CHAPTER IX

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THE HEIR-PRESUMPTIVE.

Disputes with American Belligerents--The Southern Privateers--Uneasiness of the Queen--Federal Recruiting in Ireland--Mr. Gladstone’s Budget--Revival of the Reform Agitation--Mr. Gladstone Joins the Reformers--“Essays and Reviews”--A Heresy-Hunt in Convocation--A Ribald Chancellor--The Parliamentary Duel between Wilberforce and Westbury--The Vote of Censure on Mr. Lowe--The Five Under-Secretaries and the House of Commons--Prorogation of Parliament--The Strife in the United States--Gambling in Cotton--A Commercial Panic in England--The Battle of Chancellorsville--Sherman’s March through Georgia--The Canadian Raiders--The Presidential Election--Birth of the Heir-Presumptive--Baptism of the Heir-Presumptive--The Queen’s Gift to her Little Grandson--The Queen and the Floods at Sheffield--The Murder of Mr. Briggs--The Queen Refuses a Reprieve to the Murderer--The Queen’s Letter to the Princess Louis--John Brown and the Queen’s Pony--Dr. Norman McLeod’s Message from the Queen--An Anniversary of Sorrow and Sympathy 211

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