e will be no use in trying to keep him in it, and that
there will be danger in allowing him to attend the discussions of
the Cabinet, preparing all the time his line of attack; that if a
successor to him would after all have to be found at the Home Office,
it will be unfair not to give that important member of the Government
full opportunity to take his share in the preparation and deliberation
on the measure to which his consent would be asked. Under these
circumstances it becomes of the highest importance to ascertain--

1. What the amount of objection is that Lord Palmerston entertains to
the Measure;

2. What the object of the declaration was, which he seems to have made
to you.

This should be obtained _in writing_, so as to make all future
misrepresentation impossible, and on this alone a decision can well
be taken, and, in the Queen's opinion, even the Cabinet could alone
deliberate.

Should Lord Palmerston have stated his objections with the view of
having the Measure modified it will be right to consider how far that
can safely be done, and for the Queen, also, to balance the probable
value of the modification with the risk of allowing Lord Palmerston to
put himself at the head of the Opposition Party, entailing as it does
the possibility of his forcing himself back upon her as leader of that
Party.

Should he on the other hand consider his declaration as a "notice
to quit," the ground upon which he does so should be clearly put on
record, and no attempt should be made to damage the character of the
Measure in the vain hope of propitiating him. Ever yours truly,

ALBERT.

[Pageheading: LORD PALMERSTON RESIGNS]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

OSBORNE, _16th December 1853._

Lord Aberdeen arrived yesterday and returned to-day to meet the
Cabinet to-morrow. Lord Palmerston has sent in his resignation in a
short note to Lord Aberdeen, a further correspondence with Lord John
and Lord Lansdowne, Lord Aberdeen put into my hands, and I have copied
the two most important letters which follow here.

Lord John is reported as very angry, calling Lord Palmerston's conduct
"treacherous," a term Lord Aberdeen hardly understands, as against him
he has been perfectly consistent with regard to the Reform Measure,
from the beginning, and had frequently denied the necessity of
Reform.... Lord Aberdeen had advised Lord John to show boldness and
energy, and to undertake the Home Office at once himself; th