de
were not exactly those mentioned by Lord Palmerston. I heard nothing
more till I received on Saturday evening a telegram, summoning me to a
Cabinet this day. I came to Town immediately, and saw Lord Palmerston
yesterday. I enquired the reason of the sudden summons for a Cabinet.
He told me that there had been a discussion between the Queen and Lord
John; that the Queen had objected to his (Lord John's) proposal that
the despatch of 25th July should be now communicated to the French
Government. Lord John had informed him of the fact, and had requested
him to communicate with the Queen on the subject. Lord Palmerston
then read to me a well-written memorandum on the abstract question of
giving advice, which he had sent to Her Majesty. He told me that he
had been to Osborne; that the Queen had expressed a wish through Sir
Charles Wood that he should not discuss the whole matter with her;
that he had had a satisfactory conversation with your Royal Highness,
of which he gave me an abstract, which, however, contained his own
arguments at greater length than your Royal Highness's. He said that
Lord John had made a mistake with respect to the end of the despatch,
in which Lord Cowley is desired to withhold it till after the Peace of
Zurich was concluded. Lord John gave a different interpretation to it
from what appeared to be the case, as described by a previous letter
of Lord John, in which he had said that the sentence was added at
the suggestion of the Cabinet, and with his entire approval. Lord
Palmerston states that the Queen did not feel herself authorised
to sanction a departure from what had been decided by the Cabinet,
without the concurrence of the Cabinet, and that she thought it
desirable, if the Cabinet met, that they should agree on the future
policy as regards Italy. Lord John also wished for a Cabinet.

I replied that there seemed to be a double question: first, a
difference between the Queen and Lord John Russell and himself; and
second, the whole question of our Italian Policy. On the first point
I could not but remember the apprehension generally felt at the
formation of his first Government; that the feeling between the
Sovereign and himself might not be such as to give strength to the
Government; that the result, however, was most satisfactory. I was not
aware of either the Queen or himself having given way on any one
point of principle, but the best understanding was kept up in the most
honourable way t