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hurt his feelings. She knew how he suffered mentally; she knew that the mental suffering was worse to him than the bodily suffering itself. He had been so independent all his life, and had asked so little of any one, and her heart bled to see him so young, so weak, and so helpless.

"I am tired this afternoon," she said to him. "Will you let me have your arm?" He smiled brightly.

"I am glad you asked me," he said, "for I noticed how tired you seemed. Your work has been too much for you. Why, I do believe I am stronger than you to-day."

She took his arm; but it was he who had the support, and not she, and when they reached his lodgings, he sank back exhausted.

"I can still smell the lime-trees," he said to himself, as he loosened his scarf. "I am glad you persuaded me to go out with you, for it was pleasant to see the whole scene again. There is no cathedral more beautiful than that leafy cathedral which we have just left. I hope you will always be fond of it, if only for my sake."

Suddenly he was seized with a fearful fit of coughing, and Gertrude bent over him anxiously, as he sat in his armchair by the open window.

"Elkin, what can I do for you?" she asked sorrowfully. "What can I do to help you?"

That was the first time she had called him Elkin. At the sound of her voice he looked up and smiled.

"If you do not mind," he said, "bring that stool, and sit near me, and let me hold your hand."

It was the first time he had ever asked anything of her. He was silent for some minutes, and seemed to be thinking. She sat near him, and held his right hand in her own. Then he spoke.

"You are only a child, only a child," he said mournfully, "and life is so hard for the strongest amongst us. I wish I could have had a long, strong life, so that I might have helped you. You are only a child, for all your independence."

He rested her hand against his cheek. "It is some comfort to me," he said, after a pause, "that you will live on to work. It is splendid to think of you living and working. I have always had such a passion for work, and you know my great trouble has been that I have had to be idle. But you will do your share of work for me as well as for yourself, and that is my comfort."

Her hand still rested against his cheek. She could not speak a word.

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Life is hard for the strongest," he said again, "but you are gallant. I always thought you were gallant; I thought so the very first moment you came into my class-room at the New College. I have not spoken to you lately about ambition; but do you know, that of all ambitious men, I am by nature the most ambitious? One by one I have had to give these ambitions up, and one by one my heart-strings broke. But a broken heart is better than a bitter one. Will you remember that, child? Still, you know, one ambition does remain, and that is to live long enough to hear of your success. I have missed other things, but this one thing I am sure I shall not miss, for no one, not even the hardest taskmaster, would grudge me twenty-four more hours of life. You look very tired, child, and very anxious, but this time tomorrow you and I will both be smiling because of your success. You must take care of yourself. I want you to live long so that you may do much. As a teacher you have a great responsibility to fulfil. You have a broad, open mind yourself, therefore teach your pupils to take a wide view of life. Tell them that God, who, so they believe, made the open-lying downs, and the free sky, and the boundless ocean, and the spreading fields- tell them that God cannot wish our minds to be pent up in a nut-shell. As our eyes cry for light, so our minds should cry for space, always more space. Tell them this from me. I want you to have all the things which I have missed. I want you to live and love. And I want you to rejoice in the sunshine and in nature. Do not make yourself miserable with thought. There is a great brick wall against which we kick in vain call it God, or Fate, or the First Cause. Just do your work well, and by adding to the store of work well done, you will help humanity, and you will earn your immortality, and your rest too."

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She rose and kissed him on the forehead. "You have been so good to me," she whispered, "but I cannot say much to you to-night, for everything seems to me so mournful. And I cannot bear for you to suffer. I would gladly give my life for yours. What does it all mean, I wonder? You are a rare spirit, and I am just a simple girl, with no originality in me. I can well be spared and you cannot. And yet it is you who have to leave your work. Sometimes when I look at you it seems to me all a dream that you are ill."

"If I had been well," he answered, as

he watched her put on her hat and scarf, | some man, more chivalrous than the "many things would have been different. others, called out:Yes, many things would have been different."

They stood there in the twilight, hand in hand, and there was silence between them for many minutes.

"Who knows?" he said cheerily, "you may gain the gold medal in your examina

tion."

"Whatever I gain," she answered, "I shall owe to you."

"If you pass," he said, "there will be no more drudging, no more anxiety about stray lessons, but a good post and a good salary. Come straight home to me, directly you hear the news to-morrow afternoon, and take a hansom. Tell the man to drive quickly. Do not delay one single instant, for I shall be so anxious to hear the good news."

As he held out his hand, she raised it to her lips and kissed it lovingly. "Goodnight," she said, "good-night, Elkin dear. God bless you.' And as she spoke, the tears fell from her eyes, and he saw them. When he was left alone, there was a strangely beautiful smile on his face. He knew now that whatever else he had missed, he had not missed love.

VI.

"All right, Miss Hurst; 24 is on the list."

He made way for her, and she saw for herself. She waited just long enough to congratulate some of her friends, and to press in kindly sympathy the hand of the middle-aged teacher whose number was

not on the list. Then she hailed a hansom, and was just going to step into it when she told the man to wait a minute; and she ran back to have one more look at the list. "Just to be quite sure," she said to herself. She read all the numbers from the beginning, and then came 19, 20, and 24. She sprang lightly into the bansom, and her face was radiant with happiness. "It is through his help," she said to herself, "and I am so proud and glad to think that I owe my success to him. If it had not been for him I should have failed again in mathematics; all the biology and chemistry in the world would not have saved me."

The weariness of the last few weeks seemed to have left her; her face, ordinarily so troubled, looked girlish and young again; her only thought was how pleased he would be to hear the good news, and what a cosy evening they would pass together now that this anxiety was removed.

IT was about two o'clock on August 12th when Gertrude Hurst went down to Burlington Gardens to hear the verdict of the examiners. Her number was 24. The lists were not yet out when she arrived, and the hall was full of men and women, each one more anxious than the other, although, of course, there were some who pretended not to be anxious at all, and were talking on subjects which had nothing to do with examinations, but who nevertheless looked up eagerly, expecting to see the list, which was to set all doubts at rest. Gertrude Hurst found many of her men and women friends, and they all told her that there was no need for her to be anxious. She, in her turn, spoke many cheering words to a forlorn, middleaged teacher, who looked overworked and under-fed. Gertrude thought only of Elkin Annerley; all personal interest in the matter had passed away, and it was for his sake chiefly that she wished to see num-"I shall be back later on." ber 24 on the list. "Who knows?" she thought; "a great gladness often helps people to live, when doctors have given them up."

At last she reached his lodgings, jumped out of the hansom, overpaid the cabman, and knocked loudly at the brass knocker. The door was opened by the old landlady.

"I have such good news for Mr. Annerley," Gertrude said, smiling happily. Then she noticed a strange expression on the landlady's face.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked, a sudden fear possessing her.

"Oh, Miss Hurst," the old landlady said, "how can I tell you? He died this morning at two o'clock."

At last the list was brought in, and there was a rush to the stand, and Gertrude could not get near enough to see. But

Gertrude stood at the door speechless. In that brief moment she knew that the loveliest part of life had been taken from her. She went silently up to the room where Elkin Annerley lay, and there she stayed for full an hour. After that, they saw her standing on the door-step.

"I am going for a walk," she told them.

There were no tears in her eyes, and her face was almost expressionless. She walked up and down Judge's Walk, under the spreading branches, which cast their shadows on the path; the Hampstead bells were chiming a sweet melody; the lingering sun shone through the trees; the

birds, so strangely tame there, hopped from one gnarled root to another; the children played their games on the grass and round the great trees; the dog Rufus came and walked by Gertrude's side, barking as though anxious to be noticed.

The old, white-haired man passed by her. "Ah!" he said, in his cheery way, "and where is your companion to-day? It does not seem natural for you to be alone here." Then she looked up.

"He is dead," she said quietly; "therefore I walk alone."

"And what of you?" he asked kindly. "I have passed my examination," she said half dreamily.

"You are glad of that," he said. "Your companion was so anxious for you to succeed."

"But he does not know," she said, and her lips quivered for the first time. "What is my success worth to me now?"

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Then she passed on her way, her head bowed, and her arms folded tightly together. BEATRICE HARRADEN.

From The Quarterly Review.

THE QUEEN'S MESSENGER.

Al

defiance, to the full-blown negotiator or plenipotentiary, is a process of a comparatively simple character. In all intertribal or international affairs the recurrence of questions involving bargain or negotiation would certainly develop with the development of civilization, and the consequent increase of complexity in human affairs. Nevertheless, diplomacy, as a regular profession or service, did not certainly exist until comparatively recent times. though ancient records show that special embassies or missions have been resorted to, on occasions of necessity, even in the very remote past, the idea of a resident diplomatic body is the result of a more modern civilization, and a requirement of latter-day invention. At the present moment every civilized State considers it a bounden duty to be represented at all the principal capitals by a diplomatic officer, corresponding either to its own importance in the scale of nations, or to that of the State to which the envoy is accredited.

The traditions of the diplomatic service are no doubt brilliant, but it may be questioned whether the comet which has thus been called upon to run its sparkling course is destined still for many centuries to illuminate the modern world, of which the practical sobriety and dulness is ever increasing. The growth of the very conditions, which have tended to produce a diplomatic service, may further tend to bring about its eventual decay. Proximity of geographical position; common interests of an offensive, defensive, or commercial character; the recurrence of questions requiring tact and conciliation in their settlement; all these conditions naturally tended, in the days of defective and dilatory means of communication to produce a permanent or residential diplomatic body. As, however, the means of interstate communication advance towards perfection, so the necessity for a resident diplomatic body tends to decrease. True it is that the personal influence and tact of the many able men of the world, who have adorned and still adorn the diplomatic profession, often may be invaluable in removing causes of international quarThe prototype or amaba of the diplo- rel, and in promoting general kindliness matist is the savage bearing a wand of and good feeling between two different truce or other symbol of peace and amity; States; but in the present day the inin later times the herald performing a sim-crease of democratic principles and of ilar function in more civilized communi- Parliamentary government, throughout ties. The transition from the mere bearer the world, tends to render the force of a token, message, letter, ultimatum, or

THE existence of the Corps of Queen's Foreign Service Messengers is coincident with and dependent upon the maintenance and development of her Majesty's diplo. matic service. Save for the rare and brief occasions when the sovereign is absent from British soil, and when the necessity for constant transaction of the affairs of State demand a regular and trustworthy channel of communication with the home government, the duties of the queen's messenger are now practically confined to the conveyance of despatches to and from H.M.'s embassies and legations in certain capitals and the Foreign Office. Not only is the connection between the two services thus established, but they may be said to have in reality sprung from the same stock by divergent processes of evolution.

• The Queen's Messenger, or Travels on the Highways and Byeways of Europe. By Major Herbert Byng Hall. London, 1865.

of personal characteristics in relation to international affairs of less and less importance. History shows but too well how international quarrels may be fomented or

allayed as may best suit the political exigencies of the moment; and in such events the most brilliant diplomatic personality must ever count as a mere cypher in the game. In the days when personal government by the sovereign of a State was more the rule than the exception, the individual influence of a well-skilled diplomatic envoy was a matter of the utmost importance, and a persona grata might do much to cement international friendship; but in very few States can such influence now operate to so great an extent in the present fin de siècle. Beyond this lies the consideration that diplomats may sometimes be made the object of incidents of a nature to occasion international difficulties. It is not every one who has the ready wit and sang-froid displayed some years ago in Paris by the German ambassador, Count Münster, formerly the very popular representative of his sovereign at the court of St. James's, and a well-known figure in London society. The incident referred to is thus recorded in a wellknown journal: —

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An amusing incident happened a day or two ago in Paris which, however, might have been fraught with grave consequences. The German ambassador, Count Münster, was driving with his daughter in the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, where bread was being served out to a number of soldiers of the reserve. A cry was raised, "That is the German ambassador! whereupon one of the soldiers flung a loaf at the passing carriage. It fortunately missed his Excellency, but struck the footman's hat, and dropped into the carriage. Count Münster stopped to enable the footman to pick up his hat, and was on the point of driving off, when the man who had thrown the loaf added insult to injury by demanding back his "rightful property." The count, however, was equal to the occasion, and retorted calmly: "No, I must have satisfaction, and you shall give it-to my horses, which are particularly fond of black bread." turned the laugh against the offender, who

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stood dumb while the ambassador drove off amidst the cheers of the soldiers.

Here, no doubt, the tact of an able and experienced diplomatist prevented all chance of unpleasantness; but in many similar cases which either are or are not recorded in history, according as they have or have not led to more or less serious quarrels between States, it is impossible to avoid the reflection that incidents of such a character affecting diplomatists cannot always be disposed of with the same ease and quietness.

From this point of view it is interesting to note the terms of an existing English

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Whereas several turbulent and disorderly Persons having in a most outrageous manner insulted the Person of His Excellency Andrew Artemonowitz Mattueoff, Ambassador Extraordinary of His Czarish Majesty, Emperor of Great Russia, Her Majesty's good Friend and Ally, by arresting him, and taking him by Violence out of his Coach in the publick street, and detaining him in Custody for several hours, in contempt of the Protection of Nations, and in prejudice of the Rights granted by Her Majesty, contrary to the Law and Privileges which Ambassadors and other Publick Ministers, authorized and received as such, have at all times been thereby possessed of, and ought to be kept sacred and inviolable; be it therefore declared by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That all Actions and Suits, Writs and Processes commenced, sued, or prosecuted against the said Ambassador by any Person or Persons whatsoever, and all Bail Bonds given by the said Ambassador, or any Person or Persons in his behalf, and all recognizances of Bail, given or acknowledged in any such Action or Suit, and all Proceedings upon, or by pretext or color of any such Action or Suit, Writ or Process, and all Judgments thereupon, are utterly null and void, to all Intents, Constructions, and Purposes whatever.

The statute goes on to enact, with the view" to prevent the like insolences for the future," that a similar immunity is to extend not only to any ambassador or public minister of any foreign power, but also to the domestics or domestic servants of any such foreign representative; and penalties are prescribed in regard to any persons who shall venture to take profar as we know, this is the only English ceedings of any kind against them. So act of Parliament which expressly guar antees the immunities and privileges attaching to the foreign diplomatic body; whose status is, however, further safeguarded by the somewhat misty principles of international law and comity of nations, which form part of the common law of this country.

Amongst the privileges and immunities attaching to the ambassadorial character, may certainly be reckoned the right to the inviolability and safe conduct of any despatches which he may send to, or receive from, his own government or sovereign. The State or royal messenger who is

charged with the duty of conveying such despatches becomes thus, as the servant for the time being of the ambassador, un doubtedly clothed with diplomatic immunity for the time being, and whilst engaged in such service. The fact is noted by most of the leading publicists on international law.

at Baltimore. After a sharp discussion between the British and United States governments, during the course of which the question of the inviolability of the bearers of despatches was minutely argued, the incident, which at one time threatened to lead to a rupture, was terminated by the surrender of the envoys to the protection of the British flag. During the course of the dispute the government of Great Britain received the most gratifying testimony from various European States to the justice of the position they had taken up.

This incident serves to show the inter

dependent sanctity of diplomatic representatives and of their despatches, and confirms the view expressed above of the close connection between the two services of diplomacy and royal messengers.

The practice of nations [says Wheaton] has also extended the inviolability of public ministers to the messengers and couriers sent with despatches to or from the legations established in different countries. They are exempt from every species of visitation and search, in passing through the territories of those powers with whom their own government is in amity. For the purpose of giving effect to this exemption, they must be provided with passports from their own government, attesting their official character; and in case of despatches sent by sea, the vessel or aviso must also be provided with a commission or pass. In modern times the vast bulk of the . . . In time of war, a special agreement by international questions which require permeans of a cartel or flag of truce, with pass-sonal communication, are those of adports, not only from their own government, ministrative or technical character; combut from its enemy, is necessary for the pur-mercial, postal, telegraph, extradition, pose of securing these despatch vessels from consular, and other conventions of the interruption, as between the belligerent pow-like character; and the matters growing But an ambassador, or other public out of them are usually discussed to the minister resident in a neutral country, for the purpose of preserving the relations of peace greatest advantage by experts in the parand amity between the neutral State and his ticular subjects. The services of the proown government, has a right freely to send fessional diplomatist are frequently not his despatches in a neutral vessel, which can- required in the treatment of such quesnot lawfully be intercepted by the cruisers of tions, which, however, continue in an evera power at war with his own country. increasing ratio to represent the greater portion of international relations in the present day.

ers.

On this subject Vattel very justly re

marks:

Couriers sent or received by an ambassador, his papers, letters, and despatches, all essentially belong to the Embassy, and are consequently to be held sacred; since, if they were not respected, the legitimate objects of the Embassy could not be attained, nor would the ambassador be able to discharge his functions with the necessary degree of security.*

It is well known that the historical difficulty between Great Britain and the United States called the "Trent affair" turned greatly on the question whether despatches sent by an enemy on a neutral vessel to a neutral power were contraband of war, and so liable to seizure. Messrs. Slidell and Mason were delegated by the Confederate States to proceed as their representatives to the courts of Paris and St. James, and were entrusted with despatches in this capacity. They were forcibly removed by a Federal cruiser from the Trent, which was a British mail steamer, and were placed in confinement

Halleck's "International Law." New edition. By Sir Sherston Baker, Bart. London, 1878.

ford de Redcliffe might find himself called Scarcely half a century ago Lord Stratupon to settle off-hand questions which involved the most vital interests of his country. No possibility of receiving instructions for a prolonged period; no indication of the views and policy of his government, but immediate and pressing necessity for personal decision on matters of the gravest international import. This was real diplomacy, requiring nerve, ability, judgment, and implicit trust on the part of the sovereign and the nation represented. Every one knows that there are men now in H.M.'s diplomatic service, who are fully equal to such an emergency; but with telegraphic and steam communication, it is clearly less likely of occurrence. Given a difficult position or an awkward crisis, upon which previous instructions have not been furnished-it is the duty of the latter-day diplomatist to sit down and telegraph for the decision of the secretary of state for foreign affairs, which may be taken either with or without consultation with the Cabinet, according to

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