The Prince of Wales performed the ceremony of opening the new buildings of the Great Northern Hospital, at Islington, on the 17th of July, 1888. He was accompanied by the Princess of Wales, and by the Princesses Louise, Victoria, and Maude. The event caused much interest in the northern part of London, and vast crowds filled the streets and roads. The Rev. W. H. Barlow, Vicar of Islington, and many of the clergy, Mr. Murdoch, M.P., Chairman of the Hospital, and other official persons, received the Royal visitors in a gaily decorated tent. Their Royal Highnesses, however, were attired in deep mourning, on account of the death of the Emperor Frederick of Germany. An address was read, in which it was stated that Islington is the largest parish in England in population. At the beginning of the reign of the Queen it had 40,000 inhabitants, now it has 320,000. The Great Northern Hospital was established in 1857, but in 1882 it was resolved to erect a building more suitable for the increased population. The wish was to make the new hospital a thanksgiving memorial of the Jubilee year.
The Prince of Wales, in replying to the address, said:—
"Ladies and Gentlemen,—I am most anxious, in my own name, and also in that of the Princess, to acknowledge the most cordial and kind words of the address which we have just heard read by the Vestry Clerk, and also for the kind expressions which have fallen from Mr. Murdoch. We are very glad to be able to take part in so interesting a ceremony as this, and we are glad to think that in so large and ever-increasing a population as this in the North of London is, the project of commemorating the Queen's Jubilee should have been so appropriately celebrated by the building of a hospital. We shall shortly have an opportunity of visiting the wards, and I have little doubt that we shall find everything in the most admirable and efficient state. Amongst the many duties we have to perform, none, I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, gives us greater gratification and pleasure than such a function as this, where we come to give our assistance and support to a philanthropic object, and to a cause the object of which is to alleviate the sufferings of our fellow-creatures. I can only express the pleasure it has given us to have it in our power to open this hospital to-day. You are well aware how much we regretted that it was not in our power to come here and open the hospital on the date originally fixed. You are also aware of the cause, and I well know how much you all sympathise with us and the other members of our family in our sorrow and grief. I am glad to have the opportunity of saying, on this public occasion, that my sister has felt deeply that, although thirty years have elapsed since she left this country, her compatriots have not forgotten her, and that they have sympathised with her, that they have felt for her, in the great and overwhelming sorrow which it has pleased God to inflict upon her, I beg to thank you once more for your kind reception of us to-day, and again to assure you of the sincere gratification it has given us to be present."
The Prince resumed his seat amidst loud cheers, and a number of children and young ladies then presented purses to the Princess, the names of the donors being announced by the Secretary. The total of these subscriptions was £1050. This ceremony being finished, their Royal Highnesses left the pavilion to visit the hospital.
The opening of the new Northern hospital in London was the last public function performed by the Prince of Wales before his autumn visit to Austria and other regions of Southern Europe. With it our record of his presence at charitable institutions must close. It has been necessary to make only a selection of his speeches on such occasions. The Hospital for Sick Children, the Chelsea Hospital for Women, Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital, Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, the Holloway Sanatorium at Virginia Water, the Cottage Homes at Weybridge, St. Mary's Hospital, University and King's College Hospitals, the Fever Hospital; these, and many other institutions for the help of the poor or the suffering, have had the advantage of the Prince's advocacy.
There have been also many occasions where he has assisted by his presence or his voice other institutions for educational and philanthropic objects, such as the Marine Society's ship "Warspite," and the training-ship "Worcester," the Windsor and Eton Albert Institute, the Church for the Deaf and Dumb, the Dwelling Houses for working people in Soho, the Alexandra Home at Kensington for Pupils at the Schools of Art and Music; besides more important educational and charitable establishments, such as the St. Anne's Schools at Redhill, for children of the Clergy, and of others whose means are not equal to their position in life. To have given an account of the proceedings, and reports of the speeches on all these occasions would have required the space of two volumes instead of one.
For the same reason it is with regret that the Editor has to omit descriptions of many important and interesting functions both in the Metropolis and throughout the country. The truth is there are few parts of England, certainly few of the great centres of population and industry, which have not been visited by the Prince, generally accompanied by the Princess of Wales, for some purpose of local and often of national utility. Now it is at Birmingham, to open a new Hospital or an Art Gallery. Now it is at Sheffield to open the Park, which was the munificent gift of its Mayor, Mark Firth. Now it is at York, for opening the New Institute. Now it is at Leeds, for inaugurating the Art Exhibition; and at Leeds the Prince addressed an audience which included the Lord Mayors of London and York, and the Mayors of almost every town in Yorkshire, in the Town Hall, opened many years before by the Queen and the Prince Consort. Another year there was a Royal visit to Lancashire, where a new Infirmary was opened at Wigan, an institution praised by the Prince as due as much to the gifts of the working classes as to the liberality of the employers of labour in that great mining district. At Bolton, for the first time in its history honoured by a Royal visit, the Prince opened the Town Hall, one of the finest edifices of the kind in the provinces. At Hull the new Albert Dock was opened, and new docks at Grimsby. Another time the Prince is among the agricultural people, at Dorchester for a Cattle Show, or at Hunstanton for opening a Convalescent Hospital. Or he is at Newcastle, opening the Coble Dene Dock for the Tyne Commission. Or he is at Southampton laying the foundation-stone of a new church for Canon Wilberforce. Another time he is at Worcester, admiring with the Princess of Wales the splendid Porcelain Works, as well as the Cathedral and antiquities of the loyal city. Many other expeditions have been made during these twenty-five years, and it is noteworthy that in places supposed to be the most democratic and independent, as Birmingham and at Sheffield, the reception of the Royal visitors was the most hearty and enthusiastic. Opening the Victoria Hall at Ealing on December the 15th was the occasion of the latest public appearance in 1888. It adjoins the Parish building, and the Free Library, to which the Prince alluded in his brief speech.
Reference has not been made to occasions of a private kind, such as Regimental and Club Dinners, where the presence of the Prince is always welcomed, and what he says is remembered, though not reported. Perhaps it is right to mention the Savage Club, of which many Press reporters are members, and where the Prince made one of his genial addresses, and drew from the Club very acceptable aid towards founding the Musical Scholarships in which he was then interested.