They Never Like France, And A Republic Of Any
Kind Still Less.
A peaceful and prosperous republic in the heart of
Europe would be more deprecated than a state of anarchy.
The
discussion of French matters reveals to me every moment the deep
repugnance of the English to republican institutions. It lets in a
world of light upon opinions and feelings, which, otherwise, would
not have been discovered by me.
Sunday, March 19th
Yesterday we breakfasted at Mrs. Milman's. I was the only lady, but
there were Macaulay, Hallam, Lord Morpeth, and, above all, Charles
Austin, whom I had not seen before, as he never dines out, but who
is the most striking talker in England. He has made a fortune by
the law in the last few years, which gives him an income of 8,000
pounds. He has the great railroad cases which come before the House
of Lords. . . . On Tuesday came a flying report of a revolution in
Berlin, but no one believed it. We concluded it rather a
speculation of the newsmen, who are hawking revolutions after every
mail in second and third editions. We were going that evening to a
SOIREE at Bunsen's, whom we found cheerful as ever and fearing no
evil. On Monday the news of the revolution in Austria produced a
greater sensation even than France, for it was the very pivot of
conservatism. . . . On Thursday I received the letter from A. at
eight A.M., which I enclose to you. It gives an account of the
revolution in Berlin.
LETTER: To T.D.
March 31
The old world is undergoing a complete reorganization, and is
unfolding a rapid series of events more astonishing than anything in
history. Where it will stop, and what will be its results, nobody
can tell. Royalty has certainly not added to its respectability by
its conduct in its time of trial. Since the last steamer went,
Italy has shaken off the Austrian yoke, Denmark has lost her German
provinces, Poland has risen, or is about to rise, which will bring
Russia thundering down upon Liberal Europe. . . . Our whole
Diplomatic Corps are certainly "in a fix," and we are really the
only members of it who have any reason to be quite at ease. Two or
three have been called home to be Ministers of Foreign Affairs, as
they have learned something of constitutional liberty in England.
England is, as yet, all quiet, and I hope will keep so, but the
Chartists are at work and Ireland is full of inflammable matter.
But England does love her institutions, and is justly proud of their
comparative freedom, and long may she enjoy them. . . . On Sunday
Mr. Emerson dined with us with Lady Morgan and Mrs. Jameson--the
authoress. On Monday I took him to a little party at Lady Morgan's.
His works are a good deal known here. I have great pleasure in
seeing so old a friend so far from home. . . . I think we shall have
very few of our countrymen out this spring, as travelling Europe is
so uncertain, with everything in commotion. Those who are passing
the winter in Italy are quite shut in at present, and if war begins,
no one knows where it will spread.
LETTER: To W.D.B.
LONDON, April 7, 1848
. . . On Wednesday we had an agreeable dinner at Mrs. Milner
Gibson's. Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli, Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan (brother of
Mrs. Norton), etc., were among the guests. After dinner I had a
very long talk with Disraeli. He is, you know, of the ultra Tory
party here, and looks at the Continental movements from the darkest
point of view. He cannot admit as a possibility the renovation of
European society upon more liberal principles, and considers it as
the complete dissolution of European civilization which will, like
Asia, soon present but the ashes of a burnt-out flame. This is most
atheistic, godless, and un-christian doctrine, and he cannot himself
believe it. The art of printing and the rapid dissemination of
thought changes all these things in our days.
LETTER: To I.P.D.
April 10
This is the day of the "Great Chartist Meeting," which has terrified
all London to the last degree, I think most needlessly. The city
and town is at this moment stiller than I have ever known it, for
not a carriage dares to be out. Nothing is to be seen but a
"special constable" (every gentleman in London is sworn into that
office), occasionally some on foot, some on horseback, scouring the
streets. I took a drive early this morning with Mr. Bancroft, and
nothing could be less like the eve of a revolution. This evening,
when the petition is to be presented, may bring some disturbance,
not from the Chartists themselves, but from the disorderly persons
who may avail themselves of the occasion. The Queen left town on
Saturday for the Isle of Wight, as she had so lately been confined
it was feared her health might suffer from any agitation. . . . I
passed a long train of artillery on Saturday evening coming into
town, which was the most earnest looking thing I have seen. . . .
To-day we were to have dined at Mrs. Mansfield's, but her dinner was
postponed from the great alarm about the Chartists. There is not
the slightest danger of a revolution in England. The upper middle-
class, which on the continent is entirely with the people, the
professional and mercantile class, is here entirely conservative,
and without that class no great changes can ever be made. The Duc
de Montebello said of France, that he "knew there were lava streams
below, but he did not know the crust was so thin." Here, on the
contrary, the crust is very thick. And yet I can see in the most
conservative circles that a feeling is gaining ground that some
concessions must be made. An enlargement of the suffrage one hears
now often discussed as, perhaps, an approaching necessity.
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