Speeches and Addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863-1888. King of Great Britain Edward VII

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СКАЧАТЬ dated Windsor Castle, 10th April, thus wrote, "The children grow more than well. 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 won especial 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."

      Of the course and conduct of the studies of the Prince, under Mr. Birch, from 1849–1851, and under his successor, Mr. Gibbs, from 1851–1858, it is not necessary to speak. His other teachers were efficient in their departments, such as Mr. Corbould, who taught drawing to all the Royal children; and M. Brasseur, the French teacher, to whom the Prince paid a visit when in Paris in 1888. As in the earlier years, so when he was under tutors, the real education for public life was less in study than in the companionship and the example of his parents. A man of wide knowledge and of varied accomplishments like the Prince Consort had higher views of education than mere scholastic routine. He took his son to all places where a love of arts and sciences might be encouraged and fostered, and hence the Prince obtained knowledge and acquired tastes not universal among young Englishmen, in times before the subjects of academic training and honours had been enlarged, mainly through the influence of the Prince Consort, as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. From his father also he inherited the taste for music which has been since turned to national benefit. But above all, he was often taken to meetings and festivals connected with charitable institutions, a Princely duty in which the son has been proud to follow the example of his lamented father.

      The extra-scholastic education of the Prince was continued throughout the time that Mr. Gibbs, his classical tutor, remained with him. He was also gradually introduced to public life, and initiated in affairs of modern as well as ancient history—events reported in the newspapers of the day, as well as those recorded by the historians of antiquity. As early as the 3rd of April, 1854, when the Addresses from both Houses of Parliament were presented to the Queen, in answer to Her Majesty's message announcing the opening of war with Russia, we are told that "the Prince of Wales took his place, for the first time, beside the Queen and Prince Albert upon the throne." In the succeeding years these appearances in public were frequent, and in 1857 he accompanied the Queen and the Prince on their memorable visit to the Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester. The Princess Royal, the Princess Alice, Prince George, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia, were also guests at Worsley Hall during this visit. In Manchester, as recorded by the Queen in her Diary, "The crowd was enormous, greater than ever witnessed before, and enthusiastic beyond belief—nothing but kind and friendly faces." Upwards of a million people were computed to have been in the streets that day. Not only were the treasures of the Exhibition carefully inspected, but visits were paid to some of the great manufacturing works of the town. On the day that the Queen drove to see the statue of herself recently erected in the Peel Park, the Prince Consort, with his two eldest sons, and Prince Frederick William, went to the Manchester Town Hall, to receive the address which the Corporation presented to the Prussian Prince on his approaching marriage with the Princess Royal.

      In July of that year, 1857, the Prince of Wales went to Königswinter, for the purposes of study. He was accompanied by General Grey, Sir Henry Ponsonby, and several companions, among whom were Mr. C. Wood, son of Lord Halifax, Lord Cadogan, and Mr. F. Stanley, son of Lord Derby. With Mr. Gibbs was now associated the Rev. Canon Tarver, who, on the retirement of Mr. Gibbs in 1858, was appointed Director of Studies and Chaplain. In this capacity he accompanied the Prince to Rome, Spain, and Portugal, and afterwards went with him to Edinburgh, remaining with the Prince till the autumn of 1859, when his education ceased to be conducted at home.

      Of the principal events of the year 1858 as regards the Prince, a most interesting statement is given in a letter of his father to his old friend Stockmar. It is dated Windsor Castle, April 2nd. "Yesterday the Confirmation of the Prince of Wales went off with great solemnity, and I hope with lasting impression on his mind. The previous day his examination took place before the Archbishop and ourselves. Wellesley (Dean of Windsor) prolonged it a full hour, and Bertie acquitted himself extremely well. To-day we take the sacrament with him." In a Memorandum by Her Majesty, it is said that the Prince Consort "had a very strong feeling about the solemnity of this act, and did not like to appear in company either the evening before or on the day on which he took the sacrament; and he and the Queen almost always dined alone on these occasions." With such habitual feelings about the solemnity of the service, the "First Communion" of his eldest son must have deeply touched his heart.

      In the letter to Stockmar the Prince continues his statement about the educational plans for his son. "Next week he is to make a run for fourteen days to the South of Ireland, with Mr. Gibbs, Captain de Ros, and Dr. Minter, for recreation. When he returns to London he is to take up his residence at the White Lodge, in Richmond Park, so as to be away from the world, and devote himself exclusively to study, and prepare for a military examination. As companions for him we have appointed three very distinguished young men, of from 23 to 26 years of age, who are to occupy in monthly rotation a kind of equerry's place about him, and from whose more intimate intercourse I anticipate no small benefit to Bertie." These companions were Lord Valletort, eldest son of Lord Mount-Edgecombe, Major Teesdale, R.A., of Kars celebrity, and Major Loyd-Lindsay, V.C., of all of whom the Prince expresses to Stockmar his high opinion. "Besides these three, only Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Tarver will go with him to Richmond. As future Governor I have as yet been able to think of no one as likely to suit, except Colonel Bruce, Lord Elgin's brother, and his military secretary in Canada, who now commands one of the battalions of Grenadier Guards. He has all the amiability of his sister (Lady Augusta Bruce, afterwards Lady Augusta Stanley), with great mildness of expression, and is full of ability."

      Fortunately for the Prince, the wish to obtain the services of Colonel Bruce was successful. On the 9th of November, 1858, writing from Windsor Castle to the King of Prussia on political affairs, which in Prussia were then in troubled condition, the Prince adds: "I ought not to tease you just now with family trifles, still I will let you know that Bertie, who to-day solemnizes his eighteenth birthday, proposes to pay a fortnight's visit to his sister, and asks leave to present himself to you. It will not be a State, but purely a family visit; and we, therefore, beg you only to show him such slender courtesies as are suitable to a member, and a very young one, of the family. To-day he becomes a Colonel in the Army, unattached, and will receive the Garter. Colonel Bruce, Lord Elgin's brother, has become his Governor."

      The Prince speaks of family events as trifles, compared with great political affairs, but he felt deeply every change in the home life. A few weeks earlier, he had taken his son, Alfred, to his ship at Spithead, from which he went to sea at once. On the day before, the father wrote, "His departure will be another great trial to us: the second child lost to our family circle in one year."

      On the 10th of January, 1859, the Prince of Wales started on his Italian tour. He had previously been hard at study. He had opportunities of seeing much that was interesting in his continental journey, but the stay at Rome, which was greatly enjoyed, had to be abruptly ended. The restless ambition of the Emperor of the French had brought about war with Austria, and a French descent on Sardinia. Orders were sent to the Prince of Wales to leave Rome and repair to Gibraltar, which he reached on the 7th of May. The plan now arranged was that he was to visit the south of Spain and Lisbon, to return to England in the middle of June, and in July and August to take up his head-quarters in Edinburgh for study.

      All this was well carried out, and on the 11th of September the Prince joined his parents at Balmoral. The Court had left Osborne on the 29th of August for the Highlands, and reached Balmoral on the 31st, after spending a day and a night in Edinburgh. Writing to Stockmar a few days after, the Prince Consort says they had "travelled for the first time by night, straight through from London to Edinburgh, in order to gain a day for that place. The experiment proved a complete success, and the Queen was not at all tired. When in Edinburgh I had an educational conference with all the persons who are taking part in the education of the Prince of Wales. They all speak highly of him, СКАЧАТЬ