are the possessors of crowns. But I think there has been, by many persons, a great injustice done to the queen in reference to her desolate and widowed position ; and I venture to say this, that a- woman, be she the queen of a great realm, or be she the wife of one of your labouring men, who can keep alive in her heart a great sorrow for the lost object of her life and affection, is not at all likely to be wanting in a great and generous sympathy with you.' Mr. Ayrton endeavoured to explain his words, but was refused a hearing. Nevertheless the agitation was unrepressed. A year later there was a revival of the rumour that court life was to resume its former brilliance under the queen's personal auspices. Unmoved by the popular outcry, she peremptorily denied the truth of the report in a communication to the ' Times' newspaper. She said 'she would Her refusal not shrink from any personal Her refusal to leave her retirement. sacrifice or exertion, however painful. She had worked hard in the public service to the injury of her health and strength. The fatigue of mere state ceremonies, which could beequally well performed by other members of the royal family, she was unable to undergo. She would do what she could in the manner least trying to her health, strength, and spirits to meet the loyal wishes of her subjects ; to afford that support and countenance to society, and to give that encouragement to trade, which was desired of her. More the queen could not do, and more the kindness and good feeling of her people would surely not exact of her.'
In the autumn of 1865 domestic matters largely occupied her. Accompanied by her family, she paid another visit to her husband's native country, in order to unveil, in the presence of all his relatives, a statue to him at Coburg (26 Aug.) While at Coburg she approved a matrimonial project affecting her third and eldest unmarried daughter, Helena, who had of late years been her constant companion. In view of recent events in Germany the match was calculated strongly to excite political feeling Betrothal of the Princess Helena. there. Largely at the instance of the Princess Duke Ernest, the princess was Helena. betrothed to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, the younger brother of that Duke Frederick whose claim to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been pressed by the smaller German states on Denmark and on the Prussian-Austrian alliance with results disastrous to himself. After the recent Schleswig-Holstein war Bismarck had deprived Duke Frederick and his family of their property and standing, and the claimant's younger brother, Prince Christian, who had previously been an officer in the Prussian army, had been compelled to retire. The sympathy felt by the crown prince and princess for the injured house of Augustenburg rendered the match congenial to them ; but it was viewed with no favour at Berlin, and the queen was freely reproached there with a wanton interference in the domestic affairs of Germany. She unmistakably identified herself with the arrangement, and by her private munificence met the difficulty incident to the narrow pecuniary resources of the young prince. She returned to England in good health and spirits, meeting at Ostend her uncle Leopold for what proved to be the last time.
Events in the autumn unfortunately reinvigorated her sense of isolation. In the summer of 1865 a dissolution of parliament had become necessary, and the liberals slightly increased their majority in the new House of Commons. But, before the new Death of Palmerston. parliament met, the death of Palmerston, the prime minister, on 18 Oct., broke for the queen another link with the past. In the presence of death the queen magnanimously forgot all the trials that the minister had caused her. She only felt, she said, how one by one her servants and ministers were taken from her. She acknowledged the admiration which Lord Palmerston's acts, even those that met with her disapproval, had roused in his fellow-countrymen, and, justly interpreting public sentiment, she directed that a public funeral should be accorded him. She afterwards paid Lady Palmerston a touching visit of condolence. Without hesitation she turned to Lord John, the oldest minister in her service, who in 1861 had gone to the House of Lords as Earl Russell, and bade him take Palmerston's place. The change was rendered grateful to her by the bestowal of the office of foreign secretary, which Lord Russell had hitherto held, on her trusted friend, Lord Clarendon. But at the same time Gladstone, the chancellor of the exchequer, became leader of the House of Commons in succession to Palmerston, and she was thus for the first time brought into close personal relations with one who was to play a larger part in her subsequent career than proved congenial to her. On 10 Dec. the queen suffered another loss, which brought her acute sorrow the death of King and of the king of the Belgians. Leopold. She had depended on him almost since her birth for advice on both public and private questions. There was no member of the Saxe-Coburg family, of which she was herself
