The Earl of Aberdeen to Queen Victoria.
London, 30th June 1854.
Lord Aberdeen presents his humble duty to your Majesty. He begs to call your Majesty's attention to the circumstance that, in 1842, your Majesty was graciously pleased to authorise Sir Robert Peel to declare that your Majesty had determined that the Income Tax should be charged upon the sum payable to your Majesty under the Civil List Act, and that this declaration was received with marked satisfaction. Lord Aberdeen humbly presumes that your Majesty will be disposed to follow the same course with reference to the augmentation of the Tax; and should this be the case, Lord Aberdeen begs to intimate that the time for making it known has now fully arrived....
Queen Victoria to the Duke, of Newcastle.
HOME DEFENCES
Buckingham Palace, 3rd July 1854.
In consequence of the departure of these additional 5,000 men for the East, the Queen feels very uneasy at the very defenceless state in which the country will be left, not from any want of confidence arising from the present conjuncture of affairs, but from a strong sense of the impolicy and danger of leaving this great country in such a helpless state under any circumstances, for we never can foresee what events may not suddenly spring up at any moment (like Greece, for instance43) which may require a force to be in readiness for any particular purpose.
The Queen therefore wishes the Duke of Newcastle to give her detailed answers upon the various points stated in the accompanying paper; but the Queen wishes to have the "effective state" and not "the state upon paper only." The Duke will be able to obtain these reports from the different departments.
- What store of muskets are there here?
- When will the new ones be ready?
- What is the force of Artillery left in the country in men
and horses?
- What amount of troops are there in the country of Infantry
(deducting the 5,000 men under orders for the East), and of
Cavalry, and where are they stationed?
- How much Militia has been and will be embodied?
- What is the Naval Force at home?
- How much serviceable ammunition is there both of Artillery and small arms in the country?
Footnote 43: A violently hostile feeling between the Turks and Greeks had culminated earlier in the year in a formidable insurrection among the Sultan's Greek subjects. It was terminated on the 18th of June by an engagement at Kalampaka, in Thessaly.