He must really say that he thought he could do no good in joining Lord John; his Government would be "a stillborn Government," which "the country would tread under foot the first day," composed as it would be of the same men who had been bankrupt in 1852, minus the two best men in it, viz. Lord Lansdowne and Lord Grey, and the head of it ruined in public opinion. If he were even to stay at the Foreign Office, his language to foreign countries would lose all its weight from being known not to rest upon the public opinion of England, and all this would become much worse when it became known that from the first day of Lord John's entering into Lord Aberdeen's Government, he had only had one idea, viz. that of tripping him up, expel the Peelites, and place himself at the head of an exclusive Whig Ministry. Besides, he felt that the conduct of all his colleagues had been most straightforward and honourable towards him, and he was not prepared "to step over their dead bodies to the man who had killed them." The attempt of Lord John ought not to succeed if public morality were to be upheld in this country. He had avoided Lord John ever since his retirement, but he would have now to speak out to him, as when he was asked to embark his honour he had a right to count the cost.
Lord Lansdowne had no intention to go to Lord John's meeting, as he had originally taken leave of public life, and had only entered the Coalition Government in order to facilitate its cohesion; among a Government of pure Whigs he was not wanted, for there was no danger of their not cohering. Sir C. Wood declared he had no business to be where Lord Lansdowne refused to go in.
He thought Lord Palmerston would have equal difficulty in forming an administration, but when that had failed some solid combination would become possible.
Lord Lansdowne had declared that he could not place himself at the head for more than three months, but that was a long time in these days.
Victoria R.
Memorandum by Queen Victoria.
FRESH DIFFICULTIES
Lord John Russell returned at six o'clock from his meeting, much put out and disturbed. He said he had nothing good to report. Mr Gladstone, whom he had seen, had declined to act with him, saying that the country did not wish for Coalitions at this moment. Sir J. Graham, whom he had visited, had informed him that the feeling against him was very strong just now, precluding support in Parliament; he gave him credit for good intentions, but said the whole difficulty was owing to what he termed his (Lord John's) rashness. He felt he could not separate from Lord Aberdeen, and had no confidence in the views of Foreign Affairs of Lord Palmerston.
He had then seen Sir George Grey, who told him he had no idea that a Government of Lord John's could stand at this moment; the country wanted Lord Palmerston either as War Minister or as Prime Minister. He must hesitate to engage himself in Lord John's Government, which, separated from the Peelites, would find no favour. Lord Clarendon had reiterated his objections, saying always that this must be gone through, and something new would come up at the end, when all these attempts had failed. He could not understand what this should be. Did Lord Clarendon think of himself as the head of the new combination? I asked what Lord Lansdowne had said. He answered he had a letter from him, which was not very agreeable either. He read it to us. It was to the purport—that as Lord John had been commissioned to form an Administration, and he did not intend to join it, he thought it better not to come to his house in order to avoid misconstruction. Lord John wound up, saying that he had asked Lord Clarendon and Sir G. Grey to reflect further, and to give their final answer to-morrow morning. The loss of the Peelites would be a great blow to him, which might be overcome, however; but if his own particular friends, like Lord Clarendon and Sir G. Grey, deserted him, he felt that he could go on no farther, and he hoped the Queen would feel that he had done all he could.
Victoria R.