Speeches and Addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863-1888. King of Great Britain Edward VII
so gentle, and quite reverential," that all were touched, and the old man said, "God bless my dear young Prince! I hope he will carry away a favourable impression of this almost unknown rugged island."
The same enthusiasm was shown everywhere in Canada, and the Duke of Newcastle writing to the Queen on the 23rd of September, from Dwight in Illinois, after he had crossed into the United States, thus summed up the results of the visit: "Now that the Canadian visit is concluded, the Duke of Newcastle may pronounce it eminently successful, and may venture to offer Her Majesty his humble but very hearty congratulations. He does not doubt that future years will clearly demonstrate the good that has been done. The attachment to the Crown has been greatly cemented. … The Duke of Newcastle is rejoiced to think that this is not the only good that has sprung out of this visit. It has done much good to the Prince of Wales himself, and the development of his mind and habit of thought is very perceptible. The Duke of Newcastle will be much disappointed if your Majesty and the Prince Consort are not pleased with the change that has been brought about by this practical school, in which so many of the future duties of life have been forced upon the Prince's daily attention. He has certainly left a very favourable impression behind him."
Besides laying the foundation stone of the buildings for the Parliament House at Ottawa, the Prince performed another memorable action in driving home the last rivet of the magnificent Victoria Bridge at Montreal.
The enthusiasm caused by the visit to the States was immense. Chicago was the first great town reached after leaving Niagara, and here the reception was remarkable. It was the same at Cincinnati, and at St. Louis. In fact everywhere the friendly spirit of the people was the same, and the courtesy of the civic authorities, and of the educated classes, most marked. A pleasant record of the prevailing feeling is given in a letter from a well-known American author. "The Prince is decidedly a popular character with us, and he may consider himself a lucky lad if he escapes nomination for President before he reaches his home-bound fleet. The funny part of the whole affair is to note the unwillingness of people to be shabbed off with a sham title (Baron Renfrew, under which name he travelled in the States), instead of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, a real up and down and out and out Prince, and of the right stuff too; coupled with a hope he may long remain so; for there is not a living being more sincerely beloved by our people than his Royal mother."
Washington was reached on the 3rd of October. The most memorable incident of his stay at the capital was an excursion, on the 5th, in company with the President to Mount Vernon, the home and the burial-place of George Washington. The reporter of the Times thus speaks of the event, "Before this humble tomb the Prince, the President, and all the party stood uncovered. It is easy moralizing on this visit, for there is something grandly suggestive of historical retribution in the reverential awe of the Prince of Wales, the great-grandson of George III., standing bare-headed at the foot of the coffin of Washington. For a few moments the party stood mute and motionless, and the Prince then proceeded to plant a chestnut by the side of the tomb. It seemed when the Royal youth closed in the earth around the little germ, that he was burying the last faint trace of discord between us and our great brethren in the West."
The Prince left Washington for Richmond on the following day, and closed his American tour at Boston, after having had a magnificent welcome at New York from the vast population of that city. In an American paper of the day it was said, "All our reminiscences, the history, the poetry, the romance of England for ten centuries, are concentrated in the huzzahs with which we greet the Prince of Wales."
The Prince landed at Plymouth on the 13th of November and the same evening arrived at Windsor. On the 18th of January he went to Cambridge for his first term, and resumed his studies, under his preceptors, at Madingley Hall. At the end of his second term he went to the camp of the Curragh of Kildare during the summer vacation.
In the autumn of 1861 he went to Germany, with the intention of meeting the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, with the view to marriage, if the meeting should result in mutual attachment. The meeting, which took place at Speier and at Heidelberg, led to their engagement. The Prince returned to Madingley Hall, from whence he was summoned to Windsor on the day before his beloved father's death, on the 14th of December, 1861.
It is not our purpose to encroach further on the office of the future biographer of the Prince of Wales. In the 'Life of the Prince Consort' the sad incidents of that December are described with touching pathos. Neither do we propose to narrate the events that occurred between the death of the Prince Consort and the marriage of the Prince of Wales, to the Princess Alexandra, on the 10th of March, 1863. These events are fresh in the recollection of many to whom the incidents of the earlier life of the Prince are less known. It is enough to say as to these years, that he continued to be diligent in the acquirement of varied knowledge; that he carefully attended to his military duties; that he took active part in the volunteer movement; and in town and country was alike popular, from his love of manly sport as well as of the pursuits of art.
The coming of age of the Prince was not celebrated with great ceremony, for he was abroad at the time, and the shadow of sorrow was still over the Royal household. But when the Prince brought his bride to England the joy of the nation was unbounded. The passage of the Prince and Princess through the streets of London was a scene of popular enthusiasm such as has seldom been witnessed, so tumultuous was the outburst of joy. The magnificent splendour of the marriage itself was as nothing compared with that national demonstration. In the following pages it will be seen how the Prince and Princess were one in public life, as they were in heart and home.
When the Prince and Princess were returning from Osborne, where they spent the honeymoon, on arriving at Portsmouth, en route to Windsor, the Mayor and Corporation presented an address, upon the deck of the Royal yacht Fairy. This was the first of a succession of "addresses," which were merely marriage congratulations, couched in complimentary strains, and responded to in a few grateful and gracious words. These addresses were so numerous that they came to be merely mentioned in list, and in that early time might have been troublesome, but for the courtesy and good nature of the Prince. These demonstrations continued throughout the summer, the last being at Edinburgh, where their Royal Highnesses remained for a night on the way to Abergeldie, their Highland home near Balmoral. They did not go to Holyrood Palace, but to Douglas' private hotel, in St. Andrew's Square. Here a vast crowd assembled, and the Prince and Princess had to appear and bow their acknowledgments from the open window, till the multitude dispersed. But before going to the North, the Prince had already made public appearances, and his voice had been heard, in the City of London. The words were few, but the occasions were so important that with them may be commenced the record of the Speeches of His Royal Highness. The earliest appearance in a public assembly was at the banquet of the Royal Academy of Arts, on the 2nd of May, 1863.
SPEECHES OF H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES.
AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY BANQUET.
May 2nd, 1863.
The annual banquet given by the President and Council of the Royal Academy of Arts, at Burlington House, is one of the chief events of the London season, or rather, it marks the opening of the season. It always takes place on the Saturday preceding the first Monday in May, when the Exhibition of Pictures is opened to the public. Seldom can a more distinguished company of men, eminent in art, science, and literature, as well as in social position and public life, be seen together than on these occasions. The Prince of Wales has been a very frequent guest, and his speeches have been so numerous, that it seems best to group them together, at a later part of this volume. But the first speech at the Academy banquet was so interesting an occasion that it is given under the date of its delivery.
The presence of the young Prince, and so soon after his marriage, gave unusual éclat to the banquet of 1863. At that time Sir Charles Eastlake