tirement and increased age and infirmities should have made him
less so now.[2] They have judiciously waited till Parliament is up
before the appointment was made known. Lord Wellesley is said to
be in the hands of Blake the Remembrancer, a dangerous Jesuitical
fellow.

[2] [This opinion of Lord Wellesley was, however, speedily
changed by his successful and vigorous administration
of Ireland. See _infra_, November 14th.]

September 10th, 1833 {p.031}

At Gorhambury on Saturday till Monday. Dined on Friday with
Talleyrand, a great dinner to M. Thiers, the French Minister of
Commerce, a little man, about as tall as Sheil, and as mean and
vulgar looking, wearing spectacles, and with a squeaking voice.
He was editor of the 'National,' an able writer, and one of the
principal instigators of the Revolution of July. It is said that
he is a man of great ability and a good speaker, more in the
familiar English than the bombastical French style. Talleyrand
has a high opinion of him. He wrote a history of the Revolution,
which he now regrets; it is well done, but the doctrine of
fatalism which he puts forth in it he thinks calculated to injure
his reputation as a statesman. I met him again at dinner at
Talleyrand's yesterday with another great party, and last night
he started on a visit to Birmingham and Liverpool.

After dinner on Friday I had rather a curious conversation with
Esterhazy, who said he wanted to know what I thought of the
condition of this country. I told him that I thought everything
was surprisingly improved, and gave my reasons for thinking so.
He then went off and said that these were his opinions also, and
he had written home in this strain, that Neumann had deceived his
Government, giving them very different accounts, that it was no
use telling them what they might wish to hear, but that he was
resolved to tell them the truth, and make them understand how
greatly they were deceiving themselves if they counted upon the
decadence or want of power of this country; a great deal more of
the same sort, which proves that the Austrian Court were all on
the _qui vive_ to find out that we are paralysed, and that their
political conduct is in fact influenced by their notion of our
actual position. They probably hardly knew what they would be at,
but their hatred and dread of revolutionary principles are so
great that they are always on the watch for a good opportunity of
striking a blo