honored poverty thy voice did weave
Songs consecrate to truth and liberty--
Deserting these, thou leavest me to grieve,
Thus having been, that thou shouldst cease to be.

[Sidenote: "The Prelude"]

Sir Robert Peel's recognition of Wordsworth's genius, on the other hand,
was regarded by the English Liberals as one of the brightest points in that
famous statesman's career. The University of Oxford, shortly afterward,
bestowed upon Wordsworth an honorary degree. One of Wordsworth's latest
poems was addressed to the Mount of Wanswell, rising above his country home
at Ambroside, closing with the prophetic lines:

When we are gone
From every object dear to mortal sight,
As soon we shall be, may these words attest
How oft, to elevate our spirits, shone
Thy visionary majesties of light,
How in thy pensive glooms our hearts found rest.

After Wordsworth's death, appeared "The Prelude, or Growth of the Poet's
Mind," an autobiographical poem.

[Sidenote: Death of Peel]

[Sidenote: First international cable]

[Sidenote: The Koh-i-noor]

The next noted death in England this year was that of Sir Robert Peel,
which occurred after a stirring debate on the foreign policy of Lord
Palmerston in Greece. On the following day Peel was thrown from his horse
while riding near London. The injuries he received were such that he died
three days later. A monument to his memory was erected in Westminster
Abbey; but in accordance with his own wish he was buried in the village
churchyard of Drayton Bassett. Of other events arousing interest in
England, the most noteworthy was the laying of the first submarine electric
telegraph between England and France. The cable, which was twenty-seven
miles long and covered with gutta-percha, stretched from Dover to Cape Gris
Nez. Messages were interchanged, but the cable soon parted. During the
same year the great East Indian diamond, Koh-i-noor, was presented to Queen
Victoria. The history of this great jewel was more stirring, in its way,
than that of any living man. Its original weight was nearly 800 carats. By
the lack of skill of the European diamond cutters this was reduced to 270
carats.

[Sidenote: Death of Taouk Wang]

[Sidenote: Hien Fong, Emperor]

[Sidenote: The Taiping rebellion]

[Sidenote: Chinese emigration]

Beyond the immediate shores of England the course of events kept the
British Colonial Office fully occupied. In Canada, a movement arose