LONDON,March 11,1848
Dear W.:...Yesterday we dined at Lord Lansdowne's.Among the guests were M.and Madam Van de Weyer,and Mrs.Austin,the translatress,who has been driven over here from Paris,where she has resided for several years.She is a vehement friend of Guizot's,though a bitter accuser of Louis Philippe,but how can they be separated?She interests herself strongly now in all his arrangements,and is assisting his daughters to form their humble establishment.He and his daughters together have about eight hundred pounds a year,and that in London is poverty.They have taken a small house in Brompton Square,a little out of town,and one of those suburban,unfashionable regions where the most accommodations can be had at the least price.What a change for those who have witnessed their almost regal receptions in Paris!
The young ladies bear very sweetly all their reverses....Guizot,himself,I hear,is as FIER as ever,and almost gay.Princess de Lieven is here at the "Clarendon,"and their friendship is as great as ever.
March 15th Yesterday we had an agreeable dinner at our own house.Macaulay,Milman,Lord Morpeth and Monckton Milnes were all most charming,and we ladies listened with eager ears.Conversation was never more interesting than just now,in this great crisis of the world's affairs.Mr.Emerson was here and seemed to enjoy [it]much.
Friday,March 17th Things look rather darker in France,but we ought not to expect a republic to be established without some difficulties....You cannot judge of the state of France,however,through the medium of the English newspapers,for,of course,English sympathies are all entirely against it.They never like France,and a republic of any kind still less.A peaceful and prosperous republic in the heart of Europe would be more deprecated than a state of anarchy.The discussion of French matters reveals to me every moment the deep repugnance of the English to republican institutions.It lets in a world of light upon opinions and feelings,which,otherwise,would not have been discovered by me.
Sunday,March 19th Yesterday we breakfasted at Mrs.Milman's.I was the only lady,but there were Macaulay,Hallam,Lord Morpeth,and,above all,Charles Austin,whom I had not seen before,as he never dines out,but who is the most striking talker in England.He has made a fortune by the law in the last few years,which gives him an income of 8,000pounds.He has the great railroad cases which come before the House of Lords....On Tuesday came a flying report of a revolution in Berlin,but no one believed it.We concluded it rather a speculation of the newsmen,who are hawking revolutions after every mail in second and third editions.We were going that evening to a SOIREE at Bunsen's,whom we found cheerful as ever and fearing no evil.On Monday the news of the revolution in Austria produced a greater sensation even than France,for it was the very pivot of conservatism....On Thursday I received the letter from A.at eight A.M.,which I enclose to you.It gives an account of the revolution in Berlin.
