LONDON, April 25th, 1868.
—Dined at the D. of Cleveland's. A horrible thing has happened : the Duke of Edinburgh while at a charity picnic at Sydney in Austr. was shot in the back by a Fenian scoundrel, but is mercifully not dangerously hurt. As a makeweight the Prince and Princess of Wales left Ireland in a blaze of enthusiasm to-day, which has gone crescendo ever since they landed.
I sat at dinner between young Lord Joscelyn (a nice, handsome creature) and Lord Clarendon, who was immensely entertaining, giving me an account of his interview with the Pope this winter. He appears to have "upped" and advised the Pope to enter upon negotiations with the King, assuring him his spiritual power would be strengthened thereby ; to which the Pope protested that it was impossible for a "pauvre vieillard" to trust a man whose government was worthless and himself a liar. To this Ld. C. said that doubtless there would be difficulties, but so much the grander for the S. Père to conquer them. "Mettezvous done à ma place," says His Holiness. "Would you have me forgive all the insults—the injuries, etc., etc." "It is unnecessary for me," says Lord C., "to remind the head of Christianity that it is his part to present to the world the spectacle of sublime Christian charity." Which I should think "shut up" the Pope effectually !
Ld. C. was also great fun over Ld. Derby's anti-compulsory-Church-Rate-abolition speech the other night ; saying, "It's rather too bad to have this 'leaper in the dark' [FN: Lord Derby had candidly described his own Ministry's franchise Act, that of 1867, as a "leap in the dark."] coming forth one year at the head of democracy and the next at the tail of old Toryism!" and that he talked "retrograde rubbish." Says I, "What a pity you could not attack him in that fashion in the H. of Lords." "No!" says Ld. C. ; "he's too kind to Constance" (née Villiers, married to Ld. D.'s 2nd son) "for me to abuse him."
Saturday, December 26, 2009
24Apr1868, The Quondam Slave
LONDON, April 24th, 1868.
—I went to Kate Amberley, who had a quondam slave to trot out : a poor, respectable-looking mulatto woman, with a handsome, ladylike white daughter, and a book with the heartbreaking story of her life. Such things to hear about make one go on one's knees, and thank the Mighty Hand that has scorched up for ever, by means of that tremendous war, the iniquity of generations.
—I went to Kate Amberley, who had a quondam slave to trot out : a poor, respectable-looking mulatto woman, with a handsome, ladylike white daughter, and a book with the heartbreaking story of her life. Such things to hear about make one go on one's knees, and thank the Mighty Hand that has scorched up for ever, by means of that tremendous war, the iniquity of generations.
14Apr1868, Scoundrel Fish
13Apr1868, Riding with the Duke
LISMORE, April 13th, 1868.
—A wonderful thing happened to me, viz., I rode with my papa-in-law, and was horribly shy ; have such a painful conviction that he must think me a fool and a bore.
—A wonderful thing happened to me, viz., I rode with my papa-in-law, and was horribly shy ; have such a painful conviction that he must think me a fool and a bore.
27Mar1868, The Irish Establishment
LONDON, March 27th, 1868.
—Uncle W. has given notice of Resolutions, of which one distinctly condemns the Irish Establishment. That such a grand act of justice and right should be on the horizon seems too good to be true ; but there is to be a fair fight, and there is great hope.
—Uncle W. has given notice of Resolutions, of which one distinctly condemns the Irish Establishment. That such a grand act of justice and right should be on the horizon seems too good to be true ; but there is to be a fair fight, and there is great hope.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
25Mar1868, Dizzy's Party for the Shaky Liberals
19Mar1868, A Wonderful Set of Frumps
LONDON, March 19th, 1868.
—We dined with the Carews, meeting a wonderful set of frumps, but it wasn't very bad.
—We dined with the Carews, meeting a wonderful set of frumps, but it wasn't very bad.
18Mar1868, A Workhouse and a Drum
LONDON, March 18th, 1868.
—We went to the East "by sea," as Atie. P. calls it, viz., embarking at Hungerford and landing at the Tunnel ; then conducted to the workhouse by a dirty little boy who was enchanted with a bit of bread and butter out of my basket in payment. . . . Dined at the Gladstones' ; drum, to which came Lord Dizzy !—he will be that next, I suppose. It was a sight to see him chaffing Agnes !
—We went to the East "by sea," as Atie. P. calls it, viz., embarking at Hungerford and landing at the Tunnel ; then conducted to the workhouse by a dirty little boy who was enchanted with a bit of bread and butter out of my basket in payment. . . . Dined at the Gladstones' ; drum, to which came Lord Dizzy !—he will be that next, I suppose. It was a sight to see him chaffing Agnes !
17Mar1868, Auntie P's Orphanage
LONDON, March 17th, 1868.
—Yesterday at the L. House meeting, a little statement drawn up by Caroline Smith and me about Auntie P.'s orphanage was read : I had hardly realised before what a gallant good work it was. She took over 150 poor tinies straight to her arms ; all orphans and many weak after cholera themselves ; all friendless and without even clothes on their poor little bodies. Of these not one has died at the Home, which she got in a hurry for them at Clapton ; and she has provided for a great many in different ways ; but 57 remain on her hands.
—Yesterday at the L. House meeting, a little statement drawn up by Caroline Smith and me about Auntie P.'s orphanage was read : I had hardly realised before what a gallant good work it was. She took over 150 poor tinies straight to her arms ; all orphans and many weak after cholera themselves ; all friendless and without even clothes on their poor little bodies. Of these not one has died at the Home, which she got in a hurry for them at Clapton ; and she has provided for a great many in different ways ; but 57 remain on her hands.
08Mar1868, Lou's Baby
06Mar1868, A Most Powerful Sermon
LONDON, March 6th, 1868.
—Service at St. James's : the Dean of Westminster preached a most powerful sermon on "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani ?" speaking as if from his very heart of the darkness and perplexities of life, and how we should be sustained in them by the knowledge that our Saviour went through that awful moment of apparent desertion. He ended by appealing to one to abide patiently, sure of peace and light in the end, as our Lord in His next utterance confided His Spirit to His Father, though an instant before He had felt Himself forsaken. It made me cry, partly from the intense way I knew the pain the great perplexities give one, partly from feeling how he spoke from his own experiences, which must be, alas those of a man of faint and doubtful faith ; but at the same time, of strong love.
—Service at St. James's : the Dean of Westminster preached a most powerful sermon on "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani ?" speaking as if from his very heart of the darkness and perplexities of life, and how we should be sustained in them by the knowledge that our Saviour went through that awful moment of apparent desertion. He ended by appealing to one to abide patiently, sure of peace and light in the end, as our Lord in His next utterance confided His Spirit to His Father, though an instant before He had felt Himself forsaken. It made me cry, partly from the intense way I knew the pain the great perplexities give one, partly from feeling how he spoke from his own experiences, which must be, alas those of a man of faint and doubtful faith ; but at the same time, of strong love.
05Mar1868, Helping a Girl in a Fit
LONDON, March 5th, 1868.
—Saw a poor miserable girl lying quite rigid on her back in a fit in a smart part of Belgravia ; if we had not come up, I suppose she would be there now, everybody "passing by on the other side" like priests and Levites ! We sent for a policeman, who brought her round, and after a time she was well enough to walk feebly away, refusing to go in a cab : only lately out of an infirmary.
—Saw a poor miserable girl lying quite rigid on her back in a fit in a smart part of Belgravia ; if we had not come up, I suppose she would be there now, everybody "passing by on the other side" like priests and Levites ! We sent for a policeman, who brought her round, and after a time she was well enough to walk feebly away, refusing to go in a cab : only lately out of an infirmary.
Friday, October 02, 2009
03Mar1868, Smart Little Party
28Feb1868, The Flirting of Married Women
LONDON, February 28th, 1868.
—St. James's, where Lord Arthur Hervey preached, making a lashing attack upon the state of society, the fastness and extravagance and absence of modesty in dress and manner ; the flirting of married women and all the mass of self-indulgence and pleasure-seeking. I don't mean he used these very expressions, but he was plain-spoken ; and it is all terribly true.
—St. James's, where Lord Arthur Hervey preached, making a lashing attack upon the state of society, the fastness and extravagance and absence of modesty in dress and manner ; the flirting of married women and all the mass of self-indulgence and pleasure-seeking. I don't mean he used these very expressions, but he was plain-spoken ; and it is all terribly true.
25Feb1868, Dizzy: Lord High Conjuror
LONDON, February 25th, 1868.
—Great news ! Lord Derby has resigned, owing to broken health ; and the Lord High Conjuror has got to the top of the ladder, viz., Dizzy is Prime Minister ! ! His party take it with a bad grace. I wonder how the Queen likes it.
—Great news ! Lord Derby has resigned, owing to broken health ; and the Lord High Conjuror has got to the top of the ladder, viz., Dizzy is Prime Minister ! ! His party take it with a bad grace. I wonder how the Queen likes it.
04Feb1868, Limehouse Distress
HOLKER, February 4th, 1868.
—I heard from Miss Lilley ; the Limehouse distress has been terrible; men fainting at their work when they got a job, or having to stay at home next day from exhaustion ; and yet the neighbouring districts have been worse off. God help them.
—I heard from Miss Lilley ; the Limehouse distress has been terrible; men fainting at their work when they got a job, or having to stay at home next day from exhaustion ; and yet the neighbouring districts have been worse off. God help them.
01Feb1868, Reluctant Sons
HOLKER, February 1st, 1868.
—The energetic Duke carried off his rather reluctant sons to brave storms, shooting Ellerside.
—The energetic Duke carried off his rather reluctant sons to brave storms, shooting Ellerside.
13Jan1868, Notions About Ireland
MARSEILLES, January 13th, 1868.
—Last Saturday F. told me of some notions of his about Ireland. This miserable Fenianism makes one think much of its rights and wrongs, though of course it is the outbreak of only the worst and most reckless people. He has always been for the disestablishing of the Church, on the simplest ground of justice to the large majority. The other great grievance being the land tenures, and the thing to be aimed at being the giving the Irish an interest in the soil and some security of tenure, he would make them permanent tenants, as long as they paid fixed rents, to be settled upon according to income-tax.
—Last Saturday F. told me of some notions of his about Ireland. This miserable Fenianism makes one think much of its rights and wrongs, though of course it is the outbreak of only the worst and most reckless people. He has always been for the disestablishing of the Church, on the simplest ground of justice to the large majority. The other great grievance being the land tenures, and the thing to be aimed at being the giving the Irish an interest in the soil and some security of tenure, he would make them permanent tenants, as long as they paid fixed rents, to be settled upon according to income-tax.
25Dec1867, High Mass
ROME, Christmas Day, 1867.
—We went to the 9 o'clock celebration of the Holy Communion at our own ch. and then to S. Peter's for the High Mass. The elevation, and all the showing of the consecrated ele¬ments to the people, was excessively painful to one ; I followed the service as well as I could in a missal, and, the more one was able to join and feel with the service, the more distressing was the terrible shock that the notion of Transubstantiation gives one. The ceremonial is certainly impressive, but would be much more so, I think, if they would only do away with the ward¬robe part of it, and leave the Pope and Cardinals in gorgeous vestments if they please, but in statu quo. It is impossible too not to see that all the outward worship (except of the Host) centres in the Pope. The music was lovely, but altogether I was pained and grieved, and tired out with conflicting feelings.
—We went to the 9 o'clock celebration of the Holy Communion at our own ch. and then to S. Peter's for the High Mass. The elevation, and all the showing of the consecrated ele¬ments to the people, was excessively painful to one ; I followed the service as well as I could in a missal, and, the more one was able to join and feel with the service, the more distressing was the terrible shock that the notion of Transubstantiation gives one. The ceremonial is certainly impressive, but would be much more so, I think, if they would only do away with the ward¬robe part of it, and leave the Pope and Cardinals in gorgeous vestments if they please, but in statu quo. It is impossible too not to see that all the outward worship (except of the Host) centres in the Pope. The music was lovely, but altogether I was pained and grieved, and tired out with conflicting feelings.
24Dec1867, Unbonneting of the Pope
ROME, Christmas Eve, 1867.
—We went to S. Pietro in Vinculo and the Lateran again, Sta Croce in Gerusalemme and S. Martino in Monte ; at 3 to the Papal Vespers in the Sistine Chapel, very unimpressive and wardrobey, with the perpetual bonneting and unbonneting of the Pope, and mutual bowings and curtseyings. The singing fine, but music very stiff and crabbed ; the Pope intoned well.
—We went to S. Pietro in Vinculo and the Lateran again, Sta Croce in Gerusalemme and S. Martino in Monte ; at 3 to the Papal Vespers in the Sistine Chapel, very unimpressive and wardrobey, with the perpetual bonneting and unbonneting of the Pope, and mutual bowings and curtseyings. The singing fine, but music very stiff and crabbed ; the Pope intoned well.
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