Muses on Eheu fugaces (Hor.C.2.14), and thinks back to a birthday he held in Woodstock 66 or 67 years ago; when fuelled by champagne the young men rioted about the town. On the superficial reasons which led young men to join the army.
Sin títuloJB's new curate apparently has a sonorous voice - discussion of what goes towards a good sermon, and the views of the fictional Sir Roger de Coverley (in The Spectator). Old schoolfellow Thomas Feilde has died. People fleeing Ireland are bringing disease with them - London has responded by starting to clear slums - Pie Street (Old Pye Street?) has disappeared, and the government is contemplating throwing open Tothill Street to create a wide road form Buckingham Palace to Parliament. He would very much like to possess a very old map of London which used to be in the shop of the one-eyed baker Jackson on the corner of the Bowling Alley (now Tufton Street). Has JB heard anything of Pulteney (see 8, 20 and 21)?
Sin títuloReturns a letter from the Marquis of Anglesey to JB (see 7 and 8) - JB's son has apparently been posted to Spike Island (in Cork harbour). The new curate has used one of his grandfather's sermons (see 22) - HMC amazed that anyone should write new sermons, given the huge number of books of sermons sold 2nd hand every week. Discussion of London book auctions - a Mazarin (Gutenberg) Bible has been purchased for the American government for £500.
Sin títuloHas not forwarded the name of Thomas Trebeck (see 7 and 29) to the committee established to support the play (see 29), since Bull wrote that he did not know if he was still alive. Pulteney reports that cricket balls are now bowled so violently that players must be padded. On translations of Terence - thinks that new translations should appear every 50 years to reflect changing idiom. Westminster said to be improving under new Head Master (see 29) - hopes that he will keep the best of the old customs, such as fagging (what hardship is it to carry 2 or 3 hats on one's shoulders to Tothill Fields, or to blow on a fire?). On the import of cattle and sheep by railroad from the interior of Germany and its negligible effect on London meat prices, and on the state of the potato harvest. To assist his French a Frenchwoman comes in three times a week to read Molieres to him out loud.
Sin títuloDoes not yet know if the Play will take place this year (see 29). On the theft of £48,000 in 1844 from a safe at Messrs Rogers and Co., a Lombard Street bank, and a reward being offered and recently claimed, on condition of no prosecution and anonymity for the culprit. Does not know when Fawcett (Thomas, brother of John?) will venture south.
Sin títuloMore on Eton (see 3) - access to it so much easier with the railroad. Last visited Westminster 3 years ago - nostalgic - heard again the bell at 2.45 (known to them as Smith's bell - after the HM)). Cloisters largely unchanged, apart from some trifling repairs to Smedley's monument in the West Cloister - their former tutor (Edward OW) and Rector of Powderham, which living must have been given to him by the 'unfortunate' Lord Courtenay (9th Earl of Devon, and a notorious homosexual). Hopes that JB and his friends have not suffered from the banking panic of 1847 (though the minor house such as Drummonds and Childs coalesced to support each other) - yet Ireland must be fed (the crisis was caused by government borrowing to relieve the Great Famine). The PM Lord John Russell will be faced by Irish MPs making impossible demands - also the question of admitting a Jew, a further blow for the Protestant religion (Lionel de Rothschild - see 31).
Sin títuloExtraordinary events at home and abroad (presumably revolutionary movements in Europe, Chartism and Ireland). Liddell will very shortly move on to become tutor to the Prince of Wales (this did not happen). Surprised that Liddell was ever appointed - younger son of Lord Ravensworth, a family C knew well- 'remarkable for their inattention to literature.' Anticipates the monster Chartist mutiny scheduled for 10th April (see 40) - like their fellows in Paris they probably want good pay and no work. On the power of the mob in Paris. A riot in Madrid has been suppressed by the military.
Sin títuloHas now heard from JB. On the anniversary of a (dining?) club of the 1780s, based on membership of the Western Hunt. JB's son now posted to Charlemont Fort, a spot much more agreeable (and protestant) than any in the south of Ireland. The curate of 22 has clearly not been wholly satisfactory - repeats many of the details of 22. The only exercise he takes is walking up and down the dining room, supported by a rope on one side and his wife on the other. On the exorbitant price of food (except bread). On a wealthy farmer friend with an income of £5,000pa. For light relief recommends some recollections about Napoleon and an account of the last twenty years of the 18th century in England. Repeats story of Liddell's appointment as tutor to the Prince of Wales (see 41) - he may thus look forward to York or Canterbury, like Markham.
Sin títuloInvites JB to stay - discusses his wine cellar and his lack of faith in wine merchants. Recalls how he and JB visited the aftermath of the Gordon Riots in 1780 - present times are even more dangerous, though outbreaks are repressed by the military and special constables. Ireland in rebellion from north to south. Disturbers of the peace in Paris have sent emissaries to other European cities to stir up trouble.
Sin títuloQuotes a golden line from Ovid's Metamorphoses, and explains it. Government spies have anticipated and foiled a Chartist plot to burn the Bank. On atrocities committed by the mob in Paris - the spirits of insurrection in England are checked though not extinguished; he wonders, however, if measures in England are too lenient, whereas the Irish will be infuriated by John Mitchel being sentenced to 14 years' transportation. On the supply and price of various foods. On refugees from poverty or rebellion, both from Ireland and from the continent, crowding the streets of London and raising the poor rates.
Sin título