anticipated. He, however, gave the promise of his support to
any Government which would carry on the war with energy and
vigour, and maintain the alliances which had been formed.]

He was anxious to carry any message to any other statesman with which
the Queen might wish to entrust him. This the Queen declined, with her
best thanks. He then wanted to know what statement Lord Aberdeen would
make to-night in the House, stating it to be very important that it
should not appear that the Administration had gone from Lord Aberdeen
through any other hands than the ones which should finally accept it.

It would be well known that he had been _consulted_ by the Queen, but
there was no necessity for making it appear that he had undertaken to
form an Administration. The fact was, that he had consulted none of
his Party except Mr Disraeli, and that his followers would have reason
to complain if they thought that he had put them altogether out of the
question. We told him that we did not know what Lord Aberdeen meant to
say, but the best thing would be on all accounts to state exactly the
truth as it passed.

After he had taken leave of the Queen with reiterated assurances of
gratitude and loyalty, I had a further long conversation with him,
pointing out to him facts with which he could not be familiar,
concerning our Army in the Crimea, our relations with our Ally,
negotiations with the German Courts, the state of public men and the
Press in this country, which convinced me that this country was in
a crisis of the greatest magnitude, and the Crown in the greatest
difficulties, which could not be successfully overcome unless
political parties would show a little more patriotism than hitherto.
They behaved a good deal like his independent Member of Parliament,
and tried to aggravate every little mishap in order to get Party
advantages out of it. I attacked him personally upon his ...
opposition to the Foreign Enlistment Bill, and pointed to the fact
that the French were now obtaining the services of that very
Swiss Legion we stood so much in need of. His defence was a mere
Parliamentary dialectic, accusing the clumsy way in which Ministers
had introduced their Bill, but he promised to do what he could to
relieve the difficulties of the country. In conclusion I showed him,
under injunctions of secrecy, the letter I had received from Count
Walewski, which showed to what a state of degradation the British
Crown had been reduc