tance which
the Court of Russia made to his nomination to that Embassy. The
other day Dedel called on Palmerston. When shown into the
waiting-room, he said, 'Tell Lord Palmerston that the Dutch
Minister will be glad to see him,' when a man who was there, and
whom he did not know, jumped up and said, 'And I desire you will
tell Lord Palmerston that I have been waiting here these two
hours, and that I expect to see him before anybody else;' and
then, turning to Dedel, 'Sir, this is too bad; two persons have
been already shown in to Lord Palmerston, both of whom came after
me, and I expect that you will not go in to his Lordship till
after me.' Dedel, who is the mildest and civillest of men,
replied, 'Sir, far be it from me to dispute your right, and I
assure you I have no desire to go in before you, but I only beg
that if Lord Palmerston should send for me first you will
understand that I cannot help going;' and then the other, 'Sir, I
am Sir Stratford Canning.' 'And I am Mr. Dedel.' This extraordinary
scene he told Madame de Lieven, not knowing what had passed about
the mission. Touching that affair, there is an understanding that
he shall not go there, and no other Ambassador is to be named till
it is quite convenient to Palmerston.

The day before yesterday I met Sydney Smith at dinner at Poodle
Byng's, when a conversation occurred which produced a curious
coincidence. We were talking of Vaughan, the Minister in America,
how dull he appeared, and yet how smart and successful had been
'The Siege of Saragossa,' which he published at the time of the
Spanish war. Sydney Smith said that the truth was he had not
written a word of it, and on being questioned further said that
he was himself the author. Vaughan, who was a friend of his, had
given him the materials, and he had composed the narrative. He
then went on to say that it was not the only instance of the
kind, for that the celebrated pamphlet which had been attributed
to Lady Canning had not been written by her, not a word of it,
that it had been written by Stapleton. I said that I had it in my
power to contradict this, for that I had been privy to the
composition of it, had seen the manuscript, and had at her
request undertaken the task of revising and correcting it. Thus
were two mistakes accidentally cleared up, by the circumstance of
the only persons who could have explained them being present.

December 2nd, 1833 {p.040}

[Page Head: THE UNKNOWN TONGUES.]