sure
emasculated. Lord Aberdeen does not believe this....

Lord Aberdeen describes Lord John's feeling as very good and cordial
towards him. He, Lord John, had even made him a long speech to show
his gratitude for Lord Aberdeen's kindness to him.

ALBERT.

[Pageheading: PALMERSTON RESUMES OFFICE]

_The Earl of Aberdeen to Queen Victoria._

LONDON, _26th December 1853._

Lord Aberdeen, with his most humble duty to your Majesty, has the
honour of enclosing copies of Lord Palmerston's letter to him,[37]
and of his answer. Lord Aberdeen was not without some apprehension
of receiving a rejoinder; but instead of which, a note arrived this
morning, merely asking if a Cabinet was likely to be summoned in the
course of the week, as he was going into the country; in fact, a note
just as if nothing whatever has taken place!

[Footnote 37: Lord Palmerston wrote: "I find ... that I was
mistaken in inferring from your letter that the details of
the intended Reform Bill had been finally settled by the
Government, and that no objection to any part of those details
would be listened to." He went on to say that, under the
circumstances, he could not decline to comply with the wish
of many members of the Government that he should withdraw his
resignation.]

_Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld. London and Aylesbury.
Paper supplied by John Dickinson & Co., Ld., London._

* * * *

Transcriber's Note:

[ae] and [oe] are used for the diphthongs/ligatures in (mostly) French
words. (e.g. c[oe]ur, heart; s[oe]ur, sister; ch[oe]ur; choir).

The original pageheadings have been retained, and moved to appropriate
positions, at the beginning of letters and text to which they refer,
so as not to interrupt the flow of the text. Thus, a long letter may
be prefaced by two, or even three pageheadings. Likewise, footnotes
have been moved to the end of the appropriate letter, or the
appropriate paragraph, in the case of longer pieces of text.

Mr or Mr.

Most instances of this form of address, in the book, are 'Mr', without
the period. There are a few spelt as 'Mr.', with the period. These
have been left as they appeared in the original book.

Russian Dates.

The difference between the Russian Calendar and the Calendar used in
Western Europe was 12 days...22nd March 1848, in Great Britain and
Western Europe, was 3rd April in Russia; 8th April 1853, in Gr