Victoria R.
Footnote 30: See post, [p. 197].
Queen Victoria to Viscount Hardinge.
SABBATARIANISM
Buckingham Palace, 1st June 1856.
The Queen understands that there is an attempt to be made to prevent the military bands from playing when the Troops march to church on a Sunday.
She is anxious to express to Lord Hardinge her very strong feeling on this subject, and her wish that he should on no account give way to such a proposal. Whatever has been the custom should be firmly adhered to, and Lord Hardinge is perfectly at liberty to make use of the Queen's name, and say he could not bring such a proposal before her, as he knew she would not consent to it.31
Footnote 31: The custom of bands playing in the public parks on Sundays had been objected to by various religious bodies, and in April a letter on the subject was written to Lord Palmerston by the Archbishop of Canterbury, after which the performances were discontinued, the Government giving way before the threat of a vote of censure. A similar movement was made in opposition to the playing of regimental bands. See ante, [p. 135], note 71.