The Life of King Edward VII
by J. Castell Hopkins · English · Gutenberg #25112 · 904,092 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Life of King Edward VII
Author: J. Castell Hopkins
Release date: April 20, 2008 [eBook #25112]
Most recently updated: January 3, 2021
Language: English
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[Illustration: EDWARD VII, KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN
AND IRELAND AND OF THE BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS, AND EMPEROR OF
INDIA
Born November 9, 1841. Ascended the throne January 22, 1901. Died May 6,
1910]
THE LIFE OF KING EDWARD VII
WITH A SKETCH OF THE CAREER OF KING GEORGE V
By J. CASTELL HOPKINS, F.S.S.
1910
_Author of "Queen Victoria, Her Life and Reign;" "Life and Work of
Mr. Gladstone;" "The Story of the Dominion", &c., &c._
Profusely Illustrated
Copyright 1910, by
W. E. Scull.
PREFACE
During a number of years' study of British institutions in their modern
development and of British public life in its adjustment to new and
changing conditions I have felt an ever-growing appreciation of the
active influence exercised by the late Sovereign of the British Empire
upon the social life and public interests of the United Kingdom and an
ever-increasing admiration for his natural abilities and rare
tactfulness of character. King Edward the Seventh, in a sixty years'
tenure of the difficult position of Heir to the British Throne, built
into the history of his country and Empire a record of which he and his
people had every reason to be proud. He had for many years the
responsibilities of a Royal position without the actual power; the
public functions of a great ruler without the resources usually
available; the knowledge, experience and statecraft of a wise Sovereign
without Regal environment.
The Prince of Wales, however, rose above the apparent difficulties of
his position and for more than a quarter of a century emulated the wise
example of his princely father--Albert the Good--and profited by the
beautiful character and unquestioned statesmanship of his august mother.
As with all those upon whose life beats the glare of ever-present
publicity and upon whose actions the press of friendly and hostile
nations alike have the privilege of ceaseless comment, the Heir to the
British Throne had to suffer from atrocious canards as well as from
fulsome compliments. Unlike many others, however, he afterwards lived
down the falsehoods of an early time; conquered by his clear, open life
the occasional hostility of a later day; and at the period of his
accession to the Throne was, without and beyond question, the best liked
Prince in Europe--the most universally popular man in the United
Kingdom and its external Empire. Upon the verge of His Majesty's
Coronation there occurred that sudden and dramatic illness which proved
so well the bravery and patience of the man, and increased so greatly
the popularity and _prestige_ of the Monarch.
Since then the late King has yearly grown in the regard of his people
abroad, in the respect of other rulers and nations, in the admiration of
all who understood the difficulties of his position, the real force of
his personality and influence, the power with which he drew to the
Throne--even after the remarkable reign of Victoria the Good--an
increased affection and loyalty from Australians and South Africans and
Canadians alike, an added confidence and loyal faith in his judgment
from all his British peoples whether at home or over seas.
In the United States, which King Edward always regarded with an
admiration which the enterprise and energy of its people so well
deserved, he in turn received a degree of respect and regard which did
not at one time seem probable. To him, ever since the visit to the
Republic in 1860, a closer and better relation between the two great
countries had been an ideal toward which as statesman and Prince and
Sovereign he guided the English-speaking race.
The reader of these pages will, I hope, receive a permanent impression
of the career and character of one who has been at once a popular
Prince, a great King, a worthy head of the British Empire and of his own
family, a statesman who has won and worn the proud title of "The Royal
Peacemaker."
J. CASTELL HOPKINS.
_Toronto, Canada, 1910._
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
The Crown and the Empire 17
CHAPTER II.
Early Years and Education of the Prince 31
CHAPTER III.
Royal Tour of British America and the United States 47
CHAPTER IV.
The Royal Marriage 69
CHAPTER V.
Early Home Life and Public Duties 79
CHAPTER VI.
Travels in the East 99
CHAPTER VII.
Serious Illness of the Prince 117
CHAPTER VIII.
The Prince of Wales in India 131
CHAPTER IX.
Thirty Years of Public Work 162
CHAPTER X.
Special Functions and Interests 181
CHAPTER XI.
The Prince and His Family 191
CHAPTER XII.
The Prince as a Social Leader 203
CHAPTER XIII.
The Prince as a Sportsman 211
CHAPTER XIV.
Habits and Character of the Prince 218
CHAPTER XV.
The Prince as an Empire Statesman 234
CHAPTER XVI.
The Prince as Heir Apparent 248
CHAPTER XVII.
Accession to the Throne 268
CHAPTER XVIII.
The First Year of the New Reign 286
CHAPTER XIX.
Empire Tour of the New Heir to the Throne 305
CHAPTER XX.
The King and the South African War 351
CHAPTER XXI.
Preparations for the Coronation 368
CHAPTER XXII.
Serious Illness of the King 380
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Coronation 391
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Reign of King Edward 420
CHAPTER XXV.
The King as a Diplomatist and Peace-maker 432
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Death of King Edward 440
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Solemn Funeral of the King 451
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The New King and His Imperial Responsibilities 461
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE PRINCESS ALEXANDRA
At the time of her marriage]
[Illustration: KING EDWARD AS PRINCE OF WALES IN 1879]
[Illustration: MARRIAGE OF EDWARD AND ALEXANDRA, THEN PRINCE AND
PRINCESS OF WALES, 1863
From a painting at Windsor by W. P. Firth R.A.]
CHAPTER I.
The Crown and the Empire
The great development of a political nature in the British Empire of the
nineteenth century was the complete harmony which gradually evolved
between the Monarchy and a world-wide democracy. This process was
all-important because it eliminated an element of internal discord which
has destroyed more than one nation in the past; because it permitted the
peaceful progress of scattered states to continue through the passing
years without having questions of allegiance to seriously hamper their
growth; because it trained political thought along lines of stability
and continuity and made loyalty and liberty consistent and almost
synonymous terms; because it made the Crown the central symbol of the
Empire's unity, the visible object of a world-wide allegiance, the
special token of a common aspiration and a common sentiment amongst many
millions of English-speaking people--the subject of untutored reverence
and unquestioned respect amongst hundreds of millions of other races.
THE POSITION OF THE CROWN
The chief factor in this development was the late Queen Victoria, and to
the inheritance of the fabric thus evolved came a son who was educated
amid the constitutional environment in which she lived and was trained
in the Imperial ideas which she so strongly held and so wisely impressed
upon her statesmen, her family and her people. King Edward came into
responsibilities which were greater and more imposing than those ever
before inherited by a reigning sovereign. He had not only the great
example and life of his predecessor as a model and as a comparison; not
only the same vast and ever-changing and expanding Empire to rule over;
not only a similar myriad-eyed press and public to watch his every
expression and movement; but he entered with his people upon a new
century in which one of the first and most prominent features is a decay
in popular respect for Parliament and a revival of the old-time love for
stately display, for ceremonial and for the appropriate trappings of
royalty. With this evident and growing influence of the Crown as a
social and popular factor is the knowledge which all statesmen and
constitutional students now possess of the personal influence in
diplomacy and statecraft which was wielded by the late Queen Victoria
and which the experience and tact of the new Monarch enabled him to also
test and prove. Side by side with these two elements in the situation
was the conviction which has now become fixed throughout the Empire that
the Crown is the pivot upon which its unity and future co-operation
naturally and properly turns; that the Sovereign is the one possible
central figure of allegiance for all its scattered countries and
world-wide races; that without the Crown as the symbol of union and the
King as the living object of allegiance and personal sentiment the
British realms would be a series of separated units.
These facts lend additional importance to the character and history of
the Monarchy; to the influences which have controlled the life and
labours of King Edward; to the abilities which have marked his career
and the elements which have entered into the making of his character. He
may not in succeeding years of his reign have declared war like an
Edward I., or made secret diplomatic arrangements like a Charles II. He
may not have manipulated foreign combinations like a William III., or
dismissed his Ministers at pleasure like a George III., or worked one
faction in his Kingdom against another like a Charles I. None of these
things have been attempted, nor will his successor desire to undertake
them. But none the less there lay in his hand a vast and growing
power--the personal influence wielded by a popular and experienced
Monarch over his Ministry, his Court, his Diplomatic Staff throughout
the world, and his high officers in the Army and Navy. The prestige of
his personal honours or personal wishes and the known Imperialism of his
personal opinions must have had great weight in controlling Colonial
policy in London; while his experience of European and Eastern
statecraft through many years of close intercourse with foreign and home
statesmen undoubtedly had a marvelous effect in the control of British
policy abroad.
To the external Empire, as constituted at the beginning of the twentieth
century, the Crown is a many-sided factor. The personal and diplomatic
influence of the Sovereign is obvious and was illustrated by Queen
Victoria in such historic incidents as the personal relations with King
Louis Philippe which probably averted a war with France in the early
forties; in the later friendship with Louis Napoleon which helped to
make the Crimean War alliance possible; in the refusal by the Queen to
assent to a certain _casus belli_ despatch during the American War which
saved Great Britain from being drawn into the struggle; in her influence
upon the Cabinet in connection with the Schleswig-Holstein question,
which was exerted to such an extent (according to Lord Malmesbury) as to
have averted a possible conflict with Germany.
The political power of the Crown and its wearer is proven to exist in
the dismissal of Lord Palmerston for his rash recognition of the French
_coup d'etat_; in the occasional exercise of the right of excluding
certain individuals from the Government--notably the case of Mr.
Labouchere a decade ago; in such direct exercise of influence as the
Queen's intervention in the matter of the Irish Church Disestablishment
Bill as related by the late Archbishop Tait. The Imperial influence of
the Sovereign has been shown in more than merely indirect ways. The
Queen's refusal to approve the first draft of the Royal Proclamation for
India in 1858 and her changes in the text were declared by Lord Canning
to have averted another insurrection. Her personal determination to send
the Prince of Wales to Canada in 1860 and her own visit to Ireland in
one of the last years of her reign were cases of actual initiative and
active policy. South Africa owed to the late Queen the several visits of
the Duke of Edinburgh and the exhibition of her well-known sympathy with
the views of Sir George Grey--who, had he been allowed a free hand,
would have consolidated and united those regions many years ago and
averted the recent disastrous struggle.
Australia owed to her the compliment of various visits from members of
the Royal family, the kindly personal treatment of its leaders and a
frequently expressed desire for its unity in one great and growing
nationality--British in allegiance and connection and power; Australian
in local authority, patriotism and development. India was indebted to
its Queen-Empress for continued sympathy and wise advice to its
Governors-General; for the phraseology in the Proclamation after the
Mutiny, already referred to, which rendered the new conditions of
allegiance comprehensible and satisfactory to the native mind; for the
important visit of the Prince of Wales to that country in 1877; and for
the support given to Lord Beaconfield's Imperial policy of asserting
England's place in the world, of purchasing the Suez Canal shares in
order to help in keeping the route to the East and of paving the way for
that acquisition of Egypt and the Soudan which has since made Cecil
Rhodes' dream of a great British-African empire a realizable
probability. The Colonies, as a whole, owed to Queen Victoria a
condition of government which made peaceful constitutional development
possible; which extinguished discontent and the elements or embers of
republicanism; which gradually eliminated the separative tendencies of
distance and slowly merged the Manchester school ideas of the past into
the Imperialism of the present; which made evolution rather than
revolution the guiding principle of British countries in the nineteenth
century.
THE MONARCHY IN HISTORY
How has the Crown become such an important factor in the modern
development of British peoples? The answer is not found altogether in
personal considerations nor even in those of loyalty to somewhat vague
and undefined principles of government. These considerations have had
great weight but so also has the traditional and actual power of the
Monarchy in moulding institutions and ideas during a thousand years of
history. To a much greater extent than is generally understood in these
democratic days has this latter influence been a factor. Through nearly
all British history the Sovereign has either represented the popular
instincts of the time or else led in the direction of extended territory
and power under the individual influence of royal valour or statecraft.
The history of England has not, of course, been confined to the
biography of its Kings or Queens, but it would be as absurd to trace
those annals without extended study of the rulers and their characters
as it would be to write the records without reference to the people and
popular progress. And the Monarchy has done much for the British Isles.
Its influence has effected their whole national life in war and in
peace, in religion and in morals, in literature and in art. The
individual achievements and actions of some of these rulers constitute
the very foundation stones in the structure of modern British power.
Others again have helped to build the walls of the national edifice
until the Sovereign at the beginning of the twentieth century has
become the pivot upon which turns the constitutional unity of a great
Empire and which forms the only possible centre for a common allegiance
amongst its varied peoples.
At first this monarchical principle was embodied in the form of military
power, was based upon feudal loyalty, and was associated with the noble
ideals, but somewhat reckless practices, of mediaeval chivalry. The
victories of Egbert and Alfred the Great transformed the Heptarchy into
a substantial English Kingdom. The military skill of William the
Conqueror gave an opportunity to blend the graces of Norman chivalry,
and a somewhat higher form of civilization, with the rougher virtues of
the Saxon character. Henry II. personally illustrated this combination,
with his ruddy English face and strong physical powers, and impressed
himself upon British history by the conquest of Ireland. Richard Coeur
de Lion gave his country many famous pages of crusading in the East, and
embodied in his life and character the adventurous and daring spirit of
the age. Edward I. dominated events by his energy and ability, subdued
Wales, and for a time conquered the Kingdom of Scotland. Edward III., in
his long reign of fifty years, carried the British flag over the fields
of France, and won immortality at the battles of Crecy and Poictiers.
Henry V. gained the victory of Agincourt, and won and wore the title of
King of France. Then came the Wars of the Roses and the turbulent
termination to a period of six centuries during which the English
Monarchs had represented the military spirit of their times, and had led
in the rough process of struggle and conquest out of which was growing
the United Kingdom of to-day.
With the reign of Henry VIII. commenced the period of religious
change--the struggles for religious liberty against ecclesiastical
dominance. Limited as were the achievements of Henry and Elizabeth, in
this respect, by prevailing bigotry and narrowness of view as well as
by diverse personal characteristics, they none the less did great
service to the country and the people. The rule of Cromwell--who, in the
exercise of Royal power and the possession of regal personal ability,
may properly be included in such a connection--gave that liberty of
worship to a portion of the masses with which previous Sovereigns had
more especially endowed the classes. During the reign of the Stuarts
religious dissensions and ecclesiastical controversies and intermittent
persecutions, illustrated the predominant passion of the period; and
forced the weak or indifferent monarch of the moment to be an
unconscious factor in the progress towards that general toleration which
the Revolution of 1688 and the crowning of William and Mary finally
accomplished. But, whether it was Henry persecuting the monks, or
Elizabeth the Roman Catholics, or Mary the Protestants, or Cromwell the
Episcopalians, or Charles II. the Dissenters, each ruler was being led,
to a great degree, by the undercurrent of surrounding bigotry and was,
in the main, representative of a strong, popular sentiment of the time.
Henry voiced the national uprising against Rome, just as the second
Charles embodied popular reaction against the Puritans, and as William
of Orange was enabled to lead a successful opposition to the gloomy and
personal bigotry of the last of the Royal Stuarts.
The third period of British monarchical history in this connection was
that marked by the growth toward constitutional government under the
sway of the House of Hanover. Coupled with this was the equally
important foundation of a great Colonial empire, and the loss of a large
portion of it in the reign of George III. But the development of
constitutional rule under the Georges should not be confounded with the
growth of the popular and Imperial system which exists to-day. The
latter is simply a progressive evolution out of the aristocratic and
oligarchical government of the Hanoverian period, just as that system
had been a step from the kingly power of the Tudors and the Stuarts,
which, in turn, had arisen upon the ruins of feudalism and military
monarchical power. It is this gradual growth, this "gently broadening
down from precedent to precedent," which makes the British constitution
of to-day the more or less perfected result of centuries of experience
and struggle. But that result has only been made possible by a peculiar
series of national adjustments in which the power of the Monarchs has
been modified from time to time to suit the will of the people, while
the ability of individual Sovereigns has been at the same time given
full scope in which to exercise wise kingcraft or pronounced military
skill. It has, in fact, been a most elastic system in its application
and to that elasticity has been due its prolonged stability of form
under a succession of dynastic or personal changes.
THE CONSTITUTION AND THE MONARCHY
It is a common mistake to minimize the importance and value of the
aristocratic rule by which the government of England was graded down
from the high exercise of royal power under the Tudors and Stuarts to
that beneficial exercise of royal influence which marks the opening of
the present century period. To the aristocracy of those two centuries is
mainly due the fact that the growth from paternal government and
personal rule to direct popular administration was a gradual
development, through only occasional scenes of storm and stress, instead
of involving a succession of revolutions alternating with civil war.
Somers and Godolphin, Walpole and Chatham, Pitt and Shelburne, Eldon and
Canning, Grey and Liverpool, Wellington and Durham, Melbourne and
Palmerston, were all of this aristocratic class, though of varying
degrees in rank and title and with varied views of politics. They filled
the chief places in the Government of the country during a period when
the people were being slowly trained in the perception and practice of
constitutional and religious liberty. At the best such processes are
difficult and often prove bitter tests of national endurance; and it was
well for Great Britain that the two centuries under review produced a
class of able and cultured men who--though naturally aristocratic at
heart--were upon the whole honestly bent upon furthering the best
interests of the masses. And this despite the mistakes of a Danby or a
North.
Yet, even towards the close of this period of preparation, popular
government, as now practised, was neither understood by the immediate
predecessors of Queen Victoria, nor by the nobles who presided over the
changing administrations of the day. It was not clearly comprehended by
Liberals like Russell and Grey; it was feared by Wellington and the
Tories as being republican and revolutionary; it was dreaded by many who
could hardly be called Tories and who, in the condition of things then
prevalent, could scarcely even be termed Loyalists. Writing in 1812,
Charles Knight, the historian, described the fierce national struggle of
the previous twenty years with Napoleon and expressed a longing wish for
the prop of a sincere and spontaneous loyalty to the throne in the
critical times that were to follow. But such a sentiment of loyalty was
not then expressed, and could hardly have been publicly evoked by a
ruler of the type of George IV., whether governing as Prince-Regent or
as King.
There is, however, no doubt of its having existed, and there seems to
have been, even through those troubled years, an inborn spirit of
loyalty to the Crown as being the symbol of the State and of public
order. Its wearer might make mistakes and be personally unpopular, but
he represented the nation as a whole and must consequently be respected.
This powerful feeling has often in English history made the bravest and
strongest submit to slights from their Sovereign, and has won the most
disinterested devotion and energetic action from men who have never
even seen the Monarch in whose personal character there was sometimes
little to evoke or deserve such faith and sacrifice. For ages this
loyalty had been the preservative of society in England, and it is still
indispensable to the tranquility and permanence of a state, whether
given in its full degree to the Sovereign of Great Britain, or in a more
divided sense to the elective and partisan head of a modern republic.
In the time of the Georges, as well as in the middle ages and at the
present moment, loyalty was and is a sincere and honest patriotism,
refining the instincts and elevating the actions of those who were
willing to waive self-interest on any given occasion in order to guard
what they believed to be the true basis of national stability and order.
Certainly, a Monarchy which could survive the wars and European
revolutions, the internal discontents and personal deficiencies, of the
period which commenced with the reign of George I. and closed with that
of William IV., must have possessed some inherent strength greater than
may be gathered from many of the superficial works which pass for
history. But, whatever that influence was, it does not appear to have
been personal. With the close of the reign of Queen Anne the brilliant
_prestige_ of personal authority and power wielded by the Sovereign had
passed quietly away and, up to the death of William IV. and the
accession of Victoria, had not been replaced by the personal influence
of a constitutional ruler.
PRESENT POSITION OF THE MONARCHY
Out of all these changing developments has come a military position in
which the Sovereign no longer leads his forces in war but in which he
commands a sentiment of loyalty as hearty, in the breasts of the
Colonial soldiers ten thousand miles away from his home at Windsor, as
ever did the personal presence of an Edward I., or a Richard the
Lion-Hearted. Out of them has come a religious position in which the
Sovereign is head of a particular Church and yet, as such, gives no
serious offence to masses of his subjects who belong to other faiths and
who receive through his Governments around the world absolute freedom of
religious worship--almost as a matter of course. Out of the
constitutional evolution has come the adaptation of the Monarchy to not
only new conditions but to countries separated by oceans and continents
from the mother-state, and the evolution of a system which combines
420,000,000 people under one Crown and one flag. In August, 1884, the
_Times_ spoke of a correspondent amongst the Khirgese of Central Asia
who stated that the people of that region had not the remotest idea of
where or what England was--but they had heard of Queen Victoria; and a
few years later Mr. Henry Labouchere, the inconsistent and bitter
Radical, told the _Forum_ of New York that "were a Parliamentary
candidate to address an electoral meeting on the advantages of a
republic he would be deemed a tilter at a windmill."
Such is a summary of the history and position of the British Monarchy. A
thousand years ago it combined the seven little Kingdoms of England into
one; to-day it combines the Kingdoms and Dominions and Commonwealths and
Islands of a quarter of the earth's surface into one. The power of the
Crown was once chiefly employed in making war and compelling peace by
force of arms and military skill; to-day it is largely utilized in
promoting peace and controlling diplomacy. The position of the Monarch
was once that of the head of a class, or the leader of some distinct
manifestation of public feeling, or the military chief of a great
faction; to-day it is that of embodying the power of a united people,
giving dignified interpretation to the policy of a nation, and serving
as the symbol of unity to the masses of population in an extended
empire.
One of the interesting features in the Crown's popularity and influence
is the absence of serious criticism or controversy over the expense of
its maintenance. Perhaps the only practical expression of disapproval
affecting the Monarchy heard during Queen Victoria's long reign was an
occasional grumbling as to the paucity of Court functions, the absence
of Royal splendour and expenditures from the City of London, the
sombreness and quiet which characterized the ordinary, everyday life of
the Sovereign. The total financial cost of the Monarchy has been placed
at a million pounds sterling per annum, but this total includes various
large sums which could just as properly be charged to the ordinary
governing requirements of the country without reference to the
particular form of its institutions. Against this sum may also be placed
the proceeds of the Crown Lands which were surrendered to Parliament
upon the accession of William and Mary and which had before that been
recognized as a personal estate of the Sovereign over which Parliament
had no control. In addition to these Crown Land revenues other sums were
voted as required. Upon their surrender to the nation (during the life
of each Sovereign) it has become the custom, since 1868, to vote a
permanent Civil List for the ensuing reign and out of this sum the
ordinary Court and personal expenses are supposed to be met. In the case
of Queen Victoria the amount was L385,000 a year, supplemented, however,
by other votes and special allowances to herself and the Royal family
from time to time.
Upon her accession the Queen retained out of the old Crown Lands, or
revenues, those of the Duchy of Lancaster and they have risen in value
from L20,000 to L50,000 per annum. The Royal palaces are maintained
apart from the Civil List and the building of Royal yachts and other
similar expenses are considered as additional items. The revenues of the
Duchy of Cornwall, which have always pertained to the Prince of Wales,
and the incomes or special sums voted to the members of the Royal
family, make up an amount nearly as large as the Civil List. But these
apparently large sums have not in recent years created any feeling of
dissatisfaction; nor has any been expressed save by certain individuals
of the Labouchere type, who possess little influence and less sincerity.
Upon the whole the situation in this connection possesses considerable
interest to the student of history, or of popular sentiment, as showing
how a practical, business-loving, money-making people can become devoted
to an institution which must in the nature of things be expensive and
which, in the ratio of its dignity and effectiveness as an embodiment of
growing national power, must be increasingly so as the years roll on.
The reason for this condition of feeling is the combination which the
Monarchy has during the past century come to present to the minds of the
public. Tradition and history reaching down into the hearts and lives of
the people may be considered the basic influence; a general belief in
the superiority of British institutions over all others may be stated as
a powerful conservative force; while personality and character in the
Sovereign may be described as the chief constructive element in this
process of increasing loyalty to the Crown. Convenience, custom, love of
ceremony, belief in stability and aversion to change, are lesser factors
which may be mentioned. The result is that Mr. George W. Smalley, for so
many years the American correspondent of the New York _Tribune_ in
London, could write recently in the _Century_ the belief of a foreigner
and a republican that "England is a very democratic country, but there
does not exist in England the vestige of a republican party."
King Edward, therefore, came to the throne of Great Britain and its
Empire at a time when the influence of the Sovereign was growing in
proportion as the influence and popularity of Parliament appeared to be
waning. Fifty years before his accession it was a truism to assert that
power in England was being steadily concentrated in the House of
Commons; to-day it may be said with equal truth that the position of the
Crown is growing steadily in a power which is wielded by personal
influence and popularity and which, while it touches no privilege, nor
right, nor liberty of Parliament, increases in proportion as the latter
body is relegated to the back-ground by public opinion and popular
interest. Vast responsibility, therefore, rests to-day in the hands of a
British Sovereign and the results for good or ill, depend largely upon
his character, his training, his previous career and his present sense
of duty. Alarm has even been expressed upon this point by historical
theorists such as Professor Beesly and Dr. Goldwin Smith. Certain it is,
however, that in the hands of King Edward this growing power was safe.
If prolonged experience and acquired statecraft and intimate knowledge
of his people can be considered sufficient guarantees for its exercise,
it is also safe in the hands of King George.
CHAPTER II.
Early Years and Education of the Prince
The married life of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort was one of the
happiest recorded in history or known in the private annals of
individual lives. It was a love-match from the first and it lasted to
the end as one of those beautiful illustrations of harmony in the home
which go far in a materialistic and selfish age to point to higher
ideals and to conserve the best principles of a Christian people. His
affection was shown in myriad ways of devoted care and help; her feeling
was well stated in a letter to Baron Stockmar--"There cannot exist a
purer, dearer, nobler being in the world than the Prince." From such a
union was born Albert Edward, the future King and Emperor, on November
9th, 1841. The Queen's first child had been the Princess Royal, and
there was naturally some hope that the next would be a male heir to the
Throne. There was much public rejoicing over the event which was
announced from Buckingham Palace at mid-day of the date mentioned; the
Privy Council met and ordered a thanksgiving service; the national
anthem was sung with enthusiasm in the theatres and public places;
telegrams of congratulation poured in from Princes abroad and peers and
peasants at home; and _Punch_ perpetrated verses which well illustrated
the public feeling:
"Huzza! we've a little Prince at last
A roaring Royal boy;
And all day long the booming bells
Have rung their peels of joy."
On December 8th following, the little Prince was created by
letters-patent Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester--the titles of Prince
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Saxony, Duke
of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron Renfrew, Lord of
the Isles and Prince, or Great Steward of Scotland, being his already by
virtue of his mother being the reigning Sovereign at the time of his
birth. During six hundred years there had been from time to time a
Prince of Wales. The first was the son of Edward I., but the title was
never made hereditary, and there have been periods, totalling altogether
288 years, in which it lay dormant. The Black Prince was perhaps the
best known of the line. The new Prince of Wales--destined to hold the
designation for nearly sixty years and to make it one of the best known
in the world--was solemnly baptized on January 25th, 1842, in St.
George's Chapel, Windsor, by the simple names of Albert Edward. The
first was after his father, the second in memory of the Queen's father,
the Duke of Kent. The scene was one of splendour, and the uniforms and
glittering orders and gleaming gems and beautiful dresses harmonized
well with the stately setting of the Chapel Royal.
THE GORGEOUS CHRISTENING CEREMONY
Besides the Royal party, which included Frederick William IV., King of
Prussia, there were a throng of Ambassadors, Knights of the Garter,
Members of the Privy Council, Peers and Peeresses, statesmen and heads
of the Church. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of
London, Winchester, Oxford and Norwich were in special attendance, and
the sponsors for the young Prince were the King of Prussia, the Duchess
of Kent (proxy for the Duchess of Saxe-Cobourg), the Duke of Cambridge
(proxy for the Duchess of Saxe-Gotha), Princess Augusta of Cambridge
(proxy for Princess Sophia) and Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobourg. The
cost of this gorgeous christening ceremony and attendant functions was
said to have been fully two million dollars. A part of this was,
however, due to the entertainments accorded King Frederick William IV.,
who, as the chief Protestant monarch of the Continent, was given a
particularly cordial and elaborate welcome. In connection with the
christening of the future King it is interesting to note that an
ecclesiastical newspaper, of Toronto, called _The Church_, referred to
the event on March 19th, 1842, and declared that should the Prince live
to be King he would be known as Edward VII. On February 3rd Queen
Victoria opened Parliament in person with the following as the
preliminary words in the Speech from the Throne: "I cannot meet you in
Parliament assembled without making a public acknowledgment of my
gratitude to Almighty God on account of the birth of the Prince, my son;
an event which has completed the measure of my domestic happiness and
has been hailed with every manifestation of affectionate attachment to
my person and Government by my faithful and loyal people."
CHILDHOOD OF THE PRINCE
The early events of the Prince's life were followed with much interest
by the public and with a personal and individual feeling which grew in
volume with the ever-increasing popularity of the young Queen. The Court
in those years was a gay one and events such as the Queen's famous
Plantagenet Ball of 1842; the state visit to King Louis Philippe of
France in 1843; the coming of Nicholas I., Czar of all the Russias, to
the Court of St. James in 1844, followed a little later by William,
Prince of Prussia--afterwards William I. of Germany, and by a return
visit of the King and Queen of the French; kept the social demands of
the period up to a very high pitch. Yet the quiet, careful surroundings
of an almost ideal home were given to the young Prince and to those who
afterwards came to the family circle, by a mother who, in the midst of
many national cares and private anxieties could write to her
much-respected friend and uncle--Leopold of Belgium--that "my happiness
at home, the love of my husband, his kindness, his advice, his support
and his company make up for all and make me forget all."
The Princess Victoria, afterwards for a brief year Empress of Germany,
had been born on November 21, 1840; the Prince of Wales was the next
child; the Princess Alice, who afterwards married the Grand Duke of
Hesse, was born on April 25, 1843; Prince Alfred--Duke of Edinburgh and
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in later years--followed on August 6, 1844; the
Princess Helena came next on May 25, 1846, and afterwards became the
wife of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; the Princess Louise, who
married the Marquess of Lorne and future Duke of Argyll, was born on
March 18, 1848; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, followed on May 1,
1850; Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, on April 7, 1853; Princess
Beatrice, afterwards wife and widow of Prince Henry of Battenberg, was
born on April 14, 1857, and completed the Royal family for the time.
The greatest care and attention was given to the youthful Prince.
Writing to King Leopold soon after his birth--on December 7, 1841--the
Queen had said: "I wonder very much who my little boy will be like. You
will understand how fervent are my prayers, and I am sure every one's
must be, to see him resemble his father in every respect, both in body
and mind." From the earliest period the child grew into his life of
ceremony and state, but it was a process carefully graded to suit the
development of natural faculties. Nothing appears to have been allowed
to unduly burden his gradual growth in experience and knowledge and
certainly a more pleasant domestic environment and life could hardly be
imagined. At a later period his studies were so varied in character as
to excite some slight apprehension in a part of the public mind.
The first public appearance of the Prince was on February 4, 1842, when
the Queen was inspecting some troops near Windsor and the babe was held
up by his nurse from a window of the Castle so that the crowd could see
him. He has been described in many prints and stories as being a very
lively infant and child. Lady Lyttelton[1], a sister to Mrs. Gladstone,
was in charge of the Royal nursery as a sort of trusted Governess during
the first six years of his life and everything was conducted with
regularity and care. The Queen personally supervised the arrangements,
whether for instruction, pleasure or exercise, though she often had to
express in diary or letter her regret at not being able to be as much
with her children as she desired. Simplicity was, perhaps, the guiding
principle of this early training, though it was combined with a certain
amount of familiarity in matters of ceremony and formality. In
September, 1843, when the Queen and Prince Consort were in France the
Royal children were at Brighton in charge of Lady Lyttelton and the
people used to take great delight in waiting for the daily outing of the
little Prince and his sister and the presentation of a loyal salute by
the raising of hats and the waving of handkerchiefs. The child had been
taught to raise his chubby fist to his forehead in reply and a
journalist of the time veraciously declares that he did it with "evident
enjoyment and infantile dignity." A little later, on December 20th, a
party of nine Ojibbeway Indians were presented to the Queen at Windsor
Castle and the Chief gravely referred to the toddling Royal infant in
his speech as "the very big little White Father whose eyes are like the
sky that sees all things and who is fat with goodness like a winter
bear."
Another attractive event in these annals of childhood was a visit of Tom
Thumb to Buckingham Palace on March 23, 1844. Not long afterwards, on
June 5th, the little Prince saw his first Review, on the occasion of the
Emperor of Russia's visit, and clapped his hands and shouted at the
splendid spectacle. On March 24, 1846, he was given that first and
greatest pleasure of all children, a visit to the circus (Astley's). He
applauded liberally and when the clown was brought to the Royal box at
his request, the little Prince gravely shook hands with him and thanked
him "for making me laugh so much." Similar stories might be multiplied
in many pages. Every trifling incident of the Royal childhood seems,
indeed, to have been treasured by some one. Late in 1846 a visit was
made on the _Victoria and Albert_ yacht to the coast of Cornwall and,
after the landing, the Royal party went to Penrhyn where the little
Prince, as Duke of Cornwall, was formally welcomed by Mayor and
Corporation as their feudal lord. In August of the succeeding year he
was taken by the Queen and Prince Consort on a tour around the west
coast of Scotland and during a visit to Cluny Macpherson's Scottish
home, he received one of the first of a multitude of interesting
presents--a ring containing a miniature of Prince Charles Stuart. In
August 1844, he accompanied his parents on a visit to Ireland, where he
met with splendid acclamation from the people and was created Earl of
Dublin by the Queen. It has been said that the reception was so
enthusiastic as to have left a profound impression on the child's mind.
On October 30, 1849, when nearly eight years old, the Prince of Wales
performed his first public function. Accompanied by the little Princess
Royal and his father he proceeded in state from Westminister in a Royal
barge rowed by watermen. All London turned out to see the youthful
royalties--"Puss and the boy" as the Queen called them in her Diary--and
Lady Lyttelton in a letter to Mrs. Gladstone has left a charming picture
of the pleasure expressed by the little Prince at his reception and at
the various quaint customs revived for the occasion. It was at this
time that Miss Louisa Alcott, author of _Little Women_, wrote home that
the Prince was "a yellow-haired laddie, very like his mother. Fanny and
I nodded and waived as he passed and he openly winked his boyish eye at
us, for Fanny with her yellow curls waving looked rather rowdy and the
poor little Prince wanted some fun." Two years later, on May 1st, the
youthful Heir to the Throne assisted the Queen at the brilliant
ceremonies attending the opening of the first and great Exhibition of
that year.
EARLY EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE
Meanwhile, the important matter of education had been occupying the
attention of the Queen and her husband. After careful inquiry during
nearly a year the Rev. Henry Mildred Birch was selected and on April 10,
1844, the Prince Consort wrote, in a private and family letter, that
"Bertie will be given over in a few weeks into the hands of a tutor whom
we have found in Mr. Birch, a young, good-looking, amiable man who was a
tutor at Eton and who not only himself took the highest honours at
Cambridge but whose pupils have also won special distinction. It is an
important step and God's blessing be upon it, for upon the good
education of princes and especially of those who are destined to govern,
the welfare of the world in these days very greatly depends." This
gentleman acted until 1852 when, upon the advice of Sir James Stephen,
the appointment was given to Mr. Frederick W. Gibbs, who retained it for
the succeeding six years. In special lines of study such as Art and
Music there were various instructors for the young Prince as well as for
the rest of the family--the Rev. Charles Tarver being his classical
tutor, Sir Edwin Landseer an instructor in the art of painting and Mr.
E. H. Corbould his teacher in water-colours.
The descriptions of the Prince of Wales in these childhood days vary
greatly; probably in natural accordance with the variable temperament
of his age. Lady Lyttelton who, perhaps, knew him best, described him to
Mr. Greville in 1852--though that interesting _litterateur_ is not
always reliable--as being "extremely shy and timid, with very good
principles and, particularly, an exact observer of truth." The
description is, however, so much in harmony with his bringing up that it
may well be accepted as accurate. These years, however, passed rapidly
away in a commingling of instruction, ceremonial and innocent
recreation. The Baroness Bunsen in her _Memoirs_ gives a pleasant
picture which illustrates the character of the amusements current in the
Royal family at their different homes at Windsor, Osborne, or Balmoral.
This particular incident was a Masque devised by the children, when
Prince "Bertie" was twelve years old, in honour of the anniversary of
their parents' marriage. The Prince who represented Winter and was clad
in a coat covered with imitation icicles, recited some verses from
Thomson's Seasons. Princess Alice was Spring; the Princess Royal,
Summer; Prince Alfred, Autumn; while Princess Helena, representing St.
Helena, the traditional mother of Constantine and native of Britain,
called down Heaven's benediction upon the Royal couple.
About this time the Prince of Wales made his first appearance in the
House of Lords, sitting beside the Queen as she received Addresses from
Parliament concerning the impending war with Russia. He seems to have
taken a keen interest in that conflict and, in March 1855, went with his
parents to visit the wounded at Chatham Military Hospital. In August he
accompanied the Queen and Prince Consort upon the first visit paid by an
English Sovereign to Paris since the days of Henry II. and shared in the
splendid reception given by the Emperor Napoleon and the French people.
Even here, however, his tutor was with him and idleness or pleasure was
not allowed to occupy the field entirely. With the Princess Royal, he
was present at a splendid ball given in Versailles--the first since the
days of Louis XVI--and they sat down at supper with the Emperor and
Empress. The young Prince enjoyed the visit so much and liked his
Imperial hosts so well--a liking which he never forgot in later years of
sorrow and suffering--that he begged the Empress to get leave for his
sister and himself to stay a little longer. The Queen and his father, he
explained, had six more children at home and they could, he thought, do
without them for a while.
Of course, this was not possible. The Prince Consort, however, was
greatly pleased with the way in which the children had behaved and wrote
to Baron Stockmar, shortly after, expressing his belief that the Prince
had been a general favourite. To the Duchess of Kent he wrote that "the
task was no easy one for them but they discharged it without
embarrassment and with natural simplicity." From this it is evident that
the shyness spoken of by Lady Lyttelton had largely passed away from the
manner of the Prince. During this year the latter--now fourteen years
old--took an incognito walking tour through the west of England
accompanied by Mr. Gibbs and Colonel Cavendish. The next two or three
years were spent in a happy life of mixed pursuits in England and
Scotland, or in travel abroad, alternating, according to the place and
season, between fishing and shooting, ponies and picnics, deer-stalking
and juvenile dances, studies, tours and occasional functions. Many
pictures of the Royal family in these days of childhood and youth have
been preserved from the brushes of Winterhalter, Richmond, Landseer,
Saul and others.
LATER EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE
Not the least important of the educative influences of this period were
the tours undertaken by the young Prince. In the autumn of 1856,
accompanied by those who could best instruct him in the matters
witnessed, he visited the great seats of industry in Provincial England
including mills, ironworks, coal mines and engineering centres. In April
1857 he enjoyed a tour through the beautiful Lake region and especially
appreciated the hill-climbing in Cumberland. During June he accompanied
the Queen on a state visit to Manchester and witnessed the first
distribution of the Victoria Cross medals in Hyde Park, London. In July
the Prince left England for Konigswinter with a short European tour in
view for "purposes of study," as the Prince Consort put it in a private
letter. With him were General Grey, Colonel (afterwards Sir Henry)
Ponsonby, his tutors and Dr. Armstrong. During the tour several young
men joined him as companions--the late Mr. W. H. Gladstone; Mr. Charles
Wood, now Lord Halifax; Mr. Frederick Stanley, now Earl of Derby and
Governor-General of Canada; and the present Earl Cadogan, Viceroy of
Ireland. The Prince on this occasion went up the Rhine and through
Germany and Switzerland. Upon his return, in October, he attended
lectures on science by Dr. Faraday while continuing his regular studies.
Early in the succeeding year he attended the marriage of his sister, the
Princess Royal, to the Prussian Prince who afterwards became the Emperor
Frederick, and parted from the sister "Vicky," to whom he was much
attached, with evident sorrow.
On April 1, 1858, when nearly seventeen years of age, the Prince was
confirmed in the Chapel Royal at Windsor. Writing of this ceremony, the
Prince Consort observed to Baron Stockmar that Lord Derby, Lord
Palmerston and Lord John Russell were amongst those who were present and
that the event "went off with great solemnity and, I hope, with an
abiding impression on his mind." At the examination before the
Archbishop of Canterbury and his Royal parents the Prince was described
as acquitting himself "extremely well." On the succeeding day he took
the Sacrament. Shortly afterwards followed a two weeks walking tour in
the south of Ireland in which the Prince was accompanied by Mr. Gibbs,
Captain de Ros--afterwards Lieutenant-General Lord de Ros--and Dr.
Minter. Succeeding this came a short period of steady study and the
formal establishment of the young Prince at White Lodge in Richmond
Park, under the tuition of Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Tarver and with three
companions carefully selected by his father--Lord Valletort, the present
(1902) Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, Major Teesdale V.C. and Major Lindsay
V.C. Of the first named the Prince Consort wrote privately that he had
been much on the Continent and was "a thoroughly good, moral and
accomplished man," who had passed his youth in attendance on his invalid
father. He also referred to the manner in which Major Teesdale had
distinguished himself at Kars and Major Lindsay at Alma and Inkerman and
of the latter said: "He is studious in his habits, lives little with the
other young officers, is fond of study and familiar with French and
Italian."[2] These considerations are interesting as indicating with
what care the companions of the young Prince were selected by his wise
father from time to time. Here the Prince had, amongst his elements of
instruction, lectures on History from the Rev. Charles Kingsley, the
well-known author of _Westward Ho_ and, for ten years following,
Professor of History at Cambridge. They were given by special desire of
the Queen and must have proved deeply interesting. Canon Kingsley was,
during the rest of his life, an object of special liking to the Prince
and always an honoured guest at Sandringham and Marlborough.
[Illustration: EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, AT THE AGE OF SEVEN
In Sailor's Dress]
[Illustration: EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, AGED FIVE
Represents the Prince as feeding a pet rabbit]
[Illustration: EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, AGED SIXTEEN
In Highland costume]
[Illustration: THE YOUTHFUL EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, 1859]
On November 9, 1859, the Prince of Wales completed his eighteenth year
and attained his legal majority. The Queen wrote him a letter which
Charles Greville, in his _Diary_, describes as "one of the most
admirable ever penned." On the same day he was appointed a Colonel in
the Army and given the Order of the Garter--that most distinguished of
all orders of knighthood. At the same time Colonel the Hon. Robert
Bruce, brother of the Lord Elgin who had proved so successful a
Governor-General of Canada and India, was appointed Governor to the
Prince and was described by the Prince Consort as possessing amiability
with great mildness of expression and as being "full of ability." He had
been Military Secretary to Lord Elgin in Canada and was at this time in
command of a battalion in the Grenadier Guards.[3] A month later the
Prince started on a Continental tour accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Tarver
as his chaplain and director of studies. He stayed some time in Rome,
where he visited the Pope, on May 7 reached Gibraltar, and from thence
visited the south of Spain and Lisbon. He reached home in the middle of
June and took up a serious course of study at Edinburgh, with the late
Lord Playfair as his instructor in chemistry, and with other equally
distinguished teachers in specific lines or subjects. The public was at
this time taking much interest in these studies of the Heir Apparent and
fear was expressed that he might, perhaps, be over-educated. _Punch_
expressed this feeling in the following lines:
"To the south from the north, from the shores of the Forth,
Where at hands Presbyterian pure science is quaffed,
The Prince, in a trice, is whipped to the Isis,
Where Oxford keeps springs mediaeval on draught.
* * * * *
Dipped in grey Oxford mixture (lest _that_ be a fixture),
The poor lad's to be plunged in less orthodox Cam.,
Where dynamics and statics, and pure mathematics,
Will be piled on his brain's awful cargo of cram."
After three months of Edinburgh training the Prince Consort went down
and held a sort of conference with the teachers. He wrote as to the
result[4] that they all spoke highly of their pupil, who seemed to have
shown zeal and goodwill. "Dr. Lyon Playfair is giving him lectures on
chemistry in relation to manufactures and, at the close of each special
course, he visits the appropriate manufactory with him so as to explain
its practical application. Dr. Schmitz gives him lectures on Roman
history. Italian, German and French are advanced at the same time; and
three times a week the Prince exercises with the 16th Hussars who are
stationed in the city." It was of this period that Sir Wemyss Reid, in
his biography of Lord Playfair, tells an amusing story. The Prince and
Dr. Playfair were standing near a cauldron containing lead which was
boiling at white heat. "Has Your Royal Highness any faith in science,"
said the Professor and the reply was, "Certainly." The latter then
carefully washed the Prince's hand with ammonia and said:
"Will you now place your hand in this boiling metal and ladle out a
portion of it?"
"Do you tell me to do this?" asked the Prince.
The answer was in the affirmative and the Prince instantly put his hand
into the boiling mass and ladled out some of it without sustaining any
injury. Following this period of study at Edinburgh University came the
celebration of the Prince's nineteenth birthday and a hunting party in
the Highlands. Thence the Prince went to Oxford for a time and was
admitted a member of Christ Church College where he joined freely in the
social life and sports of the institution. On January 16, 1861, after
his return from Canada, he became an under-graduate of Trinity College,
Cambridge, and was allowed, by special favour, to live in a neighbouring
village with his Governor--Colonel Bruce. Here lectures were again given
to the Prince by Canon Kingsley and the young man was kept pretty close
to his studies during the winter of that year. In the summer he went on
military duty in Ireland and the Queen thus recorded in her _Diary_ a
visit paid to him at Curragh on August 26th: "At a little before three
we went to Bertie's hut which is, in fact, Sir George Brown's. It is
very comfortable--a nice little bedroom, sitting-room, drawing-room, and
a good sized dining-room where we lunched, with our whole party. Col.
Percy commands the Guards and Bertie is placed specially under him. I
spoke to him and thanked him for treating Bertie as he did, just like
any other officer, for I know that he keeps him up to his work in a way,
as General Bruce told me, that no one else had done; and yet Bertie
likes him very much."
DEATH OF THE PRINCE CONSORT
This was the last birthday of the Prince Consort and it was spent
travelling to Killarney with the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the
younger members of the Royal family. A few days there and then the young
Prince returned to camp. In the autumn he visited the Rhine manoeuvres
of the German army and met his future bride, the Princess Alexandra. He
then returned to Cambridge and from thence journeyed in haste to Windsor
on December 13th to be present at his father's death-bed on the
following evening. No sadder event has occurred in the history of
English royalty than this premature and much-mourned death of the good
and really great Prince Consort. To the young Heir Apparent it meant the
loss of a loving father, a careful guardian, a watchful and wise
adviser. To the wife and widow it meant the ruin of a great happiness
and a sorrow which no passing years could ever remove. Sir Theodore
Martin's beautiful description of the scene at the death-bed, at which
knelt the Queen, the Princess Alice, the Princess Helena and the Prince
of Wales, may well be given here: "In the solemn hush of that mournful
chamber there was such grief as has rarely hallowed any death-bed. A
great light, which had blessed the world, and which the mourners had
but yesterday hoped might long bless it, was waning fast away. A
husband, a father, a friend, a master, endeared by every quality by
which man in such relations can win the love of his fellow-man, was
passing into the Silent Land, and his loving glance, his wise counsels,
his firm, manly thought should be known among them no more. The Castle
clock chimed the third quarter after ten. Calm and peaceful grew the
beloved form; the features settled into the beauty of a perfectly serene
repose; two or three long, but gentle breaths were drawn; and that great
soul had fled to seek a nobler scope for its aspirations in the world
within the veil, for which it had often yearned, where there is rest for
the weary, and where 'the spirits of the just are made perfect.'"
Not long before his death the Prince Consort had readily agreed to his
son's wish for a visit to the Holy Land and had planned the
preliminaries of the tour before he was stricken by the disease which
carried him off. After that sad event it was felt by the Queen that such
a journey would now be doubly wise and proper and she made arrangements
for General Bruce to accompany the Prince, together with Major Teesdale,
Captain Keppel and a small suite. By special wish of the Prince Consort
and at the urgent request of the Queen, the Rev. Dr. Arthur Penrhyn
Stanley consented to accompany the Prince. He joined the Royal party at
Alexandria on February 28, 1862, and they at once proceeded to Cairo and
from thence visited the Pyramids. A little later Palestine was reached
and, following in the historic steps of Richard Coeur de Lion and
Edward I., another Heir to the British Throne finally reached Jerusalem.
The closely-guarded Cave of Macphelah was opened to the Prince of Wales
as well as the famous Mosque of Hebron which for nearly seven hundred
years had been closed to even Royal visitors. Lake Tiberias, Bethany,
Bethlehem, the Groves of Jericho, were visited and some time was spent
in tents upon the journey to Damascus. From thence the party traveled
to Beyrout, visited Tyre and Sidon, and proceeded to Tripoli. The
journey was made by the Prince so as to include Patmos, Ephesus, Smyrna,
Constantinople, Athens and Malta. From every place where it was possible
the Prince collected flowers which he carefully sent to his sister, the
Princess Royal. Of His Royal Highness during this interesting tour Dean
Stanley put on record his opinion at the time: "It is impossible not to
like him and to be constantly with him brings out his astonishing memory
of names and persons.... I am more and more struck by the amiable and
endearing qualities of the Prince."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Sarah, Lady Lyttelton, daughter of the second Earl Spencer and wife
of the third Lord Lyttelton. Born 1787, Died 1870.
[2] This officer afterwards became Major-General Sir C. C. Teesdale
V.C., K.C.M.G., C.B. and was A.D.C. to the Queen in 1877-87. Major
Lindsay was better known in later years as Colonel Sir Robert
Lloyd-Lindsay K.C.B. In 1885 he was raised to the Peerage as Lord
Wantage.
[3] He afterwards became a Major-General in the Army and died in 1862 of
fever caught while with the Prince of Wales during his Eastern tour.
[4] Martin's _Life of the Prince Consort_.
CHAPTER III.
Royal Tour of British America and the United States
The first important public event in the career of the young Prince was
one which, during forty years, has held a marked place in Canadian
memories and a prominent place in Canadian and American history. In some
respects the tour of the Prince of Wales, in 1860, through the scattered
and disconnected Provinces of British America has wielded an influence
far out of proportion to the contemporary judgment of the event; beyond,
perhaps, what the Queen and Prince Consort in their wise and patriotic
policy of the time hoped to achieve. It was, in reality, the first break
in the hitherto steady progress of the Manchester school theory
regarding ultimate Empire disruption; the first check given to the
widely accepted doctrine that the Colonies were of no use except for
trade and, in any case, were like the fruit which ripens only to fall
from the parent stem.
Mr. Bright, Lord John Russell, Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Mr. Cobden,
Lord Ashburton, Lord Ellenborough, Lord Derby, and many others, were at
this time touched with the blight of these theories and to them there
was no sense, and nothing but expense, in trying to cultivate Colonial
loyalty or promote Colonial co-operation.
IMPERIAL CONDITIONS IN 1860
To this school--and it was one embracing many able men and
thinkers--trade was more important than any other consideration, and the
greatest object of external policy was the development of friendly
relations with the United States. American extension of territory was
not looked upon with alarm even when it took a slice of the Maine
boundary and threatened trouble over that of Oregon. The Republic had
not yet gone in seriously for high protection and did not, therefore,
vitally touch the pockets of patriots who could not foresee, even in
their keen regard for commerce and its development, that trade and
territory were in the future to be most intimately related.
The Queen and Prince Consort did, however, understand something of the
future of the Empire--dimly it might be but still effectively. It had
been announced during the progress of the Crimean War that a Royal tour
of British America might be arranged within a few years, and the
Canadian Legislature, on May 14th, 1859, took advantage of the coming
completion of the great Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence, at
Montreal, to tender a formal invitation to the Sovereign herself to be
present at the opening ceremonies; to receive a personal tribute of the
unwavering attachment of her subjects; and to more closely unite the
bonds which attached the Province to the Empire. This unanimously-passed
address was taken to London by Mr. Speaker Henry Smith, and the response
elicited was most favourable to the indirect request of the Assembly and
Legislative Council--the initiative in the matter being due to a motion
by the Hon. P. M. M. S. Vankoughnet in the latter House. The
Governor-General received a reply, dated January 30th, 1860, and signed
by the Duke of Newcastle, Colonial Secretary, which stated that Her
Majesty greatly regretted that her duties at the Seat of the Empire
would prevent so long an absence, but that it might be possible for H.
R. H. the Prince of Wales to attend the ceremony at a later date. "The
Queen trusts that nothing may interfere with this arrangement for it is
Her Majesty's sincere desire that the young Prince, on whom the Crown
of this Empire will devolve, may have the opportunity of visiting that
portion of her dominions from which this Address has proceeded and may
become acquainted with a people in whose progress towards greatness, Her
Majesty, in common with her subjects in Great Britain, feels a lively
and enduring sympathy."
THE PRINCE COMMENCES HIS TOUR
Preparations were at once commenced in the British Provinces to properly
receive the Royal guest. By the 9th of July all arrangements in England
had been made, including the acceptance of an invitation to visit the
United States--as a private gentleman under the title of Lord Renfrew.
On that date the Prince sailed from Plymouth in the ship _Hero_
after replying to a farewell address, when he declared that he was
proceeding to "the great possessions of the Queen in North America
with a lively anticipation of the pleasure which the sight of a noble
land, great works of nature and human skill and a generous and active
people must produce." The Royal suite was composed of the Duke of
Newcastle--practically guardian to the youthful Prince; the Earl of St.
Germans, Lord Chamberlain to the Queen; General, the Hon. Robert Bruce;
Dr. Auckland and two Equerries--Major Teesdale, V.C., and Captain Grey.
Newfoundland was first reached on July 23d. An enthusiastic reception
was given to the Royal visitor at St. John's by ringing bells, lusty
cheers, waving flags and evening illuminations. The Prince was received
by the Governor, Sir Alexander Bannerman, and then passed in procession
through beautiful arches and decorations to Government House. A levee
was held, many addresses received and a collective reply given, in which
the Prince made the statement that "I shall carry back a lively
recollection of the day's proceedings and your kindness to myself
personally; but, above all, of these hearty demonstrations of patriotism
which prove your deep-rooted attachment to the great and free country
of which we all glory to be called sons." A ride around the town
followed, without ceremony, and in the evening a state dinner and ball
were given. The attendance at the latter was very large and the Prince
delighted everyone, and particularly the ladies, by dancing with evident
zest and pleasure until three o'clock in the morning. During the day
thus commenced he left the Island amid every evidence of popularity and
loyalty--after accepting a handsome Newfoundland dog as a present from
the people and presenting Lady Bannerman with a set of jewels in
commemoration of his visit.
ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX
The Royal squadron arrived at Halifax on the morning of July 30th and,
despite unpleasant weather, the entire city turned out to welcome the
Queen's son. The streets were lined by the regular soldiers and
volunteers and were beautifully decorated with arches, transparencies
and evergreens. The arches numbered seventeen and included one which the
Roman Catholic Archbishop Connolly had erected at his own expense. The
Prince was received by His Excellency the Earl of Mulgrave--afterwards
Marquess of Normanby--and Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne,
Major-General Trollope and the members of the Provincial Government.
Mayor Caldwell read an address expressing "devotion to the British
throne and attachment to British institutions" and His Royal Highness in
reply referred to the noble Harbour of Halifax in which all the navies
of Great Britain could "ride in safety." There was much enthusiasm shown
in the streets and at one point 4000 children sang an adaptation of the
National Anthem as a sort of welcoming ode. At Government House the Hon.
William Young read an address from the Executive Council of the Province
in which special reference was made to the Nova Scotians who had won
laurels "beneath the Imperial flag" in the recent Crimean campaign. It
was signed by the Hon. Joseph Howe, the Hon. A. G. Archibald, the Hon.
J. McCully, the Hon. William Annand and others and, in replying, the
Prince made a significant allusion to the Confederation policy of
several years later when he expressed hopes for their happiness as a
loyal and united people.
On the following day a Royal review was held and in the evening a state
dinner and ball were attended while illuminations turned the darkness of
the outside night into brightness. At the ball the ladies selected as
partners, according to a contemporary historian, were "principally the
wives and daughters--much oftener the latter--of gentlemen connected
with the staff or with the Government of the Province." The same
writer[5] states that when the Prince adjourned to supper he begged that
the ball might not proceed in his absence "as he would not be long away
and his programme was full." The third day in Halifax included a Levee
at Government House; the reception of the addresses from the Church of
England, King's College, Windsor, the Masons, the Methodist Conference,
the Free Church of Scotland, the Kirk of Scotland, the Roman Catholic
Church, the Presbyterian Church, and Acadia College. A visit followed to
the one-time residence and grounds of H. R. H. the Duke of Kent and a
Regatta was witnessed. A state dinner and reception at Government House,
a torch-light procession of Firemen and a display of fireworks in the
evening closed the events of the visit. Early in the morning of August
2nd, His Royal Highness left for St. John--stopping on the way at
Windsor, which was beautifully decorated, to receive an address and
partake of a banquet. An address was also accepted at Hautsport.
On the following morning the Prince was welcomed at St. John by Mr.
Manners-Sutton, the Lieutenant-Governor, the members of the Government,
the Judges, etc. At one point during the procession to his temporary
residence 5000 school children sang patriotic airs and threw flowers at
their Royal guest. The usual addresses and evening illuminations
followed--the latter eclipsing those of Halifax, or St. John's,
Newfoundland. August 4th and the Sunday which followed were spent at
Fredericton. The Anglican Cathedral was attended there and a sermon from
Bishop Medley listened to. On the following day the Executive Council
presented an address in which it stated that "if the necessity should
ever arise all the available resources of New Brunswick will be freely
offered for the defence of Imperial interests and the maintenance of
national honour." The address from the City referred to "the universal
heart-throb of our Empire of perpetual sunlight" and another address was
presented from the Anglican clergy. The Prince replied appropriately to
each and afterwards held a Levee at Government House and attended a
grand ball held in his honour. On Tuesday, August 7th, he started from
Prince Edward Island, being enthusiastically welcomed on the way at
Indiantown and Carleton in New Brunswick, and at Truro and Picton in
Nova Scotia.
The Prince of Wales arrived at Charlottetown on the morning of August
9th and, despite pouring rain, was received by crowds in a tastefully
decorated city. He was formally welcomed by Lieutenant-Governor George
Dundas, Chief Justice Hodgson, Premier, the Hon. Charles Palmer, and all
the dignitaries and officials of the Island. As the procession passed to
Government House 2000 children sang the National Anthem and the crowds
cheered enthusiastically. A Levee was held on the following day, a
review of the volunteers proceeded with, and addresses received from the
Provincial and Civic authorities. A ball at the Provincial Building
concluded the festivities and the Prince danced until three in the
morning. The Royal visitor then departed for the Upper Provinces and
arrived in Gaspe Bay, on August 12th, after seeing much that was
beautiful in the way of scenery. Here the Prince was formally welcomed
to the Canada of that day by His Excellency Sir Edmund W. Head,
Governor-General of all British America, and by the Canadian Ministry,
which included the Hon. John A. Macdonald, George E. Cartier, A. T.
Galt, John Ross, N. F. Belleau, J. C. Morrison, L. S. Morin and others
of historic name. A visit to the gloomy and splendid scenes along the
Saguenay followed and on August 17th, after passing further up the St.
Lawrence, Quebec was reached by the Royal fleet. The succeeding day was
marked by His Royal Highness' first public entry into Canada.
THE ROYAL WELCOME AT QUEBEC
No more splendid natural setting for a national event can be found in
the world than that afforded by the crowning heights, the broad sweep of
river, the ancient and towering fortress of Quebec. Upon this occasion
the old-fashioned French city, nestling upon the sides of the cliff, was
vivid with flags and the narrow streets filled with arches, while crowds
of interested people thronged every part of the place. The Heir to the
Throne was formally received at the wharf by the Governor-General, who
was accompanied by the Canadian Ministry in their uniforms of blue and
gold; Lord Lyons, the British Minister at Washington; Lieutenant-General
Sir W. Fenwick Williams, Commander of the Forces; Sir A. N. McNab, Sir
E. P. Tache, Major H. L. Langevin and others prominent in the public
life of the Provinces. In a special Pavilion which had been erected, the
Prince was presented by Major Langevin--better known to a subsequent
generation as Sir Hector Langevin, M.P.--with an address describing the
loyalty of the French population to British institutions and connection.
In his reply the Royal guest spoke of the differences of origin,
language and religion as being "lost in one universal spirit of
patriotism which had knit all classes to the Mother-land in common ties
of equal liberty and free institutions." During the procession through
the city which followed there was much cheering, and in the evening,
despite the rain which had poured all day, the illuminations were
exceedingly good.
On the following day the Anglican Cathedral was attended by His Royal
Highness with the Governor-General and their suites. The succeeding day
was again stormy but a visit was paid to the Chaudiere Falls and on
Tuesday a Levee was held at the old Parliament Buildings attended by the
Roman Catholic Hierarchy of the Province of Quebec in a body, clad in
purple robes, and followed in order by the Judges and members of the
Legislative Council and Assembly of the United Provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada--as Ontario and Quebec were then generally called. An
address was presented on behalf of the Council by its Speaker, the Hon.
N. F. Belleau and replied to by the Prince, after which he conferred the
honour of knighthood upon Mr. Belleau. An address was then presented on
behalf of the Assembly by its Speaker, the Hon. Henry Smith, who also
received the distinction of being personally knighted by the Royal
visitor. Other addresses were presented and later in the day a visit was
paid to the beautiful Falls of Montmorenci--the route to which was
ornamented with arches, flags and evergreens. In the evening a grand
ball was given and the Prince danced through almost the entire
programme. On the following day a visit was paid to Laval University and
an address received from the Roman Catholic Hierarchy at the hands of
Bishop Horan of Kingston, as well as one from the University. The former
document stated that the Church was always careful to teach that Kings
reign by God's will and that, therefore, "entire submission is due to
the authority they have received from on high." They believed
"traditional respect for the high moral principle of legitimate
authority" to be the real strength of Canadian society. The Prince
responded in fitting terms to both addresses. The Ursuline Convent was
also visited and an address received. In the evening a display of
fireworks was given and on the morning of August 23rd His Royal Highness
departed for Three Rivers.
THE PRINCE AT MONTREAL
The trip up the River was a pleasant one and, after a brief stay at
Three Rivers where the Mayor--Mr. J. E. Turcotte M.P.P.--presented an
address, the journey was resumed to Montreal. Accompanying the steamer
_Kingston_ (which had been specially fitted up for this occasion) from
Three Rivers was another containing the members of the Legislature. All
along the shores of the St. Lawrence were little crowds of _habitants_
striving for a glimpse of the Royal visitor and, when nearing Montreal,
he was received by a fleet of vessels crowded with cheering people. The
reception in the city commenced on the morning of August 25th and was
marked by the gathering of numerous crowds and intense interest. An
address was presented by Mr. Charles S. Rodier, the Mayor of Montreal,
in a handsome Pavilion specially erected for the purpose, and surrounded
by the entire military and volunteer force of the district and city. The
Mayor in his scarlet robes, the Ministers in their new Windsor uniforms,
the officers in their varied military dress and Bishop Fulford and the
Anglican clergy in their gowns, made quite a brilliant spectacle on the
dais. After the Prince had replied to the address the Royal procession
passed through the city to the Crystal Palace, the streets being gay
with flags, banners, evergreens, transparencies and eight, more or less,
handsome arches.
At the new building, or Crystal Palace, an Exhibition was duly opened by
the Prince, who then proceeded to the Victoria Bridge station where he
was met by the Hon. John Ross, President of the Grand Trunk Railway, and
other officials. An address was presented descriptive of the great
structure across the St. Lawrence and, after his reply, the Prince was
taken from the station to the Bridge in a carriage lined with crimson
velvet and there proceeded to formally open it for public use. An
elaborate luncheon, attended by 600 persons and presided over by Sir
Edmund Head, followed. After receiving an address from the workmen
employed in the undertaking His Royal Highness returned to the city and
in the evening witnessed illuminations which made Montreal a blaze of
light. On Sunday, the 26th, the Prince attended Christ Church Cathedral
and heard a sermon from Bishop Fulford. During the succeeding day he
witnessed a lacrosse game by Indians, watched a procession of Temperance
organizations, and held a Levee at the Court House where addresses were
presented from the Church of England, McGill College, the inhabitants of
Red River Colony--now the City of Winnipeg--and others.
In the evening one of the finest balls ever given on the Continent of
America was attended by the Prince. The decorations were gorgeous and
yet tasteful and the Royal guest is stated to have danced incessantly
until half-past four in the morning. On Tuesday he visited Dickenson's
Landing in a special car built by the Grand Trunk Railway and from
thence went down the Rapids of the St. Lawrence in the steamer
_Kingston_. The evening saw a Grand Musical Festival in his honour and
on the following day a Royal review of 1600 troops took place. A visit
followed to Sir George Simpson's residence at Isle Dorval, accompanied
by a canoe excursion down the St. Lawrence under the auspices of the
Hudson's Bay Company, of which Sir G. Simpson had so long been head. The
evening witnessed a torch-light procession of Montreal Firemen. On
August 30th the Royal visitor, the Governor-General and their suites,
took a special train for St. Hyacinthe where the Prince was
enthusiastically received and several addresses presented at the Roman
Catholic College. At Sherbrooke, in the afternoon, flags were flying
everywhere and arches had been erected on all the principal streets. An
address was read by the Mayor, Mr. J. G. Robertson--afterwards for many
years Treasurer of the Province. A visit was then paid to the residence
of the Hon. A. T. Galt, Minister of Finance, and on the way thither His
Royal Highness was almost smothered in bouquets of flowers thrown at him
by young women along the route. A Levee was held here and hundreds of
people presented. At Montreal in the evening, a great display of
fireworks took place and on the following morning the Prince left the
city finally.
[Illustration: KING EDWARD AS PRINCE OF WALES
When visiting Canada in 1860]
[Illustration: VISIT OF KING EDWARD WHEN PRINCE OF WALES TO TORONTO IN
1860]
AT THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED PROVINCES
At every village and town and tiny settlement on the way to Ottawa
crowds turned out to welcome and cheer the passing visitor; while flags
and arches and decorations indicated the pleasure of the people in more
practical shape. Near the capital of the United Provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada--seven years hence to be the capital of the new
Dominion--the Prince of Wales was received by a fleet of steamers and
1200 lumbermen and Indians in birch-bark canoes and was escorted into
the city in a most picturesque style. Mayor Workman presented an address
and a procession through the capital followed. On September 1st the
corner stone of the splendid Parliament Buildings, which afterwards
graced the hills of the Chaudiere, was laid by the Royal visitor amid
scenes of considerable dignity and much enthusiasm. Amongst those
present were H. E. Sir Edmund Head, Lord Mulgrave, General Sir Fenwick
Williams, Hon. John A. Macdonald and the other members of the Ministry.
In the afternoon a state luncheon was given by the Government at which
the Governor-General presided and the toasts proposed were presented
respectively by His Excellency, Sir N. F. Belleau, Sir Henry Smith and
the Prince himself. A visit to the Chaudiere Falls followed and the
usual illuminations were given in the evening. On Sunday Christ Church
Cathedral was attended and early in the succeeding day the journey was
resumed--Arnprior, Almonte and Brockville being visited and addresses
received.
At this point in the tour occurred an unfortunate misunderstanding with
the Orangemen of Kingston and Toronto. While in Montreal the Duke of
Newcastle--who was practically in charge of the Prince's movements so
far as they affected state and public interests--heard that the members
of the Loyal Orange Order proposed to erect arches along the route of
the Royal procession in Toronto and Kingston and to decorate them with
Orange colours and regalia. The Duke at once wrote to Sir Edmund Head
that this would not do. "It is obvious that a display of this nature on
such an occasion is likely to lead to religious feud and breach of the
peace; and it is my duty to prevent, so far as I am able, the exposure
of the Prince to supposed participation in a scene so much to be
deprecated, and so alien to the spirit in which he visits Canada." He
added that if the policy was persisted in he would advise the Prince not
to visit the places in question.
Sectarian feeling, it may be added, was very strong at this time in
Upper Canada and the Catholics and Orangemen were drawn up in two
distinctly hostile camps of religious and political thought. This was
especially the case in Toronto and Kingston. The Governor-General at
once wrote the Mayors of these two towns under date of August 31st and,
in the course of his letter said: "You will bear in mind, Sir, that His
Royal Highness visits this Colony on the special invitation of the whole
people, as conveyed by both branches of the Legislature, without
distinction of creed or party; and it would be inconsistent with the
spirit and object of such an invitation, and such a visit, to thrust on
him the exhibition of banners or other badges of distinction which are
known to be offensive to any of Her Majesty's subjects." Roman Catholics
called meetings to protest at the intended action of the Orangemen; the
latter met in public and private and convinced themselves that the
representatives of the former were being allowed to control the Prince's
movements. They pointed to their own well-known loyalty to the Crown and
British institutions and to the fact that Roman Catholics had been
permitted every privilege in welcoming the Prince in Lower Canada.
Eventually, although the Duke of Newcastle made every effort to smooth
matters over, the City Council of Kingston and the Orangemen of that
place refused to give way and the steamer _Kingston_, after sixteen
hours had been given for consideration, passed in her course to
Belleville without the Prince landing in the gaily decorated and
historic town.
Writing from the steamer on September 5th, before leaving for the next
destination in the Royal tour, the Duke wrote to the Mayor a long letter
in which the following sentence occurs: "What is the sacrifice I asked
the Orangemen to make? Merely to abstain from displaying in the presence
of a young Prince of 19 years of age--the heir to a sceptre which rules
over millions of every form of Christianity--symbols of religious and
political organization which are notoriously offensive to the members of
another creed!" He expressed regret that the City Council had not
accepted the suggestion to present their address on board the steamer as
had been done by the Church of Scotland Synod. The reply of the Mayor,
Mr. O. S. Strange, disclaimed sympathy with the Orangemen while
defending a refusal to approve the advice given to the Prince of Wales.
It also pointed out that the garbs and flags of the Orange Order were no
more compromising to the Royal visitor than were the robes and insignia
of the Catholic Hierarchy of Quebec during the reception in that
Province.
ROYAL RECEPTION AT TORONTO
Belleville was reached on September 5th, but no landing was effected on
account of Orange troubles of the same kind as at Kingston. The
disappointment of the people was extreme, as the preparations had been
elaborate and the decorations costly. Visits followed to Cobourg, where
a ball was given; to Rice Lake, where an address was received from the
Mississaga Indians; to Peterborough, Whitby and Port Hope, which were
most lavishly decorated. Toronto was reached on September 7th and the
greatest reception of the tour given to the Royal visitor. As the centre
of Orange sentiment in Upper Canada some difficulty was feared, and as a
matter of fact there was a misunderstanding between the Duke of
Newcastle and Mayor Wilson--afterwards Sir Adam Wilson, Chief Justice of
Ontario--regarding the Orange arch; but this was ultimately smoothed
over. The city was gay with flags and decorations; nine arches had been
erected in the principal streets; a large amphitheatre was built for the
purposes of the formal reception; and the city was crowded with people.
At the amphitheatre an address was received from the city and replied to
by the Prince in a speech in which he referred to the generous loyalty
of his welcome as the Queen's representative--"a loyalty tempered and
yet strengthened by the intelligent independence of the Canadian
character." A welcome was sung by 5000 school children and a procession
through Toronto followed. Brilliant illuminations in the evening made
the town bright and in the ensuing morning the Prince held a Levee at
which one thousand gentlemen were presented.
Addresses were presented during this function from the Upper Canada
Bible Society, the Church of England Synod Trinity University, the
Presbyterian Synod, the St. George's Society, the Temperance
organizations, the County Council of York, and Knox College, and were
duly replied to. In the afternoon His Royal Highness attended a
reception given by the Law Society and in the evening a dance under the
same auspices at Osgoode Hall. On the next day, Sunday, the Prince
attended service at St. James Cathedral and listened to a sermon from
Bishop Strachan. On Monday, an excursion was made to Collingwood, on the
Georgian Bay, and the Prince was accompanied by the Governor-General,
Sir Fenwick Williams and the Hon. Messrs. A. T. Galt, P. M. Vankoughnet,
W. B. Robinson, J. Hillyard Cameron and others, as well as by his suite.
At Newmarket, Aurora, Bradford and Barrie addresses were received and at
every point along the Northern Railway there were decorations and crowds
of people.
At Collingwood there was luncheon and an enthusiastic reception and the
Prince then returned to Toronto, where he watched the games of the
Canadian Highland Society for a time. September 11th was a very wet day,
but the Royal visitor attended a Regatta held under the auspices of the
Royal Canadian Yacht Club, opened Queen's Park, and laid a pedestal for
a statue to the Queen. He also reviewed the Toronto Volunteer Corps, and
visited the University of Toronto where he received an address as well
as one from Upper Canada College. A visit to the Educational Department
of the Province and Knox College followed and a busy day was concluded
by a great ball in the evening, at which the Prince danced until four in
the morning.
THE PRINCE IN THE WEST
On September 12th His Royal Highness left Toronto for a trip through the
western portion of Upper Canada (Ontario) and was welcomed at every
station by decorations and cheering crowds. Arches were everywhere and
salutes were fired with frequency. A short stop was made at Guelph and
Stratford and an address was received at the German settlement of
Peterburg, to which the Prince replied in the same language. In the
afternoon London was reached and an enthusiastic reception given which
included a torchlight procession and evening illuminations. Sarnia was
visited on the following day and, besides the usual addresses, one was
presented from the Indians of Upper Canada. At London, in the evening, a
ball was given and the young Prince danced with the animation which he
had displayed at all the entertainments of this character given in his
honour. On September 14th he proceeded to visit Niagara Falls in a new
and beautiful car specially constructed by the Great Western Railway
Company.
Woodstock, Paris, Brantford, Dunnville and Port Colborne were visited
_en route_, and at the Falls in the evening most exquisite illuminations
were exhibited for the pleasure of the visitor--lines of fire running
along the cliffs while other kinds of light intensified the natural
splendour of the scene. During his several days at this point, the
Prince saw Blondin cross the chasm on a rope; attended service at the
little church in the Canadian village; paid a brief visit to the
American fort on the other side of Niagara River; saw the Welland Canal
and visited Queenston Heights and the tomb of Sir Isaac Brock. At the
latter place he received an address from one hundred and sixty survivors
of the War of 1812 at the hands of Chief Justice Sir J. Beverley
Robinson and, on September 18th, laid the corner-stone of an obelisk in
honour of the chief Canadian hero of that contest. A visit to Port
Dalhousie and Hamilton followed, and at the latter place the reception
was marked by splendid decorations and much enthusiasm.
In his reply to the address the Royal visitor was more than usually
impressive--no doubt realizing that the end of this visit to a great
country of the future was close at hand. "I can never forget," he said,
"the scenes I have witnessed during the short time in which I have
enjoyed the privilege of associating myself with the Canadian people,
which must ever be a bright epoch in my life. I shall bear away with me
a grateful remembrance of kindness and affection which, as yet, I have
been unable to do anything to merit; and it shall be the constant effort
of my future years to prove myself not unworthy of the love and
confidence of a generous people." Fire-works, a state concert, a visit
to the Central School, a luncheon at the Royal Hotel, a visit to the
waterworks and a grand ball in the evening were amongst the events of
the stay in Hamilton. On September 20th the last address received and
answered by His Royal Highness in Canada was presented by the
Agricultural Society of Upper Canada. To its loyal phrases the King and
Emperor of a distant future made this final response: "My duties as
representative of the Queen, deputed by her to visit British North
America, cease this day; but in a private capacity I am about to visit,
before I return home, that remarkable land which claims with us a common
ancestry and in whose extraordinary progress every Englishman feels a
common interest. Before I quit British soil let me once more address
through you the inhabitants of United Canada and bid them an
affectionate farewell. May God pour down his choicest blessings upon
this great and loyal people."
THE PRINCE OF WALES IN THE UNITED STATES
Windsor was reached in the evening and after words of loyal greeting had
been received from its people, the Prince of Wales left Canadian soil
and, accompanied by the Governor of Michigan and the Mayor of Detroit,
crossed the river to United States territory and was welcomed there as
Lord Renfrew--one of his many minor titles. This part of the Royal tour
had been arranged as a result of an invitation received by the Queen
from President Buchanan dated June 4th, 1860, and expressing the hope
that His Royal Highness' visit would be extended to the Republic. This
had been agreed to by the Queen who intimated in reply that, while in
the United States, the Prince would drop all Royal state and travel
under the name of Lord Renfrew as he was accustomed to do on the
Continent of Europe. It may be said, in passing, that this _incognito_
was very slightly observed and that the Royal visitor was welcomed
everywhere as the heir to the British throne and the son of a
much-respected and friendly Sovereign.
At Detroit the Prince parted from the Governor-General of Canada and the
members of the Canadian Government who had hitherto accompanied him and,
after a drive around the city and a brilliant illumination in the
evening, departed on the morning of September 21st for Chicago. A
special car was provided by the Michigan Central Railway. At Chicago
there was no formal welcome or function; no particular enthusiasm or
crowds. The Prince was driven around the great new city of the West and
enjoyed his first experience of the panorama of American development
which that centre even then presented. He did not stay long and on the
22nd departed for Dwight, in the same State, where four days were spent
in shooting. On September 27th he arrived at St. Louis, then a place of
about seventeen thousand people, and here His Royal Highness visited the
State Fair. There were estimated to have been twenty-eight thousand
persons in the amphitheatre of the Fair and a curious incident of the
visit is recorded by a writer, already quoted, who states that a vain
search of the city had been made for a Union Jack to place beside the
American flag on the central building.
From St. Louis the Prince proceeded to Cincinnati, in Ohio, and on the
evening of September 29th attended a ball given by an enterprising
citizen who had just erected a handsome new theatre. On Sunday, St.
John's Church was visited and a sermon preached by Bishop McIlvaine.
Pittsburg was reached on October 1st and an enthusiastic but informal
reception accorded. Harrisburg was the next place visited and it was
noted that, as the Prince and his suite went further east and south, the
curious crowds gave place to increasingly enthusiastic crowds. At
Baltimore immense throngs of people had gathered and thence on October
3rd the Royal party proceeded to Washington which they reached in the
afternoon. The Prince, who had been accompanied through American
territory by Lord Lyons, the British Minister, was welcomed to the
capital by General Cass and then driven to the White House where, in the
evening, a state reception was given in his honour.
On the following day the President held a Levee, accompanied by "Lord
Renfrew," and a great number of people attended. Afterwards a visit was
paid to the handsome public buildings of the city. On October 5th,
President Buchanan, his niece, Miss Harriet Lane, the Prince of Wales
and many members of the American Cabinet and Diplomatic Corps, as well
as the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Lyons, visited Mount Vernon. There,
for a few moments, the descendant of George III. stood with uncovered
head before the tomb of George Washington. In the evening a state dinner
was given by Lord Lyons and on the following day the Prince left
Washington for Richmond. Here his most enjoyable experience is said to
have been, not the historical explanations and hospitable companionship
of Governor Letcher, but the first taste of a mint julep mixed by a
negro of much local fame in the preparation of this cooling drink.
Baltimore was visited on October 8th and Philadelphia on the 10th. At
some of these centres of population the Prince was able to spend a part
of the day, incognito, amongst the people who, in perfect ignorance of
his presence, no doubt taught the future King of Great Britain much that
he would never otherwise have known as to public opinion in a country
where the courses of freedom were uncontrolled by custom and unshackled
by precedent or tradition. A feature of the visit to Philadelphia was a
splendid concert given in the Opera House, at which Patti and others
sang to a brilliant audience amidst striking decorations. To the verses
of "God Save the Queen" were added the following lines:
"Long may the Prince abide,
England's hope, joy and pride,
Long live the Prince;
May England's future King,
Victoria's virtues bring,
To grace his reign.
God save the Prince."
On October 11th the Prince of Wales arrived in New York and was welcomed
on his steamer by General Winfield Scott and a reception committee. At
the landing place Mayor Fernando Wood received him with the simple
words: "As Chief Magistrate of this city, I welcome you here and believe
that I represent the entire population without exception." The guest's
reply was equally brief and then, clad in a Colonel's uniform, the
Prince was driven through crowded streets to the City Hall, where six
thousand soldiers were reviewed, and thence to the Fifth Avenue Hotel.
The only unpleasant incident of the visit was the refusal of an Irish
regiment to turn out upon this occasion with the other troops. During
the following day His Royal Highness visited the University of New York,
the Astor Library and the Cooper Institute. At the first-named
institution he listened to an address on the electric telegraph from
Professor Morse. In the evening a splendid ball was given at the Academy
of Music where brilliant decorations vied with the beautiful costumes.
On the following day the Prince, with his suite, visited Brady's
photograph gallery and Barnum's Museum and, in the evening, witnessed a
torch-light procession of five thousand Firemen. At the first-named
place he inspected and asked for portraits of the eminent men of the
United States and especially inquired for one of Secretary W. L. Marcy.
Trinity Church was attended on Sunday and a sermon heard from the Rev.
Dr. Francis Vinton--assisted in the service by a number of other
clergymen. The church was crowded and ten thousand people waited outside
to see the Royal visitor. New York was left on the following morning and
West Point and Albany visited. In the afternoon of October 17th the
Prince and his suite arrived at Boston and were formally welcomed by the
Governor of Massachusetts as representing a country with which the
American people were, he declared, united by "many ties of language, law
and liberty." At luncheon the Hon. Edward Everett was one of the guests
as the Hon. W. H. Seward had been at a dinner in Albany. In the
afternoon a children's concert was given at the Music Hall in honour of
the Prince and an Ode written by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes was sung with
enthusiasm to the air of the British National anthem. It commenced with
the following verse:
"God bless our fathers' Land,
Keep her in heart and hand,
One with our own.
From all her foes defend,
Be her brave people's friend,
On all her realms descend
Protect her throne!"
A ball was given in the evening at the Boston Theatre and, on the
following morning, a flying visit paid to Cambridge and to Harvard
University. Incidentally, it may be added, the Prince met Longfellow,
Emerson, Holmes and others during his stay in Boston. On October 20th he
reached Portland and, amid roaring cannon, ringing bells and crowds of
cheering people passed from the shores of America to his ship in the
ranks of a British squadron and thence home to the British Isles. On
November 15th, His Royal Highness arrived at Plymouth and shortly
afterwards the Duke of Newcastle received the Order of the Garter from
the Queen as a token of her appreciation of his conduct during the Royal
tour. Under date of December 8th Her Majesty communicated to the
American President, through Lord Lyons, her great satisfaction at "the
feeling of confidence and affection" which had been shown upon this
occasion by the people of the United States towards herself and her
country.
Speaking on the same date at Nottingham, England, the Duke of Newcastle
stated that during his recent visit to British North America he had
"witnessed such devotion to the Sovereign and these realms as no one who
had not witnessed it himself would be willing to believe. It was a
demonstration of the attachment of the entire people to the throne of
England and of their veneration for the lady who at present occupied it.
It was a loyalty not of creed, nor of party, nor of race." As to the
United States the influence of the Queen's personality had been even
more striking. The reception of the Prince there had been an
extraordinary one. "With one solitary exception they met with nothing
but enthusiasm and, in fact, he did believe that the visit of the Prince
of Wales to America had done more to cement the good feeling between the
two countries than could possibly have been affected by a quarter of a
century of diplomacy."
FOOTNOTES:
[5] Robert Cellem in _Visit of the Prince of Wales_ to Toronto, Canada,
1861.
CHAPTER IV.
The Royal Marriage
Three years after the birth of the Heir to the British Throne, in one of
the historic palaces of his family and country, there was born on
December 1st, 1844, in a comparatively humble home at Copenhagen, the
Princess Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louisa Julia of Denmark. The
house was called a palace, her father was Heir to the Throne of Denmark,
and became King Christian IX. on November 15th, 1863, but the mansion
was, none the less, a quiet and unostentatious place, and the Prince a
personage with hardly more resources or a larger revenue than many an
English country gentleman.
Simplicity and domesticity were the guiding principles of the Princess
Alexandra's education and training. Her mother, the late Queen Louise of
Denmark, was beautiful, graceful and clever, and seems to have possessed
that love of home which is more rare than even the striking combination
of qualities just mentioned. She was passionately fond of music, while
Prince Christian was fond of drawing, and these subjects, together with
languages and needle-work and all the essentials of the most simple home
work and management, were taught to the girls who were respectively to
become Empress of Russia, Queen of Great Britain, and Duchess of
Cumberland in after years.
As the years passed on the Princess Alexandra became probably the most
beautiful girl in the Courts of Europe, and one of the least known
outside a limited family circle. When hardly seventeen, and at a period
in which the marriage of the young Prince of Wales was being seriously
thought of by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he chanced to see a
portrait of the Princess. There seems to be no doubt that it was purely
by accident--unless the wise and far-seeing Prince Consort indirectly
controlled the incident--and that the picture of the lovely young girl,
smiling from out of simple surroundings and a simple costume, had an
immediate effect. He kept the photograph, and a little later saw a
miniature of the Princess at the home of a friend. In a surprisingly
short time the Prince had heard that the original of the picture was
"the most beautiful girl in Europe," and was on his way to Prussia to
attend the military manoeuvres of the season. The Crown Prince and
Princess of Denmark happened to be travelling in the vicinity at the
time.
THE PRINCE MEETS PRINCESS ALEXANDRA
On September 24th, 1861, the Prince of Wales and his party met the
Danish Royal party in the Cathedral of Worms, and the former had a first
glance at his future wife. Then followed a few days at the Castle of
Heidelberg, where they were all guests together, and about which a note
in Prince Albert's _Diary_ of September 30th says that "the young people
seem to have taken a warm liking for each other." Less than three months
after this entry the writer had passed away, but the sad event only made
the widowed Queen more anxious for her son's marriage. Further meetings
occurred at the Princess Frederick's--the English Crown Princess--and
elsewhere, and on September 9th, 1862, the betrothal took place;
although it was not publicly announced until November 8th. The Prince
was then just twenty-one and the Princess not yet eighteen, and it was
understood that some months would elapse before the marriage. Meanwhile,
in August, Queen Victoria had first met and been charmed by her future
daughter-in-law at the Laacken Palace of the King of the Belgians. The
Danish people were naturally delighted at the news, and, poor as they
were in a national sense, they at once subscribed a total sum of L8,000
to constitute what was called the People's Dowry. This the Princess
accepted with cordial thanks to the nation, but asked that a substantial
portion of it be allotted to provide a dowry for six poor girls whose
weddings should take place on the same day as her own.
THE COMING OF THE PRINCESS
Meantime the English people were expressing their pleasure at the news
in various ways. The House of Commons voted the Prince of Wales a yearly
income of L40,000 and his bride-to-be L10,000 for herself. Including the
L40,000 from the Duchy of Cornwall this made a reasonable sum, while
Sandringham and Marlborough House were allotted as Royal
residences--requiring, however, much remodelling and improvement.
Preparations of the most elaborate and splendid sort were made to
welcome the lovely Danish Princess and into these arrangements the whole
people seemed to throw themselves with mingled excitement and pleasure.
In the little Copenhagen palace this turmoil was hardly known; the
preparations certainly were not comprehended; and the quiet family were
preparing in the most simple way for the great occasion--not the least
excitement of the moment being the fact of their all going to England
together. The wedding day was fixed for the 10th of March, and a few
days before this the Princess left Denmark for her new home; passing
over carpets of flowers strewn in her way by pressing and cheering
crowds of affectionate people; receiving addresses everywhere, and
smiles and tears and good wishes from simple peasants, who had decorated
even their hedgerows and who made the departure look like a triumphal
procession. Then King Frederick VII., presented her with a necklace of
diamonds and a facsimile of the Dagmar Cross--that precious relic of
early days and of the first Christian Queen of Denmark.
The Princess arrived in the Thames on board the _Victoria and
Albert_--which had been escorted from Flushing by a squadron of
war-ships--on the morning of March 1st, and was welcomed at Gravesend by
an outburst of enthusiasm which literally astounded her. A stately and
formal reception she had, of course, anticipated but the splendour of
what actually appeared, the elaborate character of the preparations, the
surprising interest shewn by the people, were indeed revelations of the
changed conditions into which the bride of the Heir Apparent had come.
At Gravesend the dense crowds which lined the shores, or at least some
portion of them, saw a sight which has been well described as pretty--"A
timid girlish figure, dressed entirely in white, who appeared on the
deck at her mother's side and then retiring to the cabin, was seen first
at one window then at another, the bewildering face framed in a little
white bonnet; the work of her own hands."
HER RECEPTION IN ENGLAND
When the Prince's yacht approached and he was seen to rush across the
gangway, catch his bride in his arms and kiss her, the delight of the
onlookers was unconstrained. As the Royal couple landed, girls strewed
flowers under their feet. Then followed the glittering procession from
Gravesend to London and thence to Windsor through long lines of
decorated houses, garlanded and festooned roadways, flashing sabres and
gorgeous uniformed soldiers. In London the streets were packed with
people; triumphal arches, banners and devices were everywhere. In the
poorer streets, in the homes of the artisan and the factory girl, there
was the same effort to show pleasure in the happiness of the Princess
and appreciation of her grace and beauty as there was in the great
residential squares. At Eton there was a triumphal arch and a loyal
gathering of enthusiastic boys; at Windsor the Queen received the
Princess and conducted her to the suite of rooms which had been lately
occupied by the Princess Alice. The first part, the popular reception,
was over and it had proved how accurately the Poet Laureate had grasped
the situation when he wrote of "the sea-king's daughter from over the
sea" and gave that lordly command to the nation:
"Welcome her; thunders of fort and of fleet!
Welcome her; thundering cheer of the street!
Welcome her; all things youthful and sweet!
Scatter the blossoms under her feet."
[Illustration: QUEEN VICTORIA, 1901
The Honored Mother of Edward VII]
[Illustration: H. R. H. ALBERT, PRINCE CONSORT, THE FATHER OF EDWARD VII
From a painting by F. Winterhalter]
[Illustration: THE CROWN JEWELS OF ENGLAND
These Jewels of untold value are kept to a well protected case in the
Tower of London. They include the ancient and modern Crowns]
[Illustration: THE CORONATION OF EDWARD VII
King Edward received his crown at the hands of the venerable
Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey, on August 9,
1902, in the presence of representative peers and commoners of
the Empire]
CELEBRATION OF THE MARRIAGE
The marriage was celebrated in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on March
10th, the ceremony being performed by Dr. Longley, Archbishop of
Canterbury, assisted by the Bishops of London, Winchester and Chester
and by Dean Wellesley of Windsor. The Queen, owing to the Prince
Consort's recent death, took no part officially but looked on from the
Royal closet. The historic Chapel was a blaze of colour and jewels and
the wedding guests numbered nine hundred of the highest rank and station
and reputation in the land. Mr. Speaker Denison, afterwards Lord
Ossington, in his _Diary_ gives a description of the scene. "It was a
very magnificent sight--rich, gorgeous and imposing. Beautiful women
were arrayed in the richest attire, in bright colours, blue, purple,
red, and were covered with diamonds and jewels. Grandmothers looked
beautiful: Lady Abercorn, Lady Westminster, Lady Shaftsbury. Among the
young, Lady Spencer, Lady Castlereagh, Lady Carmarthen, were bright and
brilliant. The Knights of the Garter in their robes looked each of them
a fine picture. As each of the Royal persons, with their attendants,
walked up the Chapel, at a certain point each stopped and made an
obeisance to the Queen--the Princess Mary, the Duchess of Cambridge, the
Princess of Prussia, the Princess Alice of Hesse, the Princess Helena,
the Princess Christian, etc., each in turn formed a complete scene. The
Princess Alexandra, with her bridesmaids, made the best and most
beautiful scene. The Princess looked beautiful and very graceful in her
manner and demeanour." The bridesmaids were eight in number--Lady
Victoria Scott, Lady Victoria Howard, Lady Agneta Yorke, Lady Feodora
Wellesley, Lady Diana Beauclerk, Lady Georgina Hamilton, Lady Alma
Bruce, and Lady Helena Hare. They represented many of the noblest houses
in England and wore dresses described as being of "white tulle over
white glace silk" and trimmed with roses, shamrocks and white heather.
Each of them also wore a locket presented by the Prince of Wales and
composed of coral and diamonds so as to represent the red and white
national colours of Denmark. It is interesting to note that, in 1898,
all these ladies were still living.
During the ceremony, the Prince of Wales was supported by his uncle, the
Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and his brother-in-law, the Crown Prince of
Prussia. He wore the uniform of a British General, the Collar of the
Garter, the Order of the Star of India and the rich, flowing purple
velvet mantle of a Knight of the Garter. Princess Alexandra was given
away by her father and wore a white satin skirt trimmed with garlands of
orange blossoms and puffings of tulle and Honiton lace, the bodice being
draped with the same lace, while the train of silver moire antique was
covered with orange blossoms and puffings of tulle. She wore also the
diamond and pearl necklace, earings and brooch, given her by the
bridegroom and the _riviere_ of diamonds presented by the Corporation of
London, as well as three bracelets given, respectively, by the Queen,
the ladies of Leeds and the ladies of Manchester. Her beautiful hair was
very simply dressed and on it lay a wreath of orange blossoms covered
by a veil of Honiton lace. The bridal bouquet was composed of orange
blossoms, white rosebuds, orchids and sprigs of myrtle. The actual
ceremony was a very short one, the Prince giving his responses clearly,
though the Princess was at times almost inaudible. The whole function
had been a brilliant one--the first marriage celebrated in this Chapel
since that of Henry I. in 1122--and no touch of mourning was allowed to
mar the pageantry of the scene and the bright colours of uniforms and
dresses.
The wedding breakfast was held in the State dining-room and in St.
George's Hall and, while it was proceeding, the King of Denmark was
lavishly entertaining both rich and poor in the home country of the
Royal bride. Throughout Great Britain that night bon-fires blazed, bells
rang, houses were illuminated, balls and festivities were held, school
children treated and banquets spread. Edinburgh excelled itself and some
one has said that a pen of fire dipped in rainbow hues would have been
needed to describe its pyrotechnic display. Meanwhile, the Prince and
Princess of Wales had taken their departure for Osborne, which had been
lent them by the Queen, and there the brief honeymoon was spent. At
Reading, on the way thither, thirty thousand people met the train and
presented the Princess with a bouquet. Writing of this most popular of
historic weddings Canon Kingsley said in a private letter, dated March
12th, that "one real thing I did see, and felt too, the serious grace
and reverent dignity of my dear young Master, whose manner was perfect.
And one other real thing--the Queen's sad face. I cannot tell you how
auspicious I consider this event or how happy it has made the little
knot of us (the Prince's Household in which he had recently become a
Chaplain) who love him because we know him. I hear nothing but golden
reports of the Princess from those who have known her long." A few days
later, on March 25th, Lady Waterford wrote to a friend that she had just
seen at a reception "the graceful, charming young Princess of Wales"
and that she had been in no way disappointed as to the beauty of which
all England was talking. "There was something charming in that very
young pair walking up the room together. Her graceful bows and carriage
you will delight in and she has--with lovely youth and well-formed
features--a look of great intelligence beyond that of a mere girl. She
wore the coronet of diamonds and a very long train of cloth of silver
trimmed with lace, pearl and diamond necklace, bracelet and a stomacher
and two love-locks of rich brown hair floated on her shoulders."
EARLY HOME LIFE OF THE ROYAL COUPLE
The Royal pair did not stay very long on the Isle of Wight and, after a
visit to Buckingham Palace and Windsor, entered their new home at
Sandringham on March 28th. Here the beautiful personality and character
of the Princess soon impressed themselves upon the life of the house and
its more public environment. She proved to be a model housewife, later
on a model mother, and always and everywhere a model of tactful action
and conversation. Pliability and adaptability were useful and important
qualities which she found more than serviceable in these early years of
her transition from a comparatively humble home to one of continuous
splendour and almost constant state. Difficulties there naturally were
of many minor sorts and formidable they no doubt were in the sum total.
New customs to comprehend and adopt; new intricacies of a not entirely
familiar language to become acquainted with; new and varied
responsibilities in both domestic and public life to understand and put
in practice; qualities of natural diffidence and reserve to overcome.
But these and other obstacles were conquered with an apparent ease which
concealed any real trouble in the struggle, and the Princess threw
herself into the life and work of her husband and the spirit of the
English people in a way which has ever since ensured to her the lasting
love of those in her immediate circle and the deep-seated affection of
the many-sided British public.
During the three or four immediately following years the public
appearances of the Prince and Princess of Wales were not numerous.
Philanthropic interests were taken up and maintained, but domestic and
home interests seemed to hold the first place. In August, 1864, a visit
was paid to the Highlands and some weeks spent at Abergeldie. Here, Dr.
Norman Macleod was amongst their guests and here they saw much of the
Earl and Countess of Fife, parents of their future son-in-law, the
present Duke of Fife. An autumn visit to Denmark followed and the Prince
for the first time saw his wife's early home. A good deal of shooting
was indulged in at and around Bernsdorff and from Elsinore, after a few
weeks, the Royal couple went in their yacht to Stockholm on a visit to
the King and Queen of Sweden. The infant, Prince Albert Victor, had been
with them up to this time but he was now sent home in charge of the
Countess de Grey and the Prince and Princess returned by way of Germany
and Belgium. A short stay was made with the Prince and Princess Louis of
Hesse at Darmstadt and another at Brussels. Sandringham was reached in
time to celebrate the twentieth birthday of the Princess.
An incident of this year was the personal subscription of L10,000 by the
Prince of Wales toward the erection of the Frogmore Mausoleum in honour
of his father and, it may be added, a very marked and significant
feature of all his speeches during these years was deep respect and
admiration for the Prince Consort's life and memory. In 1865 the Prince
made his first State visit to Ireland and on May 9th opened the
International Exhibition at Dublin. The weather was beautiful, the loyal
demonstrations in the streets were most enthusiastic, the great hall
where the ceremony took place was decorated with the flags of the
nations and filled with the most distinguished gathering which Ireland
could produce. The Duke of Leinster, the Earl of Rosse, and all the
leading noblemen of the country were there, as well as the Lord Mayor
and Corporation of Dublin in their civic robes, the Mayors of Cork and
Waterford and Londonderry, the Lord Mayors of London and York and the
Lord Provost of Edinburgh. When His Royal Highness took his place in the
Chair of State an orchestra of one thousand voices performed the
National Anthem and ten thousand other voices joined in song. After the
ceremony, during which the Prince made two brief speeches, he attended
in the evening a ball at the Mansion House given by the Lord Mayor.
Meanwhile the city was brilliantly illuminated. In the morning he
reviewed a number of troops in Phoenix Park and was received with much
enthusiasm by the enormous crowds gathered around the scene.
A little later, on May 19th, the Prince attended the opening of an
International Reformatory Exhibition at Islington and received and
answered an address from its President, Lord Shaftesbury. Three days
afterwards he opened the Sailors' Home in the East End of London and was
greeted by great crowds of cheering people. On June 5th, he marked his
liking for the Drama by inaugurating the Royal Dramatic College at
Woking and six days later received a banquet at the hands of the
Fishmongers' Company in London. On July 3rd he was distributing prizes
at Wellington College attended by the Bishop of Oxford, the Earl of
Derby, Earl Stanhope, Lord Eversley and others.
CHAPTER V.
Early Home Life and Varied Duties
During the years immediately succeeding his marriage the career of the
Prince of Wales was one of initiation into the responsibilities of home
life and the duties of public life. It was a period of moulding
influences and a round of functions--some perfunctory, some pleasant. It
was a time of trial for a very young man placed in a very high position,
and with temptations which might easily have led him into temporary and
even permanent forgetfulness of the responsibilities of the future.
Several causes, apart from his own natural strength of character,
combined to avert such a result. The sympathetic and gracious character
of his wife and the perfection of management and detail which she
introduced into the home life of Sandringham and the more public and
social life of Marlborough House, were factors of importance. The
recollection of his father's teachings and high ideals and the knowledge
of his Royal mother's character and devotion to principle were important
influences. The growth of family ties had its effect, and, finally, the
shock of a sickness in 1871, which brought him to the verge of death and
showed him the loving affection of the nation, completed the process of
education in that difficult and dangerous road which the youthful Heir
to a great Throne must always travel.
Of the Princess of Wales in these years it is hard to speak too highly.
Fond of domestic life, retiring by disposition and character, caring
more for husband and family than for all the glitter and glory of the
world's greatest functions or positions, she yet lived in the blaze of
a continuous publicity without possible or actual criticism and with a
ceaseless and ready charm of manner, a never-failing courtesy to high
and low, an ever-increasing popularity. Amid all the innumerable duties
and difficulties of her position there has never been a visible mistake
committed. The right people have been cultivated and encouraged; the
wrong people treated in a way which could not be resented nor
misunderstood. The right thing has been said so often that it has come
to appear the natural thing. An atmosphere of ideal refinement has
always surrounded her, and its subtle influence has pervaded many a
brilliant home and circle where other influences might easily have
prevailed. In a time when calumny would attack an Archangel, and when
its bitter barbs have been known to reach even the humanly perfect life
of Queen Victoria, no shadow has ever crossed the curtain of her
character. Of her tact--a quality which she possesses in common with the
Prince of Wales--stories are innumerable, and of her quiet,
unostentatious, continuous charity and natural kindliness of heart there
are as many more.
A BUSY MARRIED LIFE
The married life of the Prince and Princess was a busy one. Sandringham
had to be remodelled and various public duties attended to by the
Heir-Apparent. One of the first visitors at their country home was the
Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, who had been so intimately associated with
the education and early life of the Prince, and who was destined to
always possess the privileges of a personal friend. Of this Easter
Sunday, following the wedding, Dean Stanley wrote in his _Diary_ that
"the Princess came to me in a corner of the drawing-room with Prayer
Book in hand and I went through the common service with her, explaining
the peculiarities and the likenesses and differences from the Danish
service. She was most simple and fascinating. My visit to Sandringham
gave me intense pleasure. I was there for three days. I read the whole
service, preached, then gave the first English Sacrament to this 'angel
in the Palace,' I saw a great deal of her, and can truly say she is as
charming and beautiful a creature as ever passed through a fairy tale."
THE PRINCE IN PUBLIC LIFE
One of the first public appearances of the Prince of Wales after his
marriage was attendance at the Royal Academy Banquet on May 2nd, 1863.
Sir Charles Eastlake, the President, proposed the usual loyal toast, and
in responding the young Prince is said to have spoken in a particularly
clear and pleasing manner. Of the important personal event to which
reference had been made he declared that neither the Princess nor
himself could "ever forget the manner in which our union has been
celebrated throughout the nation." Amongst the other speakers were Lord
Palmerston, Mr. W. M. Thackeray and Sir Roderick Murchison. The first
really important public event in the Prince's life at this period was
the presentation of the freedom of the City of London on June 8th.
Invitations had been issued to a couple of thousand of the most eminent
persons in the public, social and diplomatic life of the country and
exceedingly costly preparations were made for the reception, and for the
ball and banquet which followed. The Prince and Princess of Wales were
accompanied by Prince Alfred, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and
Princess Mary of Cambridge and other Royal personages. The Princess was
clad in white, with a coronet and brooch of diamonds and a necklace of
brilliants--the one her husband's wedding present and the other that of
the City of London. The reply to the address and presentation was very
brief but appropriate and the events which followed were remarkable for
their splendour and air of general joyousness.
A week later the Royal couple attended the Commemoration at Oxford and
the Prince of Wales was presented with the degree of D.C.L. in the
presence of a brilliant assemblage of Professors and visitors, and an
enthusiastic throng of students. The latter gave the Princess a
reception which made her flush with mingled nervousness and pleasure
though it could not affect her natural dignity of bearing. She had not
yet become accustomed to the overwhelming character which British
enthusiasm sometimes assumes and, indeed, is said to have never
absolutely overcome a personal shrinking from the publicity which was
inseparable from her position and popularity. However that may be, the
feeling was never shown to the people and, if a fact, can only be
considered as enhancing the graciousness of manner which has been so
marked a characteristic of her life in England. During this brief visit
to Oxford Their Royal Highnesses distributed prizes to the Rifle
Volunteers, opened a bazaar in aid of the Radcliffe Infirmary, inspected
the exhibits at the Horticultural Show, and went over the Prince's
one-time college residence at Frewen Hall.
A hasty visit to the North of England in August was made to include the
opening ceremony for a new Town Hall at Halifax and here the Royal
couple received a most hearty welcome. Another function was the opening
of the British Orphan Asylum on June 24th by the Prince, who became its
Patron and promoted large subscriptions to its work--one of which from
Mr. Edward Mackensie totalled $60,000. Though this was a very quiet year
in comparison with those of the future, His Royal Highness extended his
patronage, usually accompanied by liberal subscriptions, to eight public
charities, eight hospitals and asylums, five agricultural societies and
eleven learned and scientific societies--including the Society of Arts
of which he became President. His first work in this latter connection
was to promote and obtain a fund for sending a number of British
workmen to the Paris Exhibition with a view to improving their
mechanical and technical knowledge. He also associated himself with the
Mendicity Society by means of which all the innumerable appeals for aid
which came to him from time to time were investigated, sifted, and
reported upon before action was taken. On May 18, 1864 the Prince
presided for the first time at the Royal Literary Fund banquet and thus
commenced a long period of active patronage toward an institution which
has served a most useful purpose in England--the quick and secret
dispensing of aid to literary men who from some cause or other might be
destitute, or in need. Its objects were not local but international and
in his speech on this occasion His Royal Highness pointed how well and
quietly the work had been done.
THE PRINCESS AND HER FAMILY
Early in the year the first-born child of the Royal couple arrived on
the scene. The event had been expected for March 1864 but the infant was
born at Frogmore on January 9th and was christened on March 10th as
Albert Victor Christian Edward. From infancy the Prince was somewhat
delicate and, no doubt for that reason, was always supposed to be his
mother's favourite child. The Princess of Wales was, at this time, not
yet twenty but was devoted to her domestic duties and especially to the
new arrival in their home. She would rather visit the nursery at any
time than attend a State function or ball. Other children came in the
following years. Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, afterwards
Prince of Wales, was born on June 3, 1865; Princess Louise Victoria
Alexandra Dagmar, afterwards Duchess of Fife, on February 20, 1867;
Princess Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary on July 6, 1868; and Princess Maud
Charlotte Mary Victoria, sometime to be Princess Charles of Denmark, on
November 26, 1869. In 1871 Prince Alexander John Charles Albert was
born, but only lived for one brief day.
As these children came one by one they found a most happy home circle
and a devoted mother. In all their little amusements and games the
Princess took part; in their training and education she took a watchful
share; in their lives as a whole simplicity was made the guiding
principle, as it had been in the Royal family of the past generation.
From all accounts which are open to us she delighted much more in the
nursery than in society. Dr. William Jenner saw the Royal children
whenever necessary but the "coddling" so often seen in modern homes was
unknown at Sandringham. The Prince believed as much in simplicity of
bringing up as did his wife and, by special order, the Household and
servants never used the prefix of "Royal Highness" to the children but
addressed them as Prince Eddy, or Princess Louise, or whatever the name
might be. The little girls, as their father always called them, had
their tea with the nurses and were given few toys and never allowed to
accept presents. No fuss was made over the little accidents inevitable
to childhood and in every way life was kept devoid of state formality,
or anything that would breed a sense of childish self-importance. When
the Prince and Princess were away from home, as they frequently had to
be, letters were daily exchanged with the head nurse. The result of this
general system and of the later plan of making the young Princesses more
and more companions of their mother and the boys, as far as
circumstances would permit, of their father, created and maintained at
Sandringham one of the most pleasant home circles in all England. An
illustration of the spirit in which domestic anniversaries and incidents
were approached may be found in lines composed by the Princess, on one
occasion, for Prince George when the family were commencing to celebrate
the birthday of the husband and father. The thought was admirable even
if the poetry was not quite perfect:
"Day of pleasure, brightly dawning,
Take the gift of this sweet morning,
Our best hopes and wishes blending
Must yield joy that's never ending."
During these years the Prince of Wales was gradually assuming many of
the duties and public tasks which would have devolved upon the Queen, or
in earlier days have been performed with such fidelity and care by the
Prince Consort. At this time the Queen was living in strict retirement
and for a long period still to follow she maintained the same sorrowing
seclusion in a more or less modified form. Toward the close of 1865 the
death of Lord Palmerston removed a statesman in whom the Prince had
found a personal friend and whom he had consulted and greatly trusted in
private matters. In February, 1866, the Queen made one of her rare
public appearances and opened Parliament, in person, accompanied by the
Prince and Princess of Wales. A little later came the cholera epidemic
which killed one hundred thousand people in Austria and caused a number
of deaths in England. To the Mansion House Relief Fund, which ultimately
reached the total of $350,000 and to another Fund, the Prince
contributed $17,500. In August the Royal couple visited Studley Royal,
the seat of the Earl de Grey and Ripon--better known afterwards as the
Marquess of Ripon--and were given a great reception in the City of York.
An incident of the latter occasion was a sudden downpour of rain during
which the Prince stood up in his carriage, bareheaded, so that the
people should not be disappointed.
VARIOUS PUBLIC FUNCTIONS AND EVENTS
A little before this, on May 9th, the President and Council of the
Institution of Civil Engineers entertained the Heir Apparent at a
banquet in London and amongst the other guests were the veteran Field
Marshal Sir John Burgoyne, the Dukes of Sutherland and Buccleuch, Earl
Grey, Lord Salisbury, Sir John Pakington, Sir Edwin Landseer, Sir
Richard Owen and many other eminent scientists and leaders of the time.
During his speech the Prince paid a tribute to the work of Brunel and
Stephenson and, in the latter connection, referred to the great bridge
across the St. Lawrence, in Canada, which he had inaugurated in 1860 and
to which he gave the credit for an opportunity to visit British America
and the United States. On June 11th His Royal Highness had also laid the
foundation of the new building of the British and Foreign Bible Society
in London. He was received formally by the President, the Earl of
Shaftsbury, the Lord Mayor, the Archbishop of York and others and, in
the course of his speech, pointed out that the Society had already spent
$30,000,000 in the promotion of its objects and in the translation of
the Bible into two hundred and eighty different languages and dialects.
After referring to the efforts in this cause by his grandfather, the
Duke of Kent, the Prince went on to say that "it is my hope and trust
that, under Divine guidance, the wider diffusion and deeper study of the
Scriptures will, in this as in every age, be at once the surest
guarantee of the progress and liberty of the mind and the means of
multiplying in the present time the consolations of our holy religion."
The next function shared in was the anniversary gathering of the Clergy
Corporation, attended by the Archbishops of Canterbury, York and Armagh,
the Marquess of Salisbury and other dignitaries. In his speech the
Prince pointed out that there were ten thousand clergymen in the United
Kingdom whose benefices were of less value than $750 a year and urged
the usefulness of an institution which distributed $20,000 per annum to
orphans and unmarried daughters of clergymen as well as temporary aid to
necessitous clergymen themselves. The result of his appeal was a
subscription of $6,000 to which he contributed $525 personally. On June
18th he inaugurated a Warehousemen and Clerks' School at Croydon at a
gathering presided over by Earl Russell and ten days later visited the
Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum in the suburbs of London. In August the
Prince and Princess of Wales made one of their first public appearances
in the County where they had made their country home and where the
Prince so well embodied the hearty, healthy life of the English
gentleman. During the month, therefore, they paid a visit to Norwich as
the principal town of Norfolk and, accompanied by the Queen of Denmark
and the Duke of Edinburgh, attended one of Sir Michael Costa's
oratorios, opened a Drill-hall, planted memorial trees and in other ways
helped to make the occasion memorable to the people of the ancient town.
A visit followed in the autumn to the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, at
their splendid Castle of Dunrobin, in the north of Scotland. In driving
twenty-five miles from the station to the Castle a most enthusiastic
welcome was received along the entire route. In reviewing the Sutherland
Volunteers during his stay the Prince expressed a wish that the Corps
would wear the kilt as their uniform and this was, of course, done with
the greatest pleasure. Shortly after the return from Scotland the Queen
of Denmark came again to England and stayed for some time at Sandringham
with her daughter. Late in the year (November) the Prince of Wales went
to St. Petersburg to attend in an official capacity the marriage of the
Princess Dagmar of Denmark--sister of his wife--to the Czarewitch who
afterwards became Alexander III. The cold was deemed a sufficiently
strong reason for the Princess not to accompany him. In his suite were
Lord Frederick Paulet, the Marquess of Blandford, Viscount Hamilton, and
Major Teesdale. He was welcomed at the station by the Emperor, the
Czarewitch and others of the Imperial family and given splendid
quarters at the Hermitage Palace. After the marriage he visited Moscow,
accompanied by the Crown Prince of Denmark, went over the historic
Kremlin and called on the Metropolitan, the highest dignitary in the
Russian Church, who received his Royal visitor in a cell and gave him
his blessing after a brief conversation.
The year 1867 was marked by a painful illness of the Princess through
acute rheumatism and inflammation of a knee-joint. During the serious
period of the illness the Prince devoted himself to the invalid, never
leaving her side unless compelled to do so and having his desk brought
into the sick-room so that he might carry on his correspondence in her
presence. It was not until July that the Princess was able to drive out
and during the rest of the year the Royal couple lived very quietly and
made as few public appearances as possible. It was in the beginning of
this year that Princess Louise, afterwards Duchess of Fife, was born.
Some functions had to be performed, however, and they included the
presiding at a meeting of the National Lifeboat Institution and at the
one hundred and fifty-second anniversary festival of the Welsh Society
of Ancient Britons, on March 1st; a visit to the International
Exhibition at Paris in May; and the presence of the Prince at the laying
of the foundation stone of the Albert Hall, in London, later in the same
month. On July 10th His Royal Highness inaugurated the London
International College, which had been organized by Mr. Cobden and M.
Michel Chevalier, as a branch of an international institution. At the
luncheon were the Duc d'Aumale, the Prince de Joinville and the Comte de
Paris as well as Professor Huxley and Dr. Leonard Schmitz, the head of
the institution. In his speech the Prince pointed out the usefulness of
a College which would more or less devote itself to the teaching of
modern languages at a time when the interests of varied nationalities
were becoming so intermingled.
[Illustration: THE CORONATION OF EDWARD'S QUEEN
Queen Alexandra received her crown at the hands of the venerable
Archbishop of York at Westminster Abbey, August 9, 1902, immediately
after the crowning of the King by the Archbishop of Canterbury]
[Illustration: KING EDWARD VII AND QUEEN ALEXANDRA
At the Opening of Parliament]
[Illustration: THE ROYAL LINE OF SUCCESSION AT THE TIME OF QUEEN
VICTORIA'S DIAMOND JUBILEE
Queen Victoria, Prince of Wales, Duke of York and Prince Edward]
[Illustration: THE CORONATION CHAIR
Containing the Stone of Scone on which traditional Irish Kings, Scotch
Kings and British Kings have been crowned]
An interesting event occurred in July when Ismail Pasha, Khedive of
Egypt, visited England, as his father had done twenty-one years before.
At a banquet in the Mansion Home, on July 11th, a distinguished
gathering met to do him honour and amongst them were the Prince of
Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar and many men
eminent in politics and diplomacy. In his speech the Prince spoke of his
personal indebtedness to the late Khedive for kindness received during
his own visit to Egypt in 1862 and, also, of the national importance of
the facilities given by that country to England in the transit of troops
to India. He then referred to the illness of the Princess and to the
words in that connection used by the Lord Mayor. "I know I only express
her feelings when I say that she has been deeply touched by that
universal good feeling and sympathy which has been shown to her during
her long and painful illness. Thank God, she has now nearly recovered
and I trust that in a month's time she will be able to leave London and
enjoy the benefits of fresh air."
ROYAL VISIT TO IRELAND
The Prince of Wales early in his public life showed his sympathy with
the people of Ireland. He had already visited Dublin in 1865 and, on
March 17, 1868, while planning a State visit to that country, attended a
brilliant celebration of the anniversary of St. Patrick's birth, in
Willis's Rooms, London. Amongst those present were the Archbishop of
Armagh, the Bishop of Derry, the Earl of Longford, the Earl of Mayo and
Lord Kimberley. The Prince, in his speech, expressed the belief that
despite disagreeable occurrences of the past few years the people of
Ireland generally were "thoroughly true and loyal." On April 15th the
Prince and Princess of Wales landed at Kingstown and were received with
tremendous acclaim. With his usual tact the Prince asked that no troops
should be present in the streets. The Princess, who was dressed in Irish
poplin, was presented with a white dove, emblematic of peace, and fairly
captured the hearts of the populace. The visit lasted ten days and
included amongst its functions a gorgeous installation of the Prince as
a Knight of St. Patrick, when he used the sword worn by George IV. on a
similar occasion; his presence at the Punchestown races--where the Royal
couple appeared in open carriages and received an enthusiastic welcome;
attendance at the Royal Hibernian Academy's rooms and at the Royal
Dublin Society's Conversazione; a visit to the Catholic University and
the receipt of an LL.D.--together with the Duke of Cambridge and Lord
Abercorn, the Lord Lieutenant--from Trinity College; a visit to the
Cattle Show and a Royal review of troops; attendance at Sunday service
in historic Christ Church; personal visits to Lord Powerscourt's
beautiful place in Wicklow and to the Duke of Leinster at Carton; a
formal visit to Maynooth College and the unveiling in Dublin of a statue
of Edmund Burke.
The London _Times_ described the crowded life of those ten days in
rather interesting language: "There were presentations and receptions,
and receiving and answering addresses, processions, walking, riding and
driving, in morning and evening, in military, academic and mediaeval
attire. The Prince had to breakfast, lunch, dine and sup with more or
less publicity every twenty-four hours. He had to go twice to races with
fifty or a hundred thousand people about him; to review a small army and
make a tour in the Wicklow Mountains, everywhere receiving addresses
under canopies and dining in state under galleries full of spectators.
He visited and inspected institutions, colleges, universities,
academies, libraries and cattle shows. He had to take a very active part
in assemblies of from several hundred to several thousand dancers and
always to select for his partners the most important personages. He had
to listen to many speeches sufficiently to know when and what to answer.
He had to examine with respectful interest pictures, books, antiquities,
relics, manuscripts, specimens, bones, fossils, prize beasts and works
of Irish art. He had never to be unequal to the occasion, however
different from the last, or however like the last, and whatever his
disadvantage as to the novelty or dullness of the matter and the scene."
On April 25th the Royal visitors returned to Holyhead and on their way
home stopped at Carnarvon, the birthplace of the first Prince of Wales,
where a banquet was received and a brief speech made by the living
successor of a great King's son. Among the incidents connected with this
visit was the fact that while the Prince was freely passing through and
amongst the people of the Irish capital his brother, the Duke of
Edinburgh, was shot at Clontarf, Australia, by an Irishman named
O'Farrell, while he was accepting the hospitality of a local Sailors'
Home. Another was the tact and judgment displayed by the Heir Apparent
in forwarding a cheque to the Dublin Hospital Sunday Fund after his
return home. This institution had then and has since exercised a most
beneficial effect upon Irish hospital affairs; but the marvel was that
the Prince should have found time amid his multifarious duties and
functions to look into its management and influence. May the 5th, saw
the Prince attending the sixty-second anniversary of the "Society of
Friends of Foreigners in Distress" and pointing out in a preliminary
speech that the Queen had taken deep interest in this charity ever since
her accession in 1837. In proposing the health of the Prince and
Princess of Wales, Sir Travers Twiss, the Advocate-General, said that
though it was not generally known, he would take the liberty of stating
that during His Royal Highness' Eastern travels he had passed through no
great city without visiting and helping any institutions which might
exist in aid of suffering humanity.
Eight days later the Prince presided at the annual banquet of the
Governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital--after visiting and inspecting
the wards. During the same day His Royal Highness attended a great state
function in the laying of the foundation of St. Thomas' Hospital by the
Queen in person. The last important matter in which the Prince took part
before leaving for his second Eastern tour was the laying of the
foundation stone of new buildings for Glasgow University on October 8th.
They cost over two millions of dollars and in the stately proceedings
accompanying this event, the Princess of Wales was able to participate.
From November 1868 to May 1869 the Royal couple were in the distant
East, but, on the Queen's birthday in the latter year, the Prince of
Wales was able to be present at the anniversary banquet of the Royal
Geographical Society and to receive congratulations on having been
instrumental in effecting the appointment of his late travelling
companion, Sir Samuel Baker, to the government of the Soudan region in
Africa, under the control of the Egyptian Government and with the object
of suppressing the slave trade. His Royal Highness warmly eulogized Sir
S. Baker--who had also just received the Society's medal for the
year--and the events of the evening were considered to have made the
occasion memorable. Prince Hassan of Egypt was present and amongst the
speakers were Sir Roderick Murchison, Admiral Sir George Back, Professor
Owen, the Duke of Sutherland, Dr. W. H. Russell, Sir Francis Grant
P.R.A., and Sir Henry Rawlinson.
The next two or three years saw the Prince participating in many public
and more or less important events. Accompanied by the Princess of Wales
he laid the foundation of new buildings in connection with the Earlswood
Asylum, in Surrey, on June 28, 1869. An incident of this event was not
only the usual gift of a hundred guineas by the Prince but a procession
of ladies who passed up to the dais in single file and deposited
upwards of four hundred purses, which they had collected for the
Charity, under the influence of Royal patronage and encouragement. On
July 7th Their Royal Highnesses visited Lynn, inaugurated the new
Alexandra Dock, and took part in several local events. A state visit to
Manchester followed, on July 29th, and the Prince opened the annual
exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, of which he was
President, and was given a warm welcome in and around the city. On the
succeeding day he inaugurated a new dock at Hull.
Meanwhile, on July 23rd, the Prince had visited London in order to
unveil a statue of George Peabody, the distinguished American
philanthropist. At the ceremony Sir Benjamin Phillips, Chairman of the
Committee, addressed the Prince formally and thus concluded: "Let us
hope that this statue, erected by the sons of free England to the honour
of one of Columbia's truest and noblest citizens, may be symbolical of
the peace and good will that exist between the two countries." In
replying His Royal Highness spoke of Mr Peabody as a great American
citizen and of his gift of over a quarter of a million pounds sterling
to the charities of a country not his own, as being unexampled, and
concluded as follows: "Be assured that the feelings which I personally
entertain toward America are the same as they ever were. I can never
forget the reception which I had there nine years ago and my earnest
wish and hope is that England and America may go hand in hand in peace
and prosperity." Following the example of King William IV., when Duke of
Clarence, and of the late Dukes of Kent, Sussex and Cambridge, the
Prince of Wales presided on November 30th at the anniversary banquet of
the Scottish Corporation--or as it was popularly called the Scottish
Hospital--in order to mark his approval of an institution which had done
much to assist, by means of pensions, poor and aged natives of Scotland
living in London; to afford temporary relief to Scotchmen in distress;
or to educate poor Scottish children. On this occasion there was a
large gathering which included Prince Christian and the Duke of
Roxburghe and, after a speech from the Prince describing the objects and
work of the institution, it was announced that $12,500 had been
specially subscribed to the purposes of the Hospital--including $500
from the Prince of Wales himself.
Exhibitions, in the years between his coming of age and his accession to
the Throne, were always favourite objects of attention and support at
the hands of Heir Apparent. He had already studied closely his father's
conduct of the first great International Exhibition, and had himself
opened one of the same kind at Dublin, and been present at an
International Reformatory gathering and at the Paris Exhibition. On
April 4th, 1870, he presided at a meeting of the Society of Arts called
to promote an International Educational Exhibition for the succeeding
year. Resolutions were passed to this end, and after an explanatory
speech from His Royal Highness and, it may be added here, the Exhibition
was duly opened on May 1st, 1871, by the Prince of Wales, with imposing
pageantry and with details worked out by his assistant in various future
undertakings Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen. On May 16, 1870, the Prince
presided at the annual banquet of the Royal General Theatrical Fund,
established as far back as 1839, for the relief and assistance of
members, and of widows and orphans of members, of the dramatic
profession. During the evening, after a speech from the Royal chairman,
Mr. Buckstone, the well-known actor, spoke in warm words of the kindness
of the Prince in attending their function: "The duties he has to perform
are so numerous and fatiguing that we only wonder how he gets through
them all. Even within these few days he has held a Levee; on Saturday
last he patronized a performance at Drury Lane in aid of the Dramatic
College; then had to run away to Freemasons' Hall to be present at the
installation of the Grand Master; and now we find him in the chair this
evening; so what with _conversaziones_, laying foundation stones,
opening schools, and other calls upon his little leisure, I think he may
be looked upon as one of the hardest working men in Her Majesty's
dominions." This was a fact or condition not recognized very generally
in those days; in after years it became a truism in popular opinion.
St. George's Hospital received the combined patronage of the Prince and
Princess on May 26th. The former occupied the chair and made an earnest
appeal for aid to this most deserving institution. The Earl of Cadogan,
who was one of the Treasurers, announced a little later in the evening
that the Prince of Wales had handed him a check for two hundred guineas,
the Princess one for fifty guineas, and the Marquess of
Westminster--afterwards the first Duke of that name--one for two hundred
guineas. Amongst the other speakers on this occasion were Earl
Granville, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Carnarvon and Mr. W. H. Smith,
M.P. On June 21st, His Royal Highness opened a new building in
connection with Dulwich College in Surrey; nine days later he and the
Princess opened new schools for the children of seamen near the London
Docks; on July 1st they visited in state the ancient town of Reading and
laid the foundation stone of a new Grammar School. A week later the
Prince had the congenial task of giving the Albert gold medal of the
Society of Arts to M. de Lesseps. As President of the Society he
addressed the father of the Suez Canal, in French, and congratulated him
upon the completion of his great undertaking, not only in a public
capacity, but "as a personal friend." In his reply, M. de Lesseps said
that he had received much private encouragement from the late Prince
Consort in the early stages of his enterprise, and that he could never
forget that fact. It may be added here that the presentation of this
Medal was always a peculiar pleasure to the Prince of Wales, and that
amongst those in after years who received it at his hands were Sir
Henry Bessemer, M. Chevalier and Sir Henry Doulton.
On July 13th His Royal Highness, on behalf of the Queen, and accompanied
by the Princess Louise and the grand officers of the Household, opened
with elaborate ceremony the new Thames Embankment. Three days later he
opened the Workmen's International Exhibition at Islington in the name
of the Queen. During this year the war between France and Germany caused
the Prince and his family keen interest and many natural anxieties. He
arranged for a special telegraph service so that news might reach him at
once and took an active part in associations and subscription lists for
aid to the wounded on both sides. The Royal family had such close
relations with that of Prussia through the Princess Royal and with that
of France through long personal friendship with the Emperor and Empress
that the position of individual members, like the Heir Apparent, and his
wife could be easily understood.
The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences was opened with stately and
imposing ceremony by the Queen on March 29th, 1871. When Her Majesty,
accompanied by the Princess of Wales and other members of the Royal
family, had taken her place on the dais of a Hall containing eight
thousand people and an orchestra of twelve hundred persons, under Sir
Michael Costa, the Prince of Wales advanced and, as President of the
Provisional Committee, detailed the origin and history of the project.
He then, after receiving a formal reply, declared the Hall open in the
name of the Queen. On May 7th, following, the Prince presided at a
dinner in aid of the Artists' Orphan Fund and, after explaining its
useful objects, expressed the wish that further contributions would be
offered for the purpose in view. At the close of the affair the
Treasurer announced subscriptions to the amount of $60,000, of which a
check for $525 was from the Royal chairman. The Earlswood Asylum for
Idiots was again visited by the Prince on May 17th, when he presided at
the anniversary dinner of the institution in London and explained its
continued progress. Subscriptions of $21,000 were announced, of which
$525 were given by the Prince. The same result followed his chairmanship
of a dinner in aid of the Farningham Homes for Little Boys on June 2nd.
He pointed out that the institution was still in need despite a recent
anonymous contribution of $5000. Before the close of the evening some
$17,000 had been subscribed, including $750 from His Royal Highness.
Such incidents, often repeated, indicate better than many words the
value attached to the Prince's presence and support of deserving
charities, and they also afford some proof of the generous expenditure
of his private means for public benefit. On June 28th, the Prince acted
as Chairman of the anniversary festival of the Royal Caledonian Asylum
in London. There were three hundred and fifty guests present, mostly in
Highland costume, and amongst them were Prince Arthur and the Duke of
Cambridge, the Dukes of Buccleuch and Richmond, the Marquess of Lorne
and Marquess of Huntly, the Earls of Fife, Mar, and March.
On July 31st His Royal Highness again paid a visit to Dublin. He was
accompanied by the Princess Louise, the Marquess of Lorne, and the young
Prince Arthur--better known in later years as the Duke of Connaught. An
address was presented at Kingstown by the Lord Mayor and Corporation
and, on the following day, the Royal visitors witnessed a cricket match,
lunched with the officers of the Grenadier Guards and inspected the
cattle, horses, and sheep of the Royal Agricultural Society's annual
show. In the evening the Prince of Wales presided at a great banquet of
four hundred and fifty guests, with galleries thronged with ladies. He
made several brief speeches and a particularly happy one in proposing
the health of Earl Spencer, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. A series of
engagements and entertainments followed, amongst which were a brilliant
military review in Phoenix Park and the installation of the Prince as
Grand Patron of the Masonic Institution in Ireland. This was the last
important event taken part in by His Royal Highness before the serious
illness which, a little later, so greatly stirred the nation and
affected himself.
CHAPTER VI.
Travels in the East
Before he came to the Throne the Prince of Wales had long been the most
travelled man in Europe. He had visited every Court and capital and
centre upon that Continent; he had toured the North American Continent
from the capital of Canada to the capital of the United States and from
the historic heights of Quebec to the great western centre at Chicago;
he had visited the most noted lands of the distant East.
FROM EUROPE TO AFRICA
In 1862, his first visit to Egypt and the Holy Land had taken place, and
now, six years later, he was to make a more imposing and important tour
of those and other countries in the company of his wife. On November
17th, 1868, the Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by their three
eldest children and by Lady Carmarthen, General Sir W. Knollys,
Lieut.-Col. Keppel and Dr. Minter, left for the Continent and reached
Compiegne on the morning of the 20th inst., in order to pay a visit to
the Emperor and Empress of the French. An incident of the hunt which
took place that afternoon was the rush of a stag at the Prince who, with
his horse, was completely knocked over. Amongst the shooting party were
Marshal Bazaine, the Baron Von Moltke, the Marquess of Lansdowne and
other well-known men of the day. After a stay of a few days here and at
Paris the Royal party proceeded on their journey and reached Copenhagen
on November 29th. The birthday of the Princess was celebrated two days
later in her old home.
Stockholm was reached on December 16th, and a visit of some days'
duration paid to the King of Sweden. On December 28th the Prince and
Princess were back again with the Royal family of Denmark and attended a
State Ball at the Christianborg Palace. In the middle of January they
embarked in the yacht _Freya_, and at Hamburg the Royal children were
sent home in charge of Lady Carmarthen, Sir William Knollys and Colonel
Keppel. At Berlin, on January 17th, they were welcomed by the Crown
Prince and Princess of Prussia--the Princess Royal of England--and by
Lord Augustus Loftus, the British Ambassador. On the following day His
Royal Highness was invested with the famous order of the Black Eagle by
the King of Prussia. Amongst the limited number of Knights Grand Cross
who were present at the Chapter were the Baron Von Moltke, General Von
Roon, Count Von Waldersee, and Count Von Wrangel. From Berlin, where the
Prince and Princess were joined by those who were to accompany them on
their further journey and including Colonel Teesdale, V.C., Captain
Ellis, Lord Carington, Mr. Oliver Montague, Dr. Minter and the Hon. Mrs.
William Grey, the Royal party went to Vienna which was reached on
January 21st. At the station they were received by the Emperor Francis
Joseph and various members of the Austrian Royal family together with
Prince Von Hohenlohe and Lord Bloomfield, the British Ambassador. State
visits, dinners, the theatre, skating and a private visit to the King
and Queen of Hanover in their retirement at Hietsing, constituted the
programme of the next few days. Vienna was left on January 27th, and
from Trieste, on the following day, sail was made on board H.M.S.
_Ariadne_ and Alexandria reached on February 3rd.
TRIP UP THE NILE
After their formal reception at Alexandria by Mehemet Tewfik Pasha,
Shereef Pasha, Mourad Pasha, Sir Samuel Baker and others, the Prince
and Princess proceeded to Cairo where they were warmly welcomed by the
Khedive, and met by the Duke of Sutherland and his son, Lord Stafford,
Professor Owen, Colonel Marshall and the special correspondent, Dr. W.
H. Russell. The latter gentlemen joined the Royal party and were to
proceed with them on the journey up the Nile together with Prince Louis
of Battenberg and Lord Albert Gower. Before starting on this voyage,
however, the Prince and Princess were privileged in witnessing the
curious Procession of the Holy Carpet and the departure of a portion of
the annual stream of pilgrims for Mecca. The Princess and Mrs. Grey were
also invited, on February 5th, to dine at the Harem with the Khedive's
mother and the ceremonies, as described by Mrs. Grey in her _Diary_ of
the tour, were exceedingly interesting. A multitude of smartly dressed
female slaves in coloured satin and gold; services of silver and gold;
dishes of the most peculiar and varied composition and taste; music by
bands of girls and dances by other bands of women--some of whose motions
were described by Mrs. Grey as graceful and others as "simply
frightful;" drinks of curious character and pipes and cigarettes with
holders ornamented by masses of precious gems; costumes which partook of
both the Eastern and Western character; jewels and gold in every
direction and upon every possible kind of object--such were some of the
things seen during the visit. In the evening of the same day the Royal
couple and suite went to the theatre, and afterwards the Prince had
supper with the Khedive at the Palace of Gizerek, accompanied with
elaborate ceremonies and a succession of dancing spectacles.
Meanwhile, every care had been exercised by the Khedive in preparing
comforts for the Royal guests up the Nile. The chief barge was occupied
by the Prince and Princess and the Hon. Mrs. Grey, who was in attendance
upon the latter; a second was occupied by the Suite; a third by the Duke
of Sutherland's party; a fourth was used as a store-boat and contained
3,000 bottles of champagne, 20,000 bottles of soda-water, 4,000 bottles
of claret and plenty of ale, liquors and light wines. Sir Samuel Baker,
who was at this time Governor of the Soudan region, accompanied the
Prince and had with him an abundance of guns and nets for capturing
crocodiles, etc. During the slow progress up the river there was plenty
of sport, and His Royal Highness won fine specimens of spoonbills,
flamingoes, herons, cranes, cormorants, doves, etc.
THEY VISIT SITES OF ANCIENT CITIES
During the early part of the trip there was not much that was
interesting; apart from the shooting expeditions which were undertaken
from time to time. The sight of frightened children, timid women,
labouring slaves, mosques and villages of huts and occasional ruins of
more or less interest were all that was visible along the low banks of
the river as they passed. The caves, or grottoes, of Beni Hassan were
visited on February 10, and the life of ancient peoples seen in a
panorama of carved monuments. Then came a more beautiful, cultivated and
populous part of the region watered by the Nile. Thebes, Luxor, Karnak,
however, were names and places which made up for much. For two days,
ending February 19th, the heir to a thousand years of English
sovereignty wandered amidst these tombs and monuments of the rulers of
an African empire which had wielded vast power and created works of
wonderful skill and genius three, and five thousand years before. The
great hall and collonades and pillars of Karnac, the obelisk of Luxor,
the famous tombs of the Kings, the Temples of Rameses, the colossal
statues of Egyptian rulers, were visited by daylight, and, in some
cases, the wondrous effect of Oriental moonlight upon these massive
shapes and memorials of a mighty past was also witnessed.
Philae with its interesting ruins, Assouan with its modern history,
Korosko, Dere, the early capital of Nubia, the great Temple at Aboo
Simbel, were seen, and, finally, after the Prince had killed his first
crocodile, on February 28th, and the party had made an uncomfortable
trip across a hot waste of desert, Wady Halfah was reached on March 2nd,
and the journey back was commenced. On their return a special trip was
made by the Prince and Princess to the Pyramids of Ghizeh, accompanied
by Mehemet Tewfik, the Khedive's son, with an escort from Cairo. The
Prince ascended the biggest of the Pyramids and the party was royally
entertained afterwards in a pavilion specially erected for the purpose.
INTERESTING RUINS ARE VISITED
The Prince and Princess also visited the Royal chambers in the great
Pyramid. A delightful drive to Cairo followed, and the party soon found
themselves comfortably installed in the Esbekiah Palace. On the
following day a visit was paid to the great Mosque where lie the revered
bones of Mehemet Ali, under an embroidered velvet catafalque. One of the
graceful minarets was ascended and a splendid panorama of the city seen.
On March 18 the Tombs of the Caliphs, with their picturesque but ruined
mosques, were visited, and in the evening the theatre was attended, in
company with His Highness, the Khedive. A visit to the Baulak Museum
followed and was rendered thoroughly interesting by the presence of the
learned Orientalist, Marriette Bey, who showed the Prince and Princess a
bust of the Pharaoh "who would not let the children of Israel go," and
one of the other Pharaohs, who was a friend of Moses. Sir W. H. Russell
is authority for the statement that the slightly incredulous smile of
the Princess brought out a most concise, learned and convincing
explanation of history and hieroglyphics in this connection.
On the evening of March 19th the Khedive gave a State Dinner in honour
of his Royal guests at the Garden Kiosk of the new Palace of Gizeh. The
grounds were brilliantly illuminated, those present included all that
was eminent in the life of Egypt, the viands were served upon the
richest plate, the native fireworks sent up afterwards were most
attractive. The Hon. Mrs. Grey, in her _Diary_, says that "standing in
the outer marble court, with its beautiful Moorish arches and its
pillars of rich brown colour, their bases and capitals profusely and
brilliantly decorated, and looking on every side at the tastefully
illuminated gardens, the effect produced was indeed most splendid and
carried one at once back in imagination to one of the scenes you read of
in the _Arabian Nights_. It is quite impossible to describe it, but I
shall never forget this beautiful sight." The writer then goes on to
describe the splendid architecture and tasteful furniture of the
building and rooms. Most of the latter were decorated in white and gold,
with myriads of mirrors, rich silk curtains and furniture with all the
soft and brilliant colourings of the old Arabesque style. There were
fountains everywhere, and the floors were inlaid marble, porphery and
alabaster.
Following this function came a visit to the British Mission School,
where the Princess greatly charmed the children; a state visit to the
races in a carriage drawn by six horses, and with coachmen and
postilions wearing most gorgeous liveries of scarlet and gold. The Suite
were also splendidly equipped in regard to carriages and outriders, and
the streets were lined with troops. The races were well conducted and
the general ceremonies of the occasion worthy of Ismail, the Khedive.
This was to have been the last function prior to departure for the Suez
Canal, but it was now decided to accept the pressing invitation of His
Highness and stay three days longer. Following upon this decision came a
series of visits paid by the Princess of Wales to the wives, or harems,
of certain distinguished Egyptian gentlemen, and, finally, to the harem
of the Khedive.
Amongst the places visited were the homes of Murad Pasha, Abd-el-Kader
Bey and Achmet Bey. On March 23d the Princess, with a couple of
attendant ladies, visited the Khedive's mother--the real ruler of his
harem. It was a sort of Eastern drawing-room function, with slaves in
brightly-coloured dresses everywhere about, and a number of Princesses,
or daughters and relations of the Khedive, present, together with many
other ladies of Egyptian rank and position. Mrs. Grey described them as
mostly pretty--which was not, in her experience, the case as a rule--and
as looking cheerful and happy. In the evening the Princess attended a
State Dinner given by the four wives of the Khedive at the Palace of
Gizerek. The presence of innumerable slaves, coffee and pipes, music and
cherry jam served on a large gold tray with a gold service inlaid with
diamonds and rubies, were the initial features of the entertainment. At
dinner the guests sat on chairs instead of on the floor, as at a
previous affair of the kind, but still had to pull the meat from the
turkey with their fingers, while the odour of garlic and onions in many
of the dishes was very unpleasant. There was some singing during the
meal, with music and Oriental dancing after it. Meanwhile the bazars had
been visited privately by the Princess; the people having no idea who
the inquiring and interested European lady was.
THE PRINCE ATTENDS THE KHEDIVE'S RECEPTION
On the same day the Prince of Wales attended in state at a formal
reception held by the Khedive, and thus conferred a somewhat marked
compliment upon one who was not actually an independent Sovereign. He
was accompanied by the Marquess of Huntly and the Earl of Gosford, who
had just arrived from India on their way home, and proceeded through
the streets in all the pomp of scarlet and gold outriders, troops in
brilliant uniforms and a general environment of state which compelled
unusual respect from the impassive Oriental onlookers. Royal honours
were given to the Prince on his arrival, and he was met by some 5,000
troops and the strains of the British national anthem, while the Court
itself was brilliant in blue and gold uniforms and rich in the
luxuriance of gold and gems upon every possible article of service or
personal use. In the evening the Prince dined with his Vice-regal host
on a yacht in the river, and the Minister of Finance gave a brilliant
banquet, at which were present the great officers of state, such as
Shereef Pasha, Zulfikar Pasha, Abdallah Pasha and others, together with
British visitors or members of the Royal suite, such as Lord Carington,
Lord Huntly, Lord Gosford, Prince Louis of Battenberg, Sir Samuel Baker
and Colonel Teesdale, V.C.
This event closed the visit to Cairo and, after formal farewells on the
following morning, the train was taken for Suez, where the Royal
visitors were received by the Governor and M. de Lesseps. In the morning
they left for Ismaila amidst all possible honours, and accompanied by
the great canal promoter. There a triumphal arch had been erected and a
crowd of people and troops were found lining the route through the city.
They were driven out to the Khedive's chalet on Lake Timsah, where
dinner was served and the night spent, and thence back to Ismaila, and,
in a steamer, down the Suez Canal to Port Said. The great enterprise was
not then completed, and, in fact, the opening of the canal did not take
place for many months, but the Royal tourists were fortunate in seeing
the pioneer activities of creation in full operation and of being able
to understand something of the immense initial difficulties which had
been overcome by the genius and energy of De Lesseps.
Alexandria was reached on March 27th, and visits were paid to
Ras-el-Teen, the old palace of Mehemet Ali, to Cleopatra's Needle and
Pompey's Pillar. Then the _Ariadne_ was boarded once more and a farewell
dinner given to Mourad Pasha, the representative of the Egyptian
Government, who had done so much for the comfort of the Royal guests;
the health of the Khedive was drunk and the last word said to the
ancient land of the Nile and the Pyramids. The impressions left by this
visit to Egypt were pleasant to the Prince of Wales and useful to his
country. Ismail, the Khedive, was at this time a most enterprising ruler
but the predominant influence in the country was French and there can be
no doubt that the stately reception given the Heir to the British Crown
proved a substantial service to the present and future residents of his
nationality in that part of the world. The Prince, himself, must have
benefited greatly by the insight into Oriental methods of government
which he obtained and by the curious efforts at an adaptation of western
ideas which were going on all around him; while the picture left upon
his mind of ancient traditions and the history of a mighty past could
not but have been impressive and interesting.
On boarding the _Ariadne_, off Alexandria, and starting for
Constantinople the Royal party lost Sir Samuel Baker, Lord Gosford, Sir
Henry Pelly and Lord Huntly, who were leaving for other points of
destination. During the next few days the vessel passed through the
"Isles of Greece" and by various famous or historic spots. Patmos and
Chios were seen for a time in the distance and, on March 31st, the
Dardanelles were reached and salutes fired from shore to shore--from
Europe to Asia--as the Royal yacht steamed between the Turkish forts.
Upon anchoring, the British Ambassador, the Hon. Henry Elliot, came on
board, together with Raouf Pasha, who attended to offer the earliest
compliments of his Imperial master the Sultan. At the next landing, off
Chanak, the Prince was formally welcomed by Eyoub Pasha, Military
Governor of the Dardanelles, and his staff and guard of honour. Salutes
from the Forts followed and the Prince returned to his vessel which
steamed up to Gallipoli, where another stop was made and a visit paid to
the French and British cemeteries of the Crimean War. Early on the
morning of April 1st the towers and minarets of Constantinople were
sighted and various tugs and boats containing British residents and
others surrounded the Royal vessel and joined in singing "God Save the
Queen" as the Prince and Princess appeared on deck. Their stepping into
a barge to row ashore was the signal for a general salute from the
Turkish iron-clads and, amidst flying colours, fully-manned yards and
swarming caiques and steam-boats the journey to the shore was made--with
some private speculation as to what would happen to the Life Guardsmen
of the Prince's suite if they should be upset in the water with all
their cumbrous "toggery" on.
When abreast of the Palace of Saleh Bazar the Royal barge was met by the
state caique of the Sultan, followed by other gorgeously decorated and
equipped vessels, containing the Grand Vizier, Aali Pasha, and other
officials dressed in blue and gold and wearing numerous ribands, stars
and crosses of knightly orders. Amidst cheers from crowded tugs and
boats and ships the Royal visitors were transferred to the caique and
thence to the landing place of the Palace where a guard of honour, a
crowd of officers and a gorgeous staff surrounded the Sultan who, like
the Prince of Wales, was in full uniform. His Majesty, after various
gracious greetings, which were translated by the Grand Vizier, led his
guests up the staircase of the Palace and then retired. Shortly
afterwards the Prince and his suite were driven to the Dolmabakshi
Palace where they were received by the Sultan with much state and, after
a brief visit, returned to Saleh Bazar. Luncheon followed and the Prince
and Princess called at the British Embassy. On their way back in the
Sultan's carriages the streets were lined with impassive people who
saluted in silent respect. At the Palace an admirable dinner was served
on gold and silver plate. During the entire stay of the Royal visitors
here they were supplied with every luxury and requirement--guards of
honour, carriages, saddle-horses, caiques, a band of eighty-four
splendid musicians and an immense staff always on duty and clad in
gorgeous uniforms of green and gold.
Every morning there were presents from the Sultan of most exquisite
flowers and the finest fruit. Mr. W. H. Russell thus described the
surroundings in one of his letters to the London _Times_: "The
_valetaille_, in liveries of green and gold, with white cuffs and
collars, throng the passages and corridors, and black-coated
Chibouquejees are ready at a clap of the hands to bring in pipes with
amber mouth-pieces of fabulous value, crested with hundreds of diamonds
and rubies, and coffee in tiny cups which fit into stands blazing with
similar jewels. The _cuisine_ cannot be surpassed and the wines are of
the most celebrated vintage. All the persons attached to the Palace
speak French or English. There are Turkish baths inside ready at a
moment's notice. Equerries, aides-de-camp, officers of the Body-Guard,
radiant in gold lace and scarlet, in blue and in silver lace, flit about
the saloons and corridors. Human nature can scarce sustain the load of
obligations imposed on it by such attention. If the Prince is seen on
the water guards are turned out along all the batteries and the strains
of music are borne on every breeze that blows. Yards are manned and
crews turned out on the slightest provocation. The least wish is an
order."
On April 2nd the Sultan went in state to the Mosque in honour of his
Royal guests. The streets were lined with five thousand troops and the
Prince and Princess, with their suite, were driven to the Palace of
Beshik Jool, from a beautiful room in which they could see the Imperial
procession pass by. The sloping ground on the opposite side of the road
was filled by groups of women clad in varied colours and looking from a
distance like animated flowers. The Sultan came, presently, preceded by
brilliantly garbed Circassian troops, announced by the blast of a
trumpet and the acclaim of the Turkish populace and riding a magnificent
horse, which an English spectator described as a "marvel of beauty." He
wore a splendid military uniform and his jewelled orders and sabre-hilt
shone brightly in the rays of the sun, while immediately before and
behind him were the officers of state. After the pageant had passed,
little Prince Izzedin--the eldest son of the Sultan and a delicate,
intelligent-looking child--came over to visit the Prince and Princess.
The troops then filed past the Palace windows. Later in the day a
deputation of British residents was received by the Prince and in the
evening a special performance at the Theatre was attended and witnessed
from the Sultan's box.
Early in the morning of April 3rd, the various foreign Ambassadors and
Ministers called on the Prince of Wales and were presented by Mr.
Elliot. Amongst them was General Ignatieff, of Russia. A visit to
Seraglio Point followed, and from its heights was seen that most
exquisite view which embraces the Sweet Waters, the Bosphorus, the Sea
of Marmora and its islands, the shores of Scutari, the minarets of the
city and a general mingling of sea and shore, of light and shade, of
softness and Eastern charm which is hardly equalled in the world. The
great mosque of St. Sophia was then visited. In the evening a state
dinner was given by the Sultan at Dolmabakshi Palace--the first ever
given by His Ottoman Majesty to Christian guests. The Prince and
Princess were received in the grand drawing-room by the Sultan and all
his Ministers. The Princess was taken in by His Majesty and Madame
Ignatieff by the Prince. The dinner-room was already renowned for its
exquisite candelabra and lustres in rock-crystal; and its other
decorations, combined with plate and flowers of the most beautiful kind,
made up a scene well worth remembering. Aside from this, however, it was
not very interesting, as none of the Sultan's Ministers--except the
Grand Vizier--had ever sat in his presence before and were apparently
too much astonished and afraid to speak a word to each other or to any
of the twenty-four guests who made up the banquet. After dinner the
Princess and Mrs. Grey visited the Harem, or rather the Sultan's wife
and mother. Mrs. Grey, in her _Diary_, declares the dullness and
stiffness of the occasion to have been indescribable. There were
innumerable slaves, but they were all "hideous," though loaded down with
jewels, while other incidents and surroundings were not very unlike a
similar reception at a European Court. The whole affair broke up at
10.30.
A VARIETY OF INCIDENTS
On the following day the Royal party attended service in the church of
the British Embassy, driving through silent and crowded streets. In the
afternoon they inspected the Cemetary at Scutari. On the following day
the Prince and Princess, attended by Mrs. Grey, and all garbed in the
humblest English clothes they could find, visited the Bazaar. "Mr. and
Mrs. Williams" seemed to enjoy themselves greatly, the former smoking a
long pipe; the latter buying quantities of curios and, as the merchants
soon found out, driving an occasional bargain with earnestness. They
took in all the entertainments, sipped sherbets and the various
unnamable drinks which are sold in such places, and revelled in a few
hours of freedom. Later in the day the Prince paid some formal visits
and in the evening they again attended the theatre. Meanwhile Sir Andrew
Buchanan, British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, had arrived with his
wife, on their way home to England, and were welcomed at the Palace. The
following day a visit was paid to Belyar Beg, some distance up the
Bosphorus, which has been described as "the most beautiful place in the
most beautiful situation in the world." Guards of honour were seen in
all directions as the Royal party passed in caiques up the river. The
luxury and elegance of the furniture at the Palace and the beauty of
both buildings and surroundings evoked expressions of admiration from
the Prince and Princess and, perhaps, they even regretted their refusal
to stay here in preference for the other and more accessible residence.
Tchamlidja, not far away, the summer residence of Mustapha Fazil Pasha,
brother of the Viceroy of Egypt, was then visited and a "luncheon"
served which proved to be almost wanton in its luxury--the choicest
fruits that Paris could produce and the finest wines of the east or the
west being served in profusion. Afterwards, the Princess and Mrs. Grey
visited the Harem, while the men smoked exquisite cigars and drank the
finest obtainable coffee.
The following day included a trip across the Bosphorus in the Sultan's
yacht and a state ball at the British Embassy in the evening, which was,
for a short time, attended by the Padishah himself. The Royal party did
not retire from the gathering until daylight. During the next three days
one function continued to follow another. A visit to the British
Memorial Church; attendance with the Sultan at a great special
performance in the Theatre through densely-crowded streets; a visit to a
cricket match in the suburbs; attendance at a state banquet given by the
British Ambassador; inspection by the Prince of a Turkish
ironclad--Hobart Pasha's flagship; a dinner at the country home of the
Grand Vizier. The day of departure fixed upon was April 10th, and, after
a stately breakfast with the Sultan at Dolmabakshi, and farewells
exchanged amidst all possible pomp and Oriental pageantry, the _Ariadne_
was boarded and slowly steamed away from the Moslem capital to the sound
of cheers and thundering guns from fleet and fort. They were soon in
the gloomy waters of the Black Sea on the way to the Czar's dominions.
Arrangements had been under discussion for some time in connection with
this visit to the Crimea and Sir Andrew Buchanan's opportune arrival
had, no doubt, a good deal to do with the matter. On April 12th
Sebastopol was sighted, crowned with its ruined bastions and replete to
the Royal tourists with memories of the Redan, the Malakoff, and the
Mamelon. Neither flags nor men were visible, however, upon the ramparts
as the yacht came to its moorings although elsewhere Russian soldiers
could be occasionally seen. Presently, General de Kotzebue, Governor of
New Russia and Bessarabia, came on board with his suite--a decorated and
energetic survivor of the great siege at which he had been Chief of
Staff to Prince Gortschakoff. After the four days programme for the
Crimea had been settled the Prince and Princess landed and went first to
inspect the Memorial Chapel and then to visit the great cemetery. A
drive to some of the scenes of battle during the Crimean conflict
followed, with an escort of Tartars and with carriage horses which at
times seemed to fly over the ground. General de Kotzebue knew every foot
of the soil and was, of course, a splendid host on such an occasion. On
this first day the field of the desperate Alma fight was gone over
carefully and on the succeeding morning the ruined ramparts and redoubts
of the once great Fortress of Sebastopol--not as yet restored--were
visited and studied. The Cemetery of Cathcart's Hill was visited and
here there were few in the party who did not find the names of friends
or relatives in this city of silent streets while the Princess found
very many around which associations of some kind were twined. In a small
farmhouse, close to the windmill which was almost a centre of battle on
the day of Inkerman, the Royal party took lunch.
Afterwards the Prince and some of the gentlemen rode over the ridge
around which the famous fight occurred and General de Kotzebue
explained the technical character of the struggle. The Malakoff was next
seen as well as the colossal statue of Lazareff--the father of the Black
Sea fleet and of that conception of Russian power which was shattered
for a time by the success of the Allies. On the 14th the French Cemetery
was visited and thence they went across country to the famous British
Headquarters--the home for so long of Lord Raglan, General Simpson and
Sir W. Codrington. The house was in perfect order and the Prince was
shown with care one of the rooms on the wall of which was a tablet with
the simple words: "Lord Raglan died." Balaclava was next visited and the
scene of the famous charge carefully studied by the Prince. A drive
followed through a country of varied and striking beauty to the Imperial
Palace of Livadia where the Czar's Master of Ceremonies, Count Jules
Stenbock, was waiting to receive the Royal visitors. A ceremonious
entertainment was given here in the highest style of refinement and with
the somewhat unexpected accompaniments of chamberlains in green and gold
and a mass of servants from St. Petersburg, together with every sort of
luxury. Here the Czar Nicholas had stayed in 1855 when he went to
reconnoitre the position of the Allies. A visit followed to Alupka, the
palace of Prince Woronzow and thence, after an exchange of telegrams
with the Czar, they went on board the _Ariadne_ once more.
April the 16th saw the Royal party once more in the Bosphorus with blue
lights burning along the shores and bands playing a courteous welcome.
On the following day the Prince, attended by Colonel Teesdale and
Captain Ellis, paid a last formal visit to the Sultan and this was
promptly returned by His Majesty amidst much ceremony. Meanwhile, the
Princess had taken a last fond "incognito" look at the Bazaars attended
by Mrs. Grey and Mr. Moore of the Embassy. The Ambassador came to the
yacht to luncheon and soon afterwards Sir Andrew and Lady Buchanan bade
farewell. Then, in the evening, came the second departure from
Constantinople, the _Ariadne_ passing through the lately increased
Turkish fleet, under Hobart Pasha, amidst a brilliant display of
rockets, coloured lanterns and blue lights.
A VISIT TO HISTORIC ATHENS
The Port of Athens was reached on April the 20th and here Sir A.
Buchanan once more rejoined the party, followed very soon by various
Russian, French and Italian officers and diplomatists. Next came the
King of Greece--George I., brother of the Princess of Wales--accompanied
by a suite and with sounds of distant cheering and the roar of guns
echoing around the vessel. After luncheon Athens was visited and found
to be gaily decorated and thence the Royal party passed by train to the
King's Palace in the country, a beautiful place surrounded by beautiful
scenery. In the distance were to be seen the green fields and olive
forests of the Attic plain, the Piraeus and the Bay of Salamis, the
groves of Academus, the ancient Acropolis and Ilissus, and the modern
City of Athens. On the following day the Acropolis was visited and the
glories of that scene of historic greatness revived in the memories of
the Royal travellers. A state banquet followed in the evening and on the
next day a number of memorable sights and scenes were visited while the
evening was the occasion for a coloured and very striking illumination
of the mighty ruins of the Acropolis. Athens was left behind on the 23rd
of April and the Royal party, including the King and Queen of Greece,
proceeded to Corfu, which was reached on the following day and a more
kindly greeting accorded to the visitors. The stay here was a very quiet
one enlivened, so far as the Prince of Wales was concerned, by a hunting
party on the somewhat wild coast of Albania. May 1st saw a formal
leave-taking from the King and Queen of the Hellenes and a departure
from this pleasant old-world Island.
On the following day Brindisi was reached, and Turin on the 3rd.
Accompanied by Sir Augustus Paget, the Minister at Rome, the Royal party
crossed the mountains by the Mont Cenis Railway and reached Paris two
days afterwards. Here, until May the 11th, they remained in a succession
of visits, dinners, reviews and entertainments provided by the Emperor
and Empress, and on the following day arrived at Marlborough House after
a six months' absence from England. It had been a round of arduous duty
mixed with every form of honour and compliment, and including much of
genuine pleasure and useful experience, together with the acquisition of
practical and valuable knowledge. To the Heir Apparent it was one more
step in the training and education necessary for any Prince who is
destined to reign over the destinies of an infinitely varied and
scattered people.
CHAPTER VII.
Serious Illness of the Prince
Following his return from foreign travel and the fulfilment of a brief
round of public functions and duties came the now historic and really
eventful illness of the Prince of Wales. It was a critical period in his
career. Boyhood, youth and the first flush of manhood were gone; his
marriage had taken place and his family been born into a position of
present and future importance; his own training in public duties and
experience in foreign travel and observation had been completed up to a
very high point of efficiency. The one element which seemed to be a
little lacking was that of a full appreciation of his own responsibility
to the nation and the Empire. The brilliant light which blazed around
the Throne could find no fault in the actual performance of any duty;
but the critical eye and caustic pen had been prone for some years to
allege an overfondness for pleasure and amusement and the pursuits of
social life.
Whether true or false in its not very serious origin this impression had
been studiously cultivated in certain quarters at home which had an
interest in the theoretical flash-lights of republicanism; and
extensively propagated abroad by cabled falsehoods and magnified
incidents until actual harm had been done to the reputation and
character of the young Prince amongst those who did not know him and
could never actually expect to know him except through the journalistic
food upon which they were fed.
On the other hand, the English people had hardly learned to appreciate
the important place filled by the Prince of Wales in the community, in
the daily life of the nation, in the hopes of his future subjects, and
deep down in the hearts of the masses. Something was apparently needed
to develop those two lines of feeling--one personal and the other
national--and this came in the illness which struck down the Prince in
the closing months of 1871. During the Autumn he had paid a visit to
Lord Londesborough at Scarborough, and, although not feeling well,
nothing was supposed to be seriously wrong. From there the Prince had
gone to stay with Lord Carington at Gayhurst and thence returned to
Sandringham where he became decidedly ill. The _Times_ of November 22nd
was compelled to state that His Royal Highness was suffering from "a
chill resulting in a febrile attack" which had confined him to his room.
On the following day a bulletin signed by Doctors Jenner, Clayton, Gull
and Lowe stated that the Prince was suffering from typhoid.
ORIGIN OF THE ILLNESS
Amid the anxiety caused by this announcement every one wondered where
the disease had been contracted, and ere long it was known that all the
guests of Lord Londesborough at the time of the Royal visit had become
more or less indisposed; that the hostess herself was seriously ill;
that the Earl of Chesterfield, one of the recent guests, was down with
typhoid and, finally that Blegg, the Prince's groom, had caught the same
disease. Ultimately both peer and peasant died, and the seriousness of
their illness as it developed in the public eye added to the gradually
growing excitement over the condition of the Heir-Apparent.
The growth of popular feeling in the matter was evidently deep and
serious. Bulletins stating that the symptoms of the fever were severe
but regular continued for a time amid ever-increasing manifestations of
interest and, as the weeks passed slowly by and the Queen had gone to
the bedside of her son and something of the devotion of his wife to the
sick Prince became known, this feeling grew in volume. Meanwhile the
Princess Alice had also come to lend her brother the sympathetic touch
and knowledge of nursing for which she was so well known. For a brief
moment on December 1st, the patient roused from his delirium
sufficiently to remark that it was the birthday of the Princess, and for
a week thereafter the news of improvement in his condition was good.
Then came a crisis when the fever had spent itself while the patient had
also become worn out. It was impossible to say whether he could live
another day. The Royal family were summoned to Sandringham on December
9th, and on the following day (Sunday) prayers were offered up in all
the churches of the land and in many other countries, by request of the
Archbishop of Canterbury. In the morning, the Vicar at Sandringham
Church received a note from the Princess of Wales: "My husband being,
thank God, somewhat better, I am coming t
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