Sunday Oct: 9th.
To church, & heard a bad sermon of Mr. Deane’s for the second time. Persuaded Mrs. Martin to try Mr. Curzon again. When I had heard his text “God commended his love for us &c”[1] I thought that all her trials were over! But she liked him moderately better. The Cliffe’s dined with us of course!—
The bill thrown out! majority 41!!! What will the people do!— What will the king do? What will Lord Grey do? Resign—or make the Lords resign. I am afraid that there will be a change of ministry—in spite of the sentence in italics in the Times newspaper.[2] But on the other hand, what Tory administration can carry on the government against such an House of Commons? Well!—nous verrons.
I shd. have liked to have sent the news to Mr. Boyd as he desired, & as I intended to have done, if it had arrived on any day but Sunday. As it is, he shall hear everything tomorrow from me!— I will go to Malvern tomorrow. Arabel wishes & ought to go too: but her proposing such a thing will occasion an earthquake at least, down stairs. I hope, I hope, it may not do so; for my sake, as well as her’s & Annie’s!— Bro never wrote to Papa today!— I am fidgetted about it. Papa is sure to be uneasy & angry.
I believe, when I examine myself, that I am more than half sorry for Annie’s return! When she was last at home, she made me feel so much pain!!— But I ought to forget that!— It is not remembering that, but fearing something similar to it; which makes me feel as “half sorry” as I do.
Arabel’s going to Malvern proposed! Controversy on the subject—& Bummy contra. It wont do! It is more prudent for A to give it up, particularly as in the case of her going, B wd. be left alone.
1. Rom. v.8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
2. The vote was 199 to 158 against. The Times, 8 October 1831, devoted the entire issue to the previous day’s proceedings in the House of Lords (23 columns to a summary of the debate; 1 column to the editorial). E.B.B.’s reference was to a sentence in the editorial on p. 4: “There will be no change of Ministry—the rats may assure themselves of that.” The editorial also contained the sombre query: “Is any man on earth prepared to conjecture what will take place in England before this day week?” Charles Grey (1764–1845), 2nd Earl Grey, became Prime Minister in 1830, after the defeat of Wellington’s Administration in the Commons. He had long championed the issue of reform, having introduced a Bill on the subject as far back as 1797. Following the Lords’ vote, Parliament was prorogued, and a general election confirmed Grey’s position, so there was no change of Ministry despite E.B.B.’s fears.
