“DEAR LADY,--We, the surviving widows and mothers of some of the men and boys who lost their lives by the explosion which occurred in the Oaks Colliery, near Barnsley, in December, 1866, desire to tell your Majesty how stunned we all feel by the cruel and unexpected blow which has taken Prince Eddie from his dear grandmother, his loving parents, his beloved intended, and an admiring nation. The sad news affected us deeply, we all believing that his youthful strength would carry him safely through the danger. Dear Lady, we feel more than we can express. To tell you that we sincerely condole with your Majesty and the Prince and Princess of Wales in your and their sad bereavement and great distress is not to tell you all we feel; but the widow of Albert the Good and the parents of Prince Eddie will understand what we feel when we say that we feel all that widows and mothers feel who have lost those who were as dear as life to them. Dear Lady, we remember with gratitude all that you did for us Oaks widows in the time of our great trouble, and we cannot forget you in yours. We have not forgotten that it was you, dear Queen, who set the example, so promptly followed by all feeling people, of forming a fund for the relief of our distress,--a fund which kept us out of the workhouse at the time, and has kept us out ever since. Dear Lady, we cannot make you understand how grieved we all are to learn that a miner, and that miner a Barnsley miner, though, happily, not a native of Barnsley, should have forgotten not only all that you have done for the widows and orphans of miners, but also for the suffering, the afflicted and desolate of every other class of workers in England, and that he should have shown himself so devoid of all human feeling as to refuse, and lead others to refuse, your Majesty and poor Eddie’s parents one kind word of sympathy in your and their great sorrow. We feel ashamed of that man, for he has covered us all with disgrace, and filled our hearts with pain. We hope he may live to feel ashamed of himself, and to know what it is to be refused any sympathy in any great trouble he may have. We wish it were in our power, dear Lady, to dry up your tears and comfort you, but that we cannot do. But what we can do, and will do, is to pray God, in His mercy and goodness, to comfort and strengthen you in this your time of great trouble. Wishing your Majesty, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Princess May, so cruelly bereaved and utterly disconsolate, all the strength, consolation, and comfort which God alone can give, and which He never fails to give to all who seek Him in truth and sincerity, we remain, beloved Queen, your loving and grateful though sorrowing subjects, THE OAKS WIDOWS.” (Signed on behalf of the widows by SARAH BRADLEY, one of them.) “Poor Eddie! to die so young, and so much happiness in prospect. Oh! ’tis hard.”