Speeches and Addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863-1888 Part 6

After the performance of a selection of Irish airs, the Prince of Wales again rose and said:--

"My Lords and Gentlemen.--The next toast which I shall have the honour of proposing to you is the toast of the evening. We are here to-night for a very excellent and charitable purpose. The objects of the Benevolent Society of St. Patrick have been so often stated--so many able speeches have been made at so many successive anniversaries of this festival, that there is very little left for me to say; but having accepted, which I did with pleasure, the post of chairman this evening, I feel it is due to the inst.i.tution and to this company that I should make a few observations. I may as well at once say that I am about to call upon you to drink prosperity to the Benevolent Society of St.

Patrick. This Society was inst.i.tuted in 1784, with the object of relieving the necessitous children of Irish parents resident in London. One of its first patrons was my grandfather, the Duke of Kent. I have always understood that he took a very great interest in the Society, and I may further observe that several of my grand-uncles acted as presidents at your annual dinners.

At the present moment I believe the schools are in what may be called a flouris.h.i.+ng condition, They afford education to as many as 400 children. That the boys and girls are in good health and thriving is, I think, pretty evident, from the appearance they presented as they pa.s.sed through the room just now. A special feature in the conduct of the schools is that no doctrinal teaching is permitted. They are entirely national and non-sectarian schools. At the same time the children are strongly advised to attend the instructions given by the ministers of the religion in which their parents wish them to be brought up, and they are afforded an opportunity of doing so every week. If it is thought desirable, the children are apprenticed on leaving school. This system has been found to work remarkably well. Inducements are held out for proficiency and good conduct by rewards given after examination. A comparatively new feature in the management of the inst.i.tution is this--that at times when the parents are enduring hards.h.i.+ps and perhaps privations owing to the want of work--when they may not have a sufficiency of daily bread for the maintenance of their families, as, for instance, during severe winter weather, when many poor people find it difficult to obtain employment--a daily meal is given to children who are in want of it. This has been found to afford much a.s.sistance to the parents as well as the children, and may therefore be regarded as a satisfactory addition to the arrangements of the managers. I am informed that of late years the inst.i.tution has lost many valuable patrons and supporters, but I should hope that any void in this way may speedily be filled up. My Lords and Gentlemen,--though this may be called an annual festival in aid of a charity, and in this respect it is exceedingly useful, it has also another advantage.

It has long been regarded as an occasion when Irishmen living in London may meet together without sectarian feelings or political allusions. Such meetings are beneficial, and they must be all the more so when their main object is the furtherance of a most excellent inst.i.tution like the Benevolent Society of St.

Patrick, prosperity to which I now ask you to drink."

The ill.u.s.trious President next gave "The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland," and in doing so said, "he was sure every one would agree with him in thinking that Lord Abercorn had filled his high office with credit to himself and benefit to the country.

His Excellency had had a very arduous task to perform. During Lord Abercorn's administration there had been great troubles in Ireland, but it was to be hoped that these were almost at an end."

The Earl of Mayo, in returning thanks for the Lord-Lieutenant, expressed his opinion that the Prince of Wales on his forthcoming visit to Ireland would experience such a reception as would induce His Royal Highness to go there again.

The Earl of Kimberley, in proposing the health of the ill.u.s.trious President, said he thought the friends of Ireland ought to feel much obliged to His Royal Highness for his presence there that evening. He was convinced that good would result from it. Having on one occasion, while filling the office of Lord-Lieutenant, had the honour to receive the Prince of Wales at Dublin, he could state from his own knowledge that His Royal Highness took the deepest interest in all that concerned the welfare of Ireland, and showed the greatest anxiety to make himself acquainted with her affairs. The Prince had made himself acquainted with her affairs, and was in a position to give an intelligent and a just opinion on the matter. This was of great importance for Ireland. He thought he might venture to say that the Prince of Wales felt an affection for Ireland.

The toast was drunk with all the honours, and with unusual enthusiasm.

The Prince of Wales said:--

"I am exceedingly gratified by the very kind terms in which my n.o.ble friend has proposed my health, and the more than cordial manner in which you, my lords and gentlemen, have received it. I hope I need not a.s.sure you that it has been a source of great pleasure to me to take the chair at a dinner in aid of a society which does so much for the benefit of so many children of the poorer Irish in London. My n.o.ble friend has alluded to my approaching visit to Ireland. I shall only say that I am glad to visit a portion of the United Kingdom in which I have experienced such extensive kindness from all parties. I agree with the n.o.ble Lord the Chief Secretary for Ireland. If this visit should tend to give pleasure to the people of Ireland I hope there may be a longer visit hereafter. During the course of the last two years there has been much that has been disagreeable to loyal Irishmen; but I am convinced that the people of Ireland generally are thoroughly true and loyal, and that the disaffection which has existed will only be of short duration. It has not been engrafted on the minds of any portion of the Irish people by the Irish people themselves. But as we are a.s.sembled here for a purely charitable object this is not the place for political allusions. I shall, therefore, conclude by once more thanking you for the kind way in which you have drunk my health, and for the manner in which you have supported me this evening."

The amount contributed to the funds of the charity was about 1200, which included 100 guineas from the Queen, and a similar sum from the Prince of Wales.

DUBLIN AND CARNARVON.

_April 15-25th, 1868._

The projected visit to Ireland, referred to in a previous article on St.

Patrick's festival, took place in April, 1868. It was a successful and memorable visit in every way. On the 15th of April the Prince and Princess of Wales, who had started from Holyhead at 4 A.M., arrived in Kingstown Harbour at 9.30, and landed amidst salutes from the fleet attending the Royal yacht. On the way to Dublin Castle they were received with enthusiasm by the crowds. The streets and houses were profusely decorated with banners and evergreens. "Welcome to Erin" was the burden of the mottoes. No troops lined the way, but reliance was put on the loyal and hospitable spirit of the people, who kept the track clear for the cortege, and when the escort had pa.s.sed the crowd closed in behind, like the waters in the wake of a s.h.i.+p which has pa.s.sed through. At night the city was brilliantly illuminated. Next day the royal party went to Punchestown races in open carriages, and were greeted with enthusiasm as great as on the first entrance to Dublin. On Sat.u.r.day the Prince was installed, with great ceremony, a Knight of St.

Patrick, in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The Prince was belted with the same sword worn by George IV. In the evening his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant entertained the Knight, the Royal visitors, and a distinguished company, at dinner in St. Patrick's Hall. In proposing the health of the Prince and the Princess of Wales, the Lord Lieutenant said that "the shouts of acclamation that for four successive days have rung in our ears, will have shown to the ill.u.s.trious Heir of these Kingdoms, better than any words of mine, the kindly nature of the Irish people, and the attachment that may be awakened in their generous and warm hearts."

His Royal Highness, in returning thanks, said:--

"Your Excellency's, your Royal Highnesses, my Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,--In the name of the Princess of Wales and myself, I beg to tender you my warmest thanks for the very kind and flattering manner in which this toast has been proposed, and for the cordial way in which it has been received by the company present here this evening. Under any circ.u.mstances I should feel it a great honour to have my health proposed by his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant, but to-night the circ.u.mstances under which it has been proposed are peculiar, for I appear here as a Knight of the Ill.u.s.trious Order of St. Patrick. I can a.s.sure you that I feel very proud to wear this evening for the first time the star and riband of this ill.u.s.trious Order; and I am very grateful to Her Majesty the Queen for having given it to me. On former occasions I have received the Orders of Great Britain from Her Majesty's own hands; and, although I cannot but regret that on this occasion she has not been able to give this Order to me herself, still it was the Queen's wish that I should receive it on Irish soil, from the hands of her representative, the Lord-Lieutenant.

"This Order was first founded, now more than 80 years ago, by my great-grandfather, King George III., and was inst.i.tuted by him as a mark of his goodwill and friends.h.i.+p towards this country, and it is my hope that, as his great-grandson, having to-day received it on Irish soil, I may also be instrumental in evincing in this country, in the name of my Sovereign and my mother, her goodwill and friends.h.i.+p towards Ireland. I feel also proud that I have been not only invested with the insignia of this Order, but installed in the magnificent Cathedral of St.

Patrick, for the restoration of which we are indebted to the great munificence of a private gentleman of Ireland, whose name is so well known that I need not mention it to you, more particularly as I have the pleasure of seeing him at this table.

"My Lords and Gentlemen, I am very glad to have this opportunity of stating to you, on behalf of the Princess and myself, how deeply gratified we are by the reception which has been accorded to us in this country, not only, as the Lord-Lieutenant has observed, by the higher cla.s.ses, but by the sons of the soil as well. After the sad times of the past year it might, perhaps, have been thought by some that our reception would not have been all that could have been wished. I myself felt confident that it would, and my hopes have been indeed realised. I beg, therefore, to offer, not only to those present who partic.i.p.ated more immediately in our reception, but to the whole Irish people, our thanks for the cordial, hearty, and friendly welcome which we have received. I will not weary you with more words, but thank you once more for the honour you have done us in so heartily drinking our healths."

The Prince, we are told, spoke with an unaffected earnestness which deepened the impression left by his words. The reference to "the sad times of the past year" included the wretched Clerkenwell explosion affair, the perpetrators of which outrage were on their trial in London, at the very time when the people of Dublin were showing their loyal attachment to the throne, and observing the most remarkable order and decorum, even in the most crowded and poverty-stricken districts.

Besides an incessant round of banquets, receptions, concerts, b.a.l.l.s, and what are humorously called "entertainments," the Royal visitors devoted much time to inspecting museums, libraries, hospitals, colleges, schools, including some sights not usually attractive to strangers, such as the collections of preparations and curiosities in the College of Surgeons, and the College of Physicians. The antiquities in the Royal Hibernian Academy's rooms were duly inspected; a conversazione at the Royal Dublin Society attended; a flower-show at the Rotunda; The Catholic University in Stephen's Green visited; and above all there were splendid doings at Trinity College, where the Prince (and at the same time, the Duke of Cambridge, and Lord Abercorn) received the invest.i.ture of honorary Doctor of Laws. After this the Royal LL.D. went out, unrobed, to unveil the statue of Edmund Burke.

Then there was the Cattle Show, for it happened that the usual spring meeting of the Royal Dublin Society fell at the very time of the Prince's visit. Of course there was also a review in Phnix Park, and on this occasion the military spectacle was of unusual brilliancy.

On Sunday, the 19th, His Royal Highness attended the service in Christ Church, a cathedral exceeded by few in historic interest.

In addition to the many engagements in Dublin, visits were paid to Lord Powerscourt's beautiful domain, with the romantic and cla.s.sical scenes of county Wicklow; and to the Duke of Leinster at Carton, and to Maynooth College, fifteen miles off. The President, Dr. Russell, with the officials, formally received the Prince, while the hundreds of students gave him a cheerful welcome in the great quadrangle.

It would occupy too much s.p.a.ce to mention all the incidents crowded into the days of the Irish sojourn. They are all recorded in full detail, in the newspapers of the period, and especially in the columns of the _Times_, who sent a special correspondent to chronicle the events, day by day. In a leading article of the _Times_, the writer gives a summary of the proceedings, and makes comments on what might be the result of the Royal visit. Some sentences of this article we quote as showing what was the impression made at the time by the Prince himself:--

"Any reader of our daily correspondence could easily make out a hundred distinct occasions during these ten days on which the Prince, most frequently with the Princess, had to be face to face with some portion of the people, in some ceremony or other, and had to perform a part requiring all the graces and gifts of Royalty. There were presentations and receptions; receiving and answering addresses; processions, walking, riding, and driving, in morning, evening, military, academic, and mediaeval attire. The Prince was invested as a Knight, robed as an LL.D., and made a Lord of the Irish Privy Council; he had to breakfast, lunch, dine, and sup with more or less publicity every twenty-four hours. He had to go twice to races with fifty or a hundred thousand people about him; to review a small army and make a tour in the Wicklow mountains, of course everywhere receiving addresses under canopies, and dining in state under galleries full of spectators. He visited and inspected inst.i.tutions, colleges, universities, academies, libraries, and cattle shows. He had to take a very active part in a.s.semblies of from several hundred to several thousand dancers, and always to select for his partners the most important personages. He had to introduce the statue of Burke to the wind and rain of his country. He had to listen to many speeches sufficiently to know when and what to answer. He had to examine with respectful interest pictures, books, antiquities, relics, ma.n.u.scripts, specimens, bones, fossils, prize beasts, and works of Irish art. He had never to be unequal to the occasion, however different from the last or however like the last, and whatever his disadvantage as to the novelty or the dullness of the matter and the scene. He was always before persons who were there at home, on their own ground, and amid persons and objects familiar to them, and sometimes in a manner made by them. Be it Cardinal, Chancellor, Rector, Mayor, Commanding Officer, President, Chairman, or local deputation, he had to hold his own, without even seeming to do so--that is, without effort or self a.s.sertion. All this he had to do continually for ten days. Now, men of common would know what an anxious thing it is to have to do this even once, and how utterly they may be upset by the concurrence of two or three such occasions."

All this and more the Prince had to do and to suffer during his visit.

The speeches if not long, were numerous and appropriate. Altogether the Irish campaign of 1868 was not an easy one. Let it be remembered with the more honour.

On the 25th of April, the Royal visitors returned to Holyhead, and stopping at Carnarvon, the birthplace of the first Prince of Wales, received a public greeting, and an address. At a banquet subsequently given, the Prince thus responded to the toast given by the High Sheriff of the County:--

"On behalf of the Princess and myself I return our warmest thanks for the kind way in which our health has been proposed, and for the manner in which it has been received. It has afforded the Princess and myself the very greatest pleasure to come to North Wales and visit the ancient castle of Carnarvon.

It is particularly interesting to us to come upon this day, the anniversary of the birthday of the first Prince of Wales. For a long time it had been our intention to pay a visit to Wales, and I regret that that intention has been so long in the fulfilment; but the cordial reception which we have received to-day will, I am sure, lead us to look forward with great pleasure to another visit on some future day. We deeply regret that our stay should be so short, and that, it being necessary for us to go homewards, we cannot remain longer with you. I thank you once more for the kind way in which you have received the few words I have addressed to you, and for the welcome we have received from the people of Carnarvon."

His Royal Highness concluded by proposing the health of the Lords-Lieutenant, the High Sheriffs, and the Mayors of the towns and counties of North Wales.

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OF FOREIGNERS IN DISTRESS.

_May 5th, 1868._

There is no form of charity more obviously suitable and good, than helping distressed strangers in a strange land, and especially foreigners in London. The sixty-second anniversary of the "Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress" was celebrated on May 5th, 1868, at Willis's Rooms, under the presidency of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. The guests included many representatives of various nations, the charity itself being cosmopolitan, and helping the distressed of all races and regions.

In proposing the health of "The Queen, the Protectress of the Society," the Prince observed that "Her Majesty had shown a deep interest in the charity, ever since 1837, the year of her accession to the throne, when she became an annual subscriber; and his lamented father became its protector at his marriage, and continued to subscribe to its funds."

In proposing the health of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Sir Travers Twiss, her Majesty's Advocate-General, said that he was not merely following the high example of his august mother and lamented father, but was moved by his own kind disposition. As it was not generally known, he took the liberty of mentioning, even in his presence, that the Prince, in the course of his Eastern travels, pa.s.sed through no great city without having visited its inst.i.tutions in aid of suffering humanity; and it was still fresh in the memory of those who were around him how much his heart was touched at the sight of the shelter afforded by British and American philanthropy to the unfortunate Syrian Christians, who had been driven from their homes at Damascus, and found a temporary asylum among the European residents at Beyrout.

His Royal Highness, in returning thanks, expressed the high pleasure it was to be present in support of the inst.i.tution, and proposed the health of the "Foreign Sovereigns and Governments--protectors and patrons of the Inst.i.tution," coupling with the toast the name of his Excellency the Prussian Amba.s.sador; to which Count Bernstorff responded.

In proposing the princ.i.p.al toast of the evening, His Royal Highness said that he was sure it would be received with enthusiasm:--

"The 'Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress' was the first of the kind established in London, and its object was to afford a.s.sistance to deserving and necessitous foreigners in this country, without distinction of nationality, religion, age, or s.e.x. This inst.i.tution, which had now existed for more than sixty years, was even at the time of its initiation thought to be a work of necessity; how much more so had it become such since the means of communication between country and country had been so vastly increased, and trade, manufactures, and commerce had so largely attracted the people of other nations to our sh.o.r.es!

"The charitable objects of the society were first to grant allowances to deserving foreigners in their old age. Pensioners were elected by the governors, and the Board of Directors paid the pensions annually. The second object was to grant temporary relief in time of sickness. These cases were inquired into with the greatest care, and sums from a few s.h.i.+llings up to 5 or 10 were sometimes given where the cases required it. A third object was to afford temporary a.s.sistance to the younger members of families when the heads of the families were by infirmity or ill health unable to support them; but when such relief had been once afforded to any extent a period of eight weeks was required to elapse before any further help was rendered, unless in cases of great emergency. The fourth and last object of the society was to afford means by which foreigners might be able to return to their native country. As many as 243 families had been enabled to return to their native country by the a.s.sistance rendered to them by this society. Several of the families so a.s.sisted had been induced to quit their native land in that unfortunate expedition to Mexico. They had engaged in what they thought was a good cause, but when that fell to the ground, owing to events that occurred last year, those poor creatures were totally unprovided for, and then it was that the society granted them the means of returning to their native country.

"There were some almshouses at Lower Norwood belonging to the society, in which several families were comfortably lodged and maintained. Since the origin of the society as many as 116,000 cases had received its attention and aid. Last year 3000 persons were a.s.sisted, not including the 243 families that were enabled to return to their native home. Similar societies had recently sprung up, but they all differed from the one they were then celebrating in this respect, that they confined their a.s.sistance to the natives of certain countries, while this society had for its object the giving relief to foreigners of all nations. He had one more statement to make which had only been mentioned to him a few minutes ago. There was a gentleman present who was well known to them, but did not wish his name to be announced, who had already given 1000 to the society, and who had expressed himself ready to give an additional 100 if he could find nine other gentlemen who would each give a like sum. He hoped the society would be able to find those nine gentlemen to a.s.sist them. Having made this brief statement, he begged to propose that the toast be drunk up-standing with three times three."

The call was heartily responded to, and, after some further complimentary and formal toasts, His Royal Highness and the princ.i.p.al guests retired.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL.