With footsteps light; thus, cheerily,
List to our songs so merrily
As thou wert wont in days of yore:
Come, be as blithe as heretofore,
Among thy people; for we fain
Would see thy queenly smiles again.[4]
[4] The author having sent a copy of this poem to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales (then at Sandringham), had the pleasure of receiving the following letter:—
“Sandringham, November 4, 1863.
“Sir,—I am desired to inform you that, by the direction of the Princess of Wales, I have to-day forwarded to Sir Charles Phipps, for presentation to Her Majesty the Queen, your poem, written on the occasion of the inauguration of the memorial statue of the Prince Consort, at Aberdeen. Her Royal Highness also desires me to say that she read the lines with great gratification.
“I am, sir,