Herbert. They both—as might have been expected—
strongly urged me to adopt any such arrangement, with
respect to their offices, as might be most conducive to
the public service." He had shown their lordships that
he did not insist upon holding the seals of the war
department; and when his noble friend (Lord Aberdeen)
placed Lord J. Russell's letter in his hands, his
immediate remark was, "Don't give Lord John any
pretext for quitting this government. On no account
resist his wish to remove me from my office. Do with
me whatever is best for the public service. In that way
you will gratify me most; in that way you will be
serving the Queen best." The next instance in which
he was obliged to quote from the speech of the
lord was where he used these words: "I then went on
to give some instances of errors which had been
committed." Now the impression produced upon the
public mind was, of course, that these errors were of a
grave character, that upon them had hinged the safety
of our troops in the Crimea, and perhaps all the
consequences that have been lately seen. Lord John
Russell did not read the complaints which he had
made of these errors, and therefore, with their
lordships' permission, he would read them himself.
They were contained in a letter to the noble lord dated
the 23th of November, in which he stated that he had
written to him (the Duke of Newcastle) early in
October, on the subject of transferring the 97th
Regiment then at the Piræus to the Crimea, and that the
answer hsd been that he (the Duke of Newcastle) had
wished to do so, and had also wished to send between
2,000 and 3,000 men, the drafts of various regiments to
the Crimea. The noble lord had gone on in this letter
to ascribe the failure of his (the Duke of Newcastle's)
intentions, to his inability to contend with obstacles put
in his way by other departments. Now this matter had
been explained to the noble lord in writing, and could
be soon explained to their lordships. The 97th regiment
could only have been removed from the Piræus in the
teeth of a representation by the foreign minister that
no troops could be spared thence at such a time. The
regiment was withdrawn and sent to the Crimea at the
earliest moment tranquillity was sufficiently restored to
the Piræus. The noble duke proceeded to explain why
other drafts had not been sent; and added that though
Lord John Russell's statement that "errors" had been
laid before him (the Duke of Newcastle) was true, it
was also true that those errors had been explained.
How far they were explained to the satisfaction, at that
time, of the noble lord, might appear from a passage in
his own letter, closing the correspondence on the
subject. The noble lord said:—"You have done all
that can be done; and I am sanguine of success." The
later proposal of Lord John Russell that he (the Duke
of Newcastle) should leave the cabinet, was not opposed
by him or Lord Aberdeen, but had been placed before all
their colleagues, and had been unanimously disapproved
of. After the meeting of parliament on the 13th of December,
and the cabinet council on the 16th, Lord J. Russell
expressly declared he had changed his views, and that he
had abandoned any wish that he had entertained for a
change. The reason ascribed by the noble lord for doing
so was that he had consulted a noble friend, not in the
cabinet, who had advised him to withdraw his proposal.
The duke then proceeded to discuss the question of
measures, and to justify the course that had been pursued
in his department. He was prepared to defend the
conduct of all involved with him in the responsibility
of governing the country in time of war—Lord John
Russell included. "Whatever had been the result of the
division in the House of Commons, it had been his
determination to resign office in deference to the
expression of public opinion upon his management of
the war. Whoever might succeed him, he would
endeavour to make his path easy. If his past experience
were of the slightest value, his successor might claim it,
and have it, whether his acts were taken as an example
or a warning. It was his earnest prayer that whoever
might succeed to the conduct of affairs would merit and
obtain that success and that approbation which it had
been his earnest desire but not his good fortune, to
secure.—The Earl of DERBY, after some sarcastic
remarks on the picture of the interior of the cabinet as
painted by the Duke of Newcastle, made the following
statement:—On the resignation of the noble earl (Aberdeen),
her Majesty did me the honour of commanding my
attendance yesterday (Wednesday) morning at half–past
11 o'clock. I had a long audience with her Majesty, in
which I hardly need say that I met with the most
condescending kindness. I do not think it would be for
the public advantage that I should at this time avail
myself, even if I had the permission of her Majesty, of
the opportunity of stating all that passed on that occasion.
It might lead to the serious inconvenience of the
public service, if, while negotiations were going on,
previous to the formation of a government, such
statements were to be made. It was the duty of every
public man to be prepared at the proper time to give an
explanation of the motives and reasons which had led to
his acceptance or refusal of office. Until a government
might be formed it would not, however, be right for
him (the Earl of Derby) to say more than that he was
not able to offer her Majesty the assurance of being able
satisfactorily to conduct the affairs of the government.
He concurred entirely with the noble earl opposite, that
whatever government may be formed, the great interests
of this country require at the present moment a strong
government. And whatever government may be
entrusted by her Majesty to carry on the great war in
which we are engaged, that man is undeserving of the
character of a patriot and of an honest man who does not
to the utmost extent of his power give to the government
of the Queen a disinterested, and, as far as he can,
a cordial support.—The house then adjourned.

On Monday, February 5, the Earl of ABERDEEN stated
that Lord Palmerston had been charged by the Queen
with the Formation of a Ministry, and moved the
adjournment of the house, which accordingly took place.

On Thursday, February 8, Lord LYNDHURST intimated
that he should not press his motion concerning
the conduct of the war.

Earl GRANVILLE, as president of the council, moved
the Adjournment of the House for a week.—The Earl
of DERBY then explained the part which he had taken
during the ministerial interregnum. Though he might
have felt justified, when honoured by her Majesty with
her commands, in attempting to form an administration
out of the great conservative party, in which he
proposed to include Lord Ellenborough and Sir E. Lytton,
he had come to the conclusion that out of the unassisted
strength of that party he could not have brought
together so strong a government as the exigences of the
country demanded. He had, therefore, felt it to be his
duty to apply to Lord Palmerston for assistance, and he
had found, as was to be expected, that that noble lord
could only aid him with the concurrence of his friends.
After some delay, his invitation to Lord Palmerston and
his colleagues was responded to by a refusal to co–operate
in the formation of a government, and he had, therefore,
informed her Majesty that his attempt had failed, and
that it would be necessary to ascertain whether a stronger
government could not be formed by some other
ministerial combination. Though his conduct might have
disappointed some of his more sanguine supporters, he
was convinced that the great conservative party should
not rashly or prematurely accept office at the present
portentous crisis. He would only add that, while a
deep responsibility would attach itself to any minister
who should conclude a peace which should not guarantee
the tranquillity and independence of Europe, a still
deeper responsibility would rest on any minister who
should prolong the war a single moment after those
results had been obtained.—The Marquis of LANSDOWNE
also gave a narrative of what had taken place in the
formation of a government, and explained the constitutional
principles on which her Majesty had acted in
first seeking the services of Lord Derby, and next of
Lord John Russell. When Lord Palmerston was entrusted
with the task of forming a government, he was
consulted, and at once advised Lord Palmerston to
persevere in his attempt. He did so because he felt that
the question was not whether we should have Lord
Palmerston's government, but whether we should have
a government at all. Having given this advice, he
could not refuse, though he consented with great
reluctance to remain a member of the government. That