"There are, I am sorry to say, many countries in Europe which have
taken the lead of England in the great business of education, and it
is a thoroughly commendable and legitimate object of ambition in a
Sovereign to overtake them. The names, too, of malefactors, and the
nature of their crimes, are subjected to the Sovereign;--how is it
possible that a Sovereign, with the fine feelings of youth, and with
all the gentleness of her sex, should not ask herself, whether the
human being whom she dooms to death, or at least does not rescue from
death, has been properly warned in early youth of the horrors of that
crime, for which his life is forfeited--'Did he ever receive any
education at all?--did a father and a mother watch over him?--was he
brought to places of worship?--was the Word of God explained to
him?--was the Book of Knowledge opened to him?--Or am I, the fountain
of mercy, the nursing-mother of my people, to send a forsaken wretch
from the streets to the scaffold, and to punish by unprincipled
cruelty the evils of unprincipled neglect?'"
From zeal for education, we go on to love of Peace.--
"A second great object, which I hope will be impressed upon the mind
of this Royal Lady, is a rooted horror of war--an earnest and
passionate desire to keep her people in a state of profound peace.
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