House of Commons against this Apprenticeship clause, and that he
had better make up his mind early what course he should pursue,
that if he meant to stand to it they would support him, but if
not, he had better give it up early and from foresight rather
than from necessity at last, but above all, not to drag them
through the mire by making them support him, and then throwing
them over. He declared he would stand to his clause. They
supported him, and he threw them over. This will not do for a man
who aspires to be leader, and Sandon told me last night that men
would not be led by him, in spite of his talents, that when
Althorp went under Stanley's banner the friends of Government
would not enlist. God only knows how it all will end, and out of
such a mass of confusion, of so much violence and folly and
weakness, and the working of so many bad passions, what will
result, but any day the chance becomes less of the elements of
disorder being resolved into a state of tranquillity and good
government. It is every day more apparent that with such a House
of Commons, so elected, so acted upon, no Government can feel
secure; none can undertake with confidence to carry on the
affairs of the country. It is difficult to describe the state of
agitation into which the minds of people of all persuasions are
thrown by the continual recurrence of these little events, of the
feeling of insecurity, of doubt, of apprehension which pervades
all classes. Nobody thinks the present Government can go on, at
the same time they can see no party and no individual who could
go on as well if they were to retire. The present House of
Commons it is found impossible to manage, but it is believed that
in the event of a dissolution another would be much worse; in
short, all is chaos, confusion, and uncertainty, and the only
thing in which all parties agree is that things are very bad, and
every day getting worse.

[Page Head: THE BONAPARTES.]

I dined the day before yesterday with old Lady Cork, to meet the
Bonapartes. There were Joseph, Lucien, Lucien's daughter, the
widow of Louis Bonaparte, Hortense's son,[5] the Dudley Stuarts,
Belhavens, Rogers, Lady Clarendon, and Lady Davy and myself; not
very amusing, but curious to see these two men, one of whom would
not be a King, when he might have chosen almost any crown he
pleased (conceive, for instance, having refused the kingdom of
Naples), and the other, who was first King of Naples and then
Kin