confer with you on the Parliamentary tactics to be followed. I incline to the opinion that we should not attempt a Reform Bill this next Session.' H B/XX/S/242. 1 A letter of profuse apology from Jolliffe to Rose on 16 May indicates that the subject of this letter is Taverner John Miller (b 1804), a ship-owner and sperm-oil refiner and merchant at Millbank, JP and DL for Middlesex and Westminster, Conservative MP for Maldon 1852-3, for Colchester 1857-67. On 30 April he had headed the poll at Colchester, and the Liberal incumbent for the second seat had been defeated by Philip Oxenden Papillon (1826-1899), a barrister (Inner Temple 1852), Conservative MP for Colchester 1859-65. Jolliffe would write to Rose: 'I am distressed to think that this appointment has been postponed at my suggestion. The only person who informed me that you were wishing it was Earle, and I carelessly and perhaps thoughtlessly said, that the less our names are before the public the better; but I did not know that any communication had even been made to Lord Salisbury on the subject, and His Lordship has never mentioned the matter to me in any way nor I to him. Disraeli did tell me that he knew (I suppose fm. Earle) that I had thought it had better be postponed & that at first he concurred in that opinion, but he found that you were anxious about it and that he wished it could be done, I told him that what I had said to Earle was in careless conversation and I should be happy [to] speak to Lord Salisbury if you wished. I did on the very next day write to Lord Salisbury about Mr. Taverner Millers apptmt. and he wrote to me, and on the day following called upon me about it; but he did not mention your name to me, and I supposed if any application had been made at your request it would have been made by Disraeli or directly by yourselff;] at all events I should have been much more pleased to speak for you than for Mr. Miller, had I known you wished it, and all the advice I ever gave upon the subject, was that which was contained in the few words I said to Mr. Earle my first and only informant upon the subject. I greatly regret that any weight was given to them, but I have no knowledge now of their having been even mentioned to Lord Salisbury. Any disappointment to you would cause me so much regret, that I have troubled you to read all I can remember either to have heard or said upon this subject.' H B/XX/R/15. Salisbury as lord president of council and thus also of the committee of council on education would have had many possible appointments at his disposal, but Miller's name does not appear in either the 1859 or 1860 official directories. Neither the appointment at issue nor the document D enclosed herewith has been identified.
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My dear Naas, Every vote tells - Pray spare no exertion, & let me hear.1 Yours ever, I D.
334a8 TO: LORD NAAS
Downing Street [Thursday] 12 May 1859
ORIGINAL: INL MS 11,036 (4)
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'VN why [illegible] N May 17'; and in a third hand: 'Done May 18 59 VN'; and on the nth page: 'Disraeli May 17/59 Elections'. This information and the following text is from a copy kindly provided by Andrew Shields.
confidentl May 12 1859 Rt Honble I Lord Naas My dear Naas, I conclude, from your letter today, that H. Exy. has shown to you the letter I wrote to him two days ago.1
1 Although the borough elections were all complete, there were still a number of county elections to be held, especially in Ireland. Naas himself had been re-elected without contest at Cockermouth, Cumberland, on 29 April. Naas in an undated note from the Irish Office had given D a breakdown of the 105 Irish votes in the Reform Bill division: 56 ayes (47 Tories, 6 Independents), 41 noes (o Tories, 5 Independents) and 8 absent (2 Tories and i Independent). He commented: 'The "Irish Vote" is good - in your next Reform Bill you must give us more seats.' On 2 April he had written to D: 'Hamilton[,] Taylor and I have carefully gone over the Irish list. We make out that we may fairly count upon gaining 7 seats but that 3 of our own are in some peril. We cannot therefore ensure you a gain of more than 4 — to win these and to hold our own will require a sum of £9000. We have now 48 Irish Conservative Members[;] we can I think bring the number up to 52, which is half the Representation ... What Taylor meant to tell you was that 10 Irish Seats were assailable.' H B/xx/BO/14, 9. See further 33488011. See also Stewart Conservative Party 341-2. 1 Neither D's letter of 10 May to 'H. Exy.' Lord Eglinton (It-gov of Ireland) nor Naas's subsequent letter to D has been found. However, much of D's letter can be reconstructed from Eglinton's reply of 11 May: 'I quite agree with you that our prospects depend very much on the manner in which we employ the next month & play our political game. The only question is, how it is to be played. As regards the Irish Elections, I think we shall have done pretty well. We have gained a balance of 3 at present, & I think we may count on 2 or 3 more, & on the whole list we shall send a majority from Ireland into the new Parliament. I fear however you overstate the number of the Independents, who cannot be put at more than ten at the outside. It is no doubt most desirable to keep the latter in good humour, & I am ready to go as far as I can in that direction, without compromising my principles or alienating the friendship of our own people. We have had so little patronage for many years that I am certain that giving appointments to R. Catholics, decidedly opposed to us, would have the latter effect, &, the appointment of men to offices for which they are not fitted would certainly have the former. You say "the exercise of patronage in Ireland must cease to be purely Orange", but a thing cannot cease that has never existed, & so far from the exercise of my patronage having been entirely Orange, I have never given anything whatever to an Orangeman that I am aware of since I have been in Office, now or previously. There are some R. Catholics who do belong to our Party, & I have always been most anxious to do something for them, but I have as yet hardly had an opportunity ... I am every day in hopes of being able to give a good appointment to ... Serjeant Howley, & I hope I may yet find other chances ... As to doing anything for such men as Ennis & The O'Donoghue, it would upset our Party in this Country in a week, & the latter has become a positive rebel ... I will, if I possibly can, give more than a fair share of any appointments that become vacant to moderate & respectable R. Catholics, but if I were to go farther than that, I should defeat my own end, & lose many more votes than I should gain ... I have just appointed to the first vacancy that has occurred among the Resident Magistrates a Mr. Butler of the Co. Carlow, who was recommended by you.' H B/XXI/E/llO. This Mr Butler was not SBW's friend James Butler, who as late as 1866 was still reminding D of his promise to her to give him a place. H D/III/C/
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This is a great emergency, / & is not to be met by ordinary rules. The Orange system of Napier & Whiteside has done the government incalculable injury. Unless we are supported / by those, whom Bowyer2 represents at least in feeling, the Ministry will be beat on the address. I know , that Ennis,3 O'Don,4 & Lanigan,5 & others can be managed: I dont / want you to manage them. I only want you to assist me in softening the orange hue of yr policy. Plunket is going to resign. Let Sergeant Howley have his place[.] Howley would have made an excellent judge, / & that would have put an end to all this row.6 The office of Solicitor to the Board of Inland Revenue at in Ireland is, I hear, vacant, £1600 per annm. I believe it is in my gift. / Tell me some Roman Catholic gentn. at the Bar, of high character, & he shall have it.7 It wd. have been wise to have offered something to Deasy. He would accept. This, I suppose, is / not enough for him.8 I repeat you must not wait for Roman Catholics, who are members of the Carlton Club! They will become so in time[.] Do you mean to say, that I may count on nearly sixty from Ireland, of/ our own men? Let Bowyer (I use his name as a type) add 15 to them, if that be the case, & then we shall succeed.
236. Possibly it was James Thomas Butler (1825-1910), grandson of Sir Richard Butler, 4th Bt, MP for co Carlow 1729-1761; J.T. Butler was JP for co Carlow and resident magistrate for co Kilkenny. Possibly Eglinton appointed the wrong Butler. 2 George Bowyer (1811-1883), 7th Bt 1860, of Denham Court, Bucks, a barrister (Middle Temple 1839), DCL (Oxford) 1844, JP and DL for Berks, a convert to Catholicism 1850, Liberal MP for Dundalk 1852-68, for co Wexford 1874-80, had supported the government in the recent Reform Bill division. Bowyer had written to D on 11 March as though in response to a query, unable yet to say what the Irish Independents would do on the reform question; he suggested that the government proceed quickly with a tenant rights bill. H B/XI/B/14. See further 3378&ni. 3 John Ennis (1800-1878), of Ballinahown, co Westmeath, high sheriff of Westmeath 1837, of co Dublin 1849, governor of the Bank of Ireland, chairman of the Midland Great Western Railway, was Liberal MP for Athlone 1857-65. There is an undated letter from Earle to D about Ennis bringing them three votes and support on critical divisions in the next session in return for being made a baronet, D evidently proposing not to give him the honour until he had earned it. H B/XX/E/14O. He would be created a baronet in 1866. 4 Daniel O'Donoghue (1833-1889), The O'Donoghue of The Glens, co Kerry, Ennis's son-in-law, was Liberal MP for Tipperary 1857-65, for Tralee 1865-85. 5 John Lanigan, of Richmond, Templemore, co Tipperary, Liberal MP for Cashel 1859-65, had been elected on 6 May; The Times on 7 May had commented: 'Cashel has been won in a hand-gallop by Mr. Lanagan [sic], of Richmond, who appears to be affectionately remembered as an old ally of Daniel O'Connell, and a staunch supporter of the Old Ireland policy.' 6 Patrick Plunket (1800-1859), fourth surviving son of 1st Baron Plunket, a judge of the court of bankruptcy in Ireland 1857-9, would live only until August. John Howley (1789-1866) had been appointed a third serjeant-at-law (Ireland) in 1843, promoted to second serjeant in 1848 and first serjeant in 1851. Naas on the 17th would reply: 'We intend to make Howley a Judge in Bankruptcy if he can get Plunket to resign ..." H B/XX/BO/1O. See further 3357&n2. 7 Naas would reply (n6): 'With regard to the office of Solicitor to the Inland Revenue Department I strongly advise Mr Smyly's appointment ...' See further 335O&mo. 8 Rickard Deasy (1812-1883), an Irish barrister 1835, QC 1849, Liberal MP for co Cork 1855-61, would be appointed solicitor-general for Ireland in June 1859, attorney-general for Ireland i860, puisne baron of the exchequer 1861, lord justice of the Irish court of appeal 1878.
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I can tell you, that if we are wise, even Sir John Acton will support the Government!9 I shall try, by this post, / to write my views to Napier. Pray speak to him. Everybody tells me, that his nepotism is revolting; Whiteside not much better - but this even might have been pardoned, / had they been less bigoted.10 It is no use mincing terms. The existence of the Government is at stake. Yrs ever, ID. 1 1
3349 T0: CONSERVATIVE MPS
Downing Street [Monday] 16 May 1859
ORIGINAL: (l) SCR DD/HY/C/2165 [l6]; (2) DUB [3]; (3) HCR D/EK O24 [4]; (4) NOT MY BD 2376; (5) WSRO Mitford Archives MS 55 £650 f24 COVER: (5) William T. Mitford Esqr I MP I B. Disraeli EDITORIAL COMMENT: Five copies of this facsimile of D's original have been found; the recipients are: (l) Jolliffe; (2) unknown; (3) Bulwer Lytton; (4) Manners; (5) Mitford (see ni). For a full treatment of the copying devices used at this time, see Barbara Rhodes and William Wells Streeter Before Photocopying: The Art & History of Mechanical Copying 1780-1938, a Book in Two Parts (New Castle, Delaware and Northampton, Massachusetts, 1999).
Downing Street I 16 May 1859 Sir,1 I have the honor to inform you, that the House of Commons will meet on Tuesday, the 3ist. Inst. and will, on that day, proceed to the choice of a Speaker. The Address, in answer to Her Majesty's Gracious Speech, will be / moved on 9 Sir John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (1834-1902), 8th Bt, of Aldenham, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, grandson of the Duke of Dalberg, step-son of 2nd Earl Granville and son-in-law of Count Arco Valley, a liberal Catholic, DL of Shropshire 1855, was Liberal MP for the borough of Carlow 6 May 1859-65, for Bridgnorth 1865-6. He would be created Baron Acton in 1869 and appointed regius professor of modern history at Cambridge 1895. 10 Examples of the reports of nepotism and bigotry D received are letters in April by E. Ryley and J.F. Maguire. The former had written to F.W. Knight on l April: '... all the work of the last threeyears seems tumbling down - I mean the work of the Tablet [Catholic weekly] which I honestly believe made a Tory Govt. possible in Ireland. The one weak point is that people who have smarted so long under the Orange lash cannot bear to see Messrs. Napier & Whiteside in.' H B/XIX/adds. Maguire had written on 6 April: 'The striking off all the Catholic jurors in Kerry (including a magistrate, appointed, I believe, by Chancellor Napier) has created intense excitement in the South of Ireland ..." H B/XXI/M/yo. Napier would get a letter (not found) from D, as Whiteside on the i6th would write to D: 'Mr Chancellor Napier informed me of the substance of your letter to him ... I beg to say I subscribe to the policy of appointing to office respectable & competent Roman Catholics ... I consulted you on the prudence of offering the post vacant in the Landed Estates Court to Deasy - you advised against it and your advice was sound ... Bowyer we saved from a contest ...' H B/XXI/W/301. 11 Naas would reply (n6): 'We have made no Orange apptsf;] that is only the Hustings Cant of the Whigs infuriated at our success ... Do not ... ask us to do anything that will disgust the 55 gallant fellows that form the staunches! company in your Ranks ...' See M&B FV 242 and 335O&nio. 1 Copy no 5 of this letter (see ec) is addressed to William Townley Mitford (1817-1889), of Pitshill, Petworth, Sussex, son-in-law of 3rd Baron Kenyon, JP and DL, high sheriff 1846, Conservative MP for Midhurst 1859-74. Mitford had been elected on 30 April without a contest after being requisitioned by a large number of electors headed by Col Wyndham and the subsequent retirement of the incumbent (since 3 March). Lady Dorothy Nevill had been excitedly reporting the election developments to MA, on 10 April writing: 'Think of us having a contest at Midhurst & between conservatives. We have rebelled and have determined to have one of our own society to represent us and not a perfect stranger so Mr Mitford is opposing Mr [John] Hardy[;] the former will come in.' H D/III/C/1497-8. The Times on 2 May had reported Mitford's victory 'amidst great rejoicings that Midhurst should at last have shaken off the yoke of Cowdray-park and the influence of Lord Egmont.'
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Tuesday, the 7th. June, when, it is probable, amendments may be moved, & Divisions taken. I, therefore, beg, most earnestly, to request the favor of yr attendance, in the House, on both these occasions. I have the honor to be, I Sir, I Your most obedt Sert. I B. Disraeli? TO: [LORD NAAS]
Downing Street [Friday] 20 May 1859 335^
ORIGINAL: INL Mayo Papers 11,025 (35) EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation. The postscript is written at the top of the first page. This information and the following text are from a copy kindly provided by Andrew Shields.
May 20 1859 I received yours yesterday.1 No one supposes you have given places to Orangemen - by Orange administration, they mean / exclusive administration. The Independents want nothing: they can take nothing. They only want an excuse to support us, wh they are ordered to do from head quarters - and every Priest in Ireland, tho' some / may make speeches against us, is at the present moment, in the same predicament.2 Now for business - we have got the plans of the opposition. They despair of doing anything, unless they do it at once - and, therefore / they move want of confidence on the address, as Peel did in 1841.3 Hayter gives them a majority of 19 - an ominous number.4 You see, therefore, that ten votes, are invaluable. 2 Manners in response to his copy (no 4) on 21 May would send D a memorandum on reform, dated May 1859, 'not with much or any hope of changing your opinion, but as a final deliverance of my own.' The memorandum asked: 'Under what circumstances is it proposed that we should now introduce a Reform Bill? ... it is proposed to introduce a Reform Bill not for it's [sic] own sake, nor because we approve of it's [sic] provisions, or hope to pass it, but as a means of checkmating Lord John. But is this a right, or wise course to take?' Manners thought it 'better to be destroyed by our opponents than by attempting to propitiate them ...' H B/xx/M/iog, ioga. 1 See 3348nii and M&B IV 242. 2 The Independent Irish Party was a coalition of the Irish Tenant League and the Irish Brigade, a group of Liberal MPs organized to help defeat the Whig government in 1851 and committed to tenant rights to promote co-operation between Protestant and Catholic tenant farmers. The party, in decline since 1852, would be dissolved in this year. In the 1859 election, Irish voters were encouraged by Cardinal Wiseman and some Irish bishops to support the Derby government. See Lawrence J. McCaffrey The Irish Question (Lexington, Ky 1968) 72-7. The Times on 23 May would have an item on the many stories circulating about 'the new formed coalition between Cardinal Wiseman and a large body of the Irish supporters of Lord Derby', while A/Pon that same day would thunder: 'In the whole history of representative government in this realm there is probably nothing which appears more offensive to every moral and social feeling, and more politically profligate, than the alliance which has been recently concluded between Derbyism and the representatives of the Church of Rome both in England and Ireland.' Wiseman on 27 May would respond to Earle's unsuccessful attempt to see him that day by offering to meet with him the following day; Earle accepted the offer. H B/XX/E/164-5. 3 Palmerston and Russell met on this day (20 May) and presumably decided on this strategy, which, however, would not be officially adopted until the day parliament met, 7 June. Greville VII 419-21. See further 3354&n2; see also Bell Palmerston II 212. What D had just learned was not however known to Derby, who on this day (20 May) told D he had the previous evening heard it was unlikely the Whigs would adopt this tactic; this was also the opinion of Lindsay, one of D's primary sources on Whig affairs, who also wrote on this day (see 3354&n5). H B/XX/S/224, XXI/L/igo. 4 This was the margin of defeat in December 1852; see VI 2466.
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Your RC appointments are of no use unless they are made immediately[;] opinion must be satisfied in our favor at once. I think that Ennis[,] O'Don[oghue], Lanigan, Pat O'Brien,5 perhaps Levinge,6 are yet to be obtained, which must be done in London. All we / want is the RC appointments to be made at once. Affairs are most critical, but with energy, we may baffle the assault. Whiteside has written me a letter7 to prove that yr administration is not Orange, & exults in the elections wh: are the triumph of property "over the priesthood''! I was in hopes that the "priesthood" was somewhat on our side, & that the time had gone by for you speaking of them / in this vein.8 The RCs of England secured us S. Lancashire & W. Kent9 - our two greatest triumphs. Tell all your colleagues that the great pressure of unceasing anxiety & toil alone prevents my answering their letters for wh: I thank you and them. P.S. Ferguson shall have the place for Smyly,10 but it will be gracious that the gift shd come by govt & Lord Derby will write to Ld Lt[.] 3351
TO: JOHN DENISON
Downing Street [Friday] 20 May 1859
ORIGINAL: NOT OSC 750 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There are two copies in another hand in BL ADD MS 44261 and 44292. Sic: of wh:.
Private The Rt Honble. I J.E. Denison M.P.
May 20 1859
5 Patrick O'Brien (1823-1895), 2nd Bt 1862, of Borris-in-Ossory, Queen's co, an Irish barrister (1844), JP and DL for Dublin, was Liberal MP for King's co 1852-85. 6 Sir Richard George Augustus Levinge (1811-1884), 7th Bt, of High Park, co Westmeath, JP and DL, It-col Westmeath militia 1846-50, sheriff of Westmeath 1851, was Liberal MP for Westmeath 1857-65. Levinge had served in the suppression of the Canadian rebellions of 1837-8 and was the author of Echoes from the Backwoods; or, Sketches of Transatlantic Life (1846). 7 See 33481110. 8 Others were still speaking 'in this vein'; The Times on 30 May would reprint an extract 'from a long article in the Dublin Evening Post, the old organ of the Irish Whig Roman Catholics: - "While [the Independent Irish Liberals] vehemently profess themselves advocates of Tenant Right and the Ballot, they have assisted in re-establishing the domination of Tor)' landlords, who indignantly reject both, and who never failed to exercise their territorial power against popular rights, from the period of the struggle for emancipation to the present hour ... The old policy which carried Emancipation ... has been cast aside by the English and Irish Catholic partisans of Lord Derby, who are in effect the abettors of the Orange ascendancy system."' The article went on to deplore Wiseman's actions, and to predict that Tory Catholics anticipating patronage would be disappointed. 9 For the W Kent election, see 3340&m. In S Lanes on 2 May, Conservatives A.F. Egerton and WJ. Legh had won both seats from the Liberals; one of the defeated candidates was an incumbent. The Liberal Manchester Examiner, in a leader reprinted in The Times on 7 May, attributed the victory to 'landlordism'. 10 See 3348&n7. Sir Robert Alexander Ferguson (1795-1860), 2nd Bt, of Londonderry, LL of Londonderry 1840, colonel of the Derry militia, was Liberal MP for Londonderry City 1830-60. John George Smyly (1797-1866), an Irish barrister (1820), QC 1850, crown prosecutor for the north-west circuit, would be appointed solicitor of inland revenue for Ireland; he was Ferguson's brother-in-law. The Dublin Evening Post leader already quoted (n8) would take great delight in describing the quarrel among Conservatives over his appointment, the Conservative Daily Express accusing Smyly of having '"disowned the party in its days of difficulty"'. The appointment would goad the Incorporated Society of Solicitors and Attorneys to organize a protest 'against the system adopted by the present Government, which completely ignores the claims of the second branch of the legal profession by conferring on barristers sundry appointments to which the attorneys fairly consider they have a prescriptive right.' The Times (31 May 1859).
380
Dear Mr Denison, The Elections are over, & my thoughts naturally recur to the best mode of maintaining order in our new Assembly. I hope, therefore, I may be successful in requesting / yr permission to place you in nomination as Speaker, & that you will consent again to fill that Chair, where you have already obtained some experience, & the various, & difficult, duties of wh: you have, in my opinion, fulfilled with impartiality & skill. On this / occasion, it would appear desirable, that both sides of the House sho[ul]d take part in your nomination, & I should, therefore, feel obliged, in case of yr acceding to this request, tka if you would confidentially inform me what gentleman, on the Ministerial benches, you would select as yr. proposer. I should / also, with great pleasure, communicate with yr seconder on the opposition benches, if that were agreeable to you, but, if you prefer leaving that point to Ld Palmerston, you will, I am sure, without hesitation, apprise me of yr wish.1 Believe me, I Yours sincerely, I -6. Disraeli TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Downing Street [Friday] 20 May 1859 335^
ORIGINAL: RTC [llO]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 233-4, dated at Downing Street 2O May 1859, extracts from the first and last paragraphs; Blake 372, undated extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation. The second and third pages are only partially photographed in our copy; the missing portions of these pages have been taken from M&B. Sic: a la'; basquet; 'roses.
May 20 1859 [RTC:] The Elections are over, & altho' of late, & especially in Ireland, they have been extremely favorable to the Government, I was much disappointed with the early returns from the English Boros. We / [M&B & RTC:] had no luck- & ought to have gained ten more seats, wh: we lost by units! - in one case, my own county town, a tie!1 These additional ten would have given us an absolute / majority of the House, and we should have been on a rock of adamant: as it is, our position is critical, & nothing can describe to you the constant anxiety, vigilance, / [RTC:] & labor, wh: it requires to manage this vast, however inadequate, host, & to cope with the perpetual menaces & stratagems of the enemy. We are very much like the Austrians & French, almost in sight of each / other & a great engagement impending.2
1 Denison would reply on 22 May from Ossington, where D's letter had been forwarded from Carlton Terrace. He graciously thanked D for the offer, and for the kind treatment he had received from him and his party; he liked the idea of being proposed by both sides of the House, and said he would leave it to D and Palmerston (whom he would write himself) to select the proposer and seconder. H B/XXI/D/153; NOT OSC 752. On the 26th Palmerston would write that Denison wished Sir Francis Baring to second the proposal, and that he (Palmerston) had written to ask Baring to do so. H B/XXI/P/85. See further 3358. 1 See 3345"2. 2 The reports of this day were of 200,000 heavily armed French and Austrian troops within fighting range of each other. The Times (20 May 1859). SBW in a letter docketed 13 May 1859 but presumably written on the 23rd (see n3) would write: 'I am deeply grieved at the unavoidable defeat of your noble gallant
381
The House meets for real business on the 7th. June, when the Queen's speech will be considered. I shd. not be surprised if the battle then occurs. If we win, we shall be tranquil for / the rest of the year; & if we are beaten - why, I can bear it, with a conviction that I have done everything to ensure success. Your beautiful flowers came just in time for my State Banquet yesterday.3 We dined a la' / Russe4 - forty guests, & I had an alabaster basquet from Florence, full of yr. exquisite 'roses, & geraniums, & their sweet sisters. One day, that I dined at Court, almost en famille, I sate next to the Princess Alice[.]5 She / is only 16 - but quite a woman in mind & manner - extremely spirituelle - literary, musical, devoted to the Drama, & a natural & entertaining conversationist. I have written to you very little, but no language / can convey to you the absorbing character of my life. It is that of a general in the field, & the sense of responsibility prevents one from doing anything but what is a fulfilment of pressing & immediate duty. / I have two excellent private Secretaries: both young men & very good looking & clever. The first Secretary, Mr Earle, has been returned to Parliament6 tho' he is only 23 - but a man in matured thought / & power of observation. Without his assistance I cd. not get thro' my work. I can trust him with interviews. He can see men & manage them. Adieu, dear friend! I D.
3353 T0: LORD NAAS
Downing Street [Saturday] 21 May 1859
ORIGINAL: INL Mayo Papers 11,025 (35) EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. From a copy kindly provided by Andrew Shields.
My dear Naas, May 21 1859 I wrote to you, fully, yesterday. There is no longer any doubt, that the opposition fight on the Address. It is their / only chance. I am very disappointed in not seeing Taylor before he went to Ireland, as I cd have mentioned to him several small points, on wh: one does not care to write. /
3
4 5 6
Party, however it is a great comfort to know that they continue intact and give hope for the future[.]' RTC [372QJ. D had hosted one of the several state dinners to mark the Queen's birthday; according to MA's accounts, there had been 36 guests not counting D. The Times (20 May 1859); H ace. In her letter (n2) SBW would remark: 'It gave me great pleasure to hear ... that dear Mrs Disraeli looked remarkably well and youthful at your state Banquet..." She would also mention some documents she had got a few weeks past which she would like D at his leisure to see 'and if possible to trace our alliance'. The fashion for service a la russe (servants circling the table each with a different dish), a system that reduced the total number of dishes required, had begun in mid-century and would become the general practice by IQOO. Sally Mitchell ed Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia (1988) 306. Princess Alice (1843-1878), the third child in the royal family, in 1862 would marry the future Ludwig IV. D had dined at court on 11 May. MP (12 May 1859); H D/v/A/33. Earle had been elected at Berwick on 30 April (see 3309) but would accept the Chiltern Hundreds on 2O August. For D's other secretary, C.L. Ryan, see 3i8sn3.
382
How about Mick Sullivan?1 Could not the Lord Lieutenant ask him to dinner? Has he forgotten, or forgiven, about the Magistracy? And Greene, / the Brigadier, who voted against us in the great division2 - is he right? We wait with anxiety the R Cath: appointments. Yrs ever I D. TO: [LORD DERBY]
Downing Street [Thursday] 26 May 1859 3354
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1 [R2-47]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 244-5, dated at Downing Street 26 May 1859, the last two paragraphs omitted EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation. Endorsed in another hand on the last page: 'Mr Disraeli. May 26 Palmerston & Russell Coalition Tactics of the Oppn. on the meeting of Park.'
Confid'l May 26. 1859 Everything looks well. Be careful to keep all your places open. Also, a bold mien, & confident tone. Any despondency under your roof is noticed & repeated, &; then people will not / believe we are going to win.1 If Stanley is with you, just give him a hint in this direction. I have my reasons for all this. Up to yesterday, Palmn. & J.R. had agreed on all points of For: Policy; / on Reform; & on their Cabinet - but not as to mode of attack. This you may rely on.2 J.R. was strong for an amendment on Reform; but it was urged, that we shd. be great fools, if we did not cut the / ground from under them in that respect; & then also, I am assured, the real Whigs don't want to come in on Reform. There is a small section for Censure on Dissolution, & they urge, that Gladstone has promised to vote for / that, & also speak. But this proposition is not favorably received. Ld. Palmn. is for vote want of Confidence, but whether on Address, or on a subsequent Be substantive motion, hesitates - but the chances are it will be on the
1 Michael Sullivan (1809-1878), of Lacken Hall, Kilkenny, a merchant, sheriff of Kilkenny 1870, was Liberal MP for Kilkenny City 1847-65. 2 John Greene (1807-1883), of Greenville, Waterford, Ireland, was Liberal MP for Kilkenny co 1847-65. As did virtually all of the Irish Liberals D has mentioned in recent letters, Greene voted against the government in the reform division on 31 March. Hansard CLIII col 1260. Greene was listed as a member of the Independent Irish party ('Irish Brigade') in the Tablet (a Roman Catholic newspaper) of 8 October 1853; see also John Henry Whyte The Independent Irish Party, 1850-9 (1958) 180-1, 182-3. 1 Malmesbury (II 189), after the fall of the government, would assess Derby's attitude: 'the fact was that he wished to resign, worn out by repeated attacks of gout and the toil of his office, and was indifferent to continuing the struggle.' 2 Greville (VII 419-20) on this day (26 May) recorded what he heard at Brooks's from the Duke of Bedford, differing from D's version only on the opposition's strategy being decided: 'Upon Reform, upon foreign policy, upon the mode of opposition, [Palmerston and Russell] are fully agreed' (after their meeting at Pembroke Lodge; see 335O&n3). The entry continues: 'Soon afterwards I met Disraeli in the street. He did not appear to me to be in very high spirits, and talked of the position and chances of his Government without any expressions of confidence, though without despondence. He said he hoped that they would move an Amendment to the Address, as it was better to fight it out at once and bring the question of strength to a crisis.'
383
Address; the Precedent of / 1841 ;3 wh: is in the mouths of Chas Wood & Ben Stanley. These, I am assured, are the most violent. There are several opponents, however, to want of confidence on the Address. The hitch is, that "many Radicals hold aloof. I believe Bright & Gibson are / secured by the Palm-Russell Coalition. A long time was wasted by a mutual desire of each of these chiefs, that the other shd. go to the Upper House: ultimately, they both declined. They, therefore, remain in the Lower House. The form of settlement, is - the one sent for is to be / acknowledged Premier, & the rest serve under him - but J.R. said he knew, the Queen wd. send for Ld Palmerston[.] Sir John Ramsden is to move the amendment.4 Gladstone will vote against Want of Confidence. I wish, now, you had seen him, & then we should / have had all his reasons against Dissolution, & been able to discount his objections before he spoke. My plan of the battle would be this: To rise myself immediately after Ramsden, & state our case / & divide the same night, if possible. But my reasons for this »ev unusual course I will reserve till we meet.5 Peel, however, if I remember right, did it once.6 There has been some countermining - but of no importance, & we have opened many new works. I dare say, by this evening, I shall know a good deal. Yesterday came up a confidential letter from Horsman to Roebuck! Enquiry about these rumored / reconciliations betn. P. & J.R. & consequent arrangements; disparaging them; & enquiring, whether there was any spirit of resistance in the new House, &c. Yours ever, I D.
3 See III ll8l&m, ll83&nl and, in this volume, 3350. D's prediction proved correct. 4 There is aJolliffe-to-D letter dated only 'Sunday': 'Hotham ... thinks it quite necessary that the move shd. be made from the other side & says "Jack Ramsden" is the man.' H B/xx/j/iog. In the event, on 7june the amendment would be moved by Lord Hartington; see 336o&n2 and 3363&ni. 5 See 3345n4 for D's prior correspondence with Lindsay, one of his main contacts with the independent Liberals. On the aoth Lindsay had responded to D's note (not found) and agreed to meet with him on the following Sunday: 'I have not had time to learn if the Whigs intend doing anything when Parliament meets; but if there is to be any factious move, I think I may say that there are at least 2O to 30 members who will stand no nonsense of that kind ... If the Whigs intend to make a move it will be known by the "Derby day" ....But I hardly think the Whigs will attempt [a vote of no confidence], unless there are strong reasons for it.' He enclosed J.A. Roebuck's note accepting his invitation for Derby day (i June). On 'Sunday' he reported having seen Roebuck, who entirely agreed with his views, and asked to see D again before proceeding: 'The next [step] will require tact, & is somewhat difficult & delicate, as I see the Whigs are about to play a desperate game.' He added a postscript about the enclosed letter in which Roebuck suggested that a reform bill proposing a £6 franchise for boroughs, £10 for counties, and the disfranchisement of a large number of the smaller boroughs would be generally acceptable: 'When Mr Roebuck uses the words "large disfranchisement," he does not contemplate anything nigh the extent proposed by Mr Bright.' On the 23rd he had acknowledged D's note of that day (not found) and offered, if D would make a statement in the House in accordance with these views immediately after the Address was seconded, to marshal the numbers needed to have any motion of non-confidence defeated. H B/XXI/L/iQO, igoa, 192-3. See also M&B IV 247. See further 34i2&m. 6 Peel brought the debate on the Address to a division on the first night of the session on i February 1844, an occasion D might well remember; see rv I337&nni&6.
384
TO: [LORD NAAS]
Downing Street [Thursday] 26 May 1859 3355
ORIGINAL: INL Mayo Papers 11,025 (35) EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation. From a copy kindly provided by Andrew Shields. Sic: Green.
May 26 1859 Affairs very critical: their plans now avowed, but, as they were betrayed to us a fortnight, nearly ago, we are at any rate, unlike the French, not surprised.1 What / about Gregory & Green? Let me know2 Yrs ever I D.
TO: LORD HENRY LENNOX
Downing Street [Friday] 2? May 1859 335^
ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R144-133] EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a typescript headed: 'D. to Ld. H. Lennox, C. of E., May 27. '59.'
Lord H.G. Lennox, M.P. My dearest Henry, I am vexed at what I hear of your sayings and doings.1 If they could now, or eventually, lead to any advantage to yourself, I should be more reconciled to your course, however mortifying to myself: but I see, in its results, no[t]hing for you but permanent discomfort. You have many enemies, but you have one devoted friend; and, believe me, that is a possession in life, not to be despised. You are betrayed by those in whom you now precipitately confide. This is always the case. 1 In the uncertain early reports from Paris of the first serious encounter of the war, it was mentioned that a French division might have been surprised by the Austrians. The Times (24-5 May 1859). 2 For Greene, see 3353&n2. William Henry Gregory (1817-1892), of Coole Park, co Galway, Conservative MP for Dublin City 1842-7 (Peelite), for co Galway 1857-72, JP, DL, high sheriff of Galway 1849, governor of Ceylon 1872-7, KCMG 1876, PC of Ireland, had supported the government in the reform division of 31 March. A Protestant, he had nevertheless had the strong support of the Roman Catholic clergy in the recent election. The Times (18, 21 Apr, 14, 16 May 1859). Naas would reply on the 27th: 'Greene is a most uncertain half crazy being - never makes up his mind till the last moment. He told a friend of mine two days ago that his present intention is to vote with us. Clonbrock can influence Gregory - make Taylor write to him. At all events - C can tell how he will go.' H B/XX/BO/ll. See further 3357&n2. Gregory's second wife, Isabella (m 1880), was the famous Lady Gregory, a leader of the Irish Revival and close friend of Yeats. 1 There is an undated Earle-to-D note that may be about Lennox and have occasioned this letter: 'Rose tells me that our friend H is very indiscreet, not merely as regards misplacing confidence but also in gossiping - telling things, without an object... I cannot tell you how much anxiety it causes me, to know that a man of H's infirmities & shortcomings is in so important a position. Your reputation as an administrator may be seriously compromised by his ignorance & indiscretion. But I need say no more, for I know you are sensible of the disadvantages to wh: we are exposed, by this incumbrance.' H B/XX/E/i8o. D was presumably also not happy about things Lennox had done and said during and following the election; according to The Times of 30 April, Lennox on the hustings at Chichester on 29 April, where his seat was being contested for the first time since 1837 by a second Liberal candidate, 'was received with mingled hisses and general expressions of disapprobation ... He concurred in the opinion of the [two Liberal] candidates relative to our foreign relations, and, though a supporter of Lord Derby's Government, expressed his disapprobation of the chief features in the late rejected Reform Bill ... He also eulogized Lord Malmesbury's foreign policy.' Although he lost in the show of hands, Lennox narrowly retained his seat in the poll on the 30th.
385
What really makes you uneasy and unhappy is, that you are dissatisfied with what you have done. But the proper remedy for such a position is sympathy, and the counsel of experience and affection, which in time, and with opportunity, may put you, in all respects, right - and especially with yourself. Think over these lines, my dearest Henry, and let me see you, when you like. Yours ever, D.2
3357 T0: LORD NAAS
Downing Street [Saturday] 28 May 1859
ORIGINAL: INL Mayo Papers 11,025 (35) EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. From a copy kindly provided by Andrew Shields.
My dear Naas May 28 1859 I am disappointed with your letter of today wh: speaks of the promotion of Howley as contingent & doubtful.1 I thought it was certain[.] The news of it in this country has already produced an excellent effect - pray let me hear that it is done. Yours ever I D. Taylor is in Ireland Be Jolliffe thinks at Dublin, on point of departure[;] for this reason I could not, therefore write to him about Clonbrock[.]2 3358 TO: QUEEN VICTORIA
Downing Street [Tuesday] 31 May 1859
ORIGINAL: RAC B17 129
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer.
May 31. 1859 The Chancellor of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to Yr Majesty: Your Majestys sixth Parliament assembled today, / & in obedience to Yr Majestys commands, elected a Speaker.
2 Lennox replied the same day: 'Just as I was starting for the Train I received your Letter. It was, I am willing to believe, dictated by a friendly feeling towards me.- You will therefore, I am sure, be glad to hear that you have been misinformed with regard to my sayings & doings. I have really made no Confidences, which I should care for being abused; and never during my Parliamentary life have I been so happy or so easy in my mind, as during the last 3 months.' H B/xx/LX/iag. 1 Naas had written (see 3355n2): 'The Chancellor has written to Howley saying that if an opportunity arises he will be promoted. We shall know the result this evening.' 2 Robert Dillon (1807-1893), 3rd Baron Clonbrock, of Clonbrock, Ahascragh, co Galway, captain Oxfordshire yeomanry 1843-8, LL of Galway 1874-92, had been elected a representative Irish peer in 1838. Naas on 30 May would reply: 'Plunket appeared on the Bench at the Bankruptcy court on the Last Day of Term looking like one who had been buried some years in an Iceberg. Irish officials never resign. However the Chancellor at my instance wrote to Howley to tell him that in case Plunket did not appear it was his intention to appt. Him (Howley) to be his Deputy, with the reversion of the office in case of Plunkets resignation. Howley gratefully but firmly refused ..." Naas told of some appointments that would 'raise a Protestant Storm' and concluded: The difficulty of doing what is right in this cursed country is intense.' H B/XX/BO/12. Eglinton had written to Derby on the 27th with the same news about Plunket and Howley, and on the 3Oth would write to Derby again: 'I wish you would make it clear to Disraeli how difficult it is to find any R. Catholic that I can take up, & how unwise it is to go so far in appointing political opponents as to disgust our friends.' H B/XX/S/225, 227.
386
Mr. Evelyn Denison was again their choice; proposed on the Ministerial side, by Mr Wilson Patten, & seconded, on that of the / opposition, by Sir Francis Baring.1 Nothing remarkable in their speeches, or in the proceedings generally. The House was not full; about 300; but a large proportion of new members.2 TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 2 June 1859 3359
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1 [R2-48] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 245-6, dated at Grosvenor Gate 2 June, 1859, the sixth, seventh and final paragraphs omitted EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer which is crossed out on the first page. Endorsed in another hand on the fifth page: 'Mr. Disraeli June 2 on wording of the Queens Speech'. Sic: embarass; month's hence.
Rt Honble I Earl of Derby Grosvenor Gate I June 2 1859 My dear Lord, I humbly think the "Neutrality" paragraph, as amended, will endanger the Government, & retard, & embarass, the very policy, wh: H. My. would wish to / favor. At this moment, there is great jealousy, & suspicion, of France in this country, but its open expression is modified, & even prevented; © By some genuine sympathy for Italian Freedom: / © By a general impression, industriously circulated by the Opposition, that the Court, & the Ministry, are favoring Austria. It is of the utmost importance to discredit, & discourage, this general impression. The notice of neutrality in the Speech will / be the test. All distrust in the public mind on this head averted, the more unsuccessful Austria may be, the more public feeling will develope itself against France, & the interference of England will, at the ripe moment, be called for by the general voice. / All this will be postponed, &, with a change of Ministry, possibly definitively prevented, if there be a predominant feeling in the public mind, that we have now an Austrian Government. With regard to the second paragraph, not having / the drt. speech at hand, I cannot advise with the accuracy desirable - but, if the amended paragraph is adopted, I would submit for serious consideration, that the words "and the complications" down to "Powers may produce" shd. be omitted. As / your messenger waits, I write hurriedly, but with a conviction, that everything depends, so far as H. My's government is concerned, on the treatment, in the Speech, of these points. With prudence, we have a majority, on any amendment; but if they can raise a colorable / point on Austrian bias, or imminence of war from our policy, the opposition wd. at this moment succeed, tho', in a month's hence, it might be different.1 1 See 335l&m. 2 There were 91 new members and 40 returning after an absence; see 3338m. For the proceedings described, see Hansard CLIV cols 4-9. 1 The Queen on i June had sent Derby two amendments to the part of the draft throne speech dealing with Britain's neutrality in the war that her ministers' mediation attempts had failed to prevent; she
387
I shall call, as I go by, about one, in case you wish to see me. I must see you in the course of the day. Yours ever I D. 336O TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
Grosvenor Gate, Thursday [2 June 1859]
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY/C/2165 [78]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see 3363&ni. Sic: P.S.
Sir W. Jolliffe Grosvenor Gate I 7 o'ck Thursday They have made up their differences1 - Lord Hartington2 to move Amendment to the Address, & Sir M. Peto to second it.3 Yrs I D. P.S.4
explained: 'As it stands, it conveys the impression of a determination on the Queen's part of maintaining a neutrality - a tout prix - whatever circumstances may arise, which would do harm abroad, and be inconvenient at home. What the Queen may express is her wish to remain neutral, and her hope that circumstances will allow her to do so. The paragraph about the Navy as it stands makes our position still more humble, as it contains a public apology for arming, and yet betrays fear of our being attacked by France.' Derby in his reply on 2 June (this day), saying he had conferred with D, explained at length along the lines D here suggests the importance of retaining the sense of the original wording. The Queen on 3 June would acknowledge to Derby that there were in effect no differences in their thinking except that she was more concerned with the speech's effect on the European conflict while he was thinking more of its effect on parliament and the country: 'Whatever decision Lord Derby may on further reflection come to, the Queen is prepared to accept.' The following is the final version of the relevant passage of the speech, with omitted original words in square brackets and material added to the original in round brackets: 'Receiving assurances of friendship from both the contending parties, I intend to maintain (between them) a strict and impartial neutrality; and I hope, with God's assistance, to preserve to my people the blessing(s) of continued peace. (Considering, however, the present state of Europe,) I have[, however,] deemed it necessary, [in the present state of Europe, with no object of aggression, but] for the security of my dominions and [for] the honour of my Crown, to increase my Naval Forces to an amount exceeding that which has been sanctioned by Parliament.' The Queen had suggested the following: '"Those endeavours have unhappily failed, and war has been declared between France and Sardinia on one side, and Austria on the other. I continue to receive at the same time assurances of friendship from both contending parties. It being my anxious desire to preserve to my people the blessing of uninterrupted peace, I trust in God's assistance to enable me to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality." "Considering, however, the present state of Europe, and the complications which a war, carried on by some of its great Powers, may produce, I have deemed it necessary, for the security of my dominions and the honour of my Crown, to increase my Naval Forces to an amount exceeding that which has been sanctioned by Parliament."' LQVIII 335-40; Hansard CLIV cols 21-2. 1 See 3353 and 3354&n2. 2 Spencer Compton Cavendish (1833-1908), Marquess of Hartington ('Harty Tarty'), the future statesman, was the eldest son of 7th Duke of Devonshire (whom he would succeed as 8th Duke in 1891), Liberal MP for N Lancashire 1857-68, for Radnor District 1869-80, for NE Lancashire 1880-5, for Rossendale Division 1885-91, under-secretary for war 1863-6, secretary for war 1866-7, postmaster-general 1868-71, chief secretary for Ireland 1871-4, secretary for India 1880-2, for war 1882-5, KG 1892, president of council 1895-1902, 1902-3. 3 For the motion and seconder see 3363&ni. Sir Samuel Morton Peto (1809-1889), 1st Bt, contractor created a baronet in 1855 for his part in building the Balaclava railway without commission, was Liberal MP for Norwich 1847-54, for Finsbury 1859-65, for Bristol 1865-8; in the event he did not second the amendment motion. 4 The 'S' of the oddly written 'P.S.' seems to have been written over an 'O', or vice versa. In any case, no further text has been found.
388
TO: LORD CARNARVON
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 6 June 1859 33^1
ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 60763 ££5-6
PUBLICATION HISTORY: Sir Arthur Hardinge The Life of... Fourth Earl of Carnarvon 1831-1800 (1925) I 143111, undated EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer, not crossed out. Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'D Rt. Hon B. Disraeli June /59'.
The I Earl of Carnarvon Grosvenor Gate I June 6 1859 My dear Carnarvon, I can't get to you - but Mr Earle, at my request, will take this note, & see you on a point of / the utmost urgency & importance. If I see Stanley at the Privy Council today, I will also mention it to him, but my trust is now, / & always is, in you.1 Yrs sincerely, I D.
TO: [RALPH EARLE?]
[London, Monday] 6 June [1859] ^&aa2
ORIGINAL: H B/XX/S/68ya
EDITORIAL COMMENT: A note in D's hand, presumably to his private secretary, on the fourth page of Stanley's letter to D dated 6 June. H B/xx/s/68y. Dating: the year is established by context; see ni.
I have ansd. by telegraph:1 "There is no mistake. I will explain, when we meet."2 TO: QUEEN VICTORIA
House of Commons, Tuesday [7 June 1859] 33^3
ORIGINAL: RAC Bl? 132
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 246-7, dated at the House of Commons, 'Tuesday, quarter past eight o'clock [June 7]'; /.QV'III 340-1, dated at the House of Commons '[?7thjune 1859.] [Tuesday, quarterpast eight o'clock' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. Dating: by context; see ni.
1 Stanley did not attend the privy council at Buckingham Palace on this day. The Times (7 Jun 1859). The 'point of the utmost urgency & importance' has not been identified, but possibly involved a colonial matter (Carnarvon was under-secretary) going back to Stanley's tenure as colonial secretary and Carnarvon's chief. For a more likely possibility, see 3366; Carnarvon and Stanley were good friends, and D may have been trying to use the former to help him persuade the latter to take on the Conservative leadership. Hardinge (ph) uses the letter to illustrate the following passage from Carnarvon's i July 1859 memorandum of the session: '"Disraeli, whenever I met him, was only too civil"'. 1 By this time, several telegraph companies had branch offices in the lobby of the House of Commons, as well as in several government departments. LPOD (1860). 2 Stanley on 6 June wrote from East India House to ask about not being invited to D's political dinner that night: 'If it were not a political ceremony I should of course say nothing - but my absence on an occasion of this sort might give rise to foolish gossip ... I need not say that if there is no mistake in the case, I am equally & entirely satisfied any way.' H B/xx/S/687. According to MA'S records, 11 people (including Sarah Disraeli) waited on the 37 diners (including D), who drank 42 bottles of wine. H ace. For a possible clue to D's explanation see 3366. After the dinner, the Ds attended Lady Salisbury's assembly; she would write to MA: 'Pray say a word of thanks from me to Mr. Disraeli for coming last night. I heard of him & you in the passage from people who were put into good spirits from seeing him in good spirits.- I tried to get near you - but it seemed like running one's head into certain death.' MP (7 Jun 1859); H D/lll/C/268.
389
Tuesday I '/4 past 8 o'ck The Chancellor of the Excheqr with his humble duty to Yr Majesty: Ld. Hartington spoke like a gentleman; was badly seconded. Cr. of Exr rose immediately, at six o'ck, & is just / down. The House very full, & very enthusiastic. The Cr of Exr presumes to say, he thinks he satisfied his friends[.] l
33a64 T0: MARY ANNE DISRAELI House of Commons [Tuesday] 7 June 1859 ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/296
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 25O1, dated 7 June 1859 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. June 7 1859 The grandest speech I ever made - all say so. The Speaker very much. I never heard such cheering. We have got a majority if / they divide today - but that they will try not to do, as they know it. Our fellows don't mean to speak, but to rest on my speech.
Yr own I D. / I attribute it all to your getting up so often - & especially to the laudanum, for tho' I did not sleep, it soothed my head.
T.O. / There was a very large mob & I was enthusiastically cheered.
3365 T0: QUEEN VICTORIA
House of Commons, Thursday [9 June 1859]
ORIGINAL: RAC F13 15
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. The sentence 'This hardly expected.' has been added by D. Dating: by context; see nl.
1 Hartington in moving the opposition's non-confidence amendment to the Address was self-effacingly modest about making his maiden speech on such an occasion, excusing his presumption by saying that he was acting with the sanction and advice of older members of the House. He justified his motion as the only way to settle the issue of confidence in the government on which the election had been called. The speech was seconded by R.C. Hanbury, Liberal MP for Middlesex, who in temperately accused the Conservatives of having opposed every good measure passed by the House in the nineteenth century. D rose immediately to respond; he welcomed the motion, as he felt the issue to be of such importance that it should be settled that night. He dismissed the charge that the government had not been able to pass its measures by pointing out the circumstances in which they had come to power. He bitterly denounced the rumours and accusations which neither the mover nor seconder had mentioned, of gross corruption by the Conservatives in the recent election, tracing them to a speech on the hustings by Sir James Graham. The failure to preserve peace in Europe would be illuminated to the government's credit when he laid the relevant papers before them, as he promised to do directly; he contrasted their efforts to those made at the outset of the Crimean War by a government with a majority. Austria, he said, had been much affected by the success of Russell's amendment (see 33lOni), as it convinced her that the present government would now be succeeded by one hostile to her, and not neutral. He turned finally to parliamentary reform, and announced that the government proposed not to proceed with it in the current session, refuting emphatically however any implication that reform was an exclusively Liberal issue. He enthusiastically accepted as the approach the government would take in the future Hartington's suggestion that a successful reform bill could only come as a compromise between the Liberals and the Conservatives. After some further discussion, during which Palmerston taunted D about the silence from his own side (the tactic to get a quick division) and challenged him to let more of them be heard, the debate was adjourned. Hansard CUV cols 98-184 (D 122-46).
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Thursday night The Chanr of the Exchequer with his humble duty to Yr Majesty: A night of varied debate - but not distinguished by any paramount effort. Mr. Gurney, an influential Whig, declared in favor of / the Government in a manly & effective speech.1 Mr. Horsman, in a brief & perplexed speech, declared, with reluctance, against the Government.2 This hardly expected. Adjourned until Friday when division is expected. The / Staff reported, that if the division had taken place tonight, the Governmt wd. have had a majority, tho' not so large as on Tuesday. The Chanr. of the Exchequer thinks / the chances are very even, but rather in favor of the Government.3 Humbly begs pardon for this hurried line, written in the House.
TO: LORD DERBY
House of Commons [Friday] lOjune 1859 33a^6
O R I G I N A L : DBF Box 146/1 [R2-5O]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 259-60, dated at the House of Commons, lOjune 1859; Bradford 240, extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. Endorsed by Derby on the first page: 'Disraeli B'. The sentence 'It wd. entirely sell the Whigs' has been added by D. Sic: recconstruct.
Secret J unee 1O ^59 Rt Honble I Earl of Derby My dearest Lord No one can tell, how this will exactly end. Some say a tie, & the Speaker is rather of this opinion, &, then, he / goes with us - but, so far as I can judge, it will be two or three, one way or the other. Sending for Palmerston, or John Russell, is no solution of the difficulty. The result wd. be a government / without a majority. And for a third man — where is he? There is only one man, who, at this moment, with our influence, could combine the whole of the Conservative party, & / wd., immediately, obtain a considerable section of those opposite. It is Stanley.
1 John Henry Gurney (1819-1890), of Catton Hall, Norfolk, and Kensington Palace Gardens, only son of a banker (who was also a Quaker minister), a noted ornithologist, a partner in Gurney's Bank, Norwich, and subsequently a director of Overend, Gurney and Co, London, was Liberal MP for King's Lynn 185465. In his speech he said he saw no need for a change in government, as he approved of what the present one had done. Hansard CLIV cols 241-3. 2 Horsman begged the question of the confidence vote, saying he was voting against the government because he thought they did not have a majority in the House, and he believed in government by a majority. He would have preferred the confidence issue to have come up when the House was given the papers on the ministry's negotiations with the powers now at war, and would have supported the government if they had not welcomed the confidence issue coming up immediately. Hansard CLIV cols 246-51. 3 Derby the next day (the loth) would report to the Queen 'that the tone of the Government Agents in the House of Commons is less sanguine to-day than it was yesterday ... There are no actual changes announced of votes, but the tone of the Opposition is more confident; and when an opinion begins to prevail that the Government are likely to be in a minority, it often realises itself by the effect which it produces on waverers and lukewarm supporters.' LQV III 341.
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He cd. reconstruct the Cabinet - wh: you cannot. My friendship for him is so complete, Sc / his confidence in me so perfect, that, if I sate below the gangway, he wd. know I was only there for his interests. Personally, I would have no objection to take / office under him - but, for reasons, wh: I will not enter into now - my course is clear. I have long made up my mind never to take office except under / yourself, having never had a cloud between us thro' ten years, always of difficulty, sometimes of mortification. Besides, it is our united withdrawal, under such circumstance, that / wd. give authority & sanction to Stanley. It wd. entirely sell the Whigs. I say it with regret, but Malmesbury must go - at least from his present position - & Clarendon wd. serve under Stanley.1 I won't go into / detail as to this course. Depend upon it - it is the SOLUTION, & under such circumstances, greatly influenced by you, &, in some degree, by myself, Stanley would be / able, & wd. be willing, to take a more conservative course, than any living man. My personal fortune is slender enough - but, if I require it - I have a right to a pension, / wh: Sir Geo: Grey, & Ld. Glenelg, & others, have taken.2 I mention this, that you may not think I am recommending, in the common view of affairs, a too rash course. I have no arriere / pensee. I think it wd. be a solution advantageous to the country, & agreeable to our own feelings. I am sure, it wd. succeed. Yrs ever, I D.
1 Whether the veteran statesman Clarendon would have agreed to serve under the 32-year old Stanley is open to question, but there was certainly a general impression that Malmesbury was not the ideal foreign secretary in the current European crisis; see M&B IV 229, also 3275 for D's feelings about him. Malmesbury himself on 9 June, noting Lady Palmerston's opinion that the government would be beaten by 12 votes, had written: 'I am also of that opinion, and, as far as I am personally concerned, shall be glad, as I am ill and tired.' However, after the government's defeat (see 3367&ni), he would record his opinion that Derby 'would not have been defeated on the Address if Disraeli had previously laid on the table the Blue-book containing the Italian and French correspondence with the Foreign Office. Why he chose not to do so I never knew, nor did he ever explain it to me ... It may be asked why Lord Derby did not himself order this Blue-book to be produced; but the fact was that he wished to resign ... When, a few days after, the Blue-book was read, I received as many congratulations upon its contents as during the past year I had suffered attacks from the Opposition and from the "Press," and many members repeated over and over again that, had they read it, they would not have supported the amendment.' In an 18 June letter to Cowley, Malmesbury would attribute D's actions to his not having read the blue book and therefore being unable to defend it in debate. Malmesbury II 187-9, !92. 2 The Queen on 11 June would write to Derby: 'Now that the fate of the Government is decided, she is prepared to grant those favours and acknowledgments of service for which Lord Derby asked in his letter'; and on the 12th Derby would inform D: 'the Queen has signed the Warrant for your Pension.' l.QV III 342; H B/XX/S/229. The warrant for a lifetime pension of £2,000 per annum (the maximum possible), signed by the Queen at the head and countersigned at the end by Derby and Henry Whitmore (the warrant states that at least three countersignatures by treasury commissioners were required), dated lojune 1859, stipulates the basis of D's eligibility: service in a top cabinet position for a total of at least two years; only three of a possible four such pensions currently in existence; and 'the amount of his income from other sources is so limited as to bring him within the meaning and intent of the Act'. The warrant further states that the pension would be reduced by half whenever D in future held office under the crown for a salary equal to or greater than its amount, and be suspended entirely if such salary were double the amount of the pension. H A/V/G/i8l.
392
At any rate, it is better than Mr. Addington - for Stanley is a clever fellow - & his Pitt & Dundas wd. be his father & his friend.3 TO: QUEEN VICTORIA
House of Commons, Saturday [11 June 1859] 33^7
O R I G I N A L : RAG B17 133
PUBLICATION HISTORY: l.Q\' III 341, dated at the House of Commons, 'nth June 1859. (Saturday morning, half-past two o'clock.)' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. Dating: by context; see ni.
Saturday morning I '/2 pt 2 o'ck. a:m. The Chanr of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to Yr Majesty: For the Amendment 323 For the Address 310 Majority agst Yr Majesty's Servants 13.! TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Downing Street [Saturday] n June 1859 33^8
O R I G I N A L : RTC [ i l l ]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 251-2, dated at Downing Street n June 1859 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation.
June 11 1859 The second campaign, of the year 1859, ended last night, after an engagement of three days, in the defeat of our cause. The result was evident since the / close of the last general Election, 8c the general engagement cd. not be avoided, tho' it might, perhaps, have been postponed for a few weeks. I preferred, / however, quitting office with a numerous & well organised army, untarnished & undamaged by a succession of struggles, 8c defeats, & full of confidence in their numbers & their / future. 1 I am so wearied, after weeks of unceasing thought & exertion, that I can scarcely guide my pen, but, at these moments, we think of those we love best, & this is the only letter I can write. Ever I D.
3 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (1805), in 1801 resigned as Speaker and formed a government when his good friend Pitt resigned over the King's refusal to allow Catholic emancipation; he was a mediocre prime minister in the opinion of most, and many saw him as Pitt's puppet. His administration lasted until May 1804. Henry Dundas (1742-1811), 1st Viscount Melville (1802), was Pitt's war secretary, who resigned with him in 1801, and then supported Addington, who secured him a peerage. 1 At the end of the third night of debate on the Address amendment, which started on 10 June and extended to the early hours of Saturday the nth, the House divided as D reports and adjourned at 2:30 am. Hansard CLIV cols 297-421. There would be a cabinet council at il:OO am, after which Derby at noon tendered his resignation to the Queen, who in her letter granting his requests of the loth and conferring the Garter on him suggested he come at an early hour: 'The Queen was very much grieved to receive Mr Disraeli's report of the division of yesterday, although she was fully prepared for this event.' Malmcsbury II 187-8; LQ\' III 342. 1 Malmesbury (II188) on this day recorded the same thought: 'It is much better for our credit to resign now, than to struggle through another session with a majority against us, hampering every measure brought forward, and obliging us to make humiliating concessions derogatory to the character of the party.'
393
33aa69 TO: LORD DERBY
[London] Sunday [12 June 1859]
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/2 [R2-5l] EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Endorsed by Derby on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' Dating: by context; see ni. Sic: that ... that.
Sunday I '/2 pt 8 I received this, just now from Knight.1 Ld. Aberdeen did not know that (wh: is the fact) that / the Queen sent for Ld. Palm: this afternoon about six. He thought the business was still in the hands of Granville.2 But he told Lady Jersey, that Bright had / explicitly assured him, that the Radicals wd. never consent to the Sir W. Molesworth dodge again, that one place in a Cabinet was worse than none.3 Yrs ever, I D.
3370 T0: LORD STANLEY
Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 12 June 1859
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 47/2 [RG-lQo] EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a copy in Stanley's letterbook.
Grosvenor Gate, June 12. 1859. My dear S. I heard yesterday, from authority, that the outgoing Ministers have a right, which they invariably exercise, to fill up all places vacated before the fatal vote. Under these circumstances, I think Elphinstone might be considered by you. It would be a popular appointment. Let me know if you decide in his favor, as I must attend to Portsmouth.1 Ever yours, D. 1 Derby had written to D on this day (12 June): 'I should like to know your opinion how far we should be justified, after our defeat, in filling up any of the vacant offices.' Among the vacancies he mentioned was the secretaryship of the poor law board, which he thought the most difficult and might be best left unfilled. F.W. Knight, political secretary to the poor law board in the defunct government, had written to D, also on this day, about the position: 'I saw Col: Talbot yesterday who thinks that there is no doubt of Lord Derbys right to give me the place if he pleases, and that the other party have no power of objecting. It seems almost impossible for them to object as I now hold the secretaryship.' He named two men at the poor law board anxious to serve under him, and said his constituents were prepared to bring forward his successor because they knew the offer had been conditionally made to him. The next day (13th) Derby would return Knight's letter and include him among the three malcontents he thought he had created by not filling the position. H B/XX/S/229-3O; C/X/C/4. 2 The Queen on this day (i2th) wrote to Derby that Granville's attempts at her request to form a government comprising Palmerston and Russell had failed, and that she had now charged Palmerston with the task. Derby would include her letter in his first letter to D on the 13th, and in a second remind him to return it. LQl'III 346; H B/XX/S/23O-1. 3 MA has docketed Lady Jersey's letter '1859 I3thjune', but it is clearly the one to which D is referring; in it she writes: 'You asked me for notes of my conversations - not much-only that it is Ld. Granville - who was sent for yesterday - & up to this time is believed to be the Man ... Bright quite explicit has declared that taking on one (like Sir W Molesworth) will not satisfy ... Abingdon just came in - tells meLd Palm has now been sent for-certainly was not there yesy.' H D/III/c/2736. Molesworth was the only Radical asked to join the Aberdeen coalition, as first commissioner of works. Bright in his diary recorded that he thought the minimum acceptable offer from the Whigs this time was the inclusion of three Radicals. Bright 2401. 1 For D's long-standing concern about patronage at Portsmouth (where Elphinstone was Conservative MP
394
TO: LORD DERBY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1
Downing Street [Monday] 13 June 1859 337 1 [R2-62]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. Endorsed by Derby on the first page: 'Ansd Disraeli B'. There is no salutation.
MEM June 13 1859 If you appoint Grenville Pigott, an Inspectorship will have been vacant, since the date of his nomination[.]' Would not it be wise to / provide for Lucas, who writes to the Treasury daily?" It wd. be a popular appointment; not political; would be supported by all the Press, especially the / "Times". Besides he has served us - independently of wh:, our party has the reputation of never doing anything for men of letters - while Fo[r]ster, Fonblanque, Greg, / Reeve, & others have been placed by the Whigs, & work the Journals in consequence. 3
since 1857), see 3249&n6. Rose on 6 January 1859 had asked Earle to tell D that Elphinstone had told him he had been offered a seat on the India Council. H B/XX/R/ig. Stanley had written to Derby about it on 25 April 1859: 'In conversation with Disraeli, it appeared to us possible to arrange for the conduct oflndian affairs in the Lords, otherwise than by putting Baillie into Council, and to reward Sir J. Elphinstone for useful and independent support by giving him the vacant seat. I have agreed to take no step in the matter at the present moment, and write to express a hope that you will not make any promise of the place. We shall see better how we stand after the elections.' DBF Box 47/2 [R6-igo]. The vacant seat on the India Council would not be given to Elphinstone, and Stanley's next letter to D, on 14 June, would mention neither him nor Portsmouth. LPOD (1860); H B/XX/S/688. 1 Derby wrote on this day: 'Here is the letter I have received from the Queen with regard to Mr. Grenville Pigot's [sic] appointment. It is very bien veillant ... If Mr. Pigot's appointment should be cavilled at, I must rely upon you to defend it.' Derby, however, thought there were difficulties with the appointment, and in his second letter he wrote: 'After seeing March [outgoing president of the poor law board] on his return from you I have written to H.M. to withdraw my recommendation of Mr. Grenville Pigott on the ground of advanced age ...' H B/XX/S/23O-1. Grenville Pigott, of Doddershall Park, Bucks, was a poor law inspector who on 22 March 1859 had applied to D for the permanent secretaryship to the poor law board (see 3369ni). On 15 June he would thank D for his 'kind note of Monday' (not found), and for his 'ready aid towards my object'; he allowed that he would not be greatly disappointed if he did not get it. He concluded: 'No Whig Coalition for place will surprise the merest smatterer in English history - but the majority against the Govt. at such a time, under such circumstances, in support of no declared or intelligible principle & with the sole result of replacing (for a short time) in power what you have well designated "an obsolete oligarchy" — certainly seems to be of bad omen for the future interests of the aristocratic classes - Whigs included.' H C/II/A/15-16. 2 Lucas, first editor of the Press and, as a writer for The Times, one of the primary sources of information about the Liberals, on 12 June had asked for D's help in obtaining 'something for me which may save me from disappointment and from a lifelong regret at my connection with the Conservative party ...' He then presented the arguments D here conveys. On the 14th, realizing that 'nothing remains but the Poor Law Board', he would appeal to D: 'W7e must overcome Lord March's opposition or I must go to the wall' (Derby had explained that March had his own candidate). On the 15th Lucas would askjolliffe to intervene on his behalf with Derby, offering him the same arguments he had already given to D. H B/XXI/iy408-9, B/xx/J/73a. In the event, Lucas got no appointment. 3 Lucas (n2) had written on the 12th: 'The Whigs can point to their Forsters, Fonblanques, Gregs, Tom Taylors &c all satisfactorily placed ..." D's scrawled rendition of the first name leaves no discernible Y. John Forster, the friend and future biographer of Dickens, editor of the Foreign Quarterly Review 1842-3, the Daily Nans 1846, the Examiner 1847-55, was secretary to the lunacy commission 1855-61 and would be a lunacy commissioner 1861-72. Albany Fonblanque, the journalist and long-time proprietor of the Examiner, in 1847 had been appointed a statistical officer in the board of trade. William Rathbone Greg
395
I have had a stiff minute prepared about the Council Office. 4 Yrs ever, I D. 3372
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Downing Street [Monday] 13 June 1859
ORIGINAL: RTC [l!2]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer. There is no salutation.
June 13 1859 I am very well indeed, & thank you much for your kind note. Send me up the documents,1 as I now have a little time, & know not how long the tranquillity will last. / I hope to get to Hughenden tomorrow for a few days; I have not been there for seven months!2 The enemy has failed in his first effort to form a Government. The / Queen will not smile on Lord Palmerston or Lord John, & sent for Lord Granville, who tried his hand, & failed. Ld. P. is now at it. Yours ever, I D. 3373
TO: J O H N BLACK
Downing Street [Monday] 13 June 1859
ORIGINAL: QUA 143
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor of the exchequer.
Jno.J. Black I Esqr1 June 13 1859 Dear Sir, I am very much honored, & gratified, by your request, &, if the thanks of a mori-
(1809-1881), the essayist, in 1856 had been appointed a commissioner of customs, and would be comptroller of the stationery office 1864-77. Tom Taylor, the dramatist andjournalist, had been appointed secretary to the board of health in 1854. Henry Reeve (1813-1895), the Greville editor, foreign policy writer for The Times 1840-55, editor of the Edinburgh Review 1855-95, had been clerk of appeal to the judicial committee of the privy council 1837-43, and was registrar of the privy council 1843-87; see n4. 4 C.C.F. Greville in May had resigned (because of gout) as one of the two clerks in ordinary of the privy council and in 1860, feeling he was no longer politically knowledgeable, would close his famous journal. Greville VII 417, 482-3. Derby on 12 June (336gm) had mentioned the vacancy: 'With respect to the Clerkship of the Council, I should advise that a Minute should be left, stating that we had not filled it, in deference to the recommendations of the Commission, as we intended submitting a proposal for providing for the occasional discharge of the duties in the absence of the Clerk, as proposed by them.' In his first letter of this day he reminded D: 'Will you give directions for the Treasury Minute on the subject of the Clerk of the Council?' In his second letter of this day, he added: 'Your Minute as to the Clerk of the Council must not say that we had absolutely decided to follow the advice of the Commissioners (to which I hear from Jolliffe the Q. made great objection) but that we were considering the best mode of giving effect to their views - or something to that effect.' A civil service commission comprising three commissioners had been established by order in council in 1855 to examine all candidates for the junior positions in the various departments of the civil service. Lowell I 156-7. The position would still be vacant in 1860. LI'O!) (1860). 1 SBW's note has not been found. The documents presumably had to do with her coat of arms; see 33?6&ni and 3377&n2. 2 The Ds would be at Hughenden 15-17 June, their first stay there since the one of 4-8 November 1858. H ace. 1 No information on Black or his request (to name a vessel after Disraeli?) has been found.
396
bund Minister be of any worth, / I beg you to accept them, as heartily, as they are offered. If the voyages of our ship be, as prosperous, as I wish them to be, we shall have embarked in a good venture. / Believe me, dear Sir, I Your obliged & obedt I Servt, I B. Disraeli TO: LORD DERBY
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 13 June [1859]
3374
ORIGINAL: DBF Box 146/1 [R2-53] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Derby on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' Dating: by context; see ni. Sic: Bethel.
My dear Lord, G Gate June 13 I return H.M. letter.1 The Bear has gone to Paris "the quarrelling among his friends having risen to such a pitch, that he thinks it best to get out of the way"[.] He says "it can last / only a few weeks". However, we must take care of that. Bethel is not to be Chancellor!2 Among other things, he said that a section would be omitted, or not appear, / in the arrangements, ["] that wcl. astonish the world"[.]* What can this mean? All this from a confidential Liberal source. Yrs ever I D. If it be true, that Gladstone goes to the Exchequer & S. Herbert to / the Admy, perhaps the Section is the Clarendon section, & Lewis, Lowe &: others, who were supposed favorable to fusion with us, are getting out of the Liberal corps - but this is a mere conjecture. 4 TO: LORD DERBY
Hughenden, Thursday 16 June 1859 3375
O R I G I N A L : DBF Box 146/1 [R2-5a] EDITORIAL. C O M M E N T : Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. Endorsed by Derby on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B Ansd\
Rt Honble I The Earl of Derby Thursday June 16/59 My dear Lord, I shall be in town by an early train tomorrow,1 & shall call at yr house, about noon, to receive yr instructions, as I conclude, / that, on the meeting of the Houses, we are, once more, to sit on the Ministerial bench.2 1 Derby had asked for its return in his second letter of this day; see 336g&n2 and 337l&nni&4. 2 Bethell in the event would be appointed attorney-general (not in cabinet) and Campbell would be appointed lord chancellor. The Times on 16 June would remark that, although Campbell's appointment was unobjectionable, there was a general belief that Bethell had 'almost a constitutional claim to the Chancellorship'. 3 Presumably the omission of any Radicals; see 33754 Gladstone would be the new chancellor of the exchequer, but Herbert would be appointed war secretary, Lewis home secretary, and Lowe vice-president of the education board; the Duke of Somerset would be appointed first lord of the admiralty. 1 MA recorded that the Ds left Hughenden for Grosvenor Gate on Friday morning at 8:30 am. H ace. 2 Derby would reply the next day from Roehampton: 'I am summoned to Windsor at 3 today - but am taking the liberty to go down at 12 instead for my Audience of leave. If I do not see the Queen till 3, I shall not be able to be in the House. If She will see me sooner, I shall be in St. James's Sqr. rather
397
I assume, from observation only, that the Court, acting on yr. advice & assurance, has / emboldened Palmerston to throw over the Radicals; that Ld. John, in consequence, has resisted, for some time; but has, ultimately, followed the example of Lord Palmerston - & that no gentleman below the gangway / will be in high office.3 Yrs ever, I D. 3376
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Hughenden, Thursday 16 June 1859
ORIGINAL: RTC [113]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. There is no salutation. Sic: refaceimento.
Thursday June 16. 59 I duly received the document yesterday. It throws a gleam of light over the past, & is most interesting to me. The last thing I did in office was to receive a communication from the / Spanish & the Portuguese ambassadors, here,1 respecting the arms of the families of Mendez da Costa & Lara,2 respecting wh: they had, for some time, been making enquiries & researches for me. You will / have yr shield emblazoned. I hear from London, that the difficulties of Ld Palmerston are so great, that the new Ministry, instead of being formed on the boasted broad basis, will be merely / a refaceimento of the old Palmerston clique.3 That won't last long, & only can subsist by our support. Shall I return the document by post, or retain it at present? Yours ever, I D.
3377a T0: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS Downing Street [Friday] 17 June 1859 ORIGINAL: RTC [114] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the chancellor jf the exchequer. There is no salutation.
June 17 1859 I send you my last official letter, as I am now going down to the House of Com-
before 4 — but I will call at your house on my way from the Paddington Station at 3.30. Our Successors take Office tomorrow. You are to go down to Windsor at one tomorrow to resign.' H B/xx/S/232. On the 17th, Derby would have an audience of the Queen at Windsor 'in the forenoon', the Commons would sit from 4 to 4:55 pm, the Lords from shortly before 5 to 5:35 pm, with D's and Derby's statements virtually the only business. Derby would explain that he would continue in office only until his successor was appointed. The Times (iSJun 1859). 3 Milner Gibson would be the only Radical in the new cabinet, first as president of the poor law board, and then, in July, president of the board of trade, still vacant because Cobden turned it down. Morley Cobden 690-2. 1 Don Francisco Javier de Istiiriz (1790-1871) was currently the Spanish minister at London (first 1850-4, altogether 'three times in ten years'), and Dom Francisco de Almeida Portugal, Count Lavradio (17961870) was the Portuguese minister (1851 until near his death). LPOD (1860); Nouvelle Biographie General (1861); Comte Fleury Memoirs of the Empress Eugenie \ (1920) 265; Dino II. 2 See V 2l67ni and, in this volume, 2883, 3389 and 3390. 3 Palmerston's new ministry would have 23 members from his previous government (10 in cabinet), and 16 new members (6 in cabinet).
398
mons to announce the formation of the New / Government, &, tomorrow morning, I go down to Windsor, to resign my seal, to Her Majesty.1 I thought you would like to have / the last line I write from Downing St. I acknowledged the receipt of the document from Hughenden, whence I / arrived this morning.2 Yours ever, I D. TO: GEORGE BOWYER
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday 23?] June 1859 337§
ORIGINAL: PS 768
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 242ni, dated 'June 25 [1859]' to 'a Roman Catholic M.P.', an extract from the second paragraph; Wilfrid Ward The Life and Times of Cardinal Wiseman (1897) II 449 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is in H H/Life a copy in Monypenny's (?) hand headed: 'Life of Cardinal Wiseman by Wilfrid Ward II p 449. D to Mr (afterwards Sir George) Bowyer'. The following is taken from Ward. Dating: As the Ds were at Hughenden 23-8 June, the transcribed date is probably wrong; D was writing this kind of letter before leaving town, and his '23' and '25' are easily confused.
My dear Sir, Grosvenor Gate: June 25, 1859. I do not wish to retire from office without offering you my thanks for the valuable and truly independent support which, during the trying period of our existence as Ministers, we invariably received at your hands.1 I should feel gratified also if, through your medium, I might convey to Cardinal Wiseman my sense of the generous and courageous manner in which his Eminence accorded us his assistance.2 It was given ungrudgingly, without solicitation and without condition, and with that true feeling which can only be prompted by a high sense of duty. Believe me, dear Mr. Bowyer, Yours sincerely, I B. Disraeli.
1 D would make the announcement and then move adjournment until Tuesday. Hansard CLIV col 431. Jolliffe had written on the iGth: 'I think you should be in the House tomorrow!' H B/XX/J/73. On the i8th, D would go to Windsor with the rest of the cabinet to resign their respective seals of office. MP (20 Jun 1859). 2 SBW on the igth would thank D for his last letter in office: T grieve to think that your power of usefulness is so wrecklessly [sic] abridged [;] my first thought was that the Queen wd not accept the resignations ... I wish that instead of waisting [sic] breath in the lower House you wd. take a step higher. Many thanks for your kind letter from Hughenden and all the trouble you have taken to get the long lost arms of my Ancestors. The Document may be left till I have the pleasure of seeing you and dear Mrs Disraeli some time when you can find leisure ... I shall be glad to pay the expense for enquiries and researches.' MA would write to SBW on the 2ist: 'Dizzy is quite well notwithstanding all the excitement & anxiety of the last 4 or 5 months. He was much pleasd & admired your kind letter of this morn'g ... He would not my dear go to the upper House for the world, not for many many years he enjoys his fame too much in the lower House. He could not take the red ribbon [the Garter], without being knighted £ that would be dreadful, to be calld Sir B Disraeli. The Queen is all kindness to Dis - and would give him any thing. A great mutiny of the Conservatives this mor'g at Ld. Salisbury's. Ld. Derby express'd great gratitude to Dis, "that he could not get on without him" &c &c &c Dis much cheer'd by all.' RTC [373-4QJ- On D ' s interview with the Queen, see further 3383. For Gladstone's similar response to the prospect of being Sir William see Jenkins Gladstone 197. 1 See 3348&n2; Bowyer had supported ministers on the address on 10 June and at other times. 2 See 3350&n2.
399
3379 T0: EDMUND HAMMOND
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 23 June 1859
ORIGINAL: HOL [8]
Ed. Hammond Esq1 Grosvenor Gate I June 23. 1859. My dear Mr Hammond, Earle has the memorandum on the S.S. money. It is among my private papers, 8c he shall return it to you; but he is, at present, at / Paris. I have written to him on the matter, & on some others, & I shall feel obliged by your forwarding him the accompanying packet by bag.2 With a pleasurable recollection / of our official intercourse, & with a deep sense of your invaluable services to the State, believe me, I dear Mr Hammond, I always sincerely yours, I B. Disraeli3
33a80 T0: MESSRS BURLEY & CARLISLE
Grosvenor Gate
[Thursday] 23 June 1859
ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [35] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the second page: '23 June 1859 Rt Hon. Mr Disraeli .
Messfrs] I Burley & Carlisle Grosvenor Gate I June 23. 1859 Dear Sir, In reference to your letter of the 1st. Inst, I should feel obliged by your informing Messrs. Dunbar, that no lower sum, than £6000, will be accepted for the Ceylon estates of Mr. / Villiers.1 Believe me, I dear Sir, I Yours faithfully, I B. Disraeli
1 Edmund Hammond (1802-1890) was permanent under-secretary for foreign affairs 1854-73, p(' 1866, 1st Baron Hammond 1874. 2 Neither the 'S.S. money' memorandum nor D's letter to Earle of this date has been found. 'S.S.' presumably stands for secret service, which would account for D's keeping the memorandum among his private papers; on 15 July the House in committee of supply would without discussion vote £22,000 for 'Secret Services'. Hansard CLIV col 1354. Hammond responded on this day that he had sent D's letter to Earle; on 11 August he would write again: 'I saw Earle the other day and reminded him of the List he was to send me. However I have not got it, and I should be much obliged to you if you would assist his memory.' H B/XXI/H/i 11-12. Earle's list was presumably of the secret agents to be paid; for example, on 21 March 1859, Klindworth had written to him: 'Mon cher Monsieur, ... lors de notre arrangement, touchant mes services, vous m'avez promis ... de me payer un honoraire de Cinq Cents Francs ...' H B/XVHl/c/33- For the use of secret service money by governments for purposes such as funding journals favourable to them, see J.Y. Wong Deadly Dreams: Opium, Imperialism, and the 'Arrow' War (1856-1860) in China (1998) 171. There is an undated Drummond Wolff letter to D (re: Ionian Islands?): 'I am desired by Sir Edward Lytton to wait upon you & enquire if Mr Gladstone may be authorized to draw for five hundred pounds - as Secret Service money to fund or subsidize a newspaper in the Govt interest.' H B/xx/E/gia. 3 Hammond's extant correspondence with D, beginning 14 March 1859, consists mostly of notes accompanying telegrams received at the foreign office that he is forwarding to D. In his note of this day (n2) he thanked D 'not only for all the consideration you have uniformly shown me but also for the very flattering and kind manner in which you have written to me to day.' H B/XXI/H/104-10. 1 For D's previous correspondence with this firm, see 3274&ni. Their letter of i June has not been found, but evidently it contained an offer from Duncan Dunbar of £5,000 for Francis Villiers's Ceylon estates, as Dunbar on 6 July would suggest to W.T. Carlisle that they meet this offer 'halfway say £5500' (copy forwarded to D on 7 July). H A/IV/J/1O5, 1053. The main pressure at this time appears to have been
4OO
TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
[Hughenden, Friday] 24 June 1859 33^1
O R I G I N A L : SCR DD/HY C/21G5 [51]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: The Ds were at Hughenden 23-8 June 1859. H ace.
Private June 24. 1859 Rt Honble. I Sir William Jolliffe My dear Jolliffe, I omitted to return you the papers, you lent me, before I left town, &: I will, therefore, take this opportunity of saying, what / I, then, shd. have endeavoured to express; that it will always be one of the principal objects of my future life to effect your purpose - wh:, indeed, will be a very slight return for the honor & fidelity, the / wise counsel & never failing regard, with wh: you have ever assisted me in my attempts to guide the fortunes of our party.1
coming from creditors named Price and Somerton, whom Francis Villiers had mentioned in his letter from Bilbao of 22 January 1859. Lord Villiers on 26 January had suggested: 'it is time that we took some steps in the negociation with Price ...' He calculated 'on having about £230x3 or £2400 from Ceylon to settle all claims with.' Price, of Price & Clark, auctioneers & valuers at 48 Chancery' Lane, on 31 March had acknowledged D's letter (not found), acceded to his request to 'suspend again the proceedings in the matter in which the Chancellor has kindly consented to become mediator' and set i May as the deadline for settlement. Frederick Villiers had written to D on 6 April to remind him that the 'Price Somerton business' was coming up on 10 April, and on 22 April he had written again: 'Price is a horrid bore, but I fear we are at his mercy. V. wrote me that he expected to get £two thousand five hundred 2,500 - from Ceylon and calculated that you had 500 left - and hoped with this to settle Hume l(XX> Roberts 1000 Price 2000. I mean to make compromises with each of them ... I believe my Mother is prepared to advance some money, to be repaid by the sale of Ceylon. I should think therefore the only alternative is to pay Price half, and the remainder at an interval ...' In an undated and virtually illegible note evidently written during the elections, Lady Jersey had sent D two cheques to be deposited with Drummonds: 'as yet no check of mine can be traced or has been in any hands - it will be thought one is for Elections the other a present to my Son[;] I must hope for Ceylon as this unexpected call drains me ...' On 24 June, Francis Villiers at Rennes would acknowledge D's letters of January and April, wonder 'what chance there may be of my being able to make some more tolerable arrangements', talk of taking up residence in Jersey, and ask to be sent some money. On 3 July at St Helen's he would acknowledge D'S letter of the 1st (not found): '... it never entered into my head to suspect, as you seem to think, that my affairs were neglected.' He gave an account of what he had done, and continued: 'You will at once infer from the preceding lines that the sale of Ceylon Ests. "sticks in my gizzard", & so it does - for I cannot bring myself to believe that it is worth so small a part of the money expended upon it.' He played with the idea of saving and living on the Ceylon estates, and talked about some money he owed his brother Frederick 'for some shirts &c, which I begged he wd. repay himself with out of the Quarter now due; but as I am unacquainted with the manner in which the sums I have drawn through your Bankers have been repaid to you, I will not bother you on the subject, except that I shd. like to receive whatever may be available as soon as convenient.' He closed by responding to D's remarks on public affairs ('What you say about the 300, was just my fear at the Dissolution ...'). H A/rv/J/Sg, 90, 92, 94. 95. 97. 99. l°4- A Duncan Dunbar is listed at 50 Porchester terrace, Bayswater w, presumably the same Duncan Dunbar listed as chairman of the Local Marine Board and a director of the Imperial Fire Assurance Company; there is also a Duncan Dunbar & Son, wine merchants, in Ropemakers fields E. U'OD (1856, 1859, 1860). The Ceylon estates would remain unsold as late as 1866, well after Francis Villiers's death. MOPSIK [40]; H A/IV/J/267, 305. 1 Jolliffe would respond in kind on the 25th: 'to the end of my existence it will remain one of my chief sources of satisfaction that I do not know of any effort that has been wanting on my poor part, in the spirit of a sincere friendship, to promote to the utmost the high political position, which it has been yotir due to occupy, and which I believe has been necessary to the best interests both of Lord Derby & of the Conservative Party, and this conviction now enables me to put aside disappointments for which I have not been answerable and which it is certain even' political man may well expect.' The 'papers'
4O1
It occurred to me, this morning, that the promotion of Fitzroy might make an opening for Walpole. What / think you of it? With good management, I can't help fancying, that, in the present temper of the House, he might be carried. No time, however, if you sanction my suggestion, shd. be lost.2 Yours ever, I D.
3382 TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
Hughenden [Sunday] 26 June 1859
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C/2165 [52] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb.
Hughenden Manor I H. Wycomb June 26. 59 Rt Honble. I Sir William H. Jolliffe My dear Jolliffe, I wrote to you on Friday, among other things, respecting the Chairmanship of Commfittjees. 1 Ld Palmn. writes to me, this morning, that he shall propose / Mr. Massey at the meeting of the House on Thursday.2 If anything is to be done, therefore, we shd. be stirring. I think it might be advisable, in case Walpole starts, to announce the fact in / the "Times" & other papers as soon as possible. Under any circumstances, the Government will be prepared, & the announcement will prevent promises. There is sufficient discontent in the Government ranks to / secure Walpole, if our men choose to attend. Yours ever, I D. I shall be at Grosvenor Gate on Tuesday morning.3
may be the two letters Jolliffe had forwarded from the treasury on the i6th as specimens of that day's 'not very pleasant' letters and interviews, one from Lucas (for whose concern see 337ln2) and one from Drummond. The latter accused Derby and D of having made the party 'the tool of their own ambition, & sacrificed every body private & public interest [sic], beginning with Walpole.' H/B/xx/J/73-4. Jolliffe would be created Baron Hylton almost immediately upon the Conservatives' return to power in 1866. 2 Fitzroy, appointed chairman of committees in 1855, had just been appointed chief commissioner of works in the new government (not in cabinet). He would live only until 22 December. Jolliffe would reply (ni): 'I find that Walpole would not take the Chairmanship'. See further 3382&nn2&3. 1 See 3381. 2 Palmerston had written as D reports on the 24th. H B/XXI/P/86. William Nathaniel Massey (1809-1881), a barrister (Inner Temple 1844), recorder of Portsmouth 1852, of Plymouth 1855, under-secretary of the home department 1855-8, author of an incomplete history of the reign of George III in four volumes 1855-63, chairman of committees 1859-65, PC 1865, Liberal MP for Newport 1852-7, for Salford 1857-65, for Tiverton 1872-81, finance member of the viceroy's executive council in India 1865-8, had been announced in The Times on 22 June as one of The Minor Ministerial Appointments.' Earle on the 24th had written to D: 'I really think the House of Commons wd. resent such dictation, if we could find a man to put up against him.' H B/XX/E/i67. 3 Jolliffe on the 27th would reply that, having spent an afternoon and a morning seeing what could be done about the chairmanship, and because neither Walpole nor Wilson Patten would stand, he thought they 'had better be quiet'. H B/XX/J/75. Walpole, also on the 27th, in reply to D's two letters (not found) to him, would write both to Hughenden and to Grosvenor Gate to say he did not wish to stand for the chairmanship of committees. H B/XXI/W/47-8. On Thursday 30 June, Massey would take the chair on Palmerston's unopposed motion that he do so when the House went into committee of supply. Hansard CLFV col 507.
402
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Hughenden [Monday] 2? June 1859a 33^3
ORIGINAL: RTC [115]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation.
Hughenden Manor I June 27. 1859 We came down here on Thursday, after a Concert at the Palace on Wednesday evening.1 The weather here charming. I don't know, that I ever was in the country' on Midsummer day before; I / am quite sure never, when the skies were so blue, the trees so green, & everything so bright & sweet - Roses almost worthy of Mount Braddon! I meant to have written you here a confidential account of / my audience with Her Majesty, when I resigned my seal, but I have been so lazy in the summer air, that I must go back to town without doing it. I will write to you, about it, / from Grosvenor Gate, as it will interest you, & is important.2 Yours ever, I D. TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Carlton Club [Tuesday 28] June 1859 33^4
ORIGINAL: RTC [ll6]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: by context (see ni), although the '9' in the text is clear and unambiguous. Sic: 29.
June 29 1859 I forgot to tell you, in my letter from Hughenden yesterday, - that my wife had sent you some Aylesbury Ducks.1 You know, they are the / most famous of their kind; never see water, are fed on oatmeal porridge, & littered on beds of straw. They are sent to all parts / of England, & to Paris. I thought you would be so surprised at the advent of these unexpected strangers, that I have given them this letter of introduction, / hastily written at the Carlton Club, a few minutes after our arrival from Hughenden. Adieu! 1 D.
1 The Queen on Wednesday 22 June at 10 pm had given a state concert at Buckingham Palace for 360 invited guests including the Ds; the 10 singers with piano accompaniment sang mostly opera excerpts. Ml' (23jun 59); H D/V/A/37. MA on the 2ist (see 337?n2) had told SBW that they were putting off going to Hughenden until after the concert, and SBW on the 26th had replied: 'I can fancy dear Dizzi being highly diverted with the Concert ...' RTC [375Q]. 2 See 3377&ni. Unfortunately, the promised account seems never to have been written. 1 D evidently mistook this day's date, as his previous day's letter to SBW from Hughenden is dated 27 June, and the Ds left Hughenden for Grosvenor Gate on Tuesday 28 June 1859. H ace. MA on the 28th wrote SBW a similar letter from Grosvenor Gate (where she said they had just arrived), to thank her for an 'exquisite collar' that had arrived the previous evening; she continued: 'I sent you two little Ducklings from Hughenden this morng just kill'd. Aylesbury Ducks are considerd the finest in England & just at this time of the year you will find them very delicate. There should be grated bread mix'd with the seasoning.' RTC [3779,].
403
33a^50: [UNKNOWN]
[London,June 1859?]
ORIGINAL: PS 781 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 261, undated (but in the context of June 1859) and the recipient identified, without documentation, only as 'one of his Whips' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Recipient and Dating: see ni. For an example of one of the many alternative contexts in which this extract might fit, see VI 2574&nn8-iO.
We shall have to keep together a great party, as Peel had in 1835, whose strength will really increase in proportion to their inaction. But a party does not like to be inert; and to combine repose with a high tone of feeling in the troops is difficult. 1 3386 TO: LADY HOLLAND
Grosvenor Gate [Monday 11 July 1859]
ORIGINAL: PS 1473 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Roy David's Autographs (2000) (via Bibliofind (online)) described as 'Autograph letter signed; to Lady Holland, a charming note of acceptance ... 3 pages, octavo, Grosvenor Gate ...' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see ni.
... Far from forgetting, I think we are always talking of, you - &: it was only on Saturday, returning from Ashridge, that we passed the gates that have opened to such happy hours, &: were speculating on the possible return of yourself, & our dear friend, to your gardens of delight & fancy! And all the time you were there! How stupid of us! ..-1
1 This is possibly an extract from the (not found) 22 June 1859 note to W.S. Lindsay for which the latter thanks him on 25 June. Lindsay, though a Liberal MP, was a D admirer (see VI 2726113 and, in this volume, 3345114 and 3354n5) and had supported him in the confidence debate and division, although not in the reform bill division. Hansard CLIII col 1260, CLW cols 311-18, 420. He had written D on 21 June to consult on a shipping motion he proposed to make in the House, and asked for an interview. In his 25 June letter he reported that many of his party now deeply regretted not following his example: 'I daresay they would follow ready enough now but we must not take any step to destroy the Queen's Government. It will soon enough destroy itself... [not having the capacity to guide] the English people with their vast wealth, their unwearied industry & their determination to keep ahead in the great race of Nations which the policy of Sir Robert Peel started ... You will be wanted again ere long. You are destined to lead the great liberal & constitutional party, & you see the necessity of moving steadily on with the growing intelligence of the people. I somehow feel that there will be a great change of parties ere long. If I can be of any service you may command me.' He felt his energy, thought and wealth might, under D's guidance, be of some use to the country. H B/XXI/L/195-8. See further 34l4&ni. Peel in 1835 resigned his first government and began in opposition to build up his party. 1 On 'Monday' (docketed by an archivist'? June 59') Lady Holland had written from Holland House: 'My Dear Mr Dizzy, Have you forgot that there is such a small person in the world as Lady Holland - she lives at Hd House & would be very happy if you would both come & dine with her & Lord Holland on Saturday 23rd at 8 o'clock?' In 1859 'Saturday 23rd' occurred only in July. The Ds on Saturday 9 July 1859 had made a day trip by train to Ashridge Castle (Earl Brownlow), 2!/a miles north of Berkhampstead on the Bucks/Herts border. H B/XXI/H/586; ace. The stone east gateway to the famous Holland House, Kensington, was designed by Inigo Jones. Peter Cunningham Handbook of London (1850) (1978 ed) 231. The Ds presumably passed it by taking a longer route from Paddington Station to Grosvenor Gate. The Hollands had wintered in Naples, both having been ill for some time, and on their return did only quiet entertaining at home; he would live only until December. Giles S.H. Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester Chronicles of Holland House, i820-igoo (1937) 419.
404
TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI
House of Commons [Monday iiPJuly 1859] 33^7
O R I G I N A L , : H A/I/A/297 E D I T O R I A L COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. Written on the fourth page by MA: 'July 1859'. Dating: by context; see ni and c/3388.
'A past seven I o'ck My dearest I cannot come, I am very sorry to say, - & I can't dine with the Portarlingtons tomorrow. We have a terrible Roman Catholic / Debate coming on, & I must be present. 1 Tell Mrs. Gould2 how disappointed I am at not having the pleasure of seeing her. Yr affece I D.
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
House of Commonas 33^8
Wednesday 13 July [1859]
O R I G I N A L : RTC [117]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B IV 262, dated at the House of Commons 'Wednesday, July 13, 1859' E D I T O R I A L COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the House of Commons. There is no salutation. The second and third pages are missing in our copy and have been taken from M&B as indicated.
[RTC:] Wednesday July 13. You have heard the great news, I suppose? Peace!1 I could not write last night, not
1 The Roman Catholic issue that was hotly debated in the House in July 1859 (see ec) was Sir William Somerville's motion to amend the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 to allow Catholics to hold the office of lord chancellor of Ireland. Leave had been granted on 5 July, and debate on second reading was scheduled for 7 July when, because the bill had only just been distributed, it was adjourned until Tuesday 12 July. On that night the motion would come up late, and be bitterly opposed by the ultraProtestants such as Newdegate; D, evidently as a conciliatory move, would suggest that the matter be referred to a select committee, to which Somerville agreed, but the debate would be again adjourned. On 21 July, when the debate was to be resumed, Somerville would withdraw the motion because he did not think it could be passed in what was left of the session. Hansard CLIV cols 713-15, 851-2, 1097-1128 (D 1123-6), CLV cols 249-50. On 15 August, Lady Portarlington would decline an invitation to Hughenden. H B/XXI/P/4H. 2 There are some virtually illegible letters in MA's correspondence from a Mrs Gould (her signature appears to be 'Jn Gould'), one of which MA has docketed as being from Mrs Gerard Gould; an 1861 letter from Paris (where the Goulds evidently spent their winters) has been transcribed by Earle, and is mostly first-hand gossip about the French court. H 0/111/0/956-64. On 23 January 1857 Earle had written: The other day, I was dining with the Poltimores, when your visit to Paris was discussed. Mrs. Gould announced that before your departure you had asked the Emperor for an audience, that it had been granted & that it lasted two hours. She then declared that your object... was to ascertain his views upon public affairs, as you considered it probable that you would soon be in power again. I am sorry that the enemy should know of your relations with the Emperor ..." H B/XX/E/3- Perhaps she is the person encountered by Napoleon's mother-in-law, the Countess Montijo, on his wedding day: 'After [the Countess's] daughter had driven off to Saint-Cloud, there were no sen-ants left at the Elysee and she thought herself very lucky to find a certain Madame Gould - who was a bit of a Jewess, a bit oi a Portuguese, and a friend of hers - to take pity on her and give her some supper.' E.A. Rheinhardt Napoleon and Eugenie (1931) 121. 1 News of an armistice in Italy had reached London in time for the late editions on 7 July, and similarly on 12 July had been published Napoleon's announcement that day in Paris, that he and the Emperor
405
being able to leave my place. The moment I came into the House, Lord / [M&B:] John Russell came over to me, and told me the peace was signed, and that the Government would be obliged to me to ask a question, so that the announcement might be publicly made to the Parliament and the country.2 Lord John seemed much chagrined, our Government not having been consulted in any way on the matter, and all his fine despatches and new Constitutions for [RTC:] / Italy, & all the reputation 8c historic glory he expected to reap, being as completely gone, as if they had been thrown into the Mincio.3 These are wonderful times! Wars are as brief as the lightning, & / as quick as the telegraph! This was begun, in order to put down the Pope, & ends by placing him at the head of all Italy! As for Austria, her power is not sensibly diminished. She has lost a rich & / fertile plain, wh: she can regain whenever the occasion offers, & she sallies from her famous fortresses.4 The King of Sardinia5 obtains Lombardy, with its vast debt. He will have to lay heavy taxes on / his new subjects, who will seize the first opportunity to repay pay them in the shape of a rebellion. In the meantime, Napoleon, mounted on a magnificent charger, wh: he bought a few days ago for 500 guineas of Mr. Anderson, a / fashionable horsedealer in Piccadilly,6 is to enter Paris in triumph on the 14th.!7 A magnificent spectacle which has only cost 100,000 lives & 50 millions of pounds sterling! Yrs ever, I D.
2
3
4 5
6 7
of Austria had signed a peace treaty at Villafranca; its conditions were: ""An Italian Confederation, under the honorary presidency of the Pope. The Emperor of Austria gives up his rights over Lombardy to the Emperor of the French, who remits them to the King of Sardinia. The Emperor of Austria keeps Venetia, but it is to form a part of the Italian Confederation. A general amnesty."" The Times (8, 13 Jul 1859). On 12 July, D in the House had used the occasion of Elcho's motion (notice given 30 June), that the late government's foreign policy regarding Italy be continued by the current government, to ask Russell whether there had been any news about the interview between the two emperors at Villafranca. Russell replied that he at 2 pm had been informed of the peace treaty and its conditions, which he read out; he expressed particular satisfaction that the treaty did not give France any new territory. Elcho then withdrew his motion. Hansard CUV cols 477, 1051-2 (D 1051). Derek Beales England and Italy 1859-60 (1961) 95, citing G.P. Gooch ed The Later Correspondence of Lord John Russell II (1925) 230 for Russell's letter of 19 May 1859 to Joseph Parker, states that Russell's 'constitutionalism was absurdly doctrinaire. He wished to revive the abortive Sicilian constitution of 1812, which he described as "exactly our own ...'" On i July 1859, Henry Eliot (for whom see 3395n2) had written to Russell: 'With regard to the Constitution, I shall carefully follow the line prescribed by your Lordship, by abstaining, as I have hitherto done, from expressing any opinion as to the necessity for its immediate revival ... your Lordship will, perhaps, allow me to express the belief that the time is fast approaching when the interest of the Neapolitan Kingdom and of the Dynasty now occupying the Throne will make it advisable that the opinion of Her Majesty's Government should be more clearly stated, and their influence more decidedly felt.' Selections from Speeches of Earl Russell 1817 to 1841 and from Despatches 1859 to 1865 I (1870) 273-4. The so-called Quadrilateral comprised the four fortresses of Peschiera and Mantua on the Mincio and Verona and Legnago on the Adige. Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878), of the House of Savoy, King of Sardinia 1849, KG 1855, was il re galantuomo who, under the management of Cavour, would achieve the risorgimento of Italy and be proclaimed King of Italy in 1861. Joseph Anderson is listed as a horse dealer at 108 Piccadilly w in LPOD (1856, 1860). On Sunday 14 August, Napoleon would lead his troops in a victory parade in Paris, 'reining in his fine
406
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Grosvenor Gate 33^9
[Wednesday] 20 July 1859
ORIGINAL: RTC [ll8]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 467, dated 'iS^gJuly 20', omitting the second sentence; Edward M. Kandel 'Disraeli' in The Coat ofArmsvo] 2 (1977) 123-7, undated, the last sentence EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. There is no salutation. Sic: Mendez.
July 20 1859 I have forwarded to you to day, by railroad, the emblazonment of the arms of Mendes da Costa. They were obtained after great research, & two ambassadors were employed / in the business. The drawing was taken, (from wh: the shield was emblazoned,) from a tomb more than three hundred years old. The quarterings are singular; the Lion of Leon, & a winged arm, holding a / sword in the hand. Was it the arm of an archangel? People put blocks of ice in their rooms, wh: produce a refreshing temperature. Try some thirty pounds of rough ice in this fashion. It will / revive you - in heat, wh: even the Mendez da Costas in their most fervent days, amid the sierras & skies of Andalusia, could not exceed!1 I also, (the Laras) quarter the red- Lion of Leon rouge[.]2 Yours ever, I D. TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Grosvenor Gate 339^ [Saturday] 23 July 1859
O R I G I N A L : RTC [lig]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 467, dated 23 July 1859, at Grosvenor Gate, the first three sentences; Meynell II 470-1, dated 23July 1859; Edward M. Kandel 'Disraeli' in The Coat ofArmsvol 2 (1977) 123-7, undated, the first sentence EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. There is no salutation. Sic: mottoes.
July 23- 1859The Spanish families never had supporters, crests, or mottoes. The tower (castle) of Castille, wh: I use as a crest, & wh: was taken from one / of the quarters of my
charger to its slowest walk ...' The press reports from Paris reprinted in London in mid-July generally predicted that, although his return there was daily expected, he would defer his triumphal display until the army's return by mid-August. The Times (9, 13 Jul, 16 Aug 1859). 1 SBW, in her 14 July response to 3388 (with many thanks for the gift of the Prince of Wales's portrait), had complained of the heat which, even in Torquay, was making her 'unfit for what I am attempting'; she also worried about the Ds 'inhaling the noxious vapours of the Thames ...' On the 27th she would write: 'Instead of imbellishing my Rooms with cooling pillars of Ice I have taken up all the Carpets and exclude all the rays of the sun I worship so much yet I cannot guide my pen as I like[.]' RTC [378Q, 38ooJ. 2 SBW on the 22nd would gratefully acknowledge receiving that morning both D's letter and 'the lost arms of my Family'; she continued: 'it wd be the greatest additional gratification to me if there could be traced through the Lion rouge my alliance to the Laras! The shield is beautifully emblazoned[;] it is however remarkable that there are no supporters to it and that the Coronet is different from the Coronet on a seal in my possession of my grandfather Daniel Mendes Da Costa which is undoubtedly original and instead of a motto on the scroll of the shield, there is the name Mendes Da Costa.' She apologized for encroaching so much on D's time. RTC [379QJ. For D and the Laras, see rv I395&nl. See further 33go&ni.
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shield, was adopted by a Lara, in the i6th. Century in Italy, where crests were the custom; at least in the north of Italy; copied from the German heraldry. This / also applies to my motto. None of the Soth Southern races, I believe, have supporters or Crests. This is Teutonic. With regard to the Coronet: in old days, especially in the South, all / Coronets were the same; & the distinction of classes, from the ducal strawberry leaf to the Baron's balls, is of comparatively modern introduction. 1 Ever yrs I D.
3391
T0: SAMUEL AUSTIN ALLIBONE Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 26 July 1859 ORIGINAL: H U N T AL 71 COVER: S. Austin Allibone Esqr I Philadelphia I U. States of America POSTMARK: (i) [three cancelled fourpenny stamps]; (2) (in circle) LONDON - S.W. I 6 I JY 27 I 59;(3) (in circle) L I JY 28 I A; (4) (in circle) PHILA [illegible] I 24 I AUG I io[?] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Sic: Cornwall.
S.A. Allibone Esqr July 26 1859 SirI had the honor of receiving, early in the year, the 1st. Vol: of your Dictionary, & felt obliged, & gratified, by its transmission. / I was, however, at the time, very much pressed with public affairs, & I did not like to offer you my thanks by the hands of a Secretary. Pray accept them / now from my own! In the notice of the complete edition of my father's works, "edited by the Chancellor of the Exchequer", you mention that person, as "Sir George Cornwall Lewis" - this is / a mistake. At the time of the publication in question, I had the honor of filling that office, & the pleasure of editing my fathers works.1 Yours truly, I B. Disraeli
1 See 338gn2 for SBW's letter of 22 July. D's arms, in the language of heraldry, were 'per saltire, gu. and arg. a castle triple towered in chief of the last, two lions rampant in fess sa. and an eagle displayed in base or. Crest - A castle triple towered arg. encircled at the base by an oak wreath ppr. Motto - Forti nihil difficile.' BLG (1898) I 409. SBW would reply on the 27th (see SSSgm): 'I must say that you are the most admirable of the admired and convert every thing I thought doubtful, to a long established fashion and coolly overthrow what I thought irrefragable, and give me a capital precedent to adopt my very own supporters motto &c.' See further 3435. D's heraldic information evidently was not as authoritative as he thought, as on 12 July 1861 he would tell SBW (in a letter extensively quoted in M&B III 467 and to be published in a future volume of this edition) that her arms were largely incorrect. 1 Samuel Austin Allibone (1816-1889), an American bibliographer, in 1858 had published the first volume of his A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1859 [sic]); the other two would be published in 1870 and 1871 respectively. In 1879 he would be appointed the head of the Lenox Library in New York. The Dictionary had lengthy entries for both D and his father, and it was the latter entry that ended with the error: 'New eds. of the Curiosities of Literature, Calamities of Authors, Quarrels of Authors, and Miscellanies, all revised, with Additional Notes, by the Rt. Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, (Sir George Cornewall Lewis,) are announced (1858) for immediate publication.' The entry on D, however, states: '... he is now (1858) engaged in editing a new uniform ed. of his father's Works, with a Memoir and Notes.' For this edition, see 3392. D evidently did not notice that the entry gave his birth year as 1805. The volume for which D is giving thanks is listed in the Hughenden Library.
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TO: PHILIP ROSE
Grosvenor Gate, Tuesday [early-August 1859?] 339^
ORIGINAL.: H R/III/B/1Q EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see ni.
G.G. I Tuesday 1
I see Routledge has advertised the novels in the evening papers! D. TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 5 August 1859
ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HYC/2165 [53] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Sic: currentical [broken in MS at the end of a line: currenti-cal].
confidential Augt. 5. 1859 The Rt Honble I Sir W.H. Jolliffe My dear Jolliffe, It is of the utmost importance, that the confidential relations between the two parties shd. be maintained. They cannot be established on a basis of suspicion. / With respect to the circumstances & papers, with wh: I became acquainted, for the first time, last night, I confess, that it does not seem to me possible to doubt their interpretation. Could Mr Childers, or anyone else, contemplate, that an election scrutiny shd. be carried on by Lord March, or / any layman? Nevertheless, for the sake of good understanding, I would propose, that you should confer upon the matter, generally, with Ld. March & Mr Brand, & assent to any construction, wh: is fair & practical. As regards, Mr Roebuck, Mr. Brand might remember, that, / on the first night, I was silent, & discouraged debate, adopting, thro' Whiteside, the course indicated by Sir George Grey - but I never, for a moment, concealed from myself, that, if such discussions were renewed, it would be necessary, that, as a party, we shd. take a decided course. This was the inevitable result / of the extravagant, &, I think, injudicious, attacks, respecting the general Election, made on us by our opponents. It became a point of honor, & of duty, that we shd., not only not shrink from investigation, but, even encourage it. I am sure that Mr Brand, on reflection, must feel, that the course of a / party, on a question of great public interest, cannot be hampered by some obscure arrangement, respecting a seat, made by an Election
1 The earliest Rontledge advertisement found for the 'The Novels and Tales of B. Disraeli', comprising 10 titles including Alroy, appeared in MP of 4 August 1859; presumably the evening-paper advertisements appeared at about the same time. There are two undated notes by D also pertaining to the Routledge edition (for which see 3063&m); one is endorsed in another hand 'Disraeli' and reads: There is a corrected copy of "Alroy" wh: shall be forwarded to Mr Routledge from Hughenden Manor in a few days. There are several typographical errors in that stereotype. I D.' PSU [4]. The other is written on chancellor of the exchequer paper and reads: 'Ld. George Bentinck p. 355 line twelve from the bottom, for battle read baffle[.] T. O.' PSU [2]. Despite the 'T. O.', the verso is blank. Although 'battle' still appears on page 355 of the 1858 Routledge edition of LGB, this may have been an instruction for a subsequent printing; 'baffle' appears on page 355 of the 1872 Longman's edition, but by that time D was not writing on chancellor of the exchequer paper.
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agent. I cannot doubt, that any rule laid down by the House must, in the long run, when all the petitions are concluded, apply to both parties with equal / results. One or two votes, now, are not of the slightest importance, & probably will not be of any appreciable value until the Election Committees are finally closed - still, for the reason with wh: I commenced this note, if the Government can propose any practical solution of the difficulty in wh: the House / is placed, wh:, while it vindicates our policy, at the same time preserves any vested advantage, wh:, under arrangements, they possess, I will do all in my power to assist them.1 You can show this, if you like, to Mr Brand, tho' written currentical: Yours ever, I D.
1 In the current spate of committee reports on election petitions, Lord Robert Cecil on i August had asked if the government would be issuing commissions to inquire into the cases where bribery had been found; he deplored the 'organized system of bribery which emanated from associations and clubs in London' whereby, without the knowledge of innocent election candidates, 'low party agents, the necessity and disgrace of every party,' were secretly sent out with large sums of money to do their dirty work. After Sir George Lewis explained that under current legislation such commissions were the prerogative of election committees, Sir John Shelley announced his intention to move that, where bribery was found, no new writ be issued until the evidence had been presented to the House. Later in the evening, J.A. Roebuck raised the matter of deals being made whereby candidates avoided appearing before committees of inquiry by agreeing to resign in exchange for the withdrawal of petitions. He pooh-poohed the idea that large sums of money could be spent on bribes without a candidate's knowledge, and upbraided the government for its corruption, especially since it had made such serious allegations against the previous government during the recent election: 'Why, the statements which have been made within the last ten days before Committees of this House are enough to shock the feelings of the country at the conduct of a party which calls itself Liberal ...' Grey protested that the remarks were premature, as the majority of petitions against Conservatives had not yet come up; he thought that the question of whether a commission of inquiry was warranted should be determined in each case and, where not warranted, that there was no justification for not issuing a new writ. Whiteside agreed with him. On 4 August, Roebuck had moved a resolution to prevent such deals, citing the case (before the House) of Bodmin, where the Conservative Dr W. Michell (or Mitchell) had resigned to avoid contesting the petition against him, now withdrawn; the resolution stipulated that, where bribery was found, new writs not be issued until the evidence was presented in the House. In the ensuing discussion, D gave full support to the suppression of corrupt deals by any means found effective, and the House decided to follow Grey's advice and simply order Michell to be in his place on 5 August to hear the evidence against him. Late on 4 August, Rose had written to Jolliffe (the forwarded letter to which D is here responding) to report on his negotiations at Pontefract, enclosing a copy of a letter he had written to the solicitor of H. Childers, the unsuccessful Liberal candidate who had petitioned the election of W. Overend, the Conservative. Rose continued: 'The occurrences in the House tonight have, however, affected me most painfully, /have never mentioned either the fact or the details of any of the three arrangements, in Berwick, Pontefract, or Bodmin to a single individual ... but notwithstanding this I find that in two of the cases at least, Pontefract and Bodmin, the facts have become known to many members of the House and have been openly canvassed.' Rose allowed 'that in the minds of those to whom I am personally unknown and who are my political opponents a suspicion of bad faith will not unnaturally arise, especially after the course which was taken by some of our friends in the debate[. But] in the case of Pontefract I have no fears on this head and if you & Mr. Brand will sit with Lord March and hear the statements on both sides I feel sure that you will all acquit me of any intention or desire to evade the understanding. In the two other cases I know not what to do or say or what may arise out of Mr Roebuck's motion but one course I feel imperatively called upon to take ... to ask to be relieved from the active duties of the political agency of the party ... If I am to be let down by any of our friends upon the false plea of corrupt compromises, or anything of that nature I can only feel that my work is done and I must at once and for ever retire from all further interference in party politics ... I have seen Dr Michell tonight and he ... is quite prepared to say or do anything that may be thought best under the circumstances and I have no fears of him.' SCR DD/HY 0/2165. In the House on 5 August, Michell said he was resigning simply because he would be ruined if he contested the petition
41O
TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS
Carlton Club [Friday] 5 August 1859 3394
O R I G I N A L : RTC [l20J EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the crest of the Carlton Club. There is no salutation.
August 5 1859 I have sent you a haunch of Venison to day, wh:, I hope, you will like. It is quite fresh, & comes from a famous / herd.1 Our labors, here, are beginning to close. I hope another week will free us all.2 I shall be glad to find myself once more in my bowers, with / no cares & toil, after a year & a half of great exertion. We look forward, in the autumn, of- to paying you a visit.3 Adieu! I D. TO: E D M U N D HAMMOND
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 6 August 1859 3395
ORIGINAL: QUA 46 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'.
E. Hammond Esqr I P.O.1 Augt 6. 1859 Dear Mr. Hammond, Could you, without inconvenience, obtain a letter of introduction for my colleague, Mr. Caledon Dupre, M.P. for Bucks, to / our new Minister at Naples.2 Mr. Dupre
against him, and Roebuck's resolution was overwhelmingly rejected. Both Bodmin and Pontefract would be referred to committees of inquiry. Hansard CLV cols 750-1, 839-43, 945-6? (D 949-51), 1039-43. In the Pontefract proceedings on 11 August, it emerged that Childers's solicitor's proposal to Rose at a 6 July meeting 'that some nobleman or gentleman of high standing should be selected as arbitrator [to decide who would get the seat], and that the petition should be withdrawn was agreed to', and that the matter had subsequently been referred to Lord March. The Times (12 Aug 1859). On 15 August, MP would publish the committee's report fully describing Rose's dealings (based on his insistence that the agreement was only that Childers's expenses be paid if he withdrew his petition) and March's unsuccessful attempt to act as referee on 5 August; the committee in effect threw up its hands and recommended that matters be returned to the state of affairs before the petition was presented. See further 3398£nm4. H.B.W. Brand (for whom see V 2O5On5) was Grey's private secretary and Liberal chief whip in the Commons 1859-66. Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (1827-1896), auditor-general at Melbourne 1852, collector of customs 1853, MP for Portland in the new Victoria parliament 1856-7 (in cabinet as commissioner of trades and customs), had returned to London in 1857 as agent-general for Victoria; he would be elected at Pontefract in a second contest in January 1860, and represent it until 1885. He would be civil lord of the admiralty 1864-5, financial secretary to the treasury 1865-6, first lord of the admiralty 1868-71, PC 1868, war secretary 1880-2, chancellor of the exchequer 1882-5, home secretary 1886, Liberal MP for Edinburgh S 1886-92. 1 MA, who on 9 August would record receiving a 'box of venison from L Portarlington', seems not to have recorded receipt of this haunch. H ace. 2 Parliament would be prorogued on 13 August. Hansard CLV col 1428. The Ds would leave town on the 12th; see 3396801i. 3 SBW on 9 August would send thanks for the venison and for the prospect of an autumnal visit from the Ds. RTC [3810,]. The Ds would go to Torquay on 9 November; see 34l6&n4. 1 For D's good relations with Hammond, the foreign office permanent under-secretary, see 3379&nni-3. 2 Henry George Eliot (1817-1907), British minister at Copenhagen 1858, on 4 July had been appointed minister at Naples; he would hold the post until November 1860, again (at Turin) 1863-7, PC 1867, GCB 1869, and would be ambassador at Constantinople 1867-77, at Vienna 1877-84. The Times (9jul 1859).
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is going to reside there, with his family, for some months, & expected, when he made his arrangements, to find his kinsman, Magenis, / at Parthenope/ I have not seen you since the peace! It is curious, that these strange complications began, & ended, at Villafranca; for, if I recollect right, that is the name of Russia's / Mediterranean port.4 Yours very faithfully, I B. Disraeli 3396
TO: THOMAS RUSSELL
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 11 August 1859
ORIGINAL: MTL [3]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'.
Rev. Thos: Russell Aug 11. 1859 Sir, Your letter was delivered here, but without your petition. I understand it has been left at the House of Commons. As I shall not attend the House again, I have written / to one of my late colleagues, who is in town, to obtain the petition, & present it as you wish.1 Believe me, I Yours faithfully, I B. Disraeli
3397 T0: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS Hughenden [Wednesday] 17 August 1859 ORIGINAL: RTC [l2l] EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Sic: aracarias; Pausilipe.
Hughenden Aug. 17. 1859 I send you some grouse (three brace) just arrived. They are quite fresh, having only been killed on the 15th: I hope they will find you with a good appetite. We came down here / last Friday. It is a most wonderful contrast, after the late scenes of our life - so green, so still, so sweet! Not a human being have we seen! Everything seems to have grown immensely the / last year & a half. We have some aracarias almost as big as yours[.] Your little Pausilipe[ ?] is now three feet
3 Sir Arthur Charles Magenis (1801-1867), KGB 1856, GCB 1866, ambassador to Austria 1845-6, 1849-51, to the Swiss Confederation 1851-2, to Sweden and Norway 1854-9,to Portugal 1859-65, had been appointed ambassador at Naples (Parthenope) on 6 June, but was never sent, and retained his post for Sweden and Norway until November 1859. Haydn 115, 127. 4 See 3388&nm&2 for the preliminary peace agreement signed at Villafranca di Verona in Venetia. Villafranca, now known as Villefranche, was also the name of a small Piedmontese port near Nice at which, in 1858, Sardinia had granted port facilities to a Russian commercial concern. A.L. Kennedy ed 'My Dear Duchess': Social and Political Letters to the Duchess of Manchester (London 1946) 26. The Times on 22 September 1858 had reprinted a leader from the Leeds Mercury denouncing the arrangement because of its military potential as a significant violation of the Treaty of Paris and an affront to England, interpreting it as an attempt by Sardinia to gain an ally against Austria. 1 Neither Russell's letter nor D's letter to a colleague has been found. On this day, 11 August, 'Petitions against the exclusion of the Bible from Government schools in India were presented by ... [several MPs including one] by Mr. Disraeli, from the Minister, &c., of the Crosswynd United Presbyterian Church, Hawick, in the county of Roxburgh ...' The Times (12 Aug 1859). Presumably the person to whom D is writing is the same 'Rev. T. Russell' to whom Gladstone would record writing on 31 December 1859, a 'presbyterian minister and missionary'. Gladstone Diaries V 45O&n2. The Ds would leave for Hughenden on Friday the 12th at 3:30 pm. H ace.
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high; & the gardeners have raised, from your parent stem, a whole family of Microfolia Roses!1 There is no news - the / world is so well-bred, that nothing happens when Parliament is not sitting - only, now & then, a revolution or so; perhaps a congress; perhaps a war?' Yours ever, I D.
TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE
Hughenden [Friday] 19 August 18a59 339^
O R I G I N A L : SCR DD/HY C/2165 [54]
Private Hughenden Manor I Augt 19 1859 The Rt Honble. I Sir W.H. Jolliffe Bart: I M P. My dear Jolliffe, I grieve you are still bothered about these infernal affairs, wh:, after all, in a party sense, are not of the slightest importance.1 I have no means of communication with Earle - but / he has no kind of influence at Berwick, &, least of all, with Hodgson, who is, I suspect, a free lance, not under party discipline, & who wanted, entre nous, to supplant Earle at the last contest. 2 I never heard of this agreement before. Had it been submitted to me, I should /
1 See 3186. 2 In the 8 August debate on whether Britain should seek to participate in the Italian peace negotiations by means of a congress, D had defended himself against Gladstone's charge that in office he had not acted neutrally, and countered by warning that Gladstone's apparent plan to use such a congress to redraft the terms of the Treaty of Vienna could draw Britain into war with either France or Austria, possibly both. He strongly advocated a strict policy of non-interference in Italy, especially with respect to the Pope: 'I tremble myself at what may happen during the interval that must elapse between the prorogation and the meeting of the House again, if, unfortunately, my expectations on this subject should be disappointed.' Hansard CLV cols 1120-1243 (D 1226-36).
1 See 3393&ni on the making of deals to avoid prosecution for corruption in elections. MPon 17 August had reported: 'A compromise, by which Mr. Ralph A. Earle was to resign his seat for Berwick, is now officially known to have been arranged between the Whigs and Tories as the consideration for the withdrawal of an election petition which might have resulted in awkward disclosures ... The Conservativefs] are about to play false to their leaders, and have met to organise opposition to the compromise.' Jolliffe on 18 August had forwarded an 'unpleasant' letter from H.B.W. Brand, the new Liberal chief whip and parliamentary secretary to the treasury, complaining that Conservative agents were assisting the Conservative candidate (see n2) in the by-election to replace Earle in violation of the agreement (see 114) signed by Earle and Capt Gordon, the other Conservative winner in the April election at Berwick. Brand suggested Jolliffe telegraph Earle in Paris 'that he should follow the example of Capn. Gordon, who, as I am informed, is prepared to go to Berwick to further [the Liberal candidate] Marjoribank's Return.' SCR DD/HYC/216.5 [101]. Jolliffe thought that Rose, whom he had not been able to consult because he (Rose) was out of town, had acted as Earle's agent and was therefore 'bound as far as he is able to see that [these undertakings] are honorably carried out, & we as a Party are equally bound not to do anything that can prevent such a result.' H B/XX/J/yy. 2 Richard Hodgson (1812-1879), later (1870) Richard Hodgson Huntley, of Carham Hall, Northumberland, and Friarside, co Durham, briefly a peripheral member of Young England, high sheriff 1877, chairman of the North British Railway, Conservative (Protectionist) MP for Berwick 1837-47, for Tynemouth 1861-5, would be defeated 305-304 at Berwick by D.C. Marjoribanks on 2O August. Hodgson had not contested any seat in the recent general election. Gladstone Diaries VI !44niO; BEA GSS/LJM (19 Oct 1842).
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not have sanctioned it; as, probably, leading to misunderstanding. The agreement shd have been confined to Earle's withdrawal, & engagement not to stand again. I see by the papers of yesterday, that Gordon, who has influence at Berwick, has announced, that he will resign / if Hodgson be returned.3 This, I shd. hope, will settle the business. In the meantime, Rose & Co. must be as energetic as they can in stopping Hodgson, or his supporters whom they can influence. 4 Yours ever, I D.
3399 T0: LORD STANLEY
Hughenden [Sunday] 21 August 1859
ORIGINAL: DBF [1580]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Stanley on the eighth page: 'Disraeli. 21 Aug 759'. Sic: very far niente.
Rt Honble I Lord Stanley. M.P. Hughenden Manor I Aug: 21. 1859 My dear Stanley, I am here very well - very far niente 1 - quite unable to bring myself to business; wh: shall not begin till the sport of my neighbours - the 1st of September - till then, I shall lie upon the turf & read George Sand.2 I heard from Prince Esterhazy, by a private hand, dated Frankfort 14th. Inst:; communication by post being impossible, & few means of another sort being trustworthy; certainly not the missions & / embassies of his own country. His report is not at all satisfactory to my mind, & I don't think, tho' he is of a sanguine temperament, to his own. The hitch about the Duchies is not at all removed, tho' the dispositions of the Emperor towards Austria are favorable - but he has / entered into engagements, wh: he cannot see his way to fulfil. I think affairs very
3 There were lengthy press reports of a Liberal electors' meeting at Berwick at which telegrams were read from Gordon dissociating himself from Hodgson's campaign and asserting that he felt honour-bound to resign his seat if Hodgson was elected. The Times (18 Aug 1859). 4 Jolliffe would reply on the 2ist, enclosing a copy of the agreement Brand without comment had sent him: 'Rose writes me word that he has done all he could honorably to carry out these engagements.' The agreement, signed by Earle and Gordon and dated 14 July 1859, stipulates that Earle will give Marjoribanks his application for the Chiltern Hundreds on or before i August, not to be submitted before the last three days of the session, and that Earle and Gordon will use their 'best exertions' to prevent Marjoribanks's return being opposed. H B/XX/J/yS, y8a. The full report on the Berwick matter to the Council of the Northern Reform Union, with the text of the agreement and the correspondence of all participants such as Rose and Earle, would be published in MPon i September. It concluded that the Whigs and Conservatives had made the agreement (intended to be secret, but with the full knowledge of the senior officers of the two parties) out of fear that disclosure of the extent of corruption at Berwick might lead to disfranchisement, but that nevertheless the recent election had probably been just as corrupt as those in the past. For the subsequent commission of inquiry in 1860, see volume VIII. BSP (1861) XVII. 1 Italian for 'doing nothing'. 2 Stanley had written from Ireland on 16 August that a note to Knowsley would always reach him: '... This line is only to beg of you not to forget a colleague and friend, if matters turn up interesting to both of us. The ex-premier is grouse-shooting: in excellent spirits when I saw him last, and free from gout. I hope you are really resting after an amount of exertion and fatigue which I believe no one in public life except yourself could have gone through!' He had written again from Ireland on the soth to report on a minor matter. H B/XX/S/69O1. D was reading George Sand's La PetiteFadette (see 341O&n5), a tale of rural life published in 1848. Partridge season opened on i September.
414
critical. E. sums up "upon the whole I had reason to be rather satisfied, with what I heard, 8c could observe!" Not very strong.3 As to finance, in old days I was of opinion, or, as the Prince would say, "rather" of opinion, that, / by a comprehensive system of licenses, & a well planned house tax, a sum might be raised by direct taxation equal to that now raised by the Inc: tax, wh: latter impost wd. then fill its natural & strong position of be forming our financial reserve. But I never worked this out, tho' I know Rothschild was very favorable to the Licensing system, / as regards trade & commerce, instead of the prevailing mode of assessing profits.4 I heard, when I was in town, that Napoleon, who had republished, with many alterations, his "Idees Napoleoniennes", had suppressed, as far as was in his power, the early first Edit: wh: has was published in London, & that a copy cd. not be obtained. It occurred to me, that, as / it was published by Colburn it was not improbable, that he might have sent a copy here, & I had the satisfaction of finding one - uncut! I have since read it - a thin 8vo: of less than 200 pages: It would be curious to ascertain the omissions & alterations. It will amuse you when you are here. [Added:] ] Published 1839 & the preface dated "Carlton Terrace"!5 I wish you cd. see Hughenden still / in the refulgence of summer. The trees seem to me twice as tall as before, & the foliage doubly thick. Everything flourishes here, except my stream, wh: I am afraid will never re-appear, tho' as it is mentioned by Leland, it is almost as old as "that ancient river, the river Kishon," & I think must come back.6 Your room is always ready, & there is no one I can see with half the pleasure, as the comrade Be counsellor of all my fortunes.7 Yrs ever, I D. 3 By the initial terms of the peace of Villafranca (see 3395&IM), since 8 August being further negotiated at Zurich (eventually signed on 10 November 1859), the duchies of Tuscany, Modena, Parma and Venice had been nominally restored to their respective tyrannical rulers, thus also restoring them to Austrian influence. However, disappointment at Napoleon's failure to keep his promise to make Italy free from the Alps to the Adriatic was now causing much agitation for the duchies to be annexed to Piedmont. AH (1859 History) 254; New Cambridge Modern History X 572. 4 Stanley on the i6th (na) had written: 'Tell me if there is any special subject which you think ought to be considered at this season of leisure. Financial affairs will, I assume, occupy the largest share of attention next session, after the reform-question. Do you see your way at all as to continuing or doing away with and replacing, Income-tax?' For a treatment of the gradual shifting of taxation away from licences (eg, for the sellers of tea, coffee, cocoa and pepper in 1869 and for horse-dealers in 1874) to income-tax, see Clapham Economic History 399. 5 The latest edition of Napoleon Ill's Idees does not notice any differences between the 1839 and 1859 editions, both of which have the same preface dated 'Carlton Terrace, 1839'. Napoleonic Ideas. Des idees napoleoniennes, par Napoleon-Louis Bonaparte, edited with an introduction by Brison Dowling Gooch (New York 1967). However, the Library of Congress lists Colburn's 1840 edition as having 175 pages while his 1839 edition had 229 pages. 6 D is quoting Judges 5:21: The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon.' John Leland (ci503-1552), England's first modern antiquary, mentions 'Hughenden Brook' in his account of his 1535-43 tour through England. John Chandler trans John Leland's Itinerary: Travels in Tudor England (1993) 437 Stanley would write on 5 September from Mackross: 'Your letter of last month was very welcome: in about five weeks I expect to be in the south of England, and we shall then, I hope, renew our walks and talks at Hughenden. There is nothing in all the recess to which I look forward with so much pleasure.' H B/XX/S/692.
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34OaO T0: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS Hughenden [Wednesday] 31 August 1859 ORIGINAL: RTC [l!2] EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Sic: medecine; schools [the final Y may be a slip of the pen]; the H.R.H. The [D has inserted H.R.H. The]; berceaus; desert [I) spells it thus twice, and corrects it only once]; a la' Russe.
Hughenden Manor I Augt 31 1859. I must write you a line, while it is still summer, for the Augustan month belongs to that portion of the annual scheme, according to great authorities. I have not been ill this last fortnight, but I have not been well - a sort / of languor, after a fees year & a half of great exertion, fell upon me, from wh: I am not yet, altogether, free. I consulted my physician by letter, the great Doctor Fergusson. You would delight in him, for he is a medico, who does not believe in medecine, so, therefore, my only physician is Nature, & my only / apothecary, Time. I hope the baths of Torquay, in the autumn, will put me quite right. Here our life is so monotonous, that our only incident almost has been a rural fete, wh: Mrs. Disraeli gave to her schools - 100 strong, & a hundred neighbours to meet them.1 They feasted & / danced in the Park, with my election banners, no longer lawful, to inspire them, & a most capital band. It really was a sight worthy of Watteau, & I preferred it infinitely to the fete given by the H.R.H. The Duchess D'Aumale at Orleans House, which we had the / honor to attend, a few days before we left town, & wh: was in beautiful gardens, with gondolas on the river, & Princes & Princesses tripping & gliding thro' the berceaus. We had, a» [illegible deletion] among many other pastimes, a lottery, in wh: there were no blanks, there, / but such games of chance are only for the heirs of the inheritance of Conde!2 Baron Rothschild, & all his family, came & stayed two days with us.3 He brought me a dessert from Paris - of the most wonderful pines, peaches, / & melons. I gave a dinner to the neighbourhood the second day, that he might meet the notables — & fee his desert, a la' Russe, was grouped round the little lemon tree, wh: you gave us, two or three years / ago, & which, this year, has eight fine golden fruit upon it. So, I flatter myself, I beat even the dessert of Paris. Adieu! I D.4 34^1
TO: WILLIAM FERRAND
Hughenden [Wednesday] 31 August 1859
ORIGINAL: ING [l] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb.
W.B. Ferrand Esqr My dear Ferrand,
Hughenden Manor I High Wycomb- Aug. 31. 59
1 MA had given her 'poor childrens fete and luncheon party' on Thursday the 25th. H ace. 2 Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Conde (1621-1686), known as the Great Conde, was head of the family when it was at the height of its wealth and influence. 3 The Rothschilds with their four children had been at Hughenden 27-30 August. Sarah Disraeli, 'very delicate' as MA would report, was also at Hughenden, 24 Aug to 14 Sept. H ace; RTC [3820]. 4 SBW would reply on 2 September, much relieved that D was recovering from the reaction she feared would succeed his 'high spirits and devotion to the intricate affairs of state' and very much looking forward to the Ds' annual visit.
4l6
They were admirable birds; young 8c succulent, & came at the right moment, for my house was full of friends. It was very kind of you to remember us. I / will say nothing of a recent event, for condolence is a bore, & I am quite sure you know our hearts were with you.1 Pray remember us, most kindly, to your dear wife who, I trust, is much better, 2 / & believe me, Ever yours sincerely, I D. Mem: I am not near Aylesbury - & it makes a difference of two days - so directingt-] 3 TO: LORD ELMLEY
Hughenden [Friday] 2 September 1859 34^2
O R I G I N A L . : BCP [3]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. Sic: Wycomb.
The I Vist Elmley, M.P.1 High Wycomb Sept 2. /59 My dear Elmley, Tho' the storm is now bursting over the Chiltern Hills, I trust the sunshine will soon return, & that you / will remember your kind promise to be their guest. It will give Mrs. Disraeli, & myself, very great pleasure indeed to receive you here, whenever it suits you. There / is a train at Paddington, 4 o'ck - wh: brings you to H: Wye: in an hour & l/ I fear I must go, which I regret for many things & not a little that it will prevent me writing fully to you[.] 1000 loves I to all I D TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[London] Saturday [15 August 1840]
ORIGINAL: BRN [82] PUBLICATION HISTORY: See III I085ph
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on poor paper through which the ink has soaked. Docketed (by Sarah Disraeli?) on the first page: 'Augst. 15.' Sic: heigth; Freemantles; Moncton.
My dearest Sa, Saty. I am, on the whole, much gratified by the receipt of yr last letter, 1 since it conveys to me an impression of comfort which I began to fear you would not achieve. I am glad that my father is as much gratified as myself by the notice in the "Observer", tho' I can't admire his critical sagacity as to the writer - but this is a monomania of his. Nor do I agree with you in supposing 'tis Hunt - he wd. not have so curiously alluded to the ["]dogmas of our faith" et whatr. the expression may be. Howr. it is written in an excellent feeling. It is besides too earnest for Hunt & not affected & fantastic enoV
1 See III io8o&ni. 2 Lord Harrington's younger brother, Major-Gen Lincoln Stanhope, had died on 29 February 1840. 3 The 3rd Duke of Leinster in 1818 had married Lady Charlotte Augusta Stanhope (1793-1859), 3rd daughter of 3rd Earl of Harrington. 4 The Rev Fitzroy Henry Richard Stanhope (1787-1864), 4th surviving son of 3rd Earl of Harrington, since 1817 dean of St Buryan, Cornwall, in 1808 had married Caroline Wyndham (d 1876), illegitimate daughter of Charles Wyndham, himself an illegitimate son of 3rd Earl of Egremont. 5 See III 1081112. 6 C/D's account of this dinner in III 1082. The date he gives there is Monday, but these events were typically held on Saturdays (f/954&ni); he may have misremembered the day. 1 The most recent extant letter from Sarah Disraeli at Beaumaris, Wales (see III I083&ni), is dated 7 August 1840, and 1083 may be D's response to it, although 1084 suggests other-wise. The next one is dated 27 August; in it she acknowledges having finally received the letter he wrote after his return from Stowe, evidently this letter. H A/I/B/62O-1. 2 For the Obsemer review of Isaac DTsraeli's Miscellanies (in the preface to which he had acknowledged Sarah's help, as he had become virtually blind), see III I082&n6. The anonymous reviewer states that Isaac's ability to create 'a healthy tone in modern literature' is equal to that of any writer and then remarks: 'Believing this, as we believe in the dogmas of our holy faith - fully, wholly, and implicitly we cannot but sympathise with the affliction that has fallen upon our old favourite, the author, and which is thus technically referred to by him in the preface already quoted.' For the possible identity of
469
1O85R
I understand the outdoor festivities at Stowe as far as triumphal arches, / processions, crowds in the gardens, &c, were very successful - nothing cd. be more dull than the "indoor nature" by all accts. & from my own observation nothing more completely a failure than the ball itself. A party of visitors with the Queen Dowr. & the Archbp of Canty, for principal guests was certainly not very interesting promising, &: Lyndhurst shook his head when we met with an expression which spoke volumes. There was a temporary room for the ball, which was in itself a blunder, as anybody can guingettise, 8c princes give balls3 because they have palaces. But the booth was of colossal dimensions, of immense heigth & capable of holding from 1500 to 2000 people. There / were not 400 8c these included all the scrapings of the County - so many priests that it had the character of the ABishops' levee. Besides the Queen & her suite, there were Lady Jersey & her dau[ghte]r, the Lyndhursts, the Nugents, Lady Bridgewater, the Tatton Egertons - these & a few others I can't recall, including the County MPs 8c Freemantles & High Sheriff4 were in the House. Ourselves & Miss Burdett Coutts came from town - the only memorables besides two or three men - Montgomery,5 Walpole after Miss Coutts, & Moncton Milnes trying to cut him out. There were Howard Vyses, Drakes & Harveys & Frankland Russells - Mary Anne, in a new tiara of diamonds, created an immense sensation, & was consoled by the extraordinary courtesy & manifold amazement of all present for the total failure of the whole affair. The supper was gorgeous from the plate, but rather scanty in provisions - at least the / men complained they cd. get nothing to eat. The whole affair in my opinion intolerable & the greatest failure of the ducal house of failures. I scribble in sad haste, but hope you catch an idea. They asked us to dine the next day, but as the Lyndhursts had gone [inserted:] as well as the Queen [end of insertion] & we had made our arrangements we declined -I'm told the party was tolerably amusing & Miss B.C. dined there. 1000 love - I can no more. I D 111OX TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[London] Friday [6 November 1840]
ORIGINAL: BRN [77]
PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 165-6 (ill 1109), dated 8 November 1840, includes an altered version of the second and third paragraphs EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first and fifth pages: 'Lord Beaconsfield' and in a third hand on the first page: '1839'. Dating: by context; see ni. Sic: Lyttleton.
the object of Isaac's monomania, see 7O3&ni. 'Hunt' is presumably James Henry Leigh Hunt (17841859), the essayist, poet and critic. 3 D originally wrote 'the prince who gives a ball' and then changed it to 'princes give balls', evidently before completing the sentence. 4 John P. Deering of the Lee (for whom see III I08gn4) was high sheriff of Bucks in 1840. AR (1840 Chronicle) 129. 5 The text very clearly has a comma after 'Montgomery', rendering the cleverness of I08sn7 invalid. One of several possibilities is Alfred Montgomery (1814-1896), younger brother of Sir Henry Conyngham Montgomery; Alfred Montgomery would write to D from Glasgow on 23 September 1858 in the manner of an old friend to thank him for his good offices in helping his brother obtain an appointment as member of the council for India, and for listening 'with so much kindness to my representation of my Brother's claims.' H B/XXI/M/479.
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My deart. Friday An express ex[traordinar]y which occasioned a second Edit of the Times - gives us the royal speech of yesterday: very ordinary in its tone & all perfectly quiet in / Paris.1 Lyndhurst, I believe to be perfectly safe - indeed I have heard from a Lyttleton quarter that they cd. only count 600 promises. Lt has 1500 / or thereabouts.2 1 write in haste - but with loves to all. We shall gain Carlow County & I have just heard that Gisborne is dead for Carlow town. Vigors / was originally in the Guards & Lardner was at Eton & a lancer!3 God bless you all I D. I dined yesterday at Dolly Fe's4 very amusing. Ld Charleville, Dufferin, Quin / Charles Forester, Hope, Tomline a party of 8 - capital dinner, princely appointments - very little room in the Palace, but beautifully furnished & full of busts portraits, miniatures &: / engravings of William the 4th. D. TO: THOMAS BAILEY
Carlton Club [Saturday] 21 August [1841?]
ORIGINAL: PRIN Coi4O General Manuscripts [Misc]; Box: BEA-BEK, Folder: Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli; Subfolder i EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: conjectural; see ni.
D[ea]r Bailey, Carlton I Aug. 21 Remember the thing at Gloucester: it is impending, & I shd be sorry there was any mistake about it.1 Let me know. Yours ever I D.
1 The Times in a special early edition on Friday 6 November 1840 had reported Louis Philippe's speech at the opening of the French chambers in Paris the previous day (MP on 7 November would claim to have outstripped all competition by having its special Friday edition out within 22'/2 hours of the report leaving Paris). The King expressed his gratitude for personal safety and public stability (see III lioo&ni and Il04&n4) and generally endorsed the peace efforts of the four powers. There had earlier been reports that Thiers was urging a more strongly worded speech. MP (28 Oct 1840). 2 See III HO5&:n3 and the further references cited there for Lord Lyndhurst's election as High Steward of the University of Cambridge, defeating his only rival, Lord Lyttelton. 3 Thomas Gisborne, who had won the seat at Carlow borough on petition in 1839 for the Liberals, would be unsuccessful at Leicestershire S in the 1841 general election. Carlow borough would however return another Liberal without a contest. One of the two Liberals returned for co Carlow in 1837, Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785/1786-1840), had died on 26 October, and at a by-election on 5 December would be replaced by a Conservative, Col Henry Bruen, who would be joined by another Conservative in the 1841 election. Vigors, DL for co Carlow and Liberal MP for Carlow borough 1832-5, for co Carlow 1835, 1837-40, a veteran of the peninsular war, had been a captain in the foot guards. For Lardner, see III 1058117, presumably the person to whom D is referring. 4 Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence (see III 742n2), who lived in St James's Palace. 1 See III ng4&nio for the vicious penalty clause effective 22 August 1841 on one of D's debts in the hands of Bailey and another Gloucester man as of February 1841. However, there are other items of business in different years involving Bailey that could be the subject of this letter.
471
1 l8OX
!2l8X TO: RICHARD H O R N E
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 26 February 1842
ORIGINAL: BRN [4]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the first page in another hand: '1842'. In the first sentence, D has overwritten 'Buck' with 'Bradenham'.
R.H. Home Esqr Grosvenor Gate I Feby. 26./42 Dear Sir I am very sorry indeed that I must go down to Bradenham to day, but the cause of my movement is peremptory. The moment I return, I will communicate with / you. In the meantime, whatever steps we decide on with respect to the subjects of our interviews, you & your friends are losing no time - for it is, at this moment, / utterly impossible to proceed with any business, but that of the Governmt.1 Yours, dear Sir, I Very faithfully I B Disraeli 1239X TO: THOMAS HODGSKIN
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 7 April 1842
ORIGINAL: YAU Thomas Hodgskin Papers LSF MS 575
T. Hodgskin Esq Grosvenor Gate I Park Lane I April 7. 42 Dear Sir To prevent any mistake, perhaps I should inform you, that I have not yet received the proof, / mentioned in your obliging note. I concluded, from your expressions, that you did not wish me to send you a corrected copy of the / speech.1 Your very faith [fu]l Ser[van]t I B Disraeli 1272X TO: WILLIAM OUSELEY
[Paris, Tuesday 17 January 1843?]
ORIGINAL: BRN [80]
COVER: [integral] a I Monsieur Ouseley I 4 Passage I Mad1. EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper (see IV I245&ec). A corner of the folded sheet has been torn off, leaving only traces of some text at the bottom left-hand corner of the second page after the signature, probably the date and/or place of writing. Endorsed in another hand on the first and third pages: 'Disraeli'. Dating: by context; see nm&2. Sic: Berlini.
My dear Ouseley,1 I am very sorry that I am prevented reaching you this morning. You had better call on B[ulwe]r early.
1 Richard Henry (or Hengist) Home (1803-1884), the author and dramatist, had first written to D on 14 May 1840, and again on 31 May 1840, from 2 Gray's Inn Square, Gray's Inn, about presenting petitions in the House protesting the impending closing of Covent Garden Theatre; he and his theatrical friends particularly wished to get Lyndhurst's advice on the matter. In a letter dated only 'Friday' and docketed in a different hand 'Prior to May 1842', he acknowledges D'S 'obliging note' (evidently one in which D had expressed concern about the distance Home would have to come to see him) and tells D where and when he will try to call on him. H B/XXI/H/663-5. Covent Garden would be closed 1842-7. 1 The note from the editor of Hansard (see IV 1410&ni) has not been found, but it presumably was about D'S consular speech of 8 March 1842; see also 1244&n3. 1 William Gore Ouseley (1797-1866), diplomatist, paid attache at Washington 1825, secretary of legation to Rio de Janeiro 1832, charge d'affaires in Brazil 1838-42, minister to the Argentine Confederation 1844-7, K.CB 1852, special mission to Central America 1857-9; his 17 extant letters to D are dated 1842-52, those l842?-April 1843 are dated in Paris. During this period D was in Paris September 1842 to January 1843,
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Mrs. Disraeli begs me to say that, if she can be of any use to Mrs Ouseley / & yourself in taking you to the embassy tomorrow,2 she will be very happy to call or send the carriage. There will be room for you, as we have a Berlini.3 Yrs flly I D. I [traces of two or three words lost by paper tear}
TO: THOMAS BAILEY
Carlton Club [Tuesday] 4 July [1843?]
1315^
O R I G I N A L : BRY [4]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Docketed in another hand on the first page: 'July 4 (c. 1845)' and on the fourth page: 'Disraeli to his estate-manager, Baily [sic]'. Dating: probably part of the correspondence leading up to Bailey's reports in late 1843; see IV I329&ni.
Carlton I July 4 Dear Bailey, I duly received your letter at Grosvenor Gate wh: was quite satisfactory. Let me know when the bills are due. Also whether among the title deeds wh: you have is the lease of the Bath House.1 / I shd. like to square our accts. You need not draw up separate ones as to Mrs Di. & mine, but give me in a letter here a precis, 8c that will / do. In haste I Yrs I D TO: [EDWARD WATKIN & PETER BERLYN]
Grosvenor Gate 136OX [Wednesday] 3 July 1844
O R I G I N A L : MOPSIK [239] E D I T O R I A L C O M M E N T : Recipients: see n i .
Grosvenor Gate I July 3. 1844 Gentlemen As early as you can make it convenient in the month of October if you please. I shall leave the day entirely to you.1 Yours faithfully I B. Disraeli TO: [LUIGI MARIOTTI]
Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 2 August 1844 1366X
O R I G I N A L : BRN [79]
EDITORIAL. COMMENT: D has drawn a line over the 'ae' of his signature, as he often did when writing to a non-native speaker of English; cf\' I7l2&ec. For the recipient, see ni.
evidently the period in which this letter was written. Judging from his letters to D (see, for example, IV I270n 11), Ouseley served D as a contact with important people and events, forwarding letters and reporting inside information and opinions. H B/XXI/O/73-9O. The Ouseleys were family friends; see I447&n32 In 1843, Lady Cowley would give her first ball of the Paris season on Wednesday 18 January, the only one coinciding with the Ds' stay in Paris; her guests would include 'the elite of all nations' and too many English for the correspondent to attempt naming them. MP (21 Jan 1843). 3 The 'Berlin' (various national spellings) was a four-wheeled travelling carriage designed about 1670 and first used in Berlin. 1 See IV I236&nl, 1286£ng, I329&ni and 1330. 1 For the invitation to which D is here responding, and for his address to the Manchester Athenaeum on 3 October, see IV I362&n9.
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Grosr Gate I Aug 2 /44 Dear Sir, I am very sorry that the pressure of affairs has daily prevented me giving you the appointment wh: I much wished. If, by any chance, you are free on Sunday morning at one o'ck, I should / be happy to see you.1 Yours very truly I B Disraeli 1386X TO: [UNKNOWN]
Bradenham [Saturday] 7 December 1844
ORIGINAL: ECK [l] EDITORIAL COMMENT: A fragment; the address and date have therefore been left at the end, an exception to our standard practice. Sic: Wycomb.
on my writing to you, the application in question wd be made; & I took the occasion of a bond being recently paid off, to do so. Mrs. Disraeli wishes the sum to be invested in similar / securitiesf.] 1 I am, Gentn, I Yours very faith [full] y I B. Disraeli Bradenham Manor I High Wycomb I Dec 7, 1844
1395^ Ta0: [ISAAC D'ISRAELI]
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] l March 1845
ORIGINAL: PS 1423 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Sotheby's catalogue for 11 December 1997, item 35, described as: 'Autograph letter signed, to an unnamed gentleman ... 4 pages, 8vo ... Grosvenor Gate, l March 1845' EDITORIAL COMMENT: For the recipient, see ni.
[having received copies of the Times and Chronicle and commenting on his celebrated quarrel with Peel and reported speech in the House of Commons] ... The attempt of Sir Robt Peel to put an end to all parliamentary independence by his attack on Sir John Hanmer, myself & others, the other night, seemed to me to require a demonstration, that cd. not be mistaken.1 The report in the "Times" being taken in shorthand is exactly what fell from my
1 Luigi Mariotti (A.C.N. Gallenga; see IV l3O5&m) in a letter to D of 7 August 1844 would write: 'Doctor Worthington having again applied to me to know the disposition of your mind respecting the New Quarterly Review, I stated to him (without, however, in any manner alluding to the interview you did me the honor to grant me) the objections that were most likely to be started against his manner of conducting his journal.' The Rev Dr James W. Worthington, a London rector and Tory displaced in 1842 as editor of the Foreign Quarterly Review, had founded a rival to it, the Foreign and Colonial Quarterly Review, subsequently renamed the New Quarterly Review. Mariotti/Gallenga was one of the contributors he had taken with him to his new journal. H B/XXI/M/2O2; Welksley Index II 134-5; Gladstone Diaries III 2O4ng. 1 See IV 1330n2 and 1369 for some of the many financial affairs to which this fragment may be connected. 1 For D's speech of 28 February 1844, see IV I394n2 and I396&n2. In a letter to MA docketed by her 'Feb 2' but evidently 2 March, Sarah Disraeli would write: 'We congratulate you & dear Dis from the bottom of our overflowing hearts. Papa returns your double salutation with interest; he is made quite well & happy by your letter, which so graphically confirms all the pleasure we gather from the papers ... I return you the Chronicle for which we thank you. Sir Robt. Peel's reply is miserable - very shabby & very sore! ... 'The Poet, the theme, & the Speaker -" Papa is repeating that sentence all the time I write.' H D/III/A/47. Evidently D and MA had both written to Isaac DTsraeli.
474
lips, but the Report in the Chronicle gives a truer, & more lively, idea of the feeling & stir of the house - but ... is often a mess of errors...2 TO: [THOMAS OUSELEY]
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 14 April 1845 139QXA
O R I G I N A L : BRN [78]
My dear Sir, Gros Gate I Apl. 14. /45 I write in great haste to tell you, that I have sent you by this days post, the "Times" of Saturday containing the only report of my speech on Maynooth, wh: gives even a faint idea of what I said, tho' unfortunately not free / from numerous inaccuracies, & unintelligibilities.1 Also a copy of the "Times" of this morning in wh: there is a very remarkable leading Art: wh: must make a great sensation, & wh: I confess has greatly surprised me.2 It / shows that the "Times" are persuaded that the Public is with the Attacker and not the Attacked. Hitherto, they have kept a scrupulous silence, [inserted sentence:] Many thanks for your papers. Yrs flly I D. T.O. / How does the question really work in Shrewsbury?3 TO: [THOMAS OUSELEY]
Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 23 April 1845 14O1R
ORIGINAL: BRN [6] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: '1845'. Sic: forward.
PRIVATE Grosr Gate I Apl. 23/45 My dear Sir, Many thanks for your manly -&- hearty letter.1 I am proud of your independent & disinterested support. I hear very rarely from the / Boro', & as I really do not know who are friends or foes, never write, but with very rare exceptions. I shall have the pleasure of sending you a copy / of "Sybil" when it is published.2 Can I send it to any one in London for you, or shall I order it to be forward direct? Yrs fflly I D.
2 CfW !399A&n3. The MC account on i March 1845 of D's speech the previous night is liberally punctuated with the reactions of the House, such as '[much laughter and cheering from every part of the house]' and, at the end, '[loud cheers, which for some time interrupted the business of the house].' 1 See IV l399A&nni&3 for D's concern that TJ. Ouseley, editor of the Shropshire Conservative in D's constituency, reprint the best reports in his paper. 2 See IV isggns. 3 See IV I40i&ni. 1 See IV I40lni. 2 See IV !4Oln2 and 1402ni.
475
14O5X TO: OCTAVIAN BLEWITT
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 10 May 1845
ORIGINAL: RLF Vol 8 No 2 1845 t b ] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: checque.
O. Blewitt Esq1 Grosr Gate I May 10. 1845 Sir, I beg to return you the tickets wh: you kindly forwarded to me, as I shall not be able to make any use of them. I enclose you also / a checque on Messrs Drummond for ten guineas as my life subscription.2 I have the honor to be, I Sir, I Your faithl Sert I B Disraeli 1415X TO: AUGUSTUS O'BRIENN
zz[Londoan, Monday 2 June 1845]
ORIGINAL: JWA [l]
COVER: [integral] Aug. O'Brien I D. EDITORIAL COMMENT: Docketed in another hand on the cover: 'B. Disraeli. June l. 1845'. There is no salutation. Dating: cflV 1414 and 1415.
Will you breakfast with us tomorrow (Tuesday June 3) at y4 to 12 & meet Tom Moore, Bulwer & a few othersf?] 1 D. 1423XA TO: LADY ANNA LOFTUS
Grosvenor Gate, Saturday [28 June 1845]
ORIGINAL: BRN [87]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: cflV I42lni, 1423 and V (app l) 1423X.
Grosvenor Gate I Saty Lady Anna's gracious kindness emboldens Mr Disraeli again to trouble her. Ld. Fitzroy Somerset writes him that her Majesty has fixed Monday next, 30th, for / the Review, wh: the elements prevented this morning, & he wishes to tell Lady Anna, how gratified & honored Mrs Disraeli & himself would feel / at receiving Ld. & Lady Ely & herself on that day.1 Their dejeuner will take place at all events.
1 Octavian Blewitt (18101884), FRGS, author of works such as Treatise on the Happiness arising from the Exercise of the Christian Faith, was secretary 1839-84 of the Royal Literary Fund (for which see, in this appendix, sgSXni), later also of the Society of Schoolmasters. LPOD (1860). 2 The Royal Literary Fund administers the Royal Society of Literature, founded in 1820; presumably the tickets were for the annual meeting of the Society on 22 May 1845. MP (19 May 1845). 1 O'Brien has written his reply on the cover: 'I am very sorry that that worn out machine the Agl. Protection Society will keep me from eleven till one at least.' 1 Lady Anna Maria Ellen Loftus (1819-1896) was the Elys' eldest unmarried daughter; John Loftus (17701845), 2nd Marquess of Ely, in 1810 had married Anna Maria Dashwood (1785-1857), eldest daughter of Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood, 3rd Bt, and a lady of the bedchamber. The published list of guests that attended does not include these three. A1/J (l Jul 1845).
476
TO: GEORGE FULCHER
Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 31 August 1845 l^-^'yX
ORIGINAL: BRN [7]
To Mr Fulcher 1 Grosvenor Gate I Augt. 31. 1845 Sir, Passing thro' London, I find your Volume. Let me express to you how much gratified I am by your kind recollection of Your faithful Sert, I B Disraeli TO: JOHN IRVING
[London, Tuesday 3 March 1846]
147^X
O R I G I N A L : BRN [70]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see ni. Sic: the the.
J. Irving Esq Dear Sir, I was in hopes I might have hit you as I went down to the house, being anxious to consult you on several commercial points of pressing interest, & being emboldened / to do so by your previous courtesy. I fear it will be so difficult, from your hours, for us to meet, that I roughly jot down the principal purport of my enquiries. I want to ascertain, whether / the price of tea have, or have not, diminished since the the opening of the China Trade in 1833: the same as to American cotton during the last '/t of a Century — & many other similar topics. Excuse / this frankness of wh: you have set me an example, & believe me, dear Sir, Your faithful Sert I B Disraeli I hope you received my acknowlgmt of yr. kindness wh: I left en passant at yr lodge the o[the]r day.1 TO: JOHN IRVING
Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 4 March [1846]
O R I G I N A L : PS 1506 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Michael Silverman Autographs & Manuscripts Catalogue 18, 2OOO, item 23, described as 'Autograph Letter Signed ("B. Disraeli") to John Irving M.P., saying: '[text given below]'. 1 page 8vo. integral blank, Grosvenor Gate, March 4, [1846] ...' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: the year is confirmed by context; see ni.
I will avail myself of your obliging permission, & have the honor of calling upon you at five o'clock tomorrowf.] 1 1 George Williams Fulcher (1795-1855), a Sudbury poet, bookseller and printer, in 1845 published his The Village Paupers. 1 This is the letter to which Irving responds on 'Wednesday Mg ' (see l472XAnl), and thus, if the assumed connection with that dated snippet is correct, the first extant part of a correspondence on protectionism D had with John Irving of Reid, Irving and Co (see V l66oni) in early 1846. 1 In a note dated only 'Wednesday Mg' at Richmond Terrace Irving had written: 'I regret that I was not at home when you called yesterday [see 1472X] and if you still desire to see me I shall wait for you on Thursday afternoon about 5 o'ck on your way to the House of Cms. In the meantime I take leave to say that both the Articles, Cotton & Tea, have declined in price, the former more than the latter. The difficult part of this question is to fix the periods for the examination and division of the points
477
1472XA
1473^ TO: JOHN IRVING ORIGINAL: uo 40
Grosvenor Gate, Tuesday 10 March [1846]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see nni&2.
J. Irving Esq Grosr Gate t Tuesday 10 Mar: Dear Sir, The second reading of the Corn Bill is fixed for next Monday. I dare say the debate will last a fortnight, & I shall / speak, probably, on the last night:1 so we have time for our researches. I return you the N.Y. letter, &: shall, probably, put a question tonight founded on / it: had I received it in time for the debate of yesterday on Indian Corn, it wd. have served - but, I doubt not, another occasion will soon arrive.2 Yours faith [full] y I D. 14?6X TO: JOHN IRVING ORIGINAL: uo 41
Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 2O March 1846
EDITORIAL COMMENT: The date, especially the second digit of the day, is a scrawl, but is confirmed by context; see ni.
CONFIDENTIAL Grosr Gate I Mar. 20 1846 J. Irving Esq My dear Sir, I see no reason to change the opinion I offered you some time back, that the Protectionists wd. not join in an attack on the Sugar duties. No council has / been held on the subject since the one to wh: I then referred, but after your letter, I wd. not reply without conversation with some of my friends. Many thanks for / your very interesting memoranda of wh: I shall avail myself. If you cd. get me a table of the prices of cotton for the last ten years I shd. feel obliged to you.1 Yrs ffly I D. involved ...' He did not trust his judgment on 'other Commercial points' but offered D all the help of which he was capable 'in the hope that the great Commercial question may profit by your advocacy.' H B/XXl/l/ig. See further, in this appendix, l473X&ni. 1 Debate on second reading of the Corn Importation Bill would begin on Monday 16 March 1846 (D making a brief speech late in the evening) and culminate on Friday 27 March when second reading was passed; see IV 1477&n2. For D's famous speech of 15 May 1846, the night the bill was passed by the Commons, see IV 1486&n3- D was ill in late March. See also IV introduction xxxviii-ix. 2 The status, under the proposed changes in the corn laws, of Indian corn intended for Irish famine relief had been debated in the House on 9 March. MP (10 Mar 1846). In an undated letter Irving had written: 'Having read a letter from a ... Merchant in New York complaining of the unbusinesslike and disadvantageous mode in which the British Government had been buying Indian Corn in that market, it may be opportune ... to enquire what agency or means they have employed for the purchase of what the Americans call "bread stuffs"... It is evident that by not employing as was rumoured Baring Bros or some competent House, the money voted for the relief of the Irish has been improperly applied ...' H B/XXI/l/15. For D's speech on this night (10 March) see IV 1474111; he did not mention the letter. Ml' (11 May 1846). 1 See (in this appendix) l472X&n i, l472XA&n i and l473X&nnl&2. Irving had written to D from Richmond Terrace on 18 March 1846: 'Having been assured that there could be little or no further opposition to the proposed Alterations in the Corn Laws, I have hesitated until today, to send you the enclosed papers, in
4?8
TO: THOMAS BAILEY
Carlton Club [Saturday] 23 May 1846 14QOX
O R I G I N A L : BRY [2]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Docketed in another hand on the first page: 'May 23, 1846'; and on the second page: 'Disraeli to his estate-manager, Baily [sic]\
Carlton I May 23 - 1846 Dear Bailey, I am very anxious about the bills, wh:, not knowing exactly the dating, I fancy are coming due every day. / I wrote to you on Tuesday last, & also about a fortnight ago. Pray let me hear.1 Yours ffly I D. TO: THOMAS BAILEY
Carlton Club [Friday] 12 June [1846?]
1495^
ORIGINAL: UPEN [l] PUBLICATION HISTORY: George Arliss Up the Years from Bloomsbury: An Autobiography (Boston 1927) 253;
iv 1495
EDITORIAL. COMMENT: With this letter in UPEN is another, dated 9 April [ny], from Margery Maude to George Arliss: 'The enclosed is a quite uninteresting letter except that it was written by Disraeli & I felt that something belonging to him would be sure to bring you luck ... with "Disraeli" ...'
[The text is fully and quite accurately given in 1495 and therefore not repeated here, the only substantial differences being the insertion o/'me' in 'leaving [me] in fact no balance' and 'my' in 'critical state of [my] affairs', all the others being expanded abbreviations, paragraph breaks and punctuation differences, with deletions ignored.]
TO: THOMAS BAILEY
Carlton Club [Monday] 15 June [1846]
O R I G I N A L : BRY [l]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Docketed in another hand: 'June 15 (0.1846)'. Dating: by context; see ni.
Carlton I June 15 My dear B. Make it one or two months as most agreeable to the Bankers[-] 1 I enclose a £50 note for yourself. Yours ffly I & sincerely I D.
which I have attempted, according to your suggestion, to draw a parallel between Cotton & Corn in their principal bearings on production & Commerce ... I further transmit to you extracts of letters which my house received yesterday from some of the most respectable Merchants, in Canada, condemning the new Tariff as injurious to Canadian interests. To have created such a feeling among the Canadians at this critical juncture of the negociations on the Oregon question deserves the severest reprobation ... I have further been told that your Party is still undecided on the course the protectionists mean to pursue on the Sugar Question, and if you can give me any authentic information to allay the apprehensions I have on the subject & of the impolicy of such inconsistency as would be that of opposing the Government, you will confer upon me a very great obligation.' Irving would write again on 25 March 1846 from Richmond Terrace, enclosing 'a table of the prices of Cotton for the period you mention' and an analysis of how free trade might result in the Canadas being annexed by the U.S. H B/XXI/I/13-14. 1 For Bailey's reply of 25 May, see IV 1491111. D's letters of Tuesday last, & ... a fortnight ago', have not been found. 1 See IV 1495 for the bill payment due on the lyth for which D had asked a month's extension.
479
1495^
153OX TO: THOMAS BAILEY ORIGINAL: BRY [3]
[London? 1846?]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Docketed in another hand on the first page: 'c. 1846' and on the second page: 'Disraeli to his estate-manager, Baily [sic]\ Dating: conjectural; see n i .
Dear B[aile]y I duly received your packet & cannot account for my remissness in not acknowlg. it, wh: entirely escaped / my memory; but I am much pressed with affairs.1 1000 thanks! I D
1555X T0: JOHN CORTIS
Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 28 May 1847
ORIGINAL: BRN [8] EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper.
Mr. Jno. Cords I Amersham Grosvenor Gate I May 28. 1847 Sir, It is many years ago, since I had the pleasure of meeting you, but I remember, then, that you exhibited some confidence in my career. I / am embarked, now, in a great enterprise, & I appeal, with trust, H» to the important class, of wh: you are an influential member, to support me. When greater men were faithless, I fought your / battle in the House of Commons: fight mine now, & believe, that it is also your own. I appeal to the yeomanry & the Farmers; I wish them mainly to return me. I enclose you / a copy of my address. The professions of public men are not much worth in these days: but at least, during the ten years I have been in Parliament, no one can say I ever broke a pledge. Yours truly I B Disraeli1 1577X TO: [THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS?] Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 7 July 1847 ORIGINAL: UKY [3] EDITORIAL COMMENT: A fragment. Recipient: see ni.
Grace any unnecessary trouble. Pray believe me, I your obliged & faithful Ser[van]t I B Disraeli Grosvenor Gate I July 7. 1847'
1 Bailey's request for an acknowledgement has not been found; possibly this note dates from 1843 when title deeds and other papers were being sent back and forth (see, in this appendix, 1315X), but there is no basis on which to dispute the docketed date by an anonymous hand. 1 See IV 1555&nl; D presumably wrote virtually identical letters to all the men named there. John Cords would reply from Bury Farm, Amersham, on 26 July 1847, offering D his support. H B/I/C/i64. 1 This is probably the last page of a letter to the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (addressed as 'Your Grace') in whose dispute with Lord Chandos in July 1847 D was asked to intervene; alternatively, this may have been addressed to the Duke of Wellington or the Duke of Richmond in the same affair. See rv I579&ni.
480
TO: J O H N IRVING
Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 3 December 1847
l6l
IX
O R I G I N A L : UO 42
EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper.
J. Irving Esq Grosvenor Gate I Dec 3. 1847 My dear Mr Irving, I am very much obliged by your communication. I can assure you, that my heart bleeds for all that has occurred, & / must occur, & I hope to have an opportunity of noticing the unprincipled tone in wh: the victims of our false legislation have been mentioned / by too many of our leading statesmen. Send me any details you can.1 Yours sincerely I B. Disraeli TO: SAMUEL WILBERFORCE
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 26 August 1848 iGQGR
ORIGINAL: BRN [10]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper.
[D's text is identical to MA's copy of it (V 1696) except for slight differences in punctuation, paragraphing and without MA's spelling mistakes, and is therefore not reproduced here.] TO: H E N R Y D R U M M O N D
Bradenham [Sunday] 22 October 1848
ORIGINAL: NORC/1/122
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb; Lady Harriet.
Hy. Drummond Esq Bradenham Manor I H. Wycomb I Oct. 22. 1848 My dear Sir, Your letter of September 2O,1 shd have received an earlier reply, but it reached me at a moment of great suffering,2 & it referred to a subject, wh: required some length of / treatment. We go on Thursday to Wimpole for a few days,3 & on our return, should it not
1 See V 1660111; the undated letter docketed 1848 by MA mentioned there may be the one to which D is here responding. In it Irving wrote about 'the Sugar Question now under discussion [seeV l624&n5]. I allude to the effect of the Government scheme upon the balance of trade ... [which will] produce a recurrence of the late Commercial & Financial crisis ... The advocates of Free Labour have made an unfair handle of the Free Labour employer in Porto Rico by stating only those features of it which support their argument: but to judge of the merits of that branch of the question the picture should be finished, for there are points in it that will mortify those who have been the warmest admirers of the competition there exhibited between the Slave & Free Men, of white & black.' He then told of the dreadful conditions of the white labourers, whose 'moral degradation is extreme.' H B/XXI/I/iy. 1 Drummond on 20 September had written at length on a variety of subjects, from colonial policy to the need for parties to be formed to carry out a common objective, and invited the Ds to visit. H B/XXI/D/ 3722 Lord George Bentinck had died on 21 September. 3 For the Ds' visit to the Hardwickes at Wimpole 27-31 October, see V 1728m, 1731, I736&ni and I737&ni.
481
1732X
prove inconvenient to Lady Harriet4 & yourself, we would propose to pay you a / little visit of a day or two. There are many points of great importance on wh: I should like to have the advantage of your counsel, at this hour of perplexity, both / in public affairs, & in my own humble career. Yours sincerely, I B Disraeli Be kind eno' to direct your reply to Grosvenor Gate. If you cd. receive us, we wd. appear about the 3rd. Novr[.] 5 174?X TO: HENRY DRUMMOND
Bradenham [Sunday] 19 November 1848
ORIGINAL: NOR C/l/123
EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper.
Bradenham Manor I High Wycombe I Nov. 19. 1848 My dear Mr Drummond, I must thank you for your wise & witty letter,1 to discuss wh:, however, would require a ramble in the woods of Albury. As far as the / Press can guide us, the professional politicians seem in a great quandary. Rest assured, that I shall not help them, either by word or sign, but shall remain here very quietly, furbishing my / arms. We have promised to warm ourselves at Hobhouse's Yule block at Erlestoke2 if our names appear in the "Morning Post", the visit may induce some leaders in the "Morning / Chronicle". If ever you find the time, or mood, to write to me, I shd. be very grateful. I am a wretched correspondent - in the matter of letter writing, being of the Manchester school, & caring only for the imports.3 1OOO kind regards to your charming circle. Ever Yours I D. 1768X TO: HENRY D R U M M O N D
Hughenden [Friday] 12 January 1849
ORIGINAL: NOR C/l/124
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Disraeli'. Sic: Wycomb.
Hughenden, I H. Wycomb. I Jany. 12. 1849.
4 Drummond in 1807 had married Lady Henrietta Hay-Drummond (1783-1854), eldest daughter of loth Earl of Kinoull. 5 Drummond would reply on the 23rd with great pleasure at the prospect of the Ds' visit: 'I hope we shall have better weather, for the materiall [sic] seems as much out of sorts as the moral world, & pains in the vitals the normal state of private and political bodies.' On l November he would acknowledge D's note (not found) announcing the Ds' arrival the next day, regretting that their visit was for a day only. H B/XXI/D/373-4. 1 Drummond had written on 8 November 1848, mostly on D's emerging role as a leader of the Protectionists: 'I think that there is great danger to your future prospects if you link yourself to a lazaretto of incurables ... The men around you are at your mercy: they have not an idea touching any course of policy ... If you adopt a line of policy they must follow you from mere helplessness; but if you adopt a line of policy to aid the party, it will sink you ... I would beg to caution you against supposing that Lord Stanley can make a party: he is to be feared as a hard hitting pugilistic debater ... but has no other quality whatever.' H B/xx/BE/143. See further, in this appendix, i872X&n4. 2 See V 1753&H2. 3 C/v i6s6ni.
482
My dear Mr. Drummond, I can assure you, that my taste, however "refined", is entirely engrossed with those fiscal subjects, wh: you conclude are so repulsive to me.1 Nor / has the idea, wh: you threw out at Albury, escaped my anxious consideration. It is howr. very inexpedient to make a fiscal move without having matured, & highly finished, your project, as people are apt, & naturally, / to get alarm'd at proposals of great changes in finance. What you look upon as mere matters of detail, are the very portions of the affair, wh: perplex me by their grave difficulties. A / proposition to double the taxation of the country might occasion prejudice, &, even, panic. If carried into effect, wd. it supply sufficient means for the result required? - These are matters for conference, wh:, with you, is always profitable. My hand is frozen - but my heart is warm - to you. Ever yr ffl I D. TO: WILLIAM BERESFORD
Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 7 March 1849 1794^
ORIGINAL: PS 1417 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Schulson Autographs catalogue 88 (1997) item 34, described as 'A.L.S., four pages on one folded 8vo sheet, Grosvenor Gate, March 7, 1849. To (Charles) [sic] Beresford ... Signed, "D."'
I don't care for a division ... provided I can get out my statement tomorrow. The longer the division is lost for me, the better for us, as there will be more agitation in the country, &: pressure ... on members At least it strikes me so ... I entirely defer to your opinion....1 TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[London] Wednesday [6 June 1849]
ORIGINAL: BSU [4] PUBLICATION HISTORY: See V l839ph. EDITORIAL COMMENT: Docketed in another hand on the first page: 'Circa 1849'. Dating: See V iSSQni; D's 'Wedy' establishes the specific day.
My dr Sa, Wedy I write you a hurried line - tho' I am really pressed to death - in every way. Nothing socially very remarkable - except a dinner at the Hobhouses on Monday where we met the Speaker & his family / who are not as agreeable as himself. Mrs. L. rather common & two dau[ghte]rs not charming.1 There were Brooke, Ld 1 Drummond had written on 4 January 1849: 'I think you must by this time be convinced that I was right in saying that the fiscal condition of England is the question of the day. It is naturally repulsive to your refined taste, &: I will defy even you to be witty with no other materials than a pen & multiplication table ... the real point which we ought to force is the debt itself. To this all my attention is directed, & I should like to follow in your wake in making the attack ... Getting rid of a part of the debt unlocks capital; enables it to be employed at lower interest by landlords, farmers, & manufacturers; gives employment to operatives; & is a bare act of justice, & one of necessity. It signifies little whether the sum necessary is taken by a Land Tax; Property Tax, or doubling all the present taxes: these questions of detail are easily settled. ' H B/XXI/D/375. 1 For the correspondence with William Beresford (chief whip) of which this forms a part, see V I794n51 The Shaw-Lefevres had three daughters: Emma Laura (b 1820); Helena (1823-1897), who in 1851 would marry Sir Henry St John Mildmay, 5th Bt (see n3); and Elizabeth (d 1867), who in 1859 would marry Capt Hervey George St John Mildmay, RN.
483
l839^
Camperdown,2 the Mildmays,3 H Lennox - Fitzroy Som[erse]t & others as notable - pretty well but / not as amusing as Broughams.4 Ascot has emptied town for the week. The Ld. Mayor gives a Conser protec: banquet on 13th. & the Queen has announced a ball supposed with the intention of spoiling the / city demonstr[ati]on. The Lord M. in despair & talks of cha[ng]ing the day.5 Poor Lady Blessington! - died of apoplexy - the day after tfe she got into her new house!6 And the poor Misses Power. What will become of them? YrsD l85OX TO: JOHN KIRK
Carlton Club [Tuesday] 3 July 1849
ORIGINAL: PS 1438 PUBLICATION HISTORY: John Wilson Autographs catalogue 83 (1997), described as 'ALS ('B Disraeli') to J Kirk ... 3 pages 8vo, Carlton Club, 3 July 1849.'
Private1 [Inviting communication on] the subject of our last conversation [and apologising for not having had time to consider it sooner because of press of public business.] l86OR TO: SARAH DISRAELI
[London, Wednesday 1 August 1849]
ORIGINAL: BRN [ll] PUBLICATION HISTORY: See V l86Oph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Sarah Disraeli on the first page: 'August 1st. 1849'.
My dear Sa, I send you a little line tho' I am much pressed. I suppose in a few days we shall go to Hughenden, tho' when I remember the business wh: is to be, & must be, done, / I don't very clearly see how. I wanted to write to you something about yr affairs, but have scarcely spirits eno'. The interest on the £1000 consols, or £s / sterling, ought to be paid you. V2 a year was due on the consols last month, & if consols, it wd be best to send you this, as that is a simple process £15., or I cd leave it till I see Jem at / Hn.1 - Let me have a line, assuming I shall be here another week.
2 Robert Dundas (1785-1859), 1st Earl of Camperdown, Kt 1848. 3 Probably Humphrey St John Mildmay (for whom see II 5l4n8), 6th son of the 3rd Bt, and his second wife; in 1843 he had married Marianne Frances Harcourt Vernon (d 1873), on ly daughter of Granville Harcourt Vernon. 4 For Brougham's party, see V 1834. 5 See V l839ni and l845ni36 See V i8s8nn3&4. 1 Father John Kirk (17601851) was a Jesuit whose primary life's work consisted of accumulating 50 volumes of material for a projected continuation of Charles Dodd's Church History of England. His The Faith of Catholics Confirmed by Scripture ... (1813, 1830), written in collaboration with the Rev Joseph Berington, in 1846 had been reissued in a third edition revised and enlarged by the Rev James Waterworth. No correspondence from him to D has been found. 1 See V l623ni and I709&nni&4.
484
Pt. was prorogued to day" - by comm[issi]on - I was not there - having done and seen eno'[.] As far as I am personally / concerned, the Sess: has been a satisfactory one - & a great deal may be done next Sess: if I am alive to do it - as I shall have time to prepare some measures & shall lead a party who I / bel[iev]e, as far as I am concerned, are by no means dissatisfied with their leader.3 Last Saturday we dined with Sir Montague & Lady Georgiana Cholmeley - pretty well - our host the most amusing / present - the child of nature & of course called mad - extremely absent. He was not present when we arrived tho' we were late. Then he came in - quite dark - trod on every body's toes - guessing / people by their voices, &: seeming quite surprised they were there. Dinner announced he rushed out of the room with Lady Antrim, the wrong Lady woman, & put himself at the head of the table / except instead of the bottom, & then laughed immensely when he found it out, but kept there - the imperturbable Lady Georgiana, handsome as a Sphinx, bearing it all unruffled & taking her place at the / end. Aftds. to Lady Palmn.: & I thought it was the end & a good end of the Sess: season but we go again there tonight. Saty. was the fish dinner, 4 & a steamboat hired & ready at five o'ck / to take down the Ministers - but the Ceylon debate &c. kept them in the Commons to past 7.5 All this time the Ld. President [Lansdowne] & his colleagues walking up & down for two hours in an obscure water [ ?] river / street out of the Strand, wondering why their colleagues & comates did not come. Howr. they all showed at Ldy. P's, tho some in frock coats.6 Curios: very bad: not paid the expenses: so no chance of Comm:7 I am greatly disappd. Yrs affy I D TO: HENRY DRUMMOND
Hughenden [Saturday] 25 August 1849
O R I G I N A L : NORC/1/125
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the eighth page: 'Disraeli Aug 1849'. Sic: Wycomb; park; Buccleugh.
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL Hughenden Manor I High Wycomb I Aug 25 1849 My dear Mr Drummond You ask me where I am, & whither I intend to go?11 am here, amid my own bowers, in the Chiltern Hills - not ominous, I hope, of the Chiltern loos. I / cannot see as far
2 3 4 5 6 7
See V l86oni. See v i86on3. See V l860n5. See v i86on6. See v i86on8. See V I725&n5, 1750111, I752ni and 212O&n3. On 4 May 1848, D and Moxon had signed an agreement for D's new edition of his father's Curiosities of Literature whereby they would share the profits equally. By 26 November 1850, only about 350 of the l,OOO copies printed (at a cost of £789.6.1) were sold. The edition would eventually realize a profit, D receiving £41.10.3, £85.5.2 and £7.13.11 in 1853, 1854 and 1855 respectively. H E/VH/E/6-18.
1 Drummond had asked this in his letter of 22 August, hoping for a visit in October. He then made strategy proposals at length for the coming session. H B/III/2.
485
1&72X
as October - but, with my present inclinations, musing over the past & preparing for the future, the greatest movement I can contemplate is from my woods to my library. Your letter is full of good sense & truth; with much of what you say / I agree but it all ends in this - where are the men? Something might be done with Henley,2 because, tho' not very malleable, he is a worker; but his range is limited, & he never can take any great part in debate. After all, it is a parliamentary government; / &, say what they like, a man, to influence the House of Commons, must be able to park. For the rest you mention, I have tried them all, with every disposition to think I had found a Phoenix - but they are cocktails.3 The main point on wh: I differ from you is about Stanley.4 / I had prejudices myself against him - I believe they were very mutual - but since I have been able & obliged to form my opinion of the man from personal experience, & not from social tradition, I recognise in him a character much the reverse of what you sketch - a man pleasant & easy to work with: essentially / practical; distinguished by common sense; flexible & cautious. As for his "eagerness for office" to wh: you refer, expressed last year, he was forced to that by circumstances, wh: rendered the declaration necessary; & the prime instigator to the whole movement was the / "cautious Aberdeen". Besides he is not "alone in the Lords": the best are at his beck, or wish to be - I mean Aberdeen, Ellenboro', D. of Buccleugh, &c. Your suggestive letters are always welcome, & I hope that we may be able to consult together before the campaign. I am sure it will be for my / advantage. In the meantime, I have before me six months of blue books to digest.5 Des livres bleus were once the title of old romances — now they describe magazines of facts — as manufactures are the names of fabrics in wh: the hand never interferes. There has been as mystifying a change about the title of Tory. I am, &: have always been, one of the very old school. Ever yours I D. 1914^ TO: JOHN STUART
Hughenden [Friday] 2 November 1849
ORIGINAL: NIPR Schomberg MacDonnell Papers 0/4091/0/2/1/1 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the eighth page: '1849 B. Disraeli 2 Nov 1849'. Sic: Stewart.
My dear Stewart, Hughenden Manor I Nov 2. 1849 I was very glad to recognise your faithful hand. I am glad also you are not dis-
2 Drummond (ni) had suggested Henley as a speaker on financial topics. 3 Drummond (ni) thought Stafford the only one on whom D could count because he did not put the House to sleep, but he suggested Baillie, Powlett, Adderley '&c' as speakers on extension of the franchise ('This is inevitable & will throw over the Peelites') and, in addition to D, Herries on the topic of 'the laying on of a duty on all articles ad valorem which are the produce of foreign countries.' 4 Drummond (nl) thought that in the previous session 'Stanley committed a fatal error in expressing his eagerness for office, & his readiness to accept it at any moment: he is a rash man, the Lord Gough of Politics, who as long as he can make a Donnebrook Fair of the House of Lords, cares little for anything else. Even if he were competent, he stands alone in the house of Lords: & in the Commons except yourself, there is not a man fit to hold a front desk place.' On Stanley's '"eagerness for office"' see also v 1807. 5 See V 188702.
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pleased with what I said on Wednesday.1 I did not satisfy myself. I thought / what I said was too [illegible deletion] suggestive, & not sufficiently developed - but the subject is vast, & when a man has to spend half his time in defending himself from his friends, he is obliged to starve the more important portions. I agree in all you say about getting men into the house. I had this spring an interview with Mr Butt, as I like to form my own opinion of people, & I was pleased both with his manner & intelligence: therefore I / have tried to aid him. I shd. be very glad also to make Mr Bookers acquaintance with the same view - but to speak to you quite plainly, things have happened during the last six weeks (I don't mean of public notoriety) wh: render me extremely averse / from taking any step wh: wo[ul]d seem to arrogate the position of "leader." There has been an animus shown, wh: convinces me, that I never cd. obtain that cordial support witht. wh: the attempt to restore the Tory party is / hopeless, &, even with wh:, it4s most difficult. I shall certainly find you out when I am in town for a day, & am always with sincere regard Yrs I D. Your friend Giffard has behaved excellently.2 He is evidently a good fellow. TO: [HENRY D R U M M O N D ]
[Hughenden] Sunday 4 November [1849]
!9l6X
ORIGINAL: NOR C/l/126 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The location of the MS establishes the identity of the recipient. Dating: by context; see m.
My dear Sir, Sunday - Nov. 4. I return you the interesting letter with many thanks. Our sinking fund idea has made more noise than I ever intended it shd. I only threw it out, at first, to feel our way; but I don't think large plans suit our party - God bless & help them!1 Yours ever I D. TO: MARY A N N E DISRAELI
Carlton Club, Tuesday [13 November 1849]
ORIGINAL: BRN [64, 8l] PUBLICATION HISTORY: See V IQigph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Paper imprinted with the Carlton Club crest. The second and third sheets (pages 5 and 9) are numbered: '2'; '3'. Dating: by context; see nni-6.
My dearest wife — Tuesday morng. I write to you when I can, as delay makes me often lose the post. My interview with
1 For Stuart's l November letter, and D's subsequent dinner with him, see V iQ20&n2. For D's 31 October speech at Aylesbury, see V 19158012. 2 Presumably Stanley Lees Giffard (1788-1858), a barrister (Middle Temple 1811), LLD, currently (since 1827) editor of the Standard and supporter of the corn and navigation laws; see V igig&ni for another example of D's appreciation of support from this source. 1 Drummond's letter to which this is the response has not been found, presumably because D returned it. Drummond favoured a sinking fund; see V l871nl3. For D's use and defence of the idea in late 1849, see V Index under 'Sinking fund'.
487
IQIQ^
Beresford last night 1 was so prolonged, that it was too late to write again: [7 words inserted:] it did not end till past seven. I think on the whole, it / was promising. They are evidently much more afraid of losing me, than I them - but the difficulties are not inconsiderable - & there are many jealousies, as well as genuine misconceptions, wh: must / not only be put an end to, but rooted out for ever. I think if I am firm & keep high ground, tho' conciliating & temperate, things may end with being better than they were. My interview with / Beresford prevented my se talking affairs over with Stuart,2 whom howr. I saw shook hands with, en passant. Beresford today goes to Young.3 The Standard came out last night with an article throwing / over the plan of the "Protection Society" of petitioning the Queen — very good indeed - especially as G.F. Youngs evening journal, Bells Messenger, had an article attacking me, & saying, that I was not acting in concert with / Ld. Stanley, D. of Richmond & Ld Granby.4 Beresford asked me to dine with him today en famille. I hope to see Stuart to day at '/2 past five. I saw by his countenance, that he was in good heart & full / of news. Granby wants Stanley, myself & some others, to meet. Granby returns from Paris on Saturday night. I have no particular wish to meet at present; I wd. rather things wd. more develope [7 luords inserted:} 8c the meeting of Parliament were nearer - but, of course, must be decided by / circumstances. There are [a] great many politicals in town for the moment - I think I told you John Manners & Newdegate, with [2 words inserted:] both of whom I had long converse. Pope is against any more dentists, & wishes to take matters in hand / himself. He says the Itf live blood is nothing at all: it can do no harm & lead to nothing. Any stimulant is right - eau de cologne as good as anything. It is a little sympathy in the nerve from the accident.5 The Protectionists are / evidently excited & think they are going to win. I do not. If they gain Cork, wh: comes off today, they there will be no holding them in - but from Chatterton's letter, wh: I received this morning, tho' very sanguine, I feel / myself persuaded that we shall be beaten.6 I am now going to Rose, having been quite prevented yesterday by the political pressure, [phrase inserted:] - & mean to write again today. I count on a line from you tomorrow. Adieu my dearest wife. D.
1 2 3 4 5
See V I9i8&n3. See, in this appendix, igi4X. See V 1917115. See v igig&m and 192001. MA on 6 November had written: 'I was delighted to receive your most interesting dear letter this morn'g [not found] but grieve that you are not quite well, you were right to send for Mr. Pope. I hope to hear tomorrow that my darling is better & no return of the inconvenience ...' On this day, the igth (see V 1918114), she wrote: 'I suppose you will have seen a Dentist ...' (V 1920111). For D's dental problems and the use of leeches, see V iSgo&nz. 6 See V 191902.
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TO: [ H E N R Y D R U M M O N D ]
Hughenden [Monday] 3 December 1849 192QX
O R I G I N A L : NOR C / I / 1 2 7
E D I T O R I A L C O M M E N T : In another hand (?) at the bottom of the first page: 'H.I). Esq'. Sic: wd. dare wd. dare.
My dear Sir, Hughenden Manor I Dec. 3. 1849 It was unnecessary to bind me to confidence. I instantly recognised the handwriting. For many years, he was wont to send me anonymous letters, from Paris, with an Arabic seal, & postage not paid. I vowed never to listen to his schemes for paying off the national debt / until he had paid his postage. This he has never done. I have never seen him, (tho' he has revealed himself to me) & I never will. I think him a violent, cockbrained, fellow, without abilities. As for his plan, it is coarse confiscation, & not founded on true assumptions; / for it is not a fact, that rents have fallen since the peace & the int: on the debt has remained the same. The interest on the debt has been reduced, & I am not sure, whether it has not been diminished in a greater proportion than the fall in rents.1 I am surprised, that you shd. think my silence about / the Jews was to please Bankes, or that anyone wd. dare wd. dare to dictate to me on such a subject. I am silent about the Jews, because no single member of the house of Commons agrees with me in my view of the question, except perhaps yourself, who always vote agst them. What use in addressing an assembly where there is not a single sympathiser? Even the Rothschildren don't like my view of the case. It is not liberal, or Xtian eno' for them." [a squiggle] D.
TO: SIR CHARLES FERGUSSON FORBES
Hughenden IQ^IX [Friday] 4 January 1850
O R I G I N A L : TTU [l] E D I T O R I A L COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb.
Hughenden Manor I High Wycomb. Jan. 4. 1850.
1 Drummond on 28 November had enclosed D a letter, of which he wrote: 'Although I am told to keep the name of the writer of the enclosed a secret, I must tell you that it is a brother of the Bear Ellice ... Pray send me back the enclosed & shew it to nobody.' Ellice at this time had five surviving brothers; possibly the most likely (because of his parliamentary experience) to have written the unsigned letter is Alexander Ellice, captain RN and Liberal MP for Harwich 1837-41. It reads: 'the real business of the country ... the national debt, that ceaseless & hopeless &; ever undiminishing burden is surely a fearful rock ahead of us ... If a sinking fund was established, at the same time with the conversion of the funds into terminable annuities, - pledging the sinking fund to be so appropriated, the country would be infinitely more willing to keep up the existing taxation ...' The writer thought such a fund might be provided 'by improved economy of administration.' H B/III/67, 673. 2 In his letter of 6 November, Drummond had added a postscript: 'Will you pardon me for adding that having already spoken & always voted in favor of admitting Rothschild you would do well to urge it again: il will do you more good that [sic] to try to please the Bankes's [sic] by silence.' H B/III/52. For the reaction to D's non-participation in the debate on Jewish disabilities in early May 1849, see V 1825112. George Bankes, a leading member of D's party, was an outspoken opponent of Jewish emancipation, in the 1848 debate on the same issue referring to the Jews as 'the avowed enemies of the Church.' Ml' (12 Pel) 1848).
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My dear Sir Charles, We have learnt today, with great distress, the accident, that has occurred at Wynyard. We hope the best, but shall feel / sensibly obliged to you, if you would have the goodness to give us one line of intelligence.1 It is some consolation, that you were on the spot. Yours very faithfully I B Disraeli
1985X TO: JOHN STUART
Hughenden [Thursday] 4 April 1850
ORIGINAL: NIPR Schomberg MacDonnell Papers 0/4091/C/2/3/1 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: '1850 Disraeli 4 April 1850'.
J. Stuart Esqr I M P. Hughenden Manor I Apl. 4. 1850 My dear Stuart, I shall be in my place on Monday at Vs past four, God willing. I have quite recovered.1 It is my present intention to be in town on / Saturday indeed, as Ld. Stanley will be passing thro' on that day from Whittlebury to Goodwood,2 & I wish to confer with him. If you are at leisure to call on me / on Saturday evening about V2 past eight, I shall be glad to see you - or Sunday, at the uncanonical hour of twelve & a y2: but after half past one, I am engaged.3 Your most ffly. I D. 1Q9IX TO: WILLIAM LOWNDES
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 15 April 1850
ORIGINAL: PS 1456 PUBLICATION HISTORY: HH (4 May 1850)
W. Lowndes Esq.
MY DEAR SIR, -
Grosvenor Gate, April 15th, 1850.
Although I had the pleasure of personally expressing to you how much I was gratified by our interview, of yesterday, when you did me the honour of presenting the resolution of the Royal Bucks Agricultural Association, I will, nevertheless, take
1 For the shooting accident at Wynyard costing Lord Seaham an eye, for the offence Lord Londonderry took at this letter, and for Forbes's reply of 6 January, see V 1952*14. 1 For D's illness of March 1850, see V 1976&ni. During this time, MA sent Stuart two reports of D's condition, one dated 14 March, in which she says D will be very glad to see him, and another saying that D 'is so decidedly better since I saw you ... The appetite is arrived, he has just finish'd the wing of a chicken, so he will now soon get well.' NIPR Schomberg MacDonnell Papers 0/4091/0/2/2/1-2. Stuart had written on 2 April, hoping to see D at his place in the House on Monday, and raising some questions about party strategy; he wondered whether he could see D for half an hour on his return to town. H B/XXI/S/668. On Monday the 8th, D would speak twice, according to Air (9 Apr 1850) showing 'all the traces of severe recent indisposition'. 2 Whittlebury Lodge, Northants, was the seat of Lord Southampton and Goodwood, at Chichester, W Sussex, of the Duke of Richmond. See V 1984111 for Beresford's snide remark about Stanley and the Northampton Races. 3 D wrote Stuart a note, evidently on Saturday the 7th, which in its entirety reads: '20 min to 9 I NOW I D'. Presumably this is in response to one from Stuart by messenger asking whether he should still call at that hour or the next day. NIPR Schomberg MacDonnell Papers 0/4091/0/2/5/1.
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the liberty of again requesting you to convey to the Association how much I am honoured and recompensed by their confidence and approbation. Such expressions on their part are among the best rewards of public life, and the most efficient incentives to public exertion. In entrusting the communication of their resolution to a gentleman of the county so greatly, and so justly, respected as yourself, they added to a compliment which I highly appreciate. Believe me, my Dear Sir, I Yours sincerely, I B. DISRAELI.1 TO: ACTON TINDAL
Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 9 May 1850
1QQQX
O R I G I N A L : PS 1394
PUBLICATION HISTORY: Maggs catalogue 1218 (1996) item 26, described as: 'Autograph Letter Signed ("B Disraeli") ... to Acton Tindal, 3 pages 8vo, Grosvenor Gate, 9 May 1850 ... blank fourth page'
I am very sorry that it was quite out of my power to attend the Deputation of the Bucks Railway Company, & enforce the paramount importance of completing the line from Aylesbury to Winslow. I shall be very happy to hear, that the representations of the Deputation have had the desired effect, or to join in any further steps requisite for its attainment...1 TO: HENRY D R U M M O N D
Hughenden [Tuesday] 21 May 1850
ORIGINAL: NOR C/l/128
PRIVATE Hughenden Manor Henry Drummond Esq I M.P. H. Wycombe. May 21. 1850 My dear Sir, Your letter, & enclosure, reached me today.1 I assume, that we shall have some explanation from Ld. John on Thursday, & / until then, I am unable to form any opinion as to the desirable course[.] I doubt, whether the "House" be against Palmerston; Cobden & Co., & all the Radicals, look, with great favor, on his / doings, & my opinion is, that any attack on their foreign policy, even if we had the materials, would give him a great triumph.
1 At a meeting of the Aylesbury District Society for Protection to Agriculture on 27 April 1850, William Lowndes (chair) would report that, 'Since the last meeting of the Bucks Association for Relief of Real Property, he had had the honour of presenting the vote of thanks passed by that Association to Mr. Disraeli, who was highly flattered with it, and desired him ... to return his best thanks to the members for their appreciation of his conduct. The next day he received a letter from Mr. Disraeli, which he would hand to the Secretary', who read it out to the assembly. For D's actions on behalf of the Association, see V 1915&H2 and app IV. RH (4 May 1850). 1 Acton Tindal, of the Manor House, Aylesbury, was clerk of the peace for Bucks. A 'Deputation of Members of Parliament and other influential Gentlemen' of Bucks had undertaken to present a 'Memorial' to the directors of the Bucks Railway Company and the London and North Western Railway Company urging them to complete the planned Bucks railway network before the relevant acts expired. HH (6 Apr 1850). Drummond on 19 Mav had written urging D to move for an address to the Queen on the Don Padfico matter (see V 1979111), failing which he thought he would move some resolutions of which he enclosed copies, H B/XXI/D/378.
491
^OO^-X
If the case turns out as much against the Ministers as it threatens, / I think we had better leave Palmerston to the House of Lords.' Yours very faithfully, I D. 2045X TO: ROBERT B. HARVEY
Hughenden [Wednesday] 25 September 1850
ORIGINAL: BRN [13]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Disraeli'. In the second paragraph, 'Harvey' has been inserted.
R.B. Harvey Esqr Hughenden I Septr. 25. 1850 My dear Mr Harvey, It was fully my intention to have had the honor of supporting you on the 1st Proxfimjo, 1 but I am very sorry to say, that urgent private business too / long neglected, from the pressure of parliamentary duties, will render it necessary for me to be in Gloucestershire on that day. My property there is in very great confusion. / I receive no rents, & soon, I fear, shall have no tenants.2 Offer our very kindest remembrances to Mrs. Harvey, & all your circle, of whom we often talk, & often think; &, always, with / the feelings wh: they deserve. Yours ever faithfully, I B Disraeli 2O58X TO: JOHN STUART
Hughenden [Sunday] 10 November 1850
ORIGINAL: NIPR Schomberg MacDonnell Papers D/4ogi/C/2/4/1 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the eighth page: '1850 Disraeli 10 Nov 1850'. Sic: Stewart.
private Hughenden, Nov 10/50 My dear Stewart, I was very glad to hear from you, & to learn, that you did not disapprove of my move.1 I had no time to consult anyone; Ld. John's letter only reached me on Friday afternoon. I perceived, that he was going to ride the high Protestant / horse, & making the miserable Puseyites the scape-goat, persuade the country, that he was the only saviour of their liberties, when, in truth, his policy is, by far, the greater culprit. As it was of the first importance, that the check shd appear / in the next day's Times, Saturday, (otherwise it wd be delayed till Monday, wh: wd have been very injurious,) I only had half an hour before I was obliged to send up
2 See V 23n2, 20O7ni, 20l2&n3 and 2013n2. 1 On i October 1850, the Royal South Bucks Agricultural Association would hold its annual meeting and ploughing match, with Robert Bateson Harvey presiding and George Lathom Browne the main speaker; see V 2045&ni. BH (5 Oct 1850) in a leader in addition to its report of the event would comment: The absence of the political representatives of the County is to be excused as much as regretted. Few better opportunities are offered to them ... of learning from experienced men the real wants and wishes of those whose interests they are bound to defend.' 2 For the problems with the Gloucestershire properties, see V 20Ol&ni. No record of a late-i85O visit by D has been found. 1 For D's quick response to Russell's 'Durham letter' in the so-called papal aggression furor, and for Stuart's approving letter of 9 November, see V 2057&nn4&5.
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the messenger to London. I now feel, how much was lost by this haste - but the opportune / is sometimes worth more than the excellent - and, at any rate, I hope this may give a hint, wh: at least, may make people think before they fall into the trap, & greet the Whig, Protestant meet ministry / with loud huzzas of emptyheaded gratitude. I have been here very busy, trying to evoke order out of chaos, & to prepare some propositions2 wh: may permit us to meet Parliament like / men of sense & spirit - but I have not seen anyone, & scarcely heard from any one. I shall therefore be glad when yr labors spare you ten minutes, to hear something of men / & things. Ever yrs I most sincerely, I D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Hughenden [Monday] 11 November 1850 2059^
ORIGINAL: NIPR 03030/JJ/1A Castlereagh Papers EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. The last three words of the postscript are written across the fifth page. Sic: St. Barnarbas.
Hughenden - Nov. 11 - 50 I shd. be glad to hear my Lord was himself again. I don't know the details of the Tenant campaign,1 as they did riot reach the London papers, but I watched with great interest the course of the principal events. Events seem to multiply in / all quarters, & the death of Count Brandenburg at this moment, when he had just defeated his rival, is most remarkable, & may be rife with great consequences.2 I did not, I confess, find the charge of the Bishop as satisfactory as your Ladyship did. An hour about / the Gorham case, & five minutes about the Papal usurpation, - "so much sack to a pennyworth of bread." But he is in a false position. He has encouraged, without leading, the Puseyite movement from the first, &, only a few weeks ago was perpetrating the "mummeries," against wh: Ld John is so / indignant, at St. Barnarbas, himself. By the bye, Ld. John, not very long ago, was a dutiful attendant on Mr Bennett, & sucked it in extremely. Entre nous, the Dean of St. Pauls told my informant, that Ld John, a week previous to his manifesto, wrote a letter to / the Bishop of London exactly on a different tackl wh: letter the Dean saw. I suppose he found that the Pope had "overegged his pudding" in the interval.3 2 For D's work on the propositions that would form his 11 February 1851 motion on agricultural distress (V 2097ni), see V 2049, 2050, 2054&nni&2 and 2063&nio. 1 See V 205503, 2O62&n2 and 2l92ni. 2 Friedrich Wilhelm, Count von Brandenburg (1792-1850), son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II by a morganatic marriage, prime minister of Prussia since 1848, had died suddenly on 6 November at Berlin. For the threat of a German civil war that seemed (eg to MP of this day) to be revived just when it had been averted by the resignation on 2 November 1850 of Radowitz, the Prussian foreign minister and Brandenburg's bellicose rival in determining Prussia's foreign policy, see V 2055&n73 For 'the Gorham case', see V 1995113; for 'the Papal usurpation' and Lord John Russell's 'manifesto', 2053n3; for the Anglo-Catholic cleric 'Mr Bennett' as Lord John's 'Confessor' at the ritualistic Church of St Barnabas, 2O69&ny; for the Shakespeare allusion, Henry IV, I, i, iv ('O monstrous! but one halfpennyworth of bread to this intolerable deal of sack!'); for 'my informant' and the dean's letter,
493
What however will be the effect on the Papist constituencies of the newborn Protestant zeal / of the descendant of the plunderers of the Abbey Lands? Will the Roman Catholic agricultural members continue to vote against the territorial interests, when Free trade, & its incidents, are championed by / a Puritan? I shall be most anxious until I hear some news of my Lord, & am in hopes this gentle weather may have put him all right. I shall send this to Holdernesse, as yr. / movements are doubtful, but if still in Ireland, pray let me hear how affairs look. Ever, I Yr faithful, I D. In the earlier part of the first volume of "Tancred," you will find a character of the Bishop, wh: I venture to recommend / to yr. study.4
2l65X TO: THOMAS LONGMAN
[London, Thursday] 31 July 1851
ORIGINAL: RDG65/1
COVER: Thomas Longman Esq I 56 Eaton Square I B Disraeli
3ist July 1851 Admit the bearer to the Gallery of the House of Commons this evening[.] ! B Disraeli
2l67X TO: THOMAS CURSON HANSARD, JR
gGrosvenor Gate [Monday] 4 August 1851
O R I G I N A L : BRN [14]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: checque; Wycomb.
T. Hansard Esqr Grosvenor Gate I Augt. 4. 1851. Dear Sir, I shd. feel much obliged to you, if you cd. do me the favor of last year, & send me, to Hughenden, the Reports / of 1846-7., wh: I still require to refer to, in the composition of the life of Ld. George Bentinck.1 Yours very faithfully I B Disraeli I returned you, some days ago, the revised report, corrected, of my speech on
2O6l&n5. The Bishop of London (Blomfield) on Saturday 2 November had delivered a charge at St Paul's Cathedral to the clergy of his diocese in which he explained at length (more than five newspaper columns of the total of eight) his position and behaviour with respect to the Gorham case; he forbade the clergy attending Anglo-Catholic ('the Oratorians') services or lectures, warned of the dangers of Latitudinarianism and of German theology, and touched on a number of lesser topics. He devoted only a few sentences to deploring the Pope's creation of episcopal sees in England, an act which he saw as having been encouraged by the high-church movement. MP (4 Nov 1850). 4 Tancred bk II chap 4 (chap 10 in editions without book divisions). 1 The business in the House on 31 July 1851 was unexceptional, but included the re-appointment of the select committee on public libraries for the purpose of receiving, and ordering to be printed, additional returns respecting foreign public libraries received through the foreign office. D was on the committee. MP (\ Aug 1851). The person for whom D is providing this ticket of admission (admittedly not a letter), Thomas Longman (1804-1879), was head since 1842 of the firm that would publish D's later novels and editions; in 1872 he would publish a pamphlet on copyright in the colonies. 1 See v 2033&n3; 'the favor of last year' is not on record, but see 1806.
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Financial Policy2 - & also a checque for my subscription, crossed - wh: you doubtless received.3 My direction is (for I leave tomorrow) Hughenden, High Wycomb / - the point of departure, the Gloucester Warehouse, corner of Park St Oxford St[.]4 TO: SPENCER WALPOLE
Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 3 December 1851
22O2X
O R I G I N A L : HOL [23]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is from a typescript kindly provided by David Holland.
S.H. Walpole Esq MP Grosvenor Gate I Dec. 3, 51 My dear Walpole, I will meet you at the Carlton tomorrow (Thursd) at '/2 past four o'clk.1 Yours sincerely I D. TO: THE DUKE OF N O R T H U M B E R L A N D
Hughenden [Tuesday] 221QX 6 January 1852
O R I G I N A L : NOR G/7/7-1O EDITORIAL COMMENT: D has numbered the second and third sheets: '2'; '3'. Sic: developement.
Confidential Hughenden Manor His Grace I The Duke of Northumberland Jan: 6. 1852 My dear Lord Duke, I have been on the point of writing to yr Grace for the last six weeks, wishing to put before you the state of affairs as they appeared to me, so that I might perhaps / obtain the advantage of yr. judgment on our position, but the rapid occurrence of great events has made me frequently postpone speculations, wh: circumstances continually disturbed. Nothwithstanding the Palmerston coup d'etat, & the fact that the Cabinet is at this moment otherwise sick, I am still inclined to believe, that Lord John will meet the / houses, & that he will propose an extensive measure of parliamentary reform. 1 By an extensive measure, I mean one, that will include a considerable expansion of the county constituencies & a schedule of doomed boroughs. Assuming that, with regard to the county franchise, the government will certainly not propose a more sweeping scheme / than the measure of Mr Locke King wh: they resisted, I will put, first of all, very briefly before you the result of my researches & calculations on this head. The number of persons, who would be enfranchised in the counties of England
2 See V 2ll6&u3 for D's speech of 11 April 1851. 3 CfV 2121&IU. 4 The Gloucester Warehouse, at 248 Oxford Street W, was the receiving office for goods and parcels for the Great Northern and the Great Western railway companies. The Ds would go to Hughenden on 6 August. H ace.
1 For the probable purpose of this meeting, see V 220l&ni and 2204&ni. 1 See v 22l4n2 and VI 221Q.
495
& Wales, if a rating to the poor of £10 & upwards were to confer a right of voting, wd. be 350,591 / If £20: were substituted: 150.253 If £15: 210,355 If £12: 280,473 At a £10 rating i/5th. wo[ul]d be disfranchised by non-payment of rates. Actual number of County voters at present 512,376. Increase in Northumberland at a £10 franchise 3.752 / To obtain the [ivord inserted:] increased number in Northumberland at the three other rates, multiply 3,752 respectively by 4/5 by 3/5 & by 3/7.2 With respect to the second branch of the subject, it seems quite certain, that a large number of boroughs supplying forty, or sixty seats, might be disfranchised, like St. Albans for example, witht. diminishing the territorial influence: the danger would arise from the manner in wh: these forfeited franchises might be re-distributed. It wd. / not be politic, scarcely perhaps be possible, to increase the aristocratic element in the house of commons; but if, on the other hand, these forfeited seats were transferred to the towns, the balance wd. be most dangerously disturbed. It has occurred to me, as a middle course, & as one, wh: might at once divert the storm & ultimately assist the conservative principle, to consider what might be the effect, if feasible, of / giving a direct representation to the Colonies in our parliament. Some twenty or thirty seats wd be sufficient. The difficulties of such an arrangement are very considerable, but I am, after long research & meditation, of opinion, that they might be overcome. The Parliament wd. then [word inserted:] really be an imperial Parliament, whereas, tho' now so styled, it is in fact only the parliament of a kingdom, & of an insular kingdom realm. Such / an arrangement wd. assist us also in terminating our colonial squabbles, arising from the mistaken nature of the self government claimed by the colonists & contested by the metropolis. The local government might then be unrestricted, but confined to the complete, tho' sole, developement of the municipal principle: recognised in the imperial senate, the gratified pride of the colonists wd. no longer trench on the rights of the crown under a municipal plea. / I need not point out to Yr Grace the different aspect with wh: the question of colonial representation can be viewed in 1852 compared with the period of the Reform bill, since wh:, time & space have been alike vanquished. Nor do I indeed pretend in a letter [inserted:] more than t [end of insertion] to vindicate the subject for yr reflection, well knowing that the suggestion is enough for yr. trained &
2 See M 2222&H2.
496
experienced mind: but / I think the subject is one deserving our gravest consideration, & that its happy handling might not only avert present troubles, but lay the foundation of [inserted:] future sources of [end of insertion] conservative influence/ All this may be very unnecessary, as some of our sanguine friends believe, that the council of tomorrow concludes the career of the present cabinet. We shall then get rid of the new Reform bill, wh:, had the last / French revolution4 taken place a year ago, wd. never have been promised by a British minister, & I might have been spared eight weeks of analysis wh: I wd. willingly have spent in idlesse. I saw Ld. Derby at the end of November, meeting him in town, when he came up for a day for the Weimar wedding," & we [word inserted:] amply discussed affairs - but neither of the coups d'etat had then occurred. I think Ld. John's is the bolder of the two. I / heard yesterday that Duke of Newcastle was to go to India: from a good quarter/' but I do not vouch for it. I shd. suppose the appointment, if intended, must depend upon the reconstruction of the Cabinet by the other Peelites, but the obstacles are so great to such an arrangement, that I doubt whether tomorrow will announce it. Turning over a new book at Hatfield, a few weeks back / on the confluence of the two Niles, I discovered that I had made a terrible mistake in telling Yr Grace at Sion, that I had been at Khartoum. It was not a traveller's tale; it was a sheer blunder. Permit me to correct it.7 I heard also at Hatfield with great pleasure that Yr. Grace had recovered from yr. indisposition, of wh: I heard only at the same time, having been / living the whole autumn in these woods. I beg you to present my compliments to her Grace8 & to believe me, I my dear Lord Duke, I Your obliged & faithful I Servant, I B DISRAELI TO: HENRY D R U M M O N D
Hughenden [Thursday] 8 January 1852
ORIGINAL: NORC/1/129
private Hughenden Manor I Jan. 8. 52. Henry Drummond Esqr My dear Mr Drummond, A very heavy quarter Sess: has deranged my correspondence, &: prevented me from replying to your amiable & agreeable letter until today.1 3 4 5 6 7
For Northumberland's response to these ideas, see \T 2228115. See V 2204&ni. See V 2l99&n2. See VI 22l9&n7. For D's 18301 7OO-mile journey np the Nile as far as Thebes, see I ill (he may have confused the confluence at Khartoum with the river's divergence at its delta just north of Cairo). The Ds had been guests of the Northnmberlands at Syon (or Sion) 10-12 May 1851. H B/XXI/N/172. For their most recent visit to Hatfield, see V 2204-8. 8 The Duke in 1842 had married Lady Eleanor Grosvenor (1820-1911), eldest daughter of 2nd Marquess of Westminster. 1 Drummond had written on 30 December 1851 with praise for LGB. D had been at the Bucks epiphany quarter sessions on 5 January. III! (10 Jan 1852). Drummond went on to discuss Russell's dismissal of Palmerston, saying the latter's friends 'neither will nor ought to bear quietly the grossest insult that has
497
222OX
I am much gratified that / you do not disapprove of the manner in wh: I have attempted to treat a passage in cotemporary history. I understand, that Lord John has altogether blundered his Palmerstonian coup d'etat, & that the late Secretary has a good case. It appears / to me, on the surface, a gross & unjustifiable proceeding on the part of Lord John, & scarcely to be reconciled with the honor, wh:, I hope, still regulates the conduct of gentlemen, if there be such a sentiment & such a class / left. However we shall hear it all soon, performed in the most artistic manner. What will be decided on in the Council today? I apprehend, at all costs, Ld. John will meet Parliament.2 Ever my dear Sir, I with sincere regards, I yrs, I D. 2224X TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Hughenden [Thursday] 15 January 1852
ORIGINAL: NIPR D3O3O/JJ/3A Castlereagh Papers
Hughenden Manor I Jany. 15. 1852 I hope Lady Londonderry will deign to accept, from a defender of native industry, some work, made upon their / pillows, by the cottagers on this estate. Their humble labors will reach her on a day dear to her friends, which, I trust, may be often repeated, and / always with increased happiness.1 B. Disraeli
2322X TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Downing Street [Saturday] 26 June 1852
ORIGINAL: NIPR D3O3O/JJ/9A Castlereagh Papers EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: french.
My dear Lady, D.S. I June 26. 52 It gave me great pleasure to hear from you, &, on the whole, so satisfactorily.1 Parliament will be both prorogued & dissolved on Thursday next, & then our fate is to be decided. The Liberal sections talk big, / but I have got their confidential lists & know their cards, & I think we shall beat them, notwithstanding all their bluster. Adolphus has a hard fight at Durham: 2 I have done all I cd. for him in giving, or promising, places / to his future constituents. been put upon any public minister for a century ... I fear ... it will not be possible to postpone this matter untill we have seen Johnnys reform bill'. H B/XXI/D/379. 2 At the opening of parliament on 3 February, Russell would give an account of his dismissal of Palmerston, saying he alone, without consulting cabinet, had taken the painful decision. Russell's government would remain in office until mid-February; see VI 223l&n2. 1 17 January 1852 would be Lady Londonderry's 52nd birthday; in her letter of 7 January responding to D's latest (V 2214) she had thanked him for keeping her informed about affairs, on which she offered her opinions and then added: 'I delight in your Book but have not finished it. I hear every body praising it ...' NIPR D303O/JJ2A. She would write again on 23 January to thank D for his remembrance of her, a gift of lace. H B/XX/V/174. 1 Lady Londonderry had written from Hamburg on 20 June; she and Lord Londonderry (who had lost his cough and was quite well) planned to be back from their European travels by the second week of July, and hoped the Ds would visit them at Wynyard about the end of July. NIPR D303O/JJ/8A. 2 See \T 2346&n2.
498
The last month has been the hardest work I ever remember - from morn to midnight, & long past, in the H of Comm: & all the cares of state besides - but I can't say I have suffered; on the contrary, I am particularly well. The / season has been hurried, & I hear very gay, for personally I have been about very little - but there have been efforts to exercise some social influences for the new government. All however will vanish with the proclamation, that dissolves parliament, & Ld. Maidstone, I fear will have to fight Westminster / with the aristocracy not only divided, but dispersed.3 The great foreigner of the season is Said Pasha, a prince of Egypt. He weighs 24 stone, & the Queen burst out a-laughing when he was His Highness was presented to her. He is, however, a somewhat enlightened man, / speaks french with facility, & is travelling for his health, that is to say, has leave of absence for having failed in getting up a rebellion agst his sovereign.4 Sir Henry Bulwer has mitigated, or perhaps I might say, totally remedied, the Malmesbury centre temps. It was an unfortunate affair, & never wd. have been heard of, / or happened, if Buhver had only arrived at Florence a month before he did.5 The new Ministers, on the whole, have worked very well, & I think have rather surprised the malicious world. The Colloredos, as you have perhaps observed, have come back to us. He brought me a letter ef from Metternich, whom he describes as quite unchanged, except perhaps a little deafness.6 Your / kind invitation to Wynyard has many charms; there seem 1000 obstacles to so much pleasure, but perhaps they will vanish. In the meantime, with my kindest remembrances & regards to Ld. Londonderry, who, I rejoice to hear, has vanquished his old enemy, the cough, believe me ever I Your sincere friend & servant I D. TO: CLAUDIUS MARTYN
Downing Street [Friday] 23 July 1852 2339^
O R I G I N A L : BRN [16]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper (see VI 2338ec).
The I Rev. Claude Martyn I A.M Reverend Sir,
D.S.I July 23. 1852
3 Maidstone's election strategy at Westminster was to have his gentlemen friends canvass uncommitted voters in an attempt to win it from the Radicals; the only Conservative of the four candidates vying for the two seats, he would be defeated at the poll on 8 July, coming a close third. MP (5, 8, lojul 1852). See also VI 2335n5. 4 Said Pasha (1822-1863) was the favourite son of the late Mehemet Ali and viceroy of Egypt after the murder in 1854 of his nephew Abbas Pasha (1813-1854), reactionary viceroy since 1848; Said Pasha had arrived in London from Paris on 21 June, had an audience with the Queen on the 22nd and attended MA's reception on the 23rd. Ml> (22, 24jun 1852). 5 See VI 2296&ni, 2297&n3, 23l5&m and 2322ni. Bulwer's iSJune report from Florence that the Mather affair was settled had been received in London on 25 June. MP (2 Jul 1852). 6 Colloredo was again Austrian ambassador in London; see V l820n6. For Metternich's letter introducing him, see VI 2836&n4.
499
I thank you very much for yr. obliging letter of the 2nd. Inst, & for the support wh: / you have extended to me in the County.1 Believe me, I dear Sir, I Yours faithfully, I B Disraeli 236OX TO: JOSEPH THOMAS
Hughenden [Friday?] 13 August [1852?]
ORIGINAL: PRIX RTC01 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: conjectural; see 112. Sir: Wycomb.
Hughenden Manor I High Wycomb, Aug. 13 Mr. Disraeli would thank Mr. Thomas1 to forward to him, here, L'Independance Beige,2 until further directions.
23§OX T0: JULIAN FANE
Hughenden [Tuesday] 31 August 1852
ORIGINAL: PS 1450 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Michael Silverman Manuscripts (Dec 1998) described as 'Autograph Letter Signed ('D') to ... Julian Fane ... 3 pages 8vo. Hughenden Manor, August 31, 1852.' EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper. The following is taken from the first page of the MS followed by the description and text given in the catalogue.
Hon I Julian Fane Hughenden Manor I Aug. 31. 1852 Dear Julian, I was very much pleased by receiving yr poems, & I shall read them with all the interest with wh: / my acquaintance with their writer has inspired me [and approving the planned publication by one of Fane's friends of a translation of part of one of Disraeli's own works] Your friend is quite welcome to publish his translation of the 24th. chapter as a pamphlet. Indeed, I am much honored & gratified by his labors, which will promote a sacred cause[J1 24O?R TO: LORD COWLEY
Hughenden [Monday] 2? September 1852
ORIGINAL: BRN [17] EDITORIAL COMMENT: On black-edged paper. See VI 2407ec.
[ The text is fully and accurately given in 2407 from a copy and therefore not repeated here, the only differences being very minor ones of punctuation and paragraph breaks, and expansion of abbreviations.]
24O8X TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Hughenden [Thursday] 30 September 1852
ORIGINAL: NIPR D3O3O/JJ/13A Castlereagh Papers
1 See \T 2339&n i. 1 Joseph Thomas is listed as agent for all foreign journals at l Finch Lane, Cornhill, in LPOl) (1850). 2 The Independence Beige was published in London and then in Brussels 1843-1940. Of the years in which D was at Hughenden on 13 August, 1852 is the most likely time that he, in government, would have wanted to follow this publication because of the impact of Belgium and the Belgian press on affairs with France; see VI 2368ni, 2373n2 and 2843111. 1 See VI 2352&nm&3.
5OO
Private Hughenden Manor I Septr. 30. 1852 My dear Lady, The Queen leaves Balmoral the 12th. Octr, as at present advised. I shd. have replied to yr. note by return, but had to send up to town / about her Majesty's route. Walpole tells me, that he knows nothing of this, except that it will be very rapid. 1 The Duke's death will probably precipitate the / meeting of Parlt a little, tho' this is not yet quite settled.2 I wrote as strong a letter as I cd. devise about Adolphus, whose interests I have always endeavoured to uphold. 3 This is / very hurried, but I hope yet to find time to write to you more fully. I am greatly pressed. You & yours are, I trust, as well, as your best friends can desire, among whom will always be your attached I D. TO: LORD BATEMAN
Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 10 November 1852
2435^
O R I G I N A L : HWD [2]
The I Ld. Bateman Grosvenor Gate I Novr 10, 1852. My dear Bateman, I am obliged to go to Downing St. at two o'ck, but I will send my Brougham on to you from thence; only you must be careful / not to keep it waiting. It will be with you about '/4 to three, & bring you on to D. St., where you will find me, / and then we will go to the Palace together.1 Yrs sincerely I D. TO: HENRY HARNESS
Downing Street [Friday] 12 November 1852
O R I G I N A L : BRN [l8] COVER: Captain Harness R.E. I Royal Mint I B. Disraeli POSTMARK: In crowned circle: PAID I [illegible] I 1852 E D I T O R I A L COMMENT: On black-edged paper.
Private D.S.I Nov. 12. 1852 Captain Harness I R.E. Dear Sir, I shd. really feel very7 much obliged to you, if you would consider / the case of Jersey Harbor, & favor me with your opinion: whether it be necessary for defence, or otherwise?
1 For Lady Londonderry's letter of 25 September, see VI 2408&ni. 2 See VI 2398&n5 and 2435&ni. 3 Sec- VI 2370&ni and 2528£n2. If D wrote a letter other than 2408 at this time on behalf of Lord Adolphus Vane, it has not been found. 1 The Queen held a privy council at Buckingham Palace on this day at 4 pin (D in attendance), alter which she made several appointments, including Lord Bateman as 11. of Herefordshire. Ml' (11 Nov 1852). See VI 24l6&:n2.
501
2437^
The / papers, on this subject, at the Treasury, are at yr. service, & will be given to you, if you wish it / by Sir Charles Trevelyan.1 Believe me, I Yours faithfully I D. 252?X TO: SAMUEL LUCAS
[Grosvenor Gate, Friday] 6 May [1853]
ORIGINAL: BRN [54]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see VI 2529111.
CONFIDENTIAL May 6. !4 past four S. Lucas Esq My dear Sir, To prevent confusion, I send this to say I have sent a similar missive to to [two words inserted:] you at the Strand. It is to say, that if your difficulties are insuperable, wh: I think very probable, that / you had better postpone yr publication for a week - it is the least - much the least of two evils. I have left you HERE full instructions on all points, wh: you shd. / see before you decide on anything. You will find Mrs. D. at home. Come on then here as soon as possible, & she will send for me.1 Yrs I D 2532X TO: OCTAVIAN BLEWITT
Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 20 May 1853
ORIGINAL: RLE Vol 12 No 1 1853
O. Blewitt Esqr1 Dear Sir -
Grosvenor Gate I May 2O -53
1 Henry Drury Harness (1804-1883), younger brother of D's friend William Harness (see III H04&:n3), 2nd lieutenant royal engineers 1827, general 1878, studied silver mining in Mexico 1825-7, instructor in fortifications at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, 1834-40, professor 1844-6, at Chatham 1840-4, director 1860-6, secretary to railway commission 1846-50, was deputy-master of the mint 1850-2, commissioner of Irish works 1852-4, chief engineer in India under Clyde during the mutiny, KGB 1873. As deputy-master, he had been primarily responsible for the reform of the mint and been promised the mastership when it was no longer a political appointment; he had resigned when it was instead given to Sir John Herschel and had declined Trevelyan's frantic entreaties in October that he return. He however acceded to D's request, and submitted a report on 26 November 1852 on the basis of the secret reports received from Trevelyan the day before and on Wellington letters of 1847: the defence of Jersey would cost £10,000,000 and require 10,000 troops; a harbour at Alderney would be much less expensive, Alderney, Portland and Dover being the naval posts required for security of the channel. He did not offer a conclusive opinion, but thought construction of harbours should proceed. H B/V/H/4-5, B/V/C/3-ii. 1 The first issue of the Press would in fact appear on 7 May 1853; see VI 2529111. Lucas had written on 5 May at 6 pm that he still had not received anything from three expected sources: 'But I feel confident that I shall be in a position to consult you with effect tomorrow ...' On this day (6 May), he had written at 3 pm: T have now done everything in my power - and I trust we shall make a first rate debut. But when all is done that can be done - in the confusion of a first publication with its sudden exigencies and unavoidable embarrassments, I lay down my pen feeling that a good half of our failure or success depends now on the stars in their courses.' H B/XXI/L/376, VI/17O. 1 See, in this appendix, 1405X&nm&2; Blewitt most recently (9 and 11 May) had written to D about arrangements for his speech at the Royal Literary Fund dinner on the latter date. H B/XXI/B/627-8.
502
I enclose you a sovereign wh: I reed this morning from a Mr. Wilks.2 Be so good as to acknowledge the receipt to him. I / have also taken the liberty of enclosing some other letters wh: I find on my table. If you will do the needful in regard to them, I / shall be very much obliged to you, as I have at this moment no Secy, & great arrears of correspondence. Yrs ffly. I D. T.O. / I have not yet been able to revise yr. report, but hope to do so in a day or two. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
[Grosvenor Gate, Tuesday] 21 June 1853 2535^
ORIGINAL: NIPR 03030/JJ/i8A Castlereagh Papers EDITORIAL COMMENT: 'Grosvenor Gate' is from the typescript copy of the letter, i8B. No imprint is visible on the microfilm copy of the manuscript letter. There is no salutation.
June 21. 1853 I was very much gratified by hearing from you, & that yourself & Ld Londony. were well in a beautiful spot.1 I entirely sympathise with you about Adolphus, & will lose no opportunity of assisting his views. It shd. be some consolation that he has shown, in his brief career, / no inconsiderable promise; that he has gained some experience of his future scene of action, wh: no theoretical acquaintance with it cd. give; & that he need not lose his time in the interval, but store himself with that knowledge, wh: he will, ere long, avail himself of with effect. Affairs here are very complicated. / There seems no doubt, as far as I can gather, that both Aberdeen & Clarendon have committed themselves to Russia, & then shabbily deserted the Emperor, who, thro' their representations, has placed himself in a false position.2 I received Ld. Londonderry's letter on Monday last.3 The D of Genoa,4 who was rather admired here by the ladies, who declared, that tho' / not handsome, he was picturesque - (tho' he appeared to me rather apish), has gone, & made way for the K & Queen of Hanover,5 all the Saxe Cobourgs, & some others. The town is very gay, the Camp at Chobham6 very fashionable, &: the weather very rainy. This is not a letter, but I thought a single line was
2 Presumably this was a donation to the Fund, possibly by John Wilks (d 25 Aug 1854 'in his 8oth year'), FSS, FZS, a solicitor (retired 1825), Whig MP for Boston 1830-7, a kinsman of William Shenstone the eighteenth-century poet. AfC (28 Aug 1854). 1 Lady Londonderry had written from Hamburg on 12 June bitterly disappointed at the result of the petition against Lord Adolphus Vane's election (see VI 2528&nm&2), but thanking D for his support. She added: 'We are here comfortable & quiet with a charming house, lovely weather & Ld L. quite well.' NIPR 03030/11/68. 2 See VI 2533ni and 2642111. These charges against Aberdeen and Clarendon had been made at length in the first leader of the Press of 18 June 1853, written by D. Press (annot). 3 See VI 2528112. 4 Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa (1822-1855), second son of Charles Albert, formerly King of Sardinia, and brother of Victor Emmanuel II, was admiral in the Sardinian navy. 5 For the Queen of Hanover, see VI 266g∋ in 1843 sne had married George V (1819-1878), King of Hanover 1851-66. 6 See VI 2698115.
503
better than silence, & I hope in a day or two to send you something more worthy of yr perusal.7 Ever yrs & my Lords, I D. 254OX TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
[London, Thursday] 4 August 1853
ORIGINAL: NIPR D3O3O/JJ/2OA Castlereagh Papers EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: qua; Brunow.
My dear Lady, Aug 4. 1853 The funds keep falling - the "Times" keeps thundering 1 - every day brings more alarming intelligence - & the Ministers, every night, make more warlike speeches & yet I am / credibly informed, that, in their confidential circle, they say that the business is quite settled, & has been for these weeks! Perhaps you may understand all this: I confess I cannot. There is some mystery wh: baffles me. Lord / Clarendon says, that immediate evacuation of the Principalities is the first condition & a sine qua non - that the propositions sent to St Petersburgh were previously approved of by Russia.2 Some say that Meyendorff (the best man Russia has)3 has arranged & devised the terms / (at Vienna), & that the Emperor may throw him over. But this is mere theory. Yet, why is there all this delay, wh: ruins Turkey worse than war? When things seem at the very worst, another Russian princess is sure to arrive.4 The Rothschilds & all that set, who have never treated / the matter seriously, have done so these last few days. Yet, I know, that, privately, the ministers were never more confident or easy. If they be in a fool's paradise, they must break up. Yet it is impossible to believe that they can be misled / - tho' the refusal of the Hospodars to continue their tribute, appears quite irreconcilable with the assertion, that the affair was arranged three weeks, & more, / ago. Ld. Aberdeen, speaking of the Emperor of Russia, the / other day, says said "we cannot put a pistol to his head"[.] Brunow is rarely seen, but when encountered, speaks as one somewhat distracted & quite broken-hearted, frequently repeatedting "I have behaved like a gentleman" - as if his master had not. /
7 For D's next extant letter to Lady Londonderry, see (in this appendix) 2540X. 1 The Times of this day (4 August) had published a report dated the previous evening: 'The announcement in the House of Lords last night, that the British Government have found it necessary to instruct Sir Hamilton Seymour at St. Petersburg to demand an immediate explanation regarding the exactions and usurpation understood to have been put in force by the Russian army in Moldavia, caused the English funds to open this morning at a further decline of nearly a half per cent.' 2 The letter up to this point is virtually a paraphrase of the first leader that would appear in the Press of 6 August. For the propositions (the first 'Vienna Note'), see VI 2538nl and 2599. 3 Baron Peter von Meyendorff (1796-1863), Russian diplomat, was the Russian ambassador at Vienna 18504. He would decline to participate in the Vienna Conference; see Paul W. Schroeder Austria, Great Britain and the Crimean War (Ithaca, NY 1972) 57. 4 The arrival in England on 3 August of the Czar's second daughter, the Princess Olga of Wurternberg, was extensively reported in the papers of this day. Also reported was the return to Torquay from London of his first daughter, Princess Marie, Grand Duchess of Leuchtenberg, who expected shortly to be joined there by her sister; see VI 2556&H4. Ml' (4 Aug 1853).
504
I am kept here by the fever of this business, having to ask questions, & perhaps, wh: the god of eloquence (Mercury, I think) forbid, having to make a speech!5 Ever yours I D. TO. LADY LONDONDERRY
[Hughenden, Tuesday] 13 September 1853 2555^
O R I G I N A L : NIPR D3O3O/77/24A Castlereagh Papers EDITORIAL. COMMENT: 'Hughenden' is from the typescript copy, 246; no imprint is visible on the microfilm copy of the manuscript. There is no salutation. Sic: the question mark after 'Torquay'; Brunow.
September 13. 1853 I know nothing, see no one, hear from no one, in this scattered & thoughtless September - but I do not like to be silent, at least to you. You seem to have had a great & most successful campaign of charity / in the North. 1 Would we had been there, or might now be pilgrims to your Tower, but we have been absent from home for nearly a [illegible deletion] year, &; duty makes us adscripti glebce? We are most grateful / to you for your kind invitation, & are very sensible of the honor you have conferred on us, & the pleasure we have lost. I trust, however, it is only one postponed. You may be quite sure, that I will not lose / sight of Adolphus, both for his own sake, & for that of one still dearer to me. I hope he will come & see me here in a little while, & I shall always endeavour to foster his taste for public life, & assist him / as far as I can.3 Have you read "Charles Auchester"? I sho[ul]d very much like to have your opinion of it.4 Business taking us to the West of England at the end of the season, we were, almost by chance, for a week at Torquay? / Have you ever found yourself there? It struck me as a place admirably adapted at moments for Lord Londonderry. You can reach it by express from town in five hours, tho' more than 200 miles. Myrtles grow in the open air / throughout the year there. At present you wd. find a Russian court perched
5 In the House this evening, D would speak briefly in the discussion on the role of the Speaker, and at greater length on the vote of funds to defray the expense of repairs to the British Ambassador's residence in Paris. Hansard CXXIX cols 1271-2, 1302-3, 1304. 1 Lady Londonderry had written from Garron Tower on 30 August: T ought to have written sooner but in my small way I have had gt. labours & undertakings as anxious to me as yrs to you ... We scurried down to Wynyard to do the civil there ... Then we had to hurry to Ireland - 2 Bazaars one entirely on my own hands for a Mechanics Institute. It was like setting up shop ... Then I had lioo children to dinner & they brought their productions ... From there we went to Mountstewart, and had a reception there ... how I wish you & Mrs D'Israeli wd come to this little wild place & the Sea & Mountain air would invigorate & refresh you ...' She said she had written to Lord Hertford (see VI 2558n2) and asked n to help Lord Adolphus (2535X&H i in this appendix). NIPR D3O3O/U22A. 2 Serfs; people bound to the soil. 3 See VI 2553&nl and 2575 4 See VI 2554&m. Lady Londonderry would respond on 6 October: 'It is curious that yr letter shd find me in the midst of Charles Auchester ... I was attracted in the first instance by the dedication ... one is thankful for anything fresh & original in the dearth of novelty & the abundance of platitudes & repetitions. Now tell me what you think of it &: who wrote it.' NIPR D/3O3O/JJ/25A.
505
upon its hills,5 & Brunow & Co perpetually coming down by express trains. Strange to say, that the most famous manufactory of the place is Malachite, wh: the people / work up more skilfully than the Muscovites, & the Grand Duchesses buy colossal inkstands6 of their native product to carry back home. This is not a letter, but a dull morning visit. I will call again very soon. Ever yours I D. 25?8X TO: LADY LONDONDERRY
Hughenden [Sunday] 6 November 1853
ORIGINAL: NIPR Londonderry Papers 02846/3/1/3 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation.
Hughenden. Nov. 6 1853 My life is so monotonous, that I do not think I shd. have ventured to disturb you, were I not anxious to hear something authentic of our dear friend Ld. L., whose accident greatly distresses me.1 I have almost illimitable confidence in his unrivalled constitution, but these periodical mischances must try even his resources. I / have no news to tell you. All is perplexed & confused, & everybody seems taken by surprise.2 I agree with you in what you say about the style of C. Auchester.3 One of calm repose wd. be more masterly, but this is seldom the privilege of a young writer. Irrespective of the style, I think the work is one of creative power, because / the scenes & characters recur to you. The work is transfused with imagination. It is vital, vivid, & picturesque. If all its passion & painting had been conveyed in the cold, clear, style of Goethe, it wd. have been a masterpiece. My hearth is much the same. Did you ever read a little thing I once wrote called / "Ixion in Heaven" - ? Probably not, as it was published in a periodical, edited by Bulwer more than twenty years [ word inserted:] agone.4 It is not written in the style of C.A. but I think might amuse you. So I send it by the post. It will at least assure you of my unalterable regard.5 Ever I D. My bookseller sells 30,000 copies weekly monthly of these little pink books.6 5 See, in this appendix, 254OX&n4. 6 C^V I973&ni for the inkstand Lady Londonderry gave D. 1 Lord Londonderry in Dublin had accidentally stepped into an open coal chute and suffered severe contusions to his leg, but no fractures or dislocations; the Londonderrys were consequently detained in Dublin a few days before proceeding to Mountstewart on l November. MP (4 Nov 1853). Lady Londonderry in her letter of 11 November would describe the accident in detail ('one leg out & one in'), and his Lordship's subsequent cold: 'After 10 days suffering & polticing I called in other advice ... I sighed for our friend Ferguson [sic] 8c yet this monster made Ld L do what I never cd - put on a blister ...' NIPR D3O3O/JJ/27A. 2 See VI 2578&n2. 3 See, in this appendix, 2555X&n4. 4 For Bryce's new 'popular' edition of Ixion in Heaven and some of D's other early works, see VI 2552n2. Ixion had been published in New Monthly Magazine in two parts, in December 1831 and February 1832; Bulwer Lytton was editor of NMM 1831-3. Wellesley Index III 166-7, 222. 5 Lady Londonderry would reply (ni): '1000 thanks for the book - it seems so unnatural that you shd write any thing I have not read, yet such is the fact. I never saw or heard of it ...' 6 D is evidently referring to all his bookseller's sales of this kind of edition; for the figures for D's, see VI 2557r»2.
506
TO: HENRY D R U M M O N D
[London, Tuesday] 10 January 1854
26l3X
O R I G I N A L : NOR C/l/130
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Right Honble Benjamin D'Israeli'.
Private January 10. 1854. H. Drummond Esqr I M.P. Dear Squire of Albury, You accuse me of not answering your letters. I always receive them with pleasure & read them with interest, & if I do not always reply to them, / it is because that is not an easy task, at least by the post. They require a volume, or a conversation as long. The House of Israel has outlived Pharaohs, Assyrians, & Babylon. It will exist when Turks & Russians are / alike forgotten. The only race, to whom God has spoken, defies Time & Fate. Their laws are written, their history read, their poems sung, in all the Churches; & the only conqueror, whom no / Congress can arrest, is the divine Prince of the Royal House of David.1 Yours ever, I D. TO: SPENCER WALPOLE
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 14 January 1854
^6l6X
ORIGINAL: HOL [l]
The Rt Hon: I S.H. Walpole I M.P. Grosvenor Gate I Jan: 14. 1854 My dear Walpole, I hope you will give me the pleasure of your company at dinner on the 3Oth. Inst at '/2 past seven, and / talk over the Queens speech, if we can. It is not a large or formal party, but I shall be much gratified, if you can join it.1 I hope Mrs. Walpole & all your family are well. / I saw the Captain yesterday quite himself.2 Yours ever I D.
TO: LORD BATEMAN
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 6 May 1854 ^653^
O R I G I N A L : HWD [4]
The I Lord Bateman Mv dear Bateman,
Grosvenor Gate I May 6. 1854
1 Drummond had written on 29 December (despite not having had a reply to his of 15 October) to comment on affairs (see VI 2599 and 26l9&ni): 'I wish the Turk were out of the world. The Russian is altogether in the wrong: so was the Assyrian of old, but he was Gods broom for sweeping clean. Russia is the broom for sweeping the Turk out of the Holy Land, & he will do it, & in his wake, & under his wings will the posterity of Abraham follow him & take possession ...' He urged D to seize the role of leader by the power of his convictions, as they both knew the old parties to be defunct. H B/XXI/D/382. D is repeating what he had said in chapter 24 of LCD. 1 See VI 2615111. There is no extant reply, but he is listed among the 21 guests who attended. MP (31 Jan 1854). 2 CfVl 26l2&m.
507
I am honored by your confidence, & shall be gratified in fulfilling the office, wh: you propose, in terms of so much friendship. / May happiness attend all those over whose interests I am to guard! 1 Yours sincerely, I B. Disraeli
2678X TO: EDWARD HARPER
[Hughenden, Sunday] 27 August 1854
ORIGINAL: BRN [2O]
Private Aug. 27. 54 E. Harper Esqr Dear Sir, I am a subscriber to the Morning Herald, & had, therefore, become acquainted with the interesting articles to wh: you / have, so obligingly, drawn my attention. 1 It gives me great pleasure to hear, that there is a fair probability of your talents finding that opportunity, wh: I have long wished. When I return / to town, I shall be glad to see you. Yours truly, I D. 27O3X TO: LORD LOVAINE
Hughenden [Tuesday] 5 December 1854
ORIGINAL: NOR 6/14/74
The I Lord Lovaine I M.P. Hughenden I Deer. 5. 1854 My dear Lord, Ld. Derby does not come up to town until the nth, &, as he does not give his usual dinner to the peers on that day, he has summoned their Lordships to his house for the following morning, Tuesday 12th. He has, / therefore, requested me to receive the Commons en masse at the same time.1 This is the first occasion on wh: I have undertaken such an enterprise, & I do it very unwillingly, but this is not a period to make difficulties. I have always received so much kindness & cordial co-operation from you, that I venture / to say, that I shall feel personally obliged to you, if you cd. find it not inconvenient to be present at Grosvenor Gate on Tuesday 12th; & give me the advantage of yr judgment 8c influence. 2 I hope Lady Lovaine3 is quite well. Believe me, I with sincere regard, I yrs, I B. Disraeli
1 See VI 26oom for Bateman's 5 May letter asking D to be trustee of his marriage settlement. 1 See VI 2670&nni&2. 1 See VI 2702&n2, 270302 and 2705. 2 Lovaine would accept the invitation on the 8th. H B/XXI/L/342. 3 Lovaine in 1845 had married Louisa Drummond (1813-1890), eldest daughter and co-heir of D's friend Henry Drummond and his wife, Lady Henrietta Hay-Drummond.
508
TO: THOMAS THOMPSON
Hughenden [Wednesday] 6 December 1854
^7^4^
O R I G I N A L : PS 1451 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Nation (12 Dec 1854) E D I T O R I A L COMMENT: From a transcript and information kindly provided by Andrew Shields.
T.H. Thompson, Esq1 Hughenden Manor, Dec 6 1854. Sir - I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, enclosing a resolution passed at a special meeting of the Protestants of Dublin, and forwarded to me at their request. The sentiments of a numerous, enlightened, and loyal body of her Majesty's subjects, on matters of grave importance, offered to my attention in so special a manner, are entitled to respectful and earnest consideration and shall receive it. Although, in my opinion, the enduring greatness of the country is involved in the maintenance of Protestant principles,2 I am far from believing that such a policy is dependent upon penal legislation. What we want is, that the principles and practice of the constitution should be placed more in harmony, and that there should be an end to that ambiguous language and equivocal conduct which have existed of late years, on the part of the government, which appears to have clone much mischief and no good; which have excited, instead of allaying, religious animosity; and which have terminated in producing anarchy, in the church and feebleness in the State. I beg leave to remain, sir, your obedient servant I B. Disraeli TO: WILLIAM VALENTINE
Hughenden [Tuesday] 10 April 1855 2743^
O R I G I N A L : BRN [22] E D I T O R I A L COMMENT: Paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'.
April loth. 1855 Mr. Disraeli presents his Compliments to Mr Valentine, & expresses his regret that Mr Valentine's letter has, from an accident, remained / so long unanswered. Mr. Disraeli regrets, that he cannot have the honor of presiding over the meeting at Stepney.1 TO: JOHN ROEBUCK
[Grosvenor Gate, Wednesday] 23 May [1855] 274§R
ORIGINAL: PS 1459 P U B L I C A T I O N HISTORY: Sotheby's catalogue (24 Feb 2000) item 330, described as: 'Autograph letter signed ("D"), marked "Private", toJ.A. Roebuck, M.P. ... 4 pages, 8vo, autograph envelope with armorial seal in red wax, [Grosvenor Gate], 23 May [1855]'
[ apologising for not uniting since he is so\ greatly pressed [ telling him not to mind]
1 Thomas Higginbotham Thompson (1808-1886), of Clonskeagh, co Dublin, and Mayne, co Meath, was the chairman of the Dublin Protestant Association and a prominent local Conservative. In 1849, he had responded to D's letter (not found) asking about the effects of free trade in Ireland. H B/XXI/T/n8. 2 See \i 2678&1H. 1 William Valentine (1787-1873), son of Richard of Up-Ottery, Devon; Magdalene and Trinity, Cambridge, BA 1816. MA 1819; curate of Culmstock and Walkhampton, Devon, 1815-18; chaplain and house governor of London Hospital 1818-42; incumbent of St Thomas's, Arbour Square, Stepney, 1843-73. Venn.
509
Jolliffe, or anything of that kind (...This sort of gossip is always afloat when anything is doing...) [and outlining his parliamentary speech strategy]^
2756X TO: HENRY PADWICK
[London, Thursday] 21 June 1855
ORIGINAL: BRN [23]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the fourth page: 'D.-'. Private
June 21. 1855
H. Padwick Esq My dear Sir, The ship floats, but there has been a tremendous storm in yr. absence, & we / have only just escaped shipwreck from other rocks, than those marked in the chart.1 I had better see you at once on yr / return to town. Perhaps tomorrow morning. Yours truly I D.
276OX TO: GAVAN DUFFY
Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 23 July 1855
ORIGINAL: INL Gavan Duffy Papers MS 8005 EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a typescript kindly provided by Andrew Shields. On paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate'. Mr. Disraeli presents his compts to Mr. Duffy & in reply to his note, begs leave to say that he shall be happy to receive Mr. Duffy on Wednesday morning next, at one ock.1 2773X TO: H E N R Y PADWICK
[London] Saturday [25 August 1855]
ORIGINAL: BRN [74]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'D.-'. Dating: cf\1 2773; see also ni. H. Padwick Esqr
Saturday morning I 10 o'ck
My dear Sir I am going to Hughenden to day for the holidays, 8c should be very glad to see you before my departure. Will / you, therefore, have the kindness to call on me, about eleven o'ck?1 Yours very truly I D.
1 See VI 2?48&ni, where slightly different snippets from the same letter are given from a different catalogue. 1 See VI 27568011 and 2?64ni. 1 For the reason for Duffy's visit, see VI 2478ni. Charles Gavan Duffy (1816-1903), founder of Young Ireland, Liberal MP for New Ross 1852-5, prime minister of Victoria Colony, Australia, 1871-2, knighted 1873, KCMG 1877. Duffy had written to D on this day (23 July 1855) to as^ f°r five minutes of his time this week 'on a subject which I trust you will think important enough to justify me in doing so.' H B/XXI/D/3Q6. Duffy presumably wanted to see D about the memorial to Palmerston he was preparing, asking to have Smith O'Brien (V l678ni) given an unconditional pardon; this would be granted in May 1856. For Duffy's account of his meeting with D, see his My Life in Two Hemispheres (Shannon 1969, facsimile of 1898 London ed) II 110-12; see also Cyril Pearl The Three Lives of Gavan Duffy (Kensington, NSW 1979) 157-8. 1 In his letter of 31 August 1855 (see VI 2764n6), Padwick Sr (see 28Q5ni in this volume for the correction of the Sr/Jr confusion) is aware that D is at Hughenden.
510
TO: ISABELLA WALPOLE
Hughenden [Wednesday] 29 August 1855 2774^
O R I G I N A L : HOL [2]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: On paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. Endorsed on the first page by (according to the owner) Margaret Walpole c 1906: 'Disraeli - B. Speakership 27th. Aug. 1855'. The titles here rendered as 'Mrs', 'Mrs' and 'Mr' respectively are indistinguishable from each other in the text, and are determined by context only; see ni.
Dear Mrs: Walpole, August 29. 1855 I have heard nothing of the Speaker's intention to resign, & I do not believe, that there is the slightest authority for the rumor. I have not seen the paragraph you mention, but / it must be very obscure, as I have seen several morning papers pretty regularly.1 I hope you are enjoying this delicious summer, like ourselves. Mrs. Disraeli begs to be most kindly remembered to / yourself &: Mr. Walpole. Sincerely yours, I B. Disraeli TO: H E N R Y PADWICK
[Grosvenor Gate] Monday [5 November 1855?]
O R I G I N A L : BRN [73]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'D-'. Dating: conjectural, by context; see n i . Sic: Valentine; St. Petersbourgh.
Confidential Monday night H. Padwick Esqr My dear Sir You have done all you can: whatever the result, you may depend upon my standing by you.1 Be / firm as Valentine Esterhazy at St. Petersbourgh.2 We must have a surrender "pur et simple". The alternative machinery is matured, & / altho' I should prefer a quiet arrangement, & will not recede from the Conditions I instructed you to make, they have, in fact, overplayed their game. I / shall be at home until three o'ck. Yours very sincerely, I D.
1 Isabella Walpole on 27 August had written from Blue Anchor, Washford, near Taunton: 'We have just seen a paragraph in last Saturday's Press saying that it is reported that the Speaker is going to resign & to be made a Peer, and naming either Sir G. Grey or Mr. Baines as his probable successor. I hear that some of the Morning Papers have already had a Paragraph to the same effect, & no doubt this is a copy of it, but surely a paper which professes to be on our side ought not to have omitted Mr. Walpole's name as having a claim to the Speakership, & Mr. Walpole feels so strongly that some mention should have been made of him, that I cannot help writing to you on the subject, as I am sure you would only be too happy to do anything in your power to further his wishes.' She then favourably assessed the support for Walpole from other party members. H B/XXI/W/86. The paragraph she described was in the Press of 25 August. See further VI 28l2&nni&3. 1 This is probably D's response to Padwick's letter of 31 October 1855; see VI 276^3. 2 Valentin Esterhazy (b 1809), son of Paul Anton, Prince Esterhazy of Galantha, was the Austrian ambassador at St Petersburgh.
5ii
27$6X
28l5X TO: SPENCER WALPOLE
Hughenden [Tuesday] 1 January 1856
ORIGINAL: HOL [3]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: On paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. Endorsed on the first page by (according to the owner) Margaret Walpole c 1906: ' 1st. Jan. 1856'.
The Rt Honble. I Spencer Walpole New Years Day 1856 My dear Walpole, I count upon the honor, & pleasure, of your presence, at dinner, on Wednesday the 3Oth. Inst., at V2 past seven o'ck, to / talk over the Queen's speech. Pray make the Compliments of the Season acceptable, on my part, to Mrs. Walpole, & believe me, with / sincere regard, Yours, I D. KS.V.P1 28%4-X TO: HENRY PAD WICK
Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 26 January [1856]
ORIGINAL: BRN [2l]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli'. Dating: Because the Villiers scandal did not surface until April 1855, D must have been mistaken in writing '55'; for further evidence supporting 1856, see nni&2. Sic: 55.
Confidential
Grosvenor Gate Jan 26. 55
Henry Padwick Esq My dear Sir, A very influential personage, by no means, naturally indisposed towards you, wrote to me yesterday, & afterwards saw me, on the subject of Lord Bath's trial, saying, that Lord B. was very ill-treated by being annoyed, & that the consequent scandal in society was as bad as a trial, &C.1 Under these circumstances, I / felt it best to break to him, that I feared we must prepare for that other evil, wh: indeed now appeared to me inevitable, not to say immediate, since Mr Hitchcock even declined negotiating. Upon this, he spoke in a very serious tone, & with a view to your being well acquainted with his feelings, I called on you this morning, but found you were in Sussex. I cannot attempt to convey them by / writing. I will therefore only express my own conviction, that if, after all that has been done, the settlement unhappily breaks off on the Hitchcock claim, the results to you in public estimation will be very different from those, that I had wished you to obtain from the creditable arrangement of these affairs.2 1 Walpole the next day would accept the invitation, although wondering '... had we not better, if we possibly can, have a meeting at Lord Derby's one or two days before to interchange thoughts on War & Peace... I don't like the last Russian Card. But I suspect it will be followed by another of a different suit, when the Austrian propositions are really answered.' H B/XXI/W/32. See further VI 282l&ni. 1 Although no account of this trial has been found, it is evidently part of the Villiers affair, for which see VI 2743n3 and 2745&nl. Lord Bath is cited by Greville (VII 127) as one whose name was used by Francis Villiers in forged bills and subsequently sued by Villiers's creditors; for another of these cases, for Padwick's role, and for D's attempts to avoid publicity, see VI 2756&ni and 2764&nm&2 (Padwick is there mistakenly given the identity of his son; see, in this volume, 2895ni). Villiers in a letter of November 1854 had tried to induce D to pay Bath a visit at Longleat. H A/IV/J/6. 2 For Padwick's letter of i January 1856 suggesting D see Hitchcock's solicitor, see VI 28l7n2. For the most likely Hitchcock, see IV I293&n2.
512
I am not without hopes, that your present absence from town, may be connected with a happy fulfilment. / The interest I take in you, & the gratification I ever feel in helping a man of parts & spirit, who steps out of the crowd, are my reasons, & must be my excuse, for addressing you with so much frankness. Yours sincerely, I D.
TO: SPENCER WALPOLE
[Hughenden, Sunday] 5 October 1856 2867X
ORIGINAL: HOL [4]
EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the first page by (according to the owner) Margaret Walpole c 1906: 'Disraeli 5th. Oct. 1856'.
Private October 5. 1856 The Rt Honble. I S. Walpole My dear Walpole, I think I ought to send you the enclosed. I hope you are well & the Great Western is better.1 We have been at / Spa, quaffing sparkling springs & taking tonic baths of iron, the color of coffee. All this with great effect. I wish our prospects were as full of energy as, in consequence, of- are my / veins. Our kindest regards to Mrs. Walpole. Ever yours, I D.
TO: LORD LOVAINE
Paris [Thursday] 25 December 1856 ^88lX
O R I G I N A L : NOR 0/14/75
The I Lord Lovaine I M.P. Paris. Xmas Day i 1856 My dear Lord, I hope, very much, that you will do me the honor, & kindness, of dining at Grosvenor Gate, on Monday, the 2nd. Feby., at ]/ past 7 o'ck., to / talk over the Queen's speech. Tho' I write this from the Imperial City, I would thank you to send your reply to G. Gate, for the P.O., here, is not too faithful. I have not been here for a period, as long, as the siege of Troy, so the / change, to me, is very great. Paris is a beautiful woman, & London an ugly man, but the masculine quality is to be appreciated. I hope Lady Lovaine is quite well. Pray accept for her, & for yourself, every / good, & kind, wish, wh: this season suggests. Believe me, with great esteem, & sincere regard, I Yours I B. Disraeli1
Sec VI 2868&n3. In his 8 October reply from Brighton Walpole would write: 'I doubt whether the Great Western will be likely to appoint a paid Chairman. My opinion is that it ought not...' H B/XXI/W/35Charles Russell, the late chairman of the Great Western Railway, had committed suicide on 15 May 1856. Walpole, the deputy chairman, acted as temporary chairman until Lord Harrington's appointment in May 1857. Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis British Railway History Vol I 1830-1876 (1954) 234. 1 Lovaine would reply on 2 January 1857, accepting the invitation and reciprocating the good wishes. H B/XXI/L/344.
513
A P P E N D I X II
The following is a list of the Derby government of 25 February 1858 - 18 June 1859, including some of the permanent office-holders (for a more complete list see LPOD (1850)):
THE CABINET First Lord of the Treasury Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord President of Council Lord High Chancellor Lord Privy Seal Secretaries of State Home Affairs Foreign Affairs Colonial Affairs War India First Lord of the Admiralty President of Board of Control
President of the Board of Trade First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings
Earl of Derby PC B. Disraeli PC Marquess of Salisbury PC Lord Chelmsford PC Earl of Hardwicke PC S.H. Walpole PC (26 Feb 58) T. Sotheron Estcourt PC (3 Mar 59) Earl of Malmesbury PC Lord Stanley PC (26 Feb 58) Sir E. Bulwer Lytton pc(5 Jun 58) J. Peel PC Lord Stanley PC (12 Sep 58) Sir J. Pakington PC Earl of Ellenborough PC (26 Feb 58-10 May 58) Lord Stanley PC (5 Jun 58-2 Aug 58) J.W. Henley PC (26 Feb 58) Earl of Donoughmore PC($ Mar 59) Lord J. Manners PC
CHIEF OFFICERS OF STATE NOT IN CABINET Commanding-in-Chief Military Secretary Adj-General Paymaster-General Quartermaster-General Judge-Advocate General Attorney-General Solicitor-General Chancellor, Duchy of Lancaster Vice-Chancellor Postmaster-General Secretary President, Poor Law Board Permanent Secretary Parliamentary Secretary
Duke of Cambridge PC Sir C. Yorke Sir H.D. Ross Earl of Donoughmore (6 Apr 58) Lord Lovaine (3 Mar 59) Sir R. Airey J.R. Mowbray PC Sir F. Kelly Sir H. Cairns Duke of Montrose W.M.James Lord Colchester R. Hill T. Sotheron-Estcourt PC (26 Feb 58) Earl of March (7 Mar 59) Viscount Courtenay F.W. Knight
THE PRIVY COUNCIL President Clerks in Ordinary
Marquess of Salisbury C.C.F. Greville W.L. Bathurst C.A. Hamilton
Chief Clerk
THE PRTVY SEAL Earl of Hardwicke W. Goodwin W. English
Lord Privy Seal Chief Clerk Assistant Clerk
THE TREASURY First Lord Private Secretaries Chancellor of the Exchequer Private Secretaries Lords Commissioners
Joint Secretaries folliffe's Private Secretary Hamilton's Private Secretary Assistant (Permanent) Secretary Auditor of Civil List Principal Clerk, Colonial Principal Clerk, Secretaries Principal Clerk, Financial Clerk, Parliamentary Accounts Accountant Superintendent, Registry, Copying Superintendent of Messengers Messenger of the Registry Messenger of the Chamber Secretaries' Messengers Superintendent of Messengers to the First Lord Messengers
Messengers to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Solicitor Assistant Solicitor Accountant
Earl of Derby M. Drummond W.P. Talbot B. Disraeli R.A. Earle C.L. Ryan Lord H. Gordon-Lennox (l Mar 58-14 Mar 59) T. Taylor (l Mar 58-11 Jun 59) H. Whitmore (l Mar 58-1 Jun 59) P. Blackburn (15 Mar 59-11 Jun 59) Sir W. Jolliffe G.A. Hamilton Sir S. Northcote (21 Jan 59) C.W. Fremantle C.R. Wilson Sir C.E. Trevelyan G.A. Hamilton (21 Jan 59) G. Arbuthnot C.L. Crafer W.H. Stephenson W.G. Anderson C.W. Stronge M.H. Foster L.A. Jones J. Newman T. Halligan J. Boddy C. Long J. Bailey G. Long T. Appleton J. Colburn J. Fitness C. Johnson G. Doe J. Winter G. Humphries H.R. Reynolds J. Greenwood G. Chance
515
EXCHEQUER (RECEIPT OF) Comptroller General Assistant Comptroller Chief Clerk Accountant Senior Clerk, Exchequer Bills Assistant Superintendent, Weights and Measures Assistant Commissioners (Bill Office)
Secretary Accountant Solicitor
Lord Monteagle Sir E. Ryan F.F. Ottey G.S. Frederick H.W. Chisholm J.K. Blake J. Bowen JJ.A. Joyce Sir A.Y. Spearman (chair) J. Labouchere F. Goulburn H.L. Wickham T.N. Hunt W.W. Willink G. Carter H.H. Barnes
SECRETARIES OF STATE'S OFFICES Home Affairs - Principal Secretary Under-Secretary Permanent US Chief Clerk Foreign Affairs - Principal Secretary Under-Secretary Permanent US Assistant US Colonial Affairs - Principal Secretary Under-Secretary Permanent US Assistant US War - Principal Secretary Under-Secretary Permanent US Assistant US India - Principal Secretary Under Secretary Permanent US Assistant US Council
516
S. Walpole (26 Feb 58) T. Sotheron-Estcourt (3 Mar 59) G. Hardy H. Waddington HJ. Knyvett Earl of Malmesbury W.V. FitzGerald E. Hammond J. Murray Lord Stanley (26 Feb 58) Sir E. Bulwer Lytton (5 Jun 58) Earl of Carnarvon H. Merivale T.F. Elliot J. Peel Viscount Hardinge (8 Mar 58) Earl of Rosslyn (3 Mar 59) Sir B. Hawes J.R. Godley Lord Stanley HJ. Baillie Sir G.R. Clerk J.C. Melvill Sir F. Currie, VP C. Mills J. Shepherd Sir J. W. Hogg E. Macnaghten R.D. Mangles WJ. Eastwick H.T. Prinsep J.P. Willoughby Sir H.C. Rawlinson Sir RJ.H. Vivian Sir H.C. Montgomery Sir J.L.M. Lawrence Sir P.T. Cautley W.U. Arbuthnot
SCOTLAND J. Inglis (l Mar 58) C. Baillie (lojul 58) D. Mure (15 Apr 59) C. Baillie (17 Mar 58) D. Mure (i2jul 58) G. Patton (3 May 59)
Lord Advocate Solicitor-General
IRELAND Earl of Eglinton PC J. Napier PC Lord Naas PC J. Whiteside PC E. Hayes
Lord Lieutenant Lord Chancellor Chief Secretary Attorney-General Solicitor-General
THE NAVY Admiralty - Lords Commissioners
Secretary Second (Permanent) Secretary Surveyor
Sir J. Pakington V Adm W.F. Martin V Adm Sir R.S. Dundas R Adm Sir A. Milne CaptJ.R. Drummond (8 Mar 58-26 Jan 59) Lord Lovaine PC (8 Mar 58-9 Mar 59) Capt S.T. Carnegie (26 Jan 59-20 Apr 59) F. Lygon (9 Mar 59) R Adm Sir HJ. Leeke (20 Apr 59) H.T.L. Corry W.G. Romaine Sir B.W. Walker
COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION President Vice-President Secretary
Marquess of Salisbury C.B. Adderley PC R.R.W. Lingen COMMITTEE OF PRIVY COUNCIL FOR TRADE
President Vice-President Secretaries
J.W. Henley (26 Feb 58) Earl of Donoughmore PC (3 Mar 59) Earl of Donoughmore PC (6 Apr 58) Lord Lovaine PC (3 Mar 59) J. Booth Sir J.E. Tennent WORKS AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Commissioner Secretary
Lord J. Manners A. Austin THE ROYAL MINT
Master Deputy and Comptroller
T. Graham W.H. Barton
517
CUSTOMS ESTABLISHMENT Commissioners
Secretary
Sir T.F. Fremantle (chair) S.E. Spring Rice (deputy) F. Goulburn R Adm E. Saurin G.C.L. Berkeley W.R. Greg W. Maclean INLAND REVENUE OFFICE
Commissioners
Secretary
C. Pressly (chair) C.J. Herries (deputy) A. Montgomery H. Roberts Sir A.C. Duff Gordon J. Disraeli T. Keogh AUDIT OFFICE
Commissioners
Secretary
E. Romilly (chair) H. Arbuthnot C. Ross R.V. Davis W.L. Maberly C. Macaulay BOARD OF HEALTH (until 1858)
President
C.B. Adderley THE QUEEN'S HOUSEHOLD
Lord Steward Treasurer Comptroller Master of Household Sec to Board of Green Cloth Paymaster Lord High Almoner Sub-Almoner Sub-Dean Coroner Lord Chamberlain Vice Chamberlain Comptroller of Accounts Chief Clerk Inspector of Accounts Keeper of Privy Purse Lords in Waiting
518
Marquess of Exeter Lord C. Hamilton C. Forester T.M. Biddulph E.M. Browell W. Hampshire Bishop of Oxford R.W. Jelf C. Wesley W.T. Manning Earl De La Warr PC Viscount Newport PC S.C.B.Ponsonby R.C. March D. Tupper Sir C.B. Phipps Lord Byron Earl of Verulam Earl of Sheffield Viscount Strathallan Lord Polwarth Lord Crofton Lord Bateman Lord Raglan
Grooms in Waiting
Extra Groom in Waiting Master of Ceremonies Poet Laureate Examiner of Plays Principal Portrait Painter Capt Gent at Arms Capt Yeomen of Queen's Guards Mistress of the Robes Ladies of the Bedchamber
Extra Ladies Bedchamber Women
Extra Bedchamber Woman Maids of Honour
Master of the Horse Chf Equerry and Clk Marshal Crown Equerry Equerries in Ordinary
Extra Equerry Master of Buckhounds Hereditary Grand Falconer Physicians in Ordinary
Sir H. Seton Sir F. Stovin J.R. Ormsby Gore B. Drummond Sir E. Bowater M. Sackville-West W.H.F. Cavendish A.F. Liddell C.A. Murray Sir E. Gust Alfred Tennyson W.B. Donne Sir G. Hayter Earl of Shrewsbury PC Lord de Ros PC Duchess of Manchester Duchess of Athole Dowager Marchioness of Ely Countess of Gainsborough Countess of Desart Countess of Caledon Viscountess Jocelyn Lady Churchill Lady Macdonald Dowager Duchess of Norfolk Lady Portman Countess of Mount Edgcumbe Lady Caroline Barrington Lady Charlotte Copley Viscountess Forbes Lady Gardiner Mrs George Campbell Viscountess Chewton Mrs Alexander Gordon Lady Codrington Mrs Pratt Eleanor Stanley Lucy Maria Kerr Caroline Fanny Cavendish Flora C.I. Macdonald Beatrice Byng Mary Bulteel Emily Cathcart Horatio Charlotte Stopford Duke of Beaufort PC Lord Colville of Culrosse J.R. Groves C. Grey Lord A.C.L. FitzRoy A.N. Hood F.H.G. Seymour T.M. Biddulph Earl of Sandwich PC Duke of St Alban's SirJ. Clark Sir H. Holland
519
Physicians Extraordinary
Physician-Accoucheur Surgeons Extraordinary
Surgeon-Accoucheur Serjeant Surgeons Apothecary to the Person
P.M. Latham R. Bright N. Arnott R. Ferguson Sir C. Locock R. Blagden W. Fergusson C.H. Hawkins E. Stanley J. Paget R. Blagden Sir B.C. Brodie W. Lawrence J. Nussey PRINCE ALBERT'S HOUSEHOLD
Groom of the Stole Lords in Waiting Treasurer Clerk Marshal Grooms of the Bedchamber Private Secretary Equerries
Extra Equerry Gentleman Ushers Surgeon in Ordinary
Marquess of Abercorn PC Lord George Lennox Lord Bagot C.B. Phipps A.N. Hood W. Wylde F. Seymour C. Grey D. De Ros C.T. Du Plat H.F. Ponsonby A.E. Hardinge A. Gordon R Adm Blake L. Playfair J-M. Arnott PRINCE OF WALES'S HOUSEHOLD
Governor
R. Bruce
Equerries
RJ. Lindsay
Extra Equerry
C.C. Teesdale G.H. Grey Viscount Valletort
520
APPENDIX III
The following is the text ofD's memorandum on administrative reform (5^3287111) which survives as a typescript in H H/Life headed: 'Memorandum by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Feb 7th 1859'. Another heading,' (? Mr. Disraeli to Lord Derby)', has been crossed out. There is a handwritten note at the bottom of the page: 'Bright had conducted a Reform campaign in the autumn, but without producing very serious agitations.' Since we first discussed the question of Distribution, in the Cabinet, the mission of Mr. Bright has powerfully drawn public attention to it, and the result of my observation of public opinion is, that it is not ripe upon the subject. The demand for a redistribution of seats is not even popular with those, in whose behalf it has been made. This would render it very difficult to carry any measure of Disfranchisement, since interests injuriously affected by such a course, would be encouraged to offer it an uncompromising opposition, which would be fatal either to the Bill, or to the Government on some other motion. A government, without a majority, is not in a position to deal with the question in an arbitrary manner, and the theories, upon which it has been proposed to reconstruct our representative system, are all either dangerous, or unsound. Even were it possible, to propose a Measure, at once safe and popular, I should hesitate, under present circumstances, to do so. With our small parliamentary following, it would be impossible to guard the Bill during its passage through the House against amendments subversive of its original character. I agree entirely with Lord Derby's memorandum, and consider that the course which he recommends, would be satisfactory to the House of Commons, and would be popular with the Country. I am of opinion, that public opinion, on the question of the Suffrage is ripe. [Signed] D.
A P P E N D I X IV
D's memoirs, written mostly in the mid-l86os, contain some fine descriptions of important events (and some not so important) from the 1857-9 period. For the complete text seeDR; only the extracts relevant to 1857-9 are reproduced here. [a] H A/X/A/35 (an extract): The King of the Belgians much alarmed at the naval preparations of France (1858 or 9), after a long conference with me sd "We must take care that Rule Brittannia [sic] does not become an old song." [b] HA/X/A/36 (extracts): The Emperor of the French was a very romantic man. The Queen of England had a great personal influence over him. -A- Unfortunately, the Prince Consort hated him. He said to me once "He is always a Conspirator: it is the key-note of everythingf."] \Vhen the Italian war seemed to be inevitable, brought about by the intrigues of Cavour with the Emperor, & when there were secret understandings it was supposed bet[wee]n the parties &c. as a last resource to maintain the pea peace of Europe, the Queen was advised to avail herself of her presumed personal influence with the Emperor & write to him a private letter. I did not see this letter, tho' I have no doubt it was well conceived & well expressed: with the advantage of Lord Derby's advice & criticism: but I was permitted to see the Emperor's answer reply wh: was only shown to Ld Derby, Ld Malmesbury, & myself. To me it was one of the most interesting & most satisfactory communic[ati]ons under the circumstances possible. Full, & frank. It told everything: how Cavour came, what he said, what was said to him, what was contemplated. It assumed, that all must agree, that the position of Italy was most unsatisfactory to all, & reminded the Queen that at the conferences of Paris, the Emperor had wished to anticipate what seemed to him inevitable by joint action. But whatever the state of Italy, whatever the necessity of acting on the part of France, what[eve]r the conversations & contemplated conduct with Sardinia &c &c, such was his value for the friendship & esteem of "ma tres chere soeur" that he pledged himself, & in the language the most solemn, affectionate & precise, that notwithstanding all that had passed - he wd. never attack Austria unless she previously attacked Piedmont. With this card in our hand, peace seemed secure, & with this Ld. Cowley went to Vienna. Who cd. believe that after this Austria shd. have attacked Piedmont witht. any intimation to England, & having attacked her & released the Emp of the F. from his personal pledge, shd. have behaved with such military imbecility that for a long time nobody actually knew where the Austrian army were. They crossed & recrossed the frontier, ravaged some of the enemy's land & then retired; & then wandered about like ideots. Nothing cd. have justified their conduct, but a direct march to Turin. When Ld. Cowley went to the Emperor on the news of the invasion of Piedmont arriving, Prince Napoleon was coming out of the royal cabinet - his face radiant! The young Emperor of Austria was very conceited. He was siek literally sick of hearing the praises of the Emperor of the French. He had a fine army & longed to command it, for wh: he had no quality. He said to Ld. Cowley "I know that the French artillery is may be somewhat superior to mine - but in no other branch have they any pre-eminence." In one of the long, frequent, & troubled, interviews wh: took place between the Emperor ef- & the Eng: Ambass: before the war broke out, the Emperor suddenly turned round & said "Cannot France & England understand each other?" & hinted at partition. But Ld. Cowley wd. not listen to it. He even went on that, or on a preceding [occasion] - but, I think, on the present one to sa tell the Emperor that his policy wd. revive the Northern Alliance agst him.
My own opinion is, that, even if Ld. Cowley had been our Ambassador at Vienna: certainly if Ld. Stratford, or Sir Henry Bulwer had been there, there wo[ul]d have been no war. There wanted the unceasing vigilance of a commanding character to baffle the intrigues of a miserable Camarilla. Our Ambassador, Ld. [Augustus W.F.S.] Loftus was not fit to be resident at a third rate German Court - & was quite despised & disregarded by that of Vienna. He was a pompous nincompoop - & of all Ld. Malmesbury's appointments the worst - & that's saying a good deal. In defence of Malmesbury, it shd be said Lord Stanhope had refused the post - & Malmy always said he was driven in that & other instances to the office list - but the first quality of a Minister is to select competent instruments, &:, I suspect, that Malmy. himself was the tool of his Private Secretary Bidwell - an P.O. man, a jobber, & the employed agent of the man whom he counselled his patron to promote. [c] H B/XX/A/3? (extracts):
1859 The Prince Consort, on more than one occasion this year spoke of the Italians to me, as "a worn out race". It is to be noted, that up to this time (1863) they have not produced a man capable of affairs, since Cavour. The Prince said, that the French required to be "licked" (his very pha phrase) once every fifty years: or there was no security for peace &: civilisation. The French, he said, were vain, fond of military glory, & fond of plunder pillage. He said they wel were a little race & always beat in the long run. The Prince said to me one day, about a year before his death "Lord John Russell is very fond of quoting K. William 3rd. & his assertion of our liberties & all that, on wh: there are two opinions. Why does he not praise William 3. for what he was incontestably illustrious & the merit of wh: none can contend; vizt that he placed himself at the head of a great League against France, & preserved the liberties of Europe. ["] [d] H A/XX/A/64 Gladstone said (1864) that the invasion of Mexico by the Emp. Nap: was one of the greatest political blunders ever perpetrated; certainly, the greatest political blunder of his time. But note: there never was a political move over wh: the Emp: had so long &: so deeply brooded - for many years. In 1857 he mentioned to me his wish &: willingness to assist in establishing a European dynasty in Mexico, & said that for his part he wd. make no opposition to the accession of the Due D'Aumale to such a throne. He looked upon its establishment, as of -H- high European importance. It was his custom to say, that there were two powers who hated old Europe: Russia & the U.S. of America. Stanley said (1857) that science disqualified one for public life: the whole thing seemed so small (speaking of our globe) that it required a great effort to treat affairs seriously. Said that he heard a great deal of the political wisdom & deep ho of to be found in Thucidydes [sic]: a study for statesmen &c &c. - first philos: historian & all that. For his part never cd find it out: what he did find was a matchless narrative. [e] H A/XX/A/3 (extract): Elmley was always saying 'What did Jesus do before he was thirty? My conviction is, that he must have had an eventful youth, & that he had travelled a great deal.' This travelling of Jesus was a great point with Elmley. He frequently recurred to it. I never could agree with him. It seemed such an original mind; so completely formed in seclusion, & with all its Shakespearian genius, so essentially local. All the illustrations are drawn from inward resources, or from surrounding scenery.
523
RECIPIENTS, VOLUME SEVEN
Albert, Prince 3049, 3095, 3105, 3139, 3146, 3148, 3152, 3159, 3233, 3247, 3285 Allibone, Samuel Austin 3391 Arbuthnot, George 3278 Bailey, Sir Joseph 2891 Bailey, Thomas n8ox, 1315X, 1490X, 1495R, 1495X, 153OX Bateman, Lord 2435X, 2653X Beckford (?), William 432X Beresford, William 1794X Berkeley, Sir Maurice 3336 Black, John 3373 Blessington, Lady 346R Blewitt, Octavian 14O5X, 2532X Bolton, Clara 21IX Bowyer, George 3378 Brougham, Lord 2984 Buckingham and Chandos, Duke of 1577X, 3241 Buele (?), Mrs 3190 Burley & Carlisle, Messrs 2933, 3274, 3380 Burns (?), Alfred gogx Bur)' (?), Lord 3142 Cabinet Colleagues 3094 Campden, Lord 3305, 3408 Cardwell, Edward 3029 Carlisle, William 2942, 2986, 2988, 3012 Carnarvon, Lord 3132, 3361 Carrington, Lord 3252 Cecil, Lord Robert 3194 Chester, Anthony 2938 Conservative MPs 3042, 3280, 3349 Cords, John 1555X Cowley, Lord 24O7R Croker, John 37IX Currie, Sir Frederick 3151 Delane, John 3023, 3033 Denison, John 3155, 3351 Derby, Lord 2898, 2901, 2903, 2904, 2905, 2907, 2908, 2909, 2910, 2911, 2912, 2913, 2932, 2995, 2999, 3001, 3005, 3010, 3024, 3043, 3050, 3056, 3060, 3072, 3074, 3078, 3090, 3099, 3106, 3112, 3115, 3117, 3127, 3129, 3130, 3H4, 3178, 3184, 3208, 3213, 3222, 3239, 3245, 3250, 3256, 326l, 3268, 3272, 3273, 3275, 3277, 3281, 3287, 3291, 3294, 3297, 3300, 3310, 3321, 3324, 3325, 3345, 3354, 3359, 3366, 3369, 3371, 3374, 3375, 3412, 3415 D'Israeli, Isaac 1395X Disraeli, Mary Anne igi9R, 2892, 2906, 2919, 2920, 2921, 3000, 3026, 3045, 3064, 3082, 3085, 3087, 3121, 3136, 3219, 3228, 3232, 3255, 3283, 3364, 3387, 3430, 3431 Disraeli, Ralph 3425, 3432
Disraeli, Sarah 257R, 3O4R, 385R, 5i8R, 541R, 64OR, 641R, 642R, 676R, 686R, 6goR, 7QOR, gi6R, gigx, io8iR, i()85R, iiiox, 1839R, i86oR, 2899, 2914, 2928, 2943, 2944, 2959, 3048, 3084, 3170 Drummond, Henry 1732X, 174?X, 1768X, 1872X, igtGx, 1929X, 2OO4X, 2220X, 26i3X, 2992, 3053 Duffy, Gavan 276OX Earle, Ralph 3216, 3253, 3295, 333L 3362 Elcho, Lord 3311 Electors of Bucks 2916, 2922, 3036, 3051, 3327, 3342 Ellenborough, Lord 598X Elmley, Lord 3402, 3404 Fane, Julian 238ox Ferrand, William 3180, 3401 Forbes, Sir Charles Fergusson 1951X Foulis, Sir Henry 3175 Frankland, Lady 2978 Fremantle, Sir Thomas 3073, 3075, 3079 Fry, Henry 37OR Fulcher, George 1437X Fuller, Charles 3207 Galway, Lord 3044 Getty, Samuel 3171 Gibb, William 3322 Gladstone, Sir Thomas 2955 Gladstone, William 3128 Goldsmid, Isaac 445X, 447X Gordon, Charles 3309 Graham, Sir James 3118, 3119, 3123 Hamilton, George Alexander 3028, 3093 Hammond, Edmund 3379, 3395 Hansard, Thomas 2i6?X Harness, Henry 2437X Harper, Edward 2678x Harvey, Robert Bateson 2O45X Haydon, Frederic 2974 Hodgskin, Thomas 1239X Holland, Lady 3386 Home, Richard I2i8x Horsman, Edward 3344 Hudson, James 3403 Hume, William W.F. 2931 Irving, John 1472X, 1472XA, 1473X, I4769ni, 3in&m, 3ii3&ni, 3151, 3413 Board of Health 3043^:01 Board of Health Bill (1848) 3165112 Board of Trade 3294, 3297&nni&5 'Bohun, Aubrey' 3O4Rn2 Bois de Boulogne 2883 Bolgrad 295i&nm&3 Bolingbroke, 1st Viscount IV 1320113, 3l86&ng Bolingbroke, 4th Viscount 3i86&nQ Bolingbroke, 5th Viscount 3i86&n9 Bolton, Clara I 7801, 2iiX&n5 Bombay 2974, 2995, 3i93&n2, 3294&m Bombay Telegraph 2965n3 Book of Common Prayer 3177n2 the Borgias 2885 Borthwick, Peter II 6481110, 686Rn5 Boswell, James 2iiXn2 Bourse 3281, 3285ni Bouverie, Edward 3088&O4 Bowles, William 3249116 Bowring, Sir John I 122114, 29i6ni Bowyer, George (Sir George, 7th Bt, 1860) 3348&no2&io, 3378&ni Bowyer-Smijth, Sir William. See Smijth, Sir William BowyerBrabant, Duke of (Leopold II, King of the Belgians 1865) V 164307, 3018, 3019 Bradenham 21IX, 5l8R, I2i8x&ec Bramber, Rape of 3265n2 Brand, Henry (ist Viscount Hampden 1884) v 205005, 3393&m, 33g8nni&4 Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm, Count von 2059X£n2 Braybrooke, 2nd Baron 3345117 Bread 3073 Brickhill Manor 2929 Bridgewater, Countess of (7th Earl) III 108504, 1O85R Bridgewater, 7th Earl of III 108504, 2968&m, 2979 Bridgewater, 8th Earl of 2968111 Bridgewater estates 2976n4 Bright, John rv 131805, 3o69&ni, 3078112, 3o8onnl&2, 3100, 3ioin4, sui&m, 3117113, 3i24ni, 3i44n2, 3157&01, 33i8n2, 3328, 3354&H5; proffered reform bill 3287m, 328g&n5; opposes reform bill 33Oi&n2, 33i6∋ not satisfied with one Radical in Liberal government 336g&n3 Brighton gi6R Bristol 3067, 3341&H1
Bristol Channel 3250 British Association 34o6&:ni British Columbia 31648011, 3169112 British Museum 295301 Broadhead, Fanny 2977ni Broadwood, Miss 2977ni Brodie, Alexander 330901 Brodie, Sir Benjamin 298001, 32158014 Bromley, Sir Richard VI 243101, 3oio8cni, 302502, 32138016, 3239nm8c2, 3260 Brooke, Baron. See Warwick, 4th Earl of Brooke, Sir James VI 2294111, 32io&ec&n2 Brooks's Club 335402 Brougham and Vaux, 1st Baron I 10501, i839R&n4, 298001, 32i5&nn6&7, 3222115; Birmingham speech on social science 2g84&nni&2; praise for Stanley's Birmingham speech 29948012; advises D on India 3007&n3 Broughton, 1st Baron I 21503, 1747X, 183911, 300906, 3Oi4ni Browne, George La thorn V 172301, 2O45Xni Brownlow, Dowager Countess (ist Earl) II 408017, 2976&n7, 31438014 Brownlow, ist Earl II 408017, 29688011, 297607 Brownlow, 2nd Earl 2968&nl, 297604, 3386m Bruce, Frederick 3197m Bruce, Henry Austin 2974ni Brueo, Henry III 117305, moxn3 Brunei, Isambard 2997n4 Brunnow, Baron Philip (later Count) von V 167505, 2540X, 2555X; to return as Russian Ambassador to England 3OH&O3 Bryant, Walter 3424n3, 3425n2, 343o8cnoi8c2, 343im Bryce, David V 183601, 2578Xn4, 292401, 3047ni, 306301 Buccleuch, 5th Duke of I 30605, i8?2X Bucentaurs 2936 Buckingham, 1st Marquess of 3i29n4 Buckingham and Chandos, 1st Duke of I 228010, 9i6Rn3 Buckingham and Chandos, 2nd Duke of I 35203, 518R&02, 54iR&n9, 686R, 9i6R&nn2&3, io8iR, io85R, i577X&ni, 304101, 318201, 324i&nni&2, 3297n2 Buckingham Palace 2435X&O1, 2941&O3, 30i8&ni, 3019, 3064&01, 3o67&ec&nrii&2, 3155&01, 3156, 3320&m, 3383&ni Buckinghamshire gi6Rnn2&3, I2i8xec, 2339R, 2923, 2929&n3, 2934, 2936, 2955, 2968&nn2&3, 2976&n4, 2984&n2, 2992, 3Oo8&oi, 3OO9&01, 30i4&n2, 3033, 3036, 3O4i&oi, 3046, 3049, 3O5i&oi, 3090, 312805, 3169, 3184, 3i96&ec, 32i8&o3, 3327, 3342&ni, 3395, 3403, 3409, 34i3&n2; 1857 election 2916, 2918, 2922
531
Bucks Herald: publishes poem 'Men of Bucks' (16 Feb 1839) gi6Rn3; leader commenting on D missing agricultural association meeting (5 Oct 1850) 2045X111; blames 'the Jew interest' for Tory defeat in Dec 1857 byelection (2 Jan 1858) 3Oo8ni; comments on Liberal election victory in Bucks (2 Jan 1858) 3Oi4n2; no advertisement of D's unpaid election debts (21 Aug 1858) 3i82ni; reprints articles about appointments of James Disraeli and Rose (28 Aug, 4 Sep 1858) 3i84n4; publishes correspondence between Lindsay and D 34i8n2 Bucks Railway Company igggx&m Bucks Real Property Association iggiXni Budget (1851) 2i67X Budget (1852) 3268n8 Budget (1854) 2go5ni Budget (1857) 2go5&m, 2go7ni, 2go8&nni&2, 2gion2, 2gil&ni, 2gi2&nm&2, 2gi3&ni, 2932n4 Budget (1858) soss&ni, 3056, 3O56&m, 3O72&nni&3, 3O73&nni&2, 3077, 307g&ni, 3o8i&n2, 3o84n2, 3085, 3088, 309lec, 3093&ni, 3094&m, 3O95&nn4&5, 3og7&ec&ni, 3ogg, 3100, 3ioin3, 3iO2&m, 3iO4&n4, 3io8&ni Budget (1859) 3204, 3222&IU, 3268&n4 Buele(?), Mrs 3igo&ni Buller, James 2918113 Buller, Sir John Yarde, 3rd Bt. See Churston, 1st Baron Bulwer, Edward Earle Gascoigne Lytton 3235&H1 Bulwer, E.E. 3235111 Bulwer, Sir Henry (ist Baron Dalling and Bulwer 1871) I 107113, 1272X, 2322X&H5, 3ii4&m, 3i30ni, 3235ni Bulwer, Lady (Sir Henry) V I752n6, 3i3O&ni Bulwer, William Earle Gascoigne Lytton 3235m Bulwer, William Earle Lytton 3235ni Bunbury, Thomas (ist Baron Rathdonnell 1868) 3igoni 'Bunny' 3o6o&n3 Buol-Schauenstein, Charles, comte de. See Schauenstein, Charles, comte de BuolBurdett, Sir Francis, 5th Bt I 19801, 3&5R Burdett-Coutts, Angela I 33704, 1085R Burke, Edmund 3313 Burley & Carlisle, Messrs 2933, 2942111, 3274&ni, 338o&ni Burma 3151 Burns, Alfred (?) gogx&ni Bur)', Blanche I 23206, io8iR Bury, Lady Charlotte I 232n3, lo8lR Bury, Viscount (Baron Ashford 1876; 7th Earl Albemarle 1891) 3o65n2, 308g&nnl&2, 3i42&ni, 3243ni
532
Bute, 2nd Marquess of 2945111 Bute, 3rd Marquess of 2945ni Butler, Mrs 3190111 Butler, Emily Mary 3007112, 3190111 Butler, Emily Sarah 3OO7n2 Butler, James Thomas 3348&O1 Butler, James VI 268on2, 3OO7n2, 3040n2, 3i47n3. 3i58&ni, 3igoni, 3348m Butler, Mr 3348m Butler, Sir Richard, 4th Bt 3348m Butt, Isaac V 193604, igi4X, 3og3ni Byng, George II 64606, 64OR Byron, Lord: Don Juan 3268ng Cadman, William 3iO3ni Cadogan, Frederick 2921&O1 Cadogan, 3rd Earl V 20OOn6, 2g2ini, 2gg8n5 Caesar, Julius 3200 Cagliari (mailboat) 3O55&n2, 3O57&nni&2, 3O77, 3ioon2, 3ioi&n2, 3iog&n2, 3l4i&m, 3143 Cairns, Sir Hugh (Baron Cairns 1867; Earl Cairns 1878) 3048&O1, 3ii5&ec&m, 3ii6&m, 3i63n2, 3i7i&n2, 3224&n3, 3312, 3313&12 Cairo 2219X117 Calcutta 2972&n5, 2Q74, 2g8i&m, 2g82&nn2&5, 2995, 2gg8&n2, 3067 Calcutta petition 2g7O&n2, 3OOini Cambridge, 2nd Duke of V 2020n2, 3233&n2 Cambridge, University of ilioxn2 Cameron, Anne V 187708, 34ogm Cameron, Donald Jr V 188001, 3252&nm&2, 3404111, 340gm Cameron, Donald Sr V 187706, 3252&m Cameron, George V 188001, 3252nl Campbell, Sir Archibald Islay, 3rd Bt 2902112 Campbell, Sir Colin. See Clyde, 1st Baron Campbell, Sir John. See Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell, 1st Baron II 68603, 686R, 3374n2 Campden, Viscount (2nd Earl of Gainsborough 1866) V 174504, 33O5&m, 34O8&m Camperdown, 1st Earl of l83QR&o2 Canada 32i7∋ effect of free trade on I476xm; Halifax and Quebec railway 3i42ni; ministers visit D 32i8∋ federation and railways 3235&nl; ministers visit London 3243&nni&2; intercolonial railway 3256&n2; governor-general 3273&n3; rebellions of 1837-8 3350116 Canning, Countess (ist Earl) 2998&nol&2 Canning, ist Earl VI 238707, response to Ellenborough's Oude proclamation 32O5&ec&nm&2 Canning, George I 2107, 3i28&n4 Canterbury, Archbishop of. See Howley, William Canterbury, 2nd Viscount 30O9&O4, 3025 Canton 2gi6nni&2, 3200
Carbonari 32758018 Garden, Sir Robert 30778011, 3155111, 3222&nn2&3&6 Cardigan, 7th Earl of II 652116, 30608013 Cardwell, Edward (ist Viscount Cardwell 1874) V 2113118, 2910111, 3029&H1, 3H3&ni, 3ii5&ec&m, 31168011, 3ii7ec8oi2, 3i22ni, 312401, 31258011, 3i30ec, 331702 (Carlisle 29i9&n2 Carlisle, William 29428011, 29868oini&2, 2988, 30128011, 3380111 Carlists: Spanish 541R&O1 Carlow (borough) 1110x8013 Carlow (county) 1110x8003 Carlton Club 676R, 22O2X, 2895, 2906, 2926, 3017, 3035. 3348, 3384 Carl ton House 294780111 Carlton Terrace 3399 Carlyle, Thomas 329801 Carnarvon, 4th Earl of 30338017, 31328011, 33618011 Carrington, 2od Baron I 13401, 9161103, 30148012, 32528012 Carrington, Baroness (2nd Baron) III 108205, 3252 Carrier, Georges Etienne 32i7&ni, 32188011 Cashmere 3102, 3341 Castiglione, Francois, Count 29471110 Castiglione, Virginia, Countess 294780110 Castille 3390 Castlereagh, Viscount. See Londonderry, 2nd Marquess of Catholics and Catholicism 2059X, 33448012, 3366113; Irish priests praise D 314703; Cardinal Wisemao calls for greater unity of 319507; salaries of priests io lodia 31988011; disfraochisemeot 328904; representation io House 330501; io Irelaod 3348&oni&2&9&!0, 335O&nn2&8, 33538012, 335702, 3408111; proposed amendments to Roman Catholic Relief Act (1829) 33878011 Cautley, Sir Proby 319701 Cave, Miss 2944111 Cave, Mrs William 294401 Cavendish, Charles. See Chesham, 1st Baron Cavendish, Henrietta 32188013 Cavendish, Henry 346R8oi2 Cavendish, William (2nd Baron Chesharn 1863) 30088011, 32188013 Cavendish (unidentified) 211X&O4 Cavonr, Count Camillo Beoso di 2947010, 31098012, 3275. 338805 Cecil, Lady Gwendolen 326460 Cecil, Lady Margaret 29988017 Cecil, Lady Mary V 2208n7, 2998 Cecil, Lord Arthur V 22o8n7, 2998 Cecil, Lord Robert (4th Viscount Cranborne
1865; 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 1868) M 2650111, 31948:0018:2, 325702, 3264, 3312, 333101, 339301, 3436 Cecil, Lord Sackville V 2208n7, 2998 Census (1851) 2932 Central Bucks Agricultural Society 32O7&ec&ni Ceyloo i86oR, 29428011, 298680101802, 3238111, 3274m, 33808011, 34238011 Chairmao of Committees (deputy speaker of the Lords) 31298013 Champs Elysees 2883 Chandos, Marquess of. See also Buckingham and Chandos, 2nd Duke of Chandos, Marquess of (3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos 1861) III 936112, 1577X111, 2901, 3i29&ec8co4, 3i3on4, 32508003, 3256&nn3&6, 326i&n4, 3268, 3272, 32948013, 3297&ec&o2, 334201 Charles Albert, King of Sarclioia V 1677113, 2535X02 Charles Aothony, Prince of HohenzollernSigmariogeo (Prioce of Hohenzollern 1869) 2947&ng Charles et Georges (slave ship) 3272111 Charles II 326?n4 Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1794-1816) 2948n2 Charleville, Countess of (ist Earl) I 260113, 5i8R Charleville, 1st Earl of I 260113, 5i8R Charleville, 2nd Earl of III 971114, i i l O X Charlotte, Archduchess of Austria (Carlota of Mexico 1864) 2947&n8 Charlotte, Queen 29488012, 30181110 Charterhouse 301001 Chartists 299404 Chartres, due de V 20l2n2. 3018, 3019 Chatterton, Sir James, 3rd Bt V 192103, 1919R Chelrosford, 1st Baron III 86305, 2935, 303301, 3131&02, 314402, 31508011, 31708011, 3233, 325002, 3258&002&3, 3265801 m&2, 333701, 33570018^2 Chelsea, Viscouot (4th Earl Cadogao 1864) 29988015 Cheltenham 33318012 Cherbourg 31868015, 31958015, 3253 Chesham, 1st Baron IV 155903, 30088011, 301702, 32188013 Cheshire 34068002 Chester, Anthony IV 156001, 29288014, 2929, 29388010i8c2, 2968, 2979 Chester, Henrietta IV 156303, 2928114, 2929, 293802 Chesterfield, Countess of (6th Earl) 1 33104, 5l8R Chesterfield, 6th Earl of I 33104, 5i8R, 303301, 325004, 3256, 3260, 326601 Chetwode, Lady Jane Wilmot 317401
533
Chicheley Hall 2929, 2938&ni, 2g68&n2, 2970, 2971, 2979 Childers, Hugh 3393&ni Children 343601; European children massacred in India 2g64&nn4&6, 2965; atrocities against in India 2gg8&:n2; MA'S schools 34OO&nm&3 Chiltern Hills l872X, 3402, 3407 the Chiltern Hundreds i8?2X China 2gi6&ni, 2952n2, 2995n5, 32io&n2; war with England 2947&n2; treaty with Russia (26 June 1858) 3i84n5; Treaty of Tientsin 32OO&O3, 3205&n2 Chinese envoy 3ig7&ni Chobham 2535X Cholera 2947&n3 Cholmeley, Lady Georgiana I 33?n3, i86oR Cholmeley, Sir Montague, 2nd Bt I 33713, 1860R Cholmondeley, Lord William 292806 Chreptowicz, Count Michael 30ll&n3 Chreptowicz, Countess 301 in3 Christianity and Christians 2g6on2, 2985ni, 3iioni; in India 3178, 3i79&ni, 3221&O2 Church of England 1929X02, 2gi6&n5, 2938ni, 32&5&n2; evangelicals in Ireland 34ion7 Church of St Barnabas 205gx&n3 Church rates 2894n2 Church Rates Abolition Bill (1858) 30?6&ni Church Rates Bill (1859) 32g6&oi Churchill, 2nd Baron 3o85n2 Churchill, Baroness (2nd Baron) 3o85&n2 Churston, 1st Baron III 1033112, 2902n2, 2gi8&o3, 3O32&ni, 321401, 326o&n3, 326i&n5 Clanricarde, 1st Marquess of V 2l37n6, 301002, 3Oi5&n2 Clarendon, 4th Earl of III 1113113, 2535X&O2, 254OX, 2gi7n2, 297ini, 2g?2, 30ii&n3, 30i8nii, 302ini, 3366&m, 3374, 34i5ni Clarke, Mrs 3215 Clary-Aldringen, Prince Edmond. See Mdringeo, Prioce Edmond ClaryClerk, Sir George Russell 3ig4ni Clifden, 3rd Viscount V 18711110, 2g88ni Clinton, Lady Susan (Vane-Tempest 1860) 316701 Clinton, Robert 3ll7&ns Clonbrock, 3rd Baron 3355n2, 3357&n2 Clubbe, Charles V 214901, 34ogni Clubbe, Emily V 2l68n2, 340gni Clumber Park 3023 Clyde, 1st Baron 2437X01, 2g64o6, 2gg4n3, 3Oi5n4, 3i43&n2, 3176m, 3233&n3; exercises caution as commaoder-io-chief in India 2982&n5 Coal 2iX&ni, 3O48&n3 Coal mioiog 2g48&ni, 2g52&oi
534
Coalitioo 3304, 3324 Cobbold, Joho 292l&ni Cobden, Richard IV 122403, 2OO4X, 291402, 3375n3 Codringtoo, Sir Edward I 103114, 308304 Codrington, Lady (Sir Edward) 3o83n4 Codrington, Lady (Sir William) 308304 Colburo, Heory I 6on2, 346R, 541R&O5, 6goR, 3399&n5 Coleman, Mr 2885n4, 3ig5&nn Colemao, Jaoies Edward 3195011 Collis, William 3i88n2 Colloredo-Wallsee, Count Fraocis. See Wallsee, Couot Fraocis ColloredoColloredo-Wallsee, Couotess. See Wallsee, Couotess ColloredoColooies 3238&O1, 3249; parliameotary represeotatioo 22igx Comet (Donati's) 3215&O2 Comet of 1857 2941&04 Comets 3195&O3 Commissiooers for Exhibitioo 1851 Bill (1858) 3105&02, 3i39&ooi&2, 3140, 3145&02, 3146&01, 3148&01, 315002, 3i52&m, 3i59&ni Committees: on public libraries 2l65Xni; General Committee on Education in Manchester and Salford 28g7ni; oaths taken by members 295Oec∋ Gallery of Historical Portraits (Natiooal Portrait Gallery) 2953&ooi&2; Baok Charter Act (1844) aod Baokiog (Scotlaod aod Irelaod) Acts (1845) 300002, 300507, 300602, 300701, 3O29&01; oo lodia 30O5&O5; Superaoouatioo Act (1834) 301001; Privy Couocil oo Educatioo 304301; cabioet committee on the budget 3O72&O1; of supply (oavy estimates) 3088, 3268&O5; Stade dues 3o8g&o3; of the House oo Indian resolutions 3iO7&noi&2, 3137&03, 314102; Commissiooers for Exhibitioo 1851 Bill 3148&01, 315002, 3152&01; Sale aod Traosfer of Laod (Irelaod) Bill 315002; Oath of Abjuration Bill (Lords) 3153111; India Bill (No 3) 3l57&m, 3i6o&:ni, 3163; of supply (military organization) 3i6i&nl; Local Government Bill 3i65&n2; of supply (army estimates) 3i65&n4; of supply (civil service estimates) 31&5&O4; Corrupt Practices Preveotioo Act Continuance Bill 3i68nl; Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill 3O76&n2, 3i76n2; Ceylon (184951) 3177&04; public expenditure 3i84&n6, 3213, 3262; electoral reform 32l2ni; finaoce 321201, 3222ni; reform 3222nl, 3227&m, 3228&ec, 3233, 3237, 3250111 Commons, House of 21IX, 37iX&n2, 6f6R, 686R&n5, 6goR, 7goR, gigx&:n4, io8iR, 1472X, i472XAni, 1555X, i86oR, i872X&n3,
igi4X, ig2gx&n2, ig85X&ni, 2OO4X, 22igx, 2322X, 27O3X, 2go6ec&m, agog&ni, 2910112, 2gi4&nn2&3, 291702, 2932, 2937&ec, 2938nm&3, 293gn2, 2949&n2, 295001, 2953&ni, 2964^5, 2965, 2972&n2, 3011&02, 3057&ooi&2, 3o65&ooi&3, 3o68&oi, 3o6g&oi, 3O74&on3&5, 3077&nm&2, 3o88&n5, 3o8g&on4&5, 3Og6&ni, 309701, 3099&ni, 3ioi&on2&4, 3i04&nm&4, 31078011, 3iog&nni&2, 3iioni, 3in&ni, 3ii3&ni, 31228011, 3123&01, 312580101-3, 3i28&n5, 31308014, 31378013, 3i4i&nni&2, 3i6i&ni, 31668011, 31678013, 31688011, 31738011, 3245&n3, 324g&nn2&3&6, 32568cn6, 32618014, 32628011, 3273, 3277, 3289, 3291, 32g4, 32g6, 3306, 330?&ni, 3313, 3324, 3327, 3328, 332g&o2, 3338, 3343. 3344, 3345&nn2&g, 3349, 3354&n5, 33588012, 3363&ni, 3365&nn2&3, 33758002, 3377&nni&2, 3381, 3382&oo2&3, 33888^02, 3396&m, 3412; MC conveys 'the feeling & stir' i395X&n2; select committee 2i65X8oii;i857electioo results 2g288oi5,2g2g; Speakership 2934&nn2&3; discusses annexation of Oude 2g6o&nm&3&4; D to be leader of in 1858 3023; 'wild & capricious' 305580101&2; business proceeds with 'tranquil regularity' 3O59∋ adjourns for Easter 30618011; Stanley's first speech as Minister 3io6∋ Oath of Abjuration Bill 314480101&4; 'Dummy' bill 31478012; Government benches 'so thin' 3i488coi; poor attendance by Conservatives 31498000 i8c3; oaths bills 3i5o8com&:2; its 'ignorance' condemned by Prince Albert 3l52ni; amendments to oaths bill 3i53&nni&2; condition of Thames affects session 3i55&ni, 3157, 3i58&n2; depleted by Quarter Sessions 3i6o&nni&3; D critiques Stanley's speaking style 3i62∋ combined efforts to produce India Bill 3i65&nni&4&5; prorogation 3i6g&nm&2; Council of India members excluded from 3i77&nni&4&:5; 'business of great importance' 3280; speech from the throne 3286∋ reform bill 3287∋ counselled to refrain from debate 32gg∋ nomination of Speaker 3351 ∋ meeting of 3352; election bribery 3393&ni. See aho Parliament Conference of Paris 3275&nn3&ll, 3294 Congress of Vienna (1814) 3018, 3019 Coningham, William 3148&nl Conservatives 6761*, 2gi7n2, 294501, 304O&nni-3, 3i24&m, 3i35&ni, 3178, 3268, 3273, 33iOnni&3, 3324, 3325&ni, 3336. 338lni; municipal elections at Poole
5i8R&n5; support D in his maiden speech 686R&n5; 'by no means dissatisfied with their leader' i86oR; 'old school' Tories i8?2X; 'attempt to restore the Tory party' igi4X; Jewish disabilities question ig29Xn2; electoral reform 22igx, 327001, 328g∋ 1852 elections 2322X&n3; in Ireland 27O4Xni; J. Peel not 'entirely' willing to identify with them 288901; Stanley's divergences with D's Cooservatism 289402; discuss union with Gladstone 289601; party rift over educatioo policy 2897&O1; eodaogered by Pakiogton's education bill 2898; poised to become 'a powerful & popular oppositioo' 29O1&O2; 1857 electioo results 291402, 29i8&oo3&4, 29ig&oni&2, 292O&ni, 292i&ni, 2g28&nn5&6, 2g2g; reaction to dissolutioo 2gi6&oo4&5; 1857 Irish electioos 2925&O3; assaulted io the Liberal press 293002; need to pursue 'a bold & decided course' 2932&O4; io 'a most delicate position' on Speakership 2935&n2; lagging support for Press 2g3?ni; 'must not divide' 2g3g&n2; 'mysterious' capitalists buyiog up Tory papers 2g55&o2; lodia policy io 1857 296001; D calls for uoited effort to restore Empire in India 2975&004&6; lodia policy io 1853 2991&02; pledged agaiost Baok Charter Act (1844) 2995&oo5&8; M//as 'recogoised orgao' of 2997&OO2&3&5; goveromeot of India 3OOi&nni&2; discuss moving a committee on India 3OO5&no2&5; parliameotary campaign begins well (3 Dec 1857) 3006; lose by-election in Bucks 3O08&ni, 300901; have 'ceased to exist' io Bucks 3O14&02; coospiracy bill 3018011; India debate 302101; effort to form mioistry supported by Queeo 3O22&O2; favour D as House leader 3O23&n4; effort to form cabinet supported by Queen 3026; Hamiltoo's cootributioo 3028; threateoed by Lytton's possible election defeat 303001; form government 3O34∋ dealt a blow by Lytton's retiremeot 3O35&O1; plaos for 1858 sessioo 303801; meeting of Parliament 3042; patronage appointmeots 3O44&oi, 3i85&ooi&2, 3249&05, 3257&02; Rathborne's services 3052111; criticized by press and oppositioo over Cagliari affair 3055&ooi-3; debate speodiog on militia 3056^01; oo declaratioo of policy 3O57&ooi&2; will survive oppositioo assault 3058; measures pass 'without obstacle' 3061; face defeat oo lodia Bill 3074&03; must avoid church rates question 3O76∋ India Bill 3O77∋ weakened by lack of majority 3o8o&nni&2; propose resolutions on government of India 3088;
535
on conduct of members of Parliament 3o8g&n5; Rose's work for 3ogo&m; 1858 budget 3O94∋ face 'a very powerful party' in House 3095; trial of Simon Bernard 3O99∋ fight off 'Radical move' 3loo&n3; relinquish India Bill (No 2) 3iOl&n4; no longer disturbed by opposition 3102; budget carried 3104; effect of Stanley's speech 3lo6∋ attend Derby's meeting on Indian resolutions 3i07∋ defended by Gladstone 3io8&nl; Cagliari affair 3logn2, 3i4i&m; 'difficult to manage' in Lords on oaths bill question 3112; Cardwell's motion of censure 31138011; peers never visit Commons 3ii4&nn2&3; favoured by country 3ii6∋ have 'sufficient of firstrate men' 3117; attempt to reconcile with former Peelites 31188011; Graham dissociates himself from 31238011; greatly strengthened by dissension in Liberal ranks 3i25&nm&3; 'the country is with us' 3126; D's brief recent history of 3i288cn5; Indian resolutions 3137; attacked by Rosina Bulwer Lytton 3l38nl; whitebait dinner 31448^4, 31678^3, 31698011; India Bill (No 3) 3145; popular in Ireland 3l47&nni-3; assailed by D for poor attendance in House 3l49&nni&3; amendment to oaths bill 3i53&n2; 'in for three years' 3163; challenge Crown's prerogative 3l65ni; attitude towards baronetage 3175; D seeks to reward for parliamentary service 31778015; Stanley a great boon to 3186; patronage claims 3188; Rathborne's relations with 3193; a 'lucky government' 3200; no news is good news 3204; attacked by The Times for not publishing China treaty 32O5&nni&2; divided over patronage issues 32i4∋ fear impact of Derby's possible death 3215; 'country ... eminently conservative' 322o8cn2; Manchester seat 322i&nni&2; first cabinet of new session 3222&nni-3&5; Murray's appointment 3225∋ cabinet meetings 3226, 3235, 3237; cabinet council 32328011; reconstruction of party 3236; end of daily cabinets 3243&n3; 'Cabinets have closed' 3246; Atlantic telegraph 3247&nni&2; discuss reform bill 325O&n2; compromised by Lytton's impending resignation 32518013; dangers of secessions 3256; county franchise 326o8cn3; their fate and the reform bill 326i&nn2&4; patronage 3265&nm&2; 'plenty of troubles' 3267; French expect government to fall 3292ni; reorganise cabinet 3297; unanimity on reform bill 3300; may be defeated by a coalition 33O4&n i Consolidated Fund 3iooni
536
Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill (1858) 30768012, 31768012 Consols 2895, 3285ni Conspiracy to Murder Bill (1858) 301880111, 3O2i&ni, 3038m, 3oggm Constable, Archibald I 334112, 2gx&ni Convicts 3o8g8oi2 Conyngham, 2nd Marquess I 331113, 3o85n2 Cooke, W.H. 3249n6 Copley, Georgiana (Lady Du Cane 1863) 2976&nng&ii Copley, Mary (Lyndhurst's sister) II 410111, 541R, 32158017 Copyright Bill (1837) 6goR Cork igigR, 3239&n2 Cormack, John Rose (?) 331 lee Corn Bill (1846) 1473x801 ni8