VICTORIA.

THE present Queen of England is one of those happy in

dividuals whose tranquil life has presented but few incidents to gratify that love of the marvelous which so often constitutes the charm of biography. It is very seldom that one, whose misfortune it is to inherit a throne, meets with years so peaceful, so uneventful, as has been the lot of Victoria. Sunny skies have overarched her, and flowers have decked her path, and scarcely has one stormy day yet checkered the scenes of her tranquil pilgrimage. It is a problem which can not be solved until the light of another world shall illumine our minds, why Victoria and Isabella are led through such different paths: the one dwelling in a region of purity, and love, and joy, the other surrounded with every curse but poverty to embitter existence.

George III. was the father of fourteen children. His oldest son, many years before the death of his father, in consequence of the insanity of that venerable king, reigned as prince regent. Upon the death of his father, the Prince of Wales ascended the throne as George IV. By his marriage with the unhappy Caroline he had one daughter, his only heir. This daughter, the beloved and lamented Charlotte, about one year after her marriage to Prince Leopold, now King of Belgium, died, with her infant child. Thus the line of George IV. became extinct.

Upon the death of George, his next brother William as

cended the throne. He was a frank, blunt, honest-hearted sailor, whose character had been formed, and whose education had been acquired, on ship-board. William IV. reigned but a few years, and died also childless; and thus his line became extinct. The crown then would have descended to the third brother, Edward, duke of Kent; but, about eighteen years before the death of William, Edward had suddenly died, a few months only after his marriage, leaving an infant daughter, Alexandrina Victoria, but eight months of age, to inherit all the rights and privileges which might pertain to him. This little girl was, of course, regarded, during all the reign of William, as the heiress of the British throne. She now, universally respected and beloved, occupies that throne as Queen Victoria I.

Edward, the Duke of Kent, was an honest, sincere, warm-hearted man, of very simple habits, strongly attached to the quiet enjoyments of domestic life, and so republican in his political tendencies as to incur the displeasure of his kingly father. His income was so small, that he was often mortified by his inability to sustain that style of living befitting his rank. Many of the young nobility, who were necessarily his associates, far surpassed him in equipage and general splendor. Perhaps this necessity for economizing contributed to give him those home habits, and that reflective and studious turn of mind, which adorned his character. He was very benevolent toward the poor, and had a heart feelingly alive to all the sorrows of humanity. He was, consequently, much beloved by his acquaintances, though not much known. He was, however, openly allied with the opposition to his father's government. "At a public dinner, the Duke of Kent, in glancing at his

own position, remarked: "I am a friend of civil and religious liberty, all the world over. I am an enemy to all religious tests. I am a supporter of a general system of education. All men are my brethren, and I hold that power is only delegated for the benefit of the people. These principles are not popular just now; that is, they do not conduct to place or office. All the members of the royal family do not hold the same principles. For this I do not blame them; but we claim for ourselves the right of thinking and acting as we think best, and we proclaim ourselves members of his majesty's loyal opposition." "

Victoria Maria Louisa, daughter of the Duke of SaxeCoburg, and sister to Leopold, the present King of Belgium, became the bride of Edward. The Duke of Saxe-Coburg is of one of the most ancient and illustrious families of Europe. There are few of the nobility of this world who can trace their lineage further back into the obscurity of past ages. But "blood in the veins" is not "money in the purse," and, unfortunately, this illustrious family is comparatively poor. When Victoria Maria was but sixteen years of age, she was married to the Prince of Leinengen. He had wealth and rank, was forty-four years of age, and had hardly a redeeming quality to compensate for dissolute habits and an absolutely hateful mind and heart. This union abounded in wretchedness. The young princess, sacrificed to this unfeeling debauchee, was soon abandoned by her husband to entire neglect, and was rendered the victim of his unceasing petulance and cruelty. She thus passed many years of unspeakable sorrow. Her gentle mind and affectionate heart were crushed by the magnitude of her calamity. Her sorrows, however, were borne with