To town by rail, whilst Mrs Adams and Mary came in the carriage, arriving at the house144 in town in the midst of a fog, rendering lights necessary to read the letters and papers arriving from America out of hte common course. Among others, one from John which supplies the omission by the usual Steamer. We are now only a week to the elections, and thus far the military news is not unfavorable. We then went tot he Station at King’s cross, to take the same train at half past eleven o’clock, which we took the other day. Here we met with M Vande Weyer, the Belgian Minister, and joined company with him, being bound the same way to the Duke of Devonshire’s at Chatsworth. Our trip was incident, to Derby, thence by rail to the Station at Rowsley. Here we found the Duke’s conveyance waiting to take us three miles to his house. We got there at about five, and were ushered into a room, where Lady Louisa Cavendish was seated at the head of a tea table, in a comer. On her right were arranged against the wall a row of five or six females of various ages, sitting straight and apparently awaiting with resignation our advent. Lady Louisa rose and received us, but her companions looked without making a sign. Shortly Lord Frederick Cavendish and the Duke came in to break the formality a little and we sat down also to partake of tea. The five or six females then rose and retired without recognition. Nothing can make the English people easy or capable of inspiring ease in their guests. Presently, we were ushered to our rooms, to prepare ourselves for dinner at about eight o’clock. On my way, I could only glance at the corridors, staircases, which looked enough to baffle all comprehensive. At the designated hour we were ushered into a small room fitted with books, where twenty four persons were assembled. The Duke led in Mrs Adams, M. Van de Weyer as senior in date took Lady Louisa. The latter asked me to take Lady Fanny Howard. Not knowing an idea which of the six females whom I had seen, this might be, I was obliged to ask for information. The lady was however aware of her destination so that I soon got over that difficulty. It turned out that she was the Duke’s sister. The dinner was sumptuous. After it was over we returned to the drawing room, through a library nearly a hundred feet long. In the course of the evening, I made acquaintance with a number of the guests. We broke up at eleven.145