A Nation's Loss.

A NATION'S LOSS .

LONDON , SATURDAY , DECEMBER 21 , 1861 .

At a period when we are usually offering our congratulations to our readers on the arrival of a festive season , ancl the near approach of a day—St . Johns—which used to he held sacred to Ereemasonry , and indeed is still so throughout the whole Masonic world , excepting in

those lodges under the jurisdiction of England , though even in these it is not altogether forgotten , the more especially in the provinces , we find ourselves compelled to adopt a different strain and express our sympathj ' , and we are sure that of the whole of the Brethren , with

the bereavement which her Majesty has experienced by the death of H . R . H . the Prince Consort , which took place late last Saturday evening . Though H . R . H . was not a member of our Craft , the Royal Eamily of England have been so intimately connected with

Ereeniasonry , her Majesty ' s father and uncles having been for many years the Grand Masters and Grand Patrons of the Order , that we feel we should ill discharge our duty to the brethren , always distinguished for their loyalty to the throne , were we to pass over such an event in silence .

The EIUBEMASOK - S' MAGAZINE of Saturday last informed the brethren that the Prince had been confined to his room for some days by low fever ; on that morning the first intimations of danger were given to the public , and before low twelve his Royal Highness had ceased to breathe , thus furnishing a striking

exemplification of that theme upon which , in our most impressive ceremonies , we are taught to meditate—that in the midst of life we are in death , and so to conduct ourselves as to be always prepared for that change to which we must all submit , there being no hour at which ,

even with less warning than that given to the prince whose loss we now deplore , we may not be called upon to answer for our actions in this life before the throne of the Great Architect of the Universe , from whom and through whom we have our being .

His Royal Highness Albert Francis Augustus Charles Emmanuel , Prince Consort of England , Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , Duke of Saxony , a Eield-Marshal in the Army , KG ., K . T ., G . C . B ., K . P ., G . C . M . G ., Knight of the Golden Eleece , Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour , D . C . L ., LL . D ., Colonel of the Grenadier

Guards , Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifle Brigade , and Captain-General and Colonel of the Hon . Artillery Company , was the second son of His Royal Highness Ernest Antony Charles Lewis , Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , by his first- marriage with Dorothy Louisa Paulina

Charlotte Erederica Augusta , daughter of his Royal Highness Augustus Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenberg , and was born on the 26 th of August , 1819 . He consequently had just completed his 42 nd year , and up to within the last few days , was in the enjoyment of health and strength which promised a long career of usefulness

to the country of his adojition . His Royal Highness received his early education under his father ' s supervision , his masters being selected from the College of Coburg . His mother died w * hen he was scarcely eleven years old , and he was sent to England for a while to the residence of his aunt , the Duchess of Kent , who

was residing in strict seclusion at Kensington Palace , educating her daughter , the Princess Victoria , our present beloved Queen , when the young prince became the fellow student of the princess , his future wife . He remained about fifteen months in England , Kensington

and Claremont being alternately his home . After his father ' s second marriage with a Princess of "Wurteinburg , Prince Albert returned to Erenberg , and subsequently entered the University of Bonn with his elder broth ei " , the present reigning Grand Duke of

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha . His Royal Highness remained at tbe University for three sessions , closing in September 1838 , and was distinguished as an elegant scholar , the arts and sciences receiving his marked attention ; and in January , 1840 , on the announcement of his marriage with the Queen of England , ' he was admitted , in his absence , to the degree of Doctor of Laws .

In 1838 the young prince and his father paid a visit to England , on the occasion of the coronation of the Princess Victoria , then only in her nineteenth year , as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland ; and at this period it would seem that the marriage of our Queen and the Prince was arranged ; for , in the following year , the .

princeaccompa-, nied by his brother , again visited these shores , and one week after his departure , on the 23 rd December , 1839 ,, her Majesty announced to her Privy Council her intention to unite herself in marriage with Prince Albert , of Saxe Coburg Gotha , expressing her conviction that

the union would , " by the blessing of God , secure her domestic happiness , and serve the best interests of her country . " The approaching marriage was announced to Parliament in the Queen's speech , on the 16 th January , 1840 , and a proposal was made to allot His Royal

Highness £ 50 , 000 per annum , which , however , was reduced by the vote of the House of Commons to £ 30 , 000 . The royal wedding took place at the Chapel Royal , St . James's , on the 10 th Pebruary of the same year , her Majesty being given away by her uncle , our

then Illustrious Grand Blaster , the Duke of Sussex , who , from the period of her accession , on the 20 th June , 1837 , had been her principal councillor and guide , a position , indeed , he continued to some extent to occupy with the young couple , until the period of his death , on the

21 st April , 1843 , an event which is stated to have had an important bearing with regard to the connection of the late Prince with our Order . It is asserted that ,

shortly prior to the last illness of the Duke , it had been arranged to have a special meeting of the Alpha Lodge at Kensington Palace , with the view of initiating Prince Albert ; but His Royal Highness ' s illness and death caused the postponement of the ceremony . Subsequently , under the advice of Sir Robert Peel that he