L'Entente Cordiale I. 1804. "I wonder what his thoughts were-that sallow, silent manAs athwart the lines of bayonets the dancing sunlight ran, Steeping in golden glory the white tents on the down, And the old gray Roman watch-tower that looms o'er Boulogne town? 2. 1840. "I wonder what his thoughts were that shabby, silent man― As thirty-six years later to shore a pinnace ran, Bearing a homeless, penniless adventurer with his train A draggled pinioned Eagle and some cases of champagne ? " 3. 1854. "I wonder what his thoughts were-that sad-eyed silent manAs alongside Boulogne's jetty England's royal steamer ran; While with a King beside him, that adventurer was seen Greeting, as Emperor of France, the Consort of our Queen ? " A little later than in former years (September 14), the Royal Family set out from Buckingham Palace for Balmoral, where great progress had been made with the new buildings and other improvements. Within the week Her Majesty received the joyful news of the victory of the Alma (September 20). The annual tenants' ball at Balmoral took place on October 5, the Prince of Wales being amongst those present. During the return journey to Windsor (October 12) several addresses were presented to the Queen. The battle of Balaklava was fought on the 25th of that month, and that of Inkerman on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. A rumour was now current as to the future career of the Prince of Wales, and in dealing with it, Punch contrived gently to satirise the Manager of the Windsor Theatricals. "THE PRINCE OF WALES A SAILOR "The young Prince, it is said, is about to enter the navy, and will take rank as lieutenant on board. the line-of-battle ship the Albert christened after his Papa. His Royal Highness, it is said, is impatient to be afloat before Charles Kean's Tragedy at Windsor sets in with its usual severity. We do not vouch for the accuracy of the statement, but are bound to give it as one very current at the Clubs." The gravity of the political situation necessitated a short special Parliamentary Session which was summoned for December 12, "under circumstances more critical and more momentous than any that had occurred since 1815." At a few minutes before two o'clock Her Majesty, Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales,* attended by the Duke and Duchess of Wellington and Lady Churchill,† left Buckingham Palace for Westminster, in the State carriage, drawn by eight cream-coloured horses. The weather was unusually fine, and the Queen received a hearty greeting from the spectators. The Christmas festivities at Windsor were much curtailed, but all the Royal doles were duly distributed with the accustomed liberality. The year 1855 opened gloomily. A frost of almost unprecedented severity set in, and the Royal sledges once more became an object of interest in Hyde Park. The apparently interminable siege * This is certainly the first record of the Prince of Wales's going to the House of Lords, but no mention is made of the place he occupied after his arrival there. Several of the biographers of King Edward VII. represent him as " occupying the chair-of-state opposite (sic) the throne on the occasion of the presentation to the Queen of the addresses of both Houses in reply to the Sovereign's message announcing the declaration of war, on April 3, 1854. This ceremony, however, took place at Buckingham Palace, and not at Westminster. † Lady Churchill only predeceased Queen Victoria, whose trusted friend she was, by a few weeks. Her son, Victor, Viscount Churchill (to whom the late Queen was sponsor), acted as Lord Chamberlain at the Coronation of King Edward. Death of the Tsar of Sebastopol began to drag out its weary course, and Mr. (now Sir) W. H. Russell's trenchant exposure of the shortcomings of the Commissariat created a widespread excitement, the intensity of which is now very difficult to realise. The mortality prevalent in the Crimea had its pendant in the presence of much sickness at home. Before Feb ruary was over Lord Palmerston had replaced Lord Aberdeen as Prime Minister. On March 2, the Tsar Nicholas, the prime mover of this great European convulsion, died, and Punch once more immortalised itself with the cartoon "General Février turned Traitor." An obituary notice of our departed foe commenced with the following strident phrases: "The Tsar Nicholas is gone to his account. The disturber of nations is at rest. The absolute lord and master of sixty million human beingsthe inheritor of the largest Empire on the Globea man whose will was law; upon whose lips hung the issues of destiny; who, but yesterday, convulsed Europe, and troubled Asia, and brought into collision the forces of barbarism and civilisation; the scourge of the World; the pest of humanitythe most selfish, the most cunning, the most majestic of despots, has been suddenly stricken down in the plenitude of his power and splendour." The news from the front grew worse and worse. It was abundantly evident that some one had blundered, and blundered considerably. A week later (March 10) the Queen (Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales at her side as usual) sought to cheer and encourage her wounded and disabled Guards in the Great Hall of Buckingham Palace. Hardly in sympathy with this womanly kindness was Punch's cartoon, "Inspection of the Imbeciles of the Crimea," calling the attention of all and sundry to the criminal negligence (if nothing worse) denounced by the powerful correspondent of The Times. Meanwhile an Art Exhibition and Sale in aid of the Patriotic Fund had been organised in Pall Mall. During a short stay at Osborne, the five elder children of the Queen had not been idle, and their contribution to the good cause took the form of five sketches of more than average merit. Early in April the Illustrated London News in glowing language thus invites the notice of its readers to the subject: "We alluded last week to the contribution made by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales and his brothers and sisters to the Patriotic Fund Exhibition of works of amateur artists, and we are this week able to engrave two characteristic examples of the series-one by the Prince of Wales, 'The Knight,' the other by Prince Alfred, The Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V.' Critics as well as courtiers see proof of merit in these drawings. They evince a taste for art worth cultivation. We see this, and more. We see a chivalric feeling in them which would warm the blood of Sir Philip Sidney or Lord Herbert Cherbury." A month later we are told that the Patriotic Fund Exhibition had been removed to Burlington House, where "the drawings of the Princess Royal, the Prince of Wales, and the other members of the Royal Family continue to be its staple attraction. The highest bid for the clever Battlefield' of the Princess Royal still continues to be £200, but there are hopes of a considerably higher bid before the day appointed for the sale." The sketches were finally sold, and it was announced that "at the sale of the drawings by the Royal children on May 14, |