Lord Clarendon, whom we saw at four o'clock, complained very much of the unfairness of Lord John in making him personally answerable for impeding the progress of Lord John's Government. The fact was that his opinion was only that of every other member of the late Government, and of the public at large; which could be heard and seen by anybody who chose to listen or to read. So impossible had it appeared to the public that Lord John should be blind enough to consider his being able to form a Government feasible, that it was generally supposed that he had been urged to do so by the Queen, in order to escape the necessity of Lord Palmerston. He acknowledged that the Queen's decision in that respect had been the perfectly correct and constitutional one, and perhaps necessary to clear the way; but he hoped that for her own sake, and to prevent false impressions taking root in the public mind, the Queen would give afterwards Lord Palmerston his fair turn also, though he could not say that he would be able to form an Administration. The Queen said that this was her intention, that she never had expected that Lord John would be able to form one, but that it was necessary that his eyes should be opened; Lord Clarendon only regretted the precious time that was lost. 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.