For they’re a wreath of pearls, and I
The silken cord on which they lie.
Lord Wycombe has never passed the threshold of our doors since the day he saw his father drive into the gates, whilst he was in the porch. Whether he imagined the rencontre was the effect of design or that he chooses to have the air of appearing to think so, I cannot guess; but the effect, from some cause or other, has been his absence.
The campaign does not advance as swimmingly as was expected by the allies. Melas, when he took the Bocchetta, expected Genoa could not hold out long after the loss of that important pass, but Masséna is determined to maintain himself till the last gasp, and now he is certain of being relieved, as Bonaparte has taken the command in person of the army of Italy.[106]
30th May.—The last date of his dispatch was ye 18th of May at Martigny, but Berthier with the advanced division has crossed the Mt. of St. Bernard, and has reached Aost. The French have a pied-à-terre only at Genoa and Savona; Mantua, Milan, etc., are at present in the possession of the Austrians. Melas has taken Nice, but must quit it immediately to meet Bonaparte in Piedmont. Moreau has advanced to within a short distance of Ulm. Knay, the Austrian commander, is very obstinate, and strongly addicted to the old system of carrying on war by posts.
The Emperor Paul is grown quite mad. The French have made a caricature of him with order in one hand, counter-order in the other, and on his head disorder. Sir Charles Whitworth will feel happy when fairly off his territory, as he is capable of proceeding to personal violence against those with whom he is incensed. The English who inhabit Petersburg are detained as hostages for his 15,000 men in Jersey and Guernsey. Woronzow,[107] the Russian Minister, who has resided in this country many years, is suddenly recalled, as his dispatches have not been sufficiently abusive of this Government to please the Imperial taste; he is quite wretched, for besides breaking up all his old habits, he is not without apprehension of some punishment being inflicted upon him when he returns.
Parr says of the Bishop of Rochester’s sermon, which was quoted so ludicrously and well by the Duke of Clarence, that it contains ‘the precepts of the Koran, conveyed in the language of the Stews.’[108] The sermon was preached at the Magdalen, and Mr. Grey assured me without any joke that the doctrine and the language are both so extraordinary that no modest woman would read it, or own to having done so.
LADY GEORGINA CAVENDISH
The D. of Bedford has been living here a great deal; he likes Ld. H. very much, and has grown to vanquish his prejudice against me, enough almost to like me. He would be ungrateful if he did not in some degree, as he is one of the very few persons of whom I think thoroughly well: he is honourable, just, and true. Lady John Russell[109] has been here several times, and is remarkably gracious. This I owe to the Duke’s frequent visits, as she is curious to ascertain what object attracts him here, and politic enough to adapt her taste to his. The probability is that, without her caution even, he will not marry, unless indeed he should fix upon Ly. Georgiana Cavendish,[110] an alliance long arranged for him by the world. Ly. G. is a most charming girl—sensible, pleasing, full of information and totally without a particle of affectation, and if she bestows herself upon a man equal to her in situation, I have no doubt she will make a most delightful wife. Little Lewis is upon the eve of making himself a great fool about her, and, as he is not séduisant in person or manner, will not gain her heart, and a bundle of sonnets in lieu of title deeds will not operate in his favour with the elders of ye family.
Ld. H. brought Sheridan and Ld. John Russell home from the H. of Commons to a late dinner here at 8. By some accident Sheridan happened to be out of the House just at the moment when a division might have been made with advantage, as Sir Wm. Scott’s[111] speech made so much impression against the Bill. Sr. Wm. denied the fact asserted in the preamble to the Bill, as to ye increased frequency of divorces. He, who is the head of the Ecclesiastical Court, spoke with weight when he declared that the crime was diminishing, as there had been fewer suits from ’90 to 1800 than from ’80 to ’90, or from 1770 to 1780. The whole tenor of his speech was full of tenderness and right feeling towards women.