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millions besides her own subjects —not so much because she is the Sovereign ol Great Britain (though that in itscll is a unique dis- tinction), but because she unites

the haghest mdu, aranted by Providence only (o the chosen few. That the Republic of the United States, which is no lover of crowned heads, and which 1s supposed to worship no other altar than that of genius, should hold in the highest possible veneration the name of our Queen is, in my opinion, the greatest Lo stnnony to her sterling merits.

Of the political ml(,nt of the Qucen, 1t may only be said that she is the greatest auth OrILy living on the practical pOlltlLb of Ilurope, and ])Lutl(,ulmlv on the intricate Constitutional cquestions of this country. She has spoken politics, acted politics, and lived polities all her Iife. 'The abl(,sto { her Prime Mimnisters often owed the solution of many grave political difficulties to the knowledge of the ( Jucen. A\ Radical journalist of renown has the follow- ing ;- Broadly speaking, it may be fairly sad by all her Ministers, Faberal or ( onscrvative, that she has more knowledge of the business of governing nations than any of her Prime \lmlstus More experience of the mysteries and intricacies of foreign affairs than any of her Troreign Secretaries 3 as loyal and willing al subsuvu,n(x to the declurcd will of the nation as any democrat in Parliament ; and as keen and passionate an Imperial patnotlsm as ever beat in any human breast.” The adiministrative ability of the Qucen was formally acknowledged by the Socicety of Arts, the most lmpmtul and lcarned association i the kingdom, when they conferred the “ Albert Medal ” on his noble consort, n 1887, for fifty years” wise and most Const- tutional administration,

That Her Majesty is one of the greatest and most practical moral leaders of lingland will scarcely be denied by any wise and thought- ful body of men. "The Court of lingland has never been purer throughout its hlst(n\ N Depew, i his C ()lumlnm oration in Chicago, styled her “ the wisest of Sovercigns and best of women.” John Bright said “She is the most perfectly truthful person I ever met.” A model wile, a model mother, a pattern to womankind !

But the quality which would endear her most to posterity is her intellectual eminence, A mind so deep, a will so strong, an imagi- nation so rich could not have failed to give the world a philosophical work of lasting fame or a sensational novel of a high repu- tation. Toven now her wide and fruathul

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i herscelf political, moral, and intellectual qualities of

AAGALINE.

cxeursions over the domains of literature and science are such as to reflect the highest credit on her mental powers. All who have read her “ Journals in the Highlands” and her letters given to the public in the Lifc of the Prince Consort cannot fail to find strong literary tendency in the Imperial mind. Nothing surprises one more than her wide information, her sweet and modest ex- pression, and her logical and learned remarks in the course of conversation. But the latest display ol her mental activity, which cclipses all past achievements in her literary pursuits, will come as an agrecable surprise upon all lovers of learning in every part of the world. Her Majesty the Queen, with all the duties and responsibilities incident to the possession ol the Imperial sceptre, finds time to learn an Oriental language, and has actually madce so great a progress during the last threc years as to be able to write a separate diary in the Himdustam language.

The preservation of all miental faculties by distinguished men of letters in an advanced old age is the peculiar characteristic of the Victorian ora. Among many others, four personages in the Queen’s reign have pre- served their mental abilities without any pereeptible decay to a patriarchal age. Thesce are the Tate Lord Tennyson, the late Car- dinal Manning, the present Prime Minister, and, last but not least, Her Majesty husdf

If it is interesting to hear that M. Gladstone can deliver lectures, write articles and review novels at his age, 1t 1s much more so to know that his Sovercign Lady, at her ave, can master a new language entirely alien to the people of Kurope, acquaint hersell with the ])hiloso])h} of the lIast, read the sentiments ol her Iastern sul)]e(ts mn thLi]' vernacular, and keep a daily account of her” work - her new lm“uwc It s all the more interesting l)u(lusv thu Queen does it with a sincere desire o know the wants. manners and customs, ways and thoughts of the people, and particularly of the women, ol Indunu |

The fact of the Queen's studies has re- acted i the most sympathetic: mar wer India. "T'he princes and people of that country recognise in this Impenal act a further mark of tender care and parental attention towards her subjects the Itast. It serves to add one more strong link to the chain of loyalty and

attachment which binds them to the throne of England. The Queen has set a

noble example to the princes of India and

scholars of the Hast. The arictacraev n