Such a tremendous experience as this tour had proved could not but have a pronounced and important effect. The burden of a continuous succession of events in which he was the central figure; the strain of a steady succession of brilliant spectacles presenting a kaleidoscopic variety of sight and sound and splendour and incident; the weight of a constant burden of ceremonial and state observances in a land where the slightest carelessness, or indifference, or cordiality—at the wrong moment—meant mortal offense to some important dignitary, caste, or interest; the physical trial of innumerable functions to a man clad in European costumes in a tropical climate; the infinite variety of his duties, the peculiar character of the hours maintained, the lack of sleep and the continuous round of banquets; must have tried the mind and heart and body about equally. In the end the experience must have broadened the conceptions and ideas of the Prince; educated him in a better perception of his immense responsibilities; trained him in an iron school of etiquette and helped to teach him that inflexible routine of duty which must ever face a British Sovereign.
To the people of India the tour brought home a clearer perception of the personal power presiding over their destinies and a vivid picture of the greatness of the authority before which all their greatest dignitaries with the traditions of many thousand years, bowed in loyal obeisance. To the imaginative Indian mind nothing more effective could have been presented than the scenes of that brilliant and triumphal passage through the stamping ground of ancient conquerors. To the people of Great Britain it brought home a more realizable sense of the vastness of their dominions and the equivalent greatness of their national duty and responsibility. It helped to lay the foundation of that Imperial future of which Disraeli then dreamed and for which others have since laboured with a measure of success shown in the events preceding and following the accession of Edward VII., King and Emperor.
CHAPTER IX.
Thirty Years of Public Work
During the years between 1872 and the end of the century the Prince of Wales filled a place in public affairs not unlike that of the Prince Consort in the later and ripest period of his useful life. He grew steadily in the faculties which make for wisdom in council and action while retaining and developing the qualities which make for popularity and, in a Prince, may embody the characteristics and feelings of his nation. In those thirty years he saw much and travelled far; met many men of varied qualities and attainments and character; learned much by personal experience and observation and much from other people's experience; tested almost the pinnacle of earthly splendour in his Indian tour and learned in private something of the suffering which comes to all individuals whether great or little. He created the position of Heir Apparent as now understood; gave it a significance and value never before attained to; and filled it with a tact and ability which no detraction or misrepresentation could practically affect, and which in time made him the admittedly most all-round popular man in the United Kingdom.
Before his illness the Prince had carried out a good many public engagements and helped a great number of useful objects. After that event and the outpouring of popular sentiment which found vent in the National Thanksgiving he became still more devoted to his round of public duties. On July 5th 1872, His Royal Highness visited the new Grammar School at Norwich and inspected the Norfolk Artillery Militia of which he was Honorary Colonel. At a banquet given by the Mayor he referred to his late illness, in expressing thanks for local sympathy, and added: "It is difficult now for me to speak upon that subject but as it has pleased Almighty God to preserve me to my country I hope I may not be ungrateful for the feeling which has been shown towards me and that I may do all that I can to be of use to my countrymen." On July 25th, he reviewed four thousand boys of the Training ships and Pauper Schools of the Metropolitan Unions at South Kensington, and distributed prizes. The Prince was accompanied by the Princess of Wales and his sons. A little later, on August 11th, the Breakwater at Portland was inaugurated, the Royal yacht being accompanied from Osborne by a splendid fleet of fifteen ironclads. At the conclusion of the ceremony the Prince visited Weymouth, which was gaily decorated, and where he accepted a public banquet.
THE PRINCE MAKES A VISIT TO DERBY