MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS LOUISE. (See p. 408.)
(After the Picture by Sydney P. Hall.)
OPENING OF THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL.
On the 29th of March, in the presence of a brilliant and fashionable crowd of upwards of 10,000 persons, the Queen opened the Royal Albert Hall at Kensington. The Members of the Provisional Committee met the Prince of Wales, their President, and, on the arrival of the Queen at half-past twelve o’clock, the Heir Apparent read the address to her Majesty, which could hardly be heard, because a provoking echo mimicked the tones of his voice whilst he described the completion of the Hall. The Queen having handed to the Prince a written answer, said, “I wish to express my great admiration of this beautiful Hall, and my earnest wishes for its complete success.” After a prayer from the Bishop of London, the Prince exclaimed, “The Queen declares this Hall to be now opened!” an announcement which was followed by a burst of cheering, the National Anthem, and the discharge of the Park guns. Then a concert was given, which included the performance of a cantata written expressly for the occasion by Sir Michael Costa.
On the 21st of June the Queen again appeared in London to open the new buildings of St. Thomas’s Hospital on the Albert Embankment, and her neatly-worded reply to the address which was presented to her on that occasion attracted considerable attention, because it was rumoured that it had been carefully written out by herself. It ran as follows:—
“I thank you for your loyal Address. I congratulate you on the completion of a work of so much importance to the suffering poor of the Metropolis. The necessity for abandoning the ancient site of your Hospital has been wisely turned to account by the erection of more spacious and commodious buildings in this central situation, and I rejoice that a position of appropriate beauty and dignity has been found for them on the noble roadway which now follows the course of this part of the Thames, of which they will henceforth be among the most conspicuous ornaments. It gives me pleasure to recognise in the plan of your buildings, so carefully adapted to check the growth of disease, ample and satisfactory evidence of your resolution to take advantage of the best suggestions of Science for the alleviation of suffering, and the complete and speedy cure of the sick and disabled. These great purposes are not least effectually promoted by an adequate supply of careful and well-trained nurses, and I do not forget that in this respect your Hospital is especially fortunate through the connection with it of the staff trained under the direction of the lady whose name will always remain associated with the care of the wounded and the sick. I thank you for the kind expressions you have used in regard to the marriage of my dear daughter.”
Early in summer it was bruited about that an application would be made to the House of Commons for a settlement on Prince Arthur. At first it was whispered that he was to be created Duke of Ulster, and that he was to live in Ireland, an eccentric tribute to the loyalty of the Orangemen, who when the Irish Church was disestablished threatened to “kick the Queen’s Crown into the Boyne.” The idea, however, was abandoned, and the agitation against the Princess Louise’s dowry now broke out anew, especially in Birmingham, in the form of a protest against the usual portion being voted to the Prince on the attainment of his majority. But Mr. Gladstone was not to be intimidated by the Republicans. On the 27th of July he brought down to the House of Commons a Royal Message requesting the customary allowance for a Prince of the Blood to be voted.[32] A few days afterwards the Royal Message was debated, Mr. Peter Taylor moving the rejection of the resolution voting £15,000 a year to the Prince, and Mr. Dixon moving its reduction from £15,000 to £10,000. Eleven members voted for Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Dixon found fifty-one supporters. The grant was easily carried, Mr. Gladstone basing his case on the implied contract made by Parliament to support the Royal Family when the Crown Lands were taken over by the State, and Mr. Disraeli arguing that the English workmen could easily afford to pay for their Monarchy because they were the richest class in the world. But Mr. Gladstone seemed a little nervous when Mr. Dixon indicated that he was forced to demand a reduction of the vote by his constituents, among whom Republicanism, he said, was spreading, because they considered it cheap. The Prime Minister accordingly took occasion to hint that it might be well to establish an arrangement which would render similar applications to Parliament unnecessary, and Mr. Disraeli, not to be outdone, made his bid for popularity by suggesting that the Crown should be allowed to charge Crown Lands for the Queen’s children, just as English nobles charged their estates with portions for their younger sons. Perhaps some of the acerbity of the Radical or Republican members was due to the meddlesomeness of the Home Secretary, Mr. Bruce, who prohibited a public meeting in Trafalgar Square which was fixed for the same evening on which the Royal Message was debated, in order to protest against the grant.[33] The Prince took the title of Duke of Connaught, and settled down to follow a useful career in the Army.