Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1848-1851, Volume V 9781442671287

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BENJAMIN DISRAELI LETTERS: 1848-1851

BENJAMIN DISRAELI LETTERS

The Disraeli Project, Queen's University at Kingston

VOLUME FIVE 1848-1851

Edited by M.G. WIEBE General Editor

J.B. CONACHER Co-editor

JOHN MATTHEWS Co-editor

MARY S. MILLAR Research Associate

University of Toronto Press Toronto, Buffalo, London

www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1993 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-2927-2

Printed on acid-free paper Graphic Design: Peter Dorn, RCA, FGDC Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Disraeli, Benjamin, 1804-1881 [Correspondence] Benjamin Disraeli letters Vols. 3-5 edited by M.G. Wiebe ... [et al.] Includes index. Partial contents: [v. i] 1815-1834 - [v. 2] 1835-1837 [v. 3] 1838-1841 - [v. 4] 1842-1847 - [v. 5] 1848-1851] ISBN ISBN ISBN ISBN ISBN

0-8020-5523-0 0-8020-5587-7 0-8020-5736-5 0-8020-5810-8 0-8020-2927-2

(v. (v. (v. (v. (v.

l) 2) 3) 4) 5)

i. Disraeli, Benjamin, 1804-1881. 2. Prime ministers - Great Britain - Correspondence. 3. Great Britain - Politics and government 1837-1901. i. Gunn, J.A.W. (John Alexander Wilson), 1937. II. Wiebe, M. G. (Melvin George), 1939. in. Title. DA564-B3A4 1982

94i.o8i'o92'4

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 j vi Acknowledgements | vii Introduction | ix Editorial Principles | xxi Disraeli Chronology 1848-1851 | xxiii Abbreviations in Volume Five | xxxiii Chronological List of Letters 1848-1851 | xli Letters | 3 Appendices | 509 I Pre-iSqS Letters Newly Found \ 509 II 'De la meditation en Italic' \ 523 in Lists of possible cabinets \ 526 IV Petition from the Bucks Real Property Society \ 528 v Disraeli's memoirs, extracts 1848-51 \ 530

vi Disraeli in Men of the Time | 540 Recipients, Volume Five | 542 Index to Volume Five | 545

ILLUSTRATIONS

Metternich in old age | Ixi Campbell's bust of Lord George Bentinck | Ixii Lord John Russell | Ixiii 14th Earl of Derby | Ixiv Detail of Smirke's plan for Grosvenor Gate | 115 Lady Londonderry's inkstand gift | 115 'The Infant Prodigy Playing to a Small Protectionist Party' | 508

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; Hollinger Inc; Olympia & York Developments Ltd; N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd; The Henry N.R. Jackman Foundation; Norman and Rita MacKenzie; Joseph Rotman; The James Wallace McCutcheon Foundation; Barbara Robertson; Diana Susan Roney; Isobel C. Tatham; and several anonymous donors. We acknowledge with special gratitude the assistance of many people in marshalling the private funding: the leadership of Conrad Black and the late Edmund C. Bovey, and the kind assistance of The Hon Flora MacDonald, Lord Blake, Patrick Cormack MP , The Hon Roy MacLaren, John G. Nicholson, Principal David C. Smith, Vice-Principal (Research) William McLatchie, Director of Research Services A.R. Eastham and Director of Development John Heney. We acknowledge expressions of support by Richard D. Altick, G. Auchinachie, David T. Barnard, W.J. Barnes, John Beckett, Donald Beer, J.C.G. Binfield, Miles Blackwell, Lord Blake, J.T. Boulton, Sarah Bradford, J.H.Y. Briggs, Norman J.P. Brown, R.H. Cameron, A.E. Campbell, Stephen Constantine, Donald M. Cregier,John C. Crosbie, C.M.D. Crowder, BJ. Dalton, R.W. Davis, Barbara Dennis, N. Merrill Distad, Arnold Edinborough, D.M.L. Farr, W. Craig Ferguson, J.M. Fewster, Robert Fulford, H.S. Gordon, Alan G. Green, D.S. Hair, A.C. Hamilton, Margaret Harris, Gary C. Hartlen, John Harvard, Peter Hinchcliffe, B. Humfrey, A.N. Jeffares, Alexandra F.Johnston, Bruce L. Kinzer, F.P. Lock, Trevor Lloyd, Harold Love, A.M. MacDermaid, Sylvia E. Main, Robert Malcolmson, H.C.G. Matthew, Kathleen E. McCrone, W. David Mclntyre, R.D. McMaster, Tom Middlebro', Donald R. Mopsik, Peter Morgan, Kenneth Muir, Barbara North, James Ogden, Robert O'Kell, R.J. Olney, F. Reid, Loren Reid, Anthony W. Riley, Mary L. Robertson, Ann Robson, Alexander M. Ross, Malcolm Ross, Geoffrey Rowell, H. Grant Sampson, Keith Sandiford, Larry ScanIan, Barbara Quinn Schmidt, Donald M. Schurman, Sheila Smith, David Spring, Peter Stansky, J.M. Stedmond, Jack Stillinger, Donald Swainson, John A. Tay-

lor, Clive Thomson, M. Thorpe, C.M. Tiffin, J.R. Vincent, R.K. Webb, Joel H. Wiener, Stanley Weintraub, Robin A. Whitworth. We remain indebted to the individuals and institutions named in the earlier volumes, to which lists we add: Institutions

Archives des Bouches-du-Rhone, Madeleine Chabrolin; Archives de France, Isabelle Neuschwander; Bismarck Archiv, Paul Hensius; Bodleian Library, T.D. Rogers; Buckinghamshire Record Office, County Archivist; College of Arms, London, Joyce M. Coulter; Corporation of London Records Office, James R. Sewell; The Daily Telegraph, George Newkey-Burden; Danish Embassy, Ottawa, Theis Truelsen; Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Glasgow District Libraries, Sandra Gaffney; Guildhall Library, S. Focett; Hampshire Record Office, R.C. Dunhill; Hatfield House, R.H. Harcourt Williams; Record Office, House of Lords, DJ. Johnson; Public Record Office, Kew; John Rylands University Library of Manchester, John Tuck; National Library of Scotland, Iain G. Brown; The National Trust, Christopher Wall; Oeuvres d'Alexis de Tocqueville, Andre Jordin, Francoise Melonio; Oxford University, Briony Blackwell; Pattee Library, Pennyslvania State University, Sandra Stelts; Queen's University, Jacalyn Duffin, Ross S. Kilpatrick, James A. Leith; The Rothschild Archive, Simone Mace; Salem State College, Richard Elia; University College & Middlesex School of Medicine, Bolders Librarian, Janet Cropper; University of Edmonton, David Moss; University of Leeds, Keith M. Wilson. Individuals

John Coulter, Sandra Den Otter, Marion Filipiuk, Timothy Gee, Mark Girouard, A.S Gordon, Frederick Atwood Hagar, Jacques Hamm, Jean Hamm, Goodith Mary Heeney, Alexandra McKirdy, Robert O'Kell, Lisa Sloniowski, Thomas Trollope-Bellew, Stanley Weintraub, Joseph Ziradiuk. Project Staff

Linda Freeman, Ellen Hawman, Sharon Milroy, Barbara Robertson. It was with sadness that the members of the Disraeli Project learned of the death on 21 April 1993 of Prudence Tracy, long-time editor at the University of Toronto Press, under whose guidance previous volumes of this edition were published. It is an honour to be one of the many enterprises to have been helped by her able hand. We acknowledge her great contributions to the edition, and mourn her passing.

vin

INTRODUCTION

'When Chaos comes,' Disraeli wrote to the banker Henry Drummond on 4 May 1848, 'and we have an opportunity of creating order, we may set about working' to redesign the system of government; 'at present,' he added, 'we must be less methodical, a little more bungling & practical' (i643A). The motif of imminent disorder only barely held off pervades Disraeli's personal and political affairs in the years 1848-51 covered by the 600 letters of this volume, a spectre he was not able to dispel as easily as he discounted the prospect of an English revolution in 1848. In every aspect of his life, chaos, if not quite come again, hovered perpetually near, and the struggle to avoid being overwhelmed involved all the talents and resources he possessed. These were the years of revolutions across Europe, and the removal or exile of monarchs, ministers, and even the Pope. 'The King of France in a Surrey villa, Metternich in a Hanover Square hotel, & the Prince of Prussia at Lady Palmerston's!' Disraeli marvelled to Lady Londonderry on i May 1848 (1643). In the revolutionaries' wake came forcible refashioning of national frontiers and restructuring of legislative bodies. In France, four years of upheaval began with the fall of Louis Philippe in 1848 and ended with Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat of December 1851, which demolished the constitution of the Second Republic. At home, amid fears that revolution would spread to Britain too, there were riots in the streets, the rally of thousands with the Chartist petition, and insurrection in Ireland. Even the Crystal Palace, gem of the Great Exhibition of 1851, was springing leaks everywhere. In parliament, a weak Liberal government trembled on the brink of collapse, but could not be defeated while the split in the Conservative party induced by the fall of Peel in 1846 persisted between Peelites and Protectionists. Struggles in 1848 and 1849 for the Protectionist leadership in the House of Commons took up valuable energies and eroded confidence within the party, and the lack of able candidates for the front bench contributed to fiasco in 1851 with the failure of Lord Stanley, the Protectionist chief, to form a cabinet. Disraeli's personal life seemed to share in the general instability; he lost father and old friends, found his marriage in danger, risked losing his country house, and had his always shaky finances threatened by long-forgotten creditors. His talents as a parliamentary speaker were only grudgingly at last rewarded by

party recognition, his newly won Commons leadership was promptly endangered by his severe illness, his painstaking efforts to organize often-indifferent party members into cohesion and action were perpetually frustrated, and his attempts to swing the party away from protectionism towards a wider political philosophy were thwarted and criticized by his own colleagues. Each hard-won gain seemed undermined by devastating loss, taking a heavy toll of his physical and emotional reserves. One surprising feature of these letters is their periodic punctuation by uncharacteristic resolves to give up the political struggle and retire to become, like his father, a literary man and scholar. Again and again in his letters, he observes with feeling that 'affairs are very critical'; the words that recur are 'chaos,' 'storm,' 'riot,' 'disaster,' 'agitation,' 'catastrophe,' 'grand confusion.' The effort to find practical methods of imposing order sometimes courted disaster (and there are many potential disasters here), yet Disraeli's tenacity succeeded, sometimes brilliantly, in keeping them at bay. If the upheaval he and his party looked for in these years - the defeat of the Whig government and its replacement by a Protectionist cabinet that included Disraeli -was not achieved, the inimical forces of disintegration which kept erupting in his life did not, in the end, succeed in destroying the intricate and delicate network of connections by which his private affairs and his career held each other up. In his personal life, calamity arrived in 1848 with two deaths, one expected and one totally unforeseen, which both affected him deeply and also had huge implications for his career. On 19 January, Isaac D'Israeli died, after several years of failing health. Disraeli's love for his father, as the single most important influence on his life, had been great, but he had realistically (and to the fury of the vendors) delayed completion of the purchase of Hughenden Manor until the time when he would receive his inheritance. Now the property which was his qualification as MP for Bucks could become officially his. But, only two weeks after he announced to his wife, Mary Anne, 'It is all done - & you are the Lady of Hughenden' (1711), and before they could move in, came the death on 21 September of Lord George Bentinck, who not only was Disraeli's political colleague and leader but had agreed to provide an important part of the additional funding for the Hughenden purchase. It was a catastrophe that imperilled the whole house-of-cards structure on which Disraeli and Bentinck had based their political strategy for the Protectionist party's evolution, under Bentinck as leader with Disraeli as his lieutenant. 'Utterly overwhelmed' by what he described in a letter to Bentinck's brother as 'the greatest sorrow I have ever experienced,' Disraeli perforce in that same letter had to suggest a meeting, 'when the occasion is fitting,' to discuss what amounted to his political future (1718). On 18 October, in one of his most explicit letters on financial affairs, he described to Mary Anne the delicate negotiations of that day, the result of which was agreement by Bentinck's father, the Duke of Portland, and brothers to advance the funding (very much sub rosa) and allow Disraeli to play 'the great game' in parliament in the landowners' interest (1730). Surprisingly, his stipulation that he be allowed to act independently rather than merely as Portland's puppet was agreed to. His situation, though outwardly

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stable and prosperous, remained precarious, however. The arrangement meant that he would live for the next ten years virtually as the tenant of Hughenden, passing on the rents to the Portland family while himself carrying out the many responsibilities of ownership. At any time, the Bentincks could withdraw the loan (as they did in 1857) and leave him with the financial load to bear (1702). The effect of Bentinck's death on Disraeli's career was paradoxical. It devastated him and created a dangerous potential for fragmentation in the party. Yet it also created a vacuum in the leadership which only Disraeli could fill. The party, however, strongly resisted this conclusion, and some of the most significant letters in this volume deal with his many vicissitudes before he was accepted as leader in the Commons (see Index under 'Disraeli: leadership'). The events of the chaotic struggle for the Commons leadership are familiar: the party's 'coup d'apoplexie' in December 1847 over Bentinck's support of the Jewish Emancipation Bill and his resignation as leader, their stubborn refusal in early 1848 to select Disraeli, their choice instead of the Marquess of Granby and his almost instant resignation, the tacit resumption of Bentinck's leadership for the 1848 session, the manoeuvrings after Bentinck's death by Lord Stanley (the party chief) and Disraeli in January and February 1849, the compromise triumvirate of Granby, Disraeli and J.C. Herries, and the gradual emergence of Disraeli as sole leader in the 1849 session. Very much more, however, lies behind these broad outlines. The letters of this period provide not only the correspondence between the principals in the various stages of the struggle (see further below, also Chronological List and List of Recipients), but a wealth of detail about the considerations which had to be weighed and the day-to-day jockeying for advantage. The letters to Granby and his brother, Lord John Manners, for example, show that in 1848 Disraeli was quite content to obey Bentinck's request for unity and serve Granby (1620,1621), but that, after Bentinck's death, he was not prepared to be subordinate to Stanley's choice, J.C. Herries, a much older and duller man than himself (1755). The sequence of letters to Mary Anne in early 1849 gives a particularly vivid picture, as Disraeli in London sends ebullient daily communiques to Hughenden about influential people interviewed and fresh forces gathered to his standard (1761$). A new verve and sense of confidence pervade this correspondence, even when he is recounting attacks of biliousness and noting the smell of paint at Grosvenor Gate, and he shows a resolute control in his dealings with Stanley which probably impressed Stanley as much as the barrage by Disraeli's supporters. What gave him this remarkable confidence at this crucial juncture was his knowledge of the reputation he had built up as an orator. Over the previous six years, aware that he could not then rely for advancement on influence or financial backing (apart from Mary Anne's limited funds), he had worked hard and consistently at perfecting his skills in the only other area which would allow an ambitious young politician to succeed. His work in the 1848 session had been particularly strenuous, with twenty speeches, culminating in the extremely successful Summary of the Session ('the speech that made me leader' (M&B m, 103)) in August, when he had attacked the Whig government's policies with devastating effect (1700).

XI

The course of his speeches as the letters of this period allow it to be plotted (see Index and Chronology) shows how hard he continued to work, making over seventy speeches in all (not to mention the many shorter interventions). Even in 1850, when illness kept him out of the House for a month (1975-7), he delivered twenty-one well researched speeches, full of telling statistics and his by-now-famous acerbic wit. The letters also show how, in his speeches during these four years, he attempted to turn from party-line supporter to formulator of party policy and to move the party itself from the old protectionist platform towards a wider political philosophy which would ensure the survival of a system based on a landed aristocracy, but which would also (fittingly for a party led by the author of Sybil) find ways of promoting a sense of common purpose across all interests and classes. His first speech of the 1848 session, on 4 February, was protectionist, in support of Bentinck, on the plight of West Indies sugar and coffee growers, who had been cut off by recent legislation from tariff protection and forced to compete in an open market with slave-grown crops from non-British colonies (1621, 1624). Only a year later, in a major speech on taxation relief for landowners (who carried the main load of local taxation), he argued strongly that agricultural and industrial interests must be made complementary to each other, not antagonistic (Blake 288). He intended the speech to be a first step in drawing the party away from what he saw as 'the hopeless question of Protection' (1795). 'The great point', he told Manners in October 1850, was 'to devise a scheme, wh: will rally the landed party, & yet be suited to the spirit of the age' (2049). By 1851, scenting the possibility of his party's chance at office, he was trying to moderate its stance in the public's eyes, as in his speech of 11 February on agricultural distress, arguing in the name of justice for some gesture of relief towards the agriculturalists in a time generally recognized as prosperous for most other interests (2097). His most decisive strokes were made out of parliament in the autumn, in two speeches at Aylesbury and Salt Hill, where he argued in even more explicit terms than before the case for more equitable taxation and suggested the removal of restrictive taxes on grain (2175, 2181). 'As for Protection in its old form,' he had already written to Manners, 'I look upon that as dead' (2049). Since he was thus in many ways attempting to turn the accepted party direction in this period, his correspondence with Lord Stanley makes particularly interesting reading. Many of Disraeli's letters to Stanley, and Stanley's to Disraeli, are mentioned or quoted in Monypenny and Buckle, but a surprising number from this time are not, or are given only in part. A survey of the entire correspondence allows a very detailed picture to emerge of the evolution of their political relationship. In addition, the work of editing the letters often allows redating of even apparently firmly dated letters in the exchanges between them (see, for example, 1999). The pattern is one of initial distrust (perhaps caused by early lack of personal contact) and some superciliousness on Stanley's part, moderated by growing respect. Stanley's selection of Disraeli for the important Summary of the Session in 1848 shows that he recognized Disraeli's abilities as a speaker (1692). In 1849 Disraeli's refusal to compromise on the leadership issue made Stanley initially

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fear he was too independent and then capitulate and declare his readiness to work with him (1761,1764). At last, his tenacity and his willingness to work hard (harder in fact than Stanley himself, who on occasion could put race-meetings before parliament) on the day-to-day grind of organizing the party for parliamentary action produced respect for his grasp of tactics and procedure, no mean achievement when, as Disraeli observed, 'there are so many people to consult and to persuade, that it is like commanding an army in Italy under the Aulic Council at Vienna' (1986). The letters in sequence emphasize strongly the change in Stanley's tone between 1848 and 1851. In December 1848, Stanley's frankness about Disraeli's unacceptability as House leader is chilling (1755); in September 1849, his horror at Disraeli's pioneering (if politically premature) speech proposing a non-protectionist approach to land taxation produced a somewhat hectoring remonstrance (1886). By April 1850, however, a letter shows his readiness to defer to Disraeli's judgement about party strategy against the Whigs' economic proposals (1983); in January 1851, a similar attitude prompts his acknowledgement of Disraeli's diplomatic handling of a curious proposal by Lord Londonderry to enrol Sir James Graham among the Protectionists (2090). (For Disraeli's own account of some of these changes, see App v i.) For his part, Disraeli showed great shrewdness in his approach to Stanley, emphasizing party solidarity and an end to the friction that threatened it. He could demonstrate a willingness to conciliate, as with the dinner at Grosvenor Gate in July 1848 that he hoped would unite the two Protectionist leaders, Bentinck and Stanley (1662), but his refusal in December to serve under Herries was a polite but direct statement of his independence (1755), with no hint of the private bitterness he expressed elsewhere: '[I] would not take the trouble of riding up to town to be installed leader of any party whatever' (1757). He was undoubtedly right in January 1849 when he wrote to Mary Anne: 'having set every wheel at work, it is just as well that I shd. be off the scene when everyone is on it' (1767). Wisely, he avoided direct confrontation with Stanley over the position he had expressed in his letter, instead working behind the scenes to amass such huge support for his selection that Stanley was forced to climb down (1761^, 1771,1780). As he told his sister Sarah on 26 January, 'The only awkward thing now is Ld. S's position in consequence of his first rash letter' (1780). The mildness of Disraeli's letter to Stanley on 8 February (when matters were still publicly undecided) is a mask intended to emphasize that he was not in fact going to accept Stanley's draft of an amendment without putting his own personal stamp on it (1785). Disraeli's subsequent letters to Stanley - dutiful reports of Commons debates, or proposals for motions and speakers - were calculated to give Stanley confidence that his House leader knew what he was doing. These letters are also proof positive, if any were still needed, that the work of organizing the Protectionist party at this point was at least as much Disraeli's as Stanley's. It was Disraeli especially who laboured to find new men to speak for the party in the Commons - hence his joy when Manners was at last re-elected - and the letter are eloquent on this point. (See, for example, 1799, ^OO/f, and ig6$A. on the desperate need for 'new elements & a temperate tone'.) In January 1849, he

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had been excluded from the party deliberations at Burghley House (1766); a year later he had become an indispensable part of them (1952$) and was showing (for the most part) admirable discretion towards Stanley while firmly pointing out the dangerous narrowness of protectionism, 'the agricultural interest in the nakedness of its isolation' (1957). His warning was prophetic. Stanley in 1851 failed to form a government when his refusal to moderate the Protectionist stance made many of the better-qualified potential cabinet members (the Peelites) refuse his offers (2101 and App v). Disraeli's letter to his chief on 23 February, at the height of the crisis, has all the restraint needed to address a man who could be stubborn if pressed; but it cannot conceal the urgency with which he argues for some palliation of the party line on corn duties. In the postscripts (unpublished in Monypenny and Buckle), as important as the body of the letter, Disraeli despairingly cites established economic authorities in a last-minute attempt to sway his leader (2099). It was, of course, unsuccessful, to Disraeli's considerable chagrin: 'It is rare in parties that such opportunities are offered as we have rejected, or rather been unequal to' (2105). Confusion again prevailed, and Disraeli was forced to return to diplomacy and the business of reconstruction (2191). One eminent confidant in Disraeli's effort to pull order out of the leadership imbroglio was Metternich, exiled in England after the 1848 revolutions. The man who had epitomized European conservatism for the previous half-century and had been the supreme negotiator of the Congress of Vienna, whose working principle had always been to establish a balance of power, was as well what Disraeli declared with surprise and excitement he 'never expected to meet, a great philosophic statesman' (1664). The dozen letters from Disraeli to Metternich in this volume, along with Metternich's replies, form the bulk of their total correspondence; perhaps surprisingly, only two of them have been previously published. Their tone indicates the extreme respect Disraeli maintained towards the elder statesman; their idiom — 'cher Maitre,' 'Mille hommages,' 'my dearest Prince' (1666, 1712) - shows how sensitive Disraeli had been in absorbing from his other European correspondents the usages of continental courtliness. Their terminology, whereby Metternich is 'the master of political wisdom' (1760) and Disraeli his 'affectionate child' (1712), establishes their relationship as that of mentor and student. Disraeli saw in Metternich qualities he had already portrayed in the character of Sidonia. Nevertheless, the letters between them begin (in French at first, the language of diplomacy) with practical assistance from pupil to mentor, as Disraeli arranged in June and July 1848 to have political propaganda appear on Metternich's behalf in such reputable English publications as The Quarterly Review and The Times (1656, 1666). Disraeli also contributed at least one article (translated into French) to Metternich's short-lived weekly for European expatriates, Le Spectateur de Londres, run by Metternich's shady agent, Georg Klindworth (see App n). With Bentinck's death in September, however, the current began to run the other way. The previously unpublished postscript to Metternich's letter of condolence is of interest, not for its platitudes about Bentinck's death, but for its exhortations that Disraeli take up the political battle on his own account

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(1725). This may well have been a spur to Disraeli's determination actively to seek the leadership three months later, and explain why he was so anxious for Metternich's advice at that time (1761-3,1766,1769,1778), both by letter and by personal visits. Disraeli's own letters here are notable for their degree of frankness, about himself and his political colleagues: 'Certainly it is a great anomaly, that a proud aristocracy should find a chief in one, who is not only not an aristocrat, but against whose origin exist other prejudices, than being merely a man of the people' (1769). To which of his other correspondents does Disraeli, at this or any other time, thus baldly state the realities of his position as he prepares to breach the barriers of class and ethnic origin? From Metternich, too, he seems to have derived (or have had reconfirmed) the principle on which he based his conduct in these years: 'I have resolved to undertake nothing, unless... the party is reconstructed on a broad basis' (1778). Metternich's replies, however — particularly as Disraeli's requests for advice became more urgent — were evasive, taking refuge in grand philosophical generalizations instead of providing usable suggestions for Disraeli's moves in the party battle (1763,1778). Disraeli must have become aware that he was working alone, here as everywhere else. His major correspondent in this period is, as before, his sister, Sarah, who at times seems almost the only constant in his life. She was certainly his stay against family disorder after the deaths of their parents, as she organized the vacating of Bradenham House (with a minimum of help from brothers Ralph and James), paid the bills, and even, in one crisis, lent money to Disraeli (1639, 1645, 1794-5). Nevertheless, several of the previously unpublished letters of the 132 to Sarah in this volume show how, even with her help, he was from time to time obliged to turn his attention from political strategy to butcher's accounts. They also confirm the continuing emotional closeness of brother and sister, although very seldom reinforced now by personal meetings, partly because of Disraeli's increased political involvement and partly because of family disagreements that seem to have caused her to lead a somewhat lonely and peripatetic life after leaving Bradenham (1645, 1826, 1841, 2026). Only to Sarah and to Lady Londonderry (to whom there is a spate of letters in 1848 and 1849) is he at his very best as a letter-writer, combining wittily perceptive accounts of public and political events with savoury items of social gossip. To Sarah he recounts with relish how departing MPS settled back in their seats when he rose, 'as if I said "Hullo! you fellows come back there'" (1804); to Lady Londonderry he describes the scandal of Prince Albert's intervention in the religious education of the Prince of Wales (1995); but either would have understood and appreciated the anecdote sent to the other. It is primarily Sarah, however, who is the intimate confidante of his feelings, his elation at success ('the best speech I ever made'), his dejection in defeat ('All this is very black'), or his depression over the state of his marriage (see further below). To Sarah, too, he allows himself more licence than in official correspondence: on the Lords' reaction to the government's defeat on the Navigation Bill in 1849, he quotes John Bright's scathing comment that they will swallow it, '"for tho' they are convinced it will both destroy the commerce & navy of England, they deem such

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results comparative blessings compared with Stanley being minister"' (1818). The letters to Sarah in this volume, for the majority of which the originals have been found, supersede the very selective extracts in Ralph Disraeli's edition, which often make Disraeli's letters seem a constant litany of self-praise. For example, the variety of topics, the sense of Disraeli's irritability at political setbacks, and his tenderness about Sarah's welfare on 7 March 1849 are barely hinted at in the excerpts given by Ralph (1794). A reader therefore should be wary of drawing adverse conclusions from letters such as that of 5 February 1848 (1625), one of Ralph's extracts for which the original has not been found, which contains only Disraeli's jubilation at a House success: it is difficult to believe that the original had absolutely nothing, less than three weeks after Isaac's death, of commiseration or inquiry for his sister, in a letter which a sale catalogue tells us was seven pages long. Almost as frequent as his letters to his sister are those to his allies against financial disaster, his various monetary advisors and agents, Richard Wright, G.F. Smith and Philip Rose. (See also Appendix I for letters on financial matters from Disraeli to Lionel de Rothschild.) As always, each had only a partial knowledge of Disraeli's affairs, but as this volume proceeds Rose assumes a larger and larger role. The correspondence shows Disraeli's good judgement in selecting him in 1846 as his confidential man of business; an aspect of Rose's recompense may be glimpsed in Disraeli's recommendation of him to members of the nobility (1925-7, 2019). Many of the letters, even when taken in sequence, unfortunately remain cryptic about the specifics discussed, but they give evidence of Rose's personal involvement at crucial points in ensuring, through mortgages and a sizeable loan, the purchase of Hughenden (1648,1657,1713 etc). Moreover, Disraeli was still vulnerable to problems from old debts, usually at times when, he wrote to Sarah, 'I thought I had got this year clear & safe' (1794). In the very midst of the leadership struggle in 1849, an old obligation was brought up by the lawyer for Thomas Jones; the affair lingered on into 1851 and threatened Disraeli with both complete catastrophe and enforced retirement into private life (1770, 1786, 1794-5, 2I42)- At about the same time, most likely as a result of Disraeli's increased public prominence, another creditor, Robert Messer, advanced an old claim which, thanks to Wright's management, was eventually settled in June 1849 (1802-3,1808). In one serio-comic episode in 1851, just as office for the Protectionists seemed within reach, the Hughenden living was abandoned without warning by its eccentric incumbent, and, since its presentation was tied up in the convolutions of Disraeli's financial affairs, he was forced to divert his attention yet again from pressing political concerns (2096, 2100). The theme of financial desperation runs all through this volume, with the prospect of ruin always ominously close. Even the most reliable part of his life, his marriage, was threatened in this period. The ten-year-old relationship was no longer highly romantic: the birthday and anniversary poems found in previous volumes do not (with one exception) figure in this one, though Disraeli is still careful to address Mary Anne as 'My dearest Love,' and to send notes home merely 'to tell you I love you, for there is no news of any kind' (1650). As a partnership, the marriage still

xvi

worked well: Mary Anne was primarily responsible for domestic, social, and financial support, leaving Disraeli generally free to focus on his career. This is the background for the fascinating correspondence, during the 1849 leadership struggle, between Disraeli the politician and Mary Anne, chatelaine of the newly occupied Hughenden, supervising large-scale renovations by an army of employees, but ready herself to drive over icy roads to mail political papers he needed (1791ff). Disraeli gently joked on 24 January, 'you must have now formed your administration, & can leave things without anxiety' (1777). At several points, however, the correspondence indicates that she did discuss political matters as well. On 9 January, for example, Disraeli wrote that he needed 'the benefit of yr advice' on his tactics, and on 25 January, 'I agree with you generally about Lord S. but much wish to talk over affairs together, before I see him' (1766, 1779). The previous publication of these letters in Monypenny and Buckle is in most cases only partial, omits Mary Anne's surviving replies, and in general does not do justice to this interchange. It would seem, however, that the success of the hard work by both partners contributed to what might have become a major break between them. The single year between January 1849 and January 1850, that is, between his successful campaign for the leadership and the unprecedented invitations from the Dukes of Rutland and Exeter to Belvoir and Burghley Castles before the 1850 session (1952/7), was that in which society at last gave them full acceptance. Where Disraeli, for example, had gone alone to Belvoir in 1846, they were now both invited. It is ironic that, when social success came, Disraeli, 'always hurried to death & quite worn out' with politics, had no leisure to enjoy what he had sought for so long. He came positively to resent the 'wear & tear' of social obligations (1758, 1971), leaving most of them to Mary Anne to fulfil. 'I don't particularly want to go,' he told her on 25 January, 'but very much wish you shd., & maintain yr position in society, & feel the public sentiment on many affairs' (1779). Mary Anne throve on a full social calendar; her account books are most melancholy when they record at month's end: 'No company. Pas content' (2048). Yet she was not always sociable; she had a temper and could feel acutely jealous. Her resentment of Sarah had already necessitated three different levels of correspondence: Mary Anne with Sarah, Disraeli with Sarah via Grosvenor Gate (overt), and Disraeli with Sarah via the Carlton Club (clandestine) (1780). Her prickliness also led in these years to quarrels with James and Ralph, which Disraeli found trying and unnecessary. The fact that, even when she and Disraeli were in London, they were living virtually separate lives seems to have distressed her and may well have precipitated a crisis apparently unique in their relationship. On 17 July 1849, after catching Disraeli in an outright lie about his movements the previous week, she broke open his locks in a search for love letters and forced him to pass at least one night in a hotel (1857). Fortunately for him, there were no love letters, which allowed him to take a self-righteous attitude, but he privately admitted to Sarah (in a letter suppressed by his family for 120 years) that 'it might have been otherwise.' Quite what this intriguing statement means is unclear. It is tempting to speculate about an indiscretion, perhaps with

xvn

Georg Klindworth's experienced daughter Agnes, who was certainly seeing Disraeli regularly about Le Spectateur, possibly performed secretarial duties for him, and is provocatively described by Liszt as being 'en grand amitie"1 with Disraeli at this time (1789, 1792). More probably, his increased intimacy with Lady Londonderry in 1848 and 1849, in the form of unaccompanied visits and correspondence conducted on a level above Mary Anne, finally exasperated her beyond endurance. (It is noticeable that Disraeli found time to write two letters of birthday greetings to Lady Londonderry in this period, but only one to Mary Anne survives (1759, 2O&9> 2196)-) The incident seems with time to have been patched over, although one cannot help finding unintended humour in Mary Anne's description of a later gift from Lady Londonderry as a 'Silver Guilt' inkstand (1973). What is undeniable is the unwonted tone of ennui and irritability in Disraeli's subsequent letters to Sarah, particularly when he and Mary Anne are isolated in the country: 'I doubt whether I can bear this life much longer' (1871); 'I am ... hipped & dispirited beyond expression. Indeed I find this life quite intolerable' (1915). He sometimes contrived reasons to leave Hughenden, and even took Rose into his confidence so far as to ask: 'I wish you wd. write me a line to say, that you want me in town' (1916). Possibly the very immersion in Blue Books that autumn which so impressed the party Whip, William Beresford, came partly from his need to avoid his wife (1887). For her part, Mary Anne (like many another unhappy woman) devoted herself to the house and gardens, at one point moving earth herself so violently as to sprain both her arms (2064). Nevertheless, in 1851, despite family squabbles, some warming is detectable. In March, there was a marked increase in her social engagements after the slump apparent throughout 1850 (2110). In the same month, there seems complete sincerity in Disraeli's remarks on the engagement of Lord John Manners: 'My own experience tells me, that domestic happiness, far from being an obstacle to public life, is the best support of an honorable ambition' (2112). There are other indications: a note dashed off in triumph about a speech (2097), noticeably more dinner parties at Grosvenor Gate (2164), joint visits in the country (Disraeli begins again to use 'we' of these excursions (2175, 2178)). By the end of the year, there was a reconciliation with the quarrelsome James (2195), and the improvement in the marriage is shown in Disraeli's writing of the only poem to Mary Anne in this volume, for her fifty-ninth birthday, 'an offering to a perfect Wife'; Mary Anne has endorsed it, 'from Dear Dizzy' (2196). Here should perhaps be acknowledged how very much editors of Disraeli's letters are in debt to Mary Anne for her care in preserving letters and in sorting and dating them. She was not infallible, but in this volume her endorsements (which must have been done on a continuing basis) have been helpful in dating Disraeli's own letters as well as those from Stanley (who seldom dates a letter beyond, say, 'Saturday night') and other correspondents, especially during the 1851 attempt to form a government. Her faithfully kept account books, too, give valuable information on social events, domestic finances, and Disraeli's movements. It is to an entry there that we owe what is probably the most authentic and affecting account of Disraeli at Bentinck's funeral: 'Dear Dizzy,

xvm

went & sat, alone, in his deep grief (1718). Her contribution to his career goes far beyond the wifely care that sent an overcoat to the House on a stormy night, or the skills as a hostess that allowed political colleagues to strike alliances over the dinner table at Grosvenor Gate; it is one of the factors in an accurate evaluation of the man and the politician. A prominent casualty, the letters show, in all Disraeli's struggles against chaos was his writing. Only one provocative statement in November 1848 to the publisher Richard Bentley implies that Disraeli's autumn recess was again (as in the last five years) devoted to writing fiction, but there is unfortunately nothing to tell us what the work was (1744). His writing for the press is considerably less in contrast to the numerous leaders, articles and letters of earlier years (see, for example, Volume iv). Only a few pieces of his journalism seem to have appeared, in The Times as before, and in Le Spectateur de Londres (1635, 2098, 1699). Disraeli's heightened profile now made such publicity largely unnecessary — the newspapers loved to give him coverage (2097) - and his growing political authority made the House the appropriate place for the expression of his opinions. In these years, in fact, his writing comes out of his personal life more than his political. His biography of Bentinck is a case in point. It was a natural outcome of his grief and sense of waste, and it owes its tone of hagiography to this as much as to a need to justify the Protectionist record between 1846 and 1848. Had his aim been primarily political, it is hardly likely that he would have published it at a time when he was in fact trying to move the party away from protectionism (see Macintyre 'Bentinck' 144). It may also have been linked, in ways only hinted at in the surviving letters, to the secret arrangements with the Bentincks for the financing of Hughenden. Bentinck's brother was immediately supportive of the book and did his best to provide suitable material (2033); the Duke of Portland sent 'two immense chests' of his son's papers (20412), and it is tantalizing to speculate what consideration persuaded him to this step after his initial opposition. The final letter of this volume records the Duke's cordiality in December 1851 on behalf of the entire family 'for having undertaken the work ..., which cannot but redound to the credit of the memory of my departed son' (2217). Disraeli's remaining writings in this period are prefaces to reissues of his father's works, a memorial fourteenth edition of Curiosities of Literature in December 1848 ('the first stone in the Monument' (1753)) and a two-volume edition of Commentaries on the Life of Charles I in December 1850. These were literary projects carried through by a man who really had no time to work on them, who got no recorded financial profit from them, but who was satisfied that his father's 'memory has been kept alive & done justice to' (2088). More interesting, because more revealing of his ability to manage the forces of potential danger, is yet another preface, in May 1849, to a new edition of Coningsby (1825). It largely consists of a vehement championing of Judaism, and contrasts strikingly with his failure on 7 May to speak in the House on the repeal of Jewish Disabilities. The preface seems a response to accusations of 'political cowardice' by the government and the press, and is further evidence

xix

of his political tact. At so delicate a juncture in his newly assumed leadership, with party unity only precariously maintained and Bentinck's fall on the same issue still fresh, his silence in the House avoided the risk of schism that a declaration in debate would have created. In his literary work, however — in the preface to Coningsby, or in the notorious twenty-fourth chapter of Lord George Bentinck — he could demonstrate that he had not, as both friends and foes charged, abandoned his personal views. On 5 August 1850 his position was firmer, and, he told Mary Anne, he had at last spoken 'to my satisfaction' on this 'object dear to my heart as to my convictions' (2022). Against the background of all the hostile forces, personal tragedies and accidents, and political emergencies which beset Disraeli in the period 1848-51, the letters of this volume portray (as do those of the previous volumes) a determined survivor. They are also graphic proof that by the end of this period Disraeli had become more than a capable politician and charismatic speaker. Entirely through his own efforts, he had become a leader and statesman, and his enhanced authority had begun to set the scene for the practical application of his vision for a cohesive society. Perhaps, too, the fact that he had been able to prevent the heterogeneous parts of his life from flying apart qualified him to do the same for his country. The way seems prepared for 1852 and office at last.

xx

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. ADDRESSEE: the name is given in the shortest form consistent with clear iden- Headnote tification. 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 List of Abbreviations and Short Titles. 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 derives from 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, unusual or otherwise puzzling; includes incorrect, but not omitted, accents and punctuation. Dating: cites the logic by which a date has been attributed. No silent corrections have been made. D'S erasures have been noted only if Text legible and of some interest. 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 (|) 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 (/) indicate page breaks. This is a change from the usage in VOL i and VOL n. ADDRESSEE AND ADDRESS, if present in the text, are always given at the beginning of the letter, regardless of where D put them in the MS. [?] follows any reading on which some doubt remains. Italics indicate single underlining. Small capitals indicate multiple underlining. Annotations

Sources cited are given a short form (see List of Abbreviations and Short Titles) if used more than twice. Standard reference works (eg 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-i848 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.

Index

All names in the text and annotation of the letters have been indexed, main notes being indicated by bold type. The subject matter of the letters, with the relevant notes, has also been indexed. All references are to letter numbers, not pages. Except for the pre-i848 letters in Appendix I, the appendices and introductory materials have not been indexed.

xxii

DISRAELI CHRONOLOGY 1848-1851

1848

1 Jan 19 Jan 28 Jan 29 Jan 3 Feb 4 Feb 7 Feb 9 Feb 11 Feb 12 Feb 14 Feb 18 Feb 21 Feb 22 Feb 24 Feb 28 Feb 2 Mar 3 Mar 4 Mar 6 Mar 10 Mar 13 Mar 18 Mar 20 Mar 24 Mar 8 Apr 10 Apr 13 Apr mid-Apr

at Bradenham (since 24 Dec 1847) death of Isaac D'Israeli at Grosvenor Gate (renovations soon begin) offers Granby support as leader parliament meets question on the River Plate; speech on sugar and coffee plantations Bentinck resigns as leader Granby elected party leader in the Commons appointed to committee on the National Gallery Granby declines party leadership speech on New Zealand Government Bill speech on the budget (income tax) speech on navy estimates speech on expenditure of the country; beginning of revolution in France abdication of Louis Philippe speech on the budget loses election for rector of Aberdeen University arrival of Louis Philippe and Guizot in England at Speaker's dinner riots in London and Glasgow speech on income tax revolution in Vienna; Metternich flees to England at Protection dinner given by Hudson; visited by Guizot comment on navy estimates and supply speech on slave trade; address moved at Palmerston's assembly for Prince of Prussia Chartist petition presented comments on Chartist petition visits Palmerston, Louis Philippe

1848 continued 17 Apr 19 Apr 20 Apr 25 Apr 6 May 17 May 18 May 22 May 25 May 26 May 5 Jun 9 Jun 16 Jun 20 Jun 22 Jun 23 Jun 26 Jun 3 Jul 14 Jul 19 Jul 21 Jul 22 Jul 24 Jul 25 Jul 30-31 Jul 31 Jul 3-7 Aug 5 Aug 9 Aug 10 Aug 12 Aug 14 Aug 15 Aug 16 Aug 20 Aug 25 Aug 30 Aug 3 Sep 5 Sep

xxiv

question on Denmark and the Duchies, comment on Crown and Government Security Bill speech on Denmark and the Duchies Metternich arrives in London £3000 due on Exmouth mortgage visits Louis Philippe introduced to Metternich, shortly followed by another long visit comment on Public Health Bill refuses to subscribe to W. Collins's first book comment on expulsion of Sir H. Bulwer from Spain comment on expulsion of Sir H. Bulwer from Spain comment on new writ for Horsham; speech on expulsion of Sir H. Bulwer speech on navigation laws speech on distress in West Indies speech on national representation comment on differential duty on rum comments in sugar duties debate; beginning of 'June Days' in Paris speech on colonial office and the West India committee speech on sugar duties asked by Metternich for help with articles gives dinner to reconcile Stanley and Bentinck comment on sugar duties speech on suspension of Habeas Corpus in Ireland; mortgage on Hambledon farm to Rose visited by Guizot; Isaac's will granted probate question on Schleswig-Holstein at Eton elections speech on sugar duties questions on the Germanic Confederation Smith O'Brien arrested speech on navy estimates comments on corrupt practices at elections; moves amendment visits Metternich; Malmoe convention signed comment on new Houses of Parliament sale at Stowe begins speech on intervention in Italy; sees Metternich article published in Le Spectateur de Londres question and comments on Schleswig-Holstein summary of the session ('speech that made me leader') visits Louis Philippe parliament prorogued; £25,000 mortgage to Rose

1848 continued 6 Sep 9 Sep 14 Sep 21 Sep 22 Sep 7 Oct 9 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 26 Oct 27 Oct 31 Oct i Nov 2-3 Nov 5 Nov early Nov 14 Nov 15 Nov 16 Nov 28 Nov 6 Dec 11-13 Dec 16 Dec 21 Dec 22-27 Dec 26 Dec

1849 i Jan early Jan 2-4 Jan 4 Jan 6 Jan 11 Jan 13 Jan mid-Jan 20 Jan 23 Jan 31 Jan i Feb

Hughenden purchase completed at Wynyard Park (Londonderry) speech to Darlington Horticultural Society death of Bentinck at Grosvenor Gate sees D'Orsay's bust of Bentinck at Bradenham for move to Hughenden at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury in London, negotiations with the Bentincks at Quarter Sessions; returns to Bradenham at Grosvenor Gate at Wimpole (Hardwicke); meets Wilberforce at Grosvenor Gate mortgage: Rose, Esdaile, Murray and Harvey at Albury Park (Henry Drummond) negotiations with Bentincks 'all right' at Gunnersbury (Hannah Rothschild) mortgage to Rose at Bradenham, moving to Hughenden; mentions composing 'a work of fiction' at Cuddeson meeting to establish Culham Training College recognized by Express as de facto leader takes up permanent residence at Hughenden in London declared by MC to be de facto leader asked by Stanley to support Herries at Erlstoke (Hobhouse) rejects Stanley's 'party discipline' publication of memorial edition of Curiosities, containing D'S memoir of his father Ld H. Bentinck, others, support D for leadership at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury at Grosvenor Gate (renovations continuing) visits Metternich at Brighton at Hughenden (period of renovation soon begins) sends leadership correspondence to Metternich 1849 financial crisis surfaces at Grosvenor Gate; leadership support mounts leadership interview with Inglis meets with Stanley; triumvirate leadership temporarily settled parliament meets; speech proposing amendment to the Address

XXV

1849 continued 5 Feb 7 Feb 9 Feb 16 Feb 17 Feb 20 Feb 21 Feb 1 Mar 3 Mar early Mar 8 Mar 13 Mar 12 Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 20 Mar 22 Mar 23 Mar

26 Mar 27 Mar 28 Mar 2 Apr 3 Apr 15 Apr 18 Apr 19 Apr

20 Apr 23 Apr 25 Apr 27 Apr 29 Apr 2 May 5 May

xxvi

withdraws proposed amendment to the Address comments on relief of distress in Ireland speech on Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill in Ireland comments on navy estimates; speech on relief of distress in Ireland at Stanley's parliamentary dinner appointed to committee on Ceylon and British Guiana speech on Ceylon and British Guiana comment on his impending motion for relief of real property (local taxation) at the Speaker's dinner accepts loan from Sarah and James motion for relief of real property (local taxation) - first step away from protectionism presents petition from Peterhead beginning of the 1849 Messer affair presents petition from St George's, Middlesex speech in reply to debate on local taxation sale of Isaac's library begins at Speaker's levee; at Lady Palmerston's comments on the Living of Bishop Wearmouth speech on Moldavia and Wallachia appointed to select committee on public libraries; comments and speech on Navigation Bill; comments on the Liverpool Financial Reform Association reports Stanley wishes him to be 'chief Minister in the Commons' comments on transportation to South Africa notice of petition from Nova Scotia speech on Irish Poor Relief Bill at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury, then at Hughenden summoned by Stanley to London; Sunday travel evokes remonstrance from Pigott comments on Public Roads Bill questions on diplomatic mediations; comments on conference with the Irish members; speech on the Irish Poor Relief Bill comments on navy estimates speech on Navigation Bill ('progress where?') £2/°°° due on Exmouth mortgage comments and questions on Naples and Sicily visits Metternich at Richmond Green early May Messer affair resolved for £500 speech in aid of Brompton Hospital at Royal Academy anniversary dinner

1849 continued 10 May 14 May 15 May 25 May 26 May 31 May 4 Jun 12 Jun 13 Jun 14 Jun 15 Jun 18 Jun 21 Jun 23 Jun 26 Jun 28 Jun 2 Jul 5 Jul 6 Jul 17 Jul 20 Jul 21 Jul 24 Jul 28 Jul i Aug 5 Aug 10 Aug 11 Aug 13 Aug 12 Sep 22 Sep 24 Sep 28 Sep late-Sept 3 Oct 5 Oct 6 Oct

comments on public expenditure and taxation comments on Parliamentary Oaths Bill; on hostilities between Denmark and Germany; on public business comments on disturbances in Canada comments on financial statement at Hughenden; edition of Coningsby with new preface published at Grosvenor Gate death of Lady Blessington in Paris comments on Arctic expedition comments on County Rates and Expenditure Bill comments on Canadian Rebellion Losses Bill; questions on the business of the session speech on Canada; petition from Tobago comments on Transportation for Treason (Ireland) Bill, on board of trade returns comments on education in Ireland at Lord Mayor's banquet for the Protectionists; perambulation of Hughenden estate at first meeting of National Protection Assoc Hambledon mortgage assigned by Rose to Riddle motion (non-confidence) on state of the nation statement on adjourned debate on the motion speech and comments in reply to the debate quarrels with MA, moves to hotel; comments on Stock in Trade Bill speech on Ways and Means at Sir Charles Burrell's parliamentary dinner comments on British Guiana comments on Ceylon motion; on the House adjournment; on private bills parliament prorogued visits Metternich mortgage to Rose solicits support for BH at Hughenden speech at Aylesbury (equal taxation, sinking fund); Bucks Real Property Assoc formed at Grosvenor Gate; rebuked by Stanley at Hughenden Beresford finds D working on blue books cholera epidemic subsides at Boreham House, Essex speech at Hedingham Castle, Essex at Grosvenor Gate

xxvn

1849 continued 8 Oct 15 Oct 16 Oct 17 Oct 19 Oct 24 Oct 31 Oct 7 Nov 10 Nov 11 Nov 12 Nov 13 Nov 22 Nov 23 Nov 4 Dec 5 Dec 7 Dec 12 Dec 31 Dec

1850i Jan 8 Jan 16 Jan 18 Jan 21 Jan 26 Jan 29 Jan 31 Jan i Feb 4 Feb 5 Feb 6 Feb 7 Feb 8 Feb 11 Feb 15 Feb 18 Feb 19 Feb 21 Feb 25 Feb 26 Feb 3-9 Mar

xxviii

dentist prescribes leeches for gum disease at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury at Hughenden National Protection Assoc rejects D'S scheme consecration of Prestwood Church at Bucks Agricultural Assoc annual meeting speech to Bucks Assoc for Relief of Real Property; petition adopted at Chilton House (Chetwode) at Brightwell Park (Lowndes Stone) at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate; Beresford 'affects devotion' conciliatory letter from Stanley at Hughenden recommends Rose to Granby and Duke of Rutland at Newport Pagnell speech to Real Property Association at Hughenden called for jury of Lord Albemarle lunacy case at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury at Hughenden speech at Great Marlow at Grosvenor Gate at Belvoir (Duke of Rutland) at Burghley (Ld Exeter) for meeting of party leaders at Grosvenor Gate at Stanley's parliamentary dinner parliament meets speech on amendment to the Address questions and comments on the blockade of Greece questions on poor laws; comments on county rates comments on reappointment of Ceylon committee speech on Polish, Hungarian and Italian refugees Manners elected for Colchester comments on Ceylon committee receives gift of inkstand from Lady Londonderry; comments on board of trade returns comments on public business motion for revision of local taxation speech in reply to the debate on his motion comments on Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill onset of serious illness attended by Dr Bright (four times)

1850 continued 13 Mar 25 Mar 26 Mar 6 Apr 8 Apr 12 Apr 15 Apr 16 Apr 18 Apr 19 Apr 22 Apr 25 Apr 26 Apr 27-29 Apr 30 Apr 4 May 9 May 10 May 13 May 14 May 15 May 16 May 17 May 18-23 May 23 May

27 May 7 Jun 14 Jun 17 Jun 20 Jun 25 Jun 28 Jun 2 Jul 5 Jul 9 Jul 19 Jul 23 Jul 24 Jul 25 Jul

attended by Dr Fergusson £2,500 due on Exmouth mortgage at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate comments on navy estimates speech on public salaries comments on Stamp Duties Bill; on Securities for Advancements (Ireland) Bill speech on paper duties London Convention (re Don Pacifico) drawn up speech on Australian Colonies Government Bill comments on Australian Colonies Government Bill comments on Australian Colonies Government Bill speech on agricultural distress at Merstham House (Jolliffe) speech on public salaries (Henley's motion) at Royal Academy dinner, precedence confused comments on Railways Abandonment Bill speech on Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill comments on stamp duties speech on importation of foreign corn French ambassador recalled (Don Pacifico affair) question on affairs of Greece speech on Ld Ltcy Abolition (Ireland) Bill; comments on recall of French ambassador at Hughenden comments on navy estimates; speech on recall of French ambassador; 'very pleased' at prospect of Hughenden being 'in private hands' comments on public salaries comments on post office patronage; questions on American expedition against Cuba speech on Factories Bill speech on Ld Ltcy Abolition (Ireland) Bill comments on affairs of Greece Palmerston's 'Civis Romanus' speech speech on foreign policy death of Peel speech on malt tax speech on the franchise; comments on the death of Duke of Cambridge; on Sunday labour in the post office comments on grant to Duke of Cambridge's family comments on income tax imposed on tenant farmers recommends Rose to Carrington comments on proclamation to Ceylon Committee

xxix

1850 continued 26 Jul 29 Jul 30 Jul 1 Aug 2 Aug 5 Aug 15 Aug 20 Aug 21 Aug 26 Aug ?Aug 2 Sep 4 Sep 9 Sep 11 Sep 29 Sep 14-15 Oct 7 Nov 9 Nov 2 Dec 5 Dec 11 Dec 14 Dec 30 Dec

1851 14-20 Jan 20 Jan 24 Jan 27 Jan 29 Jan 3 Feb 4 Feb early Feb 7 Feb 11 Feb 13 Feb 21 Feb 22 Feb

xxx

comments on Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill comments on oaths of Jewish members (Rothschild) comments on oaths of Jewish members; speech on Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill comments on Scottish National Gallery; on printing of blue books; on Duke of Cambridge's annuity comments on parliamentary returns; on Inspection of Coal Mines Bill; on new House of Commons speech on oaths of Jewish members parliament prorogued outlines plans for LGB to Ld H. Bentinck at Knebworth (Bulwer Lytton) death of Louis Philippe at Claremont Irish Tenant League formed at Grosvenor Gate at Downham, Norfolk (Lord William Powlett) at Grosvenor Gate at Hughenden, begins work on LGB Wiseman appointed archbishop of Westminster at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury Russell's Durham letter published D'S response (letter to Carrington) published at Grosvenor Gate meets with Inglis about papal aggression D'S edition of Commentaries published; mortgage to R.S. Norton at Hughenden at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury visited by E.H. Stanley at Grosvenor Gate at Burghley (Exeter) at Grosvenor Gate responds to Londonderry's attempts at party reunification under Graham 1851 financial crisis surfaces, compounded by sudden vacancy of the Hughenden living parliament meets; speech on the Address appointed to House library committee speech on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill motion on agricultural distress speech in reply to debate on the motion government resigns Stanley asked to form a gov't, advises coalition

1851 continued 23 Feb 24 Feb 25 Feb 26 Feb 27 Feb 28 Feb i Mar 3 Mar 5 Mar 9 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 25 Mar 28 Mar 1 Apr 2 Apr 4 Apr 7 Apr 10 Apr 11 Apr 16 Apr 28 Apr 1 May 2 May 3 May 5 May 6 May 8 May 9 May 10-12 May 16 May 21 May 23 May 26 May 27 May 29 May 30 May 1 Jun 2 Jun 5? Jun

asks Stanley to reconsider Protectionist position comments on the ministerial crisis, offends Queen Stanley promises to try to form a government Stanley fails to obtain ministerial colleagues general party meeting fails to produce a gov't considers leaving public life; comments on the ministerial crisis (apology) attended by Dr Fergusson Whigs resume office speech to thankful deputation of Nat'l Prot Assoc party rejects his strategy for Ecc'l Titles Bill comments on Ceylon (threatened vote of censure) comments on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill speech on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill comments on Kilmainham Hospital comments on patents comments on County Franchise Bill; speech at dinner for Stanley at Merchant Taylors' Hall speech on revised budget comments on revised budget comments on his impending budget amendment motion on agricultural distress (budget amendment) at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate; comments on Property Tax Bill Great Exhibition opens speech on Property Tax Bill at Royal Academy dinner at party meeting on Ecc'l Titles Bill; comments on Property Tax Bill; on the hop duty comments on woods and forests; on spirits in bond comments on malt tax; on income and property tax committee comments on Property Tax Bill and Ecc'l Titles Bill at Syon House (Duke of Northumberland) speech on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill at the Great Exhibition comments on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill comments on the case of Lieutenant Wyburd comments on Ceylon speech on Ceylon speech on Lieutenant Wyburd; comments on Customs Bill; on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill 1851 financial crisis comes to a head comments on income and property tax committee tells Baring he is planning to leave politics

xxxi

1851 continued 6 Jun 7jun 13 Jun 15 Jun 16 Jun 17 Jun 20 Jun 23 Jun 24 Jun 26 Jun 30 Jun 7 Jul 9 Jul 10 Jul 17 Jul 22 Jul 24 Jul 27 Jul 1 Aug 2 Aug 6 Aug 8 Aug 17 Sep 7 Oct 8 Oct 9 Oct 10 Oct 13 Oct 23 Oct 30 Oct 6-7 Nov 8-9? Nov 15 Nov 18 Nov 20 Nov 2 Dec 6 Dec 8 Dec

xxxii

comments on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate; presents petition re G. Ward and Venezuela; comments on House business prefers Clubbe to Hughenden living question re G. Ward; comments on Custom Bill (notice of resolutions); on Supply tells Baring resolutions will be his 'last motion' in the House; comments on Harwich election comments on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill comments on Land Clauses Consolidation (Ireland) Bill; on Ecclesiastical Titles Bill submits Inhabited House Duty resolutions comments on Supply (officers in Scotland) speech on Inhabited House Duty; Stanley succeeds as 14th Earl of Derby comments on Supply (secret service); on Inhabited House Duty Bill at Lord Mayor's ball for the Great Exhibition comments on Inhabited House Duty Bill comments on Harwich election comments on case of Salomons (Oath of Abjuration) speech on Customs Bill (Navigation Laws) gives dinner for Comte Buol reports financial problems temporarily resolved sends gifts to Mrs Brydges Willyams at Hughenden parliament is prorogued speech at Aylesbury speech at Salt Hill indenture to James (Moseley farm) day trip to London (dentist, Exhibition) Granby tells D of resignation from triumvirate at Quarter Sessions, Aylesbury at Jubilee of Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, Aylesbury; Kossuth arrives in England (for 3 weeks) responds to Derby's views on impending reform bill visited by Wilberforce and retinue visited by Granby mortgage for £5,000 to Hogg and Lindsell at Latimer (Cavendish) at Grosvenor Gate coup d'etat in Paris finishes LGB at Hatfield (Salisbury)

1851 continued 11 Dec 15 Dec 19 Dec 22 Dec

at Grosvenor Gate LGB published Palmerston removed from foreign office at Hughenden

xxxiii

ABBREVIATIONS IN V O L U M E FIVE

Marcos AN app AR Army List

BA

BAR

BDR BEA BEL

Bell Palmerston BENT BG BH

BHVP BL

Blake BLC Blessington Papers BLG

Boase BODL

Bradford BRD BRF

Broughton

Benjamin Disraeli The Tragedy of Count Alarcos (1839) Almanack National (followed by year) Appendix Annual Register (followed by year) A List of the Officers of the Army and Royal Marines on Full, Retired and Half-Pay; after 1839: The New Annual Army List compiled by H.G. Hart (followed by year of edition) British Almanack (followed by year) Baring Brothers S.T. Bindoff, E.F. Malcolm Smith and C.K. Webster eds British Diplomatic Representatives 1789-1852 (1934) Belvoir Castle, Lincolnshire Benjamin Ephraim Lindo Herbert Bell Lord Palmerston (1936 repr 1966) D.R. Bentham The Bucks Gazette The Bucks Herald Bibliotheque Historique Paris The British Library, London Robert Blake Disraeli (1966) British Library Catalogue of Printed Books to 1975 (1979) Marguerite Power Farmer Gardiner, Countess of Blessington The Blessington Papers (1895) John Burke A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland (various editions) Frederick Boase Modern English Biography (1892 repr 1965) Bodleian College, Oxford Sarah Bradford Disraeli (1982) Earl of Bradford Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd ed Burke's Royal Families of the World (1977) Lord Broughton Recollections of a Long Life (1909-11) 6 vols

British Sessional Papers: House of Commons (followed by year) British Sessional Papers: House of Lords (followed by year) Buckinghamshire Record Office, Aylesbury BUG Cambridge History X J.P.T. Bury ed The New Cambridge Modern History vol X (1971) Carrington Collection, Bodleian Library, Oxford CARR Charles William Vane, Marquess of Londonderry ed MemCastlereagh oirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh, Second MarMemoirs quess of Londonderry (1848-53) 12 vols Owen Chadwick The Victorian Church 2 vols (New York Chadwick 1966) Chambers Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1974) The Clerical Guide and Ecclesiastical Directory publ by RiClergy List vington, later The Clerical Directory publ by Crockford (followed by year of edition) Lucy Cohen Lady de Rothschild and Her Daughters, 1821-1931 Cohen Rothschild (1935) Commentaries Isaac D'Israeli Commentaries on the Life and Reign of Charles I (1828-31) 5 vols Conacher Peelites J.B. Conacher The Peelites and the Party System 184.6-52 (Newton Abbot 1972) Cousinhood Chaim Bermant The Cousinhood: The Anglo-Jewish Gentry (1971) CRO County Record Office Croker Louis J. Jennings ed The Correspondence and Diaries of the Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker (1885) CUL Columbia University Library Curiosities Isaac D'Israeli Curiosities of Literature (1791 and many other editions) D Benjamin Disraeli (and thus also 'the DS' = D and MA) DAB A. Johnson ed Dictionary of American Biography (1928- ) 20 vols and supplements DBF Dictionnaire de Biographie Fran^aise DBF Derby Papers, 14th and 15th Earls Dickens Letters G. Storey et al. eds The Letters of Charles Dickens (1974- ) Disraeli, Derby John Vincent ed Disraeli, Derby and the Conservative Party: Journals and Memoirs of Edward Henry, Lord Stanley 184.91869 (Hassocks, Sussex 1978) DNB Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee eds The Dictionary of National Biography (1917 repr 1973) Dod Charles R. Dod Electoral Facts from 18)2 to 1853 Impartially Stated (1853 repr 1972) DR Helen M. Swartz and Marvin Swartz eds Disraeli's Reminiscences (1975) DUL Duke University Library DUR Durham County Record Office

BSP:HC BSP:HL

xxxv

DURP EBXI

ec EJM

Exhibition Reports

FITZ

Foster Frances Anne

Furtado Gammage Gash Peel GEE

Gladstone Diaries GLM GM GMF Greville

Greville Reeve Letters GRIP H

H acc Handbook of London Hansard HAT HAV

Haydn

HCR H/Life HUHM HUNT ILLU INL

Isaac James or Jem

xxxvi

Durham University Library (Ponsonby Papers) Encyclopaedia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910-11) Editorial comment section of the headnote ex-Jewish Museum (see Abbreviations in Volume n) Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851. Reports by the Juries on the Subjects in the Thirty Classes into which the Exhibition was Divided (1852) Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge J. Foster Alumni Oxonienses (1887, 1888) Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry Frances Anne: The Life and Times of Frances Anne Marchioness of Londonderry and Her Husband Charles Third Marquess of Londonderry (1958) Peter Furtado et al eds The Ordnance Survey Guide to Historic Houses in Britain (New York 1987) R.G. Gammage History of the Chartist Movement 1837-1854. (1894) Norman Gash Sir Robert Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel after 1830 (1972) Timothy Gee M.R.D. Foot and H.C.G. Matthew eds The Gladstone Diaries (1968- ) R.O. Glamorgan The Gentleman's Magazine John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Lytton Strachey and Roger Fulford eds The Greville Memoirs, i8i4.-6o (1938) A.H. Johnson ed The Letters of Charles Greville and Henry Reeve, 1836-1865 (1924) Anthony F. Griffin The Hughenden papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford H WMA 4498 - MA'S account book (and date) Peter Cunningham Handbook of London. Past and Present (1850 repr 1978) Hansard's Parliamentary Debates R. Hatchwell Haverford College Joseph Haydn The Book of Dignities 3rd ed (1894rePr Baltimore 1970) Hertford County Record Office Monypenny papers in H for his Life of Disraeli Hughenden Museum The Huntington Library, San Marino, California University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois National Library of Ireland Isaac D'Israeli James Disraeli

Journals of the House of Commons E. Stanley Jones Gerrit Parmelejudd Members of 'Parliament, 1734-15,32(1955 repr Hamden, Connecticut 1972) E.R. Kelly ed The Post Office Directory of the Six Home Counties Kelly (1874) Ross Political Press Stephen Koss The Rise and Fall of the Political Press in Britain (Chapel Hill, NC 1981) The Marchioness of Londonderry ed Letters from Benjamin Lady Londonderry Disraeli to Frances Anne Marchioness of Londonderry 18371861 (1938) Langer William L. Langer Political and Social Upheaval 1832-1852 (1969) Larousse Pierre Larousse Grand Dictionnaire Universel du xixe siecle 17 vols (Paris 1875) Law List Clarke's New Law List compiled by S. Hill and later by T. Cockell (followed by year of edition) LBCS Ralph Disraeli ed Lord Beaconsfield's Correspondence with his Sister, 1832-1852 (1886) LBL Ralph Disraeli ed Lord Beaconsfield's Letters, 1830-52 (1887) LC Library of Congress, Washington LGB Benjamin Disraeli Lord George Bentinck: A Political Biography (8th ed 1874) Life of Milnes T. Wemyss Reid The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes, First Lord Houghton (1890) LIV Liverpool City Libraries Lord John Manners's Journals LJMJ Lodge Edmund Lodge The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (various editions) Londonderrys H. Montgomery Hyde The Londonderrys: A Family Portrait (1979) Longford Elizabeth Longford Wellington: Pillar of State (1972 repr Wellington 1975) LPOD London Post Office Directory (followed by year of edition) LQV 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) MA Mary Anne Disraeli Macintyre Angus Macintyre 'Lord George Bentinck and the Protec'Bentinck' tionists: A Lost Cause?' Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Fifth Series 39 (1989) 141-65 Madden R.R. Madden The Literary Life and Correspondence of the Countess of Blessington (1855) Malmesbury James Howard, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury Memoirs of an Exminister (1884) 2 vols

JHC JON Judd

xxxvii

M&B

MC

Metternich's Papers

Meynell MH

Miscellanies MOPSIK

Morley Gladstone MP Nicoll NLS NMM

NOT NUC NYPL OED

Official Catalogue Ogden Parker Graham Paul History PFRZ ph Prest Russell PRIN PS

PWS

QR QUA

RD or Ralph Ridley Palmerston ROB

Robson

xxxviii

William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (1910-20) 6 vols The Morning Chronicle Clemens Lothar Wenzel fiirst von Metternich-Winneburg Aus Metternich's Nachgelassenen Papier en (Vienna 1880-4) 8 vols Wilfred Meynell Benjamin Disraeli: An Unconventional Biography (1903) The Morning Herald Isaac D'Israeli Miscellanies of Literature (1840) The Donald and Delores Mopsik Collection John Morley The Life of William Ewart Gladstone (1903) 3 vols The Morning Post Allardyce Nicoll A History of English Drama 1660-1900 (Cambridge 1966) National Library of Scotland New Monthly Magazine University of Nottingham National Union Catalogue, pre-i$ 56 imprints; a cumulative author list... New York Public Library Oxford English Dictionary Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition 1851 (1851) James Ogden Isaac D'Israeli (Oxford 1969) Charles Stuart Parker Life and Letters of Sir James Graham (1907) 2 vols Herbert Paul A History of Modern England (1904) The Carl H. Pforzheimer Library Publication history section of the headnote John Prest Lord John Russell (1972) Princeton University Library Printed Source, identified in ph, used when the original MS has not been located Earl of Powis The Quarterly Review Disraeli Papers, Queen's University Archives, Kingston, Ontario Ralph Disraeli Jasper Ridley Lord Palmerston (1970) J. Roberts John M. Robson What Did He Say? Editing Nineteenth-Century Speeches from Hansard and the Newspapers (Lethbridge 1988)

Robson's Commercial Directory of London and the Western Counties (1840) Robson's British Court and Parliamentary Guide (followed by Robson's Guide year of edition) ROTH N.M. Rothschild Archives The Hon. Jacob Rothschild (now Lord Rothschild) RTC Sa or Sarah Sarah Disraeli Peter Sabor Horace Walpole: A Reference Guide (Boston 1984) Sabor Sadleir Strange Life Michael Sadleir The Strange Life of Lady Blessington (New York 1933) John Saville 184.8: The British State and the Chartist Movement Saville (Cambridge 1987) SCR Somerset County Record Office Sheahan James Joseph Sheahan History and Topography of Buckinghamshire (1862 repr 1971) SIL Juliet Silcock (Bernal Osborne); collection now at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire Spring Fall David and Eileen Spring 'The Fall of the Grenvilles, 18441848' Huntington Library Quarterly XIX (1955-6) 165-90 Srbik Metternich Heinrich Ritter von Srbik Metternich: Der Staatsman und der Mensch (Munich 1954-7) 3 v°ls SRO Scottish Record Office Stenton Michael Stenton Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I, 1832-1885 (Hassocks, Sussex 1976) Stewart ConservaRobert Stewart The Foundation of the Conservative Party 1830tive Party 1867 (1978) Stewart Protection Robert Stewart The Politics of Protection: Lord Derby and the Protectionist Party 1841-1852 (Cambridge 1971) Stewart Writings R.W. Stewart Benjamin Disraeli: A list of writings by him, and writings about him, with notes (Metuchen, New Jersey 1972). Citations are to item numbers. SUAP Statni Ustredni Archive, Czechoslovakia SUG Lord St Leonard's (Sugden) SYU Syracuse University TCC Trinity College, Cambridge TEXU University of Texas, Austin TIA Archives of The Times UBY Brigham Young University UCLA University of California, Los Angeles UO A source that cannot be divulged for reasons such as requested confidentiality (rarely used) Venn John Venn and John Archibald Venn eds Alumni Cantabrigienses (1922-54) VH-B The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of Buckinghamshire (1969) Walford E. Walford The County Families of the United Kingdom (1877) Robson's Directory

xxxix

WAR

Weintraub Victoria

Warwickshire County Record Office Stanley Weintraub Victoria: An Intimate Biography (New York 1987)

Wellesley Index WES WFO

Whibley Wohl Woodham-Smith

oy

Works WRC WSRO X

xl

Walter E. Houghton ed The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900 (1966) Wesleyan University London Borough of Waltham Forest Charles Whibley Lord John Manners and His Friends (1925) 2 vols Anthony S. Wohl Endangered Lives: Public Health in Victorian Britain (Cambridge, Mass 1983) Cecil Woodham-Smith Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times Vol I 1819-1861 (1972) Isaac D'Israeli The Works of Isaac D'Israeli (1858-9) 7 vols Worcestershire County Record Office West Sussex Record Office, Chichester denotes an entirely new letter or fragment to be placed in chronological sequence after the corresponding letter number in a previous volume (eg 'I23X' follows '123')

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF LETTERS

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

1620

29 JAN '48

LORD GRANBY

CARLTON CLUB

BEA [R2-2]

1621

29 J A N ' 4 8

LORD JOHN MANNERS

CARLTON CLUB

BEA [Rl-45]

1622

1 FEE ['48]

LORD JOHN MANNERS

[LONDON]

BEA [Rl'44]

1623

1 FEB '48

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

BL ADD MS 59887 ff!7-l8

1624

5 FEB'48

LORD JOHN MANNERS

GROSVENOR GT

BEA [Rl'46]

1625

[5 FEB '48]

SARAH DISRAELI

[CARLTON CLUB]

PS 472

1626

[10] FEB'48

[MAYHEW & REYNOLDS]

GROSVENOR GT

H A/V/G/219

1627

10 FEB ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

H R/I/A/ig

1628

12 FEB ['48]

LORDCHANDOS

GROSVENOR GT

HUNT STG Box 119 (273)

1629

[12 FEB '48]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/22

1630

l6 FEB'48

LORDCHANDOS

GROSVENOR GT

HUNT STG Box 119 (276)

1631

23 FEB '48

RICHARD BENTLEY

GROSVENOR GT

LC AC. 8033 [l6]

1632

28 FEB '48

LORD CARRINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

CARR [5]

1633

[29 FEB'48]

SIR GEORGE SINCLAIR

[LONDON]

SRO[11]

1634

5 MAR '48

SIR E.B. LYTTON

GROSVENOR GT

HCR D/EK C5 [3]

1635

7 MAR '48

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/B/402; PS 367

1636

8 MAR'48

LORD JOHN MANNERS

[LONDON]

BEA [Rl~47]

1637

[13 MAR '48]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/B/308

1638

15 MAR ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/20

1639

20 MAR ['48]

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

FITZ Disraeli A35

1640

27 MAR '48

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[H OF COMMONS?]

H A/1/A/22J

1641

28 MAR '48

RICHARD WRIGHT

CARLTON CLUB

H A/V/B/ig

1642

10 APR ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/21

1643

1 MAY '48

LADY LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [22]

1643A

4 MAY ['48]

HENRY DRUMMOND

GROSVENOR GT

PS 613

1644

[10 MAY '48]

SARAH DISRAELI

[CARLTON CLUB]

H A/I/B/309

1645

[l6MAY?'48]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/B/310

1646

18 MAY ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

H R/I/A/23

1647

19 MAY ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

H R/I/A/24

1648

21 MAY ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/25

1649

22 MAY'48

LORD JOHN MANNERS

GROSVENOR GT

BEA [Rl-48]

1650

[22 MAY '48]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[GROSVENOR GT?]

H A/I/A/227

1651

[23 MAY '48]

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

H R/I/A/26

1652

25 MAY '48

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

H A/1/A/226

1653

29 MAY '48

[G.F. SMITH]

CARLTON CLUB

H A/VII/A/37

1654

[30 MAY'48]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/B/311

GROSVENOR GT

QUA 94

1655

11JUN'48

BENJAMIN LUMLEY

1655A

12 JUN '48

G.F. YOUNG

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 46712 ff87~88

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661

l8 JUN ['48] l8 JUN '48 [23 JUN '48] [25 JUN '48] [30 JUN '48] 5 JUL '48

PRINCE METTERNICH [G.F. SMITH] LADY LONDONDERRY [LADY LONDONDERRY] MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [H OF COMMONS] GROSVENOR GT

SUAP RAM AC3 6 ffl-2 H A/VII/A/38 DUR D/LO/C/530 [20] DUR D/LO/C/530 [45] H A/I/A/228 DUR D/LO/C/530 [46]

1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673

6 JUL '48 [7 JUL'48] 9 [JUL] '48 12 JUL ['48] 14 JUL '48 15 JUL '48 17 JUL ['48] 20 JUL '48 [25 JUL '48] 27 JUL ['48] 27 JUL ['48] 29 JUL ['48]

THE DUKE OF RICHMOND LADY LONDONDERRY LORD PONSONBY PHILIP ROSE PRINCE METTERNICH RALPH BERNAL OSBORNE LADY LONDONDERRY THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE LORD PALMERSTON PHILIP ROSE SARAH DISRAELI [G.F. SMITH]

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT CARLTONCLUB GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS [LONDON]

WSRO Gdwd 1706 f475 DUR D/LO/C/530 [21] DURP [5] H R/I/A/27 SUAP RAM AC3 6 ff3~4 SIL [1] DUR D/LO/C/530 [23] NOT NEC5,474 H B/XXI/P/75 H R/I/A/28 BL ADD MS 59887 ffig-22 H A/VII/A/39

1674 1675

1 AUG '48 3 AUG ['48]

PHILIP ROSE LADY LONDONDERRY

[LONDON] CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/29 DUR D/LO/C/530 [33A]

1676 1677 1678

4 AUG ['48] [4 AUG '48] 5 AUG ['48]

SARAH DISRAELI LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY

CARLTON CLUB [LONDON] CARLTON CLUB

BL ADD MS 59887 ff23~5 DUR D/LO/C/53O [336] DUR D/LO/C/530 [30]

1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688

7 AUG ['48] 7 AUG ['48] 9 AUG ['48] [10 AUG '48] [11 AUG'48] 12 AUG ['48] [14 AUG '48] [14? AUG '48] 14 AUG'48 [l6 AUG '48]

LORD LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY RALPH BERNAL OSBORNE [PHILIP WROUGHTON?] MARY ANNE DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS [H OF COMMONS] [LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] H OF COMMONS CARLTON CLUB

DUR D/LO/C/530 [47] DUR D/LO/C/530 [201] DUR D/LO/C/530 [28] DUR D/LO/C/530 [29] DUR D/LO/C/530 [27] DUR D/LO/C/530 [26] DUR D/LO/C/530 [25] SIL [3] BEA[R5-11] H A/I/A/229

1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696

[17 AUG '48] 19 AUG ['48] 20 AUG '48 [22 AUG '48] 23 AUG '48 25 AUG ['48] 26 AUG '48 26 AUG '48

LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY T.N. TALFOURD LADY LONDONDERRY WRIGHT & CO PHILIP ROSE JOHN EVELYN DENISON SAMUEL WILBERFORCE

[H OF COMMONS] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [24A] DUR D/LO/C/530 [38A] PS 524 DUR D/LO/C/53O [38] WFO W/96/Disraeli/2 H R/I/A/3O NOT OSC 430 H B/XXI/W/341a

1697 1698 1699

[26 AUG'48] [28 AUG '48] 29 AUG ['48]

JOHN T. DELANE MARY ANNE DISRAELI LADY LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT [H OF COMMONS] GROSVENOR GT

TIA Vol 3/50 H A/I/A/239 DUR D/LO/C/530 [34]

1700

[30 AUG '48]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[H OF COMMONS]

H A/I/A/230

1701

[30 AUG'48]

LADY LONDONDERRY

[H OF COMMONS]

DUR D/LO/C/530 [136]

1702 1703

[30 AUG'48] 31 AUG '48

PHILIP ROSE LADY LONDONDERRY

H OF COMMONS CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/31 DUR ^/LO/C/530 [35]

1704 1705 1706 1707

31 AUG ['48] 31 AUG ['48] 1 SEP '48 2 SEP ['48]

SARAH DISRAELI [G.F. SMITH] SIR AUGUSTUS CLIFFORD LADY LONDONDERRY

CARLTON CLUB CARLTONCLUB GROSVENOR GT [CARLTON CLUB]

PS 473 H A/VII/A/40 EJM [10] DUR D/LO/C/530 [37]

1708

2 SEP '48

PHILIP WROUGHTON

CARLTON CLUB

BEA [R4-1]

xlii

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

1709

4 SEP '48

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

HUNT 52641; H A/I/B/407

1710

5 SEP ['48]

LADY LONDONDERRY

[LONDON]

DUR D/LO/C/530 [40]

1711

[6 SEP'48]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/A/231

[LONDON]

SUAP RAM AC3 6 ff5>8

1712

[8 SEP '48]

PRINCE METTERNICH

1713

8 SEP ['48]

[G.F. SMITH]

1714

[8 SEP '48]

PHILIP ROSE

GROSVENOR GT

H R/I/A/32

1715

10 SEP '48

PHILIP ROSE

WYNYARD PARK

H R/I/A/33a,b

1716

15 SEP '48

JOSEPH HOWARD

WYNYARD PARK

PS 474

1717

17 SEP ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

WYNYARD PARK

H R/I/A/34

1718

23 SEP '48

LORD HENRY BENTINCK

GROSVENOR GT

H B/II/8

1719

25 SEP'48

SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE

GROSVENOR GT

SCR DD/HY/C/2l65 [24]

1720

25 SEP'48

LORDWALPOLE

GROSVENOR GT

H H/Life [143-154]

1721

30 SEP'48

LORD JOHN MANNERS

GROSVENOR GT

BEA [Rl'49]

GROSVENOR GT

H A/VII/A/41

1722

30 SEP '48

PRINCE METTERNICH

GROSVENOR GT

SUAP RAM AC3 6 ffg-12

1723

2 OCT '48

G.L. BROWNE

GROSVENOR GT

TEXU [6]

1724

7 OCT '48

COUNT D'ORSAY

[LONDON]

BL ADD MS 36677 ff2~3

1725

12 OCT'48

PRINCE METTERNICH

BRADENHAM

SUAP RAM AC3 6 ff!3-17

1726

12 OCT '48

PHILIP ROSE

BRADENHAM

H R/I/A/35

1727

13 OCT ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

BRADENHAM

H R/I/A/36

1728

[14?] OCT'48

LORD HARDWICKE

[BRADENHAM]

H H/Life [143-157]

1729

l8 OCT'48

MARY A N N E DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/A/234

1730

[l8OCT'48]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[GROSVENOR GT]

H A/I/A/235

1731

20 OCT ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

BRADENHAM

H R/I/A/37

1732

21 OCT ['48]

LORD JOHN MANNERS

BRADENHAM

BEA [Rl-50]

1733

24 OCT '48

THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

BRADENHAM

NOT NEC5,475

1734

[24 OCT '48]

PHILIP ROSE

[BRADENHAM]

H R/I/A/62

1735

[26 OCT? '48]

MARY A N N E DISRAELI

[CARLTON CLUB?]

H A/I/A/233

1736

27 OCT ['48?]

[PHILIP ROSE]

[LONDON?]

H R/I/A/295

1

3°

PRINCE METTERNICH

WIMPOLE

SUAP RAM AC3 6 ff!9-21

1738

5 NOV ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

LONDON

H R/I/A/38

1739

[6 NOV '48]

MARY A N N E DISRAELI

[CARLTON CLUB]

H A/l/A/2^6

1740

[9 NOV '48?]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/&3

1741

[10 NOV '48]

[SETH THOMPSON?]

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/39

1742

12 NOV ['48]

JOHN T. DELANE

CARLTON CLUB

TIA Vol 4/86

1743

[14 NOV '48]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/40

1744

[15 NOV?'48]

RICHARD BENTLEY

[LONDON?]

LC AC 8033 [15]

1745

19 N O V ' 4 8

LORD JOHN MANNERS

BRADENHAM

BEA [Rl-51]

1746

19 NOV ['48]

PHILIP ROSE

BRADENHAM

H R/I/A/41

1747

19 NOV '48

[G.F. SMITH]

BRADENHAM

H A/VII/A/42

1748

22 NOV '48

LORD LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [48]

1749

5 DEC '48

1750

[11? DEC'48]

EDWARD MOXON

[HUGHENDEN]

1751

[11 DEC'48]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

H A/I/A/237

1752

[12 DEC '48]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/A/238

737

OCT

'48

PHILIP ROSE

BRADENHAM

H R/I/A/42, 43 H E/VII/E/5

1753

13 DEC ['48]

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

H A/I/B/313

1754

[20 DEC '48]

SARAH DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN]

BL ADD MS 59887 ff267 DBP Box 145/1 [2]

1755

26 DEC'48

LORD STANLEY

ERLESTOKE

1756

29 DEC'48

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

NYPL Kohns [l8]

1757

29 DEC '48

[GEORGE SUTHERLAND]

[HUGHENDEN]

H B/XX/Be/147; H H/Life

1758

31 DEC'48

LADY BLESSINGTON

HUGHENDEN

PFRZ Misc MS [23]

1759

2 JAN '49

LADY LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [l8o]

1760

3 JAN '49

PRINCE METTERNICH

AYLESBURY

SUAP RAM AC3 6ff23-6

1761

5 JAN '49

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

H A/I/A/240

xliii

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

1762

6 JAN '49

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

H A/I/A/241

!763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770

17 J A N '491 [8 JAN '49] 9 JAN '49 [9 JAN '49] [10 JAN'49] 10 JAN '49 13 JAN'49 15 JAN '49

MARY ANNE DISRAELI MARY ANNE DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE MARY ANNE DISRAELI MARY ANNE DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI PRINCE METTERNICH RICHARD WRIGHT

[GROSVENOR GT] [GROSVENOR GT] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] COVENTRY HOUSE HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN]

H A/I/A/242 H A/I/A/243 H R/I/A/45 H A/I/A/243-AA H A/I/A/244 H A/I/B/3O7,313.AA SUAP RAM AC3 6ff27~8 H A/V/B/20

1771 1772

l8 J A N ' 4 9 [20 JAN '49]

LORD STANLEY MARY ANNE DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT

DBP Box 145/1 [6] H A/I/A/245

1773 1774

20

J AN '49 22 JAN '49

SARAH DISRAELI MARY ANNE DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

PS 494 H A/I/A/246

1

775 1776

22 QAN] '49 23 JAN '49

SIR ROBERT INGLIS MARY ANNE DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB

PS 388 H A/I/A/247

1777 1778

24 JAN '49 25 JAN '49

MARY ANNE DISRAELI PRINCE METTERNICH

COVENTRY HOUSE GROSVENOR GT

H A/I/A/248 SUAP RAM AC3 6ff29"30

1

2

MARY ANNE DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI LORD JOHN MANNERS MARY ANNE DISRAELI [SAMUEL PHILLIPS] SARAH DISRAELI LORD STANLEY T.B. YOUNG

[LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB

H A/I/A/249 H A/I/B/314 BEA [Rl~53] H A/I/A/250 PS 375 H A/I/B/315 DBP Box 145/1 [3] QUA 423

779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786

5 J A N '49 26 JAN '49 29 JAN '49 [31 JAN '49] 31 JAN '49 [6 FEB '49] 8 FEB'49 13 FEB'49

1787

15 FEB'49

LORD CARRINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

CARR [6]

1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 *795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801

[22 FEB '49] 23 FEB'49 23 FEB '49 26 FEB '49 [FEB? '49] 3 MAR '49 [7 MAR '49] [11 MAR'49] 12 MAR '49 12 MAR'49 [12 MAR'49?] [14 MAR'49] [l6 MAR '49] l8 MAR'49

SARAH DISRAELI PRINCE METTERNICH THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE WILLIAM DAY [UNKNOWN] LORD CARRINGTON SARAH DISRAELI [SARAH DISRAELI] LADY LONDONDERRY LORD LONDONDERRY RICHARD WRIGHT LORD STANLEY SARAH DISRAELI LORD JOHN MANNERS

[LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT

ILLU 66365151 1,2 [4] SUAP RAM AC3 6ff312 NOT NEC5, 476 MOPSIK [46] SUAP RAM AC3 6 f47 CARR [7] FITZ Disraeli A36 BL Loan 6o/l 97(1-3) DUR D/LO/C/53O [41] DUR D/LO/C/73 [147] H A/V/B/295 DBP Box 145/1 [5] PS 495 BEA [Rl-54]

1802

l8 MAR '49

RICHARD WRIGHT

[LONDON]

H A/V/B/23

1803

25 [MAR] '49

[RICHARD WRIGHT]

[LONDON]

H A/V/B/24

1804 1805

26 [MAR] '49 SARAH DISRAELI [29? MAR '49] JOHN COX

H OF COMMONS [LONDON]

QUA 52 H B/XXI/C/558

1806 1807 1808

30 MAR '49 31 MAR '49 [31 MAR '49]

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON]

SYU [1] DUR D/LO/C/73 [149] H A/V/B/25

1809

4 APR '49

[RICHARD WRIGHT?]

HUGHENDEN

H A/VII/A/43

1810 1811 1812

5 APR '49 12 APR'49 15 APR '49

SARAH DISRAELI LADY LONDONDERRY SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

BL ADD MS 59887 ff28-9 DUR D/LO/C/530 [44] H A/I/B/3l6

[T.C. HANSARD] LORD LONDONDERRY RICHARD WRIGHT

1813

15 APR'49

SIR GEORGE SINCLAIR

HUGHENDEN

UBY [2]

1814

[17? APR '49]

JOHN PIGOTT

[GROSVENOR GT]

H A/VII/E/5

xliv

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL H A/I/A/251

1815

[22 A P R ' 4 9 ]

MARY A N N E DISRAELI

[COVENTRY HOUSE]

1816

[24 APR'49]

LORD STANLEY

CARLTON CLUB

DBP Box 145/1 [4]

1817

[24 APR '49?]

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

MOPSIK [173]

1818

[24 APR '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

BEA [Rl-26]

1819

26 APR '49

LADY BLESSINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

UCLA [4]

1820

30 APR '49

LADY LONDONDERRY

H OF COMMONS

DUR D/LO/C/530 [43]

1821

30 APR '49

RICHARD WRIGHT

H OF COMMONS

H A/V/B/21

1822

[2] MAY ['49]

SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

H A/I/B/317

1823

[2 MAY '49?]

RICHARD WRIGHT

CARLTON CLUB

H A/V/B/42

1824

[4 MAY '49]

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

H R/I/A/l8

1825

[4?] MAY [49]

RICHARD WRIGHT

CARLTON CLUB

H A/V/B/43

1826

[8 MAY '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

BL ADD MS 59887 ff30-l

1827

9 MAY'49

SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

H A/I/B/3l8

1828

12 M A Y ' 4 9

HENRY GEORGE BOHN

GROSVENOR GT

PS 379

1829

14 M A Y ' 4 9

[LORD PALMERSTON]

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 41315 £179

1830

l6 MAY '49

ARTHUR BAKER

GROSVENOR GT

PS 380

1831

[l6? M A Y ' 4 9 ]

SIR JAMES DUKE

[LONDON]

H B/XXI/D/397

1832

[24] MAY '49

EUGNE FORCADE

GROSVENOR GT

BHVP MS 3050 S126

1833

[26 MAY '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

BL ADD MS 59887 ff32>3

1834

[28 MAY '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

PS 496

1835

28 MAY '49

RICHARD WRIGHT

HUGHENDEN

H A/V/B/22

1836

28 MAY '49

DAVID BRYCE

HUGHENDEN

GEE [2, 2a]

1837

[1 JUN '49]

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

H R/I/A/44

1838

5 JUN '49

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

H A/I/A/255

1839

[7? JUN '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

PS 387

1840

[7 J U N '49]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/A/254

1841

11 JUN ['49]

SARAH DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

H A/I/B/319

1842

18 JUN '49

PHILIP MILES

GROSVENOR GT

PS 381

1843

[21 JUN '49]

LORD GRANBY

GROSVENOR GT

BEA [R2-71]

1844

t 21 JUN '49]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[H OF COMMONS?]

H A/I/A/253

1845

[22 JUN '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

BEA [Rl-27]

1846

25 JUN '49

JOHN C. HERRIES

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 57409 ffy-8

1847

[26 JUN '49]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/A/252

1848

[27? JUN '49]

HARCOURT W. AUBREY

[GROSVENOR GT]

H B/XXI/A/228

1849

LJUN? '49]

JANE NORTHHOUSE

[LONDON?]

H A/IV/L/l86

1850

2 JUL '49

[UNKNOWN]

[LONDON]

PS 382

1851

5 JUL '49

JOHN C. HERRIES

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 57409 ffg-lO BL ADD MS 57409 ff38~9

1852

[5 JUL '49]

JOHN C. HERRIES

H OF COMMONS

1853

6 JUL'49

JOHN C. HERRIES

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 57409 ffll-12

^54

[7 JUL '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

BEA [Rl-28]

1855

[10 J U L ' 4 9 ]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/B/32O

1856

[17 JUL'49?]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/79

1857

[l8 JUL '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

BL ADD MS 59887 ff36~9

1858

l8 JUL ['49]

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

HR/I/V47

1859

[24 JUL '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

QUA 298 PS 383

1860

1 AUG '49

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

1861

4 AUG ['49]

SARAH DISRAELI

COVENTRY HOUSE

H A/I/B/321

1862

[9 AUG '49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

BL ADD MS 59887 ff40-l

1863

10 AUG '49

ODILON BARROT

LONDON

HAV [2]

1864

11 A U G ' 4 9

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H H/Life [143-323]

1865

[11? A U G ' 4 9 ]

ANTHONY CHESTER

[LONDON]

HAT [3]

1866

11 A U G ' 4 9

[G.L.BROWNE]

GROSVENOR GT

TEXU [1]

1867

19 AUG '49

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

PS 341

xlv

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

1868 1869 1870

20 AUG '49 21 AUG '49 22 AUG '49

G.F. SMITH LADY LONDONDERRY ALFRED GRIFFIN

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

H A/VII/A/44 DUR D/LO/C/530 [8] GRIP [2]

1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881

25 AUG '49 25 AUG '49 [AUG?'49] 2 SEP '49 2 SEP '49 2 SEP '49 [7 SEP '49] 7 SEP '49 13 SEP '49 l6 SEP '49 17 SEP '49

SARAH DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE [GEORGE CARRINGTONJR] PRINCE METTERNICH [G.F. SMITH] SARAH DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI GEORGE CARRINGTON PHILIP ROSE SARAH DISRAELI [G.L. BROWNE]

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

MOPSIK [8l] H R/I/A/48 H A/V/G/224A SUAP RAM AC3 6 ff33~6 H A/VII/A/45 BL ADD MS 59887 f?42-3 BL ADD MS 59887 ff44~5 H R/I/C/63 H R/I/A/49 H A/I/B/322 TEXU [1O]

1882 1883

l8 SEP'49 20 SEP '49

PHILIP ROSE [G.L. BROWNE]

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/50 TEXU [4]

1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897

[20 SEP '49?] 22 SEP '49 24 SEP'49 28 SEP ['49] 30 SEP ['49] 4 OCT '49 8 OCT ['49] 9 OCT '49 11 OCT ['49] [13?] OCT'49 15 OCT ['49] 15 OCT'49 l6 OCT '49 l6 OCT '49

PHILIP ROSE MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD STANLEY SARAH DISRAELI [G.L. BROWNE] MARY ANNE DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI [G.L. BROWNE] [JOHN COX?] SARAH DISRAELI LORD JOHN MANNERS MARY ANNE DISRAELI THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE SARAH DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN] COVENTRY HOUSE HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN BOREHAM HOUSE CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] AYLESBURY [AYLESBURY] AYLESBURY AYLESBURY

H R/I/A/60 H A/I/A/256 DBP Box 145/1 [8] ILLU B 83650! 1,2 [3] HUNT HM 52644 H A/I/A/257 H A/I/B/36l TEXU [9] PS 384 PS 498 BEA [Rl-55] MOPSIK [l8l] NOT NEC5, 477 FITZ Disraeli A37

1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907

l6 17 l8 l8 19 20 22 22 23 23

PHILIP ROSE (JOHN COX] ALFRED GRIFFIN R.P. MILNES G.F. YOUNG LORD STANLEY PHILIP DAUNCEY [G.L. BROWNE] [G.L. BROWNE] WILLIAM ANSELL DAY

AYLESBURY HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/46 PS 385 GRIP [3] TCC Houghton 3681 H B/II/13 DBP Box 145/1 [7] H H/Life [143-342,1273] HUNT HM 52645 H H/Life [143-340] QUA 225

1908 1909

[23 OCT '49?] 25 OCT ['49]

[UNKNOWN] [G.L. BROWNE]

[HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN

PS 480 TEXU [5]

1910 1911

25 OCT '49 25 OCT '49

ROBERT HARVEY PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

QUA 297 H R/I/A/51a

1912 1913

26 OCT ['49] [27? OCT '49]

SARAH DISRAELI [G.L. BROWNE]

[HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN]

H A/I/B/323 TEXU [3]

1914 1915 1916 1917 1918

[OCT? '49] 4 NOV '49 4 NOV '49 9 NOV'49 12 NOV'49

W.A. FORD SARAH DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE LORD STANLEY MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN CARLTON CLUB

H A/V/F/21 H A/I/B/324 H R/I/A/52 DBP Box 145/1 [10] H A/I/A/258, 2583

1919 1920

[13 NOV'49] 14 NOV '49

MARY ANNE DISRAELI MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON] CARLTON CLUB

PS 477 H A/I/A/260

xlvi

OCT ['49] OCT ['49] OCT '49 OCT '49 OCT '49 OCT'49 OCT '49 OCT '49 OCT '49 OCT '49

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

1921

15 N O V ' 4 9

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/A/259

1922

[15? NOV -49]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

PS 477

1923

21 N O V ' 4 9

LORD MALMESBURY

GROSVENOR GT

PS 481

1924

21 NOV ['49]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/53

1925

23 N O V ' 4 9

LORD GRANBY

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-134]

1926

29 NOV '49

LORD GRANBY

HUGHENDEN

BEA [R2-3]

1927

29 NOV '49

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/54

1928

30 NOV ['49]

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/312

1929

2 DEC '49

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/55

1930

11 DEC'49

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

FITZ Disraeli A38

1931

14 DEC '49

C.B. ADDERLEY

HUGHENDEN

CUL Ms Disraeli [3]

1932

14 DEC '49

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/56

1933

l6 DEC'49

LORD JOHN MANNERS

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-56]

1934

l6 DEC '49

GRENVILLE FLETCHER

HUGHENDEN

BODL MS b8 f&99

1935

l6 DEC '49

RICHARD BENTLEY

HUGHENDEN

LC AC 8033 [7] DBP Box 145/1 [11]

1936

17 DEC'49

LORD STANLEY

HUGHENDEN

±937

19 DEC '49

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/57

1938

[21?] DEC'49

SIR JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE

HUGHENDEN

H B/II/l6

*939

2

1940

23 DEC '49

LADY COMBERMERE

HUGHENDEN

1941

23 DEC ['49]

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/337

1942

23 DEC '49

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/58

3 DEC '49

C B

- - ADDERLEY

HUGHENDEN

H B/II/15 QUA 412

1943

28 DEC'49

LORD STANLEY

HUGHENDEN

DBP Box 145/1 [12]

1944

29 DEC '49

SARAH DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN]

H A/I/B/325

1945

29 DEC '49

W.B. FERRAND

HUGHENDEN

NLS 16747

1946

29 DEC '49

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/59

ff 2

4 ~3

1947

30 DEC '49

LADY LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [10]

1948

1 JAN '50

LORD JOHN MANNERS

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-57]

1949

1 JAN '50

LORD MALMESBURY

HUGHENDEN

PS 482

1950

1 JAN '50

SARAH DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN]

H A/I/B/326

1951

1 JAN '50

COUNT D'ORSAY

HUGHENDEN

H B/II/l8

1952

9 JAN '50

LORD GRANBY

HUGHENDEN

BEA [R2-4]

!953

9 JAN '50

LORD JOHN MANNERS

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-58]

1954

10 J A N ' 5 0

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/327

*955

10 JAN '50

LORD LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [50]

1956

[11? J A N ' 5 0 ]

PHILIP ROSE

[HUGHENDEN]

H R/I/A/67 DBP Box 145/1 [27]

*957

11 JAN'50

LORD STANLEY

HUGHENDEN

1958

11 JAN '50

JOHN COX

HUGHENDEN

PS 391

*959

13 JAN'50

SIR JOHN TYRELL

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-6o]

1960

13 JAN '50

LORD JOHN MANNERS

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-59]

1961

19 JAN '50

S. CLYDE

BELVOIR CASTLE

SIL [4] BL ADD MS 37502 ffllO-13

1962

21 J A N ' 5 0

SARAH DISRAELI

BELVOIR CASTLE

1963

22 JAN '50

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

BURGHLEY HOUSE

H A/I/A/262, 2&2a

1964

22 J A N ' 5 0

LORD JOHN MANNERS

BURGHLEY HOUSE

BEA [Rl-6l]

1965

23 [JAN] '50

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

BURGHLEY HOUSE

H A/I/A/286

ig6$A

26 J A N ' 5 0

LORD STANLEY

CARLTON CLUB

1966

28 JAN '50

WILLIAM LOWNDES STONE GROSVENOR GT

DBP BOX 145/1(13] PS 522

1967

4 FEB '50

SARAH DISRAELI

BURGHLEY HOUSE

BEA [Rl-29]

1968

7 FEB '50

THOMAS LOFTUS

GROSVENOR GT

QUA 229

1969

8 FEB '50

JOHN BLACKWOOD

GROSVENOR GT

NLS 4896 £185

1970

[9? FEB '50]

JOHN C. HERRIES

CARLTON CLUB

BL ADD MS 57409 lyj

1971

10 FEB '50

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

BL ADD MS 59887 {46

1972

[13 FEB '50]

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/68

xlvii

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

1973 1974 1975

16 FEE'50 24 FEE '50 [26 FEE'50]

LADY LONDONDERRY PHILIP ROSE LORD JOHN MANNERS

GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [13] H R/I/A/69 BEA [Rl-62]

1976

21 MAR '50

LADY LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [15]

1977 1978

25 MAR '50 26 MAR '50

SARAH DISRAELI BNSS L. DE ROTHSCHILD

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 59887 ££47-8 ROTH RAL RFAM C/2/2

1979 1980 1981

27 M A R ' 5 0 31 MAR '50 1 APR '50

LADY LONDONDERRY SARAH DISRAELI LORD GRANBY

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [11] PS 393 BEA [R2-5]

1982 1983

2 APR '50 2 APR'50

JOHN C. HERRIES LORD STANLEY

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

BL ADD MS 57409 ff!7-l8 DBP Box 145/1 [15]

1984 1985 1986

3 APR'50 3 APR '50 5 APR '50

LORD STANLEY JOHN C. HERRIES SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

DBP Box 145/1 [16] BL ADD MS 57409 ff!9-20 PS 510

1987 1988 1989

5 APR '50 6 [APR]'50 8 APR '50

LORD NEWPORT JOHN C. HERRIES LORD GRANBY

HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

BRD BC.D68 Dl BL ADD MS 57409 ff!5-l6 BEA [R2-6]

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

8 APR '50 13 APR'50 l8 APR '50 19 APR '50 [19 APR '50] 22 APR '50 23 APR '50 [26?] APR '50

WILLIAM E. AYTOUN SARAH DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI EDMUND PHIPPS MARY ANNE DISRAELI LADY LONDONDERRY G.L. BROWNE SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS

NLS 4896 ffyo-1 H A/I/B/328 NYPL Kohns [10] MOPSIK [23] H A/I/A/263, 263a DUR D/LO/C/530 [202] PS 395 PS 396

1998 1999

[3 MAY'50] 7 [MAY]'50

SARAH DISRAELI LORD STANLEY

H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT

PS 511 DBP Box 145/1 [14]

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

13 M A Y ' 5 0 l6 MAY '50 [l8 MAY '50] 19 MAY '50 20 MAY'50 22 MAY '50 23 MAY '50 26 MAY '50 [MAY?]'50 3 JUN '50 11 J U N ' 5 0 [14 JUN '50] [14 JUN'50]

SARAH DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE SARAH DISRAELI LORD LONDONDERRY EDWARD V. KENEALY LORD LONDONDERRY PHILIP ROSE LORD LONDONDERRY [T. HENNIKER] SAMUEL PHILLIPS BENJAMIN HAWES SARAH DISRAELI LADY LONDONDERRY

H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 37502 ffl!4-21 H R/I/A/70 H A/I/B/329 DUR D/LO/C/530 [51] HUNT HM 38611 DUR D/LO/C/53O [52] H R/I/A/71 DUR D/LO/C/530 [53] H B/II/114 ROB [1] DUL [2] BL ADD MS 59887 ££49-50 DUR D/LO/C/530 [l6]

2013

20 JUN '50

LORD LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [54]

2014

[4]JUL'50

JOHN C. HERRIES

H OF COMMONS

BL ADD MS 57409 ff21-2

2015

[17JUL'50?]

LORD STANLEY

CARLTON CLUB

DBP Box 145/1 [17]

2016

l8 JUL '50

SARAH DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

BL ADD MS 59887 ff53~4

2017

23 JUL '50

R. CHANDLER

GROSVENOR GT

QUA 299

2018 2019 2020

[23 JUL '50?] 24 JUL [-50?] [29 JUL '50]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE MARY ANNE DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB H OF COMMONS [H OF COMMONS]

H A/I/A/2&5, 2653 H R/I/A/138 H A/I/A/264

2021 2022

2 AUG '50 [5 AUG '50]

LADY LONDONDERRY MARY ANNE DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT [CARLTON CLUB?]

DUR D/LO/C/530 [17] H A/I/A/266

2023 2024 2025

5 AUG '50 5 AUG '50 6 AUG '50

CHARLES TREVOR SARAH DISRAELI G.L. BROWNE

H OF COMMONS CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT

H H/Life [148-998] H A/I/B/330 TEXU [7]

xlviii

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032

[8 AUG'50] 12 AUG '50 15 AUG '50 l8 AUG '50 l8 AUG'50 l8 AUG'50 20 AUG '50

SARAH DISRAELI SIR EDWARD SUGDEN MR MUNRO SARAH DISRAELI SIR A. DE ROTHSCHILD JOHN M. KNOTT SARAH DISRAELI

[CARLTON CLUB] CARLTON CLUB HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB

PS 513 SUG [1] NLS 578 f!03 BL ADD MS 59887 f55 ROTH RAL RFAM C/2/45 JON [1] BL ADD MS 59887 ff56~7

2033

[20 AUG '50]

[LORD HENRY BENTINCK]

[LONDON]

H B/II/72

2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041

20 AUG '50 20 AUG '50 27 AUG '50 27 AUG '50 1 SEP '50 3 SEP '50 3 SEP '50 [10 SEP'50]

THOMAS LOFTUS GLYN, HALLIFAX & CO LORD LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY SARAH DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT [GROSVENOR GT] KNEBWORTH KNEBWORTH KNEBWORTH GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON]

QUA 226 QUA 227 DUR D/LO/C/530 [55] DUR D/LO/C/530 [l8] PS 342, 399 H A/I/B/332 H R/I/A/72 PS 514

2042 2043

13 SEP'50 24 SEP '50

LORD JOHN MANNERS SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

BEA [R1-&3] H A/I/B/333

2044 2045 2046 2047

24 SEP '50 24 SEP '50 3 OCT '50 6 OCT '50

SIR E.B. LYTTON G.L. BROWNE SIR E.B. LYTTON HENRY C. CHAPMAN

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

HCR D/EK C5 [4] TEXU [8] HCR D/EK C5 [5] PRIN Parrish AM 20774

2048 2049 2050 2051 2052 2053 2054 2055 2056 2057 2058 2059 2060 2061 2062 2063 2064 2065 2066 2067 2068 2069 2070

12 OCT '50 l6 OCT'50 l6 OCT '50 22 OCT '50 28 OCT '50 31 OCT '50 3 NOV'50 3 NOV '50 5 NOV '50 8 NOV '50 10 NOV '50 [11? NOV'50] 12 NOV '50 15 NOV '50 17 NOV '50 18 NOV '50 25 NOV '50 25 NOV '50 29 NOV '50 1 DEC '50 5 DEC ['50] 7 DEC '50 10 DEC '50

SARAH DISRAELI LORD JOHN MANNERS SIR E.B. LYTTON LADY LONDONDERRY SARAH DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE JOHN C. HERRIES LORD LONDONDERRY PHILIP ROSE LORD CARRINGTON RALPH DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI JOHN C. HERRIES SARAH DISRAELI LORD LONDONDERRY LORD STANLEY SARAH DISRAELI JOHN C. HERRIES JOHN C. HERRIES S.L. BLANCHARD SARAH DISRAELI LORD STANLEY SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [LONDON] CARLTON CLUB CARLTON CLUB

H A/I/B/335 BEA [Rl-64] HCR D/EK C5 [6] DUR D/LO/C/53O [19] H A/I/B/336 H R/I/A/73 BL ADD MS 57409 ff28-31 DUR D/LO/C/530 [56] H R/I/A/74 PS Times H A/I/E/2 PS 515 BL ADD MS 57409 ££32-3 FITZ Disraeli A39 DUR D/LO/C/530 [57] DBP Box 145/1 [l8] BL ADD MS 59887 f58 BL ADD MS 57409 f34 BL ADD MS 57409 f23 MOPSIK [148] BL ADD MS 59887 ff59-6o DBP Box 145/1 [20] BL ADD MS 59887 ff6l-2

2071

10 DEC '50

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/75

2072

[12 DEC '50]

LORD STANLEY

GROSVENOR GT

DBP Box 145/1 [19]

2073 2074 2075

l8 DEC '50 19 DEC '50 22 [DEC] '50

LORD STANLEY LORD POWIS SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

DBP Box 145/1 [22] PWS 263 PS 516

2076

23 DEC '50

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/76

2077

[24? DEC'50]

[LORDGRANBY]

[HUGHENDEN]

BEA [R2-11]

2078

25 DEC'50

LORD JOHN MANNERS

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-65]

xlix

NO

1

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL GLM D/D Ly 19/73

2079

25 DEC '50

LORD LYNDHURST

HUGHENDEN

2080

27 DEC '50

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/338

2081

29 DEC '50

LORD LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [58] TEXU [37]

2082

[1 JAN '51]

SARAH DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN]

2083

1 JAN ['51]

RALPH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/E/1

2084

1J A N ' 5 1

A. MILNER GIBSON

HUGHENDEN

TCC Cullum M109-5

2

°85

5JAN'5!

LORD JOHN MANNERS

HUGHENDEN

BEA [Rl-66]

2086

6 JAN'51

LORD STANLEY

HUGHENDEN

DBP Box 145/1 [26]

2087

9 JAN'51

RALPH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/E/3

2088

13 J A N ' 5 1

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/339, 408

2089

16 JAN '51

LADY LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [78]

2090

21 JAN '51

LORD STANLEY

CARLTON CLUB

DBP Box 145/1 [28]

2091

[22 JAN'51]

SARAH DISRAELI

[GROSVENOR GT]

PS 517

2092

[24 JAN'51]

LORD STANLEY

[LONDON]

DBP Box 145/1 [21]

2093

29 JAN '51

LORD LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

H B/II/21

2094

30 JAN '51

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

H A/I/B/340

2095

3FEB'51

LORD LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [59]

2096

3 FEB '51

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/80

2097

[11 FEB'51]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

H A/I/A/268

2098

19 FEB'51

LORD LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [60]

2099

23 FEB'51

LORD STANLEY

[LONDON]

DBP Box 145/1 [29]

2100

24 FEB'51

SAMUEL WILBERFORCE

GROSVENOR GT

BODL MS d!7 ff421-2

2101

25 FEB'51

LORD PONSONBY

GROSVENOR GT

DURP [6]

2102

26 FEB '51

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

PS 402

2103

28 FEB'51

SIR E.B. LYTTON

GROSVENOR GT

HCR D/EK C5 [9]

2104

[2 MAR'51?]

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/6l

2105

[8 MAR? '51]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/B/341

2106

8 MAR'51

LORD CARRINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

CARR [8]

2107

10 M A R ' 5 1

PHILIP ROSE

H OF COMMONS

H R/I/A/8l

2108

13 M A R ' 5 1

DUDLEY PERCEVAL

GROSVENOR GT

NLS 7178 ff54

2109

15 MAR '51

RALPH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/E/4

2110

[22 MAR '51]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

FITZ Disraeli A40

2111

24 M A R ' 5 1

P.G.FITZGERALD

GROSVENOR GT

INL [4]

2112

25 M A R ' 5 1

LORD JOHN MANNERS

GROSVENOR GT

BEA [Rl-67]

2113

27 M A R ' 5 1

LADY LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR D/LO/C/530 [79]

2114

27 MAR ['51]

SARAH DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

PS 377

2115

28 M A R ' 5 1

EDWARD HARPER

GROSVENOR GT

PS 404

2116

5 APR '51

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

FITZ Disraeli A41

2117

13 APR ['51]

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

PS 405

2118

13 A P R ' 5 1

PHILIP ROSE

GROSVENOR GT

H R/I/A/82

2119

15 APR'51

THE DUKE OF RICHMOND

GROSVENOR GT

WSRO Gdwd 1746 f330

2120

l6 A P R ' 5 1

SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

FITZ Disraeli A42

2121

16 A P R ' 5 1

T.C. HANSARD, JR

GROSVENOR GT

NLS 578 f!05

2122

20 APR '51

LADY LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [80]

2123

20 APR'51

SIR E.B. LYTTON

HUGHENDEN

HCR D/EK C5 [10]

2124

24 APR '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/342

2125

26 APR'51

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/83

2126

27 APR '51

W.B. FERRAND

HUGHENDEN

PS 418

2127

30 A P R ' 5 1

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/84

2128

2 MAY'51

SIR E.B. LYTTON

GROSVENOR GT

HCR D/EK C5 [7]

2129

[2 MAY '51]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/85

2130

2 MAY'51

HENRY CHARLES VERNON

GROSVENOR GT

H A/V/F/23a

2131

[4? MAY'51]

LORD LONDONDERRY

[LONDON]

DUR D/LO/C/530 [6l]

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2132 [8 MAY'51] LORD STANLEY H OF COMMONS DBF Box 145/1 [24] 2133

[12 MAY'51]

LORD STANLEY

[LONDON]

DBF Box 145/1

2134

18 MAY '51

[SAMUEL PHILLIPS]

GROSVENOR GT

CUL MS Disraeli [1]

2135

19 M A Y ' 5 1

CHARLES NEATE

[LONDON]

UCLA [7]

2136

[20 MAY '51?]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/A/269

2137

[24] M A Y ' 5 1

SARAH DISRAELI

[GROSVENOR GT]

PS 518

2138

26 MAY ['51?]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/86

[25]

2139

[29 MAY'51]

PHILIP ROSE

CARLTON CLUB

H R/I/A/9&

2140

31 M A Y ' 5 1

SAMUEL WILBERFORCE

GROSVENOR GT

BODL MS c20 ff29"30 H R/I/A/8/

2141

1 JUN '51

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

2142

[5 JUN '51?]

[T.B. YOUNG?]

[LONDON]

MOPSIK [141]

2143

[6 JUN '51]

THOMAS BARING

[LONDON]

BAR [12]

2144

7 JUN '51

[JOHN C. HERRIES]

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 57409 ff24~5

2145

8 JUN'51

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/88

2146

9 JUN'51

W.E. PARTRIDGE

HUGHENDEN

GMF [7]

2147

[9 JUN '51]

PHILIP ROSE

[HUGHENDEN]

H R/I/A/97

2148

11 J U N ' 5 1

[SIR FREDERIC THESIGER?]

HUGHENDEN

PS 408

2149

15 JUN '51

SAMUEL WILBERFORCE

GROSVENOR GT

BODL MS c20 ff31-2

2150

15 JUN '51

PHILIP ROSE

GROSVENOR GT

H R/I/A/&9

2151

[l6jUN'51]

SARAH DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

H A/I/B/275, 276

2152

17 JUN '51

[JOHN C. HERRIES]

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 57409 ff35~6

21

53

17 J U N ' 5 1

THOMAS BARING

GROSVENOR GT

BAR [1]

2153A

l8 J U N ' 5 1

SIR JOHN PAKINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

WRC 705:349BA3835/7(ii)9

2154

20 JUN '51

[JOHN C. HERRIES]

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 57409 ff26~7

2155

[21 JUN '51?]

SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 59887 ff51-2

2156

[24 J U N ' 5 1 ]

[PHILIP ROSE]

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/90

2157

[25 JUN '51?]

SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

BL ADD MS 59887 ff34~5

2158

28 J U N ' 5 1

LORD CARRINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

HUNT HM 12877

2159

10 JUL '51

SIR EDWARD SUGDEN

H OF COMMONS

UCLA [8]

2160

10 JUL'51

SARAH DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

H A/I/B/343

2161

l6 JUL'51

C.N. NEWDEGATE

GROSVENOR GT

WAR 6.6330

2162

20 J U L ' 5 1

LORD GRANBY

GROSVENOR GT

BEA [Rl-68]

2163

24 JUL'51

LORD CARRINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

CARR [9]

2164

25 JUL'51

LORD CARRINGTON

GROSVENOR GT

CARR [10]

2165

30 J U L ' 5 1

G.A.HAMILTON

GROSVENOR GT

PS 409

2166

1 AUG '51

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

H A/I/B/344

2167

2 AUG'51

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

GROSVENOR GT

RTC [1]

2168

10 AUG'51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

BL ADD MS 59887 ££63-4

2169

[15 AUG '51]

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/331

2170

23 AUG '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/345

2171

24 AUG'51

LORD CARRINGTON

HUGHENDEN

CARR [11]

2172

24 AUG '51

G.L. BROWNE

HUGHENDEN

TEXU [2]

2173

1 SEP '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/346

2174

5 SEP '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/347

2175

19 SEP '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

TEXU [38]

2176

22 SEP'51

SIR E.B. LYTTON

HUGHENDEN

HCR D/EK C5 [8]

2177

23 SEP '51

LORD PONSONBY

HUGHENDEN

DURP [J]

2178

26 SEP '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/348

2179

28 SEP'51

LORD LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [62]

2180

3OCT['51]

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/334

2181

[10]OCT'51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/349

2182

12OCT'51

JOHN COX

HUGHENDEN

PS 411

2183

14 OCT '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/350, 399

li

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2184

15OCT['51]

JOHN NEWMAN

[HUGHENDEN]

UCLA [10]

2185

17OCT'51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/351

2186

17 OCT'51

SAMUEL WILBERFORCE

HUGHENDEN

BODL MS clO ffl/2-3

2187

17 OCT '51

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/gi

2188

17 OCT '51

WILLIAM BROWN

HUGHENDEN

H C/XI/10

2189

23 OCT ['51]

SARAH DISRAELI

AYLESBURY

H A/I/B/393

2190

27 OCT'51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/352

2191

30 OCT'51

LORD DERBY

HUGHENDEN

DBF Box 145/1 [34]

2192

2 NOV '51

LORD LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [63]

2193

2 NOV '51

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H R/I/A/92

2194

4 NOV'51

LORD PONSONBY

HUGHENDEN

DURP [8]

2195

7 NOV '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/353, 400

2196

11 NOV'51

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN]

H A/I/A/397

2197

[17? NOV '51]

SARAH DISRAELI

[HUGHENDEN]

PS 519

2198

18 NOV '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

H A/I/B/354

2199

22 NOV '51

SARAH DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

H A/I/B/355

2200

[22 NOV '51?]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/94

2201

[1 DEC?'51]

LORD PONSONBY

[LONDON]

DURP [9]

2202

[2 DEC '51]

PHILIP ROSE

[LONDON]

H R/I/A/96

2203

[7 DEC'51]

SARAH DISRAELI

[GROSVENOR GT]

PS 520

2204

8 DEC '51

JOHN T. DELANE

HATFIELD

TIA Vol 4/36

2205

9 DEC'51

LORD DERBY

HATFIELD

DBP Box 145/1 [33]

2206

9 DEC '51

PHILIP ROSE

HATFIELD

H R/I/A/93

2207

10 DEC '51

LADY LONDONDERRY

HATFIELD

DUR D/LO/C/53O [8l]

2208

10 DEC'51

SARAH DISRAELI

HATFIELD

BL ADD MS 59887 {(65-6

2209

l8 DEC'51

LORD DERBY

GROSVENOR GT

DBP Box 145/1 [32]

2210

21 DEC'51

[S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS]

GROSVENOR GT

RTC [2]

2211

21 DEC'51

PRINCE METTERNICH

[LONDON]

SUAP RAM AC3 6 ff37~8

2212

22 DEC '51

SARAH DISRAELI

[LONDON]

H A/I/B/356

2213

25 DEC '51

JOHN T. DELANE

HUGHENDEN

TIA Vol 4/40

2214

28 DEC '51

LADY LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

DUR D/LO/C/530 [82]

2215

29 DEC'51

LORD DERBY

HUGHENDEN

DBP Box 145/1 [30, 31]

2216

29 DEC'51

LORD HENRY LENNOX

HUGHENDEN

H H/Life [143-540]

2217

31 DEC '51

SARAH DISRAELI

HUGHENDEN

FITZ Disraeli A43

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 184.8-51 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-i8^.8 letters newly found see Appendix I. 2 Dec '37

[4? Apr '39] 3 Jul '39

i Jan '40

To Ephraim Lindo from London. James Lowe Autographs Catalogue (1988?), item 52: 'Address-panel ... Addressed in [D'S] hand to "E. Lindo Esqr. | 10 Cavendish Place | Brighton."' To Lord Exmouth. Lord Exmouth replied 6 Apr [1839]. H B/xxi/ E/343To Sir John and Lady Charlotte Guest with news of the death of MA'S brother, John Viney Evans (wrongly identified as Sir George Strickland, Bt). Earl of Bessborough ed Lady Charlotte Guest: Extracts from Her Journal 1833-1852 (1950) 92. To J.M. Buckland regarding sale of shares in Duffryn Llynvi Railway. H D/II/B/16.

lii

16 Feb '40 Apr '40 May '40 14 Dec '41 June '42 Mar[?] '46 2o[?] Mar '46

To W. and C. Sevan, lawyers, Bristol, regarding mortgage on Mrs Yate's estate. H o/vi/C/55. To Mr Wellington of Lombard Street regarding a sum of £1000 3V2 per cent reduced shares due to Rev W.P. Lewis and MA. H D/ 11/6/19. To Mr Wellington of 67 Lombard Street regarding a sum of £1121.10.7 standing to credit of Rev W.P. Lewis and MA, which can be received by the Ds at any time. H D/n/B/20. To Lewis R. Fitzmaurice regarding payment of dividend and interest from Porthcawl Railway. H 0/11/6/27. To A.W. Borough regarding Borough's letter recommending Mr Francis James. H c/n/c/57. To John Irving with suggestions for a paper on relationship of Cotton and Corn in production and commerce. H B/xxi/i/i3. To John Irving asking him to provide a table with prices of cotton. H B/XXI/I/14.

n[?] May '47 10/15 Jun '47 before [19 Dec '47] [12?] Jan '48 2i[?] Jan '48 2i[?] Jan '48 6[?] Feb '48 [28? Feb] '48 i6[?] Mar '48 17 Mar '48 23[?] Mar '48

To Henry Colburn regarding possible reprint of Tancred, answered by Colburn's letter of 13 May 1847. H E/vn/D/32. To Joseph Howard, Aylesbury regarding arrangements for D to attend the meeting of Aylesbury District Society for Protection and Agriculture on 19 June 1847. H 6/1/0/115, 126. To Sir William Gossett requesting a second seat in the visitors' gallery of parliament. See i6i3X. To Thomas Loftus from Bradenham regarding Loftus's letter of 10 January announcing the death of W.P. Lewis: D informs Loftus of illness of Isaac. H D/ii/B/m. To Mrs (Evelyn) Meredith with news of Isaac's death. H A/I/F/I. To George Basevi with news of Isaac's death. H A/I/F/I. To Lord Henry Bentinck containing information concerning Mr Bankes (perhaps regarding Conservative leadership). H B/XXI/B/ 348. To Sarah Disraeli regarding arrangements for Tita following Isaac's death. H D/m/A/i8i. To Lady Orford to inform her MA has sprained her wrist and cannot write. H 0/111/0/2798. To unknown addressee from Grosvenor Gate. The Autograph MarApr 1912, published by P.F. Madigan (New York), ALS 2pp, 8vo. To Quintin Dick regarding Dick's candidacy in Aylesbury by-election. H B/XXI/D/259-

27 Mar '48 early May '48 i[?] May '48 [16 May '48] 21 May '48

To Quintin Dick regarding Aylesbury election: congratulations on retirement of opposing candidate. See 1640. To Odilon Barrot. An overture, probably to do with the current political situation in France. H B/xxi/B/135. To John Ramsay McCulloch, Stationery Office, regarding books on financial theory. H B/XXI/M/IO. To James Disraeli. See 1645. To Edward Youl notifying him of a service done (presumably giving him money - Youl was known as the 'Prince of Swindlers'!). H B/XXI/Y/7-

28[?] Jun '48 i5[?] Jul '48

To W.E. Painter regarding printing of o's speech on National Representation (20 June) and advertising in the newspapers. H o/ 111/0/464. To W.G. Cookesley, Eton College, accepting invitation to Eton Election, 29-31 July 1848. H B/xxi/c/38i.

liii

22[?] Jul '48

To G.S. Smythe. Invitation to breakfast on 24 July 1848 to meet

early Aug '48 25 Aug '48

To Georg Klindworth arranging to meet. H B/xvin/c/4. To John Delane about arrangements for The Times' reporting of his speech on Conduct of the Session. See 1697. To Lord John Russell agreeing to Russell's request to move Review of Session from 31 August to 30 August. H B/xxi/H/574. To G.S. Smythe notifying him (and thus MC?) of his upcoming Summary of the Session. BEA[2ioQ]. To General Dumas. See 1703. To Col Fancourt regarding Goldshede and financial matters. H B/

M. Guizot. -BEA[212Q].

25[?] Aug '48 28[?] Aug '48 31 Aug '48 Aug[?j '48

XXI/F/29-

before 21 Sep '48 [10?] Oct '48

To Lord George Bentinck from Wynyard. See I72in2. To Thomas Loftus inquiring about payment of dividends under MA'S marriage settlement, following the death of W.P. Lewis. H

12[?] Oct '48

To Lord Brougham with praise for his recent book A Letter to the Marquis of Lansdowne. H B/xxi/B/ioio. To Thomas Helps, Chester, regarding the missing lease for Cathedral House, Gloucester. H A/v/G/222. To Rev Francis Merewether (Rector of Cole Orton, Ashby-de-laZouch) regarding Merewether's proposals for a National Church party to be allied with the Conservatives. H B/xxi/M/320. To Henry Drummond regarding dates for visit by the Ds to Drummond's residence at Albury Park, Guildford. H B/xxi/D/373To Lord Mandeville in answer to Mandeville's letter of 16 October expressing political support for D as Protectionist leader. D seems to have stressed the life-time devotion that such a position would require, and to have described the kind of party he would like to see. H B/xx/Be/i42. To Henry Drummond regarding final arrangements to visit at Albury Park. H B/xxi/D/374. To Lady (Louisa) Lovaine suggesting Lord Lovaine stand for election at Bridgwater. H B/xxi/L/346. To Lord Hardwicke regarding his appointment to the Vengeance. See I739&m. To Count D'Orsay, angry that his letter about D'Orsay's bust of Lord George Bentinck had been shown to newspaper editors and copies distributed. H B/xxi/D/323. To Lord Mandeville regarding soothing the feelings of Stafford about D'S coming forward as party leader. H B/xxi/M/86. To Rev E. Latimer from Hughenden regarding national education in the County of Buckingham. W.V. Daniell's Catalogue No. 7 ns (nd) [1911?] Item 497. ALS 4pp 8vo. To George Sutherland, Glasgow, on reciprocal Free Trade. H B/ xxi/s/715. To Humphrey Bull regarding D'S intervention in money matters concerning Quintin Dick and election bills. H 6/1/0/171. To H.T. Ryde regarding affairs of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. H B/xxi/B/ii59. To Ralph Disraeli asking him to call on Edward Moxon. See 1754. To William S.W. Vaux regarding the publication of the papers about the Madeira chaplaincy. H A/iv/L/179.

D/II/B/112.

[18?] Oct '48 20 Oct '48 22[?] Oct '48 23/28 Oct '48

3i[?] Oct '48 early Nov '48 4 Nov '48 5 Nov '48 [late Nov '48] 3 Dec '48 5 Dec '48 7[?] Dec '48 15[?] Dec ['48] 20 Dec '48 28[?] Dec '48

liv

29[?] Dec '48 [31 Dec '48?] Dec '48 [1849?] i[?] Jan '49 5[?] Jan '49 14[?] Jan '49 i8[10?] Jan '49 19[?] Jan '49 22 Jan '49 23 Jan '49

To Edward Moxon asking that copies of Curiosities be sent to Lady Londonderry and Lady Blessington. See i75Oni. To Samuel Phillips, of John Bull, on political matters(?) or a puff for Curiosities'? H B/xxi/p/224. To George Lathom Browne stating inadvisability of attending more meetings before opening of parliament. H B/xx/A/7 (dated 11 December 1849). To unknown addressee referring to 'revision of local taxation & imposition of import duties as the policy of despair'. Henry Bristow of Ringwood catalogue no 255, item 173. To Thomas Vardon asking for copies of papers on Madeira question to be sent to Vaux. H B/xxi/v/58. To Sir John Trollope. A 'state paper' on the question of Conservative party leadership. See 1761. To Edward Moxon complaining about 14th edition of Curiosities. See i750ni. To Sir Robert Inglis asking to call on him (perhaps about the party leadership?). H B/xxi/i/9. To H. Bragg, of the Star Nursery, Slough, asking for recommendations for a gardener. H A/iv/L/22. To Sir Robert Inglis. W.V. Daniell's Catalogue No 7 ns (nd) [1911?] Item 497. ALS 2pp 8vo. To (Barry?) Baldwin regarding Protectionist leadership? H B/XXI/ P/228.

28[?] Jan. '49 Jan/Feb '49

To George Sutherland of Glasgow advising that Glasgow Reciprocity Society 'not ripe yet.' H B/xxi/s/720. To Lord Henry Bentinck regarding manoeuvres within the party to get D elected as party leader - specific strategies to be followed. H B/XXI/B/352.

early Feb '49 5[?] Feb '49 i8[?] Feb '49 19 Feb '49 i Mar '49 3 Mar '49 3[?] Mar '49 4/5 Mar '49 17 Mar '49 19/28 Mar '49 early Apr '49

To Lord Henry Bentinck on need to infuse new blood into the party (perhaps with specific role for H.B. to take). H B/xxi/B/351. To Rev John Pigott regarding right of way from Hughenden Vicarage through Hughenden grounds. H A/vil/E/2. To Colonel R. Torrens, sending him an issue of The Economist and asking about its treatment of the Reciprocity Theory. H B/XXI/T/ 126. To Rev Robert Knight regarding the demise of the Duffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway. H A/v/G/98. To Samuel Phillips asking him to delay using D'S resolutions in The Morning Herald. H B/xxi/P/235To Louis Philippe (or perhaps to, or via, General Dumas) with amiable sentiments. H B/xxi/D/401. To Sir John Trollope asking Sir John to be in town to support D'S motion (of 8 March?). H B/xxi/K/i3o. To Bankes or Beresford regarding the Navigation Laws debate, presumably because D is ill at the time. H B/xx/Bd/4. To Robert Messer acknowledging two letters from Messer and asking that he communicate with his solicitor, Richard Wright. H A/v/A/20. See i8o2&m. To Rev John Cox on organizing a Protectionist meeting at Colchester. See iSojm. To W.B. Ferrand making inquiries regarding English manufacturers, the current state of trade and future prospects. H B/xxi/ F/122.

Iv

3[?] Apr '49 5[?] Apr '49

To Lord Henry Bentinck sending some papers, possibly on agriculture. H B/XXI/B/354. To (William) Beresford regarding political situation in Bucks. H B/XX/Bd/14.

6 Apr '49

io[?] Apr '49 14 Apr '49 14 Apr '49 14 Apr '49

14[?] Apr '49 23 Apr '49

To Samuel Phillips inquiring about Phillips's illness. H B/XXI/P/ 238. To Rt Hon George Bankes asking him to use his influence on behalf of Rev H.P. Cookesley for a situation at Wimborne Minster, Dorset. H B/xxi/c/383. To William Cox, presumably acknowledging his thanks for D'S work in parliament on behalf of the landed interest. See i8i2&n6. To Howard Horwood & Co, presumably acknowledging their thanks for D'S work in parliament on behalf of the landed interest. See iSiz&n/. To Rev John Cox asking for 'a favourable answer "as to the general feeling among the Farmers of this County."' See 1805111. To W.G. Cookesley regarding refusal of George Bankes to use his influence on behalf of Rev H.P. Cookesley (W.G.C.'s brother) at Wimborne Minster, Dorset. H B/xxi/C/383To Count Castelcicala (Sicilian minister). A 'confidential letter', probably in answer to Castelcicala's of 23 April, regarding the sale of P&O Steamer Bombay to Sicilian insurgents. H B/xxi/c/96 and H R/II/G/41.

[30?] Apr '49 7 May '49

13 May '49 15 May '49

May/June '49 June '49 5 Jun '49 2

3t?]Jun '49

28[?] Jun '49 2[?]Jul'49 before 18 Jul '49

24[?1 Jul '49 before 28 Aug '49

Ivi

To Thomas Loftus regarding some letters recently received from Ipswich and enclosing one. H 0/111/6/114. To Sir Augustus Clifford asking for a place for MA in the gallery of the House. H B/xxi/c/27o. To Henry Drummond giving his opinion on a second motion of Drummond's to be given notice of next day (Monday). H B/XXI/ D/377To Lord Mandeville inviting him to be one of the party at the Lord Mayor's Protectionist banquet on 23 June. H B/xxi/M/88. To Sir Thomas Foulis on the affairs of BH and a subscription for its support. H B/xxi/F/245. To George Lathom Browne expressing the hope and expectation that the subscriptions needed to support his newspaper would be found. i866ni, H B/xx/A/8, 11, 13. To Baroness Lionel de Rothschild, 'painfully interesting lines' informing her of the death of Lady Blessington. H 0/111/0/1731. To Lord Ponsonby regretting they have not been able to meet and asking to arrange a meeting. H B/xxi/P/326. To Thomas(?) Thompson of Dublin asking for information on conditions in Ireland, specifically figures on population, acres under cultivation, etc. H B/xxi/T/n8. To Augustus Stafford regarding Ireland and the Rates in Aid Bill in the Lords. H B/xxi/s/453To Sir W. Molesworth apologizing for his inability to attend a dinner on 18 July 1849 in support of colonial reform and expressing approval of the principles of good government of the colonies, by obtaining for them a larger control over their own affairs. MP (19 July 1849). To Samuel Phillips with inquiries for his health after a serious illness. H B/xxi/p/243. To James Disraeli, presumably about a loan to o. See 1876^5.

5[?]

Sep '49 2i[?] Sep '49

24[?] Sep '49

To Samuel Phillips with inquiries for his health. H B/xxi/P/244. To William Beresford inviting the Beresfords to visit Hughenden. H 8/111/7. To Alderman(P) Thompson telling of some transactions regarding George Hudson's failure - asking for documents/letters. H B/xxi/ T/120.

Sep '49

io[?] Oct '49

To William J. Evelyn, congratulations on his election for W Surrey on 22 September 1849. Meynell 76. To Ralph Disraeli with an invitation to visit Hughenden. H A/I/ 6/323, H A/I/E/65.

before 17 Oct '49

i9[?] Oct '49 20 Oct '49 20[?] Oct '49

To Paul Foskett asking for information on the reception in Surrey of D'S sinking-fund proposal. H B/ni/28. See igo$n2. To Henry Smith asking for help in getting up support for the 31 October meeting of Bucks Real Property Association. H B/XXI/S/ 285. To J.C. Herries. Cover only but presumably including a copy of D'S printed reply to G.F. Young. BL ADD 1^557409 fi4. See 1902. To Sir Thomas Foulis regarding attending the meeting of Bucks Real Property Association on 'Wednesday next' (ie 31 Oct). H B/ XXI/B/246.

before 29 Oct '49 2 Nov '49

24[?] Nov '49 before 17 Dec '49 i7[?] Dec '49

17[?] Dec '49 3i[?] Dec '49 Dec '49/Jan '50 Jan '50 Jan '50 Jan '50

To Richard Rice Clayton inviting him to attend 31 October meeting at Aylesbury of the Bucks Real Property Association. H B/III/ 47. See igogm. To William Johnston (writer for MP) regarding MP coverage of D'S speeches(P). H B/xxi/j/m. To Samuel Phillips regarding D'S printed letter to G.F. Young (see 1902). H 6/111/64. To Isaac Butt regarding taxation in Ireland. See 1936^4. To Lord Glengall asking for statistics on Import duties in Ireland and on the state of Protectionism there. H B/ni/86. See 193604. To William Beresford about strategy for the coming parliamentary session, and the representation for Dungarvan. H 6/111/87. To Sir Charles Fergusson Forbes regarding Lord Seaham's eye injury. H B/xxi/B/25- See 1952114. To Lord Lyndhurst extending congratulations on the marriage of his daughter Sarah. H B/xxi/L/468. To Lord Henry Bentinck asking for advice/ideas/opinions for the coming session. H B/xxi/B/356. To Samuel Phillips regarding G.F. Young and the effects of his policy on the agricultural interest. H B/xxi/P/246. To the Rev Francis Merewether arguing (among other matters) against the establishment of a formal Church Party in Parliament. H B/XXI/M/322.

early Jan '50 before 9 Jan '50 9 Jan '50 10 Jan '50 before 28 Jan '50 13 Mar '50

To HJ. Baillie, seeking information on local taxation in Scotland. See 1965Am. To Lord Exeter declining his invitation to Burghley. See 1952. To Lord Exeter accepting his invitation to Burghley. See 1952. To R. Torrens praising Torrens's pamphlet on commercial legislation and the current state of the country. H B/xxi/T/i29. To John Blackwood regarding an article on high farming in Scotland. H B/xxi/B/5i6. See I948n2. To Dr Fergusson asking him to call when convenient. Parke-Bernet catalogue 2054 (17 October 1961), AL third person iV2 pp. See 1975 and 1987.

Ivii

27[?] Mar '50 April '50

14[?] Apr '50

19 May '50 31 May '50

Jun[?] '50 [25?]Jun '50 July '50 5 Jul '50 Aug '50

15[?] Aug '50 before 9 Sep '50 before 15 Sep '50 before 23 Sep '50 Oct '50

before 3 Oct '50

6/14 Oct '50 before 19 Oct '50 Nov '50 Nov '50 Nov '50

before 9 Nov '50 before 13 Nov '50 [before 15 Nov '50] before 16 Nov '50

Iviii

To William Beresford stating his determination that the party should oppose Lord John Russell. H B/xx/Bd/26, H B/xx/s/i4. See i983ni. To Dudley Perceval, probably a note of thanks for forwarding a pamphlet by Sir Alexander Lombard. H B/xxi/p/2O9. To Peter Borthwick in reply to Borthwick's letter of 13 April; D promises to speak in the House about the stamp duty on newspapers. See Reginald Lucas Lord Glenesk and the 'Morning Post' (1910) 65. H B/XX/A/95To R. Torrens asking his opinion of an article in The Economist against D'S commercial policy. H B/xxi/T/i3i. To MA praising Edward Stanley's speech (MA passed it on to Lord and Lady Stanley). H 0/111/0/2565. To Thomas Loftus regarding a power of attorney for 3V4 percent shares owned by MA and W.P. Lewis. H 0/11/6/117. To Joseph Lovegrove asking for deeds etc relating to the Gloucester and Bath houses (formerly property of Wyndham Lewis). H D/ n/B/354. To Sir John Guest asking for a statement of the account in Guest's books against the estate of Mrs Yate. H A/v/G/yo. To Sir A. Alison. 1ALS 4pp Gros Gate 5 July 1850'. Francis Edwards Catalogue 451 October 1923) item 99. To Lord Carrington. Condolences on the death of Mr Neale. H B/xxi/c/58. To Thomas Loftus on Rachel Edmunds's claim against MA. H o/ 11/6/119. To Lord Henry Bentinck regarding LGB. H B/xxi/B/36o. See 2033n3. To Baron Lionel de Rothschild. A letter of sympathy on the death of his mother, Mme Hannah de Rothschild. H B/xxi/R/2i3. See 2O5in7. To Henry Colburn proposing Colburn publish LGB. H E/vn/D/38. See 2O33n3. To George W.M. Reynolds protesting some remarks of Reynolds in his newspaper about D and a poem (Revolutionary Epick?). H B/ xx/A/145. To Sir John Guest regarding accounts of Wyndham Lewis's estate. H 0/11/3/195. See 2034n4. To R.A. Christopher advising him not to leave parliament; asking for reminiscences and letters for LGB. H B/xxi/H/8i. See 205On2. To E.H. Stanley in Paris. H B/xx/s/537. See 25in2. To Samuel Phillips inquiring for his health. H B/xxi/p/249. To Sir Edward Kerrison regarding papal aggression. H B/XXI/K/ 127To William Johnston (former writer for MP) probably inquiring about MP and political views. H B/xxi/j/ii2. To Lord Henry Bentinck (the Duke of Portland?) regarding material for LGB. H B/xxi/B/36o. See 2O33n3. To E.H. Stanley regarding the colonies question. H B/xx/S/538. See 2o64n5_ To Col Fancourt, British Honduras. H 0/111/0/742. To B.W. (?) Bellamy an 'enquiry' regarding a letter by Lord Clarendon on Ireland. H B/xxi/B/307- See 2063^.

Dec '50

To Lord Malmesbury, arranging a meeting. H B/XX/Hs/5, 6. See 206404. To Sir Robert Inglis making an appointment for the following week to discuss political strategy. H B/XXI/I/II. To Lewis Buck (MP for Devon) with congratulations on a recent meeting in Devon. H B/xxi/B/iin. To George Bankes asking about letters to be used in LGB. H B/

Dec '50

To Sir Edward Sugden with compliments on his recent speech. H

Dec '50

To Sir W. Miles regarding party strategy for the coming session.

i Dec '50

To Lord Lonsdale arranging a meeting to discuss political strategy.

17-21 Noy '50 24[?] Nov '50 Dec '50

xxi/B/38.

B/XXI/S/8. H B/XXI/M/368. H B/XXI/L/267-

mid-Dec '50 before 28 Dec '50 before 29 Dec '50 Jan '51

before 31 Dec '50 Jan '51

before 8 Jan '51 i4(?) Jan '51 [23 Jan '51] Feb '51

[Feb '51?] 3 Feb '51 1/13 Feb '51

before 21 Mar '51 23/28 Apr '51 May '51

To Lord Exmouth, who answered on Thursday 19 (Dec 1850), apparently asking Exmouth for intelligence about possible reunion of the two Conservative parties. H B/xxi/E/336. To Lord Hardwicke asking his opinion on recent events. H B/XXI/ H/i8i. See 2o82n7. To Lord March asking him to second the motion on agricultural relief D would make on 11 February. H B/XX/Le/2. See 2o82nn. To Sir George Sinclair. A 'kind' letter, mentioning the talents of Edward Stanley. H B/xxi/s/224. To E.H. Stanley, presumably regarding, among other matters, ecclesiastical titles. H B/xx/s/539. See 2o86n2. To Sidney L. Blanchard regarding the second report of the Poor Law Board (1850). H B/xxi/B/542. To E.H. Stanley regarding a party organ. H B/xx/s/540. See 2o86n2. To Lord Londonderry replying to his invitation to Lady Londonderry's birthday celebration on 17 January. H B/xx/v/52. See 2090111. To Lady Stanley. See 2092. To 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, sending him the wording of a motion for his approval. H B/xxi/B/n6i. To B. Bremidge(P) about finding a young clergyman who is looking for preferment and can pay an advance. H B/xxi/B/921. See 2iooni. To Philip Rose 'about Mr Stanley'. See 2O96&n2. To Bulwer-Lytton inquiring the name of a secretary recommended by Lytton. H B/xx/Ly/52. To Lord Londonderry. H B/xx/v/63. See 2ii3ni. To Lord John Russell regarding Baillie's Ceylon motion. H B/XXI/ R/29O. See 2124m. To Charles Neate extending an invitation to dinner on 21 May. H B/XXI/N/32.

12 May '51 21/22 May '51

28[?] May '51 before 6 June '51 before 18 June '51

To Benjamin Lumley. Cover in MOPSIK [101]. To Samuel Phillips making an appointment to see Phillips and Napier. H B/xxi/p/255. To the Duke of Northumberland extending an invitation to dine and to meet Thiers. H B/xxi/N/i73. To Thomas Baring, possibly regarding D'S financial problems. H B/xxi/B/44. See 2i43nni&2. To William Beresford. See 2i^A.8cn^.

lix

before 20 June '51 Jul '51 Jul '51

To Charles Neate regarding Neate's suggestion that he [Neate] draw up a paper on Church Leases Bill. H B/xxi/N/34, 35. See 2i35ni. To Lord Mandeville extending an invitation. H B/xxi/M/Sg. To Duke of Portland enclosing a copy of speech by Thiers. H B/ XXI/B/311.

4 Aug '51 Sep '51 Sep[?] '51 Oct '51 before 10 Oct '51 14-15 Oct '51 before 3 Nov '51 10 Nov '51 16/17 Nov '51 8 Dec '51 13 Dec '51 21 Dec '51 23]?] Dec '51 28[?] Dec '51 ['51?]

To unknown recipient, regarding LGB. Bernard Halliday Catalogue 167 (1933) item 324: ALS 4pp 8vo. To Mrs Louisa Lawrence regarding cedar trees she has raised from seed given by the Ds to be shipped to Hughenden. H B/xxi/L/gi. To Joseph Lovegrove, Gloucester. Congratulations on Lovegrove's success (in local politics?). H 0/11/8/284. To Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge regretting his inability to attend meeting on 23 October 1851 at Aylesbury (though he did attend). BH (25 Oct 1851). See aiSQni. To W. Lowndes Stone regretting he cannot attend meeting of Olney Agricultural Association. H B/xxi/S/592. To Lady Londonderry expressing concern about her accident. See 2i92&ni. To Lord Granby in answer to Granby's letter of resignation from triumvirate leadership of the Protectionist party. H B/xxi/L/6o. See 2i95n3To Benjamin Lumley, speculating about whether Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven were Jews. Cover in MOPSIK [101]. See zigjm. To Henry Colburn arranging to leave proofs of LGB at Colburn's office. H E/vn/D/46. See 2i97ni. To Lord Stanley in Calcutta. See 2209. To the Duke of Portland enclosing a copy of LGB. H B/xxi/B/312. To Count Buol-Schauenstein, from Grosvenor Gate. Jahrbuck der Auktionspreise 1969, 402. To J.R. McCulloch regarding a statement in The Times about the corn trade. H B/xxi/M/20. To Sir W. Miles regarding D'S position in the Protectionist party and possible retirement. H B/xxi/M/369To Sidney L. Blanchard terminating his employment as secretary. H B/XXI/B/543.

[1849-52?] 2 Oct ['48-'5i?]

lx

To M de Persigny, a letter of introduction for J. Duncan. See i863ni. To S. Phillips arranging an appointment. ABPC (1968) 1112. ip, 8vo.

Metternich in old age from a contemporary photograph

Ixi

Marble bust of Lord George Bentinck by Thomas Campbell (1848)

Ixii

Lord John Russell from a photograph by Mayall

Ixiii

Edward Geoffrey i4th Earl of Derby

Ixiv

BENJAMIN DISRAELI LETTERS: 1848-1851

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TO: LORD GRANBY

Carlton Club [Saturday] 29 January 1848

ORIGINAL: BEA [R2-2]

My dear Lord Granby, The Library at | the Carlton | Jan. 29. 1848 I returned to Grosvenor Gate yesterday evening, a few days earlier than I had intended, in order to catch G[eorge] B[entinck], who, I fancied from a letter just received, was at Harcourt House; but he had fled in the morning to Wimpole.1 Had I seen him, we should have conferred on a subject / on wh: I wish now to write to you, but tho' I would not lose a post, I am scarcely in heart & head eno' to communicate with that fulness I could desire.2 All I will say is, that if, as I earnestly hope, you will comply with his suggestion, you will find in me at least a faithful friend. We entered public life tog[ethe]r,3 & from the first I entertained for you / feelings of respect & regard. Intimacy has, for a long time, ripened these into esteem & affection; & tho', if I were to follow my own bent, my public career shd. no longer be a political one,4 I will say, heartily & witht. reserve, that if you decide upon leading the party, I will devote once more to the cause any ability & energy wh: I may possess. / I have confidence in your position, your talents, your perseverance, your fine temper, & the noble integrity of your soul; & I will say to you, as I have said before to G.B., & wh: I wd. say to no one else, that with such an alliance, administration might have its charms, but even perpetual opposition wd. offer no terrors.5 Ever yours | D. 1 Lord George Bentinck had written to D from Harcourt House on 26 January mentioning that he had heard from Lord Stanley at Belvoir that Lord Granby (older brother of Lord John Manners) would accept the leadership of the Protectionists on the condition of Bentinck's assistance 'in and out of the House of Commons.' Bentinck had asked D to write to Granby to encourage him: 'I did think that probably he would be the only man of the Party whom you might be disposed to unite with me in upholding.' According to a subsequent letter, on 28 January, Bentinck was on the point of leaving for Wimpole, Lord Hardwicke's seat at Arrington, Cambs, and planning to be back in London on Monday evening. H B/xx/Be/49,5o. 2 Isaac D'Israeli had died on 19 January; according to MA'S records, he had died after ten days' illness 'of the Influenza at 7, exactly in the Even'g when the clock was striking.' H ace. 3 Like D, Granby had been first elected in the 1837 general election. 4 Cf IV I453&n5 and 1755. Bentinck would make the same point about D to Stanley in a letter of 9 February 1848; see M&B in 86-7. 5 Granby was to reply on 31 January that, if no one else was willing, he might accept the offer of the leadership, but that he wished first to talk it over with D. H B/xx/Be/125. In fact, according to Manners's entry in his journal on 10 January 1848, Granby had written to Stanley asking if Bentinck could not be persuaded to resume the leadership, and the Duke of Rutland had invited Bentinck and Stanley to Belvoir to discuss the matter. According to The Times of 10 February 1848, Granby assumed the 'unenviable office' of Protectionist leader in the Commons at a meeting at Bankes's house on 9 February. For more on the leadership question, including correspondence, evidence that Bentinck in fact wished D to be his successor, and the general agreement on Granby's lack of even the rudimentary requirements for the job, see Greville vi 2-3, 13, M&B in 8off, Blake 261-3, Gash Peel 633, and Croker in 167. As late as 6 February Bentinck was writing to D as though D were still a candidate, advising him, for example, on potential supporters. H B/xx/Be/5i.

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l620

l621 TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Carlton Club [Saturday] 29 January 1848

ORIGINAL: BEA [111-45]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 143-4, dated 29 January 1848, the first and last paragraphs EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper.

My dear J.M. Carlton | Library | Jan 29/48 I can't let a line, wh: I have written to Ld. Granby, reach Belvoir, witht. also a word to you.1 Your letter poured balm into the bruised spirits of our circle. My only consolation for the death / of my father is his life.2 I have orderd the "Xtian Remembrancer," 8c will look up Lowe, then write to you, 8c shall be obliged by any views with wh: you can favor me.3 At present, I stole / here with the intention of getting up Sugar for the first night, & find that fox, Goulburn, in the library, reading my speech! (of i8^.6)4 1 In his reply to this letter Manners was to tell D that Granby felt 'sincere pleasure' at D'S letter to him but was contemplating the prospect with 'extreme reluctance and dread' and was hoping that Bankes might accept instead. Manners also expressed his own view, that Granby's 'beautiful humility' would make him 'miserable' as leader. H B/xx/M/21. 2 Manners had written a letter of condolence to MA on 26 January: 'To [Isaac D'Israeli's] children it must be a proud consolation to think that while thousands as long as the English language lives, will enjoy, ponder over, and admire his labours and his genius, not one human being can say by him I suffered, or was led to error.' H 0/111/0/1377. 3 Richard Thomas Lowe (1802-1874), a churchman and naturalist, was the English chaplain at Madeira 1832-54. At this time he had become the object of contention because of his attempts to make the low-church practice of the congregation conform more closely to his high-church views. Manners had enclosed a December 1847 pamphlet on the matter (for its author see I745n4); according to it a general meeting (see i622&m below) at Madeira had cut off Lowe's £200 salary in January 1846, but a £300 subscription had then been raised in his support. Another general meeting, in January 1847, had confirmed the decision by a vote of 36-20. In May 1847, yet another general meeting had resolved to appeal to Palmerston to appoint a successor to Lowe. On 15 November 1847, since Palmerston had not by then acted on the matter, it had appointed a successor, but 71 communicants had petitioned the Bishop of London to 'vindicate his Episcopal authority' in support of Lowe. In his letter to D of 19 January Manners had gloated over the difficulties the government was having with the Church: 'this Hampden business [see !Vi6i9n7] ... has altogether alienated ... all the High Churchmen, half the Low Churchmen, half the Erastian Churchmen, and those good easy souls the Establishmentarians ...' He then told D that Palmerston had dismissed Lowe the day before, and referred D to the pamphlet, which expressed the view that 'any Chaplain appointed by the Foreign Secretary ... could not be considered in any other light than as the Chaplain of a Party, an evil which the Act of Parliament (6 Geo. IV. cap. 87) had clearly provided against.' Manners saw this as a great opportunity: '...just at this crisis when the Church is doubting which political party to support, you can by exposing and denouncing a gross act of petty tyranny ... win the Church to you.' In his 26 January letter to MA, Manners had asked her to tell D that, 'in the last number of the Christian Remembrancer, to be seen at the Carlton, is a clever article by Henry Wilberforce upon [the chaplaincy issue].' H B/xx/M/20, 2oa, 0/111/0/1377. Correspondence on the matter was tabled in the House by Palmerston on 29 August 1848 and again in July 1849 (JHC cm (1847-8) 754, 990) and the Catalogue of Parliamentary Papers 1801-1900169 lists Correspondence relating to the British Chaplaincy and other Church Affairs in Madeira as published in 1849, after 24 May. BSP:HL 184.9 vn 185. See further i622&m, 1624^9, i6j6&n3, I74jand I78i&nn6&7. 4 Lord George Bentinck had written to D on 26 January forecasting a 'very spirited debate' on the issue of sugar duties, which he saw as 'the weak point in the defences of Free Trade' despite the fact that Revenue had gained £400,000 and consumers had saved nearly £2.5 million on the price of sugar. He told of fears that Peel intended to 'pirouette again & fly to [the free traders'] rescuef;] if so he would lay himself open to a most terrifick & cruel dissection at your hands ... Pray give your mind a little to this subject and let us be prepared ... to rouse the Country & ridicule Free Traders.' Bentinck was to move for a select committee on the matter on 3 February, the first night

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Ld. G[eorge] is at Wimpole. That kind Ld Hardwicke sent me the life of his great ancestor, & my father was in the / second vol: revelling in the extraordinary interview, or cabinet scene, betn. Ld Hardwicke & George 2nd., when the King cd. not speak — when my father was seized with his attack. It was his last book!5 Ever yours | D. TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

[London, Tuesday] i February [1848] l622

ORIGINAL: BEA [1*1-44] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand (Whibley's?) on the first page of the MS: '1848'. Dating: the year is evident from the context. Sic: a-hurried.

My dear J.M. Feb i. I write you a-hurried line to say, that I have read the article in the "Xtian Remembrancer." What strikes me as / the weak part of the case, in a parliamentary view, is, that the congregation never rallied round Mr. Lowe at the general meetings. They / might have been surprised once, but why were they again? Why is there a tyrant majority?1 I shall be glad to hear from you about this, as I wish, if possible, / to give my notice the first night. In that case, you must reply by return — wh: is rather unfairly pressing you. On second thoughts, I will give my notice at all events,2 & you can take yr. time for yr communic[ati]on. I saw G.B[entinck] for some hours to day: he is wonderfully well, wh: is something. Ever yrs | D. / Is there no one I can talk the case over with in town?3 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London, Tuesday] i February 1848 l62J

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 ffiy-lS

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'Feby. 2. 1848-'.

My dear Sa,

Feb 1/48

of the new session, and D was to speak on the subject on 4 February. H B/xx/Be/49- See i624&n2. For D'S 1846 speech see ivijoo&na. 5 D is referring to the interview on 5 January 1745, in which Philip Yorke (1690-1764), ist Earl of Hardwicke, lord chancellor 1737-56, attempted at some length to reconcile the unwilling George II to the dismissal of Carteret, the King's favourite minister, and to a cordial reception of the new ministers, whom the King disliked. For most of the interview, the King maintained a hostile silence, except to complain that the true power had now passed from King to ministers. George Harris Life of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke (1847) n 106-10. 1 See 1621113 above: the general meetings were carried by small votes, of which, according to the pamphlet, only a handful were those of communicants, while the petition from communicants included 71 names. Manners in his next letter explained that only male subscribers of a certain amount of money were able to vote at the general meeting, 'which in point of fact is a Venetian oligarchy'. H B/xx/M/22. 2 D did not speak on this issue, although there is evidence (for example, a 10 February request for admission to the gallery to hear D speak on the subject) that he was expected to bring the matter before the House. H B/xxi/B/6333 See 162^9.

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I only send this line, tho' very hurried, to say I hope you are well, & as happy as you can be, tho' not as I cd wish. / There is no legacy, or I believe even probate, duty pay[a]ble on the trust money. This makes no difference to you, as / I shd., as I told you, have paid it for you - but you will be glad to hear it for my sake, & for yr brothers. 1 Yrs affly | D. l624 TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 5 February 1848 ORIGINAL: BEA [1*1-46]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 90-1, dated 5 February 1848, the first five paragraphs; Whibley I 285-6, dated February 1848, the fourth and fifth paragraphs

My dear J.M. Gror Gate | Feb 5 1848 The W. India debate terminated last night at two o'ck in the morning, & was witht. exception the best supported debate by our friends that has occurred since we were a party. Indeed it was one of unbroken interest, & / scarcely flagged on either side for a moment, except of course when old Bernal1 discoursed upon whom both parties dined. G.B[entinck] made his exposition in a speech of 3& three hours & V2 wh: never for an instant flagged. His voice capital, strong / & clear witht. effort, wh: he ascribes to quinine wh: has entirely cured him - no pumping, & action in consequence greatly modified & subdued. By far his gre most successful effort. 2 After him the Chancr of the Exchequer.3 Then next / night Wilson,4 1 A series of trusts had been established for Isaac's and Maria's marriage settlement by Nathan Basevi and Benjamin D'Israeli (D'S grandfather). The trusts, three sums totalling £11,666.13.4 invested at 3 per cent in Consolidated Bank Annuities (thus generating £350 per annum), were at this time being administered by George Basevi Sr, BEL, Nathaniel Basevi, and Charles Trevor (a comptroller of legacy duties). Isaac's will, to be granted probate on 24 July 1848, gave D 5 per cent of the trusts, with Sarah receiving two-thirds of the remainder, Ralph and James each receiving a sixth. Sarah also got a third of the proceeds of the liquidation of Isaac's stocks in public companies, Ralph and James each a sixth, and D the remaining third. (See further ijogScnq.) After some other minor bequests, the residue, out of which all debts and costs were to be paid, was left to D. According to an Inland Revenue Residuary Account dated 22 July 1852, it amounted to £10,803.16.1; £225 was the amount of the probate duty (£335, of which £110 was returned). The form states that the rate of death duties for children of the deceased was i per cent. On 3 February Trevor would write to D asking if he could find the 'Settlement on which the appointment of the new Trustees was written'; he explained that he wanted the document, sent to Isaac in June 1839, as 'the release of the children' would be less expensive if endorsed on it, rather than by a separate deed. H G/v/i,2,2a, A/i/F/i6, 0/1/975. See further 1672, 1676 and 1709. 1 Ralph Bernal (£1785-1854), Whig MP for Lincoln City 1818-20, Rochester 1820-41, 1847-52, Weymouth 1842-7, a renowned art collector (made possible by inheritance of a large West India property when he was young). 2 In LGB ch 5 D describes Bentinck's speaking problems in the House (weak voice, general exhaustion from fasting, over-excitement and unnecessary energy in his manner): 'He was wont to say, that before he could speak he had to make a voice, and, as it were, to pump it from the very core of his frame.' D himself was presumably the 'one who took a great interest in his success [and] once impressed on him the expediency of trusting entirely to his natural voice, and the interest and gravity of his matter ...' See further n53 Sir Charles Wood (1800-1885), 3rd Baronet, after 1866 ist Viscount Halifax of Mount Bretton, was Liberal MP for Great Grimsby 1826-31, Wareham 1831, Halifax 1832-65, Ripon 1865-6, secretary of the treasury 1832-4, secretary to the admiralty 1835-9, chancellor of the exchequer 1846-52,

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who is a great accession to the house, & delivered one of his best essays. He was followed by Tom Baring from our [illegible deletion] red box, sitting betn. GB & myself, with a vigor, an earnestness, & a freshness, wh: were quite / captivating, & wh: wonderfully took. Later in the evening your humble servant spoke not to the dissatisfaction of the house; & after Lab[ouchere] & Goulburn, G.B., at 1/2 past one, made an effective reply.5 I have not seen Granby, / if he be in town, but I had a convers[ati]on with Miles on the coup d'apoplexie of the party, & spoke witht reserve of my own views & feelings thereon. It is a curious thing that the three men who supported this sugar debate for the Country party, / GB. Tom Baring & myself, all voted for the Jews!6 There is a new note by Beresford; a lithograph circular, in which the name of Protectionist party disappears & is succeeded not by the "Country" but by the "Conservative" party[.] Miles is indignant, having / declared at our first meeting in 1846 that the epithet "Conservative" had become a byeword of reproach.7 G.B. has written to Stanley acknowledging the receipt of this invit[ati]on to his house, but thank informing him Ld S. that he, GB. does not belong to / the "Conservative" party, adding that he wonders anyone has "the audacity to do so", after it had been justly denounced by Disraeli as an "organised hypocrisy'^.]8 He showed me this last night. president of the board of control 1852-5, first lord of the admiralty 1855-8, secretary for India 1859-66, lord privy seal 1870-4. 4James Wilson (1805-1860), noted political economist, Whig MP for Westbury 1847-56, Devonport 1857-9, joint secretary to the board of control 1848-52, financial secretary to the treasury 1853-8 vice-president of the board of trade, paymaster-general and PC 1859; founder of The Economist 1843. 5 See D'S fuller account of the debate and its implications in LGB chs 25 and 26. Lord George Bentinck on 3 February had moved for a select committee on the Sugar interests in the West Indies and Mauritius. In his long speech he had presented the case in support of the plantation owners who, he contended, had been devastated by the double blow of the abolition of slavery and the loss of protection against slave-grown sugar from non-British colonies. D, the next night, in a speech full of his usual sallies against the 'Manchester school' ('the quackeries of economic science'), had then argued that the new commercial system had failed, and that the combination of free trade and the abolition of slavery in the British sugar colonies amounted to a form of protectionism for the slavegrown sugar from the Spanish colonies. He further predicted the collapse of the sugar industry in the British colonies, to be followed by large increases in the price of sugar from what would then be a Spanish monopoly. The debate, with a few minor additional speeches, proceeded as D describes, after which Bentinck's motion was agreed to without a division, as it had received support from both sides of the House. Hansard XCVI cols 7-79, 84-168 (D'S speech 119-39). 6 That is, supported the motion for removal of Jewish disabilities in the division on 17 December 1847. Hansard xcv cols 1397-1400. See iv i6o7n5 and i6i7n2. The four Protectionists who voted for the bill on that occasion were Bentinck, D, Baring and Milnes Gaskell. See Stewart Protection 122. 7 Presumably D is referring to the first meeting, on 21 April 1846, of the committee (of which he was a member) to determine Protectionist strategy in the House, and not to the meeting on 31 March 1846 at which the committee was established. Stewart Protection 64; (see also ibid 86 on the 1846 scheme to name the party the 'New Conservatives'). It was with Stanley's permission that Beresford had put back the name 'Conservative' in the party circulars. Ibid i32&nni&2. See also M&B in 91-2. 8 D said this of the Conservative government, not party, in his speech of 17 March 1845. Hansard LXXVIII cols 1022-8; see IV introduction p xxvi&n87 and Stewart Protection 132.

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I have seen Vaux & conferred on the Madeira Case.9 Nota bene / that a penny stamp carries two sheets of note paper (I don't mean this thin pen a line stuff). I mention this as, from apprehension of mulcting me, I observe you (& Gy.) always tear off the half of your second sheet, by / wh: I sometimes lose perhaps in your case some good stuff. I wish you cd. tell me that you were progressing.10 Ever yrs | D. l625 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[Carlton Club, Saturday 5 February 1848]

ORIGINAL: PS 472 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 212-13, dated 18 February 1848 at the Carlton; W.V. Daniell's Catalogue 1906: '7 pp. (Feb. 1848)' and brief description EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: cf 16248015 above and see nm&2.

I made a very successful speech1 last night; one of my best, though not well reported in the 'Times.' After the first two columns and a half, it is for nearly a column really nonsense - a new hand. In the 'Chronicle' all this, however, is accurate enough, and so between them the thing may be made out.2 I never knew a better sustained debate. Lord George very vigorous and masterly 9 See i62i&n3. Manners had suggested that D contact W.S. Vaux, describing him as a lawyer, of Clifton Chambers, Lincoln's Inn, and the secretary of the committee (of which Manners was a member) to reinstate Lowe. LPOD (1850) lists a Wm. S.W. Vaux at 13 Gate St, Lincoln's Inn. Despite Manners's identification of him as a lawyer, the person must be William Sandys Wright Vaux (18181885), at this time in the department of antiquities at the British Museum and later a renowned antiquary. Vaux was connected with the early development of the Oxford movement, and his rooms were often used for meetings on such matters as foreign chaplaincies. 10 Neither Manners's letters nor his journals at this time mention his health; see iv i6i7&ni and i6i9&ni. LJMJ (10 Jan 1848). D may in fact have been referring to Manners's search for a seat. 1 RD dates the letter 18 February and annotates this as a reference to D's speech of 18 February; it is possible that the text he gives and which we have reproduced is a conflation of two letters. On 18 February 1848 Lord John Russell would introduce his budget proposing to renew and almost double the income tax, using the possibility of war as one of his main reasons for doing so. In his speech in the ensuing debate, D would argue that the deficit cited as justification for the tax demonstrated the failure of fiscal policy since 1841, and of free trade: 'We no longer float in an atmosphere of theory; but we have the test of truth to guide us ... the experience of seven years'. He also would scoff at the notion that the tax would be a temporary two-year measure. He would offer a more sanguine view of the prospects for peace in Europe, but not based on commercial factors. In concluding he would assert that the commercial policy of the government would undermine the empire and endanger the independence of the nation. Hansard xcvi cols 900-81 (D' speech 946-60). See M&B ill 93-5. On 20 February Baroness Lionel de Rothschild was to write to MA about D'S 'glorious success. Ld. Palmerston told me he had never heard a more magnificent speech.' H 0/111^/1723. 2 The problem of dating the first part of this letter, given the possibility that it has been taken from a different letter than the second half (see ni), is complicated by the fact that the reporting anomalies D describes occur on both 5 and 19 February, although the earlier occasion seems better to fit D'S account. On 5 February the report in The Times omitted part of D's quotation from Hawes's earlier speech (cf Hansard xcvi col 130) and then badly garbled the part in which he castigated the government for always reverting to abstract slogans about competition, energy and enterprise whenever confronted with concrete evidence of hardship (c/col 131); the MC report has the whole of the quotation, and its version of the abstract slogans passage is closer in sense to the version that appears in Hansard. Curiously, the reports in The Times and MC agree on several passages that do not appear in Hansard. For the resumption of the debate and D'S next speeches on the subject see 1632111 and i6$6ni. For a detailed account of the procedure for rotating reporters used by The Times see [Stanley Morison] The History of 'The Times' (New York 1939) II 449.

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Wilson very good, and Tom Baring a masterpiece. On the whole, this is by far the most sustained debate which has occurred since the formation of our party, 3 and, singular enough, the three speakers who did it all are the three members of the party who voted for the Jews! I don't know what they will do without us! Yours, | D. TO: [MESSRS MAYHEW, SON & REYNOLDS]

Grosvenor Gate 1626

[Thursday 10] February 1848 ORIGINAL: H A/v/c/2i9

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is a copy in D'S hand of a letter that was in fact sent on 10 February; see nni&2.

Gent1 Grosr Gate | Feby. 9. 1848 In reply to yr. Ire, I beg to state that Mr Rogers in 1845 by a written contract in my possession, undertook to perform certain work wh: he has left unfinished. Unfortunately at his earnest request, I advanced him the greater part of the money he was ultimately to receive & have therefore had slight means to compel him to the fulfilment of his agreement tho' / I have repeatedly urged & he has frequently promised to do so. I wd. take the liberty of recommending you to enquire narrowly into the facts of this case before you issue process, but if you wish to do so, my Solrs Messrs Holme Loftus & Young will accept it on my / behalf[.]2 I am &c | D. TO: PHILIP ROSE

House of Commons, Thursday 10 February [1848] l62J

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/ig

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the last page of the MS: Teb 1848 B D'Israeli'. Dating: by the reference to the committee; see ni. 3 This suggests that D thought of the Protectionists as a new party (as also evidently did Bentinck), whereas historically it was an evolutionary stage in the history of the Conservative party, which Peel and the Peelites abandoned. Cf IV i$6om and I5jon2. 1 'Mayhew Son & Reynolds' in a letter also dated 9 February 1848, from 26 Carey Street, had informed D that they were instructed by Mr W.G. Rogers to collect a debt of £21 plus costs, and, that if the debt was not paid by 'tomorrow' proceedings would be instituted against him. MA has docketed the letter '1848 - Feb 9th Messrs Reynolds about Rogers - Carving'. H A/v/G/218. Joshua Dorset Joseph Mayhew and Alfred Mayhew, of the firm Mayhew & Son, 26 Carey Street, Lincoln's Inn, are listed as attorneys in Law List (1845). In the directories available to them the editors have not found the firm associated with any person named Reynolds, of whom several are independently listed; presumably the association was short-lived. LPOD (1850) lists a William Gibbs Rogers at 10 Carlisle Street, Soho, in its Trades Directory under 'Carvers & Gilders'. 2 'Mayhew Son & Reynolds' would reply to D'S letter 'of the loth, [sic]' on 17 February 1848, explaining that the £20 D had paid Rogers on account still left a balance of £21 owing for work that had been completed, of which £5 was for work in addition to that which had been originally contracted; they stated that if this sum was not paid within a week they would consider it to be D'S intention to dispute the claim and proceed accordingly. On 19 February they would write to MA to say they had arranged for Rogers to see her about her complaints about his work and to explain the extra work he had done. H A/v/G/220,22i. On 21 March MA in her account book would record a payment to 'Rogers Carver' of £21, 'an overcharge of 5£'. For the work at Grosvenor Gate which had been begun by this time see 1751^.

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My dear Rose, H of Comm: | Thursday, Feb 10 I will take the chance of seeing you tomorrow on the breaking up of / the Commercial Distress Commfittjeef.] 1 Yours faithfully | D.

1628 TO: LORD CHANDOS

Grosvenor Gate, Saturday 12 February [1848]

ORIGINAL: HUNT STG Box 119 (273) EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'B Disraeli to Ld C. Feb 12/48'. Written on black-edged paper. At the start of the third page 'I am' has been changed to 'It is', T being changed to 'It' by the addition of 't', but the T serving as catchword on the previous page has not been so altered. On the last page, the numeral '6' has been inserted, apparently to clarify the almost illegible 'six'. Dating: the endorsed year is confirmed by comparison with 1630. Dear Lord Chandos, Grosr. Gate | Saturday Feb. 12 I am quite unaware of the circumstances to wh: your letter 1 refers - but if my interference cd. / possibly assist you in the slightest degree, I shd. be much gratified, tho' experience has not encouraged me to believe, in so happy a result. I / It am is not in my power to meet Mr. Brougham 2 tomorrow (Sunday) at two o'ck, being hampered with engagements tomorrow all day; but I will call upon you, / in Pall Mall, 3 at 6, six o'ck, sheb unless I hear this appointment is inconvenient to you. Yours flly | D. 1629 TO: PHILIP ROSE [London] Saturday [12 February 1848] ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/22 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 89, undated extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the third page of the MS: 'B. Disraeli Esq. April 1848.' Dating: by Granby's refusal of the leadership; see n2. My dear Rose, Saturday eveg I am very much obliged by all the trouble you have taken, but the affair is not of any importance / - & matters, at any rate, can remain as they are until you return.

1 The committee to inquire into the causes of the 1847 financial crisis (see IV idopni), after som wrangling, had been nominated on 15 December 1847, with a final total of 26 members ('a most unusual number'), D'S name being one of the last put forward. The meetings were held in secret and the first report was made by Sir Francis Baring on 8 June 1848, with the second on 2 August 1848. On 23 August 1848, the motion of J.C. Herries for the House to consider the reports early in the next session was negatived. JHC CHI (1847-8) 120-1, 607, 844, 963. Hansard Cl cols 388-96, 432. 1 This letter has not been found. For the background of D'S involvement in Chandos's affairs of this time see iv I579&ni and I58o&m. 2 Presumably William Brougham (1795-1886), a master in chancery 1831-52, who in 1868 woul succeed his brother as 2nd Baron Brougham and Vaux. Lord Chandos in 1847 had received advice from him to reject the appeal of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (Chandos's father) for help in raising more money to service the Duke's huge debt. Spring Fall 173. 3 The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos owned 91 Pall Mall, known in his family as Buckingham House. By March 1848 it would be sold. (Information provided by Professor John Beckett, Uni versity of Nottingham).

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I have been with Mr Hume this / morning, but he seems too well satisfied with the present arrangement. 1 Yrs flly | D. T.O./ private Lord Granby has declined the proffered command, & recommended his friends to consult Ld G.B[entinck] & Mr D!2 TO: LORD CHANDOS

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 16 February 1848 l6^0

ORIGINAL: HUNT STG Box 119 (27!)) EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'B. Disraeli to Ld. C. Feb 16/48'. Written on black-edged paper.

Dear Lord Chandos, Grosvenor Gate | Feb. 16. 1848 I regret much, that I lost the opportunity of meeting Mr Brougham, & Mr Steward, 1 at Pall Mall on Sunday. My opinion, however, on the main question of / your conference is the same as that subsequently expressed in their letters. I think it, for every consideration, desirable, that an arrangement should be made, if possible, with the outstanding claimants; / but of that possibility you alone can be the judge, & it would be the height of presumption in me to obtrude my views on that head. The delay, that has occurred in the trial, will permit you to consider the case in every light, & if an / alteration of circumstances should enable you to fulfil what we all of us agree in deeming desirable, I feel persuaded, that no one would be more gratified & relieved, than yourself.2 Believe me, dear Ld Chandos, | Very faithfully yours | B Disraeli TO: RICHARD BENTLEY ORIGINAL: LC Ac. 8033

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 23 February 1848 163!

[l6]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. 1 See iv I495&n2,1528 and 1597. 2 Lord Malmesbury in his journal entry for 13 February 1848 (Malmesbury I 207) recorded: 'Lord Granby has refused the leadership, and the whole Protectionist party is in confusion.' 1 'Mr Steward' is probably the result of D's misreading of Lord Chandos's reference to the estate steward. See na. 2 No correspondence from Lord Chandos of this year has been found, but the matter at issue is evidently the case 'ex parte the Marquis of Chandos in the matter of Tyndal,' heard in the Court of Common Pleas on 18 January 1848, when the Court had ruled that Thomas Tindal (steward to the ist Duke of Buckingham and Chandos and one of the three stewards appointed in 1836 under the terms of a trust deed of 1833 to run his estates) must hand over to Chandos the rolls and muniments of certain Chandos properties, but had expressed doubt whether Chandos had the power to dismiss a steward. The case presumably concerned Chandos's position with respect to the 1833 trusteeship, which put the trustees in charge of the family estates but not the Chandos estates. Chandos's letters to others are silent on the matter. (Information provided by Professor John Beckett, University of Nottingham). Interestingly, the case was not reported by The Times. On 11 May 1848, the Court of Common Pleas would overturn the earlier rule, saying that Tindal was the steward and that the legal estate in the properties was not vested in Chandos. MP (19 Jan, 12 May 1848). These matters may have been connected with a mysterious case that would appear very briefly exactly a year later, when Chandos would ask D and many other friends to be in attendance on 14 February 1849 at his trial on a charge of perjury arising from his financial dealings; he would be acquitted. H B/XXl/B/ii94; The Times (19 May 1848, 15 Feb 1849).

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R. Bentley Esqr Grosvr Gate | Feb. 23. 1848 My dear Sir, I return you, with many thanks, the proof. I have only ventured to make one or two very brief alterations, in the article; wh:, like everything - that / falls from the pen of our friend Dr Taylor, is ingenious & full of thought. 1 Yours very faithfully | D. 1632 TO: LORD CARRINGTON ORIGINAL: CARR [5]

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 28 February 1848

The | Lord Carington Grosvenor Gate | Feb. 28 1848 My dear Lord, I have taken the great liberty of delaying a reply to your obliging note, with the hope that I might contrive to avail myself of its agreeable invitation, but / the pressure of affairs renders it impossible for me to leave town in this age of revolutions, & I must, therefore, forego the honor of meeting her Majesty's judges beneath your hospitable / roof.1 Pray, believe me, | my dear Lord, | Always sincerely yours | B Disraeli 1633 T0: SIR GEORGE SINCLAIR [London, Tuesday 29 February 1848] ORIGINAL: SRO [11] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Meynell n 385, undated EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context, and by Hume's speech; see nni-3.

My dear Sir George, Thanks, many, for your excellent hints of this morning. 1 Every day, for these two months I have been wishing to find a moment of repose to write to you 1 William Cooke Taylor's article 'The late Isaac D'Israeli, Esq., and the Genius of Judaism' was to be published as the first article in the March issue of Bentley's Miscellany (xxm 219-25). Bentley had written to D on 5 February to ask if there was a portrait of Isaac he could use, and if D would look over a proof of the memoir itself. H E/vn/F/g. D's alterations may have arrived too late to be used, as a main theme of the article is that both Isaac and D had their respective characters and careers 'moulded' by 'a reverence amounting to enthusiasm for the theocracy of Judah and the oligarchy of Venice.' CfConingsby bk vch 2. In a March letter Sarah remarked on the article: 'how he theorises - but it is very curious & interesting. Did Bentley ask permission to publish the accompanying engraving?' H D/m/A/i85. For the portrait reproduced with the article see I302&m and illustration opposite. A slightly condensed version of the article, titled 'Memoir of the Late Isaac D'Israeli' and with the described theme considerably modified, would appear as a preface in some of the later editions of Curiosities. See also I935&m. 1 The Bucks Lent Assizes were to be held at Aylesbury beginning 6 March before Sir Frederick Pollock and Sir Thomas Coltman (1781-1849), KC 1830, Kn 1837, a justice of Common Pleas. BH (26 Feb 1848; 14 July 1849). Lord Carrington's invitation for D to meet the judges has not been found. With the leadership turmoil, the revolution in France and other matters, D had reason to plead 'the pressure of affairs'. On this night he was to speak in the debate on ways and means, ridiculing the speech of the chancellor of the exchequer regarding the announced income tax. D claimed this was a war-tax to raise an extra £2.5 million, when, as he pointed out, it had been confidently forecast that the free-trade measures would alone produce an extra £100 million a year. He was also to pay a tribute to the recently abdicated Louis Philippe: 'Whatever his errors to his people may have been, he was a great prince, a great gentleman - [a laugh] - a great man.' Hansard xcvi cols 1392-1450 (D'S speech 1431-9). 1 Sir George Sinclair had written to D from Thurso Castle on 23 February 1848, congratulating him

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but I have been entirely engrossed with affairs, public & private - & now, after all, / I write to you in the midst of a revolution. The catastrophe of Paris is so vast, so sudden, so inexplicable, so astounding, that I have not yet recovered from the intelligence of yesterday afternoon. 2 It must have an effect on this country, & on all Europe, prepared / to explode. Here, the tone of men is changed in an instant, & our friend, Joseph Hume, made a speech, last night, under all the inspiration of the Jacobinical triumph - quite himself again!3 As for votes of non-confidence, had one been proposed when you / suggested it, I calculate that the Government might have had 200 majority - all the Peelites4 & trimmers being then prepared to support them. Affairs are now somewhat changed, & it is on the cards, that a few days may produce some results. I am heartily glad, I denounced the Jacobin movement of Manchester before this last French revolution. I am obliged / & gratified by all yr letters, & enclose some documents as you wished.5 Yours ever | D. TO: SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON

Grosvenor Gate, 1634 Sunday 5 March 1848

ORIGINAL: HCR D/EK C5[3] My dear Bulwer, Grosvenor Gate Sunday | Mar: 5-th. 1848 I am very much afraid, that I shall not be able to attend Berkeleys Committee tomorrow, to wh: day it has been adjourned; but I have spoken to several of / my friends, begging them to attend. I should say, however, that, tho' the general sympathy of the House has gone hitherto with Grantley, there is a marked disposition, since the stiff successful / defence of his seat against Ld on his speeches on West India and on the budget. He had suggested that, if parliament sanctioned the income tax, D propose that landed proprietors and farmers be placed 'on a fair footing with the manufacturers' by being taxed on actual profits rather than on nominal rents. He also suggested that the country party, 'of which you are de facto if not de jure the leader,' should oppose exempting Ireland from the income tax because of all the wealthy English landowners with Irish properties who would thus benefit unfairly. Sinclair's next suggestion was that D propose a 10 to 15 per cent cut in the salaries of 'all public functionaries, including the royal family, when all other classes are suffering such diminutions ...' Finally he asked, 'Is there no prospect of getting rid of the incubus of such a govt. by a vote of no confidence?' H B/xxi/s/2ii. 2 An insurrection in Paris on 23 February had led to the abdication of Louis Philippe and the establishment of a Republic under a provisional government on 24 February. Late editions of the London papers on 28 February had carried reports that France had declared war on Austria, and spoke of rumours of unrest in other continental countries. The Times (22-9 Feb 1848). On the 1848 revolution in France see further Langer, Roger Price The French Second Republic: A Social History (Ithaca, NY 1972), and Georges Duveau (trans Anne Carter) 184.8: The Making cfa Revolution (New York 1967 repr Cambridge, Mass 1984). For an excellent summary of the events of 1848 from a Disraelian perspective see the leader in The Times of i January 1849. 3 On 28 February Joseph Hume had asked Lord John Russell in the House whether his government would abstain from interference in French affairs, saying '... the people should be left to choose for themselves, and settle what Government they pleased ...' Hansard xcvi col 1389. 4 For the number of 'Peelites' (approximately 48) - ie, the free-trade Conservatives who normally followed Peel in supporting the government - see Conacher Peelites 109-10 and appendix A. 5 The documents are presumably those which Sinclair had enclosed in his letter of 15 December 1847, a pamphlet by W. Cargill entitled The Currency and a letter addressed by Cargill to D, both of which Sinclair asked D to return 'when perfectly convenient.' H B/xxi/S/207a,2o8.

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Fitzhardinge, not to encourage any further demonstration of the feudal passions of the brothers. However, if for no other reason but that you request it, you / may be sure, that I will lose no occasion to serve Berkeley; for whom, also, like yourself, I feel some interest.1 The loss of my father had all the shock of sudden death - he was apparently in even robust health. His / remarkable vivacity, & facility of enjoyment, had not, in the least, palled. You were frequently, the subject of his conversation, for he greatly regarded you, & had a profound appreciation of your mind / & your achievements. One of your earliest works was read to him only about six weeks before he quitted us. I had hoped, that he might have been spared to me for a few years, but his tranquil / career was, on the whole, a satisfactory one, & I can recall his memory witht. a pang.2 My wife begs me to send you her kindest recollections & regards. May we soon / meet! Henry ought to get his red ribbon in the midst of these convulsions, if red ribbons will soon be worth having. 3 Ever, my dear Bulwer | Most sincerely yours | D. 1635 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London, Tuesday] 7 March 1848

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/402; PS 367 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Maggs Catalogue No 360 (Autumn 1917) item 1498 'A.L.S. "D." to [Sarah]. 4 pp., 8vo. (7th March, 1848)'; LBCS 213, dated 8 March 1848, the first four sentences of the Maggs extract, with an additional phrase in the first sentence where the Maggs version has no ellipsis, followed by the first two sentences of H A/I/B/402; M&B III 174, dated 8 March 1848, the first two sentences of the LBCS version EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is an amalgam of the three sources as indicated. The italicized material has been printed in boldface in the Maggs Catalogue, which in its extract has also supplied comments in square brackets, here omitted. Since LBCS is the only link between the Maggs extract and the H fragment, it is possible this amalgam represents more than one letter. Sic: Ma; G.S.

[Maggs:] ... What will happen [LfiCS:] in these times of unprecedented horrors! [Maggs:] I know not whether I am standing on my head or my heels. There is 1 According to a petition presented in the House by Thomas Wakley on 14 December 1847, William FitzHardinge Berkeley (1788-1857), ist Earl FitzHardinge, eldest son of 5th Earl of Berkeley, had done everything in his power (buying votes and offering bribes) to prevent his younger brother Grantley Berkeley (a Protectionist) from being elected for Gloucestershire West, and to get their cousin Grenville Berkeley (a Liberal) elected instead. Although in the 3 August 1847 election Protectionists had won both seats in the riding, the matter had been referred to the Committee on Privileges on 17 December. MP (15 Dec 1847); Hansard xcvcols 1067-83, 1353-4. Bulwer Lytton had written to Don 'Thursday' to tell him of the petition against Lord Fitzhardinge's 'interference' and to ask him to attend the committee's meetings. He also explained that Grantley Berkeley was an old friend: 'as with all his intemperance in family broils, I think he has been a man much injured and persecuted ... I feel in him much personal interest - But this certainly I ask no one to share.' H B/xx/Ly/42. At the committee's first meeting, on Monday 6 March, the petition was rejected. MP (13 March 1848). That evening Grantley Berkeley 'gave notice of a resolution to rescind all standing orders with regard to privilege as vague, impracticable, and useless. (A laugh.)' MP (7 Mar 1848). See also Gash Politics 211-13. 2 Bulwer Lytton had concluded his letter by offering D his condolences on the death of his father: 'I regarded & admired him much ... He had at least the happiness to enjoy the ... fame of his son - & the more than fulfillment of all the promise that flashed forth in the energy, courage & genius of youth.' 3 Henry Bulwer since 1843 had been ambassador to Spain. He was to be gazetted KCB on 27 April 1848 (GCB in 1851). See further i652&m.

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a proclamation to-day against Meetings in Trafalgar Square,^ etc. I don't much fear all this - but I can't but believe that a national bankruptcy in France is inevitable'2' and what then? I shall see Tita to-day, alone, as Ma is out, and I am going to pass a quiet evg. of work at G.S., and will speak to him.3 [H A/i/B/402:] Amid all this confusion - there is going to be another ecclesiastical emeute. On Thursday, I think, the Archbishop of Canterbury is going / to be tried for heresy again at Bow Church.4 1 On Monday 6 March 1848 there had been an advertised meeting in Trafalgar Square to protest the reimposition of the income tax. Notices pointing out that such assemblies within a mile of Westminster Hall were illegal while parliament was in session were posted after a large crowd had already assembled. Several Chartist orators seized the opportunity and addressed the crowd, before the police turned out in sufficient force (eventually 1,000) to disperse the crowd and a riot ensued. Monckton Milnes on 7 March was to raise the matter in the House, asking whether the police had not in effect caused the riot, as the apparently lawful meeting had been peaceful until their intervention. Sir George Grey responded by pointing out that the illegality had been, not in the meeting itself, but in its location, and that he saw nothing sinister in what had occurred. On Tuesday 7 March the commissioners of police issued a placard giving notice of liability to arrest of persons assembling in Trafalgar Square. MP (8 Mar 1848); The Times (7, 8 Mar 1848); Hansard xcvn cols 312-13. For further on this meeting, the general Chartist upheavals at this time, and the fear that the French revolution would spread to England, see J.T. Ward Chartism (1973) 196, I99ff and Saville. See also 1636^7, i642&ni and I792&n42 D'S opinion is one which had already been expressed in the second leader in The Times of 3 March (a day on which, according to The Satirist of 5 March, The Times had an article by D). The leader outlined the effects of the revolution on the money markets in France and England: 'Substitute [republic] for [Empire], and the heart of the Bourse sinks within it; the end of the world, or, what is the same thing in commerce, national bankruptcy, is at hand' (the square brackets are in the Times text). Other Times articles of this period also seem to bear D'S stamp, eg, the long leader on 26 February on the abdication of Louis Philippe. 3 According to D'S later account, Isaac (like Byron before him) had died in Tita's arms. Although Tita's subsequent fate was of some concern to Dand Sarah, the details of his affairs remain sketchy. Through Sir John Hobhouse, D obtained for Tita a post as messenger to the board of control. H A/xi/A/3, cited in Blake 255-6 and quoted in M&B I 384-5. Tita's own letter of 10 October 1848 is written from the India board, and announces his forthcoming marriage to Sarah Harvey, one of the Bradenham servants, 'as I feel very much the loss of those domestic comforts I have for many years enjoyed ... I feel lonely and uncomfortable.' The marriage (which, the family suspected, merely confirmed a previous secret marriage) was set for 27 January 1849 at St George's, Hanover Square. H A/ll/E/3,4,5. See 1779. Shortly after Isaac's death, Sarah had praised Tita's efforts in helping to clean out and close up at Bradenham. By 'Tuesday' (29 February?), the day before Tita's departure for London, she wrote: 'It is indeed as you say a great thing in the midst of all these troubles, if Tita should be provided for, but you can easily believe that after all that has past, parting with him does not give one better spirits.' On 13 March she inquired, 'How does Tita get on?' According to an undated letter from Sarah (27 February 1848?), Sir John had asked Tita to cut off his moustache '"or they will think I'm mounting la garde Nationale" - but Tita has not the moral courage to do it here, he waits until he is lost in the immensity of London'. After Tita's return to Bradenham 'for his little Easter holidays of two days' she would report that he was very much changed in appearance, but had apparently overcome his 'despair' and was now 'very well, & happy', and had taken back to London with him 'a canary & some of his plants to adorn his room'. D/m/A/i77,i8i,184,587,608. According to MA'S records, Tita seems to have stayed at Grosvenor Gate for most of March; on 21 March she would record a payment of £25 for 'Tita's wages', presumably owing from Bradenham. H ace (21, 28 Mar 1848). 'G.S.' is obviously a mistranscription of 'G.G.', Grosvenor Gate. 4 John Bird Sumner (1780-1862), a moderate evangelical, since 1828 Bishop of Chester, had been appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Lord John Russell to fill the vacancy left by the death on 11 February of Archbishop Howley. His election was to be confirmed at Bow Church on Friday 10 March, and he would be enthroned at Canterbury on 28 April. According to the report in The Times of 11 March 1848 of the confirmation ceremony, there had been a rumour for several days

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The balances are pretty well, & I can make you another remittance, if / you will let me know to G.G. what you want. 5 D

l636 TO: LORD JOHN

MANNERS

[London, Wednesday] 8 March 1848

ORIGINAL: BEA [1*1-47] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 95-6, dated 8 March 1848, omitting the first and ninth paragraphs; Whibley I 301-2, dated 8 March 1848, omitting the first and last two paragraphs EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. Sic: notee; no use of talking of.

My dear J.M. 6 o'ck | Mar: 8 1848 'Tis not want of inclin[ati]on even to write — but a sort of blending of excitement & prostration wh: disqualifies me for / anything but the immediate & pressing business before me. Where is the pilot to weather the storm? The Whigs are dished, dead, in spite of/ all their our forbearance, & I mean, D.V., to give the last blow to "Progress" on Friday, if the Muse inspire & aid me.1 What then? As for / G.B[entinck] he rises to the occasion. If you had seen him at V4 pt 11 on Monday, when Peel sate down, springing from a back bench, & making his most effective speech / witht a paper, or notee, you wd have been astonished. We were all, like so many gibbed cats going to vote the Income Tax by an overwhelming majo[ri]ty / when he declared his intention of support[in]g Hume's propos[iti]on & at least 100 men changed in a moment. Had it not been for Peel's speech, he / GB wd. have sd. nothing. It was a great effort & has effected a revol[uti]on in our parliamentary position here.2 which 'on Thursday took the form of a public announcement' that an opposition would be raised. The rumour resulted in the presence of a large assemblage and a 'strong body of police', but no protestors responded to the two formal calls for opposers, apparently much to the disappointment of the crowd who had hoped for a repetition of the controverted confirmation of Bishop Hampden at Bow Church on 11 January: for the controversy over his appointment to the See of Hereford see iv i6igny. The archbishop was a staunch opponent of the removal of Jewish disabilities and some other liberal measures. 5 See 1637 below. 1 D was to make a major speech on the proposed income tax on Friday 10 March when the House in committee resumed its debate adjourned on Monday 6 March. He attacked the government's financial policy, which he saw as inherited from Sir Robert Peel, and ridiculed the theories of the Manchester school, arguing that 'playing the game of free imports against hostile tariffs, entails upon the subjects of Her Majesty the necessity of labouring more to obtain the same foreign products ... What is this but the degradation of labour?' He then cited and analysed a host of statistics in support of his point. He ended by showing that the average rental income of the 200,000 landed proprietors of England was only £170 a year, and that dividends were also typically for small amounts, to demonstrate his point that the government was not for the people and against the aristocracy. It was by their own admission, he said,'... that the Gentlemen opposite ... are a middleclass Government - that they look to the middle class for power, and the middle class look to them for their advantage.' Hansard XCVII cols 412-38. 2 In the debate on the proposed income tax in the committee on ways and means on Monday 6 March, Joseph Hume had questioned the government's position, since the figures cited still left a substantial deficit. He argued that instead of imposing a tax the government should limit its spending to its income, and moved that the proposed tax be limited to one year. The chancellor of the exchequer replied that free trade had not yet been given a sufficient trial, and that the tax was needed for at least three years. The debate had then focused on the history of the tax during Peel's

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The Paris crash has no parallel; since / Aladdeens palace vanished when his fool of a wife sold his old lamp! As for general affairs, Madeira Chaplains, 3 Rio Plata jobs,4 Irish d[itt]o5 are all swamped / & merged in the mighty theme of, how the devil Europe, or perhaps England, is to be governed. 6 men died at Glasgow6 — here, evoking riots of little boys here egged / on by Charles Cochrane, & breaking the windows of club houses —then to wit Dicky Milnes asking questions at 5 o'ck of Secretaries of State about the collision betn "the / people" & the police at in Trafalgar Square amid groans & ironic cheers. Dicky dying of envy of Lamartine, & ready to put himself at the head of the "gamins" & break the windows of Buckingham palace.7 / budgets of 1842 and 1845 and whether it was ever intended to be temporary. After several interjections, Peel made a lengthy speech in vindication of his income tax and subsequent free-trade policies. Bentinck's immediate response was that, if Peel wished to fight again the battles since 1842, he would go back another year, to 1841, when Peel supported two protectionist resolutions and thereby brought down Melbourne's government. He declared support for Hume's motion, and then showed how a return to the old system of taxation plus some new measures would make up the deficit. Hume's motion on Monday 13 March would be rejected 363-138. Hansard XCVH cols 235-310, 363-454, 460-535. On this day, 8 March 1848, there was a leader on Peel's speech in The Times (in a style very reminiscent of D'S 1846 anti-Peel speeches): 'It seems we have been in error in our belief that Sir Robert Peel in 1842 held out any expectation to the country that the tax was but to endure for a time certain. Nothing of the sort. He has been candid as one of Macbeth's witches, or the oracle at Delphi ... If [he] did not, in 1845, take off the tax as he promised, it was because the house conjured him not to sacrifice the country upon the altar of his own veracity. If the peach would fall into his mouth, what could he do? ... The country would pelt him with three per cent off their incomes, do what he would. ... [And so] the Tamworth Danae yielded up her virtue to the soft illusion of the golden shower ...' The article goes on to expound on the virtues of indirect taxation as opposed to Peel's policies of direct taxation. 3 See i62i&n3. Manners's letters to D and to MA of the past month had been full of the Madeira case, telling of Palmerston sending out an alternative chaplain (a Rev Mr Thomas Kenworthy Brown) not sanctioned by the Bishop of London, and of the bishop's eventual decision not to oppose Palmerston's act, since it was not illegal. Apparently Lowe, with the support of 70 of 78 communicants and a public subscription, was carrying on in a hired chapel. For Manners the issue was one of shifting the party's alliance away from the ultra-Protestant National Club (see iv 1519112) and towards the high-church party. H B/xx/M/23-6. 4 See IV 16198016. D had received 'papers explanatory of the Mission of Mr. Thomas Samuel Hood to the River Plate in 1846' from W.G. Ouseley. H B/xxi/o/85. On 4 February in the House D had asked Palmerston to table the papers on Ouseley's mission, which Palmerston declined to do. Hansard XCVI cols 82-3. 5 Several times in the first month of the session questions about poor relief in Ireland had been raised in the House. As D was to make abundantly clear in his 30 August summary of the session, he felt that the government's 18 February budget did not sufficiently address the matter of the continuing Irish famine and the recent general financial crisis. 6 On Monday 6 March there had been a riot in Glasgow after several days of meetings by thousands of unemployed workers demanding food or work. The next day troops had been called out, leading to several confrontations and a number of reported deaths. The Times (8, 9 Mar 1848). 7 The meeting in Trafalgar Square on Monday 6 March (see i635&m) had been called on 29 February by Charles Cochrane (i8o7?-i855) who, on receiving the police notice of its illegality, had then tried to cancel it and did not himself appear at the meeting. Cochrane had run as a Liberal in the 1847 election for Westminster, and been narrowly defeated. At the election, in response to challenges as to his parentage, he claimed that his father was the uncle of the current (loth) Earl of Dundonald. MP (29 July 1847). He was in fact the natural son of Basil Cochrane, the seventh son of 8th Earl of Dundonald, and thus the cousin of D'S friend Baillie-Cochrane; he had been the model for Mayhew's farce The Wandering Minstrel (1834), and at this time was president of the National Philanthropic Institute (1842-50). Dickens Letters IV 528n2. Lamartine at this time was the

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'Tis no use of talking of old affairs, but the division on Herries was mainly occasioned by Augustus O'B. who for some reason unknown canvassed agst it! Howr: this was before the Revolution & so we need say nothing / about it.8 Granby, of whom I perpetually enquire of you, delighted me by telling you me that I was you were really / better. I am in force, tho' not equal to G.B. Nothing but a revol[uti]on will satisfy him: or at least the repeal of the Regency Act.9 / Smythe has gone off to Paris to see his friend Louis Blanc,10 & some other successful blackguards. I remain at my post, & shd. enjoy it / all amazingly, if you were at my right hand[.] Ever yrs | D. l637 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London, Monday 13 March 1848]

ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/308

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 213-14, the first two paragraphs, dated 13 March 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'March 13/48'. Dating: by MacGregor's speech; see ni. Sic: McGregor.

My dear Sa, McGregor has just made his reply in unintelligible patois - all we cd. make out was that he denied the statement in the Glasgow / paper, wh: he sd. was opposed to him, it being well known that it was in his service, & the very No., wh: contained the report, being full of his praises.1 foreign minister in the new provisional government in Paris, and effectively its head. Milnes had made his acquaintance in Paris in 1839 and was to visit him in Paris in April or May of 1848. On 3 March he had written to Lady Galway: 'Everybody says the Government will last as long as Lamartine is there; beyond him is a fathomless abyss.' Life of Milnes I 244, 406. H B/XXI/M/223. 8 On 17 February J.C. Herries had moved that the House go into committee to consider the Bank Charter Act: the motion was defeated 122-163, with A.S.O. Stafford (Augustus O'Brien had added the surname in 1847) not being recorded in the vote. Herries similarly had not voted in the division of 11 February passing Stafford's amendment on the second reading of the Jewish Disabilities Bill 277-204. Hansard XCVI cols 536-40, 865-7, XCVH cols 33-7. In his letter of 7 March Manners had commented: 'See how right we were in assigning to Stafford the command of the Irish Brigade: that diversion will flutter the Volscians [cf Coriolanus V iii 114], and restore the old alliance between Ireland & Toryism.' H B/xx/M/26. 9 See in 1076^5. Prince Albert was a strong supporter of Peel and free trade. Robert Rhodes James Albert Prince Consort (1983) 157, 167. 10 Blanc was the preeminent radical in the new provisional government in Paris, and head of a commission to consider the problems of labour. For further on Blanc see Leo Loubere Louis Blanc: His Life and His Contribution to the Rise of French Jacobin Socialism (Evanston, 111 1961). 1 John MacGregor (1797-1857), of Carricks, Glasgow, high sheriff of Prince Edward Island, Canada, 1823, and a member of its House of Assembly, joint-secretary of the board of trade 1840-6, Liberal MP for Glasgow 1847-57, had been a strong supporter of the free-trade movement, especially in his many publications based on commercial statistics he collected in Europe and North America. According to DNB, 'he spoke frequently on commercial, financial, and colonial questions, dreamed of a place in the cabinet, and established the reputation of a bore.' In his 10 March speech in the income-tax debate D had made reference to MacGregor's evidence before the Import Duties Committee (July 1840) as the cause of 'the greater part of the [free-trade] mischief..." which subsequent experience had shown to be 'the greatest work of the imagination of the nineteenth century ..." He focused particularly on MacGregor's contention in his evidence that repeal would cause a net gain of £100 million a year to the country, and then made reference to a newspaper account of an incident in MacGregor's election campaign, in which he was quoted as saying that, while at the board of trade, and with the help of only his secretary, he had had ' "the honour of preparing the whole of the schedules, the report, and the resolutions which were submitted to Parliament on the

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The news from France / seems more re-assuring.2 Lionel Rothschild has just returned from Paris, & in much better spirits.3 He says the Communists have no power whatr, & the only real trouble are the unemployed workmen, but that there are remarkable / opportunities at present to occupy them. I understand from MA that Ralph heard me on Friday. When he called on Sunday, I had gone to Guizots, whom I just missed[.]4 What a crash! Ever ys affy | D I will send you privately £50 in a day or two[.] TO: PHILIP ROSE

Carlton Club, Wednesday 15 March [1848]

1638

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/20 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the last page: '18 March 184.8 B. Disraeli.' Dating: the endorsed year is confirmed by the context.

My dear Rose, Carlton | Wedy Mar 15 I will bring the box of deeds to your office tomorrow at three o'ck:. Never mind, if you have any engagement, as I / can call for the needful on Friday in my way to the House.1 Ever yours | D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI Carlton Club [Monday] 20 March [1848] 1639 ORIGINAL: FITZ Disraeli A35 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 214, dated 20 March 1848, the second and third paragraphs, conflated with an extract from 1644; M&B III 174, the LBCS version EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed: 'May 20/48'. Dating: the year is evident from the context. Sic: checque; Coals.

My dear Sa, Carlton Mar 20 I enclose you a checque for £80. to pay Coals, Heron &c. & the Servts. wages.1 I will endeavour to make you a private remittance also as / soon as possible, subject of the tariff ..."' D'S accusation was a fuller version of an allusion he had already made in his speech of 28 February, refuted briefly by MacGregor at the time. On Monday, 13 March, MacGregor made a fuller refutation, consisting primarily of name-dropping and a contention that the report, which he incidentally confirmed, had not been published by 'his own paper in Glasgow', but only by the two papers 'opposed to him and to truth in Glasgow.' He then proceeded to defend his 1840 statistics. Hansard XCVI cols 1435-40, xcvn cols 431-6, 461-5. 2 The newspaper accounts from France reprinted in The Times of this day were generally sanguine about the up-coming elections, the apparent return of calm to all regions of the country, and the restorative effects on the French economy of the financial statement of M. Gamier-Pages, the finance minister. 3 Baron de Rothschild had been 'suddenly called to Paris' in early March. MP (4, 7 Mar 1848). See further 1644^7. In one of her diary entries of about this time, Lady (Anthony) de Rothschild records a visit by MA, 'good hearted and kind', offering sympathy. Cohen Rothschild 50-3. 4 Guizot, head of the French government at the time of the February revolution, had escaped into exile; he had arrived in London on Friday 3 March, and started calling on government leaders on Wednesday 8 March. MP (7, 10 Mar 1848). See D'S further comments in 1639. 1 D was presumably arranging to borrow money from Rose, although it is not clear which transaction is involved. See 1642, i648&m, 1651, i67i&m, i674&m, I702&m and iTjSni. 1 In her winding up of Isaac's estate, Sarah was at this time paying the Bradenham bills, sending the receipts to MA on 15 March. The final total was £150. H ace (Dec 1848). Heron was a local wine merchant, and J. Coles a butcher.

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but everything is so black, that I really believe I am the only person breathing who is paying anything. The mob are in possession of Vienna / & Metternich, they say, almost as badly off as Louis Philippe. 2 Guizot called on me on Saturday. I was fortunately at home. He is unchanged, & has taken a house No. 21 Pelham Terrace / Brompton at £20 pr ann: The last time I saw him, he was starred, ribboned & golden fleeced, & surrounded by ambassadors & grand personages.3 Acknowledge the receipt to G.G. 4 Ever yr aff | D. / Remember always to send up the bills.

l640

TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[House of Commons? Monday] 27 March 1848

ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/225

COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Grosvenor Gate | Park Lane POSTMARK: (i) In circle: E R | M R 2711848 (2) In lozenge: [illegible\MR 271184810(3) a cancelled onepenny stamp

My dearest Love, 4 o'ck The Election Committee is over - Somers being unseated.1 Miller has returned from Aylesbury / & Dick is now considered quite safe.2 I will write him a line of congratulation. Your affec husband I D.

2 D must have heard reports that were to be published in the morning papers the next day, that there had been a revolution in the Austrian capital on 13 March, resulting in the flight of Prince Metternich and the sacking of his house. 3 Guizot in exile would resume wearing his decorations in 1849; see I795and 1796. 4 After Heron's bill was paid, MA must have questioned the amounts, as on io(?) April Sarah was to write: 'I return Heron's bill - you mistake, he has specified what each article is; Brown & Pale Brandy - why he marks some as gallons, & others by the dozen I do not know - six bottles are equal to a gallon, & the charge is the same either way 28/ for the Bn. & 305 for the Pale - The Spirits of Wine was used to warm the refreshment Papa took in the course of every evening.' H D/ 111^/178-9,184,223. 1 D had been on the election committee that met on 25 and 27 March to consider petitions against the 1847 election of John Patrick Somers, the Irish Repeal candidate for Sligo. On 27 March the election was declared void. Somers was to lose the next by-election, on 11 April, but, after its results were also declared void, be re-elected on 15 July 1848. MP (27, 28 Mar 1848). 2 A new writ for the borough of Aylesbury had been declared on 21 March 1848 because of the successful petition against the 1847 election of J.P. Deering which cited the activities of Lord Chandos's agent Humphrey Bull. On 25 March, MP reported two candidates for the seat, one of whom was William Henry Miller (1789-1848), of Britwell Court, Burnham, Bucks, Conservative MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme 1830-41, a book-collector famous for his library. On 27 March MP reported the candidacy of Quintin Dick. Dick had written to D on 24 March, explaining that he had arrived in Aylesbury to find Miller 'in possession of the ground' but had proceeded with his canvass nevertheless. The result was that the local committee had now given Dick their support, and Miller was preparing 'to go - and start for some other place - he is much disappointed and very angry.' H B/xxi/D/259- According to a report in The Times on 29 March, Miller as a free-trader had been seeking the Liberal nomination, which however had gone to John Houghton, a local farmer, on 24 March. On 29 March Dick was to defeat Houghton 614-345. See further 2146.

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TO: RICHARD WRIGHT

Carlton Club [Tuesday] 28 March 1848 164!

ORIGINAL: H A/V/B/19

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: proceeds.

My dear Wright, Carlton C. | Mar 28: 1848 I found the enclosed waiting for me at the House. I am very sorry, as I meant the pro-ceeds / for you, wh: wd. have agreeably squared the transaction. I don't suppose one can do anything, tho' after / what you told me, I am rather alarmed. I shall see you before I leave town about the other business in / all probability. I wish it were ended, but I shall leave it entirely to youf.] 1 Yours flly | D. TO: PHILIP ROSE

[London, Monday] 10 April [1848] ^6^2

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/21

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the last page of the MS: 'B. Disraeli. ioth. April 184.8.' Dating: the year is evident from the context; see ni.

private Apl 10 My dear Rose, In case there is not a Provisional Government, 1 would it be quite convenient to you to / let me have a thousand on the 14th.?2 Let me have a line at the Carlton. Yours ever | D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY Grosvenor Gate [Monday] i May 1848 1643 ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/530 [22]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 25-31, dated i May 1848; M&B ill 176-8, dated i May 1848, with omissions EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. The several sheets are numbered.

Dear Lady Grosvenor Gate | May Day 1848 I fear you will forget you ever gave me permission to write to you, but tho' I have very frequently wished to avail myself of so gracious a privilege, I have never / had heart, so exhausting, as far as I am concerned, has been the hurried stream of events both public & private for the last four or five months. 1 This is possibly a reference to the £5,000 loan for the Hughenden purchase D would arrange with Wright in August. See i657&ni, i687ni and I702&m. No information on the matter discussed in the first paragraph has been found; for a possible clue see 2096111 and the sequence of references to D'S 1851 financial crises. 1 D may have been only partly joking, as by this date several European countries were under provisional governments, and this was the day on which the Chartist petition was presented, occasioning thorough military preparations. The royal family, as a precaution, had left for Osborne on 8 April. In the event it turned out to be 'a very English demonstration.' Weintraub Victoria 198. See also J.T. Ward Chartism (1973) 200-10, Longford Wellington 463-5 and especially Saville ch 4. See further 2051. 2 See i648&m.

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Have you yet recovered the great catastrophe? / Its cause is inexplicable, its consequences an alarming mystery. No judgment & no imagination can fathom its probable results. The King of France in a Surrey villa, Metternich in a / Hanover Square hotel, 1 & the Prince of Prussia at Lady Palmerstons!2 The toil of public life & private affairs have so absorbed me, that I did not pay my respects at Claremont until a fortnight ago.3 The King received / me in his bedroom, in order that we might not be disturbed - I found him little changed. I sat with him two hours - the first occupied with an almost uninterrupted narrative of the three fatal / days, but varying little from the received accounts - except his warm vindication of the Due de Nemours whom he greatly praised: his approbation of Montpensiers too eager counsel of abdication much more measured. This last seems to have been in a / great fright. The whole affair a series of blunders, & it was only at the last moment that Lagrange & the secret societies, seeing everything in confusion & that everybody had lost their head, resolved to make an impromptu dash, / & clutch the prize.4 The King's description of the abdication, his room crowded with councillors of all parties, & all babbling at the same time, most distressing! Poor old man - 75 years of age, scarcely recovered from a severe influenza, & with Mad[emoisell]e Adelaide hardly buried!5 No / wonder his nerves gave way! His narrative was affecting, & he was much softened, but not feeble. Afterwards, when he had relieved his mind, & talked of political affairs in general, I found him setf quite himself, perfectly alive to all the questions of the / hour, even keenly interested about 1 Prince Metternich had arrived in London on 20 April, and was staying at the Brunswick Hotel, Hanover Square. The Times (21 Apr 1848). 2 Prince Frederick William Ludwig (1797-1888), after 1861 William I, King of Prussia, in 1871 proclaimed German Emperor, had been entertained by Lord and Lady Palmerston on Saturday 8 April. The Ds are listed among the many guests that attended the assembly after dinner. The Times (10 Apr, 29 May 1848). According to MP of 15 April, the Prince had recently visited Lady Londonderry. The Prince was in England until late May as a precaution because of the unrest in Prussia. 3 According to MA's records, the visit had lasted two and a half hours; there were to be subsequent visits on 6 May and 3 September. Cf D'S later account of the meeting in app v [b] (DR 25-7; H A/ x/A/i6). Claremont House, at Esher, Surrey, was a residence of King Leopold, Louis Philippe's son-in-law. 4 The newspaper accounts do seem to correspond to the King's version as told to D. For example, The Times on this day, i May, published a one-column account of 'The Last Moments of Louis Philippe's Government' focusing on 24 February, the day of abdication, taken from La Presse as recounted by its editor. According to it, Louis Philippe had been advised to abdicate in favour of the duchesse d'Orleans as regent instead of the due de Nemours, as it was thought that the people of Paris would not accept him. At the critical moment, when the King had offered 'to mount on horseback', the due de Montpensier had urged him instead to abdicate, which the King had then proceeded at once to do. Antoine Marie Philippe Louis d'Orleans (1824-1890), due de Montpensier, sixth son of Louis Philippe, on 10 October 1846 had married Princess Luisa Fernanda of Spain, and was to be created Infant of Spain in 1859. Charles Lagrange (1804-1857), a member of the (secret) Society of the Rights of Man, who had been released in the amnesty of 1839 from his prison sentence for taking a leading part in the Lyon insurrection of 1834, had rallied the people in the February uprising in Paris by reading Louis Philippe's statement of abdication to them. He was elected to the Assembly in 1848, the Legislature in 1849. In support of D's view that the secret societies were a primary factor in the 1848 revolution see Herbert Paul A History of Modern England (1904) I 103-4, which cites references to LGB and Lothair. See also QVL II i49ni. 5 Louis Philippe in fact would be 75 at his next birthday, 6 October 1848; his younger sister, on whom he had relied for wise counsel and strong support, had died on the last day of 1847.

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them, & prompt & vivacious. The state of Belgium seemed his great consolation.6 He more than once recurred to it. I fancy his hope, perhaps conviction is, that if a general war be prevented, all may yet end / well, as far as his grandson's destiny7 -but he did not directly touch on this. The interview ended by his saying he wd. take me to the Queen, with whom he left me alone. The moment he had shut the door, she exclaimed "Ah! M. Disraeli, quelle catastrophe!" She however has ceased to weep, & harped much upon Belgium. The King did not mention to me, that he had seen M. Guizot, but he mentioned spoke of him several times without any bitterness. They say that Guizot has less reserve, but during the only interview / wh: I have had with him, when he called at Grosvenor Gate, he imputed no blame to His Majesty, but said, that if the King had gone to St Cloud on the second day & convoked the chambers there, all wo[ul]d have been saved. Guizot, I found, quite unchanged. You / heard perhaps, that he called on Ld. Palmerston in Carlton Gardens, & asked for Lady P[almersto]n when he was told that his L[ordshi]p was not at home. Ushered up, he said when he met her "I used to think that in England nothing ever changed, but I find I was in error, for I called / at your old house & found, that I had knocked at the wrong door!"8 Cool! Guizot said to me that Palmerston had done it all - by his patronage of Thiers, & the encouragement that Normanby &c. gave to the Reform Banquets.9 F. Mills, who returned from / a railroad [inserted: I mean about some railroad company] visit to Paris,10 on Sunday week, dined with Lamartine, who used, 6 King Leopold I of Belgium was Louis Philippe's son-in-law. Belgium in late March had defeated a party of French republicans who had tried to start an insurrection there. QVL II I72ni. 7 Louis Philippe had abdicated in favour of his grandson, Louis Philippe Albert d'Orleans (18381894), comte de Paris, son of the due d'Orleans, and now theoretically Louis Philippe II, King of France. After the death of the due de Bordeaux in 1883 he was regarded by the French legitimists as Philippe vn, King of France and Navarre. Louis Philippe here is probably thinking of another grandson, Leopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor (1835-1909), Duke of Brabant, who in 1865 would succeed his father as Leopold II of Belgium. 8 After his marriage in 1839, Palmerston had moved from his long-time residence at 9 Great Stanhope Street to a larger house at 3 Carlton House Terrace which Lady Palmerston had transformed into the focus of political entertainment in London. Ridley Palmerston 228-9. Guizot had last been in London in 1840 as French ambassador. Despite the reassurances in 1845 by D and others, Louis Philippe and Guizot had been unhappy at Palmerston's return to office. Bell Palmerston I 36off. 9 Cfi68g8cn2. Lord Normanby had been ambassador.at Paris since August 1846, and had not got along well with Guizot; in 1847 Normanby's intimacy with Thiers (leader of the opposition), supported by Palmerston, had nearly brought about a diplomatic rupture. Greville V 423ff. It was the opposition deputies who had been organizing reform banquets and it was the prohibition by the government of the 'monster banquet' planned for 22 February that had precipitated the uprising in the streets of Paris. Langer 326. Normanby on 19 February 1848 had recorded his view that a peaceful demonstration, with large attendance, would be 'the deathblow of the present system of government'; he deprecated this but thought the alternative of a conflict to be 'dreadful'. The Marquis of Normanby A Year of Revolution: From a Journal Kept in Paris in 184.8 2 vols (1857) 74 (see also 24, 55, 57, 68, 71, 72). 0 The reference is probably to Francis ('Frank') Mills (1793-1854), of Spring Gardens Terrace, 'well known in fashionable and financial society', a frequent contributor to periodicals, an amateur painter, a founder in 1831 of the Garrick Club; in 1851 he was to be one of those who arranged a concession from the Piedmontese government for a railway line from Turin to Novara. Boase; Arthur Helps Life and Labours of Mr. Brassey (1872) 168. Mills's business may well have arisen from the 12 April meeting in Paris of railway directors called by the minister of finance (Garnier-Pages) to announce that the government would be nationalizing all French railways, even those incor-

23

in old days, quite to affect splendour & luxe. There were several present, all in boots & black cravats, & smoking after dinner - only two dishes, a scanty one of boiled soles, &, - unmentionable horror! an immense portion / of foie de veau! How puerile this affectation of republican simplicity! And what confidence can we have in anything durable being effected by such men! The King, by the bye, said to me several times — "One thing alone has been proved by what has taken place — that in France nothing can / endure". — Affairs however, on dit, are worse in Germany than in France. Kings & Princes are turned off as we turn away servants - worse, without a character. And nobody resists. Fifty mad professors at Frankfort, calling themselves a Diet, self appointed, have absolutely invaded Denmark & will / not conclude their labors till they have established a federal republic like the U.S. 11 Did you hear of Ld. Hardinge's interview with Metternich on the 9th. March. Ld Ponsonby & P. Esterhazy both present - & listening, as if to an oracle, while Mett[erni]ch announced, that Austria never was so sound,12 while he moralized over the miserable fate of the French. / Esterhazy kissing his (P.M's) hand, like the Emperor's when he quitted the room!! Ld. H. told me this. 13 I hope you will see me when I can contrive to snatch a moment to call, on your return. What with committees in the morning, debates at night, & the still more laborious duties behind the scenes, I have been almost obliged to forswear society, & shall certainly never pay another morning visit except to you, being, as you well know, Your most attached & faithful I D.

porated as Anglo-French projects. The bill was to be announced on 17 May. The Times (15 Apr, 22 May 1848). 11 Popular uprisings had occurred in most of the German states and in Berlin King Frederick William of Prussia had granted concessions to the demonstrators to avoid further bloodshed. There was a widespread desire for German unification which the Diet at Frankfurt took up and a so-called 'preParliament' of over 500 members assembled in Frankfurt. It contained some 50 professors (as well as some 60 secondary school teachers) and was misleadingly dubbed the 'Professors' Parliament'. In the meantime German-speaking nationalists in Holstein and south Schleswig, two duchies long ruled by the King of Denmark, revolted against Danish rule, appealing to the German Diet and to Prussia to come to their support. A Prussian army entered the duchies in April 1848 but AngloRussian pressure eventually persuaded the Prussians to withdraw in 1849 and to accept the London Protocol in 1850. It may be noted that D had made himself the Danish champion in parliament with questions of Palmerston on 17 April and a notable speech on 19 April, urging Palmerston to defend Denmark's possession of the duchies, and praising the liberal conduct of the King of Denmark. Langer 391-6, 404-17; Keith A.P. Sandiford Great Britain and the Schleswig-Holstein Question 1848-64. (Toronto 1975) 20-48; Stewart Writings 102 (No 615); Hansard xcvm cols 416, 509-26. 12 On 13 March the insurrection in Vienna had compelled Metternich to flee for his life. He had submitted his resignation as chancellor to Emperor Ferdinand I, who would himself abdicate on 2 December 1848. 13 Lord Hardinge had retired at his own request as governor-general of India on 12 January, and had returned to England via Trieste and Vienna; he had reached London on 15 March. MP (16 March 1848). He and D had both been guests of Lady Palmerston on Saturday 8 April. MP (10 April 1848).

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TO: HENRY DRUMMOND

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 4 May [1848]

^6^^A

ORIGINAL: PS 613 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Phillips' Catalogue for 14 November 1991, item 192: 'Autograph Letter Signed ("D"), mocking Utopian politics, to H. Drummond, thanking him for sending a manifesto submitted by a peer to the Morning Post: [text given below], 4 pages, 8vo, on mourning paper, guard, Grosvenor Gate, 4 May [dated in another hand 1849]' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see ni.

When Chaos comes, & we have an opportunity of creating order, we may set about working in this way; at present we must be less methodical, a little more bungling & practical. ..- 1 TO: SARAH DISRAELI [Carlton Club, Wednesday 10 May 1848] 1644 ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/309 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 214-15, dated 2o March 1848, the third paragraph, slightly altered and conflated with an extract from 1639 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'May 10 - 1848'. Dating: the endorsed date is confirmed by MA'S endorsement of the memorandum; see ni. Sic: Antony; i france.

My dear Sa, Can you put your hand on the corrected copy of the "Curios"? I think there were some slight additions &c. wh: it wd be advisable to insert. I / have made some arrangement for the new Edit: to day with Moxon, & have postponed it so long, as he wished me to incur the risk, that there is / now no time to lose to get it out by the winter. 1 Send up the copy at once, if you can find it. 1 On 4 May 1848 MP (see ph) published a list of 'Resolutions on the General Principles of Representations' by Earl Stanhope, followed by a note: 'The preceding resolutions were, we believe, submitted by Lord Stanhope to Earl Grey's Government, in 1830.' The 9 resolutions called for MPS to swear under oath that their elections had not been corrupt, for optional election by ballot, for MPS to be reimbursed for election and attendance expenses, for triennial parliaments, for existing constituencies to be abolished, for representation to be instead by five identified classes, and for universal ('every person of full age') suffrage. The note at the end concluded: 'In Lord Stanhope's opinion, the House of Commons ought not to contain more than five hundred members. To each of the preceding classes, his Lordship would commit the business of electing one hundred representatives.' Henry Drummond had written to D from 50 Chester Square on 2 May 1848: 'The few words with which you favored me two evenings ago encourage me to send you the enclosed letters from Lord Stanhope, but which I must beg you not to speak of to others, that is of his name. With respect to the ist proposition I think oaths & swearing full of objections with no equivalent advantage. The notice of Classes is really good, now that the New Reform Bill has altered the principle of the old feudal classification: yet it seems so difficult to arrange that I cannot form any idea as to how to work it, or bring it to pass. Perhaps it is the same idea as that which is running in the heads of the Chartists under the name of Electoral divisions; this last however would reduce the whole consituency to a mere question of numbers. I think that the principle for which we have to contend is that property is the thing to be guarded: that men without property are the most numerous & must ever be so; & that they are interested in destroying all institutions which protect it; ergo, it is essential that men without property be excluded, while the franchise must be extended to every one who possesses any property however small. I hate Whigs & all they ever did; & therefore I wish much to see their second bad act, the Septennial Bill repealed, & the old Triennial Parliaments restored: but there is no principle involved here. I do not know any of the gentlemen who sit around us, but if any agree with you, had we not better meet & talk these matters over? for I fear the Mountain [cf the French Jacobins] are an impracticable set, unused & inexpert at public business, or at administration.' H B/xxi/D/37i. For D'S upcoming speech on national representation see 165702 and 166701. For Drummond see i87ini3. 1 Moxon had written to D on 4 May 1848, presumably after yielding to D'S position: 'I accept your

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We dined yesterday at the Danish Ministers - a very / agreeable party 2 - & met the Beresfords, (Marshal & Lady)3 & Ld & Ly. Dillon4 & the Antony Rothschilds & Yarde Bullers.5 As for affairs, they are very bad, but, in / my opinion, will be much worse. All one can hope for now is to put one's house in order during the temporary lull - if there be one. It seems to me almost impossible for the Rothschilds / to stand the storm. They must lose everything, everywhere, except here. Austria has tumbled to pieces - Naples has lost Sicily6 - & France must be bankrupt (and these are their 3 principal debtors). They will also confiscate the / Gt Northern Railroad for certain, the workmen having announced yesterday that they will have 1 france a day increase of wages & half the profit of the line & if they don't give up to the workmen, the / state will seize all.7 I am afraid you must think it very unkind that I never write - but I really have not heart. proposal, - that is I will undertake the edition entirely at my own risk, the profit to be divided in equal moities between us ...' He concluded by offering to bring a memorandum of agreement to Dat his convenience 'tomorrow or on Saturday.' The memorandum, dated 4 May 1848 and endorsed 10 May 1848 by MA, stipulated the conditions as D describes, and also that D would have the book fully prepared for the press by i October 1848. Subsequent letters from Moxon are dated 11 August 1848 (asking for three portraits), 12 October 1848 (to announce the completion of printing), 'Saturday' (30 December 1848, to say that the edition was ready and that advertisements had been sent to the papers) and 15 January 1849 (regretting that D was disappointed in the edition). H E/vil/E/ 1-6,13. Moxon's advertisement that 'Disraeli's [sic] Curiosities of Literature; with a View of the Life and Writings of the Author. By his Son, B. Disraeli, Esq., M.P.' had been 'just published, in 3 vols 8vo., price 425' in a 'New Library Edition' appeared in* The Times on Monday i January 1849. See further 1645^3 and i75O&ni. 2 Frederik Ditlev, Count Reventlow (1791-1851) had been Danish ambassador to Britain since 1841. His rather cryptic letters to D of this period suggest that he was trying to change Palmerston's position on Schleswig. H B/xxi/R/8o. Lady (Anthony) de Rothschild describes the dinner in her diary: 'Disi looked ill and gloomy, Mrs. D. I thought trying to be gay.' Cohen Rothschild 47. 3 Viscount Beresford was distinguished for his service as marshal in the Portuguese army in the Peninsular war. On 10 May MP announced that he had 'just arrived' after a long absence in the East. 4 Charles Henry Dillon Lee (1810-1865), 14th Viscount Dillon, in 1833 had married Lydia Sophia Story (d 1876), daughter of Philip Laycock Story. 5 Sir John Yarde Buller in 1823 had married Elizabeth Patten (£1801-1857), daughter of Thomas Wilson Patten, of Bank Hall, Lanes. 6 A revolution at Palermo had broken out on 12 January, and by late February the whole of Sicily was under the control of the revolutionaries. King Ferdinand II ('Bomba') would regain control of the island in the spring of 1849. Langer 448. 7 MP on 3 May had published a full account of the meeting in Paris of the shareholders of the Great North of France Railway (Paris to the Belgian border), Baron James de Rothschild in the chair. The line had sustained considerable damage during the revolution, and had been stopped entirely for a week, but had kept up its full complement of 40,000 employees. The report indicated that the board of directors were confident that despite the announced scheme to nationalize the railroads the shareholders would receive considerate treatment when the bill was introduced, and that a dividend of 9-95/per share would be possible. On 27 May MP carried a long report of the emergency meeting of shareholders on 24 May outlining the company's responses to what it saw as 'a spoliation' and 'a grave attack on credit' by the bill of 17 May. In the bill, the Great North Railway was included in the first category of railroads, those whose shares would be exchanged for rentes fixed at 5 per cent of the market value averaged over the previous 6 months. According to Richard Davis The English Rothschilds (Chapel Hill, NC 1983) 134-44, the Rothschilds had been at the centre of the French railway boom, and D had through them invested in the northern line. See also (app i) 1462X, I476x, ijiix and iv 14518013.

26

Yrs affly | D Answer to Grosvenor Gate about the "Curios". TO: SARAH DISRAELI [London, Tuesday 16 May? 1848] ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/3io PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 215, dated 30 May 1848, the second paragraph slightly altered, conflated with extracts from 1654; Meynell n 471, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'May 16 - 1848'. Dating: There is no reason to dispute the endorsed date. Sic: Disraeli. My dearest Sa, I am terribly shattered, but write you a hurried line - having written on business to James.1 I hear of your plans with interest, but the present is so urgent, that I cannot / give all the consider[ati]on to the future that it deserves. Only understand, that there is not a shade of necessity for your leaving Bradenham. 2 Moxon has undertaken / to see the Cur: thro' the press: but if you have any wishes about the subject in that, or any other respect, you can write to him. Pray remember to get me all the dates as / to public[ati]ons Sec. Sec., all details &c., in case I am ever destined to write the memoir I contemplated.3 I sketched the enclosed long ago but it did not please me - but I cannot do better. Alter it / as you like & do what you please. I am very sensible of all your, & Jem's good services. These are more than awful times. The greatest fall around us. No one is safe. Yrs affly | D

T.O/ Sacred to the memory of Isaac Disraeli Esq. D.C.L. of Bradenham House. Author of the "Curiosities of Literature", who departed this life Jany 1848 in his 8znd. year. His remains are buried in the vault of this Church by the side of his wife Maria, to whom he was united for [blank] years & who died [blank] 1847 in the [blank] year of her age.4 1 This letter has not been found; however, cfibyj. 2 According to documents on Bradenham in the Bucks County Record Office, Isaac D'Israeli had taken a 2i-year lease on the house and grounds from 1829 to 1850; included in these papers are letters between Rose, James Disraeli and others in May and June of 1850 wrapping up the occupancy. On 25 January 1849 John Nash (on behalf of the estate of the late John Hicks) would give D a receipt for £158 less £4.12.2 property tax, the payment for one year's rent for Bradenham (land and manor), and on 21 December 1849 Nash would write to ask for the first half-year's rent for Bradenham, due the previous midsummer. H A/v/G/ii4,n6. See further i672&m and 1950. 3 D would make use of the information in the memoir he would write in December. See further 1744 and I753&n4. 4 D'S parents are buried in Bradenham Church, and the plaque for which this is the text is located in the chancel, along with plaques to other lords of the manor of Bradenham. In its final form it reads: 'Sacred to the memories of Isaac Disraeli Esquire D.C.L. of Bradenham House, author of "Curiosities of Literature," who died January igth. 1848 in his 82nd. year; and of his wife Maria, to whom he was united for forty-five years. She died April 2ist. 1847 in the 72nd. year of her age. Their remains lie side by side in the vault of the adjoining chancel.' The last sentence suggests that the plaque may have originally been intended for another location in the church, or has been moved. In 1863 the Rev John Graves, then lord of the manor of Bradenham, would write to D for

2?

l645

1646

TO: PHILIP ROSE

House of Commons, Thursday 18 May [1848]

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/23 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the second page of the MS: "18 May 184.8 B. D'Israeli Esq MP.' Dating: by comparison with 1647.

My dear Rose, Thursday | H of C. 18 May I will take my chance of seeing you tomorrow at one o'ck: Yours sincerely | D.

1647

TO: PHILIP ROSE

House of Commons, Friday 19 May [1848]

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/24

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page of the MS: 'igth May 184.8 B. D'Israeli Esq MP.' Dating: the year is established by the reference to the committee of which D was a member in 1848; see i627&m.

My dear Rose, Commercial Distress | Comm[itt]ee | Friday 19 May I can't get away, & therefore send you this line, that / I may not keep you to your office. Ever yours sincerely | D.

1648

TO: PHILIP ROSE

[London] Sunday 12 May [1848]

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/25 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand across the text on the fourth page of the MS: '21 May 184.8 B. D'Israeli Esq M.P.' Dating: the year is evident from context.

My dear Rose, Sunday May 21 It is of great importance to me to have some money this week: V2 a thousand at any rate - & if it wo [ul]d facilitate the affair, I wd. at once agree to the / m[or]tg[ag]e, wh: is perhaps best.1 I shall take my chance of seeing you tomorrow at V2 past four o'ck: as I go down to the House. I intend to sell Consols tomorrow at 84 if I can get it.2 I never give advice on such subjects, wh: are essentially / hazardous. But I will tell you in confidence why I do so, & you can decide for yourself. The Court of St. Petersburg has sent a despatch to Berlin announcing that they will go to war with Prussia unless her troops retire at once from Jutland: & with respect to the Duchies, peremptorily proposing / the mediation of St Petersburg & England witht. appeal to the Confederation, Prussia having commenced the affair witht. the sanction permission to move the memorial to one of the walls of the mortuary chapel during restoration work on the church. H A/vn/E/g. D'S answer has not been found. 1 This is possibly a reference to the mortgage for the Hughenden purchase (see i657ni and I702&m, but more probably to the £3,000 mortgage on Colstrope farm at Hambleden which D would arrange with Rose in July; see i674&m. For an earlier mortgage to Rose see IV I592&ni. 2 Consols had closed at 84a/4 on Saturday, and on Monday, after receding to 84, closed at 843/3 'in consequence of the probable termination of the Schleswig-Holstein war ..." The Times (20, 23 May 1848). There is no record in MA'S accounts of any sales of Consols, and on 14 August she recorded receiving £464.10.6 in dividends on Consols, due 10 July. See, however, 1709^4 and I734ni.

28

of the Diet. My opinion is, that Prussia is so completely in the hands of the Jacobin Diet of Frankfort, that she will refuse not dare to accept the terms.3 Yours ever | D. TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 22 May 1848 1&49

ORIGINAL: BEA [1*1-48] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper.

My dear J.M. Grosvenor Gate | May 22 1848 I am very anxious to serve Michele, who well deserves all our aid. I tried in this affair, with G.B[entinck], last year. But the financial crash baulked the business. This year, things, / at the beginning, promised better, but the infernal revolution has again upset everything. The chief difficulty under wh: I have laboured in respect of Michele's affair since your letter, is that I have been / furnished with no names, that would induce co-operation. It is cold work to ask a man to begin a movement of this kind. At least, I have found it so. Have you had better success, & can you / furnish me with any co-adjutors to show to others?1 I hope you continue progressing.2 Ever yrs | D. 3 See i643&nn. At this point both Schleswig and Holstein on the Jutland peninsula were occupied by Prussian troops. In fact Prussia had sent troops into the duchies in response to an appeal from the Frankfurt Diet which, after the event, on 12 April recognized the duchies' provisional government and authorized the intervention. Langer 404. But when Prussia, in response to pressure from Russia and Britain, tried to withdraw its troops under General Wrangel, he refused to take orders from any source other than the Frankfurt Diet (see iffjoni). The immediate impasse was to be resolved by a kind of truce when on 12 August 1848 Prussia would sign the Malmoe convention, yielding to virtually all the Danish demands; the convention was then ratified at Frankfurt. For D'S speech of 19 April on the subject see i643nn. 1 In 1842 Michele had, by means of a £25,000 mortgage to T.B. Crompton, a Lancashire papermaker, bought out the other proprietors of MP and had subsequently kept the paper Protectionist. When in 1847 financial difficulties pressed, he in December had written to Lord George Bentinck asking the Protectionists to buy it as a party organ. Bentinck on 16 April 1848 had told him he could no longer help with party influence. On 5 October 1849 Michele would give up the paper to Crompton, who would appoint Peter Borthwick as editor, under whom the paper remained Protectionist except for supporting the Whigs in foreign policy. Reginald Lucas Lord Glenesk and the 'Morning Post' (1910) 29-34; KOSS Political Press 78-81. See i894&nn5-7 and 1923^3. Lord John Manners had mentioned the financial difficulties of MP in his letter to D from Belvoir of 10 May 1848, saying that he would like to help Michele, and that he was sure that D would also be sorry to see MP pass into other hands, even though not always condoning its politics. Manners proposed to meet with D to discuss ways of raising the £25,380 needed to save the paper, suggested a loan backed by a list of subscribers, and enclosed a proposal for contributors to sign. He also mentioned that Bentinck had said that there was nothing he could do to help, but included a list of party men that he thought would. After two notes on 24 May arranging to see D on the matter, Manners was to write again on 30 May to say that he had had a 'painful' meeting with Michele, and that the enterprise to keep the paper had failed. He would mention in a letter of 10 November 1848 that the MP problem was still not resolved, but that Michele now had until August 1849 to find funding. H B/xx/M/28-3i,35. See also Disraeli, Derby 8-9, 16. It must have been hard for D to be sympathetic, because at this time MP was violently against the Jewish Disabilities Relief Bill, to the point of publishing some viciously anti-Semitic pieces, such as one on 8 March 1848 that claimed that Jews couldn't be admitted into the House until the ventilation had been improved to handle the stench. See further 1745^7. 2 D probably had been given a full account of Manners's affairs and projects at a long talk they had had on 7 April; on 17 April 1848 Manners had recorded it in his journal: 'Ten days ago went to

29

1650 TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[Grosvenor Gate? Monday 22 May 1848]

ORIGINAL: H A/i/A/227 COVER: MRS. DISRAELI | [in MA'S hand:] 1848 May 22d EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in MA'S hand on the last page of the MS: '1848 May 22d.' Dating: the context confirms the endorsement; see ni. Sic: Wifie.

My dear Wifie, I am obliged to go down to the House about Ld Exeters committee1 - & only write this to tell you I love / you, for there is no news of any kind. Your own | D. l651 TO: PHILIP ROSE House of Commons, Tuesday [23 May 1848] ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/26 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed across the text on the fourth page of the MS: '23rd Ma}' iS^SRenjn. D'Israeli Esq. M.P.' Dating: by Hume's postponed motion (see n3) which confirms the endorsed date.

My dear Rose, House of Comm: | Thu Tuesday I enclose you the will, that you may be quite satisfied. Take care of it for me, altho' I have a duplicate. / If I do not hear from you to the contrary, our appointment for Friday shall be four o'ck, as our Committee / on the Bank Charter 1 is now sitting on its report & will not rise before that hour. You are on the Speaker's List for Friday / & Monday next,2 but I am sorry London ... [and had] a long talk with Disraeli about Politics; he said Stanley & G. Bentinck never speak: that Beresford with Stanley manages the party, the elections &c just as he pleases: that about 50 men, whom he called the Imperial guard, stick heartily to G.B. & himself: about as many to Beresford & Newdigate [sic]. That Lincoln, and his friends are anxious for a junction & that G.B. has gone so far as to say he bears no personal illwill to L.' BEALJMJ; Blake 262. See further l662&ni and i664&n4- On 20 April, one of Manners's sisters (Countess Jermyn) had died in premature labour. 1 On Friday 12 May 1848 the House by a division of 178-177(0 voting with the minority) had appointed a select committee to inquire into the allegations made in a petition against the 1847 election returns for Stamford that Lord Exeter had interfered in 'the late and former elections'; Exeter, as owner of most of the qualifying tenements in the borough, possessed most of the influence. In the 1847 election Lord Granby and J.C. Herries had won the two seats for the Protectionists. The primary charge was that Exeter had evicted 22 of 27 tenants who had voted against his nominees in the last election, thus violating the Bill of Rights. On 22 May Lord John Russell made a procedural proposal about the membership of the committee, but no discussion followed the brief answer he was given. The Times (22 May 1848). The members of the committee would be selected on 30 May 1848; after hearing much evidence from tenants about their apprehensions in several elections, the committee found the charges of threats and promises not proved. The report is dated 22 July 1848. BSP:HC 1847-8 XIV 395-402.

1 On 17 February J.C. Herries had proposed that the 1844 Bank Charter Act (see IV i6o2n4) be suspended pending the report of the Commercial Distress Committee (see i627ni), but the main point made in the ensuing debate was that the matter was under consideration by committee and therefore out of order; the motion was defeated 163-122, D voting with the minority. Hansard xcvi cols 803-67. D'S reference therefore is presumably to the Commercial Distress Committee. 2 Presumably Rose had been granted a pass to the gallery to hear the debates. Possibly he was scheduled to appear before a railway committee, in which case it probably was the select committee sitting on the two days D mentions to hear evidence on the Great Western Railway Bill for a branch from Slough to Windsor. D had taken an interest in opposing this bill, largely because of the agitation

30

to tell you that Hume will not be able to bring forward his motion. 3 Monday is the Navig[ati]on Laws[.]4 Yours sinc[ere]ly | D TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI House of Commons [Thursday] 25 May 1848 1.6^2 ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/226 COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Grosvenor Gate | Park Lane [in MA'S hand:} 1848 May 25th POSTMARK: (i) In circle: [illegible] \ 25MY25 11848 | [Maltese cross] (2) In lozenge: ][illegible] | MY261 {illegible}^ | A (3) a cancelled one-penny stamp EDITORIAL COMMENT: It is not clear why D would mail MA a letter from the House which she would not get until the next day. Presumably she had not yet started the practice of waiting up for him.

My dearest wife, H of C We succeeded in putting off the Bulwer motion for a few days.1 George Bentinck won 11 thous eleven thousand pounds / at the Derby yesterday. He told me so himself. The world will probably say double as much but it [is] / quite enough, I think, witht running horses.2 of William Cookesley, and Rose could have been involved. The bill was passed and given Royal Assent on 14 August 1848. See ivtjjgni. H B/xxi/c/377-8o; JHC (1847-8) 372, 392, 409, 455, 645, 785, 920; MP (26, 30 May, i June 1848); Gladstone Diaries IV 44n9_ 3 On Tuesday 23 May 1848 Joseph Hume postponed his motion for parliamentary reform until 20 June, when he would introduce his proposal for household suffrage, the ballot, triennial parliaments, equal electoral districts, and removal of qualifications for MPS, arguing that these measures were the only way of preventing revolution in Great Britain. See i657&n2. Hansard xcvm cols 1307-12. 4 On 15 May the house had begun the debate on whether to go into committee on the bill to repeal the navigation laws, which required much of the commerce with the colonies and even with foreign countries to be carried on British ships with predominantly British crews. On that night the debate had been adjourned by a division until Monday 29 May. On 29 May the motion to go into committee would be passed after an amendment made by J.C. Herries was defeated 294-177, D voting with the minority. D was to make a long speech on the topic on the last night of debate, 9 June 1848. Hansard xcvm cols 988-1055, xcix cols 9-70, 179-234, 251-328, 510-59, 573-673 (D'S speech 62046). See Conacher Peelites 50, 220, 222-5. The bill would be passed in 1849. 1 See i634&n3. News of Sir Henry Bulwer's expulsion from Madrid on 17 May had arrived in London by telegraph and was first published on 24 May, the same day on which he arrived in London himself. The Times (24 May 1848). See Bell Palmerston n 439-40. On 25 May, after Palmerston's statement that he would be tabling papers on the matter within 48 hours, George Bankes (supported by D) postponed his own motion scheduled for the next day. On 5 June Bankes would move a resolution expressing regret at the government's actions leading to its humiliation by Spain, and D would make an eloquent speech vindicating Bulwer's actions in Spain in light of his having been made a scapegoat by his superiors; D used it as an occasion to elaborate on some of his favourite ideas: 'My objection to liberalism is this - that it is the introduction into the practical business of life of the highest kind - namely, politics - of philosophical ideas instead of political principles. In fact, when a man goes to Madrid, for instance, he is not to guide his conduct with reference to the interests of England or of Spain ... but he is immediately to set about to infuse into a party, probably the weakest in the country, certain philosophical principles [which are] to be the bond of brotherhood with some small political faction, which, perhaps, would never have existed were it not for such fostering.' Bulwer immediately, and again after reading the speech, wrote to D with fervent gratitude. Hansard xcvm cols 1329-30, xcix cols 347-422 (D'S speech 385-400); H B/xxi/ 8/1305-6,1308. Srbik (Metternich II 315-17) claims that this speech and the 16 August speech clearly show the influence of Metternich on D. See also 1656111, i6yji\2, 1684112 and i688ni. 2 Bentinck had sold his racing stable when he became Protectionist leader. On 24 May, Derby day, Bentinck had been at Epsom Downs where Surplice, a horse that he had bred and named, won the race (at even odds) on a new course that Bentinck had suggested and laid out, although he arrived four minutes too late to see the race run. The Times (25 May 1848). See D'S fuller account of the 'blue ribbon of the turf scene in LGB ch 26.

31

There is little news. Ld Lansdowne making his speech about the Jews, but their prospects very / black. 3 Ever your own | D. 1653 TO: [GEORGE FREDERICK SMITH] ORIGINAL: H A/vn/A/37

Carlton Club [Monday] 29 May 1848

EDITORIAL COMMENT: D'S letters to G.F. Smith in Hare filed together, so the recipient is established even though some of the letters do not bear his name.

My dear Sir, Carlton | May 29 1848 I am anxious to avoid further delays, & should have called on you ere this, but for the great pressure of / public affairs, & the impossibility of my making appointments. Will you let me know when Mr Wright will be in / town as I wish particularly to see him. 1 Yours faithfully | D. 1654

T0:

SARAH DISRAELI ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/3ii

[London, Tuesday 30 May 1848]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 215, dated 30 May 1848, the second and fourth paragraphs, conflated with an extract from 1645; M&B in 180, dated 30 May 1848, the last paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'May 30 - 48'. Dating: the endorsed date is plausible; see nn2-3.

My dear Sa I have been a long time sending the enclosed,1 of wh: on the whole, I approve. The / state of Paris is most threatening & a general explosion there is hourly expected.2 Of private affairs I can say little, or rather nothing, at this / moment, but there are streaks of light. I have seen Metternich twice at great length.3 He talks much & is very kind to me. Ever yrs affly | D. 3 The Jewish Disabilities Bill that had earlier been passed by the Commons received its second reading in the Lords on 25 May 1848. Lord Lansdowne moved second reading. After a debate, the motion was defeated 163-128, with virtually all of D'S noble friends voting in the majority. Hansard XCVIII cols 1330-1409. MP on 31 May would comment on the 'extraordinary coincidence' between the result of the Derby and the defeat of the Jewish Disabilities Bill in the Lords: 'In one case, Surplice beat Springy Jack and Shylock; in the other, the Bishops floored Little Lord John and the Jew Baron.' 1 D was presumably negotiating for a loan from Wright in connection with the Hughenden purchase; see i657&m, i687ni and i7O2&m. 1 Presumably the text of the inscription for Isaac's and Maria's memorial plaque; see i64jn4- In midJuly Sarah would report that it was at last placed in the church, and that she had waited at Bradenham to see it up. H D/lll/A/193. 2 The London papers on 30 May published reports from Paris that there were fears of unrest because the workmen were resolved to assemble and demand the recall of Emile Thomas, director of the national workshops, and that the whole of the National Guard had been called out. Reports the next day told of Paris having 'remained perfectly tranquil.' The Times, MP (30, 31 Mar 1848). The revolt over the matter of the workshops began on 23 June. The Times (24, 26 June 1848). 3 D had been introduced to Prince Metternich by Lord Londonderry on 17 May: in the letter of 15 May in which he arranged to take D to meet the Prince, Londonderry had added that D could 'fix

32

TO: BENJAMIN LUMLEY ORIGINAL: QUA 94

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 11 June 1848

1655

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. Endorsed in another hand: '1848. D'Israeli B. Thanks &c.'.

B. Lumley Esqr. Grosvenor Gate | June 11. 1848 My dear Sir, I have been so pressed by public business, this last week, that I have never found a moment to acknowledge your obliging kindness, & I would not delegate / the office to another. We were highly gratified by the Lucia of Mile. Lind, who is indeed an artist of singular originality & freshness.1 I trust your campaign fulfils / all your wishes. I am always interested in your career.2 When you are passing Grosvenor Gate, en route to the Park, Mrs Disraeli will be very happy to see / you. She is often at home, & always on Sunday mornings. Believe me, | my dear Sir, | Very faithfully Yours B Disraeli TO: [GEORGE FREDERICK YOUNG]

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 12 June 1848

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 46712 ff87-8 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. The addressee is identified in Index of Manuscripts in the British Library (1986).

My dear Sir, Grosvenor Gate | June 12 1848 I return you a document, wh:, I remember, you valued. I understand that / Wilson is going to impugn my figures. I am so busy, at this moment, with the West Indies, that / I cannot turn to his speech, wh: is not in the House. I hope however your confidence is not shaken in your / statement.1 Yours faithfully | D. then another day with him if you like for a Tete a Tete.' H B/xx/v/4. Princess Metternich recorded the meeting at which D and her husband met, remarking that Metternich had always admired D and that they understood each other perfectly. ('Er hatte ihn immer bewundert und verstdndigt sich mit ihm vollkommen gut.') Metternich's Papers VIII 22. 1 On 3 June 1848 Benjamin Lumley had sent the Ds tickets for a box for that night, the last performance of this engagement for Jenny Lind (1820-1887), 'the Swedish Nightingale', in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor; according to MA'S records, Lumley honoured the Ds in this way from time to time. H B/xxi/L/4i6, 0/111/0/765-6. 2 On the role of Jenny Lind in the temporary revival of Lumley's fortunes see iv 159601. 1 In his speech of Friday 9 June in the debate on the repeal of the navigation laws, D had challenged the figures cited by James Wilson in his speech (his first in the House) on 29 May, and with much condescending drollery about maiden speeches had provided alternative figures in support of the laws. Presumably G.F. Young (for whom see i9O2ni), the chairman of the General Shipowners' Society to whom D had been recently introduced, was the source of some of D'S information. In the event, Wilson did not make a speech in the House to 'impugn' D'S figures, but may have done so in the press. The 'House' to which D is here referring is Grosvenor Gate, where he is preparing

33

l6^^A

1656 TO: PRINCE METTERNICH Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 18 June [1848] ORIGINAL: SUAP RAM ACJ, inv. no. 6 ffi-a EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper.

a, S.A.S. | Le Prince Metternich Grosvenor Gate | ce 18 Juin Mon cher Prince, Les discussions dans la Chambre sont si graves, la semaine courante, que je le trouve tres difficile d'indiquer / immediatement le jour pour recevoir notre homme; mais soyez sure, que je lui donnera la premiere entrevue possible.1 Malgre les affaires, j'espere, bientot, de saisir / 1'occasion de vous offrir personellement, mon Prince, les hommages de votre eleve, reconnaissant et devoue Disraeli^ 1657 TO: [GEORGE FREDERICK SMITH]

[London, Sunday] 18 June 1848

ORIGINAL: H A/vn/A/38 EDITORIAL COMMENT: For the recipient cfi6e%ec.

My dear Sir, June i8th. 1848 I entered into communications after I saw you, my friend being in the country, wh: I cannot abruptly terminate, & wh: promise well. 1

the speech on distress in the West Indies that he would deliver on 16 June, but where he does not have a copy of Wilson's speech of 29 May. Hansard xcix cols 58-65, (D'S speech) 620-46. 1 In a letter dated 18 June, Metternich (addressing D as 'cher Israeli') had reported that the man who was to have called on D that afternoon was ill, and he had asked D to name another day. H B/ xxi/M/351. D seems to have been arranging with one or more writers to assist Metternich with anonymous articles on European affairs for the English press, including the Quarterly Review. According to Wellesley Index I 731, 733, an anonymous article on the Germanic states in QR September 1848 (451-80) was written by Travers Twiss (1809-1897), Kt 1867, with 'hints and notes' from Metternich. The article was the first of a series of three, the other two appearing in December 1848 and March 1849. Edward Cheney (1803-1884) would collaborate with Metternich on another article, 'Baxter's Impressions of Europe' in QR March 1850 (492-526); Cheney is said to have written other articles for Metternich between 1849 and 1855. Srbik Metternich III 181. Since Cheney suffered from continuing ill-health, it is possible that he is 'notre homme' mentioned here. The Earl of Ilchester Chronicles of Holland House 1820-1900 (1837) 364. On the other hand, it may have been Twiss, an expert on German affairs, who here is being recruited for the QR article of September 1848. H B/xxi/M/340. See further i666&m. 2 In the signature, here and in other 1848 letters to Metternich, D has drawn a line over the 'ae', presumably to indicate that it should be pronounced as a diphthong. Metternich consistently writes 'Disraeli', indicating a pronunciation with four syllables. As D became more prominent, there were some public differences over the pronunciation of his name; see, for example, J.S. Feild to D, 13 April 1849, about 'a bet of some importance' on the subject, and referring to current newspaper discussion. H A/IV/L/42. 1 The reference is presumably to Rose, with whom D had been negotiating a loan. See i638&m and further references cited there. According to a draft agreement among the Hughenden purchase papers, Wright eventually lent D£5,000; see 1713^, i687ni and 1702m. H A/vn/A/48. Increasingly impatient letters to Wright, Smith and Shepherd from Metcalfe and Woodhouse from the early summer of 1847 until late August 1848 indicate that Smith was using several ploys, especially the timber-evaluation issue, to stall for time, presumably to raise the money needed to complete the purchase. H A/vil/B/i4-46.

34

My brother also has been offered 20,000 at 41/2 pr cent in the country, if / required. I have declined giving an answer to him, until the end of the week. If, therefore, your friend presses, you must refuse his offer. At all events I am resolved to conclude the purchase / immediately, & am glad therefore you have made the subsidiary arrangement wh: you mention. About Wednesday, I shall call on you to make final arrangements. The terrible pressure of the / coming debates, Monday & Tuesday especially, alone prevent me calling sooner.2 Yours faithfully | D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate, Friday [23 June 1848] 1658

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/c/530 [20] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page of the MS: 'June 23d 1848 Mr D'Israeli With a Turtle'. Dating: by context; see m.

Dear Lady, Grosvenor Gate | Friday A distinguished foreigner, tho' not a political exile, claims the renowned hospitality / of Holdernesse House. He is clothed in complete armor; but is, nevertheless more suited to the banquet table, / than to the battle field of tomorrow.1 Tho' pacific, however, I am glad to say he is most lively. Ever your obliged | & faithful Sert | D. TO: [LADY LONDONDERRY] [London, Friday 25 June 1848] 1659 ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/c/53o [45] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. There is no salutation. Cfi66^. Dating: by Lady Londonderry's dated letter; see ni. Sic Adeliza:,.

It seems to me all quite right - & I admire your antiquarian research!1 One or two of the ladies were never Queens - Avisa2 & Mary Bohun 3 - but that / does 2 On Monday 19 June the House was to begin debate on the sugar duties, and on Tuesday it would debate Hume's motion on national representation (see 16518013). In the debate on the latter D would denounce the motion as a scheme aimed at increasing the power of the middle class, and entertain the House with his account of the way in which the agitation for the proposal had been raised. D would illustrate his argument that suffrage was neither a trust nor a right but a privilege by pointing out the illogicality of seeing suffrage as a right if suffrage was not extended to include women. The debate was then adjourned to 6 July, when the motion was defeated 84-351, D voting with the majority. On 28 June Lady Braye would write to thank MA for a copy of the speech, expressing her appreciation of D'S 'liberal vindication of the Rights of Women, - for which I am sure / shall ever feel a debt of gratitude towards him.' Hansard xcix cols 811-78, 879-966 (D'S speech 944-66); C cols 156-229. H D/m/C/145. 1 On 24 June there was to be a review in Hyde Park of the 2nd Life Guards by Lord Londonderry, the regiment's colonel; on 27 June he would give his annual banquet at Holdernesse House to the officers of the regiment. In her thanks for D'S gift Lady Londonderry asked D to call the next day, and MA was to record that the DS spent two hours with her on Saturday 24 June. H B/xx/vi49; H ace; MP (26, 28 June 1848). 1 On 25 June 1848 Lady Londonderry wrote to D to ask him to look over for any 'egregious blunder' and return immediately a list of kings and queens who were to be represented in a quadrille she was arranging for the Spitalfields Charity Ball on 7 July. H B/xx/v/150. 2 King John in 1189 had married Lady Avisa (variously spelled, more commonly known as Isabella), daughter of William, Earl of Gloucester; King John divorced her for lack of issue in 1200, the first

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not, in the least, signify - except that if Miss Meyrick4 & Miss Pakenham 5 wear crowns, we must get up a republican emeute, & tear them off, wh: will give an effect to the quadrille. / I have inserted two or three male names in pencil, wh: occurred to me, & wh:, I thought, might be useful. Albini was the lover, & 2nd. husband, of Adeliza:,6 & Sir Nicholas Carew / the greatest man of fashion of Henry 8th.'s Court: his companion at the Field of Cloth of Gold-& his witness at his marriage with Jane Seymour.7 I shall be able to reach H. House tomorrow wh: I feared wd. not have been in my power,8 wh: makes me very glad. Ever yr fl Sert D. l66O TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[House of Commons, Friday 30 June 1848]

ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/228 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in MA'S hand on the last page of the MS: '1848 June 30th. Dizzy'. Dating: The endorsed date fits the context; see ni.

My darling, Send me by bearer two letters from Mr Irving on my table - they are docketed outside "Mauritius"'[.] l year of his reign, but she was not crowned queen. She remarried twice, first to Geoffrey de Mandeville, son of, and later himself, the Earl of Essex, and then to Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent. 3 Lady Mary de Bohun (d 1394), daughter of Humphrey, Earl of Hereford, married Henry iv in 1380 but died before his succession to the throne in 1400. 4 At the ball Lady Avisa was played by Louisa Katharine Meyrick, fourth daughter of William Henry Meyrick and granddaughter of ist Duke of Cleveland. MP (8 July 1848). 5 Lady Mary de Bohun was played by Mary Frances Hester Pakenham (1830-1898), third daughter of Sir Hercules Robert Pakenham, niece of 2nd Earl of Longford; in 1850 she would marry William Verner, later 2nd Baronet. 6 William de Albini (or d'Aubigny) (d 1176), Earl of Arundel, between 1135 and 1139 married Queen Adeliza (d 1151), widow (second wife) of Henry I and daughter of Godfrey of Louvaine, Duke of Brabant. 7 Sir Nicholas Carew was master of the horse to Henry vm and one of Henry's favourites. At the Field of Cloth of Gold (1520) he held the lists against all comers and was at Henry's meeting with Charles V. He was granted the Garter in 1536, the year of Henry's marriage to Jane Seymour (d 1537). He was beheaded for treason on Tower Hill in 1539. 8 Presumably at the time of writing this letter D had seen the order paper indicating that the item for which he wished to be present (a statement from Benjamin Hawes defending the colonial office against hostile charges by Bentinck) would be the first item of business, thus allowing him to leave the House early. See 1664^7. 1 D had received letters from John Irving (d 1853?), executor and residual legatee of his uncle John Irving, late Conservative MP for Antrim and a partner in Reid, Irving and Co, a respected merchant house. The latter had (contra Boase and Stenton) died in 1845. The failure of Reid, Irving and Co, on 17 September 1847, had been one of the greatest sensations of the 1847 financial crisis: the firm had invested over half a million pounds in its interests in Mauritius. Irving had written to D in 1846 on various matters pertaining to free trade, with particular interest in its effect on Canada; he had also sent, at D'S request, various papers he had drawn up on the subject. In a note (docketed '1848' by MA) he had also told of the dilapidation of the British sugar colonies and enclosed a 'memorial of the Mauritius Houses.' On Monday 3 July, in a speech he perhaps thought he would be able to make on 30 June, D would cite the disastrous experience of Reid, Irving and Co in Mauritius in support of his contention that protection both at home and for the colonies was needed to preserve the empire, and that the small amount of protection now being proposed by the government merely confirmed D'S predictions in 1846 that free trade would fail. MP (23 Dec 1845; 18, 20 Sept, 11 Dec

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I don't think I / shall be able to come as the debate is going on. Your own | D. TO: LORD LONDONDERRY ORIGINAL: DUR o/LO/c/53o [46]

Grosvenor Gate, Wednesday 5 July 1848 l66l

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper.

My dear Lord, Grosvenor Gate | Wednesday | July 5. 1848 I am greatly distressed that I should have seemed, for a moment, insensible of the honor of your confidence, wh: I so entirely appreciate.1 / The fact is, that I assumed from what had been said & written, that it was not merely my individual opinion, that you wished to ascertain / - & as the document was most ably framed, & entirely adapted for the purpose, wh: I contemplated, I wished to read it, in strict confidence, to one or two persons before I / communicated to you the result. It was only yesterday evening, that I could confer upon its contents with Lord George, who, being on the point of leaving town, has fixed tomorrow (Thursday) morning, to talk over the / matter. Lord Stanley did not return to town until late on Sunday night. I have to see him, but I wished if possible that my conversation / of tomorrow should previously occur. Ever, my dear Lord, | Yours most sincerely | B Disraeli TO: THE DUKE OF RICHMOND

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 6 July 1848 l66l

ORIGINAL: WSRO Goodwood Ms. 1706 f475 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in Richmond's hand on the first page of the MS: 'July 6 1848 yes.'.

My dear Lord Duke, Grosvenor Gate | July 6 1848 Lord Stanley does me the honor of dining with me on the 19th: to meet Lord George & a party of / his friends in the House of Commons. I should be very much gratified, if your Grace's engagements would permit you to meet / them; & I am sure they would all share my satisfaction. 1 Believe me, | Your faithful Sert | B Disraeli 1847); The Times (18 Sept 1847); MC (18 Sept 1847), The Satirist (26 Sept 1847); H B/xxi/i/i3-i6; Hansard xcix cols 1414-70, c cols 4-81 (D'S speech 65-75). For the financial statements issued by Reid, Irving and Co in 1847-8 see D. Morier Evans The Commercial Crisis 184.7-184.8... (1848) appendix xiv-xviii. 1 Lord Londonderry on this day had written to ask D whether a letter he had sent him earlier had been lost: 'Let me only know you have received it & committed it to the flames.' He was referring to a long letter he had written to D on i July which he understandably would not have wanted to fall into the wrong hands. In it he had expressed the opinion that, since the danger of an upheaval in Britain now seemed past, it was time to work for a new government and, towards that end, a reconciliation of Protectionists and Peelites in a united Conservative Party without Peel. For prospective leader he rejected Bentinck as a 'Bright Meteor', Lincoln as 'not up to the mark', and also Merries, Inglis, Granby and Bankes, but thought Goulburn might be 'less objectionable than any one.' H B/xx/v/5-6. For other attempts by Londonderry to achieve this reconciliation see Conacher Peelites 35, 80, 83, 89. 1 On 19 July D was to host a dinner at Grosvenor Gate for seventeen guests: the Duke of Richmond, Lords Stanley, Granby, Worcester and Galway, Lord George Bentinck, Sir John Walsh, Sir John

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1663

TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate, Friday [7 July 1848]

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/c/530 [21] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the eighth page of the MS: 'respecting the fancy Ball'. There is no salutation. The two sheets are numbered. Dating: by context; see ni. Sic: Phillippe de Comines.

Gros Gate | Friday I hope I have not detained your arrangements - but my hat was on my head, when your commands arrivedf.] 1 I have endeavoured to obey them: as follows / Isabella of Bavaria must find a companion in the Duke of Burgundy? For Margaret of Scotland, I should propose Phillippe de Comines^ - but if Lady Seaham4 / will have a noble who was only a warrior — there is no one I can think of in her gloomy epoch but the Lord of Ardennes, William de la March.5 The two wives o f / Francis the 1st might find worthy attendants in the great Constable of Bourbon & Chevalier Bayard.6 I think we might accord to / the wife of Henry 3 the Due de Guise — but if she like, there is the Prince ofSalm to whom she was b engaged before her royal marriage / & whom she never forgot.^ Yarde Buller, Sir William Jolliffe, and Messrs Law, Herries, Buck, Christopher, Du Pre, Walpole, Stuart and Hudson. According to Blake (262), the purpose of the dinner was to reconcile Stanley and Bentinck, but the actual effect was to draw D and Stanley closer together. See 1664. MA made numerous preparations for the dinner, and had ducks, chickens and artichokes sent up from Bradenham, as well as flowers from Hughenden. She was pleased with the efforts of her own cook (Margaret Cash), but thought 'the man Cook' to have been too wasteful and declared herself 'pas content' at the amount of wine drunk at the dinner. H ace (19 July, 29 Aug 1848). 1 In a note dated 7 July 1848 by MA, Lady Londonderry had asked D for help with another quadrille that she was organizing. The one for the kings and queens of England she was presenting with D's help (see i659&m) later this day was to be repeated at Holdernesse House on 11 July, at which time she now also planned to present one based on the kings and queens of France. She hoped D would be able to provide 'sounding names' of men from the appropriate period as partners for the fourteen French queens she listed. H B/XX/V/IJI. 2 Isabella of Bavaria (1370-1435) was the daughter of Stephen n, Duke of Bavaria, and wife of Charles VI of France. She was at one time imprisoned for her 'scandalous life' (EB xi) but released in 1417 by John the Fearless (1371-1419), Duke of Burgundy, Charles's younger brother. 3 Margaret of Scotland (i425?-i445), the eldest child of James I of Scotland, married Louis xi in 1436 and died young after accusations of infidelity. Philippe de Comines (or Commines) (ci445-ci5ii), chamberlain to Louis XI, has been called the father of modern history. His Memoirs cover the period 1464-98. 4 Lady Londonderry's son Lord Seaham in 1846 had married Mary Cornelia Edwards (d 1906), only daughter and heiress of Sir John Edwards, ist Baronet. 5 Guillaume de la Marche, known as 'le Sanglier [wild boar] d'Ardaine' or Ardenne, in 1482 conspired to murder Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liege, and succeeded, with the help of Louis xi. M. Petitot Collection Complete des Memoires Relatifs d I'Histoire de France (Paris 1826) series I, XIV 105-7, based in this case on the Chronicles of Jean de Troyes for 1482 (an earlier edition was in the Hughenden library). 6 Claude de Lorraine (1499-1524), daughter of Louis xil of France, married Francis I in 1514. Eleanor of Austria (Eleonore de Habsbourg) (1498-1558), sister of Emperor Charles v and widow of Manuel of Portugal, married Francis in 1530. Charles Bourbon (1490-1527) was made constable of France for bravery in 1515 and thus was known as Constable de Bourbon. He later allied himself with Charles v and Henry vni of England. Pierre du Terrail (1476-1524), Chevalier de Bayard, was known as the 'chevalier sans peur et sans reproche'. Chambers. 7 Henry in of France (1551-1589) married Louise of Lorraine (1553-1601), daughter of Nicolas, comte de Vaudemont. Henry, 3rd due de Guise (1550-1588), soldier and statesman, was (with King Henry)

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I have assumed in these suggestions, that the characters must be French & not foreign cotemporaries. / I hope to see you tonight on your throne of state, governing Queens, & therefore a real Empress.8 Your f[aithfu]l Se[rvan]t | D. TO: LORD PONSONBY

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 9 [July] 1848 1664

ORIGINAL: DURP [5] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. The sheets after the first are numbered: '2', '3', '4', '5'. Dating: D has obviously written the wrong month; see nni,4,7. Sic: June 9; Besboro'; Innspruck [common lyth-century spelling].

My dear Lord Grosvenor Gate | June 9. 1848 Few things have given me greater pleasure, than the sight of yr handwriting this morning - recalling the interesting hours I have passed in your / society, & all those accomplishments & high qualities, wh: endear you to all who know you, & to few so much as myself.1 It is two years since we parted - but / counted by events - two centuries. I found it before impossible to communicate by letter, even when the incidents were comparatively commonplace, & the business of life an ordinary struggle. Now / the incidents are revolutions, & the struggle is to maintain the empire & aristocracy of England, both avowedly beleaguered. It is in vain to attempt to dwell on these things: it would require one of those long summer / night walks when we used to stroll together from Westminster to May Fair.2 As far as the disposition of parties is concerned, all is as was foreseen by our lamented friend, Ld. Besboro'3 - a government / ruling without a parliamentary majority, &, therefore, with only the semblance of strength. However, they cannot, on the whole, complain of their rivals. But the essential weakness will necessarily, at times, develope itself. Peel / ostentatiously gives out, that he will never again assume the helm, & his friends, acting on this hint, have thrown out many overtures for reconciliation & reconstruction.4 I form my opinion of one of the organizers of the St Bartholomew's massacre. Jean-Philippe (fl 1562), count of Salm, the Rhingrave, was an ally of Coligny in the Huguenot wars. However, his younger brother Paul seems to have been the one favoured by Louise before her marriage. J. Shimizu Conflict of Loyalties ... (Geneva 1970) 83n, gon, citing Agrippa d'Aubigne Histoire Universelle (1616-20); Comte de Baillon Histoire de Louise de Lorraine (1884) 31-2. 8 The Ds were to be among the guests at the Spitalfields Ball, where, according to Lord Malmesbury, Lady Londonderry's quadrille, though 'very splendid', was 'received with shouts of laughter mingled with applause.' Malmesbury I 232. 1 Lord Ponsonby had written from Innsbruck on 29 June 1848, praising D's speech of 20 June (on national representation) of which he had seen a newspaper report; he asked for a correct and signed copy. H B/xxi/P/325. See nil. His presence at Innsbruck indicated that he had followed the court there, after the insurrection in Vienna on 15 May. The court would return to Vienna on 12 August; see i6go&n2. 2 That is, from the House to Grosvenor Gate. In his letter of 17 May 1846 Ponsonby had similarly recollected his and D'S walk of 'last week' from Charing Cross to the House during which they had discussed Peel's corn bill. H B/xxi/p/3i8. 3 Lord Ponsonby's kinsman John William Ponsonby (1781-1847), 4th Earl of Bessborough, had died on 16 May 1847; he had been appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland on 10 July 1846. For Ponsonby's and D's involvement with him in their 1846 attempt to form a government see IV 1475^. 4 For the continuing efforts to persuade Peel to resume the leadership see Gash Peel &33ff, Conacher

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Peel's future conduct & career not upon his statements, but / my observation of his character - & I believe he is dissembling. My friends have no wish to disturb the present arrangement, provided there are no concessions to the urban faction. 5 As for Palmerston, I have not only not opposed him, but, to the / occasional dissatisfaction of my comrades, have even interfered to prevent parliamentary criticism, or any concerted move, against him.6 All this according to our feeling when we parted. The Protectionists themselves, after some quarrelling & sulking are pretty well much as you left / them. George Bentinck inexorable against the new commercial principles, & confident in their speedy catastrophe amid the indignation & sufferings of the people. The great Grey controversy,7 of wh: by this time you have read, removed some little estrangement that / had taken place between him & Lord Stanley about the religious question; & on the 19th, they are both to dine with me, & meet the flower of their friends in the House of Peelites 13-14, 23-4, 25-6 and Greville v 460, 463, vi 33-5, 74. Several of D'S correspondents in 1848 had worried about the prospect, but Lord George Bentinck on 12 June 1848 had written to D of Peel's recent humiliating reception by his old party (there had been a sustained attempt on 9 June to prevent Peel from speaking in the navigation-laws debate - see Gash Peel 634) and expressed the view that 'a few more such rubs will settle his account.' HB/xx/Be/58. D'S suggestion that Peel's friends had 'thrown out many overtures for reconciliation and reconstruction' is misleading; rather, they were the object of overtures from Protectionists and Whigs. Conacher Peelites 34-40, 72-4, 812, 98-110. See further 1745^9 and I756n9. 5 D may be referring to the Radicals or more broadly to those who supported their doctrines which favoured the interests of the urban classes. The term was, however, inappropriate for the freetrade Conservatives who supported Peel, since it has been demonstrated that there was no appreciable difference in the social composition of these two sections of the Conservative party. W.O. Aydelotte 'The Country Gentlemen and the Repeal of the Corn Laws' The English Historical Review LXXXII (1967) 47-60.

6 C/i686&ni. On 19 May 1849 E.H. Stanley would record a conversation in which D 'took an opportunity ... strenuously to disclaim any special forbearance towards Palmerston.' He further would record the rumour that D, during the uncertainty on the leadership, had been 'in treaty for the office of Minister at Vienna - that Lord P. objected on the ground of his being a Protectionist, whereon D. replied "Search my speeches through, and you will not find one word of Protection in them." This last saying,' Stanley acknowledged, 'whether genuine or fictitious, is near the truth. His great displays ... have all been attacks on opponents, not assertions of a principle. (I repeat this absurd story simply because it was very current at the time.) He is now anxious to drop the subject of a protective duty altogether: but this the party will not allow.' Disraeli, Derby 8. The point about D'S willingness to befriend Palmerston would later also be made by Bear Ellice in a letter to Lord Aberdeen. Conacher Peelites 93. Others heard this rumour, too. Both Lincoln and Sidney Herbert thought that D would accept a foreign mission and that Palmerston would give it to him. Lord Stanmore Sidney Herbert: Lord Herbert of Lea (London, 1906) I 89. 7 On Thursday, 22 June, in the debate on the rum duties (part of the West Indies sugar question), Lord George Bentinck had repeated the accusation he first made on 16 June, that Lord Grey's colonial office had deliberately withheld from the sugar committee a despatch of 21 February 1848 from Sir Charles Grey (currently governor of Jamaica where he was popular as an advocate for protection of sugar) showing that the 1846 act had had the effect of increasing slave-grown-sugar cultivation fourfold, while ruining planters in the British colonies. In the ensuing commotion, D had castigated Lord John Russell for his rebuke of Bentinck. On Monday 26 June Benjamin Hawes, colonial under-secretary, had made a statement identifying two clerks in the colonial office as the source of the problem cited by Bentinck, whereupon Bentinck had withdrawn his accusation that the incident had been politically motivated. D in his speech had been less inclined to let the government off so lightly. Hansard xcix cols 729-93 (D'S questions and speech 775-85), 809-11, 10021012 (D'S speech 1006-7), 1089-1165 (D'S speech 1151-4), 1168-1217 (D'S speech 1196-1207). See also LGB 399.

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Commons to celebrate renovated cordiality & the events of the parliamentary campaign / wh:, as far as public opinion is concerned, are, certainly, not to our disadvantage.8 The West India Committee, & its consequences, have gained for Bentinck golden opinions out of doors. His conduct of that Committee for four months is one of the greatest efforts of the / kind on record, & forced the government to repeal their own measure of -46 in the teeth of all their economical dogmas, & of all the political economists behind them.9 I have seen a good deal of Prince Metternich, to whom I have become much affected. He lives quite retired - the Princess / & his family much in society10 — but he receives every evening some old friends — & in the morning, if you wish to be more undisturbed. To me, he appears, what I never expected to meet, a great philosophic statesman. They There are some here, who think, that he talks too / much - but I am not of that number. I listen to his expositions unwearied; always instructed, sometimes charmed. Personally I like him: he is winning. I enclose you some copies of the speech wh: you mentioned so kindly. Its form is homely, but suited to the millions who are to be our rulers. It / is not printed from any MS. of mine, but the proof was sent me by the publisher & I had a couple of hours to correct it as far as circumstances would permit. Within those limits, I have endeavoured to restore the original language & to complete the chain of argument, often very / incoherent in the journals, especially towards the end - for I spoke very late at night, so late indeed (past midnight) that I hesitated about rising - but I thought the occasion ought not to be lost, &, at the cost of much curtailment, I availed myself of it.11 8 See i66z&ni. 9 See LGB 380-95. Bentinck, while still serving as a member of the committee on commercial distress, on 7 February had been named chairman when his 15-member West India committee had been struck. Between 9 February and 22 May the committee had met 39 times, and heard 83 witnesses. In its report the committee had recommended a differential duty for 6 years of 105 a cwt in favour of sugar produced by the British colonies. Instead the government brought in a measure of colonial preference which gradually diminished until 1854 when there would be a uniform duty of los for colonial and foreign sugar. Herbert Paul A History of Modern England (1904) I 120-1. 0 Prince Metternich in 1831 married thirdly Melanie Marie Antoinette (1805-1854), daughter of Francis, Count of Zichy-Ferraris. Greville III I35ni. The family included Richard Clemens Lothar (1829-1895), Metternich's son by his second marriage, and a daughter and two sons by his third marriage: Melanie (1832-1919), who in 1853 would marry Joseph Zichy; Paul (1834-1906); and Lothar (1837-1904). Allan Palmer Metternich (1972) 313 and genealogical table. The family was prominent in the London social notices of this period; for example, on 3 July the Prince and Princess had received at 44 Eaton Square 'a select party' which included the Duke of Wellington. MP (5 July 1848). 1 See ni. For D'S speech see i6^jn2. On 29 June 1848, William Edward Painter had written to ofrom 342 Strand, the address of The Church and State Gazette, about his plans to advertise the pamphlet with D'S speech of 20 June. A copy of the second edition of the pamphlet, printed 'By Authority' but first advertised on 26 June, is in H. H 0/111/0/464, B/xv/4; MP (26 June 1848). The Hansard report is identified as taken from the pamphlet. An example of the kind of differences o is talking of is the following sentence near the end of the speech. (Pamphlet:) 'No: it is the same movement that has given you colonial, parliamentary and commercial, reform, and now proposes to give you financial reform.' (The Times:) 'No; it is the same movement that has given you colonial, commercial, and financial reform, and now proposes to give you Parliamentary reform.' Several passages in the pamphlet are shorter than their counterparts in The Times. Stewart Writings 102 (No 618).

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Once, I had hoped to / have visited you at Vienna, & to have made the acquaintance of the great Austrian Minister thro' your kind offices - for I observe he greatly regards you. At present, Metternich lives in Eaton Square!! (stranger vicissitude than even St. Helena) & you are at Innspruck! What is life? A dream that baffles, / in its conjunctures, even the most prescient diplomatists. There is so much to say, that, in despair, I will say nothing. I place my homage at the feet of Lady Ponsonby. You are both the subject of our frequent conversation & of our fondest memory. My wife begs me to offer to / Lady Ponsonby & yourself her kindest regards & compliments - & I am always - tho' absent & silent cordially yours | D. 1665 TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/27

Carlton Club [Wednesday] 12 July [1848]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed across the fourth page of the MS: '12 July 1848 Benjn. D'Israeli Esq MP.' Dating: the context (see ni) confirms the endorsed year.

Carlton | July 12

private

My dear Rose, I have been so much pressed with public business this last month, that I have never found time to write to you: but I attended to your / business.1 Your name remains on the books as before, as you were not blackballed or anything of that sort, & I have no doubt you will be elected at the first / meeting, at the end, or beginning, of the year. Dick is no longer on the Comm[itt]ee, & referred me to Mr Neeld,2 to whom I spoke immediately, but cd. effect nothing at this moment. The fact is Dick has behaved very carelessly / & selfishly, but as I do not belong to the Club myself, it was difficult for me to keep him up to the mark, tho' I wrote & spoke often about it.3 Yours sincerely | D. 1666 TO: PRINCE METTERNICH

Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 14 July 1848

ORIGINAL: SUAP RAM AC3 inv. no. 6 ff3~4 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper.

Mon cher Maitre, Grosvenor Gate | ce 14 Juillet 1848 II est arrange avec le grand journal, d'introduire, dans une maniere tres convenable, 1'exposition de 1'etat de 1'empire d'Autriche; et je vous prie, si vous restez de meme avis sur cette affaire, de m'envoyer / cette piece a votre plaisir. Je trouvois une indisposition d'inserer, a present, des articles trop critiques, sur 1'etat financiere de la France. Les Millionaires de la Bourse, grands proveurs du grand journal, aiment / beaucoup de cherir des illusions sur la solvabilite francaise. 1 For Rose's attempt to join the Conservative Club see iv 1618. 2 It is unclear whether this is John or Joseph Neeld. 3 D had dined with Dick as recently as 23 June. H ace.

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Dimanche prochaine, a deux heures, si vous voulez, notre homme, qui, une quinzaine passee, se trouvoit malade, peut me faire / une visite. 1 Mille hommages, | cher Maitre | D. TO: RALPH BERNAL OSBORNE Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 15 July 1848 1667 ORIGINAL: SIL [i] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Philip Henry Bagenal The Life of Ralph Bemal Osbome, M.P. (1884) 107, dated 17 July 1848, with minor variations EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a transcription very kindly provided by Mark Girouard and R.H. Harcourt Williams. The transcription indicates that the MS is endorsed in another hand: '17 July 1848'.

My dear Os: Grosvenor Gate | July 15. 1848 I have been disappointed in not seeing you these few days past. I wished to have said something to you about your speech, for writing on such matters is a little too formal. I think it, without exception, your most considerable effort, & a very successful one. I have no doubt it will advance & assure your position. There was indeed only one opinion on our side about it, as their fixed attention, & even cheers, must have convinced you. For my own part I always regret, that, instead of crossing sabres, yours was not drawn at my right hand. I was much touched by your unexpected reference to my father. 1 Yours sincerely | D. 1 Metternich had written to D in French from Eaton Square on 7 July 1848 expressing his concern at the French Assembly's discussion of financial affairs, particularly the financing of railways, as he saw this to be a case of the state making a profit. He said he wanted the world, and particularly Germany, to know the truth, and he asked D if he could arrange for someone to write an article for him which would appear in one of the main English papers and then be translated for German benefit. It is evident that Metternich intended to be the actual author himself, with a journalist merely preparing the article for publication. H B/xxi/M/340. For arrangements that led to articles in QR see 1656111, but 'le grand journal' is presumably The Times. It will be remembered that Gen Cavaignac in late June had led the brutal suppression of the second 1848 Paris uprising. In the reports of the proceedings in the French Assembly of 5 July, reported in the late editions in London on 7 July, there is no mention of the railway policy of the new Cavaignac government, although the repeal of a number of the provisional government's measures was announced, as well as the securing of a loan from the Bank of France of i50,ooo,ooo/. 1 In a lively and well-documented speech on 6 July Ralph Bernal Osborne had supported Hume's motion on national representation, and had rebutted several earlier speakers, including D (see 1651^3, i657&n2 and i664&nn). Osborne had praised D for the 'sheer force of intellect and untiring energy [by which he had] almost succeeded in communicating a galvanic life to the dead principles of Toryism' but defended Peel as 'the real and only administrator' in the House. He spoke out strongly against corrupt electoral practices, and told D that he would not have been elected if the Bucks electors had had 'the protection of the ballot'. He then attacked the dominantly aristocratic representation in the House and refuted D'S 'political Puseyism' in support of 'traditionary influence and property' by reminding him that the middle classes were 'the cement which ensures the stability of the glorious fabric'; he advocated an approach not based on class. As he neared his conclusion, alluding to D'S point about 'rallying round the large properties', he said: 'It is recorded by an historian of whom the country may well be proud - I allude to the lamented father of the hon. Member for Bucks - "that one troop of Charles's guards who fought at Edgehill in the great rebellion, boasted that their revenues were equal to all the Members who voted against them in the Commons' House of Parliament."' Hansard C cols 156-70. Osborne's reference may have been to a passage in Commentaries ch 26.

43

l668 TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

House of Commons, Monday 17 July [1848]

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/530 [23]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 32-3, dated 17 July 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: the year is confirmed by context; see nni-5Sic: Bussiness.

House of Commons | Monday July 17 I have been here the whole of this day from 12 o'ck 1ST on the Committee on Public Bussiness, wh: is to devise some / new method of getting on with our work;1 & now with an interminable debate on the Distillers, wh: I must not quit. 2 Otherwise I sho[ul]d have tried to find you at / home. Guizot, who wishes to know Lord George Bentinck, has fixed Monday the 24th. to breakfast at Grosvenor Gate at three o'ck: As he (Guizot) does not, at present, enter into general / society, I shall ask only a very few persons to meet him. 3 I know you hate to go out early - but three o'ck:, or even a little later, is not very early; & if I could induce you to / condescend to come to us, I need not say, how deeply gratified & deeply honored I should be. I will ask no one but those who, I think wo[ul]d interest you, or, at least, not displease you.4 Besides, it would not be a bad occasion for Lord Londonderry to meet Bentinck in an easy way. I hope, if you deign to come, that Lady Adelaide will / accompany you tho' not with her sceptre.5 1 On 5 July 1848 the House had appointed a select committee to consider the best means of promoting the despatch of public business in the House of Commons; D was one of its 18 members, which included Cobden, Peel and Lord John Russell. According to its report, dated 14 August, the committee first of all determined the amount of business handled by the House (during the current session for example, 18,450 petitions had been presented, representing the result of significant increases in each of the years since 1837, and 215 committees of various kinds had been appointed). The committee then received counsel from the Speaker, from Guizot about the French House of Deputies and from former congressman Edward Curtis about the U.S. House of Representatives. In its report the committee recommended a number of changes to the rules of procedure of the House, principally that adjourned debates take precedence over all other business, but advised against adoption of the Parliamentary Proceedings Adjournment Bill. Its primary recommendation was for members to be more responsible in their conduct of public business. JHC 103 (1847-8) 686, 694; BSP.HC (1847-8) xvi 139; The Times (6 Sept 1848). See further i675&m and 1695. 2 The House on this day was debating the second government measure to alleviate the condition of the sugar colonies, a bill to lower the differential duty on British colonial spirits from yd to 4^ a gallon. D is recorded with the majority in favour of going into committee, but not in the later divisions just before the House adjourned at 2:45 am. Hansard c cols 534-62. 3 The DS had originally asked Guizot for 22 July, but he was engaged. On Monday 24 July they would have a breakfast for him at which the other guests were Lady Combermere and Miss Cotton, Ladies Castlereagh, Dufferin, Shelley and Carrington, M and Mme Van de Weyer, Lord and Lady Wilton, Count Kielmansegge, Lords Shelburne, Brooke and Henry Vane, and Messrs William Cowper, Smythe and Delane. Lords Carrington, Combermere and Granby and Sir John Hobhouse were in committee and unable to attend, and Lord Castlereagh was out of town. MA records that Shelburne thought it a 'perfect party ... Wives without their husbands & husbands without their wives.' Bentinck is not mentioned. H ace. 4 Lady Londonderry replied with a hurried note thanking D for his kindness but explaining that she and Lord Londonderry had a party of their own planned for 24 July. H B/xx/v/i52. 5 Lady Adelaide Emelina Caroline Vane (1830-1882), Lady Londonderry's third living daughter, at

44

I am writing this on the back of a red box amid cries of "question," wh: must be my excuse for its inevitable / incoherence. Ever your most | faithful & attached | Servt | D. TO: THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

Grosvenor Gate l669 [Thursday] 20 July 1848

ORIGINAL: NOT NEC5,474 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper.

Grosvenor Gate | July 20 1848 The | D[uke] of Newcastle K.G. My dear Lord Duke, Your Graces magnificent envoy arrived at Grosvenor Gate at a most happy moment, as Lord Stanley & Lord George Bentinck, & some other of your friends, / did me the honor of dining with me yesterday, & of partaking of it.1 I delayed expressing to your Grace my sense of your flattering kindness, as I thought you would be glad to hear, that this agreeable recollection from / Clumber had been appreciated by them, as well as by Your sincerely obliged, | & faithful servant, | B Disraeli TO: LORD PALMERSTON

House of Commons [Tuesday 25 July 1848] l670

ORIGINAL: H B/xxi/p/75 COVER: [Endorsed by MA:] (i) 1848. July 25th. | House of Commons. | Lord Palmerston & Dis (2) 1848 July 25th. | Ld. Palmerston & Dis | Danish affairs. EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by MA: '1848 July 25th. House of Commons Danish affairs'. Addressed in D'S hand: 'Lord Palmerston'. Palmerston in replying crossed it out and wrote 'Mr Disraeli' above it. There is no salutation. Sic: Frankfort.

Have you any objection to my asking whether you are going to send a Minister to Frankfort? 1 D the 7 July quadrille (see i659&m) had played Matilda of Flanders, wife of William I. Lady Adelaide in 1852 would elope with and marry the Rev Frederick Henry Law, her brother's tutor. Frances Anne 170, 227. 1 On 15 July Thomas Moffatt had sent a note from Clumber Gardens accompanying a 'Black Antigua Pine' sent with the Duke of Newcastle's compliments. H B/xxi/M/404- On 19 July MA recorded having received 'a large Pine' from the Duke, and noted that it would be used for the political dinner that night, but that she was unhappy at the price of other fruit she had bought at Covent Garden. H ace. 1 Lord Palmerston replied on the same card: 'Cowley is going thither before the end of this week, but without specific Credentials, as we must wait to see what the Germans settle all this is difficult to explain in a short answer, & perhaps it would be best not to ask the Question. P'. D complied with Palmerston's suggestion and confined his question to the negotiations concerning SchleswigHolstein that were in progress under Palmerston's mediation. He specifically asked whether, since the Prussian general (Wrangel) had repudiated the armistice signed by the Kings of Denmark and Prussia (see i643nn, 164402 and i648&n3), it was true that the King of Prussia, under Germany's new constitution, intended to terminate diplomatic relations with London. Palmerston replied that the articles of the armistice had been agreed on, but not yet signed; though there had been difficulties, he felt they would be solved and the armistice signed. Hansard C cols 808-11. Lord Cowley was to be posted as 'the Diplomatick Organ of the British Government' to the Germanic Confederation on 29 July 1848, a post which he occupied until 1851. BDR 60.

45

1671 TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/28

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 27 July [1848]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the third page of the MS: '27 July 1848 Mr D'Israeli'. Dating: the year is established by context; see m.

My dear Rose, Grosvenor Gate | July 27 I will do what I can for you - but the matter is more difficult than you fancy, or, perhaps rather, my influence is less.1 Ever yrs | D. T.O./ Mrs Di is very much obliged to you for your offer - but she regrets that it will not be in her power to go on Monday. 2 1672 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

House of Commons [Thursday] 27 July [1848]

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 ffig-22

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'July 27-1848'. Dating: the year is established by context; see nni&2. Sic: might me; accomodation.

My dear Sa, H of C. | July 27 You must have misconceived me, as I can't conceive under any cir[cumstan]ces your personal attention cd. be necessary. At all / events, there wd. be no hurry for executing a release to the Tr[ust]ees. I have not heard from Trevor, but I imagine / in a few days, the transfers will be arranged. I told him to get a power of Att[orn]ey from the other Tr[ust]ees, / so that he might act alone, wh: wd. simplify affairs. I shd., if I were you, act exactly as my convenience dictated. If by any / chance you happen to be in town when the general transfer takes place, you may take the opportunity of executing a power of att[orn]ey to / me, to enable me to arrange the subsequent & private transfer s[.] But this is of no moment, as I cd. send the power of att[orn]ey down to you wherever you might me.1 / Let me know what money you require for your private convenience & accomodation & I will let you have it directly. The bad news from Ireland, wh: appeared / in the 2nd. Edit: of the "Times" to day & other papers is a fabrication. 2 1 In his capacity as honorary secretary (since 1841) of the Hospital for Consumption at Brompton, Rose on 22 July had written to D to ask him to use his influence with The Times to get an article inserted about a benefit concert for the hospital being given by Jenny Lind on Monday 31 July; he explicitly asked that D himself write the article on Lind's generosity. In a letter to MA on 30 March 1849 in which he makes a similar request, Rose implies that D agreed to this earlier request. A short, largely factual, article did appear in The Times on 31 July 1848, containing information about the hospital that Rose had supplied in his letter. H R/l/B/4, 0/25. 2 On that day the DS would be guests of W.G. Cookesley at Eton for the 'election', the examination of scholars for King's College, Cambridge. MP (i, 18 Aug 1848); H B/xxi/c/38i. 1 Isaac's will had been granted probate on 24 July; see i623&ni. Sarah's letter to D has not been found. In this week she was preparing for reasons of health (as will later emerge) to leave Bradenham, first of all to visit Mrs Meredith at Cheltenham and the Rev and Mrs Higgins (Georgiana Meredith) at Great Malvern, and then in October to go to a furnished house in Brighton. She had regretfully refused MA'S invitation to stay at Grosvenor Gate before leaving on her visits; after some indecision she eventually left Bradenham on 7 August 1848. H 0/111^/195,200-3,209. 2 There had been reports for some days of preparations in Ireland in anticipation of an armed insurrection by the Young Ireland movement; a warrant for the arrest of one of its leaders, Smith

46

I therefore hope that with the sunshine, all will now go well. Yours most affly | D. TO: [GEORGE FREDERICK SMITH]

[London] Saturday 29 July [1848] 1673

ORIGINAL: H A/vn/A/39 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: the year is evident by context; see ni. For the recipient cfi6$^ec.

My dear Sir, Saturday 29 July. I think what you have sketched wd. do very well. I shall go into the City on Monday, & try to fix the day. By the bye I never showed, as I / promised to do, to that person the opinion of Counsel &c. If you don't want them at this moment, I wish you wd. let me have them with the / abstracts, that I may not seem backward in producing them, if required.1 Yours flly | D. Send them to Grosvenor Gate if / this evening, or to the Carlton by ten o'ck: Monday morng. | D TO: PHILIP ROSE

[London, Tuesday] i August 1848 1674

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/29 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page of the MS: 'i Aug. 184.8 Mr D'Israeli D to Rose'.

My dear Rose, Aug: i 1848 I will call on you tomorrow (Wednesday) at four o'ck: to execute the m[or]tg[ag]e & talk over affairs if I don't find a / letter, to the reverse, at the Carlton. I will be mindful to bring the Probate.1 Yours sincerely | D. O'Brien, had been issued on 23 July, and the early editions of 27 July refuted rumours that he had been arrested. Later on 27 July the Home Office received by electric telegraph a report from Thurles that the town was in the hands of rebels and suffering great destruction. In response to a question in the House on 27 July, Sir George Grey said that the telegraph message was 'totally destitute of foundation', but he nevertheless thought it prudent that 'Irish gentlemen of property, influence, character, and weight ... proceed to Ireland ... for the maintenance of order.' Hansard C cols 914-15. A leader in The Times on 28 July rationalized its report of the telegraph message in its second edition of the previous day, which it now also concluded to have been a hoax. The Times (25, 28 July 1848). For a summary of the events in Ireland in the first week of August see J.C. Beckett The Making of Modern Ireland 1603-192} (1966 new ed 1981) 348. See further i678&m. On the wonders of the electric telegraph in its early days before the acceptance of a standard code see BA (1848) 67-81.

1 The timber-evaluation stalling tactic (see iv i6o3n2) had been used by Wright, Smith and Shepherd until this time, much to the annoyance and continual protest of Metcalfe and Woodhouse. Both firms had long since got opinions on the matter, but Smith kept citing the opinion of Rickman Godlee without actually providing Metcalfe and Woodhouse with a copy or abstract of it. By this time, however, Wroughton had signified his reluctant assent to the evaluation of D'S agent, and on this day Metcalfe and Wroughton suggested 8 or 10 August as the date for completion of the Hughenden purchase; however, on 9 and 11 August there were to be further letters from them on details of 'the declarations' made in response to Smith's 'alterations', and the date would be postponed several more times. H A/vn/B/i8-44. See further i687&m. 1 It is not clear to which of the several mortgages to Rose D is referring; see I702&m. Isaac's will had been granted probate on 24 July; see i623&ni. The schedule of Hughenden deeds in the Bucks CRO dates the £3,000 Colstrope farm mortgage to Rose on 22 July 1848.

47

l675

T0:

LADY LONDONDERRY

Carlton Club [Thursday] 3 August [1848]

ORIGINAL: DUR 0/1.0/0/530 [33A] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 34-6, dated 3 August 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: the year is evident from the context; see ni. The second sheet is numbered '2', the third '3'. Sic: Brunows.

Carlton | Aug 3 I have been on the "Public Business Committee" from 12 to 5 o'ck where Cobden proposed the American system of conducting business, wh: we defeated, / tho' Sir Robert Peel seemed half inclined to support him. If it be carried, the government of this country will be completely taken out / of the hands of the gentlemen. 1 I am so hurried, & it is so late, that I can only scribble this line to tell you, that Lord John, at the Committee, said to / me, that there was no doubt that the Piedmontese were dished, & that they had applied to France, who, he believed, would have nothing to do with them. He said, / that Lord Palmerston was of opinion that the Piedmontese army proper was not demoralised, & that it was only the auxiliaries & miscellaneous forces, who were routed / - but Lord John said, that he thought it was all up with them, as the Austrians had gained every point for wh: they had fought & might march to Milan. 2 Last night, after dining / at the Carringtons, where we met old Lady Morley, who laughs up to Sydney Smythe, & who, I think, will soon dress like him, the Hobhouses,3 Douro, & Lady Willoughby 4 & W. Cowper, we went to / the

1 See l668&m. According to a letter from J.E. Denison to D on 30 July, former congressman Curtis was to speak to the committee the following day. H B/xxi/D/148. According to extracts in The Times on 6 September 1848 taken from the committee's report, Curtis had explained that in 1789 the procedures of the House of Commons and the House of Representatives had been virtually the same, but that the latter had made changes to overcome the difficulty of closing a debate and having a vote on the main question. Other changes he mentioned included faster means of counting divisions and limiting speeches to one hour each. A Mr J. Randall, a Philadelphia lawyer, confirmed Curtis's report. The committee in its report expressed the view that the French, British and American assemblies were too different in nature to allow for easy assimilation of foreign rules into the House of Commons procedures, and recommended that the House itself remain the final authority in its own governance. 2 In the Piedmont-Austria war over Lombardy, Marshal Radetzky had routed the Piedmontese army at Custoza 23-7 July. Reports of the disarray and retreat of the Piedmontese army, of the Piedmontese's demands that the French intervene and supply them with 60,000 men, and of France's refusal of these demands were first published in London on 3 August. King Charles Albert was to abandon Milan to the Austrians on 5 August, and on 9 August sign an armistice by which the forces under his command would leave Lombardy, Venetia and the Duchies. The Times (3, 4 Aug 1848); Cambridge History x 402; Langer 363, 383. Leaders in The Times of 3 and 4 August strongly advised the French not to be tempted to enter a war with Austria. The Republic had offered aid in the spring of 1848, which Charles Albert refused. 3 Presumably Sir John, a widower, had been accompanied by his eldest daughter, Julia Hay Hobhouse (1829-1849). 4 Clementina Sarah Drummond (1786-1865), Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, only surviving child and heir of 1st Baron Perth, in 1807 had married 2oth(?) Baron Willoughby de Eresby. Because this barony in the absence of a male heir passes by a complex pattern of female succession to the next male heir, the ordinal varies in different peerages. Lady Willoughby was Lady Carrington's mother.

48

Brunows, where, I believe, the curtain fell upon the season.5 I asked a gossip just now, if he had any social news for the country, upon wh: he told me that De Bathe's match was off. Perhaps you / never even heard of him. He was to have married a Dillon with 300.£ a year & a cottage - but I put it in the letter by way of a paragraph.6 If you want books to read, I forgot to / remind you of Horace Walpoles new letters,7 wh: I did once mention - & Lord Hervey's Memoirs,8 both of wh: I fancy would suit you - as they are graphic / & courtly. I can scarcely guide my pen from sheer fatigue & hurry - but I hope you will pardon this letter & accept it, at least, as a proof of devotion, tho' it will cost an extra stamp / to gain the V2 past 6 o'ck post.9 I hope the journey was all as you wished & everything at Wynyard less pulled up by the roots than you had anticipated. Your faithful | D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Carlton Club [Friday] 4 August [1848] l6/6

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 ff23-5 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'August 4 - 1848'. Dating: the year is evident from the context; 0/1677. Sic: checque.

My dear Sa, Carlton | Augt 4 | V2 pt 5 I most unhappily, lost the post yesterday being distracted with business & having been kept at the "Committee on Public Business" till / V2 past five. To day on the "Committee of Fine Arts" till it is too late to send you notes by a registered letter. l I therefore must enclose [a] / checque - I hope earnestly you will not be inconvenienced by it. 5 Philip Ivanovich, Baron (later Count) von Brunnow (1797-1875), was the Russian ambassador in London 1840-54,1858-74; in 1856 he would be a Russian plenipotentiary at the Paris Peace Congress at the end of the Crimean War that interrupted his ambassadorship. On 2 August Baroness von Brunnow (d 1874), 'unwilling to close the present season without a renewal of her splendid hospitalities,' had entertained a large party of distinguished guests, including the DS, at Ashburnham House. MP (3 Aug 1848, 14 Mar 1874). H ace (2 Aug 1848). 6 D is presumably referring to Henry Percival De Bathe (1823-1907), son of Sir William Plunkett De Bathe, 3rd Baronet, of Knightstown, Meath, and 27A Portman Square; 4th Baronet 1870; general 1879. He would not marry until 1870, after his succession. The lady in question may have been Helena Matilda Dillon Lee (1827-1879), fifth and only unmarried daughter of 13th Viscount Dillon; she would in 1858 marry Thomas Kemp Story. 7 Presumably Walpole's Letters Addressed to the Countess of Ossory, From the Year 1769 to 1797 (2 vols) edited by R. Vernon Smith and published by Richard Bentley in 1848. See Sabor 53 (nos 10 and 11), where the first edition is described as 'inaccurate, incomplete, and sketchily annotated [with a] preface [which] contends that the letters show Walpole "in a more amiable attitude, as to feelings and friendships, than he has hitherto stood"'. Bentley also published a revised edition later in 1848. 8 John Hervey (1696-1743), Baron Hervey of Ickworth, for a time the eldest surviving son of ist Earl of Bristol, whom he predeceased; lord privy seal 1740-2. His Memoirs of the Court of George II, edited by J.W. Croker, had been published by John Murray in March 1848. Until the publication of the Memoirs he had been remembered through Pope's satirical attacks on him. See further 1679. 9 Most receiving-houses were open for general post letters till half past five, and till 6 pm with a fee of a penny paid by an additional stamp; for a few the hours were slightly later. At none was there a half-past-six post. BA (1848) 80. 1 Letters could be registered at any of the receiving-houses in London until 5 o'clock for the evening mail. BA (1848) 81. See also 1675^9.

49

I have received [a] Ire from Trevor informing me that all the transfers are / made & giving me the exact sums. The moment I can get into the City, I will forward a power of Att[orne]y to you & complete the business as you / wish.2 I have been each day on committee with Sir R. Peel & on both taking the same side. Yrs affly, | D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY ORIGINAL: DUR o/LO/C53o/[33B]

l677

[London, Friday 4 August 1848]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 53-5 dated August 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: by context; see n4. Sic: Strangeways.

I write you a hurried line at V2 past six to tell you that Palmerston has settled, it is supposed, the Danish affair by getting Metternich to / write to the Archduke John counselling him to sign the armistice. 1 In the meantime, the Germans have menaced another province with / annexation wh: I have just noticed in the house.2 The accounts received this morning, prove, that Lord John was right about Charles Albert, / who seems quite finished.3 I have been working the whole morning on a committee about the National Gallery: what we are / to do with Mr Vernon's pictures - &c &c[.] Peel was there, & very good. Barry produced a plan for a new Gallery, exactly like the New Treasury - we all / declared agst it, as making the town too manieree.4 2 See i672&m. Trevor's letter has not been found. See further 1709. 1 Archduke John of Austria (1782-1859), ninth son of Emperor Leopold II, brother of Emperor Francis n, uncle of (the current) Emperor Ferdinand i, general field marshal of the Austrian army, had taken up his appointment as Imperial Vicar in Frankfurt on 29 July to consolidate German unification. A 3-month armistice between the Germanic Confederation and Denmark had been signed on 2 July. The next one (for 7 months) would be concluded on 26 August between Prussia, Denmark and Sweden. BRF 23, 27, 30; MP (11 July, 9 Sept 1848). According to Keith A.P. Sandiford Great Britain and the Schleswig-Holstein Question 1848-64 (Toronto 1975) 24-6, nothing effective resulted from Palmerston's efforts at mediating an armistice until the co-operation of Russia in an Anglo-Russian alliance forced Prussia in 1849 to retreat and in 1850 to accept the London Protocol. 2 On 4 August D in the House had asked Palmerston about a recent proclamation by the Germanic Confederation which, according to D, repudiated the treaties of 1839 whereby Limberg had been made part of the Netherlands in return for its ceding of part of Luxemburg to Belgium. According to D, the Schleswig-Holstein situation was now in danger of being duplicated in Luxemburg. Palmerston answered that D was correct in his description of the treaties, but that he could not shed any light on the matter until he received information that he had requested from the Netherlands government. Hansard C cols 1151-3. 3 See 16758012 above. Charles Albert (1798-1849), King of Sardinia, was to abdicate shortly before his death in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel, later first King of Italy. 4 Robert Vernon (1774-1849), who as a supplier of horses had amassed a large fortune during the Napoleonic wars and subsequently collected over 200 paintings by English masters, had in July 1847 stated his intention to donate the collection to the National Gallery on condition that it be exhibited as the Vernon Collection in a Vernon Gallery. On 11 February 1848 the House had appointed a select committee to consider the problem of providing space for art given to the public, with Lord Morpeth as chairman and D and Peel among the 15 members. At a meeting of the committee on 4 August 1848, Charles Barry (1795-1860), Kt 1852, the architect for the new Palace of Westminster currently under construction who had also participated in the reconstruction of the Treasury buildings in Whitehall 1844-5, had presented his plans for an extension to the National Gallery on

50

There is no social news, at least none that I can recall in the midst of this hurry. / If I can, I am to dine to day at St Dunstan's Lodge (ancient residence of Ld. Hertford) with Sir Richard Vyvyan, 5 who they say is / quite mad, especially at dinner. But I hope he has not invited me to his lone roof to assassinate instead of feeding me. I am encouraged by having met Fox Strangeways6 who told me he also was going to dine there. We shall at least / be 2 to i. Ever | D TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Carlton Club [Saturday] 5 August [1848] l6 J$

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/53O [30]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 36-8, dated 5 August 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. The second sheet is numbered '2'. Dating: the year is evident from the context; see ni. Sic: Kepper; accomodation.

Carlton | Aug 5. There is very little news. The Oxfordshire yeomanry are, I am told, ordered to Liverpool - & the Bucks expect to be summoned to London Duty - wh: in the midst / of the harvest is rather awkward. Smith O'Brien is hemmed in among the Kepper mountains near Cashel or Thurles, & some distance / from the Coast.1 the existing site. Although Barry's plan was turned down, 160 of Vernon's pictures did go on exhibition at the Gallery on 23 October 1848. The committee in its report presented on i September 1848 praised the National Gallery Trustees for making room to show Vernon's pictures and recommended the construction of a large extension on the existing site of the Gallery. AR (1848, Chronicle) 134-5; Minutes of Evidence of the Select Committee on the National Gallery (1850) Appendix (D); MP (19 Sept 1848). 5 According to Handbook of London 421-2, the villa had been built for the 3rd Marquess of Hertford by Decimus Burton, its name being derived from the clock and automaton strikers in its gardens taken from St Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street where Lord Hertford had admired them as a child. He had bought 'the giants' at auction when the church was pulled down. 6 Probably William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways (1795-1865), eldest son by the second marriage of 2nd Earl of Ilchester, after 1858 4th Earl of Ilchester; under-secretary for foreign affairs 183540, minister plenipotentiary to Austria 1834, to Frankfurt 1840-8. On 15 October 1847 he had been also posted as minister plenipotentiary to Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau. He was reported in MP of 28 July to have returned from Frankfurt on leave of absence. Possibly the reference is to his younger brother John George Charles Fox Strangways (1803-1859), fourth son by the second marriage of 2nd Earl of Ilchester, and father of the 5th Earl; gentleman usher to Queen Adelaide; Liberal MP for Calne 1836-7, Dorset 1837-41. 1 William Smith O'Brien (1803-1864), second son of Sir Edward O'Brien, 4th Baronet, of Dromoland, co Clare, MP for Ennis 1828-31, co Limerick 1835-49, ar>d a Protestant landlord, was the head of Young Ireland. He had left the Repeal Association in 1846 and in January 1847 a rival repeal association, the Irish Confederation, had been set up under his leadership. On 15 March in Dublin he had advocated the formation of a national guard. The government subsequently initiated proceedings against the leaders of the Confederation, who in retaliation (and inspired by events in France despite the failure in March of attempts to form an alliance with the new French regime) announced that there would be an insurrection in August. O'Brien instigated a few minor skirmishes in late July, and on 5 August was arrested at Thurles by a railway guard. In late September and early October he would be tried and found guilty of treason, and on 9 October sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. His sentence was commuted to transportation despite his protestations that he would rather die; he was eventually pardoned. At this time in London there were reports of the skirmishes, of O'Brien having been put to flight in a cabbage patch by a group of constables, and of rumours that he was hiding in coal-pits, wandering in the mountains, or sailing for America. The Times on this day published a report that troops had on 3 August been sent to

51

All the world is talking Stowe, but it is thought the place is too untowardly situated to permit a good sale. What with the / catalogue, the railway, & the fly from the station, wh: latter is the most grievous tax of all, it is an affair of pounds to reach the place, & then a sad lack of / accomodation, while the Irish rebels themselves are represented as not being worse off for food. Nothing being allowed to be devoured on the premises or even in the park; picnics, / wh: were much counted on, being impossible, & even a sandwich at Buckingham rather a feat.2 Dowbiggin the upholsterer in Mount St. has Sir James Hogg's / house to let - so I fear the rumors that were rife, are too true. It is very strange, how man little these Indian families take root. They make a certain sum, leave it on bad / security, at high percentage, spend more than their factitious incomes, & at the first adverse gale, smile; like the Fullartons, Alexanders, Sec.3 scour the Keeper mountains, in co Tipperary; D must have read the MP report, which spelled the name 'Kepper'. For further on Irish unrest in 1848 see Saville chs 1-3. 2 See ivi579ni. Although some of the property of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos had already been sold, mainly in Ireland, the slow pace of sales, and the low prices, led the principal mortgagors at this time to force the sale of the contents of Stowe because of fears about the security of their loans. (Information provided by Professor John Beckett, University of Nottingham). The Duke wished the sale to be in London, but this was impractical, except for a few individual items. Viewing (admission by catalogue costing 155) had begun on 3 August; the sale would last from 15 August to 8 October. Spring Fall; The Times (i Apr, 11 May, 4, 28 July, i, 16 August ff, 10 Oct 1848); The Satirist (3 June 1848); H 0/111/0/605. The Londonderrys went in spite of D'S warning, the details of which Lady Londonderry was to confirm in an undated note from Wynyard. H B/xx/v/247. A Times leader on 14 August 1848 commented: 'During the past week the British public has been admitted to a spectacle of a painfully interesting and gravely historical import. One of the most splendid abodes of our almost regal aristocracy has thrown open its portals to an endless succession of visitors, who from morning to night have flowed in an uninterrupted stream from room to room, and floor to floor - not to enjoy the hospitality of the lord, or to congratulate him on his countless treasures of art, but to see an ancient family ruined ... It is a most deplorable, and we must now add a most disgraceful event ... We have recently had to [denounce] the rash men who have perverted the first gushes of youthful genius and the rude instincts of popular freedom to an impious rebellion ... Should we deal fairly if we spared the destroyer of this house, the man whose reckless course has thrown to the ground a pillar of the state, and struck a heavy blow at the whole order to which he unfortunately belongs? The public opinion of this country respects the House of Lords, but not a degenerate aristocracy ... When dynasties are falling around, and aristocracies have crumbled into dust, disgrace acquires the force of injury, and personal ruin is a public treason ...' The style of the leader suggests that D may have had a hand in it, although, because he did not go down to Stowe at this time, he would have needed help from someone who did. On 6 July 1849 The Times in another leader would detail the history of the decline as it had been reconstructed in court a few days earlier. 3 Sir James Weir Hogg was in Calcutta, India, 1814-33, practising law 1814-22, then acting as registrar of the Supreme court of Calcutta 1822-33, 'when he returned to England with a large fortune'. He was deputy-chairman of the East India Company 1845-6, 1850-1, 1851-2 and chairman 1846-7, 1852-3. DNB. The Satirist of 12 August 1848 was to have a brief reference to Hogg's 'Stye in [16] Grosvenor-square' having been sold for £20,000 to Mr James Ewing. Sir James, however, continued to be listed at that address, and we have found no other evidence that he had financial problems. Thos. Dowbiggin and Co, upholsterers, are listed at 23 Mount Street, Berkeley Square. LPOD (1845, 18*50). Lady Londonderry in her reply said that she had hoped the report of Hogg's 'fall' had been unfounded, 'but I fear fm. what you say it is too true.' H B/XX/V/254. John Fullarton (i78o?-i849) had also acquired a large fortune in India, as a partner in the banking house of Alexander and Co, which had failed in 1831. He had travelled widely, sometimes in a coach fitted out with a library. See also DR 116 (H A/x/A/55). The partners in Alexander and Co had been: Henry Alexander (1787-1861), a director of the East India Company 1826, 1828,1833, Conservative MPfor Barnstaple

52

I am told that / Ld. John throws himself entirely on the Duke of Wn. to extricate him the government from the Irish Scrape - who, from this surplusage of Whig Toadyism, grows / quite maudlin in his devotion "to my Sovereign", so that it is rumored to day, that if the constables don't contrive to capture O'Brien by next telegraph, the Duke is to go himself with / all the general officers, who dine at the Waterloo banquet, & try his venerable & heroic hand.4 Ever | D. T.O. / V 2 pt. 5 I have just seen Sir George Grey. There is nothing new from Ireland: tho' they have found some of O'Brien's clothing. TO: LORD LONDONDERRY House of Commons [Monday] 7 August [1848] 1679 ORIGINAL: DUR o/LO/c/53o [47] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed over the text of the last page of the MS: 'Disraeli Book Aug loth 1848'. Dating: the year is evident from context; see na. Sic: embarassing; Lyttleton's; Innspruck.

My dear Lord, H of Comm: | Aug 7 I return the correspondence reed, this morning; I think you rescued yourself from an embarassing position with diplomatic adroitness. The rationale of such correspondence, as expressed in / your letter, is, I think, unanswerable. Besides, in this rapid age of great events, things get staler much sooner than heretofore. Ld. Lyttleton's, & Lord Herveys, memoirs are examples. I am only sorry, that you asked for the permission; / the subject is too great to require such reflected lustre.1 1826-30; James Alexander (^1769-1848), MP for Old Sarum 1812-32; and Josias Du Pre Alexander (£1771-1839), a director of the East India Company 1820, 1823, 1828, 1833, Mpfor Old Sarum 18208, 1830-2. Boase; Walford; Judd; C.H. Philips The East India Company 1784-1834 (Manchester 1940) 278 and appendixes. 4 The Duke of Wellington had been at Russell's cabinet council on 24 July, and had recommended that Lord Hardinge be sent to Ireland to command the troops in the event of an insurrection. Hardinge was in Ireland by 3 August. In a debate on the state of Ireland in the Lords on 3 August, Wellington had expressed total confidence in the government's handling of the situation. Hansard c cols 1110-11. Prest Russell 287 (citing Broughton's diary of 31 July 1848); The Times (5 Aug 1848). In her undated reply to this letter Lady Londonderry told D that Lord Londonderry 'sits purring over the Austrian success & sneering at the fuss abt. the Irish Rebellion ... Sending Ld Hardinge when all had been done by 60 policemen does seem absurd!' H B/xx/v/247. 1 See HI 972&ph&m. The letter from Lord Londonderry to D has not been found, but the correspondence to which D refers must be that in which the Queen refused Londonderry's request for permission to dedicate to her the whole of his Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh (1848-53 12 vols), of which the first four volumes were scheduled to appear in 1848; they contained the memoir and correspondence mostly from Castlereagh's years as an Irish MP and the chief secretary to the lord lieutenant of Ireland. The Queen on 31 July had objected strongly to the publication of the papers at what she saw to be an early date which also happened to be another time of crisis in Ireland. Londonderry must also have shown D the preface he would insert in the edition in lieu of a dedication: 'I am aware that it may be objected, that inconvenience to the public interests is liable to accrue from divulging the Correspondence of Statesmen who have been employed in the service of the Crown: that this may be the case I freely admit, unless a sufficient time has elapsed after the events and negociations in which they were engaged: but, in the present instance, the half century that has intervened, and the exercise of a proper discretion, will, I trust, furnish a satisfactory plea for the course that I feel it incumbent on me to pursue ... If, at a crisis like the present, when Treason is again stalking abroad in unhappy Ireland ..., I engage in the

53

They say, that the Italian question is settled.2 Our friend in Eaton Sqr. is very busy: Couriers from Innspruck &c[.]3 The / illustrious visitor duly arrived from the waters of Seaham, & we have been living on him, in every shape, ever since. For color, richness, & flavor, he cd. not be surpassed. It was most kind & pleasing of you to remember us.4 Ever, my dear Lord, | Yours | D. l680 TO: LADY LONDONDERRY House of Commons [Monday] 7 August [1848] ORIGINAL: DUR 07x0/0/530 [201] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 39-40, dated 7 August 1848, omitting the first paragraph; M&B in 104, dated 7 August 1848, the third paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. There is no salutation. Dating: the year is evident by context; c/i679- Szc: phaesants.

H of Comm: | Aug 7 I have returned the correspondence, by this post, with a line to Lord L. — but tho' I can only say, that I have nothing to express, I will not break the pleasing habit of writing to you. / At Lady Palmerstons on Saturday there were so few ladies & so many men, that Lady Dufferin, as she came in, by the first room wh: was entirely male, said to Lord Palmerston, that she thought it was a meeting of the Reform Club. "There are a few hen phaesants" he replied "but they are / on the other side of the cover" symptomatic of the season & the ist Septr.1 I was with Lord Stanley this morning, who wants me (this quite betn. ourselves) to "sum up" the Session in the House of Commons: but I am wearied & occupied / with that arrear of private business wh: always awaits me in August, wh: distracts witht exciting.2 Indeed were it not for the prospect of our meeting in September3 I shd feel rather hippish - the natural consequence, I suppose, of social reaction. Metternich is very busy. Ever D. They say they will really hang Smith O'Brien.4 cherished undertaking, it is in the confident belief that I am thereby rendering a beneficial service ... to my unfortunate Country ...' The preface ends with a disclaimer of literary merit (Sir Walter Scott was originally to have written the biography): 'I am neither an Alison nor a Disraeli.' Ibid ivvii; The Londonderry 15-17. See further 1748^4. The Memoirs and Correspondence ... of George Lyttelton (1709-1773), ist Baron Lyttelton, MP for Okehampton 1735-56, had been published in 1845; for Lord Hervey's Memoirs see i675&n8. 2 In response to a question in the House on 7 August whether the government intended to mediate between Sardinia and Austria for the pacification of the north of Italy, Lord Palmerston replied that the government was about to take steps, in conjunction with France, to bring about 'by amicable negotiation' the end of the war in Italy. Hansard c cols 1172-3. This would occasion a long speech by D on 16 August. See i688&m. 3 That is, Metternich was working in conjunction with the Austrian court at Innsbruck; see 1664111. 4 Lord Londonderry's letter of 4 August had been accompanied by a salmon from Seaham. H B/xx/ v/8. 1 D seems to have confused his birds. It was partridge shooting which would open on i September; the grouse season would begin on 12 August, but pheasant shooting not until 2 October. BA (1848). 2 In fact D would review the session, on 30 August. See i7OO&m. 3 The Ds would be guests at Wynyard 9-22 September. H ace. 4 See i6r8&ni. The Times in leaders on 7 and 8 August saw the death sentence as just, while admitting

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TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

[House of Commons, Wednesday] l68l 9 August [1848]

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/c/530 [28] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 40-2, dated 9 August 1848, conflated with 1683 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. The first three pages are numbered V, '2', '3'. Dating: the year is evident by context; see n2. Sic: Radetski [twice]; Brunow.

Aug9 I am obliged to scribble this in the house, opposite the Treasury Bench, who think I am making notes for a speech. The Austrians are in high spirits. Dietrichstein 1 this morning had reed, no accts. of Radetski entering Milan, but expected it every moment, assuming that Charles Albert / wd. retire - Radetski permitting the Milanese to capitulate, whereas if the King hazarded an engagement & was beaten, wh: he cd. be sure to be, the Austrians having 80,000 men flushed with triumph - Radetski would give Milan to pillage? Brunow thinks the French / will not cross the Alps & that everything will be settled before they can move - so that they wd. have to enter Italy as invaders & not as allies. "All will be" he said "as BEFORE" & he laughed like a daemon.3 The Frankfurt people / will not have Bunsen as Imperial Secy, for foreign affairs & he is to return to London immediately as Prussian Minister Plenipotentiary, much chagrined.4 Ever | D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

[London, Thursday 10 August 1848] 1682

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/c/53o [29] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 44-6, dated 13-14 August 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. There is no salutation. Dating: by Lord John Russell's interjection in D'S speech; see ni. Sic: Radetski; Swisserland; Odillon; clicque.

V2 past 6. I waited to the last moment for Palmerston to come in, that I might get the that commutation of the sentence would be popular: 'to laugh at a man and hang him also is taking it out both ways.' 1 Count Moritz Dietrichstein (d 1852) had been Austrian ambassador at London since 1846. Greville 1314. 2 Johann Joseph, Count Radetzky (1766-1858), field marshal of the Austrian army and commanderin-chief in Lombardy since 1831, had been driven out of Milan in March 1848 but by this time had shattered the attempt to drive the Austrians out of Italy. The reports of Radetzky's orderly entry into Milan on 6 August following negotiations with Charles Albert conducted via French and British envoys were not published in London until 12 August. The Times (12 Aug 1848). 3 In his speech on 16 August (see i688&m) D would make the point that an 'armed mediation of England and France in Northern Italy would be an invasion, and the mode by which we are going to secure peace is by commencing war.' Hansard Cl col 154. 4 Christian Charles Josias, Baron von Bunsen (1791-1860) was Prussian ambassador at London 184254. There had been rumours in July of several possible candidates for the foreign affairs post in the first cabinet of the Germanic Confederation; on 5 August the cabinet had been announced, with the Prince of Leiningen as foreign secretary. The Times (i, 17, 18 July; 8, 9 Aug 1-848). For D'S first meeting with Bunsen see DR 88 (H A/x/A/8).

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last news - I think I told you yesterday that Gustave de Beaumont had arrived as Minister of / the French Republic, wh:, from an observation made by Ld. John to me when speaking yesterday, but wh: is not correctly reported, is to be recognised immediately, & is, I suppose, by this time.1 / Tallenay, the Frenchman who was here, received but not recognised is to go to Frankfurt. 2 Palmerston is in an awful mess: it being the general conviction, that Radetski / is of course in Milan & all Lombardy reduced & the Marshal more likely to invade Piedmont than give up the old dominions3 - tho' Palmerston has just arranged a joint mediation with France for that / purpose. According to his own precedent about Swisserland last year,4 it is now too late for the mediation. But then they say that the Whigs are actually / about to commit, or, by this time, have committed, the fatal blunder of interfering in Sicily & this will be a precedent for the French interfering in the north of Italy.5 / Gustave de B. wrote a rather famous book about Ireland wh: he visited; the but of wh: was, that the only way to settle Ireland was to sweep off all the proprietors. I knew him at Paris: rather / a gentlemanlike man - about 35 & 1 In his speech on 9 August in the navy estimates debate, D had drawn attention to several references by Lord John Russell in the immediately preceding speech to 'the present French government': 'I am excessively glad to find that there is a Government in France ... I think, after this announcement from so great an authority as the First Minister, it would be but condescending to recognise that Government. [Lord J. Russell: We believe that it is recognised.] Really, to describe that as a powerful Government which had not yet been recognised by the Queen, would be somewhat to anticipate the course of destiny.' Hansard c cols 1302-14 (D'S speech 1307-14). The Times of 10 August had a somewhat different account of the interchange. 2 Le marquis Auguste-Bonaventure de Tallenay (b 1795), who had held diplomatic posts at Stockholm, Brussels, Rome and Hamburg 1830-48, had been sent to London on 14 April 1848 with accreditation as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the provisional French government. According to William Fortescue Alphonse de Lamartine: A Political Biography (1983) 208, Lamartine's appointment of de Tallenay, an aristocrat and professional diplomat, showed his willingness to conciliate Britain. Palmerston was pleased with de Tallenay, but the Queen had not agreed with Palmerston's suggestion that de Tallenay could at least be received at a court ball: 'She cannot see any reason for deviating from the established rules, and inviting to Court Frenchmen who are not recognized in their official capacity'. According to Christopher Hibbert ed Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals (New York 1985) 77n, the Queen wanted a new exchange of ambassadors with France to be preceded by an exchange of ministers only. See Malmesbury I 233 (8 August) for de Tallenay's allegation that he was recalled for speaking to Guizot in the street. Malmesbury commented: 'I can't say I believed him.' De Tallenay would be the French minister at Frankfurt from August 1848 to 1855. AN (1830-55); LQV II I72&n2, i86&ni, 189; Stendhal Correspondance ed Henri Martineau and V. del Litto (Paris 1967) II 1148, in. 3 Austria had direct control of the Venetian republic and the duchy of Milan (Lombardy) as well as indirect control of Parma, Modena and Tuscany. According to Langer 439, one of the reasons that Radetzky stayed out of Piedmont was 'to avoid provoking French intervention'. 4 See iv i6o7&n6 and 1608. In addition to his attempted mediation between Denmark and Prussia, Palmerston had been invited to mediate between Austria and Sardinia when things were going badly for Austria in May, but the cabinet dissuaded him. Austria would accept joint British and French mediation in September, but it came to nothing. Bell Palmerston I 429-35. See further 1684 below. On 10 August MP published a report from Paris that a cabinet courier had arrived with despatches containing the approval of the British government of the mediation proposed by Gen Cavaignac, and consent to co-operate with France to end the war in Italy. 5 D was to confront Palmerston on this issue in a speech on 16 August; see i688&m. Palmerston was sympathetic with the Sicilian rebellion against the ill-reputed rule of the King of Naples and favoured the setting up of a separate kingdom, but was compelled to allow the re-establishment of the King's regime in 1849. It appears, however, that he did wink at the sale of arms to the Sicilian insurgents by a British arms dealer. Bell Palmerston I 444-5.

56

thin with good hair, & eyes - one of the Odillon Barrot party. I dined with him at O.B's with Tocqueville, who is his intimate friend & some more of that cheque - the Editor of the Siede &c.6 Ever | D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

[London, Friday 11 August 1848]

ORIGINAL: DUR o/LO/c/53o [27] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 40-2, dated 9 August 1848, conflated with 1681 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on black-edged paper. There is no salutation and no signature. Dating: by Spencer Lyttelton's marriage; see n3_ Sic: Holderness; Brunow.

V4 to 7. Nothing is talked of, or thought of but Palmerston's movements. I have waited to the last moment to give you the last / news - but can say nothing. I ought to have been with Metternich this morning, & then I shd. have been able to throw some light on affairs, but / I was summoned to the "Committee on Public Business" to settle our report,1 & was kept there until i/2 past 4. As for social news, / the Railway Princess, Miss Hudson, is to marry Mr Dundas of Dundas,2 whom perhaps you may just remember, as, I think, I have seen him / in the golden saloons of Holderness. Spencer Lyttelton was married yesterday - to Miss Cornewall3 with only 20,000 settled on her, his family paying / the 3000 he lost at the last Derby, & cd. not meet. Excuse this vile gossip. Lansquenet was his last chance at Coventry House, but / not having succeeded in his coup, the marriage was inevitable. Brunow, has made a speech agst. Lansquenet at the Committee, & 'tis forbidden till further notice. Indignant / dandies exclaim, that he never interfered until the Russian attaches were cleaned 6 See !Vi265&ni6 and 1272. The Times in a leader on 11 August was to comment favourably on the recent arrival of M. Gustave de Beaumont in London as the representative of the French government, and call his book on Ireland 'one of the best foreign works on that inexhaustible subject'. MP on 12 August would refute this view of the book, seeing its author as belonging instead to the 'Smith O'Brien school of Irish politics.' Le Siede, a liberal political daily, was published at Paris 1836-1927. Its editor since 1837, Michel Auguste Chambolle (1802-1883), resigned when in 1848 the paper became openly republican in its sentiments; his successor 1848-51 was Louis Marie Peree (1816-1851), who had been director of the paper since 1840. Larousse; DBF; Dictionnaire des Parlementaires Francais (Paris 1891). 1 See i668&m. 2 George Dundas (1819-1880), eldest son of James Dundas, Chief of Dundas, whom he predeceased; Conservative MP for Linlithgow 1847-60, governor of Prince Edward Island 1860-70, lieutenantgovernor of St Vincent 1874-8, of the Windward Islands 1876, 1878-9. A report of his forthcoming marriage to Miss Hudson, only daughter of George Hudson and not yet 18, appeared in MP on 26 September 1848, but he in fact did not marry until 1859. Anne Elizabeth Hudson in 1854 would marry a Polish nobleman, Count Leszczyc Suminski. The Dundas match was perhaps called off because by Christmas 1848 the ruin of Hudson's empire was inevitable. The presentation on 14 November of his patently unrealistic financial statements to railway stockholders would lead to the setting up, in February 1849, of the committee of investigation at York which would finally expose him. CM Jul-Dec 1854, 69; Richard S. Lambert The Railway King (1934 repr 1964) 32, 291, 229ff. 3 Spencer Lyttelton (1818-1882), younger brother of Lord Lyttelton, marshal of ceremonies in the royal household 1847-77, was known for his fickleness and the frequency with which he incurred debt; on 10 August he had married Henrietta Cornewall (d 1917), eldest daughter of Frederick Hamilton Cornewall, of Delbury Hall, Salop.

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1683

out: as long as they won, he was merciful. 4 You may observe by this low chit chat how the tone of London sinks; at least mine. But at any rate, after a morning of toil & a night of battle impending, it will prove my greatest pleasure is to write to you. 1684 TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

[London] Saturday 12 August [1848]

ORIGINAL: DUR o/Lo/c/53o [26] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 43-4, dated 12 August 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: the year is evident by context; see n2.

Saturday | Aug 12 I have been with our friend of Eaton Square this morning; & I shd. infer from what he says, that there is as / little chance of the Austrians giving up Lombardy as of your giving up Wynyard. Palmerston is in a very false position, with his joint mediation wh: / will be rejected. A violent effort is making to prevent the sale of at Stowe wh: is to commence on Tuesday: certain speculators have offered to advance 90,000^ / to pay off the m[or]tgagee in possession - their grounds are that the sale will be a failure, wh: I think likely enough, as people have gone to, Scotland &c. &c. & nobody is in a very dispendious humor. According to / the new project the effects are to be brought to town & sold here.1 Metternich told me that his accounts from Paris are very bad / & that he feels persuaded, that if the French enter Italy, the Red Republic will be established in a month. 2 All the diplomatic world / are talking of the strange circular of the Prince de Leiningen in the "Times" to day. He is a mediatised Prince, & being in Schedule A himself, is resolved to disfranchise / every other sovereign - a fine revenge for the treaty of Vienna. 3 Ever | D. 4 Several London gaming clubs had reportedly suffered recent heavy losses, and on 12 August The Satirist would report that the lansquenet at the Coventry House Club had been temporarily suspended after a substantial win by a client. Dickens Letters V 206113; The Satirist (17 June, 12 Aug 1848). See also D'S description of the Coventry Club's eventual breakup over the lansquenet problem in app v [a] (DR 22-3; H A/X/A/IO). 1 See i678&n2. The sale was to begin at Stowe on Tuesday 15 August. As early as 25 and 28 July The Times had contradicted rumours that the sale would be cancelled, moved or postponed. The 40-day sale at Stowe was to realize £75,562, considerably less than the 1845 evaluation of £330,000. Spring Fall 186. Several items, such as the Chandos Testimonial (see in 1007^), were purchased by friends of the Duke and returned to him. MP (8 Sept 1848). According to Professor John Beckett's work in BUG and in HUNT, the often-repeated figure of £330,000 is a mistake attributable to AR (1845), and should be £77,500. BUG 07x1039/2; HUNT STG 186. 2 In his speech on 16 August (see i688&m) D was to ask Palmerston 'in what form do you mean to establish ... this free and independent state? ... if a republic ... is it to be a revolutionary republic, or a conservative republic? - a red republic or a white republic?' Hansard ci col 155. 3 Leiningen was one of the secular states in the Holy Roman Empire that was mediatized (ie, deprived of its sovereignty) in the period 1801-6, leaving the previously sovereign family with its titles but no powers - like those wealthy owners of boroughs that were disfranchised by Schedule A of the Reform Bill, leaving them without the control of any seats in parliament. Charles Frederick William Emich, 3rd Prince of Leiningen (1804-1856), KG, Queen Victoria's half-brother and the newly appointed foreign secretary in the first cabinet of the Germanic Confederation, in July had issued

58

TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

[London, Monday 14 August 1848] 1685

ORIGINAL: DUR o/Lo/c/53o [25]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 33-4, dated July 1848 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: by the beginning of the debate in which D would make his speech (see n2); the letter was apparently written on a Monday.

Very gloomy - wheat risen in Mark Lane four shillings — & a drain on the Bank menaced, if not commenced.1 I purpose to night, / if the occasion serves, to make a discourse on Italian affairs.2 Lady Lincolns elopement / the scandal of the hour - but with whom still doubtful;3 yesterday, or Saturday, it was a cavalry officer, to day 'tis a midshipman! / Lincoln has cut the House & resigned his impending motion on Vancouver's Land to a friend.4 Some think he had better go there or find his wife. Pardon this vile scandalf.] Ever | D / Will you be so good as to thank my Lord for his miraculous draught of fishes. a manifesto (published in The Times on 12 August 1848) calling for the dissolution of all of the trappings of sovereignty in the separate German states. His view was that 'opposition or disobedience to the imperial authority ... is a crime against the Majesty of the nation itself- a treason to the Fatherland - which must be speedily followed by condign punishment.' The Prince himself on 11 April 1848 had placed his remaining seignorial rights at the disposal of the government of the King of Bavaria. AR (1848) 362. For D'S earlier reference to 'a mediatised Prince' see Vivian Grey bk IV ch 4, cited by OED. In his speech in the supply (navy estimates) debate on 9 August, D had asked Palmerston 'whether Prussia still remains an independent State? Because, then, the merchants would be able to form some calculation of the chances of redress they have. The Prince of Leiningen, I perceive, a most able and accomplished man, has become Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Germanic Confederation. I want to know whether there is to be another mediatised prince; I hope he will not become a Minister for Foreign Affairs.' Hansard C col 1311 (D'S speech 1307-14). 1 London's great corn market was located in Mark Lane. On Monday 14 August 1848 wheat rose by 45 according to MP of 15 August, by 35 according to The Times. No report of a run on the bank at this time has been found. 2 On this day the House was to go into committee of supply; D would be the first speaker when the debate was resumed on Wednesday 16 August, on the issue of funding the foreign office. See i688&m below. 3 Lady Lincoln had had several previous affairs (one reportedly with a Guards officer) and had lived apart from her husband for long periods. The Lincolns would be divorced in 1850, and she in 1860 would marry Jean Alexis Opdebeeck of Brussels, her courier. She had eloped on 2 August, and in 1849 would bear a child from the affair. According to Gladstone, whom Lincoln had consulted on the night of the elopement, Lady Lincoln's lover was Lord Walpole. Virginia Surtees A Beckford Inheritance: The Lady Lincoln ScandaL(id would after this year again be ambassador at London 1852-6. Princess Melanie on 26 February records his arrival with a letter about a constitution for Austria. Metternich's Papers vin 47, 475-8. 7 Lord Ponsonby was on leave from Vienna 20 April to 19 July 1849. BDR 18. He would in fact arrive

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I hope you will soon arrive — if you stay awhile, send me a little line. I shall be more than happy to see you again - / I don't think you will find me just yet picking up the reins8 - but you are sure to find me true in heart to you.9 D. My regards to Milor & 1000 thanks for his letter. You will give him from me a political message.10 1821 TO: RICHARD WRIGHT ORIGINAL: H A/v/B/2i

House of Commons [Monday] 30 April 1849

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: tweleve.

My dear Wright, H of Comm: | Apl. 30th. 1849 I have just got yr three letters. Betn. eleven & tweleve is the only time I have tomorrow, being on the Guiana & Ceylon Comm[itt]ee / wh: meets for its Report 1 - & it is of great importance - but as that won't do - I will call on you on THURSDAY - but must / fix the hour subsequently.2 Ever yrs | D. 1822 TO: SARAH DISRAELI ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/317

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday 2] May [1849]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LEGS 224, dated 2 May 1849, altered extracts; Bradford 169, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'May 2. 1849'. Dating: by Rose's dinner; see ni. Sic: watering placed.

My dr Sa, Grosr Gate | May [illegible] 1 1 am going to Rose's dinner - fortunately somewhat better - for I have suffered very much these last few days - but I have had a good night & am otherwise relieved. in London on 2 May. MP (3 May 1849). In the crucial division in the Lords on 8 May he is recorded with the Contents. Hansard CV col 118. 8 There are records of a number of projected ministries of about this time that included D. For example, on 3 May E.H. Stanley would record a discussion according to which D was to have the colonial office. Disraeli, Derby 6. A list headed '.Cabinet for 184.9', m D>s hand, has D as secretary for India (an alteration from secretary at war). There are other such lists, which from mention of Lord 'Stanley' for the treasury must be before 1851, but they are undated. In them D is twice listed for the home office, and once as chancellor of the exchequer. H 6/11/80,81,82,84. See app in. 9 See 1857^4. 10 D'S 'message' for Lord Londonderry, presumably enclosed with this letter, has not been found. Londonderry in his 16 April letter to D had discussed matters foreign and domestic, emphasizing the need for Palmerston's removal from office and lamenting the Conservatives' inability to unite and oust the Whigs. H B/xx/v/12. 1 See iSiSng; no record of a i May 1849 meeting of this committee has been found. D would be present at meetings on 4, 10, 15 and 16 May at which the first report, issued on 18 May, was considered. See further i824n3. 2 See i8o2&m, i8o3&m, i8o8&m and 1809. Wright had met with Messer's solicitor Thomas Willis on 27 April; Willis's next letter to Wright, dated i May, was to suggest a settlement for £500; on 2 May he would enclose a draft bond, with proposals for payment of instalments, insurance of D'S life, and estimates of interest due. H A/v/A/29-31. 1 On 2 May D was in the chair at a dinner held at the Albion Tavern for the Brompton Hospital for Consumption; Rose, as honorary secretary of the hospital, had organized the event. D, in a speech

176

On Sunday I went to see Metternich. He lives on Richmond Green in / the most charming house in the world - called the Old Palace - a long library, gardens, everything worthy of him. I met there the Duchess of Cambridge & the Colloredos. I am enchanted with Richmond Green - wh: strange to say I don't recollect ever having visited before - often as I have been at Rd. / There are all sorts of houses — large & small — a place called "Maid of Honor Place Row". I shd like much to let my houses & live there. It seems to me exactly the place for you, & I strongly recommend you to think seriously of it. Don't decide in a hurry - but come to town & visit it & examine everything. Then I shd. if I / were you purchase an annuity with V2 of my fortune, & you cd. then have an ample income & cd. accumulate a little if you liked. I highly disapprove of the farm purchase & am very glad it went off. I highly disapprove indeed of what you have already done for me2 - tho the peculiar exigency / of the times excused, if it did not justify, it - but I trust very shortly to arrange all these things. It is only 3/4 of an hour drive to see you at Richmond Green & there is a railway besides. I am quite convinced that this is the place for you. It is both retired & refined / - still & sweet - charming alike in summer & winter. The Duchess of C. had walked over from Kew 3 like a country lady. Bucks is too triste for you - its a melancholy residence - & watering placed, vagabond & rantipole & tawdry - I / hate them - Richmond is rightly one of the most popular places in the kingdom & is surrounded by charming places delightful spots - Bushey,4 Kew &c. I am sorry about Jem. He wrote me a very offensive letter about the House - tho' that did not prompt my reply, as I cd. not answer immed[iate]ly. He / has written me another offensive letter since, saying I have acted "sneakenly". I don't mind the abuse - but I do the spelling. I wish he wd. go to Bradm., as it is the best on the whole - tho' I dislike it on acct. of the Parslour5 - The only but sufficient reason.6 Yrs affly. | D. which the Sun (4 May 1849) thought revealed his 'proficiency in the use of those most effective of all the gifts of eloquence, pathos and persuasion', had praised the Rev Robert Montgomery and Jenny Lind for their efforts on behalf of the Hospital. The leader quoted D'S observations on Montgomery ('I think we trust too much to the spirit of societies and too little to the energy of the solitary being') and on Lind ('To me there is something most beautiful in this life of music and of charity, a life passed amid divine sounds, and still diviner deeds'). See further i824&nm&2 below. For the text of the speech see T.E. Kebbel (ed) Selected Speeches of... The Earl of Beaconsfield 11 (1882) 633-432 Sarah gave D a loan large enough to generate £50 annual interest; see 1794^4 and i876&n2. 3 The summer residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was on Kew Green. 4 Bushey was at this time one of the residences of the Dowager Queen Adelaide; she would die on 2 December 1849. 5 This word in the text in fact looks more like 'Pars-lour' or Tars-lows'; D sometimes uses a hyphen to join words broken inadvertently, and here the V may also have been the result of a slip of the hand. 6 Sarah would reply on 'Friday': 'I am very grateful for your letter - & entirely agree with everything you say. I am sick for a home of my own, but furnishing & settling is very expensive therefore I must remain quiet & economical a year to prepare for it, which I may as well do at Hastings as any where else - then if there be no call for me elsewhere, I will turn to your Richmond plan, which may be made as feasible as any. I have often thought of sinking i or 2ooo£ in the manner you

177

1823 TO: RICHARD WRIGHT ORIGINAL: H A/v/B/42

Carlton Club, Wednesday [2 May 1849?]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: conjectural; c/i82i.

My dear Wright C C. | Wedy I will call upon you tomorrow at three o'ck: I have been intending to do so every day, but never / can get out till too late for you & the house, where I am now obliged to be always in my place, pulls me down to it / immed[iate]ly. Yrs fll | D. 1824 TO: PHILIP ROSE

House of Commons [Friday 4 May 1849]

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/i8 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by the MC articles; see ni. Sic: 3/4"; mistatement.

My dear Rose, Ceylon & Guiana Committee | No. 13. I am sorry to see an effort made by the Peel Press - (Morning Chronicle) - to view the affair of our innocent dinner as a party question. Their report yesterday, tho' malignant & obviously intended to make me ridiculous by a "speech of three hours duration", instead of 3/4", or something like it, was too trifling to notice - but, to day, there is a leading article absolutely on the subject, very venomous - insinuating that Granby & Herries would not draw & that I / was therefore put forward &c. &c to connect our party with public charity. 1 Is it advisable for you to write as Secy, a short letter to the "Times" stating yr. regret that public charities are shd. be made a party question - mentioning propose if it could be done on our joint lives not otherwise. Without some such arrangement a house at Richd. would take I think a whole income itself.' She said the Partridges had offered to build a cottage for her to lease, 'but I am not quite prepared to fraternise with them. I have sometimes talked if the farm be purchased of restoring the old Hughenden Manor House on H. Green, which you remember but it proves in a very unpromising condition.' After telling of her plans until going to Hastings, she continued: 'I have tried to persuade James to go to the House till Michaelmas - when he can have the cottage - but he is afraid of some confusion at Whitsuntide which he thinks is the reason you do not like him to go in - however he must decide on something at Wycombe to day, as there is scarcely time now for airing & furnishing.' She concluded: 'I hope you are not the worse for your exertions at the dinner [see m] they seem to have been crowned with great success.' On 'Monday' she would write again; her plans were to be with Mrs Meredith from Tuesday until Friday. She continued: 'it seems sad to be so nigh to you & yet not see you but I do not know how to manage it between her hours & yours ... At any rate write me a line that I may hear of you ... After all James has made up his mind to go into the House, but at the last moment so that I cannot see it arranged comfortably for him.' H A/i/B/68i,684- See further i826&n2. 1 In its report MC (3 May 1849) had described D'S speech as being 'of nearly three hours' length'. It had concentrated on parts different from those in the Sun (see i822ni above), for example D'S praise of Guizot, also one of the guest speakers: '... I pay in all things homage to heroes ... Great as he was in station, he was always greater in himself ..." According to MC, £1,700 had been raised. In a leader on 4 May, MC had commented on the efforts of 'the tricephalous party of Protection ... to furnish the congregated subscribers to the excellent Brompton Hospital with a lion and a speech. Lord Granby's modest estimate of his own merits probably kept him away. Mr. Herries was out of the question, for he would indeed be a good Samaritan who should deliberately go to a dinner with the chance of hearing Mr. Herries speak. So Mr. Disraeli was sent, and he harangued the company for the space of three hours.' It thought the essence of D'S speech had not required three hours, and sneered at his figures of speech, such as his use of 'plumes' and 'wings' in relation to Jenny Lind, 'the Swedish Nightingale'.

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that my filling the chair was from a wish to oblige my neighbours in the county - noticing the misrcprcs m mistatement about the 3 hours speech, & mentioning the / consequence of it in the satisfactory amount of subscriptions — or something of that this kind[.] 2 I write this in the midst of discussion, as we are on our report, &: it is therefore I fear somewhat confused.3 Yrs flly | D. TO: RICHARD WRIGHT

Carlton Club [Friday 4?] May [1849] 1825

ORIGINAL: H A/v/B/43 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: both elements of the date in the text are ambiguous. The reference to the committee (see iSiSng) establishes that the year is either 1849 or 1850, and the 'book money' indicates May 1849; see m. According to the record, in 1849 D attended meetings of the committee on consecutive days only on 15 and 16 May; see i82i&m. However, as one sees in that letter, this kind of evidence is not conclusive. We have therefore opted for 4 May, which best fits both the text and the sequence of 1821 and 1823. Sic: checque.

My dr W[righ]t, Carlton | May [?] 4[?] I have been imprisoned on the Ceylon & Guiana Comm[itt]ee the whole of yesterday, & to day, & scarcely get breathing time before I am obliged / to be in my place in the House. I send you a checque for the Insurance 1 — & wd. have sent you more, but pause for an instant. / They won't pay me my book money until the 3ist. Inst.!2 but I shall perhaps receive some rents.3 2 No published letter has been found, but there is (in H 11/1/0/27) a fair copy of a letter by Rose (with a much-revised addition), dated 4 May 1849 at the Brompton Hospital, along the lines D is here suggesting: 'there was about as much connection between [o's] appearance in the Chair, and the cause of protection as there is between free trade and Vaccination ... the Charity is indebted to Mr. Disraeli for his invaluable exertions. The amount announced at the dinner and since contributed, falling little short of £2000.' 3 See i82i&m, 1825, 1827 and 1859^4. 1 This is presumably the insurance on o's life requested as a security by Thomas Willis for the payments to Messer (see i82i&n2). Willis would write to Wright about the final amount on 21 May. H A/v/A/3i,33. Payments for the Palladium insurance policy of 1847 fell due at the end of October. H R/I/A/15F.

2 D is probably referring to the proceeds (£418.2.6 gross, £349.10.3 net) of the four-day sale starting 16 March 1849 of Isaac's books; on 29 March Samuel Sotheby had written to D to tell him that proceeds of the sales of literary property were not payable until 2 months and 10 days after the last day of the sale, ie 31 May. H A/v/F/ig, G/iooa,b,ii4-i6. See further 2142. There are, however, other forms of 'book money' that oat this time might have been expecting. Colburn was advertising a new 'popular' edition of Coningsby and on 26 May would announce that it was published on that day. It would contain a new preface by D, dated May 1849, which D may have written in response to leaders in MC, possibly written by Smythe. On 7 May, in anticipation of the debate beginning that day on the repeal of Jewish disabilities, a leader would praise o as the champion of Judaism. On 9 May another would take D to task for not speaking in the debate at all, seeing it as 'genius stooping to political cowardice'. Lady de Rothschild in a diary entry for 20 February 1849 had made the same point: 'last year he was our warmest champion and now!' Cohen Rothschild 41. In his preface D contends that the Jews are the founders of Christianity, not its foes, and mentions Tancred as developing his views 'respecting the great house of Israel' first put forward in Coningsby: 'No one has attempted to refute them, nor is refutation possible; since all he [the author] has done is to examine certain facts in the truth of which all agree, and to draw from them irresistible conclusions which prejudice for a moment may shrink from, but which reason cannot refuse to admit.' The extant accounts do not show any book payments at this time; Colburn had written to

179

I shall see you in a day or two to discourse over affairs[.] Yours flaithfu]lly | D 1826 TO: SARAH DISRAELI ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 ££30-1

[London, Tuesday 8 May 1849]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'April 30 1849-'. Dating: by context; see ni. Also, 1827 appears to be the letter here promised 'tomorrow.'

My dear Sa, I shd. have liked very much to have answered yr letter 1 to day — but am really so harassed, jaded, & ill, that I must put it off till tomorrow. I can only say that / I am sorry the arrangements about Hughenden farm failed, as I never for a moment contemplated anything of the kind. Indeed I have never given five minutes / consider[ati]on to the subject - but I have little doubt that I can manage the affair. I have not been able to see Rose this year. I am sorry James does not go to Bradm. / as I think it the best thing on the whole. He continually writes me insulting letters, 2 wh: add to the many annoyances I labor under. I entirely disapprove of yr. going to Hastings 3 but will endeavour to write tomorrow more fully & clearly[.] D 1827 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Grosvenor Gate, Wednesday 9 May 1849

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/3i8

My dear Sa, Grosvenor Gate | May 9. 1849 | Wednesday I was up last night at the House of Lords till five o'ck: & am so jaded that I cannot get out this morning. The triumph of the government, if it be one, / is not very great, as they were beat by those present by, I think, a majority of 14.l I dine out to day at Sir J. Walsh's - i.e. if I can rally enough for a political dinner. / I will call on you tomorrow (Thursday) in my way to the Ceylon MA on 27 April to ask if D would like to write a new preface, and would write to her again, on 22 May about production problems and on 7 June with reviews and the news that 400 copies had already been sold. On 7 October 1849 he would tell D that 850 of a print-run of 1,000 had been sold, but without mentioning any payment. H E/vn/D/36, 0/111/0/433-5. 3 For the most recent recorded rent payment see 1810. The next would be one for £117.15 from George Gillett on 28 June for the rent of 2, Grosvenor Gate. H ace. 1 See i822&n6. 2 There are in H some undated and sometimes almost illegible letters from James to D that include fairly abrasive passages; see, for example, 2i85&n4. On the Bradenham House lease see i645n2. 3 Sarah would move to Hastings nevertheless, on 12 June taking a house for a year; see i84i&m. See further i887&nn4&5. 1 The 8 May division in the Lords by which second reading of the Navigation Bill was passed by a total majority of 10 was won by proxy votes; of those present, 105 voted for the bill and 119 against, while the proxies were 68 for and 44 against, with 20 votes (10 on each side) paired off. The Hansard (cv cols 117-20) report of the division mentions that the lists that were circulated were 'imperfect and uncertain'.

l8o

Committee, where I must be the whole morning. I shd. think it wd. be about 1 /2 past eleven o'ck. Give / my kind regards to Mrs. Meredith. 2 yours affecly. | D. TO: HENRY GEORGE BOHN

Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 12 May 1849 iSlS

ORIGINAL: PS 379 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Maggs Catalogue 427 (Autumn 1922) item 1957: 'ALS "Disraeli" to Mr. Bohn 4 pp., 8vo. Grosvenor Gate. May 12, 1849.', ending with 'Etc.'

I am honoured and gratified, by the presentation copy of Schiller's early plays, which you have been pleased to forward me. They revive recollections, which agitated my youthful heart, and I am pleased to see them offered to the English public in a style, which will command respect.1 TO: [LORD PALMERSTON] Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 14 May 1849 1829 ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 41315 £179

My dear Lord, Grosvenor Gate | May 14. 1849 I propose to make an enquiry to day respecting the progress of the Danish negotiations.1 I enclose a note of the Madeira papers / desired.2 Ever yours sincerely | D. TO: ARTHUR BAKER

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 16 May 1849

ORIGINAL: PS 380 PUBLICATION HISTORY: James Tregaskis & Son Catalogue No 966 (late March 1929) item 313: 'A.L.s., 2 V2 pp., 8vo, to Rev. Arthur Baker'. 2 It is again striking to note that, when in London, Sarah does not stay at Grosvenor Gate. Sarah, on this occasion as on others, is staying with Mrs Meredith (at 4 Connaught Square); see i822n6. On the committee meeting see i82ini. 1 An advertisement on 27 April for Bohn's Standard Library for May had announced that 'Schiller's Robbers, Early Dramas and Ghost Seer, translated by H.G. Bohn', was 'now ready'. MP (27 April 1849). Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) had published his Sturm und Drang revolutionary drama Die Rauber in 1781 and the novel Der Geisterseher in 1789. 1 On this day in the House D would ask Palmerston whether the peace negotiations between Germany and Denmark, under Britain's mediation, were, in view of the further outbreak of hostilities between the two countries, still being pursued. Lord Palmerston replied that a definite proposal was at present under consideration, but declined to give details beyond the intimation that it involved not only an armistice but a final settlement. Hansard cv cols 388-9. 2 See I78i&nn6&7. Lord Campden had written to D most recently in early May (the letter evidently erroneously docketed 'June') saying he was enclosing a 'complete statement' of the papers on the Madeira chaplaincy matter that still had not been supplied. According to the letter, D had asked Lord John Manners, who had also been urging D for some time to move for papers he thought were still missing, for such a list. Campden asked that D move for the papers 'next week or Tuesday the i5th' at latest, in order to catch the monthly mail for Madeira. H B/xxi/G/4, xx/M/40. Presumably D is here merely forwarding the list to Palmerston, as in H it is not to be found with Campden's letter. Palmerston would reply on 17 May from Carlton Gardens: 'You will see by the accompanying memorandum that some of the Papers which you have been asked to move for are not in the Foreign Office, and that some others of them have been presented to Parliament already. But you can whenever you like make an unopposed motion for an address for the Remainder.' GEE [!]•

l8l

l8jO

Grosvenor Gate, May 16, 1849 [referring to] ... the distinction wh. you contemplated to bestow on me.1 l831 TO: SIR JAMES DUKE

[London, Wednesday 16? May 1849]

ORIGINAL: H B/xxi/o/397 EDITORIAL COMMENT: A partial draft of D's response written on the letter to which he is replying; see nm&2.

My dr Lord,1 I am extremely honored by yr. obliging letterf.]2 l832 TO: EUGENE FORCADE

Grosvenor Gate, Thursday [24] May 1849

ORIGINAL: BHVP MS 3050, 8126 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: it is more likely that D made an error in the date than in the day of the week. Sic: 25.

Grosvenor Gate. | May 25. 1849 | Thursday Mr. Disraeli presents his Compliments to Mr. Forcade, & will be very happy to receive Mr. Forcade & Mr Solar, tomorrow, (Friday), morning / at two o'ck. It is the only day, that Mr. Disraeli can, at this moment, fix upon for the pleasure of receiving these gentlemen, by / whose acquaintance he shall be much honored.1

1 The Rev Arthur Baker (1817-1868), at this time curate and chaplain of the Aylesbury union workhouse and the Bucks county infirmary, was also clerical secretary of the (high church) Bucks Architectural and Archaeological Society. G.L. Browne, the honorary secretary of the Society, on 12 April had written to D telling him to expect an invitation from Baker to become a vice- president of the society. Browne advised D to reject the offer (although as gently as possible), as acceptance would invite attacks from the low church clergy who formed the majority in Bucks. Baker's letter has not been found. D's letter (in which he presumably followed Browne's advice) was read out at the 7 June meeting of the Society, although the report does not indicate its contents. H B/XX/A/ 5 ;BH (16 June 1849). At about this time (on Browne's advice) D subscribed £5 for repairs to Aylesbury Church. BH (19 May 1849). 1 Sir James Duke (1792-1873) Kt 1837, lord mayor of London 1848-9, Liberal MP for Boston 183749, for London 1849-65, after December 1849 ist Baronet, on 15 May 1849 had written to D enclosing an invitation to dine at the Mansion House, along with the Duke of Richmond and Lord Stanley; he asked if D would like to add any names to a list Beresford had already given him. H B/ xxi/D/397. 2 On 18 May Sir James would reply that he was glad he had anticipated D'S wishes about including Lords Brooke and Mandeville (presumably in his letter D had suggested that they be invited); he again asked D to extend the guest list. For further on the banquet given to the Protectionists on 23 June see 1838, i839&ni and i845&ni3. 1 Eugene Forcade had written to D on 21 or 22 May (the second digit of the date has been altered) to ask for the pleasure of meeting him for the first time; he also asked if he might bring a friend, M. Felix Solar, 'un soldat de notre presse francaise' and a long-time admirer of D. H B/xxi/F/iSg. Felix Solar (1815-1870), at one time a dramatist and subsequently a journalist, had been consistently defending the ultra-conservative policies of Guizot. Since 1848 he had been chief editor of La Patrie. After 1851 he would amass a large fortune as a financier, while remaining active as a journalist (eg chief editor of La Presse 1861).

182

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Carlton Club, Saturday [26 May 1849] 1&33

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 ££32-3

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'May 26 1849'. Dating: by the Ds' Whitsun holiday at Hughenden, 26-31 May 1849. H ace.

My dear Sa, Satur[da]y morning | Carlton. | V2 past 9 We go to Hn. to day & shall stay there till Thursday. Write to me at Hn. with all details of your doings - I will write to you then a longer letter / than I can this morning, being pressed with private business & having to get off very shortly. Yrs affly | D. / Rose has found all the Manor Court Rolls 8c many more papers than he ever dreamed of.1 They were all in London at the lawyers, all the time. TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Hughenden [Monday 28 May 1849] 1834

ORIGINAL: PS 496 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 224-6, dated 28 May 1849 at Hughenden; M&B in 207, dated 28 May 1849 at Hughenden, extracts

I came down here very indifferent, having dined out the three preceding days running: Tuesday at the Jolliffes'; Wednesday, Lady Braye; Thursday at Lord Brougham's. 1 All the parties should have been agreeable, as there were wits and beauties at each; but, notwithstanding the Maidstones,2 the Bishop of Oxford, and John Manners at the Jolliffes', Howden and Rogers at Lady Braye's, Brougham's was the only amusing party, and it was very agreeable. The Douros, who were there, however, scarcely contributed to it, but our host is a host in himself. His women, Lady Malet and Mrs. Spalding,3 both lively; young Stanley, very interesting; and a young Wellesley, a son of Mornington, but as unlike his father as imaginable, for he was most interesting, thoughtful, highly cultivated, and seemed to me a genius. He had sent me a French book which he had written, and which, remembering his father's boring brochure, I had never acknowledged, and I felt a pang.4 It is settled that there is to be no coalition between the Peelites and the 1 Presumably in anticipation of the procedures to establish D as lord of the manor; see i837&n2. 1 In his invitation Lord Brougham had apologized for his wife's not having called on MA, explaining that she was an invalid. H B/xxi/B/io2. 2 Lord Maidstone in 1846 had married Lady Constance Henrietta Paget (1823-1878), second daughter of the Earl of Uxbridge. 3 Sir Alexander Malet, 2nd Baronet, in 1834 had married Mary Anne Dora Spalding (d 1891), daughter of Lady Brougham by her first marriage, to John Spalding. Lady Brougham's son by her first marriage, John Eden Spalding, in 1831 had married Mary Wilhelmina Upton (1801-1876), only surviving daughter of ist Viscount Templetown. 4 James F.H. William Pole Tylney Long Wellesley (1815-1851), of the 12th Lancers, was the younger son of 4th Earl Mornington. Lord Mornington's most recent publication was The Irish Question Considered in its Integrity (Dublin 1844). In April he had written to D saying he had asked his son to deliver in person 'a Publication written by Himself, presumably De la France Contemporaine, et de ses Divisions Hierarchiques. Reponse d I'Ouvrage de M. Guizot, De la Democratic en France (London 1849), listed as being by William Wellesley. H B/xxi/M/519. For evidence that it is the younger son that D met see i8^88cm.

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Whigs,5 and therefore I conclude that after a decent interval the old Conservative party will be reconstructed under Stanley, and of course without Peel. If the distress continues after the next harvest, Graham & Co. must give up progress, and swallow a little moderate reaction;6 if it abide, we cannot pretend to disturb un fait accompli. I think, therefore, that this time year all may be well, if one can stand the storm till then. l835

T0:

RICHARD WRIGHT

Hughenden, Monday 28 May 1849

ORIGINAL: H A/v/B/22

My dr W[righ]t, Hughenden | Whit-Monday 1849 1 Send me acknowledgmt of receipt to the Carlton where I shall be on Thursday morning. Yours flly | D. 1836 TO: DAVID BRYCE

Hughenden, Monday 28 May 1849

ORIGINAL: GEE [2,2a]

COVER: Daniel Bryce Esqr | B. Disraeli Esq. M.P. | Grosvenor Gate | Park Lane | London POSTMARK: (i) In circular form: HIGH WYCOMBE [enclosing:] MY28|i849 (2) In circle: M[crown]P 129MY2911849 EDITORIAL COMMENT: 'Mr. Bryce' is written (in D'S hand?) on the back of the letter. Sic: [cover] Daniel.

Dear Sir,1 Hughenden Manor | High Wycombe | Whit Monday | 1849 Will you be so kind as to let me know by return the H. of C. business fixed for Thursday.2 Also enclose me a train paper of the Great Western of this month. Yrs ffly | D. 5 Cf Conacher Peelites 62-5, but especially 54, quoting a 16 April 1849 letter from Russell to Palmerston in which Russell predicts that, if he resigns, Peel will be called on instead of Stanley to form a government. He adds: 'I do not think that any of our colleagues could with decency leave our large party to join Peel, when all Peel's friends who have been asked have refused to leave his small party to join me ... but if we kept together, we should be able to support Peel in all good measures ...' Also cf Stewart Conservative Party 239 on Gladstone's disenchantment with Peel's views on the necessity of supporting the Whigs against the Protectionists. 6 See i8i6&n4. 1 See i825&n2; perhaps the 'book money' materialized earlier than expected, although judging from i837&n2 below, D overdrew his account to pay Wright. 1 At about this time there begins to be evidence (such as neat endorsements on correspondence) that D in London had the help of a secretary; see, for example, the reference to 'Mr Bryce' in 1791111. MA'S accounts for 3-4 August 1849 list stationery items and omnibus fares for 'Mr Bryce'; elsewhere his address is given as 13 King St, Portman Sq. H 8/11/158. This is evidently the David Bryce (ci8i91875), listed in Boase as D'S private secretary, who in 1853 would publish a lo-volume edition of D'S novels, and whose correspondence with D at that time suggests that he was still doing some secretarial work for D. His signature could easily be misread as 'Daniel Bryce' (see COVER). H E/ VII/G/I,4,5,10,16. In a letter of 15 February 1858 to William Lovell, Bryce mentions feeling 'bound ... [by] gratitude to Mr Disraeli for his kindness to me.' H E/VII/K/3. 2 The House of Commons was to meet at 3:40 pm on Thursday 31 May. There were orders of the day for reports on Supply and for committees on Supply, and on the Defects in Leases, Passengers, Police of Towns (Scotland), Registering Births (Scotland) and Clergy Relief Bills. There were also 13 notices of motions. MP (31 May 1849). The House on that day would adjourn early, at 9:15 pm, and there is no evidence D was in the House. Hansard CV col 1028.

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TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/44

House of Commons, Friday [i June 1849] Io37

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand across the fourth page of the MS: 'Mr. Disraeli'. Dating: by Rose's reply; see n2. Sic: checque; Lewis'.

My dear Rose, H of Comm: | Friday Dont bore yourself about it, if you have to write letters or make any arrangements, but otherwise, I wish you wd. not send in the / checque into Drummonds for two or three days, as I have just called there, & find, that, in consequence of the Bank requiring the probate of W. Lewis' will 1 / & detaining it for two days, they will not be able to receive the dividends until the middle of the week - & I don't wish them to know that I have drawn / my balance so near; but the matter is of no serious moment, & therefore don't trouble yourself.2 Old Herries has just observed to me, that since the Navigation Bill has passed, the Peelites / are openmouthed on all occasions agst the Govt.,3 &, in his simplicity, seems surprised at it. I envy you in the country. Ever I D. TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

House of Commons [Tuesday] 5 June 1849

ORIGINAL: H A/i/A/255 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 165, dated 5 June 1849, the third paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by MA: '1849 -June 5th'. Sic: Walscourt.

My dearest, H of Comm: | June 5/49 I enclose Stanley's note - he will dine with us.1 The Ld. Mayor will be here in the evening, & I will ask him about full / dress, for Beresford tells me that positively his card is "full dress".2 1 C/i734&ni. 2 On 4 June Rose would reply that he had got to town in time and would hold D'S cheque until he heard from D. He asked D to call on him concerning Hughenden, as D must sign the document appointing Rose the steward. He said that the 'Perambulation' of the estate (to establish possession) was fixed for Saturday 23 June, and the 'Court' ( JP, DL, of Bury Hill, Surrey, a member of a family of MPS. In his speech Barclay had used several of the points of D'S Aylesbury speech on equal taxation. He had also made much of D'S leadership qualities, such as his eloquence, and high-minded and lofty independence, calling D 'a gentleman whose business habits and practical common sense pointed him out as one of the greatest statesmen of the day.' MC (24 Sept 1849). In a leader on 25 September The Times had seen Evelyn as a sacrifice to Protectionist principles: 'One would think that by this time, when even Disraeli is obliged to hunt about for a new Protectionist dodge, Mr. Evelyn might have been spared. But no. The faction drags him out much as the Brahmins drag out a rich widow decked for the pile, taking care, of course, to save her jewels from the flames.' 4 The manor of Aston Clinton in the village of the same name, 3a/3 miles SE of Aylesbury, until 1848

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too low. Partridge wants you to take Bligh's cottage from the Camerons, but I fear, tho' pretty, it is very lonesome. I retract my opinion of Evetts, since I called upon him. He is crushed by shyness wh: amounts to disease, but alone, & forced to speak & act, he is another person. He is a Puseyite enrage, with portraits of Charles & Laud6 in his room & many other things of wh: ano[the]r time. Yrs affly | D. TO: [GEORGE LATHOM BROWNE]

Hughenden [Sunday] l888 30 September [1849]

ORIGINAL: HUNT HM 52644

EDITORIAL COMMENT: On the verso of the letter in another hand: 'This letter was written to Chas. Ross the Newspaper Correspondent'. Dating: the year is evident by context; see ni.

My dr Sir, H. | Sept. 30 I think the heading not very judicious - it is very well for a speech, but scarcely serious eno' for the heading of a grave document. "BUCKSE: ASSOC[IAT]ION FOR THE RELIEF OF REAL PROPERTY" wd., I think be a good & general title, pleas take in everything & please everybody.1 Yrs flly | D. TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI ORIGINAL: H A/i/A/257

Boreham House, Chelmsford, Essex 1889 [Thursday] 4 October 1849

COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Grosvenor Gate | Park Lane | London, [in MA'S hand:] 1849 POSTMARK: (i) In double circle: CHELMSFORD [enclosing:] 00411849 (2) a cancelled one-penny stamp PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B ill 219, dated 4 October 1849, with omissions

My dearest wife, Boreham House | Chelmsford | Oct. 4. I arrived here just in time, & Tyrell greatly relieved by my presence.1 There was a large dinner party yesterday - turtle without asparagus. This is / not a large place, but it is a place: a great mansion on a small scale.2 It has never had been the property of 3rd Viscount Lake; in 1851 it would be bought by Sir Anthony de Rothschild. The stock of the park and home farms of the estate had been advertised for auction on 30 July 1849. BH (21, 28 July 1849). 5 See l8lo&n2. 6 Charles I, whom the Puritans had martyred in 1649, and Archbishop William Laud (1573-1645), who had striven to drive Calvinism and Puritanism from England, were icons of the Anglo-Catholic followers of Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), leader of the Oxford Movement. 1 Despite the endorsement, this letter and 1905 are not to Charles Ross (whose correspondence with Din H starts in 1862) but to G.L. Browne; seei883&nni&3. Browne had written to Don 28 September about the wording of 'the address', suggesting that the words 'Cheap Capital' be excised and that 'Equal Taxation' be emphasized. H B/III/II. On 29 September BH (as well as having a leader on the subject) had printed a notice about the progress of 'The Bucks Association in favour of Equal Taxation'. BH on 13 October would refer to the 'Bucks Association for the relief of real property.' 1 Judging from Sir John Tyrell's letters (he was the Protectionist MP for North Essex) of i, 2 and 3 October, D had tried to avoid staying with him, apparently using problems of transport as his excuse; Tyrell had been 'not a little vexed' to find there was only a very small chance of D going to Boreham, as he 'had killed 2 Bucks & had got 22 people to meet [D] - Some coming from a distance.' H 6/111/15,17-18. 2 Boreham House, which dates from 1728, is now a college.

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ceased raining, the flat park full of immense avenues of elms, & gigantic long square ponds. When a man is in a scrape, / as I am,3 one must not complain of annoyances & sacrifices - but I have paid dear for the misconceptions of the Aylesbury meeting. At two o'ck: I go with Sir John, twenty miles across country, to a Mr. Whites,4 where we dine / & sleep, & on Friday is the festival - in honor of me to be held in an ancient baronial castle, the hall of wh: remains.5 The affair will not be over till late at night, & so uncouth is the land, that, / next day, I must travel twenty miles overland again to find a train at Chelmsford, wh: will bring me to town late at night. Hard work! When one is not in particularly good spirits. However if the meeting goes / off well, the cause may be rallied. I see Ld. Stanhope has been attacking the Aylesbury speech in the Post.6 Adieu, my dearest & expect me Saturday night. Yr affec husband | [signed with a wavy line]

l89O TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Carlton Club [Monday] 8 October [1849]

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/36i EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: '0.1852'. Dating: the year is established by context; see ni.

My dear Sa, Carlton | 8 Oct I did my work in Essex1 to my satisfaction, tho' very unwell - & am no better. I suffer much from my teeth, not from / decay in them - but from disease, I fear chronic, in the gums. 3Seei886&m. 4 Thomas White (d 1864), of the Manor House, Wethersfield, Braintree (near Hedingham), and Berechurch Hall, Colchester, JP and DL, high sheriff of Essex 1854. 5 Cf i887&m; presumably because of the possibility of Sarah's presence at the event (as she was ill she did not attend), D omits to mention the Majendies to MA. See also 1857. 6 Lord Stanhope in May had advised G.F. Young to petition the Crown for a dissolution to set up the election of a Protectionist government. Stewart Protection 148. See 1902&H2. MP of this day (4 Oct 1849) had a long report of a Protectionist meeting at Gravesend on 3 October, at which Lord Stanhope had called D's Aylesbury speech 'totally undeserving of attention, were it not for the celebrity which that hon. gentleman had attained as an orator in the House of Commons.' 1 D'S after-dinner speech to a local agricultural and Conservative club at Hedingham Castle had been reported in a 4V2-column account by MC on 6 October. He claimed that hitherto he had refused to speak outside his own county but that he felt justified in doing so in Essex since he had received a petition from that county thanking him for his services to agriculture. In particular he said that he was glad to speak to an audience with a good proportion of yeomen and that he did so as a 'humble member' of the Protectionist party. It was three years since the corn laws had been repealed but he had not abandoned any of the arguments he had used in their defence. Since the present parliament, however, was likely to last another four years he thought it wise, without abandoning protectionism, to look for some remedial measures that might benefit agricultural prosperity. He declared that property owners paid more than their share of national revenue (including local taxes) and called on them to petition parliament for relief and for equality of burdens. The commercial classes had benefited greatly from Peel's tariff reforms and consequently should not begrudge something for the landed classes. He proposed setting up a sinking fund to reduce the national debt which would lead to a substantial reduction in the rate of interest, a great benefit to landowners (including himself). He also proposed an ad valorem duty on all imports for this purpose, making foreigners pay the cost. He concluded with an expression of his determination 'to uphold and maintain the constitutional preponderance of the land of England' and was rewarded with 'prolonged cheering'.

226

I have had several sleepless nights / & have just left Rogers, who has ordered leeches on, but I don't like the affair altogr.2 I can scarcely write this — being very unwell. / I must stay in town in consequence. I have just had an affectionate farewell from Mett: who is about to leave Eng: & winter at Bruxelles.3 Yr | D TO: [GEORGE LATHOM BROWNE]

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 189!

9 October 1849 ORIGINAL: TEXU [9] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The recipient is established by 'yr. fund'; see n6. Sic: burtherns [twice].

private

My dear Sir, Grosvenor Gate | Oct 9. 1849 The success of the Essex meeting is beyond our most sanguine expectations.1 There is only one opinion among all parties, that the combination of sinking fund & import duties is a teaser for the Free Traders. We shall build up the country party on two great popular principles - the diminution of public burtherns & the maintenance of public credit.2 It is of importance that Buckinghams[hir]e shd. keep the credit of originating a movement wh: will spread, / & I have no doubt become of national importance. I heard to day that the County of Surrey meant to meet forthwith & adopt the two principles. I have received by this post several letters from various parts of the Country, requesting forms of petition to the same effect.3 At the end of the month, we ought to have the ist. meeting of the / Bucks Assoc[iati]on for the Relief of Real Property,4 - & I will ask Mr Du Pre to attend & move the first resol[uti]on as 2 In her letters Sarah had often referred to Rogers, her dentist, but without further identifying him; the directories list several dentists of that name. In her 9 October reply she would tell D that she had 'known a person obliged to apply a leech constantly (at regular intervals) & after a time the evil was entirely overcome'; she would make the same point again on 12 October. H D/m/A/6456. The condition would continue to plague D; see his letter to Sarah of 26 January 1852 (H A/I/B/ 357) quoted in Bradford 171. 3 The Metternichs would leave England for Brussels on 9 October. In his farewell letter to D of 7 October, Metternich had expressed his belief that his departure would cause no break in their friendship and repeated his conviction of their sympathy in political principle. H B/XXI/M/347. See further 1893. 1 The Times in a leader on 8 October had congratulated D for having 'extricated from some of its embarrassments his scheme for the salvation of this empire.' It is possible that by a late post D had already received Sir John Tyrell's letter written on this day with the same assessment of the meeting: 'the assurances wh are not few all agree that the performance at Hedingham was first rate ... The Blot was quite covered & the Rurals are pleased beyond measure with the Speech.' H 6/111/22. 2 The Reigate Protection Society at its 15 October meeting would in fact pass a resolution which, although endorsing D'S leadership, did not support his sinking fund proposal. Stewart Protection 148. See further igoz8cn2. 3 For example, Lady Combermere on 7 October had written to D to convey Lord Combermere's request for 'a form of petition for Protection &c. to be sent to the House of Commons by our County members from the Hundreds - in Cheshire'. Lord Combermere himself was to take the petition to the Lords. H B/m/20. 4 See i883&n3 and ig^8cn2.

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to the diminution of burtherns: 5 I will take the Sinking Fund part myself, & work it out. We must get as great a meeting as possible, & have all the London Press down. I have enlisted one or two subscribers to yr. fund 6 wh: we must bring to a focus at the Q.S. Yours faithfully | D. l892 TO: (JOHN COX?]

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 11 October [1849]

ORIGINAL: PS 384 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Reginald Atkinson Catalogue No 70 (1927) item 39 'A.L. signed "D" relating to the misrepresentation of a political speech (apparently delivered in Essex) owing to no proper arrangements being made for the inclusion of press representatives. 8pp Gros Gate 11 Oct, [1849?] no named correspondent.' EDITORIAL COMMENT: For the year and the probable recipient see ni. Other possible recipients include G.L. Browne.

... The Times is furious at not being invited, the Morning Chronicle has published a letter, signed by its Reporters, stating that there was no provision for them ... and they have the impudence to intimate that there was an intention to exclude all papers of the opposite opinion1 ...

1893

TO: SARAH DISRAELI ORIGINAL: PS 498

[London, Saturday 13?] October 1849

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 233-4, dated 13 October 1849 at Hughenden, conflated with an extract from 1887 and extracts from 1897; M&B III 194, 220, brief extracts; W.V. Daniell's Catalogue 1906: '8 pp. (Oct. 1849)' and brief description EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see ni. Sic: Ashurst.

We are still here, and I shall go to Quarter Sessions on Monday, as county business now commences the first day .... I think the Essex move is successful; 5 In the event, Du Pre would not attend the meeting, although at a 3 October meeting at Salt Hill, Bucks, he had tentatively endorsed D's proposals on condition that a full investigation would prove them to be in the farmers' interests. The first resolution at the 31 October meeting, that so-called local taxation represented an unfair burden on land, would be proposed by John Newman. BH (6 October, 3 November 1849). See further 1905. 6 See i865&m and i866&ni. 1 On 8 October 1849 tne Rev John Cox had written to D about a major faux pas by the Essex meeting organizers. The reporters for MP and MC had attended with orders to bring back their reports of D'S speech by special train in time for Saturday's papers but had been refused admission to the castle by a policeman until after Cox's speech and twenty minutes of D'S speech. Not having any notes, Cox had not been able to grant the reporters' request to repeat his speech to them on Saturday morning, and he asked D'S advice, as he feared a hostile report. He thought that the Morning Herald intended to copy the local Essex papers and asked: 'can you do anything in that way[?]' H B/in/21. The Times on 8 October had published an abridged version of the MC report (see 1890111 above). The Times commented on not having been invited and added: 'Considering the enormous difficulty of reporting an original scheme of finance, with an equitable adjustment at the top and a sinking fund at the bottom, we are by no means sorry not to be responsible for our information.' On 9 October MC had published a letter from its reporters protesting the treatment given them at Hedingham and claiming that the MC report had been used by several papers, including MP, with only The Times acknowledging them. MP in its 6-column report on 8 October 'From Our Own Reporter' had also commented on the difficulties of getting admitted to the meeting. A quick comparison of the MC and MP articles suggests that they are suspiciously similar at the outset, but apparently independent for the most part.

228

it must, however, be followed up without loss of time by a great move in Bucks, and all this is very harassing. I was much pleased with your old friend Ashurst Majendie, my host of Castle Hedingham. 1 I called on McCulloch, the great political economist,2 the other day, at his official residence in Westminster. It is impossible to convey to you an idea of the beauty of his library; I never saw books in such condition, or such exquisite bindings, surpassing all my experience or conception. He said that, like Adam Smith, he was 'a bear with his books;'3 an amiable and very sensible man. Metternich wrote me a beautiful and affecting farewell letter. I received it in time to embrace him, exactly half an hour before he left England: 'Ce bon et beau pays,' as he calls it ... TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS Aylesbury [Monday] 15 October [1849] 1894 ORIGINAL: BEA [1*1-55] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 217111, dated 15 October 1849, extract from the third paragraph; Whibley n 5, dated 15 October 1849, part of the first paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: the year is evident by context; see nni,2,5-7. Sic: burtherns; Peter!)); re-productions.

My dearest J.M. Aylesbury | Oct. 15 Your kind letter1 has found me here in the midst of Q. Sess: & I write this in 1 Sarah had written to 'My dearest' at the Carlton on 9 October, asking 'Are you in town alone?', and then on 12 October to 'My dear Dis' at Hughenden, with considerable overlap to avoid disclosing the clandestine correspondence; see i887ni, 189002 and i897n9. The Ds were, however, still in London; see i895&ni. In 1897 he would respond more fully to Sarah's questions. For the Quarter Sessions that D would attend on 15 October see i894&n2 below. 2 John Ramsay McCulloch (1789-1864), the distinguished classical economist, author of Principles of Political Economy (1825) and of a famous essay developing his 'wage fund' theory, was comptroller of the stationery office (James Street, Buckingham Gate) 1838-64. He had been the first holder of the chair of political economy at the University of London 1828-32, and lectured on Ricardo, an edition of whose works he had published (with a life) in 1846. McCulloch considered Ricardo's essay 'On Protection & Agriculture' (1822) to be his masterpiece. McCulloch had first written to D on 14 March 1848 to express his pleasure at D'S speech about proposed agitation against taxation, and D had mentioned him in his speech of 8 March 1849. On 24 October he would write to D again; he thought landed property was not mortgaged to half its value, and that as long as wheat prices ran about 38/- to 4O/- per quarter there was no real agricultural distress even if rents went down 10 per cent. He suggested that D turn his attention to devising a means of calculating prices in different counties. H B/xxi/M/9, 6/111/40. See further 1903 and 1911. His friendly correspondence with D would become plentiful in the period 1851-63, and D in 1852 would consider the possibility of appointing him to a senior position in the board of trade. Blake 323. In 1857 he would publish A Select Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts ...on the National Debt and the Sinking Fund ... 3 According to Hiroshi Mizuta Adam Smith's Library: A Supplement to Bonar's Catalogue with a Checklist of the Whole Library (1967) xi, citing Tadao Yanaihara A Full and Detailed Catalogue of Books Which Belonged to Adam Smith ... (Tokyo 1951), the library of Adam Smith (1723-1790), the Scottish economist and philosopher, consisted of about 1,125 titles comprising 5,000 volumes, which he cited extensively in his works. See also R.H. Campbell and A.S. Skinner eds, Adam Smith An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 2 vols (1976). 1 Manners had written to D on 10 October from Aberdeenshire; he had been touring Scotland since 23 August, and recounted some of his travels. He congratulated D on his Aylesbury and Essex speeches, with which he largely agreed, reported on the strong support for protectionism in Scotland and hoped for a Protectionist victory at Cork. He admitted, however, that his interest in politics was waning: 'I am tempted to think that I was not invented for any useful political purpose.' H B/ 111/25.

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a battling court,2 wh: must excuse & account for its incoherencies. You must not give up public life: you were never more wanted. All will — all must, end rightly in that respect - & you will appear like a fresh / knight at the critical moment. I have something on the cards for you.3 As for affairs in general - the situation is simply this: unless we make the farmers understand the financial question, we are lost. They will go for Financial Reform, 4 wh: will be the death blow of the aristocracy, & indeed of everything permanently great in this / country. All my late efforts have had the object of making the agricultural classes comprehend the financial question. I wish to build up the Country party again on two great popular principles - the diminution of public burtherns & the maintenance of public credit. The first start was not very fortunate - for it was not / intended as a manifesto - there being no reporters apparently present - & the thing that did appear, tho it appeared in several papers, was furnished by one individual & a country hand. However the cause is too great to be baffled by such accidents. Even at Essex conceive the calves giving no notice to the Public Press - & had it not been for the malignant activity of the "Morning Chronicle" / I shd. never have been reported at all. As it is, all the versions, with the exception of the mysterious affair in the "Post" (now under the influence of Peter!))5 are mere reproductions of the Chronicle's not too friendly &, avowedly, very hurried report. What is the secret / history of Michele's appointment - Consul Genl. at St. Pet: & 1400 pr anm:? I suppose, all the time, an ally of Palmerston!6 What fun! The noise & confusion are so great that I can only say adieu!7 D 2 The magistrates on this day debated (with D'S participation) their reply to the home secretary about a letter from the inspector of prisons reporting that the Bucks magistrates had been negligent in not providing employment for the prisoners in Aylesbury jail. BH (20 October 1849). 3 At Aylesbury; see 1933. 4 At this time the leading proponent of financial reform was Richard Cobden, who proposed cutting defence expenditures and raising £1.5 million by a new probate and legacy duty on land. With the money thus raised he proposed to abolish duties on a wide range of articles. Wendy Hinde Richard Cobden: A Victorian Outsider (1987) 195. 5 Peter Borthwick (cflll 8o4&ni on D calling him 'Peter') had recently been appointed general manager at MP, succeeding Charles Michele; see 1649111. On 23 October W.Johnston, a political writer for MP, would tell D that the same editor, a Mr Mackintosh, would continue but that the managerial changeover had actually happened sometime between i August and mid-September; he summarized Borthwick's views: 'the Whigs in office are better Tories than the Tories out of office.' H B/xx/ A/956 Michele's appointment would be announced in the London Gazette of 26 October 1849. In a letter to D of 9 November William Beresford would also state that Michele had been appointed by Palmerston, and that Borthwick was 'completely under the control of the Foreign Secretary.' He claimed, however, that this applied primarily to foreign affairs, and that otherwise 'the Paper still takes the very strongest line in behalf of Protection'. H 8/111/53. See further I923&n3. 7 Manners would reply on 26 October from Willey Park, Broseley, repeating his support for D but warning him of the need to keep 'our heterogenous forces' in parliament together on detailed issues. He admitted that the MP business was a mystery to him, but hypothesized that Michele's appointment might have been for 'services against Aberdeen ... never did Minister for Foreign Affairs behave more stupidly or ungenerously than did that Presbyterian Earl throughout the Spanish business.' H 6/11/44. This would be confirmed by Broughton and Malmesbury; see !923&n3-

230

TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[Aylesbury] Monday 15 October 1849 1895

ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [l8l]

COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Grosvenor Gate | Park Lane | London, [endorsed by MA:] 1849 - Sepbr. POSTMARK: (i) In double circle: AMERSHAM [enclosing:] 0015! 1849(0 (2) In circle: E[crowm]R|i6oci6| 1849 (3) a cancelled one-penny stamp EDITORIAL COMMENT: The MS is mounted in an extra-illustrated copy of M&B III after p 218 (ch vin) 1849; endorsed in another hand: '15 Oct '49'. Sic: [postmark] AMERSHAM.

My dearest wife, Monday V2 pt 5 I am, of course, jaded to the last degree - but got thro' the work pretty well, & dinner is in an hour. Ld. Carington is not here. It is quite possible, that I shall not return till Wednesday morning - i.e. if tomorrow, as I fancy, be a late affair. 1 I met the Bp: of Oxford on the rail-road. God bless you dear wife | D. TO: THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

Aylesbury [Tuesday] 16 October 1849 1896

ORIGINAL: NOT NEC5,477 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is a draft copy of this letter in H B/n/i2. Sic: burtherns [twice].

Aylesbury, Quart. Sess: | Octr. 16. 1849. The Duke of | Newcastle K.G. My dear Lord Duke, I take almost the first opportunity, that I have of late enjoyed, to write you a few lines on the present state of the country party, wh:, I think, most / critical, & not sufficiently comprehended by our friends. I feel persuaded, that, unless the agricultural constituencies are led, they will go, from sheer spite & suffering, to the Radicals,1 & run a-muck for Financial Reform, wh: / really means nothing more than direct taxation, & the confiscation of the Aristocracy. In my opinion, everything depends upon the conduct of the farmers with respect to the financial question. There is no tax the repeal of wh: can significantly / benefit them. There is no tax the repeal of wh: the manufacturing & commercial interest have a right to ask for - after the great changes made of late years all for the avowed benefit of trade. If the changes have produced the benefit wh: they predicted, they / can't be suffering: if, on the contrary, the measures have failed, that is a reason why we sho[ul]d not persist in the same course. We talk much of having a meeting in this county in about a fortnight or so, & I have drawn up a petition2 wh: will embody our views / upon this subject. It does not crudely pray for a return to protection, but, after stating the injury to our property & industry from the free introduction into our market of the produce of foreign soils & untaxed labor, it prays for a juster / distribution of 1 Although Tuesday would turn out also to be a very full day at the Quarter Session (over 20 cases heard), MA'S accounts show that D returned to Hughenden from Aylesbury in the evening, and that she returned to it from London in the afternoon, of Tuesday 16 October. 1 In his draft of this letter (see ec) D first wrote 'Cobden', then 'the Man[cheste]r School' before settling on 'the Radicals'. Cobden's Manchester School were only a small section of all the Radicals. 2 See app iv [a] for the text of the petition; see also I95&nni&2.

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the local taxation of the country, from wh: all but real property is exempt - & with respect to the reduction of our general burtherns, it expresses an opinion, that that reduction can only be legitimately obtained by the establishment of a / sinking fund, to be raised by an ad valorem duty on foreign imports. If these measures be carried, the ist: will tend to sustain the value of landed property - the 2nd., as I am assured by the most experienced financiers,3 will very speedily reduce the general rate of interest on mortgages / to 3 pr Ct; & the last will give a bona fide, tho' a moderate, protection to our home industry. If these measures are not carried, they are, at least, suggestions of a nature, wh:, I think, will rally our friends round the old flag & keep together a party, wh: may prevent this first-rate / monarchy subsiding into a second-rate republic. I would wish to build up the country party on two great popular principles - the diminution of public burtherns & the maintenance of public credit, & thus to associate the interests of the land with the general / sympathies of the Country. I should be very much obliged to your Grace, if you would give me the benefit of your opinion on these subjects.4 This letter is written in Court, wh: must be / my excuse for its imperfect expression of my views. Ever, dear Duke of Newcastle, | your sincerely obliged | & faithful Sert B DISRAELI

1897

T0: SARAH

DISRAELI

Aylesbury [Tuesday] 16 October 1849

ORIGINAL: FITZ Disraeli Kyj PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 233-4, dated 13 October 1849, extracts, conflated with an extract from 1887 and with 1893 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The phrase 'two days' has been altered from 'to day'. Sic: Jenny; charactere; Ashurst.

My dear Sa, Ay[les]bury Q. Sess: | Oct. 16. 1849 I have been here two days from London - very unwell (between ourselves), but with a great pressure of business wh: I have just managed to get thro'. The great meeting of the Bucks Assoc[iati]on for the ftef Relief of Real Propy. comes off the 31. Inst. I trust more to the farmers than the Squires / — but Wm. Lowndes is a host — & Chester, Newman, Bernard,1 Lowndes Stone, Jenny,2 Partridge will make an appearance.3 3 Presumably one of these was Henry Drummond; see 18711113; another was Robert Baxter; see I9ii&n2. 4 The Duke would reply from Clumber on 21 October. He opposed temporizing by the party; in his view they should openly attack free trade and promote protection. He thought equalization would do nothing to raise prices, though he admitted it would ease the unfair tax burden on land. He approved of the sinking fund, provided import duties were re-established to pay off £$m of debt. He enclosed a letter from John Parkinson which talked of D'S proposals as 'visionary' and 'inadequate to give relief; Parkinson approved of import duties, but thought the sinking fund had been shown to be a fallacious concept which only postponed calamity. The Duke also recommended that D obtain the opinion of a Mr Booker (presumably T.W. Booker), who had spoken at rallies at Drury Lane. H B/m/34a,b. 1 Thomas Tyringham Bernard (1791-1883), of Nether Winchendon, Bucks, second surviving son of

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I can hardly write — but will contrive to tell you, that Mrs. Majendie is not much altered - at least very little in manner & the charactere the same. Majendie himself, grey, / stout, with spectacles & a somewhat satyrlike face betn. Jones the Tithe Comm[issi]oner4 & a little of Croker - rather a mauvais sujet in the county. Lady Simpkinson has not been spared by time, & Simpkinson looked old enough to be Griffins father.5 The / place very good; a real manorial residence & squire's place seat - very pretty the country - green & undulating, & well clad; the castled ruin, superb & imposing - the modern house of the time of George the 1st., I suppose,6 with portraits of the fundator, a Lord Mayor of that age, / one Ashurst, & his wife,7 & all very good. I was much pleased with everything - went & took coffee after the dinner - the rooms of course crowded.8 I heard to day from Newman that you had been very unwell at Hastings wh: distressed me, / tho' having received yr. letter, I conclude it was not serious, tho' severe.9 Adieu, my dear Sa, | D. TO: PHILIP ROSE

Aylesbury [Tuesday] 16 October [1849] 1898

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/46 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the sixth page of the MS: '16. October 1849 Mr. Disraeli'.

Sir Scrope Bernard Morland, 4th Baronet (who had assumed the additional name of Morland); after 1876 6th Baronet; Liberal-Conservative MP for Aylesbury 1857-65. 2 William Jenney (1779-1859), of Drayton Lodge, Tring, commissioner of the peace for Bucks and Herts, DL for Bucks. 3 All those mentioned by D would attend the 31 October meeting, with William Lowndes in the chair, except the Rev Anthony Chester, who would send his apologies for not being able to attend because of the illness of his wife. BH (3 Nov 1849). 4 The Rev Richard Jones (1790-1855), a noted academic political economist (critical of Ricardo) was tithe commissioner 1836-51. 5 John Griffin (c 1757-1852), FSA, FZS, senior member of the court of the goldsmith's company, Bedford Place, London, had three daughters: Frances (d 1868), wife of Ashhurst Majendie (see II 568n8); Mary (1795-1855), wife of Sir John Augustus Francis Simpkinson ^1781-1851), KC and a bencher 1831, Kt 1845, FRS, an antiquarian with an interest in ecclesiastical history and the law of tithes; and Jane, widow of Sir John Franklin the explorer. On 22 July 1849, Mrs Majendie had written to D about the Franklin expedition and had offered D the help of herself and her husband in furnishing statistics on Essex. H A/iv/N/5, A/i/B/663; CM (Jul-Dec 1851) 322; (Jan-June 1855) 219. See also in lOO^Scmj, where we failed to identify 'Griffin Simpkinson and Co.'. 6 The red-brick house in the original outer bailey of Hedingham Castle (built about 1140) is of the time of Queen Anne. Furtado 150. 7 Sir William Ashhurst, Kt 1689, was lord mayor of London 1693 and MP for London in several parliaments. His wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Robert Thompson. 8 According to the MC (6 Oct 1849) account, about 200 people had attended the event. 9 See l887ni and i893&m; D writes about his health and about the Majendies much more openly in this clandestine letter to Sarah. She had written to D at Hughenden on 12 October without mentioning her health, but expressing concern for his (dental) health; she said Mrs Majendie had written, enclosing the Essex Herald and 'very much impressed ' with D: 'She thinks you not at all altered that is, not grown apparently older, though to your youthful air is superadded a look of melancholy - but that is as befits a statesman in these days of danger & distress.' Sarah wanted to know how they all seemed, and whether D went into the house. H A/l/B/646. On the relaying of the news of Sarah's illness see igizScny.

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My dear Rose, Aylesbury | Q. Sess | Octr 16 I have put your name down as V. President for the "Bucks Assoc[iati]on for the Relief of Real Property." Lowndes of Chesham, Pres[iden]t. I trust more to the tenants than the Squires — but Lowndes is a host. It was always impossible to get the / proprietors to move in this part of the world. Even the Duke [of Buckingham and Chandos] cd. never get a Squire to dine at a farmer's dinner with him - but Chester of Chicheley, Lowndes Stone, Bernard, Newman, Jenney, Partridge & some others of the notables are with us - & in time, when we have won the battle, I / suppose the others, as usual, will make their appearance. I suppose I shall see you at Prestwood consecration.1 Our meeting is fixed for the 31st. Oct. - first meeting of the Assoc[iati]on. I came here, by London, from Essex. I am disappointed, & rather annoyed, about the assets for the £1200 - wh: may be ready in time, / having to be realised - but are not - I don't say this to bore you with any recollection of yr kind promise - because our last conversation entirely exempted you from all that. I merely say it, that in case you happen unexpectedly to be full of cash about the /th. or so of November, & I ask / you for aid, you may give me some. I won't trespass on you any length of time, as I have 1600 or 1700^ wh: ought to be paid before that time, tho' a day after will not do.2 Yours sincerely | D. l899 T0: [JOHN COX] Hughenden [Wednesday] 17 October [1849] ORIGINAL: PS 385

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Reginald Atkinson Catalogue No 80 (1929) item 33 'A.N.s. "D" Hughenden Oct 17 [1849]?' EDITORIAL COMMENT: For the recipient and the year see ni.

Dear Sir, In pressing the point of Import Duties, drop the ad valorem - this unnecessary to the principle, and brings in details, wh. are controversial. We must be as vague as we possibly can, consistently with the enunciation of a clear principle1 ...

1 The new church and churchyard of Prestwood would be consecrated by the Bishop of Oxford on Friday 19 October. The new parsonage was also complete by this time, and the walls of the new school were up. The church, designed by E.B. Lamb, accommodated 280 people. BH (27 Oct 1849). D did not attend. See further 1912. 2 See further iQi6&nn2&n3 and 1927. 1 The Rev John Cox had written to D again on 13 October, this time about beginning 'a new agitation' at Colchester; as the people there were not willing to start one he thought he would have to do it himself. He asked D'S advice on specific points, starting with the ad valorem duty on corn, 'a sliding scale the wrong way.' He wanted to know how to explain it: 'I know this is matter of detail, but I do not exactly see the answer, and I want to be armed at all points.' He said he was thinking of writing a letter to the morning papers; he also asked D for a copy of the petition (see app IV [a]). On 20 October he would reply to D'S letter, enclosing his letter to the editor for D'S approval, an remark on the apathy of the farmers. On 23 October he would write again, to acknowledge D'S letter received that day and to tell of further plans. H 8/111/27,32,36.

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TO: ALFRED GRIFFIN Hughenden [Thursday] 18 October 1849 1900 ORIGINAL: GRIF [3] PUBLICATION HISTORY: J. Harvey Bloom The Griffins of Dingley (1921) 45 (photograph of the MS)

My dear Mr Griffin, Hughenden Manor | Oct. 18. 1849 A wandering life this last fortnight, & the Quarter Sess:; & a great deal of pressing public business; have really prevented me from previously acknowledging your / letter. I am obliged to you for your kind expressions - the country is in the throes of a new policy; but the future is dark, tho' I hope not dispiriting. It is impossible, that I shd not be interested in any undertaking in wh: you may / embark. In the present case, your intimation is, necessarily, so vague, that I can only confine myself to good wishes - but I shall be happy, at all times, to confer with you on the subject with the utmost confidence, & / afford you such assistance as my counsel, & sincerely friendly wishes, can afford secure.1 Yours cordially | D. TO: ROBERT PEMBERTON MILNES

Hughenden [Thursday] l^Ol 18 October 1849

ORIGINAL: TCC Houghton 3681 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb.

My dear Mr. Milnes, 1 Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb | Oct. 18 1849 If the local taxation be adjusted, there will be a proportionate rise in the value of land: if the sinking fund be established, celebrated & experienced financiers2 tell me, no mortgage will "rule" above 3 pr Ct: if the sinking fund be established / on the basis of import duties, there will be a protection from 5 to 8/ pr quarter. I can't but believe the tendency, & effect rather, of these measures is to sustain the fainting fortunes of the soil - But if they are not carried, as probably 1 See i870&m. Griffin's letter that D is here answering has not been found. In a letter to D on 7 November 1849 which refers to earlier correspondence, Griffin would talk of having renounced his 'idea of a monthly periodical', as 'Mr Rose has initiated for me a negotiation for some interest in & control over the "John Bull"', and he would ask if, should the venture succeed, he could 'in any way advance your views for next session'. H B/XX/A/69- It is probable that Rose was acting for D in his work for Griffin. On 13 November Griffin would write that he had heard of the proposed purchase of John Bull for D, and give details of his own negotiations through Rose since 3 November, when Rose had told him that an advance of £1,000 would secure control of John Bull. Griffin said he had complied, and by 8 November had had 'a satisfactory reply' from Rose, but had subsequently heard nothing. He asked D to clarify matters: 'I had no personal motive for any connection with the paper except as far as, by joining it, I could make it available for your interests.' H R/n/G/142. Evidently the matter came to nothing. 1 R.P. Milnes on 9 October had written D for clarification on the interest rates mentioned in D'S Essex speech. He suggested that D focus on labour's cost of living, and that he mention the influence of towns (Paris, Manchester, Lyons) on the 'Destiny' of nations: 'These being the premises the conclusion is, that I shall be happy to see Mr & Mrs Disraeli at Fryston any time that suits them.' H 6/111/24. D would use his point about the 'influence of towns' in his 31 October speech at Aylesbury. BH (3 Nov 1849). 2 See I903&n5.

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they will not be; / why then they rally our friends round a bold & specific policy, & keep them together, till the time comes, when we may carry something else. A well considered protection to the land will be more facile of adoption by the generality, when the discussion, & stir, of a year / or two, has taught them, that the land has its grievances, as well as its privileges wh: they have assailed & abrogated. All your other hints excellent — & will be used, when the occasion serves. My wife sends her kind regards. I wish we were at Frystone, but I must work. On the 3ist. Oct. is the first meeting of the "Buckinghamshire Assoc[iati]on for the Relief of Real Property"[.] Ever yrs | D. 19O2 TO: GEORGE FREDERICK YOUNG

Hughenden [Friday] 19 October 1849

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 46712 ££103-4 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 221-2, dated 19 October 1849; Stewart Protection 149, a long extract; Blake 291, undated, extracts and paraphrase EDITORIAL COMMENT: D had this letter privately printed under the heading 'COPY OF A REPLY TO A LETTER FROM GEORGE FREDERICK YOUNG, ESQ.' A draft of this letter and the printed version are in H 8/11/13. Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page of the manuscript: 'B. Disraeli High Wycomb Octr. igth. 1849.' Sic: Wycomb; burtherns [four times].

Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb | Oct. 19. 1849. George Fred: Young | Esq My dear Sir,1 I had the pleasure to receive this morning your letter of the 17th. Inst, & the enclosed resolutions of the Protection Society.2 As I shall not return to town until the meeting of Parliament, 3 & as, therefore, it will not be in my power to have the advantage of those personal communications, wh: you so obligingly suggest, I must endeavour, tho' very imperfectly, thus to convey my impressions on the subject before us.

1 George Frederick Young (1791-1870; see also in 734mo) was a major shipowner, shipbuilder and chairman of the General Shipowners' Society, a magistrate for Middlesex and DL of the Tower, Liberal MP for Tynemouth 1831-8 (he followed Stanley and Graham to join the Conservatives); he would be Conservative MP for Scarborough 1851-2. Disraeli, Derby 35ini. He had been introduced to D by BEL in May 1848. H B/xxi/L/175. 2 Young had written a very civil and deferential letter to D on 17 October from the National Association for the Protection of British Industry and Capital, London Tavern. He disagreed with the proposals in D'S speeches in Bucks and Essex, and asked for a meeting. He and some others from the association proposed to discuss strategy with D so that 'the friends of Protection' could present a unified front with D'S 'talent, and influence' on their side. The letter refers to enclosed 'Resolutions of a late meeting of the Acting Committee of the Association', but the enclosure is not with the letter in H and has not been found. The resolutions can, however, be generally inferred here and from D'S letter to Stanley below. H 6/111/29. According to Stewart Protection 148, citing the Illustrated London News of 20 October 1849, on 15 October Young's association had 'condemned partial relief measures, adopted the Reigate plan [to petition for dissolution], and passed a resolution expressing confidence in Disraeli's leadership, but regretting its inability to support his sinking fund proposal.' H 8/111/28. See also i889n6 and I93&nni&2. For D'S description of Young's letter see 1917. In December 1849 Young's association would merge with the Central Protection Society. Stewart Protection 236. 3 The next session would begin on 31 January 1850.

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The present Parliament, freely & recently elected by the People, has betrayed no trust confided to it: & nothing therefore can justify your addressing the Crown for its dissolution but overwhelming evidence, that the constituencies are passionately desirous to record a decided opinion upon the new commercial system, wh: at the last, & late, general election they declined to do. No evidence of this kind has reached me. My judgment is, that, at this / moment, in case of a dissolution, the Protectionist party would not command a majority, & I am quite sure, that if the result were what some might consider more favorable, & we were encumbered with a bare majority, it would be a great calamity for this country. Addresses to the Crown for a dissolution of Parliament (not to be tolerated, except passed at County Meetings, or urban assemblies formally & publickly convoked) are constitutional weapons to be had recourse to only in those great public emergencies, wh:, fortunately, occur rarely in the history of this country, & the political party, that attempts to raise this armor of Ajax4 in vain, only affords a terrible proof of its national impotence. The political situation appears to be this: Unless the agricultural constituencies (county & borough) are prevented from running a-muck against the financial system of this country, wh:, out of suffering & sheer spite & vexation, it is not unnatural they should do, it is all over with England as a great, free, monarchy; & it must become, not only, in its imitation of the Un: States, a secondrate republic, but a second-rate & manufacturing republic. The agricultural Constituencies, therefore, must at this moment / be taught, that there is no hope for them in the repeal of taxes; & that in a juster distribution of the burtherns on real property, & in a gradual diminution of the general burtherns of the State by a sinking fund supplied by import duties, they may obtain considerable, & lay the foundation of sufficient, relief. In this manner, the country party might be re-constructed on two great popular principles; the diminution of public burtherns & the maintenance of public credit; & its interests would be associated with the sympathies of the community. It is possible, that these projected measures may never pass, but it is a bold & specific policy, founded on principles, wh: would rally men together, & keep them together, until they have power to carry something else, still more satisfactory. With respect to the objection of the Protection Society to proposing specific measures, I can only presume to observe, that my personal experience forces me to take a different view from the Acting Committee. Certainly in this County, wh: has always been forward in its zeal for the old opinions, five men could not now be got together by a vague talk of recurrence to abrogated laws, & no farmer will stir, unless you hold out to him some practical object of poss probable attainment. It remains / for me to notice "the particular measures of relief' wh: I have advocated. They are in number, two: vizt; the juster distribution of local burtherns, & the imposition of import duties: and I conceive, that the Country Party, 4 For the shield of Ajax that was too large for anyone but himself to use, see the Iliad bk XI i 545 passim.

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both in honor & in policy, are bound to adhere to the advocacy of these principles.5 I am, my dear Sir, | Yours faithfully, | B. Disraeli 1903 TO: LORD STANLEY Hughenden [Saturday] 20 October 1849 ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [7] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 220-1, dated 20 October 1849, omitting the last sentence; Blake 290-1, dated 20 October 1849, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: The second sheet (p 5) is numbered '2'. Endorsed on the last page in another hand: 'Disraeli B Ansd'. Sic: Goverment; embarassed [ftntctf]; embarassment.

Dear Lord Stanley, Hughenden | Octr. 20/49 I send you, by this post, a reply to a letter, wh: I have received from Mr. G.F. Young, a shipbuilder, who with Mr. Freshfield a retired attorney, 1 & a mad Surrey farmer, one Mr Foskett,2 are going / to organise, throughout the country, hole & corner meetings to address her Majesty to dissolve her Parliament, in order, to use their own language, "that a Protectionist Ministry / may immediately be formed" & Protection restored. These gentlemen deprecate any movement for specific measures, lest this coming Goverment be embarassed, as if they, & such as they, were not / an embarassment, wh: must upset any government, future & paulo post future. I had my reply privately printed, because I have no Secretary here,3 & I wished that yourself, & some other leading members, / of the party, shd. know my feelings on the subject. I wish you wd. gravely consider the question of a Sinking Fund.4 It is not merely as a plausible mode of obtaining import duties that I press it. I had a / very long & confidential conversation with Mr McCulloch, as I passed thro' town, & he told me, that, in his opinion, the effect of a sinking fund of 5 or 6 mill: wo[ul]d be to reduce the int: on the debt to 2 V2 & even 2 pr Ct. This was 5 See 1904 below, where D says he had 50 copies printed, and distributed 45: one of these, marked 'CONFIDENTIAL' by D, was sent to J.C. Herries on 20 October. BL ADD MSS 57409 £13-14. According to the 28 October reply D got from Sir John Tyrell, Young wrote 'a long answer' to D; it has, however, not been found. Tyrell thought Young 'a Hot indiscreet well meaning man.' H 6/111/46. Possibly the reply is the circular by Young's association which appeared in Bell's Messenger on 12 and 19 November, according to a letter from H.T. Biddell to John Cox on 20 November. H B/III/ 59. See also 192001. 1 James William Freshfield (1775-1864) FRS, attorney 1796 (retired 1840), solicitor to the Bank of England 1820-40, DL for Middlesex and Surrey, high sheriff for Surrey 1850; Conservative MP for Penryn 1830-2, 1835-41, 1852-7, Boston 1851-2; he had contested Wycombe in 1841, London in 1847 and Derby in 1848. In an 1851 letter to D, Lord Carrington would recall Sir Robert Peel calling Freshfield '"the best man of business in England"'; Freshfield had been Carrington's longtime legal adviser. H B/xxi/c/58. Adjacent to this letter of D to Stanley in DBF is a printed copy of D'S letter to Young, marked 'Confidential' in D'S hand. 2 On 17 October Paul Foskett, of Reigate, Surrey, had reported to D, apparently in response to D'S request (not found) for information on the reception in Surrey of D's sinking fund proposal, that the general feeling there was unfavourable, most people seeming to want 'nothing short of a Dissolution of Parliament ... to obtain a Protectionist House of Commons - the result of which would be a Protectionist Ministry.' H B/III/28. 3 See i836&ni. 4 See i88in3.

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also / Mr Ricardo's opinion.5 But then, they say, the difficulty is to maintain the fund. Let us suppose a strong governm[en]t that can. Conceive the effect on our shattered & embarassed aristocracy, if the int: on the debt reduced to 2 V2 or 2 pr Ct. They / wd. be saved. With this, Californian gold, & a fixed duty - they wd be stronger, than they ever were since the Conquest. And the policy has all the elements of popularity. I write in haste for the post, as this ought to have been inserted in yr. other cover.6 Yrs ffly | D. TO: PHILIP DAUNCEY

Hughenden [Monday] 22 October 1849 19°4

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [143-342,1273] EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a typescript copy. The copyist evidently had trouble reading what was probably 'Mr Foskett'; see igo3&n2. Sic: Wm. Jorkett.(P); embarassed; embarassment.

Dear Dauncey, Hughenden Manor | Oct. 22. 1849. Forget for a moment the sports of the field, and give me the attention of your acutely vigorous mind. In the first place, read the highly confidential document enclosed. The "National Society for the Protection of British Industry" addressed me thro' their acting Committee — consisting chiefly of Young, a shipowner or builder, Freshfield, a retired attorney, and a mad Surrey farmer, one Wm. Jorkett.(P) Their plan to save the country was, or rather is, to hold hole and corner meetings throughout England praying the Queen for an immediate dissolution of Parliament, in order that a Protectionist Ministry may be at once formed, and Protection restored. They deprecate the suggestion of any specific remedial measures, lest this government of theirs shd be "embarassed", as if we cd have a greater embarassment than such people. I answered their letter by return, but afterwards thought it might be advisable to communicate my sentiments to the chief men of our party. I therefore had fifty copies privately printed, of wh: I forwarded fifteen to peers and thirty to Commoners. One is enclosed to you. To keep the farmers from running to Cobdenism and at the same time to substitute for the mere "barren wail" for a form of protection, wh: never can be restored, some course more congenial with the condition of the country and the spirit of the age, is my object. I come forward with great reluctance, for I want repose, but I am impressed with a sense of duty, wh: I cannot resist. The first meeting of the "Buckinghamshire Association for the relief of Real Property" is held at the George, Aylesbury, on 3ist Inst. The sanction of your 5 David Ricardo (1772-1823), who throughout his career was generally opposed to sinking funds, had dealt with the subject in his 'Funding System' article for the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Piero Sraffa ed The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo iv (Cambridge 1951) 145-200. See also Carl S. Shoup Ricardo on Taxation (Morningside Heights, NY 1960) 50-1, 160-5. 6 Lord Stanley would reply from Newmarket on 25 October; for most of the text of his long letter see M&B in 223-6. Although inclined to agree with D'S opposition to addresses for the dissolution of parliament, he made it clear that he was not ready 'to abandon the principle of protective duties' as he feared D was contemplating. He objected to D'S talk of 'the reconstruction of the Country party' and threw cold water on the particular proposals that D had been making.

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name and presence on that occasion wd have great weight: on me it wd confer a personal favor. If you cd be induced to take part in the proceedings and ultimately work with me in the great object, the consequences might be very important. You have all the qualities for public life - intellect, eloquence, courage and integrity. I should be proud of such a colleague, and sustained by him. Think of this, and think of it kindly. In the enclosed document there is one point on wh: I did not deem it discreet to dwell. It is perhaps the most important - The Sinking Fund. Mr. Me Culloch, a freetrader and a political economist, but a writer of rare sagacity and great judgment, acknowledges that the effect of a sinking fund of 5 mill: in a short time wd be to reduce the rate of interest on government securities to certainly 2 1/2 and perhaps 2 pr ct. Conceive and calculate the effect of such a result on the mortgaged landed aristocracy of England. Assuming only that the rental of England is mtged to the amount of 20 mill: and a reduction from 4 to 3 pr ct takes place, there wd be an additional 5 mill: pr ann: gained for the land wh: wd. command at 3 pr ct. a capital of more than 150 mill: to be applied to its improved culture. This wd alone be the saving of the aristocracy, and I wish this to be done by a process, wh: wd at the same time give them a moderate protection in a mode not devoid of the elements of general popularity. This letter is hastily written, but the subject has not been hastily considered. Ponder it well, decide, if possible, as I wish, but at all events, believe me, Yours cordially, | D.1 1905 TO: [GEORGE LATHOM BROWNE]

Hughenden [Monday] 22 October 1849

ORIGINAL: HUNT HM 52645 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'to Chas. Ross'. On this point see i888&ec&ni. Sic: Dupre.

Dr Sir, Hughenden | Oct 22 1849 I return you the Petition. The form of printing shd. be corrected. The logical arrangement is marred by incorporating two paragraphs in one.1 1 Philip Dauncey would answer on 26 October, expressing reluctance to attend the meeting. He said that he had read the accounts of D'S speeches at Aylesbury and in Essex 'very attentively' and with 'the strong wish to understand, and ... approve. I think it likely enough, that, when I do not approve, it is because I do not understand. Can the deficiencies consequent on a life time of ruralism be remedied by the 3ist. of October? ... Of course you did not assume the command of the ragged regiment you describe. Captain Apollo - with Mouldy, Feeble & Bull-calf- recruits. Your answer could in substance be none other, but, in addition, I feel its tone to be statesmanlike and dignified.' H B/xxi/D/40. Dauncey's name appears neither among those listed as present at the 31 October meeting, nor among those who sent regrets. BH (3 Nov 1849). In a letter to D much later, on 8 March 1863, he said: 'until I first met you I had in no way mixed myself even with our rural politics. I was one of those, whom you have described as "undeserving of a franchise which they did not exercise."' H B/xxi/D/36. For D'S earlier expression of high regard for Dauncey's support see iv I577&n3, to which note can now be added that Dauncey was born in 1795. 1 See iSg68cn2 and app IV. On 20 October BH as part of its leader had published a revised version of D'S petition to be proposed for adoption at the 31 October meeting. The two points made in its last paragraph would in the final version be made in two separate paragraphs. BH (10 Nov 1849). See further igii&ni.

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You shd. not have noticed the names of the D. of Newcastle &c. in yr. art: People don't like announcements of their intended conduct to appear & first to appear, in strange newspapers.2 Mr. Dupre who, tho a very good, is not a very good-tempered man, has been influenced in his determin[ati]on not to join us by a previous announcement in yr. paper, that he was going, in all prob[abilit]y, to do so.3 Yrs flly | D. TO: [GEORGE LATHOM BROWNE]

Hughenden [Tuesday] 23 October 1849

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [143-340] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 222-3, dated 23 October 1849 and directed to Browne, omitting the fifth sentence and signature and supplying the words 'important' and '[report]', the first silently EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following text is taken from a hand-written copy.

Dear Sir Hughenden Tuesday Oct. 23. 1849 ... With respect to your letter of to-day you are frightened at shadows. The ebullitions we have experienced were inevitable. Whom do they come from? Lord Stanhope, a madman,1 Lord Braybrooke, an ultra Peelite,2 and Mr G.F. Young, the head of the very rump wh. I wish to put an end to. I enclose in strict confidence my reply to that gentleman of wh. 50 copies have been printed and sent to the chief members of our party. Not a man of the slightest influence or importance has opened his mouth against us. As for the newspapers you mention, they are nothing. No newspaper is [important] as far as its advocacy. The importance of newspapers is to circulate your opinions, and a good [report] of a speech is better than 10000 articles. Only secure a good meeting on the 3ist. and all this will turn to our credit and success.

2 The BH leader had also said that several people, including the Duke of Newcastle, would be holding meetings similar to the one on 31 October 'before this month expires'. 3 See iSgiScnj. BH on 13 October, after devoting more than a whole page to a report of D'S Essex speech, had remarked that it was expected that at the 31 October meeting 'both our Members will bear their part'. 1 For Lord Stanhope's repudiation at Gravesend of D'S proposals see iS8g8cn6. More recently, at a meeting at Rochester, Stanhope had again castigated D'S proposals, this time somewhat more harshly, calling D 'perfectly ignorant of the state of the country and of their duty'. MP (10 Oct 1849). 2 Richard Griffin (1783-1858), born Richard Neville (the name now borne by his issue), since 1825 3rd Baron Braybrooke; Mpfor Thirsk 1805-6, Saltash 1807, Buckingham 1807-12, Berkshire 181225; the first editor of Pepys's Diary (1825). According to DNB, he voted with Peel until 1846, after which he followed Stanley. For example, in the Navigation Bill division in the Lords on 8 May 1849, he is listed among the non-contents. Hansard ex col 119. The Times on 22 October had reported a 19 October meeting at Saffron Walden chaired by Braybrooke at which he had deprecated D'S sinking fund proposal. At the same meeting William Beresford had then tried to 'vindicate' D by pointing out the need for a specific plan, as he would recount for D in a letter on 20 October: 'I could not permit you & your Project to be cried down before the very influential Meeting of first Rate Farmers ... [and] took up the cudgels ... & regularly went at Lord Braybrooke amidst the cheers of the Farmers. I believe his Lordship feels that he ... has done a foolish thing.' H 6/111/31. According to Sir John Tyrell, Braybrooke had misunderstood D. H 6/111/43.

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*LtyO6

As to getting persons of influence to write to people in this county - the idea is too absurd. This county is to teach persons of influence. I have a letter from Lord Stanley entirely approving both equalisation and sinking fund, but I would not publish it to get together 10000 persons.... D.

19O7 TO: WILLIAM ANSELL DAY Hughenden [Tuesday] 23 October 1849 ORIGINAL: QUA 225

Hughenden Manor W.A. Day Esqr1 Oct. 23. 1849 My dear Sir, Your mournful letter has followed me to many places, &, at length, reached me at a moment when I was incapable of considering its sad contents.2 I / had a great respect & regard for your father, & highly appreciated his talents, wh:, I had hoped, might still have been employed in the service of his country. He was a most able / public officer, & was most unjustly treated. His children, however, may cherish his memory with just pride. It is, in vain, at moments like the present, to offer consolation to the / bereaved. Time will bring it, & soften grief into tender regret. Yours sincerely B Disraeli

1 William Ansell Day, the eldest son of William Day, had been admitted to the bar in early 1849, according to the 1870 Law List; in the 1852 Law List he is listed as an attorney at 64 Lincoln's Inn Fields. In 1861 he would write that he was going to 'Kurrachie' to practise as a solicitor and ask D for an introduction to Sir George Clerk or one of the members of council at Bombay. However, in a 4 May 1863 letter he would report having just returned from St Petersburg and offer D information on the Polish insurrection. H B/xxi/D/57-8. At that time he seems to have resumed his London practice. 2 William Day had died on 25 September, aged 51, at his home at Hadlow, near Uckfield, after suffering from a disfiguring disease that Sarah would describe in her letter to D on 22 November: 'You noticed Wm. Day's death some time ago - he died of the most extraordinary disease - he ossified - the faculty were all puzzled but gave no hope from the beginning - horny lumps formed all over him - his death was at the close sudden, one on the head affecting the brain ... from want of knowledge of the world his life has been one great social blunder.' H A/l/B/649- The last letter from Day to D is dated 27 July 1849. H B/xxi/D/53. On 26 October Day's widow, Ann E. Day, would write to D to ask his help in applying to the government for some assistance for her children (5 sons of the family of 8 were still dependents) in light of the work Day had done for it; she thanked D for the way he had spoken of Day in the House (see iv i^gzm). H B/xxi/D/54. The letter D is here answering has not been found.

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TO: [UNKNOWN]

[Hughenden, Tuesday 23 October 1849?] 190O

ORIGINAL: PS 480

PUBLICATION HISTORY: L'autographe (Autumn 1977) item 76, described as 'Front d'enveloppe avec adresse autographe et signature "B. Disraeli"', item 77, described as 'P.a.s. "B. Disraeli", 2pp. 80', with an extract; Paul C. Richards Autographs Catalogue 77 (1978) item 65, described as 'Autograph Letter Signed "Disraeli". 2pp., 8vo. No place or date. To a gentleman asking him to undertake an unspecified task, saying it will gratify both him and a committee'; Maggs Bros Catalogue 1001 (Winter 1979), item 49, described as 'Autograph Letter Signed ("B. Disraeli") to an unnamed correspondent, i2/3 pages 8vo, n.p., n.d.', with the extract given be\ow;John Wilson Autograph Letters ... (1980), 'Autograph Letter Signed ["B. Disraeli"], to an unnamed correspondent, evidently offering him a position ([extract similar to the one given below]); 2 pages 8vo (...two words altered in ink, probably not by Disraeli); n.d.' EDITORIAL COMMENT: The catalogues cited may be describing one letter or several similar letters, probably in connection with the 31 October meeting at Aylesbury. For the person slightly more likely than some others to have been a recipient, the possible nature of 'the task' and date of the letter, see igi^Scn^ and 1916. The Maggs extract is used, as it is the longest; it includes the material in square brackets.

Will you undertake the task? It wd be very agreeable to me, & gratifying to the County. 1 I hope [name erased, evidently that of the recipient's wife] is quite well, & that I shall soon have again the pleasure of enjoying her charming society. TO: [GEORGE LATHOM BROWNE] Hughenden [Thursday] 1909 25 October [1849] ORIGINAL: TEXU [5] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The recipient and year are established by context; see nm&3-4 and iSpi&ec. Dear Sir, Hughenden, | Oct 25. Things look pretty well. Mr. Harvey of Langley Park, &, I hope, Rice Clayton, will join us.1 Are you sure of our friend, Lowndes for the chair? I have heard that young Cox, / the intended seconder of Newman, is a heretic of the Birmingham school.2 If he brings in his currency crotchets, wh:, I am told he is apt to do, the effect will be fatal. Take care of this. His cheap capital is very different from ours.3 1 The Richards paraphrase gives this as 'committee', while L'autographe compromises with 'Comity'. 1 For the correspondence with Harvey see ipio&nz below. Richard Rice Clayton (1797-1879), of Hedgerley Park, Bucks, Conservative (Protectionist) MP for Aylesbury 1841-7, JP, DL, high sheriff 1838 (see in 834&n2), would reply to D'S invitation (not found) on 29 October: '... I do not imagine either my presence or absence could have the slightest influence.' He extended his best wishes for D'S efforts, and deplored the speeches at other agricultural meetings, which he feared would 'do much mischief, at least sow the seed of evils we may hereafter have to reap.' H 6/111/47. His name does not appear in the report of the meeting. 2 The Birmingham School was a group of currency reformers led by Thomas Attwood (see 1193116) who had opposed Peel's Currency Act of 1819 which restored specie payments suspended during the Napoleonic wars. As an inflationary measure to encourage trade, Attwood wanted to depreciate the value of the pound sterling and had received support from some country gentlemen. 3 For another mention of a radical Cox see i8o5ni. The only Cox mentioned in the BH (3 Nov 1849) report of the meeting is 'Mr E.W. Cox, of Haddenham Lowe', who however was not the Edward William Cox with whom D had a row about his political identity in 1835; see n 409112. The latter at this time was involved with his Law Times, while E.W. Cox in BH (10 Nov 1849) is referred to as a tenant farmer; in the event, at the meeting E.W. Cox would second Lowndes Stone's motion to

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Mind: it won't do for more / than one person (the seconder) to speak after Newman. The farmers will get tired & bored, & the thing will fail. I hope I shall hear by return, that you are better. Yrs ffly | D Colonel Gilpin also comes[.]4 191O TO: ROBERT HARVEY

Hughenden [Thursday] 25 October 1849

ORIGINAL: QUA 297 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb; embarass; embarassment; Canaletti.

My dear Mr Harvey, Hughenden, H. Wycomb, | Oct. 25. 1849 There is a meeting at Aylesbury on the 31st. Inst. of a very interesting & important nature; & I think it of the utmost importance, that there shd. be some exhibition of the feeling of the County on the subject. / Affairs are very critical — far beyond mere party politics — & unless great courage & discretion are shown at the present moment, I tremble for the aristocratic settlement of this country. Read the enclosed, of wh: fifty copies only were privately printed & transmitted to the leading members of our party in both houses. It is a reply to a very busy gentleman, who objects to the / proposition of specific measures of relief for the landed interest, but is of opinion, that hole & corner meetings shd. be held throughout the country, to petition the Queen immediately to dissolve Parliament, in order that a Protectionist ministry may, at once, be formed, & protection restored. He, & his followers, think, that the / suggestion of practical & specific measures of relief may embarass this government: as if there could be a greater embarassment than such supporters. I think the time has come, when some great effort should be made, without reserve, to form the opinions, & guide the conduct, of the Agricultural Party. Placed behind the scenes, I know, unfortunately, there exist / only perplexity & dismay. I know it is asking you to make a great sacrifice to come to Aylesbury. Believe me it is no slight sacrifice, that I myself make in moving in this business. I want repose as much as most men, & nothing, but an overwhelming sense of duty, sustains me, & urges me onward. I see a terrible future, wh: I wish to avert. You know, how difficult it is to / move this scattered County, & how disheartened the yeomanry & farmers are by the non-attendance of the landlords at meetings of this kind. I am in hopes, that this meeting may, in that respect, prove some exception to the usual run of our political assemblages: but, unadopt the petitions presented, while Newman's proposition would be briefly seconded by another tenant farmer, E. Stone, of Wotton; Newman and Stone would be the only ones other than the chairman and secretary to speak before D's speech. The report of Cox's speech betrays no predilection for advanced monetary theory. D is evidently taking care to distinguish his 'cheap capital' proposal from the theory that paper currency should be made plentiful by being less restricted by gold and silver reserves. 4 He did indeed attend. Richard Thomas Gilpin (1801-1882), of Hockliffe Grange, Bedfordshire, Baronet 1876, JP and DL of Bucks and Beds, high sheriff of Beds 1850, It-col of the Beds militia, would be Conservative MP for Beds 1851-80.

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questionably, the presence of yourself, or your son1 to represent your house, wd. have a / most excellent effect. If we were together, I wd. endeavour to impress upon you, not only the importance & the duty of yr. own presence, but that of exerting your great & just influence upon yr. neighbours for the same purpose. I wish, most sincerely, we had pleasanter affairs to transact, & that; instead of asking you to come, at this time / of the year to our rough County Town, I might rather offer to be again the guest of your refined & amiable roof, lounge in Venice with Canaletti, & listen to Mrs. Harvey's charming conversation — but these are gloomy times, & my destiny is not to shrink from a disagreeable duty. 2 Yours sincerely, | B Disraeli TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Thursday] 25 October 1849 1911

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/5ia EDITORIAL COMMENT: Included with this letter is a copy of 1902 marked by D 'STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL'.

My dear Rose, Hughenden | October 25. 1849 Your suggestion is quite right. Send me the formal heading,1 or rather, by my wish, to G. Lathom Browne Esq Temple Square Aylesbury in order to gain time. Ascertain for me (consult Baxter) what is the probable amount / of int: paid on m[or]tg[ag]es on landed (or real) property in E-ng Gt. Britain? May we assume, it is a third of the rental, or what? And what wd. you place the Gt British rental at? 40, millions - or how.? Circumstances have occurred, wh: render the meeting of the / 3ist. of the greatest importance & we must use all our exertions for a good attendance. At present, everything prom1 Robert Harvey's only son was Robert Bateson Harvey (1825-1887), ist Baronet 1868 (on D'S recommendation), Conservative MP for Bucks 1863-68, 1874-85. 2 Harvey on 27 October would write to make his excuses, and to say that his son was on a continental tour with Lord Chandos: 'I must confess that I see so little prospect of relief from the present Ministry that my views rather lean to Mr. Young's remedies.' H 6/111/45. According to Sheahan 869, Harvey had 'a fine collection' of paintings; it apparently included some by Antonio Canaletto (1697-1768), known for his views of Venice, his native city. The DS had stayed with the Harveys from 4-6 October 1847. On 25 September 1849, Mrs Harvey had invited them to stay on 3-4 October for the meeting of the South Bucks Agriculture Association. H D/m/c/io22, ace. 1 Presumably for the petition that Browne was printing; see ±896&n2 and I905&m. The petition would finally be headed: To the Honourable, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament Assembled. The Humble Petition of the Undersigned, Owners and Occupiers of Real Property in the County of Buckingham'. BH (10 Nov 1849). See app iv [b]. 2 D is presumably acting on J.R. McCulloch's letter of 24 October; see 18933012. Although no reply from Rose or Baxter has been found, D in his 31 October speech would say that one of his sources was 'the most eminent solicitor in London connected with real property', and estimate that property in Britain was mortgaged to the amount of £400 million, which at 4 per cent yielded £16 million paid in interest. He gave as the other two sources he had consulted 'the most eminent writer on political economy in existence ... [and] a gentleman high in office'. BH (3 Nov 1849). Presumably the first of these two is McCulloch, the latter perhaps Hobhouse.

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ises well. I have hopes, that Foulis, Harvey of Langley Park, Philip Dauncey, & other good men, on whom we little counted, will be present. I enclose you a paper wh: will throw some light on / the state of affairs. A reply to a very busy gentleman, who wishes to call hole & corner meetings all over England, to petition the Queen to dissolve Park, in order that a Protectionist Ministry may be formed immed[iate]ly & Protection restored. I have had fifty copies privately printed, & sent 15 to peers & 30 to commoners, the cream of our party. But all are paralysed: no one knows what to do, & we must teach them on the 3ist. & witht. reserve. Yours ever | D. 1912 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[Hughenden] Friday 26 October [1849]

ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/323

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: '1849'. Dating: the year is evident from context. Sic: Burtherns.

My dear Sa, Friday Octr 26 I have been unwell — but am better; & rather animated, than nerv[o]us, by the prospect of the 3ist.; tho' anything like a County meeting at this time of the year - the last day of Octr, & some men riding 30 miles to it, is a somewhat hazardous experiment. Did you see the advertismt. in the front of the "Times" of yesterday?1 Our chairman's name is a tower of strength. / I hope we may poll besides among Squires, Chester, Lowndes Stone, Harvey, Rice Clayton, perhaps Foulis, Philip Dauncey, Jenney, Senior2 - Partridge of course, Newman, Gilpin, Bernard, (Cameron is with us, tho' too indisposed to move) — a good many good clergy - & the best yeomen.3 Newman, who gave the best evidence before "the Lords Comm[itt]ee on Burtherns on Real Property"4 / will open the ball with a speech on Local Tax[ati]on - & I doubt not a good one. He is a cute man, & master of his subject. Phil: Rose of course with us. I was not at the Consecration.5 It was too crowded & rather confused. Aft[erwar]ds a dinner of the mass; all the clergymen connected with the affair 1 On 25 October The Times on its first page had carried an advertisement for the 31 October meeting; it did not mention D, giving prominence instead to William Lowndes as chairman, and G.L. Browne as honorary secretary. 2 James Trevor Senior, of Broughton House, Aylesbury (see IV app vm), one of D's fellow Bucks magistrates. 3 Of the names D mentions, only those of Lowndes Stone, Jenney, Partridge, Newman, Gilpin, Bernard and Rose appear in the report of the meeting. In addition to Partridge, the clergy names include Pigott and Lloyd. 4 This committee had been appointed and had reported in 1846. Hansard LXXXIII cols 1043-4; BSP-.HL (1846) xxil.i. 5 See 189801. D had invited Bishop Wilberforce to stay at Hughenden during his visit for the consecration of Prestwood Church, but on 4 October the bishop had replied with regrets that he would not be able to 'renew some of that pleasant intercourse enjoyed at Ld Hardwicke's', as he had already promised to spend the time at Great Hampden House (see n6). H R/i/c/37- MA'S accounts show an item for 19 October, the day of the consecration, of 5s for 'Church, at Prestwood', presumably for the collection plate.

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& P. Rose at Hampden. We dined there the day before6 & met the B[isho]p & the Lloyds & Evetts, / who, I am sorry to say reads thro his nose, & I fear will not draw. I received Ralph's letter, more than a week ago - the best letter I ever did receive.7 I answered it by return of post, begging him to come down to us & stay as long as he liked8 - enclosed was a note from MA. who, by the bye, dire[c]ted the whole. I hope it duly arrived. Berkeley Chambers Brutfon] St. Your illness was reported by yr. medical attendant to Miss Tidd Pratt, who reported it to Mr. Tidd P[ra]tt who reported it to Mr Nash, who reported it to Mr. Newman, who reported it to me9 - & thus was the house that Jack built. Yrs affly | D TO: [GEORGE LATHOM BROWNE]

[Hughenden, Saturday 27? 19^3 October 1849]

ORIGINAL: TEXU [3]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: probably written shortly after, or possibly just before, 1909, comparison with which also establishes the recipient.

My dr Sir, I will be at Aylesbury on Wednesday as early as I can - but I have a two hours ride.1 6 The Camerons on 12 October had invited the DS to dinner at Hampden on Thursday 18 October to meet the Bishop of Oxford. H 0/111/0/93. 7 Ralph had written to 'Mon chere [sic] Frere' from Paris on 5 October a very long letter about his travels, some of which seem to have duplicated the DS' honeymoon trip. For example, at a hotel in Munich he had met a commissioner who remembered D and 'the purloining of [D'S] coat and inexpressibles.' Also in Munich, he had pondered the paradox of Lola Montez's recent position there, and from Vienna reported the outrage of the Austrians at Palmerston. He gave a graphic description of Radetzky, whom he had observed, and told of meeting at the embassy some acquaintances including a Mr 'Samuel ... the origin of Sidonia. He speaks all languages, keeps Arab horses, and a beautiful Mistress, & is the only one at the Embassy who knows his business. Did you ever hear', he asked D, 'of this Mosaic wonder, for I believe he still professes the antient creed.' At Innsbruck Ralph had been mistaken for D, and in Paris had been admitted to the assembly because of his name. H A/i/E/64. I" ner letter of 21 October Sarah had said that Ralph had been visiting her at Hastings since 16 October and she passed along some descriptions of his tour, including a visit to 'the salt mines at Hallein near Salzburg ... Is it not exactly like the scene where Alroy is among the tombs in the valley of Jehoshaphat?' H A/l/B/647. 8 D'S letter has not been found, but on 30 October Ralph would reply with thanks for the invitation, which he had just picked up on his way through London; he reported that Sarah had been 'very unwell indeed', but was now better. He told a few more travel stories, and wished D well at the meeting the next day. H A/i/E/65. See further i97i&m. 9 See i897&n9. In her 21 October letter Sarah had written: 'It both astonishes & puzzles me how Newman & the Wycombe folks could have heard that I had been ill ... I take such infinite pains to keep myself incog, here that I thought not one person could have heard of my existence; I do not even subscribe to the public Libraries for fear a stray visitor should find me out.' She said that she was again 'as well as I ever am' and that she had been most ill the Sunday before D'S visit to Essex, although '[not] very bad, as I could console myself by writing you a letter'. H A/i/B/647. See further igi$8cni. John Tidd Pratt (1797-1870), a barrister (Inner Temple 1824, home circuit), consulting barrister and secretary to the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt 182870, a registrar of friendly societies 1846-70, was the second son of John Pratt, a surgeon, of Kennington, Surrey. No information on Miss Tidd Pratt or on Sarah's medical attendant has been found. 1 The meeting would begin at 12 noon; the distance was about 20 miles.

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Remember, that the Press are courteously advised of the meeting, & courteously provided for when they arrive. They were / very sore about the neglect & rudeness they experienced in Essex.2 I have seen Mr. Gibbons. He will be prepared to speak when we like. I am told he is a telling speaker.3 Yrs. ffly. | D. / I hope Cox is not going to bolt. We ought to have a Magistrate in every Resol[uti]on. Who moves the one following mine?4 1914 TO: WILLIAM A. FORD [Hughenden, late October? 1849] ORIGINAL: H A/v/F/2i EDITORIAL COMMENT: Fragment in D'S hand written on the back of a letter from William A. Ford, dated 26 October 1849, asking for payment of a small account 'against you or to Mr Pyne's business' of £7.9.4.

Be I must express my regret that in the directing!?] of yr. painful duties1 1915

T0:

SARAH DISRAELI

Hughenden, Sunday 4 November 1849

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/324 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 234-5, dated 5 November 1849, extracts, conflated with 1922; M&B in 226, dated 4 November 1849, the third paragraph; Blake 291-2, dated 4 November 1849, extracts

My dear Sa, Sunday, Hughenden | Nov 4-/49 I shd. have been glad to have heard something of yr health, as Ralph's letter from town mentioned you had been very unwell, but did not say how you were.1 I am myself not physically ill - but hipped & dispirited beyond expression. Indeed I find this life quite intolerable - & wish some earthquake wd. happen, or something else of a very decided nature / occur, that wd produce a great change. I was not at all pleased myself with the Aylesbury meeting - tho' on the whole, the world have not taken so ill a view of it.2 I thought it was a shabby 2 See i892&m. 3 At the meeting Henry Gibbons, of Bledlow Ridge, a tenant farmer, would second D'S resolution, calling himself 'no theorist, but a plain, practical farmer' who thought agriculturalists had been 'most eminently abused'. BH (10 Nov 1849). Sheahan 104 mentions a Henry Gibbons as one of the principal landowners in the parish of Bledlow. 4 This would be the resolution to adopt the petitions (one for the Commons, one for the Lords), moved by Lowndes Stone, a magistrate. BH (10 Nov 1849). 1 Ford was evidently acting as executor for the estate of William Pyne, who died in 1849. 1 See *9i2nn8&9. 2 The 31 October meeting had been attended by 'upwards of 200 of the leading landholders and farmers of the County', according to BH, but, as we have seen, many of the influential men of the county had not attended despite D'S invitations. It is clear that D intended this speech to be reporte accurately in the London press, as it was a speech for the nation much more than an address to a local audience. D had begun his speech by saying that the only difference between his friends and the 'other friends' who advocated protection was on whether anything could be done until protection was restored, that is, whether anything could be achieved under the current government: 'it is not the present government that repealed the corn-laws ... [their] original tendencies [indicated] that, far from repealing the corn-laws, they would have substituted a modification of protection, which we, all of us now, would be very glad to accept'. He then explained that he favoured protection

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concern. It has, I think, however been productive of some little good; tho' for my part, I give up the attempt of rousing the agricultural interest to any decided demonstration. They are puzzled, & sluggish - perhaps when they are a little more / pinched, they may stir themselves. I gave Evetts the presentation on representations wh: I cd. not refuse.3 Notwithstanding this, I believe he has left the Committee (G. Carrington Junr. Chairman) to pay the balance over due to builders &c. Pigott's share alone is £100. wh: makes him look immensely like a calf. Instead of 8oojf pr annm. in land he has only purchased 80. He is a young ultra Puseyite & has built & furnished a house, very Tudorish inside & out - having evidently paid / many visits to Wardour St4 for the purpose, & not spared his pocket. He is not a bad sort of fellow, when he gets over his extraordinary shyness, & has some taste & impulse - but in the pulpit I am told a sad nasal driveller, & I fear won't draw. Next Wednesday we go to Chilton to stay with the Chetwodes for a couple of days, & then for one day to Lowndes Stone: both dreadful bores, but anything is better than Hughenden. I meditate decamping privately on Monday to town.5 By a most provoking mistake, Chetwode, who wd. have come to the meeting & is a very good name, never got his letter till the day after, tho' it had been written a week before. It was lost in Mr Lathom Browne's portfolio.6 We dined at Hampden to meet the Bishop the day before the cons[e]cration; & on the day of the consecr[ati]on, there was a general dinner to the black coats, all clergymen I believe exc[ep]t Phil: Rose. I like "Lochiel" very well indeed. The Bishop is always good company.7 God bless you, my dr Sa for 'all classes of Englishmen', and not just for agriculturalists. On the basis of this clarification of his position, he declared himself unequivocally a Protectionist, and launched into attacks on the criticisms to which his proposals had been subjected. He then went on to explain and defend the resolution he was moving for the establishment of a sinking fund supported by a duty on foreign imports. He concluded by saying that he had 'no confidence in the government of great towns ... [which] is the government of the rapacious passion of the hour - a passion which acknowledges no gratitude to the past and no duty to the future ... Therefore, I am for the territorial constitution, which cannot exist in this country unless agriculture flourishes'. BH (3 Nov 1849, claiming that it was giving 'every word' of D'S speech). Lord Stanley would respond favourably to the reports of the speech; see 1917^5. For the petition adopted at this meeting see app IV [b]. 3 See i87i&nn8&n, 1872, 1873 and i878&ni. 4 Noted for its fake-antique-furniture shops. 5 The Rev George Chetwode (1791-1870), second son of Sir John Chetwode, 4th Baronet, and grandson of 5th Earl of Stamford and Warrington, BA(Brasenose College, Oxford) 1814, rector of Ashtonunder-Lyne, Lancashire, 1816, and perpetual curate of Chilton, Thame, Bucks, 1829, on 27 February 1849 had married thirdly Elizabeth Anne (d 1861), widow of Fiennes Trotman. The Chetwodes lived in Chilton House (not to be confused with Chilton Park), built in 1740 'after a reduced model of ... Buckingham Palace.' Sheahan 351. In her 9 November letter Sarah would remark: 'I fear you have bad weather for your visits; tell me about Chilton. I have heard that this new wife is the strangest of the three.' H A/i/B/648. According to MA'S accounts, the DS left Hughenden for Chilton on Wednesday 7 November, at i pm and from there went to visit Lowndes Stone at Brightwell Park, Tetsworth, returning in time for D to leave for London on Monday 12 November at 9 am. On D'S marital problems at this time see 1857^4. 6 See igoS&ec. 7 D evidently did not agree with the sour assessment of the Rev W.E. Partridge, who on 22 October expressed to D his anxiety about a forthcoming visit to Bishop Wilberforce: 'I never saw a man eat & drink so! I fear he does not quite come up to the standard of St. Paul - as he is a decided wine bibber.' H B/XXI/P/124-

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D. T.O. / The Corporation invited me to meet the Queen opening the Coal Exchange.8 The report of the meeting in the "Times" very bad indeed. My speech burked - slurred over, & the peror[ati]on, wh: they provokingly reprinted in their leader next day, a mass of omissions & nonsense.9 The report in the Mg. Herald, reprinted in the "Standard" almost VERBATIM.

1916 TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/52

Hughenden [Sunday] 4 November 1849

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Bradford 172, the third paragraph, dated 4 November 1849 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: twelth.

private Hughenden | Nov 4. 1849 My dear Rose, Will you have the kindness to make the payment to the Pall[adiu]m for me, as we settled.1 I propose to be up in town on Monday week, (about) to settle the £1200. I think / I shall have my shares settled disposed of by that time, or, at least, eno' sold, to effect my main purpose.^ I wish you wd. write me a line to say, that you want me in town, about the twelth Inst., on our business\_.~^ /

We are going on Wednesday to spend a couple of days with Chetwode at Chilton. How very provoking, that he never received his letter, wh: stuck in L. Browne's portfolio, until the day after the meeting, tho' it was written a week before. He is entirely / with us, & wd have been a good name & moved a resolution. Ever yrs | D. 1917

STANLEY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [10]

T0: LORD

Hughenden [Friday] 9 November 1849

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 227-9, dated 9 November 1849, omitting the first paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sheet two (p5) is numbered '2'. Sic: at, present; persion.

Dear Lord Stanley, Hughenden | Nov. 9. 1849 Altho' your letter of the 25th: Ulto:,1 did not, perhaps, require a reply, I should be sorry, that any letter of yours should remain unacknowledged. 8 The elaborate new coal exchange, on Thames Street, London, in a grand celebration on 30 October in fact had been opened by Prince Albert, as the Queen was unwell. The Times (31 Oct 1849). Prince Arthur, the Queen's seventh child, would be born on i May 1850. 9 The Times on i November had reported the 31 October meeting in 3 V2 columns; in a leader on 2 November largely sympathetic to D it had however been scathing about the 'peroration', D'S denunciation of 'the government of great towns'. 1 See lyoini and I74i&ec&m. 2 See i8g8&n2 and 1927. Although this may be a reference to business in connnection with Hughenden such as the apparent purchase of Naphill (see iQZQ&ni), it is possibly the beginning of D'S negotiations through E.H. Stanley in 1850 to acquire an interest in a party journal. Disraeli, Derby 21, 28. For the role in this regard of Griffin and John Bull see i870&m and ipoo&ni. 3 C/i857&n4- Obviously D still felt the need for subterfuge in his marriage.

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If the party is to be managed by the Protection Society, against wh: I / have no wish to demur, I think that Society ought to have apprised the members of the House of Comm: of their plan of campaign, wh: I now hear has been long matured, as they must, or ought to, know, that at no time, & especially the present, is it possible to return to our counties, and be quite silent about public affairs. Instead / of this, the Protection Society suddenly pass resolutions, in Octr., condemnatory of my views, & order them to be "published" throughout the country, without the slightest communication with me - the private letter of Mr Young to me, enclosing these published resolutions, being nothing more than his Reigate speech.2 Under / these circumstances, I shd. hope, that, on reflection, you wo[ul]d not continue of opinion, that the tone of my printed reply was calculated to give needless offence, but that, perhaps, on the contrary, I have rather refrained from retaliating against an unprovoked public insult. I had no wish to take any lead in this matter. The main reason why I attended the meeting / in Essex was our wish, that I shd. not unnecessarily lose a moment in removing a mis-apprehension then afloat. If, after the Essex meeting, the Protection Society had confidentially communicated with me, I would cheerfully have sacrificed any views of my own to a general purpose more approved, but a public reproof, & from such people, rendered it necessary, / that I shd. publickly vindicate my course. It would be too great an intrusion on your time for me now to enter into the important considerations on wh: you have touched; & even if I were to trespass to such a degree, my remarks must, necessarily, be so imperfect, that they might lead to misapprehension. I would only make an observation on / the state of opinion in this & the neighbouring counties, of wh: I have taken the utmost pains to inform myself. The cry of Protection will rally no one to our standard here. The farmers think that they have been used as political tools. They require some immediate remedy, or, at any rate, some immediate hope. This is why they are all inclined to run to / Cobdenism, & reduce the taxation of the country ten millions at one swoop. This is what I meant by running a-muck against our financial system. I have endeavoured to combat this feeling by showing them, that the Manchester scheme would bring them no relief, by instilling into them some hope from the present House of Comm:, & at the same time by suggestions, wh:, as I was instructed, would afford a golden bridge to many who are / prepared to join us, if we do not, unnecessarily, wound their selflove. Mr. Evelyn writes to me from Surrey, that he found no feeling for Protection in his canvass, but a strong democratic feeling generally, & a bad humor to the Church. 3 1 See I903&n6. Lord Stanley had taken issue most particularly with the points D here goes on to clarify, especially whether protection could still rally the party. 2 See 19O2&M2. A circular letter of 24 July and an address of 22 August had been published in some form, but, although a letter to D from Charles Beke, secretary of Young's association, mentions them as 'enclosures', they have not been found by the editors. H 6/111/51. 3 W.J. Evelyn on 29 September had responded to D's congratulations on his election in West Surrey; in his canvass he had noticed a strong anti-Protectionist sentiment and 'the prevalence of democratic

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I would not speak so gloomily of these counties at, present, but there is a recklessness afloat, wh:, if they are not tended, will prepare them for anything. Generally speaking, the C[ount]y of Buckingm., when led / by any persion of station or parliamentary mark, from its geographical position & old custom, has always given the tone to Berks & Oxon, & very much influences Herts & Beds, including of course their Boroughs. At present, the impulse wh: I was earnestly solicited to give, has been checked, but, I hope, I have covered the retreat. Affairs in this part of the world, however, are serious. There has been a general & a considerable reduction of wages & / a dismissal from labor. Yesterday a body of two hundred able bodied labourers walked in procession in this neighbourhood. At the same time, I am bound to say, that so general is the impulse given to trade, that all the defunct manufactures of these counties have suddenly revived. A great trade in plait is now carried on - all for foreign demand: the lace trade is very brisk: the chairmakers4 are all working for the / north of England. On the whole, I cannot resist the conviction, that these counties will run to Radicalism, tho' I think, with energy, the catastrophe might have been averted. However, this may be too gloomy a view. With temper & tact, we may dissipate the disagreeable results of our late misapprehensions, & we sho[ul]d never forget that the world in general is not perhaps so sensible of the unnecessary misunderstanding as ourselves.5 Believe me, my dear Lord, | Yours sincerely, | B Disraeli notions ... a great many of my agricultural friends wavered between an "attached son of the church" & a Manchester free-trader & chose the former only as the least of two evils.' He thought the farmers were looking for 'measures of financial relief rather than new corn laws. H 6/11/13. 4 Chairmaking was a major Wycombe industry. Sheahan 920. 5 Stanley's reply of 13 November would be much more conciliatory than his earlier letters had been, although he still disagreed with D on the hopelessness of the Protectionist cause. He stressed that Young's published statements (of which he had not known) were of little importance, while 'what falls from you is of far more consequence ... I hope you will excuse my plain speaking; and with the same plainness allow me to say that I thought the tone of your last Speech at Aylesbury [31 October] far more conciliatory of the feelings of our friends, and very well suited in its tone to meet their views ... When we meet,' he concluded, 'I do not think there will be much difficulty in so forming the plan of our Parliamentary campaign, as to remove any appearance of dissension, and show a front at least as united as we did during the last Session.' H 6/111/55. For most of the text of the long letter see M&B in 230-2. On 18 November Stanley would write to Herries on these matters: 'I had had no communication whatever with Disraeli before he made his first Aylesbury Speech; and I believe that a letter of remonstrance which I addressed to him on reading it (and which I am bound to say he took in very good part) produced his much more satisfactory speech at Castle Hedingham. I was in hopes that matters were all set right, when I received, like yourself, a note from him enclosing his printed letter to G.F. Young. The same post brought me loud complaints of the tone and substance of that letter; and again I wrote to D. at considerable length, the result of which was another much amended speech at Aylesbury. I confess at the time I wrote, I was not aware of the offensive language & resolutions which had been passed by the Protection Society under the auspices of Mr. Young. I have, latterly, through Beresford urged upon him the necessity of adopting a more becoming tone with regard to Disraeli, who, on his part, was quite prepared to meet him half way ... I shall persist in silence as to the fact of communications being passed, or not, between Disraeli and myself; and I will do what I can to gloss over, if I cannot conceal, the dissensions in our camp ... I think our tactics clear enough ... - not to abandon the struggle for a return to protective duties; ... but in the mean time not to disparage or sneer at such palliatives as may be found ... in an approach to the equalization of taxation and the imposition of Import duties ...' BL ADD MSS 57409 ff99-i02.

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TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

Carlton Club [Monday] 12 November 1849 19! 8

ORIGINAL: H A/i/A/258, 2583 COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb. [in MA'S hand:] 1849 November POSTMARK: (i) In Maltese cross: [illegible] \ 12NO12 11849 (2) In circular form HIGH WYCOMBE [enclosing:] NOi3|i849 (3) a cancelled one-penny stamp PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 229, dated 12 November 1849, omitting part of the first sentence EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on Carlton Club stationery; Sic: Wycomb [cover],

My dearest wife, V2 pt 5. In case I shall not have time to write again, I send this to say that I have seen Ld. Granby, 1 Newdegate 2 - & that Beresford3 has just come / in. Ld. G. had been to Grosvenor Gate. I think things will turn out pleasantly, but it is very lucky I came up.4 Your own I D

TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[London, Tuesday 13 November 1849] 1919

ORIGINAL: PS 477 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 229, dated 13 November 1849; Maggs Catalogue 825 (1954) item 342 'Autograph Letter Signed "D" to his wife. 11 pages, 8vo. N.D.', extracts, ending with '&c'. EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is an amalgam of the M&B and Maggs extracts as indicated; the two sources overlap considerably. Dating: by context; see ni. Sic: evening journal.

[M&B:] My interview with Beresford last night was so prolonged, that it was too late to write again: it did not end till past seven. [Maggs:] .... 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, which 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 .... [M&B:] Granby wants Stanley, myself, and some others, to meet. Granby returns from Paris on Saturday night. I have no particular wish to meet at present; I

1 Lord Granby had been recently participating in a number of Protectionist meetings. In a letter of 12 November, Sir John Tyrell mentions that Granby, Cox and Beresford did not fully understand D's proposals. H 6/111/54. From the evidence in 1919 and 1925 it seems that Granby left for Paris immediately after this meeting with D. 2 C.N. Newdegate had written to D on 28 September to report that, at a dinner in Birmingham the day before, he had found the proposal to extend the land tax very unpopular: 'the general impression seems that the advantages to the owners & occupiers of real & landed property ... are not likely to counterbalance the increased burden of Direct Taxation [in counties where it was very low], which the extension of the Land Tax would inflict.' H B/in/io. 3 Presumably Beresford wanted to consult with D on matters raised in his letter of 9 November. He had been in touch with the leading party members, all of whom objected to the sinking fund proposal, and he advised D: 'There is a general feeling ... that a recurrence to Protection is absolutely necessary ... we should work that feeling to the utmost extent. You will find a decided response from all quarters to that cry.' H 6/111/53. See further 1920113. 4 See I9i6&n3- On 13 November MA would reply: 'It was indeed quite necessary for you to see your friends just at this time, & 3 of them you have already found in a few hours, & they were evidently expecting you.' She assured D that, if any of his political friends wanted to return with him, two rooms were ready. H A/I/A/493.

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would rather things would more develop, and the meeting of Parliament were nearer, but, of course, must be decided by circumstances .... [Maggs:] 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. Young's evening journal, Bell's Messenger, had an article attacking me, & saying that I was not acting in concert1 .... The Protectionists are evidently excited & think they are going to win. I do not. If they gain Cork, which comes off today, there will be no holding them in.2 1920 TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI Carlton Club, Wednesday 14 November 1849 ORIGINAL: H A/i/A/26o COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb. [in MA'S hand:] 1849 Novbr. POSTMARK: (i) In circle: BJ | NO- 1411849 (2) 1° circular form: HIGH WYCOMBE [enclosing:] NO1511849 (3) a cancelled one-penny stamp PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 229, dated 14 November 1849, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on Carlton Club stationery; Sic: Wycomb [cowr].

My dearest wife, Wednesday I received your dear letter this morning, 1 for wh: I thank you very much. It is impossible for me to go into details respecting political matters. I will therefore only say, that everything goes to my / satisfaction, & that by keeping my temper, I think I shall turn all this to good account, & be in a stronger position than before. I dined yesterday with Stuart, who is excellent & of great use. He is also a good / adviser - being of a judicial mind. 2 He says, that he has heard, that the D. of Richmond is quite with me & praised much my letter to Young. 1 The Standard of 12 November 1849, in a leader on the sorry state of the empire which it thought could be set right in 6 months by a sound Protectionist government, offered the view that a petition for dissolution would not necessarily produce such a government, while at the same time unduly putting the Protectionists 'in a position of antagonism to the known feeling of the Sovereign...' Cf I998n4. 2 At a by-election for the city of Cork on 13 November, Col J.C. Chatterton, Protectionist, defeated the Liberal candidate, Alexander McCarthy, by 793-584. See further igziScn^. Apparently D had made some efforts on behalf of Isaac Butt (for whom see ig^ftn^), who had considered standing, but on 22 October had written to thank D for his help and to say he was retiring from the election. H B/lll/35. On 'Wednesday morning' he would report the victory to D: 'It was carried by protection in spite of very many adverse influences. It is a most decisive evidence that a general election would make almost the whole representation of Ireland Conservative Protectionist ... The radical votes polled in numbers for Chatterton as a protectionist.' H B/xxi/B/1425. 1 See 1918114 above. In her letter MA had reported on domestic activities, commented on current events, and forwarded a copy of 'your old enemy Bells Weekly Messenger' from which she quoted: ' "such measures may be useful in a sefcjondary sense but that as remedies" &c &c.' Presumably she was quoting G.F. Young's assessment of D'S proposals; see 1902^. She also assumed D would have seen his dentist on Tuesday. 2 John Stuart had written to D on i November from Hertford Street; he praised D'S 31 October speech and told of the general pleasure at D'S declaration for protection: 'you will carry with you not only every rational man of our party but produce an effect on the trimmers & shufflers which will bring them to see that they must follow you if they mean to go with the stream'; he hoped D'S letter to Young would 'settle him.' He offered advice on where D might get statistical information with which to refute the free-traders, and urged D to make sure that Isaac Butt and Thomas Booker got elected to bolster the ranks of supporters with some debating power; he asked to have an hour's talk with D. H 8/111/49.

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By the bye, in my closet, there are some copies of that letter left. Send me / one by post. They have never got about — no one having broken faith — wh: is satisfactory. Beresford affects devotion asks me to dinner every day, yesterday went into the city after Young, who was at his house at Walthamstow & has written to him to come / up to town immediately &c &c. I take it all — but as Tyrell says in his letter to day, "if you did trip I don't think B. is the first man who w[oul]d pick you up"[.] However he is a thermometer. 3 I don't see my way clearly about coming back, & therefore I wish you wd. come up to me / at once. A visit to London is always amusing even if only for a day - & it costs nothing, the railroad (you & Drew Rew) only 8/6 - (5 & 3.6) - & George, or myself, wd. meet you at Paddington: or you might come up in the Brougham as / we may be in town for a week.4 I have done nothing about Miles5 or anything yet, & shan't till you arrive when we will consult. Adieu, my dearest wife. | D. I have not had a moment to myself since in town. TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[London] Thursday 15 November 1849 1921

ORIGINAL: H A/i/A/259 COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb. [readdressed in another hand to:] Grosvenor Gate | Park Lane | London [in MA'S hand:] 1849. Novbr. [illegible] POSTMARK: (i) In circle: [illegible] NOi5|i849 (2) In circular form: HIGH WYCOMBE [enclosing:] NOi6|i849 (3) In circle: MG| i6NOi6| 1849 (4)a cancelled one-penny stamp PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 230, dated 15 November 1849, with omissions EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by MA on the last page: '1849 Novbr 15th'. Sic: Wycomb [cou^r].

My dearest wife, Thursday Your letter & cargo duly arrived. I hope tomorrow's post will inform me, that you will be at Grosvenor Gate to partake of the substantials & to receive my 3 Beresford had originally been hostile to D; see Stewart Protection 136,137. For his subsequent defence of D see 190602; see also 191803 above. On 15 November Beresford would report to Stanley his efforts at placating D: 'He appeared at first decidedly piqued and low about the turn which matters had taken. I strove hard to eradicate all feelings of disappointment or resentment, as beneath his position in the party ... I have been with Disraeli's consent to G.F. Young and pointed out to him the mischievous and dangerous results of such an antagonistic line of proceeding as the National Association are adopting in running amuck against Disraeli ...' H/Life [143-233]. On 12 November Sir John Tyrell had written to D about developments at Colchester that might lead to a by-election, and had made the remark about Beresford in the context of the latter's apparent support for D. H B/ni/54. See further I92i&n5 below. Apparently there was still some doubt on whether Beresford as chief party whip in the Commons had accommodated himself to D'S new role. 4 MA had strong views on paying servants' expenses; for example, on 17 October 1848 she had complained violently about the temerity of the cook, coachman and footman in charging her a shilling each for expenses on the trip to Bradenham: 'they have no right to charge any thing.' In the rapid succession of lady's maids, Anne Rew had been hired on 26 June 1849, while Mary Deane had lasted only 10-30 March 1849. George Bovington had been taken on as lady's footman at £25 pa on 6 September 1848. H ace. 5 The name in the text which seems to be 'Miles' (William Miles?) can however be read as 'Riches'; although we have chosen the former, the latter possibility is intriguing, as at this time MA and Mrs Milner Gibson were corresponding about the former Eliza Gregory, now Mrs C. Harry Riches; see in 859n4. There is a letter about her from Mrs Gibson to MA on 8 November 1849 m which she asks MA what she is to do about 'Riches'; in a subsequent (undated) letter she encloses Eliza's abusive letter to her of 14 November, quoted in 859n4. H 0/111/0/850-1.

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embrace.1 I have dined out every day — yesterday with B[eresford] who had seen Young. He says that nothing nobody can be more anxious / to get out of the scrape than Young, who cd. say nothing to the point, on wh: all hinges, vizt. that he never communicated the plans of the Protection Society to the party. He confessed it was a great mistake, & murmured something, that he thought the D. of Richmond wd. have apprised us. B. seems to have kept his temper, but threw on Young the responsibility of putting all right. But the position of / Young is most difficult after the violent course he has taken. Thursday being a dead day, Young returned to Walthamstow & on Friday (tomorrow) he is to attend a meeting in Kent with Ld. Stanhope in the chair! where no doubt a great attack was to have been made on me - & where he must now take quite a different line. This, with Ld. Stanhope in the chair, is no easy matter. 2 I think Stanley's letter highly satisfactory & conciliatory. / Chatterton, after all, has won the Cork Election by an immense majority!!3 There will be no keeping our friends in. They have won four important elections since the prorogation.4 The general impression in London is, that Stanley is safe to be Prime Minister next Session - but I confess I shd. like to lead the opposition another Session, before the breakup takes place. I have so many letters to write, that I attempt in vain to enter into details — but we shall soon meet & here - on Saturday I hope at the latest. 1 MA'S letter is presumably the note dated only 'Grosr. Gate V2 past nine' in which he hopes Stanley's letter which she forwarded from Hughenden arrived that morning. Stanley's letter (see 1917115) is presumably the 'cargo'. Her accounts show that she herself arrived later this day, and then presumably wrote the note to D at the Carlton to announce her arrival: 'I have not sent sooner not liking to disturb you in the middle of yours which I take for granted you are eating at the Carlton, with some useful friend ... I shall sit up for you until eleven.' H A/i/A/494. See also the readdressed cover. 2 Cfi88g8cn6 and igo68cni. There would be a protection meeting at Bromley, Kent, on Friday 16 November at which G.F. Young would again attack all of D'S proposals, while praising his 'lucid mind', 'brilliant talent' and sincerity of intention. He said that J.C. Herries had denied any communication with D on his proposals, a point which MP would interpret on 17 November as a sign of significant disunity among the Protectionists. Lord Stanhope would attack D by saying he did not think 'any man had ever before thought of ... relieving the country at large by imposing new taxes to the amount of 5,ooo,ooo£ annually.' He doubted that D'S first speech had been misreported, and again called for a dissolution of parliament. In her letter of 22 November Sarah would report that she had seen in MP of 19 November 'the speeches of the eccentric Earl & the Shipper - they seem very sore from your thrusts.' H A/l/B/649- In a leader on 19 November The Times too would see the meeting as symptomatic of the disunity among the Protectionists; while it was equally scornfu of D'S proposals and the dissolution idea, it strongly promoted D as 'the orily man of Parliamentary power [the Protectionists] possess in the country.' It contrasted D'S approach with Peel's, which had united the Conservatives by never being specific, and advised D to abandon his 'infallible specifics' for 'a few good round, honest platitudes ... The landed interest is proverbially credulous and confiding. If Mr. Disraeli appeals to those amiable qualities, it will follow him implicitly; but not if he tells it his plans.' MP, The Times (17, 19 Nov 1849). 3 See igig8cn2 above. Sir James Charles Chatterton (1794-1874) KH 1832, KCB 1862, GCB 1873, 3 Baronet 1855, of Castle Mahon, co Cork, colonel of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoons, general 1866, much decorated in the Peninsular War and a veteran of Waterloo, a gentleman of the privy chamber, high sheriff for Cork 1851, was Conservative (Protectionist) MP for the City of Cork 1835, 184952 (defeated in 1837, 1841, 1852, 1853). 4 The four by-elections since the i August prorogation had returned Protectionists at Kidderminster, at Reading, at West Surrey (see 1887^3) and at Cork.

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God bless you, my dearest wife, | D. / A great meeting in Essex, reported in the Standard, & where they drank my health.5 I am very interested in what you tell me about the Timber.6 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London, Thursday 15? November 1849] 1922

ORIGINAL: PS 477 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 235, dated 4 November 1849, conflated with 1915 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: C/igig&ru.

... After the Cork triumph it will be almost impossible to hold the Protectionists in; the pear is not yet ripe, and it will be a pity to spoil the flavour of such fine fruit by greedy picking .... TO: LORD MALMESBURY Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 21 November 1849 1^2^ ORIGINAL: PS 481

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Malmesbury I 254; M&B in 232, dated 21 November 1849, most of the final paragraph, and 490, the first sentence of the third paragraph

My dear Lord,1 Grosvenor Gate: November 21, 1849 It is most vexatious that we should have missed each other, as there was no one with whom I wished more to confer than yourself, having every confidence in your intelligence and firmness, and should long ago have written to you on many affairs had I not found it impossible to write on subjects so complicated. I probably leave town to-morrow, and have no prospect of being here again on December 2, as on the 5th I have a Bucks meeting, which in the present awkward condition of affairs I must attend. 2 The state of our Press is deplorable.3 I approve of your suggestion respecting the 'Post,' but it would be as well, I think, previously to communicate with 5 On 12 November Sir John Tyrell had written to D about a meeting at Colchester, of which The Standard, he said, had given only an abridged report: 'Cox backed you up to the Backbone - Beresford talked a gt deal about Territorial supremacy ... We drank yr Health & an old fool [name illegible] made some remarks about a Sinking Fund for wh Cox paid him off. The whole thing went off well.' H B/in/54. In his letter to Herries on 18 November (see 1917^) Lord Stanley would remark in connection with the Colchester meeting that he was 'never surprised at any folly of which Sir John Tyrell may prove himself capable...', but that he was, however, 'vexed at the folly of some of our friends.' 6 In her 13 November letter (see 192001 above) MA had told of being 'out all the Morng with Vernon about the trees, but not in the park as he is anxious about those near the Ice house & by the Model tree first. I mean near the farm buildings near our garden.' See further 1927m. 1 Since 1846 Malmesbury had been Conservative whip in the Lords. He had written to D on 18 November from Heron Court, regretting that he had missed D in town when he had passed through on his way from Knowsley and asking if they could meet when he would be in town again on 2 December; he also extended an invitation for D to visit him in the new year. H B/XX/HS/I. 2 See I930&m. 3 Malmesbury in his letter had been very concerned about the changeover at MP (see i894&nn5-7), saying that Michele had been betraying them, and that Palmerston had now clearly paid him with the St Petersburg post: 'This explains why last summer ... the M Post wrote virulent articles against Aberdeen ...' Malmesbury said he understood Borthwick would continue to support Protection '(the paper wd stop if he did not)' - but could say nothing against Palmerston or Clarendon. He thought the 17 November MP piece on the meeting in Kent (see I92in2 above) would make mischief, and talked of ways of getting Borthwick out, or getting a new editor for MP: 'Knox told me some

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Knox, with whom I only some months ago had a casual conversation on the subject in the hall of the Carlton. 4 With respect to other matters, the scandal of our provincial movement is great and flagrant, but I hope the evil is more superficial than it seems, and that, with tact and temper, the ship may be righted. I have spared no effort, nor has Beresford, but we have had to deal with a wrong-headed man. 5 Ever yours sincerely, | B. DISRAELI. 1924 TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/53

[London] Wednesday 21 November [1849]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the second page of the MS: '21 Nove. 1849 Mr. Disraeli'.

My dear Rose, Wednesday Nov. 21 I shall take my chance of seeing you to day at three o'ck. Yours ever | D. 1925 TO: LORD GRANBY ORIGINAL: BEA [Ri-i34]

Hughenden [Friday] 23 November 1849

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: '1543'. The second sheet (fifth page) is numbered '2'. Sic: Wycomb.

confidential Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb | Nov 23. 1849 My dear Lord Granby, I remained in town a day or two, with the hope I might again see you on a subject, wh: may be of importance to you. Some few months ago, just before Mr. Groom, the confidential man of business of Ld. Brownlow, Clifden, & many others, blew up, 1 I was the accidental means of saving Bateman 2 from his clutches in a very remarkable manner. Bateman placed his affairs in the hands of Messrs. Baxter, Rose, / & Norton, 3 gentlemen of the highest character in their profession for integrity & talent, & possessed of very great capital — in every way both as to extent of business, morale Sc means - first rate men. Mr. Rose has an estate in this county,4 & about two months ago, at Aylesbury, he spoke to me in great confidence respecting a Mr. Mortimer, 5 whom he represented as the man of business of yr. family. I man connected with the Chronicle wished to manage the Post, & wd invest £10,000 in it, & that he spoke to you about it last summer.' 4 See also i865&nm&2 and i866&m for Knox's involvement with BH. 5 This is clearly not a reference to Lord George Bentinck, as Malmesbury (see ph) in a note would have it, but to G.F. Young, as M&B in 2}2ni points out. 1 See iSTi&nng&io. 2 William Bateman Bateman Hanbury (1826-1901), since 1845 2nd Baron Bateman, of Shobdon, Herefordshire, Id It and custos rotulorum of Herefordshire 1852, lord-in-waiting to the Queen 1858-9. 3 The first two partners have been previously identified; no information beyond the name has been found on the third, Henry Elland Norton. Law List (1852, 1870). 4 Philip Rose's seat was Rayners, near Penn; in 1847 he had built the red-brick Elizabethan-style mansion, situated on extensive grounds and with a 200-acre farm, which he owned outright. Sheahan 929. For D'S description of it see 2178. 5 Possibly Thomas Hill Mortimer (£1774-1853), of the Albany, Piccadilly, and Six-Clerks-Office, Chancery Lane, and Kilburn Priory. Law List (1825-52); CM (May 1853).

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will not dwell upon details - but I / will only say this, that, on the part of Mr. Rose, there was expressed a great anxiety, not in any way to be confounded with commonplace professional sentiments, to be of service to your family, provided, as he had reason to believe, your interests were not as duly considered as he thought they ought to be. Mr. Rose is a young man, very rich, a man of our way of political thinking & of earnest & rather enthusiastic / convictions on those subjects of Church & State on wh: we agree. He spoke to me as your friend as well as political colleague. To tell you the truth, I felt the matter so delicate & embarrassing, & thought after great reflection, that you & the Duke, might be offended or rather hurt, at my interference, that I made up my mind not to communicate with you. But my conscience has pricked me ever since; & as / I have already said I lingered in town a day or two (understanding from you that there was a chance of yr. return from Paris) with the hope of seeing you. Not being so successful, I have thought it best to write this. It can do no harm: as I am sure, that, between you & myself, there can be no misunderstanding, as we shall always give each other credit for the best intentions to each other. If everything in the management of the affairs of yr. family, is going on to your satisfaction, / you can easily put this in the fire: if the reverse, understand, that there is in Mr Rose, a man of great talents, with every quality of a real gentleman, who is possessed of vast means, & who from sentiment, quite as much as from professional pride, would, I am persuaded, be prepared to evince a devotion to yr. house wh: might be of great advantage.6 / It wd. have been much easier to speak than to write on this subject - but I don't think I shall be in town again before Parliamt meets, & so I send this, being, whatever be the issue, Yours sincerely | D. TO: LORD GRANBY

Hughenden [Thursday] 29 November 1849 192^

ORIGINAL: BEA [R2-3]

CONFIDENTIAL Hughenden Manor | Nov 29. 1849 My dear Ld Granby, I received yr. letter this morning. I have no time (by Saturday), or opportunity, to make any further enquiries of Mr Rose, with whom my original conversation, on the subject, was, tho' / casual, quite confidential. I have passed the line in mentioning his name at all - but, on reflection, I felt it best to do so. I have no hesitation, however, in mentioning to you, that I gathered from his / observations, that the circumstances of the gentleman in question were disreputably involved, & that the interests of his clients were, in consequence, compromised. 6 Lord Granby would reply from Belvoir on 27 November, thanking D for his trouble. He had forwarded D'S letter to the Duke, despite the anxiety and annoyance it would cost. He said Mortimer was an old man who had the Duke's entire confidence and felt Rose's fears might have arisen from rumours that Mortimer was not as quick as he once was. He said the Duke would be at Belvoir on Saturday, and asked D to give details of the reasons for Rose's concern. H B/xxi/R/326. This social solecism (as D acknowledges in 1926 below) surely risked D'S relationship with the Duke of Rutland - and he cannot have been unaware of the danger in so thrusting Rose forward. Cf 2oig8cn2.

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What do you think of Cobdens speech?1 The "Times" / (at present) laughs at it 2 - I do not. The impending struggle for the territorial constitution of this country will be a terrible one. Yours ever | D. 1927 TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Thursday] 29 November 1849

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/54

private Hughenden Manor | Nov. 29. 1849 My dear Rose, I have heard to day from Ld. G[ranby]. His letter leads to further correspondence, & probably, will end in his coming down to Hughenden to talk affairs over. Matters / of this kind require a good deal of tact, as I wish, in every way, to keep you in a strictly correct position. I ought to have written before this to have told / you, that I paid the £1200: & that, therefore, there was no necessity for my trespassing on yr kindness, for the offer of wh:, however, I am equally obliged.1 On / the 4th. Deer., I shall be absent from this for two or three days, attending a meeting at Newport Pagnell. Yours ever | D.

1928 TO: SARAH DISRAELI Hughenden [Friday] 30 November [1849] ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/312 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: '1848'. Dating: the year is established by the context; see nni,3-5. Sic: Brunow.

My dr Sa, Hn. Nov: 30 I go on Tuesday to Newport Pag: to attend a meeting on the followg day, where I hope I shall make a better speech than I did at Aylesbury, wh: notwithstanding what you say, did not at all please me. I saw poor Day in town & his horns. He was a loss to me as he worked under me very well. He told me he was dying of "George Lewis & Co".1 1 At a meeting on 26 November at the London Tavern of the National Freehold Land Society, Richard Cobden had spoken on his scheme for extending the suffrage by the sale of 40-shilling county freeholds to Society members. The Times (27 Nov 1849). See also IV 15158014. Cobden in December would say that he saw the scheme not as a substitute for thorough electoral reform, but as a means of doing something; he thought the number of electors could in this way be doubled in 7 years: 'I wish to abate the power of the aristocracy in their strongholds.'John Morley The Life of Richard Cobden (1879, 14th ed 1910) 516-21; Donald Read Cobden and Bright: A Victorian Political Partnership (1967) 157-8; John Prest Politics in the Age of Cobden (1977) chapters v and vi. 2 In its second leader on 28 November The Times had mocked Cobden and his scheme, seeing nothing but a prospect of land falling into decay: 'in a few years forty shilling freeholds may be as abundant and as worthless as the broken wheelbarrows in a contractor's yard or an Irish relief road ... The ultimate remedy for the state of things we apprehend will be the reunion of the morsels Mr. Cobden has scattered.' 1 See i898&n2 and 1916. On 23 November there had been a sale of 340 loads of Hughenden timber. BH (17 Nov 1849). 1 See i9O7&n2. G.C. Lewis had been the poor-law commissioner under whom Day's career had collapsed; see iv I392&ni and 1524111. For Day's most recent work for D see I79i&m.

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I hear that Lockharts son, who was to be the future Bart: revived - another Sir Walter Scott, thinks nothing of drinking / a couple of bottles of brandy a day, & will soon disappear from this world from delirium tremens.2 Ld. Campbell has sent me his new work - lives of Ld. C. Justices — with a very pretty letter.3 Colburn has sent for the preface of the Comm: wh. I have not written. 4 I think he will burn his fingers, pretty smartly - but I can't help / it. The Curios: have not paid their expenses — what chance of the Comm:? Howr. we have got a literary edit: wh: is something. I did not see the "Post" but read it in the "Herald" I suppose the same. The "H" is Young's paper: the Post has gone over to the Whigs - except Protection. If they gave that up, they wd. lose all their sale, & probably will now. Borthwick is manager of/ the Post under Palmerston. — Michele the former Editor having been made a Consul at the request of Brunow. I thought Tyrell's Ire very good; & he appears to have extricated himself very dexterously out of a very great scrape.5 Yrs affy | D. You had better not write until I return from Newport wh: will be about 7th. TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Sunday] 2 December 1849 1929

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/55

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 232-3, dated 2 December 1849, the last paragraph

My dear Rose, Hughenden | Dec. 2. 1849 I send you a precis of the rents of Hughenden, & the annual wood acct., as just

2J.G. Lockhart's eldest surviving son, Walter Scott Lockhart (1826-1853), grandson of Sir Walter Scott, had been a rowing blue at Cambridge in 1845 and had entered the army (i6th Lancers) in 1846; his conduct estranged him from his father, but they were reconciled shortly before the son's death. Boase. Sir Walter's baronetcy had become extinct on 8 February 1847 on the death of his eldest son, the 2nd Baronet. Scott's line would come to be represented by descendants of Lockhart's daughter Charlotte; she in 1847 had married James Robert Hope, who assumed the additional surname of Scott. D'S interest is possibly due to renewed contact with J.G. Lockhart, editor of QR, over the article(s?) by Metternich. See 1656111. 3 Lord Campbell had written to D from Stratheden House on 26 November 1849 proclaiming that, as brother authors, there should be sympathy between them despite their political differences. He enclosed a copy of the 'new biographical work' he was about to publish: 'I know that Mrs Disraeli believes me to be endowed with the Second Sight and honors me as a prophet.' The work is The Lives of the Chief Justices of England ... of which vols I and n were published in 1849, and vol III (the final one) in 1857. Campbell in the letter joked about Lord Stanhope and G.F. Young persuading D to join the Whigs. H B/xxi/c/29. 4 See 1752, i8i2&nn3-5 and i93O&n5 below. Colburn had written on i October to say that Commentaries was 'rapidly proceeding at press' and that he would be glad to receive D'S preface 'in 2 or 3 Weeks at latest.' He also mentioned that the sales of Coningsby were slow but steady - 850 sold of the 1,000. In August 1850 he would write to MA to ask her to ask D for the preface 'in the course of the autumn' so the book could be published in early 1851. On 7 December 1850 he would ask for the proofs of the preface. H £^11/0/35,37,39. See further 1944^:02. 5 The Times on 24 November had published a letter from Sir John Tyrell to G.F. Young chiding him for his divisive actions; Tyrell strongly supported D, believing him to have 'the confidence generally of the Protection party ... [and that] when Parliament meets those differences which seemed to prevail at the Bromley meeting will vanish ...'

26l

delivered. You can have them forwarded to you, if you like — drawn up by Vernon, & very clear. I hope to send you the / rent of Naphill by tomorrows post.1 I shall leave this for Newport Pagnell on Tuesday, & shall be absent a couple of days. We have a meeting of the North at Newport on / the 5th:, wh:, I think, will turn up trumps. I think stout Sir John Tyrell has bowled Young out. They eat their leek2 very quietly. I am glad I have, myself, not advanced a jot to conciliate them. The next move / is mine, & if played with tact & temper, I have not the slightest doubt I shall get the whole country with me by the time I want it. Yours ever | D. 1930

T0:

SARAH DISRAELI

Hughenden [Tuesday] 11 December 1849

ORIGINAL: FITZ Disraeli A38 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Z.5CS 235-6, dated 11 December 1849, extracts; M&B in 233, undated, the second paragraph

My dr Sa, Hughenden, Dec. 11/49 I am not in a writing humor — but nevertheless send you a line. The meeting at Newport was more than good - both in quantity & quality. It surprised everyone by its numbers; nearly 300 & a great acreage. I spoke to my satisfaction, & I think from all I hear & read, have quite man[a]ged the malcontents.1 / 1 On 30 November Rose had written to thank D for his note, and to ask D to send particulars of 'The Rent obtained for the Naphill Farm last purchased' and of the Hughenden estate. He said he preferred asking D rather than applying to George Vernon. H B/xx/R/2. According to a letter from Philip Wroughton of 15 January 1849, D had at that time begun negotiations to purchase some property, including Naphill - a total acreage of about 91 acres valued at £3,726.16.3 yielding annually £137.18.6. The four tenements at Naphill, and their gardens, were let to a Mrs Guy; a letter of 1868 shows a John Hussey as having at that time been one of the tenants for 36 years. H A/vn/E/8,i2. On the Hughenden rents cf ijjoScnz. 2 Cf Henry V V i and II 42i&n3. 1 On Wednesday 5 December at Newport Pagnell there had been a meeting of the Bucks Association for the Relief of Real Property, attended, according to The Times's reporter (6 Dec 1849), by about 250 landowners. In his speech proposing the resolution for fair taxation and a sinking fund, D had stressed that he was an advocate for that portion of the landed interest who were effectively members of the middle class - the million farmers, the numerous proprietors and the million-and-a-half of peasantry dependent on landowners. He acknowledged that their opponents who wanted the country to be turned into a workshop and to be governed by the great towns had at least been forthright in their aims, and credited Cobden's honest frankness, which he thought their party should match. He rejected the advice of The Times to speak nothing but platitudes, contending that the current plight of agriculture was attributable to years of meaningless cries, and he predicted the fall of the agricultural interests unless farmers became as adept at politics as at farming. He interpreted the divisions in the Protectionist party as evidence that the party was 'a suffering community.' Their differences were superficial, however, and when parliament met they would present a united front. He argued that a dissolution (although he would welcome it) was not possible, and mocked the charge that he had opposed the idea of forcing an election for fear of being defeated by angry farmers in Bucks. He urged his audience to concentrate their attention on equalizing local taxation as a means of eventually regaining protection; as a plan which had a reasonable hope of success, it was the means by which political momentum could be recovered. The issue was not one of rival industries, but of rival forms of government: 'It was a question whether England should remain a

262

I don't believe there is the slightest foundation for the rumors, that there has been any discussion in the cabinet as to a duty on corn.2 On the contrary the Whigs are in high spirits with their thriving foreign trade & consols rising 100. Nevertheless we get all the elections.3 Ld. Campbell, I think I told / you, sent me his book. I read the life of Ld. Mansfield tother night, & was much pleased.4 I see Col's advertismt. I have not found about Hugh Peters, & not a word of the preface is written!5 Chester came from Malvern 6 purposely to take the chair. We had young Praed7 there too, Knapp, who was my host at Little Linford, 8 Farrer of Brafield / called the Imperial Farrer9 - & many real yeomen - the chief of whom is Willm. Levi of Woughton House,10 who farms his own lands, & follows the hounds. Tell me how you are. I am physically well eno'; but nothing else. [signed with a wavy line]

great free monarchy, or, in imitation of the United States, become a Republic, and, what was worse, a manufacturing republic.' In a leader in the same issue as its report The Times contrasted the meeting favourably with 'the lamentable gala at Reigate last Tuesday' at which Lord Stanhope and others had indulged in an orgy of self-pity: 'The meeting at Newport Pagnell yesterday was of a far more manly and practical character ... Mr Disraeli has opened a fertile mine of improvement, and ... if he would only beware of palpable exaggerations, he might do the farmer a great deal of good.' However, it felt D had again tried to do too much, and had 'yet to learn his part, which is not to train the intellect of farmers on political subjects, and launch out into transcendental views of society, but the humble task of cutting down gradually the enormous taxation which hangs like a sack from the neck of British industry.' See also M&B III 233. 2 Lord John Russell had been thinking about the possibility of a fixed duty of 55 on wheat, but on hearing from his brother, the Duke of Bedford, that Peel had expressed total opposition to the idea he abandoned it. Prest Russell 306. A little later Sir Charles Wood, on meeting Peel's sonin-law, had told him that there had been 6 cabinets with no mention of the corn laws. Gash Peel 647-8. 3 See 192104. 4 See 19283013 above; one of the Lives was that of William Murray (1705-1793), ist Earl of Mansfield, barrister (Lincoln's Inn 1730), KG 1742, MPfor Boroughbridge 1742, solicitor-general 1742, attorneygeneral 1754, PC 1756, lord chief justice 1756-88. Macaulay called him 'the father of modern toryism.' DNB. 5 See I928&n4 above. In her letter of 7 December Sarah had talked of the forthcoming revised edition of Isaac's Commentaries: 'It is very hard upon you in the midst of these labors to have to write a preface. As you had never mentioned the subject all the autumn I was afraid that Colburn had receded. I did not ask for what is the use of disagreeable questions, so was agreeably astonished last week just before I got your letter to hear they were announced in the Lity. Gazette. What have you done about Hugh Peters?' H A/i/B/651. 6 The Chesters had presumably been at Malvern for Mrs Chester's health; see 1897^. 7 'Chas. Tyringham Praed, Esq., of Tyringham' (at this time in his teens) is the only Praed mentioned in the BH (8 Dec 1849) report. Charles Tyringham Praed (1833-1895), of Tyringham, would later be a banker and Conservative MP for St Ives 1874-80. 8 Matthew Knapp (1798-1867), of Little Linford Hall, Bucks, JP, high sheriff of Bucks in 1858, at the meeting had proposed the adoption of the petition with the resolutions of the meeting. BH (8 Dec 1849)9 See IV 1563114. 10 William Levi, of Woughton House, Woughton-on-the-Green, Bucks, JP, had moved a resolution at the meeting. He was a church-warden in his parish. BH (15 Dec 1849).

263

1931

T0:

CHARLES BOWYER ADDERLEY

Hughenden [Friday] 14 December

1849

ORIGINAL: CUL Ms Coll Disraeli [3] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the sixth page of the MS: 'Disraeli Dec. 15. 1849'. Sic: Wycomb.

C.B. Adderley Esqr1 Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb. | Dec 14/49 Dear Adderley, An amendment on the address is a very hazardous move, & rarely a successful one. The attendance on the opposition side is seldom good at the beginning of the Sess:, the address is so worded, that lukewarm men / are easily persuaded, that they are not pledged to anything by assenting to it - &c. &c. Under any circumstances, an amendment to the address on general policy could not be decided on until the meeting of Park, were much nearer. As to an amendment on a / branch of policy, all these objections, I think, apply with increased force. You wd., in my opinion, be playing the game of the Colonial Off: by moving an amendt. to the address on Col. Pol[ic]y. It wd be much better to prepare some substantive & well concerted motion, & bring it forward early with / all the strength of the opposition in addition to that of the independent Col[onia]l party. I shd be prepared myself to support Molesworth under such circumstances. I entirely agree with you, that the Col: question shd be kept entirely clear of all other subjects. I am very sensible of the honor of yr. wishing me to become a member of / the Council of the New Socy, but I cd. not perform the duties of the post in a manner satisfactory to myself. I cannot enter into the reasons now because I have just got yr letter, & fear you will not receive my reply in time as you suggest — wh: / obliges me to write more hurriedly than I cd. have wished, but clear eno', I hope, to convey my general impressions, & also my cordial wish, at all times, to co-operate with you in yr. public labors.2 Yours ffly | D. 1 Charles Bowyer Adderley (1814-1905), created Baron Norton in 1878; Conservative MP for N Staffs 1841-78, president of the board of health and vice-president of the committee of education 18589, PC 1858, under-secretary of state for the colonies 1866-8, KCMG 1869, president of the board of trade 1874-8. On 12 December Adderley had written to D about 'The Colonial Government Society' which he and others were forming, with Francis Baring as chairman; he asked D to be a member of the Society's council, a total of 12, including Lords Lyttelton and Monteagle, and S.H. Walpole, Milner Gibson, Cobden, Molesworth, Stafford and himself. The plan was to meet weekly and consider action on information received from agents in the colonies. He asked D to undertake 'the conduct of the first attack, which is to be no less than a Colonial amendt. on the Address'; his fear was that D might have to move a more general amendment, while the Society hoped for one 'clear of other subjects'. H B/xxi/A/692 Adderley would reply on 21 December saying that, following D'S advice, they had dropped the idea of an amendment and instead had arranged a resolution for Molesworth to bring, as well as a New South Wales constitution bill for Molesworth and S.H. Walpole: 'The resolution is generally to the effect that concerned with state of many colonies we see necessity of prompt amendt. in their Govt. & relations with us'; the bill 'simply gives a constituent assembly to frame what constitution NS Wales likes - reserving specific powers.' These would be sent on to D as soon as formally agreed on and drawn up. He asked D to reconsider putting his name on the list of council: 'You have not Gladstone's excuse^/... as a late Secretary', and also asked him to inform Stanley about the society's

264

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Friday] 14 December 1849 193^

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/56

My dear Rose, Hughenden | Dec. 14./49 There was a Committee on the Law of Settlement &c., of wh: Charles Buller was Chairman in 1847 (I think) wh: delivered several reports to the house. I wish you wd. have the kindness to direct one / of yr. clerks to order them to be sent to me.1 I don't want the evidence. Ever yrs | D. TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Hughenden [Sunday] 16 December 1849 1933

ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl-56]

My dear J.M. Hughenden Manor | Dec. 16. 1849 1 Thank you for both yr letters: & all yr kindness. Your criticism is just, & very useful to me. I only wish the D. of R., instead of paying me good words, had brought you in for Shoreham.2 Never were you so much wanted! Did you hear plans, which were 'to have all parties well represented & efficiently implicated in the work.' The enclosed programme outlined the Society's general objective of self-government in local affairs by the colonies. H B/xxi/A/yo. 1 The committee D describes, 'to inquire into the operation of the Law of Settlement, and of the Poor Removal Act of the last Session of Parliament,' had been appointed on 22 January 1847, and from 19 February to 6 July 1847 submitted 8 interim reports, but never reported finally. The 1846 act had stipulated that no one requiring relief could be removed from a parish in which the person had lived for five years; this would be changed to three years in 1861. EBXI;JHC Gil (1847) 24-811; BSP-.HC (1847) XI 1-899. The committee had passed a series of 9 resolutions to the effect that the 1846 law was injurious both to paupers and to ratepayers, and was unfair to some parishes, and that changes needed to be made to bring about a fairer distribution of the burden of poor relief. These resolutions were known to the House, but never formally reported or acted upon. Sir George Nicholls A History of the English Poor Law (1854 rev 1898 repr 1967) II 394ff. See also Michael E. Rose The Relief of Poverty, 1534-1914(1972 2nd ed 1986), and his 'Settlement, Removal and the New Poor Law' in Derek Fraser ed The New Poor Law in the Nineteenth Century (New York 1976). Lord John Manners in his letter of 11 December had enclosed a sketch of a poor-law scheme: 'It may interest you, as it seems inevitable that the present system of rating & settlement must be changed somehow.' H 8/111/77. See I933nni&8. On 16 December Rose would reply that he had given directions for the reports to be sent to D; see further 1937. H R/i/B/7. 1 Lord John Manners had written to D from Belvoir on 11 December and from London on 14 December. In the first, he had praised D's Newport Pagnell speech, which he thought would help further to unite 'protestors' and 'Protectionists'. He thought, however, that D had been somewhat unfair to the colonial shipping interests; all interests should combine under protectionism, so that together they could 'defy Manchester & Stockport.' In the second letter he reported on the special meeting on 14 December at which the National Association for the Protection of British Industry and Capital was absorbed by the Society for the Protection of Agriculture. Manners had spoken at the meeting, and had elicited from G.F. Young 'as complete and handsome an amende to you as man could make'; Manners thought Young would now give D his wholehearted support. Sir John Tyrell had predicted that 'the Pope & Protection would be the successful electioneering cry in Ireland'. C.N. Newdegate had been 'lugubrious' about Cobden's freehold scheme, but the Duke of Richmond had mocked it. H 6/111/77,82. 2 Neither Manners's letters nor the newspapers report what Richmond's 'good words' about D were. Because of the death on 19 November of Charles Goring, a Protectionist, there would be a by-

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anything of Dick as you passed thro? They have rumors here again of his helpless illness, but they are all provincial.3 I thought, in case of his demise, of / running you for Aylesbury, as, I believe, I mentioned to you. With you, & young Stanley, I think we might manage the business. I heard yesterday from Repton - from Carton, Maynooth, "My father in law" is still a stout free trader, but Repton admits the only one left in Ireland. He says, however, when the D. of Bedford was at Carton, three months ago, he held it "impossible to retrace / our steps".4 I am sorry the great dukes are so stout-but Time must solve the mighty problem, & neither Lords nor Commons. This mornings post brings me the proceedings of the famous model county, E. Lothian.5 They all swear, they are ruined or must be. This is droll, & will produce an effect. I was however prepared for it from / yr. friendly hints. Write to me whenr. you can. I don't pretend to be a correspondent, having so many letters to write. I am now obliged to indite a long one to Glengall,6 besides despatches for Beresford7 & Stanley. Therefore pardon my brief crudities, but understand that there are few things I prize more, or find more profitable, than yr. letters. Ever Yrs ffly | D. / Norton TOO INGENIOUS. 8 election at Shoreham, Sussex, on 28 December, at which Lord Alexander F.C. Gordon-Lennox, a younger son of the Duke of Richmond, would be returned unopposed for the Protectionists. 3 No reports have been found of Quintin Dick's illness. Perhaps the rumours mistakenly arose from the death in the previous week of Sir Robert Keith Dick, Baronet. MP (17 Dec 1849). 4 George Repton had written to D from Carton, Maynooth, on 13 December, saying he had been struck by the recent general change of opinion in favour of an import duty on grains. He regretted that his father-in-law, the Duke of Leinster, remained 'as stout a free Trader as ever & his farms being generally very low let he does not feel it yet'; he also reported the Duke of Bedford's opinion, expressed at Carton three months earlier, 'of the impossibility now of going back.' H B/m/8o. The Duke was Lord John Russell's brother, and kept in close touch with him. 5 The 'proceedings' of the Agricultural Society of East Lothian, which D also mentions in his letter to Lord Stanley below (1936), have not been found. There was much controversy at this time on whether scientific (or 'high') farming, of which there were many models (see, eg, Gash Peel 67882), was an adequate alternative to protectionism as a means of keeping agriculture viable. See further 194502; igq&Scni and 195202. For further reading see F.M.L. Thompson English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century (1963) 245-56, David Spring The English Landed Estate in the Nineteenth Century (Baltimore 1963) and C.S.L. Orwin and E.H. Wetham History of British Agriculture, 184.61914 (1964). 6 D'S letter to Lord Glengall has not been found but, according to Glengall's reply of 20 December, D asked for information on imposts: 'I suppose', Glengall said, 'the word is Imposts, not Imports?' He sent D statistics for Limerick, referred him to the Dublin Evening Mail and the Dublin Packet for more, and waxed rhapsodic on the Protectionists' prospects in Ireland in the event of a dissolution; he feared, however, that the government would bring in 'some radical Registration Bill next year' to counter this development. H B/m/86. 7 Again, D'S letter has not been found. On 21 December Beresford would reply from Hainton Hall, Lines, saying that he would be back in London by 7 January. Apparently in response to D'S request, he offered the opinion that they could rely on the Duke of Devonshire's interest in Dungarvan (co Waterford), and suggested a Mr Whiteside (presumably James Whiteside) or Isaac Butt as possible opponents to R.L. Sheil. (In the event, Sheil would accept the Chiltern Hundreds in 1851.) He told D that the farmers in Lines were 'wild against Free Trade', and lamented the loss of Goring at Shoreham. H 8/111/87. On the matter of the Duke of Devonshire's politics see Bernard Holland The Life of Spencer Compton, Eighth Duke of Devonshire (1911). 8 Manners had enclosed a poor-law scheme drawn up by George Chappie Norton in which he thought D would be interested.

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TO: GRENVILLE FLETCHER

Hughenden [Sunday] 16 December 1849 1934

ORIGINAL: BODL MS Autogr b8 F699

Grenville Fletcher Esqr1 Hughenden Manor | Dec. 16. 1849 Sir, You are quite at liberty to alter, & adapt, "Alarcos", in any way you desire; provided, that the public / clearly understand, that I have nothing to do with the arrangement. All that I can do, is to preserve you from the Lord Chancr, & wish you success.2 I am, Sir, | Your faithful Servt. | B DISRAELI TO: RICHARD BENTLEY

Hughenden [Sunday] 16 December 1849 1935

ORIGINAL: LC Ac. 8033 [7]

R. Bentley Esqr Hughenden Manor | Dec. 16. 1849 My dear Sir, I regret, that it will not be in my power to take the chair on the occasion you mention, as I shall not / return to town for a considerable period.1 I am, dear Sir, | Yours faithfully, | B DISRAELI TO: LORD STANLEY

Hughenden [Monday] 17 December 1849 193 6

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [11] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 233-5, dated 17 December 1849, the first half of the letter EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: manouvres; Napper. CONFIDENTIAL

My dear Lord, Hughenden Manor | Dec. 17. 1849 I enclose you a letter I received, a day or two ago, from Adderley. I declined, of course, being a member of the Council in question, on the double plea, that I was not sufficiently acquainted with their purpose, & were I so, was too much occupied to give the due attention. 1 Apart from a few entries in NUC under his name, from 1824 to 1847, no information on Grenville Fletcher has been found. On 13 December Fletcher had written to D from 16 Belvedere Place, Southwark, to say he had been recommended to adapt Alarcos for presentation at 'one of the National Theatres' early in 1850, that he was now at work abridging and inserting new material, and making 'its denouement ... more powerful as regards stage effect.' He asked D'S permission, to avoid 'a Lord Chancellor's Injunction, or the risque of your displeasure.' As credentials he offered 'a reputation for many years on the Literary & Theatrical departments of the Public Press' and authorship of two popular romances in three volumes each. He proposed to rename the play The Rose of Castilte, but to credit its original authorship to 'the author of Vivian Grey.' H E/VI/N/42 Fletcher would write again, on 21 January 1850, saying he had decided against abridgement to three acts, and that he was now going to keep its original length and shape, with some changes to stage effects and the denouement. He was about to show it to the lessee of the Drury Lane Theatre, and wondered if D would write a prologue. His flattery of D implied that he as editor of a weekly Conservative journal had reviewed D'S work. H B/xxi/F/i83. There is no evidence that D wrote to him again, or that anything came of Fletcher's plan. 1 Richard Bentley had written on 13 December from Brighton saying that he had written to Da few days earlier about the destitute state of the family of the late Dr Cooke Taylor; he feared that, as he had not heard from D, the letter had gone astray. He asked D to chair a meeting at Bentley's house to consider how to raise money for Mrs Taylor '& her five little ones.' H E/VII/F/H. C/iv I349&m and i63i&m.

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I offered, also, the usual & obvious reasons agst the expediency of amendments on the address, wh: particular circumstances can alone render advisable, & counselled a substantive & well concerted motion, to wh: he might bring all the force of the £km Protectionist party, in addition to that of the new Colonial movement. I apprehend, myself, that all these colonial motions & manouvres, in whatever form, & by whomsoever proposed, are in fact the stir of Wakefield,1 in whom I have little confidence; Go one Godley,2 in whom I have less, is, I think, the / instrument, that acts upon Stafford, & Adderley in the first instance. However, there is no doubt, that these Colonial Reformers have organised some force & are determined to be troublesome to the Governmt. It is, therefore, of importance that we shd. decide upon the course to be taken by the party. I am now pretty well qualified to listen to your ideas & instructions on this head, wh: I was scarcely last Session, as I have given a good deal of time, during the Recess, to the Col: question, in all its branches. To obtain our support, Molesworth & Co wd. modify their motions & movements a good deal, & it is not impossible, that a deadly blow might be struck in this quarter district of the administration. Your son, too, I hope, will have returned by that time,3 & may be of vast use to our not too powerful ranks. And on this head, I may venture to express my deep regret, that the D. of Richmond could not / have contrived to lend a helping hand to John Manners at Shoreham. He wd. be of great use to us, because he is really a working man, has mastered the great questions by reading blue books (the only way) & is a fair & improving speaker. On the rumor, but only a provincial one, of Quintin Dick's impending demise, I tried to run Ld. John for Aylesbury. A general amendment to the Address depends, of course, on the complexion of the times when Park, meets, but assuming, that we may not think it advisable to embark in one, & that it is of importance to lose no time in making a considerable division, I take the liberty, in the roughest manner, as you will recognise, to sketch the scheme by wh:, I think, the question of Local Taxation shd. be worked at present. I wd. introduce the question to the House totally in a new aspect. I wd. accept the declarations of our opponents, that there is no / difference in land from other property; that land, in fact, to use their often repeated phrases of last Session, is nothing more than a raw material & to be dealt with as other raw materials. I wd. then ask, how they can justify the extension to this raw material, & the most important of all raw materials, of a different economical & fiscal system from that, wh: they extend to all other raw materials? I wd. pursue this

1 E.G. Wakefield, an authority on colonial land schemes (see in 841112), in this year published A View of the Art of Colonization and joined with Lord Lyttelton and J.R. Godley (see n2) in founding a Church-of-England settlement at Canterbury, New Zealand; in 1850 he would join with C.B. Adderley in forming the Colonial Reform Society. 2 John Robert Godley (1814-1861) had unsuccessfully contested Leitrim for the Conservatives in 1847. In this month he left for New Zealand, for reasons of health, returning in 1852, later to be appointed assistant under-secretary at war. 3 E.H. Stanley had left for the West Indies in mid-September, and would return via the U.S. in March 1850. Disraeli, Derby 12.

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in detail, & yr. Lp will easily see the gross & flagrant consequences to wh: it wd. lead. I wd. argue the question on its sheer merits, as a question of justice to the proprietors & of policy to the community - & not introduce the inferential benefit to be derived by the farmers, because that wd. lead to controversy, & as the farmers have generally made up their minds, that they wd. reap the benefits of the proposed change, it is unnecessary to discuss that point any further in Parlt. Another / & more important point: I wd. openly & formally include Ireland in the proposition. It shd. be a motion for a "Committee of the whole House to take a consider the local taxation of Gt Brit: & Ireland". By discarding the Land Tax, wh:, last year, was rather alluded to, than insisted on, the amount of local Taxation, including Scotland & Ireland, wd. I apprehend, not much, if at all, exceed, the long talked of 12 mills. The constabulary of Ireland is already on the Con: Fund: the poor rate levied is under 2 mill: & the Grand Jury less, I think, one mill:. I have written to Ld. Glengall, with whom I am in communication, & also to Mr Butt, 4 on this head for inform[ati]on, but yr Lp knows all this much better than any of us. I think at this moment the Irish members wd. rise to the bait, & the division might be very considerable. Two great points to consider: the form of the motion, or, rather, measure; & the means of supply of consequent deficiency. Is it necessary for us even to intimate the latter? Is it not the duty of the Chanr of the Exr. to satisfy all just claims / & to keep the Queen's Exchequer sufficiently replenished. With regard to the nature of the measure, in order to retain local administration &c &c. I can't, for the life of me, devise any suggestion very different from that we produced last year. But all this I submit to yr Lp's better judgment. I hope you will excuse this very informal despatch, wh: I have written as I wd. talk. It is raw material, but, with yr. good advice, I think, it may be worked up to a very marketable production. And I shd be very glad at yr. leisure to hear from you on all these points. I was glad to receive a circular from the Agricultural Society of the model county of East Lothian, informing me that all the farmers were ruined, or soon wd. be. I heard from Repton on Saturday, from Carton. He says the D. of Leinster is as stout a / free trader as ever, but, he believes, the only one left in Ireland. He writes to me, in confidence, that I may be aware of the dismay in the Irish Whig camp. The protectionist conversion of a Mr. Napper, then staying at 4 Isaac Butt (1813-1879) LLD 1840, Whately Professor of Political Economy at Trinity College, Dublin, 1836-41, called to the Irish bar 1838 (defended Smith O'Brien in 1848), called to the English bar 1859, Mpfor Harwich (Protectionist) 1852, Youghal (Liberal-Conservative) 1852-65, Limerick 18719; in 1870 he founded and led what became the Home Rule party until supplanted by C.S. Parnell in 1877. See F.S.L. Lyons Ireland since the Famine (1971 repr 1989) 141-59. D'S letters to Butt have not been found. On 19 December 1849 Butt would write to D about uniting Irish and English Protectionists; he thought an election at this time would see the return of 90 Irish Protectionists. He said he was organizing a meeting for Dublin, and discussed strategy on Irish affairs. H B/lll/ 85.

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Carton, appears to have greatly annoyed them.5 Repton adds, that when the D of Bedford was at Carton, three months ago, he was of opinion then that to retrace our steps was "impossible." I am anxious to hear of the safe arrival of yr. son, of whom I know nothing except thro' the papers. I always fancy, that with him & John Manners, something might be done. Our friends in Smithfield, & those places, seem all happy & amiable.6 I hope they don't live in a fools Paradise. Nothing can be worse than the disposition of these counties. Our Bucks movement, tho' manque, has been a conductor for the storm: but in Oxfordshire, the yeomen & tenants are at open war with the Landlords; they / have dissolved their Protection Society, in the teeth, & agst the votes, of the three County members & the assembled Squires, & have voted their funds, wh: were considerable, to the County Infirmary. 7 It requires but a spark to kindle a much more general flame, & if this county had not been hocussed, the catastrophe must have occurred. My informant tells me, that if they cd. get hold of men like old Cobbett,8 the Oxford men wd. return them to Parliamt. but the Radicals of the present day have so mixed themselves up with Manchester;9 that the potion is too bitter at present.10 Believe me, my dear Lord, | Yours faithfully, | D. 5 In his letter of 13 December (see 1933114 above), George Repton had told of a 'Mr Napper, a £10 or £12,000 man with a large house in Meath', who had apparently been swayed by Repton's urgings to take non-partisan action on the state of prices if he felt he could not sign petitions because of their political nature. He was presumably James Lenox William Naper (1791-1868), of Loughcrew, co Meath, JP, DL, high sheriff 1822, a nephew of 1st Baron Sherborne. 6 The Smithfield Club had just held its cattle show, and MP (15 Dec 1849) had had a long report of the club's dinner on 14 December, with the Duke of Richmond in the chair. In the speeches optimism had been expressed for the future of the country and the empire if all the segments of the agricultural interest acted together. 7 The Oxfordshire Society for the Protection of Agriculture had been dissolved on i December, 'on the grounds that it was of no use, never had been, nor was likely ever to be.' The motion had been carried 'by an immense majority', and the society's funds (£440) voted to the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford. Matters had apparently come to a head when the society refused to call a meeting on repeal of the malt tax, and the tenant farmers had read this as evidence that they had no voice in the society, although nominally being members. MP (3 Dec 1849). The three members for Oxfordshire at this time were: Lord Norreys (see in 791119); George Granville Vernon Harcourt (17851861), eldest son of the Archbishop of York, MP for Lichfield 1806-30, Oxfordshire 1831-61; and Joseph Warner Henley (1793-1884), MP for Oxfordshire 1841-78, president of the board of trade 1852, 1858-9. Norreys and Harcourt had voted against repeal of the corn laws in 1846, but in 1849 consistently supported Peel against the Protectionists. Conacher Peelites 223, 231. 8 William Cobbett (1762-1835), who rose from humble origins by self-education to become the noted essayist, journalist, agriculturalist, MP (Oldham 1832-5), parliamentary reformer and a strong advocate for the agricultural labourer; some of his views anticipated those of Young England. G.D.H. Cole The Life of William Cobbett (jrd ed rev 1947). 9 There were many types of Radicals in the reformed parliament. Initially the most noticeable were the so-called Philosophical Radicals or Benthamites. In the 405, however, they were beginning to die out and in the battle against the corn laws the lead had been taken by a new and smaller group called the Manchester School led by the formidable trio of Cobden, Bright and Milner Gibson. Cobbett was sui generis. 10 Only the last two and a half pages of Stanley's reply have survived, though there is a pencilled summary of the missing part. Stanley strongly advised having nothing to do with the Colonial Government Society, as a dangerously heterogeneous political combination, but suggested that D continue to treat them with civility. He thought Lord Grey a bad colonial minister and a dangerous member of the Government. He also questioned the expediency of an amendment to the Address,

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TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Wednesday] 19 December 1849 1937

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/57

My dr Rose, Hughenden | Dec. 19.749. I have not got the book - tho' I have heard of it - & did not know, until yr. letter, by whom it was written. Send it to me at your / convenience. I have received the Parly, reports, for wh: 1000 thanks!1 Yrs flly ever[?], | D TO: SIR JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE Hughenden [Friday 21?] December 1849 193$ ORIGINAL: H B/n/i6 EDITORIAL COMMENT: A draft. Dating: by Hobhouse's reply (see ni); D has presumably used 'Xmas' to indicate the season rather than the specific day. Sic: Wycomb; shorlived.

Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb. | Xmas 1849 Rt Hon: | Sir John Hobhouse My dear Sir John, We cannot bear, that this season of the year should return without assuring you, how frequently, & with how much interest, you have been the subject of our thought & conversation during the last months.1 / It is permitted to few to offer the sacred voice of consolation: but all your friends have a right are entitled to express their wishes for your welfare, their pride in your reputation, & their happy consciousness of the many sources of delight and / domestic joy, wh: life yet furnishes to you. We are enjoying very much the seclusion of this place, tho' our holidays are nearly over so are now shorlived, & we daily fear your ruthless summons to Westminster.2 reported a long communication with Granby, and remarked on the difficulties of relief to Ireland. In the surviving pages he noted D's and Malmesbury's 'impolitic' proposals on poor rates, and the unsuitability of Manners as a candidate for Shoreham, which was 'very strong Anti-papist and AntiJewish'; he did, however, agree with D in wanting to see Manners in parliament. He thought the new session would likely begin on 31 January and wanted to talk over campaign plans with D, in London about 28 January, if not earlier at Burghley or Hatfield. H B/xx/s/23. For further comment on D'S letters to Stanley of 17 and 28 December 1849 see Bruce Knox 'The Concept of Empire in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Ideas in the Colonial Defence Inquiries of 1859-61' Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History xv 3 (May 1987), 242-63. 1 In his 16 December reply to 1932, Rose had written that he had sent the reports D asked for; he also mentioned a recent book called Sophisms of Free Trade Examined, by a barrister, whom he identified as 'Sergt Byles'. H R/l/B/7. This was John Barnard Byles (1801-1884), barrister (Inner Temple) 1831, Serjeant at law, of 6 King's Bench Walk, recorder of Buckingham 1840-55, Queen's serjeant 1857, Kt 1858, justice of the common pleas 1858-73. Published in early December, the book would quickly run to 8 editions; its main arguments were based on Adam Smith's view that home trade is as valuable as foreign trade. BH (8, 15 Dec 1849). For a convincing claim that the book was of primary importance in the igth century see Macintyre 'Bentinck' 158. 1 See i88o&n4. In a letter very clearly dated 23 December 1849, Hobhouse would thank D for his 'most friendly' letter and for his earlier expression of sympathy (via Lady Mary Hay) which had assured Hobhouse that D had not forgotten him in his 'deep distress.' H B/xxi/B/io33. 2 Hobhouse was a member of the government, which would summon parliament to meet on 31 January 1850.

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My wife begs requests me to / offer convey you her cordial regards, & sends messages of kindness to your circle, & I beg you to believe me, your sincere friend & servt, B Disraeli 1939 TO: CHARLES BOWYER ADDERLEY

Hughenden [Sunday] 23 December 1849

ORIGINAL: H B/II/15

EDITORIAL COMMENT: A draft fragment. There is an altered transcription in an unknown hand among Buckle's papers in H/Life [143-359].

Dear Adderley, Hughenden Manor | Dec. 23. 1849 It is no thought of the future that prevents my being a member of yr. council, but rather of the present. I can trot by no means give an unqualified adh[esi]on to the programme] you have inclosed me. [beginning of block deletion:] I wish also to s It is right also that I shd state that in mentioning my readiness to support Molesw[ort]h [end of block deletion.] / Let there be no mistake bet[wee]n us about my readiness in order to prevent the appear[anc]e of a mere formality to to support from our benches Sir W. Molesworth or any indi member of the Col. the [illegible] party school. I meant to say & hope I did say tho I wrote hurriedly that if we agreed upon a rcsolut the language of a motion to be brought forward by him or any I was prepared to recommend my friends to support him it. But of course I assumed that on the language of this motion we sh I shall shd be consulted. My object of course is to obtain, witht. any of compromise of his principles, the greatest possible amount of assistance to the common end wh: is a change in the adm administration system of our Colon[ic]s our existing Col[onial] system.1 1940 TO: LADY COMBERMERE ORIGINAL: QUA 412

Hughenden [Sunday] 23 December 1849

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: disembarass.

Dear Lady Combermere, Hughenden Manor | Dec. 23. 1849 I have delayed replying to your most obliging letter1 with the hope, that we might have found it in our power to have availed ourselves of an invitation so 1 Adderley would reply on 26 December, saying that all draft resolutions, bills, etc of the Colonial Association would be sent to D for suggestions: 'All we understand you to have consented to is that Molesworth is the man.' He said he had sent the 'Programme' to Lord Stanley, 'to avoid being forestalled by the Radical Herald,' and that he thought the Association 'must either fail for lack of aid from the Protection party - or else put them in power.' H B/xxi/A/7i. 1 Lady Combermere on 16 December had written to remind D of his promise to visit them; Lord Stanley, who had also promised, was now too busy to come, but Lord and Lady Downshire (Lord Combermere's daughter by his second marriage) would be there, and some 'country neighbours' who, she said, would enhance their reputations simply by having been in D'S company. She proposed a postponement of the visit to 16-21 January. In her letter she remarked: 'Protection is rabid in these parts [Chester] ... & the Farmers ... are quite ready to reverse the meaning of that figurative

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agreeable, but we are hampered with / guests of our own, from whom we cannot disembarass ourselves, tho' we have struggled with the harpoon - alas! too firmly & too fatally fixed!2 It wd. have been charming; 8c I might have / stolen from you some witty words to have enlivened an amendment on the Address, if it be decided to take that hazardous step. The Protectionists seem to be getting a little more sensible as business approaches, / & appear to have ceased exercising the perogative of dissolving the Parliament. I hope my Lord is well, & I wish that my next campaign may be as brilliant & successful as his own. Ever yr faithfl Sert | B Disraeli TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Hughenden [Sunday] 23 December [1849] 1941

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/337 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: '1850'. Dating: cfig^o. Sic: poney.

My dear Sa, Hughenden | Dec 23. I have not written from complete inertness & want of events. My table is loaded with unanswered letters, wh: arrive by shoals daily, like the herring season. I have scarcely left my room, except to saunter for what is called health, about the grounds for a short hour, & in work endeavour to forget my sorrows & my cares. My poney, wh: wd. have done / me good, I found with a lame shoulder when I returned from town, & therefore I was obliged to send him to Redrup's straw yard & have never been out exc[ep]t to Newport. 1 I have only seen Jem once & only for a minute. I thought he wd. have come, but am not surprised he is little inclined to do so. I shall try to write him a line to day, to take the chance of / seeing him tomorrow, before he departs for Hastings.2 We were going to the Combermeres in Cheshire, for a week on the 24th, but I have put it off to day. I cannot stand it - bad as this is, nothing is so terrible as the constant fe parade & pageantry of a Xmas week in a great house in the country, witht. the slightest object of interest, yr. health destroyed with the stupid excitement, & your time wasted: no ease, repose, or refuge. The protectionists seem / to be getting a little soberer, & to have left off somewhat the prerogative of dissolving Parliamt. Devonshire, Lincolnshire, & Wilts in many district meetings, have all gone for Local Tax[ati]on & Imposts; or as Neeld said in a good speech in Wilts "the two points of the Newport address the best speech that Mr. D. ever made".3 sentence, that turns swords into Ploughshares ...' She also passed on Lord Combermere's congratulations 'on your success'. H B/xxi/c/3632 No evidence has been found that the DS had guests at the times in question. 1 MA'S accounts for 17 December have an entry (not in her hand): 'Pony sent to Mr. Redrup at 2/6 per week during the time he is in straw yard, including hay. And when the pony is at grass 2/- per week.' 2 Both James and Ralph were to spend Christmas with Sarah at Hastings. H A/i/B/652. 3 No report of the Wiltshire meeting has been found, but MP on 19 and 22 December had carried

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I dare say I have a great deal to say, but nothing occurs to me, & I have no spirit. I find yr. letters interesting & amusing: especially yr. accounts of yr. reading,4 for I read nothing but blue books. I have never even read Macaulay.5 I hear nothing of D'Orsay, & fear the Pres[iden]t can do nothing for him.6 Remember me to R. & J. Yr affec: | D. 1942 TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Sunday] 23 December 1849

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/58

private Hughenden | Dec 23.749 My dear Rose, Can you, without inconvenience, pay to my private bankers a couple of hundred? They are Robarts, Curtis & Co. Have no delicacy about refusing me - because I / can, if necessary, draw on Drummonds, but I don't wish to do it at this moment. If you can do it, let me have a line. Yours ever, | D. / I got the book. To LORD STANLEY 1943 1943 T0: ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [12]

Hughenden [Friday] 28 December 1849

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 235-7, dated 28 December 1849, with omissions; Whibley II 19, dated 28 December 18, extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: The second, third and fourth sheets are numbered '2', '3' and '4'. Sic: gallopping; Small Surrey.

private Hughenden Dec. 28/49 Dear Lord Stanley, The Colonial Dilettante Society have given up their amendment to the Address, wh: I think is well. There is to be a substantive motion, to be made by Molesworth & seconded by Walpole, (who seems to have strangely mixed / himself up with these affairs) & wh: motion is to be submitted to us previously, & modified in any way we desire consistent, or rather not inconsistent, with their long reports of the Protectionist meetings at Lincoln on the 17th and at Exeter on the 2ist. At both, especially at the former, there had been belligerent confrontations with free-traders, but the Protectionist resolutions had nevertheless been carried. At both meetings the points about local taxation and import duties had been raised and received support. 4 In her 22 November letter Sarah had mentioned reading 'Coxe's Pelham Adminis[tratio]n - what strange times those were. I like the foolish fluttering jealous Duke a hundred times better than that mean-spirited Mr. Pelham'; and in her 7 December letter she had written that she was reading 'with infinite delight "The Thirty Years Correspondence of Bishop Jebb & Alexr. Knox" you know Knox was the originator of the Tractarian School before the present small beer - & Jebb his organ of publication.' H A/i/B/649,65i. 5 The first two volumes of Macaulay's History of England, although dated 1849, had appeared in November 1848, to enormous acclaim and with almost unprecedented sales. 6 Count D'Orsay had been devastated by the sudden death of Lady Blessington, and at this time occupied himself solely with planning her mausoleum. See further 1951. For his long-time agitation for the return of family property see iv vyfi&cny, the President of France would eventually appoint him director of fine arts, ironically just weeks before D'Orsay's death, in August 1852. Sadleir Strange Life 292-300.

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general aim. 1 Adderley, who seems very excited, & sadly deficient in judgment, has sent me the programme of their society, wh: contains only / one idea — what they call self government - & is written without any dignity or depth. Henry Baillie writes to me, that he has been in correspondence with Lord John, & Ld Grey, re Ceylon. They have refused to send over for the witnesses, by a promise to do wh: they avoided, at the end of the / Sess:, the virtual vote of censure of the Ceylon Committee.2 Joseph Hume is furious, & I believe will shortly appear in print anent. 3 He writes to Baillie, that he is prepared to join in any motion to upset the Govt. & especially Lord Grey; & mentions with self complacency, that he did not / vote confidence in them on my motion on the State of the Nation. 4 All this foretells & foreshadows, as far as the House of Comm: is concerned, a serious Colonial crisis. What are we to do? You have sketched with the hand of a master, & with the inspiration of experience, those difficult considerations, wh: I had only arrived at by many painful months of / plodding. Clearly, instead of more Wakefieldism, we want less: and it appears to me, that the real key of Ld. Grey's position is, that he talked much too much Wakefieldism out of office, & found, when at length Secy, of State for the Colonies, that his theoretical Colonial Reform was a delusion. But being a clever, proud, strong, &, rather, wrong, headed man, he / has endeavoured to reconcile his visionary projects with a sane practice hence this imbroglio!5 1 See 1939 above. On 12 February 1850 Sir William Molesworth would announce that he had given notice of a motion asking for leave to bring in a bill for the government of the Australian colonies, but that now that Lord John Russell had taken the matter up he would withdraw it. Hansard CVlll cols 712-13. 2 Henry Baillie had written from St Albans on 15 December, praising D'S 5 December speech, commenting on the practical problems of equal taxation, and making the points on Ceylon as D reports. H 8/111/83. F°r tne Ceylon Committee see iSiS&ng. The information about Hume which D goes on to say he got from Baillie must have been conveyed in another letter, which has not been found. 3 No such publication by Hume has been found. Hume was angry that certain witnesses, who could have given evidence against Lord Torrington, were not sent from Ceylon, and felt that 'the Government had thrown its shield over him'. AR (1850) 50-51. 4 That is, Hume did not vote in the division at all. See i854&ni. In his speech in the 6 July 1849 debate on D'S non-confidence motion he had strongly rejected D'S arguments. Hansard CVi cols 1418-25. 5 Lord Grey had assumed the office of colonial secretary in June 1846, and was one of the most active doctrinaire and controversial colonial secretaries of the nineteenth century. He would defend his policies in his Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration (1853). Although an early adherent of Wakefield's theories, he acted independently of the colonial reformer: 'he is a very clever man but a very obstinate man,' Lord Melbourne told Queen Victoria 'and excessively eager about what he takes up, and very angry when everybody don't immediately adopt his views'. He defended transportation when it was already becoming unpopular and outdated, but, more important, he was responsible, with the support of Russell, for implementing, with some qualifications, Durham's recommendations of self-government for colonial legislatures. In 1846 he sent an historic despatch to the lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia instructing him to recognize the executive's responsibility to the legislature, and in 1847 he sent Lord Elgin to Canada as governor-general with similar instructions. Consequently when the reformers won an election in Canada in 1848 Elgin accepted the formation of a reform ministry under Robert Baldwin and Louis La Fontaine and in 1849 approved a controversial Rebellion Losses Bill to the indignation of the Tory opposition. On that night a savage English-speaking mob invaded the parliament buildings, which were burned down, forcing the evacuation of the members. In 1850 Grey would obtain the passage of an act of

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Now it appears to me, I say it with unaffected deference, that it wd. be possible to arrange a motion on the part of the Colonial Reformers that our party, as a party might support, provided they held their tongues as much as possible, while myself, or / some one else, might make a speech, wh:, while it justified our voting for the motion, shd., at the same time, completely develope our own colonial system, & express our own tenets on all the great points of local government, emigration, waste lands, penal settlements &c. Lord Grey is open to all attack not only on account of the results, but of the system he / has pursued with respect to the Colonial Committee of the Privy Council. I hold that no man has a right to aspire to be Secy, of State for the Col:, who has not arrived at personal conclusions on the subjects, wh: he has referred, & proposes to refer, to that Committee: in many other respects, also, a most objectionable arrangement. 6 But to / the point. In this colonial discussion, we must deal, with frankness, with the commercial question. Can we again establish a commercial tie with the colonies, without the odium of inflicting high prices on the Metropolitan consumer? Could this be done, by terminating all import duties whatever on colonial produce? By / really making them integral portions of the U. Kingdom? No sugar duties on either Indies, & a duty on foreign corn, might set the more important colonies on their legs (a duty on for: timber still existing) & wd. comprise some elements of popularity. I conclude it is too late to introduce thirty colonial MPs into St Stephens. Were it possible, it wd. be a great element of / future strength to the conservative party of this Country. 7 The suggestion of Ld. Malmesbury has been considered by the Committee on the Law of Settlement, wh: was appointed just after you left the house of Commons.8 There are eight reports of this Committee, wh:, with the proceedings of the Lords Com: on Burdens on Land,9 form a corpus on home affairs, wh: must be well / digested by any one, who wishes to take part in the House of C. on these subjects. Chadwick as a witness, & Graham as a committee man, are two perfect animals of the kind. 10 parliament giving the Australian colonies elective legislatures with responsible ministers but rather more limited powers. See J.M.S. Careless The Union of the Canadas: The Growth of Canadian Institutions 184.1-1857 (Toronto 1967 repr 1972), 114-26; Charles E. Carrington The British Overseas: Exploits of a Nation of Shopkeepers (1950), 338-53, 370, 392. 6 In early 1849 Grey had a committee of the cabinet to advise him, particularly on the drafting of constitutions for the Australian colonies (1850) and Cape Colony (1851). See Prest Russell 309-10. D does not seem to be aware that Grey and Russell between them had effected the transition to 'responsible government' in the colonies. 7 See M&B in 253 for an extract from a speech D would make on 5 July 1850 in which he would refer sympathetically to the idea of colonial MPS. Hansard cxn cols 1037-45. 8 See I932&m. Lord Stanley had gone to the Lords in September 1844, when he thought he was misused at the colonial office; see IV 13918012. The most recent reference in the House to the committee had been on 16 March 1849 in response to a question by Sir J. Pakington, who asked 'if there was any intention of altering the law respecting the settlement of the poor, parochial rating, or vagrancy?' M.T. Baines, president of the poor-law board, told him that the matter of settlement had been fully discussed by the committee 'some time ago.' Hansard CHI cols 868-9. 9 See 1912114. 10 Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890), the famous sanitary reformer, barrister (Inner Temple) 1830, assistant poor-law commissioner 1832, chief commissioner 1833, member of royal commission on factory

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My own impression is, that the government, to a certain extent, will take up this subject of local taxation, & notice it in the Speech.11 I will not, therefore, now dwell upon it, &, indeed, an hour together in your library wd. advance / us more than fifty letters. This presumed intention of the Government, & the manner in wh: it may be conveyed, may also seriously affect our intended amendment to the address, the tone & scope of wh: I, otherwise, entirely approve of. At this moment, unquestionably the tendency of affairs is to an amendment to the Address; & as circumstances now are disposed, / I doubt, whether we shd. be able to avoid it, even if that were politic. I fear, however, it will be a purely agrestic movement. What are the other branches of domestic industry that are suffering? Where are they? Very quiet. I wish our friend, G.F. Y[oung], wo[ul]d stir some of his interests in buckram, & vary the lone, tho' swelling, chorus of the suffering land. Instead of gallopping about Small Surrey market / towns with Ld. Stanhope & wild Paul Foskett, why does not he move Limehouse, & why does he leave needlewomen to Sidney Hferbert]? 12 I thought John Manners was whitewashed by leading the forlorn hope against Rothschild, & that, thereafter, he was to be considered not only a Xtian, but a Protestant. 13 Sir Robert's letter is not, I think, very happy: at the same time, pompous & trite. He has succeeded in conveying an impression, that his estate is in very bad condition. He seems to think that drainage is an universal specific, tho', in truth, a very partial one. Tho' he really says nothing, wh: might not have been said if the corn laws had not been repealed, he nevertheless writes with an awkward consciousness of having led his friends into a hopeless scrape.14 Bel[iev]e me, dr Ld Stanley | Yrs very ffly | D. children 1833, secretary to new poor-law commissioners 1834-46, member of sanitary commission 1839, 1844, CB1848, board of health 1848-54, KCB 1889, had appeared before the Law of Settlement and Poor Removal Committee, of which Sir James Graham was a member, on 4, 9, 11 and 16 March 1847. See 1932111. Graham had been Peel's very efficient home secretary 1841-6 and continued to be concerned with home office matters. Chadwick was the great authority in this area. See S.E. Finer The Life and Times of Sir Edwin Chadwick (1952 repr 1980). 11 In fact the Speech would be evasive on the point of relief for the landed interests. Hansard cm cols 2-6. See further igfrjn^. 12 On 5 December, MC had printed a letter from Sidney Herbert (dated 4 December at 5 Carlton Gardens). Taking his inspiration from Henry Mayhew's recent articles in MC on 'Labour and the Poor', he had focused on the plight of the apparel workers, particularly the needlewomen. Severely impoverished by an unregulated and unprotected market, these 33,500 women (28,500 under 20 years old) were forced to live on as little as 21/2d a day. His proposed long-term solution was a programme of female emigration to the colonies, so that the sexual imbalance in the population of Great Britain (500,000 more women than men) might be used to correct the reverse imbalance in the colonies. He proposed the immediate establishment of a fund to assist emigration of the women to the colonies, and gave the names of banks to which subscriptions could be sent. A formal notice of the fund's establishment and its committee members appeared in the London papers on 13 December. See further Lord Stanmore Sidney Herbert, Lord Herbert of Lea (1906) I 110-20. On 'interests in buckram' cf Henry iv Part I n iv 2i4ff. Limehouse is a parish on the banks of the Thames in East London, synonymous with the shipping industry. 13Seei855&n5. 14 MC and The Times on this day, 28 December, had published a letter from Sir Robert Peel to his tenant farmers, dated 24 December at Drayton Manor, about 'the present state and the prospects of agriculture, so far as they concern our relations of landlord and tenant'. He advised his tenants

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T0: To:SARAH SARAH DISRAELI DISRAELI 1944 1944

[Hughenden, Saturday] 29 December 1849

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/325 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 236-7, dated 29 December 1849, extracts; Blake 292, dated 29 December 1849, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no signature. Sic: suceeds.

My dear Sa, Dec 29 - 49 I have no news to tell you — but will send you, ne[ver]theless, the complimts. of the Season. I think your move was very judicious:1 for whether my feelings are peculiarly gloomy & uncomfortable or not, I certainly find this a most severe & unamiable Xmas. Yesterday I had to dine at Missenden Abbey - I went alone - MA, to whom the dinner was specially given, having been very unwell these ten days, & confined to her room with cold / & fever. It was a most doleful visit. Dear, old, Carrington, having preferred what in his grandiose language, might be styled a "gorgeous banquet" - double soups & double fish turbot & smelts, ancient Johannisberger, & many delicate wines & viands. To eat them the Alves, whose pretence to belong to the County, has already evaporated, as their holding is to let, the little pair / of Evetts, the male one snuffling thro' a grace like a puritan, & a Mrs. Hobgoblin & two Miss Hobgoblins, or some name like that, who have taken a large house in the little village near. I got off as soon as I cd., & feel much worse to day - a renewed cold, I fancy - part[icul]arly wretched. I have not written, & cannot write, a line of the Preface to the Comm: Be feel altogether paralyzed.2 Peel's letter at once pompous & trite. / He suceeds in conveying an impression, that his estate is in a very bad cond[iti]on: recommends drainage as if it were an universal specific, tho', in truth, a very partial one; & altho' he says nothing wh: might not have been said if the corn laws had not been repealed, somehow manages to write, as if he were conscious he had got his friends into a hopeless scrape. Give my best regards to your companions. I wish I were with them. Ld. Exeter has asked me to Burghley for the 2ist. to hold a congress with Stanley & Co. but I don't think I shall go.3 to reconcile themselves to low prices, suggesting these would be partially offset by lower costs, and not to hope for a return of protection. He said he would not consider a general abatement of rent, but would consider each case separately. After encouraging them to find ways of increasing production, he outlined a proposal whereby 20 per cent of the current year's rent (provided it was not in arrears) would go to improvements, preferably drainage, removal of unnecessary fences, and optimal use of manure. He also offered extended leases and loans at 4 per cent for improvements beyond those covered by his own efforts and appended a reminder that rents were due on 3 January, as customary. 1 Probably in order to entertain Ralph and James for Christmas, Sarah had moved temporarily into Hastings. She reported on 30 December: 'I have a charming room with a large bow-window quite out upon the sea ... it is a great change to me to be down here in what seems the world, though I believe in reality it is empty even for Hastings.' By 8 January, however, she was back 'again, all by myself at the top of my mountain.' H A/l/B/650,652. 2 See 19283014 and 2075ni. 3 Lord Exeter on 27 December had invited D to come for a visit on 21 January, when Stanley, Granby and Herries would also be there. H B/xxi/E/294. See further I952&n3.

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I wonder how I managed to write this[.] Adieu! TO: WILLIAM BUSFEILD FERRAND ORIGINAL: NLS 16747 ff4 2 ~3

Hughenden [Saturday] 1945 1945 29 December 1849

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand at the bottom of the last page of the MS: "B. D'Israeli MP".

My dear Ferrand, Hughenden Manor | Dec. 29. 1849 Your letter is capital! I was glad to hear again the trumpet of the gallant Yorkshire Hussar!1 What / is going to happen? And what is the real state of your districts?2 My wife sends you her cordial regards; & joins, with me, in wishing Mrs. Ferrand3 & / yourself many long years of happiness & prosperity. Yours sincerely | D. TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H n/i/A/59

Hughenden, Saturday 29 December 1849 194"

My dr Rose, Hughenden, Saturday. Dec. 29/49 In case you are so rash as to penetrate into this dreary region during yr. visit to Penn, try not to come on Monday, as it is Q Sess:, (County Day), & the only one I shall be away from home, if indeed it be possible to move, wh: I begin to doubt.1 1 The Times on 28 December 1849 had published a letter by W.B. Ferrand, dated 24 December, responding to Richard Cobden's speech at Leeds in which Cobden had, according to Ferrand, threatened the landed interest with ' "another agitation"'. Ferrand at some length recounted events (featuring the exploits in 1842 of the Yorkshire Hussars, who left their cornfields in harvest to protect the property of free-trade manufacturers from their own rioting workers) which supported his point that what was in danger of attack during such agitation was not the landed interest, but the manufacturers and their mills. He concluded: 'One word of warning to Mr. Cobden. He has announced his intention of visiting Buckingham and Aylesbury for the purpose of inflaming the minds of the farmers against their landlords. Let him beware lest he be challenged to publicly discuss before the operatives of Manchester, "Whether, during the last 30 years, the manufacturing operatives have received their fair share of the profits of trade?"' Ferrand was an officer of the Yorkshire Hussars. 2 Ferrand would reply from Lennoxlove, Haddington, East Lothian, on 3 January 1850, gratified at D's approval of his letter and praising D's 'magnificent orations' in the House. He reported that, 'even in this splendid County, with the first practical farmers in the world, the almost universal cry is "Ruin".' He told of efforts being made to promote protectionism among the operatives in the manufacturing districts, and of the brisk trade and lower but 'comfortable' wages in the north. He also asked: 'What does the Duke of Richmond mean by thrusting his sons into every vacant seat? if they could speak in the House all well, but as they cannot say "Bo to a Goose" this selfishness disgusts the Country.' H B/xxi/F/i23. 3 W.B. Ferrand on 10 August 1847 had married secondly Fanny Mary Stuart (b 1816), second daughter of nth Baron Blantyre. 1 The Bucks Epiphany Quarter Session would open at Aylesbury on Monday 31 December 1849, with county business scheduled for the first day. D would be present on that day, and take part in the deliberations in response to the home office on recommendations for improvements in the operation of the prison; he would advise the court to postpone any expenditures until the matter

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"— Multos et Felices annos —" Yrs ever flly | D

1947

tO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Hughenden [Sunday] 30 December 1849

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/c/53o [10] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 74-7, dated 30 December 1849; M&B in 194-5, dated 30 December 1849, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: The second sheet is numbered '2'. Sic: Coloredos; d'lhys.

Dear Lady, Hughenden Manor | Dec. 30. 1849 I cannot bear, that the year should die, without writing you a line, if only to wish, that the coming one may bring you happiness. It is almost the only idea, that my / pen will be able to inscribe, for my life is so monotonous, that I meet no characters who can amuse, & no incidents that can interest you. Otherwise, I shd. long ago have written. I find the pressure of public life so great in this / age of struggle, that I have been forced to give up every country house except my own, & have been too much engrossed to ask anyone there. I am surrounded by piles of blue books, & two posts of a day bear me reams of despatches: so / that my recess of relaxation has combined the plodding of a notary with the anxiety of a house Steward. Pleasant! - & what is called gratified ambition. What an imbroglio of affairs! Your friends, the freetraders, say, that, if we retrace our steps, there will be a revolution; &, / most certainly, if we do not do something, there will be one, for, before 4 & 20 months are passed, every farmer will be a republican. Indeed, it requires unceasing vigilance, & constant resource, to keep them, now, steady. Can you solve the knot? Going thro' town once or twice in the autumn, I / saw a good deal of Cabrera, whom you wd. rather like. He is petit, refined, sallow, melancholy, with a fine black beard, about 6 & 30.: but the last time I met him, he had been persuaded to shave, & his general air was consequently much deteriorated. His conversation is sensible & enlightened, rather / reserved, but quiet & easy enough. He dined every day at the Duchess of Inverness, where I was asked to meet him, but did not go: a sort of Royal circle, it was described to me, about twenty persons, princes & ambassadors, who always danced after dinner! Cabrera & Don Juan, 1 the Coloredos, Drouyn d'lhys,2 & always the Turkish ambassador,3 who at last danced himself with the French ambassadress. This sort of thing of local taxation could be laid before the House of Commons. The advice was followed. BH (5 Jan 1850). 1 Juan Prim (1814-1870), Count de Reus 1843, Marquis de los Castillejos 1860; he had enlisted with the forces of Queen Isabella n in 1834, was promoted to major-general in 1843, but shortly after that went into exile in England and France. In a later exile in England he would guide the movement that led to the overthrow of Isabella in 1868; he would become president of the council (virtually dictator) and a marshal in 1869, shortly before his assassination. 2 Edmond Drouyn de Lhuys (1805-1881), first secretary of the embassy at Madrid 1836-40, depute 1842-8, foreign secretary under Louis Napoleon 1848-9, 1852-5, 1862-5, ambassador to London 1849-51. Greville VI 2i3ni. 3 The 1850 British Almanac identifies the Turkish ambassador as 'Mehmed Pacha'; cfihe 'Mehemet Pasha' given (on 21 May 1849) in Broughton Recollections VI 241. Presumably he is not Mehemet Emin Aali Pasha identified in iviaSyni.

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has been going on the whole autumn. I think I told you of my farewell with Metternich. Tho' nobody talks of foreign affairs, I hear, among the initiated, that there are odd / whispers, & the general state of things is anything but satisfactory. The fact is the elements of government do not exist in the greater part of Europe - & we are destroying them pretty quickly in England. Russia alone developes herself, & will develope herself/ still more in the great struggle, wh: is perhaps nearer than we imagine[.] Once destroy the English aristocracy, & enthrone the commercial principle as omnipotent in this island, & there will be no repelling force, wh: will / prevent the Sclavonians conquering the whole of the South of Europe. I look upon France as quite exhausted: insolvent in purse & soul: no republic can restore it, for there is no plunder left to support a Republic - & plunder was the inspiration of / the great movement of the last century. Amid all this confusion, Ireland may rise from its ashes: it will repudiate the commercial principle: & you will become a feudal Princess in the Tower of Garron. Ever Yours | D TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Hughenden [Tuesday] i January 1850 194§

ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl'57]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 238, dated i January 1850, the last three paragraphs and the postscript

My dear J.M. Hughenden Manor | Jan i 1850 Blackwood himself sent me the art: a few days back.1 I read it with great interest - all about high farming in Scotland of the first importance. It will make a great sensation. I am sorry, & told him so, when I thanked him, & praised it, that the writer shd have made the mistake about protected manufactures. 2 It gives 1 On 27 December 1849 a letter signed 'Wm Blackwood Sons' had been sent to D from Edinburgh with 'a copy of our Magazine for Janr.' drawing D's attention to the article on ' "British Agriculture & Foreign Competition".' The letter explained that 'first class farmers in different districts of Scotland' were polled for their views: 'The result ... discloses a more alarming state of matters than the public were even yet prepared for & effectively disposes of the Free Traders last shift about High Farming ... Professor Aytoun has drawn up the paper most ably & logically.' H 6/111/90. Although the head of the firm of William Blackwood and Sons at this time was Robert Blackwood, the handwriting seems to be that of his younger brother, John Blackwood (1818-1879), since 1845 the editor of Blackwood's Magazine and, after Robert's death in 1852, virtual head of the firm. Lord John Manners had written to D on 29 December 1849 from Belvoir Castle, enthusing at length about the Blackwood's article, which he thought contained 'the most complete exposure of the "high farming" humbug & the present state & future prospects of the Lothians that mortal ingenuity could devise.' H B/xx/M/45. The article was in fact the first of two, the second appearing in the February number; see na. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine LXVII ccccxi (January 1850) 94-136, ccccxn (February 1850) 222-48, with an appendix. 2 In a letter clearly dated 'Deer. 28/50' but in which the month should be January (it is docketed by MA: '1850 Jan 28 Mr Blackwood With Maga.'), John Blackwood responded to D's letter (not found): 'I was glad to learn that you liked our last months paper upon Agriculture & now enclose you an early copy of our Feby. No. containing a second article. The only slip we made in the first of the slightest importance was what you pointed out about the duties in Manufactures & that you will see we have put to rights this month ... Professor Aytoun is writing you to day with some

28l

a handle to Wilson & Co.3 Now 10 pr Ct. on foreign cotton, linens & woollens, was taken off on the repeal of the corn laws in 1846. The concocter of the art: / Blackwood tells me is Professor Aytoun; 4 who has drawn it up vigorously, temperately, & effectively, notwithg. the blemish indicated. I think Ferrand's letter5 excellt., & am very glad to hear, that Oastler is going to stir.6 The movement, tho' vigorous, is too agricultural. Where are the "other great interests" (I fear in buckram) that G.F.Y[oung] spoke of? Why does not Limehouse at least stir, & why were the needlewomen left / to Sidney H[erbert]?7 The latter I think in a scrape 35,500 to be deported at i$£ apiece; his own estimate; wd. take more than £600,000. He shd. have opened the subscription, under these cir[cumstan]ces, with his whole income. And then if he raised the money, he cd. do no good. It is a false move for a Peelite, politico-economist, & leads to amusing bickerings. information respecting the state of our West Highlands which reached us too late but may possibly be of use to you. Aytoun & I were much gratified by what you said of the Magazines paper in your speech at Great Marlow.' H B/xxi/B/5i6. The January article had contended that the British manufacturer enjoyed what were in effect protective duties. The February article conceded 'that plain cotton, linen, and woollen goods, upon which no manual labour has been bestowed, after they issue from the factory, are admitted duty free. But whenever any further process has taken place - however slightly - and in every case when silk enters into the fabric, a protective duty is charged ...' 3 James Wilson (see 1624^4) was founder of The Economist. In his 28 January letter to D (see nz) John Blackwood would add a postscript: 'I take the liberty of calling your attention particularly to the attack of the Economist & our reply at the end of the magazine. I incline to think that we logically demonstrate deliberate falsification of what we really said on the part of that Journal?' As a 122-page appendix to its February issue, Blackwood's would publish a series of responses to its January article by various journals, including several by The Economist. The last response reprinted (109-18) is from The Economist of 19 January 1850 focusing on a statement supposedly made at Leicester by Lord John Manners, citing the January Blackwood's article as his authority, that in 1845 a million quarters of corn had been imported at an effective price to the foreign producer of only 275 a quarter. The article then goes on to ridicule these figures at considerable length. In its reply (118-22) Blackwood's accuses The Economist of misrepresenting Blackwood's position and Lord John Manners's statement by deliberately using Lord Granby's misreading of Blackwood's article at the Leicester meeting as though it accurately represented both the article and his brother's statement based on it. See further I953&m. 4 William Edmondstoun Aytoun (1813-1865), the poet, admitted to the Scottish bar in 1840, on the staff of Blackwood's Magazine since 1844, since 1845 a popular professor of rhetoric and belles lettres in the University of Edinburgh, sheriff of Orkney 1852, DCL (Oxford) 1853. 5 See I945&m. Manners in his letter (ni) had asked: 'Is Cobden really to invade Buckinghamshire? Your yeomen, I suppose, will be prepared for the strife.' 6 In his letter (ni), Manners had written: 'Oastler is working the East End of London well & I hope to hear of a public meeting among the operatives there before long.' The eccentric Oastler had been inactive largely because of ill-health since the passage in 1847 of the Ten Hours Act, for which he had worked hard. He had begun to be active in the cause again in 1849, when many factory owners were using a loophole in the act to make their operatives work in relays over a longer period each day; meanwhile, many workers were agitating for an extension of the work period to increase their income, so the movement was in danger of disintegration. In September a society to protect the act had been formed, but on 8 February 1850 a judgement declared the use of relays to be legal, effectively undermining the act. On 17 February the society would hold a meeting in Manchester at which Lord John Manners would be one of three selected to lead the movement for a Ten Hours Declaratory Act (the other two were Ashley and Bankes). See further 201102. Oastler, who apparently worshipped Manners as a Carlylean hero, kept falling out of favour with the factory-reform movement because of his strong principles, such as opposition to strikes. Cecil Driver Tory Radical: The Life of Richard Oastler (New York 1946) 476ff. 7 See I943&ni2.

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I have just come from Quart Sess:8 & hear even in the rural districts that Pauperism is diminished. How is this? I hear also that the shipowners are building more ships than ever. How again? Tell Dr. Trench, that it will not / do to agitate the Sinking Fund now, as the suggestion has not been generally taken up & will distract. It must sleep till the right time.9 The national debt was incurred for the foreigners: levy from the foreigners 5 mill: pr. ann: to pay off the national debt. By wh: means you have virtual protection on a popular principle: gradually, every year diminish general taxation, & in a short time pay off the £400,000,000 of mortgages or rather reduce their interest to two pr Ct. This is the affair in brief - but 'tis the gist - "multos et felices annos["] D There sho[ul]d be more variety in the movement. Something to break the low, tho' swelling, chorus, of the agrestic multitude. TO: LORD MALMESBURY ORIGINAL: PS 482

Hughenden [Tuesday] i January 1850 1949

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Malmesbury i 255-6

My dear Lord, Hughenden Manor: Jan. i, 1850. My absence at Quarter Sessions prevented my receiving your very kind letter until to-day.1 I am very sorry indeed that it is not in my power to have the pleasure of becoming your guest, as you propose, but I have engagements at home from which I cannot extricate myself. Sir Robert's letter is pompous & trite. There is really nothing proposed in it which might not have been done with equal propriety if the Corn Laws had not been repealed; but he has succeeded in conveying an impression that his estate is in bad condition, and that he is conscious he has led his friends into a hopeless scrape. 8 See I946&ni. 9 Manners had written (ni): 'Doctor Trench, who does our literary, theological & gentlemanlike work among the higher classes at Liverpool highly commends the Sinking Fund scheme & is anxious to learn more particulars respecting it, if you think it worth while to furnish him with the sources of any such information. You may depend upon his making good and skilful use of them. He asks me if I think the scheme could wisely be propounded by the Constitutional Association of his town.' In both Manners's and D'S letters the name appears to be 'Trench' but could be read as 'French'. Richard Chenevix Trench, the future Dean of Westminster and Archbishop of Dublin, at this time professor of divinity at King's College, London, and examining chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford, would seem at first to be the person referred to (see also 2iooni), but according to Venn he received his DD in 1857, and his work in philology at this time might strike some as incompatible with an interest in sinking funds. The only Dr Trench we have found is the Rev William Trench (18011868) DD, grandson of ist Earl of Clancarty and eldest son of Rear-Admiral William Le Poer Trench, at this time rector of Killeran, Dangan, later prebendary of Tuam and rector of Moylough. 1 Lord Malmesbury had written from Heron Court on 29 December, to invite D to visit him on 4 or 5 January. He had expostulated at length on the injustice and staleness of the concepts in Peel's letter to his tenants (see 194380114). He also asked D for some hints for a speech he would be making at Salisbury on 4 January in which he proposed to 'relever some of Cobden's late misrepresentations.' H B/XX/H/2.

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I think Sidney Herbert is in a pretty scrape; 35,000 needlewomen to be deported at 15/. a-piece (his own estimate) would take upwards of 6oo,ooo/. He should have subscribed at least one year's income as an example, and if he succeeds in his object, which is impossible, he will do no good.2 I am sure you will make a capital speech at Salisbury,3 but I wish the movement was not merely agricultural. There are the other great interests (in buckram) that your friend G.F. Young talked so much of. Why does not Limehouse at least stir? Ever yours faithfully, | D. P.S. - Let nothing prevent you looking at the last article in 'Blackwood' on high farming in Scotland. 1950 TO: SARAH DISRAELI ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/326

[Hughenden] Tuesday i January 1850

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 238, dated i January 1850, extracts

My dear Sa, Tuesday | Jan i. 1850 1 I have just returned from Q. Sess. & found yr letter. A very great meet at Aylesbury - the Ld. Lieut:, Chandos, Cavendish, Verney, Squire Carrington & George, & some thirty others - all dined at the White Hart, even Chandos, betn. whom & Verney I sate. I like V. very much. Tell Jem, that Nash only required V2 yrs. rent, & so I paid him, deducting Income tax.2 Malmesbury has asked me / to Heron Court, but I have refused. Read the last art: in the new Blackwood. I think it has knocked up Scotch High farming. The last Imposition! John Manners prepared me for this some time ago, & I mentioned it at the Aylesbury meeting in Octr. I wish you a very happy new year & your companions. Ld. C[arrington] wished the County the same. Yr affec | D 1951

T0:

COUNT D'ORSAY

Hughenden [Tuesday] i January 1850

ORIGINAL: H B/II/lS

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 165-6, dated i January 1850 EDITORIAL COMMENT: A draft in D'S hand. Sic: Wycomb.

My dear D'Orsay, Hughenden, High Wycomb. | Jan: i. 1850. We are very anxious to hear from you, & we ardently wish, that this year may bring you happiness, & solace for the sorrows of the last.1 2 See I943&ni2. 3 The Times on 5 January would have a report of the Salisbury meeting among its reports of Protectionist meetings. Lord Malmesbury's speech, about the 'experiment' that had failed, adversely affecting all classes and not just the aristocracy, seems quite unexceptional. 1 Sarah had written from Hastings on 30 December, hoping that her New Year's wishes for D would reach him on New Year's morning. She said James would be with her until Thursday and Ralph until the following Sunday. H A/l/B/650. 2 See l645&n2. 1 See I94i&n6.

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I need not tell you how entirely we have sympathised with your affliction, who knew so / well, & valued so entirely completely the faithful friend yott have lost that has departed. For myself my knowledge of her is a considerable volume in my life. It spread over many years, during wh: I experienced received at her [illegible deletion] at her hands nothing but acts of kindness sympathy, grace, & affection. I have experienced exposed myself to many griefs, & am worn by so / many cares, that I seldom that the present always demands my energies & I seldom venture to indulge in memory - for the past has too many pangs. But I find sometimes sometimes a melancholy pleasure in recalling her & her her cordial & accomplished existence, & the past is linked with the present, when I recollect that you are left, betn. whom & myself the relations will never expire. What are you going to do & can anything be done in yr unfortunate / country. England is only in peril sinking: France is finished. Europe indeed approaches What a sad: mournful fate to be born in the decline & fall of gt countries. Europe - at least the Europe, of our fathers & our youth - approaches its end. We ought to have found our careers in the on the newer across the gt waters.2 Ever yrs | D. TO: LORD GRANBY

Hughenden [Wednesday] 9 January 1850 195 2

ORIGINAL: BEA [1*2-4]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb; Inst..; recal.

My dear Lord Granby, Hughenden Manor | H Wycomb. Jan 9. 1850 I got your letter1 yesterday morning, as I was going to a meeting of South Bucks farmers, who are very inclined to run riot, & who had summoned their members.2 I directed the storm for the moment, tho' / the disposition of the 2 D'Orsay would reply from Paris on 7 January 1850, apologizing for not having replied to D'S earlier letter: '... you were too much our friend, for me to write to you, without entering fully upon that great calamity.' He said his only consolation had been erecting a monument to Lady Blessington, with his 'future Sarcophage being alongside of hers'. The letter concludes with a denunciation of France as 'the vilest [country] under creation.' H B/xxi/D/325. 1 Lord Granby had written from Belvoir Castle on 6 January to convey the Duke of Rutland's invitation that the Ds visit for a few days before the meeting of parliament. Granby said he hoped to be at Belvoir, but was very occupied with meetings which the farmers insisted he attend. H B/ XXI/R/327.

2 On Tuesday 8 January there had been a Protectionist meeting at Great Marlow, with T.P. Williams MP presiding, at which D encountered considerable hostility as 'a mere talker'; he began by refuting an allegation that he had recently raised the rents of his tenants. He said he was glad to find the farmers were planning to bring their grievances and proposed remedies before parliament. In a veiled reference to Peel, D denounced those 'who wished to enjoy, at the same time, the advantages of high rents and low prices.' He dissociated himself from those 'quack doctors' who proposed measures of immediate relief, outlined his policies promoting equality of the farmer with his fellow subjects and with his foreign competitor, and challenged the farmers to take their place as members of the middle class. After mocking failed model farms, he referred to the Black-wood's article (see I948&m) as finally answering Peel, who had repeatedly in parliament cited the farmers of East Lothian as examples of how farming was to be made profitable. He then based his proposal of equal taxation on a new concept: because the 'proprietor of the soil is proprietor merely of a raw material, and nothing more' he argued that the landed interest had a right to be taxed on the same basis as the commercial interest. He assured the farmers they had nothing to fear from Cobden's foray into Bucks the next day, explaining that he would have been happy to meet Cobden

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agriculturists in this, & the adjoining counties, is anything but satisfactory. It is quite a toss up, whether they will stand by the gentry or not. But of all this, & many other things scarcely less important, anon. I had intended to have kept among my blue books, until the meeting of parliament, & have refused hitherto / every invitation with that view, but, within these few days, events have assumed so serious an aspect, that I don't think we can see each other too soon, or confer too frequently. I propose, therefore, to be at Belvoir, if agreeable to you & the Duke, on the i8th. Inst.. My wife is much honored by his Grace's message, & will be much gratified to / make his acquaintance & see your famous castle. I have written to Ld Exeter by this post, to beg permission to recal my refusal of his invitation to Burghley for the 2ist.3 - & perhaps you & I may manage to go there together. I am most anxious, that we shd. confer with Stanley witht. loss of time. Affairs are very critical. Ever yours | D. / P.S. I have received the most affecting letter from Ld. Londonderry this morning. Seaham has certainly lost his left eye - perhaps worse is at hand, & from the rebound shot of his brother!!4 1953

T0:

LORD JOHN MANNERS

Hughenden [Wednesday] 9 January 1850

ORIGINAL: BEA [1*1-58] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: recal.

My dear J.M. Hughenden | Jan: 9. 1850. I have written to Granby by this post, saying that, if not inconvenient, I propose at a farmer's dinner, but not at a fancy evening tea-party. The Times (9 Jan 1850). In a leader on 10 January, The Times commented that Cobden and D obviously did not wish to meet, as each clearly recognized his true constituency, Cobden's day labourers being free only in the evening, and D's farmers being disinclined to drive gigs upon bad roads in the dark. It then praised D for the deft way in which he, standing 'between the landlord and the tenant, ... directed his anathema against those who wished for high rents and low prices - a form of expression which spared the Protectionist landlord, while it spoke comfort to the heart of the tenant.' The 12 January issue of BH that reported the meeting published a letter (dated 7 January) by George Vernon as D's agent in response to an allegation in The Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News; it stated that D'S tenants were paying rents on terms arranged before D'S purchase of Hughenden, and 'that they have had repeated offers of continuing upon the old terms - and that no advance of rent has been asked or agreed to be given ...' The clipping had been sent to D on 7 January by George Lathom Browne. H B/xxi/B/i039. 3 See 1944&I13 and 1963. D's letters to Exeter have not been found. 4 On 31 December at Wynyard Park there had been a shooting accident in which Lord Seaham had been injured in the left eye. Several doctors, both local and from London, had been immediately summoned. The Times (3 Jan 1850). D had written to one of them (letter not found), Sir Charles Fergusson Forbes, an army surgeon and specialist in diseases of the eye. Forbes had replied to D on 6 January, saying Seaham was bearing up manfully and going on as well as could be expected; he also mentioned that he had shown D'S letter to the Londonderrys. H B/xxi/B/25. Lord Londonderry had written to D on 7 January: 'I know not why you shd write to the Doctor when you once regarded if not lov'd the Chef. Does consistency to my unhappy free Trade views under him in whose Boat I sail produce such Eloign[e]ment ...I would rather you had addressed me - your oldest & First Friend - in this present House of Sorrow.' He then at length told of the shooting accident as D here describes (and quotes in 1954 below), concluding: 'I will not write more now when at leisure, & in better spirits I may remember one who has I fear forgotten V.L.' H B/XX/ v/17. See further 1955 below.

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to be at Belvoir on the i8th. I have also written to Ld Exeter to beg permission to recal my refusal of his obliging invitation to Burghley for the 2ist: I have done this, because the serious change in the aspect of affairs makes me / feel, that we cannot meet too soon, & confer too frequently. It is of the utmost importance, that Granby & myself shd. confer with Stanley with as little loss of time, & as amply, as possible - & this Burghley can alone, in the present posture of circumstances, effect. I was very much pleased with / yr speech, tho' sorry you have lent the great name of Manners to the dissolution scheme, wh: was wild & unwise months ago, & now is highly injurious to us - at least in my opinion - but on all these subjects, when we are together, we can talk with Granby. 1 Affairs I think are very / serious. I can't help thinking the turning point in the fortunes of this empire - at least of its aristocratic settlement, is at hand. I almost despair - but perhaps I am a little shattered too today by a bad night, following a very troublesome meeting yesterday. We have so much to talk about that it wd. fill volumes - so it must keep till we meet[.] Ever yrs | D. Write me a friendly line about railroads to Belvoir?

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Hughenden [Thursday] 10 January 1850 1954

ORIGINAL: H A/i/s/327 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: indigentions.

1 There had been a Protectionist meeting at Leicester on 5 January at which Lord Granby had been the main speaker (cfigqSny, he found occasion in his long speech to endorse D'S tax-equalization proposal. Lord John Manners in a short speech of defiance against Cobden had then moved a resolution for an address to the Queen asking her to dissolve parliament. The Times (7 Jan 1850). On 7 January Manners had written to D with an explanation, fearing however that D would see the newspaper reports before his letter: '... having only Friday to prepare for it, I could not make a very effective move ... Charles Packe & I altered the wording of the Address to the Queen from a positive to a conditional prayer for Dissolution "in the event of Parliament turning a deaf ear &c." ... I did what I could at Leicester to impart the variety you wished for to our songs of complaint & hardly touched on the rural grievances ...' H B/m/96. In his 11 January reply to D'S letter Manner would gently chide D for not embracing the dissolution movement once it was evident it could not be stopped: 'it appeared to me our wisest course was to make the best of what could not be helped, and throw all our force into that one movement, rather than dissipate it by sectional attempts ... after all the main thing is to show a great & energetic public opinion against the present system ... perhaps this Dissolution method embraces more classes than Local Taxation would, while in the House the latter scheme is sure to be well supported ... May not we adopt this solution of our past & present divisions? That the Sinking Fund is the measure for a Protectionist administration? The present agitation the policy of a Protectionist opposition?' H B/xx/M/46. 2 Manners replied (nl): 'Your route to Belvoir is by the North Western line; you should catch either the express train which leaves London at 9 reaching Melton at V2 past 12, or the train which leaves London V4 past 10 & reaches Melton V4 to 4 via Rugby & Leicester. Melton is 12 miles from hence & you will have no difficulty in procuring horses ... Ask for a Melton carriage at starting, otherwise you may have to change at Rugby. At Leicester you change trains, & have to wait half an hour; good cherry brandy at the Station, otherwise a beastly place.' The Ds would be at Belvoir from 18 to 21 January, MA returning to London and D going on to Burghley. On 26 January MA would record the travelling expenses: the fares (first class) there were £5.2, and returning £2.1; the post for Belvoir to Melton was £1.5; the train from Burghley and Melton back to town at £3.15, and the tips to servants etc at 17/- produced a total of £13. H ace.

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My dear Sa,1 Hughenden | Jan 10. 1850 My own impression is that stocks will be at par. You need not therefore decide upon anything in a hurry - but wait till I am in town, & have the means of looking about me — after wh: I will let you know what I think is the best course for you to take. I saw Jem here previous to the Marlow dinner, & at the same. It was a tolerable meeting - not so well attended, at least not so fully attended, as I was led to believe & not in any way to be compared with the Newport. 2 I / spoke pretty well. Our plans are rather changed. Instead of staying here until the 2ist or so, we leave on the i6th: & go to Belvoir on the i8th. the Duke having written to ask MA. She has been very ill indeed & scarcely out of her room for a fortnight. On the 21st. I go to Burghley - having recalled my refusal on account of the serious aspect of affairs. I suppose I shall go with Granby, who departs from Belvoir for Bur: the same day. MA. will come up by the railroad with her maid. / All this, tho' it looks very well upon paper, seems to me rather a bore - cold travelling, indigentions, & poor political prospects. However, one must take what comes. I refused Ld. Exeter & also Ld. Malmesbury, & the Combermeres we threw over, as I believe I told you. I had a heartrending letter from Ld. Londonderry yesterday about Seaham. His left eye gone, as his father says "that large azure blue eye I loved" - & by a rebound shot from his own brother, Adolphus. / The fathers only consol[ati]on, the recollection of the ineffable catastrophe wh: might have occurred, — & wh: is perhaps hardly yet averted, for he is not out of danger. Adieu! my dear. | D I had a-m another heartrending letter to day - from D'Orsay. He says he never can recover the blow - his memory is too vivid. more ano[the]r time 1955

T0: LORD

LONDONDERRY

Hughenden [Thursday] 10January 1850

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/530 [50]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb; on the i/th.

My dearest Lord, Hughenden Manor, | High Wycomb. Jan: 10. 1850. I have received, & read, your letter with great emotion. I did not write to you personally, because I was unwilling to obtrude my own anxiety at a time, when / you had so much to contend with.

1 Sarah had written from Hastings on 8 January; D's letter had not arrived until after James's departure, and she wondered if he had been in time for the Marlow meeting. She then asked D'S opinion 'of the Norwich Office - it is the only one among them of any names that grant annuities & for the half per cent it gives above the government rates it would be foolish to be involved in any risk. R[alph]'s broker is strongly opposed to any Office. What do you think of affairs? Should there be any vagaries contemplated by governmt. such as R. tells me the Times yesterday promulgated I fear the funds will tumble down before I can do anything.' H A/l/B/652. 2 See i93O&ni.

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You cannot over-rate the warmth of my feelings towards Lady Londonderry & yourself, tho' it is only when they are in sorrow, that we are, sometimes, made aware how much we love our friends. It will require all the / strength of mind, by wh: Lady Londonderry is distinguished, to sustain her at this trying hour: but she may seek solace in the recollection of the ineffable catastrophe, that has been averted, & in the sympathies of your own sweet temper & tender heart. Seaham's fine constitution / & manly conduct offer the best securities for recovery, &, at all events, he will have left to him the three greatest blessings of life - an affectionate father, a devoted mother, & a perfect wife. Pray offer Lady Londonderry my affectionate remembrances, & give words of kindness, from / me, to your suffering children. Our thoughts will frequently be under the roof of Wynyard, & I shall be very grateful to you to let me, sometimes, know, how you are all going on. I was in hopes we might have remained here until the meeting of Parliamt., & / I assure you we leave our seclusion with great reluctance. But go we must. We shall be at Belvoir on the 17th., & on the 2ist., I go to Burghley to meet Stanley — but if you will direct to Grosvenor Gate, everything will be duly forwarded to / me.1 Ever, my dear Lord, | Your affectionate friend | & servant, | D.

TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/67

[Hughenden, Friday 11? January 1850] 195^

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: '11 Jan 1850'; on the fourth page: 'nth. Jan 1850 Mr. Disraeli'. Dating: the letter may have been written the day before the docketed date on which it was presumably received, but hardly after it, despite D'S assertion that 'we go at once'.

private My dear Rose, The Duke has written, 1 & begged, if possible, that we shd come & stay a few days at Belvoir before the meeting of Parliamt — so we go at once,2 as I must / be at Burghley to meet Ld. Stanley on the 2ist. I infer from the tone of the Duke's invitation, that he wishes rather to confer on private rat than / on public affairs. I shall be in town for good about the 26th. or so. Ever Yrs I D.

1 Lord Londonderry would reply on 23 January with praise for D'S 'beautiful letter', and with a report of Lord Seaham's slow progress. He then expounded at gloomy length on the political crisis, on the influenza epidemic in the region, on having a sick son and on his 'unruly Irish Tenantry'. He predicted that, if Lord Stanley and D formed a government on the principle of raising the price of food again, 'we shall have a civil war of Classes ...' H B/xx/v/i8. 1 Not strictly accurate; see I952&ni. 2 See I953n2.

289

1957

T0: LORD

STANLEY

Hughenden [Friday] 11 January 1850

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [27] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 238-9, dated 11 January 1850

My dear Lord, Hughenden. Jan 11. 1850. I had written, the day before I received your letter 1 to Ld. Exeter, begging leave to withdraw my refusal of his kind invitation to Burghley, as I thought the aspect of affairs had become critical, 8c that we had better, all of us, meet as / speedily, & confer as amply, as practicable. It is possible, that the Government suffrage scheme2 may be of a conservative tendency, & projected to arrest the progress of the 40/ freehold movement. At the same time, it is not likely, that they will propose any measure of this kind without considering the interests / of their party at our cost, & at all events, the measure will occasion discussion, in wh: it will be difficult for us to avoid taking a distinct position on a question, wh: will probably be the key to future power. I look forward, with great interest, to your views on this subject. Cobdens evening invasion of Bucks was very / sorry. He made a mistake. Had he met the farmers boldly, the result might have been very different. 3 1 Lord Stanley had written to D from Knowsley on 8 January, hoping that D had accepted the invitation to meet at Burghley; he did not propose to answer D's last letter because matters could be discussed at the meeting. He hoped D could devise an attack on the administration of the colonial department, as he felt it would be difficult to reconcile their views with those of the Colonial Reform Association; he agreed with D that a system of protection for the colonies was required, but declared that total exemption from duties on their produce was not warranted as the colonies had no portion of the military or naval expenses. He saw great difficulties in the way of admission of colonial MPS. After inviting D to a parliamentary dinner on 29 January, he concluded: 'Peel & Cobden have done us infinite good of late.' H B/xx/s/g. 2 During the coming session the government would introduce two Irish bills, one of which extended the Irish suffrage to offset the decrease in the electorate because of famine and impoverishment. On 8 January The Times had remarked on an announcement the previous day in 'a modest weekly contemporary' that the throne speech would probably include a recommendation for 'a liberal extension of the suffrage both in England and Ireland.' The leader thought that a modest extension of the franchise, of which it approved, would probably be achieved in the session, but thought the general population (except for pockets of reform agitators) to be largely uninterested in the matter, as they were in a period of prosperity. 3 See I952n2. On 9 January at 5:00 pm Richard Cobden at Aylesbury had addressed a gathering of (according to The Times) 800-1,000 people that completely filled the county hall. In his speech he dealt with the question of why the agricultural interest was the only one not participating in the current prosperity of increased employment, accepting as his focus D'S point about land being merely another form of 'raw material'. He used his own recently acquired 140-acre estate in Sussex as an example of how farming could be made profitable while wheat was at 405 - by drainage, killing the hares and rabbits and letting the tenants have the game, by clearing away the hedgerows and by renegotiating the rents at a reduced rate; he challenged the large land-owners to do likewise: 'We want to bring the landowner and the tenant together, to confront them in their separate capacity as buyers and sellers; so that they might deal together as other men of business, and not allow themselves to play this comedy of farmers and landlords crying about for protection, and saying that they are rowing in the same boat; when, in fact, they were rowing in two boats and in opposite directions.' He then mocked D'S equal-taxation scheme as a mere device to relieve tenants in their rents only to have them pay at least as much in increased prices. He concluded by recommending that tenants organize independently of landowners and their agents, as their interests were totally different. The Times (10 Jan 1850).

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The agitation of the "National Association" has operated much as I anticipated. It was evidently projected by men, who were ignorant of the real state of the country. To address the throne for a dissolution of / parliament with commerce & manufactures thriving, the revenue increasing, money abundant, & pauperism reduced even in the rural districts, wh: is certainly the case, was the delirium tremens of politics. One could hardly present one of these addresses to the Queen / without a smile or a blush. The injurious effects of this movement are, otherwise, also, not inconsiderable. It has forced us into an extreme position when circumstances counselled a very moderate one. It has terribly cut away golden bridges. It has unnecessarily exposed the / agricultural interest in the nakedness of its isolation. Not a single meeting has taken place among the shipping population, among the colonial or commercial interests, among any class of the labouring multitude. I don't say that our friend Mr. Young, has been ineffective. / He has done a good deal, but what he has done, he had better not have done. He has gained the trick by trumping his partner's best card.4 I shall remember the 29th. & remain, | dear Lord Stanley, | Yours ever faithfully, | D. TO: JOHN COX

Hughenden [Friday] 11 January 1850 195^

ORIGINAL: PS 391 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Maggs Catalogue No 295 (Sept-Oct 1912) item 3230 'A long and important A.L.S. "D." to the Rev. John Cox. 8 PP., 8vo. Hughenden, nth Jan., 1850.'

Hughenden, nth Jan., 1850. .... Cobden's invasion of Bucks, was an unheard of failure. 1 Had he come earlier, and boldly met the farmers, the result might have been different - for, I believe, they are all for him - being exceedingly cantankerous in these counties. The fact is, however, that I availed myself of the golden opportunity of Marlow so to cheapen the whole concern, that he had not a puff of wind in his sails To address the throne for a dissolution of Park, with commerce and manufactures thriving, the revenue increasing, money abundant, and pauperism reduced even in the rural districts, wh. is certainly the case, was the delirium 4 Lord Henry Bentinck, on whom D apparently also used this phrase (letter not found), in his 15 January letter to D would remark that it showed how little D knew about cards: 'it's a lenient offence & one that still allows the game to be won; whereas Young's tricks have had immensely damaging effects in the various counties.' H B/xxi/B/356. 1 John Cox had written to D from Fairsted on 9 January: 'I am sorry you do not take a more cheering view of the present position of the Protectionist Party. We had in this county BY FAR the most influential meeting [at Chelmsford on 4January] I ever saw assembled. The Peelites and Whigs have been making great exertions to misrepresent you. It is in fact the greatest political compliment THEY could pay you.' He included a copy of an Essex paper, which he thought reported more accurately than MC Cox's 'panegyric' to D at the meeting. In a postscript he warned: 'You may rely on it you will have Cobden, and your Farmers shd be making preparations for his reception'. In his 30 December 1849 letter he had offered his assistance in dealing with Cobden: '... if you require help I will see what I can do in the physical force line.' H 8/111/94,97. According to Wendy Hinde Richard Cobden: A Victorian Outsider (1987) 206, Cobden at Aylesbury 'got, as might have been expected, a mixed reception.' See also John Morley The Life of Richard Cobden (1879) 466-7 for the way Cobden at the meeting was questioned about how he got his estate.

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tremens of politics. One cd. hardly present one of these addresses to the Queen without a smile or a blush .... I didn't know the Whigs 'were blacking my character.' I thought tho' the Peelites blackened, the Whigs were rather inclined to polish me. I don't care for Peelite abuse .... If instead of this ignorant bullying, worse almost than Cobden's, they had joined me in supporting my new motion on Local Taxation, the Government, by the aid of the Irish members, might have been put in a minority, and then we cd. have dissolved Park, and done what we liked. 1959 TO: SIRJOHN TYRELL 1959

HHughenden

[Sunday] 13 January 1850

ORIGINAL: BEA [Ri-6o]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Whibley II 20-1, dated 13 January 1850, the fourth paragraph omitted EDITORIAL COMMENT: Copy, in another hand, sent to Lord John ManneVs; see 1960. Endorsed on the first page (in D's hand?): 'Colchester Election'.

(Copy)

My dear Tyrell, Hn. Jany. 13. 1850. Move heaven & earth to bring in John Manners for Colchester.1 It wd. be of the greatest service to the party, & the greatest help to myself. He is ready in debate, can reply, is a thorough working man, master of all the questions of the day, being a good reader of blue books, witht. wh: one can do nothing, is popular in the house, & full of pluck. As for religious points, he is a devoted son of the Church, & nothing more nor less. A few persons / who don't know him, may have some prejudices about some boyish Puseyism, all long forgotten, &, at any time, a respectable weakness. Leading as he did, last year, the forlorn hope against Rothschild in the City, & having stood for Liverpool, pledged against Roman endowment, ought to clear him of all their imputations, & gain him the undivided support of our Church & Protestant friends. But at the present moment, the / only question is Protection. No one understands the question more thoroughly than he, & has more gallantly upheld it. He has visited & studied the manuf: districts, & knows the whole thing completely.2 He can meet a leaguer in his own ground. Butt is, I believe, provided for. Lord Lucan 3 & the Mayo people intend to 1 Tyrell's letter, which D describes in 1960 below, has not been found; perhaps it was forwarded to Manners along with this copy of D'S reply. On Friday 8 February Lord John Manners would defeat G. Wingrove Cooke by a vote of 623-386 for the Colchester seat left vacant by the resignation of Sir George Henry Smyth, 6th Baronet. On nomination day, 7 February, Manners would be extensively questioned on his religious views, and his opponent would characterize Manners's principles as 'a sort of medley of the feudalism and priestcraft of the middle ages ... invested in a sort of sunhaze, and like some of Turner's pictures, something exceedingly gorgeous but extremely unintelligible.' Manners, while frankly admitting that he had voted for the Maynooth grant, would declare himself decidedly opposed 'to any attempts to increase the political power or religious influence of the church of Rome, either at home or in the colonies'. The Times (8, 9 Feb 1850). 2 Manners at this time kept extensive journals of information related to Protectionist issues. BEAL/M/. 3 George Charles Bingham (1800-1888), 3rd Earl of Lucan, of Castlebar, co Mayo, MP for co Mayo 1826-30, elected representative peer of Ireland 1840, Id-It of Mayo 1845, major-general 1851, commanded a cavalry division in the Crimea 1854, the controversial commander at Balaclava, KCB 1855, GCB 1869, field marshal 1887.

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bring him in for that County. 4 I write in great haste not to lose a post. Pray give heart / & soul to this affair for Manners. As Granby's brother, independently of his own claims, he should do. Besides he is a perfect gentleman, amiable, trustworthy, & thoroughbred. But it is for his abilities, acquirements, & working powers, that I most want him. Ever Yrs | D. There wd. be no difficulty about the money. I shall be at Belvoir on the i8th. TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Hughenden [Sunday] 13 January 1850

ORIGINAL: BEA [Ri-59] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Whibley n 21, undated extract from the fourth paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: 1959 is the copy enclosed with this letter.

My dear John, Hughenden. Jan. 13.750 1 Last nights post, with your letter, brought me one from Tyrell informing me in confidence, that there was going to be a vacancy for Colchester, & that some of the leading men had requested he wd. consult me as to a proper successor. You do not doubt whom I recommended, & I send you [a] copy of my letter to Tyrell sent by this post, that you may catch the important points. - religion & money. I spoke boldly on both; I suppose the latter the most difficult point but the sum mentioned is only 5 or 6oo£. I shd. hope if all went right, there might / not at this moment be a contest. I wrote my letter, that Tyrell shd. have the points &, if necessary, show it. Really I think standing agst R[othschil]d ought to whitewash you, & that, thereafter, you shd. count not only as a Xtian, but a Protestant. I am afeard my writing gets everytime more unintell[igibl]e but I have to write 50 letters a day,2 & generally put you & my friends off to the last when my hand is almost paralyzed with work. I had not read yr. speech in extenso till yesterday, when the Editor of the Nottingham paper sent me a full / report. I have not yet had yr paper. It is capital, & 'tis a great pity it did not appear in the Mg. Herald, wh: I take in merely for the Prot: movement. You misunderstand me if you think I wished you or Granby to have touched on the Sinking fund or that sort of thing, or even Loc. Tax, wh: he did gallantly; all I wanted, if possible that at these meetings, however vague & strong the declar[ati]ons, there shd. not be addresses for dissolfutijon, wh: even when first suggested were perilous, & wh: in the present state of affairs, I think absurd. To call for a dissol[uti]on of parliamt with commerce & manuf: thriving, the revenue increasing, money abundant, 4 In a letter on 6 February 1850, Isaac Butt would seem to imply that D had been encouraging him about Colchester: he said he felt as indebted to D as if his efforts at Colchester had been successful, and that he understood the difficulties that arose when Lord John Manners 'was in the way.' He thought the Conservative party in Ireland would try to find him a seat and that thanks to Lord Lucan he still had hopes of Mayo. H B/xxi/B/i4i9. In late July he would unsuccessfully contest the election at Mayo for the seat left vacant by the death on i July of R. Dillon Browne. 1 See I953nni&2 above. 2 The editors are humbled at having been able to find so few of these, and trust that D exaggerated.

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I960

& pauperism / reduced even in the rural districts, wh: is certainly the case, is the delirium tremens of politics. This agit[ati]on of the Nat. Assoc: was projected by men really ignorant of the state of the country. One cd. hardly present one of these addresses to the Queen witht. a blush or a smile. Not a single meeting has taken place among the shifting popul[ati]on, nor among the col[onial] & comfmercial] interests, nor any class of the mere labouring multitude. This agit[ati]on has unnecessarily exposed the agric: int: in the nakedness of its isol[ati]on: it has forced us into an extreme pos[iti]on when cir[cumstan]ces counselled a very moderate one. It has deterred waverers. I don't say that our friend G.F.Y[oung] has done nothing. He has done a good deal; he has won the trick by trumping his partners best card. Read this, (almost the same I wrote to Stanley a few days back,) to Granby. We shall soon meet. D 196l TO: S. CLYDE Belvoir Castle [Saturday] 19 January 1850 ORIGINAL: SIL [4] EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a transcription very kindly provided by Mark Girouard and R.H. Harcourt Williams.

S. Clyde Esq1 Belvoir Castle | Jan: 19. 1850 Sir, Your letter, requesting, on the part of one of the Conductors of the M. Chronicle, an interview with me, has been forwarded here from Bucks, wh: must be my excuse for not replying to it sooner. I shall not be in town until the end of the month, but I shall then be happy to receive, at Grosvenor Gate, the gentleman you mention. I am: Sir, your faithful servt | Disraeli 1962 1962

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Belvoir Castle [Monday] 21 January 1850

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 37502 ffno-i3 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 238-9, dated 21 January 1850, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Poulett.

My dear Sa, Belvoir Castle | Jan: 21. 1850 I leave this for Burghley to day. Belvoir is Windsor, scarcely in miniature, & presents a very different scene to the limited summer circle, wh: I found here, three years ago, with poor Lord George. We live in the state / apartments, wh:, as I have told you before, are vast & sumptuous: brilliantly & completely illuminated at night, & at all times deliciously warm, even in this severe weath winter. A military band plays while we are at dinner, / & occasionally throughout the evening. Dinner is announced by the air of "the Roast Beef of old England", & we march to the banquet, thro' galleries & saloons. The party here is very large - about 5 & 30 to dinner - but / chiefly the family - a Xmas gathering - the Drummonds, 1 Ld. Forester, 1 No person with this name, nor any letter bearing this name, has been found. 1 Andrew Robert Drummond (1794-1865), of Cadland, Hants, great-grandson of 4th Viscount Stra-

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Ld. Charles[,] the Lumleys,2 &c. in addition, ourselves, fcdr Lady William Poulett, the Count & C[ounte]ss Rossi (Sontag)3 the latter most agreeable, & amiable, singing a great deal. Almost all the gentlemen, being members of the famous / Belvoir Hunt, of wh: Ld. Forester is master (the Duke's hounds) wear scarlet coats in the evening, wh: adds greatly to the gaiety & brilliancy of the scene. This family, as you know, is the most amiable in the world - witht. the slightest pretence or affectation, and / they are all clever, & highly cultivated. Nothing can be more cordial than the Duke, or more polished. The frost has stopped the hunting for many weeks - but there are shooting parties every day, & advanced as the Duke is, he is never away from / them. I never met a man at his time of life, so cheerful, & indeed so vivaciousf.] This is a very stupid letter, but I thought you wd. like to have a line from this. We had an agreeable companion in the train down, Jem Macdonald, going / to Ld. Wiltons at Melton. He had just left the Southamptons at Whittlebury, & told me they were to be at Burghley as well as the Sandwiches[.]4 Adieu, dear Sa, | yrs affly | D MA. goes to town to day with her maid. TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/262,2623.

Burghley, Stamford 1^6^ [Tuesday] 22 January 1850

COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Grosvenor Gate | Park Lane | London POSTMARK: (i) In circular form in double circle: STAMFORD [enclosing:] JA22 11850] A (2) In circle: [illegible] |JA2411850 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 239-40, dated 22 January 1850, with a brief omission EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: accomodate.

My dearest Wife Burghleyf,] Stamford | Jan 22. 1850 A hasty line to say all goes right[.] The exterior of Burghley magnificent & unique - in an immense park crowded with ancient timber. Here I found Duke of Richmond, Stanley, Lord & Lady Sandwich / Ld. & Lady Southampton ( - the only women) Sir Robert Inglis, Granby, Herries,

thallan, in 1822 had married Lady Elizabeth Frederica Manners (1801-1886), eldest surviving daughter of 5th Duke of Rutland. 2 Richard George Lumley (1813-1884), of Tickhill Castle, Yorks, gth Earl of Scarborough 1856, in 1846 had married Frederica Mary Adeliza Drummond (1826-1907), fourth child of the Drummonds of Cadland (ni). 3 Henriette Sontag (born Gertrud Walpurgis Sonntag) (1806-1854), the famous German soprano, had made her English debut in 1828; while in London she had secretly married Count Carlo Rossi, Sardinian ambassador to the Hague, but was able to acknowledge the marriage when the title of von Lauenstein was conferred on her shortly thereafter. Count Rossi's diplomatic career had ended in 1849 with the abdication of the King of Sardinia, and Madame Sontag had returned to the international operatic stage, from which she had almost entirely retired in 1830 except for occasional recitals. She would appear at Her Majesty's Theatre throughout the 1850 season. Stanley Sadie ed The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980) XVII 527-9. 4 John William Montagu (1811-1884), 7th Earl of Sandwich, Id-It and custos rotulorum of Hants 1841, captain of the corps of gentlemen-at-arms 1852, PC 1852, master of the buckhounds 1858, in 1838 had married Lady Mary Paget (1812-1859), eleventh child of ist Marquis of Anglesey.

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Christopher, H. Bentinck, Trollope, Maunsell & Stafford MPs for the County, 1 Beresford &c. Lady Exeter is what we heard,2 but I have scarcely seen enough of her to say more - of the other / women nothing as yet. This house, wh: is immense, can only accomodate altogr. twenty^. We had a cabinet last night - & are to have another to day at five - Stanley being now shooting. Granby wd. not bring his guns, in order that he might lose not a moment in conferring — / I did not go to the fine ladies yesterday - but they sent Wilton, or rather he brought himself after me, being most eager to talk politics "with his leader." This morning all the Melton party came over by railroad to Burghley to lunch, & I heard of you from Newport. / Frank Grant has asked, thro' Granby, to paint my portrait.3 He will charge nothing. He does it for the sake of the engraving. I made sufficient difficulties - but at last promised. His charge is 300 gu[ine]as [.] Adieu, my dearest. I count on hearing from you tomorrow. Your affec husd | D / Henry Bentinck & Trollope went this morning. The D of Rutland arrived — very cordial. 1964 TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Burghley, Stamford [Tuesday] 22 January 1850

ORIGINAL: BEA [ni-6i]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B in 240, undated, the final sentence; Whibley n 23, dated 22 January 1850, the third paragraph and the final sentence

My dear J.M. Burghley. Jan 22. 1850 It is all right & settled. My last letter to Tyrell finished it. Beresford went down to Colchester - he says now on purpose to arrange the affair. 1 Let him say so, & think so, if / he can, & like. The truth is he found Tyrell like a roaring bull, & Cox like a fox. It gives me great pleasure, in this gloomy life, that I have had the satisfaction, / after many attempts, of restoring you to your parliamentary place. But there is nothing like sticking to a thing. 1 Thomas Philip Maunsell (1781-1866), of Thorpe Malsor, Northants, DL of Northants, high sheriff 1821, was Conservative (Protectionist) Mpfor Northamptonshire North 1835-57; the other seat was held by A.S. O'Brien Stafford. 2 The 2nd Marquess of Exeter, D'S host at Burghley, in 1824 had married Isabella Poyntz (18031879), daughter of William Stephen Poyntz, of Cowdray House, Sussex. Greville (IV 412-13, 6 September 1841) records Lady Exeter's reputation as a sanctimonious bore. 3 Francis Grant (1803-1878), of The Lodge, Melton Mowbray, was the most fashionable portrait painter of his day; RA 1851 (president 1866-78), Kt 1866. For a reproduction of the famous portrait of D that he would complete in late 1851 see M&B in frontispiece. H 0/111/0/975-6. 1 William Beresford had written to D on 14 January to say he had been asked by the Colchester people about a candidate for the February by-election (see ig^gScni above): 'The member will have to spend about 200 a year to keep up the Party & fight the Registry & the Municipal Contacts & he will then be quietly seated as long as he pleases. He must be a Gentleman & able to address his Constituents & to make long speeches in the House of Commons. Can you name any man that you think would particularly suit Colchester ...?' H B/xx/Bd/22.

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Beresford, by the bye, never even alluded to London & all that. May / this step, my dearest John, lead to your prosperity & happiness - & may you secure both by serving that great country, wh: we both love!2 Ever Yrs flly | D. TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

Burghley, Stamford 19^5 Wednesday 23 [January] 1850

ORIGINAL: H A/i/A/286

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B ill 240, dated 23 January 1850, three sentences from the third paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand after the date: 'Jany'. Sic: Southhamptons; tete a tete.

My dearest wife, Burghley, Wednesday | 23. 1850. I have more than made up my mind to get back tomorrow, tho', probably, I shall not arrive till eleven o'ck: at night. 1 Nevertheless, it will give me another day in town. / Stanley goes on Friday — none of the politicals have therefore yet moved. The Southhamptons went this morning & Lord Salisbury - & the D of Rutland. Ld. Cardigan has arrived, but I have not yet seen him. Yesterday / we had four knights of the Garter2 at dinner. The D of Richmond is very cordial & hearty. Stanley shoots too much - but draws well with me, & the result is altogether satisfactory. I was very much obliged by / your letter, your two parcels, & all yr. recollections of me. I am pretty well - but, tho' I have greatly practised abstinence, a little bilious, & anxious to return to our tete a tete dinners. Your affec: husband | D. TO: LORD STANLEY

Carlton Club, Saturday 26 January 1850

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [13] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Stanley on the fourth page of the MS: 'Disraeli B. Ansd. Encl retd'. Dating: the month and year in the text are difficult to read, but are confirmed by context; see nni-3- Sic: Claude. 2 Lord John Manners would reply on 25 January from Belvoir, saying he still had entanglements (the petition) from his contest in London but hoped to hear on Monday that he was free. He then told of urging D'S proposals at a meeting at Waltham. On 30 January he would write that he would be in London the next day; he enclosed a long letter on West Indian matters that had been sent to him from Liverpool, which included a prediction that wheat prices would sink to 325 a quarter. On Tuesday 5 February he would report on the progress of his canvass at Colchester: 'It's a strange thing that up to this moment I have not heard a word said either about Jews, or Anstey!' On the morning of Friday 8 February just after the opening of the poll he sent D a paper reporting the nomination proceedings of the day before and told of the initial results showing him slightly ahead; he apologized for having asked Tyrell and Beresford to introduce him in the House on Monday: 'I should of course wish you to do so, but I suppose it's right that B. having introduced me here should father me there.' H B/xx/M/47-50. 1 D would stay over until the 25th; see 1967, part of which is written at Burghley on that day. Since MA recorded D'S travelling expenses on 26 January (see I953n2), perhaps he did not return until then. 2 The Duke of Rutland received his KG in 1803, Lord Exeter his in 1827, the Duke of Richmond his in 1829 and Lord Salisbury his in 1842.

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My dear Lord, Carlton | Saty. 26 Jan 50 Read the enclosed. As the representative of the largest Scottish County, he might do to move the amendment 1 — & if seconded by / Claude Hamilton 2 it wd. have the best effect, as showing new elements & a temperate tone. I conclude Beresford is at Hatfield, / as I can't find him. I am very sorry you are both away from town, as these projected movers & seconders want prepar[ati]on, / & I fear Monday, when I see you, or hear from you the results of yr. previous movements, may be too late for them. 3 Yrs ffly ever | D. 1966 TO: WILLIAM LOWNDES STONE

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 28 January 1850

ORIGINAL: PS 522

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Maggs Catalogue No 314 (Sept/Oct 1913) item 2679 'A.L.S., "D" to W. Lowndes Stone. 2 pp., 8vo. Grosvenor Gate, Jan. 28th, 1858'; [unidentified catalogue] item 445[2258] 1923 'ALS "D" to W. Lowndes, Esq. 2pp. 8vo Grosvenor Gate, 28th January 1858,' followed by the extract given below, ending with 'Etc.' EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is from a transcription (unchecked by the editors) of the unidentified catalogue. Dating: by Lowndes Stone's replies; see ni. Sic: Arny.

1 HJ. Baillie (MP for Inverness-shire) had written to D from The Pre, St Albans, on 22 January (in H the letter is adjacent to Stanley's reply; see n3): 'I see that there is to be an amendment to the address, and I need hardly remind you how desirable it would be to open the Door as widely as possible to such men as Pusey and others who seem inclined to come round. To express regret at the distress which has been caused in the agricultural districts by the change in our Commercial Policy, and also to express a hope that Parliament will be able to apply a remedy, leaving it in doubt whether the relief is to be obtained by a remission of taxation or by protecting duties, would I should think be the most judicious course to adopt, anything stronger than that would probably scare away many, myself amongst the number.' Baillie had also written to Don lojanuary in response to D'S 'questions about local taxation in Scotland', providing a comparison of the English and Scottish systems and proposing a scheme whereby half the poor rates would be paid by a tax of 2 per cent or less on all incomes over £50. D'S letter to Baillie has not been found. H B/xx/s/ioa, XXI/B/20. The Protectionist amendment to the Address would, however, be moved by Sir John Trollope, on 31 January; it would call attention to the 'severe distress' of the agricultural classes in England and especially Ireland, and allege that it was ' "mainly attributable, in our opinion, to recent legislative enactments, the operation of which is aggravated by the heavy pressure of local taxation."' Hansard CXVIII cols 113-25. See further I967&n5. In the event Baillie would vote with the minority for the amendment, but not speak in the debate. 2 The amendment would in fact be seconded by Col Sir J.C. Chatterton, MP for Cork, who in a short speech contended that the severe distress in Ireland could only be relieved by Protectionism. On 4 February, in another debate, Lord Claud Hamilton (MP for Tyrone) would tell the House that he had voted in the minority for the amendment on Friday (i February), that he had arrived from Ireland on Thursday too late to speak in the debate that night, and on Friday the House had been too impatient to hear him; he had supported the amendment because it expressed concern for Ireland, but he dissociated himself from its Protectionism. Hansard CXVIII cols 125-6, 331-2. 3 Stanley would reply from Hatfield the next day, and return Baillie's letter: 'The amendment he suggests is not very different from that which we discussed. He would do very well to move any which he could be brought to support and which might ultimately be decided upon; but though Ld. Claud Hamilton would do well in some respects for a seconder, I do not think he would undertake it; and if he would, I have some doubts whether our old friends might be quite well pleased to find both mover and seconder men, one of whom has been very shaky in his allegiance, and the other only a convert of yesterday.' He arranged to meet D in town the next day, where he thought D would by then have also seen Beresford, who had left Hatfield for town in the evening of the 26th. H B/XX/S/IO.

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Would you have the kindness to inform me, where I can find, or communicate with, Major Arny, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at your house some years ago.1 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Burghley, Stamford, [and] London [Monday] 4 February 1850

ORIGINAL: BEA [1*1-29]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 240, dated 24 January 1850, extracts; M&B in 24001, dated 24 January 1850, the second sentence of the second paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: D wrote parts of this letter on three different days, 24, 25 January and 4 February 1850; we have chosen the date on which he finished it. Sic: Burleigh [three times]; agreable.

My dear Sa, Burleigh House | Jan 24 1850 The exterior of Burleigh is faultless & unparalleled: it is impossible to conceive anything at the same time so vast & so fantastic & in such fine condition - that it seems the masonry / of yesterday - so white fair, with brazen gates, wreathed towers, & chimneys of Ionic columns. In the midst of a vast park - with ancient timber in profusion - gigantic oaks of the days of the Ld. Treasurer & / an extensive Lake.1 Here are the Dukes of Richmond, Rutland, Ld Salisbury, Ld & Lady Sandwich, Ld & Ly Southampton, Stanley, Granby, Ld. Henry Bentinck, Herries, Trollope, Christopher, Stafford &c &c &c. Four knights / of the garter at dinner - we might hold a chapter. The plate marvellous. The history of England in the golden presents from every sovereign from Eliz[abe]th & James the first to Victoria & Albert - shields, vases, tankards &c &c. Our host shy, but very courteous. Lady / Exeter, tall, still handsome, engaging & very pious. Sir Robt. Inglis here. Great battues, every day: 500 head slaughtered as a matter of course. The interior of Burleigh not equal to Belvoir. The state rooms, lofty & painted by sprawling Verrio2 / open one in to each other by small side doors like in a French Palace or Hampton Court, & so a want of consecutive effect. There is however a hall as large as a College hall & otherwise very striking. 1 Charles Augustus Arney (d 1879), a major (1843) in the 58th (Rutlandshire) Foot (ensign 1825, Itcol half-pay 1851, colonel 1854), had commanded three companies of the 58th in New Zealand in 1846. Army List. On 8 February Lowndes Stone would send D a dictated note (docketed by MA: '1850 - Feb 5th ...') giving Major Arney's address as 8 Hanover Square. On 10 February 1850 he would write on another matter, and apologize for not having written the note about Major Arney himself. H B/xxi/S/588-9- LPOD (1850) lists 8 Hanover Square as the address of a family of milliners. Maybe 3 Hanover Square, the address of the Hanover Hotel, was intended; 8 Hanover Terrace is the address of John Moxon. 1 Burghley House had been built (completed in 1589) by William Cecil (1520-1598), created Baron Burghley in 1571, appointed lord high treasurer in 1572. As chief minister to Elizabeth I for 40 years, he claimed to have entertained her at Burghley 12 times, each visit occasioning enormous expense. For two excellent photographs of Burghley see Conyers Read Mr Secretary Cecil and Queen Elizabeth (1955). 2 Most of the ceilings and walls of the state apartments at Burghley were painted by Antonio Verrio (£1640-1707), an Italian decorative painter brought to England by Charles n; Verrio decorated Windsor Castle and Hampton Court.

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But the family live in a / suite of rooms fit only for a Squire of degree — & yet the most comfortable in the world — a couple of saloons & a moderate sized dining room, all however elaborately carved & gilt. Lady Sandwich & also / Ly. South[ampto]n agreable3 espe[ciall]y the former. 25th - This day a change of visitors &c have arrived, Ld. Cardigan, Ld. & Lady C. Wellesley,4 Ld. Campden &c. 4 Feby. I finished this letter, long lying in my writing case this morning. Our division on Friday was at least 30 less than it ought to have been. I was not too well satisfied with my speech - however it may be considered the end of Geo Frederick Youngism & all that nonsense.5

D 1968 1968

TO: THOMAS LOFTUS

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 7 February 1850

ORIGINAL: QUA 229

Thos: Loftus Esqr Grosvenor Gate | Feby. 7. 1850 My dear Sir, Will Saturday suit you at one o'ck? or tomorrow (Friday) at twelve. 1 Yours very faithfully | D. 1969 1969

TO: JOHN BLACKWOOD GGrosvenor Gate [Friday] 8 February 1850 ORIGINAL: NLS 4896 £185 EDITORIAL COMMENT: A third-person note in MA'S hand. Endorsed in another hand: '[1850]'. Grosvenor Gate | Febry 8th. Mr. Disraeli will be happy to see Mr. Blackwood any Sunday he might be passing Grosvenor Gate, after one o'Clock.1 3 The feeling was apparently mutual: on 19 February Lady Southampton would invite D (apparently tout seul) to come for a visit to Whittlebury Castle; the letter is endorsed by MA: 'declined'. H A/IV/ L/I144 Lord Charles Wellesley (1808-1858), second son of the Duke of Wellington, It-col in the army 1837, colonel 1851, adc to the general commanding in chief 1852, Liberal-Conservative MPfor Hampshire South 1842-52, for Windsor 1852-5, in 1844 had married Augusta Sophia Anne Pierrepont (18201893), granddaughter of ist Earl Manvers and niece of Lord Exeter. 5 On Friday i February Sir John Trollope's Protectionist amendment to the Address had been defeated 311-192 after two nights of debate. In his speech in support of the amendment, on Friday, D had attacked the Address for not adequately acknowledging agricultural distress, and then queried: 'if land be only a raw material, why do you tax it? Why do you not extend to this raw material the same economical principles which you extend to all other raw materials?' Hansard cvm cols 82-161 (comment by D at 161), 167-257 (D'S speech 218-33). See further Conacher Peelites 57. 1 Loftus had written on 31 January asking D to name a time when he could call for instructions on 'your & Mrs. D's Answer.' MA has endorsed the letter: 'About Mrs. John Williamses Affairs'. H D/ 11/6/115-17. On the other side of D'S letter is a series of calculations (in D's hand?) beginning with a sum of 31898 at 3 per cent, resulting in an addition of 956.19.11, 341.12.8 and 33.12.8, yielding 1332.4.7 from which 38.16.4 is subtracted to produce a total of 1293.8.3. See I734&m. 1 John Blackwood would write to D from Edinburgh on 26 March 1850 with good wishes about D's health: 'I was forced to return to the North much sooner than I expected otherwise I should have availed myself of the privilege you kindly gave me of seeking an interview with you at your residence.' He enclosed an early copy of the April issue of Blackwood's, which he thought D would enjoy particularly for the poetry. In a postscript he added: 'All signs of the Times seem to me to portend that our great Cause must & shall carry the day even sooner than the most sanguine among us

3OO

TO: JOHN C. HERRIES

Carlton Club, Saturday [9? February 1850] 197^

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 57409 lyj EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see ni.

My dear Herries, Carlton | Saturday Pray remember Adderley's resolution 1 & send me a line by tomorrow's evening if you can. I have tried my hand, but / lack your fine skill, & cannot hit the mark. Ever yours | D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London, Sunday] 10 February 1850

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 (46

My dear Sa, Feb. 10. 1850 She never mentioned to me, that Ralph had called. I knew she was very angry with him, because he did not answer her note inviting him to Hughenden but I was in hopes, that this had been forgotten, or rather absorbed, in the greater domestic ebullition.1 I am fagged to death, but in goodish spirits about my motion on the 19th., wh: I think may tell.2 expected.' H B/xxi/B/5i5. D'S offer of a meeting may have been in response to a note from Lord John Manners dated only 'Wednesday ev.', saying that his friend John Blackwood was returning to Edinburgh on Friday, and would appreciate an interview with D before leaving. H B/xx/M/287. 1 See I939&m. There is a note from Herries dated only 'Sunday' which may be the response to this letter: 'I send you a sketch of resolutions being an expansion of the memorandum drawn up yesterday at Stanley's.' H B/xxi/H/554. On Thursday 14 February C.B. Adderley would move for leave to bring in a bill to repeal the part of the transportation act allowing the colonial secretary to select the sites of new penal colonies. The motion would be defeated 110-32. Hansard cvm cols 777-809. In a note to D dated only 'St James's Sq Tuesday', Lord Stanley wrote: 'I shall be happy to see you and Herries at the hour you name on Thursday ... I have not the terms of Adderley's proposed motion before me; but the question of still farther limiting the power of the Crown as to Transportation ... is one which ought to be approached with extreme caution ...' The letter has been docketed by MA: '1850 Feby Ld Stanley'. H B/xx/s/n. In the letter Stanley says that on Thursday he also has 'to attend Prince Albert & his Commission at 3 o'clock.' On Thursday 14 February, Prince Albert held a meeting of the Exhibition Commission at 3 o'clock, with Lord Stanley in attendance. MP (15 Feb 1850). Thus Stanley's note was written on 12 February. 1 C/i9i2&n8. The letter to which D is here apparently responding has not been found. Sarah herself did not make Ralph's mistake. On 27 January she had declined MA'S written invitation because she was too unwell to travel, having been 'a great invalid' for a year and was now on a strict regimen of 'extreme care & repose' of which the healthy site of her Hastings house on top of 'a beautiful down' was part: 'I tied myself to it for a year, & so must remain content for several months yet.' H D/III/A/224. Presumably Sarah's health was a reason for her leaving Bradenham and confining her visits during this period to watering places such as Malvern, Brighton and Hastings. 2 On 19 February D would move that the House go into committee to consider his proposal for a revision of local taxation. In his speech he accepted that it was the will of both Houses not to disturb the present commercial policy, and therefore asked the House merely to consider ways of adapting agriculture to the country's altered circumstances. He proposed that the several poor rates be moved from real property to the general fund, the sum involved being in his estimation £2.2 million. In conclusion he appealed to Lord John Russell to honour his pledge at the beginning of the session to give favourable attention to any practical and moderate plan that would afford some relief of the agricultural distress. In the two nights of debate D would get unexpected support from Gladstone (see Gladstone Diaries iv 188-9), Sidney Herbert and some other Peelites, who argued

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We were last night at Lady P's3 - a brilliant assembly - but I was not myself in much cue for this sort of thing. Indeed, if I cd., I wd. altogr. avoid the wear & tear of society. Yr affec | D 1972

T0:

PHILIP ROSE Carlton Club, Wednesday [13 February 1850] ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/68 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: '13 Feb. 1850'; on the second page: '13. February 1850 Mr. Disraeli'.

My dear Rose, Ash Wedy | C. Club I have been wishing to see you every day - but have been so pressed with business that I have not had a moment for private affairs. 1 Perhaps you will let matters rest till after the debate of the igth - when I will call on you. Yrs. ffly ever | D.

1973 1973

T0: LADY

LONDONDERRY Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 16 February 1850 ORIGINAL: DUR o/LO/c/53o [13] EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is a copy of this letter in MA'S hand in H 0/111/0/2678; she has endorsed it: 'For a beautiful Silver Guilt Ink Stand.'

Dear Lady Londonderry, Grosvenor Gate | Feb. 16. 1850. The value of the magnificent offering, wh: greeted me, last night, on my return from the House of Commons, is greatly enhanced / by remembering to whom I am indebted for its costly grace. That is a recollection so flattering, that I cannot presume to express how deeply I am gratified, & honored, by / your kindness. My glance will often be fixed on the inscription, wh: it bears. It may be the pride of my life, some day, to merit the first title, wh: you have been pleased to give / me: it will always be its greatest & most enduring pleasure to deserve to be the last. 1 Your faithful Servant | B Disraeli that D'S proposal should be considered on its merits, and not on the basis of arguments for and against protectionism. The close division of 273-252 by which the motion was defeated was the result of more than half of the Peelites voting in its favour. Hansard cvm cols 1026-1112 (D'S speech 1026-45), 1179-1275 (D'S reply 1264-72). See M&B III 243-5. See further I975&n2 below and Conacher Peelites 57-8. For Greville's opinion of the debate and praise of D see Greville VI 207. 3 The DS are listed among the numerous guests entertained by Lady Palmerston on Saturday 9 February. MP (11 Feb 1850). 1 See 1974 below. 1 Lady Londonderry had written to D on 'Friday': 'Yr Pen has so often contributed to my Library & afforded me so much pleasure you cannot wonder I should wish to fill it. Will you use this Inkstand, & sometimes devote its contents to me.' H B/xx/v/i63- The ormolu inkstand, which measures 1 4 x 8 inches and has a hinged top depicting Neptune drawn by four sea horses, is engraved: 'AN OFFERING FOR A STATESMAN, AUTHOR & FRIEND. FROM' followed by Lady Londonderry's ornate monogram. On 21 February in a letter to MA Sarah would remark: 'What a splendid offering is Lady Londonderry's^] he has not forfeited his right to it - not at least if wisdom & practical measures are any proofs of a Statesman!' H D/m/A/225. In MA'S accounts there is an entry, apparently with faulty arithmetic (but with 'gilt' spelt correctly - cf ec), dated 20 August 1850: 'Garrard offers for gilt Inkstand £147.11 at 5/9 per oz. 165 oz.' The inkstand can be seen on the table in D'S study at Hughenden to this day. See illustration p 115.

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TO: PHILIP ROSE House of Commons [Sunday] 24 February 1850 1974 ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/69 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: '24 Feb 1850'; on the fourth page: 'Feb. 24 - 1850 Mr. Disraeli'. Sic: checque. private H of C. | Feb. 24.750 My dear Rose, The wonderful occurrences of the last few days 1 have prevented me from calling on you, as I had intended, or, indeed, / attending to any private business. I send you, in order that you may be no more inconvenienced, with many thanks for what you are always so / ready to do, a checque on Drummonds for £1000.2 Ever Yrs I D.

TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS Grosvenor Gate, Tuesday [26 February 1850] ORIGINAL: BEA [Ri-62] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by Lord John Manners's letter; see nni-4. MydearJ.M. G.G. | Tuesday I am ordered to keep quiet for to day, & tomorrow if possible.1 I have seen the five journals. Our enemies don't appear to be aware of the position, & tomorrow, I hope, it will be / stale. The "Times" alone smells something of the rashness of our move, but their comments are so mixed up with Thursday, wh: certainly was not rash, that I trust they will not / do much harm. 2 You

1 See I97in2 above. 2 Presumably this relates to the enigmatic financial arrangements for the Hughenden purchase; see 170201. 1 In his reply on this day at 5 o'clock, Lord John Manners would apologize for not having come up to see D, explaining it was because of a railway bill at 4 o'clock: 'I hope you are not suffering from your arm, but only using a wise precaution in keeping the house.' Sarah in her letter of 21 February to MA had written: 'I hope the pain to [D'S] shoulder is gone - I should not be surprised at his having it, if he lived here [at Hastings, because of the wind].' H D/lli/A/225. This is the earliest indication of D'S serious illness, which continued until the end of March. On 24 February T.W. Booker had sent MA two day's supply of 'Cattechui' (a medicinal lozenge), which he hoped would 'give our Protectionist Champion relief.' H 0/111/0/56. D had attended the House on 25 February but his presence there is not again recorded until 9 April. Hansard cvni-CX. On i March Beresford (on the urging of Stanley and others) would recommend to MA that she call in Dr R. Bright of Savile Row; on 2 March the advice would be repeated by Lady Kerrison and R.A. Christopher, and on 3 March by Beresford again (this time with the backing of the Speaker). H 0/111/0/87,89,1672; D/lll/D/ii8. MA'S accounts record calls by Bright on 3, 4 and 5 March, followed by a crisis of some kind on 6 March, when Bright made no fewer than 6 calls; he called again on 8 and 9 March. By 13 March, however, D had still not recovered, and Dr Fergusson was called in, to the relief of friends and family. H o/lll/A/23i; 0/111/0/2156, 2235-6. (See I976&m and CHRONOLOGY). By 16 March he was well enough for Smythe to arrange to see him to report on the House of Lords (H 0/111/0/2529); by 19 March, Augustus Stafford had been invited to visit and sent assurances o would be very welcome back in the House (H 0/111/0/553); and by 20 March Mrs Maberly sent congratulations on his recovery and a dinner invitation for the 2ist. H 0/111/0/1329. In spite of Manners's and Sarah's references to his shoulder, D seems to have had influenza. H D/ni/A/227; 0/111/0/1329, 1672, 1674; D/iii/D/ii8. Perhaps as the result of her nursing of D, MA too had become a victim of influenza by the end of the month. H o/m/A/228; 0/111/0/2235, 1993. 2 On Thursday 21 February the House had completed the debate, adjourned on 19 February, on

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had better consult Herries about the enclosed; & from me as well as yourself.3 I am of opinion, that we shd. be as liberal as possible about the Irish franchise, apparently opposing when necessary, / not on the ground of the liberal tendency of any clause, but of its being constructed with a view to party objects. Can you make out these confused expressions of a muddled pate? I shd. feel very much obliged to you if you will send me a report in the course of the day, or night, or two if you like, / how things look & move.4 Ever yrs | D

1976

TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 21 March 1850

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/530 [15]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 78-80, dated 21 March 1850; M&B in 246, dated at Grosvenor Gate 21 March 1850, extracts

Dear Lady, Grosvenor Gate | Mar: 21. 1850 I send you my first letter. I have not yet left my room. My illness turned out more serious than I imagined, & if we had not called in Dr Fergusson about ten days ago, I might have been in a / scrape.1 However, I have now quite D'S local taxation proposal, with the dramatic division in which D'S motion had been supported by 252 members; see I97i&n2 above. On Monday 25 February D had urged that the order for the day, for the House to go into committee on the Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill, be postponed until the end of the Irish assizes to allow all Irish members to be present for the debate. The bill, which extended the franchise in Ireland to those paying at least £8 in poor rates, or having at least a £5a-year share in a free-hold, had been introduced without debate on 11 February, and been given second reading with little debate on 22 February, the government claiming that debate was not needed as the bill had been before the House for two years. Lord John Russell and D had an exchange over what Russell saw as obstruction of parliamentary business; D called the measure one of immense importance, which he would not allow to be rushed through the House. The strategy which the party then used was to make frequent amendments requiring divisions, so that Russell eventually adjourned the matter till Friday. On Tuesday The Times facetiously saw this as marking the return of 'a regular Parliamentary Opposition; it musters two hundred and fifty men; it has sworn allegiance to Disraeli, and it really shows a very respectable degree of loyalty to its eloquent chief. ... Who can doubt for a moment that nothing was wanted but the opportunity of obstruction, and that the present bill was selected for the purpose principally because it promised to unite the elements of English and Irish discontent?' It warned of the risk that D was running of plunging the country into 'irreconcilable illblood'. The Times (22, 26 Feb 1850). The Protectionists would continue their strategy, so that the amended bill did not pass in the Commons until 10 May. Manners had written on Tuesday morning: 'We don't cut up badly in the Morning Chronicle, the only paper I have seen; so I hope no mischief has been done: now for the future. Both Beresford & Mackenzie spoke last night very wisely as to the course we ought to pursue: viz - of adopting the lowest franchise compatible with a decent constituency; indeed a figure as low as £12 was mentioned. I ... only know this, that after all our speeches last night we ought to take as liberal a line as we possibly can.' H B/xx/M/52. See further igggScnmScq. and 2000. 3 In his letter (n2) Manners had said: 'I have a hundred schemes in my pate, but won't bore you with them, save to ask you to read the enclosed & return it to me.' D'S enclosure is presumably the one Manners sent to him; it has not been found. 4 Manners replied from the House at 5 o'clock, reporting that Gladstone approved of their actions the previous night, as did their 'Irish friends', who were to meet at the Carlton on Thursday to plan a course of action on the franchise bill: 'If we act discreetly on Friday, no harm will have been done, but the reverse.' H B/xx/M/51. 1 See 1975m. William Fergusson (1808-1877), lst Baronet 1866, FRCS 1844 (president 1870), surgeon in ordinary to Prince Albert 1849, sergeant-surgeon to Queen Victoria 1867, LLD (Edinburgh) 1875, FRS, was reputedly a 'brilliant operator and a great "conservative" surgeon.' DNB.

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recovered, or am rather fast recovering, & only mention all this to account for the stupidity of this letter, for I have not been out - even for a drive. I am anxious to know / how you are,2 & what chance there is of my seeing you before you go to Paris. If the wind changes to the West, we shall go to Bucks immediately, & propose to return about the 8th. To day is the City Banquet / to Prince Albert - in honor of the Exposition - they did me the honor of sending me an invitation wh: I have, of course, been obliged to decline.3 The great subscription hangs fire, they say. The men despond, but the ladies are more sanguine, & successful.4 I have / seen my friends the last two or three days. Lord Stanley was here on Monday, & talked over everything. Tell Ld. L., under the rose, that the fusion between Ld. Aberdeen, Gladstone & Co with Stanley & Co., ripens rapidly, & assumes, in every phasis, / an encouraging aspect — but our mysterious friend, Graham, continues to baffle all conjecture. PRIVATE I am told, that Peel sd. to Aberdeen, that even he cd. not make out what Graham was after. Some say, that if the Whigs can get their Irish / reform bill well thro' this year, they mean to try their hand next season, at an English measure, that Graham has an understanding with them on this subject, & is to lead the new revolution. A pleasant / prospect! The government are very shaky, & if we cd. only agree among ourselves, cd. be extinguished in 8 & 40 hours. But enough of this dullness, for wh: I apologise on my knees, or wd., if I had strength enough. My kind regards to my Lord. Ever Your devoted sert. | D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 25 March 1850

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 ff47-8

My dear Sa, G. Gate. | Mar. 25. 1850 I don't like to leave town witht. writing you a line, tho' I am almost incapable of doing so. The severe weather, wh: prevents my going out into the air, retards my convalescence. A / month in a room is alone sufficient to make one seriously ill. Fergusson thinks it so important that a change shd. take place, that we are going to Hughenden tomorrow, / unless, as is very likely, it snows. 2 Lady Londonderry's last letter, undated, from Holdernesse House, had been full of gloom, mostly about her sons; her heart was heavy, her mind affected, and she was deeply troubled. H B/xx/v/ 272. 3 On Thursday 21 March Prince Albert had been the guest of honour at a grand banquet at the Mansion House given by the Lord Mayor to the friends and promoters of the Great Exhibition. In a separate item The Times announced that D was not sufficiently recovered to attend, but that it was hoped he would be able to resume his place in the House after Easter. 4 The early sale of subscriptions in support of the Great Exhibition, which it was intended should be funded entirely by voluntary contributions, had been slow. On 25 February 1850 there had been an item in The Times about a meeting organized by the Duchess of Sutherland to form a committee of ladies to 'co-operate' with Prince Albert; see further ig7gr\2. On 16 March The Times reported that subscriptions had been withheld because of an 'impression' that four secretaries working for the commissioners were getting £800 a year each. Other organizational details, such as the security of original ideas, were also seen as in need of clarification.

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A westerly wind may do wonders, but, witht. it, I fear it will be a long time before I get my strength & usual / spirit - having, no doubt, been very seriously ill. I shall be glad to hear from you, & that you are prospering.1 I have seen Ralph very often. Yrs affly | D.

1978

1978 TO: BARONESS LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD

GGrosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 26 March 1850

ORIGINAL: ROTH RAL RFAM C/2/2

Dear Madame Lionel, Grosvenor Gate | Mar 26. 1850 I had hoped to have paid at least one visit before I left town - to yourself — & to have, personally, thanked you / for all yr kindness to me, for wh: I am very grateful - but the inclement weather has baffled my projects of the last two days. I return you the volume / of Macaulay wh: you were so good as to lend me. He is too dazzling. In so great a composition, one requires more repose. I think his second vol: more hastily written than the / first; & tho' it is impossible to deny, or to resist, the picturesque animation of his style, as he recounts the great incidents, I don't think it classical to call names, as he treats James the

2nd.1 May we soon meet & all of us well & happy! Ever Yrs | D. 1979

T0: LADY

LONDONDERRY

Hughenden [Wednesday] 27 March 1850

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/530 [ll]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 80-2, dated 27 March 1850; M&B in 246, the first paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Hughenden Manor | Mar: 27. 1850. Being told, that the morning was more genial, I slipped my anchor on Tuesday, like a ship escaping from one of Palmerston's blockades,1 & about 20 miles 1 The DS did go to Hughenden on 26 March, and would return on 6 April. During D'S illness MA and Sarah had been corresponding, even though MA herself at one point was ill and Sarah continued unwell and unable to go out. MA had invited Sarah to visit them at Hughenden, but Sarah again declined because of her health. On 27 March Sarah would reply to D'S letter: 'Yesterday about the time I thought of you as setting forth, the wind went completely round to the west & the sun shone, & we had quite a pleasant afternoon here. I hope it was the same with you.' H ace, D/m/A/230, A/i/B/653- On tnis day, 25 March, MP had an item on the 'Severity of the Weather - Yesterday ... the thermometer stood at 25 deg. Fahrenheit ... During the day there were repeated falls of snow, with a keen north-east wind ...' 1 See I94i&n5. Perhaps the quality of Macaulay's treatment of James n to which D objects can be detected in a characteristic sentence: 'If then it should appear that, in turning Papist, he had also turned dissembler and promisebreaker, what conclusion was likely to be drawn by a nation already disposed to believe that Popery had a pernicious influence on the moral character?' Lord Macaulay The History of England... C.H. Firth ed, II (1914) 672. 1 In mid-January 1850 Lord Palmerston had sent the British Mediterranean fleet to blockade the Piraeus to settle a number of outstanding claims that British citizens had against the Greek government, the most significant of which had been made by Don Pacifico, whose house had been pillaged by a Greek mob in 1847. On 18 April 1850 Palmerston would negotiate an unsigned

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from town, encountered a snow storm. When I arrived, the landscape was Siberian - & almost the climate / - nevertheless I bore my journey well, & am better daily. I am anxious to hear about my Lord, as I do not like him to have such frequent Influenzas. 2 The dullness of Bath has not touched your pen. I laughed very heartily at your description of that good city & its inhabitants, wh: / was very comic, & ought, I think, to be included in the next edition of Anstey's Bath Guide.3 A greatish Whig told me a day or two before I left, under the rose, that after the Queen Dowager's death, the pulse of the party was felt as to increasing Prince Albert's allowance. Lord John also broke it to Lord Ashley, / who was as indignant, as if they had proposed to repeal the ten hours' bill, & said, that no Government cd. last 4 & 20 hours, that meditated such a thing!4 This is not a letter, but a notelette to remind you of my existence, & to pray a line respecting yr. movements & the state of yr. Invalid. Your attached Servant | D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Hughenden [Sunday] 31 March 1850 1980

ORIGINAL: PS 393 PUBLICATION HISTORY: R. Atkinson Catalogue No 27 (1917) item 1621 'Fine and Important Political A.L.s. (signed "D.") to his Sister, 4 pp., Hughenden, March 31, 1850': 'Refers to his illness and (inter alia) to the present critical state of affairs' {the extract given below ending with] '&c.'; LBCS 240-1, dated 31 March 1850; M&B in 246, dated 31 March 1850, omitting the first two and the last two sentences of the version given here

convention with the French ambassador, but fail to honour it, with the result that the ambassador was recalled. Ridley Palmerston 380. The news of the blockade had first reached London on 31 January. The Times (4 Feb 1850); Hansard CVHI 258-70. In mid-March there were reports that, because of the partial lifting of the blockade on i March, some fishing vessels had been allowed to leave port. The Times (16-27 Mar 1850). See further 20O3&nni&2. For a detailed account see Dolphus Whitten, Jr 'The Don Pacifico Affair' The Historian XLVIII, I (1985) 255-67. 2 Lady Londonderry had written to D from Bath on 24 March: Lord Londonderry was laid up with influenza, making the Bath 'Sejour' unpleasant. The Bath waters disagreed with her, and she was minding the cold weather. They were planning to come to town Monday and leave for Paris on Thursday, depending on everyone's health and the weather. She then talked of being 'rather troubled abt this 51 Exhibition - that is abt the Subs[criptio]ns ... I was one of the Ladies that met at Stafford House for the purpose of consulting what we were to do & except Ly. Ailesbury we all declined carrying abt a begging box - altho we professed ourselves ready to keep books & enter homes. It is very difficult for any Lady to turn into a Taxgatherer & go & worry everybody to collect money from door to door. I don't think it is popular only people are obliged to grin & bear it.' H B/xx/v/164. 3 Christopher Anstey (1724-1805) in 1766 had published his New Bath Guide (illustrated by Cruikshank in 1830), a series of letters in verse satirically recounting the adventures of the Blunderhead family of Bath. About the company at Bath Lady Londonderry had written: 'There are nothing but old Cats in the place Toms & Tabbies & I think they increase annually - 70 & 80 is reckoned the prime of life & most of them live beyond 90 ... [I have come] to hate the look of the place & its inhabitants.' 4 Prince Albert on 30 December 1849 had written a lengthy memorandum to Lord John Russell pointing out his inability to be an effective patron of the arts and sciences on his net annual income of £29,000; Russell had been firm in his view that any proposal for increased grants would be ill advised in view of the events of 1848. Robert Rhodes James Albert, Prince Consort: A Biography (1983) 193. For the Ten Hours Act see ±948n6 and 2011112.

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[LBCS:] I arrived here late on Tuesday, a trying journey, but on the whole I bore it much better than I could have expected. It was a morning of some promise; but a snow-storm at Gerrard's Cross, where we stopped two hours, and a Siberian scene when we arrived. The weather has been very ungenial ever since, and constant east winds, which I cannot face; my progress has therefore been rather slow. [Atkinson:] Never was the political position more complicated, difficult and urgent. I hope but dare not determine to be in my place on the 8th.1 If I cannot lead the party after the holidays, I had better retire altogether. There will be a fierce and eventful session. [LBCS:] The Whigs could be turned out in a week if we were ready. I don't think my absence as yet has been productive of any serious harm, the great before Easter result having been obtained. The Londonderrys have gone to Paris. French affairs are very critical. There are no elements of government in the country. 2 D. 198l TO: LORD GRANBY

Hughenden [Monday] i April 1850

ORIGINAL: BEA [1*2-5] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Whibley II 5, dated i April 1850, part of the second sentence of the eighth paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: manouvre; outmanouvre.

private Hughenden - Apl. i. 1850 My dear Granby, Since we conferred together, a new, & very important, feature, in the impending campaign, has developed itself - the notice by Lord John of a Committee to enquire / into salaries &c., evidently intended as a fine manouvre to shelve the question of reduction in every & any shape, & yet retain for the Whigs the reputation of being Economists.1

1 On 26 March the House had adjourned for Easter (31 March) until 8 April, on which day D would be back in his place. 2 In early March there had been elections in Paris to fill the vacancies left by the exclusion of 30 radical deputies in June 1849; 21 radicals had been returned, adding to the alarm about the possibility of another revolution. On 29 March The Times had commented very gloomily on what it saw to be the precarious state of affairs in France, characterized by repressive measures to control the press and limit political assemblages, with the balance of power effectively held by a small moderate middle party. Because constitutional amendments could only be enacted by a complex procedure requiring a 3/4 majority in the Assembly, productive reform was impossible. There had even been a suggestion, not seconded, that the impasse be broken by a straight vote to decide between monarchy and republicanism. 1 On 26 March Beresford on D's behalf had got on the order paper for 23 April D'S motion 'to call attention to the diplomatic and consular services, with a view to the more economical and efficient discharge of their duties.' MP (27 March 1850). Beresford had written on 26 March about the problems he had had: T put your motion down for Tuesday 23rd ... Lord J[ohn] Russell has given notice of a motion for a Committee on Salaries some Friday ... I reckon the Friday week after we meet. This is a regular ministerial dodge & intended to turn Henleys flank & other such motions.' H B/xx/Bd/24- On 12 April Russell would move for a committee to inquire into the salaries of all public officials under the crown. Hansard ex cols 219-32 (Russell's speech only). On 'Sunday' 31

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By this move, they count / on getting rid at once of all motions like Henley's &:C.2

After mature reflection, I am of opinion, that it is in our power to outmanouvre this crafty commander, & that we may turn his flank. I think / we ought to oppose the appointment of the Committee with all our strength; & I think we might do it on very popular grounds, wh: wo[ul]d bring to our lobby no inconsiderable section of the Radicals. If the Government, as I think very possible, are beat, they / are done: if we do not succeed, provided the attack be plausible, temperate, & adroit, the result will be that, for the country, we shall be the real party of genuine & practical economy. The broad grounds of opposition wd. be, that all the information on these subjects necessary for / legislation is in our possession, & that a Comm[itt]ee wd. only delay measures, wh:, if necessary, ought to be at once introduced on the responsibility of Governmt. Let me have the advantage of yr. opinion & counsel on this matter. I propose contemplate, if we agree to it, to propose the amendment myself.3 / Did you see Stanley when you were in town? I have not written respecting this secret of state to John, as I wd. leave to you the option of communicating it to him, & the grace of doing so, if you thought proper. I will only say, that as far as we three are concerned, I never wish, that there sho[ul]d / be any secrets but that the confidence shd. be complete.4 I was glad to hear from him to day, that you were as well as I cd. wish:5 notwithstanding the East winds, I advance daily, & quite count on being in my place on the 8th. Always yours | D.

March Smythe had written to D about his notice of motion to discuss the 'more economical and efficient' working of the diplomatic and consular services. He asked if D intended to press (as he had done in his 1842 Consular speech) for incorporation of the two services, and implied that he himself was considering a speech on the subject. BEA [2150,]. 2 J.W. Henley, on 30 April would move for an address to the Queen for a reduction of all public salaries and wages; it would be defeated 269-173. Hansard CX cols 981-1056. 3 On 12 April D in an amendment to Russell's motion (ni) would make exactly the case he outlines here, in his speech including the point that Henley's motion and others would be stifled by the formation of a committee. Hansard CX cols 231-46. The amendment would be defeated that same night 250-159 (cols 279-82). See further iggiScm. 4 In his reply to this letter on 5 April Lord Granby would ask D to clarify whether he meant to propose an immediate reduction in all salaries or merely indicate that this would be the policy of a future Protectionist government. He then worried at some length on how such a declaration of policy might affect their attempts to form a government. He said he had shown D'S letter to his brother, who, 'also, thought that indiscrimant [sic] reductions, based on present prices, might be dangerous', while agreeing that the committee was a mere 'sham, in order to do nothing, and that many useful and necessary reductions might be made.' H B/xxi/R/330. 5 Lord John Manners had written D a number of long letters during D'S illness; on 30 March he had written again, from Belvoir, reporting at length on diverse political matters. In a postscript he had added: 'Granby quite well.' On i March he had reported Granby to be 'quite incapacitated.' H B/ xx/M/53-6o. On 20 March Mrs Maberly wrote that she had seen him the day before, 'looking like a ghost.' H D/ni/c/1329.

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1Q82 TO: JOHN C. HERRIES

Hughenden [Tuesday] 2 April 1850

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 57409 ffiy-iS EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb.

My dear Herries, Hughenden Manor | H. Wycomb. Apl. 2/50. It appears to me, at present, that we might turn the flank of Ld. John on his proposal of a Comm[itt]ee on Salaries, & put him in a minority — but the day is / early, the 12th, & it may be difficult (tho' I hope not) to get up our men. Good counsel, in such an affair, is as important as numbers, & this is a case in wh: we shall want all yr. wisdom. I hope, therefore, you may find / it not inconvenient to be at the House on the 8th., that I may have the opportunity of submitting my views to yr. better judgment. Notwithstanding the Easterly winds, I have got / on very well here.1 Yours sincerely | B. DISRAELI

1983

TO: LORD STANLEY

Hughenden [Tuesday] 2 April 1850

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [15] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The editors are indebted to Professor Stanley Weintraub for his transcription of the last page of this letter, of which their copy is defective, and gratefully acknowledge his kindness. Sic: Wycomb; outmanouvring; manouverer.

My dear Lord, Hughenden. H. Wycomb. | Apl. 2. 1850 Beresford has imparted to you the plan of the coming campaign, submitted for your judgment. It seems to me, that we have the opportunity of outmanouvring a manouverer, & turning the flank of / the enemy. If you, on reflection, are of this opinion, & we proceed, I would mention one or two points, as I fear we shall be pressed for time. I intend propose on Monday to ask Ld. John to postpone his motion for a Committee on the / ground, that it will lead to discussion, & interfere with the arrangements he has already made for public business. It is, however, more than probable, that smelling a rat, he may refuse; counting on our men not / being up. A bad attendance wd. be a misfortune, but want of previous counsel wd. be as great. A bad attendance may be prevented; but I fear there may be a poor chance of yr. presence in town in time to have / the advantage of your advice. I shall be in town on the 6th. - Saturday. I have written a line to Herries, begging him to be up by Monday, as we want all his wisdom. If you approve of the move, wd. it be better to meet the motion with a negative, / detailing your objections in a speech, or wd. you embody the principal ones in a specific amendment? The point is the safest course and best for our own men, but a crafty amendment wd., I think, force a considerable number

1 Herries would reply from St Julians on 4 April, saying that he was glad that D was well, but that he himself was not. He intended, however, to be in London on the 8th, and asked if D could call on him in Conduit Street on his way to the House, as they could talk more conveniently there. H B/xxi/H/537.

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of Radicals into our lobby. They cd. take advantage of a more negative amendment to ride off on its being a merely party move etc. I have written to Granby — but have not yet received any reply from him. 1 Ever, my dear Lord, | Yours faithfully | D. TO: LORD STANLEY

Hughenden [Wednesday] 3 April 1850 19^4

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [16]

private

The | Lord Stanley Hughenden. Apl. 3. 1850 My dear Lord, I infer from Beresford's letter, of this morning, 1 that our indirect correspondence has not advanced business - the fault was mine, and the languor of convalescence must be my excuse. In my letter of yesterday, I assumed you were apprised of the leading principle of the proposed alternatives amendment - I don't think I can convey my meaning, on this head, better, than by sending you, as I now do, a sketch of the 1 Lord Stanley would reply from Whittlebury on 4 April 1850, saying Beresford had communicated to him the contents of D's letter to Beresford of 27 March (not found). Stanley had already answered Beresford and written to Herries, 'hoping that he would be willing to support you in an Amendment founded, as I apprehended it, upon the ground that the question ... was one which ought to be taken up by a Government on their own responsibility, and not devolved upon a Committee.' Now that he had D's letter he would willingly defer to D'S judgment: 'it strikes me, a negative upon a Committee moved by the Government with a professed view to economy would be liable to much attack ... If anything be done therefore, it would clearly be desirable to move an amendment, rather than a negative ...' He advised D to check that he had 'a general and cordial support from our friends, including Herries, to whom I am glad to find you have written. I do not think the subject will be very palatable to him, yet it is one on which his opinion will carry some weight with it.' Stanley's second point of advice was that D not place his amendment 'on the bare ground of the reduction of the price of the necessities of life, in consequence of Free Trade,' which he thought would amount to 'a virtual admission, on our parts, of the permanency of the system and of its effects ... when the Ministers themselves are beginning to speak of it for the first time as an experiment in progress.' He concluded by describing the details that made a meeting with D impossible before the debate, but assured D of his support, 'as far as I can give it you.' H B/xx/S/14. 1 Beresford had written from Headley on 'Tuesday': 'I have not progressed as I wished. I think that the best thing is to enclose you in perfect confidence the letter which I got this morning. I have written in return to say much in favor of your being encouraged instead of thwarted in moving the amendment. I have begged Stanley to write direct to you as it will save two days Post. I think, if this amendment is decided, that you had better write to Herries yourself, & I have requested Stanley to do so likewise.' He asked D to reply to the Carlton where he would be on Thursday. On 'Wednesday' he wrote again from Headley: 'I wrote you a very hurried letter yesterday, not being free to attend to what I was writing. I hope that you will have heard from Stanley, if the Northampton Races are not too seductive, before you receive this & that he has agreed to your amendment. I told him that nothing was easier than for you to steer clear of the objection which he felt, that it was impolitic to raise an argument upon the present low prices for the purpose of reducing salaries, least [sic] we thereby acknowledged the permanency of Free Trade & the extinction of Protection. I said that all that was necessary was for him to call your attention to the point & you would take care that the blot should not be hit. I agree with him that in writing to Herries it would be well to have the outline of the amendment made out; Consult him of course as to the specific language & form of it, but it will be quite indispensable that the groundwork & spirit of it be laid before him, as we must remember it is not a congenial subject to his mind.' He then wrote at length on the matter of Newdegate's successor as whip, on how terrible it had been to be leaderless in the House, and about upcoming business. H B/xx/Bd/44,3o.

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proposed amendment - to Ld. John's motion for a Committee of Enquiry / into Salaries. "That this house is in possession of all the information requisite to revise & regulate public salaries; that parliamentary Committees of enquiry, under such circumstances, would only lead to delay; & that it is the duty of the government, on their own responsibility, forthwith to introduce all such measures as are necessary to secure the economical & efficient service of the Country." I propose to be in town on Saturday morning, in order that I may have the advantage of conferring with you in yr. passage. Perhaps Beresford, to whom I enclose this, may meet us, but I don't like to press him, as his holidays have already been so cut up. 2 I am, my dear Lord, | Yours mt flly | D. I contemplate reaching G. Gate about two, & shall be ready to come on to you, the moment I receive a line. 1985 TO: JOHN C. BERRIES

Hughenden [Wednesday] 3 April 1850

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 57409 ££19-20

My dear Herries, Hughenden Manor | Apl. 3. 1850 I send you the enclosed, as conveying my meaning with regard to the principle of our opposition to Ld. John's motion, if we make up our mind to do so - not with any view of stopping your / practised & happy hand from drawing up the amendment. Let me have a line from you, if you can, on Saturday morning, at Grosvenor Gate, where I hope to arrive about two / o'clk.1 Yours sincerely | D.

1986

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Hughenden [Friday 5] April 1850

ORIGINAL: PS 510 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 241-2, dated 5 April 1850 at Hughenden; M&B in 247, dated 5 April 1850 at Hughenden; W.V. Daniell's catalogue (1906) item 76, 4pp., dated April 1850: 'Relating to Politics.' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: D would leave Hughenden for London on 6 April. H ace. 2 On 'Thursday', Beresford from London would acknowledge D'S letter (not found) and tell him he had not heard from Stanley, but hoped D had; he outlined particulars about a meeting with Stanley at 12:30 pm on Saturday: 'I will certainly be up on Saturday, to meet you. It is too important to think of holidays.' He concluded: 'I think the amendment is one almost any one might vote for & not hurt his conscience, though it might diminish a salary or two.' H B/xx/Bd/3i. 1 Herries would return the draft (in D'S hand and identical to the one in 1984 above) from St Julians on 'Friday'. In the draft Herries in pencil has suggested that after 'necessary' be added: 'for effecting every practicable reduction in the national establishments that may be consistent with the efficient discharge of the public service.' In his accompanying letter he said he thought the amendment to be 'legitimate & politic ... We have good reason, now, for treating all Government Committees as "delusions, mockeries, & Snares" - It will be a good opportunity for blowing up the System.' In conclusion he explained his alteration, 'the only object of which is to point more distinctly at reduction of establishments without which perhaps some of our own greedy reductionists might not be satisfied.' He added in a postscript that he planned to go to London the next day. H B/XXI/H/540. D'S 12 April amendment would include Herries's alteration in only slightly edited form. Hansard CX col 246. See further 1988.

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I go to town to-morrow to catch a council with Stanley, flitting between Whittlebury and Goodwood. The political position is interesting, and I should not be surprised if our troops are brought into line immediately. They will be so if my plans are adopted; but there are so many people to consult and to persuade, that it is like commanding an army in Italy under the Aulic Council at Vienna. 1 However, I have not much cause to complain, as they are sufficiently docile; but there are moments which require rapidity of decision and execution. I am sorry I could not stay here a few days more; this north-west breeze renovates me wonderfully, and I am quite myself again. D. TO: LORD NEWPORT

Hughenden [Friday] 5 April 1850 19§7

ORIGINAL: BRD BC.D68 Dl

COVER: The | Viscount Newport | M.P. | Melton-Mowbray \ D. POSTMARK: (i) In circular form: HIGH WYCOMBE [enclosing] A?511850 (2) In circle: [illegible]\6AP6\i8^o (3) In circular form: MELTON MOWBRAY [enclosing] AP611850 (4) a cancelled onepenny stamp

Vis[coun]t Newport | M.P. Hughenden Manor | Apl. 5. 1850 My dear Lord Newport, I ought, long before this, to have acknowledged your kind & graceful note.1 But, tho' it reached me in the hour of triumph, to wh: you had contributed,2 it / found me on the eve of a very serious illness. You will not be sorry to hear, that I have quite recovered, & that I shall be in my place on the 8th. I think we shall have a very active & interesting campaign. Indeed I am going up / to town tomorrow, to try to catch a council with Stanley between his flittings between Whittlebury & Goodwood; & I shd. not be surprised, if our troops are brought into line in the course of the first week. I shall hope to see you, then, charging at the / head of the brilliant cavalry of Melton, like a true cavalier, wh: you are! Pray make my complimts acceptable to Lady Newport, 3 & believe me, | with sincere regard, | Yours | D. TO: JOHN C. HERRIES

Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 6 [April] 1850 1988

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 57409 ffi5-i6 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context - see nni&2. On 6 March 1850 D was very ill; see 1975m. Sic: March. 1 The Aulic Council was formed in 1497 by Maximilian I as the supreme executive and judicial organ for both the empire and the hereditary principalities; by 1558 the latter had been removed from its responsibilities because the arrangement was unworkable. EB xi. 1 Lord Newport had written on 22 February to congratulate D on his speech and reply of 19 and 21 February, and for the result of the division (see I97in2). H B/xx/B/7932 On 21 February Newport had been one of the 252 that supported D'S motion; also, in a speech in the debate on the Address on 4 February he had specifically supported D'S position. Hansard CVlli cols 329-31, 1273. 3 Lord Newport in 1844 had married Selina Louisa Forester (1819-1894), youngest daughter of ist Baron Forester; as Lady Bradford (1865) she would later figure prominently in D'S life. Lord Zetland ed The Letters of Disraeli to Lady Bradford and Lady Chesterfield (1929).

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Rt Hon. J.C. Herries M.P. Grosvenor Gate | March 6 1850 My dear Herries, I was very sorry to miss you to day. There is much on wh: we ought to confer, &, I think, if we play our cards well, we may open the campaign satisfactorily. Your amendment was a great improvement: 1 but that subject is not the only one on wh: I am / most anxious to see you. Had I had the least idea, that you were in town, I shd. not have made any engagements for tomorrow morning, early: but later in the day, at four o'ck, I / cd. call on you. Wd. it suit you?2 Yours sincerely, | D. 1989 TO: LORD GRANBY

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 8 April 1850

ORIGINAL: BEA [R2-6]

My dear Granby, Grosvenor Gate | Apl. 8. 1850. I am sorry to hear, by a line from John to day, that neither yourself, nor yr. brother, nor, I fear, many others about you, will be in town tomorrow. 1 I settled yesterday / with Herries, that, if the opportunity offered, that is to say, if our troops were strong enough, we shd. support Ld. Duncan in his motion for the Repeal of the Window Tax,2 the effect of wh: co[ul]d be, if carried, to upset the budget of / the Government, revive the old conviction of the inability of the Whigs to administer the finances; wh: in fact arises from their never having an essential majority in the House; & wh: cd. also show, that, in the question of relief from / Taxation, we were not always playing Country against Town, an impolitic & unpopular position. I conclude you, of course, can't be present, but if you can influence others, do. Yours faithfully | D. I don't think you will find my resolution of the 12th open to any of the just objections in yr. judicious letter.3

1 See I985&m. 2 According to 1989, D and Herries met on 7 April. 1 Lord John Manners had written to D from Belvoir on 5 April with anxious questions about D'S proposed amendment as outlined in 1981 which the two brothers had discussed. On 7 April he had written again, saying that he planned to be in the House at 5 pm the next day, but that Lord Stanley, who was at Belvoir, Lord Granby and Lord George Manners would stay there until Wednesday. H B/XX/M/61-2. 2 Adam Duncan Haldane (1812-1867), Viscount Duncan, son of ist Earl of Camperdown, whom he would succeed as 2nd Earl in 1859, DL for Forfarshire and Perthshire, Liberal MP for Southampton 1837-41, for Bath 1841-52, for Forfarshire 1854-9, l°rd of the treasury 1855-8, on 9 April 1850 would move the repeal of the window tax as interfering with the health and sanitary condition of the populace; the motion would be narrowly defeated 80-77. Hansard ex cols 68-100. 3 See I98in4. Lord Granby would reply from Belvoir on 10 April, apologizing that he had not been able to come up to town the day before, but he had only received D'S letter on the previous day; he thought D'S amendment admirable, and predicted they would all be up on Friday, 12 April. H B/XXI/R/331.

314

TO: WILLIAM E. AYTOUN

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 8 April 1850 199*-*

ORIGINAL: NLS 4896 ffyo-i EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: R.E. Aytoun.

R.E. Aytoun Esqr Grosvenor Gate | April 8. 1850. My dear Sir, I returned from Bucks to day, much recovered.1 With reference to your letter of the 25th Feby.,2 I shd. think that Mr. Newdegate's pamphlet will / give you the information, wh: you require. 3 I will, however, bear the matter in mind, in case this impression of mine is erroneous. We have the prospect before us of a very animated / campaign, & the troops will be brought into line immediately. Believe me, | dear Sir, | Yours very faithfully, | B DISRAELI TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Grosvenor Gate [Saturday] 13 April 1850 199^

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/328

My dear Sa, G Gate. | Apl. 13. 1850. A well devised movement, an universally approved of amendment, as far as expression, & the chances of complete success - ended yesterday in a signal defeat. 1 Hume, the leader of the Financial Reformers had voluntarily offered to support me - but he was thrown over / by the whole of his party2 - Bright, in the lobby, had personally, some days before, expressed his approb[ati]on of the amendmt. - wh: he admitted in his speech - tho' he spoke against it.3 The 1 Although D had recovered, MA was now ill, so that on this day, 8 April, again on 14 and 15 April and yet again on 16 May she called in Dr Fergusson to attend to her. H ace. Judging from letters to MA she had been unwell since about mid-March. H D/ni/A/228, 0/2236. 2 On 25 February W.E. Aytoun had written to D from Edinburgh about the article he was preparing for the March number of Black-wood's, asking for help in analysing the relative values of imports and exports for 1849. He was concerned that the country was importing more than it was exporting; he had been able to determine that exports for 1849 were about £1 V4 million less than for 1845, but needed to see a parliamentary return by which the value of 1849 imports could be determined: 'This mystification of accounts helps the freetraders.' He praised D's defence of British industry, and predicted that the Scottish Protection Association would soon be able to strengthen D'S hand. H B/XXI/A/286. 3 Probably C.N. Newdegate's A letter to the Right Hon. H, Labouchere... on the balance of trade, ascertained from the market value of all articles imported during the last four years (1849). According to DNB, Newdegate between 1849 and 1851 published many such letters.

1 See I98i&nni&3; after D'S amendment was defeated the debate had continued, the decision to appoint the committee finally being passed by a division of 208-95. Hansard CX cols 293-4. Beresford on this day wrote to say he was annoyed with the division, which he had analysed: 'I find 21 defaulters whom I fairly calculated upon & whose names I enclose. It is too bad ... I am pleased however with the allies that we gained ...' H B/xx/Bd/32. 2 Hume had nevertheless with a 'Hear, hear' supported D'S contention that he had mentioned to Hume his intention of bringing the matter of salaries and wages (see igStm) before the House even though, because of his illness, he had been prevented from giving notice of motion until the day after Lord John Russell had given notice of his committee, a fact with which Russell had taunted D. Hansard ex col 243. In his speech Hume had opposed the committee, and in the division had voted with D'S friends. Hansard CX cols 243, 248-54, 281. 3 In his speech Bright had said he would understand if anyone on his side of the House supported D'S amendment, that he was at first similarly inclined, but then came to believe that the amendment

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/ governmt. were tottering — & this might have been the occasion to upset them. Perhaps the fear of such a real result brought about the unexpected conclusion. I am pretty well - but / plagued with my gums. I get no relief from leeching.4 I hope you are well. The absence of Gladstone (from a death) was ominous5 - all the Peelites, except Smythe & Thes[ige]r against me as well as all the Rad[ical]s. Yrs | D 199 2

T0:

SARAH DISRAELI

House of Commons [Thursday] 18 April 1850

ORIGINAL: NYPL Kohns [10]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 242-3, dated 18 April 1850, with omissions; M&BIII 249, dated 18 April 1850, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Antony; Chishom.

My dear Sa, Ho: of Comm: | Apl. 18/50 The great victory of Monday, 1 quite redeemed the Friday check. I hardly know what the Governmt. will do: anything but go out. The Radicals are so / frightened at what they have, almost unwittingly, done, that last night (Tuesday rather) the moment that I announced my intention to support the repeal of the excise on paper, they fled the house in confusion or / voted with the governmt. By these means, the division was not good, but their tactics have had this among other effects: so frightened destroyed the Radicals monopoly of liberal propos[itio]ns - wh: / they will take care no longer to make now there is a chance of their being carried.2 Yesterday we dined at the Turkish Amhad 'in it nothing more real than anything that could come from the appointment of a Committee ...' He said he would have supported D'S amendment if it had actually proposed a substantial reduction, and accused the Protectionists of having no prior interest in economy. In the division he voted against D'S amendment. Hansard CX cols 265-8, 279. 4 See i890&n2. 5 Gladstone's four-year-old daughter, Catherine Jessy, had died of meningitis on 9 April after several weeks' illness. Gladstone Diaries IV 196-201. Beresford had written to D on Friday 12 April from the House to say he had sent out about 50 letters in the hope of getting a good attendance that day. He had also written to John Gladstone (not at this time an MP), asking about his father, regretting his brother's absence and saying 'something very civil abt reconciliation with old Friends.' He enclosed a copy of John Gladstone's answer, which said his brother had asked leave because of the death, but that he would 'return early next week & most likely go to Brighton. I am very happy to observe what you say as to probable reconciliation & union.' H B/xx/Bd/35. 1 On Monday 15 April the House had gone into committee on the Stamp Duties Bill and had passed by a vote of 164-135 Sir H. Willoughby's hostile amendment of Schedule B of the bill reducing the duty on bonds and mortgages to is from the proposed 2.$ 6d, whereupon the matter was adjourned until the following Monday. One of the major points at issue was the government's attempt to introduce an ad valorem principle which would have the effect of benefiting small proprietors at the expense of large ones. On Monday 22 April the chancellor of the exchequer would abandon the bill and announce his intention to reintroduce it with compromise amendments, in preparation for which he tabled some returns from the Inland Revenue Office. The second bill would eventually be passed. Hansard ex cols 300-42 (D'S comments at 314-15, 316, 335, 336-7), 6247, 1316-22. 2 T. Milner Gibson on Tuesday 16 April had moved for the repeal of the excise duty on paper, the stamp duties on newspapers and on advertisements, and the custom duties on foreign books, as these taxes impeded the diffusion of knowledge. In his speech in support of the motion just before the division D had chided the chancellor of the exchequer for not informing the House what he

3 l6

bassadors - the best dinner, & the best served dinner I ever saw. I never knew a table decorated with / more taste - & rather strange to say - the wines were really delicious. The guests very miscellaneous - Sir W. & Lady Caroline Stirling 3 8c Sir Antony Rothschild were almost the only p[er]sons in the room we knew. Sir Lister & Lady Lister Kaye4 & Chishom Anstey / were among the others - the majority of whom were never discovered. There were some 30 guests including V2 doz sees & attaches in red Tarboushes. The Ambassa[do]r himself the / most favorable specimen possible of the Turks - extremely good-looking - highbred, & gracious. The Royal Academy have asked me to their annual banquet in May. 5 One gets into a great many good / things (at least what people eafl think good things) by being Leader of the Oppos[iti]on - wh: according to Sir Charles Wood, if you are not a Minister, is "the next best thing". Yrs affly | D. TO: EDMUND PHIPPS

Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 19 April 1850

ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [23]

private Hon: | Ed: Phipps1 Dear Phipps, Thank you!

Grosvenor Gate | April 19. 1850

The letter is very puerile, & affected; & I should certainly beg the favor of / your cancelling the pages, might not my motive be misinterpreted into an unintended to do about the stamp duties, and then declared that he was in favour of some of the chancellor's surplus being used to repeal these duties, given that the chancellor had said he would not use the surplus to relieve the landed interest. The resolution was then defeated 190-89. Hansard CX cols 361-422 (D'S speech 416-20). On 13 April, Peter Borthwick of MP had asked for D'S help on the question of stamps for newspapers, and on 15 April sent a summary of the case which he asked D to use in the House, invoking a perceived past alliance of Lord George Bentinck, D and himself against Peel, 'when the principle involved here was that on which the great stand was made.' He conveyed his own thanks and those of Mr Crompton (MP'S owner), and later in the same day promised to 'arrange matters' for Tuesday or Wednesday morning. H B/xx/A/95,96. For a leader which, in style, position and phraseology, echoes D'S speech, see MP (16 April 1850). On 27 April MP would have another leader on this subject; it would develop the points D makes in this letter, alleging that Lord John Russell had threatened the leaders of the Radicals with dissolution if they persisted in their tactics. 3 Sir Walter George Stirling (1802-1888), 2nd Baronet, of Faskine, Lanarkshire, JP and DL for Kent and Middlesex, in 1835 had married Lady Caroline Frances Byng (1811-1898), third daughter by the second marriage of ist Earl of Strafford. 4 Sir John Lister Lister Kaye (1801-1871), 2nd Baronet, of Denby Grange, Yorkshire, grandson of 5th Earl of Stamford, DL of Yorkshire, in 1824 had married Matilda Arbuthnot (d 1867), only daughter and heir of George Arbuthnot. 5 See 20OO&n2. 1 Edmund Phipps, a younger brother of ist Marquess of Normanby and recorder of Scarborough, on 19 April 1850 had written from 17 Park Lane for D'S permission to insert a letter of D'S to Robert Plumer Ward, a 'tribute to the merits of De Vere', in the 'memoirs' of Ward that Phipps was preparing for publication. H B/xxi/p/295- For the letter as published by Phipps see I 62; presumably he did not follow D'S wishes about the parts to be omitted.

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willingness to pay respect to the memory of one for whom I entertained much regard. Perhaps / you might introduce it in a less ostentatious manner, as an extract from a letter - & omitting the latter passages. If this alteration is not very / inconvenient to you, I shd. feel obliged. My kindest Compliments to Mrs Phipps.2 Yours very truly | D. 1994 1994

T0: M A R Y

A N N E DISRAELI

[London, Friday 19 April 1850]

ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/263,2633

COVER: Mrs. Disraeli | Grosvenor Gate EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in MA'S hand on the last page of the MS: '1850 April 6th. Dizzy. About the Duke of Rutland'. Dating: cfigg$. My dearest wife,

i o'ck.

Granby has been sent for to Newmarket, & I fear, from what I learn, that / the Duke cannot live many days.1 Yr affec hus | Dis

1995

1995

T0: LADY

LONDONDERRY

[London] Monday 22 April 1850

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/53O [202]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 83-91, dated 20 April 1850; M&B in 247, dated at London 20 April 1850, extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a typescript copy. There is no salutation. Dating: we have used the date on which D finished this letter. Sic: Sunday April 20 1850; formulares; Princes'; espicopal; Ferguson; Asheton; symptons; Ashbrooke. Sunday April 20 1850 I received your charming letter yesterday morning, charming from its interesting details & their brilliant expression,1 & I write to you directly, not because I can return you anything worthy of your despatch, but to show, at least, how sensible I am of its value. Here we have only two subjects, & both gloomy ones - Religion & Rents: Schisms in the Church, & the ruin of landed proprietors as our only themes. The Church question 2 has scarcely commenced & may, 2 Phipps in 1838 had married Maria Louisa Norton (d 1888), eldest daughter of Gen Sir Colin Campbell K.CB (former governor of Ceylon) and widow since 1835 of Captain Charles Francis Norton. 1 It was a false alarm; the Duke of Rutland would in fact live until 1857. On Friday 19 April 1850 the Duke's horse Fire-eater was running at Newmarket in the Port Stakes. MP (20 April 1850). 1 Lady Londonderry's letter to D is undated, but the cover is postmarked 19 April 1950 in Paris and 20 April 1850 in London. She said Lord Londonderry was also writing, and then reported (in her 'Bulletin rather in the F.M. D[uke] of W[ellingto]n style which my children tell me I have adopted since I came here') that the two of them were very well. They had not been out much but had seen the President, 'as amiable & nice as ever'; she thought his popularity was 'on the Wane'. She then detailed at length the events and gossip of Paris. H B/xx/v/i67. 2 The 'Church question' in the mid-i9th century was essentially the sharp division between the high and low wings of the Church of England (eg n3). The latter saw the former as leading the church in the direction of Roman Catholicism, a view that seemed to be confirmed by the conversion of a number of distinguished Anglican clerics such as Newman, Hurrell Froude and Manning to that faith, invoking a bitter reaction in the strongly anti-Catholic low church. The so-called 'papal aggression' later in 1850 (see 2053^) raised the popular Protestant feeling to a high pitch, and it is not beyond credibility that D foresaw something of the sort, as Lady Londonderry later credited

3 l8

before a very short time, effect some startling consequences. It pervades all classes - literally from the palace to the cottage. Gracious Majesty much excited, & clapped her hands with joy, when the critical decision of the Privy Council, against the Bishop of Exeter, was announced to her.3 On this you may rely, but especially on the following, which came to me from the highest quarter & in the utmost confidence. You know, or have heard of, Mr. Birch, the model tutor of the Prince of Wales, & hitherto, at the Chateau, a prime favorite, & looked upon as a Paragon.4 It seems, that Albert, who has imbibed the ultra Lutheran, (alias, infidel) doctrines, & holds that all Churches (reformed) are alike, etc., & that ecclesiastical formulares of all kinds ought to be discouraged, signified to Birch, the other day, that he did not approve of the Prince of Wales being taught the Church catechism, his R.H. not approving of creeds, & all that. Conceive the astonishment & horror of Birch, a very orthodox, if not very high, Churchman, at this virtual abnegation of all priestly authority! He at once informed H.R.H. that he must then resign his post. This could not on the instant be agreed to, as the Queen was devoted to Birch, & Albert, himself, had hitherto greatly approved of him. After this, there were scenes for a week, some very violent; it ended by Birch, who was unflinching, consenting to remain, the Prince of Wales being taught the Church catechism, & the utmost efforts being made to suppress the whole esclandre, which if it were known, would, coupled with the connection & patronage of the National Exposition of 1851, complete, it is supposed, the Princes' popularity.5 He is already more than suspected by the Church, from making the Queen attend when in Scotland, the Kirk & not the espicopal Church, to which he sends a Lord of waiting, or a maid of honor, every Sunday, instead of the sacred presence. The town & the world are extremely dull: few houses opened & everybody dispirited. I was at Lady Palmerston's last night, 6 but even that crowd produced him; see 205505. For church matters see Chadwick I; see also Robert J. Klaus The Pope, The Protestants, and The Irish: Papal Aggression and Anti-Catholicism in Mid-Nineteenth Century England (1987). 3 The high-church Bishop of Exeter (Phillpotts) by this time had a substantial record of prosecuting in the courts the priests in his charge who did not submit to his ecclesiastical discipline. D'S reference is to the most famous of the bishop's lawsuits, the Gorham case, arising from the bishop's refusal to induct the Rev G.C. Gorham to the living to which in 1847 he had been presented, because the bishop was not satisfied about the orthodoxy of Gorham's Calvinistic views on baptism. The matter was eventually appealed to the judicial committee of the privy council, which on 8 March 1850 before an enormous crowd had ruled in Gorham's favour; on 10 August 1850 Gorham would be inducted to the living of Brampford Speke. This move was apparently approved by Archbishop Sumner, who would be severely attacked by Bishop Phillpotts for supporting heresies. Chadwick op cit 250-71; DNB; Woodham-Smith QV 320-1. 4 Henry Mildred Birch (1820-1884), an assistant master at Eton 1844-9, was tutor 1848-51 to Albert Edward (1841-1910), Prince of Wales, who as Edward VII would succeed his mother in 1901. Birch would resign because of the disagreement with Prince Albert over the church catechism; he was subsequently ordained and appointed rector of Prestwich with Oldham, Lanes, 1852-84, canon of Ripon 1868. Venn. See also Woodham-Smith QV 334-6 and Philip Magnus King Edward the Seventh (1964) 6-8. 5 The royal commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851, with Prince Albert as its president, had been established on 3 January 1850. Its first major act, the selection of Hyde Park as the site, was unpopular, the hostility being increased when the first design for the Exhibition building was produced in June 1850. Robert Rhodes James Albert, Prince Consort (1983) 194-208. 6 Lady Palmerston on Saturday 20 April had given her first assembly since Easter to 'about 300 members of the aristocracy.' The Ds are among those mentioned in the report. MP (22 Apr 1850).

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not a single rumor. The Duchess of Marlboro is dead,7 & there was a rumor yesterday, that the Duke of Rutland, was in extreme danger. He is, I believe, in a baddish way, & Granby went down to him yesterday, but not so bad as Sir F. Trench made out, who spoke with tears in his eyes, but I believe he is now maudlin on any subject. The Duke sent for Ferguson however, yesterday morning, but the Dr. could not go, as he may not leave town in her Majestys present state.8 A member of Brooks told me yesterday, that he now never went to that Club, the controversies among its members about Protection having become so acrimonious. The Duke of Bedford, who has held up very well to this Spring, now wails & gnashes his teeth & says, that Peel was mistaken in all his calculations. Asheton Smith, 9 throughout a freetrader, asked in a letter from a friend, what sport he had had this year, replied, "Dont talk to me of sport: I can think of nothing but these infernal low prices". Granby showed me the letter, which was, I think, to Sloane Stanley.10 Lord Poltimore's 11 Steward, after his audit a few days back, sent him £1200 & told him to take care of it, as it was probably the last he would ever receive - this, Devonshire, where things are very bad indeed. But you hear these sort of stories everywhere; what I tell you all come from the Whigs. It is however too late for those who voted for the Repeal of the Corn Laws to repent or to complain. As long as the great body of the people are well employed at a good rate of wages, all the proprietors, & all the farmers too, may be ruined without redress. If the evil goes deeper, then we shall have a change. As for Parliamentary politics, it is impossible for an opposition to do more than we have done, without turning out a Government. We have had a pitched battle nearly every night since we re-assembled, & in some of them, the Government have received ignominious defeats. Even their budget has been destroyed. Monday morning April 22nd 18so. I must complete my despatch amid all the distraction of the Ceylon Committee room,12 which must account for its occasional incoherence. I am delighted to hear that you are so well & that as a sanitary movement Paris has this year been 7 The 6th Duke of Marlborough in 1846 had married secondly Charlotte Augusta Flower (18181850), daughter of 4th Viscount Ashbrook by his second marriage; she had been delivered of a still-born daughter on 16 March, and had died on 20 April at Mivart's Hotel. According to a report in MP on 22 April 1850, she had been recovering well from her confinement, when 'a severe mental shock which her grace unfortunately experienced about a fortnight since affected so powerfully the nervous system that her grace never rallied ...' 8 The Queen on i May 1850 would be delivered of her seventh child, Prince Arthur. 9 Thomas Assheton Smith (1776-1858), of Tedworth, Hants, and Vaynol, Carnarvonshire, LL of Carnarvonshire 1822, Tory MP for Andover 1818-31, for Carnarvonshire 1832-7, according to BLG (1898) was 'one of the most prominent sportsmen of his time'; he was a member of the Carlton Club. 10 William Sloane Stanley (1781-1860), of Paultons, Hants, son-in-law of 5th Earl of Carlisle, MP for Orford 1807-12, for Stockbridge 1830-1. 11 George Warwick Bampfylde (1786-1858), ist Baron Poltimore, of Poltimore, Devonshire, colonel of the North Devon Militia. 12 The Ceylon Committee of the previous session (see iSiSng) had been reappointed on 11 February, after debate on 6 and 11 February; D was again one of the 15 members. Hansard CVIII cols 417-60 (D'S amendment 441-4), 643-61. See 20OO&m and 2016.

320

quite successful. Tell my Lord how interesting I found his letter, 13 & how obliged to him I am for it. I saw Lord Hardinge yesterday, looking very well, & evidently very anxious to bring about his favorite fusion of parties. I heard from a high quarter, that the Government, a few days back, expressed a strong personal wish to retire, & that Graham is the favorite to form the new ministry at the Chateau, but the moment this was communicated to him, he turned, as usual, quite pale, & bolted. I have long suspected this plan & always foreseen its failure. If Graham with a large majority were always in a fright what must he be, a Minister with balanced parties & fierce struggles. I understand he still believes in impending civil war. 14 Blandford made his debut in the debate on Education, a very interesting one, last Wednesday morning, & the debut was very successful.15 His voice is very good, his manner engaging, his style fluent, & if he know as much of other subjects, common in Parliament, as he does of theology, I think he might do very well indeed. He spoke, unfortunately very late in the debate & in a somewhat wearied & impatient house, but he overcame these difficulties, & left an impression on the cognoscenti highly favourable. Since I came here, I have heard all the particulars about the Duchess of Marlboro', but I apprehend, from many reasons, that you must be already minutely acquainted with them. They are striking. She would notwithstanding her state, show Blenheim in all its pomp & parts to the Grand Duchess,16 dine the next day at the Court; 17 a premature confinement was the consequence, which left symptons which according to the physicians, must end in death or madness. In her unhappy case, I believe, both: she died, I hear at Mivarts, & her shrieks were terrible. I hear she had quarrelled with Lady Ashbrooke,18 tho' there were some kind attempts making before 13 In his letter to D dated 'Paris April 10 1850', Lord Londonderry had said that reports of crises in Paris were greatly exaggerated, and then proceeded to itemize at length Louis Napoleon's problems as he had learned them in two long conversations with him. H B/xx/v/21. 14 Sir James Graham may have been suggested as a coalition prime minister, since he had ties with the Whigs in the 18305 which Peel did not. In 1849 Graham had declined Russell's offer of a cabinet post and a peerage, Greville attributing his refusal to his timidity. Lord Londonderry had been acting as one of the Conservatives' agents to try to get Graham back to the ranks of the Conservatives and help reorganize the party. Graham, however, continued to be motivated primarily by his fear of a Protectionist government, which he thought would bring about a civil war. Conacher Peelites 39-40,81, and passim; J.T. Ward Sir James Graham (New York 1967) 231-58; Arvel B. Erickson The Public Career of Sir James Graham (Oxford and Cleveland 1952) 303-10; Greville VI 152. 15 John Winston Spencer Churchill (1822-1883), Marquess of Blandford, the Londonderrys' son-inlaw, 7th Duke of Marlborough 1857, Conservative (free-trade) MP for Woodstock 1844-5, ^47'57> lord steward of the household 1866-7, l°rd president of the council 1867-8, LL of Ireland 1876-80, PC 1866, KG 1868, on Wednesday 17 April in the debate on second reading of an Education Bill (to promote secular education) had strongly opposed the measure which he saw as challenging the unity of church and state. Hansard ex cols 437-82 (Blandford's speech 479-82). 16 The Grand Duchess Stephanie Louise Adrienne (1789-1860), adopted daughter of Napoleon I and widow of Grand Duke Karl of Baden, had visited the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace on 21 February 1850. MP (22 February 1850). 17 The Duchess in fact was the Queen's dinner guest on 14 March. MP (15 Mar 1850). 18 Sarah on 25 April passed on the hearsay that it was her mother with whom the Duchess had quarrelled. H D/lll/A/234- The 4th Viscount Ashbrook in 1812 had married secondly Emily Theophila Metcalfe (1790-1885), eldest daughter of Sir Theophilus Metcalfe, ist Baronet, and since 1847 the Viscountess Dowager.

321

her illness to reconcile them. Your portrait of Changarnier is most vivid. 19 I was very glad to receive it. Madame James de Rothschild, 20 who loves celebrities, asked the Rossis (Sontag) to dinner & Changarnier among others, to meet them. He refused, & somewhat lectured her for inviting a public singer to her table. So much for Equality & Fraternity! Old Mrs. Rothschild told me this under the rose. Whatever we think of Changarniers decision, tis a trait worth knowing, as indicating his caractere. I am very well, but the work is very brisk. I hardly remember a fortnight of such unceasing & absorbing toil. I really have not had a moment to myself. I must thank you once more for your delightful letter, & with my kind regards to our good friend, remain, Your attached servant, I D.

1996

TO: GEORGE LATHOM BROWNE

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 23 April 1850

ORIGINAL: PS 395 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Sotheby's Catalogue (24 June 1975) item 233 'A.L.s. "D.", 4 pages, 8vo, Grosvenor Gate, 23 April 1850, to G.L. Browne, on politics and the working class'

... As long as the great body of the people are fully employed with good wages, any attempt at a popular movement in favor of a protection policy, will prove ... a failure ... it has for many years been clear to me that these London Trades exercise no sort of influence over the opinions & conduct of the great body of the working world1 ...

19 Nicolas Anne Theodule Changarnier (1792-1877), a French general, governor-general of Algeria 1848, at this time was commander of the Paris garrisons and of the National Guard. After the 1851 coup d'etat he would go into exile. In her letter (ni) Lady Londonderry had described meeting him: 'I dined at the Rothschilds & Changarnier took me in & I rather expected an interesting talk but whether he was shy of me as a friend of L. Napoleon's or whether he is naturally disagreeable I cannot tell but somehow we did not cotton. He has a shrivelled puckered up face like a monkey, a short snappish way of talking & every now & then a sort of little hyena laugh which seems in himself & at his neighbours. There is somehow a gt prestige abt. him here. He is as deep as a Well & playing his own game, professing only to be friend to order. I ventured to ask him abt the prospects of a row here & he seemed to say it must come & the sooner the better. I asked how soon, "peutetre dans 20 jours." I suggested we had better be off before. "Pourquoi: vous entendrez le Canon de loin, cela vous amusera."' 20 James de Rothschild in 1824 had married Betty von Rothschild (1805-1886) of Vienna. Cousinhood chart (facing 162). 1 'Trades' is probably the cataloguer's mistranscription of 'tirades'; Browne was constantly urging D to take part in public meetings (c/"i723&m). The letter from Browne that D is here answering has, however, not been found; possibly it had to do with the large meeting of Protectionist delegates being planned for 6-7 May in London. A circular dated 15 April 1850 announcing the meeting had been issued by the National Association for the Protection of Industry and Capital. MP (24 Apr, 7,8 May 1850). 0/1957, 1958 and 1960 for earlier instances of the view D expresses here. C/also 2045&m.

322

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

House of Commons [Friday 26?] April 1850 1997

ORIGINAL: PS 396 PUBLICATION HISTORY: W.V. Darnell's Catalogue of Autograph Letters (1906) item 72 'A.L.s. "D." 8 pp. 8vo. House of Commons, Apr. 26/50, to Miss Disraeli, FINE AND INTERESTING LETTER on politics and society' an extract ending with 'Speaks of meeting Thackeray at a society gathering, and thinks he will sketch some of those present in the last No. of Pendennis.'; LBCS 243-4, dated 26 April 1850; M&B III 249, dated 26 April 1850, the first two sentences; M&B and LBCS both have 'tonight' after 'defeat' in the second sentence EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: if the original of this letter was indeed dated 26 April 1850 (see ph), parts of the letter must have been written as much as a week earlier; see ni. Sic: the Antony Rothschild's.

[LBCS:] I have little to say, my life being passed in this House, of which you are furnished daily in the journals. [Daniell's:] The Government have saved themselves from a crushing defeat on the Stamp Act by an ignominious surrender at discretion yesterday1 - but they have trouble enough and then life would be short were their successors sufficiently indicated. [LBCS:] We dined at the 'Danes'2 on Tuesday. I sat next to the French Ambassadress,3 a rather pretty and a very agreeable and clever person. Sir Wynn, 4 our envoy at Copenhagen; Sir Ralph and Lady Howard,5 Hope, the Mathisons,6 &c., were the rest, and an agreeable party. In the evening, being out, I went in for five minutes to Lady Yarde Buller's, being the wife of our greatest squire. M.A. dined yesterday, but I did not, at a banquet at the Antony Rothschild's, given in honour of the impending fate of a brother-in-law, Montefiore, and a daughter of Baron de Goldsmid.7 The Hebrew aristocracy assembled in great force and numbers, mitigated by the Dowager of Morley, Charles Villiers, Abel Smiths,8 and Thackeray! I think he will sketch them in the last number of 'Pendennis.'9 ... 1 See ec and igg28cni. 2 Presumably the Reventlows; Count Reventlow was the Danish minister in London. 3 The French ambassador was M. Edmond Drouyn de Lhuys; no information on his wife has been found. 4 The British minister at Copenhagen 1824-53 was Sir Henry Watkin Williams Wynn (1783-1856), a career diplomat since 1803 except for a few months as MP for Midhurst in 1807; DCL (Oxford) 1810, PC 1825, KGCH 1831, KCB 1851. 5 Sir Ralph Howard (1801-1873), ist Baronet, of Bushy Park, co Wicklow, Liberal MPfor co Wicklow 1829-40, JP and DL for co Wicklow, colonel of the Wicklow Militia, in 1837 had married Charlotte Anne, Lady Fraser (d 1867), widow since 1834 of Lieut-Col Sir James John Fraser, 3rd Baronet, only child of Daniel Craufurd and granddaughter of Sir Alexander Craufurd, ist Baronet. 6 Possibly the James Mathesons; James Matheson (1796-1878), ist Baronet 1850 (31 December), FRS, of the Lews, co Ross, of Achany, co Sutherland, and Stornoway Castle, Isle of Lewis, co Ross, JP and DL for Sutherland, Liberal MP for Ashburton 1843-7, for Ross and Cromarty 1847-68, LL and sheriff-principal of Ross 1866, in 1843 had married Mary Jane Perceval (£1821-1896), fourth daughter of Michael Henry Perceval, of Spencer Wood, near Quebec City, Canada. Matheson had at one time been a partner of Jardine, Matheson and Co, and spent many years in India and China. R.H. Hubbard Ample Mansions: The Viceregal Residences of the Canadian Provinces (Ottawa 1989) 32-40. 7 Nathaniel Montefiore (1819-1883), brother of Lady de Rothschild, on 7 May 1850 was to marry Emma Goldsmid (1819-1902), daughter of Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, ist Baronet, ist Baron de Goldsmid e da Palmeira of the Kingdom of Portugal. Cousinhood charts (facing 194 and 226). 8 Abel Smith (1788-1859) of Woodhall Park, Herts, JP for Herts, Conservative (Protectionist) MP for Malmesbury 1810-12, for Wendover 1812-18, 1830-2, for Midhurst 1820-30, for Herts 1835-47, in

323

1998 1998

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

House of Commons [Friday 3 May 1850]

ORIGINAL: PS 511

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 244-5, dated 3 May 1850 at the House of Commons; M&B III 249-50, dated 3 May 1850 at the House of Commons EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see nn4&5-

[M&B:] The visit to the Jolliffes 1 was very agreeable, notwithstanding a northeast wind, that really cut me in two. [LBCS:] The country not as beautiful as Albury or the Deepdene,2 but Sir William is compensated for that by the superior soil. A beautiful home, and a still more beautiful family, of all ages from twenty to three, 3 and all equally good-looking. A pleasant circle, and had the weather been propitious, it would have been a renovating visit; but [M&B:] notwithstanding a blazing sun, I was obliged to keep in the conservatory, or could only venture out in a bearskin coat. It was the coldest day this year. I hardly know what has happened since, I have been so busy; I think all politics. Tuesday was not a bad division and, according to my friends, my best speech this year, though meagrely and coldly reported in The Times.4 1826 had married secondly Frances Anne Calvert (d 1885), second daughter of Sir Harry Calvert, ist Baronet, GCB. 9 The History of Pendennis, by William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863), was published in numbers 1848-50. The author's severe illness at the end of 1849 nad interrupted the novel, and it was not completed until December 1850. DNB; MP (12 Dec 1850). 1 Sir William Jolliffe on 22 April had written to MA to invite the Ds to visit them at Merstham House, Reigate, Surrey, for the following Saturday to Monday (27-9 April), as he thought the change of air would do D good; MA had accepted. On 23 April, the day she received the invitation, MA seems to have gone on a shopping spree for dress-making materials and accessories, mostly velvet, silk, ribbon and lace, in red and white. H 0/111/0/1059, ace. 2 For an example of D's several descriptions of Deepdene, Dorking (only a few miles from Reigate), see III iiO4&ni. Albury Park, near Guildford, Surrey, only about another 10 miles farther west of Reigate than Deepdene, was at this time the seat of Henry Drummond; the house was built in the late ijth century, modified by Sir John Soane, and the facade designed by Pugin in the mid-i9th century. Furtado 68. For the DS' visit to Albury see vjyyni. 3 At this time the Jolliffes had 11 children, of whom only the eldest, Captain Hylton Jolliffe, was married. The eldest daughter, Eleanor Amelia, the future Lady De Blaquiere, was 22 or 23, and the youngest, Walter Hylton Jolliffe, was almost 6. 4 On Tuesday 30 April J.W. Henley had moved for an address asking for a reduction of all public salaries (see I98i&nni&2), arguing that all branches and levels of the public service should bear their share of the current distress. In his speech D defended his previously made contention that the Tories were the party of economy; he mocked Peel's declaration that the public service was not paid too much by comparing the salaries of the prime minister's private secretaries to those of aides-de-camp in battle. He further compared the salaries and wages of the lower echelons of the public service to those of agricultural labourers, and declared that at least £1 million of the £7*4 million expended for public salaries could be saved. He responded to the government's constant taunting that the Protectionists should bring their programme before the House for a definitive show-down by contending that a vote in the House would prove nothing: '... it is by the salutary experience they are daily feeling, that the various classes of the community must arrive at that change which we are confident will arrive.' (Cfiyigni). The division of 269-173 on the previous question prevented a vote on the substance of Henley's motion. Hansard CX cols 981-1056 (D's speech 1037-46). D'S complaint about The Times was presumably aimed at its synopsis of the debate, in which D'S speech is rendered in a few sentences that entirely miss the points he made. The Times (i May 1850). On i May Beresford had sent D a list of 45 names of those 'that ought to have been with us & did not vote. If they had done their duty & not given way to crotchets, the Division would have been a damper to the coalesced forces that opposed us.' H B/xx/B/37.

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Yesterday the Government received another apoplectic stroke;5 they are drifting - but I suppose, and perhaps hope, they may escape the breakers this year.... I sat an hour with Lord Lyndhurst to-day; in good spirits after a year of darkness. When the weather is warmer, they will operate....6 TO: LORD STANLEY Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 7 [May] 1850 ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/1 [14] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see 11111,3,4. It is assumed that D only got the month wrong, not the day. Sic: March. private Grosvenor Gate | March 7. 1850 Lord Stanley My dear Lord, I consulted very much with Beresford, & the result of our deliberations, & observations, led us to a different result from that, wh: you now indicate. 1 But / nothing is definitively settled. I found, that Henry Herbert wd. not vote against the 3rd. reading,2 & certainly the general impression is not favorable as to the result of such a move. But I shall be better able to judge, as to numbers, tomorrow / morning when 5 On Thursday 2 May the House had divided 155-136 against the government and in favour of a motion for leave to bring in a bill to repeal an annual tax paid by attornies and solicitors, D and his friends voting with the majority. Hansard ex cols 1102-8. 6 Since about the middle of 1849 Lord Lyndhurst had been suffering from cataracts, and was effectively blind. In mid-June 1850 he would have the cataracts surgically removed and in due course recover his sight and return to an active life, despite being nearly 80 years old. Sir Theodore Martin A Life of Lord Lyndhurst (1884) 437-9. See further 279&ni. 1 Lord Stanley had written D a letter dated 'St. James's Sqr. Tuesday night', docketed by MA '1850. May 7th.': 'After I saw you this Evening, I walked up with Redesdale who, I think, understands the House of Lords Tactics better than any man in it. He is quite clear, and satisfied me, that we should not do wisely in entering into any compromise with the Peelites as to 3d Reading - that it would be very difficult to keep our men in the Commons through a debate turning on Amendments in which they took no great interest, for a division on the passing of a Bill of which they had allowed the 3d. Reading to go by - that the Amendments had not a chance of being carried, and that if carried, they would be rather an embarrassment to us than otherwise, in debating the Bill afterwards in the House of Lords. He is strongly of opinion that the whole scheme (most unusual) of amendments moved in the 3d Reading, which might have been moved in Committee, and one of which actually was twice moved & twice rejected, is a mere trick devised by Peel and his tool Young, to hamper our proceedings, by apparently committing us to the Amendments, which we should afterwards bring forward to greater disadvantage for their having been previously rejected in the Commons. If Gladstone could have promised us any real addition of strength by adopting his crotchet, I should have been inclined to acquiesce - but as it is, I think we had better hold our own line, oppose the 3d Reading, leave the shattered Peelites to do what they like, and have nothing to do with any Amendments ... It may be a question whether it would be worth taking a division on the question "that the Bill do pass," IF we could get any extra strength from the supporters of the Amendments. If your opinion coincides with mine, I will write to Gladstone, not hostilely, in this sense. If you doubt, I wish you would call on me before 2 o'C. tomorrow ...' H B/XX/S/152 Henry Arthur Herbert (d 1866), of Muckross, co Kerry, JP and LL (1853) for Kerry, Liberal-Conservative MP for co Kerry 1847-66, chief secretary for Ireland 1857-8, in the debate on the Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill on 11 April had made a remark that could have been construed as opposition to one of the clauses of the bill. Hansard CX col 173. His name does not appear in the 10 May division on third reading.

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I go down to the house to the early sitting 3 - & I will communicate with you from thence as soon as possible. I would not write, therefore, to Gladstone, until you hear from me, / or see me, tomorrow. I have written to Walsh to open the battle (witht. stating our exact line),4 & I have made every possible effort to scrape up every man - at all events, we will decide on our course tomorrow. Your views, I feel to be very cogent. Yours most faithfully | D. 2OOO TO: SARAH DISRAELI

House of Commons [Monday] 13 May 1850

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 37502 ffii4-2i PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 245-6, dated 13 May 1850, with omissions; M&BIII 250-1, dated 13 May 1850, omitting the final sentence EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written upside-down at the bottom of the last page: 'Mi & Mis Pauliej?] Barber'. Sic: yesterday Saturday; Brunow.

My dear Sa, Ceylon Comm: Room | May 13.750 I am so much occupied, that I must endeavour to write send you a line, in the midst of the hubbub of this never-ending Commfittjee. 1 The dinner at the Academy 2 / was very agreeable, tho' they took me out of the wits, among whom I sate last year, & wh: were represented this by Rogers, Hallam, Milman[,]3 Thackeray, Lockhart, & placed me among / the statesmen. I sate within two of Peel, & betn. Gladstone & Sidney Herbert. A leader of opposition, who has no rank, has never risen is so rare, if not unprecedented, an animal, that the / R.A.s were puzzled how to place me — & tho' they seemed to have made somewhat of a blunder, it went off very well, Gladstone being particularly agreeable.4 Aftds. we went to the first Assembly of / the Mrs. Abbott Lawrence 3 On Wednesday 8 May the House was to have a brief sitting ending at 7:15 pin. The Times (8 May 1850). 4 Sir J.B. Walsh had replied on 'Tuesday night', assuring D that his 'best exertions' were at D's disposal, and arranging to confer with D about the best way to make the motion. H B/xxi/w/go. On 10 May he would open the debate on third reading of the Parliamentary Voters (Ireland) Bill (see I975&n2) with a motion that third reading be postponed 6 months; in his speech he would describe at length what he saw to be the dire consequences if the bill passed, but he gave no hint of any counterproposal by the opposition. In a speech in the debate later that night D contended that the government, instead of proposing a stop-gap bill based on its conclusion that the franchise in Ireland could not be successfully attached to tenure of property, should address the problems that had given rise to this state of affairs. If the franchise was to be based on £8 as a reflection of Ireland's poverty, did this mean Ireland was always to be poor? 'For my part I believe that the people of Ireland are equally capable to achieve the same results and to exercise the same rights as the people of England.' W.E. Gladstone would vote with Dand his friends in the division. The counter motion, to proceed with third reading, passed 254-186. Hansard ex cols 1322-72 (D'S speech 1357-64). 1 See 19951112. There were to be 16 more meetings of the committee, of which D would attend 9. See further 2Ol6ni. 2 The Royal Academy dinner had been held on Saturday 4 May, preceding the opening of the year's exhibition on 6 May. H ace; MP (6 May 1850). 3 Henry Hart Milman (see I I44n2) was a good friend of Hallam and Lockhart. 4 The opinion was mutual; Gladstone recorded: '... I sat by Disraeli who was very easy & agreeable.' Gladstone Diaries iv 207. The 'blunder' was probably that of placing D next to Sidney Herbert, who as a younger son of an earl should have been given precedence over Gladstone, a younger son of a baronet, but both Herbert and Gladstone should have been given precedence over D, without claim to any rank, as 'leader of the opposition' does not appear on the table of precedency among men. Lodge (1854) Ixiii.

3 26

the wife of the American Minister 5 wh: was very numerous. Mr L. is a very opulent man, & has given for Ld. Cadogan's fine house on Piccadilly Terrace6 a rent equal to his salary £2000 pr annm. / All the world was there. Lawrence a very fine specimen of the new world - goodlooking & cordial & well bred. A high Protectionist. I had heard much of him from John Manners, as he stayed a week at Belvoir, & they were all / much pleased with him. There were a good many Americans, among them the Peabody family - great people. As Mrs. Lawrence says, "the Peabodies are the Howards of America." The chief Peabody was presented / to me.7 He sd. of the D. of Wn. who was there, as well as at the Academy dinner, where he made a speech, "The two hemispheres can't show a man like that, Sir." On Sunday we dined with the Molesworths8 / - a most agreeable party. The Lovelaces, the Rossis, Lady Morley, C. Villiers, Stafford, Milnes, Henry Hope, the Turkish Ambassador. I never saw a house better monte, or a dinner better served. The postponement / of the Sugar battle on Tuesday was very unfortunate. 9 The division on the Irish franchise bill was much better than I expected.10 I dined yesterday Saturday with the Londonderrys en / petit comite & aftds. went with MA. to Lady Palmerstons & Lady Stanleys. 11 It was a hard day, as in the morning I was obliged to receive Professor Aytoun to breakfast. He had called on me several times, & written often - & / as I cd. not ask him to dinner, it was the only thing left. I was very jaded — but after breakfast got some sleep, by taking Bang,12 & woke quite fresh. 5 The U.S. minister in London 1849-52 was Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855), who in 1819 had married Katherine Bigelow, eldest daughter of Timothy Bigelow, of Medford, Mass; Lawrence was a wealthy merchant, manufacturer and philanthropist, as well as a diplomat and statesman (Whig). DAB. 6 George Cadogan (1783-1864), 3rd Earl Cadogan, at this time rear-admiral of the blue (rising to admiral of the red in 1863), had a town residence at 138 Piccadilly; by 1854 h'5 town residence is listed as 39 Chesham Place, Belgrave Square. (Lodge). 7 D probably met George Peabody (1795-1869), the wealthy merchant, financier and philanthropist who in 1837 had settled permanently in London and established the financial firm of George Peabody and Co, one of the largest mercantile concerns in the world. He had become an unofficial ambassador for preserving Anglo-American friendship, and his elaborate Fourth-of-July dinners at which English nobility met American visitors had become a feature of the London season. He never married, but was often visited by his numerous relatives; they are probably the 'family' to which D refers. Peabody donated $2,500,000 to the City of London for the erection of working-men's tenements, would accept a DCL from Oxford in 1867, and the freedom of the City of London in 1869, but decline a baronetcy and a GCB. DAB. The Howard line, represented at this time by Henry Charles Howard (1791-1856), i6th Duke of Norfolk, premier duke and earl, hereditary earl marshal and chief butler of England, is second only to royalty among the hereditary ranks. 8 Sir William Molesworth in 1844 had married Andalusia Grant West ^1809-1888), daughter of James Bruce Carstairs, a former singer and widow since 1839 of Temple West. Their town residence was at 87 Eaton Place, Belgrave Square. LPOD (1850). 9 On Monday 6 May Sir E.N. Buxton had announced in the House that because Lord John Russell was indisposed, he wished to defer his (Buxton's) motion on slave-grown sugar scheduled for the next day to another time. MP (7 May 1850). He would bring the motion, asking for protection of free-grown sugar from slave-grown, before the House on 31 May, when it would be defeated 275234. Hansard cxi cols 528-96. See Conacher Peelites 58-9. 10 See I999&nni&4 above. 11 Lord Stanley in 1825 had married Emma Caroline Wilbraham (1805-1876), second daughter of ist Baron Skelmersdale. 12 Bang, or bhang, is Indian hemp, an intoxicant that can be taken in various forms; cf hashish.

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Ld. Eglintoun had asked me to a great banquet on Thursday wh: he gave to Aytoun, / whom it is the fashion to feter among the grand folks, in gratitude for the Protection articles in Blackwood of wh: he is the author; 13 but I declined as I thought it a bore, wh: large male dinners are. I got J. Manners, & young Stanley, / Boo Lennox, 14 Ld Mandeville, & Ld. Naas,15 to meet him. Lady Blandford, 16 next to whom I sate yesterday at dinner (Brunow on my other side), told me that she heard that "Sin & Sorrow" was the joint prod[ucti]on of / G. Smythe & Lady Sligo. I think if I saw it, I shd. find him out. I suppose he supplied the sin, & his sister the rest.17 Yr affe | D. I think of getting / to Hughenden for the holidays of five days on Saturdayf.] 18 2O01 TO: PHILIP ROSE

House of Commons [Thursday] 16 May 1850

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/70

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'May 16 1850 Mr Disraeli'. Sic: Glostershire; checque [twice].

private H of Comm: | May 16. 1850 My dr Rose, I am nearly drained at Robarts, & rather beneath water-mark at Drummonds. I have been daily expecting the Glostershire / remittance of Lady Day, (never before in arrear,) when I shd. have sent you ano[the]r checque for £1000. I am greatly vexed about this, but the tenants / are terribly distressed, & it is almost impossible for me to be peremptory with them.1 13 See, for example, I948&nm,2&4. 14 Lord Henry George Charles Gordon-Lennox (1821-1886), second son of 5th Duke of Richmond, Liberal-Conservative Mpfor Chichester 1846-85, lord of the treasury 1852, 1858-9, secretary to the admiralty 1866-8, chief commissioner of works and buildings 1874-6. For a possible explanation of 'Boo' see 1945112. 15 Richard Southwell Bourke (1822-1872), Baron Naas, 6th Earl of Mayo 1867, Conservative MP for Kildare 1847-52, for Coleraine 1852-7, for Cockermouth 1857-68, chief secretary for Ireland 1852, 1858-9, 1866-8, PC 1852, governor-general of India 1868-72, KP 1869. 16 Lord Blandford (7th Duke of Marlborough 1857) in 1843 had married Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane (1822-1899), the Londonderrys' eldest daughter. 17 The 3rd Marquess of Sligo in 1847 had married Louisa Ellen Frances Augusta Smythe (1823-1852), George Smythe's sister, second daughter of 6th Viscount Strangford. Sin and Sorrow: A Tale, published in three volumes by Henry Colburn, had been advertised as 'just ready' on 22 April. The disapproving MP reviewer entertained no doubt that it was a lady who had written 'this tale, which we have perused with considerable pain and very little edification.' The story, according to the review, portrays the ruin by a dissolute British colonel of a novice at a Spanish nunnery. She goes to England to have her illegitimate child; it is killed by the doctor who attends her for her unresponsiveness to him; she is then accused of murder, goes mad and dies of consumption, but not before turning everyone around her, including her seducer and his wife, to true religious faith. MP (22 Apr, 16 May 1850). See ivi6o7n9 for the alleged 'sin' that resulted in Smythe being ostracized by London society. GSS/Ld Adolphus Vane 24 June 1857; DUR 0/^0/0/230(3). 18 The House on 17 May would adjourn until 23 May. Hansard Cxi col 236. The Ds would be at Hughenden from Saturday to Thursday, 18-23 May. H ace. 1 The four tenants who paid rent to D'S Gloucester agent Joseph Lovegrove were William Knight Ford and Charles Ponting, tenants on Taynton farm, and Charles Smallridge, Cathedral House, and Mrs Foskett, Brock Street, Bath. Ponting would pay his semi-annual rent of £92 due on Lady day 1851 on 15 September 1851, and Ford his of £148 on 29 November 1851; Mrs Foskett had paid hers of £26.5.0 on 2 April, and Smallridge is listed as paying his annual rent of £85 for both

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I am sorry to press upon you, but if you can pay the Pall:2 I / shd. feel very much obliged, & I will send you the checque the first moment I can[.] I shall try to get to Hughn. for 4 or 5 days on Saturday. Ever Yrs | D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/329

Grosvenor Gate, Saturday [18 May 1850]

2OO2

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'May 18 1850'. Dating: by context; see ni and cf 2OOO&m8.

My dear Sa, G.G. Saturday We are going to Hughenden this morning - & shall return on Thursday, when I hope very soon to see you. Last night, I had great success in the House, tho' unexpectedly.1 I think I never spoke more to my satisfaction. Affairs are critical. M.A., I think, wrote to you yesterday, or the day before.2 Yrs affecy | D. TO: LORD LONDONDERRY ORIGINAL: DUR o/LO/c/53o [51]

Hughenden [Sunday] 19 May 1850

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the last page of the MS: 'Mr. B. Disraeli May 1850'. Sic: Wycomb.

confidential

Hughenden Manor | High Wycomb. | May 19. 1850.

1850 and 1851 in this year. Lovegrove had last forwarded an account of 'the Taynton and Bath properties' on 9 February 1850, and reported a balance deposited at Drummond's of £171.18.2; this did not include the rent of 'the Cathedral House up to Christmas last', which was promised 'in a few days'. The next extant letter on the matter is dated 9 September 1851, telling D that 'the Taynton tenants have not paid their rents due Lady day [25 March] last'. Also in 1851, Lovegrove would negotiate an offer of £11,500 for 'Mr. Disraeli's farm at Taynton severally occupied by Mr. Wm. K. Ford and Mr. Charles Ponting'. The offer mentions the 'dilapidated State of the Buildings [and] the undrained condition of the Lands'. In a 14 August 1852 letter Lovegrove would report that 'the tenants are calling out loudly for repairs and drainage' and discuss the procedures for the trustees of the estate to obtain a drainage grant. H 0/11/6/341,3423-^284,197,2853,354. For an earlier instance of arrears in these rents see ivi479&ni. 2 See 1702m. 1 On Friday 17 May Lord John Russell had moved for leave to bring in a bill for the abolition of the office of lord lieutenant of Ireland, to be replaced by a fourth secretary of state. In a speech fairly late in the debate D had said that he had not given the matter much prior thought, being disposed to letting the Irish members decide it, and that he would not oppose the introduction of the bill, as that would be discourteous to the government leader. It was Lord John's speech introducing the bill that had, however, made him question the wisdom of replacing a system that at the moment seemed to be working well with another system that would lead inevitably to an increase in patronage, even while the committee on public salaries was meeting. The motion for leave passed 170-17; the bill would be withdrawn on 10 June. Hansard cxi cols 171-234, 1030 (D'S speech 21826). 2 The extant correspondence between Sarah and MA shows that Sarah had been in poor health. She had written to MA on 10 May, and on 20 May would write to her again, presumably in response to MA'S letter that D here mentions; she had finished her year of solitude at Hastings and promptly removed to Brighton in the first week of May - to her old address of 31 Oriental Place. In the earlier letter she had exulted at having 'emerged into a wonderful large world again' and in the later she would arrange to see the DS in London at the end of the week. H 0/111^/235,236.

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The | Marq: of Londonderry | G.C.B. My dear Lord, I very much regretted leaving town without seeing you, but I was greatly pressed with affairs to the last moment. I shall be in / my place in the House of Comm: on Thursday next, at present with the intention of originating a debate on the state of our foreign affairs, 1 & I shd. like very much to have the advantage of yr. counsel & advice before I spoke - I count on / getting to London on Thursday, about two o'ck, & would come on to you immediately, if not inconvenient. If you can write me a line to say how affairs look, I shd. feel obliged.2 I hope Lady Londonderrys cold is concluded. Direct, / if you please, your letter to me here, & believe me, My dear Lord, | Ever Yours | D. 2OO4 TO: EDWARD V. KENEALY

Hughenden [Monday] 20 May 1850

ORIGINAL: HUNT HM 38611 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Wycomb. 1 See 1979111. On Thursday 16 May, and again on Friday 17 May, the last day before the Whitsun recess, D had asked for an explanation and papers about the sudden departure of the French ambassador. Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell contended that there was nothing significant about it but, when some members claimed that they had heard that it was a hostile recall and D had asked for papers on the matter, he said there would be an opportunity on Thursday for D to ask further questions during the supply debate, that the papers were too voluminous to prepare in such a short time, and that he did not think a debate on the matter was needed. Hansard CXI cols 104-5, 166-9. 2 Lord Londonderry would reply on 20 May, doubting that he had any information not already at D'S fingertips. He hoped to have some letters from Paris before Thursday which might be informative. The general feeling of which he was aware was indignation at a great powerful nation inflicting war over a paltry sum, 'and also for the apparent shuffling & duplicity that is as yet apparent in the whole of the proceedings.' He said he had talked to Aberdeen: 'He [Aberdeen] strongly fears any attempt to attack P[almerston] in the H of C with the Cobden Bright & Radicals supporting the Govt, who stick to the Foreign Secy through thick & thin. He would obtain a Triumph ... & nullify any proceeding we might take in the Lords. The greatest caution he thinks shd be used in this respect & I strongly advise, that some understanding shd be come to between you Ld Stanley & with Aberdeen before you give your notice ... The probable course will be a vote of censure and if this passes our House P must be resign [sic] ...' He then told of a conversation with Brunnow, who feared he would also soon be recalled. Finally, he reported Aberdeen's concurrence with his views on the Irish franchise bill, that it should be amended in committee rather than opposed later in the Lords. Later the same day Londonderry would write again, to say he had seen the Duke of Wellington, who thought Palmerston would have to back down and accept Baron Gros's mediation in Athens. H B/xx/v/24-5. On Thursday 23 May Palmerston would make a statement describing the intricacies of the affair which had led to what he described as the French government's misconception of his actions, which he said had not been meant to be unfriendly to France; he explained that he had been obliged to be less than forthright before the recess as he had not wanted to preempt the effect of the explanations of his actions sent to Paris via the ambassador. D asked that the House not ratify this statement until the papers had been considered (they had been provided just that day and he had not yet read them), and said Palmerston was evidently intent on displaying British power in the Mediterranean. He wondered why there had been no mention of the convention drawn up by Palmerston and the French ambassador, or of the effect of the incident on relations with Russia, and pronounced that Palmerston had failed to be cordial, sincere and frank towards the French offer of mediation. Lord John Russell then accused D of having got the facts wrong, saying that the problem had been one of insufficient time for the 18 April convention to reach Athens. See further 20O5&m and zooy&ni. Hansard cxi cols 237-68 (D'S speech 257-64).

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E. Kenealy Esqr. Hughenden Manor, | H. Wycomb. May 20/50. Sir, I thank you very much for the copy of "the New Pantomime", wh: reached / me at a happy moment for its perusal. 1 I have read it, & recurred to it, with real gratification. It is a work of great, of / rare, & of sustained, genius. I have the honor to be, | Sir, | Your obliged & faithful | Servant, | B DISRAELI TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Hughenden [Wednesday] 22 May 1850

2005

ORIGINAL: DUR o/LO/c/53o [52] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Ladye's.

Hughenden Manor | May 22. 1850. The | Marq: of Londonderry | G.C.B. My dear Lord, I enclose the Ladye's letter, with all my thanks. 1 I shall be with you tomorrow morning, about two o'ck, / when, if I find you at home & disengaged, we will fully discuss the interesting question of yr. despatch, & all other affairs. I will bring up the Resolutions with me. They require, I think, / some little recasting, wh: I shall be able to give them this evening. 2 I hope Lady Londonderry is quite well, & yourself. Ever yrs | D. TO: PHILIP ROSE ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/7i

Carlton Club [Thursday] 23 May 1850

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page of the MS: 'May 23 1850 Mr Disraeli'. Sic: checque; Glostershire.

private Carlton Club. | May 23. 1850. My dear Rose, I have nothing to do with Mr Duncan, 1 & have no wish to assist him. I settled a post obit in 1848, of more than twenty years standing, by converting it / into an annuity at five pr Ct., so it shd. not appear even on the roll, & giving an 1 Edward Kenealy on 14 May from Gray's Inn had sent D a copy of his newly published Goethe, A New Pantomime. H B/xxi/K/no. Lady de Rothschild on 13 August when returning the book to MA would describe it as 'most clever & most horrible.' H 0/111/0/1996. Ironically this was not 'a happy moment' for Kenealy, who on 12 May had been prosecuted for punishing with undue severity his 6-year-old son, Edward Hyde. 1 See 2O03n2 above. Lord Londonderry had written on 21 May, enclosing a private letter he had received from 'a fair Lady who knows what is going forward well at Paris' (which he asked D to return); he also promised 'some french Accounts later'. H B/xx/v/26. 2 The main subject of Lord Londonderry's letter (ni) had been a request for D'S advice on how he should act 'in my isolated but independent position' with respect to the bill abolishing the office of lord lieutenant of Ireland (see 2OO2ni), about which he felt he must do something. He thought he might soon move a resolution without forcing a division, to 'induce Noble Lords to talk & think about it', especially since the Duke of Wellington had told him 'the Bill would never do, it was much too crude & would create endless Confusion. Now you can feel Lord S's Pulse for me & discover if I shd. be at all supported.' He enclosed sketches of '3 rather long Resolutions' which he asked D to fashion 'in some more excellent shape of your own.' See further 2O07&n2 below. 1 See i863&m.

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2006

Insurance. The parties insisted on selecting their own office, &,. after long delay, they effected their Insurance, about a year / ago, at the "Pelican". I paid, at once, a checque for the amount of the premium, & they neglected to pay this again to the office until more than six months had elapsed, when / the "Pelican," in consequence of my illness, declared off. I am not sure, that I am not free from any further liability, but as the persons interested behaved with liberality & consideration in the settlement, I will not say, / that I am prepared to insist upon my rights even if they exist - tho' I am very much disgusted at having my name bandied about m Insurance offices.2 I shall be very pleased to hear, that Hughenden is in private hands, even if you do not obtain / as low a rate of interest as you count on.3 I found a letter here from my Glostershire agent, who will be in town on Monday or Tuesday. After I have seen him, I will communicate with you / respecting the other points of your letter. But, if you choose to act on my behalf, you may count on your money on the payment of the dividends, as I have / now arranged, that all our dividends shd. be received by bankers, wh: ensures the pot being full about the 8th. July. 4 Yours ever | D. 2OO7 TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 26 May 1850

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/53O [53]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The word 'confidential' is repeated at the top of the fifth page. Endorsed in another hand on the last page of the MS: 'Disraeli May 28 1850'. Sic: Brunows.

confidential My dear Lord, Grosvenor Gate | May 26 1850 I saw Ld. Stanley late, yesterday afternoon, immediately on his arrival. He was in high spirits, & in communication with Ld. Aberdeen, but on my / giving him the information, wh: had just reached me, that the London Convention was accepted, I imparted a fact wh: disturbed previous conceptions, & it is, therefore, not in my power to tell you what / step, on reflection, he will think fit to take tomorrow. A new element was introduced, wh: required thought. 1 2 The only insurance policy in 1850 on which information has been found is one on Dby the Economic Life Assurance Society on 31 July 1850 for Ld Exmouth, £5,000 for an annual premium of £125.16.8. H A/v/G/136-7. The Pelican Life Assurance Co had offices at 70 Lombard Street and 57 Charing Crescent; no papers pertaining to it have been found in H. 3 D is presumably anticipating the successful completion of the Hughenden-purchase arrangements with the Bentincks; see i7O2ni. 4 See 2OOini; no letter from Lovegrove or any other agent has been found that fits this date. Lovegrove had tried to call on D on 8 March, but D had been too ill to see him. There are also cryptic and uninformative references to holders of bills, and to insurance policies and premiums. H D/II/ 6/283,354. 1 See ±979ni, 2OO3&nm&2 and 2OO5&m. In a note on 'Sndy Evg' written from Rosebank, Lord Londonderry had said he had 'today' heard that Talmerston has actually accepted Humble Pie, & the Treaty of London is to be carried out.' He asked to be informed of Lord Stanley's plans the next day (if indeed Stanley was well enough to be in the House), and about any decisions on the Franchise Bill. H B/xx/v/29. The 'London Convention' was the agreement reached on 18 April

332

We had much conversation as to Irish affairs. Ld. S. happening to mention, that he shd. like personally to consult you / on the franchise bill, but apprehended there was perhaps, on your side, no very warm inclination to co-operate with him, I took the liberty of removing what has been too long a mutual misconception. These are not times in / wh: we can permit les grands of the old party to remain unnecessarily estranged. As he is extremely frank, he sd., that he shd. write to you at once, & ask your counsel as to the most advisable course to pursue with the Franchise / bill. As to the Ld Lieutt, he watches events; I see, however, no objection to your giving the notice in the Lords.2 I know from a source, that cannot be mistaken, that the warmest letters of congratulation, wh: Lady / Palmerston received on "the masterly statement", were from the Brunows!3 // est assezfin. I hope Lady Londonderry is well. It seems to me, that I shall never see her again. I shall not be able to call at / Holdernesse House tomorrow, for I have a very difficult motion to bring forward in the House, for wh: I am at this moment quite unprepared. 4 Yours ever, | D. in London between Palmerston and Drouyn de Lhuys on the conditions for a settlement of the dispute in Greece, but it was not signed. The French sent word of the Convention to Baron Gros, its minister in Athens (who had not been able to achieve a successful mediation there), but Palmerston did not send any instructions to Thomas Wyse, the British minister, who therefore followed his original instructions, renewed coercive measures and forced the Greek government to accept his terms; this it did, on 27 April. The news of this act contrary to the agreement made with the French government led to the recall of the French ambassador, who left London for Paris on 15 May. In the period beginning 22 May the publication in London of papers from Paris established that the French ambassador had been recalled because of what the French saw as Palmerston's refusal to enact the terms of the London convention. Stanley would twice agree to requests for postponement of his motion on the matter, notice of which had been given before the Whitsun recess, and it would not come up until 18 June, when he would systematically denounce Palmerston's policy point by point and call on the House of Lords 'to vindicate the authority of a great nation prostituted by an attempt to enforce unjust demands upon a weak and defenceless state.' AR (1850) 65-7, 281-94. See Ridley Palmerston 374-88. See further 20128013 and 2Oi3&n2. 2 See 2OO5n2 above. On 24 May Lord Londonderry had thanked D profusely for his help with the resolutions and asked if D could tell him Lord Stanley's opinion 'before Monday or Tuesday.' On 27 June, after many more letters to D, Lord Londonderry would move three resolutions calling for the office of lord lieutenant of Ireland to be maintained; after debate he withdrew the motion. H B/xx/v/28-43; Hansard cxn cols 458-77. 3 'The masterly statement' is Palmerston's 23 May explanation, ironically thus alluded to by D throughout his response to it. In his letter (n2) Lord Londonderry had reported hearing that there were suspicions Brunnow was playing much the same game as Palmerston. In his Sunday evening note (ni) Londonderry had expressed the view that Palmerston's acceptance of the London convention might alter Brunnow's 'half & half policy' of leaving behind in London a charge d'affaires if he himself were recalled. Russia was indignant at the British blockade of Greece without consulting her as one of the three powers which had set up the Greek protectorate and there had been talk of Brunnow's withdrawal. 4 Presumably this is a reference to a motion actually brought forward by W. Forbes on 27 May when the House in committee of supply would debate the salaries and expenses of the treasury; the motion called for a 10 per cent reduction of all the salaries in the category, and D in the ensuing debate charged the government with being more willing to allow wages than salaries to reflect changing circumstances. On D'S advice, Forbes withdrew the motion. Hansard cxi cols 391-9 (D'S remarks 392, 394-7).

333

2008 TO: [T. HENNIKER] [London, late May?] 1850 ORIGINAL: H 6/11/114 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Note in D'S hand on a letter from T(J?). Henniker, dated 'May/5o'. Endorsed in another hand on the first page of Henniker's letter: 'Brit Q.R Aug. 1849'. This letter is here included because this draft was written by D himself.

Sir, I am requested directed by Mr D to state that he believes yr. letter was immediately destroyed on its being answered, as is his custom & that he has at this moment no clear recollection of its subject. 1

I am, Sir 2009

T0:

SAMUEL PHILLIPS Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 3 June 1850 ORIGINAL: ROB [i] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the last page of the MS: 'Disraeli )June 1850 . S. Phillips Esqr Grosvenor Gate | June 3. 1850. My dear Mr Phillips, I am very anxious to hear some news, & I hope good news, of your health. Pray let me know how you are getting on. / These easterly winds are not the right thing; but I trust, you are protected from them on yr Southern shore. 1 Yours very faithfully | D.

201O TO: BENJAMIN HAWES ORIGINAL: DUL [2]

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 11 June 1850

My dear Hawes, Grosvenor Gate | June 11. 1850 I return you the Cuban despatch, 1 wh: I have read with great interest. It / is able, & I shd think accurate; & I am very much obliged to you for entrusting

it to me. Always | Yours sincerely | D. 1 T (J?). Henniker had written a letter from the 'U[nited] U[niversity] Club, Pall Mall East' dated 'May/5o', saying that three weeks earlier he had asked D to return a note of 5 April last and that he had not received it; he asked to be assured that it had not been communicated to anyone who might use it, and again asked to have it back. H 6/11/114. The British Quarterly Review X (August 1849, 118-38) (see ec) had published an anonymous review of Coningsby written by G.H. Lewe Wellesley Index. Lewes had taken the occasion of the review to do an exhaustive and devastating analysis of D as politician as well as author, and it is possible that the correspondence between D and Henniker involved an attempt to learn the reviewer's identity. 1 The most recent extant letter from Phillips to D is one written on 22 March from Hastings (where he had gone because of his tuberculosis) about D'S health but also discussing several current political matters; in it Phillips advised D not to veer back to the Protectionist issue, as that would deflect the focus from D. The next extant letter is dated 4 July 1850. H B/xxi/P/247-8. 1 This presumably had to do with the (unsuccessful) May invasion of Cuba by General Lopez and American privateers about which D had asked a question in the House on 7 June 1850. Lord Palmerston explained that information had just been received indicating that the incident had happened without the knowledge or approval of the American government, which was taking steps to halt the expedition and maintain friendly relations with Spain. Hansard Cxi cols 898-9. Hawes at this time was under-secretary for war and the colonies.

334

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Grosvenor Gate, Friday [14 June 1850] 2011

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 59887 ({49-50 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'June 12'. Dating: by the Factory Bill; see n2 and cf 2Oi2&m.

My dear Sa, Friday — G Gate. Mary Anne hopes you will be able to dine with us on Sunday — at V2 past seven.1 I shd. have called on / you this morning, had I gone to a Comm[itt]ee — but the Factory bill comes on tonight, 2 & I thought it just / as well, that I shd. have a morning of repose. Send a line by the post. Yrs affly | D. TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate, Friday [14 June 1850] 2012

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C/530 [l6]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 82-3, dated March-April, 1850 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by context; see ni and c/~25&ni]. If I am not much misinformed you are become extremely popular with the lower orders.' On 12 March he sent another note: 'I ought to have told you long ago that I informed my friend a Cabinet Minister that I had enlisted under Lord Stanley.' H B/xxi/p/32930. 1 According to the report of 'the Ministerial Crisis', in MP (27 Feb 1851) '... Mr. Disraeli has been so closely engaged during the past three days at his mansion in Park-lane, that no other person than Lord Stanley has been admitted to an interview with the honourable member.' Nevertheless, the report continued, the DS had been among the guests dining with Lord and Lady Glengall the previous evening. 2 See 2097&m for D'S speech on agricultural distress; as the one whose motion was being debated, he on 13 February (the second night of debate on his motion) had made what The Times the next day called 'a vigorous and sparkling reply' in which he reviewed the debate and answered each speech against his motion. The Times (14 Feb 1851). See also app V [g].

414

TO: SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON

Grosvenor Gate 2103 [Friday] 28 February 1851

ORIGINAL: HCR D/EK 05(9] My dear Bulwer, Grosvenor Gate | Feb 28. 51 I think your suggestion1 of very great importance. I propose, that you shd. call on me on Sunday morning at any hour agreeable to / you, — one o'ck if you please - when we will discuss affairs in entire confidence. I wd. suggest also, that after our discussions are over, & when you have had a fair opportunity of chewing their cud, that / you shd. give us the great pleasure of yr. company at dinner 2 - when we shall be able to canvass & criticise the first impressions & conclusions of the morning, / so that you will go down to Knebworth on Monday in prime order for work. 3 Ever yours | D. TO: PHILIP ROSE

Carlton Club, Sunday [2 March 1851?]

2104 2104

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/6i EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: conjectural; c/2iooni.

Phil: Rose Esq. Carlton | Sunday My dear Rose, I wish to see you, without fail tomorrow on business of some importance. I am so circumstanced that / I cannot make an exact appointment, but I shall endeavour to call on you about one o'ck:, & will take the chance / of finding you. I made the arrangement you suggested with our eccentric friend. Yours flly | D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London] Saturday [8 March? 1851] 21O5

ORIGINAL: H A/i/B/341 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Blake 306, dated 8 March 1851, summary with extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: '1851 March 8'. There is an elaborate erasure at the top of the first page over the date, effected by what looks like a series of capital Gs. Dating: there is no basis for disputing the endorsed date; although 15 March 1851 seems almost as likely; see further ni. 1 In a letter of 27 February, Bulwer Lytton had told D he was thinking of writing a pamphlet containing his own 'honest views' of the state of affairs and parties. He thought the country was in a very critical and dangerous state, and felt such a statement might be useful, especially as coming from someone who could be perceived as politically impartial. He wished to have a 'thoroughly private' chat with D on Sunday about the matter, before he went off to Knebworth on Monday to 'knock it off. H B/xx/Ly/53. For the pamphlet see 2l23&m. 2 Lytton's response was that he would be delighted to accept, provided he had 'recovered the effects of Macready's [retirement] dinner eno' to be able to dine at all.' H B/xx/Ly/54. 3 E.H. Stanley recorded finding D in 'very low spirits' on this day (28 February): 'He had counted on success, and felt the disappointment keenly ... for himself he should retire from public life, and return to literature ...' DBF Box 43/1; Disraeli, Derby 49-50. Lord Stanley wrote to D on this day about Stanley's letter to the Queen regarding the accuracy of Russell's account of events in the ministerial crisis, and enclosed an excerpt. Stanley was also concerned that D was not satisfied with the result of the previous day's deliberations. H B/xx/s/ag. See ziojni below and app v [h].

415

My dear Sa, Saturday I have not written, as I shd. only have conveyed to you painful, or at least perplexed, views. My opinion is, that we have missed our chance, 8c that the tide may not easily be again seized. I disagree with you also about / speech wh: I did not 1 think by any means happy. As far as I can form an opinion, where the elements are still confused, Graham will soon be Minister - at the head of a re-organised liberal party & / with a new Reform Bill to commence the next Session. Unless we can precipitate his advent, & force a dissolution with the present franchise, I think it is all up with old England, & American principles / will then have gained the day - Cobden I shd. think certain to be in the new Cabinet. It is rare in parties that such opportunities are offered as we have rejected, or rather been unequal to. This is all black — but I thought you wd. prefer even such bitter truth to Silence. Yrs | D

2106 TO: LORD CARRINGTON 2106

GGrosvenor Gate [Saturday] 8 March 1851

ORIGINAL: CARR [8] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page of the MS: 'Mr. Disraeli to Lord Carrington March 8. 1851.'

The | Lord Carington Grosvenor Gate | Mar - 8. - 51 My dear Lord, The Influenza has grabbed me. I have delayed, until the last moment, expressing my very great regret, that / I cannot be your guest today, but I must make the sacrifice.1 Ever, my dear Lord, | yours most sincerely, | B DISRAELI 1 In the text D has drawn a line before the word 'speech'. No letter from Sarah appropriate to D's response has been found. If the docketed date (see ec) is correct, she must have remarked on D's speech of 28 February in which he explained his 24 February remarks in the House about what exactly Lord Stanley had said to the Queen. D'S rebuttal of Lord John Russell's report of what the Queen had told and shown him about the meeting was taken as an affront to the Queen, who was herself highly offended. D maintained that his remarks had been valid in substance, but he apologized for the abruptness and uncouthness of the manner in which he had made them, and offered in extenuation a 'physical oppression' under which he had been suffering. Hansard CXiv cols 895, 1040-3. See Blake 301. It is possible that Sarah had commented on a different speech by D; on 5 March Lord Stanley and D had been visited in turn at their respective residences by a deputation of the National Protectionist Association led by G.F. Young, with expressions of thanks and support for the work these leaders were doing, but urging them not to abandon the fight to return to pre1846 protectionism. MH on 6 March had carried a full account of the two meetings, and of the speeches by Stanley and D (see 2101113). A copy of the report is in the collection of press clippings in H; MA had sent it to Sarah, who returned it to MA on 'Thursday' 13 March. H D/iii/A/256,268. In his speech D had explained that he was advocating, not the interest of only one class, but the good of the whole community which, generally, was flourishing under the new system. He particularly denounced the concept of parliament as an arena of class conflict, and urged the deputation to adopt a conciliatory approach to the problem of seeking compensation for the loss of protection. According to the report, the speech was well received by the deputation. 1 Lord Carrington at Wycombe Abbey was entertaining Sir John Jervis and Sir William Erie, the judges who would preside at the Bucks Lent Assizes at Aylesbury beginning on Monday 10 March (which D would also not attend). BH (15 Mar 1851).

416

TO: PHILIP ROSE

House of Commons, Monday 10 March 1851 2107

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/SI

PRIVATE H of Comm: | Monday Mar: 10 | 751 My dear Rose, I have the pleasure to inform you, that I have honorably extricated myself from / an honorable engagement in the matter on wh: you wrote to me, & that my friend has declined the / offer of the living, wh: I made him. 1 You may, therefore, proceed, & inform me of yr progress. I will endeavour to find you at home / in my way to the house in the course of the week. Yours sincerely, | D. TO: DUDLEY PERCEVAL

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 13 March 1851 210O

ORIGINAL: NLS 7178 ££54 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand at the top of the MS: 'Mr. Disraeli'.

D. Perceval Esqr Grosvenor Gate | Mar: 13. 51 My dear Sir, I ought, before this, to have acknowledged the receipt of your letter of Feby, the friendly tone of wh: I greatly appreciate, / & to wh: I respond; but a variety of causes have prevented my doing so. If ever you have half an hour disengaged, Saturday at / V2 past one for example, I shd. be glad to see you, & talk over the subject of your interesting communication. 1 Yours sincerely, | B DISRAELI TO: RALPH DISRAELI

[London, Saturday] 15 March 1851 210^

ORIGINAL: H A/I/E/4

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Speaker's'

My dear Ralph,

Mar 15. 51.

1 See 2ioo&m, 2118 and 2125.

1 Dudley Montagu Perceval (1800-1856), fourth son of the former prime minister, had written to D from 16 Wilton Street, Grosvenor Place, several times since 3 April 1850; on 6 February he had written from Herefordshire. He congratulated Don his 'most Statesmanlike' speech on the Address, and asked him to get his 'brother-in-law Mr Spencer Walpole' to show D a suggestion he had sent Walpole for 'a line to be taken by the Constitutional party, in case the Ministerial measure is not worthy of the occasion, as I see very plainly you expect it will turn out.' He then went on to try to persuade D to reconsider his position on 'the Jews Bill', which he thought hindered D in doing what he could for the country. He argued that prejudice against Jews was attributable to popery, and pointed out the failure of blacks in the U.S. to benefit from being declared equal. He allowed that D'S 'error' was a natural one for which he found it hard to blame D; he enclosed a copy of a pamphlet, and said he would be at 16 Wilton Street the next week. On 24 March he would write a i6-page letter analysing the debate on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill up to that day, with detailed suggestions about what D might do, as though D had asked for advice. On 25 March he would write again, to make a point he had forgotten to include in the previous letter, and conclude: 'I am glad you have not spoken yet. But if Gladstone speaks you really ought, even if you were obliged to adjourn the House. Yet pray keep in mind the possibility (if he is not a Papist at heart which is possible & probable) that you may one day act together.' H B/xxi/p/2ii-i3.

417

I put your friends name down on the Speaker's' list yesterday, being the first day it cd. be put / on, as only a week is allowed, &, the day before, there was no house. He is on the Supplementary List, but high in it & / will be admitted at five o'ck.1 Affairs are more complicated than ever & very harassing[.] Yrs | D. 211O TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London] Saturday [22 March 1851]

ORIGINAL: FITZ Disraeli A40 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 235, dated 22 March 1851, with omissions; M&B in 296, parts of the second sentence EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'March 22 1851'. Dating: cf 2ii2&m. Sic: grandaughter.

My dear Sa, Saturday I must write you a little line, only to let you know, that I am alive - & pretty well. I can say nothing of public affairs wh: are involved in impenetrable / clouds but wh: cost me great trouble & harass & anxiety. The debate will close on Monday; at least I shall speak on that day, & follow, if I can, Gladstone.1 1 On Thursday 13 March the requisite 40 members had not been present when the House met at 4pm, and it had been adjourned until the next day. Hansard cxiv col 1304. The Speaker's list is for admission to the gallery. 1 The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill was having a difficult passage through the House, with as much division within parties as between them. Stanley had made his position clear at the 4 February meeting of the party: he would resist modifying the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act, but thought the penal laws should be revised in order to remove merely offensive measures and to ensure that those which remained were effective. D'S position was that the party should deflect the aroused Protestant feelings as much as possible away from the English Catholics and towards the Pope. On 9 March D had urged the party to fight the revised bill with the aid of the Irish members, but his proposal was rejected. Disraeli, Derby 34-5, 37, 54. In a letter dated only 'Friday', probably written on 14 March as the debate on second reading was about to begin, Stanley had written to D: 'Since I saw you yesterday, it has occurred to me that you might offer to the Government the alternative of adjourning the debate for a week, or of taking the 2d. Reading pro forma, and, as far as we are concerned, without debate, reserving to ourselves the right, and avowing the intention, of debating the principle, on the question of the Speaker's leaving the Chair. This would equally effect our object, and would, apparently, be less obstructive. If possible, we should prevent our friends from committing themselves tonight, either to support, or oppose the Bill. [P.S.] I only suggest this for your consideration - for, after all, the course must be decided on the spot and at the moment.' H B/xx/s/36. The debate on second reading, however, dragged on. On 21 March Russell had written to Stanley for help in carrying the bill, and Stanley apparently forwarded the letter to D with the following letter dated only 11 o'clock: 'I have this moment received the enclosed from John Russell. No great danger, I should think, after last night, of a coalition between him and Graham! [Graham had made his major speech against the bill on 20 March; D had feared a Graham-Russell coalition.] I think I may safely assure him in answer that you will not, in any thing you may say tonight, commit yourself to the specific amendments you may propose in Committee ... [or] that if you announce anything of our course in Committee, it will be that we intend to render really effectual the legislation which they propose on that small portion of a great question which they propose to touch - namely the assumption of territorial titles, in virtue of the late Papal Rescript. I will not however answer him till I hear from you: send me word as soon as you can what you wish me to say.' H B/xx/s/38; Disraeli, Derby 58. Stanley then promised Russell the full support of the Protectionists for second reading of the bill. Prest Russell 329. The debate would nevertheless extend to a seventh night, Tuesday 25 March, when, very late, D would speak immediately after Gladstone. In his speech D denounced the bill, but said he would vote for it because,

418

John Manners is going to be married to / Miss Marlay, a grandaughter of my old friend, Lady Charleville; a very pretty girl with three thousand a year, 1 /2 of it argent comptant. I was officially informed of / it by a letter last night, for tho' we have dined togr. every day, & sate togr in the house every night, he cd. not screw up courage enough for the annmt. 2 I hope you are well. We dine to day at Lady Braye's. MA is out a good deal,3 but H of C. absorbs me. yrs affly | D TO: PETER GEORGE FITZGERALD

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 2111 24 March 1851

ORIGINAL: INL [4] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The letter is in D'S hand.

Grosvenor Gate | Mar. 24. 51 Mr. Disraeli presents his Compliments to the Knight of Kerry, & wd. be very happy to receive him on Tuesday next at half past one, if not inconvenient to the Knightf.] 1 TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 25 March 1851

ORIGINAL: BEA [Ri-67] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Whibley II 42, undated, the final paragraph

My dear J.M.

Grosvenor Gate | Mar: 25-51.

as Sir Frederic Thesiger had argued, the minimum of legislation was better than none at all; he concluded with a stinging criticism of Sir James Graham. He also responded to Gladstone's point about religious liberty for various churches by asking whether he was prepared to extend it to the Church of England and free it of the Queen's supremacy; he inferred that Gladstone was opposed to the alliance of church and state. Shortly after D'S speech second reading was passed 438-95, D voting for and Gladstone against the bill. Hansard CXIV cols 1323-1404, CXV cols 33-109 (D'S comments 108, 109), 125-88, 233-325, 334-40, 344-422, 428-93, 514-621 (Gladstone's speech 565-97, D'S 597-605). See further M&B in 296-8. 2 Lord John Manners had written to D on 21 March to announce his engagement, 'a piece of news which I fear may perhaps be not altogether agreable [sic] to you.' He stressed that D would not be losing his political services: 'She is too sensible to wish me for a moment to turn aside from the career before me: and you know from experience how useful and encouraging an auxiliary a Wife may be to a Public man.' H B/xx/M/75. On 10 June, at the Church of All Souls, Langham Place, Manners would marry Catherine Louisa Georgina Marlay (1831-1854), only daughter of Lt-Col George Marlay and Catharine Marlay, of Cavendish Square, and maternal granddaughter of the late dowager Countess of Charleville; the Ds would not attend the wedding. The announcement is the last letter from Manners to D in H before 5 January 1852. According to Manners's journal entry for Lady Day (25 March) 1851, he had proposed and been accepted not long after Lady Charleville's death on 24 February; on 1 April he would record the 'piles of letters of congratulations' that had been sent, also mentioning that the two of them had lunched with the Cochranes and dined with Smythe: 'I try & hope to keep up all my old happy friendships & connections.' BEA LJMJ. MP would publish the announcement on 25 March 1851. 3 This is confirmed by MA'S account book, which shows relatively little social activity in 1850, but in March 1851 a dramatic resurgence of engagements for her. 1 Peter FitzGerald, Knight of Kerry, would reply on 4 April 1851 from Valencia Island, Kerry, apologizing that D'S 'note of 24th. Ulto' appointing a time for the meeting he had requested had not reached him before he had returned to Ireland. He had wanted to see D about the imminent report of the Trans-Atlantic Packet Station Commissioners, and to inform him of what he saw to be the many advantages of Valencia for all trans-Atlantic purposes; he included a packet of related papers. H B/xxi/F/i55,i55a.

419

2112

Your letter, wh: confirmed an interesting rumor, that had reached my ear, was most gratifying to me. I have only admired Miss Marlay at a distance, / but I have known her mother for many years,1 & like her very much; & Lady Charleville was one of my earliest & kindest friends. My own experience tells me, that domestic happiness, / far from being an obstacle to public life, is the best support of an honorable ambition, & I am sure, that you will prove no exception to this satisfactory result. Miss Marlay will / be united to the best, & the most amiable, of men, & one of the cleverest; & I hope it may be my privilege often to witness the certain felicity of herself, & that husband, for whom I entertain a sincere friendship. D. 2113 TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 27 March 1851

ORIGINAL: DUR 0/1,0/0/530 [79] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 100-3, dated 27 March 1851 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: base; chrystal.

My dear Lady, Mar: 27. 51. G.G. I can only write a hurried line - & it shall be to you.1 Tell my Lord, that I have not been able to see Ld. Malmesbury - but that I will take upon myself to act in the matter of the Stanley dinner as seems to me most advisable, & that he can throw me over as non-authorised, in case I do anything, wh: he disapproves.2 I learn with great satisfaction, that Seaham is going to it. 1 See in io88&n4. 1 Lord Londonderry had written to D from 'Bourdeaux' on 13 March 1851 to chide him, on behalf of himself and Lady Londonderry, for not writing to them, and to offer his views on events (eg Lord John Russell as Humpty Dumpty): 'Stanley was wrong to cry stinking fish of his own Instruments Louis Nap knew better & has got a working govt, & I can't understand why you could not have filled up even momentarily the working Departments & have dissolved when the Minister in Power has always great means of strengthening himself...' On 21 March 1851 he had written again, from Pau, thanking D profusely for his letter (not found); he was most puzzled at the behaviour of Graham, and Aberdeen, and was convinced 'the Peelites must break up & be scattered ... It is now pretty evident that there will not be merely two parties in the Country But there will be Two Classes, pitted against Each other: Aristocracy & a Moderate Tax or impost on food, and Democracy & Free Trade.' He predicted that to reduce the risk of a Protectionist government the Whigs would 'agitate for a new Reform Bill', and conceded that the monarchist party could survive only by perpetual concessions to the people. H B/xx/v/62-3. 2 A dinner for Lord Stanley would be given by more than 300 of his parliamentary and political friends on 2 April at Merchant Taylors' Hall, '"to afford the leader of the country party an opportunity of putting an end to all the quibbles to which political schismatics have subjected the open-hearted policy of Lord Stanley."' (Quoted by The Times (3 Apr 1851) from an unidentified Protectionist paper.) On 13 March Londonderry (ni) had remarked: 'I have a Circular from Malmesbury to day, asking my name for the Dinner The Party give to Ld Stanley the D of Richmond] in the Chair. You will probably see my answer & I think Lord Stanley will understand it.' On 21 March he had written: 'I think you have done quite right in not having the highest Shade of Colour in the Chair - I wish you wd. ask Malmesbury to shew you my letters & I would solicit you to tell me ... whether I shd beg my name now to be put down or not. Is the dinner meant to be confined strictly to those who have worn the Colours of Protection?' In the event, Thomas Baring would be in the chair. Lord Stanley would base his speech on an extended parallel between the current state of the party and that in 1838 when Sir Robert Peel had been similarly honoured in the same hall (see III 76o&n7); he would appeal to the party to be

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With regard to social news, the most / talked about is an escapade of Young Peel, the great Protestant orator.3 Playing at whist with George Anson, Mr. Clay M.P. for Hull, 4 & a gentleman by name Holmes,5 his partner, he threw down his cards on the loss of a rubber, said his partner was in collusion with the other two, who were cheats & swin sharpers &c. &c. Great confusion in the room - the Turf Club - the partner denounced him as in language equal to the occasion, Peel bounced out of the room, rang for all the waiters in the hall, repeated his accusation & ordered his name to be struck off the club. Holmes requests G. Anson to / take a message to Peel, wh: Anson, before all the club, refuses, on the ground, that a person guilty of such an outrage, must be considered out of the pale of society, & here the matter rests at present. I understand he did exactly the same thing at Madrid at the house of the French Minis Ambassador,6 &, I believe, playing with him. This with his receiving the Duchess of Gloucester, (who had announced a visit to his mother,) in a flowered dressing gown & a cigar in his mouth, conveys a lively impression of the manners of an aristocratic rouge republican, wh: he professes to be. His speech, wh: figured much in the papers was not good. It was very / inconsistent & incoherent. His voice a deep base, produces an effect at starting, but has no modulation, & is soon monotonous. Our friend Graham, after all his intrigues, & bidding for the support of all the revolutionary sections, divided the night before last only 95 against 44o!7 And after such an expenditure of first rate rhetoric! great speeches from him-

united again as it was then, promising to form a government after a general election. In his short speech D would endorse Stanley's eloquent allusion to the death of Bentinck which D said had left the party in the Commons leaderless: he saw their strength since then as having derived from being guided by principle temperately urged; their greatest duty was to support the institutions of the country. The Times (3 Apr 1851). See further 2116. See also app v [g]. 3 Sir Robert Peel's seat left vacant by his death in 1850 had been won by his eldest son and heir, Sir Robert Peel (1822-1895), 3rd Baronet, Liberal-Conservative MP for Tamworth 1850-80, for Huntingdon 1884-5, f°r Blackburn 1885-6, attache to the British legation at Madrid 1844, secretary of legation and charge d'affaires at Berne 1846-50, a lord of the admiralty 1855-7, attache to the special embassy to Russia 1856, chief secretary for Ireland 1861-5, PC 1861, GCB 1866. He had made his maiden speech in the House on 14 March during the first night of debate on second reading of the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, basing his support for the bill on his belief that the Protestant faith was the best; he held religious toleration to be a sacred principle, but saw the intolerant and insidious policy of Rome as a threat to England's religious faith and civil institutions; he regretted that the bill extended to Ireland, where he felt it was not warranted. Hansard cxiv cols 1375-84. In his 21 March letter (ni) Londonderry had remarked: 'Young Sir Robert seems to have made an extraordinary Debut Speech but is evidently a determin'd Whig!' 4C/i97&m6. 5 Cf the 'Mr Holmes' involved in the de Ros cards scandal in 1836-7. Greville in 3i8&nn3&4; see also II 576&n9 and 577. 6 Comte Charles de Bresson (1798-1897) was appointed French ambassador to Madrid 6 November 1843, arrived there 7 December 1843, and was there in 1844 when young Peel was attache. 7 See 2iioni. D evidently included the two tellers in the majority but not in the minority. According to E.H. Stanley's journal entry for 21 March 1851, the Protectionists' policy had been 'to defer the passing of the Bill as long as possible, thus keeping open the breach between Graham and Russell, whose coalition has been the object of Disraeli's unceasing fears. It is also our interest to keep the debate going as long as possible, for every speech uttered by the Peelites places them in a worse position with their constituents.' DBF Box 43/1; Disraeli, Derby 58, 61-2.

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self, Gladstone, Cardwell,8 Herbert, Young, 9 R. Palmer!10 As a public man, he is considered finished. A month ago, he was the proximate premier. - Here it rains a deluge every day: people are get beginning to be frightened about the crops, & the chrystal palace turns out to be not weather-proof]11 What a disaster! Ever yrs | D. 2114 TO: SARAH DISRAELI ORIGINAL: PS 377

House of Commons [Thursday] 27 March [1851]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Henry Sotheran Catalogue No 731 (1912) item 409: 'A.L.S. "D.", 12 pp. 8vo., H. of C., Mch. 27th [1849] to his Sister ... on a political subject, Sir Robert Peel and a remarkable Scene at the Turf Club.' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: cf 2ii3&nn3&7.

.... I think the Peelites are at last dished — and if we cd. only get a dissolution this autumn might be extirpated. The minority of 95, after all Graham's desperate intrigues, is a coup de grace ... That great champion Sir Robert Peel has made a characteristic escapade. 2115 TO: EDWARD HARPER

Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 28 March 1851

ORIGINAL: PS 404

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Myers Catalogue No 317 (October 1937) '3 V2 pp "Private" signed "D" Gros Gate 28 Mar. 1851 to E Harper Esq'

I don't think the Government will venture to omit Ireland from the bill: but in that event, my course is decided. I shall oppose the bill altogether, & hope to induce the Conservative party to follow me ... If so, the measure will be defeated, the Government will resign, & the settlement of the question will be thrown upon us. No doubt a great responsibility, but we must meet it like men. 1 8 Edward Cardwell (1813-1886), a barrister (Inner Temple 1838), ist (and last) Viscount Cardwell 1874; Liberal-Conservative MP for Clitheroe 1842-7, for Liverpool 1847-52, for Oxford City 18537, 1857-74; secretary to the treasury 1845-6, president of the board of trade 1852-5, chief secretary for Ireland 1859-61, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster 1861-4, DCL (Oxford) 1863, colonial secretary 1864-6, war secretary 1868-74 (when he introduced important military reforms). He had spoken during the second night of debate. Hansard cxv cols 102-8. 9 Sir John Young (1807-1876), 2nd Baronet, of Bailieborough Castle, co Cavan, created Baron Lisgar 1870, a barrister (Lincoln's Inn 1834), free-trade Conservative MP for Cavan 1831-55, a lord of the treasury 1841-4, secretary to the treasury (an active Peelite) 1844-6, PC 1852, chief secretary for Ireland 1852-5, chief commissioner of the Ionian Islands 1855-9, GCMG 1855, KCB 1859, governor of New South Wales 1860-7, GCB 1868, governor-general of Canada 1868-72. He had spoken during the sixth night of the debate (24 March); Sidney Herbert had spoken on the third night (18 March). Hansard CXV cols 164-82, 468-72. lORoundell Palmer (1812-1895), Kt 1861, created Baron Selborne 1872, Earl of Selborne 1882, a barrister (Lincoln's Inn) 1837, QC 1849, FRS 1860, Liberal-Conservative MP for Plymouth 1847-52, 1853-7, for Richmond 1861-72, solicitor-general 1861-3, DCL (Oxford) 1862, attorney-general 18636, PC 1872, lord chancellor (responsible for major legal reforms) 1872-4, 1880-5. He had spoken during the first night of the debate. Hansard CXIV cols 1347-64. 11 On 25 March there had been published in The Times a letter reporting that the Crystal Palace, on the point of being completed, was leaking in hundreds of places; the writer predicted (from experience with skylights, for what was the roof of the Crystal Palace but one immense skylight) that the first thunderstorm of the year would turn the Palace 'into a huge slough of despond.' The Great Exhibition doom-sayers at this time were legion; see, for example, Robert Rhodes James Albert, Prince Consort (1983) 199-200. 1 Edward Harper had first written to Don 23 April 1849, from 4 South Great Georges Street, Dublin, introducing himself as the editor of The Constitution and Church Sentinel, of which he enclosed the

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TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Carlton Club, Saturday 5 April 1851 2116

ORIGINAL: FITZ Disraeli A^ PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 255-6, dated 5 April 1851 at the Carlton, omitting the third paragraph; M&B III 296, an extract from the last paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Bethel; Mecht Tailors Hall.

My dear Sa, Carlton | Saty. Ap 5. 51 I write you a line, tho' correspondence is very distasteful to me. Ferrand stands for Aylesbury - & is at Hampden, Cameron fortunately / being an intimate friend of his. I hope, & believe, he will win. His opponent is Mr. Bethel of the Chan[cer]y bar; gone down as the Whig Candidate, altho' still a member of the Carlton Club, of / wh: he will be duly app reminded. 1 I never knew a pol[itica]l dinner successful - & betn. ourselves, I don't think Me[r]ch[an]t Tailors Hall was an exception. We have overstayed our market & it is useless to shut our eyes to the mortifying truth. 2 first number, plus a copy of a small volume of his poems titled Lays for Patriots; both included references to D. He offered to keep D informed on the views of Irish Protestants. According to Harper's next letter, of 28 October 1850, D had sent him 'a very kind and gratifying reply'; Harper was no longer editing but, to increase his income, was writing verses on 'the Protection and Free Trade questions', and included some with a request for D'S help in getting them published. On 12 November 1850 he gratefully acknowledged having now received two letters from D: 'I entirely concur with you on the inappropriateness of the time to make any use of the poems which I took the liberty of sending you.' He then went on to other matters; see 2063119. After further long letters on 23 December 1850, 27 January, i March and 4 March 1851, he had written again on 24 March with 12 pages of his Orange views on matters, this time worrying about 'the possibility, or probability, of the omission of Ireland from the Anti-Papal Bill' because of the possible influence of 'any strange combination of parties in the House, viz, the Grahamites, the Cobdenites, The Irish Popish Brigade, and various eccentric personages ...' Since there was no Irish Protestant in parliament he pinned all his hopes on D. On 7 May he would send D 11 more pages on the same topics, shortly followed by several more long letters. On 2 August 1851 he would suggest to D the name of the Rev T.D. Gregg (see IV 1478^1) for the vacancy at Hughenden of which he had read. H B/xxi/H/2i4-26&ff. An extract from another letter by D to Harper, undated except for the year, was published in Charles Hamilton Auction Catalogue 48 as part of item 129, 'D to Edward Harper 2 V2 pp 1851': 'The position is critical & I confess to you, that I now see no solution to our difficulties except of a power greater than man ...' 1 F. Calvert's election at Aylesbury (see 2o8o&n4) had been overturned on petition. On Friday 11 April W.B. Ferrand (Protectionist) would be defeated 544-518 by Richard Bethell (1800-1873), created Baron Westbury 1861, a barrister (Middle Temple) 1823, QC 1840, Liberal MP for Aylesbury 1851-9, for Wolverhampton 1859-61, vice-chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster 1851, solicitorgeneral 1852-6, attorney-general 1856-8, DCL (Oxford) 1860, PC 1861, lord chancellor 1861-5. He had unsuccessfully stood for Shaftesbury as a Liberal-Conservative in 1847. In an undated letter evidently written 7 or 8 April, Beresford would tell D of his long interview with Ferrand in which he 'put him up to all Bethel's proceedings ... he says that the Bribery is beginning on the other side. Abel Smith is supporting Bethel ... Can you get at Lord Howe? I will speak to Worcester this evening.' H B/xx/Bd/55. On Monday 12 May there would be an extraordinary meeting of the Conservative Club in London at which Bethel and his agent Acton Tindal would be expelled, Bethel by a vote of 174-20, Tindal by 167-22. BH 17 May 51. See further Richard W. Davis Political Change and Continuity 1760-1885: A Buckinghamshire Study (Newton Abbot 1972) 165-6, 189^. 2 See 2ii3n2. The Times (3 Apr 1851) had called Stanley's speech a repetition of 'the somewhat indefinite sketch of his policy which he gave in the recent Ministerial explanations', and facetiously commended his wisdom 'in promising protection under the most general terms, and in appealing to the verdict of a general election.' According to E.H. Stanley's journal entry for 2 April, 'Disraeli alone expressed disappointment at the general result, having expected either a more explicit declaration of policy, or a larger attendance. He now predicts a new Reform Bill, the swamping of

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Yesterday I spoke very well in the House — & intend in the course of the week to make another great rally of the party 3 - but I fear it is too late. I hope you are well. Adieu | D 2117 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London] Sunday 13 April [1851]

ORIGINAL: PS 405 PUBLICATION HISTORY: W.V. Daniell's Catalogue of Autograph Letters (1906) 'A.L.s. "D." 8 pp. 8vo. Sunday, April 13 (1851), to [Sarah], fine letter'; LBCS 256-7, dated 13 April 1851; M&B III 300i, dated 13 April 1851, the first LBCS passage EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: the year is established by context; see n3_ Sic: Sydney.

[LBCS:] I rose so late on Saturday, not having got to bed the previous night till past four o'clock, that I could not write you a line, and give you tidings of the division, 1 which has very much inspirited our friends; though the truth is, it now turns out that we ought to have won, or at least reduced the majority to an almost infinitesimal quantity. However, our blood is up again, though I fear we shall never regain the occasion so sadly lost. In February the Whigs were prostrate, and even if beaten now, of which I have little or no hope, they will be formidable and well-organised foes. I spoke to my satisfaction, which is rarely the case. We shall go to Hughenden on Tuesday,2 thus closing a campaign seldom equalled for its events, its excitement, its chagrin and wasted energies. I am sorry, very, that I could not come down to see you before I went away, but independently of the painful absorption of my pursuits, I have had little heart for the expedition. May, perhaps, may bring brighter skies and fortunes, though we cannot complain of fortune, only of our inveterate imbecility, which could not avail itself of her abundant favours. [Daniell's:] The religious question will revive with all its fervour after the holidays, and the recent conversions will add fuel to the fire - you have heard of the secession of Manning the spiritual director of Sydney Herbert and of James Hope, the glory of the Scotch bar and Gladstone's bosom friend. [LBCS:] - by-the-bye, the son-in-law of Lockhart.3 ... the agricultural constituencies, and the permanent defeat of the Conservative party.' DBF Box 437 i; Disraeli, Derby 60. 3 On 4 April in the debate on Sir Charles Wood's budget, during which Wood had announced some modifications such as the withdrawal of the small grant for the support of lunatic paupers to ease local taxation, D had made a short speech charging Wood with deluding the House with his financial statements, and promised to put the whole matter before the House within a few days. On Friday II April D would move an amendment to Wood's budget, that, 'in any relief to be granted by the remission or adjustment of Taxation, due regard should be paid to the distressed condition of the owners and occupiers of land in the United Kingdom'; in his speech D would argue that the manner in which in this session the House had considered the problems of the agricultural interest had been so inconsistent and unjust, that a large portion of the population had lost confidence in the government. After further debate the motion would be defeated by a majority of only 13, 263250. Hansard cxv cols 1039-1113 (D'S speech 1101-5), cxvi cols 26-122 (D'S speech 26-48). See also M&B in 299-300. 1 See 2ii6&n3 above; on Friday 11 April, after the debate on D'S amendment, the House had adjourned at 2:15 am. 2 On Tuesday 15 April the House would adjourn until 28 April for the Easter recess. According to MA'S accounts the DS would go to Hughenden on 16 April, and stay until 28 April. 3 See I928n2. James Robert Hope (1812-1873), of Abbotsford, younger son of Gen Sir Alexander

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The before Easter season has been very gay, though I have been myself very little about, the House requiring all my time and thought. Lady Salisbury and Lady Glengall have both had regular reception nights, and yesterday there was a great gathering of the Tory party at Lady Eglintoun's.4 ... TO: PHILIP ROSE

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 13 April 1851 2118

ORIGINAL: H R/i/A/82 COVER: Philip Rose Esqr | 22 Hans Place | D.

P. Rose Esqr Grosvenor Gate | April 13. 1851 My dear Rose, I shall be at the Library Committee,1 in Mr. Speakers room, tomorrow (Monday) morning at V2 past twelve, / & I propose, at its termination, to call on you in Park St., & confer on matters generally.2 I don't suppose the Committee will / take up much time, half an hour or so, but I inform you of my whereabouts, in case yr. engagements prevent yr. remaining at yr. office, & that you may / know where I am. I have been too much engaged to make appointments, but I sent over to you on Thursday, but you were unfortunately at Brompton. Yours sincerely, | D. TO: THE DUKE OF RICHMOND

Grosvenor Gate 2119 [Tuesday] 15 April 1851

ORIGINAL: WSRO Goodwood Ms. 1746 f33