25 Rue Olivier. - Dated 'Sunday - Sept. 29' but the date is a mistake for 'Sept. 28'. On the ill health of his uncle Godfrey: 'he is just like my father in the later stage of his illness'. Godfrey's wife, whom George is 'convinced is an excellent woman & whose devotion to him is intense' thought on Friday that 'every breath would be his last'; he seems much better now. Has had some discussion with Godfrey about his property; expects that Godfrey has left it first to his wife and then to him but does not know the exact terms; does not think she would ever make 'improper use' of it and she is 'much to be pitied'. Asks after the 'fair invalid' [Milnes' daughter in law?] whom Milnes is looking after at Bawtry, and says that Lady Galway's 'commissions' will all be carried out tomorrow. Small postscript conveying Godfrey's love, though he is 'kept very quiet'.
Kippax Park.
H[ouse] of C[ommons]. - Debates on Ireland and railways; riddle on Lord George Bentinck; Stafford O'Brien's sad accounts of Ireland.
Boulogne. - They have made a friend of the doctor; Oliver might enjoy Lake Geneva in summer but will find winter society too bookish for his taste; Milnes' plans to move to Milan, which is 'beset with the fewest English'; Sir Henry Mildmay went there from Paris heavily in debt; musical attractions of Milan; possible events at home; would like to linger abroad for four years but must consider his son - would like him to visit Egypt and Syria. His son reports Savile greatly improved in worldly attributes; Hallam; Cavendish's Cambridge exploits; political effects of Catholic emancipation.
Central section of letter missing.
Boulogne society: Greville only on formal terms with his wife; Graham's daughters; Mr Maxwell the next Lord Farnham 'very gentlemanly but a sad [roué]?; others here are [?] Berington, Kortright, Martin the former MP, Gordon, Sir A. Ramsay, Mr St. Aubin, Brooke Richmond and 'Mrs Salmon the vocalist'; calculation of reduced expenses here - 'we feed our servants on turbots for oeconomy'; turkeys and wild fowl cheap. Bland should bring his household here '& go back having saved 10 or 12, 000 and wonder how your trees have grown'.
Thorne. - Travelled overnight for the first time in thirteen years; the mail was emply and not uncomfortable. Robert Grant's assistance in Parliament (over canals?); now concludes the Houghton plan is best and cheapest. Describes proposed lock-free route from Wakefield to beyond Hardwick; much prefers it but will only assent if strongly tempted by the A[ire] and C[alder navigation company]; can manage affairs through Lord Lowther but begs secrecy. Thinks the A & C will favour route as it connects with Goole canal. If his son ever enters parliament, his first aim should be to investigate profits made by the navigation companies under individidual Acts. The Dowager is better. Milnes wrangling with Cookes over a drainage bill which will affect his coal. Rachael Wyvill 'ill and nervous'. Agricultural news. Postscript asking for news of Brodie.
Kippax Park, addressed to Milnes at Bawtry Hall. - 'The young ladies are dellghted with Miss [?] Bawtry, and ask him to tell Milnes that they sometimes write to 'Aberford, Letherton.... [a long list of names follow]... or any other of the adjoining residences'. George [Bland's son?] writes that he 'has a retainer for the Wakefield Pontefract & Goole Branch Railway'. Asks if Milnes could come over some time next week.
Missed Bland's letter whilst visiting Serlby but hopes he secured seed. Game birds at Bawtry. William Fenton has placed Rodes in the Wyvills' best room at Mannheim, where he will stay a year if he lives, which is doubtful; Travers urged Rodes to withdraw slowly from wine and spirits but he was drinking a bottle of brandy a day; Rodes foretold his own death on seeing [Mannheim?] Church. Postscript: York tempts Milnes to visit with a 'singing fellow' and a new billiard table.
Encloses unspecified item [no longer presnet]. Paying off Rodes' debts; may have to observe Lent in a Catholic manner. Sends a piece of Parmesan cheese from Milan which has been at the Custom House for two months but can be rehydrated. Christmas festivities at Serlby and Hodsack [Priory]. Postscript: I sat, at Hodsack, in the celebrated picture of the Misers [i.e. as in a tableau]. They begg'd me not to change my dress'.
Thorne. - Bland may have heard further news of the A[ire] & Calder canal scheme from Rodes; Lady Hertford now aligned with Milnes - quotes exchanges at a meeting with her and Mr Heywood; Heywood was evasive about A & C's plans and became very annoyed when challenged by Milnes about Lady Hertford's compensation; A. & C. are trying to quell opposition but too much land will be flooded for the scheme to suceeed; Milnes unimpressed by Leatham's claim to have outvoted a scheme threatening Fryston as it could never have been realised; Sir J. Watson resists on honourable grounds and old Watson does not care about the money; economic flaws; colliery plans more attractive.
Venezia [Venice].- Travelled from Paris to Milan with only a stop at Lausanne, a feat attributable to Milnes's 'life of abstinence and regularity'; describes a party at Paris which sent him to bed for many daysl many English there. Augustus Craven and others in a play at Lausanne. Crossing the Simplon Pass took fifteen hours in snow; fine weather to the south. 'If ever there is a Reform in Lombardy I shall be member for Milan'; entertainments there'. His son left for Rome though was strongly tempted by Venice; fine apartments and cheap living here, though butter tastes of onions and tallow. Milnes' exchange with Madame Albrizzi. Opera half empty as the people are tired of Donizetti's Fausta. Contrast with English life, especially the serenity of gondola transport; Lady Smith not expected to live long; her circumstances.
'On the Brenta - 16 miles from Venice.' - Hopes to be in Yorkshire by mid-August; his son will travel with Milnes to Innsbruck en route to Vienna. Has a house here for the summer; no winter plans yet: though Venice has no animals or beautiful women to recommend it, and Milnes is sated with its art treasures, he will miss the real kindness of its society. The Archduchess told Harriet that to be killed by dancing all night was 'a noble death'. Milnes favours late Venetian hours but not the 'incessant visiting'; the Ingrams and Shelley were there; extreme heat and narrowness of Venetian streets - 'If the Wvills resided there, all intercourse would be stopp'd'; extensive smuggling beyond the free port owing to Austrian taxes; advantages of a small establishment.
F[rysto]n. - Farewell note: is going from Castleford to Thorne by steamer; concerned by enclosed account of his son [no longer present]; hopes to see Bland 'replenishing your teapots' again in October.
Serlby. - Will discuss finances despite Bland's reservations: the Dowager [Lady Galway] has left Milnes no money and only estates encumbered by debt; wishes to sell Fryston or Bawtry. Money has largely be bequeathed in ostentatious legacies and to establish a charity; she has done nothing for his stepdaughters owing to past rift over their father's hasty remarriage. Family movements after the funeral. Postscript: fortunate improvement in sugar trage means the Moncktons will have £300 a year interest on their fortune.
Caen. - Intended to travel to Southampton by rail, but 'posted it' as the line was only completed as far as Guildford; barely any accommodation at the Dolphin owing to visitation by Archdeacon Dealtry and many clergymen. On the packet talked with a dandified fellow whom he later dicovered to be the Prince of Capua; also crossing was Madame de Feuchères, 'who you remember got the estates of, & was believed to be concern'd in strangling, the old Prince Condé'. Took apartments at Rouen recently vacated by Lady Byron 'in her caprice.... that they did not treat her memory with much respect". Galways. Great homage done to Humboldt and Arrego.
Caen disappointing: only 20 English families remain; Brummell at their hotel, 'not an Idiot, but approaching fast to it. He gave me a faint smile of recognition as much as to say I remember you but don't know you'; he is kindly treated as 'l'enfant de la famille' in the hotel '& whenever a bottle of Champagne is call'd for, which is seldom at Caen, the first glass is always sent him'; he has only one worn outfit but still looks gentlemanly; Mr Armstrong the vice-consul manages his precarious affairs and relates how Brummell never showed gratitude for past assistance', seeming 'to think himself entitled to this offering as from inferior beings'.
Postscript: Milnes sending letter by his old friend Maxwell, the new Lord Farnham.
Fryston. - Arrival of Bland's sons. Has always experienced overcrowding on Rhine trips, but Bland has benefited from depressed state of affairs at home; unimpressed by the Rhine, which lacks fine old trees; advice as to further route. Poor weather and harvest, though gives good account of Bland's estate; economic distress caused by over-production, 'the ever-recurring concomitant of all societies complicated & artificial as ours.
Fryston full of guests: Petre 'sadly down' at times; Mexborough dreads newspaper accounts of Henry's case, his cordiality since election, when Gully's supporters assisted Pollington [his son, later 4th Earl of Mexborough] by tactical voting; huge expenses; unruly local meetings of landowners.
Family movements; might tour the Rhine with Galways - 'I expect to see your daughters' names in pencil over many a chimneypiece'; determined to winter here despite pressure to go to Italy, as he needs rest and quiet. Adds postscript: [Edward?] Beaumont has got into a financial scrape as predicted; illness of Lord Harewood; Wyvill's election prospects; news from Alleyne; Milbanke expects Bland's early return as he had only two more bottles of port left.
Bawtry. - Bland's wife's convalescence and his sister's accident; doctor at Worcester assured him that breaking a bone late in life ultimately restored the constitution; hopes Miss Bland's fracture will permit some movement. Heavy rain welcome here but disastrous at Thorne: 'my first wrath at the corn bill - it is quite coming back'; duty-free imported wheat urgently needed to lower prices if harvest fails; great local distress; is employing many he does not need; sketch of local characters. Milnes' wife has been at court, but Galway's entrée to the Queen's stables through Lord Rosslyn is probably more valuable.
Postscript: hopes Bland will rally resistance to new turnpike proposed for the Castleford-Ferrybridge road; he himself is disinterested, but objects to their proliferation. Encloses the Chartist Weekly Despatch which he would like to keep. The Captain is to take out the Mauritian Governor and has a handsome entertainment allowance. Is glad to hear better accounts of Bland's wife and sister. Additional note by F. J. Monckton.
Harrogate. - Progress hither after parting; an execrable Apollo and Diana on a château entrance near Wetherby; no animals or people to be seen, despite heavy cultivation; contrast with late working hours on the continent. Harrogate a poor place for social gatherings; their guests. Milnes summoned by [George] Hudson to a railway meeting with Mr Stephenson at Bawtry next week. Richard has filled Fryston with visitors for the Philosophical meeting at York. Possible European excursions. Dowager Lady Galway and Horace have been burgled at Coulson's. Comical sight of young men lounging in a vehicle with eight donkeys and scarlet postilions.
Harrogate. - Agreeable day with the Stephensons at Serlby: the elder [George] talked not of railways but of Biblical creation, he showed little admiration for Sir Robert Peel and had never heard him express any opinion. Robert Stephenson's opinion of Bawtry railway scheme; his foreign projects; opinion of his former pupil Locke; the York-London line. Threat to the Badsworth Hunt; railway dinner at Serlby; crops; Harrogate business depressed by foreign railways; Mrs Thackray's property.
B[awtr]y. - Proposed Lord Henry Bentinck for the county at his request, despite own illness: speech well reported in the Times. Lincoln's expenses are thought to be paid by Peel, Buccleugh and others. Retford poll prospects. Postscript: the Duke of Portland's oak plantations from Worksop to Mansfield; Retford poll 580 to 15, many did not vote; Granville Vernon on attendance at Henry Gally Knight's funeral.
B[awtr]y. - Uncertain visiting arrangements for Easter; possible inclusion of Mr Disraeli - 'Whatever be his morale, I find both a use & an enjoyment in the occasional society of a man of rare intellectual accomplishment - & this undeniably he is'; continual rain; Galway rowing over his estate; poor prospects for Oxford crew [in University Boat Race] in flimsy racing boat]. Railway dealings with Cooke and others; Bill now less likely to pass this year.
Thorne. - Milnes' opposition to the A[ire] and C[alder canvass has been requested in letters 'which if I believed them, should make me rather vain. Has sent a statement and will attend for second reading of the Bill; some hopes of success; expected support of Robert Grant, Netherby and Good; other parties involved.
Boodles [Club]- Canal Bill might not pass second reading: much moderate support but A[ire] and C[alder] scaremongering has swayed some; it is known as the 'Robbery Bill'. Milnes has written a secret disclaimer, for production later, to allay fears about committing water supplies; encloses only printed copy [no longer present]. Would prefer a delayed second reading to ensure presence of MPS; does not favour A. & C. railway proposal as alternative. Country gentlemen have accepted the Corn Bill. Lowther predicts Government opposition to Canning's appointment as Premier. No diversions in town but Parliamentary business.