Mr. Sullivan called upon me after church, and told me his son remained in India. It is very extraordinary that he should be glad of this, as he must be without the hope of ever seeing him.
April 26.
Cabinet at 3. The King has had another good night. He has, however, had another attack. His pulse is in a weak state. He seems oppressed by fat. He is become alarmed about himself, which much increases danger in such a complaint. Consequently all the entourage is alarmed too.
The drawing-room and levee are to be postponed sine die. Trade and agriculture are both flourishing. The only embarrassment arises out of the uncertainty as to the King's health.
Leopold is to have a loan of sixty millions, guaranteed in equal portions by the three Powers. The loan to have a sinking fund of 3 per cent, to be paid in equal portions in eight years. The guarantee is to Leopold and his descendants, being sovereigns of Greece.
Thus he has obtained almost all he asked, and what he most wanted, the money.
Peel seems to think the King's death by no means improbable. If it should take place, Parliament would adjourn till after the funeral, and then be dissolved.
In the House Lord Durham, in presenting a petition against the East Indian monopoly, said he gathered from what had fallen from His Majesty's Ministers that they were determined to maintain it.
I said, 'I cannot admit that anything which has fallen from me, or, in my presence, from any of my noble colleagues, can justify the noble lord in assuming that His Majesty's Government have formed any determined opinion upon the subject.'
April 27.