NEWS OF THE WEEK.
W re E record with keen regret the death of the Empress Frederick of Germany early on Monday, the 5th inst. Although it was known that the cancer from which her Majesty suffered was.incurable,-the strong vitality she derived from her mother's race had frequently deceived the physicians, and the end-when it came was almost a surprise. The Empress was an object of continued interest . in this • country, not only because of her birth as Princess Royal, but because of the tragic circumstances of -her life. She had to wait for a throne through youth and middle age, and when at last the . crown • of • Germany 'fell to her husband,' to whom she.. was devoted, and of . whose . wise , reign she .must. have dreamed many dreams, she had only to wait through ninety-nine days of the most terrible anxiety for his inevitable end.. Over her son she had little influence, and she retired to Friedrichshof, her seat near Frankfort, to pass the remainder of her days in such privacy as Royalty , can enjoy.. Full of . the . mental activity of the Coburgs, thoroughly educated, fond of art and literature, and with strong Liberal sympathies, , she was the closest friend of her mother Queen Victoria, she corresponded with all who were illustrious in Europe, and it may be hoped, despite her great calamity and her terrible disease, that her life was not an unhappy one. The feeling expressed for her in Germany, where she was never popular, is, we are happy to perceive, one Of a belated appreciation.
