by the leaden coffin in which his body was brought to England. It was chopped up into the smallest bits possible, and distributed through the fleet by the Victory's crew, under the name of relics of Saint Nelson!

A few months ago I went down to Portsmouth on purpose to go over the Victory, now flag-ship there. I went straight to the cockpit, and, having procured the key from the first lieutenant, I went in. How long I remained there I do not know. I sat down in the corner where, fifty-seven years ago, I lay wounded on a pallet, and the whole scene flooded through my brain with fearful vividness. The dying hours of our brave Admiral-of him, every sailor's greatest hero-now so long in heaven! And then I thought how strange it was that with him died our naval glory for the time-Trafalgar being our last victory during that war. Then the solemn feeling came upon me that in a few short years I should meet him again. Meet him, the hero of my whole life— the beacon of my perilous course! Many events of far more recent date had vanished from my memory; but that short month and a half with him was indelibly engraved on it. Our great chief's death shone out, bright as the polar star on a cloudy night—so brightly did it shine that I knew I must be very near to it. I remained on board for many hours, going over and over the dear old decks till I got into a happy whirl of boyish recollections. I took a parting look at the very spot where HE fell; and full of gentle thoughts I stepped down the accommodation ladder, repeating instinctively the lines written on him by a poet of his own day :—

Yet, yet awhile the natural tear may flow,
Nor cold reflection chide the chastening woe;
Awhile, unchecked, the tide of sorrow swell:-
Thou bravest, gentlest spirit-fare thee well!

THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH.

HE study of language is at the same time one of the most instructive and one of the most interesting occupations with which we can employ ourselves. And in the present age of advanced education it is absolutely necessary for everybody to obtain a knowledge of his own language, and to read, speak, and write it in accordance with the known rules on the subject. However well taught a man may be in other branches of study, yet unless he can speak correctly, he will never make his way in the world, since correct speaking is, as it were, the outward attribute of the gentleman, and the one by which his other qualifications are judged.

It is therefore evident that every youth should pay great attention to this branch of education at

school. A sensible boy, as his knowledge of his own language increases, is sure to take pleasure in the study of it, and will read with interest the many books that have been written upon this most delightful subject.

The latest contribution to that library which has made the names of Latham, Richardson, Trench, and others famous, comes to ask our suffrages in the form of a compact little volume of 256 pages, written by Dr. Alford, the popular Dean of Canterbury. Although the book is written in a desultory, unconnected manner, yet some of the stray notes it contains are full of valuable information, and may reasonably be looked upon as authorities on many a keenly-debated point. The book may therefore be considered as worthy the same place in the schoolroom which that of Dean Trench holds in the study. No person

* "The Queen's English; Stray Notes on Speaking and Spelling." By Henry Alford, D.D., Dean of Canterbury. London: Strahan.

for an instant would hesitate to place the latter upon a much higher pinnacle of fame than the former, although, at the same time, all will admit that Dean Alford's labours in the good cause ought to be, and probably have been, crowned with success.

But although, on the whole, we praise this specimen of the Queen's English, we cannot pass over the careless manner in which the book is written. The Dean is evidently not a graceful writer of English, as he is sure to have put forth all his strength in the composition of a book on language. This strength, however, seems to consist in devising the most unnatural manner of writing good English, and in violating some of Lord Kames's most important rules with regard to words expressing things connected in thought being placed as near together as possible.

"The Queen's English," we must state, professes to be a reprint from a widely circulated periodical entitled "Good Words," presented to the public in a considerably altered form.

This is strictly true, for, having compared the reprint with the original articles, we are able to compliment the Dean on the many judicious alterations he has made; thanks, perhaps, to the suggestions given by a gentleman styled in a country paper as "a knight, bearing on his shield the emblem of the lunar orb," and other lovers of pure English who have considered that the reverend grammarian has in some way defiled the pure well of English.

Sitting down with the book and the volume of "Good Words" for 1863 before us, we note no great difference until we come to the following expression: "The Queen is of course no more the proprietor of the English language than you or I"-(see "Good Words"), but in the volume we have "than any of us." Why this change? On page 140 of the book we read: "What are we to think of the question, whether 'than' does or does not govern an accusative case? than I:''than me' which is right? My readers will probably answer without hesitation, the former. But is the latter so certainly wrong? We are accustomed to hear it stigmatized as being so; but I think, erroneously. Milton writes, 'Paradise Lost,' ii. 299,—

'Which when Beelzebub perceived, than whom,
Satan except, none higher sat.'

And thus every one of us would speak: than who,' would be intolerable. And this seems to settle the question."

So the Dean thinks. We, however, do not. Poetry is not often considered a high authority on matters of grammatical construction, although the Dean seems to think it should be, since this is the only