Cabinet Minute.
CABINET MINUTE
Present.
- The Lord Chancellor.
- The Lord President.
- The Lord Privy Seal.
- Viscount Melbourne.
- The Marquis of Normanby.
- The Earl of Minto.
- The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
- The Lord John Russell.
- The Viscount Palmerston.
- The Viscount Howick.
- The Viscount Morpeth.
- Sir John Hobhouse, Bart.
- The Chancellor of the Exchequer.
- Mr. Poulett Thomson.
Her Majesty's Confidential Servants having taken into consideration the letter addressed by Her Majesty to Sir Robert Peel on the 10th of May, and the reply of Sir Robert Peel of the same day, are of opinion that for the purpose of giving to an Administration that character of efficiency and stability and those marks of the constitutional support of the Crown, which are required to enable it to act usefully for the public service, it is reasonable that the great offices of the Court and the situations in the Household held by members of either House of Parliament should be included in the political arrangements made on a change of Administration; but they are not of opinion that a similar principle should be applied or extended to the offices held by Ladies in Her Majesty's Household.41
Footnote 41: This paragraph was read by Lord John Russell to the House of Commons during the course of the Ministerial explanations on 13th May.
Her Majesty's Confidential Servants are therefore prepared to support Her Majesty in refusing to assent to the removal of the Ladies of her Household, which Her Majesty conceived to be contrary to usage, and which is repugnant to her feelings, and are prepared to continue in their offices on these grounds.
Viscount Howick concurs in the opinion expressed in the foregoing Minute that the removal of the Ladies of Her Majesty's Household ought not to form part of the arrangements consequent upon a change of Administration, and shares in the readiness his colleagues have declared to support Her Majesty in acting upon this opinion; but he thinks it his duty to state his conviction that the immediate resumption of their offices by Her Majesty's Confidential Servants is not the mode in which their support can be most effectively afforded and is not calculated to promote the good of Her Majesty's service.
He conceives that before it is determined that the present Administration should be continued, further explanation should be sought with Sir Robert Peel, by which it is not impossible that his concession to Her Majesty's just objection to the removal of the Ladies of her Household might have been obtained, while the endeavour to arrive at this result, even though unsuccessful, would at all events tend to secure additional support to Her Majesty's present Servants, and thus to enable them to surmount those difficulties, which have recently compelled them humbly to tender their resignations to Her Majesty, and which he fears will be found not to have been diminished by the course it has now been determined to pursue.
In humbly submitting this opinion to Her Majesty, Viscount Howick begs permission to add that he nevertheless acquiesces in the determination of his colleagues, and will render them the best assistance in his power in their endeavour to carry on Her Majesty's service.