DEATH-BED OF PRINCE ALBERT.
Most of our readers are probably familiar with the remarkable saying of Prince Albert, when upon his dying bed, "I have had wealth, rank, and power. But if this were all I had, how wretched should I be now.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee." It is not easy to conceive of a more brilliant and happy life than was that of Prince Albert. He was a child of illustrious birth, and the heir of what would generally be considered large wealth. The home of his childhood was one of the most imposing of those baronial castles, which feudal pride and opulence had reared upon the hights of Germany. In his early youth he enjoyed every privilege of education earth could give. The best teachers of Europe guided his mind in all the branches of knowledge. Obsequious attendants anticipated his wants, as he freely moved midst the luxurious surroundings of the castle. Familiarity with the most cultivated society gave him the highest polish of manners, and made him familiar with all the etiquette of courts. He was by nature endowed with a fine mind, much amiability of character and remarkable beauty of person. Prince Albert thus early became, in personal attractions, in mental culture, in princely bearing, one of the most accomplished gentlemen in Europe. When about eighteen years of age, he visited the royal family in England, to which he was nearly related. In the gorgeous saloons of Windsor Castle and of Buckingham Palace, he was an honored guest. Here he was introduced to a circle of society as brilliant and refined as has ever been known upon earth. And here he won the love of his cousin, the Princess Victoria, the heir to the throne of England. Their marriage was an event in which not only all Christendom, but every government on earth was interested. Ambassadors flocked to London, in honor of the occasion, from all the principal dynasties of Africa and Asia. Westminster's grand cathedral was never before crowded with such an assemblage. All his earthly ambition could desire was now attained by Prince Albert. He was in the enjoyment of wealth unsurpassed in the visions of romance. He had rank which placed him on an equality with the most illustrious kings. He had power such as few mortals ever possessed, and yet without pressure of toil and responsibility. An attractive family of sons and daughters grew up around him. He had no parental anxiety as to provision for their future. As each child was born, the British parliament voted that child, for the support of the dignity of the royal family, an annual income of about one hundred thousand dollars. One daughter married the heir apparent of the crown of Prussia. Thus there was opened to her perhaps the highest position which a lady could occupy upon this globe—that of Empress of Germany. The oldest son, heir to the throne of Great Britain, married into the royal family of Denmark. In the midst of all this prosperity, in the meridian of his days, being but forty-two years of age, sudden disease strikes Prince Albert down, and he lies upon a dying bed. The regal couch is draped with an imperial canopy. The highest dignitaries of Church and State are present with their sympathy and homage. But death is the equalizer of prince and peasant. The queen is but a woman weeping, broken-hearted, over her dying husband. The royal children are but sons and daughters sobbing in uncontrollable grief over their dying father. Prince Albert is but a man gasping, fainting, sinking in death—passing from the shadow of an earthly crown to the tribunal of God, where, like the humblest subject in his realms, he must answer for every thought, word, and deed done in the body. In a moment of cessation from pain, he looked up to the weeping ones around him and uttered the memorable words:—
"I have had wealth, rank, and power. But if this were all I had, how wretched should I be now.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee." He had, we believe, something more. Faith in an atoning Saviour sustained him. He had a professed faith in Jesus; and all who knew him believed him to be a sincere disciple. Reader! you may soon be placed on this dying bed. Have you this faith to sustain you in that dread hour?—Advance.