f talk. As soon as we got into the carriage he asked
me if I thought it was true that Talleyrand had taken such
offence at Palmerston that he would not return here on that
account, and if I knew what it was that had affronted him,
whether any deficiency in diplomatic punctilio or general
offensiveness of manner. I told him I had no doubt it was true,
and that the complaints against Palmerston were so general that
there must be some cause for them, and though Madame de Lieven
might be prejudiced against him, _all_ the foreign Ambassadors
could not be so. He said it was very extraordinary if it was so,
tried to argue that it might not be the case, and put it in all
sorts of different ways; he said that Palmerston exhibited no
signs of temper or arrogance with his colleagues, but quite the
reverse; he owned, however, he was very obstinate. We then talked
over the Stratford Canning business; he admitted that it was
unfortunate and might lead to serious consequences, both as to
our relations with the Emperor and to the question of diplomatic
expenses here. I expressed my astonishment that Palmerston's
obstinacy should have been permitted to have its own way in the
matter, and I should guess, from his own strong opinion on the
subject, that an Ambassador would be sent before long. He told
me--what I did not know before--that the King of Prussia had
desired to have Lord Clanwilliam recalled from Berlin.

He then talked of Brougham, and I found that he knows him
thoroughly, and is more on his guard than I thought he was with
regard to him. I told him of the change in Sefton's feelings
towards him on Lord Grey's account, and also of Brougham's strange
want of discrimination and his imprudence in congratulating
himself to Sefton on the recent changes, and of his expectations
of profiting by Melbourne's advancement to power. I touched
lightly on the latter part, because it is never prudent to dwell
upon topics which are injurious to a person's vanity, and a word
dropped upon so tender a part produces as much effect as the
strongest argument. He seemed not a little struck by it, and when
I said that I thought there was a taint of insanity in the
Chancellor, he said that he thought a great change in him was
manifest in the course of the last year, and admitted that he did
not think him of sound mind certainly. This he rather implied than
expressed, however. He talked of his conduct in Parliament, and
observed upon the strange for