Page:The life and times of King Edward VII by Whates, Harry Richard 1.djvu/23

Rh detected only by mothers—and the overjoyed people gazed on the pictorial pin cushion with faith unspoiled by criticism."

In all probability the first artist to see the little Prince was Sir Edwin (then Mr.) Landseer, who was frequently at Buckingham Palace in the early years of the Queen's married life, giving the Royal couple lessons in the art of etching, in which both attained very considerable proficiency, as those declare who have been permitted to see the finished examples which are among the personal treasures of the Royal Family. Landseer's picture of the Queen and her two children shows Her Majesty in a low bodice, with the Princess Royal—who was almost a year old when the Prince was born—clinging lovingly to her right shoulder, while the infant Heir, in long clothes richly embroidered, lies asleep on her left arm. The artist painted a bonny baby indeed, with fat cheeks of a cherubic roundness of outline and arms of unwonted plumpness; but though the eyes are closed in sleep, which the Royal mother shows by uplifted finger to the playful Princess she does not wish to have disturbed, there is individuality in the countenance. The artist has given the child from life, not an idealised recollection; and there can be no question that the Prince was a lusty and handsome child, perhaps not very light to nurse or deficient in vocal strength. The Queen had good reason to be proud of his vigour and beauty. "Our little boy," she wrote to her uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, three weeks after the birth, "is a wonder- fully strong and large child, and with very large dark blue eyes, a finely formed but somewhat large nose, and a pretty little mouth." The picture could not be bettered. "I hope and pray," the Queen added, "he may be like his dearest papa. He is to be called Albert, and Edward is to be his second name. Pussy is not at all pleased with her brother."

This pen picture of the infant Prince appears in "The Letters of Queen Victoria," published by authority of His late Majesty in 1907; and interspersed in the correspondence there are various allusions to the Prince from which brief quotation may be allowable. When the Queen wrote that she hoped and prayed the boy might be like his father she was not thinking of personal appearances so much as of character and mental attainments; though she was, without doubt, regarding both sets of qualities. "I wonder very much," said one of her letters, "who my 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." That is the keynote of her letters about him in infancy, and, indeed, until he grew to manhood. She