The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 24, 1901. A NATION IN MOURNING.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 19, 24 January 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 24, 1901. A NATION IN MOURNING.

Though not unexpected, the news of the death last night of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen must have come as a shook to the thousands of her subjects in New Zealand. Our cables had prepared us for the worst, for though the Queen rallied slightly on Tuesday ; was able to take some sustenance and recognise, and converse with her sorrowing relatives—waiting and watching at the Royal bedside—the rally was but a temporary one, and soon our beloved Sovereign fell back exhausted, and slept. One of the most pathetic incidents of the dying moments of our beloved Queen was that in which Her Majesty, after waking from a refreshing sleep, gazed with an affectionate look on those she held most dear, and from whom she was so soon to be removed, and sank back exhausted with the arms of her loving and dutiful daughter-in-law (the Princess of Wales) wound caressingly around, her. One can well understand that as the ’Emperor of Germany and the Duke of Connaught stole from the Royal bedside they were visibly affected, and that as they clasped her hand in farewell the tears of sympathy and feeling should bedim their eyes. Strangely pathetic must the scene have been. As Her Majesty became weaker and weaker, the broken sobs from those present showed that it was recognised the end was approaching, and that our beloved Queen was about'to enter the Kingly presence of Him Whose guidance and counsel she has never failed to invoke. As her life had been, so was her death—peaceful and tranquil, with the sanctifying influence of love ever present—entering the Kingdom of her Maker with a smile on her face, her lips breathing a prayer to that God at Whose will even kings and queens and rulers of nations must kneel. Her life has been in itself a lesson. The beauty of her domestic life, her love and sympathy, and her charming demeanour as Queen, wife, and mother endeared her to the people in the strongest bond—that of love, respect, reverence. For one and twenty years she reigned with the Prince Consort at her side, his strong arms held out in husbandly loving support of her he loved so dear. Their joint influence of good, the lessons of unselfishness, consideration for others, and purity and virtue impressed the nation, and the purifying and elevating influence of the happy domestic Jife of the Queen and Prince Consort spread far beyond the precincts of the Royal Household — recognised and appreciated by rich and poor, by peer and peasant. As an historian has truly written; “As years rolled on and children grew up around the Royal pair the nation noted with joyous satisfaction that in parental duties their Sovereign and her consort had proved themselves as a shining

example. Amid a court as pure as the most sheltered English home, Victoria and Albert went hand in hand with their children—ever leading them towards the true, Jhe beautiful, and the good.” Arts, science, commerce, education, Chistianity, literature—what rapid strides have been made during the beneficent reign of her who is no more, and whose earthly remains await interment alongside the kings and queens who have swayed the Royal sceptre of might and power. And thirteen years ago, when Her Majesty—the long-widowed, parted by death from him whom she loved, and never forgot—took part in the celebrations of the Jubilee reign, the patriotic pride and honest friendship of-the people to their Queen proved that it was not the temporary outburst of an excited nation, carried away by patriotic fervor, but the sincere and cordial notes of a nation’s greeting to their Queen. At the thanksgiving services she was “ a figure of singular dignity and interest, drawing and holding all eyes.” And the nation’s heart was uplifted in supplication that yet larger store of years might be reserved for their beloved Sovereign. Happy the nation that saw such a day, and thrice happy the nation that saw its rejoicings repeated and redoubled at the Diamond Jubilee of our beloved Queen. And so happy and prosperous the years rolled on, and our Queen was spared to witness the inauguration of a new century of commercial and social progress. As the nation entered upon another era of prosperity and advancement; as the year of 1901 gave birth to a new nation of the Southern Seas, she who had ruled so wisely and well for 63 years bade farewell to her loving relations and sorrowing subjects, and fell asleep in Jesus. By her bedside stood the present King, Albert Edward—late Prince of Wales —and to him the cares and responsibilities of a crown are transferred. Let us hope that his reign may prove as happy and beneficial as that of his loving mother. And so the nation, between its sobs, cries:

The Queen is dead. Long live the King!