A JOURNAL
OF THE
REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA
FROM 1852 TO 1860.
[CHAPTER I.]
Divisions of the Liberal Party—Lord Lansdowne as Head of a Liberal Government—Hostility of the Radicals—National Defences—Lord John Russell's Literary Pursuits—The Queen's Speech—The Peelites—Protection abandoned—Duke of Wellington's Funeral—Mr. Villiers' Motion—Disraeli's Panegyric on Wellington—Death of Miss Berry—The Division on the Resolution—Disraeli's Budget—Lord Palmerston's Position—The Division on the Budget—Lord Derby resigns—Liberal Negotiations—Formation of Lord Aberdeen's Government—Lord St. Leonard's—Tone of the Conservatives—Lord Clanricarde and the Irish Brigade—Violence of the Tories—Lord Palmerston agrees to join the Government—The Aberdeen Cabinet—First Appearance of the New Ministry—Irritation of the Whigs.
October 22nd, 1852.—As usual a long interval, for since the Duke's death I have had nothing to write about. The distribution of his offices and honours has not given satisfaction. The appointment of Fitzroy Somerset would have been more popular than that of Hardinge to the command of the army, especially with the army; but I have no doubt the Court insisted on having Hardinge, who is a great favourite there.
MINISTERIAL COMBINATIONS.
Matters in politics remain much as they were. There has been a constant interchange of letters between Lord John Russell and his leading friends and adherents, and conversations and correspondence between these and Palmerston, the result of the whole being a hopeless state of discord and disagreement in the Liberal party, so complete that there appears no possibility of all the scattered elements of opposition being combined into harmonious action, the consequence of which can hardly fail to be the continuance in office of the present Government. The state of things may be thus summed up: Lord John Russell declares he will take no office but that of Premier, considering any other a degradation; but he says he does not want office, and if a Liberal Government can be formed under anybody else he will give it his best support. He resents greatly the expressed sentiments of those who would put him by and choose another Prime Minister, and this resentment his belongings foster as much as they can. Palmerston professes personal regard for Lord John, but declares he will never again serve under him, though he would with him, and his great object has been to induce Lord Lansdowne to consent to put himself at the head of a Government (if this falls) under whom he would be willing to serve, and he would consent to Lord John's leading the House of Commons as heretofore. This he communicated to the Duke of Bedford in conversation at Brocket, and he afterwards wrote a detailed account of that conversation to Lansdowne himself, which was an invitation to him to act the part he wished to allot to him. Lord Lansdowne wrote him an answer in which he positively declined to put himself at the head of a Government, stating various reasons why he could not, and his conviction that John Russell was the only man who could be at the head of one hereafter. With regard to other opinions, Graham is heart and soul with Lord John, and decidedly in favour of his supremacy. The Whig party are divided, some still adhering to him; others, resenting his conduct in the past Session and distrusting his prudence, are anxious for another chief, but without having much considered how another is to be found, nor the consequences of deposing him. The Radicals are in an unsettled and undecided state, neither entirely favourable nor entirely hostile to Lord John; the Peelites are pretty unanimously against him, and not overmuch disposed to join with the Whig party, being still more or less deluded with the hope and belief that they may form a Government themselves. Graham has always maintained (and, as I thought, with great probability) that it would end in Palmerston's joining Derby, and at this moment such an arrangement seems exceedingly likely to happen. There were two or three articles not long ago in the 'Morning Post' (his own paper), which tended that way. I have just been for two days to Broadlands, where I had a good deal of talk with him and with Lady Palmerston, and I came away with the conviction that it would end in his joining this Government. He admitted it to be a possible contingency, but said he could not come in alone, and only in the event of a remodelling of the Cabinet and a sweep of many of the incapables now in it. Sidney Herbert, who was there, told me he had talked to him in the same tone, and spoke of eight seats being vacated in the Cabinet, and as if he expected that nobody should certainly remain there but Derby, Disraeli, and the Chancellor. It is evident from this that it depends on Derby himself to have him, and if he frames measures and announces principles such as would enable Palmerston with credit and consistency to join him, and if he will throw over a sufficient number of his present crew, he may so strengthen his Government as to make it secure for some time. It may, however, be a matter of considerable difficulty to turn out a great many colleagues, and not less so for Palmerston to find people to bring in with him; for though he is very popular, and can excite any amount of cheering in the House of Commons, he has no political adherents whatever, and if Derby was to place seats in the Cabinet at his disposal he has nobody to put into them, unless he could prevail on Gladstone and Herbert to go with him, which does not seem probable.[1]
[1] [A list of the members of Lord Derby's Administration will be found in the third volume of the Second Part of this Journal, p. 451.]