tion while the heroic Queen of Hungary presents her infant son to the assembled nobles, and they rend the air with their acclamations, Let us die for our Queen Maria Theresa: '—or follow into voluntary exile her whose deep thirst for knowledge induced her to take from off her brow the queenly diadem; and who, resigning alike the cares and honours of royalty, in the retirement of private life, and in the enjoyment of literary leisure,

'With study and lone musing nurs'd her youth.'2

But it is in the fortunes of the memorable women who have held the highest place in our own country, whether as partners of the throne or as sole proprietors of its honours, that we dwell with the most intense interest. What English woman can contemplate, unmoved, the self-devotion of the loving wife of our first Edward-the intrepid heroism of the brave Philippa--the youth, the beauty, the talents, and the piety of that gentle lady, whom they took by force and made a' Queen-the domestic trials of the ill-fated Elizabeth of York-of the repudiated Catherine-or the more secret sorrows of the second Mary? And last, but not least, what heart does not beat with admiration and love, at the name of that devoted Christian wife, who, while watching by the sick bed of a dying King, soothed by her tenderness his painful approach towards the dark valley, and strengthened by her faith his trust in that "Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world?"

But all that the records of the past afford to touch our feelings, or excite our interest, fails, in compa

1 Moriamur pro rege nostro, &c.

2 Christina of Sweden.

rison with that spectacle which our own age and time affords. The sceptre of the mightest nation on earth in the hands of a young and tender girl! What cause have we to adore that providence who has raised up this graceful scion of many a blended stock of royalty, to "have the rule over us ;" in that he has so ordered “the course of this world,” that "peace and happiness, truth and justice" are so far established among us, as to secure the throne to her "whose right it is," although wanting the strong arm of physical power to curb, with iron rein, "the madness of the people." Time has been, when woe to the fatherless girl upon whose head had devolved the diadem, though in her pure veins ran the blood of a hundred kings! -Woe! in those days of rapine and robbery, to her who now, encircled by a nation's love, and protected by a nation's justice, is borne on the shield of universal favour, to the footsteps of her hereditary throne.' The grey-haired warriors of her time have bowed their laurelled heads before her, and wept tears of joy, while they pledged their willing faith. The sons of wisdom and of piety, each in his secluded walk of high and honourable pursuit, have paused to contemplate the scene, and to invoke the blessing of the mighty One, upon his chosen vicegerent. The sympathies of all have been powerfully awakened, and even children glow with unwonted ardour at the name of their youthful queen. Seated on the throne of the kingdoms, her dominion extends "to the ends of the earth." The red hunter of the Moose-deer, on the banks of the far off Ottawas, owns her sovereignty, and his Antipodes, the savage New

The ancient Saxon warriors, when they elected their chief, carried him on their shields to the place of inauguration.

Hollander, bows to her sway: the swarthy negro of the west, pants to exult in the name of her freedman, and the languid Hindoo, reclining " by Gunga's wave," regrets not the departed glories of the race of Tamerlane, while he views his country, for so many ages the prey of the conqueror, awakening to virtue, to knowledge and to happiness, beneath her beneficent rule. The dream of the poet in the golden days of her renowned predecessor comes with peculiar freshness and force of application to the mind:—

'This royal lady,

(Heaven still move about her) promises
Upon this land, a thousand thousand blessings,
Which time shall bring to ripeness; she shall be

A pattern to all princes living with her,
And all that shall succeed: Sheba was never
More covetous of wisdom and fair virtue,

Than this pure soul shall be. All princely graces

That mould up such a mighty piece as this is,

With all the virtues that attend the good,

Shall still be doubled on her: truth shall nurse her,

She shall be loved and feared; her own shall bless her;
Her foes shake like a field of beaten corn,

And hang their heads with sorrow; good grows with her :
In her days every man shall eat in safety

Under his own vine, what he plants; and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours :
God shall be truly known; and those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
And by those claim their greatness, not by blood.'

But who is it, to whom the name of our queen is dearest? In whose heart is it enshrined with a mingled feeling of affection and reverence, of the depth and reality of which they who have never felt it, can form no adequate notion? It is the Christian. The Christian, who takes his standard of duty, and his rule of life from the "living oracles," beholds his sovereign in a very different light to the mere politiJUNE, 1838.

2 N

"

cian of this world. To the one, the Queen is the first magistrate of the state; to the other, she is " the minister of God for good;" and, viewed as the chosen of God, she becomes also " precious in his eyes. The combined feelings of affection and reverence with which men in patriarchal times regarded those who had the rule over them, is well exemplified in the very expressive name of the ancient kings of Gerar; Ab-i-melech, "my Father-king.” What can more touchingly give to view that mingled feeling of reverence for a divinely instituted authority; submission to a divinely appointed rule, and affection for a divinely consecrated office, than this term, significant alike of the duty of a subject and the love of a child. True loyalty looks beyond the mere personal qualities of the monarch, to those peculiar properties of office with which the word of God invests him: in this sense it is, that the Christian in every age can pray for his "most religious and gracious king:" but how is the fire of his devotion enkindled, when he prays for the young, the virtuous, the uncompromising friend of God's laws and altars; herself a diligent student of his word, and a nursing-mother of his church. Oh! how does the Christian so circumstanced delightedly obey that command of his Saviour, which enjoins that "first of all supplications and prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for His Queen."

But if there be any among the mystical body of Christ, who can, more than others, enter into the fulness of this happy feeling, it must surely be a youthful Christian lady. You, whose timidity would shrink from that eminence which exposes its possessor, like the tall tree of the forest, to the full violence

of the storm; how should you be incited to pray that God may shelter the sacred head of England's loftiest cedar (Ezekiel xxxi.) from the wild tornados which have desolated the high places of other lands. You who know what it is to lean upon others for protection, and to find safety and peace in docile submission to appointed rule; how should you pray, that she who is so far elevated as to have none on earth above her, may find in the King of kings a father and a friend how should you pray that the everlasting arms may be about her, and the eternal God her refuge and support. Oh! upon that eventful day, when they will place upon her fair young brow the jewelled crown of England, that crown to which the Christian Alfred added lustre, and the Protestant Elizabeth renown,-when her sweet voice is heard solemnly promising to execute judgment in mercy, to maintain the established religion in England and Ireland, and the Protestant, Presbyterian form of worship established in Scotland,'1 will not the united petitions of many comparatively pure and holy hearts, (her Christian sisters in the bands of the gospel, her most zealous and affectionate subjects in the providence of God) will not the united prayers of such, ascend for a threefold blessing upon THE QUEEN? Will they not ask, in the beautiful words of holy writ, that the hand of God may be established with her and his arm strengthen her: that the enemy may not exact upon her, nor the son of wickedness afflict her: that the faithfulness and mercy of Jehovah may be with her, and his loving-kindness never fail: that she may cry unto him, "Thou art my Father, my

1 Vide Coronation Oath.