Page:Australian views of England.djvu/43

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

III.]
OF ENGLAND.
31

minds of the inhabitants of London. Men tried to console their minds with lingering doubts in spite of the toll of the great bell of St Paul's. Could it possibly be that the death-bell was tolling for that noble Prince, who had appeared amongst them so lately the picture of health and vigorous life, and whose image had never been associated with death in the thoughts of the most mournful? But the sorrowful truth gradually spread in every home and every heart. Throughout the provinces people generally became aware of the nation's loss as they assembled at the house of God, and from one end of England to the other the effect was one of universal visible grief, as if death had come to the doors of every family in the land. The signs of mourning have continued everywhere until today, when the body of the Prince has been consigned to the grave. Never in English history has any death, been so visibly felt by all ranks of the English people. The working classes, for the improvement of whose social condition Prince Albert laboured so earnestly, so wisely, so effectually, have assembled in thousands and sung together the Rev. Newman Hall's beautiful adaptation of the National Anthem.