or third hand is not very
correctly given, but this was the gist of it, extremely well done
by all accounts, not perhaps palatable to all who heard him, but
which gave great pleasure to the Duke himself. Anglesey said that
the Duke, when he sat down, squeezed his hand hard and long, and
said to him, 'I cannot tell you what pleasure you have given me.'
The Queen sent the Duke a gracious message, desiring he would
bring the whole of his party to her ball, which gratified him
very much, and he wrote a very grateful and respectful answer.
The French were exceedingly annoyed at the ball being given on
that particular night (the 18th), and begged to be excused from
attending, not angrily however. It was unfortunate that this day
was chosen for the ball, but it was accidental, and not intended
as a celebration.

[Page Head: MARSHAL SOULT IN LONDON.]

Soult arrived yesterday.[10] Croker meets him with an offensive
article in the 'Quarterly,' brought out on purpose, and emanating
from his spiteful and malignant temper, just the reverse of the
Duke, who has made Gurwood keep back the eleventh volume of the
Despatches, in which the battle of Toulouse appears, because some
of the details are calculated to be annoying to Soult--a piece of
delicacy which is very becoming. It is a sad thing to see how the
Duke is altered in appearance, and what a stride old age has made
upon him. He is much deafer than he was, he is whiter, his head
is bent, his shoulders are raised, and there are muscular
twitches in his face, not altogether new, but of a more marked
character.

[10] [The preparations for the Coronation of Her Majesty
Queen Victoria, were now actively going on. Marshal
Soult arrived in London as the Ambassador Extraordinary
of the King of the French, and was received with the
highest distinction and respect, to which Mr. Croker's
article in the 'Quarterly Review' on the battle of
Toulouse was the solitary and disgraceful exception.]

June 24th, 1838 {p.104}

Lord Anglesey gave me his speech at the Waterloo dinner to read,
and very good it is.[11] I wanted him to let me send it to the
'Times,' and he told me I might do as I liked. I resolved to
consult Tavistock, who was (on the whole) against publishing, for
fear it should be displeasing to the Duke, so I give up the idea.
What he said about the Duke was this, after alluding to his
military glory &c.:--