When Lord Derby found himself - perhaps unexpectedly - forming a Conservative government in 1866, the talent available for a Cabinet was not all that he might have hoped for
Who could be Foreign Secretary? Fill the shoes of the formidable Earl of Clarendon, who had filled the post for the defeated Liberals?
Why not the noble Earl himself?
I forget exactly what the Earl said when declining the offer, but decline it he did
Lord Derby appointed his own son instead
