On Monday evening
last went with Julia and Sophie to hear M. du Chaillu lecture at the Royal
Geographical Society in Burlington House. The gathering, ladies as well as
gentlemen, was very large. The walls were hung with portraits of scientific
celebrities. Sir Roderick Murchison, in the absence of Lord Ashburton,
presided. M. du Chaillu was successful in describing his various conflicts with
gorillas, and in conveying a clear idea of the country over which these beasts
are "Lords." He was highly complimented in a delightful address from
Professor Owen, who eloquently portrayed the resemblances and differences of
the human and gorilla skeletons.
On Tuesday, the
26th, took a family dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Bates. Professor Owen, who is
temporarily staying there, and young Victor Van de Weyer, with us four, made a
party of six guests. The only poor dinner I ever ate at Mr. Bates's.
On Wednesday evening
went first to Lady Stanley of Alderley, and second to the Duke of Somerset's,
at the Admiralty. Not more than twenty minutes at either.
No promising news
from home until this morning.
By the arrival of
the Anglo-Saxon at Londonderry, a telegram announces the fact that the
Committee of the Peace Convention had reported a plan for adjustment, made up
of Crittenden's, Guthrie's, and the Border States' proposal. If this be
approved, the great body of the Union may be saved; with a reasonable prospect
of reattracting the eight States which have seceded, and are now embodied as
"The Confederated States of America." General Jefferson Davis and A.
H. Stephens were inaugurated as President and Vice-President on the 18th
instant. Query: Were they chosen by popular election, or by the Convention only
at Montgomery? Perhaps they are provisional only, and for a limited time.
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