The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-08-06 00:00:00

SHAFT kZIJURY.

Tull Rev. Francis Gen, the new rector of Shaftesbury,
has been appointed chaplain to the Union, in the room
of the Rev. J. J. Reynolds, resigned.
A STlci WITHOUT ill END.—There may be men in
the churchyard at Shaftesbury, • somewhat remarkable
freak of nature. In the language of the foreman at the
garworks, it Is ". stick without an end." A branch of
•goodly elm has grown into, and became part of another
branch of the same tree, in such wise that it has become
really "a stick without an and."—n. Pocklington in
hardertekes SC.CI4a Gossip.

THE EARLY YEARS OF HIS ROYAL HIGH-
NESS THE PRINCE CONSORT..

This volume was originally eompiled for private sir•
aulation, but doubts arose as to whether, tbmuch some
ohannel or other, it would not reach the public in •
garbled form, and it was thought expedient to publish
it "in substantially the some form as that in whith it
was first printed for private circulation." In giving her
consent to the publication the Qualm has bees satuatod
by the brlief
P that the free and unreserved expression which the velum*
mritain• id her own feellnirs, as well a. of three of the Prince,
I. Is a., if Ulla& public (however unumal such putilleity
may lie) esli command the entire synnathy...l every one wheat
sy mpath) or good opinion is to be dedied.

. _ .
In that behei her Majesty will assuredly not be dis-
appointed.
Th. pouibility of a marriage between the Queen and
the Prince was, it rums, fondly looked forward to by
the DowageriDneheas of Coburg from a very early
period, and the Prince used to relate that "when be
wee a child of three years old his nurse always told iihn
*at he should marry the Queen; and that when he
lant thought of marrying at •Il ha alwaya thought of
her." As the children grew up this idea wee warmly
est:lounged by the King of the Mean., from whom.
indeed, the clown Ant heard of it but the idea of stab
a meryiege met with much opposition, and the late
King William IV. did everything in his power to dia.
courege it. No lees then Ave other maniacs had been
contemplated for the young Prince..; and the King,
though be never mentioned the subject to the Princess
herself, wu especially anxious to bring about an alliance
between her and the late Prince Alegender of the
Netherlands, brother to the present King of Holland.
In his enlist° to effect this object be did ever, thing he
could, though ineffecteally, to prevent the Duke of
Coburg's visit to England in 1836, when he came over
with his sins and spat nearly four weeks at Keesing•
ton Palace with the Duchess of Kent It wee then that
the Queen and Primo met for the first time, and her
hislesty thus records her impressions of the visit:
"The Prince was at that UMe much shorter than his
brother, Wendy ter) handmaid!. tel very stout, which he
entirely yew out of afterward& lie w most =rabic
natural, unelected, ani merry—full of Interest In everything,
',Wing on the piano with the Princes.. his cousin—drawing ;
In "h"ri .°°"'"l, "I'''‘lnie I. He always paid the greeted at-
tention to all be ow, and the Quoin remembers well how
lstrotiv he thaowd to the sermon preached in 11l Paul's,
wham be and bin father and brother accompanied the Dueler
of Kent and the Prince.., there no the ocmaion of the minim
attended by the children of the different charley la:hoots. his
Indeed rare to see • prince not yet 17 y. Nrs badowini
ouch earned attention on • ...non."
In notober, 1839, the Prince visited England. We
learn front the volume that there had been some nom.
Munieation on the question of • marriage, and that on
the part of the Queen • PrOPO.6l had been made for •
delay of two or three years. We how hare that

The Prince has wince told her that be came orce in i 839
with the intention .1 telling her that If she c not then
make up her mind tine must understand that he could not now
wait for • decision, as be had done at • former period nhen
title mamas* VI'S• first silted about. 'he only exeum the
Queen can !mike for herself le in the fact that the sortie.
&infe from tine necluded life et Renrington to the Imbue,
denc...l her position an Queen Regnant, at the age of le, put
ill kimi of 'Toni • p ..,t of her mind, which the now mom,
bitterly repents. A worse whoni fort young girl, or one more
detrimental to ill natural feeling, and allection•, cannot well
be imagined than tbe position of a Queen at 18, without ex-
, and ad bout • husband to guide and .upport her.
Mira. Queen can state from painful experience .and she
thanks God that none of bee deer daughters are exposed to
tench danger."

• —no early ran a Hi, Royal Mem.= ihe Pelee.
Comma. " Compiled under the direction 0,
QUM, bY Idect.dhaberal itte Boa. C. Goy.
pad Co., 1807.

Prince Albert was aceompanied on this visit in 1899
by hi. brother, and both wore *barged with a letter
from the King of the Belgian. to the Queen, in which be
resionmended them to her kindness.

The volume proceeds to describe the reception given
by the Queen to the Princ 5, and the way of lire u
Windsor during their stay. They arrived on the 10th
October, and on the 14th the Queen told Lord Mel.
bourne that she had made up h. r mind to the
The courtier statesman espressed his great satisfaction.
An intimation was given to the Prince that the Queen
wi.ired to speak to him nest day. On that day, the
15th, the Prince hut been out hunting with his brother,
list returned at 12, and half an hour afterwards obeyed
the Queen's summons to her room, where he found her
alone. After • few minutes oonversation on other sub-
jects the Queen told lulu why the had sent for :
" and we can well understand," writ. Genersl Grey,
" any little hesitation and delicacy she may have felt in
doing an, for the Queen's position making it imperative
that any ptopond of marriage should some neat from
her, must necessarily appear a painful one to those who,
deriving their ideas ort Ibis subject from the praetioe of
Private If., are wont to look upon it u the privilege
and happiness of a woman to have her hand emelt ip
.marrmis instead of having to offer it herself. The
Qaun herself sera that the Priebe received her offer
' without any hesitation, and with the warmest de-
mo lions of kindness cud affection." The Q 1114311
told him to fetch his brother Ernest, which he did.
In • letter to the King of the Belgian., which Ia given.
the Queen 1.11110011014 what had occurred, stating that
the loved the Prince more than she could say, and that
he seemed to have great tut, "a very necessary thing
in his position." The King, in reply, said that when he
learned this decision he had almost the feeling of old
Simeon, "Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in
peace." From Prince Albert's own letters we learn
something more of this interesting interview. In •
letter to his grandurother he writ..:
"The Queen sent for me alone to her room • few darn ago,
trot declared to me Ina remaine outbur4 of lore and akection
( prow cur Heralkhkeit nod Litte) that I hstd gained her
whole heart, and would make her iotemely happy (Uhm-
hick licit) if would 01110,8 her the sacrifice of sharing her de
• ith her. for she raid she looked on it a. • sacrifke ; the only
thine which t oubleal her was that she did not think •he was
worthy of me. The joyous °peewees f manner In which she
told an thb quite enchanted me, and I was quite carried away
by It. he is really most good and amiable, and IDu quite
sure Heaven bar not given me into enii hands, and that we
shall be happy together. Since that moment Victoria does
whatever she fancies I should wish or like, and we talk to-
gether • gnat deal about our future life, which bo promises
ma to make as happy as possible,"

In another letter to a college friend he says :
"You know how matters stood when I last eaw you here.
After that the sky Ima darkened more and more. The Queen
declared to my nook of Belgium that she wished the flair
O be comidered as broken off, arid that for four years she
could think of no maniage. I went, therefore, with the quiet
but firm reeolution to aeclars on my part that I also, tired
of the delay, withdrew entirely from the affair. It ea, not.
however, thus ordained by Providence, for on the second day
at., our arrival the most friendly denneudrations were
directed towards me. and ten days later I war, recretly called
to a Priv.de audience, in which the Queen offered me her
hand and heart. The etricteat secrem Ina required. Ernest
alone knew of It and it was only at our departure that I
could communicate my engagement to my mothrr."

The remainder of the volume relates to the pre-
liminary arrangements of the marriage, the household
arrangements, the domestic and political relations of
the Prince ; and, we are told, that there were persona
who desired to keep the Prince aloof from all connection
with public business, and

"Not only so, but oho would hese denied him even In the
domestic circle that authority which in private families
properiv belong, to the husband, and without arttleh. It may
be added, there ainnot be true comfort or happinese in
domestic IIts"

The Priam himself writes In May, 1840, to Prince
Lowenstein :

4• The difficulty in filling my piece with the proper dignity
In that I eta only the huebend, and not the masher in the
holier."

The editor remerks
i• r.,rtunately. however, for the country, and stlll more
fortunately for the heephies of the Royel couple themselves,
things dll not long remain in this condition. Thanks to the
firmness but, at the msne time, gentknem with winch the
Pince insisted lon filling his prover position as head of the
Iscally thanks also to the clear judgment and right feeling el
the 44neen, as well as to her sienrularly honest and straight-
forwanl colors; tut thanks, more than all, to the mutual
love and perfect confidence chick b-und the Queen and
Prince to each other, It sirm impoesible to keep up any separa-
tion or difference of interests or titles between them. To
those sho would urge upon the guests, that, as Sovereign,
she must be the head of the house and family, as well so of
the State, and that her husband was after all but one of her
subjcvta, lien Majesty would repl), that she had solemnly
ent aged at the altar to obey'..' well no to love and honour;'
and this sacred obligation she could *meant Nether to limit
nor refine away •

From the lint the Prime made it a special object to
rern.in thoroughly impartial in polities. and to persuade
the Queen to hold tke same position, Lord Melbourne
him.elf on more than one orewrion supporting him.
The Prince described his own object aa having always
been to sink itia individual existence in that of the
Queen, and so unreservedly did she throw herself on
his support that when suddenly bereaved of it. Her
Majesty pathetically said "that it woul l now be in
fact the beginning of • new reign."
The Prince ardently loved the country, and the
Queen soon acquired his taste. In 1840 Her Majesty
mites :

I told Albert that formerly I woe too happy to to to
LOOdOII 110 d wretched to Isar it, and now, mince Use bloomed
hour of my marriage, and dill more since the summer, I
disliko and am unh,ppy to Imes the country, and could be
content nod happy saner to go to t 0.,,. Thls pleased him.
The solid pleasures, of a poomsful quiet, )et merry life in Us*
colostre, mith my inedlroahle hound and friend. my all In
all. ate for more durable than the amusements of Louden,
though me don't despise or dislike these sometimes..

As years went on this preferenoe for the country on
the pert of the Qneen grew stronger and steamer, "till
residence in London became positively dietesteful
to her Liar Majesty may. is a note that it wree
also injurious to her health, as she suffered mush
from the extreme weight and thickness of the at.
mo.phere, which gave her the headsehe. Residence in
London was, in fact. "only made endurable by
having her husband at her side to share with her
and support her in the irksome duties of court
receptions and state ceremonials." The Prince, how-
ever, was also anxious that the Queen ahould spend as
mneh of her time as she *mild in London, though the
Bactrian' to Aim was no great.
When the Princess Royal was born, "for • moment
only," the Queen rays, "-as he disappointed at Its
h ins a daughter and not • son. During the time the
Queen was laid up his care and devotion." the Qneen
records, " were quite beyond expresaion." He was
content to sit by her in a darkened room, to read to her
or write for her. A memorandum by Her Majesty
says :

" No rem but himself ever lifted her from her bed to her
sofa, and he Weep helped to wheel her on bee bed e, els ir.to
the next room. For this purpose he would canoe
when sent for, front any part of the house. A. years went on,
and he became avers with wart lbw his attention.
WM the ennui In a'l the Queen'. mbeequent 110flfi
WS was often done st souith Inconvenience to himself, but
he ever came with a sweet unlit on his We. 'ln short,' the
Queen .dd., ' his etre of her was like that of irno her, nor
could there be • kinder, wiser, or 13101.0 Judicious nurse."'

The volume elooto with the first year of Her Majesty's
married life: the nest will probably 000201011 ft with ao
amount of the Prioesee Royal's chriateniag, in the
beginning of 1841.