n the strongest manner her conviction that, under the
present aspect of political affairs in Europe, there will be no safety
to the honour, power, and peace of this country except in Naval and
Military strength. The extraordinary exertions which France is making
in her Naval Department oblige us to exercise the utmost vigour to
keep up a superiority at sea, upon which our very existence may be
said to depend, and which would be already lost at any moment that
France were to be joined by any other country possessing a Navy.[2]
The war in India has drained us of every available Battalion. We
possess at this moment only fourteen old Battalions of the Line within
the three kingdoms, and twelve Second Battalions newly raised, whilst
our Mediterranean possessions are under-garrisoned, and Alderney has
not as yet any garrison at all. Under these circumstances the
Queen has heard it rumoured that the Government intend to propose a
reduction on the estimates of 9,000 men for this year. She trusts that
such an idea, if ever entertained, will upon reflection be given up
as inconsistent with the duty which the Government owe to the country.
Even if it were said that these 9,000 men have only existed on paper,
and have not yet been raised, such an act at this moment would be
indefensible; for it would require a proof that circumstances have
arisen which make it desirable to ask for fewer troops than were
considered requisite when the last estimates were passed, which really
cannot be said to be the case! To be able to raise at any time an
additional 9,000 men (in political danger) without having to go to
Parliament for a supplementary vote and spreading alarm thereby, must
be of the utmost value to the Government, and if not wanted, the vote
will entail no additional expense.

England will not be listened to in Europe, and be powerless for the
preservation of the general peace, which must be her first object
under the present circumstances, if she is known to be despicably
weak in her military resources, and no statesman will, the Queen
apprehends, maintain that if a European war were to break out she
could hope to remain long out of it. For peace and for war, therefore,
an available Army is a necessity to her.

The Queen wishes Lord Derby to communicate this letter to the Cabinet.

[Footnote 2: The French Emperor had signalised the opening of
a new year by an ominous speech. To M. Huebner, the Austrian
Ambassador at