On the 6th of June another daughter was born, and she was christened on the 1st of July, the anniversary of her parents’ wedding-day. Her names were Victoria Alix Helena Louise Beatrice. The sponsors were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Cesarewitch and Cesarewna, Princess Beatrice, the Duchess of Cambridge, and the Landgravine of Hesse.
In August the Crown Prince of Prussia paid his first visit to Darmstadt since the war, and met with a most loyal and hearty reception.
In consequence of the death of the Princess Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the beloved half-sister of the Queen, in September, the Prince and Princess went to Baden to be present at the last sad ceremony, and to see their beloved aunt borne to her rest.
A fortnight later the general assembly of the various German societies for charitable purposes held its first meeting at Darmstadt.
All these societies, including the “Ladies’ Union,” founded by Princess Alice, had, in 1869, joined themselves together to form one great body. During the year 1872 the Princess added another Institution to those she had already called into existence—viz., an Orphan Asylum. A special committee of ladies was at the head of it, to watch over it, and also, if necessary, to advise and help those poor orphans who had been boarded out in private families at the expense of the parish. This institution has already proved most successful, thanks to the readiness with which the authorities met all Princess Alice’s wishes.
The general assembly at Darmstadt—the “Frauentag” or “Ladies’ Diet,” as it was called—distinguished itself, not only by the extremely discreet and practical manner in which it carried out all the many different branches of business which it had undertaken, but also by the presence of several remarkable persons interested in its aims and objects, such as Madame Marie Simon, the founder and head of the Institution for training nurses at Dresden, and three English ladies, Miss Mary Carpenter, Miss Florence Hill, and Miss Winkworth.
The subjects treated of at the general assembly were the admission of women to the Post Office and Telegraph Service; the results of the working of F. Froebel’s principles for the further employment of women; of “Kindergarten”; the finding of proper localities for the exhibition and sale of women’s handiwork of all kinds; nursing as a branch of female industry; the provision of better schools for girls, and what had been done, and was doing, in England for female education and at similar institutions.
The Princess followed all the discussions with the keenest interest. She received all the members of the different societies at her own palace, and for each she had a kind and encouraging word.
None of those present will ever forget the sympathy and encouragement they met with from the Princess. She not only advised and suggested things, but herself took the initiative in any important question which came under her notice. The general assembly did great credit to itself in the eyes of Germany, and, indeed, of other countries as well, and its members were encouraged to still further exertions.
The Princess herself was full of new plans for further good works. At the beginning of November Prince and Princess Louis were present at the unveiling of a monument erected to the memory of the Hessian soldiers who fell in the war of 1870. The Princess herself placed some wreaths at its base. The 14th of December, the anniversary of the Prince Consort’s death, the Princess spent with her sister the Crown Princess of Prussia, who had come to Darmstadt from Carlsruhe for the purpose.