Jubilee Poem
Note 1, Page 84
Mercy, whose message bore thy first command.
The first act of the Crown which Her Majesty was called upon to perform was the signing of the death-warrant of a soldier who had been sentenced to be shot for desertion. The Queen took it keenly, and asked the Duke of Wellington if there was no possible plea on which the man could be respited: had he no good quality?
“Your Majesty, he is a very bad soldier, having deserted three times; but I believe he is a good husband.”
“Oh, thank you,” the Queen replied, and wrote “Pardoned” across the document.