... Lord Melbourne has not yet been able to leave London. In order to have a chance of arranging these troublesome affairs it is necessary continually to see those who are principally engaged in them. From a conversation which he has had this evening with Lord Howick, Lord Melbourne has better hopes of producing a general agreement upon Canadian affairs, but the question of the administration of the Army, which is of less immediate importance, is of more difficulty. Your Majesty knows the importance attached by the King of the Belgians to this matter. The opinion of the Duke of Wellington is also strongly against the projected alteration. On the other hand, five Cabinet Ministers have pledged themselves to it by signing the report, and consider themselves as having publicly undertaken to the House of Commons that some such measure shall be proposed. Lord Melbourne has asked for the opinions of Lord Hill85 and Sir Hussey Vivian86 in writing. When Lord Melbourne receives them he must submit them to your Majesty with as short and as clear a statement as he can make of a question which is of a technical and official character, and with which Lord Melbourne does not feel himself to be very familiar. Lord Melbourne transmits a copy of the proposed Order in Council to carry the recommendation of the report into effect, which will acquaint your Majesty precisely what the powers and duties are which it is intended to transfer from the Secretary of State87 to the Secretary-at-War. It is the more necessary to be cautious, because it can be done without taking the opinion or having recourse to the authority of Parliament.
Your Majesty will not suppose that Lord Melbourne by laying before you the whole case has an idea of throwing the weight of such a decision entirely upon your Majesty. Lord Melbourne will deem it his duty to offer your Majesty a decided opinion upon the subject.
Lord Melbourne is much rejoiced to hear that your Majesty enjoys Windsor. The Duchess of Sutherland,88 who appreciates both the grand and the beautiful, could not be otherwise than delighted with it....
Lord Melbourne has the pleasure of wishing your Majesty a happy and prosperous New Year.
Footnote 85: Commander-in-Chief.
Footnote 86: Master-General of the Ordnance.
Footnote 87: The Secretaries of State (then three, now five in number) have co-extensive authority, that is to say, any one of them can legally execute the duties of all, although separate spheres of action are for convenience assigned to them; at that time the administration of Colonial and Military affairs were combined, the Secretary-at-War not being a Secretary of State. After the Crimean War a fourth Secretary was appointed, and after the Indian Mutiny a fifth was added, entrusted severally with the supervision of Military affairs and the administration of India. See letters of Lord Melbourne of [1st], [4th], and [5th] November 1841.
Footnote 88: Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana, Duchess of Sutherland (1806-1868), was the daughter of the sixth Earl of Carlisle, and married her cousin, Earl Gower (1786-1861), who became Duke of Sutherland in 1833. On the accession of the Queen, the Duchess of Sutherland became Mistress of the Robes, a post which she held till 1841, and on three subsequent occasions. The Duchess was a cultivated woman with many tastes, and made Stafford House a great social centre. She was deeply interested in philanthropic and social movements, such as the Abolition of Slavery, and had a strong sympathy for national movements, which she showed by entertaining Garibaldi in 1864. She combined a considerable sense of humour with a rare capacity for affection, and became one of the Queen's closest friends; after the Prince Consort's death she was for some weeks the Queen's constant companion.