SOCIETY, POLITICS, AND DIPLOMACY IN 1820-1864.*
IN the preface to these "Passages from the Journal of Francis W. H. Cavendish," the editor (we are not told his name) is so anxious not to give the reader the impression that he will here find "another of Pinkerton's spicy chats," as Stevenson might say, that he almost falls into the other extreme, and seems to expect that the book may be thought dull. But it is not by any means dull, and even if some people may be disappointed " to find amongst his papers a remarkable absence of diplomatic secrets," others will enjoy making acquaintance in these pages with a personality so upright and so kindly as Mr. Cavendish here shows himself to have been. Those of us whose first lessons in the history and the social life of the earlier part of the nineteenth century were from the lips of one who had himself shared in the hopes, the fears, and the excitement raised by such events as the passing of the Reform Bill, the Carlist War and Colonel de Lacy Evans and his Legion, and the accession of Queen Victoria, not to speak of Continental travel in a post-chaise, or Jenny Lind's voice, will read this book with special pleasure, for it will help them to recall old stories and confirm old recollections. The extracts we are given, from letters written to Mr. Cavendish by his friend, Colonel Towneley, a Queen's Foreign Service Messenger, are full of interest. We would call the reader's • Society, Politics, and Diplomacy, 1820 -IS64, London : 'T. Fidler ljnwiri [15s. net.] attention to the entry for May 27th, 1850, in which is described the latter's ride from Belgrade to Constantinople, "carrying a most important Foreign Office despatch, at the time when the question of war between Russia and Turkey was in the balance." "I think I have told you," says Colonel Towneley, "that I accomplished the distance in five days and eleven hours, which entailed being six nights and five days in the saddle, and that it is the quickest messenger journey ever performed even in the summer !" He was quite right to be proud of his achievement, and we agree with his confidential remark to his friend that "a fine gentleman don't mind rough- ing it when there is sufficient motive for so doing." The entries, even where they concern interesting events, are often short, but on December 7th, 1851, Mr. Cavendish wrote, "I have been kept daily informed as to the progress of the coup d' etat in Paris," and then goes on to give a clear account of the doings of Louis Napoleon, Morny, and Maupas, though he here makes no mention of "St. Arnaud, formerly Le Roy," who plays so important a part in Kinglake's narrative. The diarist's record of events was generally written from a tranquil point of view, but his indignation was roused at Lord Canning's " Clemency " proclamation of July 30th, 1857. "When the mutiny is crushed, then let the civil power step in and clean up the mess and deal calmly with any prisoners left (of whom I trust there will be few). The proclamation is simply babyish ! . . . You cannot quell a savage mutiny and reconquer half of India by using kid gloves and rose-water." Again, after recording a "supposed" use of official knowledge for Stock Exchange transactions in the year 1857, he says, "If true, this may be sharp business practice in finance, but hardly what a gentleman would do !" The book is illustrated by a picture of the author and three reproductions of family portraits, and also contains a pedigree and an index.
Previous page
