“I should have liked to have detained these proofs until I heard what your uncle might have to say to them, but I am afraid of delay, and send them back at once. My hope is that he will like them, though I cannot dare to think that my chief, Lord Granville, will approve of what I say of his speech at the Cobden dinner. At any rate, if they kick me out, I can go home and be a rebel, and if too old for a pike I am still good for a paragraph. “All that London life with its flatteries and fat-feeding has sorely unfitted me for my cold mutton v. existence at home; but it cannot be helped, and I must try to get back into the old groove and work along as before. “There is now a dull apathy over life--the consequence of all our late excitement; but we cannot always afford to pay for ‘stars,’ and Bismarck is too costly an _artiste_ to keep always on the boards. From all I see, the French are just as insolent and bumptious as before they were licked,--showing us, if we like to see it, what the world would have had to endure had they been the conquerors! “It is a sore grief to me that I cannot go to the Scott festival; but I have no leave and less money, and though I believe F. O. might grant me the one, they’d even stop my pay, which is the aggravation of insult. “I hope sincerely you don’t feel it a matter of conscience to read all a man writes, for if so I’d shut up. Only assuring you that now we have met and shaken hands, it is with increased pleasure I write myself, yours sincerely, Chas. Lever.” _To Mr John Blackwood._ “Trieste, _Aug_. 6, 1871. “_En attendant_ to writing you a long letter, I send you these ‘O’Dowds’ now, which will give us more time to discuss them. “That on our ‘National Donations’ is, I hope, good. I know it is called for. The shabby scoundrels from Manchester that want to manage England like a mill and treat the monarch like an overseer deserve castigation, and I feel you will agree with me. Is not ‘Meat without Bone’ good enough for use? “I am so sorry not to be able to say all the civil things I should like to say of the Solicitor-General now, for when the trial is over I shall not be able to revive my generous indignation to the white heat it now enjoys. “Why don’t you tell me some popular theme to O’Dowd? I’m here, as they say in Ireland, ‘at the back of good speed,’ and know nothing. “A very curious trial occurred five years ago in Austria on a disputed identity, and the man questioned substantiated his case. It would be interesting if a correct record could be had. “Ballantine tells me that Jeune is gone to Australia, and will be back in November with proofs of the loss of the _Bella_, names of survivors, and existence in the colony of Arthur Orton up to November last. B. is sure of a verdict--at least, he is sure of his right to it.” _To Mr John Blackwood._ “Trieste, _Aug_. 5, 1871.