London, January 22nd.—I went to Trentham on Friday, and returned yesterday. Granville is very confident of peace, fancying that Russia will make no difficulties, and will agree to our additional demands, which may be so, but seems to me far from certain. The intelligence of peace being at hand, or probable, gives no satisfaction here, and the whole press is violent against it, and thunders away against Russia and Austria, warns the people not to expect peace, and incites them to go on with the war. There seems little occasion for this, for the press has succeeded in inoculating the public with such an eager desire for war that there appears a general regret at the notion of making peace. When I was at Trentham, I asked Mr. Fleming, the gardener, a very intelligent man, what the general feeling was in that part of the world, and he said the general inclination was to go on with the war till we had made Russia, besides other concessions, pay all its expenses. It appears to me impossible the entente cordiale with France can go on long if the war goes on, when the people here are passionate for war, and in France they are equally passionate for peace. If the Emperor goes on with the war he will be very popular here, which does not signify much to him, but give deep offence to his own countrymen, which will be of vital importance to him, and no wonder, for their disgust will be intense at being compelled to carry on a war at a ruinous expense, merely because it is the pleasure of the English to do so. This seems so obvious that I do not believe, after having gone so far, and excited such strong hopes of peace, that he will dare to disappoint the expectations of the country. What the people of England would really like would be to engage France to continue, and to issue a joint declaration of war against Austria and Prussia.
January 23rd.—Telegraphic news yesterday that Austria positively refuses to send our supplementary conditions to St. Petersburg. France backed us up, or at least pretended to do so, for it is quite impossible to know what she really does. Baudin is come over here, supposed to be for the purpose of explaining and apologising for Walewski's not having sent the conditions originally. I do not know what excuse he makes. Lewis thinks as I do, that the real reason was his fear lest they should endanger the acceptance by Russia of the conditions. Our Government believe, or at least pretend to do so, that the Emperor was innocent of this ruse and that Walewski is alone guilty; but I doubt it, for I cannot believe Walewski would dare to do such a thing without his master's knowledge and consent, and should not be surprised if the whole thing was the Emperor's doing.
There is a tremendous clamour got up by the press against Lord Stratford on account of his neglect of General Williams at Kars and leaving his appeals for aid unattended to. Stratford has sent home a defence of himself, and, I hear, a skilful one. I do not think they will remove him, because they say he is now acting bon� fide according to his instructions, and exerting all his influence to smooth any difficulties that may arise at Constantinople in adjusting the terms of peace. But it is likely that the Turks are now very anxious for peace, as they are exceedingly sick of their protectors, by whom their dignity and independence are quite as much compromised as by their enemies, while the process of exhaustion is going on at a constantly increasing ratio.
LORD DERBY AND MR. DISRAELI.
January 26th.—Yesterday morning Disraeli called on me, and after we had discussed some private affairs, he began talking politics. He is very triumphant at his pacific views and expectations having turned out so true, and at the 'Press' newspaper having proved to be right. He said, he had never stood so well with the best men of his party as he did now, that he is to have forty-five men, the cream of the Conservatives, to dine with him on Wednesday next. He then talked of Derby and the blunders he had made in spite of all the advice he had given and the remonstrances he had made to him, that he had written to him and told him what he knew from undoubted authority must and would happen about peace, and implored him not to commit himself to the continuance of the war, but that Derby with all his great talents had no discretion, and suffered himself to be led and influenced by some of the weakest and least capable men of his party. So instead of listening to what Disraeli said to him, he writes a long, reasoned reply to his arguments in the same way he would have replied to a speech in the House of Lords, and when he went to Scotland he had the folly to go to some meeting got up for the purpose, and then to make a violent war speech. I asked him how Derby and Stanley got on together, and he said that they were so much attached to each other, and Stanley had so profound a filial veneration for his father, that personal feelings silenced all political differences, and nothing would induce Stanley to take any public part adverse to his father's policy and opinions. It was evident that there is little political cordiality between Derby and Disraeli, and a considerable split in the party. If Disraeli is to be believed, the best of the Conservatives are disposed to go with him rather than with Derby, but I own I much doubt this. However, it will soon be seen what the state of that party is.
No further advance has been made towards the arrangements, but it is clear peace will be made. George Grey told me so yesterday, and intimated as much as that small difficulties must and would be got over. France, Austria, and Russia are resolved on peace, and England cannot alone make herself an obstacle. I suppose it will end in some compromise upon the points remaining in dispute.
Macaulay has retired from Parliament, where he had done nothing since his last election; he hardly ever attended and never spoke, or certainly not more than once. It is to be hoped his life will be spared to bring down his history to the end of Queen Anne's reign, which is all that can possibly be expected.
January 31st.—Parliament meets to-day. Who would have thought a few weeks ago that the Queen's Speech would announce the preliminaries of peace? Who would ever have thought that tidings of peace would produce a general sentiment of disappointment and dissatisfaction in this nation? There are, however, sundry symptoms of an approaching change in the public mind. The press is much perplexed; the newspapers do not know what to say. They confidently predicted that there would be no peace, and urged the people to go on clamouring for war as long as they could; but since they have seen that their noise is ineffectual, and that peace is inevitable, they have nearly left off inveighing against it, because doing so without any result only exhibits their own impotence, which is just what they most wish to avoid. They therefore now confine themselves to a sort of undergrowl, muttering abuse against Russia and Austria, calling out for more stringent terms, and still indulging in a desperate hope that some unexpected difficulty may occur to break off the negotiations and plunge us into war again. The Opposition are as much perplexed as the press, and do not know what course to take, or what is the most vulnerable part of the Government, and they are not agreed among themselves.
So in the meantime they seem disposed to vent themselves in a fierce attack on Baron Parke's Life Peerage. This peerage has excited great wrath even in many who are friendly to the Government, and probably in all who are unfriendly. Amongst those who most vehemently resent it are Lord Campbell, Lord Lyndhurst, and, as I am told, Brougham. There is much to be said about it either way, and it will probably give rise to some good debates and not uninteresting.