des
of her Majesty's subjects. It not only brought him into touch with the
people, but it brought into view, as well as into play, his practical
mastery of affairs, and also his enlightened sympathy with the progress
in art and science, no less than in the commercial activities, of the
nation. It was not, however, until the closing years of his life, when
the dreary escapades of the Coalition Ministry were beginning to be
forgotten, that the great qualities of the Prince Consort were
appreciated to any adequate degree. From the close of the Crimean War to
his untimely death, at the beginning of the Civil War in America, was
unquestionably the happiest as well as the most influential period in a
life which was at once sensitive and upright.

It ought in common fairness to be added that the character of the Prince
mellowed visibly during his later years, and that the formality of his
earlier manner was exchanged for a more genial attitude towards those
with whom he came in contact in the duties and society of the Court. Mr.
Disraeli told Count Vitzthum that if the Prince Consort had outlived the
'old stagers' of political life with whom he was surrounded, he would
have given to England--though with constitutional guarantees--the
'blessing of absolute government.' Although such a verdict palpably
overshot the mark, it is significant in itself and worthy of record,
since it points both to the strength and the limitations of an
illustrious life. There are passages in Lady Russell's diary, of too
personal and too sacred a character to quote, which reveal not only the
poignant grief of the Queen, but the manner in which she turned
instinctively in her burst of need to an old and trusted adviser of the
Crown. High but artless tribute is paid in the same pages to the Queen's
devotion to duty under the heart-breaking strain of a loss which
overshadowed with sorrow every home in England, as well as the Palace at
Windsor, at Christmas, 1861.

[Sidenote: THE 'TRENT' AFFAIR]

The last act of the Prince Consort of an official kind was to soften
certain expressions in the interests of international peace and goodwill
in the famous despatch which was sent by the English Government, at the
beginning of December, to the British Ambassador at Washington, when a
deadlock suddenly arose between England and the United States over the
'Trent' affair, and war seemed imminent. Hostilities had broken out
between the North and the South in th