Clause
in West India Bill--State of House of Commons--Lucien and
Joseph Bonaparte--Lord Plunket--Denis Lemarchant--Brougham and
Sugden--Princess Lieven--Anecdotes of the Emperor Nicholas--
Affairs of Portugal--Don Miguel at Strathfieldsaye--Prorogation
of Parliament--Results of the Reform Bill.

June 29th, 1833 {p.001}

I am going, if not too lazy, to note down the everyday nothings
of my life, and see what it looks like.

We dined yesterday at Greenwich, the dinner given by Sefton, who
took the whole party in his omnibus, and his great open carriage;
Talleyrand, Madame de Dino, Standish, Neumann, and the Molyneux
family; dined in a room called 'the Apollo' at the Crown and
Sceptre. I thought we should never get Talleyrand up two narrow
perpendicular staircases, but he sidles and wriggles himself
somehow into every place he pleases. A capital dinner, tolerably
pleasant, and a divine evening. Went afterwards to the 'Travellers,'
and played at whist, and read the new edition of 'Horace Walpole's
Letters to Sir Horace Mann.' There is something I don't like in
his style; his letters don't amuse me so much as they ought to do.

A letter this morning from Sir Henry Lushington about Monk Lewis.
He is rather averse to a biographical sketch, because he thinks a
true account of his life and character would not do him credit,
and adds a sketch of the latter, which is not flattering. Lord
Melbourne told me the other day a queer trait of Lewis. He had a
long-standing quarrel with Lushington. Having occasion to go to
Naples, he wrote beforehand to him, to say that their quarrel had
better be _suspended_, and he went and lived with him and his
sister (Lady L.) in perfect cordiality during his stay. When he
departed he wrote to Lushington to say that now they should
resume their quarrel, and put matters in the 'status quo ante
pacem,' and accordingly he did resume it, with rather more
_acharnement_ than before.

Charles Wood came into my room yesterday, and talked of the King's
letter, said he understood the Archbishop had imparted it to the
seven Bishops who had voted, that nothing would come of it, for it
was a private letter which nobody had a right to take up. I see
the Government are not displeased at such an evidence of the
King's goodwill. The King and Taylor both love letter-writing, and
both are voluminously inclined. Wood told me that last year Lord
Grey got one letter from them (for Taylor writes and the