The entries for the year 1824.5 and 6 are short, but those for 1827-32 provide a full account of those years. There is much material on his own career and his decision to give up his ambassadorship to Berlin in 1827; on the Canning and Goderich administrations; on Roman Catholic Emancipation; and on the Reform Bill crisis of 1831-2; as well as accounts of his travels abroad, with particularly full account of a trip in Scandinavia in the summer of 1828. The entries are written on one side of the page, until the last page of the volume, p.129, whereupon the volume is turned upside down and begun again, the entries being on the reverse side of the page.
‘Nov. 1828 Vienna[…] It is asserted that not only Pahlen found the greatest difficulty in getting the Grand Dukes to consent, but that he never mentioned [? unvedu] as any part of the plan, under any contingency. Indeed, Russians tell you that the murder was an impromptu, as they had not expected that a man of such doubtful courage would have been so intractable. But Constantine once told Rasumoffsky, that Paul had come to his room on the evening preceding the murder, and had thrashed the valet because he could not tell him where the Grand Duke then was, and (added C.’s) it was a lucky chance that P. did not examine the room, for on the table lay a quarto volume of Voltaire, opened at the passage in which Brutus justifies to Cassius the murder of Caesar. ‘Et ne crois-tu pas a ton caractere donner demente, Si tu sents en balance une vie a la patrie.'[…]

The collection includes a letter in French from the King of Prussia to M. Voltaire, with a detailed comment upon Crebillon’s ‘Catalina’ which displays an extensive knowledge of Roman history. This letter is dated 13 February 1748.

On p.99, Lord Clanwilliam notes ‘p.99 Constantine once told my uncle, that Paul had come to look for him in his room, and had thrashed the valet because he could not tell Paul where Constantine just then was, and, added the Grand Duke, it was a lucky chance that Paul did not examine the room. He would have found a quarto volume of Voltaire open at the passage, where Brutus justifies to Cassius the murder of Caesar: “Eh, ne crois-tu pas à ton charactère donner démenti, Si tu mets en balance une vie a la patrie”. (It is but fair to say, that the Grand Duke C. was always ready to boast of his French literature; did so to me at Karlsbad.) Kutaisoff was Paul’s valet, and had been ennobled, and made Master of the Horse. He kept a Mlle Chevalier, and adjourned to his mistress, changing his dress as soon as Paul was in bed.’ This is the same anecdote told in D3044/F/4.

[…] 8thly. The rebellion being now put down, we shall have much talk about what the Emperor must be forced to do, to reorganise an independent Poland and thus by an act of suicide, to create a new and deadly foe in his own bosom. The Emperor from the very beginning of the revolt, felt and declared that Poland had revolted without sufficient cause, (Among the demands made as a justification of the revolt was that of a free and unrestricted public press. A free and unrestricted press in Poland! A country which Voltaire called ‘Un pays gouverné par 100,000 gentilhommes, don’t 90,000 ne saient pas lire.’) and in consequence, not of its own feeling and interest, but of French and Jacobinical advice, instruction and money[…]’

The collection includes, on p.116, a letter from Lady Londonderry to Maurice FitzGerald, written from Mount Stewart and dated 12 January 1801. In the letter, Lady Londonderry mentions Lord Castelreagh’s hurried visit to Mount Stewart, before offering her personal compliments and reflections on Voltaire and Rousseau.

The letter opens with a discussion of Capt. FitzGerald and his matrimonal problems, before turning to the death of the Bishop of Clogher [Clayton]. He commends the King of Prussia’s letter to Voltaire as ‘an extreme pretty thing’ then discusses Pitt’s plan for Ireland.

It is possible that John Black III, a contemporary of Montesquieu, copied out some of Voltaire’s works.