The King gave a dinner to the Prince of Orange the other day, and invited all his old military friends to meet him. His Majesty was beyond everything civil to the Duke of Wellington, and the Queen likewise. Lord Wellesley, speaking of the letter to the Lord Mayor, and putting off the dinner in the City, said 'it was the boldest act of cowardice he had ever heard of.' [Page Head: THE DUCHESSE DE DINO.] After some difficulty they have agreed to give Madame de Dino[13] the honours of Ambassadress here, the Duke having told the King that at Vienna she did the honours of Talleyrand's house, and was received on that footing by the Emperor and Empress, so he said, 'Oh, very well; I will tell the Queen, and you had better tell her too.' [13] [The Duchesse de Dino was the niece of Prince Talleyrand, then French Ambassador at the Court of St. James. The precedent is a curious one, for it is certainly not customary for the daughter or niece of an unmarried Ambassador to enjoy the rank and honours of an Ambassadress.] They say the King is exceedingly bullied by the _batards_, though Errol told me they were all afraid of him. Dolly Fitzclarence lost L100, betting 100 to 10 that he would go to Guildhall, and he told the King he had lost him L100, so the King gave him the money. It seems that the Duke certainly did make some overtures to Palmerston, though I do not exactly know when, but I heard that they were very fair ones. November 11th, 1830 {p.057} Yesterday the funds rose, and people's apprehensions began to subside. Everybody is occupied with speculating about the numbers on Tuesday next, and what majority the Ministers will get. Yesterday came a letter from Lord Heytesbury from St. Petersburg,[14] saying that there was reason to believe that the disorder now raging in Russia is a sort of plague, but that they will not admit it, and that it is impossible to get at the truth. We ordered Russian ships to be put under a precautionary quarantine, and made a minute to record what we had done. [14] [This is the first mention of the cholera morbus, or Asiatic cholera, then first appearing in Europe. The quarantine establishments are under the control of the Privy Council, and Mr. Greville, as Clerk of the Council, was actively employed in superintending them. A Board of Health was afterwards established at the Council Office during the prevalence of the cholera.] November 12th, 1830 {p.058}