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A.D. 1861.] BUSINESS HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE CONSORT.

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estates. He had entered into minute calculations as to the amount of illness that might be prevented among the poorer classes, by a careful selection of the materials to be used in the building of their dwellings. In a word, he was tender, thoughtful, anxious in his efforts for the welfare of the labouring man." The Prince was much attached to agriculture as a science, and was particularly skilful in his appreciation of improvements in management. No farms throughout the kingdom were more carefully kept, or presented finer examples of economical industry. He was one of the first to appreciate the advantages of deep drainage, to employ steam power in cultivation, and to apply the resources of chemistry to practical agriculture. In former reigns it had been the custom for the Sovereign to appropriate to himself the whole revenues of the duchy of Cornwall during the minority of the Prince of Wales; it had further been the evil custom to grant leases at nominal rents or fines, the whole of which went into the pocket of the recipient for the time being, without any consideration for future possessors. Her Majesty, on the contrary, deemed this appanage of the Prince of Wales was equitably his property, and that she was merely trustee for his benefit. On the birth of the Prince of Wales, a council was appointed for the management of the duchy property, of which the Prince Consort was president. The whole aspect of affairs was rapidly changed. As the leases fell in, the farms were re-let on terms of years at full rents, responsible and improving tenants were preferred, the lands were drained, enclosed, and planted, excellent farmhouses and homesteads were built, roads laid out, quarries opened, and the whole property showed the unmistakable signs of able administration. Moreover, the scattered lands were sold, new lands conveniently placed purchased, and plots of ground that had become valuable for building sites were sold for large prices. Sites were granted for schools and chapels, churches were repaired, and the spiritual and educational welfare of the tenantry cared for in a liberal spirit." The lengthened period of the Prince of Wales' minority allowed space for this expenditure to prove reproductive. Before the appointment of the council the net revenue of the duchy had sunk to £11,000: when the commissioners, on the Prince of Wales attaining his majority, presented their final report, the annual gross income approached £50,000. In addition to this, there were accumulations, amounting to £54,000, ready for transference to the Prince's privy purse. The commissioners remarked, "It is unnecessary to allude to the deep interest which His Royal Highness took in all that related to an improved administration of the duchy possessions; but we should not do justice to our own feelings if we did not humbly ask leave to record on this occasion our sense of the irreparable loss which we sustained by his death. To his just mind and clear judgment, his quick perception of what is right, his singular discretion, his remarkable aptitude for the conduct of affairs, we never looked in vain for guidance and advice on any occasion of difficulty. The soundness of his opinions in all our deliberations was rendered more apparent by the tolera

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tion with which he listened, and was always ready to defer to those of others. He never lost sight of the improvement of the condition of the tenant and labourer, whilst anxiously seeking to restore the property of the duchy to a state of prosperity; and to him, we may truly say, it is mainly due that the Prince of Wales will now enter into the possession of an estate greatly increased in value, free from nearly all disputes with neighbouring proprietors and others which at one time prevailed."

The character of the Prince Consort was remarkable for its symmetry, the equal development of all the faculties, and for complete harmony between the intellectual powers and the moral feelings. The portraits of the Prince give a fair idea of his features; but there is something in the expression, when the face is lit up by thought, which no portrait can adequately convey. "The Prince had a noble presence, his carriage was erect, his figure betokened strength and activity, and his demeanour was dignified. He had a staid, earnest, and thoughtful look when he was in a grave mood; but when he smiled, his whole countenance was irradiated with pleasure; and there was a pleasant sound and heartiness about his laugh which will not soon be forgotten by those who were wont to hear it." He is said to have been very handsome as a young man. His face grew finer as he advanced in years; and it was remarked that his countenance never assumed a nobler aspect, nor had more real beauty in it, than in the last year or two of his life. It bore none of those fatal lines which indicate craft or insincerity, greed, or sensuality; but all was clear, open, pure-minded, and honest. Marks of thought, of care, of studiousness were there; but they were accompanied by signs of a soul at peace with itself, and which was troubled chiefly by its love for others and its solicitude for their welfare. His mind was in the best sense original; for, while free from everything like eccentricity, he thought for himself, and formed his own conclusions on all subjects. He was quick in perception, while the resources of his well-stored mind were readily producible on all occasions. Sincere and truth-loving, he delighted in earnest discussion, equally willing either to learn or instruct. He enjoyed wit and humour, and had a keen sense of the ludicrous. In relating amusing anecdotes, he threw just so much of imitation into his manner as to bring the scene vividly before the mind, without descending to anything ungraceful. Guided by a strong sense of duty, he was always sure to go through anything he had undertaken to do, without regard to self-interest or personal inconvenience-willingly taking the measure of responsibility put upon him, but never assuming more. Unlike many who are actuated by a rigid sense of duty, he was singularly free from prejudice, full of candour, and always ready to admit new facts, however they might militate against old convictions. His habit was to investigate carefully, weigh patiently, discuss calmly, and then not swiftly, but after much turning in his mind, to come to a decision. He had one characteristic of a rich and noble mind which is rare indeed. He had the greatest delight in anybody else saying a fine thing or doing a great deed, and would rejoice over it and talk of it for days. “He

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THE QUEEN HOLDING THE FIRST INVESTITURE OF THE ORDER OF THE STAR OF INDIA.

A.D. 1861.]

ly manner.

CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE CONSORT.

delighted in humanity doing well on any occasion or in . . . But, indeed, throughout his career, the Prince was one of those who threw his life into other people's lives, and lived in them;" and, as we are assured on the best authority, "there never was an instance of more unselfish and chivalrous devotion than his love to his Consort-Sovereign and to his adopted country. That her reign might be great and glorious, that his adopted country might excel in art, in science, in literature, and what was dearer still to him-in social well-being, formed ever his chief hope and aim." Notwithstanding a certain

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the artisan or the statesman. His love of knowledge was intense. Being always singularly impressed with intellectual beauty, he remarked on one occasion to the Queen, "To me a long, closely-connected train of reasoning is like a beautiful strain of music; you can hardly imagine my delight in it." But he loved knowledge, not merely for its own sake, but for what it could do for mankind. On the other hand, to him the most hateful of all deformity was that of falsehood, especially when it assumed the form of flattery and of vice, whose presence depressed, grieved, and horrified him. He had,

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besides, an unutterable repugnance to what was mean and low in human nature. Accordingly, the conditions he drew up for the prize that is given by Her Majesty at Wellington College are very characteristic. "This prize is not to be awarded to the most bookish boy, to the least faulty boy, to the boy who should be most precise, diligent, and prudent; but to the noblest boy, to the boy who should afford most promise of becoming a large

constitutional shyness sometimes associated with refined |
natures, which shrink from the expression of all they
feel, he was blessed with a buoyant, joyous, happy tem-
perament, which made his home and his household glad.
Though not subject to sudden elations or depressions,
beneath the joyous current of his feelings, "deep
down in the character, there was a vein, not exactly of
melancholy, but certainly of pensiveness, which grew a
little more sombre as the years went on. It was a pen-hearted, high-motived man."
siveness bred from much pondering upon the difficulty
of human affairs, and upon the serious thing that life is."
One of the finest traits in the Prince's character was
his sympathy with earnest workers. He wished for
success for all honest human endeavours, whether by

If those about the Prince could see any fault in his character, it was an exaggeration of virtue, an excessive anxiety that everything he did should be perfect, and that "he cared too much about too many things." Everything he did must be supremely well done if it was

to please and satisfy him.

In the choice of a jewel, in the placing of a statue, in the laying out of a walk, in the direction of a party of pleasure, his reasoning mind must be satisfied; and he longed that everything that was to be should be the best of its kind. This anxious desire for perfection, and perpetual effort to reach its summit, put too great a strain upon his energies, which, no doubt, caused his health prematurely to give way, and predisposed him to the disease which terminated his career at the early age of forty-two. It has been well remarked by the author of the Introduction to his Speeches," that if the Prince had lived to attain what we now think a good old age, he would have become the most accomplished statesman and the most guiding personage in Europe; a man to whose arbitrament fierce national quarrels might have been submitted, and by whose influence calamitous wars might have been averted." He was evidently one of those of whom it has been said, that their hearts never grow old. He had a peculiarly gentle, tender, and pathetic cast of mind; his nature being of a character more German than English. "Though eminently practical, and therefore suited to the people he came to dwell amongst, he had in a high degree that gentleness, that softness, and that romantic nature which belong to his race and his nation, and which make them very pleasant to live with, and very terder in all their social and family relations."

remains in more senses than one. They are marked throughout with the peculiarities necessarily resulting from his anomalous position. It appears now, from the grateful acknowledgments of the Queen, which she has missed no opportunity of making in the most emphatic manner, that, in the discharge of her duties as sovereign, she was constantly guided and supported by the judgment and advice of His Royal Highness, in whom she placed unbounded trust. It follows that he enjoyed the reality of kingly power; yet he was obliged to speak and act as if he had no power at all. A position so anomalous imposed upon him continual restraint. As has been well remarked in the Introduction to his Speeches, in his case the principal elements that go to compose a great oration had often to be modified largely. "Wit was not to be jubilant, passion not predominant, dialectic skill not triumphant. There remained nothing as the staple of the speeches but supreme common sense. Looked at in this way, it is wonderful that the Prince contrived to introduce into his speeches so much that was new and interesting. It was like the movement of a man in chain armour, which, even with the strongest and most agile person, must ever have been a movement somewhat fettered by restraint." The same authority states that the leading idea of the speeches is "the beauty of usefulness." This is true, and the key-note of them all was heard in the first sentence of the speech delivered at the Lord Mayor's banquet in March, 1850, when the Prince said:"I conceive it to be the duty of every educated

The following remarks, taken from the Introduction to the Collection of the Prince Consort's Speeches, considering the source from which they emanated, are pecu-person closely to watch and study the time in which he liarly interesting :—"The Prince's marriage was singularly felicitous; the tastes, the aims, the hopes, the aspirations of the royal pair were the same; their mutual respect and confidence went on increasing. Their affection grew, if possible, warmer and more intense as the years of their married life advanced. Companions in their domestic employments, in their daily labours for the State, and, indeed, in almost every occupation, the burdens and the difficulties of life were thus lessened by more than half for cach one of the persons thus happily united in this true marriage of the soul. When the fatal blow was struck, and the Prince was removed from this world, it is difficult to conceive a position of greater sorrow, and one, indeed, more utterly forlorn, than that which became the lot of the survivor-deprived of him whom she her self has described as being the 'life of her life.'

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lives, and as far as in him lies to add his humble mite
of individual exertion to further the accomplishment of
what he believes Providence to have ordained." It is
impossible to read those speeches without being struck
with the contrast between the Prince Consort and every
man who had occupied the throne of England from the
time of William III. Compared with him, the Georges
were a narrow-minded, bigoted, ignorant, selfish race.
The times in which they reigned were not enlightened
times, but the darkest spot in England was that which
surrounded the throne; whereas during the reign of
Victoria it might be truly said to be the brightest; and
this was due pre-eminently to the Prince Consort.
man better understood his epoch, no man gave happier
expression to the spirit of his age, or sympathised more
thoroughly with the best influences of civilisation by
which he was surrounded, and which he so powerfully
directed. No philosopher or statesman was in advance
of him in any movement that was really beneficial to
mankind. If he presided at a meeting for the abolition
of slavery, he denounced "the atrocious traffic in human
beings as the blackest stain upon civilised Europe;" and
he trusted that this "great country would not relax in
its efforts until it had finally and for ever put an end to a
state of things so repugnant to the spirit of Christianity
and of the best feelings of our nature." At the meeting
of the Literary Fund he showed how he could respect
the feelings of the man of letters, though struggling
with poverty.
"The institution," he said, "ought

To follow out his wishes, to realise his hopes, to conduct his enterprises to a happy issue, to make his loss as little felt as possible by a sorrowing country and fatherless children-these are the objects which since his death it has been the chief aim and intent of Her Majesty to accomplish. That strength may be given her to fulfil the ǝ high purposes is the constant prayer of her subjects, who have not ceased, from the first moment of her bereavement, to feel the tenderest sympathy for her; and who, giving a reality to that which in the case of most sovereigns is but a phrase, have thus shown that the Queen is, indeed, in their hearts, the mother of her people." The speeches of the late Prince Albert are interesting to command our warmest sympathies, as providing for

A.D. 1861.]

EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECHES OF THE PRINCE CONSORT.

the exigencies of those who, following the call of genius, and forgetting every other consideration, pursue merely the cultivation of the human mind and science. What can be more proper for us," he asked, "than gratefully to remember the benefits derived from their disinterested exertions, and cheerfully to contribute to their wants ?" The interest which he took in the improvement of the labouring classes was one of the most admirable features in his character. He advocated the establishment of loan funds, model lodging-houses, and allotments of ground, in which he himself set an example of what might be done by men of property for the working classes. In the counsels which he gave on such subjects to men of rank and wealth, he always laid down some great Christian principle for their guidance. "Depend on it," he said at the meeting of the Society for the Improvement of the Labouring Classes, "the interests of classes, too often contrasted, are identical; and it is only ignorance which prevents them uniting for each other's advantage. To dispel that ignorance, to show how man can help man, notwithstanding the complicated state of civilised society, ought to be the aim of every philanthrophic person; but it is more peculiarly the duty of those who, under the blessing of Divine Providence, enjoy station, wealth, and education. Let them be careful, however, to avoid any dictatorial interference with labour and employment, which frightens away capital, destroys that freedom of thought and independence of action which must remain to every one, if he is to work out his own happiness, and impairs that confidence under which alone engagements for mutual benefit are possible. God has created man imperfect, and left him with many wants, as it were to stimulate each to individual exertion, and to make all feel that it is only by united exertion and combined action that these imperfections can be supplied, and these wants satisfied. This pre-supposes self-reliance and confidence in each other."*

This was not language assumed, like the putting on of a court dress, for state occasions. It was the sincere expression of honest convictions. The Prince was a truly conscientious and earnest man, who gave his whole mind to the solution of social problems, and his whole heart to the performance of his duties. What can be more beautiful, as an illustration of this habit of mind, than the speech which he made at the Servants' Provident and Benevolent Society? "Whose heart," he asked, "would fail to sympathise with those who minister to us in all the wants of daily life, attend us in sickness, receive us on our first appearance in this world, and even extend their cares to our mortal remains-who live under our roof, form our household, and are a part of our family? And yet, upon inquiry, we find that in this metropolis the greater part of the inmates of the workhouses are domestic servants. I am sure that this startling fact is no proof, either of a want of kindness and liberality in masters towards their servants, or of vice in the latter, but is the natural consequence of that peculiar position in which the domestic servant is placed, passing periods during

Speeches, p. 89.

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his life in which he shares in the luxuries of an opulent master, and others in which he has not even the means of earning sufficient to sustain him through the day. It is on that account that I rejoice at this meeting, and have gladly consented to take the chair at it, to further the objects of the Servants' Provident and Benevolent Society. I conceive that this society is founded upon a right principle, as it follows out the dictates of a correct appreciation of human nature, which requires every man by personal exertion, according to his own choice, to work out his own happiness-which prevents his valuing-nay, even his feeling satisfaction at the prosperity which others have made for him. It is founded upon a right principle, because it endeavours to trace a plan according to which, by providence, by present self-denial and perseverance, not only will the servant be raised in his physical and moral condition, but the master also will be taught how to direct his efforts in aiding the servant in his labour to secure to himself resources in cases of sickness, old age, and want of employment."*

The Prince evinced the same kind, genial, sympathetic spirit with reference to the highest order of intellectual workers. He said, at the dinner of the Royal Academy, that "the production of all works in art or poetry requires in their conception and execution, not only an exercise of the intellect, skill, and patience, but particularly a concurrent warmth of feeling and a free flow of imagination. This renders them most tender plants, which will thrive only in an atmosphere calculated to maintain that warmth; and that atmosphere is one of kindness— kindness towards the artist personally as well as towards his production. An unkind word of criticism passes like a cold blast over their tender shoots, and shrivels them up, checking the flow of the sap when it was rising to produce, perhaps, multitudes of flowers and fruit. But still criticism is absolutely necessary to the development of art, and the injudicious praise of an inferior work becomes an insult to superior genius.” †

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Surely, never royal personage was more at home at a literary or scientific meeting. Speaking at the Midland Institute, he gave an admirable exposition of the laws of social advancement, showing that no human pursuits make any material progress until science is brought to bear upon them. We have seen, accordingly," he said, "many of them slumbering for centuries and centuries; but from the moment that Science has touched them with her magic wand, they have sprung forward, and taken strides which amaze and almost awe the beholder. Look at the transformation which has gone on around us since the laws of gravitation, electricity, magnetism, and the expansive power of heat, have become known to us. It has altered our whole state of existence one might say, the whole face of the globe. We owe this to Science, and to Science alone; and she has other treasures in store for us, if we will but call her to our assistance."‡

With the same comprehensive and enlightened views he enlarged on this theme at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, of which

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