New-York tribune., 1901-01-23

have enough for a whole life" wrote the Queen,
anxiety. sorTow. excitement: in short feel
as if we had jumped over thirty years experi-
ence at once. The whole face Of Europe Is
changed and ] feel as if l lived in a dream"
England escaped this period of revolution With
nothing worse than a bad fright. The Chartists,
after prOtracted agitation. assembled on Ken
nington Common with the intention Of marching
half a million strong throUsh London TO present
their petition to Parliament that the charles
might be made the law of the land While tho
leaders prudenty cut down their estimate 70
100000. the Government took the extreme pre-
caution of swearing in 10000 special consta-
oles, and Of occupying the public buildings with
troops and artillery The assemblage did not
exceed 2o.O0O, and was much more orderly than
Charles Kingsley. who sympatkized with the
Chartists, had been prepared to believe that It
would be. The procession was failure; the
petition was presented without excitement; the
special coEstables were not exposed TO mob
violence, and the soldiers virtually con-
cealed in barracks. Sir Robert Peel described
the affair as "a triumph of discretion Prince
Albert remarked with feeling of intense re-
lief; We had our revolution. and it ended in
smoke"
ATTACKS UPON THE QUEENS LIFE.
While the Queen had done much by her honnely
virtues. her marriage of affection and her re-
spect for constitutional law to endear herself to
her subjects and to prevent the outbreak OF rev.
movements. she had been under fire
several times In the streets. few months after
her marriage the first attack was made by Ed
ward Oxford. dissipated youth Of seventeen.
swayed by morbid desire for notoriety Prince
Albert was driving in phaeton with the Queen
by his side. when a shot was fired from the foot
path The horses We're stopped and the asaiI-
ant was deserted. standing with arms crossed
and pistol in each hand. Suddenly he fred a
second shot. which passed over the Queens head.
He was then arrested. and subsequently commit
ted TO an insane asylum Two years afterwart
a similar attempt was made ard then repeated
on the next day, by wretched creature named
Francis. Prince Albert noticed the IevelIing and
clicking of the pistol the royal couple were
driving through crowded thoroughfare and
the assailant when the shot was fired
on the following day. Francis was condemned To
death, but his sentence was finally committed To
transportation for life. The day after the nnitf-
CATION of his sentence was announced a huuch-
backed boy named Bean fired pistol at ths
Queen as she was passing from Buckingham
Palace to the Chapel Royal He was sentenced
to eighteen months imprisonment and was pub
licly whipped In 1910 an Irish bricklayep
named Hamilton was sentenced to seven years.
transportation for firing powder charge at the
Queen on Constitutional Hill. A year afterward
Robert Pate. a demented soldier. received a
similar sentence for striking the Queen In ths
face with stick An interval of twelve years
elapsed before the next attempt at violence was
made by Arthur O'Connor, who brandished a pis-
tol before the Queens face as she was entering
buckingham Palace after a drive. The pistol
was not loaded. and the boy was an imbecile,
and years Imprisonment with a public whip
ping was adequate punishment. In 1882
half ted H1-al
a shot at the Queen she was driving from ths
railway station at Windsor. Not one OF thess
numerous attempts had any political signihcancs
whatever. The Queen invariably displayed eour-
age and self-possession, and made light Of tha
dangers to which she was exposed.
The Queens first visit to Ireland occurred II.
1S49, after the horrors of the famine and the ex.
citement caused by5-thTe trial and sentence Of
Mitchell and O'Meagher. In order to lessen the
burden of State receptions, which the inpover-
ished island was not in a condition to bear the
royal progress was made under the guise Of a
yachting excursion by the Queen and her family.
From the hour of their arrival in Cork they were
received with hospitality and confidence and
with many signs of loyalty and genuine enthusi-
asm- The Queen had already acquired her home
in the Highlands and endeared herself in many
ways 20 the Scotch heart Throughout her reign
there has never been in any quarter OF the
United Kingdom any huctuation in the loyalty
Of her subjects Ireland has been a hotbed Of
agitation. and Scotland and Wales have been
stronghoIds Of Radicalisrn. but neither party nor
gracious sovereign whose homeIy virtues and
regard for constitutional usage wers
generally recognized.
A CONSTITUTIONAL SOVEREIGN.
The Queens first Prime Minister was Lord
Melbourne. to whom she was sincerely attached,
and who was well fitted for giving her tnstruc-
ton respecting her obligations as a constitutional
sovereign. He was a good schoolnaster. for he
knew by heart the unwriJten law Of precedenta
called the British Constitution. and he unders
stood the temper of the English people. He i'm.
pressed upon the Queens mind the convictions
that the day for absolute sovereignty and pre-
rogatve had passed. He taught her the rudi4
nents of her education constitutional ruler,
and the Prince ConsOrt. with his philosophical
habits Of generalization. completed her training
After her capricious revolt against political Us.
age in retaining the ladies at court who were In
attendance upon her, she submitted gracefully "a
the restraints imposed upon her. Sir Robert
Peel was her second Prime Minister, and shs
adapted herself to the change of government
which brought the Conservatives into power.
So harmonious were her relations with him that
hciencies Of National revenue she claimed her
right as an English woman to contribute her
share of taxation. although she was exempted
as the crowned head Of the nation from obliga-
ton as a taxpayer In the protracted discus
sions over the charter OF the Bank of England
the abolition Of the Corn laws, the establishment
Of free trade. Catholic emancipation and O'Con-
nelTs agitation for repeal Of the Act OF Union,
the Queen never swerved from her attitude OF
ha-