I agree with you that my stairs are somewhat narrow for the whole full-blown dignity of the Caliph to ascend. If he would engage to remain in England till the autumn, I would receive him in a better house, and would provide a grander assortment of company to meet him; but, unfortunately, I have found all my colleagues engaged, and must make my table up with directors, military men, and such like second chop.
The Chancellor's[119] ] language is exactly the same as he held in 1808, and has continued to hold at the close of every Session since. He certainly has been obliged to swallow some pills contre cœur, but has his own way infinitely too far. I am not surprised that he is somewhat angry at the silence with which Brougham's attack upon him was received by the Treasury Bench in the House of Commons. Peel continues very glum and sulky.
As to Spain, if one can judge from our accounts, the French are more embarrassed than ever. They are obliged to find money for everything, for not a single dollar can the Spaniards muster, and they find that they have less weight, notwithstanding, with the Regency than the Russian Minister, who encourages them in all their violent measures. The Regency have actually refused to treat with Cadiz, though there are many there who are much disposed to it. The force which occupies it is almost entirely militia, and, therefore, cannot be expected to hold out long when there shall be a naval force to co-operate.
Duc d'Angoulême is completely sick, and the present plan is, that if they can get the King at liberty, he is to convene a general Cortes, and the French are to leave them and him to make a constitution, withdrawing all their troops ... except 25,000, who are to form an echellon of communication between Bayonne and Madrid. This seems to me most infernal nonsense, too absurd to be ever entertained by the French Cabinet, though they think it may pass upon us, and therefore hold this language to Stuart.
Ever affectionately yours,
C. W. W.
You have, of course, long heard of Lord Fitzwilliam's nuptials. I wonder how they have kept out of the newspaper.
The appropriate remark is that "it is a very sensible marriage;" to which it is to be replied, "because the senses have nothing to do with it."
On the 16th of July, during a debate in the House of Commons on the subject of Scotch Appeals, Mr. Brougham afforded great amusement to that assembly by drawing a vivid but somewhat sarcastic picture of the state of the Government. "As to Lord Liverpool being Prime Minister," observed the learned gentleman, "he is no more Prime Minister than I am. I reckon Lord Liverpool a sort of member of Opposition; and after what has recently passed, if I were required I should designate him as 'a noble lord in another place with whom I have the honour to act.' Lord Liverpool may have collateral influence, but Lord Eldon has all the direct influence of the Prime Minister. He is Prime Minister to all intents and purposes, and he stands alone in the full exercise of all the influence of that high situation."[120] ]
In this strain the orator proceeded, claiming Lord Liverpool as a coadjutor because both opposed the measures of the Lord Chancellor. Lord Eldon did not at all relish the joke, perhaps because it was not at the expense of the Grenvilles, and soon afterwards again expressed his intention to resign. This had been repeated so often that it elicited the following squib:—