father and mother, Esterhazy, Neumann. Brougham was tired, never
spoke, and went to bed early. This morning I got a letter from
the Lord President enclosing an order from the King for a copy of
the proceedings in Council on the marriage of the Duke of Sussex
and Lady Augusta Murray. The Chancellor told me that the young
man Sir Augustus d'Este had behaved very ill, having filed a bill
in Chancery, into which he had put all his father's love letters,
written thirty years ago, to perpetuate evidence; that it was all
done without the Duke of Sussex's consent, but that D'Este had
got Lushington's opinion that the marriage was valid on the
ground that the Marriage Act only applied to marriages contracted
here, whereas this was contracted at Rome. He said Lushington was
a great authority, but that he had no doubt he was wrong. The
King is exceedingly annoyed at it.

September 19th, 1831 {p.195}

Came to town. Talleyrand, Madame de Dino, and Alava came to Stoke
yesterday. Talleyrand had a circle, but the Chancellor talked too
much, and they rather spoilt one another. He said one neat thing.
They were talking of Madame d'Abrantes's 'Memoirs,' and of her
mother, Madame Pernon. My father said, 'M. de Marboeuf etait _un
peu_ l'amant de Madame Pernon, n'est-ce pas?' He said, 'Oui, mais
je ne _sais pas dans quelles proportions_.'

September 20th, 1831 {p.195}

[Page Head: STATE OF FRANCE.]

News arrived of great riots at Paris, on account of the Polish
business and the fall of Warsaw. Madame de Dino (who, by-the-bye,
Talleyrand says is the cleverest _man_ or _woman_ he ever knew)
said last night that she despaired of the state of things in
France, that this was no mere popular tumult, but part of an
organised system of disaffection, and that the Carlists had
joined the ultra-Republicans, that the National Guard was not to
be depended upon, that 'leur esprit etait fatigue.' Talleyrand
himself was very low, and has got no intelligence from his
Government. This morning I met Lord Grey, and walked with him. I
told him what Madame de Dino had said. He said he knew it all,
and how bad things were, and that they would be much worse if the
Reform Bill was thrown out here. I asked him how they would be
affected by that. He said that a change of Ministry here would
have a very bad effect there, from which it may be inferred that
if beaten they mean to resign. He said the French Ministry had
been very imprudent about Poland. I said