IN offering this work to the public the author is influenced by no vain idea that she will thereby add to the 'History of Our Own Times;' but she believes that, just as every pawn is necessary in a game of chess, so the humblest individual fills a part on the great stage of life which no other person, however superior in talent and capacity, could fill; and therefore, had these pages not been written, the events they recall and the scenes they pourtray, truthfully though perhaps feebly, could never have been published. As nothing connected with the Court and reign of our gracious Queen can fail to interest her subjects, the author hopes her work will be received with favour and