t there it did not commit errors which
would become new difficulties for the future Government. He seemed
disinclined for great exertions after the fatigues he had undergone
these last years. He said he thought he would not go on with the
Reform Bill out of office, as that was a measure which ought to be
carried by a Government. If he had again to propose it, he would very
likely alter it a little, reverting to his original plan of taking
away one Member of the two returned by small boroughs, and giving
their seats to some large towns, counties, and corporations like the
Universities, etc.

Lord John defers taking his formal leave till a new Administration is
formed.

ALBERT.

[Pageheading: LORD DERBY SUMMONED]

_Queen Victoria to the Earl of Derby._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _21st February 1852._

The Queen would wish to see Lord Derby at half-past two to-morrow
should he be in Town; if not, on Monday at twelve o'clock.

_Memorandum by the Prince Albert._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _22nd February 1852._

... Lord Derby said that he could not command a majority in the House
of Lords, that he was in a decided minority in the House of Commons,
and thought that in the critical circumstances in which the country
was placed both at home and abroad, he ought not to ask for a
Dissolution. He must then try to strengthen himself particularly in
the House of Commons by any means he could. There was one person whom
he could not venture to propose for the Foreign Office on account
of what had lately passed, and what he might be allowed to call the
"well-known personal feelings of the Queen"; but Lord Palmerston was
one of the ablest debaters, and might well be offered the post of
Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The Queen ... would not, by refusing her consent, throw additional
difficulties in Lord Derby's way; she warned him, however, of the
dangerous qualities of [Lord Palmerston].

Lord Derby rejoined that he knew them, and thought them pernicious for
the conduct of the Foreign Affairs, but at the Exchequer they would
have less play; he himself would undertake to control him. His
greatest indiscretion--that in the Kossuth affair--must have been with
a view to form a Party; that if left excluded from office, he would
become more dangerous, and might in fact force himself back at the
head of a Party with a claim to the Foreign Office, whilst if he had
ever accepted another Office, his pretensions might be considered