He was ill for several days before he would permit anybody to say in his presence that such was the case, and continued to do business as long as possible, even dictating the reports about his condition himself. On the seventeenth of June prayers were offered for his majesty in the churches, and the following day the sacrament was administered by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He said, just after the ceremony: "This is the eighteenth of June; I should like to live to see the sun of Waterloo set." {310}For three weeks the faithful wife sat at his bedside, performing for him every office he required, totally depriving herself of rest or recreation. This was a labor of love, for Queen Adelaide had always been devoted to her husband. With his head upon her shoulder, and her hand upon his breast, his majesty gently dropped into the sleep that knows no waking. His remains lay in state at Windsor Castle until July 8, when he was buried at St. George's Chapel. For the last time the royal crown of Hanover was placed beside the imperial crown on the coffin of a King of England. Queen Adelaide, now Queen-dowager, was present in the royal closet. When the coffin had been lowered, dust thrown upon it, the blessing pronounced, and a rocket sent up from the door of the chapel, the flag at the Round Tower was lowered, and the royal widow left, followed by the mourners. [[A.D. 1849.]] Queen Adelaide lived until the close of the year 1849. Parliament had made her rich by giving her a hundred thousand pounds, which she devoted to charity. Neither rank nor wealth ever spoiled the simplicity of her heart or her manners. She always respected the memory of her husband, over whose reign she had shed a respectability that did her credit. She was not what might be termed a woman of brains, and never influenced the king for good or for evil; but she was wise enough not to interfere in state affairs, and for her virtues she merits respect. In her will, Queen Adelaide requested that her coffin should be carried to the grave by sailors,--a touching tribute to her husband's memory, and to the Navy, to which she had shown her attachment. {311} [Illustration: 0317] {313} CHAPTER XI. QUEEN VICTORIA. (A.D. 1819-1862.) |William IV. expressed a wish that he might live until his niece was old enough to assume the reins of government herself, so that no regent might be necessary. He was gratified, for Princess Victoria had celebrated her eighteenth birthday just four weeks before messengers arrived at Kensington Palace to summon her to the throne. It was on the morning of June 20, 1837, long before daylight, that the king's illness terminated fatally.