On November 18th Parliament was dissolved by proclamation and the elections were held from the 23rd to December 18th. In the English towns, where the elections were first held, the Conservatives had a large majority, and it seemed as if they were going to sweep the board. In the counties, however, the 'three acres and a cow' was taken by the ignorant rustics, just admitted to the franchise, as a splendid reality, and their votes went strongly in favour of the Liberals, or rather--as it would be more correct to say--the Radicals. Mr. Gladstone had appealed to the country to give him a working majority. He had, in fact, a majority of eighty-four over the Conservatives; but the Irish, or so-called Nationalist, party numbered eighty-six; and as these were bound by their bond of union to oppose the Government, whatever it was, they had to be counted with the Conservatives as soon as the Conservative Government had fallen. And the comparison of the numbers showed that it must fall as soon as Parliament met. As Reeve had forecast, neither party could form an effective administration without the support of the Nationalists, a position which seemed for the moment to render them the arbiters of the nation's destiny. _From Count Vitzthum_ Paris, December 1st. Dear Mr. Reeve,--Many thanks for your kind letter. You will find me here in my winter quarters until the end of May, then from June to the end of October at Baden-Baden, where we have built a villa. I would always be happy to see you and talk over old times. I have just finished reading the third volume of Greville's Memoirs and have been very much struck by your notes, without which some passages would not have been intelligible. Old Greville was a portrait-painter rather in Rembrandt's style. In putting together all he says of Palmerston, Peel, and the Duke of Wellington, very remarkable full-length portraits would come out. He seems rather partial for John Russell. My little book makes more noise in Germany than I expected. W. Oncken, the celebrated historian of Austria and Prussia in 1813, will review it for the 'Allgemeine Zeitung,' and the Vienna press has been unexpectedly favourable. An English friend of mine wants to translate it. I think it would be 'love's labour lost;' for everybody who cares for such trifles and photographs taken on the spot understands German nowadays in England, and will prefer the original. Still, if you thought it worth your while to send a short notice to the 'Times,' it would be a favour. My old friend Delane is no more, else I should have asked him. Cotta writes me that he has secured the English copyright, and sent some copies to the principal Reviews and the 'Times.' Believe me, very faithfully yours, VITZTHUM. _From the Comte de Paris_ Chateau d'Eu, 9 decembre.