Revenge of the Cousinocracy getting rid of him before the end of the year.124 But whether he had actually angled for Grenville-Murray instead is not clear; it is at least possible.125 Alternatively, knowing of the consul-general’s reputation, he might have thought that such a bid would have seen him on a hiding to nothing and, in consequence, held his hand. The ambassador’s support might also have been stayed by the thought that the post of secretary of embassy at Constantinople, where arrangements were peculiar, would not have suited the ambitions of his Odessa correspondent. Bulwer, after all, did not want the holder of that post to be an orthodox secretary but, instead, someone who handled only the mission’s burgeoning consular correspondence, which, as it turned out, was the occasion of his conflict with Savile-Lumley.126 The ambassador evidently sent Grenville-Murray consoling messages which hinted at this.127 Not surprisingly, Grenville-Murray was no more fortunate at Constantinople on Savile-Lumley’s departure, by which time Bulwer was himself somewhat out of favour with the Foreign Office. But he continued to tell the ambassador of his ardent wish to serve under his orders, and lived in hope of another opening over which he had influence.128 This turned out to be the important Cairo agency, about which Bulwer had dropped a hint to Clara in order to dilute her own disappointment over Constantinople and where the incumbent – her husband’s old friend Robert Colquhoun – told Grenville-Murray that he was sick of Egypt and would gladly support him as his replacement. He lived with this hope until the middle of 1863, at which point – although Colquhoun insisted he had no rival for the position – Bulwer had to inform him that he must abandon this dream as well.129 Grenville-Murray put a brave face on this further disappointment, assuring his putative patron that he would remain patient while waiting for advancement, adding:
124
Jones, The British Diplomatic Service, 1815-1914, ch. 5. Bulwer later said bitterly: ‘[O]nce or twice when I have written for persons of special qualities which were wanted at the embassy or mission I have had persons sent me who had none of those qualities,’ HCPP (382), 25 July 1870: paras. 4845-6, 4874. 126 TNA, Bulwer to Russell, 13 November 1860, FO78/1493. 127 NRO, G-M to Bulwer, 21 June 1860, BUL 1/269/1-44. Like most of Bulwer’s letters to G-M, the ones referred to here have not survived. 128 NRO, G-M to Bulwer, 11 May 1860, 21 December 1861, 25 September 1862, BUL 1/269/1-44; and 26 June 1863, BUL 1/270/130. 129 NRO, Clara G-M to Bulwer, 19 April 1860, BUL 1/268/1-6; G-M to Bulwer, 21 December 1861, 25 September 1862, BUL 1/269/1-44; 26 June 1863, 9 July 1863, BUL 1/270/1-30. Colquhoun remained in Cairo until his retirement in May1865, when he was replaced by Colonel Edward Stanton, formerly consul-general at Warsaw. 125
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