On October 11th the Prince of Wales arrived in New York and was welcomed on his steamer by General Winfield Scott and a reception committee. At the landing place Mayor Fernando Wood received him with the simple words: "As Chief Magistrate of this city, I welcome you here and believe that I represent the entire population without exception." The guest's reply was equally brief and then, clad in a Colonel's uniform, the Prince was driven through crowded streets to the City Hall, where six thousand soldiers were reviewed, and thence to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The only unpleasant incident of the visit was the refusal of an Irish regiment to turn out upon this occasion with the other troops. During the following day His Royal Highness visited the University of New York, the Astor Library and the Cooper Institute. At the first-named institution he listened to an address on the electric telegraph from Professor Morse. In the evening a splendid ball was given at the Academy of Music where brilliant decorations vied with the beautiful costumes.
On the following day the Prince, with his suite, visited Brady's photograph gallery and Barnum's Museum and, in the evening, witnessed a torch-light procession of five thousand Firemen. At the first-named place he inspected and asked for portraits of the eminent men of the United States and especially inquired for one of Secretary W. L. Marcy. Trinity Church was attended on Sunday and a sermon heard from the Rev. Dr. Francis Vinton—assisted in the service by a number of other clergymen. The church was crowded and ten thousand people waited outside to see the Royal visitor. New York was left on the following morning and West Point and Albany visited. In the afternoon of October 17th the Prince and his suite arrived at Boston and were formally welcomed by the Governor of Massachusetts as representing a country with which the American people were, he declared, united by "many ties of language, law and liberty." At luncheon the Hon. Edward Everett was one of the guests as the Hon. W. H. Seward had been at a dinner in Albany. In the afternoon a children's concert was given at the Music Hall in honour of the Prince and an Ode written by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes was sung with enthusiasm to the air of the British National anthem. It commenced with the following verse:
"God bless our fathers' Land,
Keep her in heart and hand,
One with our own.
From all her foes defend,
Be her brave people's friend,
On all her realms descend
Protect her throne!"
A ball was given in the evening at the Boston Theatre and, on the following morning, a flying visit paid to Cambridge and to Harvard University. Incidentally, it may be added, the Prince met Longfellow, Emerson, Holmes and others during his stay in Boston. On October 20th he reached Portland and, amid roaring cannon, ringing bells and crowds of cheering people passed from the shores of America to his ship in the ranks of a British squadron and thence home to the British Isles. On November 15th, His Royal Highness arrived at Plymouth and shortly afterwards the Duke of Newcastle received the Order of the Garter from the Queen as a token of her appreciation of his conduct during the Royal tour. Under date of December 8th Her Majesty communicated to the American President, through Lord Lyons, her great satisfaction at "the feeling of confidence and affection" which had been shown upon this occasion by the people of the United States towards herself and her country.
Speaking on the same date at Nottingham, England, the Duke of Newcastle stated that during his recent visit to British North America he had "witnessed such devotion to the Sovereign and these realms as no one who had not witnessed it himself would be willing to believe. It was a demonstration of the attachment of the entire people to the throne of England and of their veneration for the lady who at present occupied it. It was a loyalty not of creed, nor of party, nor of race." As to the United States the influence of the Queen's personality had been even more striking. The reception of the Prince there had been an extraordinary one. "With one solitary exception they met with nothing but enthusiasm and, in fact, he did believe that the visit of the Prince of Wales to America had done more to cement the good feeling between the two countries than could possibly have been affected by a quarter of a century of diplomacy."
FOOTNOTES:
[5] Robert Cellem in Visit of the Prince of Wales to Toronto, Canada, 1861.