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many people were presented, and at four in the afternoon the queen and prince proceeded on their journey. It was evening when they reached Wildpark Station, and "there on the platform," says the queen's diary, "stood our darling child with a nosegay in her hand. She got into the carriage, and long and warm was the embrace as she clasped me in her arms. So much to say, and to tell, and to ask, yet so unaltered, looking well—quite the old Vicky still! It was a happy moment, for which I thanked God!
"Another five or six minutes brought us to the Potsdam station, where were a band and a guard of honor of gigantic guardsmen with pointed caps, and all the princes and princesses. After a few minutes we got into open carriages and drove up to Babelsburg. The castle was beautifully lit up. The Princess of Prussia and Vicky took us to our rooms, which are very comfortable. It was eleven. Many well-known faces appeared among the servants, and I felt quite at home. We supped with our children, and the prince and princess, and then went up to bed, wishing our dear child, as of old, good-night." The next morning was passed quietly at the castle, and in the evening the royal party drove through Potsdam to the beautiful gardens of Sans-Souci, and visited the palace built by Frederick the Great, in which he lived and died. The queen was charmed with the splendid orange trees at Sans-Souci, some of them two hundred years old, all festooned with vines, reaching from one to another.
Several succeeding days were spent in making excursions to the various places of interest, both in Berlin and the surrounding country. State dinners were given, reviews attended, as well as churches and theatres, and many men of learning were presented. The queen mentions Von Humboldt particularly, with whose conversation she was delighted. The twenty-sixth was the prince consort's birthday, described thus in the royal diary: "Blessed day! May God ever bless my beloved Albert! The band kindly-ordered by our children, and the Prince and Princess of Prussia, played two hymns. I gave Albert all the children's letters. They had all written. Went down to the drawingroom to arrange the present-table, and found Fritz and Louise (Princess of Baden) there. Vicky soon followed, and then we went up to Albert, where we found his brother Ernest, who arrived this morning as a surprise. We took Albert down. My gifts were a picture of Beatrice, life-size, in oil, by Horsley; a complete collection of photographic views of Gotha and the country round it, which I had had taken by Bedford, and which particularly delighted Albert, and a paper-weight of Balmoral granite and deer's teeth, designed by Vicky. Vicky gave her portrait, a small oil one, by Hartman, very like, though not flattered; an iron chair for the garden at Balmoral, and a drawing by herself. The prince and princess gave two bronze statues. Albert was pleased with all. There were two birthday cakes. Vicky had ordered one with as many lights as Albert numbered years, which is the Prussian custom.
"Friday, August 27.—The last day. It made one very sad to feel this.... Visit from Stockmar. Satisfactory conversation with this kind friend. After luncheon Ernest came and took leave, going back to Gotha. At half-past five took a short drive alone with dear Vicky, alas! for the last time. Saw Stockmar once more in the evening; broke up at half-past ten, and went up to our room with dear Vicky. Fritz joined us soon after. We stayed talking together till eleven, happy, but dreading the next day."
The leave-taking need not be described. The journey back to England was accomplished with few delays, and the royal party reached Dover at mid-day on the 31st. Prince Alfred met his parents as they landed at the private pier at Osborne, in his sailor's suit, having just passed his examination, and received his appointment as midshipman.
Shortly after their return, the queen and prince went to Balmoral, where, surrounded by their children, they were delighted to avail themselves of the repose offered by this invigorating mountain retreat. The prince resumed his favorite sport of deer-stalking without loss of time, and records having shot his first stag of the season on the fourteenth of September. The queen had to part with another of her children this year, for Prince Alfred went for a two years' cruise on the Mediterranean.
A.D. 1859. Queen Victoria became a grandmother at the beginning of the new year,—the princess royal had a son born in Berlin.