X, 'Secretaries of State')] [Footnote 88: Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana, Duchess of Sutherland (1806-1868), was the daughter of the sixth Earl of Carlisle, and married her cousin, Earl Gower (1786-1861), who became Duke of Sutherland in 1833.

On the accession of the Queen, the Duchess of Sutherland became Mistress of the Robes, a post which she held till 1841, and on three subsequent occasions.

The Duchess was a cultivated woman with many tastes, and made Stafford House a great social centre.

She was deeply interested in philanthropic and social movements, such as the Abolition of Slavery, and had a strong sympathy for national movements, which she showed by entertaining Garibaldi in 1864.

She combined a considerable sense of humour with a rare capacity for affection, and became one of the Queen's closest friends; after the Prince Consort's death she was for some weeks the Queen's constant companion.] INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO CHAPTER VI.
I The Melbourne Ministry were able to maintain themselves in office during the year (1838), but were too weak to carry important measures.
The prevailing distress led to much criticism of the Poor Law Act of 1834, and the disturbances in Canada turned the tide of emigration to Australia.