might forgive her, but that she never would; and then flew out of the chamber.

Returning to her palace, she surrendered herself without resistance to that despair which had seized her heart on this fatal and too late disclosure. "Hence," says Miss Aitken, "her refusal of medicine and almost of food; hence her obstinate silence, interrupted only by sighs, groans, and broken hints of a deep sorrow which she cared not to reveal; hence her days and nights seated on the floor sleepless, her eyes fixed, and her finger pressed upon her mouth; hence, in short, all those heart-rending symptoms of incurable and mortal anguish, which conducted her in the space of twenty days to the lamentable termination of a long life of power, prosperity, and glory."

THE NATIONAL SCHOOL CHILDREN AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

We never witnessed a more gratifying spectacle than that afforded by the gathering of nearly 5,000 children, from 120 national and endowed schools in London, at the Crystal Palace, on Saturday, May 8. Some of the details have been borrowed from the graphic account in the Times :

We shall not enter into any statistics as to the number of vans required to convey all these juvenile warblers by road to the palace. It is enough to say that they covered the various approaches during all the early part of the morning, and the vehemence with which the little cartloads of cherubs sang and shouted at the passers-by created in the minds of timid people rather unpleasant anticipations as to the effect of all their voices when united. What must have been the state of mind of their preceptors, and those in charge of heavy waggons full of volatile young urchins, half of whom seemed always trying to get under the wheels, or at least between the horses, we dare not speculate. Neither do we attempt to account for the way in which children who had been trusted to ride on the roofs of omnibuses remained upon them, in defiance of all the laws by which falling bodies are usually governed. As it was, however, in spite of all chances to the contrary, a large instalment of the 5,000

children were safely delivered as per order at the palace soon after nine; and nearly all were in their places, or at least as nearly in them as they could be kept, by ten o'clock.

A few minutes after that hour her Majesty, accompanied by the young Queen of Portugal, his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, the Princess Alice, the Prince of Hohenzollern, honoured the palace with a visit, before the time fixed for opening the building to the public. The illustrious visitors and their numerous suites were received on alighting by Sir Joseph Paxton and Mr. Bowley, and conducted to her Majesty's private reception-room, which had been richly fitted up for the occasion. From this her Majesty went with her royal guests throughout the entire length of the palace, commencing at the tropical end and passing in succession through all its fine arts' courts, and courts of exhibition on both sides, her Majesty pointing out the various works of art which she particularly wished to direct the attention of the Queen of Portugal. As the royal party came in front of the Handel orchestra, where the multitudes of young vocalists were stowed away, even to the topmost tiers of seats, the whole mass rose and gave "God save the Queen" with such an evidence of feeling and earnestness that it was quite touching to hear them. This choral tribute, to which her Majesty and her visitors listened, with marked attention, being concluded, the juveniles took to cheering, and this they did, with all the united power of their little lungs, in a way that made the building ring again. It was a pure effusion of loyalty, without arrangement or effort beyond that which each child made to cheer longest and loudest, and the smiles with which the Queen received the ovation by no means tended to shorten or diminish it. Her Majesty quitted the building a few minutes before one o'clock.

From the moment the building was opened to the public the visitors by road and rail poured in in a continuous stream till before the hour fixed for the commencement of the concert, when upwards of 18,000 were present; and by the time the first part was concluded the audience was increased by nearly 4,000 more. Every part of the centre transept, in fact, was crowded, and the Handel orchestra, with the light dresses of the girls, and the red uniforms of the Duke of

York's school, in a little cluster, made it resemble at a distance one vast white bouquet with a rose in the middle.

The concert commenced at three o'clock. The only instrumental adjunct was the organ, at which Mr. Brownsmith (organist to the Sacred Harmonic Society) presided, beginning it with a spirited performance of the march from Costa's Eli. The Old Hundredth psalm was then sung, and the effect produced by the combination of so many thousands of young and vigorous voices was indescribable. A four-part song "Sweetly the Sabbath bell"-by a semi-chorus of picked voices, was given with wonderful delicacy, and encored by the audience. The 119th psalm, set to the "Dundee tune," was equally good, and remarkable for the perfect contrast between "forte" and "piano" in the alternating 'verses. Farrant's well-known anthem, "Lord, for Thy tender mercies' sake," was another fine display, beautifully in tune throughout, and equally effective in loud and soft passages; while the chant set to the 146th psalm was a far better example of chant singing than we have heard in more than one of our vaunted cathedrals. "Rule Britannia," was somewhat unsteady; but this was followed by so charming a performance of J. Stafford Smith's glee, "When the evening sun is shining," arranged for the purpose, that a second encore was unanimously insisted upon. There were several other pieces, among which a four-part song on the "Blue Bells of Scotland," (harmonised by Mr. G. W. Martin, the conductor) obtained a third encore; and the whole concluded with "God save the Queen," after which the children cheered the audience, flourishing their music in their hands; the audience responded; and the scene was impressive and interesting in the highest degree. Great credit is due to Mr. Martin, who, we understand, was chiefly instrumental in preparing for and organising this truly extraordinary exhibition-one of the most gratifying ever witnessed in the Crystal Palace,

Between the first and second parts of the concert, the Duke of York's band performed several pieces in the most creditable style, and Master Moss gave a solo on the euphonium with considerable skill and effect, notwithstanding that the instrument he manoeuvred and governed was some two sizes larger than himself. While this was going forward

the 5,000 little choristers went to the third-class refreshment department, and consumed more cakes and lemonade than one would have thought 10,000 of the biggest choristers could have done in the same time. The public only heard the children sing; they should have been present at the "feeding time," and heard them talk also, and that, too, without prejudice, as the lawyers say, to the most "rapid mastication." Such a luncheon has been seldom witnessed. Altogether, the demonstration was an extraordinary one, and deserved the success it achieved.-London Journal.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

THE Divine Oracle that revealed to the prophet things that were to come, informed him of the increase of mere secular knowledge, and of the restless desire of change of place that would characterize the latter end of the last days, or "the time of the end." But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the Book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

This prophecy has been fulfilled in our own day, and is daily fulfilling. Communications are made from one end of the earth to another with the speed of lightning; and by means of steam, men can run "to and fro," from one country to another with a velocity that would have been incredible to our grandfathers. A message can now be sent, or at least will soon be sent, from London to New York in the space of a few minutes; we heard of battles and of assaults in the Crimea before almost the sound of the guns had ceased; and we have telegrams from the most remote parts of India, in less time than the space of a day.

Again, by a new arrangement, travellers will be able to pass from England, by steam, in the course, it is supposed, of six days, to America, a distance of over 3,000 miles! It has been calculated that by taking the railway from New York to Halifax; by employing the swiftest steamer thence to Galway, in the west of Ireland; by taking railway to Dublin, a distance of 120 miles, and thence by steamer to Holyhead, and North-Western Railway to London, a distance of 263 miles or more, the passage from New York to London may be accomplished in seven, and probably in six days.

In this journey, 2,000 miles of steam navigation, and about 1,200 miles of railway travelling will be occupied.

Many other signs of the times shew to the eye of faith that the time of the end" cannot be far distant; for undoubtedly many do "run to and fro" with astonishing speed; and the scientific knowledge of the age has increased and is daily increasing.

Another strong sign of the times is the movement among the presbyterian bodies for the introduction of a liturgy and instrumental music into their places of worship; vide our June number, page 195.

Another sign, is in the numerous crotchety follies of the clergy, by which they are disgusting the laity and driving them into dissent. One wont attend a funeral at the appointed time; and when he does arrive, will not allow the corpse to be taken into the church; but will persist in reading the full service at the grave, under the reclamation of the relatives; in consequence the whole funeral party with their friends joined a dissenting body. Another holds a confessional for the hearing of the sins and frailties of women; using all the approved language of the popish priest, to drag the filthy details from the unwilling memories of his victims. St. Paul says it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done in secret; but these secret things are just what are most rigorously inquired into in the Belgravian Confessional; and we cannot help concluding that these questions and answers are an acting of the sins over again. Our Lord never once mentions the necessity of confession in secret to a priest; and if that had been an established law of the gospel, where or when had St. Paul a better opportu nity of inculcating auricular confession than when writing to the Corinthian church of "discerning the lord's body?" he imposed on every one the duty of examining himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. (2 Cor. xi. 28). Again he says; "examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your ownselves. (1 Cor. xiii. 5). The fact is, as one of these auricular gentlemen once confessed to me, that the confessional is the only mode of acquiring POWER Over the laity. THAT is the secret of the confessional.

W. C. P.