Dined with Dudley the day before yesterday to meet Marmont, who is made very much of here by the few people who are left. He had been to Woolwich in the morning, where the Duke of Wellington had given orders that everything should be shown to him, and the honours handsomely done. He was very much gratified, and he found the man who had pointed the gun which wounded him at Salamanca, and who had since lost his own arm at Waterloo. Marmont shook hands with him and said, 'Ah, mon ami, chacun a son tour.' Lady Aldborough came in in the evening, and flew up to him with 'Ah, mon cher Marechal, embrassez-moi;' and so after escaping the cannon's mouth at Paris, he was obliged to face Lady Aldborough's mouth here. This was my first dinner at Dudley's, brought about _malgre lui_ by Lady Glengall. He has always disliked and never invited me, but now (to all appearance) we are friends. He said he had been to see an old man who lives near the world's end--Chelsea--who is 110 years old; he has a good head of hair, with no grey hairs in it; his health, faculties, and memory perfect; is Irish, and has not lived with greater temperance than other people. I sat next to Palmerston, and had a great deal of conversation with him, and from the tenour of his language infer that he has no idea of joining Government. Agar Ellis assured me the other day that there was not a word of truth in the reported junction between Lord Grey and Huskisson. The Duke has got two months to make his arrangements, but I am afraid he is not prepared for all the sacrifices his position requires. It is now said that the exasperation against the late Ministers (particularly Polignac) is so great in France that it is doubtful whether they will be able to save their lives. CHAPTER XII. The Belgian Revolution--The Duke of Wellington and Canning--The King's Plate--Gloomy Forebodings--Retreat of the Prince of Orange--Prince Talleyrand--Position of the Government--Death of Huskisson--His Character--The Duke of Wellington and Peel-- Meeting of Parliament--The Duke's Declaration--The King's Visit to the City abandoned--Disturbances in London--Duchesse de Dino--The Cholera--Southey, Henry Taylor, John Stuart Mill-- Dinner at Talleyrand's--The Duke of Wellington resigns--Mr. Bathurst made Junior Clerk of the Council--Lord Spencer and Lord Grey sent for--Formation of Lord Grey's Administration-- Discontent of Brougham--Brougham takes the Great Seal-- Character of the New Ministers--Prospects of the Opposition-- Disturbances in Sussex and Hampshire--Lord Grey and Lord Brougham--Lord Sefton's Dinner--The New Ministers sworn at a Council. Stoke, August 31st, 1830 {p.040}