y and the art of management. He
wishes to be thought like Pitt, who was also obliged to quit the
Ministry, and afterwards resumed it; and he considers Polignac as
his Addington, not that the resemblance holds good in any of the
particulars, either of the men, or the times, or the circumstances.

[12] [M. de Villele had come to Paris from his country seat
in April, and a secret attempt had been made to bring
him back to power. Prince Polignac offered him a seat
in the Cabinet, but showed no disposition to make way
for him. The King feared Villele and preferred
Polignac. Yet if M. de Villele had then returned to
power, he would probably have saved the monarchy and
changed the course of events in Europe. (See Duvergier
de Hauranne, 'Histoire du Gouvernement parlementaire en
France,' tome x. p. 468; for a narration of these
transactions.)]

June 8th, 1830 {p.395}

Last night to the La Ferronays', when the Princess Aldobrandini
was so delighted with the anecdote of my horse-shoe that she is
gone off to the Pantheon to look at it. It was a full moon and a
clear night, so I went to the Coliseum, and passed an hour there.
I never saw it so well; the moon rode above without a cloud, but
with a brilliant planet close to her; there was not a breath of
air, not a human being near but the soldiers at the gates below,
and the monk above with me; not a sound was heard but those
occasional noises of the night, the bark of a dog, the chimes
from churches and convents, the chirp of a bird, which only
served to make silence audible. Though I have seen the Coliseum a
dozen times before, I never was so delighted with its beauty and
grandeur as to-night. No description in poetry or painting can do
it justice; it is a 'wreck of ruinous perfection,' whose charm
must be felt, and on such a night as this. The measures which the
Government have taken to save the Coliseum from destruction will
certainly accomplish that end, but its picturesque appearance
will be greatly damaged. There is no part of the ruin which is
not already supported by some modern brickwork, and they are
building a wall which will nearly surround it. If they had been
more selfish they would have left it to moulder away, and
posterity to grumble over their stinginess or indifference. I am
always tossed backwards and forwards between admiration of the
Coliseum and St