Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/589

 at St. Paul's Cathedral on 27 Feb. 1872, when the prince accompanied the queen and the princess in public procession. The queen privately demurred to 'this public show ' on the ground of ' the dreadful fatigue' for the prince, and of the incongruity of making religion * a vehicle' for a display of popular feeling. But the whole nation had shared the anxiety of the royal family, and claimed a share in their elation.

A visit to the Riviera completed the prince's convalescence. He left on a yachting expedition to Nice on 11 March, and afterwards voyaged down the coast to Italy. Before coming home he repeated an early experience which always interested him In full state he paid a third visit to Pope Pius IX. He was home again on 1 June ready for his public work. In the interests of health he made his headquarters at Chiswick House, which the duke of Devonshire lent him. There he gave garden parties, which surprised many by the number and range of invited guests. His chief public engagement in London was a rare visit to the East End in behalf of the queen. On 24 June he opened the Bethnal Green Museum, to which Sir Richard Wallace [q. v.] had lent a portion of his great collection. The prince's appearance at Ascot in the same month was the occasion of a highly popular greeting. IV The prince's illness evoked a new enthusiasm for the monarchy. The duke of Cambridge voiced the general sentiment, when he wrote to his mother that it had ' routed ' the recent republican agitation. ' The republicans say their chances are up thank God for this ! Heaven has sent this dispensation to save us ' ( Duke of Cambridge, i. 310). Yet the mighty outbreak of popular sympathy, though it discredited and discouraged criticism of the prince, had not wholly silenced it, nor was the anti-monarchical agitation altogether extinguished. On 19 March 1872 Sir Charles Dilke [q. v. Suppl. II], then a rising liberal politician, who had lately preached through the country republican doctrine, moved in the House of Commons for a full inquiry into Queen Victoria's expenditure, and the motion was seconded by Auberon Herbert, who shared Dilke's republican views. Gladstone, the prime minister, who strenuously resisted the motion, impressively confessed his firm faith in the monarchy, amid the applause of the whole house. But at the same time Gladstone in private admitted the moment to be opportune to improve the prince's public position. With the prince Gladstone's relations were uninterruptedly happy. He often spoke with him on politics, thought well of his intelligence and pleasant manners, and treated him with punctilious courtesy. On 25 Jan. 1870 Gladstone spent an hour explaining to the prince the Irish land bill, and was gratified by the prince's patience. The prince was no party politician, and he cherished no rigid political principles. His interest lay in men rather than in measures, and his native tact enabled him to main-tain the best personal terms with statesmen whose policy he viewed with indifference or disapproval. Gladstone's considerate treatment of him conciliated his self-esteem without affecting materially his political opinions. The personal tie between the political leader and the heir-apparent was involuntarily strengthened, too, by the comprehensive differences which separated Queen Victoria from the liberal statesman.

In the summer of 1872, to Queen Victoria's barely concealed chagrin, Gladstone invited her attention to the delicate question of the prince's official status. The welfare of the prince and strength and dignity of the crown required, Gladstone urged, that he should be regularly employed. At great length and with pertinacity Gladstone pressed his views in writing on the sovereign. He offered various suggestions. The prince might be associated with the rule of India and join the Indian council. With somewhat greater emphasis Ireland was recommended as a fit field for the prince's energies. Some of the duties of the lord-lieutenant might be delegated to him, and a royal residence might be purchased for his occupation for several weeks each year. The Irish secretary, Lord Hartington, the prince's intimate friend, favoured the proposed Irish palace. But the queen was unconvinced. She doubted whether the duties of the Indian council were onerous enough to keep the prince employed. In Ireland the prince's intimacy with the family of the duke of Abercorn imbued him with Orangeism. She evasively allowed that increased occupation would be advantageous to the prince, and she gave vague