g, they thought, that
with all the talent they had at their command, they would be able to
obtain the confidence of the country, and hold the balance between the
two extreme Parties in the House. He felt that after having failed to
obtain the confidence of Parliament himself, he could do nothing
else than retire at once, and he advised the Queen to send for Lord
Lansdowne, who knew better than anybody the state of Parties, and
would give the best advice. He did not advise the Queen to send for
Lord Aberdeen at once, because, if it were reported that he had given
this advice, many of his Party--who had already been distressed at
his declaration to them that if he was defeated he would withdraw from
public life--would think it necessary to join Lord Aberdeen as their
new appointed leader; and then the other half, which felt the deepest
indignation at the treatment they had received from the Peelites,
would throw themselves into a reckless alliance with the Radicals, to
revenge themselves upon the new Government, so the great Conservative
Party would be broken up, which it was so essential for the country to
keep together and moderate.

I interrupted Lord Derby, saying that, constitutionally speaking, it
did not rest with him to give advice and become responsible for it,
and that nobody therefore could properly throw the responsibility of
the Queen's choice of a new Minister upon him; the Queen had thought
of sending for Lord Lansdowne and Lord Aberdeen together. This, Lord
Derby said, would do very well; he knew that, strictly speaking, the
Sovereign acted upon her own responsibility, but it was always said on
such occasions, for instance, "Lord John advised the Queen to send for
Lord Derby," etc., etc.

He then gave it rather jokingly as his opinion that he thought less
than 32 could hardly be the number of the new Cabinet, so many former
Ministers would expect to be taken in; the Whigs said 36. Lord John
Russell was designated for the Home Office, Lord Canning for the
Foreign, Mr Gladstone for the Colonial Department, Lord Clanricarde
for the Post Office, Lord Granville for Ireland. These were the
reports.

ALBERT.

_Queen Victoria to the Marquis of Lansdowne._

OSBORNE, _18th December 1852._

The Queen has received Lord Lansdowne's letter, from which she was
very sorry to learn that he is suffering from the gout. Although the
Queen was very anxious to have consulted with him before taking a
definite step