Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1852-1856, Volume VI 9781442671294

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B E N J A M I N D I S R A E L I LETTERS: 1852-1856

BENJAMIN DISRAELI LETTERS

The Disraeli Project, Queen's University at Kingston

V O L U M E SIX 1852-1856

Edited by M.G. W I E B E General Editor MARYS. MILLAR Co-editor

ANN P. R O B S O N Co-editor

University of Toronto Press Toronto, Buffalo, London

www.utppublishing.com © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 1997 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 0-8020-4137-X

Printed on acid-free paper Graphic Design: Peter Dorn, RCA, FGDC

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Disraeli, Benjamin, 1804-1881 [ Correspondence ] Benjamin Disraeli letters Vol. 6. edited by M.G. Wiebe, Mary S. Millar and Ann P. Robson Partial contents: [v. 1.] 1815-1834 - [v. 2.] 1835-1837 [v. 3] 1838-1841 - [v. 4] 1842-1847 - [v. 5] 1848-1851 [v. 6] 1852-1856. Includes index. ISBN 08020-5523-0 (v. l) ISBN 0-8020-5736-5 (v. 3)

ISBN 0-8020-5587-7 (v. 2) ISBN 0-8020-58l0-8 (v. 4)

ISBN 0-8020-2927-2 (v. 5)

ISBN 0-8020-4137-X (v. 6)

l. Disraeli, Benjamin, 1804-1881. 2. Prime ministers Great Britain - Correspondence. 3. Great Britain - Politics and government - 1837-1901. I. Gunn, J. A. (John Alexander Wilson), 1937- . II. Wiebe, M. G. (Melvin George) 1939- . III. Millar, Mary S., 1939- . IV. Robson, Ann P. (Ann Provost), 1931- . V. Title. DA564.B3A4 1982

941.081'092'4

c82-094169-7

The Disraeli Project has received generous funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and from the Principal's Development Fund and the Advisory Research Council of Queen's University. Publication of this volume is made possible by a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

CONTENTS

Illustrations I vi Acknowledgements I vii Introduction I ix Editorial Principles I xxvi Disraeli Chronology 1852-1856 I xxviii Abbreviations in Volume Six I xliii Chronological List of Letters 1852-1856 I xlviii Letters I 3 Appendices I 513 I Pre-l852 Letters Newly Found I

513

IA Stanley's notes on conversations with Disraeli in 1851 I 534 II The Derby government of 1852 I 537 III Bright's account of his meeting with Disraeli I 544 IV Disraeli's memorandum on administrative reform I 546 V Stanley's letter to Disraeli on administrative reform I 556 VI Derby's memorandum on administrative reform I 557 VII 1853 Press articles attributed to Disraeli I 562 VIII White's account of Disraeli in the House I 563 IX Disraeli's memoirs, extracts 1852-1856 / 565 X Rose's memorandum on Sarah Brydges Willyams569 Recipients, Volume Six I 571 Index to Volume Six I 574

ILLUSTRATIONS

Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer 'The Political Chameleon'

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Lord Aberdeen

Ixxii

Lord Palmerston

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Mrs Brydges Willyams

Ixx

Ixxiv

A sample of Mrs Brydges Willyams's handwriting

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'"I should like to go ever so much higher."' I 622

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; The Harry & Ethel Abramsky Charitable Foundation; The Davies Charitable Foundation; Hollinger Inc; The Henry N.R. Jackman Foundation; Norman and Rita MacKenzie; The James Wallace McCutcheon Foundation; Kenneth G. Millar; Olympia & York Developments Ltd; N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd; Joseph Rotman. We remain indebted to the individuals and institutions named in the earlier volumes to which lists we add: Institutions

Blenheim Palace, John Forster; Hertfordshire County Record Office, Kathryn M. Thompson; Huntington Library, Mary L. Robertson; Liverpool Record Office, Naomi Evetts, Georgina Kehoe, Miss Organ; National Library of Ireland, Gerard Lyne; Oxford University, Gerald E. Bentley, Jr; Rhodes House Library, Clare Brown; Royal Literary Fund, Fiona M. Clark; Somerset Record Office, Janet Tall; West Sussex Record Office, County Archivist. Individuals

Diego Bastianutti; Eugene C. Black; Donald Coleman; Pierre du Prey; Daniel Eisenberg; the late Col G.W. Ferrand, OBE; Capt Christopher Ferrand; Linda Freeman; Rosemary Jolly; William Joslin; Ross Kilpatrick; Frances S. Lennie; The Duke of Marlborough; Michael O'Brien; Craig Peterson; Marcy Peterson; Suzanne Rancourt; Jane Ridley; David Raynor; Ann Pottinger Saab; Andrew Shields; Richard Smith; John Spragge; Gerald Tulchinsky; Necole Wakelin; Alexander Wiebe; Judy Williams; Anthony S. Wohl; Alvin Wood; the anonymous reviewers of the typescript of this volume. Project Staff

Peter Campbell, Ellen Hawman, Sharon Milroy.

IN MEMORIAM

We record with sadness the death of three men to whom the Disraeli Project is deeply indebted: Professor J.B. Conacher, co-editor of volumes III, IV and V, on 3 October 1993; Professor J.M. Robson, long-time chairman of the Project's editorial board, on 9 July 1995; and Professor John Matthews, a founder and first senior editor of the Project (volumes I and II), co-editor of volumes III, IV and V, on 29 April 1996. They were giants in nineteenth-century studies, and will be sorely missed, as scholars, colleagues and friends.

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INTRODUCTION

In the fourth instalment of Bleak House, written just before the 1852 general election, Dickens sardonically linked his sombre title to the dismaying situation in British politics: Supposing the present Government to be overthrown, the limited choice of the Crown, in the formation of a new ministry, would lie between Lord Coodle and Sir Thomas Doodle - supposing it to be impossible for the Duke of Foodie to act with Goodie, which may be assumed to be the case in consequence of the breach arising out of that affair with Hoodie. Then, giving the Home Department and the Leadership of the House of Commons to Joodle, the Exchequer to Koodle, the Colonies to Loodle, and the Foreign Office to Moodle, what are you to do with Noodle?... (Chapter 12) It is an accurate summary of the characteristics of 1852-6, the years covered by volume VI of Disraeli's Letters - flux and uncertainty, governments without power and oppositions with it, lack of party identity, political figures virtually indistinguishable from one another, administrations which gave rank and social prejudice precedence over ability. Volume V ended with Disraeli's prophecy in December 1851 that Palmerston's departure from Russell's Liberal cabinet would be 'very serious' (V 2217). The events documented in volume VI prove him right. 'Rather earlier than usual in the session,' The Times wearily reported on 21 February 1852 (2237n6), 'the Ministry is out' (223ln2), by 11 votes. This time (unlike 1851), Derby was able to form a government, and Disraeli, to his own and his wife's delight (2232&n1), at last assumed office, combining his duties as House leader with those of chancellor of the exchequer. He knew, however, how insecure the government was. He never, for example, actually moved his residence into Downing Street, although Mrs Disraeli had it redecorated (24l2&n1, 2414&n1); and once again he was right. By December, the Derbyites were themselves out, defeated by a mere 19 votes on Disraeli's second budget. Despite Disraeli's strenuous efforts with party members and the reluctant Derby, they would not return until 1858. The years that immediately followed 1852 were a queer era, of split parties, confusing labels and shortlived alliances. A coalition, under Aberdeen, governed from late 1852 to early 1855

(when Palmerston took over) and presided over the mismanagements of the Crimean War. For Disraeli 1852-6 was a time of fluctuation; hard-won triumphs were repeatedly followed by acute frustrations. Just as important, however, it was also a time of basic reconstruction and consolidation (words which occur again and again in these letters), when he thrust the Conservatives - sometimes quite roughly - into the post-Protectionist era and gave the party the beginning of its modern identity. Volume VI contains the largest number of Disraeli letters yet, a total of 951. 667 make up the main body of the volume, with 34 more from earlier years in app I, and 250 described in the Chronological List. Large as this number may seem in a non-epistolary age, it is only the surviving fraction of those he actually wrote. When he complained early in his period of office of having 'about 100 letters to write' (2227, 2228), he was probably not exaggerating; despite a succession of private secretaries (227l&n1, 2666&n5, 2688&n1, 2705&n1), he seems to have drafted or indicated the content of most of his correspondence. Of the 667 main letters, 595 are from manuscript, 500 (including extracts from sale catalogues) have never been previously published, 87 have been published only in part and only 80 have been previously published in their entirety. Thus, there has hitherto been no public knowledge of 784 of the letters in this volume. In this period of the first Derby administration and of several unsuccessful attempts to win back power, the most important correspondence is undoubtedly that with Derby himself. 63 letters to Derby appear here, over half (34) never published and 24 others previously published only in part. The notes also quote or summarize Derby's side of the correspondence, including entire letters as occasion warrants, to provide as complete a picture as possible of the working relationship between the two. As we already know, they had huge differences in political philosophy, and Derby, who had been a political rebel himself in the past, found it uncomfortable to deal with another. The correspondence, however, shows that, despite grumbles and occasional suggestions (overt or covert) that one or other be ousted from his party position, they preserved a grudging respect for each other. Disraeli's letters to Derby give the impression of deliberation and reserve, of careful presentation and phrasing so as to persuade the recipient while avoiding conflict. They tell us (and it is important to know) as much about Disraeli's diplomatic talents as about his political ideology. For frankness, in this transitional period where the question of Disraeli's motives is still a vexed one, there is fortunately a parallel correspondence, the equally important (and never previously published) 74 letters to Derby's son, Lord Stanley. In Stanley, Disraeli found the enthusiastic young colleague he had tried to create out of the Young England triumvirate in the 1840s, and out of several more or less disappointing candidates since. Educated and articulate, Stanley had Smythe's intelligence with none of his neuroses, Manners's idealism and dedication, and vastly more capability than the current incumbent, Lord Henry Lennox. Stanley's views about Conservatism were much more progressive than his father's (2481n5) and liberal enough for Palmerston to offer him the colonial secretaryship in 1855 (Disraeli commented: I don't know which is greatest - the compliment to yourself, or the insult to yr. father') (2786). Disraeli and Stanley had on every occasion 'a great deal to say to each

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other' (app I 2086X), from the shortcomings of Conservative squires to extension of the franchise, and they worked energetically together in Derby's 1852 cabinet (2294, 2297, 2371), collaborated on political schemes (2347, 2486) and consulted on tariffs and trade restrictions (2374, 2393) • Disraeli found Stanley congenial and stimulating; although he frequently used him as a channel to his more distant father (2589, 2591, 2801), he wrote to him, not as to a disciple, but as to an equal. They shared a conviction of the need for a party journal (see app I 20l8x) and worked together to establish Disraeli's new paper, the Press, in 1853 (2499, 2505), as well as writing a fair proportion of its contents (2634, 2667 and app VII). 'You,' he told Stanley, 'are the only person, who never disappoints me' (2357). Stanley responded in kind. For two years, 1852-3, their letters show signs of becoming one of the great political correspondences; but by 1854 they had begun to diverge. Stanley's independent interests in church, education and social improvements such as the Florence Nightingale Fund (2824) were separating him from Disraeli's unrelenting preoccupation with party direction. While they shared a focus, however, Disraeli was more open to Stanley than to anyone about his political objectives and the means of achieving them, and this makes for an exciting correspondence which provides exceptionally clear statements of Disraeli's personal and practical policies. For example, an important letter of early 1853, sent to Stanley and Malmesbury, lays out unequivocally Disraeli's position on the need for reform, five years before the proposals he and Derby would prepare for their reform bill: 'We must have our eyes opened at last to the futility of attempting to govern this country merely by the landed interest ... There is no longer any difference in the material interests of town and country' (2480; see also (app I) 2203X, 2225, 2357 and especially Stanley's notes of 1851 conversations with Disraeli in app IA). There is a similar lack of reserve in feeling; with Stanley, Disraeli felt free to joke (2347, 2392) or to express himself with a bluntness which would certainly have offended Derby: frustrated in 1852 at the Conservatives' obstinate clinging to protectionism, he told Lennox the country 'positively spat upon it,' but to Stanley he wrote more savagely that it 'positively pissed' on it (2335, 2336). It is a side of Disraeli not often seen; few nineteenth-century politicians are so uninhibitedly serious about politics. On the work behind the Conservative scenes, more previously unpublished letters appear in this volume. The 24 to the new party whip, Sir William Jolliffe, are yet more evidence to add to that in volume V about Disraeli's vigilance over the management of party members and House strategy. There is, as well, a significant body (15) of previously unpublished letters to Samuel Lucas, first editor of the Press, which, combined with the letters to Stanley, shows how intimately Disraeli was involved in its establishment, its funding and its weekly contents. 143 correspondents are represented. Figures of future importance to Disraeli's political career make their debuts, such as Gladstone, setting the stage in 1853 for their later parliamentary duels (2492, 2500). Office brings correspondence with the court, such as co-operative letters to Prince Albert (see List of Recipients) and his aide, Colonel Grey. The famous correspondence with Queen Victoria also begins, at this stage in their acquaintance with 39 rather arm's-length letters. So does that with Lady Newport, who as Lady Bradford became one of Disraeli's most intimate correspondents in the 1870s. Making final appearances are two former diplomats,

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the irascible Lord Londonderry, complaining to the last about fancied slights (2241&nn1-3, 2645&nnl&2), and the self-possessed Lord Ponsonby (2728&n1), in 1853 as in 1846 Disraeli's ambassador to the Whigs (2520&n2). There are significant absentees, such as D.T. Coulton, Lucas's successor at the Press (one letter only); the available information about letters not found is given in the Chronological List. The correspondence involving Disraeli in the murky underworld affairs of Francis Villiers (see Index), absconding son of his old friends the Jerseys, must on the evidence have been enormous and likely informative on Disraeli's own finances, but it is unfortunately incomplete. The greatest lacuna, for assessment of the important topic of Disraeli's reputation in this period, is his missing letters to his former Young England ally George Smythe, now his political accomplice (2680n2), researcher and speech-writer (2726n1). One discovery in this volume is Smythe's responsibility for the infamous plagiarism in Disraeli's 1852 eulogy on the Duke of Wellington (2442n4, 2444n2), which directly resulted in a serious loss of reputation for Disraeli. In this period, Disraeli's personal correspondence generally suffers from the increase in the political. His most frequent correspondent in all previous volumes, his sister Sarah Disraeli, receives only 19 letters, down quite astonishingly from 132 in volume V. The correspondence to her is now officially carried on by Mrs Disraeli (Mary Anne), although it is perfectly possible that he continued his earlier clandestine letters to Sarah, who dutifully destroyed them. His letters to Mary Anne, however, are also fewer, down to 18 from 47, probably because the increased social demands of office now usually take them to town or to Hughenden at the same times. Even Lady Londonderry, formerly one of his most valued correspondents, now receives only 28 letters, down from 41 in volume V; it is noticeable that all but one date from after Lord Londonderry's death in 1854. In one amusing exchange, Disraeli obliquely hints that she might now provide some funding for his political activities, but Lady Londonderry superbly side-steps the suggestion, while continuing the correspondence on its former friendly basis (2669&n7). Another constant correspondent, Disraeli's solicitor and confidential agent, Philip Rose, becomes in 1853 the Conservative election manager (2523&n1) but, despite the increase in his duties, only 29 letters to him appear here (down from 76), as cryptic as ever on the labyrinths of Disraeli's finances. The notable exception in the personal correspondence is the decided return in 1853 (after only one letter in volume V) of his eccentric Devon benefactor, Mrs Brydges Willyams, at 59 letters his most frequent correspondent after Derby and Stanley. Ten appendices contain the newly found letters from earlier years (app I) and some important ancillary documents. A list of Derby's major and minor appointments in the government of 1852 (app II) helps to identify people mentioned in the letters and is of interest in itself. Wellington's deafness notoriously led to the Derby government's permanent reputation as the 'Who? Who?' cabinet, but there were in fact some well-known names as well as those of newcomers. John Bright's diary account of Disraeli's meeting with him in 1852 (app III) gives the Radicals' side of Disraeli's pre-budget courtship of them, and some of the reasons why it did not succeed. His parliamentary vacation in 1855 was devoted, not as it used to be to novel-writing, but to an immense memorandum on administrative reform (app

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IV). This went first to Stanley, and only then to Derby, and their respective responses (app V and VI) make instructive reading: Stanley's is an approving summary, Derby's a detailed, considered critique. Stanley's identification of 20 of Disraeli's articles in the Press between May and July 1853 (app VII) yields a higher total than has been estimated before and increased evidence of Disraeli's commitment to the paper. A large part of his high political profile in this period came from his speeches; by the spring of 1853, they made him, with Bright and Gladstone, one of the three most important figures in the Commons (see Roy Jenkins Gladstone (1995))- His words are retrievable from the record, but excerpts from the diary of the Commons' doorkeeper provide vivid descriptions of his speaking style and striking appearance in the House (app VIII). Disraeli's own later memoirs describe the manoeuvring during Derby's formation of his 1852 government (app IX [a]). Finally, Philip Rose's 1882 memorandum on Mrs Brydges Willyams (app X) replaces some of the documents he destroyed about the beginnings of Disraeli's relationship with her; it should be noted that the memorandum is not always in accord with the evidence of the surviving letters. The evidence in this volume is that Disraeli, as House leader and as chancellor of the exchequer, worked harder than ever between 1852 and 1856. Certainly, he was new to office and learning the ropes, but he prided himself on it. 'There is hardly a minister in town,' he wrote to Sarah Disraeli, 'except myself, & Ld Stanley, who loves work almost as much as I do' (2340). Just how hard he worked has sometimes been obscured. Monypenny and Buckle's biography, for example, tends to omit from his correspondence with Derby paragraphs dealing with the mundane but essential chores of administration, such as his sense of 'harassment' over dockyard appointments whose repercussions threatened the government's stability (2411&n4), or his realistic response to Derby's list of candidates for the speakership: 'Some of the men you mention will do. They are all incompetent' (2381). For modern readers, interested in the little-known mechanics behind the published lists and parliamentary reports, these are precisely the passages which are most informative and interesting. Partly, his work was prompted by ambition. For himself, public office was 'the legitimate acknowledgment of his political position' (2256); for the party's future, the 'enemy' must be shown that 'the great sources of the strength of the Conservative connection are united & cordial' (2819). His best-known contribution was, of course, in his speeches, and in this period he was relentlessly prolific (see Chronology). In 1852 alone, when he was both leader and chancellor, he spoke on 78 occasions in the House. After his return to the opposition benches, in both 1853 (a shorter session) and 1854 the frequency drops to 50, also in part no doubt because of his commitment to the Press. In 1855 and 1856 he spoke 47 and 48 times respectively, for an astonishing total in these years of speeches, comments and questions in 273 sittings. Partly, he worked from sheer necessity. Many of his colleagues were inadequate or inappropriately placed. The colonial secretary, Sir John Pakington, for example, was an enthusiast about education but on U.S. fishing rights was completely 'out of his depth - more than three marine miles from shore (2358). Rank and file members were inexperienced and apathetic. Disraeli confided to the bemused Queen Victoria how 'very difficult' he found it 'to keep the troops

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to their post' in parliament without the distraction of invitations to the palace (2287). The country squires were still mostly amateurs, and 'could not be got to attend to business while the hunting season lasted: a sharp frost would make a difference of 20 men' (2484&n3). He felt the same about his chief. 'Ld Derby,' he initially thought, 'will turn out a better general than the world imagined' (2224) but, though his tone to Derby is unfailingly polite, to others it is exasperated. Disraeli himself had to act as general in the Commons, but he was still answerable to 'the Captain' in the other House. Between painful attacks of gout, Derby too preferred the traditional pursuits of out-of-session aristocrats to politics (2669): 'statesmen,' Disraeli wrote with considerable irony attached to the word, 'do not much meddle with politics in September, & my despatches from Knowsley have only taken the shape of haunches of venison' (2558). An infusion of professionalism was badly needed in party management, and as a first practical reform Disraeli divided its duties in two. For chief whip, he replaced the corrupt Beresford and his unsatisfactory successor Forbes Mackenzie with Jolliffe ('my right hand man'), who soon brought a gratifying efficiency to the House. Recognizing the growing importance of local constituency organization, he appointed his own man of business, Rose, as election manager (2523&n1). He also personally enlisted a House 'police' of young MPs to rally the 'doubtful men' on important issues (2526), but his difficulty was that he was trying to change the old order before it was ready to admit that it was the old order. Although Disraeli was obviously without our benefit of hindsight, he nevertheless gauged the historical situation correctly. 1852-6 was, we now know, a middle passage in the twenty years of confusion after Peel's repeal of the corn laws. If, after 1846, the Tories were irremediably split into Peelites and Protectionists, the triumphant Whigs were an ideological hotchpotch. Even Peel himself, Disraeli once famously charged, had 'caught the Whigs bathing and walked away with their clothes' (see IV xxvi). Some remained 'whigs'; some had become 'liberals.' Unfamiliar labels, like 'liberal-conservative,' added to the uncertainty. There was a vociferous group of 'radicals.' Those who sat on the government side under Russell's leadership were, therefore, a motley political crew, and could not be counted on to act, let alone stay, together. By 1852, they had really only one thing in common: they would not vote with the Protectionists. If, however, Disraeli could move the Derbyites away from protection, he foresaw that these nominal Whigs might vote 'conservative,' and so (perhaps) might Peelites who in 1851 had refused to serve under either Russell or Derby. Like a wily sheepdog, sometimes cajoling his flock, sometimes nipping at their heels, sometimes snapping at the reluctant lead ram, he nudged the party through 1852 in the new direction (2218, 2221, etc). In a March speech as chancellor, reported to his disapproving sovereign, he refused to 'pledge himself to propose, in a future parliament, any duty on corn'; such a duty 'was a measure, not a principle' (2255). By July, he was able to describe how he had torn the 'millstone' of protection from the party's neck (2335) and soon he was jokingly describing himself as 'already "in the bosom of the Progressive party"' (2346). Adding to his work was the uncertain nature of Commons procedures. Rules did exist: private business and petitions from 12 to 3, committees from 10 to 5, and

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public business (ie debate on legislation) from 5 onwards. In practice, however, private business, in the shape of questions and motions for adjournment, frequently interfered with due process and made the House leader's job more onerous. House sittings could stretch elastically into the dawn of the next day. On one occasion in 1852, for example, Disraeli attended 3 successive sittings of 10, 4 and 8 hours, starting at 4 pm on 3 June and ending at 2 am on 5 June (2299&n5, 2303&n2). Feeling understandably 'rather fuddled' and deprived of 'all self-confidence' (2303), he hoped fervently that this could not last for long: 'at least, if it do, I shall not' (2308). Edward Kenealy, meeting him in 1853, remarked how old, thin and ill he looked (2527&n1). The wonder is that his health held up as well as it did (see also Index). A major focus of this volume is the light cast on Derby's 1852 government, Disraeli's first period of office and, in particular, their defeat over his December budget. In the contributing mix of political factors, one, Disraeli's Jewishness, has not until recently been much considered. It was certainly prominent in people's minds. The Queen's first comment was that his appearance was 'thoroughly Jewish looking' (Journal 1 April 1852). A year later, Kenealy thought he had 'grown less Jewish' (2527n1). Dickens's Bleak House passage, however, sharply reminds us of contemporary attitudes when it allocates the House leadership to Joodle.' Of course, Disraeli himself in this period had invited attention to the topic. In 1851, although he quickly 'seemed to think he had said too much', he confided to Stanley that, although friends like the Rothschilds thought he had backed away from the Jewish cause, all his efforts were intended to support it, that 'the object of his life' was the patriation of the Jews to Palestine and that 'his chief object in acquiring power ... would be to promote the return' (see app IA). The early 185 letters include public reaction to his newly published biography, Lord George Bentinck, its chapter 24 an even more aggressive argument than that in Coningsby for the primary importance of Jews in western civilization. Even friends like Manners called it unjustified (222ln6), and articles in the Morning Chronicle, The Times and the Daily News became attacks on Disraeli the 'Infidel' and blasphemer which spilled over to his conventional Church of England constituents and the party (2236). When the Peelites, still resentful of Disraeli as destroyer of their leader in 1846, launched a sustained attack in late 1852 on his integrity, they focused on his alleged abandonment of protection and on his race. There were the crudest of jokes in the House: how, asked the otherwise gentlemanly Sidney Herbert, could any man adopt 'a faith the profession of which must begin with a surgical operation [roars of laughter]?' (Hansard CXXIII col 610). It was no coincidence that in the weeks leading up to his December budget the Peelite Morning Chronicle ran a mock-heroic series on 'Benjamin Dejuda' which, while it attacked his alleged unreliability, specifically targeted his Jewishness (2442n4). Since trust was essentiall what Disraeli intended to ask for with his budget, seeking a mandate for future legislation on direct and indirect taxation (see further H.C.G. Matthew 'Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Politics of Mid-Victorian Budgets' HistoricalJournal XXII 3 (1979) 615-43), this concerted assault was seriously damaging. Even Prince Albert asked Derby if he could trust Disraeli as House leader (2447n1). Three weeks before the budget, yet another damaging incident occurred. On 15

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November, the day of the third instalment of 'Dejuda,' Disraeli delivered his formal Commons eulogy on the Duke of Wellington, who had died in September. Next day, Palmerston's paper, the Globe, gleefully revealed that parts of the speech were plagiarized from a 23-year-old similar speech by the French politician Thiers (2438&n1, 2441n1, 2442&nn1-5,2443&n1, 2444&nn1&2). That the hero of Waterloo should have been commemorated by something second-hand and apparently stolen was seen as shabby, sneaky and dishonourable. The discovery drew strong reaction at the time, and it still haunts Disraeli's reputation. Explanations have ranged from unscrupulous appropriation to stress or mere forgetfulness. Volume VI, however, makes it clear that the plagiarism was not in fact Disraeli's at all but the fault of his researcher, George Smythe (2442n4). At Disraeli's request, Smythe had sent 'something about the Duke' on 12 October but, from laziness or carelessness, had omitted to mention that it was an old editorial of his own from his days as a MorningChraniclejournalist. Disraeli should undoubtedly have checked the material but it is not surprising that, rushed and overworked, he did not. Subsequently, with the help of John Delane, editor of The Times (2443&n1), he was able to contain some of the damage, but the incident led to further jokes in the House (2447n1) and increased the distrust which pervaded the eventual budget debate. Even the Queen thought he had blundered and done himself harm (LQV II 401, 23 Nov 1852). A year later, when a heavily antisemitic 'biography' of Disraeli appeared, Smythe tried to make amends with an anonymous defence in the Press (2609n4, 26l3&n1), but the harm to Disraeli's image was already done. The budget itself has been well analysed as setting a new fiscal standard in the continuing development of the Victorian state (H.C.G. Matthew, op cit). What the letters in this volume show is, first, how closely it was associated with his aims for party reconstruction (2440, 2445) and, second, how much of its defeat was due, not to irresponsibility or (as Gladstone alleged) to lack of knowledge, but to factors beyond his control. To Stanley he complained of the constant interruptions to his preparation (2357) and he worked hard all summer on proposals. Equal taxation, for example, was the policy which 'last year gave us the government of the country' (22l8, 2221), and it might, he thought, appeal to Radicals (cf app III), Liberals and even Peelites, without alienating the Protectionists. In August, he deliberated on reduction of duties on tea and stamp taxes and sent out requests for advice (2349&n1, 2355&n3, 2389). His own party, however, fought these potentially unifying moves. In the July 1852 general election they forced him to retreat from the free-tradish position he had taken in his April budget (2335), and in the first cabinet of the unusual autumn session they compelled him to add a section endorsing a pro-agricultural policy. This in turn precipitated in the House a hostile motion from a private member to endorse free trade, before he could present his budget statement (2439&nn1&2). In a characteristic 'bold stroke,' he did his best to appropriate the endorsement as a government amendment (2439-41) and actually gained Palmerston's co-operation (2445&n1, 2447&n1), but in the process he lost Protectionist supporters and considerable face. The letters also show how, at the last minute, his estimates had to be drastically enlarged, removing a large part of his projected surplus (Gladstone seized on this point). The Queen, nervous about French threats, insisted to Derby 'the necessity of a large outlay' on defence

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(2438n2). This Disraeli was able to accommodate, but on 30 November, three days before budget day, the first lord of the admiralty inflated the naval estimates by £1 million (2439n2, 2453&n1). We have to admire the restraint with which Disraeli responded to Derby: 'I ... must deeply regret, ... that on the very eve of battle, I sho[ul]d be suddenly called upon to change all my dispositions' (2453). Even with modifications, the damage to the budget was sizeable, and, though Derby thought Disraeli was 'on velvet,' Disraeli was apprehensive. On budget day itself, 3 December, he was suffering from the after-effects of severe influenza and still scrambling to adjust the figures and clear them with the over-optimistic Derby (2455&n2). Nevertheless, his initial reception was generally good; both Bright and Gladstone thought his final speech in the debate the most powerful they had yet heard him give. It was not until Gladstone's final-night eruption that defeat became certain (2466&n1). Gladstone's speech, his third in the debate, took advantage of contemporary House rules. Normally, a member might speak only once in a debate, but on taxraising matters the House sat as a committee of ways and means. Thus, after what was assumed to be Disraeli's closing speech at 1 am, Gladstone was able to intervene again. In line with earlier opposition attacks, he questioned Disraeli's consistency, knowledge of government and - inevitably - his honesty in presenting a non-existent surplus (see Roy Jenkins Gladstone (1995) 142-3). Both sides later apologized for their personal invective during the debate, but Gladstone's speech and Disraeli's lasting resentment of it, rather than the defeat itself, mark the beginning of their subsequent parliamentary antagonism. Earlier, Disraeli had described him as 'the only one of the Peelites between whom and myself there was some inkling of sympathy' (2335), but now hostilities had commenced. Prominent in the 1853 letters is an acrimonious February exchange between the new chancellor and the ousted one who insisted on repayment for furniture left in Downing Street (2492&nn1-5, 250O&nn1&2). Perhaps because of financial stress, Disraeli was importunate, but Gladstone was at first unnecessarily adamant on going through proper official channels, and both eventually adopted a frigid third-person mode which appropriately expressed their feelings (2500&n2). The battle seems an extension of the budget duel, and this time Disraeli won. As a final symbolic gesture, he refused to hand over the chancellor's robes of office (which can still be seen at Hughenden). The sequence of these and subsequent letters suggests that loss of office with its £5,000 salary substantially affected Disraeli's personal finances. Direct dunning of Gladstone, for example, was quicker than waiting to be reimbursed by the board of works. Rose's discretion as executor probably accounts for the lack of surviving correspondence on financial matters in this period, but it is clear that creditors still lurked in the background; at least one experienced 'some irregularity' in loan repayments (2485). Shortly after this period, Disraeli admitted to unspecified 'encumbrances' of £25,570. The annual carrying costs of these debts were £2,375, almost exactly half of Mrs Disraeli's income of £4,798.11.10 (2?64n1). When, in 1855, the Conservative MP for Rochester, Francis Villiers, absconded, leaving behind thousands of pounds in unpaid debts and forged bills (2743&n3, 2745&n1, 2764&nn1-6), Disraeli unexpectedly became heavily involved in clearing up the

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fiscal mess, and made much use of his connections with Lucas (a lawyer) (2827&n1) and John Delane of The Times to tone down the scandal as much as possible (2756&n1, 2876&nn2&5). The full correspondence on the affair has not survived, but it was disproportionately time-consuming for Disraeli, and one wonders why. He was naturally anxious for a colleague's reputation, as well as for Villiers's distressed family, the Jerseys, 'a powerful & brilliant family ... crushed to the earth' (2745)- He may, however, have had an additional reason, fear that court and newspaper publicity would reveal, as these proceedings had a way of doing, his own continuing involvement with unsavoury names all too familiar from past financial dealings: the money-lender Hitchcock, the extortionist Fords, father and son, the blackmailing Mrs Edmunds (see volumes III and IV). His efforts seem t have been successful, and they earned him some useful kudos, not only from the grateful Jerseys (28ll&n1) but from the political diarist and busybody Charles Greville, who had previously regarded Disraeli with considerable mistrust (2756n1, 2796n1). Kudos, however, did nothing to reduce his own debts. Financial exigency is most likely the reason for his resumption in February 1853, after an apparent gap of one and a half years, of his correspondence with Mrs Brydges Willyams of Torquay (2491&n2), 'the female Croesus' (V 2l67n1). Since Rose admitted to destroying their early letters, no direct details survive of the 'business matters' which brought them together, ie, Disraeli's executorship of her will in return for a residuary legacy (app X). Like Disraeli, she was a Christian of Jewish heritage, and it was race, he kept insisting, which made the major link between them (2493&nn1&2, 2556&nn5&6, 2560). The legend of their first tryst at the Great Exhibition of 1851 has, of course, been long discredited. The letters in this volume show that in fact all their initial dealings must have been through correspondence; they did not meet until August 1853, when the Disraelis travelled to Torquay (2491&n1, 2493&n5, 2540&n2, 2545&n1, 2547&n1). The correspondence quickly established an accompanying pattern of mutual exchange of gifts. Disraeli led off considerately with a portrait of himself (2491) and followed up with game, books, royal autographs and plants from the Hughenden gardens (2550, etc). His spare early letters soon developed with acquaintance and became long, detailed and descriptive, and always gallant: 'I think I never met with roses so beautiful in form, so lustrous in color, & with a perfume so exquisite' (2651). She was undoubtedly eccentric, and her writing style is eerily like Mary Anne Disraeli's, jerky and random, arbitrarily spelled, paratactic and run-on; but, again like Mary Anne, she was a shrewd woman who demanded value for money. If, as seems likely, Disraeli had his annual visits to her announced in the Press as a kind of advertisement of his financial credentials, she in turn had the satisfaction of receiving a prominent politician, a chancellor of the exchequer who obediently attended to her will and arranged such terminal matters as the design and the marble for her sarcophagus (2792&n1, 2800). She liked flattery, but she was not deceived. When Disraeli sent her a novel, Charles Auchester, by a young protege and elaborated on 'the principle of race wh: pervades it,' Mrs Brydges Willyams responded with tart honesty, 'I ... have not met anything relating to the principle of Race, on this subject I am not at all enlightened' (2556n5). By the end of this period, his increased respect is reflected in the

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quality of his letters to her. Unexpectedly, he found in her the kind of audience, appreciative as well as admiring, that he used to find in Sarah and to some extent still found in Lady Londonderry - sometimes the letters to Mrs Brydges Willyams and Lady Londonderry are strikingly similar (eg 2679 and 2680). From now until Mrs Brydges Willyams's death in 1863, the correspondence which began with a financial inducement becomes an unexpectedly rich source for his social and personal life. Another significant drain on his finances from early 1853 (in addition to the load of his continuing debts and the loss of the emoluments of office) was his new weekly journal, the Press. Its short career has been discussed before (see M&B I 474-516, Blake 353-4, Koss Political Press 89-90), but the new correspondence in this volume sheds further light on the inception and financing of a Victorian political periodical. Rose was its legal agent and general manager, and although the weekly accounts (2577&n1) seem to have disappeared, new correspondence, particularly to the editor, Lucas (see List of Recipients), is revealing about its founding, its funding and the vicissitudes of its running. The letters also show how very much, in spite of his public disclaimers (eg 2670), it was Disraeli's own creation. The correspondence with Stanley shows that he had been planning such a paper at least since 1850 (app I 2018x, 2055X, 2O86x). It was conceived, not as a party organ, but as a mouthpiece for his ideas for party reconstruction and policy: 'tho' Tory,' he told the sympathetic Henry Hope, it was to have 'a very progressive & enlightened design' (2512). In many ways it was too progressive for Derby; he feared it would alienate supporters, and his hostility led to the withdrawal of one wealthy backer (2499, 2505) but his son, Stanley, was Disraeli's enthusiastic collaborator. It was also at this time that Disraeli's and Stanley's alignment with the Radicals on India was perceived as a serious alienation from Derby and the party (2497&n1, 25l7&nn1&2, 2535&n1, 2537&n1). A new political organ was needed in 1853 because the attitude of The Times had changed. In 1852, thanks to Disraeli's relationship with Delane, The Times gave the Derbyites favourable coverage and did them 'yeoman service' with editorials supporting Disraeli's move away from protection (2237n6, 2247&n1, 2298&n2). In return Disraeli ensured them scoops like the day-to-day appointments while Derby was forming his cabinet (2233&n1). The Times's support, however, was sporadic. After the party forced Disraeli to pay lip-service to protection in the July elections, The Times was sharply critical (2298n2, 2335&nn1&2), and by November it was expressing direct hostility, calling him a leader without principle (2436&nn1&2). He already had Henry Lennox and Stanley scouting other conservative-leaning newspapers - the Sun, Daily News, Morning Herald - but, he pointed out to the neophyte Lennox, what existing newspaper would agree to uphold both 'the great captain, and your graceless correspondent' (2346)? By March 1853, after discussion with Salisbury and others, Disraeli and his associates had decided to found a paper of their own, and Disraeli had picked out 'a heaven-born Editor' in Lucas, a former writer for The Times (2498&n1, 2499). He himself sent out the multiple appeals to his friends for funding (2502&n2, 2506, 2512). The precedents he cited were ambitious: he intended to 'produce as striking, and as rapid, an effect on opinion, as the Anti-Jacobin, when it was started

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by Mr. Canning, or the Edinburgh Review when it first rose' (2502). Eventually, he hoped, the paper would be self-sufficient, but there were to be 'no shares, no annual subscriptions'; on the other hand, he firmly told potential patrons, there would be 'no prospect of refunding' donations (2502). According to one list, 'members' agreed to commit £5,750, about half of what would eventually be needed (2502n2). Malmesbury was treasurer, but it was Disraeli who made himself responsible for any deficit (2565n12). He also personally recruited writers, a collection of professionals (Disraeli himself, Lucas, J.A. Froude, D.O. Maddyn, Kenealy, Bulwer Lytton, Smythe), active politicians (Stanley, G.C. Bentinck, Emerson Tennent, G.A. Hamilton) and amateurs, such as Lord Maidstone, in charge of satire. In theory, all would submit regular pieces and all would be paid. Priced at sixpence, the first number appeared on 7 May, a week late and full of errors and misprints. The second was 'more business-like' (2529&n1) and Disraeli optimistically projected a circulation of 3,000 (2577). In practice, Disraeli and Lucas bore the main burden, as both amateurs and professionals defaulted or failed to meet deadlines. In the first two months, in the midst of a busy parliamentary session, Disraeli contributed at least 20 articles or editorials (app VII) and he was in constant dialogue with Lucas about contents, circulation and advertising (see Lucas in List of Recipients). By October, the weekly deficit was down to £80 (2565), but Lucas was understandably worn out, and he and Disraeli were reorganizing with the later editor, D.T. Coulton (2548, 255i&nn1&2, 2646n2); by this stage, only the professionals were to be paid. Lack of the promised capital was serious, 'our defaulters,' Disraeli told Stanley, 'amounting to as much as is paid up,' but, even at the risk of a premature end, he would not compromise its political principles: 'I shall not move a step in that direction' (2548). A long letter to Stanley on 7 October gives specific details of subscriptions, staff, salaries and circulation, with Disraeli insisting that they must persevere, if only because 'its cessation will remove a most powerful check over the license of the enemy's press' (2565). On 30 October, Disraeli ordered expenditure cut to £100 weekly and put in another £1,000 (2577). In 1854, although circulation actually did reach 3,000, Disraeli had to contribute a further £2,000 (2627, 2646, 26s8&n1). By spring of 1856, he was again circularizing friends to raise more capital, until rescued by Smythe's old friend G.M.W. Peacocke, who gave £1,000 in July and probably an eventual total of £2,000 (2857&n1, 2858&n1). For the first £1,000, Disraeli (as so often in the past) gave his personal IOU, protesting the while (presumably for Peacocke's benefit) that he had never written one before (2858n2). The final £2,000 seems also to have been met personally, when in 1858 he transferred the Hughenden mortgage to Peacocke. Throughout, he maintained his level of literary input. When he was too busy to write the leader himself, he enlisted Stanley's help, sometimes at short notice, and sent instructions and topic headings for him to follow (2634, 2667, 2674). At other times he provided Lucas with the viewpoint and argument, and he bluntly criticized failures in quality: 'Your middle page seems at its last gasp. The verses must have been refused by Diogenes' (2632). Small wonder that in the summer of 1856, two weeks after accepting Peacocke's contribution, Disraeli, exhausted, left with Mrs Disraeli for Europe, though even from there he sent back items on his travels for the paper (2859n5).

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By that time, of course, great political matters had also contributed to his exhaustion. During the 1853 crisis at the Press, Stanley had encouraged him with a reminder of its usefulness to them 'in silencing the enemy's guns' (2565n12). After the Crimean War broke out, the phrase became more than metaphor. As Disraeli attacked the Aberdeen coalition for the war and the way it was being handled, he used the Press assiduously to keep his peace policy before the public, and the letters in this volume vindicate him on the question of his consistency (contrast Koss Political Press go, who says the Press mirrored his inability to 'decide where, if at all, to stand firm'). The problem was in large part one of perception. In early 1854, for example, he was widely suspected of attacks in the Morning Herald on Prince Albert's pacifism (2614&n1, 2621, 2624&nn1&6, 2630). The culprit was in fact Stanley, but, although Disraeli soon clarified matters with the Prince (2637&n2), he was still doubted by members of his own party. In an important, and hitherto unpublished, letter to Thomas Baring before war was declared, Disraeli established the position he would maintain throughout: 'I too "am for Peace"' (2621). If war came, it would be 'occasioned by English infirmity' (2631) and the 'complicity of Aberdeen wh: is the real crime' (2644), in failing to communicate Britain's refusal to back down in 'distinct ideas & precise language' (2621). That is, Disraeli by advocating 'strong measures' was not, as Baring thought, being bellicose, but instead was trying to prevent Britain drifting into war because it had not made sufficiently clear at the outset which actions by Russia it would not tolerate. For Disraeli, the focal point of Aberdeen's 'complicity' was the so-called Nesselrode Memorandum supporting the Czar's assumption that Aberdeen would not go to war over Turkey (2642n1, 2644&n3). Consistently with his peace position, when war broke out Disraeli supported a concerted effort for specific and rational objectives so that a stable peace could be restored as quickly as possible and, when those objectives were achieved, resumed his call for peace. Once war had been declared, Disraeli's energies went into steering an opposition course which would not incur charges of disloyalty or obstruction from alienated Conservatives (27l8n2, 2722&n1, 2723n1). Despite the efforts of journalists like William Russell, a continuing problem for advocates of peace was the lack of accurate reports from the front (2688&n2, 2689&n1), and here Disraeli's private correspondence was particularly valuable in confirming the carnage and suffering among the troops, who were starving without supplies, freezing without clothing or shelter and ravaged by cholera. There can be no doubt of the genuine pain in his accounts of letters which almost every morning (2690) brought to the domestic breakfast table 'the dreadful tragedies, which war, and pestilence, have occasioned ... these dreadful private losses ...' (2694). His closest friends suffered. Lady Londonderry agonised over her son Lord Adolphus (269l&n1 etc), who came home safely but was permanently affected by shellshock. Jolliffe's elder son, Hylton, did not return (2695&n5), and there was a fortnight of terrible suspense over his younger, Hedworth, until the news came that he had survived the charge of the Light Brigade (2697&n2, 2698&n4, 2705). Disraeli's private secretary, Mandeville, had four cousins killed and one wounded (2705). Hunter Blair, a parliamentary colleague killed at Inkerman, haunted his imagination (2698&n1). Foreshadowing Tennyson (but actually quoting Napoleon III), he condemned the management of

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the siege of Sebastopol as 'a series of blunders' (2698&n1, 2705), and he published in the Press first-hand accounts of the terrible conditions in the camp (2727n2). Through 1855, the Press alone stood for peace, mocked by The Times (2778n2) and unpopular with the party (2785n1, 2787&nn2&3). Disraeli argued that the parliamentary system itself dictated their stance: 'I do not,' he wrote to the war-minded Lytton, 'very clearly comprehend how a war ministry & a war opposition can coexist' (2787). In November, prudently using Jolliffe as go-between, he responded vigorously to Derby's remonstrations on his peace policy, and pointed out acidly that, if the Derbyites were concerned about appearances, it would at least 'prepare the public mind for a statesmanlike peace' (2788&n1). His own language throughout this period was undoubtedly warlike, but the campaign was against the Aberdeen coalition: 'My voice is for an uncompromising assault on the Ministry' (2720). Derby was more hesitant. An opportunity presented itself in January 1855 to confront the government over the administration of the army, but (perhaps because of gout) Derby testily rejected Disraeli's plea to call in country peers in case of a division (2723n1). Even worse, when the coalition fell a week later, Derby failed to lure Palmerston and Gladstone into joining a government under him, and gave way to Palmerston (2726&nn1&2, 2727&n1, 2728&n1, 2729&n1). Derby's reluctance is understandable: he would be inheriting the coalition's problems without a large enough majority to solve them. Disraeli, however, blamed him for lack of nerve in a famous letter which mixed military metaphors with sporting: 'our chief has again bolted! This is the third time, that, in the course of six years ..., I have stormed the Treasury Benches: twice fruitlessly, &, the third time, with a tin kettle to my tail, wh: rendered the race almost hopeless' (2730). His acolyte Henry Lennox, however, pointed to another factor, Disraeli's unpopularity: 'the Derby Coalition hung fire on account of G[ladstone] & S.H[erbert] being determined not to sit in the Cabinet with the "Peel Smasher" (2717n1). Disraeli himself was well aware of it. Earlier he had written about party meetings to Derby with an honesty no less remarkable for being derived from an aide's blunt letter: 'Undoubtedly there are some men, who wd. come to St James' Sqr [Derby's residence] & not to me, but,' he continued, 'we must do the best we can, as these are not times to make difficulties' (2702). This determined pragmatism would become the theme of his future efforts. He might joke to Jolliffe that they must simply 'trust to Providence, wh: always guards over the Conservative party' (2724), but he renewed his work to consolidate his party and reshape its policies. He retreated for the autumn to Hughenden, ostensibly 'in inertness & silence' (2787) but in reality to compile a massive document for administrative reform (see app IV, V, VI), 'the subject of the age' and the 'groundwork of our policy' at a future return to power (2798&n1, 2801&n1, 2810, 28l8&n1, 2838&n2). Preparation, he felt, was crucial in the face of the government's reform intentions: 'If we omit this opportunity,' he told Stanley, 'it will come upon us in the Session, like a thief in the night; there will be no guiding judgment, wh: can only be founded on knowledge; & we shall take refuge, as we have done before, in some crude, hasty, & unsatisfactory expedient' (2798). Throughout 1856 he maintained this tactic. In January he personally wrote all 40 invitations to a party dinner at Grosvenor Gate, telling Jolliffe such a demonstration was essential to quash rumours (some of them

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true) of internal discord (2808, 2813-15, 2818-20, 2823); he was well aware how few supporters stood between him and power. He made tentative advances, then and through the session, to possible allies, including (surprisingly) Gladstone (2843&n1, 2853&nn2-4). By July, he was expressing optimism that 'a broad & deep foundation is laid for future action' (2859), though privately he described Peelites and Derbyites as still 'factions playing at fusion' (2869). It is noticeable that there is not a single extant letter to Derby in 1856. He also turned his attention abroad, to foreign affairs, an area which might offer opportunity to rally the Conservatives in opposition to Palmerston. He had always been interested in nurturing alliance with France, and he spent the end of 1856 in Paris, dining with diplomats and conversing with the Emperor (287l&n5,2880&n2). More pertinently to his immediate political ends, he also arranged for a mole at the Paris Embassy, Ralph Earle, to join his unofficial information network and send him regular confidential information on the government's foreign dealings and strategy which he hoped would yield material for the upcoming 1857 session. It had not been a year of spectacular achievement, but he was far from the pessimistic mood in which he had begun 1852. He had begun to lay his plans. Popular or not, he was indispensable. Even Derby admitted that the party 'could not do without him, even if there were anyone ready and able to take his place' (2877&n2). The times might still be uncertain, but, to appropriate his words to Lennox in his last letter of 1856, 'It is not hopeless; it is not absolutely unfavorable' (2882). Despite the sense of a dying fall here, constant readers of Disraeli's letters can be reassured. Neither the lull in political fortunes nor his fierce concentration on public business can make his correspondence lifeless or dull. Disraeli is the most personal of political letter-writers, and it is good to find that, even on weighty matters of state or party strategy, he infuses official correspondence with edge and individuality. Many colleagues, such as Jolliffe or Stanley, were or became friends and could be written to colourfully and informally, but even to Derby Disraeli insisted on writing evocatively. Reporting cabinet discussions on peace in Europe, he reduces the members to schoolboys in a playground: 'Palmerston is inexorable, & has been bullying his colleagues' (2790). To push his view that the party should be actively pursuing power, he likens the precarious coalition government to a set of ninepins: 'The truth is, no majority sets them up - they sink again directly' (2758). He expresses his disappointment over his former whip, Newdegate, with an epigram: 'between his mother & Birmingham, the Alcibiades of Warwickshire has been spoiled' (2381). It was not simply literary extravagance. It was his way of surmounting barriers. If he had been appointed chancellor of the exchequer, rather than foreign or home secretary, to minimize direct contact with the mistrustful Queen (2268n4), he resourcefully turned his official reports to her into a means of personal communication she could not ignore. He brought to summaries of dry debates a humour and ironic perspective completely new to the traditional formality between monarch and minister. 'After seven very dreary hours, Lord Palmerston rose at eleven' (2284); Russell made 'a languid statement to a rather full house' (2318); a debate degenerated 'with successive relays of mediocrity, until it yielded its last gasp in the arms of Mr Slaney' (2318). The approach both flattered and created intimacy. He

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implied that she too could appreciate this finer viewpoint, that she too had individuality, that she too had a spontaneity which transcended formal rules. He assumed that she 'would prefer a genuine report of the feeling of the moment, however immature, to a more artificial & prepared statement' (2438). Initially, she found the innovation 'very curious ... much in the style of his books' (2264n1), and it would take some years more for her fully to trust him, but here too he was at work, establishing rapport and laying the groundwork for future development. The very fact that his list of recipients now included his monarch and her consort indicates the degree of success he had achieved. Working determinedly at upward mobility, he and Mrs Disraeli in these years penetrated the highest tier in the social hierarchy, royalty. His letters describe how, separately and together, they now dined at Buckingham Palace (2268&n4, 2637n2), visited Windsor and Osborne, and attended state balls, drawing-rooms and concerts. In turn, they received, gorgeously at Grosvenor Gate, informally at Hughenden. At their first meeting in April 1852, the Queen dismissed Mrs Disraeli as 'very vulgar' (2268&n4). This had, the Queen acknowledged, nothing to do with her appearance: Mrs Disraeli knew how to dress appropriately, and her panoply of diamonds and lace on court occasions was not unusual as a calculated display of possessions confirming her social position. Her manner of speaking, however, would always remain odd, too uncomfortably open and (again) personal to suit contemporary etiquette (we would like to know what it actually was that she said to the Queen). Nevertheless, much of the Disraelis' social acceptance was due to Mrs Disraeli. Her profile in this volume is lower than before, but they seem to have recovered from the crises which threatened their relationship in volume V. Disraeli still wrote solely to say that he loved her, although it is noticeable that some of his more romantic terminology ('my beloved,' 'I love you') is addressed to Lord Henry Lennox (2346, 2382). Lennox, however, was superficial and ineffectual: he was a convenient source of political gossip and occasionally valuable information, but he had none of Smythe's intelligence or Stanley's drive, and Disraeli had no more luck in marrying him off than he had with Smythe in 1844. Lennox was mere dalliance. The relationship with his wife was what ensured his continuing public success. Vulgar or not, she got her own cheers from the undergraduates at Disraeli's investiture as DCL at Oxford (2533n2). She had unsuspected critical talents, only hinted at in Disraeli's 1840s' discussions with her of his trilogy (see volume IV). It was she who, with her experience in overseeing his novels, encouraged the young novelist Elizabeth Sheppard and got her book published (2554n1). She also took on some of Disraeli's function in assessing the weekly performance of the Press 'much more valuable,' he said seriously, than his own (2531). It was her kindness and calls during his wife's last illness which the bereaved Lord John Manners remembered (2643n1). Disraeli occasionally had to interrupt his political business to attend to domestic crises (2243&n1, 2292&n1) or the perpetual servant problem (2695&n4). Mrs Disraeli's activities, conversely, were largely domestic and unseen, but they pervaded her husband's public life, rather like the orange blossoms which she put in his dispatch box and proudly reported had perfumed all his papers (2837n1). In this volume, they are perceptibly aging. By 1856, Disraeli was 52, but Mrs

XXIV

Disraeli was 64. In her social life she was 'very gay & ubiquitous' (2257), but almost every year she had one or more severe bouts of influenza which seriously debilitated her, affected her lungs (2564n1, 2583, 2651, 2684) and sometimes infected Disraeli himself (2630). It was probably on the way to Disraeli's budget speech on 3 December 1852 that she suffered the famous accident in which her fingers were crushed in the carriage door; with great fortitude, she hid her pain in order not to distract him from the coming speech (H D/III/B/47). It was perhaps these illnesses, as much as the example of Mrs Brydges Willyams, which prompted her letter to him in June 1856, asking to be buried in the grave he would occupy and urging him not to live alone after her death (H R/IV/C/4). In spite of age and sickness, however, she organized and gave for him dinners, banquets and receptions, and expended much time and energy on her ambitious redecoration of the chancellor's residence at 11 Downing Street, which ended by benefiting the Gladstones (24l2&n1, 24l4&n1, 2492, etc). When Disraeli complained in December 1854 that the unexpected recall of parliament meant that he 'must contrive to receive two hundred members of Parliament!' at a Grosvenor Gate under renovation (2705), we must retrieve the subtext that she had to marshal her social skills to manage the problem, just as she did for his strategic political dinner in January 1856 (2807n2). Her domestic work to accommodate party meetings had its political effects, in the willingness of party managers to continue regular policy sessions of MPs at Grosvenor Gate in 1855 (27l8n2). She was his organizer and confidante. She was still the first he told about significant political events, such as Russell's resignation and the imminent fall of the government in 1855 (2725). Similarly, it was only to her that he described Derby's meeting with the party after his failure to form a government: 'we did not accept office because we were afraid and incompetent' (2733). By the end of 1856, they were not yet at the top of the greasy pole but, working in partnership, they would get there.

XXV

EDITORIAL PRINCIPLES

For the complete description of the editorial principles and conventions used in this edition see VOL I xxvii, reprinted in VOL II vii. The following is an abbreviated list summarizing the main points. Headnote

Text

ADDRESSEE: the name is given in the shortest form consistent with clear identification. DATE: square brackets indicate the parts of the date not actually in the text or on the cover. A question mark is placed after any parts of the date about which doubt remains (see dating note in EDITORIAL COMMENT). LOCATION OF ORIGINAL: given in short form: see Abbreviations in Volume Six. A PS indicates a printed source, the MS not having been found (see PUBLICATION HISTORY). REFERENCE NUMBER: the archival number used by the holder of the original MS, numbers in square brackets added by us if necessary. In the case of a PS, the number refers to the Project's system of reference. COVER: vertical solidi indicate line divisions in the address. Integral covers and separate envelopes are not distinguished. POSTMARKS: see VOL I xxxiii for illustrations of the most common ones. PUBLICATION HISTORY: not exhaustive; first and perhaps subsequent important publication, especially in LBCS, M&B and Blake, are cited. EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: list of words and phrases from the text that are incorrect (according to SOED), unusual or otherwise puzzling; includes incorrect, but not omitted, accents and punctuation. Dating: cites the logic by which a date has been attributed. No silent corrections have been made. D's erasures have been noted whenever possible. Square brackets have been used to add material to facilitate easy reading. When abbreviations ending in periods are thus expanded, the periods have been dropped unless otherwise needed for punctuation. Editorial comments in square brackets are italicized. Catchwords are not repeated or noted, and are given before the page break sign (/). VERTICAL SOLIDI (I) are used to indicate line divisions in the date, address, addressee and signature sections to allow us to render them in continuous form.

DIAGONAL SOLIDI (/ with space both before and after) indicate page breaks. This is a change from the usage in VOL I and VOL II. DATE, ADDRESS AND ADDRESSEE, if present in the text, are always given at the beginning of the letter, 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. Sources cited are given a short form (see List of Abbreviations and Short Titles) if Annotations used more than a few times. Standard reference works (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-1852 letters in Appendix I have been annotated. In transcriptions of MA's writing, we have eschewed the use of 'sic, despite her unconventional grammar and spelling. We also do not comment on eccentric punctuation (eg Lennox's). All names in the text and annotation of the letters have been indexed, main notes Index being indicated by bold type. The subject matter of the letters and notes has also been indexed. All references are to letter numbers, not pages. Except for the pre1852 letters in Appendix I, the appendices and introductory materials have not been indexed.

xxvii

D I S R A E L I C H R O N O L O G Y 1852-1856

1852 5 Jan 16 Jan 21-24 Jan 28 Jan 3 Feb 4 Feb 9 Feb 16 Feb 17 Feb 19 Feb 20 Feb 21 Feb 22 Feb 27 Feb 28 Feb 3 Mar 5 Mar 6 Mar 11 Mar 12 Mar 15 Mar 16 Mar 17 Mar 18 Mar 19 Mar 22 Mar

at Aylesbury Quarter Sessions at Grosvenor Gate at Burghley attended by Dr Fergusson opening of parliament; address in answer to the Speech Derby entertains members of Commons speech on parliamentary representation comments on St Albans disfranchisement comments on savings banks speech on Irish government and World newspaper speech on local militia; Russell resigns at Palmerston's reception Derby forms government with D as chancellor of the exchequer and leader in Commons kisses hands first letter from Downing Street T.P. Courtenay appointed D's secretary at privy council, Buckingham Palace first cabinet meeting at Aylesbury for the by-election re-elected for Bucks; at Grosvenor Gate speech on free trade; comments on navy estimates; first report to the Queen speech on the railway from Oban to Glasgow attends first cabinet dinner at Lonsdale's; comments on Manchester & Salford Education Bill comments on outrage on British subject at Leghorn (Mr Mather); speech on Cuffe Street Savings Bank, Dublin comments on dissolution of parliament; on outrages on British subjects in Tuscany; speech on army estimates comments on volunteer rifle companies; on army estimates; on Repayment of Advances Act Amendment (Ireland) Bill

1852 continued 23 Mar 25 Mar 26 Mar 29 Mar 30 Mar 1 Apr 2 Apr 5 Apr 6 Apr

8-16 Apr 17 Apr 19 Apr 20 Apr

21 Apr 22 Apr 27 Apr 29 Apr 30 Apr 1 May 3 May 4 May 6 May 7 May 8 May 10 May

11 May 12 May 13 May 14 May 17 May 19 May

comments on hop duty; on foreign refugees; on Egypt and Turkey; on River Fergus drainage comments on Maynooth College grant; speech on Elective Franchise (Parliamentary Reform) comments on Apprehension of Deserters from Foreign Ships Bill comments on Militia Bill; on exchequer bills speech on import duties on wines Ds are the Queen's dinner guests comments on dissolution of parliament; speech on Repayment of Advances Acts Amendment (Ireland) Bill comments on Corrupt Practices at Elections Bill; on Kaffir war supply comments on seizure of publications in Belgium; on Brazil and River Plate; on public business; on ballast heavers (Port of London) at Hughenden speech at dinner of Goldsmiths' Company on East India Company Charter committee comments on public business; on outrages on British subjects in Tuscany; speech on Frome vicarage (Rev Mr Bennett); comments on Hungarian refugees gives first cabinet dinner speech on paper duty (taxes on knowledge) speech on county franchise comments on prosecution of Household Narrative (unstamped publications) comments on arrival of General Rosas; presents his first budget speech at Royal Academy dinner comments on Militia Bill comments on Militia Bill comments on Militia Bill speech on Property Tax Bill at Lord Mayor's banquet comments on sale of refreshments in central hall; motion for bill on assignment of seats in lieu of St Albans and Sudbury defeated; comments on Militia Bill comments on the Porte and the Pacha of Egypt; on Frome vicarage; on Maynooth College comments on paper duty (taxes on knowledge) gives a state banquet for Queen's birthday comments on Militia Bill speech on Frome vicarage; comments on Militia Bill comments on County Elections Polls Bill; on Maynooth College

XXIX

1852 continued 20 May 21 May 24 May 25 May 27 May 28 May

29 May 2 Jun 3 Jun

4 Jun

6 Jun 7 Jun 8 Jun

10 Jun

11 Jun 13 Jun 14 Jun 15 Jun 16 Jun 17 Jun

XXX

comments on Frome vicarage; on Militia Bill speech on foreign affairs (constitution of Spain); comments on Militia Bill comments on advances for Irish railroads; on Corrupt Practices at Elections Bill comments on Maynooth College comments on Maynooth College comments on military interference in election at Enniskillen; speech on Maynooth College; comments on education for diplomatic service; on postal service between India and China; on Frome vicarage at Hughenden drafts a 'manifesto'; at Grosvenor Gate; address to the electors of Bucks speech on public business; on supply (lord lieutenant's household, Ireland; secret service; British Museum; public education); comments on Bishopric of Christchurch (New Zealand) Bill comments on supply (National Gallery; Museum of Practical Geology; New Zealand); on New Zealand Government Bill; on case of Mr Mather; on Corrupt Practices at Elections Bill; on Savings Bank (Ireland) Bill with Derby sees Prince Albert about South Kensington plans 'Manifesto' published in The Times; comments on supply (missions abroad); speech on public business comments on purchase of pictures for National Gallery; on private business of the session; speech on Frome vicarage; comments on Maynooth debate comments on post-horse duty; on naval reserve; on House of Industry, Dublin; on expenses of Kaffir War; on duty upon carriages; on Westmoreland Lock Hospital; on encumbered estates (Ireland); on chapel for Constantinople; on New Zealand Government Bill comments on chapel for British embassy at Constantinople; on Frome vicarage meets for two hours with Prince Albert about Kensington plans comments on Frome vicarage; review of the session; comments on the case of Mr Mather; on Maynooth College speech on Crime and Outrage (Ireland) Bill comments on Parish Constable Bill; on bishopric of Christchurch (New Zealand) comments on Australian colonies; on wine duties; on assessments to the income tax on tenant farmers; on County Elections Polls Bill; on the counting of the House

1852 continued 18 Jun

21 Jun

22 Jun 23 Jun 25 Jun

29 Jun

30 Jun l Jul 14 Jul 15 Jul 16 Jul 19 Jul 20 Jul 3 Aug 17 Aug 18 Aug 19 Aug 4-7 Sep 14 Sep 15 Sep 19 Sep 21-23 Sep 21-27 Sep 29 Sep-1 Oct Sep-Oct 2-4 Oct 3 Oct 6 Oct 9 Oct 12 Oct 16 Oct 23 Oct

18omments on new buildings at Somerset House; on Frome vicarage; on expulsion of British subjects from Hungary; on wine duties comments on business of the House; on committee of council on education; on sugar-producing colonies; on Crime and Outrage (Ireland) Bill comments on apportionment of land tax; on Patent Law Amendment Bill comments on Metropolitan Burials Bill comments on sale of chicory; on parliamentary papers (mechanics' institutions); on transportation to Van Diemen's Land; on ocean penny postage; on Lyndhurst's attack on master of the rolls; on treasury minute regarding chicory comments on case of Murray and Mather; speech on expulsion of British subjects from Hungary; comments on treasury minute regarding chicory ministerial whitebait dinner at Greenwich comments on delivery of parliamentary papers; prorogation and dissolution of parliament (general election) speech at Newport Pagnell to Wotton at Aylesbury for nomination; at Hughenden attends polling day at Aylesbury; re-elected for Bucks; at Grosvenor Gate cabinet council at Hughenden; works on budget to London privy council at Osborne at Hughenden Stanley at Hughenden death of Duke of Wellington seeks evidence for stating in LGB that Mozart was a Jew obtains post for James Disraeli Lyndhursts at Hughenden Stanley at Hughenden Lennox at Hughenden renovations at Downing Street Hamilton at Hughenden James Disraeli dines at Hughenden in London at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate privy council at Windsor to Hatfield

XXXI

1852 continued 2-3 Nov 4 Nov 6 Nov 8-25 Nov 11 Nov 12 Nov 15 Nov 16 Nov

18 Nov 19 Nov 22 Nov 23 Nov 25 Nov 26 Nov 29 Nov 30 Nov 2 Dec 3 Dec 6 Dec

7 Dec 8 Dec 9 Dec 10 Dec 13 Dec 14 Dec 15 Dec 16-17 Dec 17 Dec 19 Dec 20 Dec

XXXll

at Windsor opening of parliament; comments on choice of Speaker; Shaw-Lefevre re-elected Speaker attended by Dr Fergusson MC publishes antisemitic 'Dejuda' series address in answer to the Speech comments on Wellington's funeral; on report on the Speech partially plagiarized panegyric on Wellington's funeral; comments on midnight legislation Globe exposes the plagiarism; comments on board of customs; on funeral of Duke of Wellington; on Wilson Patten to be chairman of committees; on amendment to free trade motion funeral of Duke of Wellington gives notice of amendment to free trade motion; comments on Derby election petition; comments on call of the House The Times pooh-poohs the plagiarism attended by Dr Fergusson for influenza; accedes to Queen's increased defence demands; speech on free trade MC exposes plagiarism in Venetia; attended by Dr Fergusson; speech on free trade; comments on Tenant Right (Ireland) Bill attended by Dr Fergusson; comments on duties on homemade spirits in bond; on free trade attended by Dr Fergusson attended by Dr Fergusson; informed of massive increase in navy estimates comments on parliamentary reform presents his budget (debate to open on 10 Dec) comments on Cleopatra's Needle; on income tax (commercial legislation; clerical exemptions); on the French Empire; speech on supply (National Gallery; Industrial Universities); comments on Tenant Compensation (Ireland) Bill comments on committee moved for parliamentary papers; on Tenant Compensation (Ireland) Bill at Lord Mayor's banquet comments on the budget speech on the budget; moves resolution on inhabited houses comments on the budget comments on the budget seeks Bright's support speech on the budget (reply); budget defeated resignation of Derby ministry Aberdeen undertakes to form a government announces resignation of the ministry

1852 continued 26 Dec 29-31 Dec 31 Dec

1853

1-4 Jan 4 Jan 21-28 Jan 28 Jan Jan-Mar 4 Feb 8 Feb 10 Feb 14 Feb 18 Feb 24 Feb 25 Feb 3 Mar 5 Mar 8-13 Mar 11 Mar 14 Mar 15 Mar 18 Mar 28 Mar 2 Apr 5 Apr 7 Apr 8 Apr

12 Apr 14 Apr 18 Apr 19 Apr 21 Apr 22 Apr 28 Apr 29 Apr 2 May 5 May 6 May

comments on adjournment of the House at Hatfield (Salisbury) House adjourned

at Sion (Northumberland) at Grosvenor Gate at Bawtry Hall and Frystone Hall (Milneses) to Serlby Hall (Galway) quarrel with Gladstone over C of E robe to Burghley (Exeter) at Grosvenor Gate opening of parliament comments on Wood's speech at Halifax speech on relations with France; comments on coalition comments on chicory and coffee comments on Metropolitan Improvements Bill speech on import duties hires Lucas to edit the Press visit from Sarah comments on affairs of India comments on Austria and Turkey comments on Bridgnorth election speech on business of the House; comments on Clergy Reserves (Canada) bill to Goodwood (Richmond) at Grosvenor Gate comments on resignation of Wilson Patten; on dockyard appointments and patronage comments on birth of Prince Leopold speech on Consolidated Fund and National Debt Redemption Act; comments on examination of candidates for the diplomatic service comments on the Clitheroe election speech on taxes on knowledge (advertisement duty) comments on the state of the coinage; on the budget speech on dockyard appointments and promotions comments on South Sea and other annuities speech on South Sea and other annuities comments on the budget (income tax) comments on the budget (income tax); on Maidstone election speech on the budget (income tax) comments on the budget (ways and means; income tax; case of Mr Duffy) comments on the budget (income tax)

xxxiii

1853 continued 7 May 9 May 11 May 12 May 13 May 14-18 May 2O May 27 May 30 May 31 May 3 Jun 6-7 Jun 9 Jun 13 Jun 16 Jun 22 Jun 30 Jun 4 Jul 5 Jul 7 Jul 8 Jul 11 Jul 14 Jul 18 Jul 25 Jul 28 Jul 29 Jul 2 Aug 4 Aug 5 Aug 8 Aug 13 Aug 15-22 Aug 25 Aug 29 Aug 14 Sep 20-24 Sep Sep-Nov 26 Sep-13 Nov 4 Oct

XXXIV

first issue of the Press comments on new writ for Harwich (election); speech on the budget (ways and means; income tax) speech at Royal Literary Fund dinner comments on Excise Duties upon Spirits Bill; comments on succession duties comments on public business; on succession duties at Hughenden comments on Income Tax Bill; on customs resolutions comments on Russia and Turkey comments on Russia and Turkey; on Customs Act comments on Durham election petitions comments on Government of India Bill at Oxford, receives DCL at Grosvenor Gate comments on Russia and Turkey speech on appointment of Mr Keogh Russian army crosses the Pruth speech on India Bill comments on Succession Duty Bill comments on dockyard promotion comments on Succession Duty Bill comments on Russia and Turkey comments on India Bill; on Russia and Turkey comments on Russia and Turkey comments on Succession Duty Bill comments on India Bill speech on South Sea annuities dissentients; on India Bill comments on South Sea annuities comments on Russia and Turkey comments on office of the Speaker; on supply (ambassador's house, Paris) comments on supply (Battersea and Vauxhall embankment) comments on Russia and Turkey establishes contact between Walewski and the Press through Lucas at Torquay - first visit to Mrs Brydges Willyams at Hughenden Coulton appointed to the Press speech at Aylesbury, Royal Bucks Agr Assoc Smythe and Lennox at Hughenden works reprinted in Bryce's popular edition Sarah at Hughenden Turkey declares war on Russia (armies cross Danube on 27 Oct)

1853 continued 5 Oct 6 Oct 25 Oct 30 Oct 31 Oct-2 Nov 5-10 Nov 9-17 Nov 14-16 Nov 18 Nov 21-23 Nov 30 Nov Dec 3-6 Dec 9-13 Dec 14 Dec 26-29 Dec

1854 30 Jan 31 Jan 1 Feb 2 Feb 10 Feb 16 Feb 17 Feb 20 Feb 27 Feb 28 Feb 3 Mar 6 Mar 7 Mar 8 Mar 9 Mar 13 Mar 17 Mar 21 Mar 24 Mar 28 Mar 30 Mar 31 Mar

at Grosvenor Gate at Hughenden at militia dinner imposes economy on the Press Dupre at Hughenden RD at Hughenden Francis Villiers at Hughenden Mandevilles at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate at Merstham (Jolliffe) Russians attack Sinope hostile biography published at Wimpole (Hardwicke) at Knowsley (Derby) Palmerston resigns over reform (restored to home office on 24 Dec) at Heron Court (Malmesbury) gives parliamentary dinner opening of parliament; address in answer to the Speech at Derby's parliamentary dinner comments on public revenue and consolidated fund charges comments on parliamentary reform question on Russia and the Porte speech on Russia and the Porte speech on Russia and the Porte at Buckingham Palace dinner comments on newspaper stamps speech on Parliamentary Representation Bill - postponement of government measures death of Londonderry; comments on the budget; on Church Buildings Act Continuance Bill comments on public business speech on Succession to Real Estate Bill; comments on issue of exchequer bills comments on new writs comments on the dinner to Sir C. Napier; questions on confidential communications with Russia; speech on income tax comments on the income tax speech on the income tax comments on Settlement and Removal Bill war on Russia declared speech on resignation of Baines speech on the Queen's message on war with Russia

xxxv

1854 continued 3 Apr 7 Apr 8 Apr 11 Apr

12 Apr 12-27 Apr 26 Apr 27 Apr 1 May 5 May 8 May 9 May 11 May 12 May 15 May 19 May 22 May 25 May 29 May 1 Jun 2 Jun 3-7 Jun 15 Jun

7 Jul 10 Jul 13 Jul 20 Jul 22-24 Jul 24 Jul 27 Jul 28 Jul 31 Jul 2 Aug

XXXVI

comments on North London Railway; on Bribery at Elections Bill death of Lady John Manners speech at Artists' General Benevolent Institution dinner speech on postponement of the Reform Bill; comments on business of the House; speech on financial statement public income and expenditure at Hughenden Sarah at Hughenden day of solemn fast, humiliation and prayer at Grosvenor Gate; speech on Oxford University Bill amendment on Oxford University Bill comments on public business - standing orders; speech on navy estimates comments on public business - orders of the day; on the financial statement - ways and means speech on malt tax Lucas resigns as Press editor; comments on Stonor's case at French embassy costume ball speech on Excise Duties Bill comments on Excise Duties Bill speech on exchequer bonds speech on Oaths Bill allied troops reach Varna; speech on withdrawal of Bribery Prevention Bills comments on business of the House; on Oxford University Bill at Queen's evening party at Hughenden comments on sugar duties; motion on morning sittings; comments on Registration of Births (Scotland) Bill - morning sittings comments on morning sittings - count out; on Kensington Gore (National Gallery) comments on Bribery Bill speech on Law of Landlord and Tenant, and Leasing Powers (Ireland) Bill comments on vote of credit (for expenses of the war) at Hatfield (Salisbury) speech on vote of credit speech on Burlington House speech (explanation) on crown property — Montagu House comments on statue of Charles I, Charing Cross; on Duchy of Cornwall office comments on Russian Government Securities Bill

1854 continued 3 Aug

11 Aug 12 Aug 25 Aug 3-9 Sep 5 Sep 14-18 Sep 18 Sep 2O Sep 22 Sep 25 Sep 26 Sep 27 Sep 28 Sep 30 Sep 2 Oct 7 Oct 11 Oct 14 Oct 18 Oct 24 Oct 25 Oct 5 Nov 25-27 Nov 28 Nov-7 Dec 29 Nov 1 Dec 7 Dec 12 Dec 14 Dec 15 Dec 18 Dec 19 Dec 20 Dec 21 Dec 22 Dec 23 Dec 26 Dec

1855 6 Jan

comments on appointment of Mr Lawley to governorship of South Australia; speech on public revenue and consolidated fund charges at Hughenden (by new railway direct to Wycombe) prorogation of parliament MA gives fete for Sunday school children peak of the 1854 cholera epidemic Prince Albert visits Napoleon in Paris allied armies land in the Crimea at Haldon House, Devon (Palk) battle of the Alma at Bicton, Devon (Lady Rolle) at Plymouth (Buller) at Devonport at Kitly (Bastard) at Penlee Villas (Yarde Buller) at Trevince (Michael Williams) at Torquay speech at Torquay at Bideford, Devon (Hamlyn Williams) at Grosvenor Gate at Aylesbury Quarter Sessions; to Hughenden servant charged with theft battle of Balaklava and charge of the Light Brigade battle of Inkerman Jolliffe and Hamilton at Hughenden Sarah at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate meeting of parliament; address in answer to the Speech comments on public business; on Militia Bill (service abroad) speech on vote of thanks to allied forces in the Crimea comments on Militia Bill (service abroad); on Enlistment of Foreigners Bill speech on Enlistment of Foreigners Bill comments on consolidated fund - savings banks comments on Enlistment of Foreigners Bill comments on blockade of Russian ports (Memel) House adjourned till 23 Jan at Hughenden, visited by Sarah (10 days), Jolliffe and Hamilton (2 days)

at Grosvenor Gate

xxxvii

1855 continued 10-20jan 29 Jan 30 Jan 1 Feb 6 Feb 16 Feb 20 Feb 21 Feb 22 Feb 23 Feb 2 Mar 9 Mar 15 Mar 19 Mar 23 Mar 26 Mar 29 Mar 2-14 Apr early Apr 16-21 Apr 16 Apr 23 Apr 24 Apr 26 Apr 30 Apr 4 May 7 May 10 May 11 May 14 May 21 May 22 May 24 May

xxxviii

at Wynyard (Lady Londonderry) speech on the army in the Crimea - conduct of the war and condition of the army Aberdeen resigns, Derby summoned Derby declines to form a government Palmerston forms a government speech on ministerial explanations Derby given vote of confidence by Conservatives death of Ponsonby comments on business of the House speech on ministerial explanations death of Czar Nicholas I; speech on the army before Sebastopol committee comments on Lunatic Asylums (Ireland) Bill Vienna Conference opens comments on newspaper stamps; speech on the unfunded debt comments on general fast day - vote of thanks to the Rev H. Melvill speech on military convention with Sardinia; on Newspaper Stamp Duties Bill comments on the Wiltshire Militia; speech on the case of the Earl of Lucan - charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava at Hughenden Francis Villiers scandal breaks Napoleon III visits Queen Victoria; Ds at 2O April Buckingham Palace concert comments on Poor Law administration; on commissioners of audit; on public administration speech on Newspaper Stamp Duties Bill; on the army before Sebastopol committee question on Indian finance; comments on Act of Uniformity comments on Spirit Duties (Scotland and Ireland) Bill question on the Vienna Conferences; speech on Loan Bill; on Newspaper Stamp Duties Bill statement on the Vienna Conferences question on the Vienna Conferences; comments on indisposition of Speaker; on education in England comments on Education (Scotland) Bill speech on consolidation of the military departments comments on the Vienna Conferences speech on the Vienna Conferences statement on state of public affairs comments on messages between the two Houses; motion on prosecution of the war

1855 continued 25 May 26 May 29 May 2 Jun 4 Jun 5 Jun 8 Jun 11 Jun 12 Jun 15 Jun 18 Jun 2O Jun 22 Jun 25 Jun 26 Jun

3 Jul 5 jul 6 Jul 10 Jul

12 Jul 13 Jul 16 Jul 17 Jul 19 Jul 20 Jul 23 Jul 27 Jul 30 Jul 2 Aug

3 Aug 6 Aug 14 Aug 18 Aug

comments on appointment of new secretary to the Admiralty; speech on prosecution of the war; motion defeated at Hughenden Smythe succeeds as Viscount Strangford at Grosvenor Gate comments on indisposition of Speaker; on prosecution of the war; dissolution of Vienna Conference comments on prosecution of the war; on Excise Acts speech on prosecution of the war; Baring's amendment agreed to comments on business of the House comments on administrative reform comments on terms of peace - alleged stipulations statement on business of the House - morning sittings; speech on administrative reform at Buckingham Palace concert comments on public business comments on public business comments on new writ for London - Baron de Rothschild; on income tax - elective franchise; speech on stage carriage duties comments on the Queen's message - the late Lord Raglan comments on Tenants' Improvements Compensation (Ireland) Bill speech on the Vienna Conferences 10 julquestion to Russell re cabinet proceedings speech on the Vienna Conferences - Austrian proposals; comments on Tenants' Improvements (Ireland) Bill comments on supplementary estimates speech on the resignation of Russell comments on the army in the Crimea speech on the army in the Crimea - Sebastopol committee question on instruction to Russell; speech on the Turkish loan question on the army in the Crimea - Sebastopol committee speech on the Turkish Loan Bill to Hatfield at Grosvenor Gate; comments on ordnance estimates; on miscellaneous estimates; on Charitable Trusts Bill; on negotiations for peace; on issue of exchequer bills and bonds comments on the Vienna Conferences to Torquay parliament prorogued Mandeville succeeds as Duke of Manchester

xxxix

1855 continued 18-27 Aug 22 Aug 25 Aug 5-29 Sep 8 Sep 8-9 Sep 10 Sep 1-3 Oct 16-18 Oct 25 Oct 3 Nov 5-9 Nov 11-14 Nov 15 Nov 17-20 Nov 22-26 Nov 26 Nov 29 Nov 10 Dec 15 Dec 18 Dec 28-31 Dec 31 Dec

1856

3-7 Jan 11 Jan 30 Jan 31 Jan 4 Feb 5 Feb 14 Feb 15 Feb 18 Feb 20 Feb 25 Feb 26 Feb 27 Feb 28 Feb 29 Feb 3 Mar

xl

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visit Napoleon in Paris at Grosvenor Gate at Hughenden Sarah at Hughenden to Dropmore (Lady Grenville) fall of Sebastopol to Hambleden and Danesfield (Mrs Scott-Murray) at Grosvenor Gate Henry Padwick at Hughenden at Aylesbury Quarter Sessions at Grosvenor Gate at Hache Beauchamp (Gore-Langton) at Gunnersbury (Rothschild) Napoleon calls for peace at Hughenden at Hatfield fall of Kars at Hughenden Stanley at Hughenden Austria sends allied peace proposals (Four Points) to Russia sends Stanley draft of administrative reform plan at Middleton Park (Jersey) at Aylesbury Quarter Sessions Stanley at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate parliamentary dinner at Grosvenor Gate meeting of parliament; address in answer to the Speech visited by Count Vitzthum vote of thanks to William Ley speech on judicial bench (Ireland), returns moved for comments on relations with the United States; speech on Civil Service Superannuation Bill comments on Court of Chancery (Ireland) Bill Persigny and others at Grosvenor Gate dinner speech on Local Dues on Shipping Bill; appointed to St James's Park committee speech on Local Dues on Shipping Bill; comments on Court of Chancery (Ireland) Bill at Buckingham Palace dinner Colloredo and others at Grosvenor Gate dinner comments on supply comments on the Crimean Commission Report; question on the preliminaries of peace

1856 continued 5 Mar 6 Mar 10 Mar 13 Mar 14 Mar 16 Mar 22-31 Mar 30 Mar 31 Mar 1 Apr 3 Apr 4 Apr 7 Apr 8 Apr 9 Apr 10 Apr 11 Apr 14 Apr 18 Apr 21 Apr 22 Apr 28 Apr 29 Apr 1 May 5 May 8 May 12-17 May 19 May 22 May 29 May 5 Jun 6 Jun 9 Jun 13 Jun 16 Jun 17 Jun 23 Jun

comments on Church Rates Abolition Bill; parliamentary dinner at Grosvenor Gate question on Local Dues on Shipping Bill comments on Local Dues on Shipping Bill comments on conferences question and statement on Prussia and the Paris conferences; comments on public business birth of Imperial Prince of France at Hughenden Treaty of Paris signed comments on civil service estimates comments on salaries of county court judges comments on printing expenses - returns comments on supply - education (Ireland) speech on billeting in Scotland comments on local charges upon shipping; on audit of public accounts speech on Oath of Abjuration Bill comments on national education speech on national education comments on superannuation allowances comments on hereditary pensions speech on supply - British Museum Sarah, Ralph and James Disraeli dine at Grosvenor Gate comments on the fall of Kars comments on evictions in Galway; on the fall of Kars speech on the fall of Kars comments on the treaty of peace speech on operations of the late war - thanks to the army and navy; at Buckingham Palace victory ball at Hughenden speech on the budget question on the Sardinian loan national celebration of the peace question on relations with the United States; comments on embassy houses abroad (supply) comments on relations with the United States; on Science and Art Department, Marlborough House, removal (supply) comments on relations with the United States question on relations with the United States; comments on Parochial Schools (Scotland) Bill speech on relations with the United States; comments on army estimates; on St James's Park (supply) comments on national education (Ireland); at state ball comments on national education (Ireland)

xli

1856 continued 25 Jun 27 Jun 2 Jul 4 Jul 7 Jul 10 Jul 14 Jul 15 Jul 21 Jul 25 Jul 2 Aug 13-14 Sep 18-27 Sep 24 Sep 30 Sep 1 Oct 11-13 oC 13 Oct 13-18 Oct 21 Oct 24 Oct 8 Nov 21 Nov 9 Dec 25 Dec

xlii

at Lord Mayor's Conservative dinner speech on Appellate Jurisdiction Bill at state concert comments on salary of the Bishop of New Zealand comments on ways and means 10 jul £2,000 loan for the Press; comments on Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill speech on affairs of Italy - motion for Address; comments on Partnership Amendment (No 2) Bill comments on the review at Aldershot notice of motion on review of the session speech on review of the session to the continent (Spa) Rotterdam to Grosvenor Gate at Torquay marriage of James and Isabella Disraeli speech at Bucks Agr Assoc dinner at Hughenden Lord and Lady Villiers at Hughenden Sarah attacks D for neglecting the family daily trips to Aylesbury (Quarter Sessions and police committee) speech at Chesham agricultural dinner Mme de Rothschild, Mrs Montefiore, Mr Maitland at Hughenden at Grosvenor Gate to Paris; returned 17 Jan 1857 dines with Lord Cowley Christmas dinner at British embassy

A B B R E V I A T I O N S IN V O L U M E SIX

Aberdeen Coalition app AR BA BAL BAR

BATH BDR BEA

Bell Palmerston BH BHF BL

Blake BLK Boase BODL

Bourne Bradford BRD

Bright Broughton BSP:HC BUG BUR

CARR

Chadwick Chambers Clergy List

J.B. Conacher The Aberdeen Coalition 1852-1855 (1968) Appendix Annual Register (followed by year) British Almanac (followed by year) Balliol College, Oxford Baring Brothers Marquess of Bath S.T. Bindoff, E.F. Malcolm Smith and C.K. Webster eds British Diplomatic Representatives 1789-1852 (1934) Belvoir Castle, Lincolnshire Herbert Bell Lord Palmerston (1936 repr 1966) The Bucks Herald Chris Cook and Brendan Keith British Historical Facts (1975) The British Library, London Robert Blake Disraeli (1966) Professor Eugene C. Black, Brandeis University Frederick Boase Modern English Biography (1892 repr 1965) Bodleian Library, Oxford H.R. Fox Bourne English Newspapers 2 vols (1887) Sarah Bradford Disraeli (1982) Earl of Bradford John Bright The Diaries of John Bright (1930) Lord Broughton Recollections of a Long Life (1909-11) 6 vols British Sessional Papers: House of Commons (followed by year) Buckinghamshire Record Office Miss Elizabeth Burton Carrington Collection, Bodleian Library, Oxford Owen Chadwick The Victorian Church 2 vols (New York 1966) Chambers's Biographical Dictionary (1974) The Clerical Guide and Ecclesiastical Directory publ by Rivington, later The Clerical Directory publ by Crockford (followed by year of edition)

Conacher Peelites

J.B. Conacher The Peelites and the Party System 1846-52 (Newton Abbot 1972) Cokayne George Edward Cokayne The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom (1910) CRI Cornwall Royal Institution CRN Cornwall County Record Office Croker Louis J. Jennings ed The Correspondence and Diaries of the Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker (1885) Curiosities Isaac D'Israeli Curiosities of Literature (1791 and many other editions) Curtiss John Shelton Curtiss Russia's Crimean War (Durham, NC 1979) D Benjamin Disraeli (and thus also 'the Ds' = D and MA) DBF Derby Papers, 14th & 15th Earls, Liverpool City Libraries Disraeli, Derby John Vincent ed Disraeli, Derby and the Conservative Party: Journals and Memoirs of Edward Henry, Lord Stanley 1849-1869 (Hassocks, Sussex 1978) Disraeli Newsletter The Disraeli Project Newsletter (1976-81) Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee eds The Dictionary of DNB National Biography (1917 repr 1973) Helen M. Swartz and Martin Swartz eds Disraeli's Reminiscences DR (1975) DUR Durham County Record Office Durham University Library (Ponsonby Papers) DURP Encyclopaedia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910-11) EB XI Editorial comment section of the headnote ec ex- Jewish Museum (see abbreviations in Volume II) EJM Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge FITZ J. Foster Alumni Oxonienses (1887, 1888) Foster Furtado Peter Furtado et al eds The Ordnance Survey Guide to Historic Houses in Britain (New York 1987) Timothy Gee GEE Gladstone Diaries M.R.D. Foot and H.C.G. Matthew eds The Gladstone Diaries (1968-94) Greater London Public Record Office GLR The Gentleman's Magazine GM John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation GMF Lytton Strachey and Roger Fulford eds The Greville Memoirs, Greville 1814-60 (1938) The Hughenden papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford H H WMA 4498 - MA's account book (and date) H ace Mrs A.J.J. Hammond HAM Handbook of London Peter Cunningham Handbook of London. Past and Present (1850 repr 1978) Hansard's Parliamentary Debates Hansard Hon Mrs Hastings HAS

xliv

HCC HCR HFD

H/Life HRR HUND HUNT HWD INL

Isaac James or Jem JHC Judd Kenealy Koss Political Press Lady Londonderry

Lambert Law List LBCS LCC LCL LGB

Life of Milnes LIV LJMJ LOD Lodge LPOD LQV

MA

Madden Malmesbury

Hampshire County Council Hertford County Record Office Hatfield House Monypenny papers in H for his Life of Disraeli Earl of Harrowby Huntingdon County Record Office The Huntington Library, San Marino, California Denis Hill-Wood National Library of Ireland, Dublin Isaac Disraeli James Disraeli Journals of the House of Commons Gerrit Parmele Judd Members of Parliament, 1734-1832 (1955 repr Hamden, Conn 1972) Arabella Kenealy Memoirs of Edward Vaughan Kenealy, LL.D., by his daughter Arabella Kenealy (1908) Stephen Koss The Rise and Fall of the Political Press in Britain (Chapel Hill, NC 1981) The Marchioness of Londonderry ed Letters from Benjamin Disraeli to Frances Anne Marchioness of Londonderry 1837-1861 (1938) Andrew D. Lambert The Crimean War: British Grand Strategy, 1853-56 (Manchester and New York 1990) Clarke's New Law List compiled by S. Hill and later by T. Cockell (followed by year of edition) Ralph Disraeli ed Lord Beaconsfield's Correspondence with his Sister, 1832-1852 (1886) Lowry-Corry Collection Leeds City Libraries Benjamin Disraeli Lord George Bentinck: A Political Biography (1st ed 1852) T. Wemyss Reid The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes, First Lord Houghton (1890) Liverpool Record Office Lord John Manners's Journals, Belvoir Castle, Lincolnshire Hon Robert Loder, London Edmund Lodge The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (1854) London Post Office Directory (followed by year of edition) Arthur C. Benson and Viscount Esher eds The Letters of Queen Victoria: A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861 (1908) Mary Anne Disraeli R.R. Madden The Literary Life and Correspondence of the Countess of Blessington (1855) 3rd Earl of Malmesbury Memoirs of an Ex-minister (1884) 2 vols

xlv

M&B

MC Meynell MH

MOPSIK MP

NLS NOT NTA PAA

Paul History PFRZ ph PML PP

Press Press (annot) Prest Russell PRIN PRO PS PWS QUA R

RAC

RD or Ralph REN

Rich RLF RRC RTC

Sa or Sarah SAC Sadleir Strange Life Schroeder SCR SFS

xlvi

William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (191020) 6 vols The Morning Chronicle Wilfred Meynell Benjamin Disraeli: An Unconventional Biography (1903) The Morning Herald The Donald and Delores Mopsik Collection The Morning Post National Library of Scotland University of Nottingham Newcastle Upon Tyne Archives Paris Archives Herbert Paul A History of Modern England (1904) The Carl H. Pforzheimer Library (Blessington Papers) Publication history section of the headnote Pierpont Morgan Library Palmerston Papers, Southampton University Library The Press Lord Stanley's annotated copy of The Press (1853) John Prest Lord John Russell (1972) Princeton University Library Public Record Office, London Printed Source, identified in ph, used when the original MS has not been located Earl of Powis Disraeli Papers, Queen's University Archives, Kingston, Ontario denotes a letter now available from a manuscript or a more complete or reliable printed source replacing a fragmentary letter published in a previous volume (eg '123R' replaces '123') Royal Archives Ralph Disraeli The Rendells, Inc Norman Rich Why the Crimean War? (1985) Royal Literary Fund Ray E.D. Rawlins Lord Rothschild Sarah Disraeli Shropshire Record Office Michael Sadleir The Strange Life of Lady Blessington (New York 1933) Paul W. Schroeder Austria, Great Britain, and the Crimean War (1972) Somerset County Record Office Staffordshire Record Office

SPI SPR SRO Stenton

Stewart Conservative Party Stewart Writings

SUAP SUG

Sykes TCC TEXU TIA UCLA UO

Venn VH-B

VH-Surrey Victorian Travellers WAR Weintraub Wellesley Index WES Whibley WRC WSRO X

Harry and Brigitte Spiro Sir Philip Rose Scottish Record Office Michael Stenton Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I, 1832-1885 (Hassocks, Sussex 1976) Robert Stewart The Foundation of the Conservative Party 18301867 (1978) R.W. Stewart Benjamin Disraeli: A list of writings by him, and writings about him, with notes (Metuchen, New Jersey 1972). Citations are of item numbers. Statni Ustredni Archiv v Praz, Czechoslovakia Lord St Leonards (Sugden) James Sykes Mary Anne Disraeli (1928) Trinity College, Cambridge University of Texas, Austin Archives of The Times University of California, Los Angeles A source that cannot be divulged for reasons such as requested confidentiality (rarely used) John Venn and John Archibald Venn eds Alumni Cantabrigienses (1922-54) The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of Buckinghamshire (1969) The Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of Surrey (1902) The Victorian Travellers Guide to 19th Century England and Wales (1864 repr 1985) Warwickshire Record Office Stanley Weintraub Disraeli: A Biography (1993) Walter E. Hough ton et al eds The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900 (1966-89) Wesleyan University Charles Whibley Lord John Manners and His Friends (1925) 2 vols Worcestershire Record Office West Sussex Record Office denotes an entirely new letter or fragment to be placed in chronological sequence after the corresponding letter number in a previous volume (eg '123X' follows '123')

xlvii

C H R O N O L O G I C A L LIST OF L E T T E R S 1852-1856

NO

2218 2219 2220

2221 2222 2223 2224 2225 2226 2227 2228 2229 223O

2231 2232 2233 2234 2235 2236 2237 2238 2239 224O

2241 2242 2243 2244

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2 JAN '52

LORD MALMESBURY

HUGHENDEN

HCC

4 JAN '52 8 JAN '52 13 JAN '52

LORD DERBY R.P. MILNES LORD JOHN MANNERS LORD SALISBURY

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

LORD PONSONBY PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

LORD STANLEY LORD DERBY SARAH DISRAELI LORD JOHN MANNERS

GROSVENOR GROSVENOR GROSVENOR GROSVENOR GROSVENOR GROSVENOR [LONDON] GROSVENOR

13 JAN '52 13 JAN '52 13 JAN '52

19 JAN 20 JAN 26 JAN 26 JAN

'52 '52 '52 '52

26 JAN '52 15 FEB '52 [20 FEB '52] 22 FEB '52 [22 FEB '52] 24 FEB ['52] 24 FEB '52 25 FEB '52 [25 FEB '52] 25 FEB ['52] 27 FEB '52 28 FEB '52 29 FEB '52 29 FEB '52 [29 FEB? '52] 1 MAR '52

LORD PONSONBY LORD DERBY LORD DERBY THOMAS BARING [JOHN DELANE] LORD DERBY LORD PONSONBY WILLIAM PARTRIDGE JOHN DELANE LORD DERBY LORD DERBY PHILIP ROSE LORD LONDONDERRY LORD LONDONDERRY

DBP TCC BEA HFD

DURP MOPSIK GT GT GT GT GT GT

DBP DBP H BEA

DURP DBP DBP

GT

BAR

[LONDON]

TIA

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

DBP

DURP GMF

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

TIA DBP DBP H DUR DUR

[MARY ANNE DISRAELI] ELECTORS OF BUCKS

[LONDON]

H

LONDON

PS

2245 2246

2 MAR '52

SARAH DISRAELI

DOWNING ST

BEA

2 MAR '52

LORD SALISBURY

GROSVENOR GT

HFD

2247 2248

2 MAR '52 6 MAR '52

LORD SALISBURY

GROSVENOR GT

HFD

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

DOWNING ST

H H/LIFE

2249 2250

[8 MAR '52?]

FREDERIC QUIN

DOWNING ST

PS

8 MAR '52

WILLIAM PARTRIDGE

DOWNING ST

GMF

9 MAR '52 11 MAR '52 14 MAR '52

LORD JOHN RUSSELL

DOWNING ST

PRO

PHILIP ROSE LORD LONDONDERRY LORD DERBY QUEEN VICTORIA

DOWNING ST

H

GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS

DUR

2251 2252 2253 2254 2255

[15 MAR '52] [15 MAR '52]

DBP RAC

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2256

17 MAR '52

WILLIAM FERRAND SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

PS

17 MAR '52

DOWNING ST

BEA

17 MAR '52

ELECTORS OF BUCKS

DOWNING ST

PS

[19 MAR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[22 MAR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[25 MAR '52]

SARAH DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

BL

[25 MAR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

29 MAR '52

PHILIP ROSE

DOWNING ST

H

[29 MAR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

30 MAR '52

[LORD ST LEONARDS]

DOWNING ST

UCLA

[30 MAR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

2 APR ['52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

8 APR '52

SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT

H

2268A

13 APR '52

SPENCER WALPOLE

HUGHENDEN

MOPSIK

2269

14 APR '52

HENRY HANMER

HUGHENDEN

MOPSIK

2270

16 APR '52

[CABINET COLLEAGUES]

GROSVENOR GT

H

2271

[17 APR '52]

[T.P. COURTENAY]

[LONDON]

H

2272

19 APR '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

2272A

22 APR '52

CHARLES TREVOR

DOWNING ST

MOPSIK

2273

[23 APR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

2274

24 APR '52

HOWEL GWYN

DOWNING ST

NYPL

2275 2276

26 APR '52

LORD DERBY

GROSVENOR GT

DBF

26 APR ['52]

SARAH DISRAELI

DOWNING ST

H

2277 2278 2279 2280 228l 2282 2283 2284 2285 2286

[26 APR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[26 APR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[27 APR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[29 APR '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

30 APR '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

2 MAY '52

LORD LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR

4 MAY ['52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

5 MAY '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[6 MAY '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

7 MAY '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[10 MAY '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

[14 MAY '52]

SARAH DISRAELI

H OF COMMONS

H

14 MAY ['52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

20 MAY '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

21 MAY '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

24 MAY ['52]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

DOWNING ST

H

24 MAY '52

LORD DERBY

DOWNING ST

DBP

[25 MAY? '52]

LORD STANLEY

[LONDON]

DBP

28 MAY '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

29 MAY '52

LORD DERBY

GROSVENOR GT

DBP

29 MAY ['52]

LORD STANLEY

GROSVENOR GT

DBP

[3 JUN '52]

JOHN DELANE

H OF COMMONS

TIA

[4 JUN '52]

LORD DERBY

[LONDON]

DBP

[4 JUN '52]

LORD DERBY

H OF COMMONS

DBP

[4 JUN '52]

JOHN DELANE

H OF COMMONS

TIA

[4 JUN '52] [4 JUN '52] [6] JUN '52 7 JUN ['52] [7 JUN '52?]

QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS

RAC

LORD DERBY

H OF COMMONS

DBP

ELECTORS OF BUCKS

[LONDON]

PS

J.C. H E R R I E S

DOWNING ST

BL

CHARLES NEWDEGATE

COVENTRY HS

WAR

2257 2258 2259 2260 2261 2262 2263 2264 2265 2266 2267 2268

2287

2288 2289 2290 2291 2292 2293 2294 2295 2296 2297 2298 2299 2300 2301 2302 2303 2304 2305 2306

xlix

NO

2307 2308 2309 2310 2311

2312 2313

2314 2315

2316 2317 2318 2319

2320 2321 2322 2323

2324 2325 2326 2327 2328

2329

2330 2331 2332

2333 2334 2335 2336 2337 2338 2339 2340 2341 2342 2343 2344 2345 2346 2347 2348 2349 2350 2351 2352 2353 2354 2355 2356 2357 2358 2359

1

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

8 JUN '52

LORD ST LEONARDS SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST

SUG

JOSEPH HENLEY

DOWNING ST

DBP

LORD DERBY PRINCE ALBERT

DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS

DBP

H OF COMMONS

RAC

DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS

RAC

8 JUN '52 8 JUN '52 8 JUN '52 10 JUN

['52]

10 JUN

['52]

BL

RAC

11 JUN '52

THOMAS BARING PRINCE ALBERT

12 JUN '52

QUEEN VICTORIA

[14 JUN '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA

l6 JUN '52

SARAH DISRAELI ELECTORS OF BUCKS QUEEN VICTORIA SARAH DISRAELI

DOWNING ST

H

DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS

HUNT

[LONDON]

FITZ

NORTHUMBERLAND EDWARD FARNHAM LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY SARAH DISRAELI

DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST DOWNING ST

H

18 JUN '52 21 JUN '52 22 JUN '52 22 JUN '52 22 JUN '52 26 JUN

['52]

27 JUN

['52]

29 JUN

['52]

JUN '52

THOMSON HANKEY

2 JUL '52

8 JUL '52 10 JUL '52 10JUL '52 [11 JUL '52] 12 JUL '52 15JUL ['52] 18 JUL ['52] 18 JUL '52 18 JUL '52 22 JUL '52 23 JUL '52 23 JUL '52 27 JUL '52 27 JUL '52 [29 JUL '52] 5 AUG '52 7 AUG '52 7 AUG '52 7 AUG '52 7 AUG '52

LORD DERBY LORD DERBY LORD FORESTER LORD DERBY MARY ANNE DISRAELI PHILIP ROSE LORD SALISBURY LORD DERBY PHILIP ROSE LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD STANLEY ELECTORS OF BUCKS LORD ST LEONARDS CLAUDE MARTYN SARAH DISRAELI HENRY JESTON [T.P. COURTENAY] LORD DERBY LORD DERBY LORD MALMESBURY LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD STANLEY

8 AUG '52 8 AUG '52 8 AUG '52

3 JUL '52

8 AUG '52 8 AUG '52 [9 AUG '52?] [10? AUG '52] 11 AUG 11 AUG 11 AUG 13 AUG

'52 '52 '52 '52

13 AUG '52

BAR RAC

RAC

QUA DBP DBP PS H

GROSVENOR GT [LONDON]

DBP

GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST DOWNING ST

SAC

GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST [LONDON?] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] DOWNING ST DOWNING ST [LONDON]

H

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

DBP

DBP

LORD SALISBURY

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

SIR T. FREMANTLE

HUGHENDEN

BUC

A. BAILLIE COCHRANE

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

HAS

PHILIP ROSE LORD HENRY LENNOX [LORD H. LENNOX?] C. SHAW-LEFEVRE T.P. COURTENAY LORD PONSONBY? LORD STANLEY

DBP DBP H HFD DBP H PS DBP PS

MOPSIK PS H

MOPSIK H DBP HCC PS HFD

H

HUGHENDEN

H H/LIFE

[HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN]

H H/LIFE

HUGHENDEN

H

H H/LIFE

HUGHENDEN

LOD DBP

LORD MALMESBURY

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

LORD LONDONDERRY

HUGHENDEN

PS; H H/LIFE

HCC

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2360 2361

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

[HUGHENDEN]

PS

2366

16 AUG '52 17? AUG '52

LORD DERBY LORD STANLEY LORD ST LEONARDS FRANCIS SCOTT LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD CARRINGTON [T.P. COURTENAY?] MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD DERBY T.P. COURTENAY LORD LONDONDERRY LORD STANLEY PHILIP ROSE LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY LORD DERBY GEORGE HOLLOWAY [T.P. COURTENAY] LORD DERBY LORD JOHN RUSSELL LORD STANLEY LORD DERBY LORD HENRY LENNOX PATRICK TALBOT LORD MALMESBURY SIR W. JOLLIFFE LORD HATHERTON LORD DERBY LORD DERBY SIR T. FREMANTLE LORD DERBY LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY LORD ST LEONARDS SIR E. BULWER LYTTON LORD NAAS EDWARD KENEALY LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD STANLEY [LORD DERBY] LORD STANLEY LORD DERBY LORD JOHN MANNERS JOSEPH HENLEY GEORGE HAMILTON LORD DERBY LORD COWLEY LORD STANLEY SIR HENRY BULWER LORD JOHN MANNERS LORD DERBY MARY ANNE DISRAELI

DBP

2363 2364

13 AUG '52 15 AUG '52 15 AUG '52 15 AUG '52 [l6 AUG '52]

HUGHENDEN [LONDON?] GROSVENOR GT HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

CARR

2362

2365

2367 2368

2369 2370 2371

2372 2373 2374 2375 2376 2377 2378 2379 2380 2381 2382 2383 2384 2385 2386 2387 2388 2389 2390

2391 2392 2393 2394 2395 2396 2397 2398 2399 2400 2401 2402

[l8 AUG '52] 22 AUG '52 22 AUG '52 22 AUG '52 22 AUG '52 26 26 2Q 29 29 30 31 31

AUG '52 AUG '52 AUG '52 AUG '52 AUG '52 AUG '52 AUG '52 AUG '52

31 AUG ['52] 1 SEP '52 1 SEP '52 2 SEP '52 2 SEP '52

3 SEP '52 3 SEP '52 5 SEP '52 8 SEP '52 8 SEP '52 10 SEP '52 12 SEP '52 14 SEP '52 15 SEP '52 15 SEP '52 15 SEP '52 15 SEP '52 [15] SEP '52 l6 SEP '52 l6 SEP '52 [l8 SEP '52] 19 SEP '52 19 SEP '52 19 SEP '52

2403 2404 2405 2406

[24 SEP '52] 26 SEP '52

2407 2408

27 SEP '52 27 SEP '52

2409 241O

[OCT '52] 4 OCT '52

2411 2412

6 OCT '52 [6 OCT '52]

27 SEP '52

DBP SUG H

H

HUNT DBP H PS DBP H DBP DBP DBP

[HUGHENDEN]

PS

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN DOWNING ST HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

H

[HUGHENDEN]

DBP

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

DBP

[HUGHENDEN]

H

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN?] HUGHENDEN DOWNING ST DOWNING ST

QUA

DBP

PRO; H DBP DBP PS DBP DBP SCR SFS DBP DBP BUC DBP DBP DBP DBP SUG CRI INL

H H/LIFE PS DBP

DBP BEA

DBP H DBP H BEA DBP PS

li

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2413

6 OCT '52 [6 OCT '52]

LORD ROBT GROSVENOR MARY ANNE DISRAELI MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD DERBY MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD JOHN RUSSELL SIR T. FREMANTLE SARAH DISRAELI [T.P. COURTENAY] LORD STANLEY LORD LONDONDERRY MARY ANNE DISRAELI SARAH DISRAELI LORD STANLEY LORD DERBY JOHN TRAVERS SIR GEORGE SINCLAIR LORD NAAS LORD DERBY PHILIP ROSE LORD LONSDALE MARY ANNE DISRAELI QUEEN VICTORIA JOHN DELANE QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA LORD DERBY [LORD DERBY] SIR E. BULWER LYTTON R. MONCKTON MILNES JOHN DELANE SIR E. BULWER LYTTON LORD PALMERSTON [LORD DERBY] QUEEN VICTORIA LORD PALMERSTON QUEEN VICTORIA SIR T. FREMANTLE [LORD DERBY] SPENCER WALPOLE [LORD DERBY] [JOHN] WOOD

DOWNING DOWNING DOWNING DOWNING DOWNING DOWNING DOWNING DOWNING

BODL

2414

2415 2416 2417 2418

2419

2420 2421 2422

2423

2424 2425 2426

2427

2428

2429

2430

2431

2432 2433 2434 2435 2436 2437 2438 2439 2440 2441 2442 2443 2444 2445 2446 2447 2448 2449 2450

2451 2452 2453 2454 2455 2456 2457 2458 2459 2460 2461 2462 2463 2464 2465

lii

[7 OCT '52]

8 8 9 9 9

OCT '52 OCT '52 OCT '52 OCT '52 OCT '52

[ll? OCT '52] 12 OCT '52 12 OCT '52 13 OCT ['52] 15 OCT '52 15 OCT '52 18 OCT '52 l8 OCT '52 22 OCT '52 22 OCT '52 28 OCT '52 31 OCT '52 1 NOV '52

3 NOV '52 4 NOV '52 11 NOV '52 11 NOV '52 14 NOV '52 17 NOV '52 19 NOV '52 20 NOV '52 20 NOV '52 2O NOV '52 21 NOV '52 [22 NOV '52] [23 NOV '52] 23 NOV '52 24 NOV '52 [26 NOV '52] 27 NOV '52 28 NOV '52 29 NOV '52 3O NOV '52 [l DEC? '52]

ST ST ST ST ST ST ST ST

H H DBF H H BUC H

[HUGHENDEN]

H

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST DOWNING ST WINDSOR DOWNING ST DOWNING ST H OF COMMONS LONDON GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT

DBP DUR H H DBP DBP QUA SRO INL DBP H

MOPSIK H RAC TIA RAC RAC DBP DBP HCR H TIA HCR PP DBP RAC PP RAC BUC DBP BL DBP

ILLU

[3 DEC '52]

[LORD DERBY]

[LONDON]

DBP

3 DEC '52

QUEEN VICTORIA LORD JOHN MANNERS QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA LORD LONDONDERRY QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA LORD ADOLPHUS VANE JOHN BRIGHT LORD DERBY

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

RAC

4 DEC '52 [6 DEC '52] [10 DEC '52] 12 DEC '52 [13 DEC '52] 14 [DEC '52] 15 DEC '52 15 DEC '52 16 DEC '52

NOT RAC RAC DUR RAC RAC PS BL DBP

NO

2466

2467 2468 2469

2470 2471 2472 2473 2474 2475 2476 2477 2478 2479 2480 2481 2482 2483 2484 2485 2486 2487 2488 2489 2490 2491 2492 2493 2494 2495 2496 2497 2498 2499 2500 2501 2502 2503 2504 2505 2506 2507 2508 2509 2510 2511 2512 2513 2514 2515 2516 2517 2518

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

[17 DEC '52]

QUEEN VICTORIA QUEEN VICTORIA

H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS

RAC

2O DEC '52 2O DEC '52

DOWNING ST

RAC

DOWNING ST GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] DOWNING ST

DBP

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

DUR

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

DBP

20 DEC '52 21 DEC '52 [21 DEC '52] 21 DEC '52 31 DEC '52

8 JAN '53 11 JAN '53 12 JAN '53 13 JAN ['53]

17 JAN '53 21 JAN '53

26 JAN '53 26 JAN '53 28 JAN '53 4 FEE '53 4 FEE '53 12 FEE '53 [13 FEE '53] 14 FEE '53 14 FEE '53 19 FEE '53 [22 FEE '53] 25 FEE '53 26 FEE '53 28 FEE '53 28 FEE ['53]

[MAR '53] 2 MAR '53

4 MAR '53 5 MAR '53 5 MAR '53 6 MAR '53 [7 MAR '53]

9 MAR '53 9 MAR '53 [11 MAR '53] 12 MAR '53 13 MAR '53 13 MAR '53 [17 MAR? 53] 17 MAR '53 I? MAR ['53]

PRINCE ALBERT LORD STANLEY LORD JOHN MANNERS MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD LONDONDERRY LORD LONDONDERRY LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY WILLIAM PARSONS LORD STANLEY SIRJ E TENNENT LORD STANLEY LORD MALMESBURY LORD STANLEY LORD EXETER THOMSON HANKEY LORD STANLEY GEORGE HOLLOWAY LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY JOHN BUCKSTONE WILLIAM AYTOUN LADY GALWAY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS WILLIAM GLADSTONE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY PHILIP ROSE THOMAS SANSOM R.P. MILNES LORD SALISBURY LORD STANLEY WILLIAM GLADSTONE PHILIP ROSE LORD POWIS PHILIP ROSE [SIR E.C. KERRISON] LORD STANLEY LORD EGLINTON SAMUEL LUCAS PHILIP ROSE EDWARD KENEALY PHILIP ROSE PHILIP ROSE

COVENTRY HS GROSVENOR GT FRYSTONE HA FRYSTONE HA FRYSTONE HA SERLBY HALL SERLBY HALL [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS CARLTON CLUB CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB [LONDON] COVENTRY HS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS H OF COMMONS

RAC

BEA H DUR DBP QUA DBP

MOPSIK DBP DBP DBP HRR

TEXU DBP PS DBP DBP

MOPSIK NLS NOT RTC BL RTC DBP H

MOPSIK TCC HFD DBP BL H PWS H H DBP SRO QUA H

H H/LIFE

H OF COMMONS

H H

HENRY HOPE

H OF COMMONS [LONDON]

24 MAR '53

GEORGE C. BENTINCK

GROSVENOR GT

QUA

[24 MAR '53]

GEORGE C. BENTINCK

[LONDON]

NOT

24 MAR '53

SIR J.E. TENNENT

GROSVENOR GT

MOPSIK

[27 MAR '53]

EDWARD KENEALY

GROSVENOR GT

H H/LIFE

28 MAR '53 31 MAR '53

[LORD DERBY]

GROSVENOR GT GOODWOOD

DBP

l8 MAR '53 [22 MAR '53]

LORD STANLEY

H

DBP

liii

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2519

31 MAR '53

PHILIP ROSE LORD PONSONBY WILLIAM AYTOUN EDWARD BAINES PHILIP ROSE LORD STANLEY GEORGE HOLLOWAY [LORD DERBY] EDWARD KENEALY LORD LONDONDERRY SAMUEL LUCAS LORD BATEMAN SAMUEL LUCAS LORD HATHERTON [SAMUEL LUCAS] [SAMUEL LUCAS] [JOHN BRIGHT] COUNT WALEWSKI RICHARD COBDEN COUNT WALEWSKI JOSEPH NEELD S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD PONSONBY THOMAS OUSELEY ALFRED GRIFFIN JOHN C. HERRIES S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS COUNT WALEWSKI S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY WILLIAM FERRAND S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SAMUEL LUCAS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD ADOLPHUS VANE ELIZABETH SHEPPARD DAVID BRYCE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS [DAVID BRYCE] LORD LONDONDERRY ALFRED GRIFFIN S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY LORD JOHN MANNERS DAVID BRYCE DAVID BRYCE LORD STANLEY SIR E. BULWER LYTTON S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD LONDONDERRY LORD HENRY LENNOX DAVID BRYCE

GOODWOOD GOODWOOD GOODWOOD GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS

H

2520 2521 2522

2523 2524

2525

2526 2527

2528 2529 2530

2531 2532 2533 2534 2535 2536 2537 2538 2539 2540

2541 2542 2543 2544 2545 2546 2547 2548 2549 2550 2551 2552 2553 2554 2555 2556 2557 2558 2559 2560 2561 2562 2563 2564 2565 2566 2567 2568 2569 2570

2571

liv

[i] APR '53 2 APR '53

13 APR '53 [13 APR '53?] [13 APR '53?] 21 APR '53

24 APR '53 24 APR '53 14 MAY '53 14 MAY '53 14 MAY '53 [15 MAY] '53 19 MAY '53

3JUN '53 3JUN ['53] 5JUN '53 24JUN '53 27JUN '53 15JUL '53 20JUL '53 1 AUG '53

8 AUG '53 8 AUG '53 10 AUG '53 11 AUG ['53] 12 AUG '53 13 AUG '53 [16 AUG '53] 23 AUG '53 25 AUG '53 25 AUG '53 28 AUG '53

l SEP '53

i SEP '53 8 SEP '53 11 SEP '53 [15 SEP '53]

25 SEP '53

26 SEP '53 28 SEP '53

29 SEP '53 2 OCT '53

3 OCT '53 3 OCT '53 [5 OCT? '53]

7 OCT '53 9 OCT '53 10 OCT '53 16 OCT '53 19 OCT '53 19 OCT '53 19 OCT '53

DURP NLS LCL H

[LONDON] [LONDON]

DBF

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT

DBF

[LONDON]

QUA

CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT

MOPSIK

PS

HUNT MOPSIK MOPSIK HWD LIV SFS

BL

[LONDON]

PAA

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB

WSRO

[LONDON]

H

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT TORQUAY GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

RTC

[HUGHENDEN]

GEE

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

DUR

GEE

[LONDON]

GEE

HUGHENDEN

DBF

PAA QUA H

DURP PRIN H

PAA RTC DBF

H H/LIFE RTC PS RTC

HUNT HUNT GEE RTC

REN RTC DBF BEA

[HUGHENDEN]

HCR

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

RTC

[HUGHENDEN]

H H/LIFE

HUGHENDEN

GEE

RTC DUR

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2572 2573 2574 2575 2576

21 OCT '53 25 OCT '53 28 OCT '53 28 OCT '53 29 OCT '53 30 OCT '53 3 NOV '53 7 NOV '53 7 NOV '53 7 NOV '53 11 NOV '53 11 NOV '53 15 NOV '53 17 NOV '53 17 NOV '53

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SIR W. JOLLIFFE LORD DERBY LORD ADOLPHUS VANE [SAMUEL LUCAS] PHILIP ROSE LORD LONDONDERRY LORD STANLEY DAVID BRYCE LORD STANLEY SIR W. JOLLIFFE LORD HENRY LENNOX MARGUERITE POWER S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS PHILIP ROSE [PHILIP ROSE] SIR JOHN PAKINGTON LORD STANLEY LORD JOHN MANNERS [LORD DERBY] LORD LONDONDERRY LORD SALISBURY PHILIP ROSE LORD HENRY LENNOX MARY ANNE DISRAELI DUCHESS OF RICHMOND LORD DERBY LORD LONDONDERRY LORD BATEMAN LORD DERBY R.P. MILNES [LORD DERBY] LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY LORD MALMESBURY

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

RTC

2577 2578 2579 2580 2581 2582 2583 2584 2585 2586 2587 2588 2589 2590

2591 2592 2593 2594 2595 2596 2597 2598 2599 26OO 2601 2602 2603 2604 2605 2606 2607 2608 2609 2610 2611 2612 2613 2614 2615 2616 2617 2618 2619 2620 2621 2622 2623 2624

[18 NOV '53]

28 NOV '53 i DEC '53 1 DEC '53 2 DEC '53 2 DEC '53

8 DEC '53 8 DEC '53 11? DEC '53 12 DEC '53 12 DEC '53 13 DEC '53

14 DEC '53 16 DEC '53 19 DEC '53 19 DEC '53 [19 DEC '53] 20 DEC ['53] 22 DEC '53

24 DEC '53 [24 DEC '53] [24 DEC '53] 29 DEC '53 30 DEC ['53]

31 DEC '53 2 JAN '54 [5 JAN '54]

13 JAN 14 JAN 14 JAN 16 JAN 16 JAN 18 JAN 18 JAN 18 JAN 19 JAN

'54 '54 '54 '54 '54 '54 '54 '54 '54

21 JAN '54 22 JAN '54

[LORD DERBY] [LORD DERBY] S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY SIR W. JOLLIFFE [SAMUEL LUCAS] LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD GRANBY CHARLES NEWDEGATE LORD STANLEY LORD NAAS [LORD DERBY] LORD STANLEY THOMAS BARING SIR F. THESIGER HENRY LOWTHER LORD PONSONBY

SCR DBF

HUNT QUA H DUR DBP GEE DBP SCR

H H/LIFE PFRZ RTC H

[HUGHENDEN]

H

GROSVENOR GT COVENTRY HS COVENTRY HS COVENTRY HS COVENTRY HS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT KNOWSLEY KNOWSLEY KNOWSLEY GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT COVENTRY HS GROSVENOR GT

WRC

[LONDON]

DBP

COVENTRY HS COVENTRY HS

PS

[LONDON]

DBP

HERON COURT COVENTRY HS GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON]

RTC DBP

[LONDON]

PS

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT COVENTRY HS COVENTRY HS GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

DBP BEA DBP DUR HFD H

H H/LIFE H

WSRO DBP DUR HWD DBP TCC DBP DBP

DBP

DBP SCR QUA BEA WAR DBP INL DBP DBP BAR RAC

MOPSIK DURP

Iv

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2625

23 JAN '54 23 JAN '54 24 JAN '54 26 JAN '54 28 JAN '54

[LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT COVENTRY HS GROSVENOR GT

DBP

2627

LORD DERBY LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD MALMESBURY [ELIZABETH MASSON] THOMAS JONES LORD LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY SAMUEL LUCAS SIR W. JOLLIFFE LORD STANLEY LORD JOHN RUSSELL [SAMUEL LUCAS] LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD MALMESBURY MARY ANNE DISRAELI LORD HENRY LENNOX [JOHN BLACKWOOD] LORD CARRINGTON LORD JOHN MANNERS LORD CARRINGTON LADY LONDONDERRY LORD BATH LORD A VANE-TEMPEST PATRICK TALBOT LADY FRANKLIN LORD SALISBURY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS JAMES GUDGE LORD HENRY LENNOX SAMUEL LUCAS RICHARD MADDEN BENJAMIN LUMLEY RICHARD MADDEN PHILIP ROSE ALFRED COLE CHARLES GREY LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY R. MONCKTON MILNES LADY LONDONDERRY LORD MALMESBURY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD STANLEY LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY EDWARD HARPER HENRY COLBURN LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD JOHN MANNERS LORD STANLEY LADY LONDONDERRY LORD HENRY LENNOX S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

[LONDON]

SCR

2626 2628

2629 2630 2631 2632

2633 2634 2635 2636 2637

2638 2639

2640

2641

2642

2643 2644 2645 2646

2647

2648

2649

2650 2651 2652

2653 2654 2655 2656

2657 2658 2659 2660 2661 2662 2663 2664

2665

2666 2667

2668 2669 2670 2671 2672 2673 2674 2675 2676 2677

Ivi

30 JAN '54 11 FEE '54 13 FEE '54 14 FEE '54 [15 FEE '54?] 16 FEE '54 [17 FEE '54?] 27 FEE '54 28 FEE '54

[FEE '54?] [2] MAR '54 8 MAR '54 23 MAR '54 24 MAR '54 27 MAR '54 28 MAR '54 30 MAR '54 5 APR '54 5 APR '54 7 APR '54 8 APR '54 23 APR '54 23 APR '54 23 APR '54 10 MAY '54 20 MAY '54 31 MAY '54 2 J U N '54

26JUN '54 6JUL '54

8JUL '54 10JUL '54 igjUL '54 21JUL '54 22JUL '54 26JUL ['54] 29JUL '54 [4 AUG '54] 5 AUG '54 7 AUG '54 7 AUG '54 [8 AUG '54?] 10 AUG '54 13 AUG '54 16 AUG '54 21 AUG '54 21 AUG '54 23 AUG '54

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

[LONDON] [LONDON]

PS PS

MOPSIK PS DUR DUR UO DBP

HUNT MOPSIK PS PS H PS PS

GROSVENOR GT H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT

CARR BEA

CARR

[LONDON]

PS

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

BATH

[LONDON] GROSVENOR GROSVENOR GROSVENOR GROSVENOR

GT GT GT GT

PS

MOPSIK UO HFD RTC UO PS

TEXU PFRZ MOPSIK PFRZ H HAM

[LONDON]

RAC

H OF COMMONS CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

DUR DUR TCC DUR

[LONDON]

HCC

GROSVENOR GT

RTC

[LONDON]

DBP

CARLTON CLUB H OF COMMONS GROSVENOR GT [LONDON]

DUR

[LONDON]

H H/LIFE

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

BEA

DUR EJM LIV

DBP DUR

[HUGHENDEN]

H H/LIFE

HUGHENDEN

RTC

NO

55678

2679 2680

2681 2682 2683 2684

2685 2686 2687

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

27 AUG '54

WILLIAM FERRAND LADY LONDONDERRY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HALDON HOUSE BICTON ROYAL HOTEL TORQUAY [MORETON HS] MORETON HS HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN GROSVENOR GT [HUGHENDEN?] [HUGHENDEN?] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN CARLTON CLUB CARLTON CLUB CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT

PS

3 SEP '54 4 SEP '54 7 SEP '54 10 SEP '54 16 SEP '54 17 SEP '54 2O SEP '54 24 SEP '54

3 OCT ['54]

2688 2689 2690 2691 2692 2693 2694 2695 2696 2697 2698 2699 2700 2701 2702 2703 2704 2705 2706 2707 2708 2709 2710 2711 2712 2713 2714 2715 2716 2717 2718 2719 2720 2721

3 OCT '54 [12 OCT '54]

2722

19 JAN ['55] 23 JAN ['55]

2723

13 OCT '[54] 21 OCT '54 21 OCT '54 21 OCT '54 26 OCT '54 26 OCT '54 28 OCT ['54]

10 NOV '54 22 NOV ['54] [27?] NOV '54 29 NOV '54 2 DEC '54

3 DEC '54 3 DEC '54 6 DEC '54 6 DEC '54 23 DEC '54 [29 DEC '54?]

i JAN '55 3 JAN '55 5 JAN '55 6 JAN '55 [6 JAN '55]

6 JAN '55 6 JAN '55 7 JAN ['55]

9 JAN '55 11 JAN '55

15 JAN 18 JAN 18 JAN 18 JAN

'55 '55 '55 '55

2724 2725 2726

25 JAN '55

2727

31 JAN ['55]

2728

31 JAN '55 1 FEE '55 2 FEE '55

2729 2730

[26 JAN '55] [30 JAN '55]

[UNKNOWN] WILLIAM JOHNSTON CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LORD HENRY LENNOX S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS MICHAEL H. WILLIAMS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LADY LONDONDERRY SPENCER WALPOLE LORD STANLEY LORD HENRY LENNOX S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LADY LONDONDERRY SIR JOHN PAKINGTON LADY LONDONDERRY LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD DERBY LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD DERBY SIR RICHARD VYVYAN LORD GRANBY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS R.P. MILNES [DAVID COULTON?] LADY LONDONDERRY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SIR JOHN PAKINGTON LORD PONSONBY LADY LONDONDERRY LORD MALMESBURY LORD STANLEY PHILIP ROSE SIR W. JOLLIFFE LORD HENRY LENNOX SIR W. JOLLIFFE SIR JOHN PAKINGTON LORD PONSONBY WILLIAM PARTRIDGE LORD DERBY LADY LONDONDERRY SIR W. JOLLIFFE MARY ANNE DISRAELI LADY LONDONDERRY LADY LONDONDERRY LORD PONSONBY SPENCER WALPOLE LADY LONDONDERRY

[LONDON] WYNYARD PARK WYNYARD PARK WYNYARD PARK WYNYARD PARK WYNYARD PARK WYNYARD PARK H OF COMMONS [LONDON] [H OF COMMONS] [LONDON]

DUR RTC PS PS H RTC

H H/LIFE RTC RTC

MOPSIK RTC RTC DUR QUA DBF

H H/LIFE RTC DUR WRC DUR

H H/LIFE DBP PS DBP CRN BEA RTC TCC

MOPSIK DUR RTC WRC

DURP DUR HCC DBP H SCR

H H/LIFE SCR

H H/LIFE DURP GMF DBP DUR SCR H DUR

[LONDON]

DUR

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB

DURP BL DUR

Ivii

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2731 2732

W.D. CHRISTIE MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON]

MOPSIK

2733

9 FEE '55 10 FEE ['55] 20 FEE '55

2734

25 FEE '55

LADY LONDONDERRY

GROSVENOR GT

DUR

2735 2736

25 FEE '55 [6 MAR '55] 13 MAR '55

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

GROSVENOR GT

RTC

LADY LONDONDERRY

H OF COMMONS

DUR

LADY LONDONDERRY

[H OF COMMONS]

DUR

26 MAR '55

MONTAGU PEACOCKE

SPI

27 MAR '55

LORD HENRY LENNOX

[29 MAR '55] 2 APR ['55]

SIR E. BULWER LYTTON

5 APR '55 10 APR '55

LORD SALISBURY

RTC

2737 2738

[LADY NEWPORT]

BR PS

2744

12 APR '55

[WILLIAM] HARLE

[LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] [LONDON] [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN]

2745 2746

13 APR '55

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

HUGHENDEN

[13 APR '55]

CHARLES ATTWOOD

[HUGHENDEN]

H

2747 2748

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

GROSVENOR GT

RTC

JOHN ROEBUCK

2751

1 MAY '55 23 MAY ['55] I J U N '55 1JUN '55 I J U N '55

[LONDON] [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN]

SCR

2752

l JUN '55

SPENCER WALPOLE

HUGHENDEN

QUA

2753

i JUN '55 8 JUN '55

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

HUGHENDEN

RTC

LORD HENRY LENNOX

[LONDON]

PS

19 JUN '55

PHILIP ROSE

3 PARK ST

H

20 JUN '55 25 JUN '55

JOHN DELANE

CARLTON CLUB

TIA

LADY COMBERMERE

GROSVENOR GT

QUA

IOJUL '55

LORD DERBY

[LONDON]

DBF

2739 2740

2741 2742 2743

2749 2750

2754 2755 2756 2757 2758

SIR W. JOLLIFFE SIR W. JOLLIFFE

SIR W. JOLLIFFE MONTAGU PEACOCKE SIR W. JOLLIFFE

PS HCR SCR HFD SCR NTA

PS SCR SPI

[11JUL '55]

LORD DERBY

H OF COMMONS

DBP

23JUL '55

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

GROSVENOR GT

RTC

[26JUL '55?] SOJUL '55

SIR W. JOLLIFFE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

[LONDON]

2763

SCR RTC

2763 2764

3 AUG '55 5 AUG '55

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS HENRY PADWICK

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT [LONDON]

2765 2766

[6 AUG '55] [9? AUG '55]

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

TORQUAY

RTC

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

TORQUAY

RTC

2767 2768

13 AUG ['55]

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

RTC

[16? AUG '55] [16 AUG '55?]

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

2759 2760

2761

RTC LCC

[17 AUG '55]

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

[TORQUAY] [TORQUAY] [TORQUAY] [TORQUAY]

2771

[19 AUG '55?]

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

[TORQUAY]

2772

21 AUG '55

LORD HENRY LENNOX

TORQUAY

PS

2773

24 AUG '55 28 AUG '55

LORD STANLEY

DBP

2775 2776

2 SEP '55

LADY LONDONDERRY

[LONDON] [HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN]

2 SEP '55

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

HUGHENDEN

RTC

2777 2778

9 SEP '55

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

[HUGHENDEN]

RTC

12 SEP '55

WILLIAM FERRAND

HUGHENDEN

PS

2779 2780

14 SEP '55 20 SEP '55

LADY LONDONDERRY

[HUGHENDEN]

DUR

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

[HUGHENDEN]

RTC

2781

4 OCT '55

PHILIP ROSE

HUGHENDEN

H

2782

8 OCT '55 13 OCT '55

CHARLES NEWDEGATE

[HUGHENDEN]

WAR

DUKE OF MANCHESTER

[HUGHENDEN]

HUND

2769 2770

2774

2783

Iviii

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

RTC RTC RTC RTC

RTC DUR

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL

2784

31 OCT '55 3 NOV '55 6 NOV '55 7 NOV '55 7 NOV '55 13 NOV '55

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN CARLTON CLUB

BAR

2786 2787 2788 2789 2790 2791 2792 2793 2794 2795 2796 2797 2798 2799 2800 2801 2802 2803 2804 2805 2806 2807 2808 2809 2810 2811 2812 2813 2814 2815 2816 2817 2818 2819 2820 2821 2822 2823 2824 2825 2826 2827 2828 2829 2830 2831 2832 2833 2834 2835 2836

THOMAS BARING LORD HENRY LENNOX LORD STANLEY SIR E. BULWER LYTTON LORD DERBY SIR W. JOLLIFFE

HACHE BEAUCH HACHE BEAUCH

HCR

HACHE BEAUCH

SCR

LORD DERBY

[GUNNERSBURY]

DBP

[SIR E. BULWER LYTTON] S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

GUNNERSBURY HUGHENDEN

HCR

[HUGHENDEN] [HUGHENDEN] [LONDON]

DUR

[21 NOV '55]

LADY LONDONDERRY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS [LORD DERBY]

22 NOV ['55]

SIR W. JOLLIFFE

SCR

30 NOV '55 5 DEC '55 6 DEC '55 7 DEC '55

LORD MALMESBURY LORD STANLEY LORD HENRY LENNOX S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

GROSVENOR GT HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

DBP

[HUGHENDEN]

H H/LIFE

HUGHENDEN

RTC

10 DEC '55

LORD STANLEY SIR W. JOLLIFFE

HUGHENDEN

DBP

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

SCR

[HUGHENDEN]

H

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

RTC

2785

l NOV '55

[13 NOV '55]

18 NOV '55 18 NOV '55 18 NOV '55

13 DEC ['55]

13 DEC '55 18 DEC '55

[25? DEC] '55 [26] DEC '55 27 DEC '55 2? DEC '55 [27 DEC '55] 28 DEC '55 [30?] DEC '55 30 DEC ['55]

1JAN '56 1 JAN '56 1 JAN '56 3 JAN '56 3 JAN '56 6 JAN '56 12 JAN '56 13 JAN '56 16 JAN '56 [18 JAN] '56 21 JAN '56 22 JAN '56 27 JAN '56 27 JAN '56

LORD STANLEY LORD STANLEY SARAH DISRAELI S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS [LADY GALWAY?] LORD GRANBY LORD STANLEY LORD DERBY [LORD & LADY JERSEY] SIR W. JOLLIFFE THOMAS BARING S I R J . PAKINGTON CHARLES NEWDEGATE ERNEST DUNCOMBE BURLEY AND CARLISLE SIR W. JOLLIFFE SIR W. JOLLIFFE LORD NEWPORT LADY LONDONDERRY LORD HENRY LENNOX CHARLES NEWDEGATE LORD STANLEY

[HUGHENDEN] MIDDLETON PK MIDDLETON PK HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN

[HUGHENDEN] [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

[LONDON] [LONDON]

PS DBP DBP

RTC RTC DBP PS

DBP DBP

MOPSIK BEA DBP DBP GLR SCR BAR WRC WAR EJM

MOPSIK SCR SCR BRD DUR

H H/LIFE WAR DBP

LORD PALMERSTON SARAH DISRAELI

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

QUA

9 FEB '56

SAMUEL LUCAS

GROSVENOR GT

MOPSIK

[15 FEE '56]

MARY ANNE DISRAELI

CARLTON CLUB

H

23 FEB '56

LADY HARRY VANE

GROSVENOR GT

QUA

4 MAR ['56]

LADY LONDONDERRY W. POTTER

H OF COMMONS

DUR

GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT

BAL

[LONDON]

HCR

LORD BROUGHAM

GROSVENOR GT

UCL

[24 MAR] '56

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS

HUGHENDEN

RTC

3 APR '56

PRINCE METTERNICH

GROSVENOR GT

SUAP

5 MAR '56 6 MAR ['56] [Q MAR '56?] 15 MAR '56

DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM SIR E. BULWER LYTTON

H

PS

lix

NO

DATE

TO

PLACE OF ORIGIN

2837 2838

3 APR '56 10 APR '56

2839 2840

13 APR '56

2841

l8 APR '56

2842

[28 APR '56] 14 MAY '56 14 MAY '56

S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SIR W. JOLLIFFE SIR W. JOLLIFFE BURLEYAND CARLISLE CHARLES GREY [SAMUEL LUCAS] SIRJ. PAKINGTON R. MONCKTON MILNES S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SIR W. JOLLIFFE LADY LONDONDERRY SPENCER WALPOLE HENRY LIDDELL SAMUEL LUCAS JOHN DU PASQUIER SIR W. JOLLIFFE THOMAS BARING MARY ANNE DISRAELI SIR ROBT GORE BOOTH S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS MONTAGU PEACOCKE MONTAGU PEACOCKE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS PHILIP ROSE PHILIP ROSE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS LADY LONDONDERRY S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS PHILIP ROSE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS SPENCER WALPOLE LORD HENRY LENNOX RICHARD GILPIN LORD HENRY LENNOX JOHN GRAVES S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS [BENJAMIN LUMLEY] [SAMUEL LUCAS] JOHN WALTER SIR W. JOLLIFFE S. BRYDGES WILLYAMS PHILIP ROSE JAMES DISRAELI LORD GRANBY LORD HENRY LENNOX

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

2843 2844 2845 2846 284? 2848 2849 2850

2851 2852 2853 2854 2855 2856 2857 2858 2859 2860

2861 2862 2863 2864 2865 2866 2867 2868 2869 2870

2871 2872 2873 2874 2875 2876 2877 2878 2879 2880

[12 APR '56]

[I?] MAY '56 18 MAY ['56?] 21 MAY '56 [26? MAY '56] 26 MAY '56

2 J U N '56 3JUN '56 5JUN '56 6JUN '56 [17JUN '56] 5JUL '56 7 J U L '56 10JUL '56 11 JUL '56 31 JUL '56 [31 JUL '56?] 31 JUL '56 30 AUG '56 6 SEP '56 15 SEP ['56] 17 SEP '56 19 SEP '56 29 SEP '56 19 OCT '56 26 OCT '56 26 OCT '56 31 OCT '56 [OCT '56?]

6 NOV '56 7 NOV '56 8 NOV '56 12 NOV '56 [14 NOV '56] 19 NOV '56 19 NOV '56

2881

11 DEC '56 25 DEC '56

2882

26 DEC '56

LOCATION OF ORIGINAL RTC SCR SCR

MOPSIK DURG MOPSIK WRC TCC RTC SCR

DUR; H H/LIFE QUA PS

MOPSIK PML

[LONDON] [LONDON] [H OF COMMONS]

SCR

[LONDON] GROSVENOR GT [LONDON] [LONDON] GROSVENOR GT CARLTON CLUB GROSVENOR GT SPA, BELGIUM SPA, BELGIUM GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT TORQUAY

PS

BAR H RTC SPI SPI RTC H H RTC DUR RTC RTC H

[LONDON]

RTC

HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [HUGHENDEN] HUGHENDEN HUGHENDEN [LONDON]

QUA

[LONDON]

TIA

[GUNNERSBURY?] GROSVENOR GT GROSVENOR GT PARIS PARIS PARIS

SCR

H H/LIFE MOPSIK H H/LIFE PS RTC

MOPSIK MOPSIK

RTC H

MOPSIK BEA

H H/LIFE

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 1852-6 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$2 letters newly found see Appendix I.

lx

[i825?l 10 Sep '35

18 Aug '37 i Nov '37

25jun '38 i Jul '39

30 Dec ['39?]

Thurs [23 Sep? '41]

[Feb '41]

29 Apr '43

28 May '49

before 5 Apr '50 I3jun '50

after 9 Jul '50

25 Dec '51

[Dec '5i/Jan '52] before 3 Jan '52 before lojan '52 before 28 Feb '52 before 28 Feb '52 before 2 Mar '52

To Mr Maas, presumably a letter of introduction for C.I. Ridley. H B/XXI/R/85. To Maria D'Israeli 'a joyful letter respecting his seat in parliament'. Unidentified catalogue (22 Mar 1911) item 16, in which it is further described as: 'ALs (initial) 3 pp 410'. H A/XI/C/g. To W. Edwards, Old Bank, Bristol. Cover in MOPSIK [227]. To Lady Georgiana Fane, Bedford Hotel, Bristol. Cover in MOPSIK [228]. To William Stuart, Ryde, Isle of Wight, from London. Cover in MOPSIK [2l6]. To Cecilia Lindo, c/o Miss Walker, Whitby, from London. Cover in uo [8]. To Dr Bulkeley Bandinel, librarian at the Bodleian, Oxford, from Wycombe. Wilson catalogue (May 1995) item 2264, described as 'address-panel ... signed ("B Disraeli") ... 30 December 1830.' The 1830 date is impossible, as D was then in Constantinople; there are in H two letters from Bandinel, both dated 1839. H G/I/21-2. To Sarah Disraeli 'on a dinner at Peel's and the election'. Unidentified catalogue item 69, in which it is further described as: 'ALs (initial) 3]/2 pp 8vo'. H A/xi/c/9. To Sarah Disraeli 'on a great dinner after a four nights debate; elected at Crockford's'. Unidentified catalogue item 74, in which it is further described as: 'A.L.S. 4pp 8vo (1840)'. H A/XI/C/g. Cf (app I) 1127R To Sarah Disraeli 'speaking of the remarks in the French newspapers on his speech'. Unidentified catalogue (22 Mar 1911) item 15, in which it is further described as: 'ALs (initial) 3'/2 pp 8vo'. H A/XI/C/9. To Sarah Disraeli 'on the improvements at Hughenden, on the agricultural distress, etc'. Unidentified catalogue (22 Mar 1911) item 14, in which it is further described as 'ALs (initial) 4 pp 8vo, Hughenden, Whit Monday, 1849'. H A/XI/C/g. CfV 1834. To Grantley Berkeley, 'a snubbing reply'. See igSsXnl. To [George?] Harman 'ALS, 2 pages 8vo, House of Commons ... returning the documents (no longer present) relating to the petition of the Board of Guardians [of the Wycombe Union], which he had presented that day.' Wilson catalogue (May 1995) item 22l8. [The petition asked for power to reduce the salaries of union officials which the poor-law commissioners had not sanctioned.] To Mrs De Burgh for the Duchess of Cambridge, enclosing a MS copy of his speech in the House of Commons on the occasion of the death of the Duke. NYPL Montague [29]. To Peter Borthwick, editor MP, regarding the possibility of his publishing a review of LGB. H B/XX/A/97. See 22igm. To Lord Ponsonby, regarding the conduct of Lord Palmerston. See 22i9&n6. To Lord Ponsonby, in reply to his of 25 December 1851. H B/XXI/ P/345-6- See 22ign6. To Lady Londonderry. H B/XX/V/74. Possibly V 2214. See 222ln2. To Lord Londonderry, regarding Seaham. H B/XX/V/76. See 224ini. To Arthur Duncombe, apparently regarding an appointment as a lord of the admiralty. See 2240n2. To Grantley Berkeley, apparently regarding the possibility of finding him employment in woods and forests. H C/II/A/42.

Ixi

before 10 Mar '52 10 Mar '52 17 Mar '52 before 19 Mar '52

before 7 Apr '52 before before before before

14 Apr '52 25 Apr '52 4 May ['52] 29 May ['52]

before 11 Jun ['52]

[5?Jul'52]

before 7 Jul '52 18 Jul '52

before 21 Jul '52 before 27 Jul '52 before i Aug '52 before 8 Aug '52 before 9 Aug '52 9 Aug '52 11 Aug '52 before 16 Aug before 20 Aug before 22 Aug before 29 Aug 31 Aug ['52]

'52 ['52] '52 '52

before i Sep '52 l Sep '52 before 8 Sep '52 before 11 Sep ['52] before 14 Sep ['52]

about 15 Sep '52 after 15 Sep '52 21 Sep '52

Ixii

To Sarah Brydges Willyams, with a present. RTC [251Q]. To Lord John Russell, in reply to his of 10 March 1852. H B/XXI/R/296. See 225lni. To Sir Henry Ellis. ALS. American Book-Prices Current (1964) 794. To Lord Orford, regarding his son Frederick and conferring a favour. H D/III/C/2801. To Lord Ponsonby, a letter sent via Lord Henry Lennox, giving Ponsonby some orders regarding his nephew. H B/XXI/P/349. To C.C. Cavendish, regarding Dr Lee's movement. H B/XXI/C/ioi. To Sir John Pakington, giving instructions. H B/XX/P/3. To Lord Seaham, an invitation. H B/XXI/V/26. To Count Reventlow, an invitation to dine Saturday [5 June 1852]. H B/XXI/R/Sl. To William Beresford, with enclosures from M and Mme Puyo, concerning a mistake about the appointment of French professors at Sandhurst and Woolwich. H B/XX/BD/Go. To George Smythe at Canterbury, a 'kind letter' telling him not to be 'morbid' and inquiring about the Tory candidates. BEA [GSS/D] Tuesday [6 Jul 1852]. To William Miles, a confidential letter regarding the leadership of the party. H B/XXI/M/373To Baroness de Rothschild, from Grosvenor Gate, described as 'E. Br. m. U.' and '3 SS'.Jahrbuch Der Auktionspreise (1961) 380. To William Miles, reassuring him that he has reconsidered his position in the party. H B/XXI/M/374. To Samuel Phillips, asking him to call on D in Downing Street. H B/XXI/P/262. To Sir Henry Bulwer, regarding a visit to the Vatican. H B/XXI/ B/i32ib. To Alexander Baillie Cochrane, presumably arranging a meeting. See 2350&ni. To Sir John Pakington. H B/XX/P/6. See 2382n4. To the Duchess of Somerset, declining an invitation. H B/XXI/ 5/346. To Sir Alexander Young Spearman. See 2355&n4. To E.S. Cayley, asking his views on the malt tax. H B/XXJ/C/H3. To W.B. Ferrand, declining an invitation. H B/XXI/F/129To Thomas Vardon, on the subject of Mr Pugin. H B/XXI/V/sg. To Lord Colchester, on French tariffs. See 2374&ni. To Col St John Fancourt, regarding a position in the colonial service. H B/XXI/F/34. To the Duchess of Somerset. H B/XXI/S/347. To Alexander Baillie Cochrane, concerning a possible appointment. See 2350&nl. Two letters to the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. H B/XXI/ 6/1163. See 2402n3. To Lord Exmouth, regarding a position for his brother-in-law, Thomas Veale Lane. H B/XXI/E/337. To George B. Mathew, presumably suggesting a time when they could meet in London to discuss the possibility of higher employment for Mathew. H B/XXI/M/227. To David Bryce, advising him 'that he was too late.' See 2396&m. To Elizabeth Masson. H E/VI/R/12. See 2628m. To Joseph Hume. H B/XXI/H/745. See 24O2n2.

before 22 Sep '52 24 Sep '52 30 Sep '52

before before before 13 Oct before

4 Oct '52 10 Oct '52 12 Oct '52 '52 13 Oct '52

14 Oct '52

before 18 Oct '52 before 23 Oct '52 before [15 Nov '52] before 8 Dec '52 before 14 Dec '52 [20 Dec? '52] 23 Dec '52

before 29 Dec '52 before 29 Dec '52 before 4 Jan '53 before 16 Jan '53 before 29 Jan '53 before 29 Jan '53 about 31 Jan '53 before 7 Feb '53 22 Feb '53 [Feb/Mar '53] 6 Mar '53 10 Mar '53

before 14 Mar ['53] 15 Mar '53

To the Duke and Duchess of Somerset, an invitation to Hughenden. H B/XXI/S/343, 348. To Lord Malmesbury. See 24O4&n3To Mr Wanklyn, 3rd person AL, 2pp on mourning paper, regretting that public business prevented his attending the S Bucks Agricultural Association anniversary dinner. Fletcher List (Autumn 1960), item 191. To Lady Londonderry. H B/XX/V/83- See 24o6&n3. To Sir John Yarde Buller. H B/XXI/C/219- See 2413&ni. To Sir Henry Bulwer. See 2422&nl. To Lord Stanley. See 2426. To E.S. Cayley, regarding a solution for the government, presumably with respect to taxation. H B/XXI/C/114. To the Duke of Somerset, mentioning a book by Isaac DTsraeli. H B/XXI/S/349To Lady Londonderry, flattering Lord Londonderry about the Garter. H B/XX/V/84. See 2423&m. To William Beresford, with cautionary hints concerning his conduct. H B/XX/BD/61. To William Beresford, concerning an incident five years earlier involving G. Bentinck and J. Young. H B/XX/BD/62. To Lord Stanley asking him to speak in the debate on the budget on Friday. H B/XX/S/581. To Thomas Baring, an inquiry about his health. H B/XXI/B/47To George Smythe with a 'kind invitation', evidently of that day. BEA [GSS/D] Monday [2O Dec? 1852]. To Sir John Yarde Buller, a proposal that he change his constituency. H B/XXI/C/221. To Sir Charles Trevelyan, a parting letter of thanks upon D's leaving the position of chancellor of the exchequer. H B/XXI/T/2O4. To Edwin T. Crafer, a farewell letter upon leaving the office of the chancellor of the exchequer. H B/XXI/C/586. To Lord St Leonards, concerning a paragraph in The Globe about St Leonards joining the new government. H B/XXI/S/13To George Smythe, inviting him to dine on the 17th. BEA [GSS/D] 16 Jan 1853. To Sir Fitzroy Kelly, regarding the question of extension of the franchise. H B/XXI/K/48. See 248o&nl. To William Ewart, accepting his invitation for 4 February 1853. B/XXI/E/299. To Lord Derby. See 2484nl. To T. Milner Gibson. H B/XXI/G/yo. To James J.A. Shand, secretary to the committee for promoting Disraeli as honorary president of the associated societies of Edinburgh University. H A/V1H/E/2. To Lord Galway. H D/III/C/8o8. To Richard Doyle, an invitation to dine Thursday [10 March 1853] and discuss the Press. H B/VI/4a. To the Duke of Cleveland, regarding a subscription to the Press. H B/VI/6. To James Taylor Thorns, declining to be promoted as honorary president of the associated societies of Edinburgh University. H A/VHI/E/5. To Lord Downshire, regarding a subscription to the Press. H B/VI/14.

Ixiii

before 17 Mar '53

To Lord Exeter, a confidential letter regarding a subscription to the

17 Mar '53 22 Mar '53

To H. Meux, regarding a subscription to the Press. H B/VI/n. To Col Edward Taylor, MP, regarding the issuing of a circular. H

25 Mar '53 7 Apr '53

To Lord Sondes, regarding a subscription to the Press. H B/VI/2O. To Samuel Lucas, ALS, 2 pp, 8vo W. V. Daniell's Catalogue of Autograph Letters (July 1905) Part I. To William Forbes Mackenzie. See 2526. To Lady Jersey. See 2526&n4. To Octavian Blewitt, Royal Literary Fund. ALS. American Book-Prices Current (1964) 794. To Lord Henry Lennox. H B/XX/LX/26. To Lord Adolphus Vane, regarding his disappointment at being unseated at Durham. H B/XX/V/96. To L.W. Buck, regarding a subscription to the Press. H B/VI/32. Letters of introduction for Prince Frederick of Holstein, to Persigny and others. H B/XXI/H/624, 630. To Lord Henry Lennox, inviting him to Hughenden. H B/XX/LX/28. To Lady Grey de Ruthyn, discussing Charles Auchester. H B/XXJ/ G/368. See 2552n4. To Samuel Lucas, apparently wishing him a pleasant vacation. H B/Vl/igo. See 255102. To George Smythe, inviting him to Hughenden on 2Oth September for two days. BEA [GSS/D] 15 Sep 1853. To the Duchess of Somerset, possibly saying that September has been a 'thoughtless' month for him, and recommending a book to her. H B/XXI/S/354To Lord Mandeville, an invitation to Hughenden. H B/XXI/M/92. To J. Pauncefort-Duncombe, an invitation to visit. H B/XXI/D/41O. To Lord Henry Lennox, advising him of MA's illness. H B/XX/ LX/30. See 257O&m. To Lord Holland. See 257Oni. To Samuel Lucas, suggesting the tone for the next edition of the Press, and congratulating him on the leader of the most recent edition. H B/VI/2O3To Samuel Lucas, regarding the accounts of the Press. H B/VI/2O5. To Samuel Lucas, regarding Lord Stanley's article on the suffrage. H B/VI/211. See 258ln4. To Lord Derby, a note concerning the possible break-up of the party. H B/XX/S/6oi. See 2589ni. To Lord Derby. See 259i&n3To Samuel Lucas, regarding the Press. H B/VI/214. To Lady Derby, Knowsley. Cover in QUAioS. To Lord Londonderry. See 26o3&n2. To Thomas Baring, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XXI/B/48. See 262lni. To Sir John Pakington, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XX/ P/12. To Joseph Henley, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XXI/H/47O. To the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XXI/B/iigG. To Lord John Manners, parliamentary dinner invitation. H

Press. H B/VI/9.

B/XX/T/l.

24 Apr '53 about 24 Apr '53 7 May '53 [15 May '53] before i6Jun '53 before 25jul '53 before 22 Aug '53

[Sep '53] before 2 Sep ['53] 11 Sep '53 before 15 Sep '53 before 21 Sep '53 before 23 Sep ['53] before 8 Oct '53 before 17 Oct '53 after 20 Oct '53 27 Oct '53

31 Oct '53 before 9 Nov '53 before 28 Nov '53

1 Dec '53 2 Dec '53 9 Dec '53 19 Dec '53 before 15 Jan '54 before 17 Jan '54 before 17 Jan '54 before 17 Jan '54 before 19 Jan '54

B/XX/M/92.

Ixiv

before [20 Jan '54] before 2Ojan ['54] before 22 Jan ['54] before 25 Jan '54 before 25 Jan '54 before [29 Jan '54] 15 Feb '54

To William Miles, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XXI/M/378. To Lord Mandeville, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XXI/ M/96. To Lord Cairns, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XX/CA/i. To Lord Lovaine, parliamentary dinner invitation to dine 30 January 1854. H B/XXI/L/341. To Lord Eglinton and Winton, a letter of sympathy at the time of the death of his wife. H B/XXI/E/1O3To E.S. Cayley, parliamentary dinner invitation. H B/XXI/C/117. To Samuel Lucas, regarding an article on the Reform Bill. H B/VI/227.

6 Mar '54 14 Mar '54 before 13 Apr '54

To Prince Frederick of Holstein. H B/XXI/H/628. See 2738n2. To Prince Frederick of Holstein. H B/XXI/H/628. See 2738n2. To Samuel Lucas, making suggestions concerning the Press. H

4 May '54

To Samuel Lucas, inviting him to call at Grosvenor Gate that day. H B/VI/235. See 2654111. To Prince Frederick of Holstein. H B/XXI/H/628. See 2738n2. To Lord John Manners, expressing sympathy on the death of Lady John. H B/XX/M/94. See 265(^4. To Prince Frederick of Holstein. H B/XXI/H/628. See 2738n2. To Rev Tresham Gregg, regarding the objects of an association which, presumably, was promoting the Protestant cause in Ireland. H B/XXI/G/335. To Lord Naas, an invitation to Grosvenor Gate 30 June 1854. H B/XX/BO/6. To Sarah Brydges Willyams, referring to D's 'last kind letter', possibly 2651. RTC [269Q] To D.T. Coulton, giving him information for his article on the opposition. H B/VI/78a. To Lord Ponsonby, possibly declining an invitation. H B/XXI/P/368. To D.T. Coulton, giving him information for his article on the opposition. H B/VI/78a. To D.T. Coulton, congratulating him on an article on cholera in the Press. H B/VI/85To Edward Harper. H B/XXI/H/229. See 267On2. To Charles Carrington, an invitation to Hughenden for 2 November 1854- H B/xxi/c/86. To James Whiteside regarding a bill concerning appointment of Roman Catholic bishops and clerics. H B/XXI/W/296. To Lady Rolle, expressing concern for her 'severe sprain' and regretting not seeing her at Moreton. H B/XXI/R/13O. See 2690. To John Cox, regarding adding D's name to the list of subscribers to Sir John Tyrell's portrait. H B/XXI/C/571. See 2675n4. To D.T. Coulton, regarding an article on the Protestant question in the Press. H B/VI/gi. To G.A. Hamilton, an invitation to Hughenden. H B/XX/H/29To D.T. Coulton, congratulating him on an article on the Crimean War in the Press. H B/VI/gi. To Lord Mandeville, regarding the Crimean War. H B/XXI/M/lOO. To Lord Ponsonby, a letter of 'approbation', presumably for his published opinions on the Crimean War. H B/XXI/P/369To G.A. Hamilton, asking him to write to Jolliffe concerning a meeting of the Conservative party 12 December 1854. H B/XX/H/34.

B/VI/232.

15 May '54 before 21 May '54 30 May '54 before I5jun '54

before iSJun ['54] before 26 Jul '54 13 Aug '54

before 14 Aug '54 16 Aug '54 before 14 Sep '54 before 27 Sep '54 before 19 Oct '54 before 30 Oct '54 before 31 Oct '54 before 6 Nov '54 before 14 Nov '54 before 17 Nov ['54] 19 Nov '54 before 20 Nov '54 before 26 Nov '54 before 2 Dec ['54]

Ixv

before 4 Dec '54 before 5 Dec '54 before 7 Dec '54 before 7 Dec '54 about 23 Dec '54 before [29 Dec '54] before l Jan '55 before 2 Jan '55 before 2 Jan '55

8 Jan '55 before [23 Jan '55] before 6 Feb '55 after 6 Feb '55 before 13 Feb '55 before 14 Feb ['55] before 15 Feb '55 before [22 Feb '55] before 24 Feb '55

6 Mar '55

26 Mar '55 before 31 Mar '55 before 3 Apr '55 6 Apr '55 before 10 Apr '55 about l Jun '55 20-27 Jun '55 before [l4jul '55] before 3 Aug '55 5 Aug '55 before 25 Aug '55 before 27 Aug ['55] before 4 Sep ['55]

Ixvi

To G.A. Hamilton, asking about Vyvyan's whereabouts. H B/XXI/ V/99. See 273n2. To Sir William Jolliffe. H B/XX/J/13. See 27O3ni. To Spencer Walpole, an invitation to dine with Lord Derby, Monday 11 December 1854. H B/XXI/W/31. To Lord Ponsonby, asking his opinion about what will happen in the Crimean War. H B/XXI/P/371. To Lady Londonderry. See 27o8&n2. To Lord Mandeville, apparently asking him to write up what he knows about Prussia for Coulton. H B/XXI/M/1O5. To Sir John Yarde Buller, an invitation to dine 30 January 1855. H B/XXI/C/227. To Spencer Walpole, an invitation to dine 30 January 1855. H B/XXI/W/32. To Lady Mandeville, congratulating her on the birth of a daughter. H B/XXI/M/107. To Lady Londonderry. See 2712&nl. To Lord Derby, a note delivered by H. Lennox. H B/XX/S/131. To Lord Ponsonby, returning Lord Fitzwilliam's letter. H B/XXI/ P/388. To Henry Hanmer. H B/XXI/134. See 2721. To Lord Cardigan, an invitation for Thursday 22 February 1855. H B/XXI/C/44. To Lord Alexander Gordon Lennox, an invitation to dine 15 February [1855]. H B/XXI/L/llS. To Lord Lonsdale, an invitation to dine 15 February 1856. H B/XXI/ L/274. To Lord Wilton, an invitation to dine. H B/XXI/W/418. To Lady Ponsonby, expressing sympathy on the death of Lord Ponsonby. H B/XXI/P/391. To D.T. Coulton, making suggestions for an article on Conservative union. H B/VI/ioo. To Prince Frederick of Holstein, a letter delivered by Mr Peacocke, remarking on the 'unsafely' of the post, and expressing concern for his health. H B/XXI/H/63O. See 2738n2. To Count Persigny, a letter of introduction for Prince Frederick of Holstein. H B/XXI/H/63O. See 2738n2. To Lady Londonderry. H B/XX/V/194. To D.T. Coulton, regarding the most recent edition of the Press. H B/VI/104. To J. Heron Maxwell, a reply to his 2 April 1855 letter regarding the Press. H B/VI/52. To Francis Scott concerning an amendment to D's motion on prosecution of the war. See 275mlTo Lord Strangford, 'a cordial, affectionate, & friendly' letter of condolence on his father's death. BEA [GSS/D] 27 Jun 1855. To Lady Jersey, accepting an invitation. H B/XXI/J/5O. To Mr Webb, Royal Hotel, Torquay. See 2763. To C. Heaton Ellis, regarding a proposed visit to Ellis in Harley Street. H B/XXI/E/226. To Sarah Brydges Willyams, enclosing a present from Mary Anne. RTC [2840]. To Lady Jersey, regarding the Francis Villiers affair. H A/IV/J/14. To Lord Jersey, regarding the Francis Villiers affair. H A/IV/J/17.

before 11 Sep '55

To D.T. Coulton, regarding the i September edition of the Press. H

before [20 Sep '55]

To Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, an invitation to Hughenden. H B/XX/ LY/75. See 2?87n2. To Henry Padwick, an invitation to Hughenden for 8 October

before 2 Oct ['55]

B/vi/iog.

[1855]. H B/XXI/P/3.

before 5 Oct '55 before 7 Oct '55 before 9 Oct '55 before before before before

[10 Oct '55] 11 Oct '55 16 Oct '55 18 Oct '55

before [29 Oct '55]

[Nov '55] before i Nov '55 before 19 Nov '55 before 14 Dec '55 before 30 Dec ['55] before i Jan '56 before i Jan '56 before 3 Jan '56 before 3 Jan '56 before 3 Jan '56 before 3 Jan '56 before 4 Jan ['56] before 5 Jan '56 before 6 Jan '56 before 7 Jan '56

7 Jan '56 before 8 Jan ['56] before 9 Jan '56

To D.T. Coulton, commenting on a recent edition of the Press, and urging a continuation of the line adopted concerning the war. H B/VI/112. To Henry Padwick, regarding an invitation to Hughenden, and suggesting that D will send a carriage to meet him. H B/XXI/P/4. To Sir William Jolliffe suggesting a consultation on party policy regarding the war. H B/XX/J/25. See 2788m. To Lord Henry Lennox. H B/XX/LX/63- See 2?85ni. To Henry Whitmore, offering him a post. H B/XXI/W/322. To Thomas Baring, an invitation. H B/XXI/B/49- See 2?84&ni. To D.T. Coulton, possibly several letters giving him suggestions for the Press. H B/VI/115. To Sir Henry Bulwer, inviting him and his wife to Hughenden. H B/XXI/B/1326. See 2?87ni. To Lady Jersey, recommending a housekeeper. H B/XXI/J/51. To D.T. Coulton giving him suggestions for the Press. H B/VI/117. To D.T. Coulton, regarding an article on the French Emperor's speech in the most recent edition of the Press. H B/VI/ll8. To Richard Bromley regarding a study of departmental administration. H R/II/G/52. See 284nl. To R.C. Nisbet Hamilton, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/H/94. See 2819. To Henry Padwick, regarding the Francis Villiers affair. H A/IV/J/34. See 28l7n2. To Sir John Trollope, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/K/133. See 2819. To Gen Henry Wyndham, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H A/rv/L/86. See 28i9&nn. To Henry Padwick, regarding the Francis Villiers affair. H A/IV/J/36. See 28l7n2. To Joseph Neeld, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/ N/46. See 28i9&n9. To Lord Lovaine, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/ L/343- See 2819. To Lord Hotham, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H C/XI/i8. See 2819. To Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XX/LY/Si. See 2819. To William Miles, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/ M/383. See 2819. To the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, an invitation. H B/XXI/ B/12OO. See 2819. To James Banks Stanhope, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. See 28i9&n7. To Rainald Knightley, an invitation to dine 30 January [1856]. H B/XXI/K/156. See 28l9&n4. To Edward Egerton, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H A/rv/ L/92. See 28i9&n5.

Ixvii

before 9 Jan '56 before lojan ['56] before lojan '56 before 13 Jan '56 before 13 Jan '56 before 14 Jan '56 before 16 Jan '56 before 18 Jan '56

18 Jan '56 before 19 Jan '56 before 20 Jan ['56] before 20 Jan '56 before 21 Jan '56 before 21 Jan '56 before 22 Jan '56 before 24 Jan ['56]

24 Jan ['56] before 25 Jan '56 [about 23 Feb '56] Sunday [24 Feb '56]

6 Feb '56 before 8 Feb ['56] before 23 Feb '56 before 24 Feb '56 about [24] Feb '56 before [25 Feb '56] before 26 Feb '56

Ixviii

To Walter Long, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/ L/252. See 2819. To Lord Villiers, regarding the Francis Villiers affair. H A/IV/J/35. See 2827&ni. To Charles W. Packe, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXl/P/i. See 28i9&n6. To R.S. Holford, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H A/IV/ L/ioi. See 28i9&n8. To George Bentinck, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/B/315. See 28l9&n8. To Sir Richard Vyvyan, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/V/103. See 28i9&n8. To Eliot Yorke, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/Y/i. See 2819. To Lord John Manners, inquiring as to Granby's whereabouts. H B/XX/M/98. See 28i9ni3. To Sir James Fergusson, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/F/100. See 2819. To George Bankes, expressing sympathy and extending an invitation for 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/B/39. See 2819. To Lord Newark, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H A/IV/ L/iio. See 2819. To Ernest Buncombe, a letter and a follow-up note inviting him to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/D/4H-12. See 28l6n2. To Lord Granby, repeating his invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/R/337. See 28o8ni and 28i9ni3. To Thomas Conolly, an invitation for the opening of the session. H B/XXI/C/374. To Lord Bective, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/ 6/291. See 2819. To J. Tollemache, an invitation to dine 30 January [1856]. H A/IV/ L/go. See 2819. ToJ. Tollemache, a second invitation to dine 30 January [1856]. H A/IV/L/90. See 2819. To Sir R.T. Gilpin, an invitation to dine 30 January 1856. H B/XXI/ G/8o. See 2819. To Count Colloredo-Wallsee, an invitation to dine on Thursday 28 [February 1856] instead of Wednesday. H B/XXI/C/337. See 2829&ni and 28s6&ni. To Lord Bath, an invitation to dine on Thursday [28 February] instead of Wednesday next. H B/XXI/B/165. See 2829&ni. To George Bankes, concerning a confidential matter. H B/XXI/B/4O. To Lord Stanley, an invitation for Wednesday 20 February [1856]. H B/XX/S/626. To Count Vitzthum, an invitation to dine Thursday 28 February 1856. H B/XXl/v/So. See 2829&m. To Lord Chelsea, an invitation to dine Thursday 28 February 1856, instead of Wednesday. H B/XXI/C/2. See 2829&m. To Lady Glengall, an invitation to dine Thursday 28 February, instead of Wednesday 27th. H B/XXI/G/i8i. See 2829&ni. To Thomas Baring, an invitation to dine Thursday [28 February]. H B/XXI/B/82. See 2829&nl. To Lord Ellenborough, an invitation to dine 28 February 1856. H B/XXI/E/153. See 2829&ni.

before 27 Mar '56 about Apr '56 before 18 Apr '56 before 27 May ['56] before I7jul '56 before 8 Oct '56 before 13 Nov '56 before [18 Nov '56] before 15 Dec '56 before 30 Dec '56 before [31 Dec '56]

To Col R.T. Gilpin, an invitation for 3 April 1856. H B/XXI/G/Si. See 287Oni. To Francis Villiers concerning the Magenis matter. H A/IV/J/5O. See 2840&m. To Lady Dorothy Nevil. H D/III/C/1471. To the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, an invitation to view the fireworks. H B/XXI/B/n66. See 2848&m. To Sarah Disraeli, regarding James's engagement. H D/III/A/4O4. See 288om. To Spencer Walpole, with enclosure, regarding the Great Western Railway. H B/XXI/W/35. See 2868n3. To Sarah Brydges Willyams, accompanying a hamper of sweets and grouse. RTC [2QOQ]. To Francis Villiers, regarding the state of his financial affairs. H A/IV/J/49. See 284O&m. To Greville Pigott, advising that he will not attend a police committee meeting on 18 December. H B/XXI/P/299. See 2868m. To Lord March, an invitation to dine 2 February 1857. H B/XX/ LE/3-

To Lewis W. Buck, an invitation to dine 30 January 1857. H B/XXI/ B/1116.

mid-Dec '56

Invitations, December 1856 -January 1857, to D's 2 February 1857 political dinner. H B/II/42.

Ixix

Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer

Ixx

from Punch vol xxn (Jan-June 1852) 235

Ixxi

Lord Aberdeen in 1855 after a portrait by Mayall

Ixxii

Lord Palmerston in old age from a photograph

Ixxiii

Mrs Brydges Willyams

A sample of Mrs Brydges Willyams's handwriting

Ixxiv

B E N J A M I N D I S R A E L I LETTERS: 1852-1856

This page intentionally left blank

TO: LORD MALMESBURY

Hughenden [Friday] 2 January 1852

ORIGINAL: HCC 9M73/457/1 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Malmesbury I 296-7, with slight alterations EDITORIAL COMMENT: The letter has been marked to be copied.

The Earl of Malmesbury Hughenden Jan 2. 52 My dear Lord, I had arrived at the same conclusion with respect to Johnny's coup d'etat, & am gratified that my view is sanctioned by one of yr. acumen & knowledge of circumstances and / persons.1 The fact is, the government have entirely changed their foreign policy: under ordinary circumstances, instead of making a victim of the Secretary of state, they shd. have resigned. I assume therefore from Ld. John's conduct, that, after / our self-confessed incapacity of last February, he & the Court no longer recognise us as a practical power in the state. I return you L's letter.2 When he objects to the prominence given by my motions in the H of C. to the subject of local taxation, he forgets those motions last year gave us / the government of the country: whether abstract protection will be as successful, is a problem not yet solved.3 Yours very truly I D.

1 Malmesbury had written to D from Heron Court on 28 December 1851: 'I think I see the interpretation of the Palmerston business. I have got a letter from Persigny (the Presidents most faithful & confidential friend) repeating what his Master has told me 100 times that his first object wd be amity with England ... Now I beleive [sic] that Johnny urged by Aberdeen Brunnow & Bruhl saw in this coup d etat war with France. He knows nothing of L. Nap. except what his f. ambassador tells him, & reasoned by analogy, & from the History of his Uncle. He got in a funck [sic] & hastened to secure the good will of Austria & Russia by sacrificing Pam, who saw the thing in another light & beleived [sic], as I do, that the "Coup" saved France & Europe from greater & more prolongued [sic] deeds of violence.' As a postscript he added: 'I am delighted with your Book.' H B/XX/Hs/n. 2 In Malmesbury I 297 (see ph) 'L's' is expanded to 'Lonsdale's', but no account of the letter is given. 3 Malmesbury replied to D's letter from London on 6 January 1852: 'You will see that we were misled by the Times as to there having been a letter from Ld. Lansdowne to Flahault who contradicts it today in that paper. I saw him & he gives the following acct. Normanby turned a cold shoulder on the President after the coup d'etat, & M. Turgot, the French For. Sec. with useless indiscretion pressed the Marquis for the opinion of our Go[vernmen]t upon it. Ny. said he had no directions to give any at all, & could not suppose our Cabinet wd approve. Turgot replied that that was odd, because he had just got a dispatch from Walewski stating that at an interview with Palmerston, he P. had expressed his approbation of the coup. Ny. writes to Lord John who kicks out P., he being half out ever since Kossuth cum Islington ...' Malmesbury also wrote of matters not raised in this letter: 'I am sorry to see that the oaken Library at Hughenden flatters what you call "yr Saturnine disposition". I had rather be the incompetent creature you allude to with a party at my back, than one of those "able" halfpay officers called Peelites without a single soldier ... They never can be anything as long as they go by the name of a MAN & not of a principle. Englishmen don't care out of the house for any MAN unless he is identified with a principle. This is why I hold that the nickname of Protectionist is our mainstay & not a clog upon us. If we gave it up we shd break up into little Dillies ... You know I agree in the propriety of all you have done in the House of Commons & that to bring forward an abstract motion there wd be asinine - but out of the house I don't think our platform men can lay it on too strong ... I was delighted when that mad Stanhope accused me before my face, & you &c of "treason", because it enabled me to tell the farmers the truth, & they received it admirably. The peroration to all this rigmarole is that you must be more sanguine ..." H B/XX/Hs/12. See 2221&n5-

3

2218

221Q

TO: LORD DERBY

Hughenden [Sunday] 4January 1852

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [35] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 339-40, undated extracts; Blake 308-9, extract dated 4 January 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: D has numbered the sheets: V; '3'. Sic: Waleski [three times]; Brookes'; reply upon it.

CONFIDENTIAL Hughenden. Jan. 4. 1852 The I Earl of Derby My dear Lord, The Cabinet is very sick: Lord John has got into a scrape about Palmerston, & has no case, or rather has a bad one. It seems that after the Parisian coup d'etat, terrified at the prospect of a war with France witht. allies, & acted on by the foreign ministers & by Aberdeen through the Court, he resolved to dismiss P. at all hazards, tho' as the government were going to change the policy of the country, they ought constitutionally to have resigned, but after the affair of February, I suppose in this respect, Lord John thinks / he has free warren. The fact that Ld. John had resolved to rid himself of P was known abroad before the incident took place on wh: the dismissal nominally hinged. And it is the bungling manner in wh: the dismissal has been effected, wh: is the cause of the present disorganisation of the Cabinet. These seem to be the facts:1 Waleski communicated to Palmerston the news of the events in France, on the very moment of its receipt. He did so by conversation in the first instance, &, then by reading & leaving a copy of, the despatch, wh: he had received from his government. He asked our ministers opinion of the coup d'etat; & received for answer: that England, like the rest of Europe had a direct / interest in the welfare of France; that she was not howr. interested in the success of any French party, the success of France alone concerned her: that for some time past every one had seen that a coup d'etat had become inevitable - it might have been made by the President, it might have been made by the Assembly - by one or other it must have been struck. By the assembly a coup d'etat wd. necessarily have involved a coup d'etat civil war; by the President such an issue was improbable. We shd be glad therefore, if the latter branch of the alternative having been adopted, a strong French government, based upon the willing confidence of a free people, shd. result. But upon the proceedings by wh: / so desirable an event might be consummated - it wd. be wrong for England to express any opinion either in approval or disapproval. That was a question for the decision of the thirty three millions of people who constitute the French Nation. This verbal reply, was, on the same day, more suo,2 transmitted in the shape of a written despatch to Waleski, & a copy sent to our embassy at Paris two hours afterwards.3

1 Much of what follows in this and the next 6 paragraphs (ending 'no change in that respect') is taken almost verbatim from Peter Borthwick's 'most confidential' letter dated i January 1852, at the MP office, in response to D's letter to him of 25 December 1851 (not found). H B/XX/A/97. 2 Translation: 'in his usual manner'. 3 In his defence in the Commons on 3 February 1852, Palmerston insisted that his conversation with

4

It seems that Normanby, who, three months ago, was a Louis Napoleonist, had become estranged from the Prince, from a private affair, & wrote to Palmerston to know whe[the]r he were "to show the cold shoulder" to the President? Was he to suspend diplomatic relations? And in what terms was he to demand / satisfaction or satisfactory explan [ati] on to the English government for the Presidents outrageous proceedings towards France? To this Palmerston sent a very snubbing reply, saying that England had "no cold & no warm shoulders to show" to anybody concerned. She was to look, as becomes her, all the world straight in the face. Diplomatic relations were certainly not to be suspended with a govt. wh: had not interfered with or offended us and that we had neither the right, nor the wish, to cite the French government to the bar of the English cabinet for acts for wh: it was responsible to the French people alone. Further that our amicable relations with France were to be scrupulously maintained. Normanby, / I am told, wrote a complaining letter to John Russell, & other persons at his instigation to the same effect. Lord John seized upon the subject & a wrangling correspondence took place between him & Palmerston. Querulous interrogatories "Why did you see Waleski with[ou]t calling a Cabinet? Why did you express any opinion to him?["] &c &c. It was so easy for Palmerston to answer such complaints, that the matter seemed to have ended in peace until on the 23rd. the unexpected missive reached Broadlands, & to use Palmerston's own words, as they have reached me from another quarter than that from wh: I received last night the above precis, "I was not turned out: I / was kicked out."4 But in the meantime, on this very 23d, the government or rather Ld. John, being afraid of offending the French President daily more successful & more powerful, took pains to express in the strongest manner terms to the govt. of France their entire unity of sentiment & policy towards France, & the perfect identity of that sentiment & that policy with those of Ld. Palm: The French governmt. was to understand that Ld. Palmerston's retirement wd. make no change in that respect. Why was he then dismissed? It is the difficulty of satisfactorily replying to this question wh: / has occasioned the complete present disorganisation of the Cabinet. I understand that Ld. Palm: says, that the "Times" was permitted, or rather instructed, to tell too much on the 24th Ulto. Ld. P. was sacrificed to the mislikings of "the elder statesmen of Europe" & to a hoped for "rapprochement" betn. Whigs & Peelites, impracticable while he was a minister.0 This, he says, was substantially Walewski had been unofficial, and that the latter had sent a 'highly coloured' report to Turgot. Bell Palmerston II 55. According to Bell (47-8), Normanby learned of Palmerston's statement to Walewski from Turgot (c/~22l8n3), and was motivated by his animus towards Palmerston as much as by his hostility to Napoleon to do as much damage with this information as possible. 4 D's information is attributed to 'Palmerstonian sources' in M&B III 339. 5 A leader in The Times of 24 December 1851, announcing unequivocally that Palmerston had ceased to be foreign secretary on 22 December, had given an account of the situation: 'It was Lord Palmerston's misfortune, if it were not his fault, to have excited among the elder statesmen of Europe a degree of hostility and distrust which exaggerated all his defects and denied all his merits ... we believe that his very last act in power was to express his unqualified approbation of the French coup d'etat... This want of personal good will between the English Foreign Secretary and all the leading Cabinets of the continent operated as a practical disqualification for the transaction of important affairs ... This change,

5

the real ground: the cause assigned a pretext too transparent to beguile the intelligence of childhood. He will enter into no defence vindication, directly or indirectly, until he is the in face of the govt. in the house of Commons. Instead of being at amity with them as industriously reported at / Brookes' you may reply upon it he is acharne. This is a very hurried precis of a despatch wh: I received last night &, wh: I was obliged to return to day. This morning brought me however some other letters: one from the Camarilla indirectly. I received one from the same quarter about a week ago, or more, written in great alarm lest we were going to co-alesce with Palmerston. I wrote a reply, from the hint of my friend, very confidential but of course to be shown to a certain person; in wh: I ridiculed the rumor & reprobated the factiousness of such a sudden alliance, adding, we hoped we were strong enough to carry on affairs witht. taking in ["]the discarded partner of an insolvent firm"; & thought / that with fair play we shd. not be driven to such a course. This morning, I have a line from the same correspondent, saying reminding me that six weeks ago, he had informed me that Palmerston was doomed (wh: was true: it was about Kossuth), & now adding, that another person (meaning Johnny) was in "as bad a plight" - & ending with this only signature "COURAGE." I think you know my correspondent, & the member of the Camarilla who uses him.6 The other letter from London says that the D. of Newcastle goes to India & that Cardwell has had the offer of Granville's place, provided his re-election was secure; but / he has declined the place, as he cd. not get the give the guarantee. I hear also for certain, that Ld. Broughton is not going to retire, from wh: I infer that an extensive re-construction with the Peelites has failed or was not ever intended.7 important as it is, has been dictated by no personal or party motives - for they all tended in the opposite direction - but by an imperious sense of duty and necessity, and we have no doubt that it will be considered by the country as a sacrifice, not hastily or inconsiderately made, to the public good.' The '"rapprochement"' point is not in the leader; D is here still quoting Borthwick (see ni). 6 D's correspondent was Ponsonby, and the cabinet member using him presumably Lansdowne; cf\ 2l77n4. Ponsonby had written D a long, ranting letter on 2 December 1851 (see also V 22Olni): 'Palmerston's conduct has given universal dissatisfaction and disgust by answering as he did the Address from Finsbury, being the complement of his anterior proceedings with respect to Kossuth. If this is worked well Palmerston will be driven out of office and the Ministry will be attaked [sic] by him & by his democratic friends, & thereby weakened, at the least.' He had written again on 3 and 17 December, and then on 25 December reported that he had heard 'from several politicians' that Palmerston was to join the Protectionists and be their ' Chief. He discounted this view, but predicted war with France. D's answer that he mentions has not been found. On 3 January 1852 Ponsonby had written again: 'You will have seen that I was right in my reply to your inquiries in so far as one person, and you may be now certain that another is not in a better state. I took the liberty to say to you Courage! I repeat it - I hope you will not yield to anybody! ... I expect to see in you the energy of your friend whose biography you have given us in your admirable work. Your, would be, Rivals are outrageous in their attacks upon it. Envy is clearsighted in discovering merits and angry in proportion to its amount. You are detested.' The letter is signed in a scrawl that D evidently read as 'Courage', but which looks more like Ponsonby's name, especially since it follows 'Yours Sincerely'. On 7 January he would write again, this time reporting 'as a thing credited' that Palmerston was to join the Protectionists. He still did not believe it, as he saw that it would cause D to be 'degraded', which he thought D did not deserve and would resist with support from the parry. H B/XXI/P/342-7. 7 Lord Henry Lennox had written to D from London on 3 January 1852 with the news D conveys in this paragraph. H B/XX/Lx/3- In the event there would be no Peelite additions to the cabinet; see Conacher

6

The opponents of any material Parliamentary reform have also assumed a higher tone, since the diminution of Johnny's prestige by the Palmerston quarrel. I think I have now very roughly conveyed to you the important results of my letters of the last 4 & 20 hours. I am very busy at the Suffrage statistics, if- wh: I trust the breaking up of the Cabt. on Thursday may render unnecessary.8 Yrs ever I D. TO: ROBERT PEMBERTON MILNES

Hughenden 2220 [Thursday] 8 January 1852

ORIGINAL: TCC Houghton 3682

R.P. Milnes Esqr Hughenden Manor I Jan: 8. 52 My dear Mr. Milnes, There is no roof in England under wh: we wd. sooner find ourselves than yours where we have passed such kind & agreeable hours. I have delayed / w«t replying to your invitation, for a day or two, with the hope we might manage it; but, alas!, like many charming things, the visit must be relinquished. Towards the end of the month, we must be at Burlegh Burghley, & I was in / hopes we might have contrived to have come on to you for two days afterwards, but I find, from the present state of affairs, that I must be in town on the 27th. Inst permanently, & I have a great deal of business to transact in the interval. We / shd have liked very much to have met Richard & his wife: but we hope to see them in town & you also.1 My wife begs me to offer you her kindest regards & remembrances, & I am always yours I D.

Peetites 94-6. On 5 February, Lord Broughton's place as president of the board of control (the India board) would be given to Fox Maule, and the office of paymaster-general, occupied by Granville before being given the foreign office, would be given to Lord Stanley of Alderley. BHF 52-3. 8 D was evidently studying the statistics in preparation for the anticipated reform bill of the coming session; see 2222. Derby would reply from Knowsley on 7 January 1852, thanking D for his 'long and confidential letter'; the accounts he had received about 'Palmerston's expulsion' differed from D's only in detail: 'For instance, I had not heard of Palmerston having written, but only verbally expressed, his opinion to Waleski [sic]; and according to my version, Normanby had not written for any instructions, but had, of his own motion, been holding language with regard to the Coup d'Etat, equally imprudent with Palmerston's, though on a precisely opposite tack. He was of course furious when the President sent for him, and communicated to him Waleski's [sic] version of his interview with Palmerston; and it was only through the letter he wrote back, that John Russell learnt what had taken place ... you will have a lively scene in your House on the first night of the Session. I am glad however that you have repudiated the idea of a coalition with Palm: and I am sure our only course will be to side with neither of the rival factions, but leave them to fight it out among themselves. If however it be true that Palmerston seriously objected, and will object, to the proposed Reform Bill, his opposition may very materially affect our tactics on that subject. Respecting it however, I can hear nothing to be relied on. I hear Parliament does not meet till the 5th. I propose being in Town on the 29th.' H B/XX/S/42. 1 R.P. Milnes on 2 January had written to D from Bawtry Hall, inviting the Ds to visit him and meet his 'new daughter,' whom he thought MA already knew. Richard Monckton Milnes, his son, on 31 July 1851 had married Annabella Hungerford Crewe (1814-1874), youngest daughter of 2nd Baron Crewe. Milnes said his son and daughter-in-law, 'at present with the mourners at Broadlands', would be with him on the 26th to welcome the Ds. H B/XXI/M/392.

7

2221

TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Hughenden [Tuesday] 13 January 1852

ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl-69; R2-8]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 313-14, dated 13 January 1852, the first fragment, omitting the first sentence EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text of two fragments of letters in BEA, the second among letters of D to Lord Granby; however, internal evidence indicates that it is part of D's letter to Manners; see nn7&io. The appearance of the two fragments is consistent with their being two sheets of one letter. However, the text is not continuous across the fragments; the middle of the letter is still missing. Dating (of the second fragment): compare the remarks about LGBwith those in 2223 and 2224. Sic: suceeded; guages.

private Hughenden Manor I Jan: 13. 52 LordJ. Manners, I M.P. My dear J.M., I despair, by writing, to treat of the subject of yr letter witht. increasing misconceptions.1 When I came down here, before Xmas, I received two letters written "by persons of quality" not addressed to myself, but evidently written with the intention of being confidentially submitted to me: / in one of wh: it was frankly stated, that "Mr D had ruined the agricultural party"; &, in the other, that "steps should be taken to prevent Mr D. giving that prominence to the subject of local tax[ati]on in the House of Commons wh: he hitherto has done", quite forgetting that that prominence had given us last year the government of the country.2

1 Lord John Manners had written to D from Belvoir Castle on 5 January 1852 (mistakenly dated 1851): 'Though recent events have probably modified your view of the hopelessness of our party, and may render a course of action unnecessary now, which was essential when I saw you in London, I think it right you should know the upshot of my communication with Granby.' Granby's reply to Manners had not fully answered his questions, and therefore he had held off writing to D until he could talk to his brother, on 3 January. Manners sent on a copy of Granby's letter to Derby, with Granby's views on the party's position and policies; in general Granby and D agreed on issues such as local taxation and import duties but differed on terms of reference: 'Granby would retain the phrases to which the party & the country have become familiarized: you would drop them as antiquated and unpopular. Ought a party to be broken up for such reasons? Personally I sympathize with you both. With Granby I agree that we cease to be a Party if we drop the principle of Protection; with you I am convinced of the impolicy of dragging it into every debate in the House of Commons ... I am becoming crusty myself at seeing how little allowance all my political leaders and friends are disposed to make for each other's idiosyncrasies and begin to despair of a party which loves quarrelling with it's [sic] friends rather than fighting it's [sic] opponents ... I have done my best to keep you and Granby together, and cannot reproach myself if you seperate [sic]: but I hope and trust that when the Ministry breaks up, as it must do before Easter, that we may be found a strong and united party, with a clear though moderate policy, headed by Lord Derby in the Lords, and you in the Commons.' Enclosed is an undated copy of an extract from a letter by Granby to Derby (for which see M&B III 312-13); in it Granby explains that he had decided to resign from the triumvirate leadership in the Commons because it was 'an absurdity,' hoping that by so doing the leadership might be consolidated under D and the party strengthened. However, he found that D 'took a more gloomy view, and said that my decision would decide his - and talked much in the same strain when I saw him at Hughenden [seeV 2l95n3]. I must however hope that he never seriously meant this ...' Although he was prepared to give D considerable latitude as leader, he would not support him unless D was 'prepared to support as such a Protective policy for all classes ...' He thought England had to choose between the two systems 'before the World ... they cannot both be right..." H B/X/MM/yi.yia. 2 See 22l8&n2 for Lonsdale's letter sent to D by Malmesbury. The other letter has not been found. More recently, Londonderry, writing from Wynyard on 10 January 1852 to acknowledge D's 'Petit Mot' to Lady Londonderry (possibly v 2214), had enclosed two letters received that day for D's 'perusal & immediate return', one about a possible coalition government, and the other from 'a high Protectionist' stating that D 'ought to come down with a Pont Dor'. H B/XX/V/74.

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This being the case, & having received a very friendly letter / from Miles about the "Political Biogy" ending by wishing to know our plans for the ensuing session,3 I thought it best to communicate the contents of these two letters to him; to detail to him the appeal of Granby; to call his attention to the agricl. manifesto of Novr. Blackwood, in wh: my policy was denounced as "a policy of finesse",4 an expression in conversation approvingly / used adopted by Granby; & finally stating that I considered the address of the National Protection Society, & the alleged causes of its extraordinary meeting in December, as an open vote of censure on myself;5 & 3 William Miles had written from Leigh Court on 24 December 1851 with high praise for LGB, after which he continued: 'I cannot but think that the publication is well timed; much must be done next Session: but above all the position you would take ... should be thoroughly understood EARLY in the Session. The idea of ever going back to what may be termed a purely protective system is being gradually abandoned by the Farmers ... They are however somewhat mystified in reconciling yours & Lord Stanleys [sic] declarations ...' He acknowledged that 'the Poor were never better off here ... & should the accts from other parts of the country be similar, it will be difficult to grapple with beneficial realities.' H E/V1/R/2. Miles had written again from Leigh Court on 29 December, in response to D's letter (not found), saying that before he could assess whether D would have the support of 'a united party' he needed to consult others. He thought that as long as D and Derby were 'of one mind' there was no problem, and profusely praised D's leadership over the past three sessions. He asked what token of support D required, and what 'deviation of policy from the line adopted since 1846' D thought would be necessary: 'Having ascertained these preliminaries, I will immediately communicate with Bankes, Trollope, Baring, Henley, & any others YOU may suggest, confidentially & I trust the result will be to reestablish you in your old seat with the conviction in your mind that you are leading a united and willing party.' H B/XXI/M/36g. 4 An article on 'Autumn Polities' in the November 1851 issue of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (LXX 60728) had given D a taste of his own 1846 medicine; according to a 7 January letter from Samuel Phillips, confirmed by the Welksley Index 192, the anonymous author was W.E. Aytoun. H B/XXI/P/246. The article 'greatly deprecate [d] any deviation from the broad principle and assertion of Protection to all branches of British Industry', and took issue with D's strategy of equalized taxation; it predicted (using D's figures) that the farmers would not accept tax relief of £6 million as adequate compensation for the £90 million lost to free trade. It acknowledged that D's proposal was not meant to be a full compensation: 'but does he not see that, in bringing forward this subject in any shape approaching to, or appearing to be, a compromise, he incurs the danger of sacrificing the support [of the farmers]. The farmers will not stand finessing. They neither comprehend circuitous coups d'etat, nor will they follow those who attempt them. The plain English sense is hostile to such manoeuvres. They are ready to follow any one in whose capacity and judgment they can place reliance, so long as he pursues a clear and open course; but the moment that his tactics are veiled, uncertain, or unintelligible, they lose confidence in his guidance. That we believe to be, at all times, the tendency of the English character. [There has recently been] much suspicion of the sincerity of public men ... and therefore it is the more needful that, wherever a principle is involved, no step whatever should be taken which may lead to the remotest suspicion that such principle is about to be compromised.' The writer was of course confident that D had no such compromise in mind (614-16). 5 A meeting of the National Protection Association on 12 December 1851 had passed several immoderate protectionist resolutions, one of which acknowledged 'the discouraging effects that must be produced on the friends of Protection by an ambiguous, uncertain, or wavering policy', and called on all to renew their exertions on behalf of the great cause 'without permitting their energies or their attention to be diverted from that one great object by any projects of partial application or of minor importance, however or by whomsoever introduced or recommended.' In his opening statement as chairman, the Duke of Richmond had announced that the meeting had been called, 'not for the purpose of signing petitions to the House of Commons - a House of Commons in which the great body of the people had no confidence whatever - (cheers), - but to show that the friends of protection to British industry ... were still determined to persevere and to enter into a declaration that nothing short of protection to domestic industry could satisfy them. (Cheers.)' He declared that the issue of protectionism had to be decided on the hustings, and not in parliament. The meeting also passed a resolution, seconded by Malmesbury, acclaiming the actions of G.F. Young and his committee, and in the evening gave a dinner in Young's honour. The Times (13 Dec 1851). For D's earlier conflict with Young over party policy see V 19O2&n5. See also 22i8n3 for Malmesbury's account of his defence of D at the meeting.

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that under these circumstances I wished him, as a leading county gentleman & one who had busied himself in bringing me forward in the Protectionist party, to put himself in communication [BEA [R2-8]:] , in less than a month, is equally to "Coningsby;" & I have therefore suceeded in my object, wh: was to make his name a literary name, & not a mere bag of bones in parliamentary records.6 Enough of this egotism. I do not take the same opinion as yourself, & all our friends, of the forlorn position of the government. It is not, in my view, as perilous, as this time last year. Then, whatr. might be / our deficiencies, there was at least an opposition, with the prestige, not to be [illegible deletion] undervalued, of being untried men. Now we are a body of persons avowedly, selfconfessedly, incompetent to take the reins. The fact that the Whigs do not resign is the greatest slur upon our reputation & guages our character in public estimation. The Court passes us over, no longer / recognising us as a political power, wh: last year they did, cheerfully & honorably. I have no belief that the country is of a different opinion from the Court. Our principles were never popular, individually, we are now despised, & nothing but the highly improbable occurrence of Herculean efforts on our part during the impending / Session, will allow our considerable confederacy to die with dignity. Yours ever I D. The D. of Bedford was not at Latimer.7 He is a great autumnal gobemouche, who, in the present instance, has swallowed some of the Munchausen8 revelations of that

6 Colburn had written on 3 January that, 'notwithstanding the attacks in the Chronicle & Times,' a total of 1,750 copies of LGB had been printed, and 'nearly 1,500 are actually disposed of; he hoped to be 'going to press shortly with a third Edition', and urged D to submit his corrected copy as soon as possible: 'PS. The 2 corrections you pointed out were of course made. We shall not fail to take advantage of every favorable review. There is one in the Post of this day.' On 12 January he had written again, acknowledging receipt of D's corrected copy. The third edition, of 500 copies, would be ready 'about Saturday, by which time all the 2nd will have been sold I expect.' Every effort had been made to determine why 'the copy for Mr Burn' had not reached its destination at Eccles. H E/VII/D/47-8. For Coningsby see IV 1342111, 1356114 and 1358^5. In his letter (ni) Manners had written: 'With the general tone, and the writing of your book I am greatly delighted. The character of Peel is a masterpiece & may rank with Clarendon's pictures: but I regret that more of G.B's letters were not given, and cannot think the insertion of that most remarkable 24th. chapter justifiable. There - after this you will not accuse me of not speaking out my mind frankly.' MP on 3 and 6 January had reviewed LGB, with lengthy extracts, emphasizing that the work was neither a conventional biography nor a political history, but a literary portrait, 'a faithful picture of one, whom even his enemies and opponents allow to have been a man of fine qualities and rare endowments.' It responded to the objection that Bentinck's career was fully documented in parliamentary records by contending that it was no mean feat to extract what was relevant to Bentinck and 'so to arrange the materials 'as to make them render to the spectator a portraiture with the semblance of life.' The review made no mention of chapter 24. 7 For the Ds' visit to Latimer and the subsequent gossip about D (that he there had repudiated protectionism) at the Duke of Bedford's Woburn Abbey see V 2195&D2. In his letter (ni) Manners had remarked: 'The Whigs, headed of course by the Duke of Bedford, have been making the most of what you said, or did not say, at Latimers; but just now they are finding out the wisdom of ... keeping their breath to cool their own porridge.' 8 The name of Baron Munchausen, narrator and hero of the Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1785) and other comic tales, is synonymous with wild exaggeration and outright lying. The original is Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Freiherr von Munchhausen (17201797), of Bodenwerder in Hanover, whose stories of fabulous adventures as soldier and sportsman were used by Rudolf Erich Raspe in the Adventures and some of the many other collections of the baron's stories that eventually appeared.

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harumscarum shepherd, Villiers Shelley,9 who, because, according to my custom, I did not contradict his assertions, saddled me with their authorship.10 TO: LORD SALISBURY

Hughenden [Tuesday] 13 January 1852

ORIGINAL: HFD [l]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand (Salisbury's?) on the first page: 'Mr Disraeli' and the date underlined; and in yet another hand: 'Mr Disraeli Jany 13 1852'. Sic: Wycomb.

confidential Hughenden Manor I High Wycomb. Jan 13-52 The I Marq: of Salisbury I K.G. My dear Lord, As I assume the government will now meet Parliament, I revert to the subject on wh: we conferred at Hatfield: their projected Reform / Bill.1 I will suppose, that it will possess two features of main importance: the expansion of the County franchise, & a schedule of doomed Boroughs. I have already, in strictly confidential conversation, intimated the means by / wh: it may be possible to prevent the forfeited franchises of the Boroughs being distributed among the towns. I assume, that under no circumstances shd. we be able openly to obtain any share of them to increase the territorial party in the H of Comm: I will therefore, / on the present occasion, not dwell further on this branch of the subject, but confine myself to the expansion of the county constituencies, on wh: I will offer you some details the result of my investigations, & on wh:, at yr. convenience, I shd be glad to be favored / with the advantage of yr judgment. In the first place, assuming that the government were to adopt the proposition of Mr. Locke King, wh: they have hitherto resisted, & confer a right of county voting on all persons rated to the poor at £10 & upwards, the numbers added to the County Constit: wd be 349,249, / or say rather, as in the return from wh: this was drawn 51 parishes were omitted, 350,501

9 John Villiers Shelley (1808-1867) on 28 March 1852 would succeed his father as yth Baronet, of Maresfield Park, Sussex; he would be Liberal MP for Westminster July 1852 to 1865. 10 Manners replied from Belvoir on 16 January: 'Though I own I have little hope now of being serviceable in bringing about a more harmonious action between yourself and those whom, whether rightly or wrongly, you regard as violent in their views, and mistaken in their policy I must in answer to your clear and frank statement say that I yet do not see wherein lies the radical difference between you and them, which is to split up the party & end in its death "dignified" or otherwise.' He still saw the difference to be one of strategy only, and felt that 'the vast majority' of the rank and file 'would gladly follow the leader and the flag who gave them the victory last year.' He thought D was 'labouring under some misapprehension' about Granby who, he assured D, had given 'his assent to the scheme you authorized me to submit to him. Doubtless', Manners continued, 'he does not consent to abandon the general policy of Protection, but it is one thing to maintain a general principle, another to insist upon its introduction as subject for debate in &: out of season.' He concluded: 'I hate differing from you so sincerely that I won't say a word on other topics whereupon perhaps I cannot altogether concur with what you say in your letter. Most glad am I to hear of the marked success of G.B's life ..." He added a postscript: 'Neither Granby nor I have heard a word of the Miles Bankes &c correspondence - at least he had not when he went from hence 2 days ago.' H B/XX/M/yS. 1 For the visit to Hatfield see V 2203-8; for the reform bill see V 22l6n4.

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2222

At a rating of £20, there wd. be additional County voters 150,253,

at £15 210,355

at 12£ 280,473. / The present number of County Electors in England & Wales is (Registration 1846) P»12 376 Increase in the County of Hertford constituency at £10. 4,Q8o. If £12, 15, or 2o£ were substituted multiply 4,980 / by the following fractions £12 fraction 4/5 15 3/5 20 3/7 & a sufficiently close approximation may be obtained.2 The leading article in the "Times Chronicle" t- of yesterday wd. seem to imply that the Peelites will not sanction much parliamentary reform: / & the leading article of the "Times", the same day, [illegible deletion] wd. imply that the country, in this respect, is rather of the same opinion as the Peelites.3

2 D is reproducing figures from Dr W.A. Guy's MS 'Analyses of Parliamentary Papers, Sec. relating to the Franchise' that cites '"A Return of the Number of Persons in England and Wales, not within the limits of any Parliamentary Borough or City, who were rated to the Relief of the Poor for the year 1849, at the Annual Value of £10, and upwards, and under £50." (Sir Joshua Walmsley) ordered to be Printed 18 February 1851.' The source cited for the 1846 registration of county electors in England and Wales is 'Statistical Companion 1848, p22, authority not stated.' H B/XI/A/8. For D's work with Guy see V 22O6&n2 and 22O9&n2. Among other documents drawn up by Guy, there is a MS 'Scheme for an Enlarged Suffrage' which focuses on occupations such as those of messengers, warehousemen, head porters, clerks and accountants who typically live in lodgings and are therefore excluded from the franchise: 'This class is believed to be, on the whole, conservative in their opinions ...' The letter to D evidently connected with the scheme is dated 12 February 1852: 'Since I had the pleasure of conversing with you on the subject of the suffrage, I have made it my business to converse with ... Clerks, Accountants, Messengers, Foremen, &c ... [and] have uniformly found them expressing themselves very warmly on the injustice done them by excluding them from a privilege to which even £5 householders are to be now admitted.' H B/XI/A/i-8. D on 6 February would move 'for returns of the population of all the counties of England and Wales, to be made up on the principle of the census of 1841.' MP (7 Feb 1852). On 8 February Derby would write: 'On looking over the House of Commons Votes, I see a motion of yours for the return of present "Occupations" in accordance with the Census of 1841. I do not know exactly with what object the return is moved for; but it occurred to me that the distribution of employments under that Census had been much objected to, and had been, in fact, proved to have been constructed on a new principle, with the object of diminishing the apparent numbers of those dependent on Agriculture, and unduly swelling the ranks of those dependent on Manufacture & Commerce.' Repeating that he did not know the object of D's motion, he nevertheless recommended D use the 1851 census, 'which was framed on a juster principle ... and it would have the additional advantage of contrasting the state of things on which the Old Reform Bill was founded, with that which is to be the basis of the New.' H B/XX/S/45. An item in MC (2 Mar 1852) citing 'a return to the House of Commons' gives a figure of 428,823 for the 'total county constituency in England and Wales.' See further 226201. 3 The leading article in the Peelite MC of 12 January had suggested that the real obstacle to a 'coalition of the kind just attempted' between the Whigs and the Peelites was Russell's reluctance to review the government's policy: '... it must be borne in mind that the party who have received overtures are inheritors of large, fixed, and definite principles ...' The leader strongly advised Russell not to make 'an unnatural appeal to ultra-Democratic appetites.' The Times on the same day discussed Russell's prospects

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Sir James Graham who came up to town to attend the Chancery commission,4 neither saw Ld. John Russell, nor / heard from him, nor was any offer made to Sir James Graham either directly or indirectly by others on behalf of Ld. John Russell. Some overtures were made to "the D of Newcastle & his friends" but they were declined. The E.I. Company have proposed to / the Government, that the D of Newcastle shd go to India. I hope that Lady Salisbury is quite well. Pray do me the favor of offering my Complim[en]ts to her & of believing me, My dear Lord, I Your truly oblgd & fl Sert.

B. DISRAELI I

T.O. /

One fifth of the County ten pounders wd be disqualified by non payment of rates, but this degree of disqualification wd. not apply to the other numbers.0 TO: LORD PONSONBY

Hughenden [Tuesday] 13 January 1852 2223

ORIGINAL: DURP [10]

My dear Lord, Hughenden Manor I Jan 13. 1852 In reply to yr. last,1 wh: I had thought I had replied to before, I send you an extract from a letter, wh: I received from a friend of mine, yesterday[:] "/ am glad, that you have repudiated the idea of a coalition with P., & I / am sure our only course will

in light of his decision to face parliament on 3 February with 'the present Cabinet, without any further modification ... It is out of all reason to expect that the new Reform Bill - to take only one of our impending questions - will satisfy any one of the three sections not included among the regular supporters of the Government.' Citing the example of the previous session, in which measures had been enacted in forms other than that in which they had been introduced by the government, it commented: '... the country will feel more and more the absurdity of confiding the executive to those whom it will not follow in their legislative functions, and refusing power to those who are really the leaders of our Legislature.' 4 A royal commission 'to inquire into Process, Practice, and System of Pleading in Court of Chancery' had been appointed in 1850; in 1851 its inquiry had been extended and additional commissioners (including Graham) appointed. The commission would submit its first report on 27 January 1852, recommending sweeping reforms to curtail and simplify the proceedings in chancery. The commission would be reappointed on 20 November 1852, submit a second report on 11 January 1854, and a third on 14 April 1856. BSP:HC (1852) XXI 1-352, (1854) XXTV 1-151, (1856) XXII 1-212. On the change of government in February, both Derby and D would announce that they regarded chancery reform to be a measure that required legislation before a dissolution, and several major reforms would be passed; see 23l4&n3. 5 Salisbury replied in a few days (the draft in HFD is dated 16 January and the copy of the reply in Monypenny's papers 17 January), remarking that D's 'extremely valuable' statistical analysis '[did] not hold out a very flattering prospect.' He liked D's plan (evidently communicated in the 'strictly confidential conversation' D mentions) 'for dealing with the boroughs which will probably be doomed to destruction', which he thought might be 'useful in reconciling our alienated colonies and quietly nullifying the free trade policy.' HFD [16]; H H/ Life [R143-716]. D's 'plan' was evidently also described in a letter (not found) to the Duke of Northumberland, who on 8 January 1852 had written to D: 'Assuming the facts to be as you suppose, & that the result of the Reform Bill will be to disfranchise 40 or 60 seats, there can be no doubt that it would be dangerous to the well-being of England that a majority of those seats should be transferred to the Towns, or that the present balance of interests should be interfered with in their favor. To your proposal of giving some 20 or 30 seats to the Colonies (if such a thing could be done) I agree with you in thinking it probable that it would be a measure in favor of the Conservative Interest ...' H B/XXI/N/175. See further 223O&n41 See 22ign6.

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be to side with neither of the rival factions, but leave them to fight it out among themselves".2 I am bound to add, that, as far as I can judge from what reaches me from other, & many, quarters, Ld. P. has evinced no inclination to enter into a / confederacy, wh: we shd. decline. You will be glad to hear, that, last night, I sent my last proof of the third of three considerable editions of the "Pol Biogy." to the press.3 With many complimts to my Lady Ever Yrs I D.

2224

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Tuesday] 13 January 1852

ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [ll]

private Hughenden. Jan. 13-52 My dear Rose, We shall leave this on Friday, en route to Burghley, & shall be settled in town about the 22nd or 23rd.1 when I hope to see you as soon as possible, as there will be little time for / business when Parliament begins. I think Ld Derby will turn out a better general, than the world imagined, a few months ago. You will be glad to hear, that I, last night, sent to the press the last proof of the third / of three considerable editions of the "Political Biography." Three large editions in one month beats "Coningsby." I am much pleased with Guy. All that he has done for me is excellent. He is acute & sound, & I / have no doubt, if he likes, will prove a valuable ally to me. He is just the sort of man I like.2 Yours flly I D.

2 The 'frientf was Derby; see 2219118. 3 See 2221n6. Ponsonby's reply on 21 January would be full of praise of LGB. H B/XXI/P/348. See further 2229&ni. 1 The Ds would leave Hughenden for Grosvenor Gate on Friday 16 January, from there go to Burghley on 21 January, and return to London on 24 January. H ace. Lord Exeter's 4 January invitation to Burghley had mentioned that the Derbys would be there on the 22nd, and perhaps also Herries and Granby; see 2227&n2. Exeter was much delighted with LGB: 'You have done him ample justice but not more than he deserved.' H E/VI/R/6. 2 For Guy's help with the analysis of the suffrage statistics see 2222n2. Rose replied from Park Street the next day: 'As I have appointed to meet Grubbe at his wood on Friday morning to see how much he will be willing to give up to you if you consent to the enclosure I propose to call at Hughenden & take the chance of having a few words with you before you leave.' He went on to praise LGB, of which he had already had to buy two extra copies: 'I firmly believe that you have done more for the party, by its publication than can, at all, be understood at present. - The chapter on Judaism charmed me more than I can express.' He continued: 'Now that you are on the threshold of Power, and the dreams of my [sic] boyhood, and the convictions of later years are about to be realized I can only most fervently desire that a sufficient amount of physical health and strength will be granted you to sustain you in the struggles of these eventful times.' In a postscript he remarked: 'I am so glad you like our Cousin Guy. I was sure he would suit you & I can promise you that he is as honorable & highminded as he is able. He is a singularly fine character. He is much pleased with his intercourse with you, & wished to review you in Fraser but it was promised elsewhere.' H B/XX/R/5-

14

TO: LORD STANLEY

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 19 January 1852

ORIGINAL: DBF [l6ll] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in Stanley's hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli. 1852. [fold] B. Disraeli 1852' Sic: Taboed.

Grosvenor Gate Jan 19. 52 My dr S., We returned to town on the i6th. & found yr. letter on the table, just arrived.1 On Saty. I met Sir Jas Hogg & from him had news that you had landed. Here things are deplorable. The coup d'etat on the other side of the channel was echoed by Ld John, who absolutely ignominiously kicked out Palmerston! The Cabinet, sick in every other respect about the Reform Bill, & meeting every day: but after interminable intrigues, negotiations, resignations, retractations, all seems tranquil again. It is decided at head quarters, that no government is preferable to one / of selfconferred incompetency with the agreeable addition of obsolete opinions, &, condemned alike by Court & people, we shall attend the meeting of parliament more like mourners at a public funeral than any other political capacity I can suggest or probably we shall ever occupy. Ld. John, we understand, who, after the French revol[uti]on, had given up his reform bill, is now to bring in one of the most absolute kind, & to dissolve, whe[the]r carried or not. We are finished, but you are young & have a future - I shall retire to the befitting scene of a defunct politician, & write notes on the margins of book[s] amid the beechen groves of Bucks. All seem to despair ef- except Newdegate, who seems inclined to enlist under Palmerston as the leader of Protestantism & has made a speech in Warwickshire, / very alarming, against Granville's wife, who happens to be a papist.2 It is curious that after all Ld. John & Palmerston shd. have parted in anger. No overtures have been made to Graham; Ld. J. having neither seen him nor written to him, notwithstanding the newspaper reports. But there have been negotiations betn. Ld. John & the D. of Newcastle, who how[eve]r *=ef- required something like half the cabinet for his friends, to wh: Ld. John wd. not listen. The most curious thing is, that the Cabinet, having made up their minds against reform, ordered a manifesto to be prepared for the Edinburgh Review, drawn up, I believe, by Trevelyan & Rich, & extremely able.3 It came out at the end of last month e«-t a few 1 See (app I) 2l62X&n3 and 22O3X&ni. Stanley had written on 2 December from a steamer in the Bay of Bengal a lengthy report of his 'observations ... on British India' based on his travels in Madras. He offered suggestions for decreasing the extensive corruption in the administration of justice, commented on taxation and education, and reported that a second Burmese war was expected that would 'be better conducted than the last.' He concluded: 'I sympathize and rejoice in what you have been saying at home, but I cannot think that the future, politically, looks promising, as far as one can judge of it out here. To me it is matter of great indifference - much more so than the prospect of exploring Nepaul or Cashmere, one or both. The dissolution cannot take place very early!' H B/XX/8/546-8. 2 Lady Granville was sole heiress of the distinguished continental Catholic family of Dalberg; Granville had succeeded Palmerston as foreign secretary on 26 December 1851. Lord Edmond FitzMaurice The Life of ... Second Earl Granville K.G. (1905) I 31. 3 'The expected reform bill', Edinburgh Review XCV (January 1852) 213-80, was written by W.R. Greg. Welksky Indexl 501 #2147. Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan (1807-1886), KGB 1848, 1st Bt 1874, formerly in the Indian civil service and a writer on Indian affairs (principally education reform) and other subjects, was assistant-secretary to the treasury 1840-59; he administered Irish relief work 1845-7, reformed the civil service admission system (to open competition) 1853, was governor of Madras 1859-60, and finance

15

2225

days before Ld. John having failed in all his combinations, & obliged to / go on with his government & change his tactics, had decided on a strong measure of reform. The consequence is there has been a leading article in the Observer to repudiate the Edinburgh organ as official, & brick-bat articles in the Times against Ld Lansdowne & others, who cling to their long reprieved Boroughs.4 I hear from the Camarilla,0 that if the results of the election are such as anticipated by the Court, & the territorial interest effectually silenced, Cobden & his friends are no longer to be Taboed from the Cabinet. We go to a mournful ceremony at Burghley on Wednesday where I shall meet yr father. I suppose it will be the last. Your Indian mems were very agreeable to me, as the question will come on this year in our house6 & I have been wading of late thro' a mass of papers about the present scene of yr sojourn. Adieu, dear comrade. You are wisely absent from a scene of perpetual humiliation. Ever yrs sincerely I D. 2226

TO: LORD DERBY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 20 January 1852 [82]

The I Earl of Derby Grosvenor Gate I Jan: 2O 1852 My dear Lord, Your letter of the iSth1 reached me here this morning. I have no communication of any kind with Mr Phillips. I saw him, rather frequently, about three years ago at the instance of a section of our friends,2 but between reserve / on my part & illness on his, wh: removed him from town, &, as I understood, altogether from his political pursuits, I never saw him again until last Session, when he requested an interview with me, that he might develope a scheme for the organisation of the provincial press, in order to / advocate the views of the "Protection Society".3

minister in India 1862-5. Henry Rich (1803-1869), 1st Bt 1863, of Sunning, Berks, educated at Sandhurst and Trinity College, Cambridge, was groom in waiting to the Queen and a lord of the treasury 1846-52, Reform MP for Knaresborough 1837-41, Richmond 1846-61. 4 The Observer on 18 January had endorsed the disclaimer in the Edinburgh Review article (n3) that it had 'no official character', and remarked that the impugning of reform was 'in downright opposition' to the intention of the government. The Times on 17 January had a leader such as D describes, although not mentioning Lansdowne by name. 5 Ponsonby was D's source of information about the cabinet; cf3iig8cn6. 6 See 2272&n2. 1 Derby had written from Knowsley on 18 January; he had seen correspondence between Samuel Phillips and MHin which Phillips had claimed to know '"exactly the wishes and views of Lord Derby"' and had urged 'the necessity of preparing the way, by a series of Articles,' for Derby's abandonment, as soon as he took office, of 'the very question' which had made Derby leader of the party. Phillips had left it to be inferred that D was his source. Derby acknowledged and rehearsed his differences of opinion with D on the subject of protection, but he trusted that Phillips had misconstrued what D had said; he asked that D write to Phillips to correct his 'misapprehension', and to hint that he had 'no authority to be the exponent of [Derby's] opinions'. H B/XX/S/43- For extensive quotation from the letter see M&B III 31617. Derby also wrote to Malmesbury in the same vein; see Malmesbury I 299-300. See also app IX [a]. 2 See v I76i&n8, 1764, I774&n4, I775ni, I78ln3 and I783&m. 3 See V 2l34&m; for D's opinion of him see also 2204.

16

I thought his plan a job, but I threw no cold water on it, Be, subsequently, several of our friends, Sir Edw: Kerrison & others, mentioned to me, that they had subscribed to his undertaking having been assured it was sanctioned by my approval. This, I believe, was the / last time, that I had the honor of seeing Mr Phillips. I concluded he was then an uncompromising Protectionist.4 Believe me, ever, I my dear Lord, I Sincerely yrs I D. TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 26 January 1852

ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/357 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 317-18, dated 26 January 1852, the second paragraph, somewhat altered; LBCS265, dated 26 January 1852, altered extracts from the first and second paragraphs; Bradford 171, extracts from the first and third paragraphs; Meynell II 388ni, extract dated 26 January 1852

My dr Sa, G.G. Jan 26. 52 It is a long time since I have written & there have been great events in the interval. It seems to me, that I pass my life in remedies for that disorder of the gums of wh: I have often complained to you, & wh: greatly dispirits me.1 I have tried three dentists & have consulted surgeons - & am going again to Rogers to day. With everything at stake, it absorbs me, & I think of nothing else & can do nothing else but / watch the progress of the complaint, or try to baffle it. I fancy it affects my enunciation & influences the tone of my voice. A hard frost perhaps might have helped me, but we have had a midsummer winter. We came from Burghley on Saturday night, leaving there a large party, the Derbys, Ld Salisbury, Granby, the D of Montrose, Malmesbury, Herries, the Newarks,2 Middletons3 &c. &c. &c. Ld. Derby is fortunately very / well - much thinner for his illness4 but looking, perhaps in consequence, ten years younger. He is in good heart & sanguine - but I see tremendous troubles ahead, if not breakers, waves mountain high. As I have about 100 letters to write & a great pressure of other business, I will send only these lines, wh: I thought were better than nothing. Don't mention / my complaints in any letter addressed here. Yrs affy. I D.

4 After the change of government, Phillips would press D for a pension, with D regarding his efforts, according to Phillips's letter of 19 March, as virtual blackmail. The matter seems not to have been resolved to Phillips's satisfaction, and correspondence from him ceases in late 1852. As late as 13 June 1854, Lord Bateman would warn D to get his correspondence with Derby out of the hands of Phillips, 'a man to beware of.' H B/XXI/P/256-8; 8/139. 1 See V l8go&n2, 1991 and 2i8ln2. 2 Listed among the guests at Burghley are 'Viscount Newark and Lady Annora Pierrepont'. MP (26 Jan 1852). Sydney William Herbert Pierrepont (1825-1900), Viscount Newark, eldest surviving son of 2nd Earl Manvers, would succeed as 3rd Earl in 1860; he was at this time (until 15 June) unmarried. He was Conservative MP for S Notts July 1852-60. His sister, Lady Annora Charlotte Pierrepont (1822-1888), in 1853 would marry Charles Watkin Williams Wynn. 3 Also listed among the guests are 'Sir W. and the Hon. Lady Middleton'. Sir William Fowle Middleton (1784-1860), 2nd Bt, of Crowfield, Suffolk, in 1825 had married Anne Cust (1796-1867), daughter of 1st Baron Brownlow. 4 Derby suffered from recurring attacks of gout; see V 2igi&n i.

17

2227

M[ary]anne has I believe kept you tolerably au fait.5 John Russell has written me a very charming letter about the Pol. Biog.6 I found it on my table on my arrival on Saty.

2228

TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 26 January 1852

ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl-yo]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 317, dated 26 January 1852, the first paragraph; Whibley II 13, dated 26 January 1852, the first paragraph

confidential Grosvenor Gate I Jan: 26. 1852 Lord John Manners I M.P. My dear John, Granby has given you an account of what took place at Burghley. The affair is skinned over, & we must all hope the best. I cannot but feel, that there is some degree of estrangement betn. Granby / & myself, & I deplore it. I take the blame entirely to myself. He has misapprehended some expressions & misconceived some actions. But explanations are seldom felicitous, & on the eve of the momentous & critical events with wh: I have now to deal, & for the result of wh:, right or wrong, I must be greatly responsible, I / must dismiss the subject, tho' with regret, from my mind. You must see me directly you come to town. It is considered desirable, that you shd. give no more lectures. The important affairs of Parliamt will be a fitting excuse, if you have made any engagement from wh: it is expedient you shd. extricate yourself. Excuse this roughness, but I have 100 / letters to write & a great pressure of other business - & our friendship will bear a little abruptness.1 Yours ever, I D.

5 Except for one (see 8245m), there are no extant letters from Sarah to D for the years 1852-5; she had last written to MA on 8 January 1852, mostly on current affairs. H D/III/A/27O. 6 Lord John Russell had written from Chesham Place on 22 January: 'I wrote [from Woburn Abbey on 15 December] to thank you for your Political Life of Lord G. Bentinck before I had read it. Having read it, you must permit me to express to you how much I have been interested & gratified. The great struggle of 1846 is described in a masterly manner. Altho' the summary of Sir R. Peel's speeches is hardly fair, yet the character of the statesman & member of Parliament is drawn with great power & truth. For my own part in these great affairs, altho' in some particulars you are mistaken, you have done me more than justice in the main. It was a disadvantage in a Biography to have a hero whose forte was in statistics & arithmetical details, but with such a hero you have made yr. work very entertaining while Mr. Canning a wit & an orator is reduced to commonplace by an ill-assorted fate of having a dull biographer.' H B/XXI/R/293-4. 1 Manners replied from Belvoir the next day: 'One line to thank you for your letter, and to inform you that 3 days ago I declined a request to lecture before the Colchester Institution. We shall be in town, of course, for the opening, and I will attend your Summons.' He continued: 'I much fear that my maladroit intervention may have had the effect of widening instead of narrowing the incipient breach between you & Granby, though I hope and trust from the account he has given me of what passed at Burghley, the misunderstanding, such as it was, will not prevent a cordial cooperation in the coming strife.' He also reported that Stafford was 'most friendly' to D, and that the Duke of Newcastle thought he could and would 'form a purely Peelite government.' H B/XX/M/yy. Regarding Manners's 'lectures' cfV I948n3- At the protectionist meeting at Leicester on Saturday 31 January, in support of the resolutions adopted at the 12 December meeting of the National Protection Association (see 222i&n5),

18

TO: LORD PONSONBY

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 26 January 1852

222Q

ORIGINAL: DURP [ll] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: to often to.

private Grosvenor Gate I Jany. 26. 52 Viscount Ponsonby I G.C.B. My dear Lord, We returned to town for the season on Saturday, being last from Burghley, where I met Ld. Derby & many of our friends. I found yr. kind & interesting letter1 / on my table. The pressure of business is so great at this moment, that I cannot run down to Brighton, as I had intended, for the pleasure of seeing you. Ld. Derby mentioned to me, with / evident gratification, that you had sent him your proxy. I am in good cue, & will try to win. The troops are in spirits & embolden me by their confidence in me. I never yet, at the beginning of a campaign, received / so many expressions of trust, & so much eeg encouragement from influential persons. The country & the times are riper than they were. My kindest regards & compliments to Lady Ponsonby. You cannot write to often to Your faithful friend, I D. TO: LORD DERBY

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 15 February 1852 2230

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [36] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B. Ansd'.

The I Earl of Derby Grosvenor Gate I Feb. 15. 52 1 My dear Lord, I enclose, for yr. consideration & approval, sketch of resolution for the 26th. on the Cape Policy2 - & wh:, with yr sanction, will / be substituted for the 13 resol[uti]ons

letters from Manners and Granby would be read out, 'regretting their inability to attend, but concurring in the objects of the meeting.' The Times (2 Feb 1852). 1 See Z223n3; Ponsonby had also written of the possibility of war with France; he predicted that 'these Ministers' would meet parliament but that he did not think they would 'be able to maintain their power unless you spare them. I do hope that you will think as I do that the Strong Will is a primary source of success.' H B/XXI/P/348. 1 Derby had written recently on several topics; on 5 February: 'After you were gone last night, I learned from Newdegate that the "Protestants" were determined to take a very early opportunity of bringing forward the question of Maynooth. This makes it necessary that we should be prepared with our line, and especially that we should decide whether I shall or shall not, move in the House of Lords for a Committee on the whole R. Catholic question, which may, I think, be a useful safety valve.' He asked D to a meeting on Saturday afternoon. On 8 February he had discussed D's motion on census returns; see 2222n2. On 11 February he had asked D to call on him that day in anticipation of meetings on Saturday and Monday to decide the line to be taken on the proposed reform bill. H B/XX/S/44-6. 2 The Kaffir War of 1850-2 had disrupted Grey's plan (see V I943n6) to introduce self-government to Cape Colony, and there had been severe criticism of the government's Cape policy and administration. A recently released blue book on the matter (BSP:HC (1852) [1428] XXXIII 287-555) had included Grey's despatch of 14 January recalling Sir Harry Smith, the governor of Cape Colony, in favour of General Cathcart, who in the event would finish the war. For a full treatment of the subject see W.P. Morrell British Colonial Policy in the Age of Peel and Russell (Oxford 1930) 270-312 (ch 12). See also 2360.

19

respecting colonial reform drawn up by Adderley, & wh: really appear to me to offer no censure on the policy & conduct of the government. As I have / promised, if possible, to give the resolution to Adderley tomorrow, I shd. be very much obliged by yr. considering it as early as convenient.3 It might be as well, also, tomorrow, to remind our / friends, that there will be two party struggles, the iQth. & 26th. before the 2nd. reading of the Reform Bill.4 Yours sincerely I D.

2231

TO: LORD DERBY

[London] Friday [20 February 1852]

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [37] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 342, dated [20 February 1852] by context EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Was received at Badminton Feb 21/1852'. Sic: McKenzie; who he looks upon.

confidential Friday night My dear Lord, McKenzie1 will tell you the great event. Palmerston has defeated them by the militia, when the / regular troops failed.2

3 No copies of Adderley's resolutions and of D's 'sketch' have been found, but the gist of the latter can be inferred from Derby's reply of the same day from St James's Square: 'I think the conception of your Cape Resolution cannot be improved, and it is perhaps hypercriticism to demur to one or two of the expressions. I doubt however whether "the protracted & hitherto unsuccessful hostilities are attributable &c" correctly states your meaning, which is that the protracted duration of hostilities (not the hostilities themselves) and the want of success which has hitherto attended them are so attributable. I am inclined to think also that "ineffective" or "inconclusive" would be a better word than "unsuccessful." How would it run thus? That the protracted duration of the hostilities consequent thereupon, and the inconclusive results which have hitherto attended our military operations and &c. "Ill-management" is not a very orthodox word — would not "mismanagement," "misconduct," or even "conduct" be better? Au reste, the introduction of the Despatch of the 14 Jany. is indispensable: but to prevent cavil, I would strike out the word "whole" - as Grey admits that he had urged reduction of forces.' He concluded: 'I hear Palmerston will not support the Government on the question, and that Gladstone will vote and speak against them.' H B/XX/S/47. Before 26 February, however, a change of government would lead to abandonment of Cape policy. 4 On Thursday 19 February the House would debate Naas's motion censuring the government in connection with the Birch v Somerville case; see V 2l78n4. The motion would be passed 229-137, followed the next day by another defeat of the government, on the Local Militia Bill. Russell would declare that this showed lack of confidence in the government, and resign on 20 February. Hansard CXIX cols 764-826 (D 792-8), 838-79 (D 860-2). When Russell on 9 February had moved for leave to introduce his reform bill, the date of the second reading was a matter of some contention; Russell proposed 23, then 27 February, while D suggested a month from first reading. The bill eventually came up for second reading on 12 March 1852, when Russell abandoned it. Ibid CXIX cols 252-317 (D 301-9), 971-3; MP (14 Feb 1852). See 225lni. 1 William Forbes Mackenzie (1807-1862), of Portmore, co Peebles, a barrister (1827), JP, DL, Conservativ MP for Peeblesshire 1837-52, for Liverpool 1852-3, lord of the treasury 1845-6, junior whip 1845-6, chief whip 1850-3, parliamentary secretary to the treasury in Derby's 1852 government. 2 Russell in committee on 16 February had explained his proposed Local Militia Bill, providing for the establishment in the counties of militia units comprising part-time troops trained and equipped to be available for regular service in the army on short notice. When on 2O February he moved for leave to introduce the bill, Palmerston moved an amendment for a consolidated national militia. After brief debate, in which D argued that the House should decide the question on the issue of national defence, and not in response to Russell's 'threat' that the question was one of confidence in the government, the House divided 136-125 in favour of the amendment, whereupon Russell announced that he could not

20

As you will have a good opportunity to think over your many difficulties in your journey up, I write this to beg, that I may not add to them. Don't / let me be in your way. It is everything for your government, that P. shd be a member of it. His prestige in the House is very great: in the country considerable. He will not give you trouble about principles, but / he may about position. He wd. not like to serve under me, who he looks upon as a whippersnapper. I am sufficiently repaid in having gained yr confidence & not altog[ethe]r disappointed our friends, & I beg therefore you will understand this.3 In haste, I D. TO: THOMAS BARING

Grosvenor Gate, Sunday 22 February 1852 22^2

ORIGINAL: BAR [2]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: From a copy of unknown date written on paper imprinted '4, Hamilton Place, Piccadilly' which has been crossed out. Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Copyist original put in autog [?] book'. Sic: St. James'.

(copy) Grosvenor Gate I Sunday Feby. 22. 1852 (Confidential) My dear Baring, Lord Derby has undertaken to form a government, and has just left my house from the Palace.1 It would be to him a source of great satisfaction, to me I will say even of consolation, to find in you a colleague. Your consent would tend to sustain me under the impending effort, to which I feel I am not equal. proceed with the measure, 'and the result of Ministers no longer possessing the confidence of this House will be that the usual course will follow.' Hansard CXIX cols 838-79 (D 860-2). According to The Times (23 Feb 1852), the government had not considered the possibility of a hostile division on the bill, and during the debate 'members usually devoted to the Government continued to leave the House, and returned to it only to learn that the Administration had ceased to exist.' 3 Derby replied in a note dated 'St. James's Square '/2 past 9' and docketed '1852 Febry. 2ist' by MA: 'Whatever may be the issue of the present crisis, or the details of the arrangement consequent upon it, I shall never forget the generous self-sacrifice offered by the note which I received by Mackenzie at Badminton this morning. While I am sure that every instance of the kind tends to raise the character of public men generally, I am equally convinced that each case, even if the offer be accepted, must ultimately redound to the credit & advantage of the man who makes it from public motives. I have already had other intimations that P. is not unwilling to join us - but I shall studiously not see him till after I have had my audience of the Queen, which is appointed for V2 past 2 tomorrow. I am equally anxious that I should see you. Will you therefore have the goodness to call here at one o'clock tomorrow.' H B/XX/S/48. For D's later account of this period see app IX [a]. 1 According to D's later autobiographical memorandum (see app IX [a]), Derby on 22 February went to Grosvenor Gate, not directly from Buckingham Palace where he had just kissed hands, but from Palmerston's house, where he had gone directly to offer Palmerston the position which he next offered to D - leader in the Commons and chancellor of the exchequer. Palmerston refused the offer because of Derby's position that 'Protection could be left an open question'. The leader in The Times of Monday 23 February agreed with D's first account: 'Yesterday, at half-past 2 o'clock, Lord Derby had an audience of the Queen, and accepted the task of forming an Administration ... From the Palace he proceeded to the residence of Mr. Disraeli, and afterwards, as might be expected from the vote of Friday night, he had an interview with Lord Palmerston, from which, however, nothing resulted.' See 2233. For samples of some of the congratulations and adverse reactions D received on his spectacular rise to high office see M&B III 347-9. There is a note from MA dated 27 February 1852: 'Bless you my darling, your own happy devoted wife wishes you joy & hopes you will make as good a Chancellor of the Exchr. as you have been a husband to your affectionate Mary Anne.' H A/I/A/497.

21

If you think favourably, as I earnestly hope you will, of this proposal, have the kindness to call on Lord Derby in St. James' Square this evening (Sunday) between eight and nine o'clock, or later if that time will not suit you.2 Yours ever I (sd) D'Israeli

2233

TO: [JOHN DELANE]

[London, Sunday 22 February 1852]

ORIGINAL: TIA Vol 4/45

EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. In TIA the following is listed as part of 8237; it is obviously another note written to the same person. Dating: by context; see ni.

y2 past 11 The interview (very friendly) I alluded to has taken place, but no results; wh: was anticipated. The Cabinet is formed, & is not contemptible. I think it will not be received with disfavor / by the country. I shall endeavour that you have the first correct list of names, wh: for particular reasons cannot be now given. Ld. D. will present it / tomorrow at J/2 past two & kiss hands. It cannot appear in the evening papers, & I hope therefore it may be seen for the first time correctly in yr. journal on Tuesday morning.1 [a wavy line] T.O. / If it be possible, I will send it you for a second edition tomorrow.

2234

TO: LORD DERBY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 24 February [1852] [38]

My dear Lord, Grosr Gate. Feby. 24. If any screw goes loose with the arrangements as to Bankes, Buller, or Miles, Christopher shd. be thought of. He is a man of mark; wd. / not disgrace the duchy, & I think, being a Dundas, probably has been called to the bar, & might fit the Judge Advocate.1 Stuart called on me in his way to you, & as I found he expected to / be Ld. Chancellor,2 I conclude Fitzroy Kelly is our Solicitor.3 2 Baring did not join Derby's government. The Times (ni) commented: '... the distinguished financial authority whom [Derby] hoped to obtain as his colleague in the Exchequer is, it is understood, unwilling to give up for that anxious and precarious post his present honours and emoluments as the head of one of the first commercial houses in the world.' 1 The cabinet had been drawn up by Derby, Malmesbury and D between 9 and 11 pm. LQVII 370. For the report about the Palmerston interview in The Times the next day, see 2232ni; it also published the rest of the information D is here providing. On Tuesday it would publish a partial list of 'The New Administration'. 1 The chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster was in the event given to Christopher (born Dundas, but not a barrister), and it was so reported in The Times on Friday the 27th. The judge advocate in the defunct government most recently had been Sir David Dundas, a barrister and MP for Sutherlandshire, but apparently not related to Christopher; the post was given to Bankes. Neither Buller nor Miles was appointed to office, but later in 1852 Buller was appointed one of the special deputy-wardens of the Stannaries, and Miles was made DL of Somerset. 2 The Tuesday list in The Times had named Sugden as lord chancellor, the post which he was to get; Stuart would not be appointed to any post. 3 Sir Fitzroy Kelly (1796-1880), a barrister (Lincoln's Inn 1824), KG 1834, Kt 1845, Conservative MP for

22

If there be others as highflying among the subordinate candidates, & places, consequently, not filled, I think Henry / Lennox might be considered. As there is a Scotch secy of the Treasury & Irish, Scotch & Irish Lords are not indispensable, if the intended ones refuse, & you might have two or even three English Lords.4 Ever yrs I D. TO: LORD PONSONBY

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 24 February 1852

ORIGINAL: DURP [12]

2235

confidential Grosvenor Gate I Feby. 24. 1852. Viscount Ponsonby I G.C.B. My dearest Lord, In consequence of what unexpectedly transpired on my interview with Lord Derby, altho' your note was in my breast pocket, I thought it / expedient not to refer to it, & I intended, before this, to have returned it to you, wh: I now do. Always write to me with the same unreserve, as the greatest pleasure of / my life wd. be to show myself worthy of your friendship, & to add, if that were possible, to the lustre of your eminent career.1 Ever yours I D. TO: WILLIAM PARTRIDGE

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 25 February 1852

ORIGINAL: GMF [8]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The envelope that in GMF is attached to this letter seems from the mostly illegible postmarks not to belong to this letter. Sic: Augustin.

confidential Grosvenor Gate I Feb. 25. 52 Dear Partridge, I kiss hands on Friday, & the writ for the County will be moved in the evening. I anticipate no serious opposition, & have received an intimation from the Whigs, that if there be a personal & offensive one, they will support me.1

Ipswich 1837-41, for Cambridge 1843-7, for E Suffolk 1852-66, solicitor-general 1845-6, 1852, attorneygeneral 1858-9, lord chief baron 1866-80, would first appear on the Wednesday list, as solicitor-general. 4 The joint secretaries of the treasury were G.A. Hamilton, who was Irish, and W. Forbes Mackenzie, a Scot. The junior lords of the treasury would be Lord Henry Lennox and Lord Chandos (both English) and Thomas Bateson (Irish). 1 The note D is here returning has not been found, but it may be the subject of another note from Ponsonby dated only 'Tuesday'; if so, then the latter probably crossed D's letter in the mail: 'I wrote to you on Saturday last expressing, for certain reasons, my inclination to be employed in forwarding a work, in which I took a large part some years ago & a policy the successful conclusion of which is essentially necessary for our Country. Since I wrote, things have come to my knowledge which induce me to beg of you to put that note into the fire and to let the matter be forgotten.' DURP [i3Qj. Ponsonby had possibly offered, as he had in 1846 (see IV I475&n3, I489&m, and I490&m) and again in 1851 (see V 2lOl&ni), to be instrumental in the formation of an alliance between moderate Whigs and Protectionists. Presumably, once it was known that Palmerston would not be in the new government, the scheme (if it existed) had to be abandoned. 1 On Friday 27 February at Buckingham Palace, Lord Derby and the members of his cabinet were sworn

23

2236

I mention this because I / am told, that there is a sort of movement among a certain section of the clergy of the county against me on the ground of objection to certain passages in my late work.2 My belief is that there is no statement, or sentiment, in that book at variance with the creeds & articles of that Church of wh: I am not only a faithful, but, / I trust, devoted child - but it is said that there are some expressions, wh:, tho' not coming under the head of matters contained in creeds & articles, are still unsound. With great deference, I wd. observe, that there is not an opinion put forth in the chapter in question, on the subjects of the Crucifixion & Atonement for example, for wh: there is not the highest / authority next to the Holy Scriptures & the creeds & articles. For instance, the only sentence, wh: I have seen definitely disapproved of is a mere reproduction of St Augustin when typically treating of the sacrifice of Isaac; the very phrase "preordained victim & immolators" is from Tertullian; & all that I have said of tk the / world being indebted for Xtianity to the Jewish Race is constantly the theme of St. Jerome.3 Wishing to treat a difficult theme in a popular, & not in a pedantic, manner I

of the privy council, after which he and the members of his government (excepting the few not yet named) kissed hands on being appointed by the Queen to their respective offices, D in addition taking the oath as chancellor and under-treasurer of HM's exchequer. New election writs for the seats of all the new office-holders in the Commons were moved as the first item of business when the House met at 3:55 pm. The Times (28 Feb 1852); Hansard CXIX col 915. On 12 March D would be returned for Bucks, although not entirely unopposed; Dr John Lee, of Hartwell, near Aylesbury, was also proposed, but a show of hands was in D's favour 'by a large majority'. BH (13 Mar 1852). 2 BH on 7 February had defended D against charges occasioned by chapter 24 of LGB, citing a paragraph in the Aylesbury News extracted from the Bedford Mercury under the heading '"Disraeli an Infidel"', and a review in the Daily News which it said also had called D an infidel. BH saw the latter to be trying 'to frighten the Religious Community of the County of Bucks into opposing Mr. Disraeli at the next Election', and accused the reviewer of forcing a construction on D's words which they had not been intended to convey: '... in his generous anxiety to say something of a people "everywhere spoken against," he may perhaps not have waited to cull the choicest phrases for the most fastidious readers. But what of that?' A letter to the editor from a clergyman, Joseph B. Reade of Aylesbury, Bucks, in the following week's issue ostensibly joined the 'protest against the sweeping condemnation' of D as an infidel, citing D's 'generous support of some of our most important religious societies' as proof that D had 'not bid farewell to Christianity, and embraced a system which promotes the growth of vanity and pride, of ferocity and unbridled sensuality.' He took serious issue, however, with D's assertion 'that the murderers of our Redeemer were guiltless of crime because atonement was effected by his death [while at the same time D condemned] the unanimous and opposite opinion of Christendom' based on divine authority. Sarah on 'Tuesday' (27 January?) had sent MA a copy of the review in the Daily News on 23 and 26 January, which pronounced the chapter to be 'blasphemy' and 'ambi-dextrous'. H D/IH/A/278; E/IV/ion&o. See also Stewart Writings 76 (#351). 3 The controversial passage in chapter 24 of LGB (pp 488-9) reads: 'If the Jews had not prevailed upon the Romans to crucify our Lord, what would have become of the Atonement? But the human mind cannot contemplate the idea that the most important deed of time could depend upon human will. The immolators were pre-ordained like the victim, and the holy race supplied both. Could that be a crime which secured for all mankind eternal joy? Which vanquished Satan, and opened the gates of Paradise? Such a tenet would sully and impugn the doctrine that is the corner-stone of our faith and hope.' D's claim about 'pre-ordained' is generally in accord with the doctrine of predestination of St Augustine (354-430). There are passages in the works of St Jerome (£342-420) that approximate D's point (eg, from Homily 7, on Psalm 67, in The Homilies of Saint Jerome trans Sister Marie Liguori Ewald (Washington 1964) I 56: 'In another sense the words could mean: Of Your own will You have come and suffered and of Your own will the Jews have crucified You.'). The reference to Tertullian (cl6o-220) may be to his An Answer to theJews, although the actual phrase has not been found. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson eds The Ante-Nicene Fathers III ... Tertullian (Buffalo 1885) !5i-73-

24

avoided an ostentatious reference to patristic lore, assuming that the clergy in general wd. be acquainted with these authorities wh: in many instances I have found to / be the case. That such a work shd. be described as "infidel" is very singular - it may be heretical, or thought so by those not sufficiently informed, or erroneously religious, but that it is eminently a religious work, I unequivocally maintain. Why I write this to you is that not only being a clergyman, but a man of the world & a friend of long standing, you will be able to m ascertain & / inform me, whether this movement is organised, -8e- or whether the accounts, that have reached me, are exaggerated. My present seat, for the reason I have mentioned, is not in danger; & at the general election I have the choice of a 100 seats. Even if I cd. retain the county by defeating any section of the Clergy I shd not like to do it. It is of the / utmost importance for the sake of the Church itself, that there shd be no scandalous schism betn. any considerable body of the clergy & the leader in the H of Comm: of a conservative ministry. If this conservative ministry fail, another will not be seen in a hurry. I am obliged to write very hurriedly, having, as you may suppose, a great pressure of affairs, but I trust to your intelligence / & tact to collect my meaning 8c comprehend the position. I shall not remain member for Bucks, unless the clergy heartily support me. The only reason why I value the representation of the county is a social one; I appreciate the intimate relation it places / me in with my neighbours & friends - but a social reason cannot compete with a political one, & to avoid any open schism betn. the clergy of the county & a conservative government, I must decide, notwithstanding the social pang, to avail myself of other opportunities / & connections where the misconception in question does not prevail. I hope Mrs. Partridge is very well & all yr circle. Let me hear from you at yr convenience. Yours sincerely, I D. TO: JOHN DELANE

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday 25 February 1852]

ORIGINAL: TIA Vol 4/45 EDITORIAL COMMENT: See 2233ec. Endorsed in another hand on the first and sixth pages: 'February 1852'; in a third hand on the first page: 'Feb 25th 1852' and on the sixth page 'Sunday Feb 25th'. Dating: by context; see nni-3_ Sic: McKenzie.

My dear D GG. l/2 pt 11 o'ck I have just come from Anthony Rothschild's, where we have been dining. Forbes McKenzie, according to my directions, told me that he had / sent a list last night, but that its accuracy, however limited, was disturbed by on dits being mixed up with it.1 All I can recollect now of news is, that / Mr. G.F. Young (as anticipated (secret)) having refused (tho' highly gratified) on account of health, the V.P. of Board of

1 D in this letter is updating the partial list of 'the new administration' that had appeared in The Times on Tuesday 24 February. These changes would appear the next day in the 'complete list of the New Government, so far as it was formed up to last night'.

25

2237

Trade, Ld. Colchester, an excellent working man, is to represent / the office in the H. of Lords.2 John Neeld is to be a Lord of the Treasury.3 Lord Seaham V. Chamberlain vice Ld. Worcester4 Cecil Forester Comptroller of / the Household.3 These are little things, & I have no greater news, excepting that the world seems to begin to think, that everything goes very well, & that we, certainly I, & Ld. Derby, am are very sensible of the / admirable tact & great effect of yr. articles.6 The Bear & Charles Villiers, both of whom dined at Anthonys, evidently thought that the liberal game was / quite up, provided we had discretion & FORTUNE as you & I settled. I think we shall have both. Adieu I D. T.O. / Your Lords of the Buckh [ ?] in Waiting, copied, were wrong. I can't give the

2 The Times the next day announced: 'We are requested to state that Mr. George Frederick Young has, for the present, declined to accept the office of Vice-President of the Board of Trade ... on the sole ground that his health is not yet sufficiently re-established ...' Charles Abbot (1798-1867), 2nd Baron Colchester, captain RN, rear-admiral half-pay 1854, vice-admiral 1860, admiral 1864, PC 1852, would hold the offices of vice-president of the board of trade and paymaster-general in Derby's 1852 administration (see 2239); he would also be postmaster-general 1858-9. 3 Although John Neeld was one of the three lords of the treasury named on Thursday's list (ni), the office would be given to Lord Henry Lennox. 4 The position eventually went to Lord Newport. See further 2241. Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset (18241899), Marquess of Worcester, would succeed his father as 8th Duke of Beaufort in 1853; he was adc to the commander-in-chief (Wellington 1842, Hardinge 1852), lieut 1st life guards 1843, captain 7th dragoons 1847, It-col 1858, DL for Gloucestershire 1852, Conservative DL for E Gloucestershire 1846-53, master of the horse 1858-9, 1866-8, PC 1858, KG 1867, LL of Monmouthshire 1867. 5 Forester had in fact already been listed for this position on Wednesday, and in the event was appointed to it. 6 The Times had begun its commentary on Saturday 21 February by remarking jadedly: 'Rather earlier than usual in the session the Ministry is out'; it looked to Derby as the only one who could form a government. On Monday it had assessed Derby's position; he could not be expected to deal with reform and income tax for at least a year, and the other issues before parliament would be in as good hands under Derby as they had been under Russell. The militia question posed a serious, but not insuperable, problem; the Commons should give the Conservatives a fair chance to govern. On Tuesday The Times had assessed the ministry that was taking shape, beginning with D: 'No one can doubt that Mr. Disraeli is the man to lead the House of Commons, but he certainly has consulted rather his ambition than his genius in his selection of office ... he will possibly find it difficult to be both a wit and a Chancellor of the Exchequer. Perhaps this is not his own choice.' It castigated Baring for not having had a sufficient sense of public duty to accept the post. Walpole's appointment to the home office was 'far too speculative a question to be discussed in this place.' It half-heartedly approved of Malmesbury in the foreign office, but was very concerned about Pakington in the colonial office; the others were mostly acceptable, if largely unknown quantities. The Times extended its mostly approving assessment to the lesser positions on Wednesday, and then turned to the issue that everyone was focusing on - what Derby would do about the corn laws. It argued that all parties should be careful not to force the issue prematurely: 'Why should we grudge twenty or thirty new hands a little taste of office? The nation surely is not specially interested in conferring a perpetual monopoly of power on a small clique, consisting of a few noble families, respectable as they are, and valuable as their services have undoubtedly been. On the contrary, it is an advantage to all ... that all monopolies should be broken up, and that all sections of the political world should have a fair chance.'

26

right names, except Galway is one, who being in the H of C. I naturally remember.7 You will have my address first91 TO: LORD DERBY

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 25 February [1852]

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [39]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Blake 314, extract dated 25 February 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand across the first and fourth pages: 'Mr. D'Israeli Feb 25/52. Sir E Tennant [sic] Dir the India Bd with Baillie - V. Presidy Bd. of Trade. Sic: Tennant [five times]; that ... that.

My dear Lord, Grosvenor Gate I Feb. 25 I midnight 1 Your letter came to me dining with Thiers, Bear Ellice, & Charles Villiers! whose observations on the / present state of affairs were interesting! Emerson Tennant & Henry Baillie, the chairman of the Ceylon committee!!!2 -^-[illegible deletion] Baillie, who, I understand, is not over affected, will immediately resign. / My idea was, that if Tennant were quiet for a year, & fought some Tariff battles well, & so cleared himself with the house, that brains wo[ul]d have made their way, & that if- when G.F. Young had / his next paralytic stroke, we might have boldly placed Tennant in his saddle. The India board, as at present constituted, won't do - but perhaps we may chop & change something.31 agree with / you about Tennants talents, & with tact, one may change the Ethiops skin,4 but I think it wd. have been better for him to have refused. If you have not committed / yourself to the U.S. Col: cannot you give it to Colchester, & instal T. in the V.P.° These are desperate measures with Newdegate in despair, but Tennant / with Baillie, who has treated him as a criminal, will never do. But, I trust everything to your brighter mind brain. Ever yrs I D.

7 The 7 lords-in-waiting eventually appointed were Lords Morton, Galway, Verulam, Crofton, Hawarden, Polwarth and Talbot. 8 For D's election address as it would appear in The Times on 2 March see 2244; see further 2298. 1 Derby had written earlier in the day: 'We have left out Emerson Tennent! This will never do. I must offer him the Secretaryship to the India Board [a post Tennent had held 1841-5]. Ossulston refuses the Treasurership in fear of the expense of an Election. It will do for Claud Hamilton if not for Seaham, & Tennent will be invaluable in the Charter Committee, & may be dangerous if left out.' H B/XX/S/492 For the Ceylon committee chaired by Baillie see V i8l8nQ. Tennent in the years 1845-50 had been civil secretary to the colonial government of Ceylon censured by the committee; for Stanley's recent recommendation of him see V 219903. Tennent, who in December had been re-elected to the House, would be appointed secretary to the board of trade in September; see 2390. 3 The new president of the board of control for the affairs of India was Herries. The Times on this day had listed Baillie and Jocelyn as joint secretaries of the India board; the next day and again on Friday it would have Baillie and Desart in the positions, which on i March would be given to Baillie and Bruce. 4 See Jeremiah 13:23: 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?' For 'Ethiops' see Romeo and Juliet I v 50: '... in an Ethiop's ear'. 5 For the vice-president of the board of trade see 2237&n2. The list in The Times of this day had Desart as under-secretary of the colonies, a position he would be given on 2 March.

2?

2238

2239

TO: LORD DERBY

Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 27 February 1852

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [40]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Blake 314, extract dated 27 February 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand across the first and fourth pages: 'Mr. D'Israeli Feb 27/52. Paymaster General forgotten.'

The I Earl of Derby Grosvenor Gate I Feb. 27 -52 My dear Lord, We have forgotten the Paymaster General. I assume that Lord Colchester, the V.P. Board / of Trade, is to fill the Paymaster also.1 Be pleased to let me know, as the warrant for the P. General shd. be got ready immediately, & / Trevelyan has, this moment, sent up to me for the name. The Pay Office books cannot be opened until the name is given.2 Yours ever I D.

2240

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Downing Street [Saturday] 28 February 1852

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/100

COVER: Private I Philip Rose Esqr I 3 Park Street I Westminster I B Disraeli EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is a note in Rose's hand on the third page of the MS: 'Went to Downing St. & gave D. a cheque for £1500 to be secured by his Bond which he will execute when he here calls PR Feb 28: 1852'. Sic: checque.

private Downing Street I Feb 28. 52 My dear Rose, I will accept your kind offer, but I wish to pay the checque into Drummonds / myself. You can send it here crossed or call with it yourself, as I shall be very glad to see you.1 / Duncombe has answered in the affirmative.2 Yours faithfully ever I D. 1 Derby replied in a note dated 'Friday night': 'Can the Paymaster General be a Member of the House of Lords? His appointment must be merged in something else, and taken without Salary. If it must be a House of Commons appointment as I fancy it must, I suppose the President of the Board of Trade should add it to his duties. The addition will not be onerous.' H B/XX/8/105. Colchester was given the additional position as D suggests the next day. According to the schedule approved in 1850, the salary for paymaster-general was included in the £2,000 salary for vice-president of the board of trade. BSP:HC (1851) XXXI 379-812 In his response (ni) Derby continued: 'I don't know if you were in the Lords tonight. I had ticklish ground to go over, but my impression was that Grey did himself harm by precipitating matters, and I think his party felt it. The Times Article tomorrow will be important. I admit, more than I ever did, the possible powers[ ?] of the Press in a crisis.' Derby on this day had announced the policy he would be pursuing, explaining that he would not raise the free-trade issue because his government was in the minority in both Houses; he however expressed approval of the American tariff system, to which Grey took exception, inferring from it that Derby was planning to tax food. Hansard CXIX cols 889-914. The Times the next day expressed the view that Derby's statement had been equivocal, and that his followers might well misunderstand his intentions as 'clumsily' as Grey had: 'We can only say, that it remains for Lord Derby and his friends to interpret his manifesto. If they go to the hustings on Protection ... they will themselves have broken the truce they demand. No forbearance will then avail.' 1 According to The Times of i March 1852, D 'attended at his official residence in Downing-street on Saturday for the first time.' It is characteristic of D that his first recorded piece of business in Downing Street should be a personal loan, possibly against his new stipend; see ec. There are two documents in H adjacent to this letter: a printed form (completed), appointing Rose as D's proxy at the 26 February 1852 general meeting of the Llynvi Valley Railway Company, dated and signed by D on 24 February; and a similar document drafted by a clerk, signed by D on 21 February. H R/I/A/gga, 99b. 2 No letter corresponding to this reply has been found; it presumably refers to the acceptance this day by Arthur Duncombe of appointment as a lord of the admiralty.

28

TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 29 February 1852

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [65]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Londonderry on the fourth page: 'Mr D Israeli Feby 29 1852'.

most confidential Grosvenor Gate I Feb. 29: 52 The I Marq: of Londonderry I G.C.B. My dear Lord, I have received yr second letter,1 & nothing but the most pressing business prevents my asking permission to come on to you. Until Ld. Glengall spoke to me last night, I was in entire ignorance of all the / circumstances to wh: your letter refers, & wh:, without that conversation, would have been inexplicable to me. As far as I was concerned, I performed my duty in, at once, giving a strong opinion, that yr. family ought to be represented in the administration in the House of Commons, my department, & I ventured, altho' / out of that department, also to express & repeat a hope, that means might be found to evince the high consideration of the government towards yourself. The appointment of Seaham was not intended "as a sop". His name was in the first list for parliamentary office.2 With regard to the post with reg wh: has led to / the present misunderstanding, I was under an impression, that it had been offered to Ld Combermere long ago!3

1 On 27 February, Londonderry at Torquay had written D a letter venomously bitter about what he saw to be D's disregard, now that he was in office, for their past friendship, for Londonderry's position, and for his services to party and country. He was enraged by the appointment of his brother-in-law Hardinge, 'a relative & friend [who] cajoles, plays the Dupe with his understanding (a proceeding which if worth yr listening to I have no doubt Glengall can inform you of) & finally when a Sop is sent for all treatments & neglects of the Father through the Son [Seaham] ... There is food surely for the very deepest pain and Disappointment ..." On 28 February he had written again: 'On arriving in Town ... I recieve [sic] your kind Letter of Regard [not found]. With respect to what you say & hope as to Seaham, God forbid that I shd not leave his Heart & Head to his own Judgement.' After many pages of rambling vituperation he concluded: 'I much regret Seahams absence now fr Town if it has occasioned Ld Ds inconvenience. But I have nought to say to this - those that prefer a Hardinge to a Londonderry may make the proper & just apologies to Her Majesty & the offended [sic] completion of the programme of Lord Derbys Ministry'. H B/XX/V/75-6. The Londonderrys had recently had other cause for anger, at the elopement and marriage on 11 February of their daughter Lady Adelaide; see V l668n5- Sarah on 14 February in a letter to MA had remarked: 'What a blow for Lady Londonderry, after all her sneering at others - her rage & mortification must exceed all bounds, & yet it is a very natural event considering all the circumstances & not at all the disgraceful sort of affair of Lady Adela V [see PV !45On3].' H D/III/A/273. 2 Seaham's name had appeared on The Times lists of 26 and 27 February; see 2237 and 2238m. However, in the event Seaham would not hold any position. According to a letter in MP (15 May 1852), a list in MH had named Londonderry as master-general of the ordnance. 3 Combermere's name had appeared on The Times list on 25 February as master-general of the ordnance; the next day's list had cited Hardinge for the position, and on 27 February he had kissed hands. The Times (28 Feb 1852). On 4 March Glengall would write to D: 'I much regret to perceive that the whole affair of the ordnance &c. Sec. is published in todays Morning Advertiser!!! an awful article.' H B/XXl/G/172. According to a letter from 'An Old Soldier' in MC (6 Mar 1852) referring to the 4 March article, Londonderry had told Hardinge he thought he might be named master-general of the ordnance, whereupon Hardinge, according to 'Old Soldier', had 'handsomely tendered his aid to enable his brother-in-law - not to obtain the office, but to execute its duties creditably, if obtained. Lord Derby subsequently offered it to Lord Hardinge, who accepted it upon the distinct understanding that it was to be considered a strictly professional appointment, which was in no respect to influence his votes in Parliament. This is the whole story ... The introduction of Lord Combermere's name into the story is, I undertake to say, both absurd and gratuitous; and the notion that such appointments are to go by seniority is too ridiculous to require refutation.' See also V app III. Combermere, whose military and civic

29

2241

I deeply deplore your feelings, but I am sustained by a consciousness, that, personally, I have acted towards you, & yours, as became one, who was your friend. Yours ever I D .

2242

TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 29 February 1852

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [64] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Londonderry on the blank sixth page: 'Mr Disraeli Nr 2 March 1 1852'.

The I Marq: of Londonderry I G.C.B. Grosvenor Gate I Feb: 29: 52 My dear Lord, I return you the enclosures, wh: I have carefully read; notwithstanding Lord Glengall, who, I sho[ul]d think / had very little acquaintance with my habits.1 You have misapprehended an infelicitous expression in my letter of to day, but as I have had to write a great many letters, / I beg you will pardon it. "Was your friend" referred to what I was at the moment: it did not mean to imply, that I had ceased to be your friend, wh: I trust I / never shall. I will not disturb you now with any opinion of the inclosures wh: I return. I think you have every reason to be irritated & provoked, & I deeply / deplore your undeserved annoyance. I am most anxious to see Lady Londonderry, but I have not courage to do so, if she be angry with me. Yours ever I D.

2243

TO: [MARY ANNE DISRAELI]

[London, Sunday 29 February? 1852]

ORIGINAL: H D/II/B/101 EDITORIAL COMMENT: A note in D's hand, written on the back of a letter dated 28 February 1852 from Thomas Loftus to MA. Docketed by MA: '... answd. March 1st 1852 by me asking the amt of the Chec not being able to find his letter'. Sic: checque.

Write to Mr Loftus that you cannot find the paper: beg him to send another, & also the amount of the checque.1 D. record was even more distinguished than Londonderry's, on 11 October 1852 would be appointed constable of the Tower of London, the position left vacant by the death on 14 September of the Duke of Wellington, while Londonderry on 19 January 1853 would be given Wellington's KG. 1 Londonderry on this day had responded from Rosebank to D's previous letter: 'I thank you for your note. Glengall tells me you never read the Enclosures ... I shd be sorry you did not see & judge, my whole position.' He remarked on D's having signed himself'one who was my friend', hoping instead that D would always be his friend; he asked for no reply except the return of his enclosures. Londonderry's letters of 27 and 28 February do not specifically mention enclosures, although in the latter he seems to refer to correspondence with Hardinge which caused him distress. His rambling circumlocution in an almost illegible hand may have been as exasperating for D as for the editors. H B/XX/V/75-y. 1 See V I734nl. In his letter (see ec) Loftus had said he was 'sorely pressed' by Mrs Sarah Williams's Trustees' solicitor 'to transfer the £2648 Consols' as the court of chancery had directed, but that he could not do this until he had both D's and MA'S signatures on the document he had sent D about ten days ago. He also asked to be sent a cheque drawn on Drummond's 'for the half years Dividends received by them on the £5000 Consols recently transferred by yourself & Mr D.' He was concerned because one of the legatees had threatened legal action unless the dividends were immediately paid. He

30

TO: ELECTORS OF BUCKS

London [Monday] l March 1852

ORIGINAL: PS 629

PUBLICATION HISTORY: The Times 2 March 1852; MC 3 March 1852; BH 6 March 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text of D's election address as it appeared in The Times of 2 March 1852.

GENTLEMEN, London, March l, 1852. Her Majesty having been graciously pleased to call me to Her Majesty's Privy Council, and appoint me Chancellor of the Exchequer, I resign into your hands, according to the salutary principle of the Constitution, that office which you intrusted to me as your representative in the House of Commons. But as I will not believe that the favour of our Sovereign can be any disqualification for the confidence of Her Majesty's loyal subjects, I have the honour to state that on the 12th instant, in our county hall, I shall again venture to claim your suffrages for the high distinction of being your member in the House of Commons. The late Administration fell to pieces from internal dissension, and not from the assault of their opponents; and notwithstanding the obvious difficulties of our position, we have felt that to shrink from encountering them would be to leave the country without a Government, and Her Majesty without servants. Our first duty will be to provide for the ordinary and current exigencies of the public service; but, at no distant period, we hope, with the concurrence of the country, to establish a policy in conformity with the principles which in opposition we have felt it our duty to maintain. We shall endeavour to terminate that strife of classes which, of late years, has exercised so pernicious an influence over the welfare of this kingdom; to accomplish those remedial measures which great productive interest, suffering from unequal taxation, have a right to demand from a just Government; to cultivate friendly relations with all foreign Powers and secure honourable peace; to uphold in their spirit, as well as in their form, our political institutions; and to increase the efficiency, as well as maintain the rights, of our national and Protestant Church. An Administration formed with these objects, and favourable to progressive improvement in every department of the State, is one which, we hope, may obtain the support and command the confidence of the community, whose sympathies are the best foundation for a strong Administration, while they are the best security for a mild government.1 closed with congratulations on D's elevation to high office. On 3 March he would write again to describe the lengths to which he had gone to save D trouble, and that now only MA's signature was required. On 4 March MA would write to Drummond's authorizing changes in payments from the estate of William Price Lewis because of the recent death of Mary Lewis. H D/H/B/101-2. 1 The Times provided an analysis of D's address in the same issue in which it appeared (see ec). The leader saw the address as slightly more forthright than Derby's statement in the Lords on 27 February, but not at all constituting a commitment to Protectionism. It was a vague promise to do something sometime for the agricultural interest, and whatever D had in mind in promising to end class strife it was not a new corn law. The leader concluded: '...we may expect to see a little benevolent dabbling attempted with the rates, and perhaps with the taxes paid by the agriculturist. That is all that this address need signify. It may of course be meant for more, but if more were really hoped, the farmer may depend on it, more would have been expressed.' See further 2246&m.

31

2244

I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obliged and faithful servant, B. DISRAELI.

2245

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Downing Street [Tuesday] 2 March 1852

O R I G I N A L : BEA [R1-3O]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 350, dated 2 March 1852; LBCS 265-6, dated 2 March 1852

My dear Sa, D.S. I Mar: 2. 1852 Having recovered from the horrors of a torpid liver, wh: has overwhelmed me the last few days, I send you an official letter,1 to tell you we get on very well - the Court gracious, the press / amiable, & our friends in the county considerate. Tomorrow is a levee; Friday a council; & Saturday our first Cabinet.2 A fortnight in my office witht. the H of C to distract me is a great / advantage at starting. My election is fixed for the 12th. the day the house re-assembles - rather awkward.3 Yours affly I D.

2246

TO: LORD SALISBURY

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 2 March 1852

ORIGINAL: HFD [2]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand (Salisbury's?) on the second page: 'Mr Disraeli March 3', and in a third hand: 'Mr Disraeli Mch 2.1852'.

1 Sarah on 27 February had written from Twickenham, addressing the envelope to The Right Hon: The Chancellor of the Exchequer i. Grosvenor Gate ...': 'My own dear Chancelr. of the Excheqr. I must enjoy the happiness of writing to you - & it is a happiness almost unalloyed, the great event is achieved; the only one thing in this world for which I prayed & in which I believed, that has not disappointed me. Do you remember Mr. Delane telling you that you would certainly be in, in three years, & asking if you meant to be the three Secretaries & the Chancellor of the Excheqr. all at once - I don't think it can be more than three years ago - it was at a dinner given by Sir Henry Bulwer. Your list reads a goodly array. I suppose you must have caused some broken hearts, but I am astonished at the number of adherents you have been able to reward. May God bless you dearest Dis & make you prosper. You have obtained the greatest station by the most honorable & dignified means - no one can deny that - that is a triumph in itself- but I believe in greater. We must think of & miss those you would have most delighted to have told all these things to. Mary Anne must be as happy as she deserves to be - & more than she deserves is the happiness of your very affectionate "The Sister of the Chancellor of the Exchequer."' H R/I/C/3Q. The letters from Sarah to MA also convey her excitement at D's new status. On 'Thursday' (26 February she had remarked that the events of the past week seemed like 'so many dreams, were I not roused every now & then & convinced that all the world are believing in their actuality - I had to grant perpetual audiences yesterday to people who want something - first came my little postman to ask me to put him on the town district - he did not ask me for my interest, but requested me at once to transfer him. I noticed he spoke with a very tremulous voice which impressed me strongly with a sense of my extraordinary power ...' On Saturday 28 February she had written to MA again: 'I thought of Dis all day lon yesterday, & pleased myself by directing a letter to "the Chancellor of the Exchequer" just when I thought he must be kissing hands. Only imagine Dis in a robe with all those gold bars on his arm & a wig - looking like Sir Robert Walpole. I hope he may reign as long ...' H D/llI/A/274-5. 2 The Queen held her second levee of the season on Wednesday 3 March, at St James's Palace. On Friday she held a privy council at Buckingham Palace. On Saturday afternoon, at the foreign office, the first cabinet council of the new administration was held. D was present at all three events. MP (4, 6, 8 Mar 1852). 3 On Friday 27 February the House had adjourned until Friday 12 March. Hansard CXIX col 936.

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My dear Lord, Grosvenor Gate I Mar 2 - 5 2 Will Thursday or Friday find you disengaged if I can catch the Editor of the "Times" on either of these days? This affair / shd. not be neglected. If you can fix either of these days, I will send on to him directly.1 Ever yours I D. TO: LORD SALISBURY

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 2 March 1852

ORIGINAL: HFD [3]

2247

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand (Salisbury's?) on the fourth page: 'Mr Disraeli March 2', and in a third hand: 'Mr Disraeli Mch 2.1852'.

The I Marq: of Salisbury I K.G. Grosvenor Gate I March 2 - 1852 My dear Lord, Our man only dines out on Saturdays, & on Saturday next, we are engaged. He is however very much pleased by my mentioning that / yr Lordship, & others of my friends, wished to have the pleasure of making his acquaintance. So all is well. The Whigs make much of him, & I observe him / always at Lady Granvilles &c 8cc. We must be sharp in this respect, for the "Times" is doing us now "yeoman service".1 Ever yours I B DISRAELI TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

Downing Street [Saturday] 6 March 1852

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R146-483] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a typewritten copy headed: 'D. to Mrs. D. - Mar. 6. '52. From Downing Street. "Dizzy's first note from his office." M.A.D.'.

1 Salisbury, the newly appointed lord privy seal, had written from Arlington Street on i March: 'Allow me to call your attention to the fact that your manifesto appears only in the Times of course accompanied by an abusive article. Our two friends the Morning Post & Morning Herald have not inserted it either from ignorance or from negligence. In the Times article it is stated that it had been submitted to the Cabinet. This could only have been known to them through the treachery of an official.' H B/XX1/C/13O. See 2237&n8 and 2244&ni. Salisbury may have misdated his letter, or D's address may have appeared in a late edition of The Times on i March accompanied by the information that it 'had been submitted to the Cabinet', but the statement as such does not appear in the morning edition of 2 March. Alternatively, Salisbury may have inferred it from the way the 2 March leader represents D's address: 'The new Government hopes, Mr. Disraeli tells us, to establish "a policy," and that policy is defined to be "in conformity with the principles which in opposition we have felt it our duty to maintain." As Mr. Disraeli himself is the principal unit of the plural "we" in this sentence, it is important to remember that for two or three years he has ceased to maintain Protection ...' If Salisbury was not mistaken, it is possible, judging from D's dealings with Delane at this time, that he himself was, perhaps inadvertently, the treacherous 'official'. 1 'Our man' is evidently Delane; see 2246£m and also 2237&n6. The line being taken by The Times suited D's post-protectionist strategy; its leaders continued to urge the new government not even to consider trying to reimpose protection, while calling on the opposition to give them a chance to govern. For example, on i March: 'The Ministers who went out last Friday week can turn out the new Ministers as soon as they please; but they would do so at the risk of disagreeable consequences [in an election] ... This miserable quarrel [over the corn laws] is now as near dying out as ever it was ... Why should this chance of peace and quiet be thrown away?' D must also have warmed to the same leader's analysis of the previous government: 'It cannot be disguised that the late Government was a clique, and was resolved to stand its ground as a clique against all the parties, all the interests, and all the people of this country.' See also 224401. Lady Granville's most recent 'soiree' had been on 26 February. MP (27 Feb 1852). Delane had also been opportunely present at her party on 21 February 1851 and had broken the news of the government's resignation then; see Greville VI 271.

33

2248

My dearest, Send me a couple of pocket handkerchiefs. I have none.1 Yours D.

2249

TO: FREDERIC QUIN

Downing Street, Monday [8 March 1852?]

ORIGINAL: PS 623 PUBLICATION HISTORY: Christie's Catalogue (16 April 1980), item 14, 'ALS to the physician Dr Frederic Quin, 3 pp 8vo' EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: highly conjectural; see ni.

Private Downing Street, Monday I am suffering from biliary disorder; &: wish particularly to have the advantage of personally seeing you send me something.1 D

2250

TO: WILLIAM PARTRIDGE

Downing Street [Monday] 8 March 1852

ORIGINAL: GMF [6]

Revd. W. Partridge A.M D.S. I March 8. 52 My dear Partridge, The early hour at wh: proceedings commence at Aylesbury on Friday (10 o'ck) will render / it necessary for us to go to the town on Thursday night; otherwise I shd. have been very glad to have accepted / the kind hospitality offered by Mrs. Partridge & yourself.1

1 This was in fact not D's first note from his office (see ec); see 2240 and 2245. Also, on 4 March D had written to MA via Courtenay, his new secretary: 'The Chancellor of the Exchequer desires me to write to you to beg you to have the goodness to send to me by the bearer one of his seals with his Arms engraved on it - in order that similar seals may be engraved for his official use.' H D/III/D/14O. 1 MA's accounts for Monday 8 March contain what seems to be an entry for £1 for an unnamed doctor for D, and the next day an entry for seltzer water; cf torpid liver' in 2245. 1 D's re-election began on Friday 12 March at 10:00 am in the county hall at Aylesbury. There was a dense crowd because of rumours that he would be opposed. According to lengthy reports in The Times and MP (13 Mar 1852), D's supporters and opponents occupied opposite sides of the hall, with 'the mob' in the main part and 'fashionably dressed ladies' in the gallery, where MA occupied 'a prominent position.' D was paraded from the George Hotel to the hall, where he was proposed by Philip Buncombe, and seconded by George Carrington Sr; John Gibbs then proposed Dr John Lee of Hartwell, a Quaker, who was seconded by Joseph Shaw. D made a long, soap-box-style and frequently interrupted speech, mostly on his record and on the theme that 'it shall never be said, that I have obtained power by false pretensions - (cheers) - for this I do know, that my most earnest efforts will be directed, in power, to put into practice the policy I recommended on the Opposition benches. (Loud cheers.)' He rehearsed his equal taxation argument at length and, citing McCulloch's 1852 analyses as authority, said: 'What I would pledge a Government to ... is to secure for the agricultural interest ample and complete redress. (Loud cheers.)' He defied Russell to bring about a dissolution this early in the session; it would be more prudent for some urgent measures to be enacted first: chancery reform (The recommendations of [the commission on the court of chancery] are of a most sweeping character, and, if carried into effect, that Old Man of the Sea who has so long pressed upon the back of the English people would be removed for ever'); and the disfranchisement of St Albans. If forced into an election, however, his party would consult the people not just on the issue of free trade, but also on colonial policy and chancery reform. Dr Lee then spoke, advocating among other things giving the vote to women (met with 'great laughter'), equal taxation, admission of Jews to parliament and the universities, law reform, abolition of the

34

Is it impossible to get sleeping rooms at the Judges' House? or / wd it be contra mores, that a lady shd. pass the night within those revered walls?2 Ever yrs sincerely I D TO: LORD JOHN RUSSELL

Downing Street [Tuesday] 9 March 1852

ORIGINAL: PRO 3O/22/1OC ffl4-15

The Rt Hon I Lord John Russell D.S. Mar: 9-52 Dear Lord John, There seems a general wish & expectation, that no important business shd. proceed on Friday, but looking at the paper, / I observe many measures of moment in wh: you are interested, & if not inconvenient, I shd. feel obliged by your intimating to me / your wishes & intentions in their respect.1 Believe me always, I Your very faithful, I B Disraeli game laws, and septennial parliaments; however, citing Solomon, he opposed taxing corn. After a show of hands strongly in D's favour, Lee decided not to ask for a poll, and D was declared elected. He was then chaired and taken to a celebratory dinner at the George Hotel (the program is in H B/I/D/Sy), where in his speech he 'inferred from their gathering that day that they had not assembled in a narrowminded spirit to bind their representative or the Government... to any fixed purpose or any fixed idea ...' The Ds then returned to London. Hobhouse on 13 March commented in his journal on D's return: 'I hear that he is in great pecuniary difficulties, and ran the risk of being arrested whilst out of Parliament.' Broughton VI 300. 2 For the new judges' accommodations at Aylesbury see V 2183. Partridge must have forwarded D's request to Rose, for among the 1852 election materials in H is a letter of 9 March 1852 to Rose from Acton Tindal (clerk of the peace for Bucks): 'I have had an opportunity of consulting several Magistrates ... with every disposition to render accommodation to Mr. & Mrs. Disraeli they do not see how they can with propriety allow the use of the Judges Lodgings for the purpose for which you seek it, as it would be establishing a precedent..." Also on 9 March, Henry Smith, whom Richard W. Davis in Political Change and Continuity (Newton Abbott 1972) 158 describes as 'the leading legal light of Bucks Conservatism', would write to D to offer 'to act as Bottle holder'. H B/I/D/i, 4. 1 Russell had written from Chesham Place on 5 March: 'I am anxious to know on what day you expect to be able to bring on the Navy Estimates. I conclude you will not wish that any money vote should be proposed until you have taken your seat, & I shall be glad to learn when you think you shall be in a condition, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, to proceed with the Committee of Supply.' On 10 March he replied to D: 'I mean to postpone my Bills - the Reform Bill for 3 months, & the Bribery Bill till Wedy. the 24th. I think this may as well be done on Friday. I believe Sir G. Grey does not mean to go on with the St. Albans Bill. It would be convenient if you could inform me whether you propose to make a Statement on Monday on the position of the Government, or whether you will wait till questions are asked.' H B/XXI/R/295-6. On the same day, Russell held a meeting of Liberal MPs at Chesham Place to determine whether the party would immediately force the issues of free trade and parliamentary reform. Russell's report of his correspondence with D - The Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote to him in reply [to his of 10 March], to the effect that it was not the intention of the Government to make any such statement on Monday [about its position]' - led the meeting to decide that on Monday a question on the subject should be put to D. D's letter as described by Russell has not been found. The main items of business for Friday 12 March, when the House resumed, were second reading of Russell's reform bill (which he then postponed) and second reading of the St Albans Disfranchisement Bill, which was taken over by the new government and passed without a division. Other substantial business was postponed (the committee of supply until Monday 15 March), and the House adjourned at 7:30 pm. On Monday, after D and other re-elected MPs were sworn in, much of the sitting would be taken up with debate on D's response (taking the same line as in his election address) to Villiers's question about the ministerial policy (see 2255), after which the House in committee of supply adopted the navy estimates, and then disposed of some of the other postponed business. Hansard CXIX cols 961-84, 1039-1128 (D 1058-64); MP (13, 16 Mar 1852).

35

2251

2252

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Downing Street [Thursday] 11 March 1852

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/101

2253

My dear Rose, I will see you if you can step on. Yours ffy I D.

D.S. Mar 11. 52

TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 14 March 1852

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [66]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'March i4th/52 Disraeli'.

PRIVATE G.G. Mar: 14 - 52 My dearest Lord, I return you the article, which is only a just expression of your services, & acknowledged high repute.1 I cannot dwell upon the allusions in your letter. / The subject always occasions me chagrin & unmitigated pain & annoyance. I shall always deplore the whole business; & tho' I cannot doubt there is misconception at / the bottom, I feel, & have expressed my feeling, that you have just cause of complaint & annoyance irritation. I came home late, & have not yet been able to dine, wh: must be my excuse for my / delay in not immediately replying to your enclosure. My table is covered with papers & boxes, wh: must be attended to this night. My kindest regards are always with Lady Londonderry. Ever yours I D.

2254

TO: LORD DERBY

House of Commons [Monday 15 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [41]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 355, undated, most of the second paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand across the first and fourth pages: 'Mr D'Israeli Mar 15/52 Acct. of Debate H. of C.'

My dear Lord, H of C. 11 o'ck I wish my debate had been as short as yours, but, as it is, I don't think the effect of what I did has been entirely swamped,1 notwithstanding / a most malignant,

1 Londonderry had written on 13 March: 'I would not worry you my good Friend by answering your last. I am really and unfeignedly happy at your flattering & glorious reception in your County. And I can not resist sending for yr Information how people estimate my humble Services in the North ... I know you did all you could. And all ultimately is known. I can not on the whole blame Ld D but I wish he had known me as you do... Send me back the papers tonight I pray.' H B/XX/V/yS. See 224l&nni-3 and 2242&ni. 1 In the Lords on 15 March, Lord Beaumont in a yo-minute speech asked whether the government intended to bring back corn laws after the coming election, to which Derby replied that he would not announce his election platform until the time came, and that he would not dissolve parliament until the interests of the country required it. After some discussion, with expressions of dissatisfaction at his evasive answer, the Lords adjourned at 8:45 pm. Hansard CXIX cols 984-1034; MP (16 Mar 1852). By contrast, the Commons did not adjourn until 1:00 am; see 225lni and 2255. Derby wrote to D from St James's Square at 10:30 pm: 'I hear from many quarters that you made a magnificent speech, and after our conversation this morning I have no fear that there should appear any divergence of opinion which

36

mischievous, & elaborate, harangue from Graham, wh: however Walpole followed with taste, keeping / only to the constitutional point & avoiding statistics in wh: the other indulged. Graham's position was this; that you were bound to propose / duties on food, & that if you did so, revolution was inevitable. John Russell was a complete failure. He made a feeble reply to my attack, wh: forced him up, / & then took refuge in a prepared glorification of his governmt speech of statistics, wh:, from the dullness & the dinner hour combined, broke up the house. Gladstone & Palmerston / have both spoken in the same vein - that we are bound to dissolve before the moment the necessary measures are past - wh: seems a pretty general / feeling. But what are necessary measures? Palmerston & the League have already quarrelled about that. He is-f- thinks Militia / necessary. Gibson is now denying that conclusion.2 Adieu I D. I 4e doubt whether we shall get a vote. There is a chance.3 TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Monday [15 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC C41/Q

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LQVII 381-2, omitting the sixth and ninth paragraphs and the first sentence of the last paragraph; M&B III 353-4, dated 15 March 1852, omitting the second last paragraph and first sentence of the last paragraph; Blake 316, undated extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: '[Mar 15. '52]'. D has numbered the sheets: '2'; '3'; and has drawn a line over the 'ae' of his signature (see V i6s6n2). This is evidently D's first letter to the Queen.

House of Commons. I Monday night. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to your Majesty, informs your Majesty of what occurred in the House of Comm: this evening. Mr. / Villiers opened the proceedings, terse & elaborate, but not in his happiest style. He called upon the House to contrast the state of the country, at the beginning of the year, & at the present moment. But he cd. not induce the House to believe / that "all now was distrust &: alarm."

could by possibility be laid hold of between us. I think I may say that I extinguished debate in the Lords, for though Grey & others followed me, the attack was feeble in the extreme, their party dispirited & disconcerted, and our people in high spirits. But if you have time for a line written on your knee, as you have no reply, and consequently nothing pressing upon you, I wish you would relieve my anxiety by telling me what was John Russell's line, and its success? that our men have not marred the effect of your speech and that the favourable commencement of the night has been sustained. Shall you get your vote of men & money? Remember nothing can be done till the Mutiny Bills are secure and the defence of the Country must be the first step. I shall not deprecate a little factious delay to our necessary measures, which should unavoidably carry on Park, till June or July.' H B/XX/S/52. 2 Milner Gibson, formerly an active member of the Anti-Corn Law League (which since the change in government was being revived in several regions), had argued that bringing on the militia bill was not consistent with the speedy dissolution that was generally desired, but would keep the House occupied until midsummer; he thought the bill, which the country had done without this long, could be dealt with almost as quickly by the new parliament. Hansard CXIX cols 1114-16. 3 The House did manage to vote in committee to adopt the navy estimates for men and money, although after one vote D had to overcome Hume's procedural objection to any more votes being taken after midnight. Hansard CXIX cols 1126-8.

37

2255

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply, declined to bring forward, in the present Parliament, any proposition to change our commercial system, & would not pledge himself to propose, in a future parliament, / any duty on corn. He said a duty on corn was a measure, not a principle, & that if preferable measures for the redress of agricultural grievances, than a 5/ duty on corn (mentioned by Mr. Villiers) could be devised, he shd adopt them - a declaration received / with universal favor on the governmt side. Ld. John Russell replied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in consequence of some notice by the former1 of the strange construction of a new opposition to force a / dissolution of Parliament by a minister who, three weeks ago, had declared such dissolution inexpedient. It was not a successful speech. The great speech on the opposition side was that of Sir James Graham: elaborate, / malignant, mischievous. His position was this: that Lord Derby, as a man of honor, was bound to propose taxes on food, & that if he did so, revolution was inevitable. Mr. Walpole followed with great taste & moderation, confining himself to the constitutional question, & avoiding the statistics, wh: Sir James introduced[.] Mr. Gladstone & Ld. Palmerston both spoke; in the same vein, the necessity of immediate dissolution after / the passing of the "necessary" measures; but the question soon arose, what is "necessary" - Ld. Palmerston thought the Militia Bill "necessary," upon wh: the League immediately rose, & denied that conclusion. There / seemed in the House a great reluctance to avoid a violent course,2 but a very general wish, on the opposition side, for as speedy a dissolution as public necessity wd. permit. At present, the Chancellor of the Exchequer / cd. say, the supplies estimates, the Mutiny Bill, & the Militia Bill, are as much as cd. be well managed, & that it will not be possible to secure Chancery Reform. At one o'ck in the morning, the Government / succeeded in getting into Committee of Supply, & obtaining the necessary votes. The evening however was not disadvantageous to the Govt. All which is most humbly submitted to Your Majesty by your Majesty['s] most I dutiful subject, & servant, I B Disraeli3

2256

TO: WILLIAM FERRAND

Grosvenor Gate [Wednesday] 17 March 1852

ORIGINAL: PS 419

PUBLICATION HISTORY: J.T. Ward 'Correspondence between Disraeli and W.B. Ferrand', Disraeli Newsletter Vol 2 No l (Spring 1977) 13-14

My dear Ferrand, Private I Grosvenor Gate I March 17.52 I duly received, and did not neglect, your letter,1 tho' the pressure of circumstances has prevented me doing reply to you. 1 M&B III 353n2 points out that this is 'apparently a slip for "latter."' 2 D evidently meant to write 'take' instead of 'avoid' (M&B III 354n2). 3 The Queen was not pleased at the government's strategy; on 17 March she wrote to the King of the Belgians: '... both Lord Derby and Mr Disraeli refuse to give a straightforward answer as to their policy, the uncertainty as to which will do serious harm.' IQVII 382. 1 Ferrand had written from Malaga on 26 January 1852 to say that he was withdrawing from his bargain with Forbes Mackenzie to be the Protectionist candidate at Aylesbury [for his election defeat there in April

38

I think you are quite justified, and every man in public life is, in looking to office as the legitimate acknowledgment of his political position and I would not have hesitated, had you been in parliament, to have submitted to Ld. Derby your name in the list from which as far as the H. of Comm. was concerned it was expedient that he shd. select the members of his administration - but I think you must, on reflection, feel the insuperable barrier which your absence from parliament offered to yr. promotion to parliamentary office. This I deplore, but time may remedy the annoyance. At the same time, it must be recollected that the same reason is a complete answer to the malicious representations of your enemies, if any such are made, but I have not heard of any. I hope to see you in the next parliament, wh. the enemy wish to force on, but I doubt their success.2 Believe me with my best compliments to Mrs. Ferrand, always sincerely yrs. I B. Disraeli TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Downing Street [Wednesday] 17 March 1852

ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl-3l]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 355, omitting the third sentence; LBCS 266, dated 17 March 1852, somewhat altered EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: au fait at; my my meals.

My dear Sa, D.S. Mar: 17. 52 I think we have turned the corner. The public seems with us, & our raw recruits have not made a single mistake. I thought / the enclosed letter wd. amuse you. Ralph & M.A. keep you, I believe, somewhat au fait at what happens. For myself, I am very well, but I / literally have not time to take my my meals. The Ld. President however gives to day his first Cabinet dinner - so business & food may be combined.1 In / the evening Lady Derby gives her first reception wh: 1851 seeV 2ll6&m and 2l26&m], as he claimed the borough was repudiating him for refusing to spend lavishly and illegally at the next election, and because 'the election purse has not yet supplied the whole of its quota.' He felt personally persecuted by Whigs, Peelites and Radicals and cited D's long friendship in asking for a post. H B/XXI/F/iay. Despite his absence from the country for his wife's health, Ferrand had been fighting for Protectionism. In two long letters from Malaga in MP of 21 and 27 January addressed to the Duke of Newcastle and headed 'Cotton versus Corn', he accused the free-traders of actions such as luring agricultural labourers into the ghettos of Manchester with false promises, and promoting the opium wars in order to decimate the competition posed by the hand-weavers of India. 2 Ferrand would write to D from Harden Grange on 8 June 1852 on another matter, and then at the end add: 'Mr. Browne promised me a safe seat before the dissolution, and said I might come down here, but I have not yet heard a word from him. - Between ourselves I am afraid our election matters are not well managed.' H B/XX1/F/128. Ferrand, who had been out of the House since 1847, would not stand for election again until 1859, and not be re-elected until 1863. 1 Lonsdale, the new lord president of the council, gave a dinner to the cabinet on this day at his residence in Carlton House Terrace. MP (18 Mar 1852). The next day Derby would write: 'I hope you did not think that I urged too strongly last night at Lonsdale's my view of the course to be taken in the House of which you are the Leader. If I did, you must attribute it to my strong sense of what was essential for securing and strengthening our position. I have this moment had Hardinge with me. He says, from Gladstone, that with an understanding that we are to have a dissolution in the summer, and a meeting in November, the body of the Peelites will support us through the Session, resist an attempt to cut short our supplies, and not press for a second Parliamentary Session of 1852. I have declined

39

2257

I shall attend, tho[.] 2 Otherwise I do not attempt to go anywhere.3 MAnne however is very gay & ubiquitous. On Monday night, Ld Derby did wonders, & I, in the other house did not disgrace our friends. Yrs affly I D

2258 TO: ELECTORS OF BUCKS

Downing Street [Wednesday] 17 March 1852

ORIGINAL: PS 630 PUBLICATION HISTORY: BH 2O March 1852

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text of D's letter as it appeared under the heading 'TO THE ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM' in BH on 2O March 1852.

GENTLEMEN, Downing Street, March 17, 1852. I offer you my cordial thanks for the great honor which you have done me, by a second time, unanimously returning me to Parliament as the Representative of your famous County. Supported by the favor of a gracious Sovereign, and the confidence of a Free and Independent Constituency, I will exert myself to the utmost to uphold the honor and dignity of the Crown, and the Interests of all Classes of Her Majesty's Subjects. Believe me, GENTLEMEN, Your obliged Friend and Servant, B. DISRAELI.

2259

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Friday [19 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC C41/2O

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 356-7, dated Friday 19 March (1852) the fifth and part of the tenth paragraphs; LQVll 383-4, dated 19 March 1852, the first six paragraphs and last two sentences EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'March 19 - 1852'. The words 'good govermmt.' [sic] are repeated at the top of the ninth page. D has drawn a line over the 'ae' in his signature.

House of Commons I Friday night I 12 o'ck The Chancellor of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to your Majesty, lays before Your Majesty what has taken place in the House of Commons / tonight. At the commencement of public business, LordJ. Russell, in a very full house, after some hostile comments, enquired of H.M. Ministers, whether they were prepared to declare, that her Majesty will be / advised to dissolve the present Parliament, & call a new one, with the least possible delay consistent with a due regard to the public interest in reference to measures of urgent 8c immediate necessity. / entering into any engagement as Gladstone has no reciprocity to offer, but I have authorised Hardinge to tell him privately that such are my views, and that I agree that it is desirable that the Country should have an intimation of our Commercial policy, as early as is consistent with the object of making the next meeting of Parliament that for the Session of 1852-3, & not a 2d Session of 52. If the Peelites act on their present intentions, and we are firm, but temperate in tone, our game is won.' H B/XX/S/106. 2 Lady Derby gave 'the first of a series of "receptions"' on this day in Downing Street, to about 700 guests, including D. The Times (18 Mar 1852). 3 D had in fact been at Lady Jersey's 'small and early party' the night before, apparently by himself. MP (17 Mar 1852).

40

The question was recommended by Ld. J. Russell as one similar to that put to him in 1841 by Sir Robert Peel.1 The Cr. of the Exr, in reply, observed, that there was a distinction between the position of the present ministry, & that of Ld. J. Russell / in 1841, as in that, & in the other precedents quoted in 1841 by Sir Robt Peel, the ministry had been condemned by a vote of the H. of C. He sd. it was not constitutional, & most impolitic for any ministers to pledge themselves to recommend their Sovereign to dissolve Park. / at any stated & specific time, as circumstances might occur, wh: would render the fulfilment of the pledge injurious or impracticable - that it was the intention of the Ministers to recommend Your Majesty to dissolve the present Parliament, the / moment, that such measures were carried wh: were necessary for Your Majesty's service & for the security & good government of Your Majesty's realm; & that it was their wish & intention, that the new Parliamt sho[ul]d meet to decide upon the question / of confidence in the administration, & on the measures, wh: they cd. then bring foward, in the course of the present year. This announcement was very favorably received. Ld. J. Russell enquired, whether by measures for the good government of / the realm, Chancery Reform was meant. The Cr. of the Exr: sd. he did not feel called upon to give further information ef- to the noble Lord. On entering into committee of Supply, Mr. Osborne attempted to stop them, wh: led to a most animated & fiery / debate.2 1 Lord John Russell had written to D earlier this day: 'I propose to ask you today, before the Orders of the Day are read, whether H.M. Ministers are prepared to declare that H.M. will be advised to dissolve the present Parliament, & call a new one, with the least possible delay consistent with a due regard to the public interest in reference to measures of urgent & immediate importance. The question is similar to one put to me in 1841 by Sir R. Peel.' H B/XXI/R/2Q7. For Peel's 27 May 1841 motion of nonconfidence which led to the dissolution by Russell on 7 June 1841 see III Iis8n2. 2 The House in committee of supply had been asked to approve the army estimates moved by Beresford as secretary at war; in the debate Bernal Osborne had announced he would oppose approving the army estimates as a means of forcing the government to declare the policy on which they would govern. After heated debate, Osborne decided not to force a division, the House approved the estimate for men, and the money estimates were postponed until 22 March. Hansard CXIX cols 1304-1402. Derby had written to D from St James's Square at 10 pm: 'I am rather anxious to know how you are getting on. Our battle was absolutely won, with a declaration on my part that I would not pledge myself to the time of Dissolution, but that I was desirous that "as soon as the necessary business was disposed of, the country should have an opportunity of judging on what principles, & by what men, the Government of the Country should be carried on, and that in my judgment the next Autumn should not be allowed to pass over, before the Parliament had an opportunity of declaring itself conclusively on these two questions. ["]' He described the ensuing discussion, and then returned to his question: 'But how are you going on? The same line will do very well, and the Amendment which I hear B. Osborne has moved for stopping the Supplies may be the best thing in the world for us. It ought to be. J. Russell must equally lose with the Country if he supports it, or with the Radicals if he opposes it. The Peelites must go with you, but are our own men at their posts'? If they are not, they deserve that we & they should be beaten.' As a postscript he added: 'How did Beresford do his work?' Next to Derby's letter is a list in his hand apparently enclosed: 'i. Pledge of early Dissolution with the least possible delay after carrying necessary measures, including Militia. 2. Protection to be settled in an Autumnal Session, so as to start fair in 1853. 3 Renewal of Income Tax for a year, to avoid necessity of meeting before loth. October 4 With these provisions & pledges for Park, meeting in October, supplies for 12 months 5 No vote of money to be asked tonight, but only men - (this to give time to consider answers[)]. 6. Future course to Depend on answers.' H B/XX/S/109-10.

41

Ld. John Russell made a most interesting & able speech, highly prepared, in answer to Ld. Derby's last speech, & apologetical, at least by its long narrative of excuses, of the Chesham Place meeting.3 The / Chancellor of the Exchequer has just replied to Ld. John. The discomfiture of the opposition is complete, & no further mention of lk» stopping, or limiting, supplies will be heard of. All wh: is most / humbly submitted to Your Majesty, by Your Majesty's most dutiful subject I &: servant I B Disraeli

22&0

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Monday [22 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC C41/25

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Mar 22/52'. Dating: the context confirms the docketed date; see ni.

House of Commons I 6 o'ck - Monday The Chancellor of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, informs Your Majesty / that Lord John Russell has withdrawn all further opposition, & that the prospects are now quite serene.1 / Mr Secretary Walpole has given notice of introducing the Militia Bill on Monday next.2

22&1

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

House of Commons, Thursday [25 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 375O2 ffl22-5

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 266-7, extract dated 26 April 1852, conflated with extracts from 8276 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed on the first page (in D's hand? Sarah's?): 'March 25. fig'; in another hand: '1852'. Sic: Syon. Dating: by context; see nl.

3 See 2251111. Russell in his speech on the army estimates responded to points made by Derby in his of Monday 15 March (see 2254ni), in which Derby had compared his current position to that of Russell in taking over the government in 1846; he had also referred disparagingly to the meeting of 10 March at Chesham Place: 'Looking to the circumstances under which [Russell] quitted office, I should have thought that the last object which he would have had in view, as a statesman and as a patriot, would have been the organisation of an opposition against the Government, which he knew had been compelled to assume office by his retirement.' He made much of the fact that 168 supporters had attended the meeting, many more than had voted for the militia bill. Hansard CXIX cols 1010-11. In an undated note Derby had written to D: 'If you have a moment I entreat you to look at J. Russell's speech on the i6th. July 1846, when on taking office, he was not only not pressed by Peel to make any declaration of the principles on which he intended to conduct his Govt.; not only in resuming the business of the House, made no statement of his own accord except as to the measures on the table with which he intended to proceed, but in answer to Tom Duncombe absolutely refused to pledge himself on any of the great measures on which he had voted in opposition, and elaborately argued why he should not be called upon to do so! It is by the merest chance I have found this at the last moment - and in the face of it his course is one of incredible audacity.' H B/XX/S/ioy. 1 Russell announced in the House on 22 March that, because of Derby's statement on Friday of his in tendon to dissolve parliament in time for a new parliament to be assembled before winter, he would not oppose approving the army and navy estimates. In the ensuing discussion D expressed his satisfaction that the opposition parties would no longer obstruct the progress of necessary business, so that an appeal could be made to the electorate as soon as possible. Hansard CXIXcols 1407-63 (D 1425).. 2 Walpole, the new home secretary, explained that he had opposed the formation of a voluntary corps because a new militia bill was about to be introduced which would deal with the matter. Hansard CXIX cols 1425-6. See further 2264&nl.

42

My dear Sa, H of C. I Thursday Things seem to me to go on very well. Our Cabinet dinner last night was minus three, invited to the Palace, The Lord President, the / Ld. Chancellor, & Walpole. Lady St. Leonards is not received at Court, but the Queen does not disapprove of her being received anywhere else, so the poor / old lady, knowing no one is dragged out every night to Lady Jerseys, Lady Malmesburys &c &C.1 I am pretty well, but the work is very hard, not too much if in health. I have / however been rather fortunate in this respect since the «iee re-assembly of Park. Mar 15. wh: was to have finished our careers. The D. of Northumberland offered to lend me Syon for the holidays - but I / shall, of course, go home. The division bell rings, wh: drives me out of this room. I have given a pension of £75 pr anm: to Britton - in / his 8ist. year & the author of 86 works, he made the appeal. I wish I cd. have gotten him more, but the whole fund for the year was exhausted / except £75. but as he draws [illegible deletion] for the year as from last June, I think it as good as £100 pr ann: as he can hardly count on living beyond 84.2 Yrs affy I D TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Thursday [25 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC FlO/7

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand in the letter book to the left of the first page: 'Mar 25/52'. Dating: by the division; see ni. Sic: Exchecqr.

House of Comm: I Thursday night The Chanr of the Exchecqr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, informs Your Majesty, that Mr. Hume brought forward his / scheme of Parly. Reform tonight. After some discussion, the Chancr. of the Exchequer stated the conservative case. Ld. John followed in a temperate & / constitutional speech. The Revolutionary party, much disabled, are attempting to adjourn the debate, in order to avoid a division. Division - For / Mr. Hume8 Against 2441

1 The problem had arisen before; Lady Sugden, as she then was, had not been received at court in 1835 when Sir Edward was appointed chancellor of Ireland, and he had resigned the position. As Greville (III 177-8) explains, she had been Sugden's kitchenmaid, and they had had several children before they married. Queen Adelaide at that time also did not object if she was received elsewhere. As the new lord chancellor, Sugden had been elevated to the peerage as Baron St Leonards; he did not resign this time. The St Leonardses and the Ds had been at Lady Malmesbury's assembly on 24 March. MP (25 Mar 1852). In addition to the cabinet dinner at Derby's and the party at Lady Malmesbury's, D had also been at the Queen's levee in the afternoon. 2 Britton (for whom see III 742ni3) would in fact live until i January 1857, well into his 86th year; he and Isaac had been friends who exchanged copies of some of their publications. H 0/1/117-26. 1 Hume on Thursday 25 March 1852 asked leave to introduce a bill to reform parliamentary representation. D in response denied his allegation that the current system gave an unfair advantage to the landed interest, using statistics to show that boroughs were represented at the rate of a member for every 35,000

43

2262

2263

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Downing Street [Monday] 29 March 1852

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/102

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand: 'March 29 1852 Mr Disraeli'. Sic: & always.

My dr Rose, D.S. I Mar: 29. 1852 Be so good as to pay my brother the int: & always & I will settle with / you.1 D.

2264

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Monday [29 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC £43/52 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LQVII 385, dated 29 March 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand in the letter book above the first page: '(29 Mar. '52)'. Dating: the context confirms the docketed date.

Ho: of Comm: I Monday night The Chanr. of the Exr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, informs Your Majesty of what has occurred in the Ho: of Comm: tonight. Mr Secy. Walpole introduced / the militia bill in a statement equally perspicuous & persuasive. Opposed by Mr Hume & Mr Gibson, the Govmt. measure was cordially supported by Ld Palmers ton. Lord John Russell, while he expressed an opinion / favorable to increased defence, fetrt intimated a» a preference for regular troops. Mr Cobden made one of his cleverest speeches, of the cosmopolitan School, & was supported with vigor / by Mr Bright. A division is threatened by the ultra movement party, but the Cr of the Exr. hopes to ward it off, & is somewhat sanguine of ultimate success in carrying the measures.1

of population, while the rural districts were represented by a member for every 36,000 of population. He disposed of the ballot argument by citing the example of corruption in the American system, and suggested that the problem of bribery could only be solved by 'elevating the tone of the community.' By an elaborate analysis of the 1841 census (see 2222&n2) he disputed Bright's point that only one (male) adult in seven was an elector, arriving at nearly one in three instead. The government, he said, was not opposed in principle to extending the franchise, but did oppose constant tampering with the settlement of 1831, which had served the country well. The House divided as D reports. Hansard CXX cols 86-171 (D 136-53). 1 The 'brother' was probably James, who apparently had lent D some money; see V 1826112. 1 On Monday 29 March, Walpole, the new home secretary, brought in a Militia Bill for which leave had been given on 2O February; his motion proposed that he, D and Beresford be empowered to prepare a bill enabling the crown to raise over two years a volunteer force of 80,000 men, if at all possible without conscription (ballot), using instead a bounty of £3 or £4 payable in various forms, the men to be trained for 3 to 56 days a year (normally 21) and to serve for 5 years. The cost was estimated at £1.2 million. After Walpole proposed that second reading be after Easter, the House approved the motion without division. Hansard CXX cols 267-339 (D 328-9). See further 2273&ni. The next day Queen Victoria would write to the King of the Belgians: 'Mr Disraeli (alias Dizzy) writes very curious reports to me of the House of Commons proceedings - much in the style of his books ...' LQVH 386.

44

TO: [LORD ST LEONARDS]

Downing Street [Tuesday] 30 March 1852

2265

ORIGINAL: UCLA 9

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Disraeli' and on the fourth page in a third hand: 'Disraeli'.

private 8c confidential D.S Mar: 3O./52 The Rt Honble I The Lord Chancellor My dear Lord Chancellor, I am going to ask for a very great favor indeed. In the event of the Treasurer, / under the Charitable Trusts Act,1 falling to your disposition instead of the Treasury, might I hope, that it wd. be consistent with your arrangements to / appoint my brother, James Disraeli, to it? I trespass, even upon you, with very great reluctance, but this is the only favor I shall ever have to ask my colleagues, & / it is an object very dear to me. I am sure you will do it, if you can, & if you cannot, forget my troubling you. Yours ever I B. DISRAELI TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Tuesday [30 March 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC F1O/13

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand in the letter book to the left of the first page: 'March 30/^2'. Dating: the content confirms the docketed date; see ni.

House of Comm: I Tuesday midnight The Chanr. of the Exr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, informs Your Majesty, that, rather late in the evening, a debate unexpectedly / animated, took place on the Ballot. The best speeches of the evening were one by Mr Cobden, virulent & vivacious, wh: was successfully replied to by Mr. Walpole. / It does not seem probable, that Ld. John Russell will rise, & the Cr. of the Exr counts on a good division - at least a much better / one, than has been taken on this question for some years. Division For 144 Against 246 Sir Robert Peel voted for the Ballott.]1

1 The Charitable Trusts Bill, discussed in committee on 26 March, proposed to establish, for the supervision of small charities, an advisory board of five commissioners, two of them to be paid, with the lord chancellor being empowered to appoint a third paid commissioner. The bill would be overtaken by the dissolution. Hansard CXIX cols 829, 1035, CXX 208-37. See further 2268. 1 On Tuesday 30 March 1852 F.H.F. Berkeley moved for leave to bring in a bill requiring the votes of parliamentary electors to be taken by ballot; he mocked D's earlier suggestion that the corruption in the current system could be alleviated by 'elevating the tone of the community' (see 2262ni). Cobden picked up on the moral aspects of the question, arguing that the current system was conducive to extravagance, disorder and drunkenness. Walpole in response argued that concealment provided more opportunities for fraud, bribery, intimidation and other evils than did openness. Peel's 'aye' vote was noteworthy because the prominent Peelites in the division voted 'no'. Hansard CXX cols 406-39.

45

2266

2267 TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons [Friday] 2 April [1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC A22/74 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: [the second paragraph does indeed begin with a colon and a lower-case b].

House of Comm: I April 2. 6 o'ck The Chancr of the Exr, with his humble duty to Yr Majesty, informs Your Majesty, that Lord John Russell, about a quarter of an / hour ago, gave notice, that on Monday he would, on going into Supply, call the attention of the House to the change of policy of Her Majesty's government with respect / to counselling Yr. Majesty to dissolve Yr Majesty's Parliamt. : but the Chancr of the Exr, fearing the ill effects of three days of agitation, rose & expressed his willingness to enter into the subject at once, / wh:, the house favoring, he made a statement wh: carried both sides, & Lord John withdrew from his position with chagrin; nor is there any prospect of any further disturbance in the progress of Yr Majesty's business.1 TO: SARAH DISRAELI

2268

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 8 April 1852

ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/358

My dear Sa, Grosr Gate I Apl. 8. 52 We are going to Hughenden to day for a short visit - I hope a week.1 Things look pretty well. Your dividend has been / much neglected: I have sent it to Ralph to day, by Lovell.2 I got James his contingent place of Treasurer £700 pr ann: but I fear there is / little chance of the bill, wh: creates the office, passing.3 This is a bore, as he wd then have been landed. You know all about the Court4 from / MA's bulletins & Ralph's chat. Yrs affy I D. 1 On Tuesday 30 March in the Lords, Derby in response to questions had reiterated his earlier evasive statements on dissolution to the effect that he thought the session would be 'of no ordinary duration' but that he expected there to be an autumn session. On Friday 2 April, Russell expressed apprehension that Derby's statement indicated a change in the government's position on the basis of which his supporters had approved £14 million in supply estimates, and said he would on Monday ask for an explanation on the subject before the House again went into committee of supply. D in his conciliatory reply admitted that a 'very great misconception' had existed since Derby's statement, but assured Russell there had been no change in the government's position, which was that there should be a dissolution as soon as the necessary measures had been enacted, and in any case in time for the new parliament to meet in the current year. Hansard CXX cols 345-8, 588-91 (D 5901). 1 The House on 6 April had adjourned until 19 April for Easter (11 April). According to MA'S accounts, the Ds would be at Hughenden 8-16 April. 2 See v i623&ni and 1709^4. 3 See 2265&m. 4 According to Blake 311, citing Buckle (M&B ill 349), one of the reasons D was given the post of chancellor of the exchequer was that it did not require much direct contact with the Queen, and, in fact, he seems not to have been at court much; he and MA had been at the drawing room on i April, of course, where MA wore her usual subtle dress, this time one of crimson, and all her diamonds, and the Ds were among the guests at the Queen's dinner party (MA's first) at Buckingham Palace that evening. However, when the Queen had held a court and privy council on 5 April with Derby and many ministers there,

46

TO: SPENCER WALPOLE

Hughenden [Tuesday] 13 April 1852

2268A

ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [236] COVER: Rt. Hon I S.H. Walpole

Rt Hon I S. H Walpole Hughenden Manor I Apl. 13. 52 My dear Walpole, Read the two enclosed letters from Cookesley, in wh: you are mentioned, & tell me, when we meet, whether you think anything can be done for him.1 Yours sincerely, I D. TO: HENRY HANMER

Hughenden [Wednesday] 14 April 1852

2269

ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [209]

Lt Col Hanmer Hughenden Manor I April 14. :52 Dear Colonel Hanmer,1 I am sorry to say my holidays finish on Friday, & on that day, tho' late, I / shall be in town. If it be convenient for you to call on me in D.S. on Saturday at two o'ck, I could see you on the subject of your letter.2 Yours faithfully I B. Disraeli TO: [D's CABINET COLLEAGUES]

Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 16 April 1852

ORIGINAL: H B/II/97

Grosvenor Gate I April 16. 52 The Chancellor of the Exchequer hopes, that his Colleagues will do him the honor of dining with him on Wednesday next / the 21st Inst, &, in that case, he would beg the favor of their writing their names on the enclosed note.1 D did not attend. See also 22?5&ni. MP (2, 3 Apr 1852); Christopher Hibbert ed Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals (1984) 90. 1 The letters mentioning Walpole have not been found; William Cookesley in an 1866 letter would refer to Walpole as his oldest friend from their time together at Eton in the early i82Os. Cookesley's most recent extant letter to D, dated 9 April at Eton College (where he was assistant master), said he had written the article supporting D in that day's MH, and volunteered his further services. Walpole replied from the home office on 'Wednesday': 'I have known Cookesley for thirty years & I should be most glad to aid, if I could, in getting some good preferment for him. But it will be no easy matter for him to obtain any thing which would make it worth while that he should give up Eton.' Cookesley would leave Eton at the end of 1854 ('My leaving this place is not a matter of choice, but of necessity. The College will give nothing to one who has the independent feelings or the theological opinions that I have') and hold a succession of livings, intermittently imploring D for help in getting a better position so that he could provide for his three unmarried daughters; according to an appeal on their behalf after his death, he did not succeed in doing so. H B/XXI/cy385, 393, 402-14, W/8o. 1 Henry Hanmer (1789-1868), fifth son of Sir Thomas Hanmer, 2nd Bt, It-col Royal Horse Guards (retired), Conservative MP for Westbury 1831, Aylesbury 1832-7, KH 1833, sheriff of Bucks 1854. 2 Col Hanmer had written to D from London on 13 April regarding 'some information relative to the future representation of Bedfordshire' which he thought important enough to pass along to D. He suggested meeting with D either at Downing Street or at Hughenden on his way to his manor of Radnage in Bucks. H B/XXI/H/132. The nature of his information is not indicated in the letter. On 19 July Francis Russell (Liberal) and Col Richard Gilpin (Conservative) were elected for Bedfordshire. 1 At the end of the invitation, which apparently was circulated, are the signatures of Herries, St Leonards,

47

2270

2271

TO: [T.P. COURTENAY]

[London, Saturday 17 April 1852]

ORIGINAL: H B/II/l6l

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written in the top left corner of an invitation dated 17 April 1852 from the Royal Academy of Arts. At the top right corner is written 'yes'.

Will you have the kindness to send an answer for this?1 D.

2272

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Monday 19 April 1852

ORIGINAL: RAG A22/86 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LQVII 387, dated 19 April 1852

House of Comm: I Monday. Apl. 19-52 The Cr. of the Exchequer, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, reports to Your Majesty, that the House of Commons re-assembled to day; in / no great numbers; & that only one, or two, petitions were presented against the Militia Bill.1 Mr. Herries is now proceeding with his Indian statement, on wh: the discussion will probably / be long.2 The Cr. of the Exr announced the intention of Yr Majesty's Governmt, to proPakington, Manners, Hardwicke, Walpole, Northumberland, Lonsdale and Derby. Each man's cabinet position has been added in another hand after his signature. According to MA's accounts, Herries did not attend (indisposition), but Salisbury, Malmesbury and Henley did, for a total of 11 guests at D's first cabinet dinner, on 21 April. Herries's letter declining is dated 21 April and includes a correction of a clerical error in D's budget. H B/XXI/H/546. 1 This first extant instruction to D's new private secretary provides the opportunity to note two occasions. On 3 March had been announced D's appointment of Thomas Peregrine Courtenay as his private secretary; Courtenay (1810-1861), nephew of loth Earl of Devon, on the i March list had been named the successor to W.H. Stephenson (formerly Peel's private secretary) as senior clerk at the treasury, where he had been one of the assistant clerks. Courtenay would declare bankruptcy in late 1855. H R/I/B/27a. At the annual dinner of the Royal Academy on i May, one of the toasts would be to '"the health of the Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli (cheers), and the interests of Literature so far as they might be found compatible with the usual views of a Chancellor of the Exchequer." (Cheers and laughter.)' Derby in an earlier speech said that, with the help of D (whose portrait was hanging behind him), his government, if it survived long enough, would provide a new home for the Academy. In his response to the toast, D deftly turned Derby's commitment away from himself:'... to accomplish that hope we must enlist the sympathies of all the parties in the State; and it is not to me - one whom accident has placed in a position for which he is not qualified - but to those whose long services and the evidences of whose great abilities have gained the confidence of the country, you must look ... and, in the hope that the noble lord will so assist us, I will break through the etiquette of the evening; and, with your permission, I will venture to propose to you, "the health of the noble lord the member for the city of London." (Great laughter, cheering, and applause.)' Russell responded in good part: '... With respect to the allusions the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made, whether they were in jest or earnest, or in both - (laughter) - my efforts shall be used to provide a better habitation for the Royal Academy. (Cheers.)' MP (3 May 1852). 1 According to the report in The Times (20 Apr 1852), there were three. 2 On 19 April in the first sitting of the House after the Easter recess, J.C. Herries moved the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the governance of India in anticipation of the expiry in 1854 of the East India Company charter as modified in 1833; he said the previous government had intended to propose committees on the matter in both Houses, and this was what the present government now also was proposing. After much discussion and one hostile amendment (rejected), the motion was agreed to without a division. Hansard CXX cols 806-68.

48

ceed with public business on the Thursdays in every week, after the 22nd. Inst; a declaration, / wh: was favorably received by the House, & wh:, it is hoped, may assist the division on the Militia Bill on Friday.3 TO: CHARLES TREVOR

Downing Street [Thursday] 22 April 1852

2272A

ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [234]

COVER: Charles Trevor Esq I Gower Street I Bed [for] d I Sqr. I B Disraeli POSTMARK: (i) [recto] a cancelled one-penny stamp; (2) [verso] in rectangular form: 22 April 52

confidential D.S. I April 22. 52 C. Trevor Esq1 Dear Trevor, I understand there is a clerkship in the Audit Office vacant. Will it suit Charles? / If so, I will ask Ld Derby for it. Let me know immed[iate]ly. Yrsf[aithful]ly I D. TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons [Friday 23 April 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC £43/65

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 358, dated 19 April 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'April 23d: '52'. Dating: the endorsed date is confirmed by context; see ni. Sic: Monday night.

House of Commons I J/2 pt 12 Monday night The Chancellor of the Excheqr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, reports to Your Majesty, that, after a dull debate, significant / only by two of the subordinate members of the late administration declaring their hostility to the Militia Bill, Lord John Russell rose at / eleven o'ck, & announced his determination to oppose the second reading of it. His speech was one of his ablest: statesmanlike, argumentative, terse & / playful; & the effect he produced was considerable. Your Majestys Govt., about to attempt to reply to it, gave way to Lord Palmerston, who changed the feeling / of the House, & indeed entirely carried it away, in a speech of extraordinary vigor, & high-spirited tone. The Ministers were willing to have taken / the division on his Lordship sitting down, but as the late Government wished to reply, the Chancr of the Excr wd. not oppose the adjournment of / the Debate.1 3 D gave notice, and the next day would move, that on Thursdays orders of the day would have precedence over notices of motion. He had promised Russell to do this to facilitate proceeding with the estimates and the Militia Bill. There was some discussion about which Thursday the new rule would take effect, 6 May being finally chosen, and the motion agreed to. The Times (20 Apr 1852); Hansard CXX cols 783, 890-2. 1 Trevor (at this time comptroller in the legacy and succession duty department of the inland revenue office) replied on 29 April: 'I have seen N. Basevi who is highly pleased and most thankful to have a Clerkship for one of George's boys ... His gratitude ... is unbounded.' LPOD (1856); H A/I/F/22. Charles Edward Basevi (1836-1920) was the fifth son of George Basevi, Jr (I 2ln8), who had died in 1845 (see IV 1446m), and his wife Frances (I I74n2), and the grandson of D's cousin Nathaniel Basevi (I !OOn4). He had been educated at Rugby, Cheltenham and Addiscombe (cfv 2023&m and 2024), and would join the Bombay Artillery, later Royal Artillery, and serve in the Persian Expedition 1856-7 and the Indian Mutiny 1857-8, retiring as Colonel. John McLeod 'Genealogy of the Basevi Family' (preprint). 1 Debate on second reading of the Militia Bill began on Friday 23 April, when a hostile amendment was

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The elements of calculation, as to the division, are very complicated, but the Chancellor of the Excr is still inclined to believe, that the second / reading of the bill will be carried.

2274

TO: HOWEL GWYN

Downing Street [Saturday] 24 April 1852

ORIGINAL: NYPL Montague [9]

H. Gwyn Esqr I MP1 D.S. I April 24 - 52 Dear Gwyn I send you the corrected report, as I promised. I shd think it was now too late to / do anything with it, but if you think otherwise, I wd venture to say it shd appear in the humblest penny form.2 Ever yrs ffly I D.

2275

TO: LORD DERBY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2

Grosvenor Gate, Monday 26 April 1852 [42]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand across the first and fourth pages: 'Ch of Exchequer Militia Bill. Apl. 26/52 Finsbury Park Chicory'; and in Derby's hand on the first page of the MS: 'Put by.' Sic: lib.

Grosvenor Gate I Monday. Apl. 26 - 52 The Rt. Hon I Earl of Derby My dear Lord, I trust I have not erred - but I concluded, as a matter of course, that it was not for me to communicate directly with H.M., except as a / reporter of the H of Comm:1 Until the vote of the H of C. on the Militia Bill tonight, wh: involves a sum of

supported by Henry Rich (recently a lord of the treasury) and Frederick Peel (recently colonial undersecretary). The theme of Palmerston's speech was disappointment that Russell and his friends had taken a partisan position on a measure which had previously been accepted in principle on both sides of the House. Hansard CXX cols 1035-1109. See further 2275, 22?6&n3 and 2277&m. 1 Howel Gwyn (1806-1888), of Dyffryn, Glamorgan and Abercrave, co Brecknock, MA (Trinity College, Oxford, 1832), JP and DL for Glamorgan (high sheriff 1837), JP co Carmarthen (high sheriff 1838), JP co Brecknock (high sheriff 1844), Conservative MP for Penryn and Falmouth 1847-57, for Brecknock 1866-8. 2 The 'corrected report' has not been identified. Possibly it is that of one of D's speeches; copies of that on parliamentary reform on 25 March (see 2262&ni), published by John Olliver at 21s per 100 copies, were advertised for sale on 6 May 1852 in The Times. For a possible connection see 2279&ni. 1 Derby had written on 'Sunday night' from St James's Square: The enclosed note from H.M. will show you that She means to learn everything that is going on. I have sent her in answer one of our Confidential printed Papers of the Budget, & told her that though at present we had come to no positive & formal decision, I apprehended we should have a "provisional" Budget with one year's Income Tax; I have told her the deductions to be made from any apparent surplus, and the necessity of keeping something in hand to go upon, if, as appeared probable, we could derive no Income from Foreign Corn. I shall probably see H.M. on Tuesday or Wednesday.' H B/XX/S/io8. In H there are copies of different confidential summaries of the budget, one dated by the printer 21 April 1852, and another 27 April 1852. As an example of the differences between them, in the former the estimated surplus for 1852-3 is £1,169,107, in the 27 April version it is £241,021, and in another (partial and undated) copy with many hand calculations in the margins the estimated surplus is £461,021 (the figure D would cite in his speech). H B/IV/A/51.

50

£350,000 is known, an accurate estimate of expenditure cannot be prepared. If that sum be required, / the customs taken at Fremantle's estimate - vizt. 2O mill: & a half,2 & the civil estimates be increased, wh: they will be, by £100,000, there will be no surplus. Finsbury Park There wd. be no objection / to the bill wh: was prepared by the late government, being brought in, on the same conditions — vizt, that it shd be submitted to a select committee, so that the whole case shd be investigated, & that H.M. Governmt, in the meantime, / shd. be pledged on the subject in no respect? CHICORY From the returns received from Fremantle on Saturday night, it appears, that the effect of the reduction made last year in the duties on coffee, (vizt from 6d on for: & 4d on col: to an uniform duty of 3d pr lib) has been to raise the consumption / in the year ending 5. Ap: 52 in F.C. from 2,076,375 Ibs (to wh: it had fallen in the year preceding) to 5,524,238 Ibs, while an increase of nearly one million of Ibs took place on Col: coffee in the same period; & the whole consumption of both sorts has greatly exceeded the / quantity consumed in 1850 &: 51 being 34,680,829 Ibs agst. 30,292,853 in 1851 & 32,511,043 in i85o[.]4 For[eig]n Chicory has greatly fallen off; from 17000 Cwt in 46-7 to 2000 in 51-2 - the supply being now domestic[.]5 I enclose a copy of John Woods mem: on Chicory6 / in case you have it not, & I will take my chance of seeing you at the Treasury before we go down to the Houses. Ever yours I D.

2 Sir Thomas Fremantle was deputy chairman of the board of customs. His lo-page report (plus many attached documents) of 24 April was based on figures up to 5 April 1852, completing the accounts for the past fiscal year; he provided detailed estimates for the year ending 5 April 1853 as Per D s directions. The total customs revenue he estimated at £20,572,000, the same as the amount received in 1850-1, as he thought the 1851-2 year (when the total was £20,673,954) had had too many anomalies to be useful as a predictor. H B/rv/A/i,5i. 3 In his letter (ni) Derby had said: 'I am to have the Finsbury Park people with me tomorrow. What may I say to them?' According to The Times of 27 April, Derby on Monday had an interview with a 'deputation from the borough of Finsbury, on the subject of the proposed park for the northern district of London'. Correspondence between the treasury and the commissioners of woods about a park in Finsbury had been produced in the House on 20 March 1851. JHCCVl (1851-2) 108. The matter would not come up in this session, and Finsbury Park would not be opened until 1869, the first important achievement of the metropolitan board of works established in 1855. Francis Sheppard London 18081870: The Infernal Wen (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1971) 356. 4 This paragraph after the opening clause is an almost verbatim transcription of part of Fremantle's report (n2), 'F.C.' being an abbreviation of 'Foreign Coffee'; the figure '30,292,853' is '30,292,855' in Fremantle's report. 5 Fremantle's report (n2) gave figures of '17,231 Cwt in 1846-7 and only 2367 Cwt in 1851-2.' 6 John Wood was chairman of the board of stamps and taxes 1833-49, of the board of excise 1839-49, and of the board of inland revenue 1849-58. The memo to which D is here referring has not been found, although it might be a short undated summary in Wood's hand providing the figures on chicory cited by Fremantle in his report (nn2&5). H B/rv/6/1,5,40. In a letter to Courtenay of 6 April 1852 on preventing the sale of adulterated coffee, Fremantle had suggested that D consult Wood before taking any steps. H B/XXI/F/295.

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2276

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Downing Street [Monday] 26 April [1852]

ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/156

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 358-9, undated, the second and fourth paragraphs; LBCS 266-7, extracts dated 26 April 1852, conflated with an extract from 2261 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'c 1838?'. The 'S' in 'D.S.' actually looks like 'O', but the context confirms 'D.S.'. Dating: by context; see n^.

My dear Sa, D.S. I Apl. 26 Yr letters are always welcome &: always full of matter. I think I have given G. Porter at last his match. Henley will certainly wear him out, after / his having successfully palavered over & deluded so many Ministers.1 I have neither time to feed nor sleep, tho pretty well: great debates every / day night & the budget on Friday, for wh: I have literally not time to prepare. A drawing room too on Thursday will waste the whole morning.2 Ld. John after much deliber[ati]on has / chosen his own field of battle, & if he get beat tonight, wh: I think he will, he will have proved himself a very unfortunate, not to say a very unskilful, general.3 Ever thine I D.

2277

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Monday [26 April 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC £43/67

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page of the MS: 'April 26TH '52'. The last word of the letter - 'Majesty.' - appears at the bottom of the first page. Dating: by context; see ni.

House of Comrn: I 7 o'ck. Monday The Chancellor of the Exr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, informs Your Majesty, / that the prospects of a division favorable to the second reading of the Militia bill,1 become every hour more probable. 1 George Richardson Porter (1792-1852), FRS, statistician and economist, a staunch free-trade liberal, senior secretary to the board of trade (of which Henley was now president), treasurer of the Statistical Society (a founder 1834), author of many works, principally The Progress of the Nation, in its Various Social and Economical Relations, from the beginning of the Nineteenth Century to the Present Time (3 vols 1836-43), supervisor of the statistical department of the board of trade 1834, member of the board's railway department 1840, joint-secretary of the board 1847. He would die of a gnat sting on 3 September. 2 The Queen held a drawing room at St James's Palace in the afternoon (morning by contemporary convention) of Thursday 29 April, the royal party arriving shortly after 2:oo pm; the Ds both attended, MA this time resplendent in blue with trim and flounces of Honiton lace, and turquoises, diamonds, feathers and lappets. MP (30 Apr 1852). 3 D's remarks are similar to those in The Times of this day; it thought that Russell, by deciding to oppose the Militia Bill, had got himself into a dilemma from which he could not extricate himself: 'He negatives in opposition the principles he asserted in Government, and bitterly denounces his antagonist for adopting the very course of which he himself set the example. It is granted to no man and to no party to do such things with impunity, and the nation will not readily forget the manner in which her interests have thus been sported with.' Prince Albert on 2 May would record: 'Lord John Russell has by his false move about the 2d: reading of the Militia Bill quite destroyed his position as leader of the liberal party. The Whigs are all furious with him & declare they won't follow him any longer.' RAG 041/49. According to Prest Russell 350, it was this action by Russell that prevented Whig reunification and made a WhigPeelite coalition government impossible. 1 The adjourned debate on second reading of the Militia Bill (see 2273&ni) was resumed on Monday 26 April 1852, when the debate D describes in this letter and the next took place. Hansard CXX cols 1114-88. See further 22?8 and 2283&ni.

52

Lord / Seymour has spoken in favor of the bill with great ability, & in a spirit of patriotism. This declaration produced a great effect. Mr Cardwell has also very / logically recommended voting for the second reading. The feeling of the House seems, every moment, more encouraging. The Chanr. of the Exr will report the result as usual; but thought it his humble duty to transmit this line to Your Majesty. TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Monday [26 April 1852]

2278

ORIGINAL: RAC £43/68

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LQVll 388-9, dated 26 April [1852] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'April 26th\ Dating: by context; see 2277&ec&ni.

H of C. Monday night I 12 o'ck The Chanr of the Exr, with his humble duty to Yr Majesty, reports to your Majesty, that the Militia Bill has been / carried (2nd reading) by an immense majority For - 315 Agst. 165 The concluding portion of the debate was distinguished by / the speeches of Mr Sidney Herbert & Mr Walpole, who made their greatest efforts: the first singularly happy in his treatment of a subject / of wh: he was master; & the last addressing the house with a spirit & courage unusual with him. TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Tuesday [27 April 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC F1O/15

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'April 27.'. Dating: by the division; see ni.

House of Commons I Tuesday. 7 o'ck The Chancellor of the Exr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, reports / to Your Majesty, that Mr Locke King's motion on the County Franchise has been negatived by / a majority of 202 against 149Lord John Russell voted against Mr Locke / King: the House subsequently counted out.1

1 The division described occurred on 27 April 1852, when Locke King moved for leave to bring in a bill to extend the franchise in the counties to £10 occupiers, and to limit election proceedings to eight days and polling to one day. It was a previous version of this proposal that had led to Russell's resignation in February 1851; see v 2099m. Russell opposed the bill for being a partial measure, while he thought the matter of reform should be considered as a whole. D in his speech agreed with Russell, but thought the measure did not address the 'want of due consideration of the rights of the working classes to the franchise'; he traced 'much of the discontent in this country' to this omission in the 1832 Act. Hansard CXXI cols 1200-27 (D 1218-22). On 29 April Prince Albert would record: 'Lord Derby had an audience of the Queen yesterday afternoon. I asked him whether Mr. D'Israeli had in his speech on Reform expressed the sentiments of the Govt? I thought it highly dangerous to speak of the necessity of representing labour in contradistinction to property, & hoped that no declarations would be made by

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2279

2280

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Thursday [29 April 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC F25/96

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The V of '22l' has been changed from a '6'. Dating: by the division; see n2.

House of Comm: I Thursday J/2 pt 11 o'ck The Chancr of the Exr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, reports to Your Majesty, that Mr Heywoods1 motion, in favor of retaining / the Crystal Palace, has been negatived by a majority of 221 agst 1O3[.] The House was very noisy throughout the night, but good humored. Ld. Palmerston, misjudging the / temper of the House, & wishing to have the appearance of deciding the question, rose late in the evening, & made the mistake of declaring for the motion. The speech of / the evening was by Lord Seymour, wh: was extremely effective, & greatly influenced the result[.]2

228l

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Friday 30 April 185

ORIGINAL: RAC 041/46

House of Commons I Friday April 30 - 52 The Chancellor of the Exr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, reports to Your Majesty, that the Financial Statement / was made this evening, & that, altho' no remission of taxation was proposed, it was received, he may venture to say, / with general satisfaction. With the continuance of the Income Tax for one year, there will be a surplus on the year April -53 / of about £500,000.'

the Govt. without full authority being given for it by the Crown ... Ld. Derby entirely agreed in this & excused Mr. Disraeli's speech as having been incorrectly reported, but certainly ambiguously worded; for he had been himself in the House of Commons to hear it ..." RAC Fio/iy. The Times (28 Apr 1852) would declare the division a triumph for the government: 'Can it be denied any longer that the Constitution is safer from rash changes in the hands of a Derby than of a Russell?' 1 James Heywood (1810-1897), FRS, FSA; senior optime 1833 (Trinity College, Cambridge); a barrister (Inner Temple 1838); JP and DL for Lanes; Liberal MP for N Lanes 1847-57; instrumental in the abolitio of religious tests at matriculation; first president of the Sunday Society; an original trustee of Owens College, Manchester; pioneer of the free public library movement in London. 2 Heywood on 29 April moved for the appointment of a select committee to consider preserving the Crystal Palace, or at least its central portion, for public instruction and recreation. The discussion focused on whether it was possible to break the pledge that the building would be taken down after the Great Exhibition was over, on which condition the permission for its erection had been given. Hansard CXX cols 1348-85. Derby on 13 March had written to D on the subject: 'I send you a copy of my letter to the Prince, recommending the pulling down of the Crystal Palace, and of his answer this moment received ...'In his letter concurring with Derby's opinion the Prince had remarked: 'What is really most grievously wanted, is the new National Gallery ...' H B/XX/S/51, 5ia, 5ib. 1 On 30 April D made his budget statement in which he reviewed the country's financial position; his main concern was how to deal with the shortfall in revenue left by the expiry of the income tax on 5 April, as all three primary means by which government revenue was produced (duties on imported goods, duties on domestic goods, and direct taxation) had major opposition. He estimated that, without the income tax, there would be a shortfall of £2,125,000, while continuing the income tax and also leaving all other taxes unchanged would produce a surplus of £461,021. This was therefore what the government proposed to do. He spoke eloquently of the need for an end to the struggle over how

54

TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Grosvenor Gate [Sunday] 2 May 1852

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [67] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Londonderry on the fourth page: 'Mr D Israeli May 2'. Sic: her, her.

The I Marq: of Londonderry I G.C.B. Grosvenor Gate I May 2 - 5 2 My dear Lord, I really have not had time to feed or sleep, since I had the pleasure of last calling at Holdernesse House. / I had proposed to myself the pleasure of doing so again to day, when I received your kind note. I shall still take the chance of finding Lady Londonderry at / home - about three o'ck, & if I am so unfortunate as to be unsuccessful, I trust to find you. I hope she is quite well, & I am ever, her, her / & your faithful friend I & servant I B Disraeli1

public revenue was to be raised, but said that in the 6 weeks since he had been returned to parliament it had not been possible to prepare a statement that addressed this issue; he promised that, if given the chance, he would not again present 'provisional propositions'. After discussion in which D was widely praised, the House in committee approved his resolutions. Hansard CXXI cols 9-88 (D 9-36, 85-6). See also M&B III 36off. Derby would write to D that night: '... I never heard a financial expose more lucid, and more clearly brought before the public - but you must forgive me if I add that I listened to it, and watched the House, with some anxiety, not only as to its immediate effect upon our friends and our consequent position for the remainder of the Session, but also with reference to our future financial course ... I think the silence of our own friends, and the rapturous and triumphant cheers with which the opposite side of the House greeted each successive illustration of the financial result of the remission of Taxes, and the advantage gained to the consumer, must have shown you, as you went on, that you were making out a triumphant case for the Free Trade Policy which is the mainstay of our Opposition.' He disputed at length D's interpretation of the figures he had cited, and remarked that he would have enjoyed the speech more had it been made by Sir Charles Wood; he thought D had brought great difficulties on himself and the party, not by the proposed measures, on which the cabinet had agreed, but by the positive review of the effects of free trade. H B/XX/S/54. The next day D would receive his first letter from Buckingham Palace: The Queen has read with great interest the clear & able financial statement which the Chancellor of the Exchequer made in the House of Commons last night, & was glad to hear from him that it was well received.' RAC 041/47. The Times the next day was incredulous: 'We saw with our own eyes the last rag of Protection put into a red box, and when the lid was opened, a perfect Chancellor of the Exchequer appeared, who immediately opened his mouth and made a firstrate financial statement.' On 2 May Prince Albert would record: 'Mr. Disraeli's speech in introducing the Budget has caused the greatest sensation. All the newspapers particularly the liberal & radical ones are singing his praise ... The protectionists themselves (if one can call them any longer so ...) are a good deal startled & don't know what to make of the triumph of Peel which the very man gives him who mercilessly hunted him down ..." RAC 041/49. Among the negative reactions was that of Sarah's dog, reported in an undated letter to MA: 'Mr Urisk sends his compts to the Ch: of Ex: but regrets he cannot dine with him as he has not taken the tax off dogs.' H D/III/A/282. 1 Londonderry at this time was embroiled in a controversy with members of his family over the representation of co Down, where his eldest son, Castlereagh, had announced his intention not to stand again. Londonderry's attempts to replace him with David S. Ker, his eldest nephew, had been frustrated when Ker declared his independence from Londonderry's influence. Londonderry had written to D on i May advising him to 'interest' himself in the matter; he also tried to get a hint as to the date of dissolution. The note to which D is here replying, dated only 'l o Clk Sunday', said that Lady Londonderry was 'far from well' and averse to seeing anyone except her family: '... pray do not trouble yourself to call here...' He would write again on 17 May: 'I am so grieved you did not ask for Ly L yesterday she wd have been so glad to recieve [sic] you'; he asked if D could give him 10 minutes before they sailed on Saturday, as

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22&2

228$

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Tuesday 4 May [1852]

ORIGINAL: RAG £43/73

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'May 4-/52*. Dating: editorial practice ignores the passing of midnight unless the fact that a new day is involved is pointedly mentioned in the text; this is such a case. Cf, however, 2285.

House of Comm: I V2 past one o'ck I Tuesday morning I May 4 The Chancellor of the Excr, with his humble duty to Your Majesty, reports to Your Majesty, that the debate on Mr Cobden's / amendment to the Militia Bill has been adjourned, altho' nearly 300 members, agst 67, supported the Governmt in an attempt to prevent the delay. / Mr Cobden spoke with great ingenuity & animation - all was dreary till Mr Bright rose at 11, who supported his friend with great vigor - but called forth / a brilliant reply from Mr Whiteside.1

2284

TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons [Wednesday] 5 May 1852

ORIGINAL: RAG £43/76

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: a million! I think however we shall get out and pretty satisfactorily.' And on 3 June: 'I send you also, by the Prince's permission, the 2d Draft Report of the Commission, which however cannot be promulgated till the matter of purchase is settled. Perhaps you can read it in the House this Evening.' 1 Beckford's Vathek opens with the Caliph building five palaces 'destined for the particular gratification

68

Were the case well put forward, I shd. not despair of kindling some enthusiasm in the House of Comm: & carrying / a good vote. The prestige of the Prince's taste & success would greatly aid us - the only difficulty is the prevalent feeling, that no public edifice / can be raised in this country, wh: is not a failure, or a job, or both. Let us hope, however, that we have arrived at the end / of such mortifications, & that the contemplated creation will redeem, & sustain, the taste & genius of the country. We are in Committee / of Supply & getting on very well.2 Ever yours I D. TO: JOHN DELANE

House of Commons, Friday [4 June 1852]

2301

ORIGINAL: TIA Vol 4/66[b]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'B Disraeli [ilkgible numeral} June 1852'. Dating: by the 'Manifesto'; see 23O4ph&ec.

private H of C. I Friday Dear Delane, I must postpone sending you the Manifesto, for reasons wh: I will explain to you when we meet. / I hope it may reach you on Sunday[.] Yrs sincerely I D. TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Friday [4 June 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC 041/64

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'June 4/52'. Dating: by context; see 2303&n2.

House of Comm: I Friday night The Chanr of the Exr, with his humble duty to Yr. Majesty, reports to Yr Majesty, / that the New Zealand Bill has made great progress in Committee tonight, & perhaps may pass thro' that stage;1 of each of his senses.' It must have amused D to compare Prince Albert's plans (see 2299n6) to the Caliph's palaces; the fifth, 'denominated THE RETREAT OF JOY, or THE DANGEROUS; was frequented by troops of young females, beautiful as the Houris, and not less seducing; who never failed to receive, with caresses, all whom the Caliph allowed to approach them ...' William Beckford Vathek (facsimile re-edition Delmar, NY 1972) 2, 5. Incidentally, the reference in I 327ni should be to Beckford's The Episodes of Vathek, like the novel written in French and originally intended to be included in it, but in the event shown only in MS to friends and not published until 1909 and not in an English translation until 191 see Robert J. Gemmett's introduction to his edition of William Beckford The Episodes of Vathek (1975), especially xxi-xxviii. 2 The morning sitting (noon to 4) of the House on 4 June was taken up with a committee of supply carried over from the previous evening; discussion focused mainly on the civil service estimates. Hansard CXXII cols 1-17 (D 10, u, 16, 17); The Times (5jun 1852). 1 The New Zealand Government Bill, establishing a new constitution and self-government, and providing for separate territories for colonists and natives, was considered an urgent matter because the suspension of the 1846 constitution would expire in March 1853. On 3 May Pakington had moved for leave to bring in the bill, somewhat modified from the one drafted by the previous government; it had been given second reading on 21 May, was considered in committee on 4 and lojune, given third reading and passed in the Commons on 17 June and, after passing through the Lords, given royal assent on 30 June Hansard CXXI cols 102-38, 922-82, CXXII cols 17-66, 433-64, 884-96, 1392 (D 65, 66, 463-4).

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2302

That this morning, / & yesterday, (Thursday), the House was in Committee of Supply, & a moiety of the remaining estimates were voted; & that the / general aspect of business, as far as progress is concerned, is very encouraging. The house good-tempered & inclined to remain / so. Sir James Graham has pledged the Chanclr. of the Exr to make a statement with respect to the public business on Monday, but the / Chanr thinks he shall be able to give a satisfactory account - & that the results of this brief & tumu disturbed Session will reflect no disgrace / upon the House of Commons, &, he hopes, not altogether on Yr Majestys very humble advisers & servants.

2303

TO: LORD DERBY

House of Commons, Friday [4 June 1852]

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [8l] COVER: The Earl I of I Derby. I D. PUBLICATION HISTORY: Blake 319, extracts dated 10 June 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the sixth page: 'B Disraeli June 10. 52 having reference to a difference of opinion expressed by Messrs Henley and Herries on the subject of Mr Disraeli's address to the Electors of Bucks'; and in Derby's hand: 'Put by Secret'. Dating: by context; see n2.

My dear Lord, H of C. I Friday night I send you a corrected proof of the address. I have done nothing with it.1 Herries disapproves altogether. He says we are sinking; that the flag is drooping on the staff; that we are a government of negatives; but I can extract nothing definite from him, except it / be, that tfe we sho[ul]d reconstruct our colonial system on a commercial principle; that abstract protection shd. be announced at home; & general protestantism asserted. He had previously talked over Henley, who, yesterday was all right. Not that Henley agrees with the Herries' programme. Henley says, that Lord Derby, in accepting office, ought / never to have mixed himself up with the industrial questions, but shd. have formed a strong government on the broad principle of Anti-Secular Education - according to Henley, the only principle, wh: the people of England care about; I suppose his country friends; to complete the picture, / Henley is a free trader! Herries is alarmed particularly at such talk as "revision of taxation" & Henley agrees with him so far, that he believes, as far as the agriculturist is concerned, he is rather undertaxed. Pleasant! Under these cir[cumstan]ces, I wd. Fa do nothing, & leave everything to your bright brain. Mine is / rather fuddled by more than 12 hours continuous House of Commonsing, wh: deprives one of all self-confidence. We have just carried by a good majority the House of Com Lords Clause in the New Zealand Bill.2 Ever yrs I D. 1 See 2299&nm&3. There is in H a 6-page proof of the address headed 'CONFIDENTIAL' which differs from the text published in The Times in only minor ways (punctuation, 'burthen' for burden, etc). H 8/1/0/89. It is possible that Derby's undated note quoted in 2299113 is his response to this letter and its enclosed proof, in which case D did not use Derby's alternative material, although see 2309. 2 On Friday 4 June, the House sat from noon to 4, and then again at 6; in the evening sitting, the House in committee discussed the New Zealand Government Bill (see 23O2ni). Clause 33 (appointment of members to the legislative council), after considerable discussion about whether members of the upper

70

TO: ELECTORS OF BUCKS

[London, Sunday 6] June 1852

ORIGINAL: PS 631

PUBLICATION HISTORY: The Times 7 June 1852; BH 12 June 1852; M&B III 369-70, dated 2 June 1852, extracts; Blake 319-20, undated extracts EDITORIAL COMMENT: The following is the text as published in The Times under the heading 'Mr. DISRAELI and his CONSTITUENTS.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has issued the following address to the

electors of the county of Buckingham: - '. Dating: although the text is clearly dated in its published form, the preceding letters show that it was subjected to scrutiny and revision in London until 6 June; see 2299, 2303&nl, 2305 and 230901. Sic: united kingdom; both popular, economical, and efficient.

Hughenden Manor, June 2. Gentlemen, - I take the opportunity of returning to the county to inform you that, on the dissolution of Parliament, which may be shortly expected, I shall again solicit the distinguished office of being your member, an honour which you have twice unanimously conferred on me. The occasion is critical, and it is as well to disentangle, from the misrepresentations of ignorant or interested persons, what is really at stake. In 1842, Sir Robert Peel, at the head of the Conservative party, converted a considerable and continuous deficiency in the public revenue into a surplus, by the imposition of an income tax, which also permitted him greatly to mitigate our tariff. These measures realised all the success which the Conservative party anticipated from them. In the course of four years 7,ooo,ooo/. of Customs duties were repealed, without materially diminishing the revenue derived from that branch, and no domestic interest in the country suffered from the change. The principles on which these alterations were effected were the removal of all prohibitions, the reduction of duties to such a scale as admitted 'fair competition' with domestic produce, and the free admission of all raw materials. I had the satisfaction of voting for these measures in company with those gentlemen who now honour the present Government with their support.1 Since the four years, closing with 1845, during which the Conservative party carried these wise and beneficial measures, two great changes in our commercial system have taken place — the free introduction of foreign corn and of slave-grown sugar. The first of these arrangements was not originally contemplated in the commercial policy of Sir Robert Peel, for he opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws within a few months previously to his abrogating them. When he recommended their repeal it was to meet an emergency; and he stated to Lord George Bentinck, in my hearing, that he believed that repeal would not materially affect the prices of agricultural produce. The admission of slave-grown sugar was not approved of by Sir Robert Peel.

chamber should be appointed or elected (the nominee chamber being seen as comparable to the British House of Lords), passed with minor changes by 132-89. On reaching clause 74, the chairman reported progress and, after some other business, the House adjourned at 2:00 am. Hansard CXXII cols 17-76 (D 65, 66, 67, 73, 74-5, 75); The Times (5 Jun 1852). 1 See IV 1241&H2 and IV introduction p xii.

71

2304

These two measures, unlike the preceding ones, have occasioned severe suffering among the producing classes which they affect. The distress of the agricultural classes has been admitted, announced, and deplored from the Throne, under the advice of a Whig Ministry; and the consequences of the alteration of the sugar duties were so disastrous to our free-producing colonies that, within two years after the passing of the act of 1846, a Whig Ministry also found it necessary to modify their own measure. The sufferings of the agricultural and colonial classes have arisen from their being thrown into unlimited competition with the foreigner on unequal terms with the rest of their fellow subjects. Those unequal conditions result in great measure from the peculiar imposts and the vexatious regulations to which our agricultural and sugar-producing industries are subject. The same precipitation which attended the repeal of the protective duties on corn and sugar accompanied the repeal of the navigation laws. Even the proposers of that measure now admit that 'the shipping interest, exposed to severe rivalry, is subject to burdens and restrictions which impede its prosperity.' This is the language of the Minister who himself repealed the navigation laws, and yet left the burdens and restrictions which impede the prosperity of our mercantile marine. This opinion will be found in the recent address of Lord John Russell to his constituents. That address deserves the attentive study of the shipping interest. Her Majesty's Ministers would consider these burdens and restrictions with a view to their removal.2 The farmers hitherto have been the persons who have been most injured by the repeal of the Corn Laws, but the diminution of rent in Great Britain is greater than is generally supposed. In preparing the financial statement for this year, it was officially represented to me, that I must contemplate, in estimating the produce of the Income Tax, a diminution of rent not much less in amount than 5,ooo,ooo/ sterling. Practically speaking, in this country, rent has become a return for the capital invested in the improvement of land. Laws to secure a return for such investment are not for a moment to be tolerated, but laws which, by imposing unequal taxes, discourage that investment, are, irrespective of their injustice, highly impolitic; for nothing contributes more to the enduring prosperity of a country than the natural deposit of its surplus capital in the improvement of its soil. Justice to the land, in all systems of finance, is equally the interest of the proprietor and the farmer, but it is also equally the interest of the community. There is no portion of the united kingdom that has suffered more from the precipitate repeal of the Corn Laws than Ireland. The claim of that country to the consideration of Parliament is irresistible.

2 In his address to the electors of London dated 22 May, Russell had rehearsed the accomplishments of his previous ministry following the lead of Peel, especially the great benefits of free trade: 'You will find the more recent facts, furnishing the most conclusive proofs of the wisdom of that policy, in the financial statement of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer. That speech deserves your attentive study.' He then sketched what needed to be done next: facilitate land transfer, simplify the machinery of the customs department, and 'remove, as far as possible, those remaining burdens or restrictions upon the shipping interest which still impede its prosperity.' The Times (24 May 1852).

72

The time has gone by when the injuries which the great producing interests endure can be alleviated or removed by a recurrence to the laws which, previously to 1846, protected them from such calamities. The spirit of the age tends to free intercourse, and no statesman can disregard with impunity the genius of the epoch in which he lives. But every principle of abstract justice and every consideration of high policy counsel that the producer should be treated as fairly as the consumer, and intimate that when the native producer is thrown into unrestricted competition with external rivals it is the duty of the Legislature in every way to diminish, certainly not to increase, the cost of production. It is the intention of Her Majesty's Ministers to recommend to Parliament, as soon as it is in their power, measures which may effect this end. One of the soundest means, among others, by which this result may be accomplished is a revision of our taxation. The times are favourable to such an undertaking; juster notions of taxation are more prevalent than heretofore; powerful agencies are stirring, which have introduced new phenomena into finance, and altered the complexion of the fiscal world; and the possibility of greatly relieving the burdens of the community, both by adjustment and reduction, seems to loom in the future. But nothing great can be effected by any Ministry unless they are supported by a powerful majority in Parliament. Our predecessors were men who, for personal honour and administrative ability, need not shrink from a comparison with any body of individuals qualified to serve Her Majesty, but they were never sure of a Parliamentary majority; hence much of their unsatisfactory conduct. They were justified, from the broken state of parties, in their continuance in office, which they never evinced any unworthy readiness to retain; but it is far from desirable that such indulgence should become a chronic weakness of our constitution. In the brief period during which we have held the reins, although placed in a position of great embarrassment, from the impossibility of at once appealing to the country, we have introduced three measures, which it is hoped will soon become the law of the land. One is a measure of internal defence, which, it is believed, will soon prove both popular, economical, and efficient; the second would confer on an interesting and important colony a constitution founded on the right principles which should govern dependencies; the third will at length achieve a complete reform of the Court of Chancery.3 There was a fourth measure which we proposed. Two petty boroughs, long infamous for corruption, had been justly and wisely disfranchised. We recommended to Parliament that these forfeited seats should be transferred to two of the most important communities of the country, distinguished not only for their vast wealth and teeming population, but by all the enduring elements of national greatness. A combination of Parliamentary sections defeated, on a technical pretext, this wise and generous proposition, which would have added strength and lustre to the House of Commons, and have asserted the popular principle in a manner consistent with that maintenance of classes which becomes a free and ancient Monarchy, and which is the best security for order and liberty.4 3 For the Militia Bill see 2264&m. For the New Zealand Bill see 2302111. On chancery reform see 231^3. 4 See 2287&ni.

73

The time of the House of Commons has been much occupied of late by a discussion, whether the management of the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth requires investigation.5 Without prejudging the question, Her Majesty's Ministers have felt it their duty to support such an inquiry. We have been anxious to subdue the heat of religious controversy, and to deal impartially with all Her Majesty's subjects whether in communion with the Church of Rome or the Church of England; but we cannot sanction an opinion now in vogue, that since the act of 1829 the constitution of this country has ceased to be Protestant. By the Act of Settlement,6 our form of Government is that of a Protestant monarchy; and it is our belief that the people of this country are resolved so to maintain it, not only in form, but in spirit. Various schemes have been devised for the extension and improvement of the education of the people; and among others, a measure was proposed by an intelligent community, during the present session of Parliament, to the principles of which we could not accede. The only principle in the present diversity of religious opinion which seems to be just, is that of encouraging the voluntary efforts of the several religious bodies by grants of public money in proportion to the extent to which those efforts have been made. In asserting for all this universal right, we claim for the Church, the national depository of sacred truth, that the freedom of her efforts in the cause of education should not be fettered by regulations and restrictions which are not required to afford security for a due application of the public funds.7 I have touched, gentlemen, on most of the topics which now engage the attention of the country. They are not mean issues. The country will have to decide whether it will maintain a Ministry formed on the principles of Conservative progress; whether it will terminate for ever, by just and conciliatory measures, the misconceptions which have too long prevailed between producer and consumer, and extinguish the fatal jealousy that rankles between town and country; whether our colonial empire shall be maintained and confirmed; whether the material development of Ireland shall at length be secured; whether such alterations as time and circumstances may appear to justify and require in the construction of the House of Commons shall be made in that spirit of revolution which has arrested the civilization of Europe, or in the spirit of our popular though not democratic,

5 See 2895&ni. 6 The act of parliament passed in June 1701 to avoid civil war by regulating the succession to the throne, plus other measures. 7 See 2299&n2. There were currently several schemes (unsuccessful in the event) to extend the initiative taken by the education clauses of Peel's 1842 Factory Bill to a rate-aided national system of elementary schools. One of these was the Manchester and Salford Education Bill, a private bill brought in by Joseph Brotherton (MP for Salford). Intended as an experiment, it provided for free education (reluctantly including non-dogmatic religious instruction in recognition of public opinion) for the poor of Manchester and Salford to be funded by local rates, the administration being the responsibility of the town councils. It had been discussed on second reading on 11 February, when large petitions from Manchester and Salford in support of the plan were produced. On 17 March a select committee on the matter had been appointed, and second reading deferred. HansardCXIX cols 379-96, 1195-1218 (D 1217-18), CXX 341-3. The Times on 8 June would declare D's paragraph on education to be, probably intentionally, 'totally unintelligible'.

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institutions; whether the Church of England shall still remain a national Church; whether the Crown of England shall still be a Protestant Crown. I believe that the county of Buckingham is not in doubt on these heads, and therefore I appeal to you with confidence for your support. I cannot vie with the patriots and the statesmen whom, for so many generations, you have sent up to Parliament; but I will promise you this, on my own part and on that of my colleagues, that if public opinion ratify the choice of our gracious Sovereign, we will earnestly endeavour that the honour and the interests of the country shall not suffer by our administration. I remain, Gentlemen, I Your obliged friend and servant, I B. DISRAELI. TO: JOHN C. HERRIES

Downing Street [Monday] 7 June [1852]

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 574OQ ff4O-l

2305

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: by the appearance of D's address on 7 June 1852; see 23O4ec. Sic: C.J Herries.

Rt Hon C.J Herries D.S. I June.7 My dear Herries, I am now going to the House. Yr. letter about the address was only brought, by your 1 messenger, to Grosr. Gate about l/2/ /an hour ago, tho datedSunday afternoon. I saw Ld. Derby yesterday, who decided that the appearance of the address shd not be further delayed. / I had modified some expressions of wh: you had disapproved. Ever yrs I D TO: CHARLES NEWDEGATE

Coventry House, Monday [7 June 1852?]

ORIGINAL: WAR B 6336

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: highly conjectural; see ni. By 1854 D was frequently spelling Charles Newdigate Newdegate's surname correctly, so the date of this letter, written when D was in government, is probably 1852. Sic: Newdigate.

Cov: House I Monday night My dear Newdigate, I find I made a great mistake in supposing that you were not wanted on Monday. The government is in / danger, & witht. the constant presence of our friends during this crisis, we must be shipwrecked.1 Yrs sincerely I Dis 1 Herries's letter is dated only 'Duke St. Sunday G.June': 'I have now read your proposed Address with the care which I told you I would devote to it ... I think all the passages as far as the end of the 2d paragraph in the 3d. page (referring specially to Ireland) are excellent. The 4 next paragraphs appear to me to require a careful re-consideration. Upon all the remainder of the Address I have no criticism to suggest ... [except] that the Address, as it now stands, wears the character of a Manifesto from the whole Government: whereas I venture to think that [it] should, in form at least, appear as proceeding only from an individual member of the Cabinet ..." H B/XXI/H/545. The four paragraphs to which Herries objected are the ones in 2304 between 'The time has gone by ..." and '... a chronic weakness of our constitution.' 1 On Monday 7 June 1852 in the evening sitting there was strong support for a hostile amendment on the third reading of the Militia Bill, which was passed after the amendment was defeated 220148. Hansard CXXII cols 144-88.

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2306

230?

TO: LORD ST LEONARDS ORIGINAL: sue [4]

Grosvenor Gate [Tuesday] 8 June 1852

COVER: Private & confidential I The I Lord Chancellor I H: of Lords. I B DISRAELI

confidential

The I Lord Chancellor Grosvenor Gate I June 8. 1852 My dear Ld Chancellor, Don't misconceive my purpose, or believe, for a moment, that I wish to abuse our friendship - but the writer of the enclosed / is an admirable person, to whom the party generally is much indebted, & who has conferred great services on myself, for I owe him my present seat.1 It / wd. pain me, that he shd think, that his appeal was thrown aside disregarded, & if you cd. spare a moment from your vast labors to send me only one line, it / wd. greatly oblige & gratify me.2 Ever, my dear Lord, I Yours I D.

2308

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Downing Street [Tuesday] 8 June 1852

ORIGINAL: BL ADD MS 375O2 ffl26-9

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 371, dated 8 June 1852, two sentences omitted; LBC5268, extracts dated 8 June 1852; Meynell II 557, extracts dated 8 June 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed (in another hand?) on the first page: 'D'. 'Frank' has been altered from 'France'; 'Taylors' from 'Tailors'. Sic: au fait to.

My dear Sa, D.S. I June 8. 52 I suppose a hurried 8c stupid line is better than nothing. The business is very hard & anxious - up to 3 o'ck every morning & in my place / in the house again at noon. It cannot, I suppose, last very long: at least, if it do, I shall not. However, on the whole, I keep my health. / I have got the artillery for Frank Trevor,1 who was in some danger. MA. I suppose keeps you a little au fait to our, or rather to her life. Mine you know by the / newspapers. I go nowhere.2 Yesterday I was not at the Trinity

1 Rose had written to D on 5 June, reminding him, as chancellor of the exchequer, to be sworn at the court of the exchequer within the next week to avoid a penalty. He then brought up another topic: 'I have just heard that, by the resignation of Mr. Raines, one of the Masters, there either is, or immediately will be, a vacancy in the Taxing Officers department of the Court of Chancery. This appointment is one of the few prizes in our branch of the Profession, only practising Solicitors, of 10 years standing, being eligible for it. It is a most honorable post. The Salary £2000 per ann. and I am free to confess that the ultimate attainment of this position has long been the object of my ambition. Tho' it would involve a considerable loss of income I should so much prefer the regularity of duty ... It is stated in the Act of Parliament to be in the gift of the Lord Chancellor ...' On 8 June he wrote again: 'Pray accept my warmest thanks for your great kindness. Whatever the issue may be I shall ever feel deeply indebted to you for the ready interference in my favour. I was almost fearful, after I had written that you would be shocked at my presumption ...' H B/XX/R/6, R/I/B/12. 2 St Leonards's reply has not been found; Raines in fact did not resign. LPOD (1856). 1 See V 2023111; Trevor in 1852 was 2nd lieutenant in the Royal (Madras) Artillery, in which he would make his career. At the public examination of cadets at Addiscombe on 12 June, Trevor was among those receiving merit awards for artillery service. The Times (14 Jun 1852). 2 Derby on 2 June had even remarked: 'I see no particular reason for your being at the [Queen's] Drawing room [on 3 June] ...' H B/XX/S/1O3.

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House,3 & shall not be at a long series of civic feasts, wh: are coming, E.I. Company,4 Skinners,3 M. Taylors6 - being all, & perhaps fortunately, / on H of C days. Yesterday On Sunday I gave Graham a good dressing & he cd. not rally/ I am very glad young Stanley has come back. On / Sunday, I was two hours with the Prince - a very gracious & interesting audience. He has great abilities & wonderful knowledge. I think / the best educated man I ever met - most completely trained & not overeducated, for his intellect, wh: is energetic & lively. Adieu! I D TO: JOSEPH HENLEY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2

Downing Street [Tuesday] 8 June 1852

[49]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The letter, although endorsed 'Copy', is in D's hand, evidently the copy of his reply to Henley that he sent to Derby with Henley's letter; see ni and 2310.

Copy The Right Honble. I J.W. Henley Downing Street I June 8. 1852 Dear Mr. Henley, The Address was perused, and partly composed, by Lord Derby. It was printed, and submitted to every Member of the Cabinet; and approved of by all (subject to certain verbal alterations which were generally adopted,) except by yourself and Mr. Herries. I / informed Lord Derby of those objections on your part, in order that, if he thought fit, the matter should be brought before the Cabinet; but he did not choose to do so, and instructed me after the Cabinet to publish the Address forthwith.1 Yours faithfully I (signed) B Disraeli 3 Trinity House, on the north side of Tower Hill, was the hall of the Trinity Corporation, which attended to navigational matters not under the admiralty such as lighthouses, and used its revenue for the relief of indigent seamen, their widows and families. According to the report in The Times on 8 June, the Duke of Wellington on the previous day, Trinity Monday, had paid his annual visit to the Trinity Hospital and Trinity Asylum at Deptford, to be sworn master of the corporation for another year. In the evening there had been a banquet for 70 people at Trinity House, attended by many MPs: 'The Earl of Derby, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Earl of Malmesbury, the Right Hon. Spencer Walpole, the Earl of Minto, and Lord John Russell, were prevented from joining the party in consequence of their Parliamentary duties ..." 4 The East India Company's house was in Leadenhall Street; its dinner would be on Saturday 19 June (not a Commons day), at the London Tavern. D did not attend. MP (21 Jun 1852). 5 The Skinners' Company, whose hall was in Dowgate Hill, operated a large school at Tonbridge. 6 The Merchant Taylors' Company, who operated the school in Suffolk Lane, Dowgate, had the largest hall of any of the London companies, in Threadneedle Street. For some of the previous dinners there see II 40g&n27, ill 76on7, 77O&n4, v 2ll3n2 and 2116. 7 See 2299114 and 2302. In the evening sitting on Monday 7 June D had responded to Graham's contention that public business was in a state so deplorable as to discredit the Commons and the system of government which it represented; he reviewed the bills on the order paper, pointing out that with the advanced state of progress of the law reform bills, the colonial bills and the board of works bills, only 19 of the 200 money votes remained to be passed. He similarly reviewed a series of individual bills, concluding (contra Graham) that the state of public business did credit to the House, and vindicated the system of representative government. Hansard cxxil cols 133-44. 1 Henley's letter to D is dated 8 May [sic]: 'in our present relation to each other perfect frankness is indispensable - in that spirit which you will understand, I must say that having expressed my previous

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2309

2310

TO: LORD DERBY

Downing Street [Tuesday] 8 June 1852

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [47]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Blake 319, extract dated 8 June 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: See 23O9&ni.

My dear Lord, D.S. I June 8-52 I always wish to save you from annoyances - but I think it my duty to let you see the enclosed. Henley / has never acted cordially with me, either in opposition or in government, but I have hitherto disregarded his churlishness, & treated / him very kindly - wh: has however been pouring water on a sandy soil. Ever yrs I D.

2311

TO: PRINCE ALBERT

House of Commons, Thursday lojune [1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC F25/1O1

EDITORIAL COMMENT: D has drawn a line over the 'ae' of his signature.

H.R.H. I The Prince House of Comm: I Thursday June 10. I 2 o'ck Sir, I have the honor & satisfaction to report to Yr Royal Highness, that I have succeeded in making, with the / Governor of the Bank,1 the arrangement, wh: I took the liberty of suggesting to Yr Royal Highness, & wh: Yr Royal Highness approved. The arrangement will be kept secret. / Any partial & ill-timed disclosure of the great project is now rendered unnecessary, & Yr Royal Highness will be enabled to introduce it to the nation in that complete form, / & at that happy moment, which become the vast & beautiful conception. That, when realised, the creation of Your Royal Highness will form an epoch in the / aesthetic & scientific education of the people of England is the conviction of Your Royal Highness's I most humble & I most obedt Servant I B. Disraeli2

2312

TO: THOMAS BARING

House of Commons, Thursday lojune [1852]

ORIGINAL: BAR [13]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: see nn2&3-

dissent I now feel compelled to say that I demur to any one "not the head" of the Government issuing manifestoes [sic] in the name of the whole the matter not having been submitted to a cabinet; I have said this to others & therefore say it to you.' DBF Box 145/2 [48]. 1 Thomson Hankey (1805-1893), a West India merchant, was governor of the Bank of England 1851-3, Liberal MP for Peterborough 1853-68, 1874-80. 2 See 229Q&n6, 2300 and 2308. Prince Albert replied from Windsor Castle the same day to this, D's first letter to him: 'I have been very much pleased to receive your letter announcing to me that you have obtained the consent of the Govrnr. of the Bank of England to the arrangement you suggested at our last meeting at Buckingham Palace. I understand the arrangement to be: that the Bank of England will at your request advance the sum of £150,000 for the purchase of land adjoining Hyde Park on the security of the land to be purchased with this sum & the further sum of £140,000 to be taken from the surplus fund of the late Exhibition.' RAC F25/102 (copy). See further 23l3&m.

78

Thos: Baring Esqr H of Comm: I Thursday June 10 My dear Baring, You have done all I wished, & have done it well, / as you always do. My friend was very anxious & rather impatient, but I sent him off a despatch, wh: he / received to day when he came from the races,1 & is so pleased, that a gracious reply has already reached me.2 We are / deep in New Zealand.3 Ever your obliged I D. TO: PRINCE ALBERT

House of Commons, Friday 11 June 1852

ORIGINAL: RAC F25/1O3

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: Highnesses' [twice].

H.R.H. I The Prince Ho: of Comm: I Friday June 11./52 Sir, I had the honor of receiving Yr Royal Highnesses' letter yesterday. I enclose a copy of the memorandum entered / into with the Governor of the Bank, signed with his initials.1 Yr Royal Highness will observe, that the sum to be advanced is £110,000 - not / £150,000. Had I insisted on the larger sum, I found, that there would be delay, &, certainly, not the secrecy now secured. Wishing to relieve Yr Royal Highness, as / soon as possible, from anxiety, & to facilitate the progress of affairs, I thought it best to make the arrangement as it appears, but I have no doubt, that, if expedient, / I shall be able, in due time, to expand the loan, at least, by the sum of £30,000. I have the honor to remain, I with all respect, I Your Royal Highnesses' most faithful & obedient Sert I B Disraeli2

1 At Ascot. The Times (ll Jun 1852). 2 Baring was evidently helping D raise the money for Prince Albert's scheme; see 23ll&nni&2 and 23i3&ni. In a letter of 2 April 1853 asking D to return the memorandum he had initialed on 9 June 1852 (see 23i3&ni), Thomson Hankey wrote: 'This paper was as I understood placed in your hands at the request of Prince Albert by my friend T Baring.' H B/XXI/H/12O. 3 On lOjune the House in committee approved the remaining clauses of the New Zealand Government Bill; see 23O2&ni. 1 The memorandum outlines the royal commission's plan to buy land in addition to that already bought at a total estimated cost of £250,000, of which it has £140,000. It expects to be able to raise the rest in 12 months, and therefore merely seeks a loan of £110,000 in the meantime, with all the purchased land as security. At the end is appended a note: The Governors of the Bank of England will be willing to lend £110,000, - on the terms above mentioned at the mortgage rate of interest of 3]/4 pet pr annum; the securities being approved of by their Solicitor [initialed:] T Hy Govr. B of E. 9 June 1852.' H B/XXI/H/648. Hankey would later ask for the return of this memorandum (see 23l2n2) but it remains in H to this day. Parliament on 7 December of this year voted £150,000 for the land purchase. JHC CVIII (1852-4) 177. 2 Col Charles Grey, Prince Albert's secretary, would write from Buckingham Palace on 12 June: The Prince gave you his plan of the ground about Kensington which is in discussion, the other day. - It is very desirable to have it when he sees you tomorrow, & he therefore desires me to beg that you will bring it with you.' H B/XXI/G/364.

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2313

2314 T

QUEEN VICTORIA Downing Street [Saturday] 12 June 1852 ORIGINAL: RAC 041/69

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 373. dated 12 Tune, the last paragraph only

D.S. I June 12. 1852 The Chancellor of the Exr., with his humble duty to Yr Majesty, reports to Yr Majesty; that the result of the week in the House of Commons has been very / progressive. The Militia bill has been read a third time, & passed to the Lords.1 The New Zealand Bill (82 clauses) has passed the ordeal of the Committee,2 &, last / night, both the Chancery Reform bills were equally successful.3 No apparent obstacles exist to the further progress of these measures. The Committee of Supply has been concluded with the exception of two / votes,4 & the Navy Pay Bill, & one or two other measures, spoken of by Sir James Graham very hopelessly, have either been passed, or materially advanced.0 The only distressing incident of the week has / been the vote on Mr. Horsman's motion. The feeling of the House of Commons, on both sides, is so determined against tractarian principles, that the majority will support motions, of wh: they otherwise disapprove, / if they think such votes may incidentally check the aggressions of the Sacerdotal party.6

1 This had been done on Monday 7 June; see 23o6&ni. 2 This had happened on Thursday 10 June. Hansard CXII cols 433-64 (D 463-4). 3 Two of the four remaining major chancery reform bills (the Improvement of the Jurisdiction of Equity Bill and the Masters in Chancery Abolition Bill) had passed without difficulty through committee on Friday 11 June. Hansard CXII cols 530-46. The other three of the five main chancery reform bills of the session were (according to Graham on 3 June): the Common Law Procedure Bill (committee on 18 June); Suitors in Chancery Relief (No. 2) Bill (through both Lords and Commons without discussion on 30 June); and the Law of Wills Amendment Bill (already passed, royal assent on 17 June). 4 The remaining two votes, left over from the committee of 11 June, would be passed on Monday 14 June, as would some other outstanding business from previous votes. Hansard CXXII cols 520-5, 602-11, 696-7. 5 The Navy Pay Bill (to reduce from 6 months to 3 the maximum time a seaman's pay could be in arrears, as the problem of desertion had diminished) had been discussed in committee on Monday 8 June and given third reading on 10 June. Graham on 3 June (see 2299&n4) had referred to the Navy Pay Bill as being 'of the greatest importance and of some difficulty ..." Hansard CXX1 col 1376, CXXII cols 188-9, 388 (index; confirmed in///CCVII (1852) 283). 6 The Rev W.J.E. Bennett's preferment by Lady Bath to the vicarage of Frome and the institution by the Bishop of Bath and Wells of the ritualist priest to the position had caused an outcry; for the background see V 2o6g&n7, 2072&n2 and 2081. This reaction had been led in the Commons by Edward Horsman (1807-1876), nephew of the 8th and gth Earls of Stair, Liberal MP for Cockermouth 1836-52, for Stroud 1853-68, for Liskeard 1869-76, a lord of the treasury 1840-1, chief secretary for Ireland 1855-7. After the defeat (100-80) on 20 April of Horsman's motion for an Address to the Queen requesting a royal commission on the matter (gingerly opposed by D, who promised an inquiry), and after D on 17 May announced that an inquiry had found existing means of pursuing the issue that should be used if there were indeed grievances, Horsman on Tuesday 8 June had moved for a select committee to inquire into the bishop's action; the motion passed 156-111 against the government. On lojune Horsman had tried unsuccessfully to present his nominations for the committee (several nominees declining to serve), and on 11 June had asked for time on Monday to make further nominations, which D said he could grant only if he could be assured there would be no debate. The matter would remain at this impasse despite further attempts by Horsman on 14 and 18 June, when it was made clear, particularly by Gladstone, that it would not be allowed to pass without debate. HansardCXX cols 895-943 ( D 9*6-21, 940), CXXI cols 501

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TO: QUEEN VICTORIA

House of Commons, Monday [14 June 1852]

ORIGINAL: RAC €41/70

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 372-3, dated [15 June 1852] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: June 15. 1852.' and after 'o'ck': 'A.M.'. Dating: by context; see ni.

Monday - H of C. I V2 past 12 o'ck The Chanr of the Exr., with his humble duty to yr Majesty, reports to yr Majesty, that Ld. John Russell made / his "observations on the present state of public affairs" this evening - appended to the Mather case. This latter he treated very cleverly, & had the house with him, but his / postscript, wh: was very general, marred all, & dissipated the attention of the House. Ld. Granby got into high protection - Ld Palmerston attacked both governments - but the / present gently. The house seemed ill-disposed & affairs looked black, but the Chanr. of the Exr. was more fortunate than he expected or deserved. He is just down, & writes this humbly to say, that Yr. Majestys ministers have outlived a threatening night.1

(D 501), 685-91 (D 685-8, 688, 689-91), CXXII cols 245-330 (D 318-21), 464-8 (D 467), 529-30 (D 529-30), 612-15 (D 614, 615), 938-58 (D 956-7). In an undated note (before 20 April?) Derby had remarked: 'I am afraid things do not look well on Horsman's motion. Except for the awkwardness of having to answer the Address, I cannot say I feel much concern - and I have no sympathy with the case of Mr. Bennett. The appointment was indefensible - and the right of private property is the only real ground we have to stand on.' H B/XX/S/gi. On 17 May, Gladstone had written to ask D when the government proposed to bring on Horsman's motion, as he had been in communication with the Bishop of Bath and Wells and might feel duty bound to make a statement on his behalf; he offered to help the government by providing any information he could. BL ADD MS 44652 ff 130-1. According to Herbert Paul A History of Modern England (1904) 273, 'the controversies which afterwards agitated the Church of England on the subject of ritual may be said to date from the institution of the Rev. W.J.E. Bennett to the vicarage of Frome in Somerset by Bishop Bagot of Bath and Wells.' 1 On Monday 14 June, Russell reviewed the session, particularly the Mather case (see 22Q6&ni); by his account, Malmesbury had accepted both of the conflicting accounts of the incident, that is, as an unfortunate accident and an intentional assault on an Englishman. Russell blamed the inept handling of the case by the British charge d'affaires on Malmesbury's failure to give him specific instructions, thereby leaving the British government open to ridicule and contempt. He then reviewed the whole session, and castigated the government; they had been put in power to declare their policy, but had instead used the session studiously to conceal it. It was commonly known that the government's strategy was to survive until dissolution, and then bring protection back after the election, but he was sure the country had no confidence in a government without principles. In the ensuing debate, Granby argued that evidence showed most sectors to be suffering from the new commercial policy, which he was confident would be gradually modified and eventually reversed. Palmerston reverted to the Mather case, badly handled in his view by both the present and the previous governments. He agreed with Malmesbury that the Austrian government could have been pressed for reparation without compromising Tuscany's independence. Furthermore, he thought Britain should work with France and Austria to resolve the anomalous state of affairs prevailing in many of the Italian states. D in reply defended Malmesbury's actions, disputed Palmerston's view that Tuscan independence would not have been compromised by dealing with Austria, and proceeded to a review of the session to counter Russell's 'very interesting postscript'; he explained that he and Derby had neither abandoned nor hidden their principle of justice for the interests unfairly treated in 1846. Hansard CXXII cols 616-96 (D 657, 678-94).

8l

2315

2316

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Downing Street [Wednesday] 16 June 1852

ORIGINAL: H A/I/B/359.aa PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 269, dated 16 June 1852, the first two paragraphs, conflated with an extract from 2319; M&B III 374, the LBCS version without the conflated extract; Meynell II 557-8, altered extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: The last line is written across the top of the first page. There is no signature.

My dear Sa, D.S. I June 16. 52 Our unprecedented efforts have nearly steered the ship into port. The Speaker says he never remembers so much & such hard work. / I think we shall carry every one of our bills of the slightest importance - even the Crime & Outrage bill, of wh: I once despaired.1 Things look favorably / - the Gt Court very gracious. I was with the Prince two hours again on Sunday last. To day our Cabinet dinner is at the Ld. Chancellors2 & I / have half promised M.A. to go with her to a ball in the evening at Lady Wiltons.3 Yr. letters to D.S. are sometimes sent to G.G. None have miscarried — but it is better, if anything important, to send them under cover to / T.P. Courtenay Esqr 11. D.S. Yrsaffy

2317

TO: ELECTORS OF BUCKS

Downing Street [Friday] 18 June 1852

ORIGINAL: HUNT STG Box 247(31) PUBLICATION HISTORY: BH (19, 26 June, 3, 1O, 17 July 1852)

EDITORIAL COMMENT: A printed broadsheet. There is also a copy in BUC. Sic: unfaulteringly,. To The I ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM.

GENTLEMEN, Downing Street, I i8th June, 1852. The Dissolution of Parliament will take place in a few days. I have so recently addressed you, and at so great length, that I will only now beg you, on the Day of Nomination, to support my claims to be elected, for the third time, to the high honor of being your Member. If, as I confidently anticipate, the judgment of the Country will ratify the choice of our gracious Sovereign, - the present Administration, under the auspices of Lord Derby, will do their utmost to obtain a just redress for the Agricultural Interest; and will unfaulteringly, uphold our free constitution in Church and State,

1 On Tuesday 15 June the House by a vote of 140-19 had given leave for the contentious Crime and Outrage (Ireland) Bill to be brought in; the bill continued the act of December 1847. D had concluded the debate, contending that expiry of the act would lead to the release of many criminals: measures to remedy the grievous conditions in Ireland had been impossible in the current session, but since the continuance was only until December, the matter could be considered by the next parliament. The bill would pass through both Houses and receive royal assent on 30 June. Hansard CXXII cols 773-92 (D 78790), 1392. Lord John Russell had written to D on 8 June: 'I shall be ready to attend the Irish Crime & Outrage Continuance Bill whenever it comes up for second reading.' H B/XXI/R/298. 2 Cabinet members gave cabinet dinners in turn each Wednesday. Malmesbury I 32i&m. 3 The Ds are both listed among the guests that attended Lady Wilton's ball in Grosvenor Square on 16 June. MP (17 Jun 1852).

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to which, under Divine Providence, we are indebted for a greater degree of happiness and liberty, than is enjoyed by any other country in the world. I have the honor to remain, I GENTLEMEN, I Your obliged friend and servant, I B. DISRAELI. TO: QUEEN VICTORIA ORIGINAL: RAC 041/71

House of Commons [Monday] 21 June 1852

2318

PUBLICATION HISTORY: LQVII 39O-1; M&B III 373-4, the last paragraph only EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'June. 21. 1852.'.

H of Comm: I 9 o'ck I June 21 - 52 The Chanr of the Exr, with his humble duty to Yr Majesty, reports to Yr Majesty, that Ld John Russell introduced to the notice of the H of Comm: tonight, the recent minute / of the Committee of Council on Education. Lord John Russell made a languid statement to a rather full house. His speech was not very effective as it proceeded, & there was silence when / he sate down. Then Mr Walpole rose & vindicated the minute. He spoke with animation, & was cheered when he concluded. Sir Harry Verney followed, & the house / very much dispersed; indeed, the discussion wd. probably have terminated when Sir Harry finished, had not Mr Gladstone then risen. Mr Gladstone gave only a very guarded approval to the minute / wh: he treated as insignificant. It was not a happy effort & the debate, for a while revived by his interposition, continued to languish until this hour (9, o'ck) with successive relays / of mediocrity, until it yielded its last gasp in the arms of Mr Slaney. The feeling of the H of Comm:, probably in this representing faithfully that of the Country, is against both the violent / parties in the Church, & in favor of a firm, tho' temperate, course on the part of the Crown, wh: may conciliate a vast majority & tend to terminate dissension[.]' TO: SARAH DISRAELI

[London, Tuesday] 22 June 1852

ORIGINAL: FITZ Disraeli A44 PUBLICATION HISTORY: LBCS 269, dated 16 June 1852, the last paragraph, conflated with an extract from 2316 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: au fait to.

1 See 2299&n2. On 14 June 1852, Walpole had tabled a 12 June minute of the committee of council on education altering the wording of the management clauses to give clergymen exclusive control over moral as well as religious issues; this was seen as extending to the Church of England powers in education more comparable to those in effect in the other denominational schools. In the House on 21 June, Russell questioned the wisdom of enacting at that time a provocative measure that in his view risked destroying the system of popular education, to which Walpole replied that the minute merely restored to the church what parliament had always intended it to have, the effect of which would be to lessen differences within the church. Verney totally opposed the minute. Gladstone thought it not unreasonable for teachers to be accountable to clergymen for their conduct as well as their teaching; he admitted that having teachers subject to dismissal by clergymen with a week's notice and referral to the bishop might be subject to abuse, but thought the changes did not constitute a fundamental alteration. Slaney's speech opposing the change was in fact the second last one before the matter was dropped. Hansard CXXII cols 1087-1115. See also 23O4&n7.

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2319

My dear Sa, J une 22. 1852 I send you a little line, tho' I am so busied & so tired (i.e when I stop working) that it will be very stupid. MA. keeps you au fait to her brilliant campaign in wh: I share very little: sitting / 14 or 15 hours a day in the H. of C. almost continuously, besides having the cares & labor of govt. How[eve]r I am very well, tho' a little jaded to day, not having got to bed till past four & then woke at / nine by the musquetry of Hyde Park.1 MA. was not home much before me, having been at a ball at Beaufort House.2 Tomorrow she has an assembly,3 at wh: I must be a guest, as we have a Cabinet dinner at Northumberland House.4 / The fish dinner is fixed for Wedy. the 3Oth. I hope Par[liamen]t will be prorogued the next day[.] The Queen will do so in person.0 Yrs affecy. I D. 2320

TO: THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND

Downing Street [Tuesday] 22 June 1852

ORIGINAL: H B/II/24

EDITORIAL COMMENT: A copy, not in D's hand. Endorsed (in D's hand) on the fourth page: 'To The Duke of Northumberland'.

Copy Downing Street I June 22. 1852 The Duke of Northumberland I &c &c &c My dear Lord Duke When the Boards of Excise and Stamps & Taxes were consolidated, three years ago, arrangements were made for the Union of the three Departments in one Chief Office; and as it was found to be very difficult to find rooms in Somerset House, it was determined to build a New Office on the West Side of Somerset Place. The constant communication, which is necessarily required, between the different branches of the Department of Inland Revenue, renders it highly inconvenient, both to the Public Service, and to the Individual Members of the Board and their

1 There had been a brigade field-day in Hyde Park (which Grosvenor Gate overlooks) on 22 June beginning at 8:30 am. The Times (23 Jun 1852). 2 The Duchess of Beaufort on 21 June had given a ball at Beaufort House; members of the royal family were among the numerous guests. MP (22 Jun 1852). 3 MA would give a reception at Grosvenor Gate on Wednesday 23 June, at which she 'very warmly welcomed' the Duke of Wellington; the partial list of distinguished guests (including many senior diplomats and parliamentarians) in MP (24 Jun 1852) fills about two-thirds of a column. Sarah would write to MA on 'Friday': 'I must congratulate you, as the Times does "on the brilliant & numerous company who responded to your invitation". I am delighted to hear from Ralph how very triumphant it all was, & how elegant & effective were all your arrangements - the beautiful music & the canopied looking glass which he most particularly expatiates upon; I am so glad that I saw it all in preparation as I can imagine it all as he describes it ... I long to see you again to hear something from you. What did the old Duke say? & did not everybody admire the house? R. says the galleries looked beautiful... he says there was a great crush about midnight. I cannot think how you & Dis get through all your labors. I don't think it would be possible if you were not both triumphant.' H D/III/A/2834 The residence of the Duke of Northumberland, first lord of the admiralty. 5 The annual ministerial whitebait dinner would be held at the Crown and Sceptre, Greenwich, on 30 June, the 43-member group (including D) travelling from Hungerford pier to the tavern by steamboat in 25 minutes. MP (i Jul 1852). The Queen in person on i July would prorogue parliament until 20 August, and announce its dissolution. Hansard CXX1I cols 1423-9.

84

Superior Officers, that any longer period should elapse before the proposed buildings are commenced. Nos. i, 2, 4 & 5 in Somerset Place have already been given up to the Inland Revenue Office; but it has been represented to me that Mr. Robert Dundas, who occupies No. 3, by virtue of his Office as Storekeeper General to the Navy, but not as an Officer, refuses to vacate that house before the end of the year; and the consequence is, that the proposed arrangements, so urgently demanded for the Public Service, are rendered impracticable; and the commencement of the building must be postponed until next year. I am told that Mr. Dundas pleads that it is inconvenient to him to quit his residence. This may be the case; but the interests of the Public Service ought to outweigh all considerations of personal and individual convenience; and I am sure that I have only to appeal to your Grace to use your influence, and, if necessary, your authority, in order to induce Mr. Dundas to vacate the premises without any further delay.1 Believe me I My dear Lord Duke I Your Grace's faithful S[ervan]t I Sd. B. Disraeli TO: EDWARD FARNHAM

Downing Street [Tuesday] 22 June 1852

2321

ORIGINAL: QUA 244

E.B. Farnham Esqr I M P . Dear Farnham,1 I have great pleasure in complying with your wish. Yours very faithfully I B Disraeli TO: LORD STANLEY

D S. I June 22 1852

Downing Street [Saturday] 26 June [1852]

ORIGINAL: DBF [1614]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: see ni.

D.S. I June 26 Do not lose a moment in going to Lynn. I think I can answer for Anstey not coming on; but at any rate, I will undertake to reply to / him. Do not bother yourself now about memorandums, but tell some one in the office, Addington or some one else, to be ready / to place themselves at my disposal, if necessary.1 D. 1 Robert Dundas (1803-1886), third son of 2nd Viscount Melville and himself 4th Viscount 1876, as storekeeper-general of the navy was employed in a department of the admiralty of which the Duke of Northumberland was first lord. No reply by the Duke to D's letter has been found. 1 Edward Basil Farnham (1799-1879), of Quorndon House, Leics, JP and DL for Leics (sheriff 1870), Conservative MP for N Leics 1837-59, major in the Leics Yeomanry Cavalry 1852 (May), had been one of the first to support D for leader; see V I78lni. 1 Stanley had written to D from the foreign office on 26 June to say he was going to Lynn on critical election business: 'The only difficulty is about Anstey. Can you make his not coming on a matter of certainty? If you cannot, would a memorandum on the subject enable you to take the reply on yourself? ...' H B/XX/S/552. In the Commons on Tuesday 29 June 1852, after D's explanation of the disposition of the Mather case (for which see 2296&m) by Sir Henry Bulwer, Sir Harry Verney on behalf of Thomas

85

2322

2323

TO: LORD STANLEY

Grosvenor Gate, Sunday 27 June [1852]

ORIGINAL: DBF [1613]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in Stanley's hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli 1852'. Dating: by context; see nni&2. Sic: moment.:.

June 27, Sunday. I G.G. Dear Stanley, It has occurred to me, as just possible, that Anstey may try to force on a discussion on the Wingate affair at some irregular moment.: on the morning of the prorogation for example, when / we sit sometimes two hours in silence, or even on Tuesday on the motion of adjournment.1 It wd. be just as well therefore, that I had a short brief. If you have left, or are leaving, / a memorandum can be prepared for me tomorrow at F.O., but if you be in town still, & for the rest of this day, probably you cd. send me one. At all events don't postpone / yr departure an instant. Bagge spoke with the qreatest confidence of yr. position at Lynn yesterday to me; but in these affairs one can't be too cautious.2 Ever I D.3

2324

TO: SARAH DISRAELI

Downing Street [Tuesday] 29 June [1852]

ORIGINAL: PS 621

PUBLICATION HISTORY: Maggs Catalogue360 (Autumn 1917), item 1501 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Dating: the context of 29 June 1852 fits this fragment very well; see ni. Sic: longday.

D.S. June 29th. I have just come from the house, having had to make a long speech ... on a subject of which I knew nothing.1 Mr. A.2 was going to write and propose dining with you

C. Anstey would move a resolution for prompt measures by the government against Austria on behalf of the Rev Messrs Wingate, Smith and Edward (missionaries of the Free Church of Scotland for the conversion of the Jews) expelled by Austria from Hungary. In his response, D remarked that he had not been aware that the question would be raised that morning, and then read lengthy extracts from despatches in support of his view that the government and its predecessor had done their duty. After a speech by Palmerston in which he deplored what he termed the abject position taken by the previous government on the issue of Austria's claims south of the Alps, the motion was withdrawn. Hansard CXXII cols 1365-89 (D 1367-78). See further 2323&nnl&3 and 2324&ni. 1 See 2322&ni. Parliament would be prorogued and dissolved after a brief sitting on i July, but the Wingate affair did not come up, Anstey instead raising two other matters. The Rev William Wingate (1808-1899) in 1871 would publish Close of the Times of the Gentiles: the great event of our day. Boase. 2 William Bagge (1810-1880), ist Bt 1867, of Stradsett, co Norfolk, JP and DL for Norfolk, was Conservative (Protectionist) MP for Norfolk W1837-57,1865-80; his twin brother, Richard, was mayor of the borough of Lynn, Norfolk, for which Stanley would be one of the successful candidates on 9 July. MP (8 July 1852). 3 Stanley replied immediately from the Albany: 'It is like you to take my share of work as well as your own: I think Anstey will force on the question, but he has no case. The Austrian government tells one story, the missionaries another: these latter have been told of the denial given to their statements, and asked to contradict it, which they have not seen fit to do. All the important papers are marked in the copy which I enclose. The Mem. should have been fuller, but the messenger is waiting ..." H B/XX/S/553. The memorandum on the affair is in Stanley's hand. H B/XX/S/528. 1 See 2322&ni. 2 Evidently a mistranscription (see ph) of 'M.A.', Mary Anne.

86

and spending a longday at Twickenham, but I think next week .... I never heard of D.T. Has he failed? He looked an old cheat.3 D. TO: THOMSON HANKEY

Downing Street [late?] June 1852

ORIGINAL: H B/II/23 EDITORIAL COMMENT: A draft corrected by D; the material not written by D has been enclosed in square brackets.

2325

PRIVATE [Downing Street I June 1852] Thomson Hankeyjunr I Esqr [Dear Sir, Previously to applying officially for the usual advance on the credit of Deficiency Bills to make good the charge on the Consolidated Fund on 5 July next, pr Act 57 Geo 3 Cap 48 I beg to propose that these Bills should bear Interest at the rate of id pr cent pr diem and I should be much obliged by your informing me whether, in your opinion, it is probable that your Court will agree thereto] this proposon wd. meet with the sanction of the Ct of Dirors. [The present state of the / money market and the low rate of Discount together with] & [the peculiarity] character [of these advances make me anxious on behalf of the Public to make this most favourable &] make me anxious that the [arrangement in the ensuing Quarter shd be as favorable as possible for the Public.1 I am I Dear Sir I Yours faithfully] TO: LORD DERBY

Grosvenor Gate [Friday] 2 July 1852 2326

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [50] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Blake 321, with omission, dated 2 July 1852 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Mr. D'hraeli with reference to Captn. Lushington's appt to H.M.S. Albion ; and in Derby's hand: 'Ansd'.

My dear Lord, G. Gate I July 2. 1852 What is to be done about the enclosed -just received from Stafford? It is quite impossible, that to / secure a single dockyard return if this system be persisted in. We shall lose Devonport & Greenwich, as we have already lost Portsmouth. / At any rate, such pranks shd. have been played after the Election.1 Ever yours I D. 3 As Sarah's letters to D of this period have not been found, the matter of 'D.T.' remains opaque, further confounded by the possibility of transcription errors; cfn2. 1 This barely qualifies as a D letter, since he simply edited an underling's draft - but it has the mark of his hand (see ec). Deficiency bills are exchequer bills issued to cover a deficit in the consolidated fund as provided by the 1817 act described in the text. There are among the papers on the national debt in H some notes and memos (in D's hand?) estimating the effects of various rates of interest on exchequer bills, in June 1852, and on related matters. H B/rv/E/2h, 22a, 22b, 23. 1 Stafford (first secretary of the admiralty) had written on 2 July: 'Captain Lushington has been appointed to the "Albion" a 90 gun ship in the Mediterranean. The politics of this officer are those of his family - he was Captain to Sir Baldwin Walker - who it seems has got him thus rewarded - and he married a daughter of Adml. Prescott and a Whig Lord of the Admiralty now a strong opponent of ours as superintendent at Portsmouth. As Capt. Lushingtons appointment will spread like wildfire thro' our

8?

2327

TO: LORD DERBY ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2

[London] Saturday 3 July 1852 [51]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand across the first and fourth pages: 'Mr. D'Israeli with regard to Captn. Lushington's appt to the Albion'; and in Derby's hand: 'Put by July 5.'. Sic: Prescot; Tuffnell.

My dear Lord, Saturday. July 3/52 I cd. not contrive to see Stafford until this morning. He sticks to his text; vizt, that Lushington was Baldwin Walker's Captain, & is the son / in law of Prescot of Portsmouth, one of the bitterest enemies of the government; that B. Walker's deputy at Devonport is the most fiery partizan of Tuffnell at / this juncture.1 He seemed to think, that yr. letter had already done good, 8c that probably Lushington wd. not go to Devonport until after the election, wh: is a main consideration. / As it is impossible to do more, I counselled soothingly. The accompanying, with several others, has been in my possession for some months. The religious (low Church) public have how[eve]r recently very much pressed its prayer, & therefore I thought it best to forward it at this moment.2 Yrs ever I D.

dockyard towns you must expect it to exercise considerable influence upon the elections there as well as elsewhere. Anything in the way of patronage as [sic] I can do is hopeless against such a system as this. All the old clerks in the office are laughing at us.' He was also writing to Derby, who replied to D: 'It is most annoying, and I have written to the Duke [of Northumberland] - but what can be done? I am afraid nothing, as long as his entourage is such as it is — a Whig Private Secretary is in itself fatal — and Sir Baldwin Walker, I am afraid, exercises a very mischievous influence. I have urged, if possible, the postponement of the appointment. He has offered Lord Talbot a Ship. If that had been made known, and the other kept back, it would have looked a good deal better. Can nothing be done through the Duchess?' At 'Vi past 3' Derby sent D Northumberland's response: 'Audi alteram partem [hear the other side] is not a bad rule. Here is the case of our First Lord and his Secretary. Stafford ought to be quite sure of his facts before he asks for interference.' He enclosed Northumberland's note to him: 'When I appointed Captain Lushington to a Ship, it was principally because I was told he was a sure Tory ..." He cited his sources, and explained he had appointed Lushington after Talbot refused the ship 'last night'. H B/XX1/S/473, XX/S/6i, 6ia, 93. At Portsmouth on 6 July two Liberals would be returned unopposed; at Devonport on 7 July and at Greenwich on 8 July the Conservatives would win one of two seats, and at Chatham on g July a Conservative would win the single seat, although later unseated on petition. See also Disraeli, Derby 70 for Stanley's comment about Northumberland being 'at this time much censured by whippers-in for distributing all his patronage according to professional merit, without regard to party claims...' 1 Stephen Lushington (1803-1877), second son of Sir Henry Lushington, 2nd Bt, entered the navy in 1816, was given his first command in 1828, was superintendent of the Indian navy 1848-52, commanded the naval brigade at Sebastopol 1854, KCB 1855, Legion of Honour 1855, rear-admiral 1855, lieutenantgovernor of Greenwich Hospital 1862-5, admiral 1865, GCB 1867. In 1841 Lushington had married Henrietta Prescott, eldest daughter of Rear-Admiral Henry Prescott (1783-1874), KCB 1856, admiral superintendent of Portsmouth dockyard 1847-52; he had entered the navy in 1796, been governor of Newfoundland 1834-41, and would be admiral 1860 and GCB 1869. Sir Baldwin Wake Walker (1802-1876), KCB 1841, 1st Bt 1856, had been 1st lieutenant under Lushington in his first command; he had entered the navy in 1812, had been in the Turkish navy 1838-45, when he re-entered the British navy; he was surveyor of the navy 1848-60, rear-admiral 1858, comptroller 1860-1, commander-in-chief at the Cape 1861-4, admiral 1870. Henry Tufnell (1805-1854), Liberal MP for Ipswich 1837-8, for Devonport 1840-54, had been Minto's private secretary at the admiralty 1835, a junior lord of the treasury 1835-40, secretary to the treasury 1846-50. 2 'The accompanying' has not been found.

88

TO: LORD FORESTER

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 8 July 1852

2328

ORIGINAL: SAC [2]

COVER: The I Lord Forester I B DISRAELI

The I Lord Forester Grosvenor Gate I July 8-52 My dear Lord, I was very vexed to find, this morning, that the stupidity of a servant prevented my having the pleasure / of seeing you last night - but I inferred from the message, that you had merely called, en route to some assembly, to give me the Shrewsbury / return, respecting wh: we had been nervous, & therefore I did not like to take the liberty of asking you to come up, as I had no recent news.1 Vernon / Smith, after all, escaped, but the returns this morning, as far as they have reached me, support the Governmt estimate.2 Ever yours sincerely I D. TO: LORD DERBY

Downing Street [Saturday] 10 July 1852

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/2 [80] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'The Chancellor of Ex wants an interview'; and in Derby's hand: 'Put by July 10 I will be in Dg. between 3 & 4 on Monday D.' Sic: checque.

The I Earl of Derby D.S. I July 10 - 52 My dear Lord, If you be in town on Monday, I shd. like very much to confer with you on the aspect of affairs. It / wd. appear, that the Bristol conspirators failed in their enterprise.1 I am now going to return Sir Ed: Kerrison his checque.2 My own contribution will / be devoted to the Bucks election, wh: has assumed a serious aspect, & wh: will probably end, in the course of the next eight & forty hours, in a struggle, on / our side, for the three seats.3 Yours ever I D. 1 At Shrewsbury, D's former constituency, two Liberals and a Conservative had contested the two seats; the report of the nomination of candidates in The Times of 7 July ended: 'It is anticipated that the contest will be a severe one.' On 7 July, George Tomline (Peelite Liberal) headed the poll, while Edward H. Baldock, Protectionist, won the second seat. 2 According to the report in The Times (7 Jul 1852) of the 6 July Northampton nomination meeting, the show of hands had been declared in favour of the Conservative and the Chartist candidates, but in the poll on 7 and 8 July, Robert Vernon Smith and Raikes Currie won the two seats for the Liberals. The tally of completed elections published in The Times on 8 July showed only 20 ministerial members elected, compared to 70 Liberals and 17 Liberal-Conservatives. See further 2332&n2. For a discussion of these two elections see John A. Phillips The Great Reform Bill in the Boroughs (Oxford 1992). 1 The nature of the conspiracy is unclear but it may have involved bribed plumpers; see 2331&n2. 2 Sir Edward had retired from politics (he would live only until March), and his son Edward Clarence on 8 July had been returned unopposed for the seat at Eye held by his father since 1824. 3 The possibility of a third Conservative candidate for Bucks (three seats) had arisen because of the candidacy of Dr Lee. Henry Smith, the Conservative agent in Bucks, had written to D (with a copy to Du Pre, the other Conservative incumbent) from Buckingham on 27 May, referring to an earlier conversation about Lee, who appeared to have Liberal leanings which might interfere with the arrangement with the Liberal incumbent, Charles Cavendish, to return two Conservatives and one Liberal. If so, he suggested that a third Conservative candidate might have to be found, with consequent election expenditure. H B/I/D/8. The Liberal sweep of the two-seat Aylesbury election on 7 July had augmented

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2330

TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

Downing Street [Saturday] lojuly 1852

ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/271

My dearest wife D.S. I July 10. 52 I found Mr Smith at the Station recommending me not to go down to Bucks to day, / as there is a good deal of tumult in the County, about a third man, & if I appeared, I must take a decided course. The exertion therefore is / postponed, & I shall have the pleasure of dining with you. The news news to day is pretty good. Young Charles Morgan has won Brecon: Stuart (the lawyer) has gained St / Edmunds. We are going to have a good fight for Middx1 - but the Bristol conspiracy has, I know not why, failed. Ld. Derby is not in town to day, wh: is a bore, but the subject will keep. I send you papers. Yr affec hus I D.

2331

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Grosvenor Gate, Sunday [il July 1852]

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/llS

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate.' Endorsed in another hand on the first page: '1853?'. Dating: 29 Oct 1853) 1 In his 1882 memorandum on D's correspondence with Sarah Brydges Willyams (see app X), Rose remarked that 'some of the early letters relating to the first introduction, and to purely business matters, it has not been thought necessary to retain.' The 'despatch' must have fallen into this category, as apparently did others that D considered important; see 2572&m. D is recorded among the JPs in attendance at Quarter Sessions at Aylesbury on Monday 17 October. BH (22 Oct 1853).

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My dearest Lord, I cannot sufficiently thank you for your more than kind letter1 - & I shd. have written to you instantly, but for two causes. The first I / grieve to say a domestic one, the illness of my wife, wh: occasions me great anxiousness. She had been complaining several months, but being one who defies illness & despises medecines, altho' I induced her to see Ferguson, / Watson &c. before we left town,2 she was not sufficiently influenced by their suggestions. Here, the change of scene at first seemed quite to restore her energies, & she was herself again amid / her improvements, in wh: she takes great interest. But it was only a temporary stimulus, & she is now greatly suffering from a state of nervous debility, aggravated by the season, & the peculiarly bad season, of the year. I / wish circumstances wd. have allowed her to have inhaled the breezes of Garron te wh: Lady Londonderry with repeated & unceasing kindness invited us to do - but alas! we were constrained, from long absence, to come here. / As she is the soul of my house, managing all my domestic affairs, it is, irrespective of all other considerations, a complete revolution in my life. Everything seems to me to be anarchy. She has not / left her sofa for a fortnight, & I have been obliged, almost at the last moment, to put off those friends, whom we hoped to receive here, because she would not credit the necessity of so doing. Enough / of this, & too much - but your kind allusion to her in your last letter must be my apology. The other cause was, that I received a very important communication from Paris about ten days ago, [illegible deletion] informing me / after some particulars, that I might daily expect some most critical intelligence. This I meant to have sent you. It has not however arrived, & to day I learn, that my correspondent is going to X the channel himself. The last news of a very authentic nature that / I have therefore is ten days old, but it came from the highest quarter, & it said that "the last ray of hope had disappeared."3 The birds arrived. They were to have formed part of a "great military banquet" a la Holdernesse house wh: I was to have given in the course / of next week to the officers of the Bucks Militia quartered at Wycomb, & I was in hopes I-sfe I might have induced Adolphus to have come down & assisted me - but I have been

1 The only letter from Lord Londonderry since his long letter of 19 September (see 2558&nni-4) is a short note from Garron Tower docketed 9 October 1853: 'I am not in a position to send you Tidings of War or Peace neither can I amuse you with my very bad reasoning or without the gift of prophesy pronounce what next But I can send you & yr Dear Lady my mountain grouse which you like & wh will shew I wish to do what is agreeable to you & to pester or worry you with bad letters [sic]'. H B/XX/V/gg. 2 For Dr Fergusson see v ig76m. 'Watson' was presumably the eminent London physician Thomas Watson (1792-1882), MD (Cambridge) 1825, FRCP 1826, FRS 1859, an active member of the College of Physicians, created a baronet in 1866. According to MA'S account book, she also went with D to London on 5 October (1/2563) to see Dr Williams (see 2578&m) because she was 'giddy', and returned with D to Hughenden the next day. 3 See 2560114 for Lennox's letter of 6 October from Paris in which he reported the Princess Lieven telling him that 'her news was of the worst & that she had now almost given up the last ray of hope.' There is, however, no promise in it that D could 'daily expect some most critical intelligence.' For Lennox's 18 October letter from London see 2570ni, which implies that D had been expecting Lennox to arrive sooner, but Lennox explained that the channel had been 'impassable on Saturday & Sunday.' See further 25?8&n2.

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obliged to postpone it till another year. / The Lieut Col: of the Royal Bucks is Charles Fitzroy, once one of your attaches, & who told me that he had had the pleasure of being at Garron.4 Shall I ever pay the visit there on wh: I once much counted? I hope Lady Londonderry will / permit me to consider it only postponed. I suppose you may have left the Tower, & I shall therefore direct this to Park Lane. Will you offer my kindest recollections to Lady Londonderry to whom I hope to write in a few days. / Yours, my dear Lord, I Ever sincerely, I D.

2570

TO: LORD HENRY LENNOX

[Hughenden, Wednesday] 19 October 1853

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R143-102OA]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a handwritten copy headed: 'D. to Lord H Lennox.

As for public affairs - I think we may prepare for a crash.1

Oct 19. 53

4 D has confused Lord Londonderry's nephews. The It-col of the Bucks Militia at this time was in fact George FitzRoy (1800-1883), second son of Gen Lord Charles FitzRoy and his wife, Lord Londonderry's sister Frances Anne; their eldest son, Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy KH, an attache in 1819, was at this time governor-general of Australia. George FitzRoy had been one of the Ds' dinner guests on 12 October. Lady Londonderry 47; H ace. 1 This snippet seems to be the only remnant of D's side of an intriguing series of letters exchanged with Lennox at this time; see also 2569&n3- On 'Tuesday' (postmarked 18 October in London and 19 October in High Wycombe) Lennox had written from 51 Portland Place: 'I only arrived last night or should have answered your letter [not found] sooner.' He apologized for not coming down to Hughenden, and explained that he had come back for two intrigues, one public (on which he did not comment further) and one private, which he could not conceal from D. Switching to French, he said he was trying for the hand and moderate fortune of an 18-year-old daughter of Queen Maria Christina of Spain, had written to his parents about it, but feared it would come to nothing because he had no money at all. He also included a brief report: 'All the Russians & Pss Lieven at the head say &: reiterate that there may be Peace, but that the Emperor will NEVER evacuate the Principalities.' He had to return to Paris no later than Thursday, and asked D to write immediately if he had any advice. On 'Thursday' he wrote from London: 'Thanks for your letter. I am off tonight & will let you hear constantly ... I am glad you approve but I do not feel much confidence in its coming off. Religion!!! I fear will be a great Stumbling Block. I have heard from my Mother much in the same style as yours ... I think the Malaquite [sic] Inkstand will have to be offered to "Maria Miracula Gordon Lennox"!!!'On 3 November he would report from Paris that a telegram from Madrid received that day prohibited the marriage of Queen Isabella's (half-) sister with a Protestant; however, he was not devastated: 'Better luck next time. Pray OCCUPY YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY over the Tradesmans Daughter. My affairs are now settled & I want to be settled "a 1'abri" of want before Parlmnt meets that I may devote myself more completely to your service.' In his letters of 6 and 20 October, Lennox also mentioned meeting 'the Hollands' in Paris (they 'have chiefly managed my affair'), and that he had heard from Lord Holland about 'the Rising Star' of Palmer ston; on 20 October he wrote: 'I wish in your next letter you would write a pretty passage about envying me their society with a passing dash at the old Holland House society [see II 46g&:ni2 and III 829&ni] &c. They are quite prepared for Mesmerism & if you could once get them, would be invaluable. They are the most perfect schemers & "Intriguants" possible - JUST the very people we want - Ami Aberdeen pro Palmerston sort of Politics.' He closed with suggestions for suitable flattery to include in his letter which, if D wrote it, has also not been found. H B/XX/LX/29-32, 571. The other intrigue on which Lennox was engaged was the Hollands' attempt to effect a marriage between Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge and Prince Napoleon; see The Earl of Ilchester Chronicles of Holland House iSso-igoo (1937) 398-400. D seems to have conveyed Lennox's news to Lucas, who on 20 October replied: 'From all I can learn I agree with you in foreboding a crash.' H B/VI/igg. The Press on 26 November would in fact reprint reports in Italian newspapers of the 'approaching marriage' of Princess Mary and Prince Napoleon. However, see further 2593ni.

272

TO: DAVID BRYCE

Hughenden [Wednesday] 19 October 1853

ORIGINAL: GEE [9, Qa] COVER: Mr. Bryce I 48 Paternoster Row I London I D. POSTMARK: (l) In circular form: HIGH WYCOMBE [enclosing.] OC 19 I 1853 Ic ( 2 ) I" a circle: M [crown] N I 2O OC 2O I 1853 (3) a cancelled one-penny stamp

2571

Oct 19. 53 Dr Sir I have sent by post today, the first livraison of V.G. wh: acknowledge by return.1 Yrs ffly I D.

TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS

Hughenden [Friday] 21 October 1853

ORIGINAL: RTC [13] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 460-1, dated 21 October 1853 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: tender-one.

Hughenden I Oct. 21. 1853 My dearest friend, I fear my despatches will be almost as numerous as those of the great powers to the Porte - but, altho' I wrote yesterday on another & graver subject,1 I must / send one line to say, that the illustrious characters have arrived at Hughenden Manor & made as great a sensation, as any at the Congress, or Conference, of Vienna, being habited in scarcely less / gorgeous costume.2 How kind of you to send me so magnificent a gift - & what taste in "its selection!["] My library is my weak point. It is that, of wh:, of all material possessions, I am most proud / & fond. I inherited, & I enriched, it. I shall place your interesting & gorgeous tomes by some worthy brothers. May you some day see them! The last present you gave me was a singular / - but not a very tender-one - It was a thunderbolt! When you see it again, you will find it set on marble, & forming my principal paper-weight. The inscription on it is "From Ixion in Heaven[.}n

1 Bryce replied the next day: 'I have received the first Volume of Vivian Grey - i.e. as far as page 188, and have put it into the Printer's hands. There are a good many enquiries for it already, & if it makes 400 pages, 2/- may well be fixed upon as the selling price. The sales since I wrote last have [been] rather quiet — only 572'. He then gossiped about a deal between Bulwer Lytton and Routledge & Co. On 22 October he wrote again (see also ZS&jni): The Sales since I wrote you on Thursday have been 675 which is a great improvement upon my last report.' H E/vil/G/3-4. Vivian Grey would first appear in Bryce's advertisements for his edition on 10 February 1854 in The Times. 1 This letter has not been found; c/"2568m. 2 Mrs Brydges Willyams had written on 17 October: 'I have great pleasure in sending some illustrious Personages to amuse you in your "solitude" at the same time they will not divert your attention to the agencies of Russia and to weeding the Cabinet. I have luckily too much variety on my table to spare room for solitude'. RTC [2630]- Possibly she sent him the first two of four volumes of the Duke of Buckingham's Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third (1853-5) which are in the Hughenden library. For the Conference of Vienna that had met in late July and would be reconvened in early December see 2536111. Since Turkey's declaration of war, there had been much correspondence between the Porte and the various powers reported in the press, for example, a column on the Forte's Manifesto and relevant correspondence with Russia in the Press the next day, 22 October.

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2572

I / will not defend Struve any more.3 Galen tells us in an ancient passage, wh: has influenced me often in life, that we sho[ul]d "thicken the blood before we slumber."41 remark you do not follow this archaic dogma / of health. Something taken half an hour before repose, very nutritious but very light, might charm your eyelids, & make you dream only of your friends. One scribbles to you / now - very hastily - but he is obliged to send to day a very grave despatch to Paris.5 Adieu, I D. I have got the militia quartered here: & am obliged to give, what Lord Londonderry would call "great military banquets."6 I want you on my arm to help me. You would be quite at home.

2573

TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE

[Hughenden, Tuesday] 25 October 1853

ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C/2l65 [26]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'B. Disraeli'; and on the fourth: '1853'. The word 'our' has been altered from 'we'.

Oct 25. 1853 My dear Jolliffe My wife unites with me very warmly in hoping, that Lady Jolliffe & yourself, & your daughter,1 will pay / us a visit here; & as soon, & as long, as you like. It will be delightful, at least to us; & we will hope it may be agreeable to you. I shall / postpone all politics until our meeting, not being a believer in a December Session.2 Ever yours sincerely, D. 3 See 256onQ. Mrs Brydges Willyams in her letter (n2) had told of trying the seltzer water and finding she could not sleep after drinking it: 'I do believe that the large quantities taken for a dose of the different mineral waters are most pernicious and that it is of more consequence to attend to diet than physic as the latter is only required to counteract the improper quant[it]y and quality of the former.' 4 Clarissimus Galen (c 130-201) was the best known of the ancient medical writers, especially on the circulation of the blood. 5 This is presumably a reference to D's continuing correspondence with Lennox, who had returned to Paris the previous day; see 25?Oni. On 3 November he would write that he would be crossing to Brighton with political news of such gravity that he could not put it in a letter; see 2583111. H B/XX/LX/32. 6 See 2569&n4, in which D says the dinner was postponed. There was a dinner party at Hughenden on 12 October at which the 7 guests included Sarah Disraeli (at Hughenden on a 7-week visit until 13 November) and 3 militia officers. On Tuesday 25 October D would be one of the special guests entertained by the officers at the Red Lion Hotel before the regiment disbanded the next day. H ace; BH (829 Oct 1853). 1 Presumably Allada Harriot Jolliffe (1831-1908), the Jolliffes' eldest unmarried daughter, who on 17 November 1853 would marry Grenville'G. Wells, a grandson of the 1st Earl of Carysfort; see 2582. 2 Jolliffe had written to D on 15 October that he thought it now inevitable that the armies on the Danube would fight, in view of which the session would probably open before 10 December; he would have time in early November for further personal communication. He was apparently unaware of D's political scheming, for he reported: 'From all I hear the National Club are inclined to be restive, they have contrived to make themselves believe that they have some hopes in Palmerston, but he is too old a Fox to take up with such a set, unless they were united with the whole Country Party ...' On 6 November, on his return from the north, he declined D's invitation because of wedding guests (see ni), but hoped they might come at the end of November, and invited the Ds to visit them just before. He concluded: 'I

274

TO: LORD DERBY

Hughenden [Friday] 28 October 1853

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [m] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B HI 526-7, dated 28 October 1853, with omissions EDITORIAL COMMENT: D has numbered the sheets: '2', '3'. Endorsed in Derby's hand on the twelfth page: 'Disraeli Ansd'.

Confidential Hughenden. Octr. 28. 53. The I Earl of Derby My dear Lord, I have not troubled you all this time, notwithstanding events, because I thought you must be sick of us all, & would like, for a while, to forget party & politicians - but a rather restless letter from Malmesbury, a few days ago, / makes me feel, that you might misinterpret my silence, & suppose it to arise from indifference to our fortunes, for wh: I shd be sorry.1 I need not say I shd like very much to know your general opinion as to affairs, & I give my own rough impressions in sincere deference to them. I collected from Fremantle at Q. Sess:, that the Governmnt. flatter / themselves, that they shall still weather the storm, & meet Parliament with peace.2 This does not accord with what reaches me from the Continent: either from Paris, or from my mysterious correspondent, Prince Frederic, who is now in Germany.3 Mad [am] e de Lieven said some ten days ago, that there were two things "certain"

suppose you are correct as to there being no Session before Xmas, but the times are such as to warrant an Opposition being on the alert.' H B/XX/J/3-4. The session in fact would open on 31 January 1854. 1 Malmesbury had written on 15 October from Achnacarry, Fort William, indignant at Derby's inattention to party matters: 'It is hopeless our entering the campaign without a council & consultation. It ought to take place soon either at Knowsley, or less ostentatiously in London. Two points should be broached & understood. Does D. mean to turn them out & that as soon as possible. If so he should lay down his plan - & our subofficers shd understand it from us. If not he should say so & dispense with our attendance &c[.] To rush again into action without concertf,] every man with his own hobby & God against us all will only seal the fate of a party wh is all but in extremis. You ought to bring this point before D. immediately as you are a field officer & Major General of the Commons.' H B/XX/HS/35. 2 The Turkish armies in fact had crossed the Danube on 27 October and fired on the Russians, and negotiations for peace were broken off. G.D. Clayton Britain and the Eastern Question: Missolonghi to Gallipoli (1971) 108. 3 Prince Frederick Christian August (1829-1880) was the eldest surviving son of Christian, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg; in 1863 on the death of Frederick VII of Denmark he would claim Schleswig-Holstein (the rights to which his father had renounced in his favour) and assume the title of Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein; in 1869 he would succeed his father as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. He had first written to D from the Army and Navy Club on 19 February 1853, signmg himself 'Frederick Pr Sch Holstein', praising the hope D's 18 February speech (see Z49On3) had given him of 'rescue for my country (Denmark) and Europe', and asking to discuss the Danish succession treaty (see 2345n2). A letter dated 22 May 1853 from the prince to 'My Dear Sir', evidently an intimate friend or relative who had just returned to Denmark, had told of highflown conversations at Grosvenor Gate and reported: 'D i is beond [sic] belief fascinating, yet without attempting to seduce me!' He subsequently showed D copies and drafts of correspondence, claiming David Urquhart as his associate (see II 46gnl3 and III 994n3). He had written to D on 22 August from Heidelberg about his friendly reception there, thanks to an introduction from D. The Prince's next extant letter is a cryptic one on 16 November from Paris, suggesting that he was trying (without much success) to carry out yet another of D's matchmaking schemes. The person on whom he had designs was evidently the 14-year-old Princess Royal; see 2738&n2. For D's comment on the Princess's being 'singularly ill-favored' see Z737&n3. H B/XIX/ misc [unnumbered], XXI/H/612-25, 635-6.

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2574

1st. That the Emperor would not / quit the Principalities; 2ndly. that Ld. Aberdeen would never declare war against Russia.4 So much for War. As to France, I doubt whether the malaise be so profound as it appears, tho' a combination of circumstances has placed the Treasury in a very false position since we left it. I observe no bankruptcies or failures, wh: wd. seem to indicate / a sound condition. I attribute the unexpected efflux of bullion mainly to the state of China: our trade with that country being stimulated at a moment when their demand for our products has comparatively ceased.D The third point of importance is the Reform Bill. I have pursued the researches 8c calculations wh: I made in 1851 on that question, adapting them / to the new Census, & testing them by it.6 The result is a triumphant case for the Territorial Constitution; so much so, that I thought, at one moment, of making some statement to the country during the recess, as it wo [ul] d have allowed us to take up a strong position & might have reanimated our friends. But, thinking it very probable, that the Government would themselves give up the Reform / engagement, I thought it indiscreet ostentatiously to choose a battle field, wh: they might decline to occupy. If they bring forward a scheme of Reform framed on Territorial principles, it will, I apprehend, be our policy, as well as our duty, to give them a cordial support. This must ultimately break them up, as the Liberal party will not long endure a state of things wh: virtually abrogates their / existence. If, on the other hand, wh: I cannot anticipate, the Governmt. produce a Radical measure, our case is so good, that, in its present temper especially, we ought to get the country on our side.7 The state of the Party is the fourth point, wh: I wd. notice. I cannot help believ-

4 This is an amalgamation of Lennox's reports in his letters of 6 and 18 October; see 256004 and 257Oni. 5 As Karl Marx had explained in an article in the New York Daily Tribune on 14 June 1853, Gladstone's tea duty reductions had increased the demand for tea, while the financial instability caused by the Taiping Rebellion had led Chinese tea producers to demand bullion instead of opium, woollens or cotton: 'England has accordingly to expect a rise in the price of one of her chief articles of consumption, a drain of bullion, and a great contraction of an important market for her cotton and woollen goods.' Dona Torr ed Marx on China 1853-1860 (1968) 6. The Economist on 13 and 27 August had published two alarmist articles on the unexpected efflux of bullion from the country, in spite of a marked increase in exports. The decrease of exports to China was being offset by increases elsewhere; as recently as 11 October The Times had summarized the surprising increase in virtually every branch of revenue in the year ending in October 1853. G.A. Hamilton in an undated note (it refers to figures 'till Oct 1853') wrote: 'I send you an account of the Bullion & Coin in the Bank in December and Feb: a large diminution.' H B/XX/H/1236 See V 22O9&n2and 25558011. 7 In his reply of 14 November (delayed by his gout, as his daughter Lady Emma reported to D on 30 October), Derby wrote: 'The great question is, Can the present Government hold together? and if not, what is the rock on which they will split? They have two ahead: Foreign Affairs, and Parliamentary Reform; for I agree with you in thinking that though the course of events has upset the Treasury calculations and placed the Chancellor of the Exchequer in a false position, there is nothing so unsound in the financial condition of the Country as to cause them serious embarrassment.' Later in his long letter he speculated at length on what the government might do, and decided that reform would be the rock on which the government would founder, as it could not avoid it. He thought the issue to be of vital importance, looked forward to going over D's statistics of town and country representation, and advised him not to make the mistake of counting unrepresented towns as county population. H B/XX/S/121-2. The coalition government, after a cabinet crisis in December, would introduce a reform bill in the next session, but eventually abandon it because of the war; see 264O&ni.

276

ing, that there is more anarchy, in that respect, in the Houses of Park, than in the country. Jolliffe who, I hope, will be here in a few / days, seems to have found a very general, & on the whole satisfactory, response to his circular respecting the registration, & so immersed in a very extensive correspondence. I have no doubt his sedulousness, tact, & courtesy, have worked well at this juncture, & that the new organisation we established is quietly, but efficiently, operating.8 I don't care so much for the personal feelings of Park, if the people out of doors are true; a single motion, often a single / speech, at the right moment, in either house, will often clear the skies.9 The result of all this is, that I have felt, generally speaking, we could not be too quiet, & that the best course we could take was indirectly to sustain the spirit of our friends, & to remove, as far as we could socially any apathy or misapprehension among those who were in our ranks. The difficulties of the governmt. will of course assist us in these efforts. / I thought, however, some expressions you used at Liverpool very judicious, spirited, & apposite.10 The National Club, I am told, are inclined to be restive. They "look to Palmerston" as they phrase it. He is an old fox, who will break their wind.11 There is one subject on wh: I shd. particularly like to hear yr. opinion, & that is the Strikes among the Labouring Classes. These, if persisted in, must affect the

8 In his letter to D of 15 October (see 2573112), Jolliffe (as chief whip) had reported: 'I have been writing many letters this morning on the Party business: Also to Philip Rose [the new election agent] to send out another circular for Registration Information. From the County Papers which have been sent here and other communications, our side appear to have made quite as good a Registration fight & indeed a better, than could have been expected from the present state of Parties. I hope our former circular had some effect in producing this result, and that, without any expense incurred.' On 6 November he would report: 'My last circular has produced a mass of information about the Registrations which I think is satisfactory and useful, and confirms me in the opinion that the Registration lists have been better attended to this year, than usual.' H B/XX/J/3-49 In his reply (n?) Derby would agree that Jolliffe's 'popularity and tact' would do much to restore unity to the party, but he was not so sure that the feeling within parliament could be dismissed so lightly: 'the [clear skies] effect is only temporary, and the clouds will gather again, unless there is in the party a strong foundation of personal confidence, which must be maintained by constant attention, and even by some indulgence to the prejudices of those whom we lead. And though it is true that the Country out of doors will, in the long run, act upon the party within, it is not less true that manifest dissensions within, indicative of internal weakness, react upon the Country, and tend to deprive us of support which we should otherwise have.' 10 The Mayor of Liverpool on 5 October had given a private dinner to Derby and others at which Derby had expressed his opposition to 'the statements which have lately been put forth, that the government of this country could be carried on independent of party. He alleged that all administrations must be, more or less, formed upon a principle of individual compromise, but that they could not be carried on with confidence to the nation if the elements were heterogeneous and had differed from each other by any broad line of separation ... He took credit to himself for the state of the finances while he was Minister, and for the prosperous position, commercially and otherwise, in which he left the Government.' Derby also declared that, in the event of war, his party would 'uphold the dignity of the Crown and the sacredness of treaties', complimented the French Emperor for the straightforward manner in which he had acted, and attributed this to the confidence shown in his word by Derby's government. The Times (10 Oct 1853). 11 See 2573n2. In his reply (n7) Derby called the National Club 'a mischievous body, whose extreme pretensions and views must not be encouraged, but which must be kept, as I think they may be kept, in good humour by civility ..." He thought Palmerston might use them, while being careful not to be compromised by them.

277

Revenue, & by producing distress, will give the Radical supporters of the Govt. an appui as / to Reform, wh: they now want.12 I was very much obliged to you for remembering me when you killed yr venison. It was a very fine haunch, & some of yr. supporters, who were staying here, joined me in thanking you for it. Believe me, my dear Lord, I Yours sincerely, I D.

2575

TO LORD ADOLPHUS VANE

Hughenden [Friday] 28 October 1853

ORIGINAL HLM HM 52655

Lord Adolph: Vane. Hughenden Octr. 28/53 My dear Adolphus, If you be in town, or about, would you give us the pleasure of your company here on Monday, or Tuesday, next, & stay a few days among / the Chiltern Hills? I cannot offer you, as I hoped, a gay party, for, I am sorry to say, that Mrs. Disraeli is, & has been for some time, a great invalid, but I shall be very glad indeed to see you, & hear all about / what you have done since we met last. I heard from your kind father today, en route.1 Yours sincerely, I D. 12 Throughout 1853 and into 1854 there were movements (mostly successful) for increased wages as a reflection of the general increase in prosperity, but in Lancashire the demands by cotton-operatives for a 10 per cent increase had led to a lockout by the mill-owners in mid-October The strikes would end in defeat for the operatives in the spring For a treatment of the strikes see H I Dutton and J E King ' Ten Per Cent and No Surrender' The Preston Strike, 1853-1854 (Cambridge 1981) Stanley commented in his journal 'The Preston strike cost £500,000 80,000 hands were out at one time and the movement originating in one town spread over the whole of Lancashire ' DBF 43/3 (Disraeli, Derby 109) Derby in his reply (ny) commented 'I am afraid I must regard [strikes] as a senous and dangerous, but at the same time irremediable evil - irremediable that is to say, as far as any legislative provisions can go In the end, Capital will always be too strong for labour, and after much of suffering to themselves, and loss to their employers, the workmen will always have to give in, and indeed if it were not so, we should soon find a large portion of our Manufactunng Capital transferred to other Countries I came to the conclusion that the strikes must be left to settle themselves, and (agreeing almost for the first time in my life with Cobden) that the only remedy is to be found in increasing intelligence among the working Classes, and a more just appreciation of the relative positions duties and responsibilities of themselves and their employers ' Articles on the strikes in the Press on 22, 29 October and 5 November were sympathetic to the plight of the workers, and called on both sides to work together with humanity and intelligence to resolve the problem Stanley would write D a long letter from Knowsley on 28 November (see 258g&ni) in which he discussed the Lancashire strikes at some length ' they perplex me - I see no remedy in any direct enactment - but I believe the feeling of the operatives to be neither political nor pecuniary They feel that they are mere tools in the hands of the masters, who hold with them no such personal intercourse as exists between landlord and tenant They want social emancipation The masters are frightened, therefore Conservative which is good for the Reform Bill ' H B/XX/S/6O1 1 No reply from Lord Adolphus has been found, nor is there any record of a visit from him in MA's accounts of this time The letter from Lord Londonderry to which D refers is the reply to 2569, and is dated 24 October 1853 at Mount Stewart After many expressions of concern about MA's health, it launches into a rambling discourse on national and international affairs, and relays some rumours 'First, I am informed that Lord Derby will not again take office, & above all things strange to pronounce, with Disraeli The latter can only return to office or Power, by joining himself with the radical Ranks & by outbidding the present Whig Government on the score of Reform, which the Whig aristocratic families have too much to lose not to present to the publick in the shape of a Minimum hence the power of the present Cabinet Second - Disraeli is creating a party with this view Young Stanley is one of his Chief Converts which has made a Schism between him & His Father & will be the main cause of the latters

278

TO: [SAMUEL LUCAS]

Hughenden [Saturday] 29 October 1853

ORIGINAL: QUA 242

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'B. Disraeli' and in a third hand: 'To S Lucas'.

Private H. Oct. 29. 53 My dear Sir, In the present difficult position, you must concentrate all yr. resources on articles of first necessity - A good leader, a good inner page, & the mechanism of the paper / efficient - these are what you must now rely upon. If the journal is carried on with spirit & success till the meeting of Pt., you will be able to command support, wh: now you must, & unsuccessfully, solicit.1 / I had read the letter you sent me in print: in the "Sentinel" a Dublin "Protestant Jack" paper under the direction of the Pfer notorious Tresham Gregg[.] No paper conducted in such a vein cd. find any support in England, or / it wd. be tried. Even Biber wd. not venture on it. The gentry of this England are in general indisposed to Low Church, & the low Ch: of Tresham Gregg is the "sword of the Lord & of Gideon."2 Yrs sincerely I D.

rejection of Office or rather resolution not to return to it. But Young Stanley is not the only Disciple to this new attempted Combination - ' H B/XX/v/ioo. In his reply, D would not respond to these points; see 2578. 1 Lucas at this time was regularly reporting to D on the affairs of the Press and, judging from his letters, getting advice and direction from D in return. Two major concerns were the continuing deficit, which Lucas reported was now below £50 an issue (he predicted he would break even by the middle of the next session), and the dearth of material in the hiatus between sessions. On 26 October he had sent D the accounts for the month ending 8 October, and predicted an improvement of £15-20 for the next month; he asked D's views on some ideas for economizing on the coverage of drama and music. On 27 October he wrote that D's note of that morning (not found) 'was a valuable hint', and mentioned a letter just received from Malmesbury saying that the Press was improving every week; he also enclosed a letter that he said was typical of the correspondence received; it praised the satirical series 'The Aberdeen Diary'. Lucas also wrote on 29 October, but did not touch on any matters raised in D's letter to him of the same day. H B/VI/196-204. See further 2577&m. 2 The Sentinel on i October 1853 had published a letter to the editor of the Press, its author, 'Cl.G.', in an accompanying note explaining that the Press would 'probably not dare to publish [it], as telling some of your doctrine a little too plainly.' The letter to the Press commended it for its 'strain ... of racy humour' and 'Conservative tone', but then castigated it and the recent Derby/Disraeli government for not truly carrying out their Protestant proclamations. Citing the Sentinel itself as the example the Press should follow, the letter rehearsed all the usual ultra-Protestant doctrines (for example, that no 'real Papist' could be 'a good British subject'), scathingly denounced 'Popery' and called for 'a Protestant Disraeli with not only talent but truth.' Needless to say, the letter was not published in the Press. In its first issue, on 28 May 1853, tne Sentinel had announced its program to 'expose and defeat the plots and clamors of the Romish demagogues ...' and, in an advertisement, called for a national tribute to Tresham Gregg 'for his distinguished services to the Protestant cause.' (The editors are indebted to Mr Andrew Shields of Dublin for finding and giving an account of the letter in the Sentinel.) For the ultra-Protestant Gregg see IV I478&ni. The Rev Dr George Edward Biber (1801-1874), born and educated in Germany (PHD Tubingen, LLD Gottingen), author of works on education and on theology, was vicar of Holy Trinity, Roehampton, 1842-74, and editor of John Bull 1848-56. The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon', the cry with which Gideon and his 300 men attacked the camp of the Midianite host who in their confusion set upon each other (Judges 7:9-22), is a favourite slogan of militant evangelical Protestants.

279

2576

2577

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Sunday] 30 October 1853

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/114

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 502-3, dated 30 October 1853 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Sic: (, say; earenest; checque.

Private

P. Rose Esqr Hughenden. Oct. 30. 53 My dear Rose, I have completely examined the accounts of the Press, wh: make the matter entirely clear to me. Considering all things, & provided energy & judgment are now exercised, I / think the result may be satisfactory. The weekly expenditure must be cut down to £100; wh: in round numbers will be a weekly loss of £50. i.e. £200 pr. month. If the whole number printed (, say 3000,) be absorbed by a real sale, & the advertisements be doubled, the paper would then / pay, & I think if an effort be made at the meeting of Park, we may count on these results, when it has completed about its eight twelfth month. (May 1854) Our resources must be devoted to the inner page &: the staff. Amateur correspondents may be encouraged, but not paid, & all little features, wh: occasion expenditure, terminated. The success of the paper will now depend / upon its authentic intelligence, the spirit of its inner page, & the vigor of its leading article. Hitherto, it has fought its way, with[ou]t any great policy to advocate, but that will come, & if such a time arrives & finds a journal of this description with a prepared sale of 2 or 3000, it may mount to considerable position. I beg yr. earenest attention to the enclosed, & I send also a checque for £1000 for the Press.1 YrsD.

1 In his letter of 29 October, Lucas had written: 'I meet Rose on Tuesday for a cabinet council on all our affairs.' The information and issues D is here bringing to Rose's attention were the subjects of Lucas's recent reports; see 2576&ni. On 31 October Lucas would write: 'I am not in a position to enter upon the subject of your letter of this morning [not found] until after tomorrow night when I shall meet Rose and for the first time have an opportunity of conferring on the accounts with him.' He regretted not having been sooner told of the need for economy stricter than had been originally indicated to him, and described new proposals for changing some of the free distribution into actual sales. Lucas's letter of i November does not mention the meeting, but on 5 November he wrote: 'Rose and I have met & had a long consultation. I could write you pages on "Press" finance and will do something towards it after a few days. In the meantime you must be contented with knowing that I am proceeding Substantially to realise your views.' On 9 November he would protest that he could not immediately reduce expenditure to £100 per week 'without irreparable damage to the paper.' H B/V1/2O4-7, 211. According to Stanley's recollections of this period, 'the party subscribed about £2,500: the same amount was supplied by Disraeli himself, but even thus a heavy deficit remains, to meet which the sale of the paper to some capitalist was contemplated.' DBF 43/3 (Disraeli, Derby 109). See also 256sni2 for Stanley's comment about D being solely responsible for the paper's deficit. See further 2579&n4-

280

TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Hughenden [Thursday] 3 November 1853

2578

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [74]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fifth page: 'nth. Novr. 1853 Mr. D'hraili [sic]\ Sic: Ferguson.

Hughenden. Nov. 3. 1853 My dear Lord, I keep postponing writing every day in the hope of sending a more satisfactory domestic bulletin - but I grieve to say I cannot. We have consulted Ferguson, Watson, Williams - but fruitlessly.1 Enough of this. My / foreign information came, but tho' true, as it proved in its fact, the causes & consequences were obscure & seemed to me mares nesterish - I therefore wd. not send them to you. The fact was the s» recall of the French Ambassador from Constantinople.2 As for public events, they / are so capricious at this moment, that they are confounding. Mad[am]e L. says "La Diplomatic n'a pas brille".3 This is a most hurried line. I hope to find something more agreeable than domestic sorrows to write about in / a day or two, & I will then send you a message, if I hear anything to s«y tell you, in a letter to Lady Londonderry. She is, I trust, as well as I always wish her to be. Ever yrs, I D . The Grouse were ADMIRABLE [.] TO: LORD STANLEY

Hughenden [Monday] 7 November 1853

ORIGINAL: DBF [1631]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in Stanley's hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli Nov 753'.

Hughenden Nov 7. 53 My dear S. It was a great mistake not coming down here, as you were in the South. I don't think it is our game to indicate our views on Reform too much.1 I approved of 1 For D's previous report to Lord Londonderry of MA's health see 25&9&:n2; for the letter to which D is responding see 2575∋ 'Williams' is presumably the eminent London physician Charles James Blasius Williams (1805-1889), MD (Edinburgh 1824), LRCP, FRS 1835, FRCP 1840, first president of the Pathological Society 1846, physician extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1874. MA had consulted him on 5 October, for which she paid him £i. H ace. 2 If the 'foreign information' came to D by letter, it has not been found; cfztjGQn^. In fact, there had been reports from France in the London papers for some days about the imminent departure from Paris of General Baraguay d'Hilliers, with new instructions in light of developments, to replace Edmond de La Cour as French ambassador at Constantinople; he left on i November, having arrived there only on 6 April 1853; his name was sometimes reported as 'de la Tour'. The Times (1-3 Nov 1853); Press (5 Nov 1853); Edmond Bapst Les Origirws de la Guerre de Crimee (Paris 1912) 355, 464-5. 3 This was reported by Lennox in his letter of 6 October; see 2560114 and 2570ni. 1 Stanley from the Albany on 3 November had suggested that it was 'full time something were said in the Press, or otherwise intimated, respecting the Reform question - that is, unless you still hold to your opinion of July, that Ministers will not bring in a Reform bill.' He itemized what various periodicals and his constituents were saying on the topic: 'They all agree now there must be a Reform Bill of some kind ... Have you any scheme maturing?' He had wanted to 'run down to Hughenden' to consult with D, but had been prevented by business of his own. H B/VI/75.

28l

2579

your article on Educ[ati]onal Franchise,2 & thought it capitally / written. Your style is always improving. It is safe to attack this humbug. I think we ought to wait for their project, if one is to appear wh: I still doubt. All I am clear about is, that on the right occasion, we must uphold territorial principles. / My researches founded on the New Census make out a triumphant case as to Population; Prescription we have a monopoly of; & Property gives us also a good standing.3 A capitalist has offered to take the "Press" & carry it on with spirit, provided / it is kept up till the meeting of Parliamt "at least." But in our scattered & broken state, I know no one to apply to, & I must direct therefore that the offer be declined.4 I wish you wd. ask Lady Derby, whether she has read "C. Auchester" & if so, what she thinks of it. The author is unknown to me.5 Yrs ever, I D. How is yr. father?6

2580

TO: DAVID BRYCE

Hughenden [Monday] 7 November 1853

ORIGINAL: GEE [lO]

COVER: Mr. Bryce I 48 Paternoster Row I London I D. POSTMARK: (l) In circular form: HIGH WYCOMBE [enclosing:] NO 7 I 1853 I [illegible] (2) In a circle: M [crown] D NO 8 I [illegible] (3) a cancelled one-penny stamp

H. Nov. 7. 53 Dear Sir, I send you by this post another volume. There remain about 340 pages more - wh: you will receive in a day or two[.] Acknowledge rect. Yrs I D.1 I 'Educational Franchise' had been the second leading article in the Press of 29 October; it argued against extending the franchise on the basis of education or profession. Stanley (ni) had written: 'The Edinburgh is very Conservative in tone, and supports that queer crotchet of "educational franchise" which I have done, and am doing, the little I can to show up. It evidently does not write with any knowledge.' 3 See V 22O6&nm&2, 2209 and, in this volume, 2222&n2. 1 Stanley on 10 November at Knowsley protested: 'Surely some terms can be made with your friendly capitalist... To go on seems impossible - to stop is disgrace - what remains but to sell?' H B/XX/S/6OO. j Although D had not met Elizabeth Sheppard, she was not unknown to him; see 2554&nni-3. Stanley (n4) replied: 'We have all been reading C. Auchester, which we don't quite understand, but admire all the more. Was it not sent you in MS?' See further 2596. 5 Stanley (n4) replied that Derby was 'mending, nearly recovered, and fit for business or consultation.' 1 Bryce was writing at this time in his double capacity as D's secretary and publisher; on 4 November he reported forwarding a letter to Lennox in Paris, put the subscription for The Young Duke at 7,000 and miscellaneous sales since 21 October at 950, attributed Smith & Son's reduced order to reduced demand on railways during the winter, and asked to know how many more pages Vivian Grey would make, as he had to order the paper. On 11 November he acknowledged receiving Vivian Grey as far as page 222 of volume 5, reported asking the printer to send D the proof of the title and advertisement that evening, and informed him that sales on the loth and nth totalled 343. On 12 November he acknowledged receipt of the corrected proofs (and sales of 200) and on 14 November receipt of the concluding 100 pages of Vivian Grey (and sales of 226). After this the correspondence slackens, with reports on lojuly 1854 that May and June sales totalled 3,420, and on 4 September 1854 that 'the sales last month show an improvement, the gross number being 2,088.' On 20 October 1854 in discussing payment of £200 to D he would report: 'I have reprinted 3,000 of H. Temple lately ..." The last few letters, until early 1855, report declining sales, a payment of £100, and difficulty in paying the other £100. H E/VII/G/5-8, 10-11, 15.

282

TO: LORD STANLEY

Hughenden [Monday] 7 November 1853

258l

ORIGINAL: DBF [1630]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in Stanley's hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli. Nov 753'. PRIVATE

H. Nov. 7. 1853

My dear S. I have only just read yr second art: on Py: Reform.1 Whether you are right or wrong, I will not now discuss, but of this I am quite sure, that a continuance in that vein will knock up the / paper, if nothing else does. It is an adhesion to universal suffrage. It will be looked upon as another Church Rate move.2 If we cd. afford to maintain a Journal merely to promulgate our own opinions, / all this would be very well, but, under present circumstances, we are not justified in being Quixotic. It is rather an article for the "Spectator" or some Grotestical3 journal, than for what pretends to be the organ of a proud / territorial, aristocracy. I fear Lucas will hear terrible murmurs, the next few days. I wrote to you this morning, praising the Ed: Suffrage art:, wh: I thought excellent. Yrs I D.4 TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE

Hughenden [Friday] 11 November 1853

ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C/2l65 [27]

Sir W. Jolliffe Bart I M. P. My dear Jolliffe, I have received both your letters.1

Hughenden Nov. 11. 1853

1 See 2579&n2. The next issue of the Press (5 November) had featured another article, 'Electoral Reform', which returned to the arguments against extending the franchise to constituencies defined by education, contending that all electoral systems including those based on property and population had anomalies. It concluded: 'still it is the duty of statesmen to lessen, if they cannot remove, these anomalies, and to bring within the pale of the Constitution every one whose admission cannot be proved dangerous.' 2 See 2565&n8. 3 The adjective is evidently derived from George Grote, the classical historian and Radical MP who took an active part in the agitations before the first Reform Bill; his History of Greece (1846-56) was currently getting considerable attention. 4 Stanley replied on 10 November from Knowsley: 'It may relieve you to know that I have not written again on Reform - indeed I told Lucas that I should either leave the question in your hands, or consult you before I went on with it. But I do not expect the results you predict from last week's article, which may puzzle, but will hardly alienate. I own I think class-representation a notion worth examining, though of course not one to take up without examination. Radical it certainly is not, whatever else may be urged against it. But let it rest.' H B/XX/S/6oo. Lucas wrote on the Qth, enclosing Stanley's letter which he had received at the same time as D's (not found), the first indication he had had that Stanley was not thoroughly acquainted with D's views: 'I am very glad however that you will take up the question next week'. The Press on 12 November reversed itself on 'Parliamentary Reform' by dismissing the previous articles as 'one or two suggestions that have been thrown out to feel the pulse of the public on the question of suffrage.' It declared that 'the essence of the franchise must be property', and remarked: 'As for inventing a representative system free from anomalies, that is an affair ... fit for dreaming professers [sic] and jobbing lawyers.' On 12 November Lucas wrote: 'I shall henceforth be vigilant in repect of Lord S. and I should be glad to know whether you have acquiesced in his continuing to write on Electoral Reform.' H B/VI/zn, 213. 1 See 2573n2. On 7 November Jolliffe had written that Walpole was prepared to stay in Jolliffe's neigh-

283

2582

I must first congratulate you on the impending event, wh:, I feel sure, will add to the happiness of yr. happy hearth. We wish very much to know who / is the fortunate individual, who is about to become a member of it. We propose to be with you on the 2ist. I wd. have written before, but have had great obstacles to overcome, in order to make this arrangement, from wh: we anticipate the greatest pleasure. I have not heard from Lord / Derby for a long while. He is still suffering from one of his most violent attacks, & is so bad, that Lady Derby has been obliged to carry on our correspondence. I am glad to hear a good account of Walpole. My wife unites with me in the expression of our / kindest regards to Lady Jolliffe, the fair fiancee, & all yr. circle. Ever yours, I D . 2

2583

TO: LORD HENRY LENNOX

Hughenden [Friday] 11 November 1853

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R143-1357B] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a typewritten copy, headed: 'D. to Ld. Henry Lennox, Hughenden, Nov. 11. '53.'.

... We were on the point here of coming to Brighton when Mrs. Disraeli's physicians forbade the sea, and altho' they have all of them mistaken her case, and nearly killed her, such is the superstition of human nature under such circumstances, that we actually still obey them ....1 bourhood until the igth or 2ist on the chance of seeing D. Jolliffe was also forwarding a letter from Hamilton: 'I should be glad that Lord Derby should be in possession of Hamilton's opinions ... I wrote to Hamilton in answer pointing out what appeared to me to be the difficulties of the Governmt. and particularly the very altered and disadvantageous position in which their Trading Supporters were now placed; I agreed with him in thinking that we should be doing something, and ... I begged him to lose no time in sending me the list of the 100 Members he alludes to, that I might be able to communicate with you about them, and make some such beginning as he suggests ..." H B/XX/J/4-5. Although this Hamilton letter has not been found, his letter to Jolliffe of 24 December 1853 makes clear that Hamilton's 'opinions' involved using the expected Reform Bill as a device to consolidate the party and to induce Palmerston and 'the Constitutional Whigs' (the list of 100 members?) to join forces with them. H B/xx/j/ya. 2 Jolliffe acknowledged D's letter on 13 November, and said Walpole would be there to meet D on Monday or Tuesday. H B/XX/J/6. See further 2588. 1 Lennox in his letter from Paris of Thursday' (docketed 3 November; see 2570ni) had said he would be in Brighton 'on Saturday or Sunday; I know Political matters of so grave an importance that I dare not touch upon them in writing ... My address at Brighton will be at Lady Jane Peels ...' Some of the rest of D's letter to him can be inferred from Lennox's reply of 15 November from Paris: 'Thanks for your letter which has been forwarded to me here. - You really do the Queen (Christina) an injustice; there was no trifling whatever ... And now - why am I here still? I cannot write - but, I will tell you when we meet. You will approve - it is not a matter personal to myself. I have not been idle, & even should the great consummation be not so near at hand as I hope, I am certainly wiser & can assist & instruct you at this momentous crisis. I went to St Cloud last Thursday & renewed my old friendship with the Empress; she is everything that is most charming. I had also a LONG conversation with him. - I am rather expecting an invite to Fontainebleau but shall return to England most positively on the 24th. when I must immediately see you. - I heard yesterday from Boo who tells me you had asked him to Hughenden ..." He continued the letter on the 2ist: '... I have seen Malmesbury & confided my affair to him. He gave me the greatest Kudos for the way I had managed so important & grave an affair, but will not tell me till he has considered, whether it will actively assist our Party views ...' See further 2593ni. H B/XX/LX/32-3.

284

TO: MARGUERITE POWER

Hughenden [Tuesday] 15 November 1853

2584

ORIGINAL: PFRZ Misc MS 24

Hughenden Manor I Nov. 15. 1853 Dear Miss Power, Publishing contemporary correspondence always a little frightens me, but I shall leave everything, / & trust everything, to your taste & discretion. I must make many apologies for having left your note so long unanswered. Mrs. Disraeli / begs to be remembered very kindly to yourself & your sister. We have not been to Paris since the Xmas of -45, but, if ever we renew our visits, we shall hope / to see you, & find you well & happy.1 Yours sincerely, I B. Disraeli TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS

Hughenden [Thursday] 17 November 1853

ORIGINAL: RTC [14]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation.

Hughenden I Nov. 17. 53 We are going to town to morrow in our way to Surrey where we pay a visit to Sir W. Jolliffe for a day or two, &, after that, to Wimpole, where we shall be about the 3rd. Deer. Perhaps / we shall be away three weeks, &, therefore, if you have time to work the telegraph, & tell me you are quite well, I shall be delighted to hear it directed to Grosvenor Gate.1 My friend, Mr. Francis Villiers has just left this in consequence of a despatch from Torquay, bringing very bad / accounts of his sister, the Princess Esterhazy. He departed with little hope, & very unhappy. She is young, beautiful, & good, & her illness has been most sudden & rapid.2 1 See III H97n3 for Marguerite and Ellen Power, Lady Blessington's nieces who lived with her for a time; Marguerite in 1850 had published a memoir of her aunt; in 1853 sne had been appointed Paris correspondent for the Illustrated London News. Sadleir Strange Life 294. She had written to D from Paris on 29 August: 'An old friend of my Aunt's, Dr: Madden, being about to publish her correspondence, with a short memoir, for which I have furnished the principal materials, & which is, in a great measure put together under my surveillance, - I write to ask if you would desire to see such selections as are being made from your letters, or if you choose to leave them to Dr: Madden's & my discretion. The extracts are wholly of a character calculated to be of general interest, & such as could not in any way be annoying to you or others, coming before the public. Should you however desire to satisfy yourself on this point, the M.S. shall be sent to you, where you may direct.' R.R. Madden himself had written to D on 28 February 1853 f°r permission to use his letters, assuring him that proper discretion would be exercised, but D evidently had not replied; see further 2655&m. H B/XXI/B/624-51 The Ds left Hughenden for Grosvenor Gate on 18 November, were guests of the Jolliffes 21-23 November and of the Hardwickes at Wimpole 3-6 December, returning to Grosvenor Gate in the interval. H ace, D/III/D/285. There is no indication that Mrs Brydges Willyams sent a communication. 2 Princess Nicholas Esterhazy von Galantha, born Lady Sarah Villiers, eldest daughter of the 5th Earl of Jersey (next child after Francis Villiers), in 1842 had married Prince Nicholas Esterhazy von Galantha, son of the (until 1842) Austrian ambassador to London. She had died earlier this day, 17 November, after an illness of several months during which she had visited the baths at Ischl and Ems and then stayed at Hastings and finally Torquay. The Times (19 Nov 1853). For D's sonnet on her portrait see III 794&m. Villiers was at Hughenden 9-17 November, during which time Sarah and Ralph also visited. H ace.

285

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Lord & Lady Mandeville have been staying a few days here. They are very agreeable / people, & he is a great supporter of mine. His wife, whom he has just married, is a German Lady, & has many charms. They have one child, five year months old, & who is called Lord Kimbolton, once a famous name.3 The Turkish war, as I expected, has occurred. It will not end in a hurry.4 Ever yours, I D.

2586

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Hughenden [Thursday] 17 November 1853

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/115

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The second postscript is written on the first page.

P. Rose Esqr H. I Nov. 17. 53 My dear Rose, Tomorrow we leave this place, on visits to Sir W. Jolliffe, afterwards to Wimpole, &c. occasionally being in town for a day or two. I dare say we shall / be away three weeks. You can, therefore, come here when you like & with whom you like. I will look out some papers about rental / this evening, & bring them up to town with me, & send them marked private to Park St, but I fear the affair, from the various / properties being mixed to[gethe]r, is so complt complicated, that I shall have difficulty in giving you what you want.1 Yrs I D. You need never write about the Torquay business. It will always keep till we are together.2 / Send all letters & papers to Carlton. The weekly account of The Press.

3 Viscount Mandeville in 1852 had married Countess Louisa Frederica Augusta d'Alten (1832-1911), second daughter of Charles Francis Victor, Count d'Alten, of Hanover. Their son George Victor Drogo Montagu (1853-1892), Lord Kimbolton, had been born on 17 June; after his father's succession as yth Duke of Manchester in 1855 he would be known as Viscount Mandeville, and in 1890 he would succeed his father as 8th Duke of Manchester; he would be Conservative MP for Huntingdonshire 1877-80. The Mandevilles were at Hughenden 14-16 November. H ace. For the fame of the name Kimbolton see 256o&n8. 4 Recent confused reports of several conflicts between the Turks and the Russians (for example, in the Press of 12 November) had been confirmed by news, first published in London on 17 November, of an apparent Turkish victory at Bucharest. Ralph had written to D on 14 November: 'The Moniteur confirms the statement that the Russians had been defeated at Alteniza [Oltenitza, on 4 November], only 9000 Turks engaged, & 1200 Russians destroyed & numbers of officers killed & wounded.' H A/I/E/Gg. The leader in the Press on 19 November would conclude: '... let us not misconceive what has occurred. If anything could have rendered inevitable one of those great struggles which may hereafter rank with the thirty years' war, or the campaigns of the revolution, it would be the defeat of the Russian arms by the Ottomans ...' In her reply of 24 November Mrs Brydges Willyams would remark: 'I am very glad that Victory appears inclined to favour the right side those who are on the defensive but not the invaders'. RTC [264QJ. 1 D appears to be referring to Hughenden estate matters. Rose and Lucas had handled the rental of premises for the Press. 2 The earliest extant papers and letters in H pertaining to D's role as executor for the estate of Mrs Brydges Willyams date from 1860.

286

TO: [PHILIP ROSE]

[Hughenden, Friday 18 November 1853?]

2587

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/llQ

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: '1853?'. There is no salutation. Dating: conjectural; cf 2585111 and 2586.

I think this will give you what you require.1 We are off to town. Yrs I D TO: SIR JOHN PAKINGTON

Grosvenor Gate [Monday] 28 November 1853

ORIGINAL: WRC 705:349 BA 3835/y(ii)2

Private

The Rt Hon: I Sir J. Pakington Grosvenor Gate I Novr. 28. 53 My dear Pakington, Walpole has, I believe, informed you of the general result of our conference at Merstham - but I just / write this line to say, that I have engaged to go to Wimpole at the beginning of the month, & one of my principal reasons for / so doing is, that I may have the pleasure & advantage of meeting you. I trust, therefore, we shall find ourselves under the same roof - about the 3rd. / I think - but I must see Malmesbury, whom I daily expect, before I quite settle that. I hope that Lady Pakington1 has quite recovered. Pray make my complimts. acceptable to her & believe me Yours sincerely, I D.2

1 See 2586&m. On another matter, Rose on 17 November 1853 nad reported to D at length on the new arrangement for managing elections 'with an entirely new staff; for this he would need £400 a year (of which £300 was for Marshall Spofforth, the only paid agent) in two semi-annual instalments beginning in February 1854. HUHM [28oJ. 1 Sir John in 1851 had married thirdly Augusta Anne Davies (c 1800-1892), daughter of Thomas Champion de Crespigny and widow since 1846 of Col T.H.H. Davies MP, of Elmley Park, Worcestershire, whom she had married in 1824. 2 Pakington replied from Westwood Park on 30 November: '... Walpole wrote to me fully after your conference at Merstham [see 2582&nm&2]. I quite concur in the course proposed, as being the best that can be taken under the circumstances, and, if it is generally accepted, it will I hope be successful. It seems to me that more preconcert, better pre-arrangement, & a fuller mutual understanding than existed amongst us last Session are essential to our action as a party, and I hope these objects will be secured ... You are under some mistake, so far at least as I am concerned, about Wimpole - I am not going there - on the contrary I expect Lord Hardwicke here on 12th. & I think he told me that he was to be at Knowsley the preceding week.' On 16 December he wrote again: 'Malmesbury & Jolliffe as well as Lord Hardwicke have been with me this week, and we had of course several conversations upon our party prospects. I think you will like to hear that we were quite unanimous in approbation of the course suggested when you were at Merstham, and in hoping that it may be successful in removing the little difficulties of which we have lately heard, & in enabling us again to show a strong front as a numerous and united party. I feel no doubt that preconcert & pre-arrangement are as necessary for the conduct and effective action of a great political party when in opposition, as when in power ... The communications which Jolliffe has held with our friends since you saw him seem to have been generally very satisfactory, and he is sanguine that when Parliament meets we shall find a very large majority of those members of our House who have hitherto been followers of Lord Derby still disposed to regard him as the greatest & safest statesman of the present day, and no less willing to rally round you as their leader in the House of Corns.' H B/XX/P/io-n.

287

2588

2589

TO: LORD STANLEY

Coventry House [Thursday] i December 1853

ORIGINAL: DBF [1629]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in Stanley's hand on the eighth page: 'Disraeli. Dec /53-'

Private Coventry House I Dec. 1. 1853 My dear S. We are passing thro' town to Wimpole, where I expect a dreary & barren congress, Malmesbury not having yet arrived. I am anything but sanguine, but am trying to rally our resources as well / as I can, being in for it.1 Being influenzaish, I cannot write a despatch to the Captain, so send this, of wh: you can advise him. I have heard nothing more from my quarter, wh: is not one that can be commanded, tho' it can be depended on - but I / learn, from a quarter not so firstrate, but very authentic, that Palmerston's star is not in the ascendant, & that the court, if possible, is more hostile to him than ever. This, I apprehend, is the secret of no combustion. He is afraid of being stranded, / & that he will not be able to overcome the royal determination that he shall, not only not be Premier, but not even, be leader of the H of C. It is industriously said, that the Q. did not write to Palmn:, when he took office, or even send him a message, but that he yielded / entirely to the appeal & representations of Ld. Landsdow Lansdowne. Under these circumstances, if the reform bill were the only question, I think they would hold together - but the foreign element baffles calculation. But here again it is said that / if Ld. Aberdeen will not be a war minister, Ld. Clarendon is to take the helm, & the present concern go on. Mad [am] e Lieven however says, that Newcastle & Herbert will go out with Ab[erdee]n if he retires - I suppose also she meant Gladstone - if / they do not, they will fairly be absorbed with the Whigs wh: wd. be something. It is positive, that Ld. John has proposed a £5. franchise, & that the Cabinet will not listen to it - whether he has yielded finally to / their decision, I cannot say. I hope to hear that the Captain improves in health.

1 Stanley had written from Knowsley on 28 November: 'I have seen a note of yours addressed to my Father [see 5S574&nn7&n&i2 for the most recent extant correspondence}, and we wait anxiously, but not very hopefully, for further tidings. We are despondent - you, I think, sanguine. Even if a break-up should ensue, I hardly see how we are to take advantage of it. But in any case the Captain is unfit to act at present, being still in bed, slowly recovering ... The practical question which seems to me to be at issue is this - Supposing resignations, Palmerston becomes master of the situation - will he be content to play a secondary part? Will he lead the Commons under my Father? And in that event, you co-operating with him as joint leader, what becomes of Gladstone? G. & his follower, S. Herbert are to all appearance very strongly bound by personal ties to Palmerston. Can that connection be broken? Or, supposing P. to take the command in person, what will be our position? It is evident to me that few of our friends would oppose him, consequently that our role as an opposition will speedily become absurd. We must guard against this - how? ... my Father's state ... renders it unlikely that he will take active steps unless pressed to do so. He is mending, but languid from long confinement, and occupies his mind but little with politics.' H B/XX/S/601.

288

I shall be in town again on Tuesday next; & not return immediately to Hughenden. Ever Yrs, I D.2 TO: LORD JOHN MANNERS

Coventry House [Thursday] i December 1853

2590

ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl-75] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on Coventry House stationery. Sic: waving [as catchword it appears twice in MS]; au fait to.

Coventry House I Dec. 1. 1853 My dear John, Alas! we have left Hughenden until Xmas, & are now en route to Wimpole.1 I trust your / visit is only postponed until a happier season, & when our railroad will be finished.2 We have been hoping to hear from you for some time. We / shall return from Wimpole at the beginning of next week, & calculate that we shall be in town when you & Lady John pass thro'. We therefore propose, that you will, waving / ceremony, come & dine with us at G.G. sans facon, when we can talk over everything. My kindest remembrances to her. Ever yours, I D. Keep me au fait to your movements[.]3 TO: [LORD DERBY] ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3

Coventry House [Friday] 2 December 1853

tl!2]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B HI 527, extract dated 2 December 1853; M&B IV 31, undated extract; Blake 357, undated extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the sixth page: 'Disraeli B.'.

Covy: Ho: Dec. 2. 53 2 Stanley replied from Knowsley on 3 December: 'All sorts of stories have been current about my Father's state of health, and it is well you should know they are mere fabrications. He is still weak, but free from pain, and recovering ... He and I have exchanged letters, as you referred him to me.' He also mentioned another topic: 'I have been written to about a society called "Athenaeum Institute for authors" in which your name figures largely. I presume you approve it, having subscribed and appearing as a patron. But who are the managers? ... So many of these things are bubbles, one has to be cautious.' H B/XX/S/6O2. According to an advertisement in the Press of 18 June 1853, D was one of seven vice-presidents of the 'Athenaeum Institute, for Authors and Men of Science', a mutual benefit society costing a guinea per year, the principal benefit being life assurance. 1 See 2562&ni for Manners's proposal to visit on 13 December. In his letter he said Brighton was full of political rumours, but that what he had found most interesting was Ponsonby's accurate prophecy of the success of the Turkish arms; he made several comments on strategy for the upcoming session which he hoped to discuss with D. 2 This is a reference to a current proposal for a Wycombe to Oxford railway, with a branch to Aylesbury. The Press since 19 November had been printing (as had BH since 12 November and The Times since 18 November) an announcement of the bill to be deposited in the private bill office of the House of Commons before the end of the year; it had been drawn up by three law firms including Baxter, Rose and Norton. The newly formed company was to be an equal partner in the venture with the Great Western Railway Company. The railway from Wycombe to Maidenhead would open in March 1854. Bradshaw's Railway Manual, Shareholders' Guide and Directory 1869 (new ed New York 1969) 345. 3 Manners's next extant letter is his acceptance on 19 January 1854 of D's invitation (not found, but cf 2622 and 2623) to a parliamentary dinner on 30 January. H B/XX/M/92.

289

2591

My dear Lord, I have just got a letter from Paris dated yesterday, assuring me, that Russia has sent in a conclusive note, declaring that she will / listen to no further negotiations; that her course part is taken; & that part is "La Guerre."1 The Duchess of Richmond kindly sent me a note yesterday, / respecting yr. health, wh: re-assured me under the good-natured rumors circulated by Bonham & Tattersalls, that you were again, & dangerously, ill.2 I / sent some rough notes to you, thro' Stanley, yesterday. Pray let him send me a line how you are.3 I fear from his tone, that you anticipate / the possibility of a mortifying decomposition of our friends. What I sent yesterday may have a little re-assured you on this head. I hope you / will not be offended, if I take the liberty of saying, what I once said to George Bentinck in his darkest hour, that "come what will, we / will stand or fall together." No news from Malmesbury.4 Tomorrow we go to Wimpole. Ever, I D. / This bad writing is not my fault but of pen, ink & paper.

1 The 'letter from Paris' has not been found; presumably D left it at the Press. According to a note from Lucas of this day, he had given all the morning papers a chance to quote the information and MH in a second edition had used it; the second edition of MC of this day also published an item, 'EXPRESS FROM PARIS', to the effect that recent events had 'greatly irritated' the Czar, who would now not 'enter into any negotiations, or listen to any propositions for a compromise.' The Press on 3 December would open with an announcement in virtually the same words D uses here. On 5 December Lucas wrote: 'Our information astonished the Town ... It was a great coup - but now comes the pinch. The Times contradicts us flatly - and I am most anxious lest we should have overstated the facts. I shall see Lord M[almesbury] presently. And I will come to you Wednesday till when all other topics may stand over.' For The Times's refutation see 259301. On 8 December Lucas reported his further thoughts on 'Lord M's communications', which he thought could help D, and listed three incidents regarding which 'French Diplomatists reproach England with having lagged behind at every successive stage of the Eastern question.' The Press's leader of 10 December made a partial retraction of its 3 December announcement: 'We stated in our last number that Russia had communicated to the Governments of England and France that she could listen to no further negotiations, and that war must be the arbiter of the questions between herself and the Porte. On the following Monday this statement received a contradiction from the influential organ of our Foreign-office; so far, at least, as England is concerned. The information reached us as we were going to press, from authority, that such a communication had been received by the French Government, and we had reason to believe that a similar one would be made to our own ... It will be made; if, indeed, it have not already been received.' On 10 December Lucas wrote: 'Your article covers us admirably. I did not see or hear from Lord Henry Lennox yesterday nor did I see Count W. who was said to be with Lord Clarendon when I called both at 2 and 4. Therefore the article went in unmodified.' H B/VI/214-17. In fact, the Russians on 30 November had attacked the Turkish port of Sinope, and sunk a number of Turkish ships, with many lives lost; reports would first reach London on 11 December. The Press's leader of 17 December, presumably also by D, would cite the incident as proof of the accuracy of its 3 December announcement. The Sinope 'massacre' was one of the critical events making a large-scale war inevitable. Aberdeen Coalition 214. For D's later explanation to Derby and Londonderry see 2598 and 8599. 2 For the Duchess's note see 2597&ni. Tattersall's, the celebrated horse mart founded in 1766 at which the Jockey Club maintained rooms, was at this time in Grosvenor Place; from there betting was regulated throughout the country. 3 See 2589&n2. 4 Malmesbury was in Paris 22 November to 3 December. Malmesbury I 41014.

290

TO: LORD LONDONDERRY

Coventry House [Friday] 2 December 1853

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [75]

2592

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed by Londonderry on the fourth page: 'D Israeli Deer 5 1853'.

Private Covy Ho: Dec. 2. 53 My dear Lord, I have just received a despatch from Paris, informing me, that Russia has sent in a conclusive note, declaring, / that she will listen to no further negotiations, that her part is taken, & that part is "La Guerre". I have hardly time / to write this[.] Let me know how you are, & thank dear Lady Londonderry for / her most interesting letter. Tomorrow we go to Wimpole, & I will hope to write to her on my return.1 Domestic affairs brighten - more anon. Ever I D. TO: LORD SALISBURY

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 8 December 1853

ORIGINAL: HFD [7]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand (Salisbury's?) on the fourth page: 'Mr Disraeli Deer 8' and in a third hand: 'Mr Disraeli Dec 8. 1853.'

Confidential Grosvenor Gate I Dec. 8. 53. The I Marq: of Salisbury K.G. My dearest Lord, I could not write to you before. The Emperor of the French has made an important proposition to our government, wh: has not been acceded / to, &, I think, the consequence will be, that he will withdraw from any intimate connection with us. This, of course, must be done by degrees, & the revival of the Austrian Conference, for / it is nothing more, will assist him in this.1 Yours ever, I D. I go to Knowsley tomorrow. 1 Lady Londonderry's letter has not been found; for Lord Londonderry's response of 5 December see D's description in 2598&nil. 1 The Times on 5 December, in refuting the Press's announcement of 3 December that Russia had sent notes declaring war to Paris and London (see 259im), reported that an agreement had been reached by Austria, Germany, France and Britain, on the initiative of the latter two, to maintain the existing territorial arrangements of Europe, and over the next week described the resulting reconvening on 3 December of the Conference of Vienna. The Press's leader on 10 December would pooh-pooh the revival of the conference, which it saw as having no more chance of success this time than last, instead merely gaining time for Russia. Indeed, the leader claimed, an important proposition made by Napoleon to the British, and which had been the occasion of much recent diplomatic traffic between Paris and London, had been rejected by the English government, thereby leaving Napoleon disinclined to take any active part in an alliance against Russia. The rejected 'important proposition' may be described by Aberdeen in a letter to the Queen on 26 November, on Louis Napoleon's proposal to Cowley, the British ambassador, to send English and French ships into the Black Sea. LQV 11 463. In London the previous day, Palmerston had also proposed occupation of the Black Sea. Paul W. Schroeder Austria, Great Britain, and the Crimean War: The Destruction of the European Concert (1972) ill. On 13 December, Lennox would enclose to D a copy of his letter of 12 December from Portland Place to 'Young Nap' (whom he

2Q1

2593

2594

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Grosvenor Gate [Thursday] 8 December 1853

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/116

Grosvenor Gate I Dec. 8. 1853 My dear Rose, I have only been in town a day from Wimpole, & must go to Knowsley tomorrow, having indeed engaged to / go to day. I hope to return on Monday, & will take care to see you before I go back to Hughenden. Yrs ever I D.

2595

TO: LORD HENRY LENNOX

Knowsley [Sunday 11?] December 1853

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R143-822] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a typewritten copy headed: 'D. to Lord Henry Lennox, Knowsley, Dec. 8. [sic] '53.' Dating: by D's presence at Knowsley;

infamous charge of the light brigade, are numerous; see, for example, Denis Judd The Crimean War (1975) 71-91. according to which, of the 673 men in the light brigade, 113 were killed and 134 wounded, with the loss of nearly 500 horses. Unofficial reports arriving in London at this time were alarming; on 11 November, The Times would publish its own correspondent's report of the events of the 25th stating that, of 607 light infantry, only 198 returned, of 800 cavalry, only 200 returned, and that the 17th Lancers were almost destroyed. The first official reports were published in London on Sunday 12 November, and reprinted in the papers the next day; a complete casualty list for 25 October appeared on 18 November, giving figures of 157 killed or missing and 121 wounded for the light cavalry, and 9 and 97 for the heavy cavalry. Jolliffe's second son, Hedworth Hylton Hylton Jolliffe (1829-1899), It 4th light dragoons (captain Coldstream Guards 15 December 1854, retired 1855), was one of the survivors of the light cavalry charge at Balaklava; he also served at the Alma and at Inkerman. Army Lists (1854-5). He would be JP and DL for Somerset, JP for Sussex, Cornwall and Surrey, Conservative MP for Wells 185568, and succeed his father as 2nd Baron Hylton in 1876. 3 John Bright's 29 October letter in response to his old friend Absalom Watkin's invitation to explain his opposition to the war at a public meeting in Manchester had been published in The Times on 4 November; Bright reviewed and passionately denounced as 'criminal' the policies which had led to and were sustaining what he saw to be a profoundly misguided and tragically unnecessary war. The Times on 7 November pooh-poohed the letter as the expression of a pacifist opposed to all wars; the Press on 11 November agreed with most of the letter's statements and arguments, but chided Bright for thinking that his hands were free of blood despite having helped keep Aberdeen in power. Bright's letter was extensively reprinted, and published as a pamphlet, and he was widely denounced for what was seen as his pro-Russian position. See Herman Ausubeljohn Bright: Victorian Reformer (1966) 65-79. See also Bright 177-84 Pakington replied on 12 November that it would be equally convenient and agreeable to them to receive the Ds after Christmas; he was shocked at D's news about Jolliffe's second son, which he had not heard, and told of a neighbour losing his only son at Sebastopol: 'the distress & anxiety on all sides are most painful.' H B/XX/P/151 James Hunter Blair (1817-1854), eldest son of Sir David Hunter Blair, 3rd Bt, DL of Ayrshire 1845, It-co Scots Fusilier Guards 1848, Conservative MP for Ayrshire 1852-4, had been killed at Inkerman on 5 November. D's colleagues were also shocked at his death; Jolliffe in his 23 November letter to D wrote: 'Poor Blair is a sad loss to our Party. No one was of greater use to Taylor & I [sic] than he was, and on many occasions did excellent service.' H B/XX/J/n. Malmesbury on 26 November wrote: 'Blair cannot be replaced for those who knew & liked him either as a partisan or friend.' H B/XX/HS/46. Mandevill on 27 November wrote: 'So your presentiment was too true and poor Blair was killed.' H B/XXI/M/1O2.

380

I hear that Louis Bonaparte is very disgusted with everything. He says that the Alma was "a barren victory", & that if the business had been followed up, witht. a moments loss of time, Seb: wd. have been surrendered / - that a campaign was never meant, & that the siege has been a series of blunders.2 Our own people, I am told, in a panic, wh: they may well be. Fancy a commercial country stopping all the packet ships / for the public service. The merchants of Rio, Brazil, &c &c, &c. a whole month at least witht remittances or any advices from their correspondents!3 Jolliffe, whose eldest son died of cholera in / the trenches, had his second, & right hand, charging with Ld Cardigan on the 25th. & reported as missing. Conceive his despair, but the son has fortunately turned up!4 Hunter Blair, poor dear Hunter Blair, haunts / me. He took us to Chobham!5 This is a sad scrawl to send you - but pardon it, as I really cd. only write to you. Yrs I D.6 TO: LORD HENRY LENNOX

Hughenden [Monday 27?] November 1854

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [11143-10546] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a typewritten copy headed: 'D. to Ld. Henry Lennox, Hughenden, Nov. 24. '54.'. Dating: by internal evidence (see nni&2&4) the 24th is impossible. Several of D's numbers can occasionally look like a '4' and the date was read as '24' by both the transcriber and the recipient (n4). Sic: Nov. 24; Joliffe.

Hughenden, Nov. 24. '54.

Derby on 3 December wrote: 'We have had a great loss in poor Blair - and I fear we shall certainly lose his seat also.' H B/XX/S/128. 2 Mandeville had reported this in his letter of 2O November without mentioning Louis Napoleon: 'I asked Walewski his opinion about the Battle of Alma. He said there were many but the principal criticism was that it was a barren success. The Russians were demoralised; we ought to have stuck to them, have marched in pursuit the same evening started again next morning before daybreak, not have given them a l/4 of an hour's rest till we had annihilated them. Then we could have done what we liked with Sebastopol and should not have minded reinforcements.' H B/XXI/M/ioo. 3 The Times on 21 November had reprinted from the Liverpool Albion an item about the substantial delays in mail service to various countries because mail steamers were being used to transport reinforcements to the Crimea; it was impossible to predict when mail might reach its destination, as the packets still in service might also be taken over before their scheduled dates of sailing. 4 G.A. Hamilton in his 17 November letter had enclosed Jolliffe's 15 November letter to him with this information, and suggested D invite Jolliffe to accompany Hamilton to Hughenden. H B/XX/H/2Q. Mandeville had written from London on 21 November: 'Some papers say that Jolliffe's son (4th. Lt. Dragoons) is missing[;] that is not true - letters have been received within a day or two.' H B/XXI/ M/ioi. Jolliffe in his 23 November letter (ni) wrote: 'We have not yet received our own letters by this mail, but we have heard of Hedworth making himself of use on the 5th. [at Inkerman] so he was then safe and well. His coming out of that affair at Balaclava one of 39 of his Regt. was indeed a dispensation of great mercy to us.' 5 Chobham, Surrey, was the site of a large military camp of exercise held in 1853. wSurrey III 414; MP (22 Jun 1853)6 Lady Londonderry replied from Seaham on Sunday: 'I deeply feel yr sympathy. The accounts are too sad & fill one with misery & anxiety for the future. Surely there must be an hour of reckoning for this hateful Government who go to war without providing an army - it is actual murder to let this little heroic wreck of an army fight these hordes ... There is nothing too bad for such a Government..." If she were younger she would go out by yacht and do something. Instead, to contain her restlessness, she was building at Wynyard 'a sort of Mausoleum to contain all the precious souvenirs & heirlooms.' She concluded by wondering whether the Ds could not come for a visit in December or January. H B/XX/v/186.

381

2699

My dearest Henry, I was just about writing to you when I received news of the meeting of Parliament - which alters all my plans. I shall clear off my business here, which is planting, and get to town as much before the meeting as I can, or all will be chaos.1 I have seen no one, except poor, dear Joliffe.2 With one son dying of Cholera, and the second charging with Cardigan at Balaclava, he has had a trying time of it, and is much shaken. It is very probable that you are abroad, after a Princess;3 wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I wish you luck, and send this line to Portland Place, on the chance of your getting it and knowing something of my plans and movements.4 Ever yours, D. 2?OC TO: LORD DERBY

Hughenden [Wednesday] 29 November 1854

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [84]

The Rt Honble I The Earl of Derby Hughenden I Nov 29. 54 My dear Lord, The enclosed came this morning, as I was about to write to you a long letter, from wh: it will save you.1

1 The proclamation that parliament would meet on 12 December was issued on 27 November. The Times (28 Nov 1854). See 2694 for D's invitation to Lennox to visit in December. D would be in London 29 November to i December. H ace. 2 Jolliffe had accompanied G.A. Hamilton (who according tojolliffe's letter of 23 November had conveyed D's invitation to him) to Hughenden on Saturday 25 November, where they stayed until Monday the 27th; see 2?OO. H B/XX/J/n, B/XX/H/29, 3°3 See 2570ni, 2583m and 2676m. 4 Evidently this letter had not reached Lennox when he wrote on Wednesday 29 November from Tottenham, Marlborough; he had just come from Knowsley, and was going to Middleton on Friday or Saturday, and could stop off at Hughenden on Friday for a few hours if he heard by return post. The next day he wrote again to say he found the train connections 'unpropitious' and, unless he heard otherwise from D the next morning, would visit on his way from Middleton to London. In his 3 December letter from Middleton in response to D's of the 2nd (see 27Ol&ni) Lennox wrote: 'After I wrote you those notes of Wednesday & Thursday last, I received from London one, written by you on the 24th & saying you wished to see me, & that you were going to London. Where are you? that I may come to you on Tuesday; when, the rest of my time is very much at the disposal of your Eminence.' H B/XX/LX/49-51. 1 Derby's response (n4) identifies the enclosure as the letter G.A. Hamilton had written to D on 28 November from 20 Chester Square: 'You must have been surprized, as I was, at the Proclamation for the meeting of Parliament on the 12th. Dec. And it is clear from the tone of the Government papers that what they really hope for is an indemnity for the past by making a great shew of energy for the future. The Globe speaks of the magnanimity of the opposition Leaders - of the silence of Lord Derby & yourself during the recess - as indicative of an intention of patriotically supporting the Govmt. in the present crisis. The article in the Times of this morning you will have before you. The Militia Bill & a Loan will be, I suppose, their measures. They calculate, probably rightly, that neither can be opposed - and, obtaining them, they will say they have obtained what is tantamount to a Vote of Confidence. And thus they will gain the opportunity of another disasterous [sic] campaign. To prevent their obtaining what they want will, as you say, require nice steering. However disgusted with the mismanagement of the War, I doubt whether as yet the public have begun to enquire sufficiently whether it is possible that those who have begun by mismanaging every thing, & who are still hankering after Peace, can conduct a war - & such a War - vigorously & successfully. And there is a great danger, I think, that our Country Gentlemen under the impulse of their Patriotism & martial ardor, may at the meeting of Parliament

382

What day will you arrive? I will take care to precede you, & be at yr command. I / have seen no one except Jolliffe & H[amilton], who left me on Monday; but from an active correspondence, I shd. say the party was compact & cordial.2 I was glad to hear from Malmesbury, that you were more than well.3 Yrs sincerely, I D. / H. does not allude to what, I apprehend, is a fact that negotiations for peace are going on, or, at any rate, preparing.4

talk in such a way as may give countenance to the indemnity which Ministers desire. That I think is the first thing to be guarded against. I suppose the means would be a meeting at Lord Derbys in which he should propound his views - which probably would be to support Govmt. in what they require for the War - but to canvass freely their past conduct of it & to express doubts at least, as [to] their future conduct of it. And if your mission thro Jolliffe should be successful - and any independent expression of dissatisfaction should come forth, by persons to whom party feelings or motives could not be attributed, then I believe the Country would respond to it and the time for striking would have arrived.' H B/XX/H/32. 2 Evidently the correspondence was conducted mostly by Hamilton and Jolliffe, who reported to D. Some of Hamilton's other work for the party was conveyed in a letter he wrote to D on this day; he wrote that Baldwin, editor of MH, had told him, in light of the party's apparent 'disposition towards a Protestant policy, which he considered the only rallying point for a Party', that he was ready to place his paper at its service. H B/XX/H/333 Malmesbury had written from Knowsley on 'Sunday' (26 November): 'I have been here 3 days. The Captain is in the strongest health (I never saw him better) & quite a different man from last year evidently ready for any work.' He went on to discuss party strategy, how important it was to avoid any sense of satisfaction at the national calamity, and to avoid decrying the popular Raglan; he also wondered whether it might not now be appropriate to raise battalions in Canada and India, or to hire Swiss mercenaries. H B/XX/HS/46. 4 Derby replied from Knowsley on 3 December: 'Your letter of the 2Qth. enclosing one from Hamilton, which I now return, crossed one of mine of the previous day, in which I announced to you my intention of being in Town on Monday afternoon, and asked you to meet me at 5 o'Clock. We have probably each been waiting since then to hear from each other; and our letters may now very likely cross again.' See Z7O2&nl. Derby continued: 'I have written to Hamilton entirely approving a form of note which he had suggested to Jolliffe, of course with your concurrence, earnestly pressing for the attendance of our friends, and calling a meeting at your house, in consequence of my receiving the Peers; and I cannot but add that I rejoice in the necessity in which you find yourself of thus taking the lead of the Commons at the commencement of the Session ... I think our course is so clear as to leave little room for doubt - a cordial support in every exertion which they think it necessary, or can be induced, to make for the prosecution of the War, in which they have involved us, with Ultra-Aberdonian Vigour, combined with unsparing criticism upon the past, more especially for the apparent absence of any thing like a definite object or plan, of any foresight as to what would be required, or any timely preparation to meet the exigencies of a war, the magnitude of which, in spite of all warnings, they (to use an Americanism) have all along failed to "realize." It will be important that we should have, and probably you will be able to procure, the dates of the principal events, and of the steps taken by our Government in consequence, or if ever there was such a case, in anticipation of them. Especially we must have the date of the raising of the Siege of Silistria. That I take to have been the turning point of the campaign; and that up to that time the views of our Government were wholly defensive. Such a supposition renders their conduct intelligible, though it cannot excuse the folly of supposing that a merely defensive warfare would ever bring Russia to terms. I will write to Colville [Derby's assistant in the Lords], and ask him to get for me some of the principal dates, & will not therefore now trouble you farther on that head. The matter of finance must belong mainly to your House; but I trust you will not be satisfied to pass a vote of credit, without a full explanation of the financial principles upon which it is intended, henceforth to conduct the War, and an exposure, and abandonment, of Gladstone's crotchets for which we have already paid so dearly. I am well assured that you will do full justice to this part of the case. We must also have a full explanation of the occupation of the Principalities by Austria, and of the part which she has played and is playing. From the most recent accounts it would seem probable that by the time Parliament meets, she will have concluded a treaty with us; if so, that Treaty must of course be laid before us; and it will

383

2?01

TO: LORD HENRY LENNOX

Hughenden [Saturday] 2 December 1854

ORIGINAL: PS 544 PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 550, dated at Hughenden 2 December 1854

...[Lord Derby] seems to be full of his ancient spirit, and which dealing with 'producers and consumers' appeared to have cowed. The present men are in a great mess, and the country is beginning to hate them: but unless there be some mutual drinking of Brighton waters, or some similar beverage, I don't foresee change. Mere criticism will not upset even a Coalition Ministry, but their rapidly increasing unpopularity may stimulate new formations. In the meantime, 'Heaven is above all.'...1

2?02

TO: LORD DERBY

Hughenden [Sunday] 3 December 1854

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 tl05] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Disraeli B'. Sic: St James'.

The Rt Hble I The Earl of Derby Hughenden. Dec. 3. 54 My dear Lord, After I had written to you on Wednesday last, I thought it best to go up to town, Grosvenor Gate being unfortunately full of workmen at this moment; & make some arrangements for the sudden campaign. The / consequence of this movement was, that I did not get yr. letter until Friday night on my return.1

be necessary very closely to scrutinize its contents. The neutrality of Austria hitherto has been almost as damaging to us as her hostility would have been; and infinitely more profitable to herself. Among the dates required, we must have the announcement in the Times of the intention to undertake the Crimean expedition, as compared with its actual occurrence. I collect from Hamilton's letter, that you have some expectation of extraneous support, and even that there have been some pourparlers on the subject. Is this so? If it is, it may be very useful ..." H B/XX/s/128. 1 For the 'waters' cfzsGo&ng. Lennox replied from Middleton on 3 December (see also 269Qn4), where he heard reports that 'the Govt expect rough handling ... Certainly Brighton Waters are tres efficaces.' 1 See 27OO&n4. In the 28 November letter from Knowsley that D had missed Derby had written: 'The Proclamation, which summons us to meet on the 12th. of next month, is the Trumpet which must stir us old Warhorses to action, and we must make a little more preparation for our Campaign than Ministers have thought it necessary hitherto to do for that of the Country. I have this morning sent out my Circulars to the Peers, but as I shall have but few servants in London, I shall not give my usual dinner, and have therefore summoned the Peers generally to meet me on Tuesday morning, when I generally have the Commons. I do not think I shall be in Town myself till the Monday afternoon; but if you would call upon me at 5 o'Clock that day, we could discuss our course, which you could announce to the Commons the next morning. I could get Walpole, and I suppose I should add Pakington, to meet you on the Monday. Our course at least in the Lords (and with you for the first day) seems very clear. Of course they will introduce no debateable matter into the Address - of course we must move no Amendment - of course we must support them in the vigorous (?) prosecution of the war - and equally of course we must give them the benefit of our unreserved opinion of the way in which they have mismanaged and starved it. This last topic may lead to divisions, as well as debates in your House, if Gladstone adheres to his absurd crotchet of paying for the War within the year. This however I think we can hardly do - indeed I hear that he has lately been beaten in the Cabinet on a proposition which he had the audacity to make, of a 15 pr. cent Income Tax! the refusal involving the alternative of a loan! My own opinion would be in favour of raising the sum required in the shape of Long Annuities

384

I immediately despatched instructions to Hamilton, whom I had directed to remain in town & watch events, 8c I learn from him, this morning, that he / has made the requisite arrangements, that yr. wishes shd be complied with.2 Undoubtedly there are some men, who wd. come to St James' Sqr & not to me, but we must do the best we can, as these are not times to make difficulties. I / shall myself be in town certainly on Saturday the Qth:, &, of course, entirely count f- on having the advantage of conferring with you on Monday the nth. I am glad to see your spirit is brisk. Mine, I dare say, will warm up when I smell gunpowder. Ever yours I D. TO: SIR RICHARD VYVYAN

Hughenden [Sunday] 3 December 1854

ORIGINAL: CRN V/BO (55/144)

Private Sir R.R. Vyvyan Bart: I M.P. Hughenden. Dec. 3. 1854 My dear Sir Richard, I am anxious to see you before I meet my friends, & have the aid of yr. advice at this moment. I shall certainly be in town on Saturday next. As Ld. Derby will not arrive until Monday (nth), & / as he has summoned the Peers at his house for Tuesday morning, he wishes me to receive the Commons en masse at Grosvenor Gate on that day. I think that, at this moment, it is desirable, that he sho[ul]d personally meet & address his Ho: of Commons / friends, but these are not times to make difficulties, & I have, therefore, taken the liberty of requesting Jolliffe to issue a circular in consequence, tho', by the bye, my house is full of workmen!1 - which would entail on the present generation some sacrifice beyond the mere payment of interest on a Loan, and not add permanently to the burthens of the country; while at the same time the pressure would not be severe. As to the past, I think our chief topic should be want of foresight - every step being a "leap in the dark" - and every measure adopted too late. The present summoning of Parliament for the 12th. after its prorogation not a fortnight ago to the 14th. is in itself a proof of the vacillatio of their Counsels, and how little they really appreciate and provide for the difficulties and emergencies of the situation.' He concluded: 'Let me hear from you as soon as you can. I am very well, and quite up to the work I shall have to do though I can hardly say that I am eager for the fray.' H B/XX/S/isy. 2 Hamilton on 2 December had reported from London: 'I have reed, your letter [not found] 8c written to Jolliffe who is to be at Merstham this evening. I have no doubt he will concur with me that a letter from him should go out on Monday to every Member of the Conservative party urging the importance of his attendance in the HC. on the 12th and stating that you will be grateful if he will come to your House at 12 oC (the Peers being then to meet Lord D) in order to confer with you on the position of affairs. I have suggested the form of letter - which, no doubt Jolliffe will improve upon - and I have suggested his coming up here on Monday to have it lithographed and sent off that night. There may be a few perhaps who would go to Lord Derby's House & may not come to yours, but they are very few now, & we must learn to do without them. Your exposition - at your own House - will be of course taken as Lord Derbys ...' H B/XX/H/34. Malmesbury wrote to D on 9 December: 'I shd have thought the Commons of more consequence [than the Lords] if [Derby] only met one of the 2 Estates.' H B/XX/HS/47. 1 Jolliffe would write from Merstham on 5 December, enclosing a printed circular dated 4 December which would go out that day; citing Derby's invitation to the peers, it asked members to meet at

385

2703

I shall send this under cover to London, that / it may not lose the chance of finding you there, with instructions to forward it to Trelowarren, provided you be in the West.2 Yours sincerely, I B. Disraeli 2704 TO: LORD GRANBY

Hughenden [Wednesday] 6 December 1854

ORIGINAL: BEA [Rl-?8]

The I Marq: of Granby I M.P. Hughenden I Dec. 6. 1854 My dear Lord, Ld. Derby does not come up to town until Monday the nth., & as he does not give his usual dinner to the Peers on that day, he has summoned their Lordships to confer on the following morning. He / has, therefore, requested me to receive the Commons en masse at Grosvenor Gate, & at the same time. This is the first occasion on wh: I have undertaken such a difficult enterprise, & I do it very unwillingly, but this is not a period to make difficulties. I have always received so much kindness & cordial / cooperation from you, that I venture to say that I shall esteem it a great service & personal favor, if you cd find it not inconvenient to be present at Grosvenor Gate on Tuesday 12th, & give me the advantage of yr. judgment & influence. Ever yours, I B. Disraeli1

Grosvenor Gate on Tuesday 12 December at 11:45. JollifTe also reported his approach to Richmond in the interests of forming a 'stronger and more united party than any which now existed, from which a Governmt. might be formed capable of extricating the Country from the enormous difficulties in which we had become involved'. The idea was for Richmond, possibly with Grey's support, to sound out 'the old Whigs' about an alliance; Richmond agreed to speak to Lord FitzWilliam, but refused to do anything which might 'cripple "or starve" the War and felt that party progress depended on 'much more and much better' efforts in the House. H B/XX/J/132 Hamilton on 4 December from the Carlton Club responded to D's covering note (not found): 'Vyvyan is not in town. I have forwarded your letter by post.' Vyvyan replied to D from Trelowarren, Cornwall, on 6 December. Because a bout of influenza might prevent his talking with D before Monday, he outlined his views; he urged D 'to insist upon an amendment to the address, at all hazards - & to go to a division.' He then detailed his strong opposition, not to the war itself, but to the way it was being conducted. H B/XXI/V/gg. In his letter Hamilton suggested: 'As the meeting on the 12th. Inst. is to be at your House might it not be adviseable for you to make some opportunity of writing to some of the magnates among the Commoners - Such men as would be flattered or influenced by the attention 8c invite them yourself, incidentally, to the meeting - Such men I mean as Lord Granbyf,] Lord Lovaine[,] Lord Chandos[,] Lord Chelsea - & as Lytton[,] Geo Bankes[,] Miles &c ... I cannot help thinking that a Whig manifesto would cause an explosion ..." H B/XX/H/35. 1 Granby answered from Madrid on 17 December, thanking D for the kind letter: 'I telegraphed twice to London from Pau to know whether it was worth while for me to return ... to neither did I receive any answer ..." H B/XXI/R/335.

386

TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS

Hughenden [Wednesday] 6 December 1854

2705

ORIGINAL: RTC [26]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 550-1, dated 6 December 1854, omitting part of the third and the fourth paragraphs EDITORIAL COMMENT: In another hand on the first page below the words 'What tragedies!': 'reaction'. There is no salutation. Sic: aid-de-camps; aid-de-camp.

Hughenden. Dec. 6. 54 We have had very absorbing, & sad, times, since I last wrote to you. We have lived here quite alone, reading only the ensanguined newspapers, & learning, each day, of the loss of our dearest friends. What tragedies! My / parliamentary staff has suffered more than that of any of the Generals of Division. I think I told you, that the chief of my staff, Sir William Jolliffe, had lost his eldest son in the Guards, before Sebastopol, of cholera; & that his second, & prime hope, charged with Lord Cardigan / at Balaclava, & after a fortnights terrible existence under the telegraphic bulletin, that reported the whole of the light Cavalry as destroyed, turned up as one of the three officers in his regiment of Dragoons, who was unscathed - but the father / looks ten years older, than h did last Session. Colonel Hunter Blair of the Scotch Guards, one of my most active aid-de-camps, & really invaluable both as a partisan & a friend, shot in the tenderest part & died in awful torments. This is a severe loss to me. My second aid-decamp, / Lord Mandeville, writes to me, that he has had four cousins killed & one severely wounded!1 In the midst of all this, Parliament is called suddenly together, & the pressure on me for the last week has been very great. We go up to / town tomorrow, &, to complete our troubles, our house is full of workmen, & yet on the morning of the 12th, I must contrive to receive two hundred members of Parliament! I write you this hurried line to / assure you of my kind recollections & to express my envy of your beautiful & tranquil retreat. We were planting very busily, & I had counted on a quiet, if not a merry, Xmas, Yrs ever ID. 2 TO: ROBERT PEMBERTON MILNES

Grosvenor Gate 2706 [Saturday] 23 December 1854

ORIGINAL: TCC 269

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Cabinet summoned again for Wednesday next ... looks like negotiations'. Written on paper imprinted 'Grosvenor Gate.

R.P. Milnes I Esqr December 23. 54 My dear Squire, Your letter hit me in the midst of a brief, but hot, campaign, & the uncertainty, wh:

1 Mandeville had written this in his letter of 27 November; see 269801. 2 Mrs Brydges Willyams replied on 10 December from Mount Braddon: 'In the midst of the present absorbing affair it is very good and kind of you to write to me and to give me an idea of your movements. Every thing you say interests me ...' RTC [2730].

387

prevailed as to the term of the holidays, prevented / my making any domestic arrangements.1 I regret to say, very much, that it is quite out of our power, to have the gratification of being under your kind 8c hospitable roof on the 8th. Jany. Had the holidays been longer, & yr. / invitation later in the month, we might have had a chance of renewing the happy hours, wh: we always pass in yr society. The Cabinet, then, is summoned again for Wednesday next. This looks like negotiations, but I can't / myself well see, how they are to be manipulated. My wife desires me to offer you her kindest regards, & I am Ever yours I D. We go off this evening to Hughenden.2

2707

TO: [DAVID COULTON?]

[Hughenden?] Friday [29 December 1854?]

ORIGINAL: MOPSIK [190]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Recipient and Dating: on the assumption that the correspondence in ni pertains to this note.

Private Friday My dear Sir, If you have not contrived to see Ld. M. or settle anything, you may insert the enclosed, or something like it - on my authority.1 Yrs I D. 1 R.P. Milnes had written from Frystone on 17 December to ask the Ds, if there was an interval, for 8 January; evidently D's letter did not reach him directly, as on 24 December he reminded D that he had written a week ago, and repeated the invitation. H B/XXI/M/396, 398. From the time parliament met on 12 December until it was adjourned for a month on 23 December, the Foreign Enlistment Bill and the Militia Bill were debated and passed; the former was the more contentious one, with four nights of debate from 19 to 22 December. See Aberdeen Coalition 510-16. 2 The Ds would leave for Hughenden on 26 December and return to Grosvenor Gate on 6 January; they would be Lady Londonderry's guests at Wynyard Hall 1020 January. At Hughenden their guests included Sarah Disraeli (and her maid, 10 days), Jolliffe and Hamilton (two days), while the Clubbes and a Mr Norris were dinner guests on 3 January. On 2 January 'a supper & dance kept up until 4 in the morng' was held for 22 servants - 7 of their own and 15 of their neighbours'. The Ds evidently joined in the supper, as MA recorded 24 dining on 'Boiled beef large goose meat pie plumb pudding & mince pies' and a punch using two bottles of brandy. 6^2806. H ace. 1 This note may be associated with the lead item in the Press on 30 December 1854: 'It would be premature to more than allude to an Event now in progress, which, when ripe for announcement, will excite the greatest interest in Europe, and open a new phase in the complications of the Eastern question. In the present state of the great European monarchies, it is not to be expected that dynastic considerations can be wholly separated from the policy of Courts, and such considerations will soon, we have reason to believe, assume a shape to demand the gravest deliberation.' On 2 January 1855 Lord Mandeville, through whom D at this time was advising Coulton and who himself gathered material and as 'Spazza Cammino' wrote articles for the Press, remarked: 'I thought the oracle had been inserted in the Press by your direction. Lady M. still persists in believing you originated it. No one can make out what it means.' H B/XXI/M/io?. On 6 January 1855 in its summary of the week the Press commented on 'the speculation to which the opening paragraph in the last number ... has given rise ... Galignani supposes that our allusion is to the Court of St. Petersburg, and that the Emperor Nicholas, to avoid division between his two eldest-born, has been anxious to carve out a new empire in the East for one of them. Whether this solution be correct, time, we suppose, will show ...' On 13 January the Press returned to Galignani?, hypothesis and added: '... a new scheme has been, it seems, suggesting itself of late ... If Austria cannot manage Hungary she must not keep it; so we learn that the magnates of Hungary have been sounded on the question whether they will accept Russia's recognition of their free nationality on condition of receiving Constantine [the Czar's second son] for King.' See further 27l4&ni.

388

TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

[Hughenden? Monday] i January 1855

2708

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [96] PUBLICATION HISTORY: Lady Londonderry 142-3, dated i January 1855 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. As D on this day was at the Bucks Epiphany Sessions, this letter may have been written at Aylesbury. BH (6 Jan 1855).

Jan. i. 1855 My first letter of the New Year shall be to you, & it shall wish you all that happiness of wh:, in the present state of affairs, you must be ever dreaming. I / hope you have good news of Adolphus. It would appear, that he is at a much more favorable station, than Sebastopol itself. Is this so?1 I wrote to you, still panting with the sharp campaign of ten days, that, / the moment I cd. survey my domestic position, I wd. take the liberty of writing again, & saying whether, & when, we could avail ourselves of yr. invitation to Wynyard.2 I have unceasingly labored, that I might have that gratification. / It is a pilgrimage of friendship. Would the loth, of this month be altogether convenient for you to receive us? If so, I purpose then, again, to find myself under a roof endeared to me by many associations. Ever yours ID. 3 TO: SARAH BRYDGES WILLYAMS Hughenden [Wednesday] 3 January 1855 ORIGINAL: RTC [27] PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 555, undated extract EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. There is no salutation. The 'J' of January' is written over a 'D'.

January 3. 1855 We have wild, & tame, violets flourishing in this wonderful season, when Bucks, in winter, is as sweet & soft, as Devon in summer. I send you some of the tame ones, for / they are the most fragrant. 1 Lady Londonderry had written on 20 December: 'Private I have deplorable accts - floating Tents, encampments on Mud - no fresh meat even for the officers - pork & biscuit - horses dying all round & none to be got even to bring up the supplies taken out. There seems neither care or thought & a total indifference as to what becomes of the wreck of this fine army & the brave spirits who seem tasked [ ?] beyond human endurance. The Govt. have indeed much to answer for &: how is it all to end - I am very anxious to hear fr. you & to know if I have any hope of seeing you & Mrs D'Israeli after the 1st week in Jany. It wd be such a comfort to talk over matters with you.' In a postscript she added: 'It wd be a gt charity to tell me what books to send - Adolphus prays me to send some - I never see one! what a confession!' H B/XX/V/iSy. Dreadful reports from the Crimea were filling the press; possibly D based his attempt at solace on 'The Camp in the Crimea' (The Times30 Dec 1854), reports as recent as 12 December from officers and a chaplain at Balaklava and Scutari that matters at Sebastopol were so bad as to make the deplorable conditions elsewhere seem slight by comparison. 2 If D wrote to Lady Londonderry on or about 23 December, when the lo-day sitting of parliament was adjourned for Christmas, the letter has not been found. 3 Lady Londonderry wrote on 2 January: 'I am anxiously looking forward to hearing from you again. It will give me such real comfort & pleasure to see you & Mrs D'Israeli here that I am selfish enough to press it on you very much. I long to talk things over with you - public & private. I wd send you good wishes but I feel as if I could only porter Malheur. What a dreadful year & yet I part with it with regret. No future one, if I am spared, can ever begin so prosperously & happy as it did. I almost dread to look forward & tremble fr every post.' She added a postscript: 'I wrote this before breakfast & yr kind & welcome note has arrived. The loth will suit me perfectly & I shall have so much pleasure in seeing you & Mrs D'Israeli ...' H B/XX/v/i88.

389

2?og

The Parliamentary campaign, tho' brief, was spirited & eventful. The Ministers were much shaken, & their prestige is destroyed. Brights speech, the last / night, was not, in some passages, unworthy of Ld Chatham.1 I send you the paper - as well as the "Times" on the beginning of this new year, for it contains a remarkable article.2 I am afraid I shall / not have much success in the matter of the Charter House. The patronage is all in the hands of the Peelites, & they have just elected Ld. Aberdeen as a governor. However, if the wheel turns, I will remember yr. wishes.3 / At present, it is our intention to leave this place on Saturday on a visit to Lady Londonderry at Wynyard. It will be a rather melancholy one, for she is most unhappy about her son, Lord Adolphus, who is in the Crimea - but the visit has been / so often postponed on our parts, that we do not like any longer to decline her invitation in this moment of her despondency. I am not, however, much in the humor to travel, nearly 300 miles, into the north / of the Island.4 The Ayrshire & Norwich Elections are significant, & if a Tory is returned for Sunderland, now vacant, I shall begin to believe that John Bull is regaining his wits.5 We / shall be very happy to hear, that you are well. Mrs. Disraeli begs me to send you her kind love. Ever yrs I D. 1 According to R.A.J. Walling, editor of The Diaries of John Bright (1930), 179-80, Bright's eloquent indictment of the war on 22 December in the debate on third reading of the Foreign Enlistment Bill was 'one of the two most electrifying speeches ever made in [the Commons], both by John Bright... The House sat spell-bound, then cheered, then fell silent again. There were some calls for Gladstone, who sat on the Treasury Bench motionless and afflicted. No one wished to speak. A division was taken and the House adjourned.' In the division, third reading passed by 173-135. Hansard CXXXVI cols 883-93. 2 The Times's i January leader reviewing 1854 had commented: '... The year found us at peace, and leaves us at war; it found us with a powerful Ministry, and leaves us with one whose influence is weakened and whose prestige is at an end. The year has overturned our faith in many things, shaken many convictions, and dissipated many illusions ... [In] the Queen's Speech ... of December ... we recognize the consciousness of our Ministers that they erred gravely when they sought to fix attention on matters neither naval, nor military, nor diplomatic ...' Nevertheless the leader concluded: 'the horizon is bright with the presage of glory and success.' On The Times's abrupt change of position since 19 December see Aberdeen Coalition 516-20. On 7 January Mrs Brydges Willyams replied: 'At the risque [sic] of eyesight I cd not resist reading the debate you so kindly sent me...' She also asked D to thank MA for introducing her to 'the brilliant "Press"', and suggested that the debates be printed in it. RTC [2890]. 3 The Charterhouse, the hospital and school instituted in 1611, was under the direction of the Queen, Prince Albert, fifteen governors and a salaried master; at a governors' meeting on 10 November, Aberdeen had been elected a governor. Handbook of London 109; The Times (13 Nov 1854). No record of Mrs Brydges Willyams's 'wishes' has been found; in her letter of 7 January (n2) she wrote: 'I have much to thank you for having thought of the Charter House.' In early May the governors of Charterhouse would elect Richard Elwyn as second master of the school, possibly the position Mrs Brydges Willyams had in mind. The Times (2 May 1855). D may have written to the Charterhouse (see 2746ec). 4 The Ds left Hughenden for Grosvenor Gate on Saturday 6 January and left for Wynyard on Wednesday 10 January from London as planned; see 2708&n3 and 2716. H ace. In her reply (n2) Mrs Brydges Willyams remarked: 'What a comfort it must be to Ly Londonderry to ... listen to all you tell her of the Crimea tragedies and ramifications now going on.' She also fretted about the Ds' exposure to engine fumes: 'It would be of great service if Ld Palmerston wd prohibit those fumes, as it is, I can think of nothing better than to sit dos a dos with the Engine and close the sash which admits most fumes and use "Johnn's eaux [sic] de Cologne." When will you come and choose some more of it?' 5 In Ayrshire on 30 December, Sir James Fergusson had won for the Conservatives the seat left vacant by the death of Col Hunter Blair (see 2698). At Norwich on 29 December, Sir Samuel Bignold (Conservative) had won the seat vacated by Sir Samuel Morton Peto (Liberal). Stanley on i January had written to D: 'You see the Norwich victory. It has taken both sides by surprise. We thought N. the most radical town in England.' H B/XX/S/614- The other election was also over. One of the two seats at Sunderland

390

TO: SIR JOHN PAKINGTON ORIGINAL: WRC 705:349 BA-3835/7(11)5

Hughenden [Friday] 5 January 1855

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor'. Sic: embarassing.

Private

The Rt Honble I Sir John Pakington January five 1855 My dear Pakington, Notwithstanding the absorbing interest of the war, I have received several anxious enquiries respecting the notice of motion, wh: you have given, on the meeting of Parliament. I am entirely incapable of replying to them. Had foreign affairs been / less engrossing, I had looked forward to the question of Education as one, on wh: we might have, possibly, built up our position as a party, prepared to accomplish what all agreed was necessary, & wh: the existing administration, tho' specially formed to fulfil, had failed in achieving. With this view, I believe, Walpole had been busying himself, during the recess, preparing some / materials for us to consider with Ld Derby. The movement wh:, without any communication with any of us, you have thought fit to make, has seriously disturbed all this, & placed us all in an inconvenient & embarassing position. It is quite impossible for any individual, who has been a Cabinet Minister, & still occupies one of the most / prominent situations in opposition, to introduce any general question of large interest to Parliament on his own responsibility alone, &, indeed, I do not clearly see, how the affairs of a political connection can be satisfactorily conducted, if such a course be adopted. On the reassembling of Parliament, at the first meeting of our friends, this subject will be brought forward, & / I should, therefore, feel obliged to you carefully to consider the circumstances in wh: we are now involved with respect to it, & to favor me, at yr convenience, with yr. views as to the best mode of extricating ourselves from these difficulties. Yours sincerely, I D.1 had been made vacant by the appointment in December of William Digby Seymour (Radical) as recorder of Newcastle-on-Tyne; he had lost to a Liberal at the 2 January by-election, which was not contested by any Conservative. The Times (3 Jan 1855). See further 2714. 1 Pakington replied from Westwood Park on 7 January reminding D that after the failure of the Manchester and Salford Bill in the previous session (see 2299&n3 and 23O4&n7), he had consulted both him and Derby, who had 'concurred in the policy & encouraged the idea' of 'at once seizing the vacant ground'. He had given his notice before the end of the session because he learned, accidentally and in confidence, that Russell was preparing an education bill and was surprised he was not informed that Walpole was collecting materials to be considered by the party at its first meeting after the recess, though his motion could always be postponed. He meant to introduce a bill as an independent MP, as he thought an independent measure might get the support of men such as Cobden, and cited the recent precedent of Walpole's anti-bribery bill (see 267sn4). 'My plan is large', he wrote, '... but I doubt whether public or Parliamentary feeling are yet ripe for any national system, and if I fail, the failure will be mine. Neither my party nor my friends will be compromised. If the plan is liked & I succeed, as I am sanguine that I shall ultimately, our party & our friends must share the credit & the benefit of the success.' He wrote again on 1O January that he had written to Derby, that Stanley had agreed to discuss his ideas, and that he had the support of Miles and Bulwer Lytton. On 15 January he wrote again, enclosing an outline (not found) of the education bill he had drafted with Stanley and of which he had sent a copy to Derby; he proposed adhering to his original plan to move it independently on 25 January and, after it was printed, submit it to the party for discussion. H B/XX/P/18-20. See further 27ig&n2.

391

2710

2711

TO: LORD PONSONBY

Hughenden [Saturday] 6 January 1855

ORIGINAL: DURP [17]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on paper imprinted 'Hughenden Manor.'

January six 1855. Visct Ponsonby I G.C.B. My dearest Lord, I was very much obliged to you for all yr. letters. Your suggestions are never disregarded by me. At the moment when you were writing your last, & when you fancied / there was inertness on my part, I was pursuing the enemy into their very camp, & nearly captured it. I think the ten days campaign was not a bad one. The affair is not so simple as you may, perhaps, think, but, sooner or / later, I mean to do it. I am very anxious to hear how you are, & hope that you are improving. We are now on our way to Wynyard, to pay an often postponed visit to an anxious, &, perhaps by this time, unhappy mother, whose darling child is in the Crimea. When I return, / if you be not in town, as I hope you may be, I must run down to Brighton to see you before the meeting of Parliament.1 I send a thousand kind thoughts to the charming partner of yr. existence, & I am, always, Your affectionate & I obliged friend, I D.

2712 TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

Carlton Club, Saturday [6 January 1855]

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [97]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Written on Carlton Club stationery. There is no salutation. Dating: cf 2713.

Saturday I write you a hurried note to say, that we have just arrived in town, & purpose to leave this for Wynyard on Wednesday morning by the express train, / wh: quits London, I believe, about half past nine - but I will write again on Monday.1 The D. of Bucks has just told me, that Lord Glengall is dying (of a / paralytic attack) at Bretby,2 & that poor, dear, Lord Ponsonby, is in a hopeless state. No foreign news of any mark today. Yrs ever I D.

1 Ponsonby was in fairly regular correspondence with D, mostly on Crimean matters; on 26 November 1854, 'disabled by illness', he had been 'too feeble to write as I wish to rouse you to action at ONCE [to attack the government]'. (On his illness see also 2718 and 2713.) On 7 December he had replied to D's inquiry (not found) 'what is going to happen': '... if you do not emasculate Russia as I propose shd be done there will arise in Europe a very general war and universal disturbance of interest.' On 11 December he had challenged D to use the 100 members D had told him a month earlier he had, and make himself master of the current parliament. On 17 December he had upbraided D for not yet having taken any direct steps to remove ministers from office. His next extant letters, of 14, 15, and 16 January 1855, would resume this line, but make no mention of illness. H B/XXI/P/369, 371-6. See further 272O&nl. 1 If this letter was written, it has not been found. 2 Lord Glengall would survive the paralytic stroke he suffered while staying at Lord Chesterfield's Bretby Park, Ashby-de-la-Zouche, and live until 1858; on 9 January MC would report him out of danger.

392

TO: LORD MALMESBURY

Carlton Club [Saturday] 6 January 1855

ORIGINAL: HCC 9M73/458/Q PUBLICATION HISTORY: Malmesbury II i; M&B IV n, the third paragraph EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Jan 6./55'. Sic: mistakeable.

2713

Carlton I Jan: 6. 55. My dear M. I found your note1 on our arrival in town to day from Hughenden, en route for Wynyard. I do not think, however, I shall / be able to depart for that latter place before Wednesday morning; so, if you have anything to say, I shall have a London post, Monday & Tuesday - after that Wynyard Stockton on Tees. / Notwithstanding all that has happened, & the no longer mistakeable disgust & indignation of the country with the present ministry, I think it will last. The Ho: of Commons is determined not to turn them / out until their successors are indicated. Waiting for a strong government, the weak one will proceed. I fear that Seymour will be going to the H: of Lords, wh: I regret, as I always looked to the / possib[ilit]y of his taking a leading part in the reconstruction of parties.2 The D. of Bucks has just told me, that Glengall is dying at Bretby - this is sad, & / that poor, dear, Lord Ponsonby, is in a hopeless state. The Court will not break up the Govt, in order that a pure Whig Ministry may be formed. Yrs ever I D. TO: LORD STANLEY

Carlton Club [Saturday] 6 January 1855

ORIGINAL: DBF [153?]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in Stanley's hand on the fourth page: 'D.Jan 755.' Sic: Zartoryska; sucessor; then ever.

Private Carlton - I Jan. 6. 55 My dr. S. I was at Q. Sess: when yr. letter arrived, & had not seen the "Press" for that week, so was in nubibus. I understand Prince Napoleon is to marry Princess / Zartoryska, provided the Princess Mary continues to refuse him - but it is a great secret.1

1 This note has not been found; for some of its contents see 2716. The note in H dated 'Jan 5' and docketed '? 1855' by an archivist is actually an 1854 letter; see 2612113. 2 Lord Seymour would succeed as 12th Duke of Somerset on 15 August 1855; his father was in failing health for the last two years of his life. The Times (16 Aug 1855). Seymour was currently Liberal MP for Totnes, and would next hold office as first lord of the admiralty in the Liberal government of 1859-66. Perhaps D hoped for Seymour's political friendship because he was married to D's friend, the youngest Sheridan sister; see I 234&nl51 Stanley had written from Knowsley on i January curious about '"the event"' (see 2707&m): 'I know the accuracy of your information too well to suppose it a mere "canard." Answer me, if discretion allows.' He asked D's advice on several matters pertaining to the war, particularly 'the detestable injustice of the purchase-system as regards commissions'. H B/XX/S/614. Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte (1822-1891), nicknamed 'Plonplon,' youngest son by his second marriage of Napoleon's younger brother

393

2714

Nothwithstanding Ayr, Norwich, & Sunderland, the present Government will / go on. The Ho: of Commons will never turn them out, until a strong sucessor is indicated, & we appear to be farther from that then ever[.]2 My direction will be / after Tuesday Wynyard Stockton on Tees,

where we shall probably remain till the meeting of Parliament. Yrs ever I D.

2715

TO: PHILIP ROSE

Grosvenor Gate, Sunday 7 January [1855]

ORIGINAL: H R/I/A/124 EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the first page: '1855?' Dating: cfzjll, 2712 and 8713

Grosvenor Gate I Sunday. Jan. 7 My dear Rose, We are in town, only for a day on our way to Wynyard, but I will call on you tomorrow, at / four o'ck: & take my chance of finding you. Yrs ffly I D.

2716 TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE

[London, Tuesday] 9 January 1855

ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C/2l65 [29]

PRIVATE Jan. 9. 1855 My dear Jolliffe, We are on our way (tomorrow) to Wynyard, Stockton on Tees, wh: will, probably, be my direction until the meeting of Parliament. Write to me there, when anything occurs to you.1 Write to Ld. Derby about the meeting, & take his opinion generally on affairs: I / think there ought to be some motion, on the conduct of the war, or such like, within a fortnight of our re-assembling, notice of it to be given as soon as possible - but all such opinions depend upon the state of affairs, wh: may vary from day to day.2

Jerome, in 1852 had been designated Prince Napoleon, with the qualification of Imperial Highness; he had recently commanded at Alma and Inkerman; in 1879 he would succeed as head of the Imperial House of France, and in 1886 be exiled as a pretender to the throne. In 1859 he would marry Princess Clothilde, daughter of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia. Isabella, Princess Czartoryski (or Czartoryska), only daughter of Adam George, Prince Czartoryski, a Polish statesman latterly resident in Paris, and his wife, Anna, Princess Czartoryski, in 1857 would marry Jan Dzialynski. 2 For the elections see 2709&n5. 1 Jolliffe had written from Merstham, Reigate, on 7 January for 'any instructions you think desirable' about a circular to supporters and a meeting at D's or Derby's, 'or shall /write to him upon this matter? I have day by day letters about pairs and to know when it was likely votes would be wanted. Yesterday I had a letter from John Manners dated Pau Jany 2nd. He intends to pair till Easter but he adds "Directly after Easter, I hope, Please God, to be in my place again." ... Write me a line before long! Our Election affairs have gone well of late!' He concluded with bitter remarks about the mismanagement of the war. H B/XX/J/15. 2 On Tuesday 23 January, the first day of the resumed session of parliament, several notices of motions

394

I hear from all quarters, that our ten days campaign has done us great good. I think the whipping was admirable. / What deters some of our men answering, or only partially assisting, is the fear of a change of government & another weak Derby ministry. It is useless to conceal this from ourselves. Where are the six Cabinet Ministers for the Ho: of Commons (there ought to be eight); if we had another Walpole & another Packy we cd. do, but John Manners is no where, Henley, no great shakes at any time, does not act with us, & as for / Stanley, with all his knowledge, abilities & station, I fear his parliamentary success is now hopeless.3 I hear that Ld. Seymour, who is staying at Malmesbury's, is unmeasured in his language against the govt. & says it can't go on, after such mismanagement of the war; nevertheless I think it will go on, & simply & solely, because their successors are not sufficiently indicated. I will write to you when [eve] r anything occurs to me. I hope all well at home. When does Hedworth return? Ever yrs. I D. TO: LORD HENRY LENNOX

Wynyard Park 2717 [Thursday] 11 January 1855

ORIGINAL: H H/Life [R143-1120]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 555, extract dated 11 January 1855 EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a typewritten copy headed: 'D. to Ld. Henry Lennox, Wynward [sic], Stockton-on-Tees, Jan. 11. '55'.

My dearest Henry, Your interesting and important despatch reached me here, where we shall probably remain until the meeting of Parliament. Do not fear wearying me with your letters, but write as often as you like, and as fully as you can. I hear, that the "cement" consists entirely of a postponement of decision on all points, whether political or financial, at present: they are to meet Parliament, trusting that some event may occur, which will give a preponderance to either of the rival systems. If war on a great scale is in the ascendant, then Aberdeen & Co., will retire, and there is to be an attempt at a Whig Government; which I should not be sorry to see.1 concerned the conduct of the war. Henry Drummond (Conservative) gave notice to move on 25 January for returns on the state of the army in the Crimea, and J.A. Roebuck (Radical) to move on that day for a select committee to inquire into the same subject. MP (24 Jan 1855). The latter motion would occasion the crucial debate; see 2?25&ni. 3 J.R. Vincent comments on Stanley's ceasing in 1855 to keep a regular diary, and remarks that Stanley's 'desultory notes' of 1857 'reveal Stanley as he might have been, rather than as the forces of party eventually made him. They show a Stanley who put social amelioration before parliamentary life, who believed that in social science lay the key to a better life for the artisan, and who was examining the subject of military hospitals "at the request of Miss Nightingale". Stanley's notes are those of a student rather than of a politician... Economics and social reform occupied his mind much more than before (or later). They were perhaps his reaction to the Crimean War ...' Disraeli, Derby 142. However, as recently as i January Stanley had written to D at length about various party and parliamentary matters; see 2714ni. 1 Lennox had written a 14-page letter from Goodwood on 8 January, beginning and ending with concern that it would bore D. To Frank Lawley, who had broached 'a Gladstone Coalition', Lennox had enumerated several difficulties, '& amongst other topics, hoped [Gladstone] had abandoned the idea, of paying

395

In the interpretation of the points, no allusion is made to Sebastopol.2 The Elections went well.3 Yours ever, D.4

the War except by a Loan.' Lawley later, on 6 January, had 'assumed a different tone', because, Lennox thought, he had talked to Gladstone in the interim, 'dwelling much upon the difficulties, almost insurmountable; talked of Gladstones entourage, as being opposed, "tooth & nail," to you & finally admitted to me that so strong was Gs conviction, of the iniquity & impolicy of a Loan Policy, that he should consider himself justified, in breaking up the Govt, even in the midst of War, rather than be the minister to propose or carry out such a Policy.' Lawley had said that Gladstone sympathized with the Conservatives, but later had remarked: '"you know one cannot tell what Gs Politics may be, possibly he may turn out a great Liberal"'. The government were reportedly all week on the point of breaking up, but were now temporarily 'cemented'. 'I asked of what nature or materials the cement was composed. He replied "simply because they are nearer to the meeting of Parliament" 8c added, that they would certainly fall to pieces, but that they felt, there was no one, to take their places.' On 4 February Lennox would report 'that th Derby Coalition [see^yjScni] hung fire on account of Gladstone] & S.H[erbert] being determined not to sit in the Cabinet with the "Peel Smasher". It only shows how needlessly F. Lawley lied to me.' H B/XX/LX/54, 57. For a discussion of the 'rival systems' for financing the war (ie the Gladstonian doctrine of taxation vs the traditional method of loans) see Olive Anderson A Liberal State at War (New York 1967) 12-17, 190228. 2 Lennox had written (ni): '... I hear, that the Emperor of Russia will accept the 4 points; & this not from any intrinsic love of Peace; but because he is informed & so am I that there are secret articles between Austria & France the very existence of which, is unknown to the British Govt ... I also heard that the Corps Diplomatique regretted your observation "We want no Austrian Alliance"[.] Perhaps you can smoothe it down in your Hansard copy of that speech as a thing which would constantly be urged against you when in office ...' The so-called Four Points were the terms contained in the exchange of notes of 8 August 1854: 'the substitution of a European guarantee of the Principalities for Russia's protectorate; freeing the Danube mouth for navigation; revision of the Straits Convention of 1841 in the interest of the European balance of power; and a joint European guarantee of Christians' rights in Turkey ...' Schroeder 182-3, J93- After initially rejecting them, the Czar in late November had accepted them as a basis for peace negotiations, and they formed the basis of the 2 December 1854 pact between Britain, France and Austria. The third point was particularly vague and, especially after the invasion of the Crimea, Britain and France wanted it to include the destruction of Sebastopol and the restriction of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. D made the remark to which Lennox refers on 12 December in the debate on the address, when he challenged the government to declare whether the treaty of alliance between Britain, France and Austria committed Austria to active participation, or gave her the chance 'merely to watch the game, and profit by the first opportunity ... If we are to have only an equivocal alliance [then] let there be no Austrian alliance — no four points, no subsidies, no secret articles — but let France and England together solve this great question, and establish and secure the liberties of Europe.' Hansard CXXXVI col 215. In late December, Britain, France and Austria had signed a protocol putting a somewhat less vague interpretation on the third point; as Russell explained in the House on 23 January: 'it was proposed by that interpretation to put an end to the preponderance of Russia in the Black Sea.' Hansard CXXXVI col 911. The Press on 6 January in a leader had made the same point D is making in this letter: 'We are assured, indeed, that in the protocol of the 28th December no mention whatever is made of Sebastopol ..." On D's mistrust of Austria see also 266l&n2. Contrary to Lennox's prediction, the Czar had accepted the newly interpreted points as the basis for further peace negotiations, as announced by The Times on 9 January. For the protracted negotiations focusing on the Four Points see Rich 141-6. 3 See 2709&n5- Conservatives had also been elected at Bedford on 6 December, at Abingdon on 13 December, in E Gloucestershire on 19 December, at Antrim on 27 December, at Fermanagh on 29 December, while over the period the Liberals had won only three seats. 4 Lennox replied from Brighton on 14 January; he told of having heard totally contradictory reports of the conditions in the Crimea, and wondered whether the Peelites were trying 'to disgust the Country of the War.' He continued: 'The countenance accorded by the Times to Molesworth is now readily accounted for, by the secret which I have, at great pains, discovered & which is no more nor less than that Delane is cohabiting with Mrs Horace Twiss; & Lady Molesworth lends them Eaton Place for the perpetration of their Amours. Is not this curious?' He concluded: 'the report today, is, that the Public

396

TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE

Wynyard Park [Monday] 15 January 1855

271

ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C2l65 [30]

Private Wynyard I Stockton on Tees I January 15. 1855. My dear Jolliffe, I wrote to you on the Qth. on the eve of my departure for this place. I have not since heard from you, tho' I am anxious to know what yr. views are / as to the opening of the campaign. I am consolidating our strength in this quarter, a very influential one, as much as possible. I have seen a great deal of Blandford, who is here, & conversed much with him. I found him / quite estranged from our party, but I do not despair, not only of his identifying himself with us, but even of his no longer dedicating himself to a special subject,1 but of taking a part, & I hope a leading one, in general debate. / His abilities have been proved. He has command of language, a fine voice, & can grapple in parliamentary discussion with a subject in all its bearings. If I cd. induce him to give notice, on the first night of our meeting, / of a motion on the conduct of the War, & we bring our forces well to the post, the consequences may be considerable. His name, character, & apparent distinction from us, wd. produce effect in the House & the country, / & rally many influences. I don't despair of this, but, at all events, we shd. continue to assemble our troops, & collect our forces, for a general engagement within the first fortnight of / our re-assembly. We shall probably remain here till next Saturday. Ever yrs I D.2 TO: SIR JOHN PAKINGTON

Wynyard Park [Thursday] 18 January 1855

ORIGINAL: H H/Life ^146-1448] EDITORIAL COMMENT: The text is taken from a typewritten copy. Sic: Wynard.

Wynard. Jan 18, '55. My dear Pakington, In six weeks, two letters from you have reached me with the seal openl This will not are again hoaxed & that no 4 points have been offered or accepted.' H B/XX/LX/55- Lennox's gossip may be about Molesworth's attempts in late 1854 to get Delane to censor the terrible reports of conditions among the troops; see Alison Adburgham A Radical Aristocrat (Padstow, Cornwall 1990) 177. 1 The parliamentary record of Lord Blandford, who in 1846 had voted for repeal, shows virtually exclusive interest in church affairs, even after this time. 2 Jolliffe on 16 January replied that he had Derby's reply, found only that day on his return to Merstham: Derby thought they 'should not give any notice to our friends for immediate attendance upon our reassembling' and wanted to 'postpone as long as possible, any sweeping motion on the Genl. Conduct of the War, or doing any thing that would in his opinion bring on a vote of Censure, upon which he thinks we should not only be likely to be beaten, but that it would have the effect of strengthening the Govmt. & patch up their internal differences to which we must look for our best chance of succeeding to, and retaining power. He also says that a vote of this kind would prevent our obtaining reinforcement without which (as you say also) we cannot form an Administration. I have begged him to write to you and told him you would be at Wynyard till Saturday. I have also suggested that the first Saturday meeting might be at his house, and afterwards on each Saturday at yours, the advantage of which had been so apparent during the last Session.' H B/XX/J/i6.

397

2719

do for Cabinet Ministers, or leaders of Opposition. And the fault is with you, and not with Lord Canning or Sir G. Grey.1 I shall be in town on Saturday night to remain. I like your bill, and think it might have been brought forward as an avowed party scheme. However, the arrangement you have made is, on the whole, the best. I should, however, avoid stating, that you brought it forward merely on your own responsibility.2 Blandford is here, and I think I have prevailed on him to join our party. He is very able. Yrs, D.

2720

TO: LORD PONSONBY

Wynyard Park [Thursday] 18 January 1855

ORIGINAL: DURP [l8]

Confidential

Visct Ponsonby I G.C.B. Wynyard I Jany. 18. 55. My dearest Lord, 1000 thanks for all yr. suggestions printed & MS. They are alike full of truth, spirit, & energy.1 My voice is for an uncompromising assault on / the Ministry, & I have written to that effect. There are difficulties, arising from the timorousness of yr. friends, I am told. The Fitzwilliams2 &c, should take this opportunity of reconstructing

1 Lord Canning was currently postmaster-general, and Sir George Grey, currently colonial secretary, had been home secretary when letter-opening was used at the height of the Chartist scare in 1847-8; cf 2659n2. 2 Pakington on 15 January had sent D an outline of the draft of his education bill that he had discussed with Stanley; see zyioni. Stanley on 16 January thought the plan, 'even if rejected by Park, will do us credit as a party - that it is large, liberal, and well-considered - and that we shall gain by its adoption, inasmuch as our previous apathy on such subjects has been often cast in our teeth - not wholly without cause.' He concluded: 'I am not as despondent as you seemed to be by your note of the 6th [see 2714] • See even the Daily News turning against Newcastle and Herbert!' H B/XX/S/615- On 20 January an article in the Press endorsed Pakington's expected measure, and suggested that it and the anticipated ministerial bill be submitted to committee and merged into one. On 23 January, the first day of the resumed session, Russell gave notice of his education bill. The Times (24 Jan 1855). Pakington on 16 March introduced at length his bill for a rate-based scheme for universal education; he admitted that it would probably be unsuccessful and unfavourably received even by his friends, but expressed satisfaction at contributing to the future welfare of the country. Debate on second reading was adjourned on 11 June; both his and Russell's bills were withdrawn on 2 July. Hansard CXXXVII cols 64072, CXXXVIII cols 1784-1828, cxxxix cols 383-8. 1 Ponsonby had written on 14, 15 and 16 January, critical of D's failure to 'assert [his] natural right to authority.' The second letter conveyed a rumour about the peace negotiations, and the third offered a lengthy analysis of the ministers' profound mismanagement of the eastern question: 'Will you allow the doers of all the above, to continue to be Ministers, or will you openly take part against them for their overthrow at once and without delay? I ask this question because I am about to go to attend Parliament and my conduct will be guided by you.' H B/XXI/P/374-6. On 14 January he also mentioned having sent D a copy of his '"Opinions Respecting Peace"'. The pamphlet, reprinted in MPon 16 January and dated 11 January, argued that a peace that left the imperial power of Russia undiminished constituted a continuing threat to England, and that no peace should be contemplated that did not at least return to the Ottoman Empire the territory taken from it by Russia in the previous 70 years. 2 The 5th Earl Fitzwilliam had three surviving sons, all MPs: the eldest, Viscount Milton, was currentl

398

with us a powerful, national, / & aristocratic, party - but instead of that, I hear, but I do not vouch for its truth, they indulge in the dream of the Peelites being expelled, & they being called in, as their substitutes. They will join, in that case, an insolvent / firm, & themselves be soon in the Gazette. All the members of the present administration are irretrievably damaged.3 I shall be at Grosr Gate on Saturday night, to remain. Ever yours I D . 4 TO: WILLIAM EDWARDS PARTRIDGE

Wynyard Park 2721 [Thursday] 18 January 1855

ORIGINAL: GMF [5]

The I Rev. W.E. Partridge I A.M. Wynyard I Jan. 18. 55 Dear Partridge, looo thanks for yr letter. Things must take their course. I shd. have been glad, if Bucks had set the example: they will have / to follow. The Ld. Lieutenant believed the Government mot, that Sebastopol was to be taken before Xmas! This kept him quiet.1 Yrs sincerely, I D.

Liberal MP for Wicklow; the next, George Wentworth Fitzwilliam (1817-1874), high sheriff Northants 1866, was Liberal MP for Richmond 1841, for Peterborough 1841-59; the third, Charles William Wentworth Fitzwilliam (1826-1894), capt 1st West York Yeomanry Cavalry 1846 (later colonel), was LiberalConservative MP for Malton 1852-85. 3 The Press on 20 January would base an article, 'French and English Rivalry', on the 'remarkable prophecy' that in his Commons speech of 13 July 1854 D recalled making when the coalition government was formed. Hansard CXXXV col 230. 4 Ponsonby replied on 19 January, delighted at D's letter. On 20 January he wrote that he had sent Lord Fitzwilliam a copy of his i October published letter on the eastern question; Fitzwilliam's reply (which he had mislaid) was 'indicative of his disagreement with the Ministers, and some evidence of his readiness to give them up ...' He enclosed a letter for Fitzwilliam that D could seal and mail if he approved of it, but wrote again the next day asking D to send him the letters 'and something from yourself as to Lord FitzWilliam'. He added a postscript to his 22 January letter: 'I wrote today to FitzWilliam. I spoke somewhat more clearly than in the other letter, but did not commit anybody.' On 25 January he wrote for further instructions, as he had not yet had any reply from Fitzwilliam: 'Get him if you can for he is really respected in his Yorkshire & elsewhere also.' H B/XXI/P/377-82. See further 2728. 1 Following a conversation with D at Quarter Sessions, Partridge had written from Horsendon House on 14 January enclosing a 7 January letter from Hanmer (of Stockgrove, Leighton Buzzard), Bucks high sheriff. Hanmer had written directly to D in December on a proposed county meeting to censure the management of the war, but now doubted if he could collect enough names. H B/XXI/P/126, I26a. Influenza had prevented Partridge from going to Stockgrove, where he might have persuaded Hanmer to 'act rather more decidedly'; Carrington, the lord lieutenant, was too 'nervous' to act. Hanmer's letter to D of 6 February has the beginning of a draft reply (not found) in D's hand: 'My dear high Sheriff'. H B/XXI/H/133-4. Partridge on 11 February would enclose Hanmer's opinion of 8 February that the county meeting would have 'placed the Shire in a high position ... [P.S.] Instead of the Ministry being allowed to resume their authority, they ought to be impeached for the destruction of our Armies.' H B/XXI/P/127, I2?a. G.A. Hamilton on 6 and 12 January had also urged D 'to give expression to the public opinion as regards the mismanagement of everything...' H B/XX/H/41-2.

399

2722

TO: LORD DERBY

Wynyard Park [Friday] 19 January [1855]

ORIGINAL: DBF Box 145/3 [85] EDITORIAL COMMENT: Endorsed in another hand on the fourth page: 'Disraeli B.' Dating: by context.

The Rt Honble I The Earl of Derby Wynyard. I Jan 19. My dear Lord, As a general rule, I think an Opposition shd. never attack a Government, & reserve their power for resistance to measures. I am far from saying, that / the present state of affairs justifies an exception to the rule. Our people, however, are very restless, & you know, from old experience, they require, in such a state, some management. The subject / will keep until we meet on Monday evening.1 I shall be glad to hear then, that Lady Derby is better. I have done some good here, consolidated a somewhat wavering, but powerful, interest; & / prevailed upon Ld. Blandford to join us. Hitherto he has kept aloof & more than that. I think highly of his abilities, & he can speak. Yours ever I D.

2723

TO: LADY LONDONDERRY House of Commons, Tuesday 23 January [1855] ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [98]

PUBLICATION HISTORY: M&B III 556, extract dated 23 January 1855 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Dating: by context.

H of Comm: I Va pt 6. Tuesday Jan 23. I cd. not write yesterday as varying accounts, all from high quarters, reached me every moment. I write to you now, at the last moment, before post goes, to say, & I can / only say as much at present, that affairs are very critical, & that appearances are, that the government will not survive the next ten days or so.1 Yrs ever I D. 1 Derby had written from Knowsley on 18 January 'in consequence of having heard this morning from Jolliffe, that you, as well as many of our friends, are anxious to give notice, on the very first day of the Session, of a motion inculpating the whole conduct of the War, and bringing on a general action, which should decide the fate of the Government. I confess I have great doubts of the policy of such a step, whether with reference to the present position of the Cabinet, or our future prospects; and I should much like to talk the matter over with you before anything is done. I hear you are to be in Town on Saturday; I shall not be there till Monday; but if you could come to me about 9 o'Clock that Evening, we should have it to ourselves as Lady Derby, who is not very well, will not come up to Town for another week. If there is nothing in our house after the first day, I am under an engagement to go down to Malmesbury's for three days, but should return on Saturday; and if it were thought desirable to have a meeting chez moi, it could be fixed for Monday the 2gth.' H B/XX/S/13O. 1 The parliamentary session was resumed on 23 January with a brief sitting. A sense of the state of affairs on this day, and of the differing views of the two Conservative leaders on how to respond to the general alarm at the administration of the army, can be had from Derby's letter to D dated 'St James's Sqr Tuesday Night' (Derby was again suffering from gout): 'I received your note [not found] by H. Lennox, and sent you some sort of a message by him - but I should like to talk the matter over with you ... It is no use sending for Peers from the country without a division - and a division we cannot have. The Government accede to Grey's address [on the administration of the army] on Tuesday, to Ellenborough's motion for returns, impugning the whole conduct of the campaign, and to a motion of Salisbury's for correspondence as to the non-blockade of the Black Sea Ports. Short of a vote of want of confidence they will yield to everything. I am of course unable to leave Town, but I can not send for men for nothing - and if I did, I dont see what effect it could have on Roebuck's motion for Thursday next. I

4OO

TO: SIR WILLIAM JOLLIFFE

[London, Thursday] 25 January 1855

ORIGINAL: SCR DD/HY C/2l65 [31]

2724

Sir W.H. Jolliffe I Bt. M.P. Jany. 25th. 55 My dear Jolliffe, I assume, of course, they are out - but, we shd. be prepared for everything.1 Bulwer will make the speech of the evening / for us, if you will write him a line & say, that it is the wish of Ld Derby & myself, that he shd. be prepared to do so, if necessary. You must find some / small deer for the interval. Catch them in the House. If a debate occurs, we must adjourn it as soon as possible - for the rest, we must trust / to Providence, wh: always guards over the Conservative party.2 Yrs. sincerely, I D. TO: MARY ANNE DISRAELI

[House of Commons] [Friday 26 January 1855]

ORIGINAL: H A/I/A/280 EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation or signature. Endorsed in MA'S hand on the verso: '1855 — Febry'. Dating: see ni.

6 o'ck Ld. John down & out. The debate on Roebuck going on & the government to stand or fall by the verdict.1

conclude it must be supported - but whether meant in earnest or not, I think it will do the Government good, & regret it accordingly.' H B/XX/S/131. For Roebuck's motion, see 2724&nm&2. 1 This was the day scheduled for Roebuck's motion for a select committee on the condition of the army before Sebastopol; instead Russell's resignation as president of the council was announced (see 2725ni), Roebuck's motion postponed until the next day, and the House adjourned. Hansard CXXXVI cols 940-3. Jolliffe reported on 'Thursday': '... I have just seen Ld. D. He makes sure of their going out! ...' H B/XX/J/ioS. On 'Thursday Night' Mandeville reported to D all he had been able to learn about the development, especially from the diplomatic corps, and that 'the Government was virtually out now ...' H B/XXI/M/112. 2 The debate on Roebuck's motion began on Friday (see 2725&ni), and was adjourned at midnight to Monday; the Conservative 'small deer' on Friday were Henry Drummond, Col North, Granby, S.H. Walpole, Col Sibthorp, and Rainald Knightley, with adjournment moved by A.S.O. Stafford. When Palmerston hoped the debate could be concluded that night, Lord Claud Hamilton pointed out that Irish members were still unaware of Russell's resignation, and an adjournment was necessary so that their opinions could be heard. Evidently other Conservatives needed the time to get to London; Stanley estimated that only 130 Conservatives were in the House on Friday. DBF 43/3; Disraeli, Derby 128. Bulwer Lytton made his 'Dismiss your Government and save your army' speech on Monday, the Press on 3 February declaring it 'brilliant'. Hansard CXXXVI cols 1167-78. 1 The sitting on Friday 26 January began at 4 pm with a very full attendance. The first major business was Russell's statement explaining his resignation (he could not oppose a motion from his own side of the House that in effect called for changes in the war department that he had himself unsuccessfully urged on Aberdeen), after which Palmerston announced that the government had decided to proceed with the debate on Roebuck's motion despite Russell's resignation, and let the outcome decide the government's fate. The debate then proceeded immediately; see 2724n2. The Times (27 Jan 1855); Hansard CXXXVI cols 960-1063. Smythe on this day wrote D a long letter predicting Derby would be sent for: The Reality is yourself- you and yours.' BEA [GSS/D 26 Jan 1855].

4O1

2?25

2720

TO: LADY LONDONDERRY

[London] Tuesday [30 January 1855]

ORIGINAL: DUR D/LO/C 530 [99]

EDITORIAL COMMENT: There is no salutation. Endorsed in another hand on the first page: 'Jany sist - 1855'. Dating: by context. Sic: Lindesay. 1

Tuesday - I - 5 o'ck

You have seen the crashing majority. There was a Cabinet at one for Va an hour, & / then Ld. Aberdeen went down to Windsor. No business wd. commence there till after luncheon, & therefore it is scarcely likely, that Lord / Aberdeen has yet returned. The general impression is, that whatever be decided on, Lord Lansdowne will in the first instance / be called in.2 I have not yet seen Bentinck or Mr Lindesay.3 The Houses have adjourned until Thursday next. Yrs I D. 1 Roebuck's motion (see 2724&nni&2 and 2725&ni) had been carried by a division of 305-148 on Monday 29 January; 'The figures were so astounding that for a moment the House sat silent, and then members on both sides burst, not into the usual cheers, but into peels of laughter.' Blake 362. As late as 9:40 pm on Monday, Derby had written to D from St James's Square: 'From the report I have received from the Carlton it is clear to me that there can be no Division tonight, & I understand that the Govt. do not mean that there should be. Excuse me for suggesting that you should take care to leave no doubt that if there is another adjournment, it is the work of the Government. By the way, in the Lords, they tried to insist on closing in one night. Send me up one line to say if any one worth hearing is likely to speak tonight. The case has now grown to such importance that I think you must speak - but not till the last moment - if after Palmerston, so much the better. Jolliffe tells me the division is to be very close. Sir G. Grey was hard upon J. Russell & Graham - so much the better.' H B/XX/8/132. Speaking near the end of the debate, after Gladstone but before Palmerston, D said the issue was not so much that the cabinet lacked the confidence of the House as that they had no confidence in each other. He was especially hard on Russell, whose speech of resignation he called 'an all-unconscious admission of profligate intrigue'; see also Aberdeen Coalition 539-40. Hansard CXXXVI cols 1206-19, 1230. The part of D's speech comparing Russell's speech to 'a page of Bubb Doddington [sic]' and denouncing Russell's behaviour in cabinet exists in draft form in Smythe's hand;