The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-30 00:00:00

THE SAILOR PRINCE.

(From the Times.)
An existence compounded of the two ideas of
Mr. Midship Man Easy and of the Princely hero of
a Court Circular seems a strange anomaly, but
that is just the form of existence which Prince
Alfred is enjoying at the present moment. In
the few remarks we may 'venture to offer upon
the subject we beg most distinctly to be, under-
stood-as spec. sing prom.eicerAtz-geloyalty. We
proud-all EtiglatiaAs proud—of this "hand-
some, spirited boy. We are proud, too, of our navy
and our sea service. The strong heart of England
warms to the seaman's blue jacket. Now, we want
to see this young Prince, of whom we are all proud,
take heartily to the service, of which we are prouder
still. We want him to learn his profession, not in a
vapid, half-and-half, Royal Highness kind of way,
We hope to see him, notwithstanding the 'advan-
tages of his position, turned into a real sailor—such
an one as-could work his own vessel when the ele-
ments were doing their worst, or take her into 'ac-
tion and bring her out of action with credit to
himself and to the country. We like to think of thi ;
fine young man as ten years hence a post-captain,
with a gallant frigate under his charge, and in com-
mand because he has a right to command—because
he is a first-rate seaman, well up to his duty. Now, we
are about to have a little grumlile, because we think
a parcel of foolish people are spoiling our young
sailor-Prince for us, and we think, moreover, that
they deserve a stern reprimand for their pains. He
was sent out to be trained to salt water, and it is
upon rosewater that his first_ lesson in navigation is
taking place. What has a young Middy to do
with Royal receptions, and Royal salutes and
Royal fiddlefaddleS of every description ? If he
be treated from the first as the Queen's son, not as
a Midshipman of the Euryalus, he may be nomi-
nally promoted in the service as an incident of his
birth, but he will never be fit to take the- Royal
Yacht across from Portsmouth to Osborne -without
• a real sailor at his elbow. Now, this is a point on
which we could very easily be reduced to silence,
for on such a subject we have not the smallest de-
sire to print one word which would give a moment
of annoyance to the Royal Lady who reigns so
gently over the hearts of her subjects. If it is to
be so, why let it be so. If Prince Alfred is sent to
sea with the idea that he is ultimately to wear an
Admiral's epaulettes at the Drawing-room without
the slightest pretension to a knowlege of his pro-
fession, we will very readily acquiesce in the
arrangement, and say no more about it. The
arrangement will be just as good an one as such ar-
rangements usually are, but the result will be that
the country—beyond the small circle of courtiers—
will cease to care about this young Prince. Now,Eng-
land, as yet,does care for him, and cares for him very
much. His outgoing and progress in his sea-life have
been scanned by many an anxious English eye.
He is looked upon almost as their own child by
Millions of persons who speak with English
tongues. If we did not care for Prince Alfred, we
would' let him take his chance, and subside into
insignificance in his own way ; but this is not so.
There are so many hearts
_open to him that he will.
find it a hard task at best to show himself worthy
of such affection. It is this which gives us a right
to speak, and therefore again we say, " Why are
these foolish people spoiling our young Prince ?"
Here arc some facts illustrative of the manner in
which the young middy is ;_ealt with by those who
should know better :—The other day—it was on the
19th of Dec.—the Euryalus reached Valetta, last
from Tangier. The first thing done was to fire a
royal salute from Fort St. Angelo, and all because
a midshipman had come into port. The next thing
was, that even before the Euryalus had been
admitted to pratique, Sir J. Pennefather, with his
staff in full gala, pulled alongside the Euryalus, and
could scarcely be prevented, in the paroxysms of
his loyalty, from boarding her even before the port
regulations had been complied with. At length
the port officer retired ; and now, if all had been
aS it should have been, the young Prince would
have been standing at the gangway to keep
iatrucicri off, er engaged in some other similar
act of duty. In place of this he was called
upon to receive the Commander of the Forces,
who had just come off to invite him to grace an
evening entertainment with his princely presence.
To the prayer of this petition the young Midship-
man was graciously pleased to assent. We are not
caricaturing the report ; here are the very words,
—"Ile invitation was graciously accepted, and the
entertainment came off with great eclat, having

been attended by all the elite of the garrison.' 11
this be the wad- in which all matters are managed
on board the Euryalus, Prince Alfred might just
as well be tempting the perils of Virginia Water.
The next wise step was to make him the hero of a
great Court ceremony. 'l'lle Governor issued a cir-
cular to the Members of the Council, to the Bishop
of Gibraltar, to the Bishop of Malta, to the Judges,
the Magistrates, and the Foreign Consuls. All these
wise, and reverend, and dignified personages were
to meet together and consut how they could best
show honour to the young Midshipman., The end of it
was, that the young gentleman, " shortly before
11," embarked in a barge, and between two lines
of men-of-war's boats proceeded to the shore under
the Royal salutes of the ships in port. Then the
garrison fired Royal salutes ; then there was a
guard of honour waiting for the Prince; it could
not be for the Midshipman. The National Anthem
was pealed forth " in thrilling tones," and there
was a Royal Progress to the Palace, and a Royal
Reception, at which all sorts of stately persons
were presented to his Royal Highness ; and so on,
until this kind of pageant was played out. After

this—but we must really let the reporter speak—
" His Royal Highness left the Palace in an open
carriage, accompanied by the Governor, General
Pennefather, and Major Cowell, and drove round
the town and bastions to the Pieti. On returning
to the Palace his Royal Highness partook of a cold
collation, which had been spread in the Hall of St.
Michael and St. George." The next day there was
a theatrical entertainment, and the town was bril-
liantly illuminated, and over the facade of the
main guard shone in conspicuous letters the words
" Viva Alfredo !" Why not " Viva Midshipman
Easy ?" If the young Prince be not spoilt for life
by such injudicious demonstrations of loyalty as
these, he must be the most wonderful young gen-
tleman who ever wore a blue jacket.
How is it possible, if Prince Alfred be thus re-
ceived whenever .he puts foot ashore, that he can
be trained in habits of subordination by the officers
whom he should be taught to obey ? How is it
that his young companions can ever be brought to
mix with him upon equal terms, if the Crown
Royal of England is suffered so constantly to peep
forth from beneath the midshipman's uniform?
We doubt not that a parcel of tutors and instruc-
tors can teach him the " learning" of his profes-
sion—but that is the smallest part of a sailor's
training. How is the young Middy to acquire
habits of discipline and the inestimable advantage
of self-reliance when he sees nothing around him
but courtiers? If Prince Alfred be scut to sea as
a Royal Prince all this is well enough. Let him have
observance and adulation in ghoeoldessvtorrehe;
lettn his
eye
rest upon marine courtiers wherever
become either q,
but in
osruacini he
an. will
excellentvi never
a thing for him it,
would be if a stern veto wndergellhiltheLpeoeieddlebteietwineoel
ni
the young midshipman a..
strations for the future !

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