French Republic, of which he had been elected president, by a _coup
d'etat_, or 'stroke of policy,' as cruel as it was cowardly. Lord
Palmerston's approval of this outrage, without the knowledge of either the
Queen or Lord John Russell, procured him his dismissal from the cabinet.
Two months later, however, Palmerston 'gave Russell his tit-for-tat,'
defeating him over a Militia Bill.

In the year 1852, amid the anxieties consequent on the sudden assumption
of imperial power by Louis Napoleon, the Queen writes thus to her uncle,
King Leopold: 'I grow daily to dislike politics and business more and
more. We women are not made for governing, and if we are good women, we
must dislike these masculine occupations.'

It was about this time that unjust reports were circulated concerning the
political influence of Prince Albert, who was represented as 'inimical to
the progress of liberty throughout the world, and the friend of
reactionary movements and absolute government.' When parliament was
opened, the prince was completely vindicated, and his past services to the
country, as the bosom counsellor of the sovereign, were made clear. The
Queen naturally felt the pain of these calumnies more deeply than did the
prince himself, but on the anniversary of her wedding day she could write:
'Trials we must have; but what are they if we are together?'

[Illustration: Duke of Wellington.]

In 1852 the great Duke of Wellington died, full of years and honours. He
passed quietly away in his sleep, in his simple camp-bed in the castle of
Walmer. Though he had been opposed to the Reform Bill and many other
popular measures, he was still loved and respected by the nation for his
high sense of duty and his many sterling qualities. The hero of Waterloo