Mole[2]
was fully aware of it, and felt towards him accordingly. Lord
Granville, who was attached to the Duc de Broglie, and therefore
violently opposed to Thiers, when he became Minister, soon became
even more partial to Thiers, which sudden turn was the more
curious, because such had been their original antipathy that Lady
Granville had been personally uncivil to Madame Thiers, so much so
that Thiers had said to Madame de Lieven, that 'he would have her
to know it was not to be endured that an Ambassadress should
behave with such marked incivility to the wife of the Prime
Minister, and if she chose to continue so to do she might get her
husband sent away.' The other replied, 'Monsieur Thiers, if you
say this to me with the intention of its being repeated to Lady
Granville, I tell you you must go elsewhere for the purpose, for I
do not intend to do so.' I asked her whether it had been repeated,
and she said she thought probably it had been through Ellice for
soon after all was smiles and civility between them. She talked a
great deal about England, and of the ignorance of the French about
it; that Mole, for example, had said, 'It is true that we are not
in an agreeable state, but England is in a still worse.' The King,
however, is of a different opinion, and appears better to
understand the nature of our system. She described him (Mole) as
not the cleverest and most brilliant, but by far the most
sensible, sound, and well-judging man of them all.

[2] [M. Mole was then Prime Minister. The overthrow of M.
Thiers on the Spanish question had been regarded as a
check by the English Government, and Mr. Ellice was a
cordial friend and supporter of Thiers. The resentment
of Lord Palmerston at the refusal of the King to
support the cause of the Queen in Spain by a direct
intervention, was the commencement of that coolness
which is noticed further on, and which led eventually
to most important results.]

Peel's Glasgow speeches arrived yesterday, that is, were in
general circulation, for the King received on the 16th a
newspaper containing the speech made there on the 13th, an
instance (as it seems to me) of unexampled rapidity. Lord
Granville, who praises anything against his own party very
reluctantly, told me he thought Peel's speech at the dinner very
dexterous, and Ellice said, though there was nothing new in it,
he thought it would