The Vicar, before reading the Collect, in a voice trembling with emotion, which he vainly strove to suppress, said: “The prayers of the congregation are earnestly sought for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who is now most seriously ill.” The day following, an article in the _Times_ began: “The Prince still lives, and we may still therefore hope”; and so the weary days dragged on. On the 16th it was recorded that the patient had enjoyed a quiet and refreshing sleep, and on the 17th, a Sunday, those of the Royal family who were then at Sandringham were present at church, when, by special request, the Prince and Blegge were recommended to the mercy of God in the same prayer. That same day Queen Alexandra visited the poor dying groom, and after his death, which occurred within the next few hours, both she and Queen Victoria found time, in the midst of their terrible anxiety, to visit and comfort his relations. By Christmas Day the danger may be said to have been over, and on 26th December Queen Victoria wrote the following letter to the nation:-- “The Queen is very anxious to express her deep sense of the touching sympathy of the whole nation on the occasion of the alarming illness of her dear son, the Prince of Wales. The universal feeling shown by her people during those painful, terrible days, and the sympathy evinced by them with herself and her beloved daughter, the Princess of Wales, as well as the general joy at the improvement of the Prince of Wales’s state, have made a deep and lasting impression on her heart, which can never be effaced.…” Queen Alexandra and Princess Alice now felt that their patient was well enough for them to leave him for an hour or two in order to assist at the distribution of Christmas gifts to the labourers on the estate. In the ceiling of the room afterwards occupied by Queen Alexandra as a bed-chamber, the mark of an orifice might be seen from which projected a hook supporting a trapeze, by the aid of which the patient, when on the slow and weary road to convalescence, could change his position and pull himself up into a sitting posture. Another memento of the King’s terrible illness is the brass lectern in the parish church. On it runs an inscription:-- TO THE GLORY OF GOD. A THANK-OFFERING FOR HIS MERCY. 14TH DECEMBER 1871. ALEXANDRA. “When I was in trouble I called upon the Lord, and He heard me.” The last bulletin was issued on 14th January, and nine days later Sir William Jenner was gazetted a K.C.B. and Dr. W. Gull was created a Baronet--rewards which gave particular satisfaction to the nation.