THE COURT.
There were few incidents of interest connected with the court during the year. In February Prince Albert was proposed to the University of Cambridge as candidate for the chancellorship. He was opposed by Earl Powis, and with such effect as to prove very mortifying to the court.. Prince Albert was elected by a majority of only one hundred and sixteen votes, and it was obvious that but for the prodigious exertion of government patronage, that result would not have been obtained. His royal highness was installed publicly at Cambridge early in July. Her majesty, having determined to accompany her husband on this occasion, a vast concourse of persons repaired to Cambridge, and the government made every effort to give éclat to the event. The royal party travelled by the Eastern Counties railway, and were received by the mayor and corporation of Cambridge with much pomp. Repairing to the Hall of Trinity, they were received by the dignitaries of the university. There her majesty took her seat on a chair of state on a dais. The new chancellor, accompanied by the Duke of Wellington (Chancellor of Oxford), and other great personages, presented an address to her majesty, congratulating her on her arrival. The prince, having read the address, retired with the usual profound obeisances, which not only amused the spectators, but afforded much diversion to her majesty, whose mode of smiling indicated how much she enjoyed the burlesque of the scene.
The following day, the Installation Ode was performed in the presence of the new chancellor. Her majesty was present as a visitor. The ode was composed by Wordsworth, the poet-laureate, and set to music by Professor Walmisley. Flower-shows, public breakfasts, concerts, levees, grand university dinners, entertained the numerous visitors of rank during the stay of the royal party. Her majesty had seldom before been attended by so august and splendid a retinue, consisting of Prince Waldemar of Prussia, Prince Laurenstein, Prince Peter of Oldenburg, the Prince of Saxe-Weimar, Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith (the hero of Aliwal), the Bishop of Oxford, and nearly all the gentry of the eastern counties. Cambridge had probably never witnessed such a festal occasion, and never before did her majesty seem so much to enjoy herself. It was generally observed that her fondness for the prince was carried to excess, and that her enjoyment was mainly derived from the honour done to him. That this amiable character, so much calculated to ensure her own domestic happiness, and to set a good example to her people, belonged to her majesty in a degree seldom evinced by royal personages, many proofs had been given before, and many were given after, the visit to Cambridge. A work entitled “The Journal of Thomas Baikes, Esq.,” professed to make many singular revelations to that effect. Mr. Baikes, the son of a wealthy London merchant, had somehow an early introduction to haut ton, and continued, in London and Paris, to live in the society of men of rank and fashion, a species of Beau Brummel. The Duke of Wellington gave to Mr. Baikes the following incident, which took place at the marriage of the Princess Augusta: “When we proceeded to the signatures, the King of Hanover was very anxious to sign before Prince Albert, and when the queen approached the latter, he placed himself by her side, watching the opportunity. She knew very well what he was about; and just as the archbishop was giving her the pen, she suddenly dodged round the table, placed herself next the prince, then quickly took the pen from the archbishop, signed, and gave it to Prince Albert, who also signed next, before it could be prevented. The queen was also very anxious to give the precedence at court to King Leopold before the King of Hanover, and she consulted me about it, and how it should be arranged. I told her majesty that I supposed it should be settled as we did at the Congress of Vienna. ‘How was that,’ said she, ‘by first arrival?’—‘No, ma’am,’ said I, ‘alphabetically, and then, you know B comes before H.’ This pleased her very much, and it was done.”
This was hardly fair to the Duke of Cumberland, and shows her majesty’s strong attachment to the Cobourgs; but his grace of Cumberland and majesty of Hanover never acted as an uncle to the queen, and would have gladly made the Orange party available to mount her throne. The Duke of Wellington knew all this; and as he regarded it to be one of his especial missions to watch over her majesty, he willingly lent himself to those little artifices which tended to place the King of Hanover in an inferior position relative to that of Prince Albert, or of the King of the Belgians.
The only other event connected with the court, except such as will appear in the history of parliamentary transactions, was the visit to Scotland in August. This visit was paid in compliance with the wishes of the prince, who had on a previous occasion greatly enjoyed the opportunities of sporting which Scotland afforded. On the 11th of August, the queen, the prince, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and suite left Osborne House in the Victoria and Albert yacht, with the Fairy as tender, and escorted by a fleet of war-steamers. Her majesty stayed one night at the Scilly Islands, then passed through the Menai Straits, and steered for the Isle of Man. The fleet sailed close to the island, but her majesty did not land. On Monday, the 16th, the fleet anchored in Loch Ryan: their entrance to the mouth of the Clyde was very picturesque, and was observed by great numbers, in yachts and steamers, who had made excursions for the purpose. On the following day her majesty landed at Dumbarton, and inspected the old castle. The squadron anchored for the night under the castle of Rothsay, from which place the Prince of Wales derives his Scottish ducal title. On the Wednesday they proceeded up Loch Fyne; at Tarbut her majesty gazed with long and deep interest upon the glorious scenery. The royal party landed at Inverary, where the Duke of Argyll and the Campbells paid feudal homage, the clansmen assembling in their national costume.
From Inverary the court proceeded to Staffa, where they examined the cave. The prince also landed at Iona, where so many ancient kings and heroes of Scotland found sepulture. On Friday morning they arrived off Fort William, where, on Saturday morning, her majesty and suite left the squadron and proceeded by land to her Scottish autumn residence. The accounts of this expedition published in the journals of the day greatly interested the British public. A periodical not remarkable for its loyalty thus referred to the voyage:—“Never, certainly, were the habitual life and disposition of a sovereign exhibited to a nation in more favourable guise than those of Queen Victoria during her sea voyages. The history of the cruise to Scotland is like those which have preceded it. It displays the chief traveller in the most engaging light. We see her, the ruler of a maritime people, recurring for her holiday pleasures to the enjoyment of the sea; riding the waves with a fearless familiarity that yet has in it nothing unfeminine. The sovereign is pleased to gratify her people by going among them and reciprocating courtesies. Less reserved than some other predecessors, Queen Victoria, surrounded by her family, still seems attended by a thoroughly English spirit of domesticity; the manner in which the children accompany their parents, share the walks of their father on shore, and enter into the whole spirit of the voyage, is simply a model of the national manners according to their best type. And while her husband and the children are ‘stretching their legs’ on shore, the accomplished lady is seen with her pencil, exercising her talents by sketching the scenery around.”
Her majesty’s progress after the landing was such as to give her the happiest assurances of the loyalty and love of the Scottish people. The following description of the latter part of her journey is picturesque:—“The road to Ardverikie passes round the north end of Loch Laggan, crossing the Padtock Water by an ingenious boat bridge. At this point Macpherson, of Cluny Macpherson, with about thirty of his tenantry in the costume of his clan; Duncan Davidson, of Tulloch, and a few of his followers; Sir John Mackenzie, of Selvin, and others, were assembled, the Highlandmen armed with broadsword and target. About eighty, thus armed, lined one side of the road, and the same number, unarmed, lined the other; while about five hundred persons of both sexes, in holiday costume, posted themselves on the face of the hill. The Marquis of Abercorn, in full Highland costume, and wearing the order of the garter, with the Duchess of Bedford, was also present. Shortly after eleven o’clock a signal was made from Ben Nead that the royal party were approaching, and’ presently the royal carriages were seen rounding a hill half a mile distant. Cluny then put himself at the head of the Highlandmen, and behind him stood the standard-bearer, with the venerable green silk flag of the Macphersons, which was ‘out’ in the rebellions of 1715 and 1745. Cluny himself wore the shield which Prince Charles Stewart carried at Culloden. The royal carriage drew up opposite the bridge, the path to which, as well as the bridge, was carpeted. Having greeted the marquis and Cluny, her majesty shook hands with the Duchess of Bedford, and, with the prince, repeatedly acknowledged the cheering of the people. Prince Leinengen was also in the royal carriage, and shared the attentions of the people. Next to her majesty and her royal consort, the Prince of Wales was the object of interest, as, led by his royal father, and wrapped in a tartan cloak, he walked down to the bridge. The royal party then entered a carriage in waiting on the south shore, and drove slowly off to the lodge. The Duchess of Norfolk and Lady Jocelyn followed; and in a third carriage came the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Grey. General Wemyss, and Sir J. Clark, who were received with demonstrations of respect. The last carriage having passed, an anker of whiskey was brought forth, with cakes and cheese, to feast both great and small. Cluny then proposed ‘Health and happiness to her majesty,’ which was drank with nine cheers enthusiastically given; and the crowd, after discussing some forty gallons of whiskey, dispersed.
“Her majesty was not accompanied by military, and in the evening all the county police were dismissed, the force of seven London police being considered more than sufficient for the protection of her majesty and the royal party.”
Ardverikie, where her majesty sojourned during her visit to the north, was formerly a hunting park of Fergus, King of Scotland. In front is Loch Laggan, which is very extensive, being about eight miles in length, although not so picturesque as most of the Highland lochs.
On the 17th of September, her majesty left her Highland residence, and sailed from Fort William to the Isle of Man, where the prince landed. Thence the royal party steered to Fleetwood, in Morecomb Bay, Lancashire, whence they proceeded by rail to London.
The conjugal and parental love shown by her majesty, and, indeed, her affectionate interest in all her royal relatives, endeared her to her people, the more so because it was the general impression that the house of Brunswick was deficient in these virtues. In proof of that absence of family kindness which has in most instances characterised her majesty’s royal predecessors, the following was extensively circulated in the periodicals of the day, which, at the same time, held up the queen’s loving spirit to public admiration:—“Ever since the accession of the house of Guelph royalty has freed itself from one of the most universal and honourable, though somewhat expensive duties of kindred, and this, too, without observation, much less censure. The poorest of mankind mark the grave of parents, wife, and children by some humble memorial; the richer place tablets or raise tombs to their relatives. So gratifying to the heart is this duty, that rarely, if ever, is it omitted from any other cause than poverty. A foreigner visits the royal depository in St. George’s Chapel, and asks where are the royal monuments? But no son, daughter, brother, nephew, or niece of the present dynasty has erected a funeral monument of any kind to the kindred dead. Even if affection did not produce such a testimonial, it might have been expected from regard to ancient custom, and from desire to conform to the habits of civilised life. The only monuments to our kings and their descendants, with the exception of the statue to George III. in Windsor Park, by George IV., and of the beautiful mausoleum which the King of Hanover is building in memory of his consort, have been erected by the public; and in the instance only of the Princess Charlotte’s monument, which was raised by subscription, has one been placed in church or chapel. There is absolutely nothing—not even an engraved slab—to tell where the ashes of George I., II., III., and IV., and William IV., or of any one of all their numerous progeny, repose. No doubt the world knows; and the omission is only remarkable or important from its being at variance with the custom of the country, from the injury which it has caused to art, and from the idea which it creates of heartlessness in the survivors; not one of whom has expended a shilling on what would appear to be the most natural of social duties.”