March 24th.—The dissolution took place on Saturday, and all the world is busy about the elections; many places are without candidates, or with very bad ones, and unable to find good ones. The dinner at the Mansion House the other day to the Ministers was a sort of triumph to Palmerston, who was rapturously received and cheered. He made a very bad speech, but which did very well for such an audience. It was full of claptraps and reiterations of the exploded charges of coalitions, &c., which he is not ashamed to harp upon, and in his address to Tiverton he talks of the 'combination only formed last session' to turn him out. I find myself, malgr� moi, thrown back into my old state of antagonism towards Palmerston, and what is very paradoxical, I am so without any hostility to his Government or any desire for its being overthrown, for I cannot descry any chance of a better, or, indeed, any possibility of forming another able to carry on affairs at all; but I am inexpressibly disgusted at the egregious folly of the country at his being made such an idol in this ridiculous way, and at the false and hypocritical pretences upon which this dissolution has been founded, and the enormous and shameful lying with which the country is deluged. I long to write, print, and publish the truth, and to expose this miserable delusion; but I repress the desire, because I cannot do so without exciting bitter personal animosities, probably quarrels, and I can see no reasonable hope of producing any effects which would sufficiently repay me for such consequences.
THE LIDDELL v. WESTERTON CASE.
The day before yesterday Pemberton Leigh gave judgement in the Privy Council in the case of Liddell and Westerton; the Judicial Committee reversed in great measure the judgements in the Courts below of Dr. Lushington and Sir John Dodson, but not entirely. It was a very able judgement, and prepared with great care and research, and so moderately and fairly framed that it was accepted unanimously by the Committee, and even by the Bishops of Canterbury and London, both Low Churchmen. It was drawn up by Pemberton Leigh himself, and its publication will give the world in general some idea of his great ability, with the extent of which few are acquainted. It is a very singular thing that in such times as these, and when there is such a dearth of able men and so great a demand for them, that he should voluntarily condemn himself to a state of comparative obscurity, and refuse to take the station in public life which it would be difficult to find any other man so well qualified to fill.
March 28th.—At Althorp the last two days. Palmerston's address to Tiverton, following his speech, at the Mansion House, has excited great indignation in all who are not thorough Palmerstonians. Both were full of deception and falsehood. John Russell is particularly incensed, and said these two productions were unworthy of a gentleman, and so they were. Malmesbury has addressed to Palmerston a letter in the newspapers on the subject, which though not well written is true, and fully justified by what Palmerston said; but all this signifies very little, the current is too strong to be opposed, and it is provoking to see the Conservatives endeavouring to bolster up their pretensions by saying they would have supported Palmerston on the China question, if they had been in Parliament, or promising to support him if they are elected. Yesterday, which was the first day of returns, does not give much difference; to-day is the polling for the City, and nobody has an idea how the election will go, whether Lord John will come in, and if he does which of the four will go to the wall. He was enthusiastically received yesterday, and the show of hands was unanimous in his favour, but this proves very little, and his organisation is miserably defective; had it been better and begun earlier, it is probable that his success would have been certain; he is the favourite as it is. Palmerston's speech at Tiverton yesterday was less objectionable than his address and speech at the Mansion House, and he left himself entirely unfettered on the subject of Reform, and rightly. The Parliament promises to be a Radical one, and I fully expect that the result of all this great commotion will be to give a stimulus to organize Reform; nor will it surprise me if Palmerston should find it conducive to his interest as minister to appear in the character of a Reformer, if he were to fling overboard all his old opinions, and to pay this price for a renewed lease of his own power. Wilkes used to say he had never been a Wilkite, but Palmerston has never been anything but a Palmerstonian, and I firmly believe that at seventy-three years of age his single thought is how to secure for himself power for his life, and that he will not scruple to accept measures which, so far as he thinks about it, he believes to be constitutionally dangerous and mischievous if by so doing he can maintain himself on the Treasury Bench.
RESULTS OF THE ELECTION.
March 29th.—Great excitement yesterday in the town, particularly at Brooks's. The most interesting event was the City election, and the return, which under the circumstances may be called triumphant, of John Russell, which was made more agreeable to himself and his friends by the defeat of Raikes Currie, who came from Northampton on purpose to turn him out. Up to the last hour John Russell continued to lead at the head of the poll, after which he fell off and only ended third, but still he had 7,000 votes after having been assured by his old adherents (J. Abel Smith in particular) that his success was hopeless, that he would be beaten 'disgracefully,' and probably would have hardly any votes at all.
After this the most interesting events were the defeats of the Manchester men, and generally, though not universally, of the voters for Cobden's motion, Bright and Milner Gibson, Cobden, Ricardo, Layard, all defeated. It seems that Manchester and the other great towns had got tired of their leaders, who had made themselves unpopular by their opposition to the war. I am sorry for the loss of Bright and Cobden, because such able men ought not to be ousted and replaced by mediocrities.
Palmerston's speech at Tiverton was in the same style, but far less offensive and objectionable than his address and his Mansion House harangue. The most remarkable part of it was the total silence which he observed as to his intention upon reforms and domestic questions generally, or rather his positive refusal to say a word on the subject or to pledge himself in any way; he evidently means to meet his Parliament free to take any course his interests may dictate. There was one remarkable speech yesterday, considering what the man is who uttered it. Vernon Smith at Northampton spoke as follows: 'Mr. Disraeli said Lord Palmerston was the Tory chief of a Radical Cabinet. I do not admit the description as regards Lord Palmerston, but I accept the designation as to the Cabinet of which I am a member. A great statesman once said that parties were like fishes (it was snakes, I believe), and their heads were propelled by their tails, and it will very likely be found that the head of the Government will in like manner be propelled by his tail.' The words are not exact, but the meaning is, and it must be owned a remarkable declaration for a Cabinet Minister to make as to his chief, and such a chief. I believe that it will turn out to be the truth. The returns so far as they have gone are frightful, and a deluge of Radicalism and violence will burst out in the House of Commons. There will be a Radical majority prepared to support Lord Palmerston and to keep him in power, but on the condition of his doing their bidding, and consenting to their demands, nor will he be able to help himself. He will no doubt try to do as little as possible, but there will be no strong Conservative party to which he can appeal from and against his own Radical supporters; the Conservatives will be too weak to help him, and probably will not be inclined to help him out of his difficulty if they could. At his age his only object will be to grasp power while he lives. Apr�s moi le d�luge will be his motto, and my expectation is that he will never consent to sacrifice power from scruples or upon principles, and will consent to anything that may be necessary rather than allow himself to be outbid and to see power torn from his hands. The prospect seems to me tremendous. The cry of Palmerston, and nothing but Palmerston, has done very well to go to the hustings on, but having accomplished its purpose, other cries much more serious will soon take its place, and we shall see, as the Prince said, Constitutional Government on its trial with a vengeance.
March 31st.—The elections continue to be unfavourable to the Conservatives, but the people at Brooks's, and the Government generally, are too sanguine when they call everything gain to them where a Conservative is replaced by a Liberal, for in many cases the so-called Liberal is a violent Radical, very likely to give much more trouble to the Government than the Conservative who was turned out. The gains to Government up to this time (and the borough elections are all over) are calculated at 20, making a difference of 40 votes; but the Conservatives do not admit this, and will make other calculations with different results.