The Letters of Queen Victoria Volume I Part 64

[Footnote 9: They were both cousins of Lord Minto, the First Lord of the Admiralty.]

[Footnote 10: Commodore Bremer very speedily reduced some of the forts, but his further operations were stopped.]

[Footnote 11: Daughter of King Leopold, who married in 1857 the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (afterwards Emperor Maximilian of Mexico).]

[Pageheading: LORD CARDIGAN]

[Pageheading: ARMY DISCIPLINE]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

_24th April 1841._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. Mr Labouchere[12] has desired that the five-pound piece which is about to be issued from the Mint should be submitted for your Majesty's inspection and approbation.

We have had under our consideration at the Cabinet the unfortunate subject of the conduct of Lord Cardigan.[13] The public feeling upon it is very strong, and it is almost certain that a Motion will be made in the House of Commons for an Address praying your Majesty to remove him from the command of his regiment. Such a Motion, if made, there is very little chance of resisting with success, and nothing is more to be apprehended and deprecated than such an interference of the House of Commons with the interior discipline and government of the Army.

It was also felt that the general order issued by the Horse Guards was not sufficient to meet the case, and in these circ.u.mstances it was thought proper that Lord Melbourne should see Lord Hill, and should express to him the opinion of the Cabinet, that it was necessary that he should advise your Majesty to take such measures as should have the effect of removing Lord Cardigan from the command of the 11th Hussars.

The repeated acts of imprudence of which Lord Cardigan has been guilty, and the repeated censures which he has drawn down upon himself, form a ground amply sufficient for such a proceeding, and indeed seem imperiously to demand it.[14]

Lord Melbourne has seen Lord Hill and made to him this communication, and has left it for his consideration. Lord Hill is deeply chagrined and annoyed, but will consider the matter and confer again with Lord Melbourne upon it to-morrow.

[Footnote 12: President of the Board of Trade, afterwards created Lord Taunton.]

[Footnote 13: "Within the s.p.a.ce of a single twelvemonth, one of his [Lord Cardigan's] captains was cashiered for writing him a challenge; he sent a coa.r.s.e and insulting verbal message to another, and then punished him with prolonged arrest, because he respectfully refused to shake hands with the officer who had been employed to convey the affront; he fought a duel with a lieutenant who had left the corps, and shot him through the body; and he flogged a soldier on Sunday, between the Services, on the very spot where, half an hour before, the man's comrades had been mustered for public worship."--SIR G.

TREVELYAN, _Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay_, chap. viii.]

[Footnote 14: In February he had been acquitted on technical grounds by the House of Lords of shooting a Captain Harvey Garnett Phipps Tuckett. He had accused Tuckett of being the author of letters which had appeared in the papers reflecting on his character; a duel on Wimbledon Common followed, and Tuckett was wounded. The evidence, consisting in part of a visiting card, showed that a Captain Harvey Tuckett had been wounded, which was held to be insufficient evidence of ident.i.ty.]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

_25th April 1841._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He is most anxious upon all subjects to be put in possession of Your Majesty's full and entire opinions. It is true that this question may materially affect the discipline of the Army, by subjecting the interior management of regiments to be brought continually under the inspection and control of the House of Commons upon complaints of officers against their superiors, or even of private men against the officers.

The danger of the whole of Lord Cardigan's proceedings has been lest a precedent of this nature should arise out of them. The question is whether it is not more prudent to prevent a question being brought forward in the House of Commons, than to wait for it with the certainty of being obliged to yield to it or of being overpowered by it. But of course this cannot be done unless it is consistent with justice and with the usage and prestige of the Service.

Lord Melbourne has desired the Cabinet Ministers to a.s.semble here to-day at four o'clock, in order to consider the subject. Lord Melbourne has seen Lord Hill again this morning, and Lord Hill has seen and consulted the Duke of Wellington, who has stated his opinion very fully.

The opinion of the Duke is that the Punishment on Sunday was a great impropriety and indiscretion upon the part of Lord Cardigan, but not a Military offence, nor a breach of the Mutiny Act or of the Articles of War; that it called for the censure of the Commander-in-Chief, which censure was p.r.o.nounced by the General Order upon which the Duke was consulted before it was issued, and that according to the usage of the Service no further step can be taken by the Military Authorities. This opinion Lord Melbourne will submit to-day to the Cabinet Ministers.

Lord Melbourne perceives that he has unintentionally written upon two sheets of paper, which he hopes will cause your Majesty no inconvenience.

[Pageheading: THE NOTTINGHAM ELECTION]

_Lord Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

SOUTH STREET, _28th April 1841._

Lord Melbourne presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He has himself seen the result of the election at Nottingham[15] without the least surprise, from his knowledge of the place and his observation of the circ.u.mstances of the contest. What John Russell reported to your Majesty was the opinion of those who act for us in that place, but as soon as Lord Melbourne saw that there was a disposition upon the part of the violent party, Radicals, Chartists, and what not, to support the Tory candidate, he knew that the contest was formidable and dubious. The Tory party is very strong, naturally, at Nottingham, and if it received any accession of strength, was almost certain to prevail. This combination, or rather this accession of one party to the Tories, which has taken place at Nottingham, is very likely, and in Lord Melbourne's opinion almost certain, to take place in many other parts of the country in the case of a general election, and forms very serious matter for consideration as to the prudence of taking such a step as a dissolution of the Parliament.

Lord Melbourne will wait upon your Majesty after the Levee. It signifies not how late, as there is no House of Lords.

[Footnote 15: Where Mr Walter, a Tory, was elected with a majority of 238.]

[Pageheading: THE BUDGET]

_Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria._

WILTON CRESCENT, _1st May 1841._

Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and has the honour to report that Mr Baring yesterday brought forward the Budget in a remarkably clear and forcible speech.

The changes in the duties on Sugar and Timber,[16] and the announcement made by Lord John Russell of a proposal for a fixed duty on Corn, seemed to surprise and irritate the Opposition.

Sir Robert Peel refused to give any opinion on these propositions, and satisfied himself with attacking the Government on the state of the finances.

The supporters of the Government were greatly pleased with Mr Baring's plan, and loud in their cheers.

It is the general opinion that Lord Stanley will not proceed with his Bill,[17] and there seems little doubt of this fact.

But the two parties are now evenly balanced, and the absence or defection of some two or three of the Ministerial party may at any time leave the Government in a minority.

[Footnote 16: The proposals were to increase the duty on colonial timber from 10_s._ to 20_s._ a load, reducing it on foreign timber from 55_s._ to 50_s._, to leave the duty on colonial sugar unloaded at 24_s._ a cwt., reducing that on foreign sugar from 63_s._ to 36_s._ a cwt.]

[Footnote 17: On Irish Registration.]

_Viscount Melbourne to Queen Victoria._

_3rd May 1841._