We await the formation of your new ministry with curiosity. I agree with you that it is better that Gladstone should be its recognised head than its unofficial and irresponsible leader. I hope the experience of 1871, and the verdict of the electors in 1874, have opened his eyes to the dangers of a far niente policy, as practised by the Foreign Office during his last administration.
27 avril.—Je vous remercie infiniment de votre lettre du 21 et je me réjouis bien de penser que nous aurons probablement votre visite ici au mois de juillet. Je vous remercie de l'intention que vous m'exprimez d'arranger vos projets de manière à pouvoir venir en France à cette époque.
I see Mr. Gladstone has not been afraid of the fatigue you thought would be too much for him. I quite understand that after his disaster in 1874 he should insist on a material proof of his wondrous political rehabilitation. But it seems to me that he ought not to have combined the Exchequer with the leadership—unless, indeed, his friends wanted to handicap him by allowing him to take upon his strong shoulders a burden which is usually divided between two ministers. I am not surprised at this change, so complete, so striking to one who thinks of the time when Mr. Gladstone, almost disavowed by the party he had so imprudently led to defeat, could hardly find a constituency to open the doors of the House to him. It is a spectacle presented by all free countries, a salutary warning to the victors of the day, and a consolation to the vanquished, to whom hope is always left. But what does astound me is that the change should not have been foreseen. It is rather a severe democratic shock to the parliamentary machine. Is it the effect of the lowering of the franchise, or of the secret ballot? I do not know. But does not the astonishment of the leaders of the victorious party prove that their followers are escaping from their control? And if so, where and to whom will they go? However, I am confident that the practical spirit which has hitherto inspired all classes of the English people, as they have been successively called upon to take their part in the government—from the old nobility to the petty shopkeepers—will not be found wanting in the new electoral body, constituted by the last reform.
4 juin.—Si, comme je l'espère bien, vous pouvez réaliser la bonne promesse que vous m'avez faite de venir ici avec Madame et Mademoiselle Reeve dans la seconde moitié de juillet, je serais heureux de vous voir fixer votre visite aux environs du 22: en effet, nous attendons ce jour-là ou le suivant quelques personnes qui vous intéresseront certainement et qui seront charmées de vous rencontrer: le Comte et la Comtesse d'Eu, le Duc et la Duchesse d'Audiffret-Pasquier, M. et Madame de Rainneville (Rainnevillea formosa, d'après votre botanique spéciale).
19 juillet.—Je m'empresse de vous remercier de votre lettre, et de vous dire que je vous enverrai jeudi, à Dieppe, une voiture pour vous chercher à l'Hôtel de la Plage à deux heures après midi, à moins d'avis contraire.
Toutefois je dois vous prévenir que M. Alexandre Dumas, qui habite près de Dieppe, et auquel j'avais demandé de venir déjeuner ici l'un de ces jours, en lui laissant le choix du jour, m'annonce qu'il viendra déjeuner au château le jeudi 22. Le déjeuner est à onze heures et demie. Si vous désiriez le rencontrer il faudrait que vous partiez le matin de Dieppe. Dans ce cas, sur un avis de vous, je vous enverrais la voiture à neuf heures du matin, au lieu de deux heures après midi.
So on July 21st, Reeve, with Mrs. Reeve, left London for Dieppe, whence they went on to the Château d'Eu. On the 26th they went on, through St. Quentin, Namur, and Liège, to Aix, where, for the next fortnight, Reeve drank waters and took baths. They then returned through Brussels and London, reaching Foxholes on August 14th.
And there they stayed for nearly three months, during which time, beyond noting a few visits or visitors, the Journal is a blank. On November 6th they returned to London.
To Mr. T. Norton Longman
C. O., November 26th.—I have not for a long time read a book so fascinating to me as these Reminiscences of Carlyle; for though he calls them reminiscences of Irving &c., they are, in fact, essentially an autobiography. It is impossible to present the details of life with more attractive clearness and picturesque effect. The most curious thing is that the style, instead of being a mass of cloudy affectation, is simple, flowing, and natural. To me, especially, all this is most captivating. The account of Mrs. Montagu, Coleridge, the Bullers, the Stracheys, &c. revives a thousand recollections. It was through the Bullers that we first knew Carlyle, and I suppose in due time he will relate his intimacy with the Austins and Sterlings in the same manner.