Part 12

Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, on the 30th of June, 1870, performed the ceremony of opening the new schools for the children of seamen. There was a large assembly present, including the Lord and Lady Mayoress, the Bishop of London and Mrs. Jackson, the Sheriffs of Middlesex, several Aldermen and public officials. The schools are situated near the London Docks, in Wellclose Square, where for two hundred years stood the church for Danish seamen. The site of the buildings was the property of the Crown of Denmark, and, with the church, was purchased from the trustees with money granted from the Bishop of London's Fund. The newly-erected schools afford accommodation for 600 children, and the cost was about £5500.

An address, giving the history and purpose of the institution, was read by the vicar of St. Paul's Church for seamen of the port of London, to which

The Prince of Wales responded, saying "it was a source of infinite gratification to him to be present at the completion of a work originated by his lamented father, and to fulfil his benevolent design of providing for the education and religious welfare of the children, after having secured a place of Divine Worship for the parents. He trusted that the association of the site with its former uses would bear its fruit in the success of this sacred work of education and religion."

After prayers were read by the Bishop of London, the ceremony of declaring the schools open was performed, and purses were presented, with donations to the amount of £1500, including a hundred guineas from the Prince of Wales.

A luncheon followed, at which the Bishop of London, in proposing the health of the Queen, recalled a saying of George III., who once expressed the hope that the time would come when every man in England would possess a Bible, and be able to read it. This sentiment was also felt by the old King's grand-daughter who now filled the throne, and nothing was dearer to Her Majesty's heart than the religious education of the people.

In next proposing the health of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Bishop said that the Royal visit of this day would give a prestige to the schools which would ensure their popularity in the neighbourhood. There was a special interest for the Princess of Wales in the fact that they were on the site of the old Danish Chapel, long the only place of worship for Danish seamen in London.

The Prince of Wales, in response, said:--

"My Lord Bishop, Ladies, and Gentlemen,--Allow me in the name of the Princess of Wales and myself to tender you my warmest thanks for the kind way in which this toast has been proposed and responded to. I need not tell you that the proceedings of to-day have given us great pleasure, or that we feel a deep interest in the success of the schools which we have now opened. When we were asked to open these schools and play-grounds for the children of seamen and other persons living in this neighbourhood, we at once felt that the object was excellent, and we were anxious in coming here to-day to evince the interest we take in the schools. They have, as has already been mentioned, an especial interest for myself, because just twenty-four years ago the foundation stone of the neighbouring church for seamen was laid by my lamented father. That church, during the twenty-four years it has been in existence, has answered the purpose for which it was built, and I believe as many as 240,000 seamen, together with their wives and families, have attended divine service within its walls. Let us, then, hope that the children also may receive the benefits of a good education and religious training, and that these schools may fulfil the object for which they were built.

"In this part of London there are so many poor that good schools are especially needed, and as these schools are not intended exclusively for the children of seamen, they will probably be most beneficial to the neighbourhood at large. Allow me to thank you for the way in which you have listened to the few remarks I have made, and to assure you that I feel deep gratification in being present to-day at the opening of these schools. I have, before sitting down, to propose 'The Health of the Lord Bishop of London,' to whom we owe our warmest thanks for the kind way in which he has come here to take part in the proceedings of this day, when he has so many other and important duties to perform. As I know that he has another pressing engagement in a short time, the fewer words said the better. I therefore call upon you to drink the health of the Lord Bishop of London."

NEW GRAMMAR SCHOOL AT READING.

_July 1st, 1870._

The good people of Reading are said sometimes to have grumbled at being neglected by Royalty, their town being overshadowed by its proximity to the Royal borough of Windsor. This notion was effaced by the splendid events of the 1st of July, 1870. On that day the Prince and Princess of Wales, with imposing state and ceremony, visited the ancient town, in order to lay the foundation-stone of a new school, which was to be the successor of the historical Grammar School, at which Archbishop Laud was educated, one of the masters of which, Julius Palmer, was martyred during the Marian persecution, and which in recent times had attained high celebrity under the scholastic reign of Dr. Valpy.

The town was in high festival for the occasion, and distinguished company assembled to meet the Royal visitors. When the Address had been presented by the Mayor and Town Clerk, giving a summary of the history of the school, and the purposes of the new undertaking, the Prince replied:--

"Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,--I desire to return my cordial thanks for your address, and to assure you, on the part of the Princess and myself, of the pleasure it affords us to visit a town so conspicuous in the pages of English history. It is most gratifying to me to co-operate with you, gentlemen, in securing for your town the benefits contemplated by the Royal founders of this ancient school. In extending to Reading and its county the advantages of a middle-class education, you are providing an education which, if conducted on sound principles, must conduce to the welfare and happiness of all who desire to profit by it; and that this result is anticipated is satisfactorily indicated by the amount of contributions already subscribed. For myself, I sincerely trust that the good work of which we are now assembled to lay the first stone may, under God's blessing, prosper and accomplish its purpose. It will at least prove to a succeeding generation that we, on our part, have striven with all our hearts and all our means to ripen the good seed sown by our fathers upwards of 300 years ago."

The ceremony of setting the stone then began, for the ceremony was to be done with masonic honours, one side of the tent having been entirely occupied by the Masons in costume. The Mayor, having received from the Provincial Grand Master the handsome silver trowel prepared for the occasion, now asked the Prince, in the name of the School Trustees, to proceed with the ceremony. The Grand Chaplain offered a prayer, the Architect presented his plans, the Grand Secretary read the inscription on the stone, and the Grand Treasurer deposited gold, silver, and copper coins of the present reign in the cavity prepared for them.

The Prince then proved and set the stone, saying:--

"May the Great Architect of the Universe enable us successfully to carry on and finish the work of which we have now laid the principal stone, and every other undertaking which may tend to the advantage of the borough of Reading and this neighbourhood, and may this school be long preserved from peril and decay, diffusing its light and influence to generations yet unborn."

To this the Masons present answered with one accord, "So mote it be." The Prince next spread corn on the stone, and from the ewers handed to him poured out wine and oil, saying:--

"May the bountiful hand of Heaven ever supply this country with abundance of corn, wine, and oil, and all the necessaries and comforts of life."

The Brethren again responded in the Masonic formula, "So mote it be." Then the Treasurer to the school presented to the Senior Master Builder (Mr. Parnell) a purse of gold, saying: "It is the pleasure of the Prince that those who have hewed the stones, and those who have laid them, and all who have assisted, should 'rejoice in the light.'"

Prayers by the Bishop of Oxford, and the Hallelujah Chorus, performed by the band and choir, closed the ceremonial, which was very quaint and impressive.

At the luncheon afterwards given in the Town Hall, the Prince, after acknowledging the usual loyal toasts, that of the Prince and Princess of Wales having been proposed by the Mayor, said:--

"My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,--It gives me great pleasure to have an opportunity of expressing to all those present the gratification it has given both to the Princess and myself to be here this day. I am glad also to have the opportunity of congratulating the Mayor and Corporation and the inhabitants of Reading on the great success of all the proceedings of the day. In passing through the town we could not fail to admire the tasteful way in which all the houses and streets were decorated; nor was it possible that the arrangements for laying the foundation stone of the new schools, and the magnificent ceremony attending it, could have gone off better. I trust we shall all take a deep interest in the school which is to be, succeeding as it does to one which has already existed for a great number of years, having been founded by my ancestor Henry VII., and receiving a Royal charter from Queen Elizabeth. I trust that the wishes expressed by the Mayor concerning the school may be realized, and that the children not only of the inhabitants of Reading but of the whole county of Berkshire will have an opportunity of receiving a thoroughly good education in it. I will not occupy your time any longer, but before sitting down it affords me great pleasure to propose a toast which I feel sure you will all receive with enthusiasm. It is 'The Health of the Mayor of Reading.' I am glad to have the opportunity of thanking him, as the representative of this ancient and loyal borough, for the kind and hearty reception it has given to us on this occasion."

After the departure of the Prince, the Mayor announced that His Royal Highness had generously handed him a cheque for a hundred guineas towards the building fund. At night the town was illuminated, and the people of Reading had good reason to be pleased with the proceedings of the day.

ALBERT GOLD MEDAL TO M. DE LESSEPS.

_July 7th, 1870._

At a meeting of the Council of the Society of Arts, on the 7th of July, 1870, the Prince of Wales, as President of the Society, presented the Albert Gold Medal to M. de Lesseps. This medal is awarded for services rendered to arts, manufactures, and commerce; and no services, to commerce at least, could have been better rendered than by the realization of the Suez Canal.

The Prince addressed M. de Lesseps in a French speech, of which the following is a translation:--

"It is with sincere gratification that, as President of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, I have the honour of presenting to you to-day the gold medal which was founded after the death of my beloved father, and which bears his name. This medal is presented every year to the person who has distinguished himself most remarkably in advancing the interests of the objects for which the Society was founded, and I am fully convinced that no recipient has ever been more worthy than yourself of this honourable distinction. In presenting it, I need scarcely say that the award was unanimous, and I may perhaps be permitted to add that I stipulated for the pleasure of placing the medal myself in your hands. England will never forget that it was to you the success of that great enterprise which is so much calculated to develope the commercial interests subsisting between herself and her Eastern Empire was due; and I trust that since your sojourn among us the English people have evinced to you their appreciation of the benefits which your great work has conferred upon this country. Allow me once more to congratulate you upon your grand achievement, and to express my sincere hope, as it is my belief, that it will fully realise the brilliant anticipations which you have from the first entertained respecting it. In conclusion, I must assure you of the pleasure I feel in presenting this medal to you, not only as President of this Society, but as a personal friend, who has, moreover, enjoyed the inestimable advantage of an inspection of the Canal under your guidance."

M. de Lesseps replied as follows:--

"Monséigneur,--I am happy in receiving from the hands of your Royal Highness the medal which has been awarded to me by the Society of Arts and Manufactures. This medal, recalling the respected memory of your august father, has a double value in my eyes, for His Royal Highness Prince Albert, from the commencement of the enterprise of the Suez Canal, received me with that kindly feeling which was to him habitual, and which led him always to encourage everything which might be useful to social progress, to the discoveries of science, and to the development of commerce. He received me for the first time in 1858, in his private study, where he invited me to explain to him all the details relating to the construction of the Canal, and he followed with close attention upon the map and on the working plan the course of the projected scheme as worked out by the engineers. Since that time he continued on several occasions to testify the interest which he felt in the enterprise for which the period of commencing the works had arrived. I thank your Royal Highness and the Society of Arts for having added this important manifestation to all the evidences which I have had the good fortune to receive from the Government of the Queen and from the people of Great Britain. The words of your Royal Highness will remain engraven in my heart. I have already had the good fortune of finding myself with you, Monséigneur, when travelling in the desert, and there, where a man, however highly he may be placed, shows himself as he is, I have been able to appreciate the noble character, the lofty mind, and the elevated sentiments of your Royal Highness, and I am happy to bear this testimony in the presence of the distinguished men who surround us. I shall ever be, as they are, the devoted partisan of your Royal Highness. I pray you to present to Her Majesty the homage of my respect and of my gratitude, and to assure her that the Company which I have the honour to direct will be able to maintain the Suez Canal in a condition which will satisfy all the requirements of the great commerce and of the navigation of Great Britain."

It is always a pleasure to the Prince of Wales to give the Albert Medal with his own hands, sometimes at Marlborough House, as to Sir Henry Bessemer, and to M. Chevalier, the distinguished French Economist. When the award was made to Mr. Doulton, the Prince went to Lambeth to make the presentation, and said that he would have been glad to have received Mr. Doulton at Marlborough House, but thought it would be more gratifying to him to have the medal presented in his own place and among his own workpeople--an act of gracious considerateness which was well appreciated by the vast assembly who witnessed the event.

OPENING OF THE THAMES EMBANKMENT.

_July 13th, 1870._

This great work, which, for solidity of construction, durability of material, and beauty of design, is worthy of the Metropolis of the Empire, was commenced early in 1852, but was not completed till the summer of 1870. Viewed in connection with the benefits to public health and convenience, by the improvement of the course of the Thames, and the removal of the mud banks formerly disfiguring the shores, the Embankment may be truly said to be the greatest public work undertaken in London in modern times. Portions of the footway had been previously open for passengers, and improvements have been since made in the approaches and in laying out ornamental grounds, but the completion of the roadway, from Westminster to Blackfriars, sufficiently justified the grand State ceremony with which the Embankment was opened, on the 13th of July, 1870, by the Prince of Wales.

On that day, the Prince, accompanied by the Princess Louise, and attended by the Great Officers of the Household, opened the Embankment on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. Five Royal carriages, with an escort of the Royal Horse Guards, proceeded from Marlborough House, by the Mall, Whitehall, and Parliament Street to Westminster Bridge, where they entered the embankment. Here the procession was joined by the carriages containing the Chairman and members of the Metropolitan Board of Works. At Hungerford Bridge an address was presented by the Chairman, Sir John Thwaites. The Royal procession went as far as Blackfriars Bridge, and then returned to Westminster Bridge, when the Prince, amidst the cheers of the multitude, and the salutes of artillery, declared the Embankment to be open.

The reply to the address read by the Prince, was as follows:--

"Gentlemen,--It is a source of great regret to me, as I am sure it cannot fail to be to you, that the Queen is unable to be present, according to her original intention, at this interesting ceremony. In her name I thank you for your loyal address, and express to you the satisfaction with which she regards the completion of this great work. We must all rejoice that while the Embankment and the noble roadway, which I am happy this day to open in the name of Her Majesty, add largely to the beauty and convenience of the Metropolis, the works connected with them may be expected materially to diminish the sources of disease and suffering to the inhabitants of this bank of the Thames. In no public work of this vast capital has the liberal and enterprising spirit of its citizens and the genius and resources of our civil engineers been more signally displayed. I am commanded by the Queen to congratulate you cordially on the issue of your labours in undertakings which promise to be so enduring and so beneficent."

Five years before this, on the 4th of April, 1865, the Prince had visited the great works erected at Barking, in Essex, and thence to the Erith Marshes to perform the ceremony of starting the great engines which lift the waters of the Southern Outfall Sewer. In a brief speech on that occasion the Prince congratulated Mr. Thwaites, then chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works, and Mr. Bazalgette, the engineer, on the completion of an important portion of the great scheme for disposing of the sewage of London, and purifying the water of the Thames.

WORKMEN'S INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

_July 16th, 1870._

In the summer of 1870, while the news of impending war on the continent stirred public feeling, preparations were being quietly made in many a home and workshop for an international exhibition of art and industry. The special feature of the display was to be the encouragement of individual intelligence and skill, every object exhibited having attached to it the name of the workman, as well as the firm in whose employment he was, if not exercising his art on his own account at home.

The Prince of Wales kindly consented to open the exhibition, in the name of the Queen. This was done on the 16th of July, 1870. Having received an address, giving an account of the purpose of the collection, the Prince thus replied:--

"Gentlemen,--I thank you for your address, and assure you that it is with very great pleasure I undertake the duty imposed upon me by the Queen in opening this Exhibition. The objects proposed in it are such as cannot fail to meet with the cordial approbation of all who are interested in the growth of our arts and manufactures, and who wish to connect that growth with a corresponding increase of sympathy and friendly relations between employers and their workmen. In imparting to this Exhibition an international character, you have sought to extend the range of good which may result from it, and by inviting competition between our workmen and those of foreign nations, not only to afford a wholesome stimulus to both in the exercise of their various callings, but to contribute, as far as you can, to that kindly intercourse between countries which must in the end prove the principal security for the peace of the world. The allusion which you have made to my beloved father, who would doubtless have regarded this Exhibition with the liveliest interest, as the natural supplement of that first one with which his name is especially connected, will be as affecting as it must be gratifying to the Queen. It will be my agreeable duty to report to her the proceedings of to-day, and I have only now, in her name, to wish success to the undertaking."

A catalogue of the collection, and a newspaper printed in the building, were then presented to the Prince. The catalogue showed that contributions had been sent from all the chief industrial centres in England,--Sheffield, Birmingham, Coventry, Worcester,--and from Ireland, in bog-oak carvings, and articles of the linen and flax industry. The foreign contributions were from France, Austria, Italy, Holland, and other parts of the continent. A musical piece composed for the occasion was given, and the Old Hundredth psalm sung by the choir, after which the Prince declared the Exhibition open.

THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL.

_March 29th, 1871._

The "Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences" was opened by Her Majesty the Queen with imposing ceremony on the 29th of March, 1871. The procession from Buckingham Palace consisted of nine State carriages, in the last of which were the Queen, the Princess of Wales, and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In the other carriages were the Royal Family, with the great officers of State and the Household in waiting. The Hall was filled with nearly 8000 spectators, and the orchestra consisted of nearly 1200 musicians and singers, Sir Michael Costa being leader.

When the Queen had taken her place on the daïs, the Prince of Wales, who wore the uniform of Colonel of the 10th Hussars, advanced to Her Majesty, and, as President of the Provisional Committee, read the following address:--