Volume Ii Part 76 (1/2)

FRIDAY, _28th February 1851._

Lord Lansdowne, who arrived at twelve o'clock, was asked by the Queen what advice he could offer her in the present complication. His answer was: ”I wish indeed I had any good advice to offer to your Majesty.”

He expressed his delight at the Queen having sent for the Duke of Wellington. We talked generally of the state of affairs; he agreed in a remark of mine, that I thought the Queen should be entirely guided in her choice of the person to construct a Government, by the consideration which Party would now appear to be the strongest in the House of Commons. On my asking, however, whether he knew if, on the failure of Lord Stanley to form a Government, part of his followers would now give up Protection as past hope, and be prepared in future to support the Peelite section of the Conservative Party, Lord Lansdowne said he had heard nothing on the subject, nor could he give us more information on the chance of the Radicals and Irish members now being more willing to support Lord John Russell in future. He liked Lord Stanley's plan of dealing with the Papal Question, of which the Queen communicated to him the outlines, was afraid of Sir J. Graham's excessive leaning towards economy, shook his head at Lord John Russell's letter to the Bishop of Durham[10] which had been instrumental in bringing on the present crisis, and confessed that he had been amongst those in the Cabinet who had prevented the bringing forward of a measure of reform in the present Session. He offered to do whatever might be most conducive to the Queen's comfort--stay out of office, or come into office--as might be thought the most useful.

ALBERT.

[Footnote 10: See _ante_, p. 273 note 1.]

[Pageheading: FURTHER DIFFICULTIES]

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _1st March 1851._

MY DEAREST UNCLE,--I did not write to you yesterday, thinking I could perhaps give you some more positive news to-day, but I _cannot_. I am still without a Government, and I am still trying to hear and pause before I actually call to Lord John to undertake to form, or rather more to continue, the Government. We have pa.s.sed an anxious, exciting week, and the difficulties are very peculiar; there are so many conflicting circ.u.mstances which render coalition between those who agree in almost everything, and in particular on _Free Trade_, impossible, but the ”Papal Question” is the real and almost insuperable difficulty.

Lord Lansdowne is waiting to see me, and I must go, and with many thanks for your two kind letters, ever your devoted Niece,

VICTORIA R.

[Pageheading: LORD JOHN RUSSELL]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _2nd March 1851._ (_Sunday._)

Lord Lansdowne, who arrived after church, had seen Lord John Russell and discussed with him the Memorandum which we left with him yesterday. He had since drawn up a Memorandum himself which embodied his views, and which he had not yet communicated to any one. He was very apprehensive lest to begin a new Government with an open question would produce the greatest prejudice against it in the public; he was still inclined therefore to recommend the continuance of the present Government avowedly for the purpose of pa.s.sing the Papal Bill, after which the Coalition might take place, which, however, should be agreed upon and settled at this time. As the Duke of Wellington has not yet sent his promised Memorandum, and Lord Lansdowne was anxious to hear his opinion, the Queen commissioned him to appoint Lord John Russell to come at three o'clock, and to go himself to the Duke of Wellington.

Lord John Russell, who arrived at the appointed time, and had not seen Lord Lansdowne's Memorandum yet, read it over, and expressed great misgivings about the execution of the proposal. He said he saw in fact, like Sir J. Graham, nothing but difficulties. He had ascertained that his Party by no means liked the idea of a fusion, and had been much relieved when the attempt to form a Coalition Ministry had failed. He was afraid that in the interval between their resuming office and giving it up again every possible surmise would be current who were the Ministers to be displaced, and every possible intrigue would spring up for and against particular members of the Cabinet. He would prefer not to make any arrangements for the Coalition now, but merely to engage to resign again after having carried the Papal Bill, when the Queen could try the Coalition, and that failing, could entrust Lord Aberdeen and Sir J. Graham with the carrying on of the Government, whose chief difficulty would then be removed. I objected to this--that his Party might feel justly aggrieved if after their having carried him through the difficulty of the Papal Measure, he were to throw them over and resign, and asked him whether his Cabinet would not repent in the meantime and wish to stay in.

He answered that it would be entirely in his and Lord Lansdowne's hands to carry out the proposed arrangements.

We asked him whether it would strengthen his hands if, instead of his only _accepting_ the task of continuing the Government till the Papal Measure had been pa.s.sed, the Queen were to make it a _condition_ in _giving_ him the Commission, that it should terminate then. He replied, ”Certainly.” He begged, however, to be understood not to have given a decided opinion that the plan of ”the open Question” proposed in our Memorandum was not preferable, although he saw great objections to that also, particularly as Sir J. Graham had reserved the statement of his princ.i.p.al objections to the Papal Bill for the second reading.

He promised to draw up a Memorandum, which he would bring to-morrow at twelve o'clock, after having consulted some of his colleagues, and begged that it might not be considered that he had accepted the Government till then.

One of the difficulties which we likewise discussed was the position of the financial measures which required almost immediate attention, and still ought to be left open for the consideration of the future Government.

We agreed that the pressing on the Papal Measure was the chief point, and that it ought to be altered to meet the objections (as far as they are reasonable) of its opponents, strengthening the declaratory part, however, to please Lord Stanley; and the Queen promised to call upon Lord Stanley to give this so modified Bill the support of himself and his Party, which we thought she could in fairness claim after all that had happened.

The Queen reiterated her objections to Lord Palmerston, and received the renewed promise that her wishes should be attended to.