is now old enough to enter into the spirit and reasons for his guidance and not to remain satisfied merely with conforming to the wishes of his parents.

Windsor Castle, 27/10/59.'

6

' (Signed)

ALBERT.

King Edward was at a difficult age-the age when in men, as in young nations, the spirit of rebellion is hard to check, and when the hand of the parent in the one case, or the statesman in the other, requires to be both firm and light.

The boy of seventeen was passing through a phase quite unlike what the King afterwards became. Looking over some old letters, quite recently, from one of his tutors, the King found himself accused, when in his eighteenth year, of a 'want of enthusiasm and imagination, and the absence or torpor of the poetical element,' which he, not altogether justly, believed to have been always a correct diagnosis of his temperament. There was, however, a further passage in which complaint is made of his

'want of generosity, not simply generosity in giving, but generosity of sentiment and judgment, a want of toleration of difference of opinion and of imputation of honourable motives, a want of unsuspicion of mean ones, and of a readiness to give rather than to take advantage, his position enabling him to do the former with grace and dignity whilst he may yet do the latter with impunity.'

The King said of this passage, quite gravely, that it was perfectly true.

We have seen in the letters of his old governess curious traits of the boy Prince which were very characteristic of King Edward, but nothing could resemble less the most generous-hearted and generous-minded of Monarchs than this description of his pupil by the King's favourite tutor. Every one of these traits upon which the writer put his finger in 1858 was not only corrected in the King, half a century later, but replaced by its entire opposite.

No man was ever less prone to attribute mean motives, no man ever showed less resentment or rancune. Not only did he give his confidence to those whom he thus honoured, with singular unsuspicion, but he forgave

'The Prince will have to see his sister one day when she comes, will have his birthday and afterwards hers to celebrate with us; here are already four or five days broken into and three quite lost.

'With regard to the Prince's choice of society, you will have to use the greatest circumspection. You are aware of the principles which we have laid down after anxious reflection and much communication with the different Ministers of the day, who look, as we do, upon the Prince's life as a public matter not unconnected with the present and prospective welfare of the nation and the State. In whatever decisions you may communicate to the Prince, he will recognise therefore the result of these determinations, and he will easily comprehend that his position and life must be different from that of the other undergraduates, that his belonging to a particular college even, which could not be avoided, has another significance from what it bears in other young men's lives. He belongs to the whole University and not to Christ Church in particular, as the Prince of Wales will always belong to the whole nation and not to the Peerage, the Army, etc., etc., although he may form part of them; that he can and ought never to belong to party, or faction, or coterie, or closed society, etc.

'Private individuals have a right to form associations and cast in their lot with them as a mode of gaining a position in life. The Prince of Wales has his position ready made for him by the nation and the constitution, and the nation has a clear and indisputable right to demand of him, that he will make that use of this position for which it was given him, viz., for the general good and welfare of the whole. I think it not superfluous to mark this strongly, as it requires reflection beyond the Prince's years to apprehend the difference in the claims upon him and upon others.

'I trust you will give the Prince an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the distinguished men of the place and give them in return the means of seeing the Prince. Your convivial meetings at dinner will give the best means for this; mixing them with some of the young students will give variety and interest to the conversation and do a favour to the young men, who have otherwise no means of meeting familiarly those from whom they expect to derive the benefit of education, and between whom and themselves habit and circumstances have placed unnecessary and hurtful barriers.

'I was very poorly yesterday evening after my return here, but am better this evening.

"This letter is for the Prince as well as for yourself, for he

is now old enough to enter into the spirit and reasons for his guidance and not to remain satisfied merely with conforming to the wishes of his parents.

'Windsor Castle, 27/10/59.'

'(Signed)

ALBERT.

King Edward was at a difficult age-the age when in men, as in young nations, the spirit of rebellion is hard to check, and when the hand of the parent in the one case, or the statesman in the other, requires to be both firm and light.

The boy of seventeen was passing through a phase quite unlike what the King afterwards became. Looking over some old letters, quite recently, from one of his tutors, the King found himself accused, when in his eighteenth year, of a 'want of enthusiasm and imagination, and the absence or torpor of the poetical element,' which he, not altogether justly, believed to have been always a correct diagnosis of his temperament. There was, however, a further passage in which complaint is made of his

'want of generosity, not simply generosity in giving, but generosity of sentiment and judgment, a want of toleration of difference of opinion and of imputation of honourable motives, a want of unsuspicion of mean ones, and of a readiness to give rather than to take advantage, his position enabling him to do the former with grace and dignity whilst he may yet do the latter with impunity.'

The King said of this passage, quite gravely, that it was perfectly true.

We have seen in the letters of his old governess curious traits of the boy Prince which were very characteristic of King Edward, but nothing could resemble less the most generous-hearted and generous-minded of Monarchs than this description of his pupil by the King's favourite tutor. Every one of these traits upon which the writer put his finger in 1858 was not only corrected in the King, half a century later, but replaced by its entire opposite.

No man was ever less prone to attribute mean motives, no man ever showed less resentment or rancune. Not only did he give his confidence to those whom he thus honoured, with singular unsuspicion, but he forgave

neglect and even an injury almost too readily-if forgiveness can be too generously granted. Bitterness he never felt, and anger which he did feel was never long sustained. The King's placability was wonderful, and nothing endeared him more to those about him than that sweet-blooded nature which made him ready at all times, when free from momentary anger, to give those of whom he disapproved the benefit of a right motive and of the best intention. In the truest sense of the phrase he was a most Christian King.

Upon the King's religious and domestic life it would be impertinent even to touch lightly.

The atmosphere in which his youth was passed is well known. From the simple faith of those who prayed together on the day of his christening King Edward never swerved.

A letter from the Prince to the Prince of Wales, written on July 14, 1858, has been preserved.

THE PRINCE TO THE PRINCE OF WALES.

'MY DEAR BERTIE,-Mr Gibbs has reported to me your wish to take the Sacrament next Sunday at Mortlake at an early service, together with Major Lindsay and Mr Tarver, who appear to have the intention of doing so on their own account. Whilst that wish, if it springs from the deep feelings of the heart to draw nearer to the Lord and to seek support in the struggle with the weak human nature, and not from a mere love of imitating what other people may dodoes you the greatest honour, it may be right for me to tell you upon what the practice is based, which your father and mother have established for themselves, and followed after mature reflection, upon a subject of great difficulty and importance for the Christian.

There are two extremes of opinion, the one that the Sacrament is a means of grace working by its mere acceptance, and which ought not to be refused whenever it is offered, such a refusal being, in a stronger sense, not unlike the incivility to decline an invitation in ordinary life. It is termed ingratitude to God, and a casting off of His helping hand. People holding to this opinion take the Sacrament every Sunday when it is given.

The other extreme bases its refusal to take the Sacrament except in rare instances, upon the dangers resulting from unworthy participation, which are strongly pointed out by St

Paul. Whilst the first run the risk of profaning and rendering unimpressive one of the great means to strengthen good resolutions, confessing sins, and starting afresh in life, the second run the risk of never finding that moment of fit preparation for which they are waiting, and losing altogether the blessing of the Sacrament.

'We have agreed upon taking it twice a year, and have selected as fixed periods, times at which the history of the Gospel and the Church festivals prepare us, and induce us to additional sanctity, and at which we are sure not to be broken in upon by the gaieties of society, or demands of businessChristmas and Easter, as during these festivals everybody is at home with his family.

'We have chosen to take it, away from and undisturbed by the multitude who would stop for the show, if we were to remain in a public church after the service, and we have chosen the early morning as a time when the mind is still fresh, and not fatigued, nor the attention diminished by the lengthy previous service; we remain the previous day, and the day itself, as quiet as possible.

'Now, as our son, you would do well to keep to the example and practice of your parents, first because they have had more time and means to arrive at a just conclusion of what is best to be done in so important a matter, and secondly, because a different practice followed by the son implies a disagreement in feeling between them, if not a declaration on the part of the latter that he thought the former wrong.

'Any division in the Royal Family gives the whole of the public the right to criticise, to take part for the one side and the other side, and so injure both.

'I return to the present case. If you feel a real yearning of the heart, go by all means, as the place is a retired one; the service will, I believe, be at eight o'clock in the morning, when there will be very few people present, and your life at the Lodge has been so private a one as not to have disturbed you. 'If the subject is indifferent to you, and your wish has been only a light one, do not unnecessarily break through our rule, knowing now the reasons upon which this rule depends. 'Show this letter to Mr Gibbs.

'OSBORNE, 14, 1858.'

' (Signed)

'Ever,

ALBERT.

Did any father write to his seventeen-year-old son a letter upon such a subject more full of simple piety, and more imbued with the spirit of the Protestant faith?