Lord Clarendon presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and humbly begs to say that, with the permission of Lord Palmerston, and at the urgent recommendation of Lord Aberdeen and Lord Lansdowne, he has made to Lord John Russell the proposal to act as our negotiator at Vienna, which your Majesty was pleased to sanction on Wednesday night.34
Lord Clarendon thinks, that whether the negotiations end in peace or are suddenly to be broken off, no man is so likely as Lord John to be approved by the Country for whichever course of proceeding he may adopt, and it will be a great advantage that the negotiator himself should be able to vindicate his own conduct in Parliament.
Lord Clarendon has this evening received a very kind and friendly answer from Lord John, who is disposed to accept, but desires another day to consider the proposal.
As our relations with the United States are of the utmost importance at this moment, and as they have rather improved of late, Lord Clarendon humbly hopes he may be excused if he ventures to suggest to your Majesty the expediency of inviting Mr Buchanan35 to Windsor.
Footnote 34: In pursuance of the negotiations referred to (ante, [p. 65]), a conference of the Powers was held at Vienna. Lord John's view of the attitude which he hoped Great Britain would take up is clearly stated in his letter of the 11th to Lord Clarendon, printed in Walpole's Life of Lord John Russell, vol. ii. p. 242. He favoured the admission of Prussia to the Conference.
Footnote 35: American Minister to Great Britain, afterwards President of the United States.
Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria.
Piccadilly, 10th February 1855.
Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and begs to state that having been very kindly received at Paris by the Emperor of the French, he thought it would be useful to write to the Emperor on the formation of the present Government, and he submits a copy of the letter36 which he addressed to the Emperor.