Secretaries of State. The
Queen interrupted him by saying that she had not a very good opinion
of Mr Disraeli on account of his conduct to poor Sir R. Peel, and what
had just happened did not tend to diminish that feeling; but that she
felt so much Lord Stanley's difficulties, that she would not aggravate
them by passing a sentence of exclusion on him. She must, however,
make Lord Stanley responsible for his conduct, and should she have
cause to be displeased with him when in office, she would remind Lord
Stanley of what now passed. Lord Stanley promised to be responsible,
and excused his friend for his former bitterness by his desire to
establish his reputation for cleverness and sharpness; nobody had
gained so much by Parliamentary schooling, and he had of late quite
changed his tone.

Mr Herries would make a good Chancellor of the Exchequer.

As to Ireland, he had thought of having a more ostensible
Lord-Lieutenant, whilst the business should be done by the Secretary
for Ireland. He asked the Queen whether the Duke of Cambridge might
be offered that post, which she took _ad referendum_. The Duke of
Northumberland, though not of his Party, he should like to offer the
Admiralty to.

At the conclusion of the interview he broached the important question
of Dissolution, and said that a Dissolution would anyhow become
necessary; that, if it was thought that the Queen would withhold
from him the privilege of dissolving, he would not have the slightest
chance in the House of Commons; he would be opposed and beat, and then
his adversaries would come in and dissolve. He avowed that it could
not be said that the Queen had refused him the power of dissolving,
but he required some assurance.

On the Queen's objecting to giving him a contingent positive promise,
but declaring her readiness fairly to discuss the question when the
emergency arose, he contented himself with the permission to deny,
if necessary, that she would _not_ consent to it, putting entire
confidence in the Queen's intention to deal fairly by him.

I tried to convince Lord Stanley, and I hope not without effect, of
the advantage, both to the Queen and Lord Stanley himself, that they
should not be hampered by a positive engagement on that point, which
might become very inconvenient if circumstances arose which made a
Dissolution dangerous to the country.

ALBERT.

_Queen Victoria to Lord John Russell._

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, _25th February 1851._