Saturday, February 27, 2010

27May1871, Hideous Murderous Fighting in Paris

CHATSWORTH, May 27th, 1871.
—The most hideous murderous fighting is going on inside burning Paris : the regulars dragging out and shooting everyone found with arms in their hands, and putting to death women and children who fling petroleum into houses. Many women fight, and the insurgents make considerable resistance behind barricades. But they are nearly stamped out now. Shells (including petroleum ones) are thrown all over the town from the positions still in the hands of the wretches ; however, the fires appear to have been got under, as, after gratefully accepting the offer of the London fire-brigade to go over to Paris, the Versailles Government have telegraphed that it won't be wanted.

Fine day between showers. We rode amid "the hyacinthine woods" and felt what blessed English peace and security is.

25May1871, La Semaine Sanglante

LONDON, May 25th, 1871.
—It is too true that Paris is being destroyed by the miserable insurgents, who have deliberately fired the glorious public buildings with petroleum. The Tuileries is burnt to ashes ; also the Hotel de Ville and a large part of the Louvre ; other buildings, including S. Eustache, are more or less injured, and the mad people are constantly being caught flinging petroleum into houses—a body of firemen were found pumping it upon the flames instead of water. There is fearful exasperation, and endless bloodshed seems certain.

17May1871, Versailles Troops in Paris

LONDON, May 17th, 1871.
—The Versailles troops have at last entered Paris, and met with but little organized resistance.

16May1871, The Place Vendome Column Pulled Down

LONDON, May 16th, 1871.
—The last exploit of the "Commune" has been to condemn the poor beautiful Place Vendome column as an insult to international feeling ! and one of these days it was pulled down with a crash. A strange making clean of the outside of the cup and of the platter, when the inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. The nations would not be much aggrieved by the monument to French triumphs if the French themselves were not an outrage to Europe. And yet there is a fine feeling in the thing which only makes one the more angry at its childishness.

14May1871, A Day at Keble College

KEBLE COLLEGE, May 14th, 1871.
—There was early (weekly) Communion at 8, but we did not go to that : breakfast afterwards, Edward and F. breakfasting in Hall. This is one of the peculiar rules of the College with a view to economy—a common breakfast—and the men seem to like it. Matins and Litany at 9.30, and then we saw, I suppose, the whole College : 31 undergraduates, 2 tutors, the Bursar, etc. Next October they expect to double their numbers, and the following October to be full ; so at all events the College supplies a strong demand. At 11 to S. Mary's, where Pusey preached the University sermon. He coughed and was rather confused at first, but warmed up, and the end of his sermon was grand and eloquent. But being a technically controversial argument upon the Real Presence, it pained and bothered me rather ; for more and more I desire silence upon that Divine Mystery, with simple faith in the promise, and no human definitions. I don't mean that this can suffice always, but it is best and safest as a rule. Evensong in Keble Chapel.

06May1871, Paintings by Watts and Leighton

LONDON, May 6th, 1871.
—Academy with F. at 1.30 ; not frightfully full... There are 2 splendid portraits by Watts of Millais and Leighton. Said Leighton's pictures I don't care for ; and young Richmond has painted one of the same type : ancients playing at bowls with nothing on, which I can't appreciate.

02May1871, Miserable Parisians

LONDON, May 2nd, 1871.
—The miserable Parisians seem to carry on their rebellion, tho' they arrest one after another of their own leaders ; as worms wriggle when they have lost their heads. Cluseret and Dombrowski (neither of them French) have been at the top of the tree lately ; but they have just tumbled Cluseret down !

28Apr1871, Taxes and Fairness

LONDON, April 28th, 1871.
—The rest of the budget withdrawn, and a 2d. income-tax clapt on to cover everything. I don't think it is fair to put the whole weight on the upper and middle class.

22Apr1871, Reading an Old Quarterly

HOLKER, April 22nd, 1871.
—A certain article in a Quarterly of 1843 makes me feel very old ; so immense are the changes in my life-time. The writer evidently has a leaning towards the "Tractarians," yet one rubric reform that he highly disapproves of as an unwarrantable novelty is the clergyman "giving out" the metrical psalms (hymns apparently not dreamt of) instead of the clerk. Also the surplice in the pulpit excites great horror, and still more the placing the elements on the altar at the time commanded by the rubric, because of the unbearable credence-table entailed thereby. An Edinburgh article, of an older date, makes the astounding assertion that the Reformation in England was a mere arbitrary act of the King and court, there being no popular feeling for it whatever ! Likewise it announces that the Low Church party invented the expression "means of grace" ! !

28Mar1871, The Abolition of Sisters-in-Law Act

LONDON, March 28th, 1871.
—The bill [FN: I.e. the bill for legalising marriage with a deceased wife's sister of which Lady Frederick was to the end an ardent and active opponent.] for the "Abolition of sisters-in-law" (a nice name for it) thrown out by a good majority in the Lords.

24Mar1871, Ly. Dufferin at Ly. Cowper's

LONDON, March 24th, 1871.
—Took my old May to Lady Cowper's , which it was nice to do : Ly. Dufferin was there, a lovely sight, in a gown of old chocolate and gold brocade over a blue quilted petticoat.

22Mar18871, Reading at Hospital

LONDON, March 22nd, 1871.
—Read at the Ophthalmic Hospital (N.B. it is not Ophthalmic except exceptionally) and chose the Guardian accounts of the wrecked suburbs and wasted lands round Paris ; winding up with the description of "Prince and Princess Lorne's" marriage in S. George's Chapel yesterday. It brought vividly before me the tremendous contrast between our sunshine and stability, and French misery and confusion.

17Mar1871, Seated Matrons and Subdued Peers

LONDON, March 17th, 1871.
—Little awful drum of seated matrons and subdued peers at Ly. Cowper's.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

11Mar1871, Fire Disaster at Holker

LONDON, March 11th, 1871.
—My precious Fred sent me a full account [FN: There had been a fire at Holker.]. Something in his dressing-room chimney did the mischief, but he suspected nothing till he was woke about 5 by a loud crash, and looking into the dressing-room, was driven back by suffocating hot smoke. He groped as fast as he could (no possibility of putting any clothes on !) to the other wing, alarmed the house, and set everyone to work saving pictures and books from the rooms below. The Duke and Uncle Richard worked hard, but when F. came down again from an expedition (commanded by the Duke in the advancing dawn !) to get on some borrowed clothes, the drawing-room and library were ungetatable, and alas some good pictures were lost : the Vernet (calm sea), the large Ruysdael, the Van der Cappelle, the Canaletto, and the S. Christopher by either Memling or Albert Dürer ; engines came one after another and were efficacious in preventing the fire spreading to the old wing, which however was hardly to be averted except by the providential change of wind at the critical moment when the very doors of communication between the 2 wings were burnt. All is utter ruin of the new wing.

01Mar1871, Peace at Varsailles

LONDON, March 1st, 1871.
—Peace is signed at Versailles ; the terms are indeed the "pound of flesh," blood and all ! and it is hard to foresee anything but inextinguishable thirst for vengeance on the part of the French, until they struggle back into a position to fight again.

27Feb1871, Special Secret Committe

LONDON, February 27th, 1871.
—Unluckily Dr. Clark pounced down upon me with a prohibition against going East to-day, and also against the H. of Commons where I had a place to hear Cavendish's 1st speech as Irish Secretary. Lou went instead. It was rather a thorny occasion. The general state of Ireland is improved and on the whole satisfactory, but there is a regular Riband conspiracy rampant in Westmeath, which has reached such a point that universal terrorism prevails, and murders may be (and many have been) committed with impunity, nobody daring to bear witness. Government decided that this was "intolerable," and (I think I may confide the dead secret to my faithful journal) Cavendish was desirous of an immediate suspension of Habeas Corpus. Uncle Wm., however, greatly hates this extreme measure, and decided, in consequence, on asking instead for a Special Secret Committee, intending afterwards to take the necessary steps. Nobody is pleased, and I should suppose it was a mistake.

23Feb1871, Dividing the Church From Heresies

LONDON, February 23rd, 1871.
—It is a blessing in these days to find that, in the eye of the law, there is some line still recognised dividing the Church from heresies. I have slowly and after many difficulties come to the conclusion that legal definitions as to sacred doctrines are neither possible nor desirable ; but one thing seems clear to me (it sounds a truism ! but it is not nowadays), that the great doctrines of the Creeds must in the eye of the law be accepted in some sense or another by all professing Churchmen. The various views taken by individuals must, it seems to me, be permitted by the law, however widely they may differ from each other, always provided that no such doctrine is denied. More and more I believe that definitions, more detailed than they are in the Prayer Book, cannot be right for us. Each for himself may strive to define in humility (and can never think out these things too deeply, if he can keep a sober mind), but not for others —not, I mean, to impose his definitions upon others. In this way, it seems to me, we may keep the faith once delivered to the Saints, and yet be wide in our embrace of many schools of thought. Of course I am only speaking of what ought or ought not to be permitted by the law : one is bound to teach and preach with more dogmatism than ought to be the case with legal judgments. I hope I am not all wrong, but the whole tendency of the thing seems to force upon one the duty of comprehension ; lest we should lose earnest, religious, sincere men, who do honestly hold all the Articles of the Faith, tho' interpreting them variously.

23Feb1871, Voysey Condemned

LONDON, February 23rd, 1871.
—A short time ago, judgment was pronounced in the Privy Council against Voysey, a miserable clergyman who published a book called "The Sling and the Stone," in which he very distinctly repudiates every article of the Christian Faith except the 1st clause of the Apostles' Creed.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

21Feb1871, Abolition of the University Tests

LONDON, February 21st, 1871.
—We dined at No. 11 ; found Uncle W. agog about another piece of Fawcettism : cross division anent University Tests, the abolition whereof was going smoothly thro' the House ; viz., for the sweeping away of clerical fellowships. Uncle W. very Conservative in heart on the subject ; rather more than I am ! as I have always heard that clerical fellows were great failures as clergymen ; but the whole question ought to be looked into, not a fragment of it pulled neck and crop across the Tests measure.

15Feb1871, Princess Louise's Dowry

LONDON, February 16th, 1871.
—Dined at the George Howards, meeting Granvilles, Amberleys, Minny Labouchere, and young Mr. Sartoris : various M.P.s failed, being kept at the House to hear Mr. Cardwell's Army Estimates and vote for Princess L.'s dowry, upon which Mr. Taylor thought fit to divide, with the pleasing result of being what the Spectator calls in the "immense minority" of 1—viz., tiresome, obnoxious Mr. Fawcett, who has long since fallen from the peg of esteem we used to hang him on, by making it a rule to hamper the Government and get up cross divisions whenever he has a chance.

09Feb1871, Paris: Privation and Suffering

LONDON, February 9th, 1871.
—It seems to me the strangest thing about this war, that the French have done worst in what they generally do best, viz., fighting, and have excelled in what one supposed them least capable of, viz., long endurance of monotonous privation and suffering, with hardly a complaint or a riot until extremity of famine. In the city, not only were the people quiet, but ordinary vice and crime had nearly ceased. It has been a noble example.

07Feb1871, Alfred Strikes 14 Years Old

LONDON, February 7th, 1871.
—Darling Alfred strikes 14 to-day : God bless him. He is wonderfully nice and dear : only too perfect in disposition : the sunbeam that he always was, without a cloud.

30Jan1871,The Starvation Point in Paris

HOLKER, January 30th, 1871.
—The surrender of Paris is finally accomplished ; the Germans occupy the forts ; the garrison to be disarmed, and a heavy "requisition" made. The starvation point must have been all but reached, for the very bread that was doled out was made of nasty odds and ends, and fuel was very scarce. The cold has been the cause of terrible sufferings thro' out the country.

25Jan1871, The Surrender of Paris

HOLKER, January 25th, 1871.
The Times announces the surrender of Paris, after a very gallantly-borne siege of over 4 months. The news reaching them of the utter defeat of all the "relieving" armies, under Chanzy, Faidherbe, and Bourbaki, must have brought them to it.

14Jan1871, Saltaire Settlement by Sir Titus Salt

BRADFORD, January 14th, 1871.
—We went to see the famous "Saltaire," a complete settlement built by Sir Titus Salt for the work-people employed in his mighty factory (woollen and mixed fabrics). There are numbers of pretty almshouses, beautiful schools and cottages, a great self-supporting dining-hall, an infirmary, a splendid Mechanics' Institute in course of building, and a big heathen temple in the midst, serving as Independent Chapel. We saw as much as we had time for. 1,000 looms at work. The inside of the chapel surprised me, for I fancied the Independents did not differ much from the Church in doctrine and Liturgy ; but the arrangements did not look like this : the organ presides over the E. end, with the singers' seats in front of it, and in front of them, the marble slab that serves for Communion table. However, Mr. Law says that his sect would join the Church if she was disestablished.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

05Jan1871, Cavendish Violently Sat Upon

HOLKER, January 5th, 1871.
Cavendish has been violently sat upon (sent for to Hawarden for the purpose) by Uncle W. to take the Irish Secretaryship, and has consented, very unwillingly.

24Dec1870, King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany

HAGLEY, December 24th, 1870.
—The King of Prussia has proclaimed himself (or some such ceremony) Emperor of Germany at Versailles. All very fine, but F. thinks that if Paris continues to hold out, and forces him, after all the expenditure of men and money, to raise the siege, the German States (other than Prussia), which don't care about the Hohenzollerns, will overthrow him and go in for a republic.

12Dec1870, A Very Pleasant Party

HAWARDEN, December 12th, 1870.
—The party here is very pleasant : Mr. Wade sings delightfully and there are choruses ; Mr. Balfour is a very pretty quaint tall boy, clever and funny ; Mr. Strutt [FN: Afterwards Lord Rayleigh, the great man of science. He married Mr. Balfour's sister.], a senior Wrangler, very taking and gentlemanlike ; Lord E. grave and political, a "rising young man," and likeable ; Mr. M. Muller brilliant, but 0 such a bloodthirsty German ! going in for "rectified frontiers" and endless wars with that view : sickening and disgraceful ! I have not heard him declaim, however, and on other points he is charming.

10Dec1870, A Gathering at Hawarden

HAWARDEN, December 10th, 1870.
—We came to dear Hawarden with May, who goes to the Rectory. Find, alas, that Auntie P. has been summoned off to-day to poor little Herbert at Eton, who has a serious attack of peritonitis. Are here Ly. Meath and daughter, Ld. E. Fitzmaurice, K. and C. Gladstone, Messrs. Balfour,[FN: Now the Earl of Balfour.] Strutt (Rayleigh), Wade, Max Müller, Uncles W. and Stephen, the girls and Willy. Willy and Kathleen both ill in bed with cold.

03Dec1870, A Feeling Against the Prussians

CHATSWORTH, December 3rd, 1870.
—There is a strong feeling now against the Prussians who, if they had ceased offensive measures after Sedan, with the full glory of that splendid campaign in which the French pride was humbled for ever—Germany united, and an absolutely unsullied cause—how grand would have been their position ! Now they are fighting for blood-thirst and ambition and one cannot but admire the holding out of poor gallant Paris, in the teeth of disaster, privation, and defeat.

17Nov1870, A Liberal Roman Catholic

CHATSWORTH, November 17th, 1870.
—I drove Ly. Howard round the Stand wood : she is a most striking example of what I have never before met with—a Liberal Rom. Cath. Told me she approved of the occupation of Rome by the Italians ; that she totally rejected the "Infallibility notion" as false and against reason ; that she deeply regretted the minority at the Council not voting ; that Manning was unscrupulous and slandered Newman to the Pope, by which he prevented Newman being allowed to set up at Oxford ; that the next Pope would probably submit to the Occupation and rescind the dogma ; that modern Roman books of devotion were bad, seeming actually to inculcate the worship of the Virgin ; that priests were to be distrusted ; and finally that she believed in the validity of our Orders ! In all this she only followed the footsteps of Dellinger and Lord Acton. She is an acute little lady.

16Nov1870, The Sandwiches Went

CHATSWORTH, November 16th, 1870.
—Ld. and Ly. Howard of Glossop came. The Sandwiches and Mr. Cheney went.