McGill College, 62, 79, 96, 136, 169. Courage in Women, 44. Recent Geographical notes, 75. Curious Census facts, 157. N. NATURAL HISTORY, Papers on : The first Robin of Spring, 52. Kindness to Animals, 170. Birth-Day of, 131. The Census of, 172. Ocean, The Waves of, 151. P. Peterboro' School, 158, 185. Dr. Nich. Murray in College, 72. See to the Schoolhouse, 189. PHYSICAL AND INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, The Waves of Ocean, 151. Extracts from Prison Reports, 36. The Royal Family, 29. National Anthem, Addition, 14. Song for the Naval Reserve, 59. The Patter of Little Feet, 156. My Wife and Child," 185. 66 Regiopolis College, Kingston, 157. Robinson, on Legal Education, 147. S. School Graut, Legislative, 172. Til ventilation of, 59. V. Vagrant Children, 38, 97, 106, 177. W. Wales, The Prince of, 29. and the Princess Alice, 140. Z. In Memoriam-His Royal Highness the Prince Consort.. 1 Canada. No. 1. PAGE In no part of the wide British Empire is the sorrow for the decease of the PRINCE and sympathy for the bereaved QUEEN and Royal Family, more heartfelt and universal than in the Province of Canada. In no country are the beneficence of British rule and the blessings of the British system of government more manifest, and more truly appreciated than in our own; and in no country are the afflictions of the Monarch more acutely the afflictions of the people than among the people of Canada. Solemnity of Windsor-Mournful Procession to St. George's Chapel-External Sermons on the National Loss..... Beligious Views of the late Prince Additional Verses to the "National Anthem' 5 6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES-PAPERS ON PRACTICAL EDUCATION-MISCELLA- In Memoriam. HER MAJESTY, at the moment of her bereavement and acutest grief, calling her Royal children around her, and ap His Royal Highness the Prince Consort. pealing to them for help and co-operation in the responsibilities "Know ye not that there is a PRINCE and a great man fallen this day in Israel?"- of the household and duties to the nation, is one of the most touching scenes recorded in history, and exhibits, beyond the power of language to express, the controlling principle and ruling passion of domestic piety and national devotion in the Royal heart. THE heart-ties which bind the inhabitants of the British Empire to Britain's Throne never received so strong or so touching an illustration as in the demise of the PRINCE CONSORT. The event which fills the Royal household with grief, thrills the Empire with consternation, and clothes it in mourning. The griefs of the SOVEREIGN are the sorrows of Her people. She rules them not by the sword of arbitrary power, but by living in their sincere esteem and their best affections. This is no less due to the personal virtues and official acts of THE QUEEN, than to that system of government whose principle of national progress and civilization. ciples and power she personates-a system which gives to law its supremacy, to peasant and noble equal protection, tu individual right its immunity, and to public opinion its majesty. Never have the morals of the British Throne and of the British Court, shone with a purer lustre, than during the reign of Public men can give no stronger the present SOVEREIGN. proof of real patriotism, or of true fidelity to duty, or confer a greater benefit upon their country, than by an example of morality and virtue, which is the only bond of domestic lifethe only cement of public law and liberty-and the vital prin But the qualities and example of the PRINCE CONSORT have contributed not a little to the strong hold which the QUEEN has acquired on the esteem and attachment of her people, nay, of the people of all nations. The purity of his morals as a Christian; his attainments and philanthropy as a scholar and promoter of literature, science, art, and agriculture; his devotion, fidelity, and judgment as a husband and parent; his profound consecration to the dignity and varied interests of his adopted country, all place him among the first of our princely benefactors, and add to the moral magnificence and power of that Throne with which he was so closely identified. We subjoin English biographical notices of the lamented PRINCE, and the affecting accounts of his death and burial, chiefly from the London Times: The Death of the Prince Consort. After the great calamity which has befallen the Queen and the nation, it is not easy to write with calmness. So sudden and terrible a blow produces a commotion of feelings which almost forbids the ordinary language of respect and sorrow. too much to say, that for the last twenty-four hours the public has been stupified by the calamity which has befallen the highlygifted man who has been for so many years the Consort of the Sovereign. Nor will the intense feelings called forth by the event be confined to these islands. Wherever throughout the world the character and influence of the Prince Consort are understood, there will be regret and pity, astonishment and speculation, to the full as much as among ourselves. But let us for a moment, at least, forget, even at this critical time, the world and its doings, and, thinking only of the bereaved wife and the fatherless children who are mourning round the bed of untimely death, let us pay our tribute of sympathy and condolence. The expression of national sorrow is not a vain ceremony in the case of such a man as has just departed. Nor is it, on the other hand, a weak yielding to emotions which are useless, for a people is united and purified by a common regret. For Her Majesty the deepest sympathy will be felt on every side. The life of the Queen and her husband, for nearly twenty-two years, was so calm and happy and domestic, that we had been accustomed to look upon them as realizing that ideal of earthly happiness which, it is said, seldom falls to the lot of Princes. Until within a few months, no severe family loss had troubled the Queen. All her children had lived; she had seen her eldest daughter married to the heir of a great monarchy; another daughter was about to form an alliance prompted by mutual affection; the country, which on her accession was still shaken by political tempests, had become quiet and loyal to a degree which the most hopeful could not have expected; and the Queen had, moreover, the happiness of feeling that in every province of the empire her personal character and that of her Consort were credited with many of the blessings which her subjects enjoyed. The death of the Duchess of Kent, though a heavy blow, was not calculated long to affect the Royal happiness. The departure of the aged is an event to which the mind gradually reconciles itself, and, happily for mankind, new affections spring up to obliterate the trace of past griefs. But in the loss of her devoted husband a dreadful blow has indeed fallen upon our Sovereign. The world in general knew that in public affairs Her Majesty consulted her husband, but it hardly appreciated how constant were the services, how unwearied the attentions, which this position of the Prince Consort involved. For years he hardly ever stirred from the side of the Queen; and, knowing how much the direction of a large family, the management of a great Court, and the administration of public affairs must tax her strength, he gave her his help with an energy, an acuteness, a tenderness, and a solicitude of which there are few examples. He has been cut off just when his mind was most vigorous, his experience verging on completeness; when his children are at the age when a father's authority is more than ever necessary; and, by a singular fatality, at a moment when the country is threatened with a most terrible conflict. PARTICULARS OF THE SAD EVENT. It is no intrusive curiosity which the nation feels with respect to the last days of the Prince Consort, and it is with no desire to satisfy such a curiosity that we endeavour to give some account of that sad time; but the sorrows of Her Majesty have called forth such deep sympathy that it is but due to the public to acquaint them with events in which they take so lively an interest. We are the more willing to do so, since, with the announcement of the Prince's death, we can happily give the assurance of our bereaved Queen's health being good, and that she supports her great affliction with admirable fortitude. The Prince Consort was taken ill some twelve days since. Symptoms of fever, accompanied by general indisposition, made their appearance. For some days the complaint was not considered to be serious; but from the early part of last week the medical men in attendance, and the persons about the Court, began to feel anxious. It became evident that, even if the disorder did not take a dangerous turn, a debilitating sickness would at least confine the Prince for some time to the palace. It need not be said that no statement was made which could unnecessarily alarm Her Majesty or the public. It was not till Wednesday, when the fever had gained head and the patient was much weakened, that the first bulletin was issued, and even then it was said that the symptoms were not unfavourable. In short, it was considered to be an ordinary though severe case of gastric fever, from which a person of the Prince's age and strength, aided by the skill of the first physicians in the country, might be reasonably expected to recover. It is said that as early as Wednesday morning the Prince expressed his belief that he should not recover. On Thursday no material change took place in his condition, and on Friday morning the Queen took a drive, having at that time no suspicion of immediate danger. When, however, Her Majesty returned to the Castle the extremities of the patient were already cold, so sudden had been the fresh access of the disorder. The alarming bulletin of Friday was then published. From that time the state of the Prince was one of the greatest danger. On Friday evening it was thought probable that he would not survive the night, and the Prince of Wales, who had been telegraphed for to Cambridge, arrived at the Castle by special train about 3 o'clock on Saturday morning. All night the Prince continued very ill, but in the forenoon of Saturday a change for the better took place. Unhappily, it was only the rally which so often precedes dissolution, but it gave great hopes to the eminent physicians in attendance, and was communicated to the public as soon as possible. The ray of hope was fated soon to be quenched. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon a relapse took place, and the Prince, who from the time of his severe seizure on Friday had been sustained by stimulants, began gradually to sink. It was half-past 4 when the last bulletin was issued, announcing that the patient was in a critical state. From that time there was no hope. When the improvement took place on Saturday it was agreed by the medical men that if the patient could be carried over one more night his life would in all probability be saved. But the sudden failure of vital power which occurred in the afternoon frustrated these hopes. Congestion of the lungs, the result of complete exhaustion, set in, the Prince's breathing became continually shorter and feebler. Quietly and without suffering he continued slowly to sink, so slowly that the wrists were pulseless long before the last moment had arrived, when, at a few minutes before eleven, he ceased to breathe, and all was over. He was sensible, and knew the Queen to the last. An hour after and the solemn tones of the great bell of St. Paul'snever tolled except on the death of a member of the Royal family told all the citizens how irreparable has been the loss of their beloved Queen, how great the loss to the country. AFFECTIONATE SOLICITUDE OF THE QUEEN AND HER CHILDREN. It must have cheered the last moments of the illustrious patient to see his wife and nearly all his children round his bed. The Princess Royal, who is at Berlin, was prevented by recent severe indisposition from travelling. Prince Alfred is serving on board his ship on the other side of the Atlantic; but the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alice were by his side, together with several of the younger members of the family.-The Queen's attention to her royal consort has been most exemplary and unceasing. As his disorder approached its crisis, the Prince could not bear her to leave the room, and was impatient for her return. The Queen and the Princess Alice sat up with him the whole of Friday night. About 3 o'clock they were joined by the Prince of Wales, who remained with them during the rest of their mournful vigil. A gentleman who has seen the corpse, informs me that the features have more than the usual pallor of death. The face, always composed and statuesque in expression, is wonderfully calm, placid, and peaceful in death. It is as if the figure had been suddenly transmuted into the whitest alabaster. Of the devotion and strength of mind shown by the Princess Alice all through these trying scenes it is impossible to speak too highly. Her Royal Highness has, indeed, felt that it was her place to be a comfort and support to her mother in this affliction and to her dutiful care we may perhaps owe it that the Queen has borne her loss with exemplary resignation, and a composure which under so sudden and so terrible a bereavement could not have been anticipated. TOUCHING AND NOBLE CONDUCT OF THE QUEEN. This fact will, we are sure, give the greatest satisfaction to the country, and we may add that, after the death of the Prince, the Queen, when the first passionate burst of grief was over, called her children around her, and, with a calmness which gives proof of great natural energy, addressed them in solemn and affectionate terms, which may be considered as indicating the intentions of a sovereign who feels that the interests of a great nation depend on her firmness. Her Majesty declared to her family that, although she felt crushed by the loss of one who had been her companion through life, she knew how much was expected of her, and she accordingly called on her children to give her their assistance, in order that she might do her duty to them and to the country. That Her Majesty may have health and strength to fulfil these noble intentions, and that she may live many years in placid cheerfulness and peace of mind, alleviating the recollection of her lose by sharing the happiness of her children, will be the earnest prayer of all her sub jects. CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF THE PRINCE CONSORT. The nation has just sustained the greatest loss that could possibly have fallen upon it. Prince Albert, who a week ago gave every promise that his valuable life would be lengthened to a period long enough to enable him to enjoy, even in this world, the fruit of a virtuous youth and a well-spent manhood, the affection of a devoted wife and of a family of which any father might well be proud,this man, the very centre of our social system, the pillar of our State, is suddenly snatched from us, without even warning sufficient to prepare us for a blow so abrupt and so terrible. We shall need time fully to appreciate the magnitude of the loss we have sustained. Every day will make us more conscious of it. It is not merely a prominent figure that will be missed on all public occasions; not merely a death that will cast a permanent gloom over a reign hither to so joyous and so prosperous :-It is the loss of a public man whose services to this country, though rendered neither in the field of battle nor in the arena of crowded assemblies, have yet been of inestimable value to this nation,-a man to whom more than any one else we owe the happy state of our internal polity, and a degree of general contentment to which neither we nor any other nation we know of ever attained before. THE MARRIED LIFE OF THE ROYAL PAIR. Twenty-one years have just elapsed since Queen Victoria gave her hand in marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Gotha. It was an auspicious event, and reality has more than surpassed all prognostics, however favourable. The Royal marriage has been blessed with a numerous offspring. So far as it is permitted to the public to know the domestic lives of Sovereigns, the people of these islands could set up no better model of the performance of the duties of a wife and mother than their Queen; no more complete pattern of a devoted husband and father than her Consort. These are not mere words of course. We write in an age and a country in which the highest position would not have availed to screen the most elevated delinquent. They are simply the records of a truth perfectly understood and recognized by the English people. THE PRINCE'S GOOD SENSE AND TRUE NOBLENESS OF CHARACTER. It has been the misfortune of most Royal Personages that their education has been below the dignity of their position. Cut off by their rank from intimate association with young persons of the same age, they have often had occasion bitterly to lament that the same fortune which raised them above the nobility in station had sunk them in knowledge and acquirements. Thanks to the cultivated mind and sterling good sense of the Prince Consort, no such charge will be brought against the present generation of the Royal family of England. Possessing talents of the first order, cultivated and refined by diligent and successful study, the Prince has watched over the education of his children with an assiduity commensurate with the greatness of the trust, and destined, we doubt not, to bear fruit in the future stability of our reigning family and its firm hold on the affections of the people. Had Prince Albert done no more than this, had he limited his ambition to securing the happiness of his wife and children, this country, considering who his wife and children are, would have owed him a debt which the rank he occupied among us, and the material and social advantages attached to it, would have been quite inadequate to repay. But there is much more which the Prince has done for us. It was a singular piece of fortune that the Queen should find in a young man of twenty years of age one whom a sudden and unlooked-for elevation could not elate, nor all the temptations of a splendid Court and a luxurious Capital seduce; who kept the faith he had pledged with simple and unswerving fidelity, and in the heyday of youth ruled his passions and left no duty unperformed. But it is still more singular that in this untried youth the Queen should have found an adviser of the utmost sagacity, a statesman of the rarest ability and honesty of purpose. Perhaps all history cannot afford an instance of the performance of high and irresponsible but strictly limited duties, with a dignity and singleness of intention comparable to that which has made illustrious the reign of Queen Victoria. THE QUEEN A RARE EXAMPLE OF A TRULY CONSTITUTIONAL SOVEREIGN. Any one who would thoroughly appreciate the degree of merit which this impartiality implies should study the history of our Colonies under their Constitutional Government, and observe how impossible the ablest Governors have found it to maintain that impartiality between rival leaders which during the reign of the Queen has never been forgotten for a moment. If faction has almost died away among us, if the nation is united as it never was united before, it is because every shade of opinion has had full and fair play, and the powers of Government have not been perverted to oppress one side or unduly to elevate the other. In the Prince, notwithstanding his German education, we have had as true an Englishman as the most patriotic native of these islands. He has had the sagacity to see and feel that the interests of his family and his dynasty had claims upon him superior to any other, and at no period has our foreign policy been less subject to the imputation of subservience to foreign interests and relations than during the last twenty years. THE PRINCE AS A GREAT INDUSTRIAL REFORMER. We have hitherto spoken of the manner in which the Prince has acquitted himself of the duties which may be said to have been cast upon him in virtue of his position as husband to the Queen. We have yet to speak of another duty which he may be said to have assumed of his own accord. As a foreigner of cultivated taste and clear judgment he saw defects in us which our insular pride probably had prevented us from discerning in ourselves. He saw that our manufactures, with all their cheapness and durability, were strangely wanting in the graces of colour and form, and that the whole life of the nation, public and private, had something of a sordid and material tint. The Prince set himself to correct these evils with indefatigable diligence; he laboured to create the Great Exhibition of 1851, and has been the principal patron of those public establishments which are giving a new impulse to the Arts of Design, and are probably designed to regenerate the taste of the country, and bring our powers of decoration to a level with our astonishing fertility of creation. Even now there is rising under his auspices in a suburb of this metropolis a building destined to receive the products of the industry of all nations, and to give, we doubt not, a fresh impulse to the creation of whatever may serve for the use and enjoyment of mankind. But, while we are on every side reminded of the benefits which the Prince Consort has been the means of diffusing among us, their author is no more. In the prime of manhood, in the zenith of his great intellectual capacity, in the midst of a career of unbounded usefulness, the Consort of the Queen has been stricken by the hand of Death. Now and for long to come the heart of Her Majesty can find room but for a single thought; but when the first agony has spent itself, we trust that it may suggest some slight conclusion to reflect that she as implicity commands the sympathy and sorrow as she has always commanded the loyalty and affection of the subjects who have had the happiness to live under her rule, and to be instructed by her example. POLITICAL EFFECT OF THE DEATH OF THE PRINCE. The death of the Prince Consort has come upon the nation with an unexpectedness which defeats every preparation of thought or of feeling. In a moment every loyal subject of this realm-and who is not loyal ?-is driven to his memory for examples, and to his forethought for consequences, and can find none. It is the sudden extinction of a light, and an interval must elapse before we can The Constitution of England has this inherent defect,-that the penetrate the darkness. The inseparable friend and adviser, and, powers intrusted to each of the Estates of the realm are so great in the course of nature, the mainstay and staff of the crown, is and ample that it is difficult for their possessors to resist the obvious suddenly wrenched away, and there is not a man in the country who temptation of employing them to obtain more. The long reign of would venture to boast that he had considered the contingency, and George the Third was devoted to a struggle of this nature, and to was prepared with anticipations. The Prince Consort himself was the pursuit of this chimera the interests of the nation and of the the only man, as it seems, who had within him the presentiment of Crown itself were repeatedly and ruthlessly sacrificed. It has been what was to happen. For more than twenty years his name has the poculiar merit of this reign that the Crown has uniformly shown been every day before the public, combining in a singularly uniform itself superior to this vulgar ambition. It has comprehended that routine works of public utility with dutiful devotion to his wife and the powers of the Crown are held in trust for the people, and are sovereign. Though precluded from public discussions and seldom the means, and not the end of government. For this enlightened brought face to face either with general society or the world in a policy, which has entitled the Queen to the glorious distinction of still larger sense, he has yet been more prominently and unintermithaving been the most Constitutional Sovereign this country has ever tingly before the British people than any other man in these isles. seen, we are indebted to the wise counsels, sterling good sense, and Instead of fretting, as others might have done, against the constituthorough honesty of the Prince. Recognizing in him, not only a tional etiquetes which met him on every side, he found a compenperson united to her by the nearest and dearest of all earthly rela- sation in thet world of art and science, and won for himself there a tions, but one on whom the happy fortune of this country had be- noble realm, of which even death cannot deprive him. At this stowed extraordinary talents, Her Majesty found in her husband a moment it is impossible to say how much awaits the decision of his wise and true counsellor, and rose far superior to the petty jealousy fate and the exercise of his skill, to select or to arrange. Yet these which might have prevented a mind of less elevated cast from avail- were only trifles of the hour in comparison with the office of coming itself of such invaluable services. The result has been a period forting and sustaining the heart of a woman to bear the mightiest of progress and prosperity quite unequalled even in what may fairly empire in the world. We have only to look round at the host of be called the happy and glorious history of England. The rancour men among us, and a glance will remind us how few, even of them, of contending parties has never assailed the Crown, because all have would endure the monotony, the restraint, the self denial and subfelt alike that they were treated with the most loyal impartiality.jection of will necessary for such a position. Prince Albert has discharged it for twenty-one years without a fault. It is hard to say which most to admire his goodness, his wisdom, or his fortune. In no respect has he been wanting to his difficult post, and we should have to ransack forgotten stories for a hint that he had exceeded its duties. All at once he is gone, and by what precedent shall we frame the terms of our loss? England once lost a boy king, of whose virtues we read much from his tutors and guardians; she has several times lost the heir to the throne while in the midst of progresses and pageants, gayeties and intrigues; she has lost royal cyphers and children of promise; she has lost statesmen in mid career, or baffled and heart-broken. The hand of the assassin has sometimes added wrong and horror to a national loss. Forty-four years ago, in a day of darkness, when discontent and disloyalty had taken root in the land, and there seemed but one solitary pathway of light to a purer atmosphere and to happier times, it was suddenly extinguished, and all the hopes of the nation were borne to the tomb. It is not easy to compare the fulfilment with the hope, things known and things unknown; but for the suddenness and blankness of the loss, and for the dismay struck into every thoughtful mind, there can be no nearer parallel than the death of the Princess Charlotte and her child, in 1817, and that of Prince Albert in this already fatal year. THE PRINCE OF WALES AND HIS FATHER'S DEATH. If anything could increase the respect which the bereaved family now command, it would be the devotion with which all its members have endeavoured to aid and comfort the Queen in her affliction. We believe the Prince of Wales has not fallen short of his sister, the Princess Alice, in this respect, and that he has already taken his place by his mother's side, as her stay and support in her distress. We have, indeed, as a people, every reason to hope that this good beginning may be followed by a career equally meritorious, and that, as the Queen has, within a few hours of his father's death, endeavoured to associate him with her in the arduous work of the British Monarchy, the Prince may feel all the solemnity of his position, and fit himself for the part to which he is destined.. It must be obvious that for the Prince of Wales the period of nonage is past. Though legally a minor until November, 1862, his Royal Highness is nearly as old as his father was at his marriage, and more than two years older than his mother was when she ascended the Throne. If we add to this that he has been specially educated to wear the British Crown, to which he has been Heir Apparent from his birth, and that he has had opportunities of seeing the world which were denied to his parents, not to speak of their predecessors of the House of Hanover, the Prince ought now to shew the faculties which will make a good King. It is, no doubt, a sudden change which has come upon him. But a few days ago he was a youth at the University, without a thought of public life, and now he finds himself on the steps of the Throne as its first friend and counsellor. From being restrained even beyond what is usual at his age by the care of a prudent father, he finds himself to some extent the head of his family at any rate, its oldest male representative, and in some sense the guide of his younger brothers and sisters. The destiny of one so young is, indeed, a great one, but it is at the same time weighted with the heaviest cares. To bear these cares the Prince must now make up his mind, if he wishes to gain the affection and esteem of the country. The national good will is not to be obtained without some sacrifices, and the Prince has before him, as in the fable, two paths-those of duty and pleasure. The next few months will decide whether he is to stand in popular estimation where his late father stood-whether in the King who is to rule over us we are to look for one who, like his parents, will take an interest in all that benefits his people, and will show ability and energy in the study of it, or one who will only receive the conventional respect which belongs to his rank and office. Exposed to many temptations, his Royal Highness must resolve to earn public applause by resisting all that will draw him from the side of a mother and a Queen who requires his help, and from the service of a nation which needs every counsellor it can find. THE PRINCE OF WALES-THE HOUR OF HIS DESTINY. Her Majesty herself, with her accustomed readiness and composure, appealed at once to her family to undertake the great charge thus suddenly thrown upon them. In that family there are two upon whom the eyes of all England will naturally be attracted at this juncture. The Prince of Wales is rapidly approaching the age when a man is held to be capable of every responsibility, and by the measure of years he should now be as competent to assist his mother as the Prince Consort when he assumed that duty. He has been so educated as to bring him into contact with a large variety of men, of minds, of peoples and of manners. By a happy forethought he has visited the very nation that now threatens to escape from worse difficulties by a war with its mother country. If the Prince of Wales is ever to be a wise and good sovereign, he will now be a wise and good son; and if he will ever feel any call to devote himself to his This is the country as his parents have done, he will feel it iw. time for that self-sacrifice on which the greatness of a crown, as well as the glory of a statesman, a soldier or a priest must be founded. This, indeed, is the occasion such as historians and dramatists have loved to describe in the lives of their favorite princes, when the Prince of Wales will have to make a solemn choice between a life of frivolity, perhaps of trouble and misery, and a reign of usefulness, to make his name blessed for ever. He must resolve, if he would do; and renounce if he would win. It is an awful thing to say "now or never;" but experience proves that they who reject the first solemn call are seldom more affected by any that come after. From all accounts the Princess Alice has shewn herself fully equal to the occasion, receiving her dying father's confidence and giving her mother timely comfort and aid. That the Queen should gather her family around her, and address them at such a time, for such a purpose, itself proves her confidence in them. That all, and above all the Prince of Wales, may be deserving of that confidence, is now the prayer of this great country. We know not how much the destinies, not only of the British empire, but of the whole human race, depend on the youthful prince of whom we have seen so much yet seem to know so little. Like the rest of us, he has position, and honour, and power to win. He may be a true king or a shadow of royalty; and by the laws of human nature and testimony of experience, the decision is to be made this very hour. THE QUEEN AT THIS GREAT CRISIS OF HER LIFE. But the Queen, if we are rightly informed, shows herself at this supreme crisis of her life worthy of her high station. As if her own experience and penetration led her to divine what no one at such an hour could obtrude upon her, the Queen has declared that the present is the time which will not admit of mournful inaction, and that it is her duty to attend without delay to public business. That Her Majesty should be capable of such an effort will gratify every one; but it need not be a matter of surprise. Even in ordinary life nothing is more common than to see women who during marriage have been accustomed to depend wholly on their husbands, and who have thought it impossible that they could ever face the rough struggles of the world, assuming in their widowhood a courage and independence of character seemingly foreign to their natures. The singular powers of mind possessed by the late Prince Consort induced the Queen to confide to him many duties, both public and domestic, because he could perform them more efficiently than herself, particularly during a period of her life when she was necessarily withdrawn at intervals from the world, and always much engrossed with family duties. But now Her Majesty has the strength and the knowledge to undertake public business herself. Though relieved much from the labors of Royalty during 22 years of married life, she has acquired an experience which will make her resumption of them not difficult. And to this it may be added, that the advance in years of her elder children will lessen the merely household cares which have hitherto pressed upon her, and leave more time for the study of public questions. Having, no doubt, these considerations in her mind, the Queen has, we are happy to say, already begun to dissipate the sad remembrance of her loss by attention to matters of public importance. With a feeling which we readily understood and appreciated, the Queen had more especially set herself to the task of mastering those subjects in which the late Prince Consort took an interest, believing it to be the best mode of shewing devotion to his memory. We may therefore hope that even those matters of national concern in which the Prince's judgment and good taste were particularly useful will not suffer so much as was feared by his loss. But in this hour of political suspense there are questions of still greater importance to be thought of, and it is indeed satisfactory to the country to know that we have on the throne a Sovereign whose nerves have been braced rather than paralyzed by the chill of adversity. UNIVERSAL SORROW FOR THE PRINCE CONSORT, AND SYMPATHY FOR THE QUEEN. If the Royal House of England required any new proofs of the nation's profound respect and affection, it would have found them in the manifestations of the last three days. Never in our remembrance has there been such universal sorrow at the death of an individual, and such deep and anxious sympathy with those left behind. The public have expressed not merely the conventional regret which attends the death of Princes, but the real pain which they felt at hearing that a man of activity and genius, with high purposes and with the opportunities and the energy for realizing them, had been suddenly cut of in the vigour of life and in the full career of usefulness. But it need hardly be said that anxiety for the Queen has had much to do with the general sorrow for the |