6 October 1873 – 12 October 1873

I returned from a little tour in Normandy, Brittany, Jersey and Guernsey.

Carlyle. * Tom Paine has been entirely misrepresented. When I read The Rights of Man I found I agreed with him.' I amused him by quoting from a speech of Lord Derby (on Education), reported in the newspaper, * We have no reason to despair of greatly limiting the area and scope of imbecility in future.' He laughed loud and said, ' that would be a very excellent thing if it could be managed.' Carlyle had thought much of writing a life of Napoleon, or book of some kind upon him ; ' but the more I looked into him,' he said, ' the more I perceived him to be of the Brigand species.'

I found C. had been reading Lanfrey's book. He said, ' I am amazed at the character of Napoleon, — it is most devilish ! ' Napoleon must have been dreadfully disconcerting to C.'s theory of Power and Goodness going together. He used to deny that Napoleon was a great general ; ' Circumstances (he would say) gave him unbounded means, and he lavished them recklessly, he cared not how many soldiers he lost : this is not Generalship.'