Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 7.djvu/57

 12 s. vii. JULY IT, 1920.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 41 LONDON, JULY 17, 1920. CONTENTS. No. 118. NOTES : Printing House Square Papers : VI. Disraeli, Delane, and Lord Derby's Ministry of 1858, 41 John Aikin's Excursions: II. Ju'y 29-A.ug. 5, 1803, 43- " Shrewsbury "and " Epistrophius Bex Gnecorum," 44 Triennial Acts Dr. Gregory Sharpe The Palace of the Savoy: Bibliographical Note, 45 "Chara" Chara-a- banc, 46. QUERIES : Royalist Delinquent Estates, Norfolk. 46 The Rev. John Atkinson: Robert Cullen " Wisdom measured by the Length of the Beard"' History of the Navy': H.M.S. Coventry Statuette of Shakespeare- Manor of Churchill, Oxon Kaspar Uauser Legend William de Ku, 47 Thwaites Manderstoun and St. An-lrews Teggs (Thomas and William) Blaek Mass- Sailors' Chanties Sir W. H. Russell: List of Works Wanted " Mess- Master " *' Stagnurn" and " Oft'old- fall " ' Teachings from the Church's Year,' 48 Continua- tion of 'Don Juan' Kipling Reference Wanted Serving- ton Family of Devon, Dorset, and Somerset H. Hope Crealock " Apple" in Place-Names Loweslofc China Bibes Sanguineuni The ' Malvern Mercury ' ' Anecdote f a Popular Character,' 49 Job Heath's Posset Cup Yeanting-stone Militia Acts -Little Wild street Baptist Chapel Authors of Quotations Wanted, 50. REPLIES : British Coffee-house, 50 Rue de Bourg, Lausanne, 51 Spoonerisms Sabine Heraldic Dogs Heraldry of Fishes, 52 A Stolen (dele Secret) Tide- Portraits by Cotes Courtenav Riots A Literary Hoax Wild Uarrell, 53 Dinwiddie Family, 54 -Old Semaphore Towers Alleged Reprints of 'The Times,' 55 A Late Brass The Bev. Dr. Kdersheim, 5(3 Willow-plantations 'Stalky & Co,' by Rudyard Kipling Emerson's English Traits' Local London Magazines The Prefix "Right Honble .," 57 Marks of Fate Amber Davidians : David George's Sect Calverley's (Charles Stuart) Parodies Grandfather Cl'-ck Richard Bp. of Ross H'ubecs, 58 Ninety-nine Year Leases Lore of the Cane Folk-Lore of the Elder -Cheney Hamilton "Nor did F]y for it" Authors of Quotations Wanted, 59. NOTES ON BOOKS : ' Discoveries in Greek Lands ' ' Sir Francis Bacon ''The Psychic Research Quarterly,' Notices to Correspondents. PRINTING HOUSE SQUARE PAPERS. VI. DISRAELI, DELANE, AND LORD DERBY'S MINISTRY OF 1858. THE inner history of the difficulties which confronted Lord Derby in forming his Ministry in Feb., 1858, can be amplified by a letter, preserved at Printing House Square, of Disraeli to Delane, dated Feb. 22 of that year. It should be read in conjunc- tion with Mr. Buckle's chapter (' Life of Disraeli,' vol. iv.) ; with Mr. Dasent's 8th chap- ter, Sir Edward Cook's 5th, and Lord Morley's Lord Palmerston,whose " alliance" with De- lane is well known, had just fallen, nominally over the Conspiracy to Murder Bill, which the Oovernment had brought in after Orsini had attempted to assassinate the Emperor Napo- leon, by bombs made in Birmingham ; but " unseen causes " had been gradually sapping his ascendancy, and the symptoms, says Sir Edward Cook, had not escaped Delane. On Jan. 27 Delane told Greville that he thought the Government " would not remain long in office, and that it is time they should go, and he ridiculed the idea of its not being practicable to form another Government." " Within a month," adds Sir Edward Cook, " Lord Palmerston was out and Lord Derby in ; but then an editor of Delane's influence has considerable power of making his pro- phecies come true." We may continue in Sir Edward Cook's words : Great as was Delane's influence when Lord Palmerston was Prime Minister, it was scarcely less during the interval of theTDerby Administra- tion (1858-1859). It was a secret of his power to have friends in both camps ; it was the essence of his power not to be the tied paper of any party. On the morrow of Palmerston's defeat The Times was sympathetic, but advised him to resign forth- with. The next day was Sunday, and ' Sunday ', as Disraeli says in one of his novels, ' is pre- eminently the day of canards.' Delane put this extract at the head of a ' Provisional List ' of the new Administration which he published on Monday (February 22). The list gave Mr. Glad- stone as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mr. Disraeli as Foreign Secretary in the light of subsequent events a sufficiently bizarre com- bination, but at the time probable enough. Disraeli had doubtless told Delane of Lord Derby's overtures to Mr. Gladstone, who, however, preferred to be a buttress, rather than an inside pillar, of the anti-Palmerston Government. Two days later the official list showed Mr. Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Malmes- bury as Foreign Secretary. In the meantime the letter, printed below, had been written. On the same day, as Mr. Buckle records, Disraeli wrote to Derby : I have just heard that The Times has decided to support you. So much for public opinion. Delane says 'we shall do much better without Gladstone.' " The text of Disraeli's letter may now be given : Confidential. Grosvenor Gate, Feb. 22, 1858. MY DEAR DELANE, Had I had anything to communicate to you, I would have sent. Lord Derby has not yet communicated with any of his late colleagues except myself, and therefore, all the lists and rumours about, are quite idle. Our time has been spent, the last eight and forty hours, in making fruitless over- tures, but they have not been disappointments, never calculating for a moment they would be accepted, but calculating, that the refusals would work for our advantage in public opinion. Gladstone and the Duke of Newcastle have
 * Life of Gladstone,' Book IV., chapter 9.