Windsor Castle, 15th January 1852.
The Queen has received Lord John Russell's letter last night, and wishes now shortly to repeat what she desired through the Prince, Sir Charles Wood to explain to Lord John.2
The Queen hopes that the Cabinet will fully consider what their object is before the proposed negotiation with Sir James Graham be opened.
Is it to strengthen their case in Parliament by proving that no means have been left untried to strengthen the Government? or really to effect a junction with the Peelites?
If the first is aimed at, the Cabinet will hardly reap any of the desired advantages from the negotiation, for, shrewd as Sir James Graham is, he will immediately see that the negotiation has been begun without a desire that it should succeed, and this will soon become generally known.
If the latter, the Queen must observe that there are two kinds of junctions—one, a fusion of Parties; the other, the absorption of one Party by the other. For a fusion, the Queen thinks the Peelites to be quite ready; then, however, they must be treated as a political Party, and no exclusion should be pronounced against particular members of it, nor should it be insisted upon that the new Government and Party is still emphatically the Whig party.
An absorption of the most liberal talents amongst the Peelites into the Whig Government, the Queen considers unlikely to succeed, and she can fully understand that reasons of honour and public and private engagement must make it difficult to members of a political Party to go over to another in order to receive office.
Having stated thus much, the Queen gives Lord John full permission to negotiate with Sir James Graham.
Footnote 2: Lord John Russell having vainly attempted to secure the co-operation of the Duke of Newcastle, announced the wish of the Cabinet to make overtures to Sir J. Graham.