THE RUMORED RESIGNATION OF HER MAJESTY.

Southland Times, Issue 1519, 5 January 1872, Page 3

THE RUMORED RESIGNATION OF HER MAJESTY.

♦ {Morning Post, 25th October.) A thick fog prevailed in London yesterday, and a strong rumor. The linkmen rendered darkness visible, and the gossips made obscurity manifest. The yellow smoke-filled mist was solid and tangible, and the story was circumstantial, j penetrating and irresistible ; but to-day it will lift with the vapor, and be dispelled with the smoke. Both fog and j rumor have anticipated their month. They j should have waited for November, when the legitimate eclipse and rumors of " splits in the Cabinet " annually recur. The tale told yesterday by every quidnunc was that, in consequence of the serious illness of the Queen, a Regency was to be established, or that, at any rate, the Heir to the Crown was to be associated with Her Majesty in the exercise of the Royal prerogative ; nay, so far did the omniscience of the seers in the dark extend, that they knew that only one difficulty presented itself, which was monetary. The Sovereign would not consent to forego a portion of the Royal income ; and the question remained of a sufficient dower for the new adjunct to supreme office. The fog had its day, and it vanishes. The rumor has been promulgated by the classic thousand tongues, and fades and disappears. The health of the Queen has been a subject of anxiety and lamentation, but it is not in any sense a matter for serious alarm. The character of Her Majesty is well known. So long as the power to fulfil her functions remains to her she will not abate one jot of her duties, or delegate a single responsibility of the Crown. The story of yesterday therefore disappears with the annual harvest of autumnal fictions.