On the 26th of June, 1856, thousands had assembled in Hyde Park to witness a pageant of no ordinary character. The Queen of England, surrounded by the noblest and proudest of her subjects, was there to recognise the merit of conspicuous bravery by distributing the Victoria Cross. That simple Maltese cross of bronze, with the royal crest in its centre, and bearing underneath an escroll inscribed with the words "FOR VALOUR," spoke not of high rank, of lengthened service, or of honourable wounds, but merely told that the recipient had performed some act of conspicuous bravery, or of devotion to his country when in the presence of her enemies. It marked no distinction of rank between the soldier and his officer -- each with like honour was to be decorated by Royalty, and in the presence of those before whom he bad performed the peculiar act of valour which had entitled him to this signal token of his sovereign's and his country's gratitude. How proudly must have swelled the hearts of those for whom the Victoria Cross was destined, when their Queen, bending from her charger, affixed upon their breasts this peerless decoration! From henceforth they were to stand conspicuous among their fellow-men, the object of respect and honourable envy of all who yearned for martial glory, no finger could ever point to them with scorn, no tongue could ever question their bravery. They carried on their breasts that proud distinction, while their names stood recorded in the archives of the state as those of men who had "done well by their country."

In the glorious annals of classic Greece and imperial Rome we read how acts of individual heroism have met their rewardhow even princely honours were conferred upon those who "did not despair of the commonwealth" in her hour of supreme peril, but no parallel can be found in modern times. How many noble deeds of self-sacrifice have occurred, how many acts of heroic daring have been performed by England's humblest soldiers, when contending on the gory fields of the Peninsula, or toiling over the burning plains of India, and yet how rarely have they been recognised and how seldom has the reward followed! Nay, more, may it not have occurred that the soldier-ardent for military glory, anxious to maintain his country's honour has yet shrunk from the performance of a deed of daring, from the conviction that, although the danger would be his, the glory could be usurped by others. It has been the privilege of the Queen of England to correct this evil. Her royal warrant has gone forth the order of the "Victoria Cross" has been created. From henceforth the raw recruit, the humblest private, will feel that he fights as if in the presence of his Sovereign, that the path of glory has been opened as widely for him as for those who hold the highest rank, and that if his merit be conspicuous, he will receive the most precious award that a soldier can aspire to: THE VICTORIA CROSS, the priceless badge of honour.

Recipients of the Victoria Cross

CAPTAIN and Lieutenant Honourable H. HUGH MANNERS PERCY (Colonel and Aide-de-Camp to the Queen). Date of act of bravery 5th November, 1854. At a moment when the Guards were at some distance from the Sandbag Battery, at the battle of Inkermann, Colonel Percy charged singly into the battery, followed immediately by the Guards. The embrasure of the battery, as also the parapet, were held by the Russians, who kept up a most severe fire of musketry. At the battle of Inkermann Colonel Percy found himself, with many men of various regiments who had charged too far, nearly surrounded by the Russians, and without ammunition. Colonel Percy, by his knowledge of the ground, though wounded, extricated those men, and passing under a heavy fire from the Russians, then in the Sandbag Battery, brought them safe to where their ammunition was to be obtained, thereby saving some fifty men, and enabling them to renew the combat. He received the approval of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge for this action on the spot. Colonel Percy was engaged with, and put hors de combat, a Russian soldier.

Brevet-Major (now Lieutenant-Colonel) Sir CHARLES RUSSELL, Bart., offered to dislodge a party of Russians from the Sandbag Battery, if any one would follow him. Sergeant Norman, Privates Anthony Palmer and Baillie, who was killed, volunteered the first. The attack succeeded.

Sergeant ALFRED ABLETT (3rd battalion). On the 22nd September, 1855, seeing a shell fall on the centre of a number of ammunition cases and powder, he instantly seized and threw it outside the trench: it burst as it touched the ground.

Private ANTHONY PALMER (3rd battalion). Present when the charge was made in defence of the colours, and also charged singly upon the enemy, as witnessed by Sir Charles Russell. Is said to have saved Sir Charles Russell's life.