Before they rose, the first morning after their arrival at the Roseman, the singers of the Coburg Theatre serenaded them. "Before breakfast," the queen writes, "we went upstairs to where my dearest Albert and Ernest used to live. It is quite in the roof, with a tiny little bedroom on each side, in one of which they both used to sleep, with their tutor. The view is beautiful, and the paper is still full of holes with their fencing; and the very same table is there on which they were dressed when they were little." After visiting the fortress that overlooks Coburg, and driving in the suburbs, the first day closed with a performance of the "Huguenots" at the theatre, where the royal couple were greeted as they entered with "God save the Queen," sung in German.
The twenty-sixth of August was the prince's birthday, and a number of gifts were spread out on a table for him, which the queen, with the assistance of the Duke and Duchess of Coburg, had arranged amidst beautiful flowers. Some of the peasants remembered the day, and came all decorated in ribbons and flowers and preceded by a band of music, to offer their congratulations.
The next day the royal couple left Coburg and travelled on, stopping frequently to visit various relations; each of whom vied with the other in the feasts that were prepared for the entertainment of their guests. After seeing and enjoying the numerous points of interest in the Thurin-gian forest, the travellers began to turn their attention homeward; but a flying visit had to be made at the Château D'Eu, so that Louis Philippe might not feel himself neglected.
On the evening of September 7 the royal couple left the Scheldt in their yacht, and at nine the next morning were off Tréport. The king was on the lookout for them, and soon appeared on board in full uniform. They were received with the same affectionate welcome that greeted them two years before from the whole French royal family, and conducted to the château. There a room was shown to her majesty, which had been fitted up in honor of her former visit, with pictures of the various incidents of it, as well as of the king's visit to Windsor, and among them full-length portraits of the queen and Prince Albert. The whole company of the Opéra Comique had been brought down from Paris that day, and in the evening they gave a performance in a tent erected for the purpose.
Next day the travellers returned home, and the prettiest sight that awaited them, as they approached Osborne, was the bright, chubby faces of their four little children, who were on the watch for them.
A.D. 1846. We must now take a look at the political struggle that was so bitter and so fierce this year. Sir Robert Peel had become a free-trader, and announced himself as such in parliament; but his downfall was at hand, even when victory seemed so near. This was brought about by a bill introduced for the purpose of checking assassination in Ireland, called the coercion bill.
It was at this exciting session that Mr. Disraeli rose into
