for the formation of a new Government consequent on the
resignation of Lord Derby, she would have been very unhappy if Lord
Lansdowne had exposed his health to any risk in order to gratify her
wishes. Time pressing, she has now sent a telegraphic message to Lord
Aberdeen to come down here alone, which, from the terms of the Queen's
first summons, he had thought himself precluded from doing. Should
Lord Lansdowne not be able to move soon, Lord Aberdeen will confer
with him by the Queen's desire immediately on his return to Town.

[Pageheading: LORD ABERDEEN SUMMONED]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

OSBORNE, _19th December 1852._

Lord Aberdeen arrived here at three o'clock and reported that he had
seen Lord Lansdowne, and had come to a perfect understanding with him;
he had also consulted with his friends, and with Lord John Russell. It
would now depend upon the decision of the Queen whom she would charge
with the formation of a Government. The Queen answered that she
thought Lord Lansdowne was too old and infirm to undertake such
arduous duties, and that she commissioned Lord Aberdeen. He replied
he was fully aware of his own unworthiness for the task, and had
expressed his disinclination to Lord Lansdowne, while Lord Lansdowne,
on the other hand, had pressed him to take the responsibility himself;
but since the Queen had commissioned him, he wished to say that it was
of the greatest importance that only one person should be charged with
the task and be responsible for it, and that the new Government should
not be a revival of the old Whig Cabinet with an addition of some
Peelites, but should be a liberal Conservative Government in the
sense of that of Sir Robert Peel; he thought this would meet with
the confidence of the country, even if excluding the Radicals. Lord
Aberdeen said he meant to propose to the Queen Lord John Russell as
Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, which _he_ thinks he would accept. (The Queen sanctioned
this.) He would then consult Lord John upon his appointments, but
he (Lord Aberdeen) would be responsible, taking care that Lord John
should be satisfied. There was no doubt that Lord John had full claims
to be Prime Minister again, but that he could give him no greater
proof of confidence, having been his opponent all his life, than to
give him the lead of the House of Commons, which made him virtually
as much Prime Minister as he pleased, an