330 HABITS OF LORD GEORGE BENTINCK, 



' Correspondence and Diaries of the Kight Hon- 

 ourable John Wilson Croker,' I find the following 

 words : " The editor has made diligent inquiry for 

 Lord George Bentinck's political correspondence, 

 and has been informed by Viscountess Ossington, 

 his Lordship's sister, that the whole of it was 

 probably destroyed by the fourth Duke of Port- 

 land, his father." 



But althoug-h all the letters addressed to Lord 

 George by Mr Disraeli, Mr Croker, Lord Stanley 

 (afterwards Earl of Derby), and others, have 

 perished, some of those written by Lord George 

 himself are still extant. Knowing him as well as 

 I did, I can well conceive the feelings with which 

 he must have penned the following passage to Mr 

 Croker from Welbeck on October 8, 1847: — 



" When I accepted the lead of what was left of 

 the old Conservative party, I did deceive myself 

 with false hopes that the old English spirit would 

 have been roused, and that it was only necessary 

 to keep the dismantled ship floating, or fighting 

 under jury-masts, till she went through the 

 thorough repair of a new election. I own that I 

 am bitterly disappointed and broken-hearted that 

 England has proved to be so degenerate that, in 

 face of a tremendous emergency, she has produced 

 no new leader to take my place. Nothing but 

 pinching adversity will bring such men to a proper 

 sense of their duty. As regards the gentlemen, 



