could bind him more stringently to fulfil his duty towards the people than he felt himself to be bound by as soon as the responsibility of his position had fallen upon him. The land he now lived in speedily became agitated by that wave of revolution which was shaking many of the monarchies of Europe. England endured as great revolution as any of them, but with this difference, that here it was effected according to law, and, albeit not exempt from very vast perils, was carried through to its natural consequences, to the mutual advantage of the government and the governed. When the first rumours began to spread of an opposition establishing itself at court against the progress of reform, the press manifested particular desire to exonerate the Queen from the charge of participating in or heading such a course. The ‘Times’ at first interfered to protect that lady from similar aspersions. Papers of less influence, but of like principles, had openly named Queen Adelaide, the two daughters of George III., Elizabeth (Princess of Hesse Homburg), and Mary (Duchess of Gloucester) as mischievously active in impeding the popular will. In answer to such accusations, the ‘Times’ (April 9, 1831), in a brief but spirited and courteous leader, denounced the falsehood, and showed the improbability and the unfairness of such allegations. On a like occasion, that paper fairly urged that, whatever opinions might be expressed by members of the household, they were not to be attributed to the mistress of that household. At the same time, on these members and on the fair frequenters of drawing-rooms who there gave utterance to sentiments which they carried into action elsewhere against the great consummation sought by the people, the pro-reform paper thundered its bolts and showered its sarcasm with unsparing hands. On most occasions, however, so much was made of the apparent heartiness of the King, that excess of praise in that direction took the form of censure on the lukewarmness, if not the hostility, of the Queen. Contrasts rather than parallels were the favourite medium for turning the public attention to the two sovereigns. The Ex-Chancellor Eldon was said to have assured Queen Adelaide that, if reform was carried, the days of her drawing-rooms were numbered, and that royalty would do well to follow a counsel which was given by Earl Grey to the bishops--namely, set its house in order. On the other hand, we hear of the new Chancellor Brougham attending the court with his huge official purse so full of petitions in favour of parliamentary reform that, as he continued to extract and present them, he apologized to King William for troubling him with such piles of the public prayers or demands. Whereupon the King is said to have remarked, in the hearing of the Queen, ‘My Lord Chancellor, I am willing to receive anything from that purse, except the seals!’ The wit was small, but the suggestiveness was considered important, and