when corrected,
of Lord Cowley's Despatch.

[Footnote 36: On the 30th of November the Russian Fleet from
Sevastopol attacked the Turkish squadron in the harbour of
Sinope, a naval station in the Black Sea, and destroyed it.
The feeling in the country against Russia was greatly inflamed
by the incident, which was referred to as the "massacre of
Sinope."]

[Pageheading: PUBLIC FEELING]

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

WINDSOR CASTLE, _25th December 1853._

Lord Aberdeen had an Audience of the Queen yesterday afternoon.
He reported that some of his colleagues, Sir C. Wood, the Duke
of Newcastle, and Mr Gladstone, had been very anxious that Lord
Palmerston should be readmitted into the Cabinet; they had had
interviews with him in which he had expressed his hope to be allowed
to reconsider his step. Lady Palmerston had been most urgent upon this
point with her husband. All the people best conversant with the House
of Commons stated that the Government had no chance of going on with
Lord Palmerston in opposition, and with the present temper of the
public, which was quite mad about the Oriental Question and the
disaster at Sinope. Even Sir W. Molesworth shared this opinion.

Lord Palmerston had written a letter to Lord Aberdeen, in which he
begs to have his resignation considered as not having taken place,
as it arose entirely from a misapprehension on his part, his having
believed that none of the details of the Reform Measure were yet
open for consideration, he had quite agreed in the principle of the
Measure! Lord Aberdeen saw Lord John and Sir J. Graham, who convinced
themselves that under the circumstances nothing else remained to be
done. Lord Aberdeen having asked Lord John whether he should tell the
Queen that it was a political _necessity_, he answered: "Yes, owing to
the shabbiness of your colleagues," to which Lord Aberdeen rejoined:
"Not shabbiness; _cowardice_ is the word."

Lord Aberdeen owns that the step must damage the Government, although
it ought to damage Lord Palmerston still more. Lord John's expression
was: "Yes, it would ruin anybody but Palmerston."

Lord Aberdeen thinks, however, that he can make no further
difficulties about Reform, and he, Lord John, and Graham were
determined to make no material alterations in the Bill. Graham is
suspicious lest the wish to get Palmerston in again, on the part of
a section of the Cabinet, was an intrigue to get the Mea