in which both the Queen and Prince Albert revelled. It was of this period that the Princess Christian, exactly thirty years later, wrote with so much tender feeling. amasement Let innocence accompany every) amaseme Let innocence accompanies every) amusement Let innocence accompances overy amusement Let innocence accompany overy) amusem • "The Swiss cottage at Osborne, in like manner, with its museum, kitchen, store-room and little gardens, was made the means of learning how to do household work, and to direct the management of a small establishment. The parents were invited there as guests, to partake of the dishes which the Princesses themselves had prepared; and there, too, each child was allowed to choose its own occupation, and to enjoy perfect liberty. The life in the Highlands, free from the restraint of Court life, brought the Royal children into closer contact with the humbler classes, and called into play their sympathies for the poor. They were permitted to visit the humblest cottages-nay, were encouraged to do so. There it was, no doubt, that a feeling of pity for, and an ardent desire to help the poor, the sick, and the needy, were first aroused." : Mimic Warfare It was now that the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred commenced the construction of the miniature forts at Osborne, in which every feature was, as much as possible, the outcome of their own industry and handiwork.* The Heir Apparent, as became a future Grand Master of Freemasons,† proved himself to be an expert bricklayer, and even the guns mounted for the defence of the mimic citadel were, if tradition may be trusted, cast in situ. After the keeping of the Queen's birthday with the usual festivities, the Court removed to London, where, on Wednesday, May 31, the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal accompanied their parents to the French plays, when the dramatic idyl called "Au Printemps," by M. Leopold Laluyé, was produced. A few days later the Heir Apparent and his brother, Prince Alfred, went with Prince Albert, the King of Portugal, and the Duke of Oporto to Eton College for the purpose of hearing the speeches. On the following day Prince Albert took the Prince of Wales with him to inspect the new hotel at the Paddington terminus of the Great Western Railway. June was a still busier month for the Prince of Wales. He was present at the solemn inauguration of the removed and reconstructed "Palace of Crystal," at Sydenham. On Thursday, June 29, the Prince of Wales accompanied Prince Albert to hear the speeches at Harrow. Both Lord John Russell and the Earl of Harrowby were there, and Lord Palmerston rode down according to almost immemorial custom. The Prince Consort and * See ante, p. 36. + His Majesty King Edward VII. is now Protector of that Ancient and Honourable Confraternity. the Prince of Wales sat on the right hand of Dr. Vaughan, the head master. Amongst those who recited was Chaplin major (afterwards the Prince of Wales's contemporary at Oxford), now the Right Hon. Henry Chaplin. The clever rendering of Molière by Messrs. Earle and Ashley was warmly applauded, and several prizes were carried off by the clever son of the Earl of Shaftesbury. About the middle of July the Queen and Prince Albert with all their children once more arrived at Osborne, for another only too brief period of much-needed rest. A cruise to the Channel Islands occupied two days (August 8 to 10), and Mr. Gibbs accompanied his pupils. A novel attraction was provided for Prince Albert's birthday fête (August 26) in the shape of the now celebrated Mont Blanc entertainment of Albert Smith, who four years later was to be the Prince of Wales's cicerone at Chamounix. A few days afterwards Prince Albert crosses to Boulogne to visit the French Emperor. Punch summarises the situation in a cartoon entitled the "Entente Cordiale," in which Napoleon and Prince Albert are seen pledging each other across the dinner-table, glass in hand. Quoth the former, "Well, now you have found your way here, we hope to see you oftener," to which the latter replies, "Oh yes! and the next time we have a holiday I hope our wives may be present." The three first verses of the three portions of a poem called "Three Epochs of Half a Century, well worth remembering, although the title is a patent misnomer : are The Right Honourable Anthony Evelyn Melbourne Ashley, P.C., born 1836. The able biographer of Lord Palmerston now resides at Broadlands. |