with the pen, which he had chosen rather than the sword. A chivalrous gentleman of the fifteenth century, although he had never won his spurs on a battle-field, he will stand well on the great roll of those who have been faithful soldiers and servants of Jesus Christ.

We live in an age of light and progress, compared with which those days of the Red Rose of Castle Crawley are dark indeed. Rose and her husband saw but the glimmer of that dawn, which now floods the world with radiance. We live under the beneficent rule of a beloved Queen, whose life has been as a beacon to point us to all that is pure and beautiful in

womanhood; whose heart beats with sympathy whenever a tale of her people's sorrow, or pain, or loss, reaches her ear; whose hand is stretched out to help in any work organized for the moral or spiritual good of her subjects.

As we glance back on the days of the Red Rose of Castle Crawley, we may well be thankful; but let us all show our thankfulness to God by a daily effort to do something for Him and others for His sake. Books, learning, music, art, all are from Him; and let us all pray to keep them pure, as wings to raise us heavenward, not as earthly clogs to drag us downwards. We are here to train ourselves and others for a life higher and holier than any we can now imagine. Out of darkness into the light of God, may we pass at last, through His mercy with whom is the well of life, and in whose light we shall see light.

Plain Words for Young Women.

BY THE RIGHT Rev. W. WALSHAM HOW,
Bishop Suffragan of Bedford (for East London).

HOLY COMMUNION.

UPPOSE some dear relation of yours (we will say your father or elder brother) on his death-bed were to ask you very solemnly to do something for

him after he was gone, would you not be ashamed of yourself if you forgot or neglected to do it? And should you be surprised if other people were to say you could not have cared very much for your relation who was gone, or you would have tried to do what he had asked you? Now, One who loved you, and loves you still, far better than any earthly relation ever did or could, gave you just such a charge before He died. But His death was not like the death of other men. You know what it was. You know that this Friend above all friends not only You know that He died, but died for you.

gave Himself up of His own free will to die that most terrible death upon the Cross to save you. And it was just before He did this that He gave that most solemn charge to His disciples, when, instituting the holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood, He said, 'This do in remembrance of Me.' Is not this a very plain command? And can you really love that best of all Friends if you never try to fulfil it? Should I be very wrong if I said, 'You cannot love Jesus much if you will not obey His dying command'? Well, I know what you say very well. You say, 'I am not good enough.' And I do not want to deny this, and tell you you are good enough, because I am quite sure you are right. I do not think I am good enough to kneel down and look up to God and say, 'Our Father.' If we could be good enough without the Sacrament, we should not need it; and if we wait till we are good enough, I do not think we shall ever come. No, thank God; it is not because we are good enough that we come to the Lord's Holy Table, but because we want to be better. It is not because we are good enough that God accepts us, but for the sake of His

dear Son who died for us. So, first of all, put out of your mind all ideas of being good enough. You never will be that, and yet Jesus invites us.

Well, but may we come there with our sins, just as we are? Ah, my children, we shall never come without our sins on this side of the grave. But if we come with our sins, as we must do, mind, it is not to take them back with us again. We come to lay them down at the foot of the Cross, and leave them there. We come for pardon, and mercy, and grace to amend. It is because we are sinners, and have such sore need of forgiveness, and of repentance, and of strength to amend our lives, that our dear Saviour gave us this holy Sacrament.

Perhaps you say, It would be making a great profession to come. Well, so it would. I do not mean that it would be making a profession of being so very good, or of being so much better than other people. But it But it would be making a profession of your wish to serve and please Jesus Christ, and belong❘ to Him. And this is surely a good and blessed thing. We must make a choice. We cannot go on halting between two opinions. We cannot serve two masters. is no peace or safety for half Christians. we ask you, dear children of God, to make your choice. Oh, do range yourself on Christ's side. Do resolve that you will be His. And do remember you cannot be really and honestly His while you neglect His dying command.

There

So

Now you must not come lightly and carelessly to so solemn a thing as this is. You should join a communicants' class if you have the chance, or a Confirmation class if you are not confirmed. Anyhow, you should send your name and address to your clergy

man saying you want to be prepared for the Holy Communion, and he will help and instruct you. I must not try to explain anything about it to you in this short paper, for I should not have time; but I will give you one or two little thoughts which may perhaps help you:

Do not think of coming to the Lord's Table as a very awful and difficult thing. It ought to be a very happy and blessed thing. We do not believe half enough in the love of Jesus. Think of Him as holding out His holy arms to welcome you. Think of Him as pleading lovingly with you, and saying, 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.'

Do not begin, and afterwards fall away. Resolve from the first that you will come regularly, and as often as you can. Remember what Jesus says, 'No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven.'

Remember, if you profess to love and serve Christ, you must try and live a Christian life. I know you will not be perfect; you will have plenty of faults still; but oh! try, my children, so to live in all your daily life that no one may say of you that you are none the better for going to the Lord's Table, but that those around you may be able to 'take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus.'

May God help you, dear children, and give you grace to be simple, loving, earnest, faithful communicants, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE chastity of woman is the only basis upon which the order, honour, and peace of the world can be built; it twists the sacred and endearing cord of society; without it there could be no amity, no brotherhood upon earth.-HENRY BROOKE.

The Prince Consort.

A SKETCH OF A NOBLE LIFE.
By the Author of The Fortunes of Hassan,' &c.
'A Prince indeed

Beyond all titles, and a household name
Hereafter through all times, Albert the Good.'

LTHOUGH almost twenty years have passed away since the death of the Prince Consort, his memory is still fresh in many hearts; and those of our readers who have not access to Sir Theodore Martin's valuable biography, may be grateful for a brief account of one so justly beloved, so deeply and widely lamented. It is a life from which we may all learn much, for none was ever more entirely devoted to the good of others, while in none do we find a more perfect example of that self-sacrifice, which is the secret of all true greatness.

On the 26th of August, 1819, Albert of SaxeCoburg was born at the Rosenau, a summer residence of his father the Duke of Saxe-CoburgGotha, four miles from the town of Coburg. The prayer of the pastor at the infant Prince's baptism, that he might contribute to the promotion of truth and virtue, and enter into the kingdom of God as pure and innocent as he is at this moment,' sounds like a prophecy of the noble life that was then beginning, and upon whose finished course we now, alas! look back.

From his earliest years the Prince showed an ardent desire for knowledge, and the most unselfish care for the welfare of those around him. The letter which he wrote to his young cousin, Queen Victoria, on her accession to the throne of England, is characteristic of the motives which shaped his whole career. 'Now you are Queen of the nightiest land in Europe, in your hand lies the happiness of millions. May Heaven assist and strengthen you with its strength in that high but difficult task!'

The Prince was then occupied with his studies at the University of Bonn, and it was not until more than two years afterwards that he paid the visit to Windsor which led to his union with the

youthful Queen. 'My mind is quite made up,' wrote the Queen to her uncle on the eve of the memorable day, 'and I told Albert this mornir of it. The warm affection he showed me on hearing this gave me great pleasure. I love him more than I can say, and shall do everything in my power to render this sacrifice-for such in my opinion it is—as small as I can.' At the same time the Prince wrote to his valued friend and adviser, Baron Stockmar, 'I write to you on one of the happiest days of my life, to give you the most welcome news possible. Victoria is so good and kind to me that I am at a loss to believe such affection should be shown to me.'

How seriously he contemplated his elevation to this exalted position we learn from another touching letter, in which he says, 'With the exception of my relations towards her, my future position will have its dark side, and the sky will not always be blue and unclouded. But life has its thorns in every position, and the consciousness of having used one's power and endeavour for an object so great as that of promoting the good of so many will surely be sufficient to support me.'

The King of the Belgians, upon whom the Queen looked as a second father, and who had the highest opinion of Prince Albert, received the news with the greatest joy, and replied in the words of old Simeon, 'Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.'

On the 10th February, 1840, the marriage was celebrated amid the most enthusiastic rejoicings; and on the morning of the wedding-day the Prince wrote to his beloved grandmother, 'In less than three hours I shall stand before the altar with my dear bride. In these solemn moments I must once more ask your blessing, which I am well assured I shall receive and which will be my safeguard and my future joy. I must end. God help me.'

From that day his life was one long endeavour faithfully to serve his adopted country, and by effacing himself and sacrificing his own personal ambition, quietly to be of use to the Queen.

'To sink his own individual existence in that of his wife, to aim at no power by himself or for himself, making himself entirely part of the Queen, anxiously to watch every part of public business in order to be able to advise and assist her,' became, in his own words, the object of his life, and most admirably did he live up to the high and difficult ideal which he had set before him.

The Prince's days were spent in a continual round of public duties, in the midst of which he found time to acquire whatever knowledge he found necessary in his new position. He read

counsels often contributing towards the maintenance of the peace of Europe and the dignity of England. His papers on the Eastern Question alone between the years 1853-57, filled as many as fifty folio volumes, and during the Crimean war itself he exerted himself in the most strenuous manner to relieve the wants and lighten the sufferings of our brave soldiers.

The great Exhibition of 1851, which, in spite of much foolish and unreasonable opposition, proved so brilliant a success, was entirely owing to his unwearied endeavours; and it is impossible not to feel a thrill of sympathy as we read

English law and constitutional history, went out with the soldiers to learn their drill in the Park, paid visits to public institutions and museums, surveyed new buildings and improvements, all with the most untiring zeal and energy. Whatever could brighten the lives or add to the wellbeing of the working-classes was above all the object of his attention, and he never shrank from any labour by which he could benefit their condition.

At the same time he devoted much of his time to foreign affairs, making memorandums and drafts on political questions for the help of the Queen, and by his clear judgment and wise

the Queen's own account of what she justly calls the happiest and proudest day of her life when she stood under the great glass dome, with its flashing fountains and myriads of beautiful objects representing the industry of all nations of the earth, and felt that this great Peace Festival owed its existence to the beloved husband who stood by her side.

Although always anxious that the Queen should spend as much time as possible in London for the good of her people, the Prince was never happier than when he could escape to Windsor or Osborne and breathe the sweet air of woods and fields again. 'How sweet it