| PAGE | ||
| The Early Years of the Prince of Wales | [1] | |
| At the Royal Academy Banquet of 1863 | [11] | |
| Freedom of the City of London | [12] | |
| British Orphan Asylum | [14] | |
| At Mercers' Hall | [16] | |
| The Royal Literary Fund Dinner | [17] | |
| Irish International Exhibition of 1865 | [21] | |
| International Reformatory Exhibition, held in the Agricultural Hall, Islington | [24] | |
| The Sailors' Home, London Docks | [25] | |
| Royal Dramatic College | [26] | |
| Fishmongers' Hall Dinner | [27] | |
| Speech Day at Wellington College | [29] | |
| Institution of Civil Engineers | [31] | |
| The British and Foreign Bible Society | [33] | |
| Friend of the Clergy Corporation | [36] | |
| Warehousemen and Clerks' School | [38] | |
| Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum | [39] | |
| Royal Visit To Norwich in 1866 | [41] | |
| Royal National Life-boat Institution | [42] | |
| Society of Ancient Britons | [44] | |
| London International College | [47] | |
| The Viceroy of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, at the Mansion House | [49] | |
| Festival of St. Patrick | [50] | |
| Dublin and Carnarvon | [55] | |
| Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress | [59] | |
| St. Bartholomew's Hospital | [62] | |
| Laying Foundation-Stone of New Buildings, Glasgow University | [66] | |
| Foreign Tour, 1868-1869 | [67] | |
| The Royal Geographical Society | [69] | |
| Earlswood Asylum | [71] | |
| The Alexandra Dock at Lynn | [73] | |
| Visit To Manchester | [74] | |
| The Peabody Memorial, Unveiling of the Statue in the City of London | [78] | |
| The Scottish Hospital | [81] | |
| Royal Masonic Institution for Boys | [85] | |
| International Educational Exhibition | [87] | |
| Royal General Theatrical Fund | [89] | |
| St. George's Hospital | [93] | |
| Dulwich College | [96] | |
| Schools for the Children of Seamen | [98] | |
| New Grammar School at Reading | [100] | |
| Albert Gold Medal to M. De Lesseps | [103] | |
| Opening of the Thames Embankment | [105] | |
| Workmen's International Exhibition | [106] | |
| The Royal Albert Hall | [107] | |
| The International Exhibition of 1871 | [110] | |
| Artists' Orphan Fund | [111] | |
| Royal Masonic Institution for Girls | [114] | |
| Earlswood Asylum Festival | [116] | |
| Homes for Little Boys | [118] | |
| The Royal Caledonian Asylum | [120] | |
| Dublin Agricultural Show | [122] | |
| The Illness of December, 1871 | [128] | |
| Norfolk Agricultural Society | [132] | |
| At Great Yarmouth | [135] | |
| The School Drill Review | [138] | |
| Weymouth and the Portland Breakwater | [139] | |
| Visit To Derby | [140] | |
| Railway Benevolent Institution | [142] | |
| Unveiling the Albert Statue on Holborn Viaduct | [145] | |
| The British Orphan Asylum Festival | [146] | |
| Banquet To Sir Garnet Wolseley | [148] | |
| Royal Medical Benevolent College | [150] | |
| At the Middle and the Inner Temple | [152] | |
| New Guildhall and Law Courts, Plymouth | [154] | |
| Visit To Birmingham in 1874 | [156] | |
| The Royal Cambridge Asylum | [159] | |
| At Merchant Taylors' School | [163] | |
| The German Hospital | [165] | |
| Installation As Grand Master of English Freemasons | [169] | |
| Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution | [175] | |
| The Indian Embassy, 1875-76 | [180] | |
| Licensed Victuallers' Asylum | [185] | |
| Unveiling Albert Statue at Cambridge | [190] | |
| Infant Orphan Asylum, Wanstead | [193] | |
| The Training Ship 'Britannia' | [195] | |
| Cabdrivers' Benevolent Association | [198] | |
| The Princess Helena College | [201] | |
| New Harbour at Holyhead | [203] | |
| New Colours To the Royal Welsh Fusiliers | [205] | |
| The Royal Hospital for Women and Children | [208] | |
| At King's College | [209] | |
| Colonial Banquet at the Mansion House | [211] | |
| City and Guilds of London Institute | [215] | |
| The International Medical Congress | [218] | |
| Memorial To Dean Stanley | [220] | |
| Rifle Volunteers | [223] | |
| British Graves in the Crimea | [225] | |
| The Fisheries Exhibition | [228] | |
| Opening of Fisheries Exhibition | [230] | |
| Closing of Fisheries Exhibition | [231] | |
| Financial Results of Fisheries Exhibition, and Disposal of Surplus | [235] | |
| New City of London School | [237] | |
| The Northbrook Club | [238] | |
| City of London College in Moorfields | [239] | |
| Housing of the Poor and the Working Classes | [241] | |
| The Guards' Industrial Home at Chelsea Barracks | [243] | |
| Royal National Life-boat Institution | [244] | |
| The Health Exhibition | [246] | |
| Opening of Guilds of London Institute | [248] | |
| Anti-Slavery Society Meeting in Guildhall | [252] | |
| Visit To Ireland in 1885 | [261] | |
| The Darwin Memorial | [271] | |
| The Birkbeck Institution | [272] | |
| Railway Guards' Friendly Society | [274] | |
| Convalescent Home at Swanley | [276] | |
| The Yorkshire College at Leeds | [278] | |
| The Gordon Boys' Home | [282] | |
| Opening of the Mersey Tunnel | [286] | |
| Institution of Civil Engineers | [290] | |
| At the Colonial Office | [293] | |
| Installation as Grand Master of Mark Masons | [294] | |
| Foundation Stone of the People's Palace | [296] | |
| Sale of Shorthorns and Southdowns at Sandringham | [298] | |
| Sion College | [301] | |
| Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 | [303] | |
| The Imperial Institute | [310] | |
| The London Orphan Asylum | [315] | |
| The College of Preceptors | [318] | |
| The Manchester Exhibition | [319] | |
| The London Hospital New Buildings | [321] | |
| Deaconesses' Institution and Hospital at Tottenham | [324] | |
| The Freemasons and the Queen's Jubilee | [325] | |
| The Shaftesbury House | [327] | |
| Consecration of Truro Cathedral | [328] | |
| New Colours To the Old 46th Regiment | [330] | |
| The Glasgow Exhibition of 1888 | [332] | |
| Sir Bartle Frere's Statue | [337] | |
| New Gymnasium in Long Acre (of Y. M. C. A.) | [338] | |
| The Royal Masonic Institute for Girls | [340] | |
| West Norfolk Hunt | [344] | |
| At Blackburn | [345] | |
| The Anglo-Danish Exhibition | [347] | |
| Great Northern Hospital, Holloway Road | [349] | |
| Speeches at Royal Academy Banquets | [355] | |
| Royal Banquets at the Trinity House | [377] | |
| The Royal College of Music | [391] | |
| National Training School for Music | [391] | |
| Founding the Royal College of Music | [394] | |
| The Colonies and the College of Music | [403] | |
| Inauguration of the Royal College of Music | [408] | |
| Index | [417] | |
THE EARLY YEARS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.
As the record of Public Speeches in the following pages does not begin till 1863, it may be well to give a few dates and incidents of previous years in the life of the Prince of Wales.
He was born on the 9th of November, 1841, at Buckingham Palace. From Windsor, to which the Court removed on the 6th of December, the Queen wrote next day to King Leopold, "We arrived here safe and sound, with our awfully large nursery establishment, yesterday morning.... I wonder very much whom our little boy will be like. You will understand how fervent are my prayers, and I am sure everybody's must be, to see him resemble his father in every respect, both in body and mind."
The Prince, named Albert Edward, was baptized in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on the 25th of January, 1842. King Frederick William of Prussia was invited to be the boy's Godfather, and he came over personally to undertake the office. The other Sponsors, six in number, were members of the Houses of Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha, and of the English Royal family. There was a full choral service at the christening. A special anthem had been composed by Sir George Elvey. On the Prince Consort being told of this, and asked when it should be sung, he answered, "Not at all; no anthem. If the service ends by an anthem we shall all go out criticising the music. We will have something we all know—something in which we can all join—something devotional. The Hallelujah Chorus; we shall all join in that, with our hearts." The Hallelujah Chorus ended the service accordingly. The incident is noteworthy, as showing how the infant Prince was committed, at his baptism, not in outward form only, but in devout spirit, to the care of the Heavenly Father.
When the Queen told King Leopold of the removal of the Court to Windsor, she had made special mention of "the nursery establishment." No mother in any rank of life ever paid greater attention to this part of the home, wherever the Court might be. In Memoirs and Recollections of the Queen, by those who have belonged to her household, many anecdotes are found which show the watchful care and the personal superintendence of the Royal Mother.
It is only this year, in the autumn of 1888, that Mrs. Hull, who entered Her Majesty's service as nurse to the Prince of Wales, died, in her seventy-ninth year. She was a kind and conscientious attendant to every one of the Royal children, and the Queen ever retained great regard for the faithful nurse—"Dear old May," as she used to call her. When she retired from the Royal service, and lived in recent years in Windsor, she was always welcome at the Castle. The Queen herself and the Princesses often saw her, and the Prince of Wales frequently brought her handsome presents. In reading the account of her funeral, it is pleasant to see that on the card attached to one of the many wreaths laid on her coffin were the words: "A mark of affection and gratitude from Victoria R. I." A beautiful wreath sent by the Prince and Princess of Wales bore the inscription: "In remembrance of dear old May."