Stockmar will have told you that Leopold is to be the name of our fourth young gentleman. It is a mark of love and affection which I hope you will not disapprove. It is a name which is the dearest to me after Albert, and one which recalls the almost only happy days of my sad childhood; to hear "Prince Leopold" again, will make me think of all those days! His other names will be George Duncan Albert, and the Sponsors, the King of Hanover, Ernest Hohenlohe, the Princess of Prussia and Mary Cambridge.
George is after the King of Hanover, and Duncan as a compliment to dear Scotland.... Ever your devoted Niece and Child,
Victoria R.
Lord John Russell to Queen Victoria.
MR GLADSTONE'S BUDGET
Chesham Place, 19th April 1853.
Lord John Russell presents his humble duty to your Majesty, and is happy to say that Mr Gladstone's statement last night was one of the most powerful financial speeches ever made in the House of Commons.15
Mr Pitt in the days of his glory might have been more imposing, but he could not have been more persuasive.
Lord John Russell is very sanguine as to the success of the plan, both in the House of Commons and in the country.
Footnote 15: Mr Gladstone's Budget imposed a duty for the first time on the succession to real property; he retained the Income Tax for two years longer, at its then rate of sevenpence in the pound on incomes above £150, and extended it, at the rate of fivepence in the pound, to incomes between £100 and £150. Ireland was made subject to the tax, but received relief in other directions. Remissions of indirect taxes were also made, and one of these, the repeal of the Advertisement Duty, was carried against the Government.