The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-26 00:00:00

Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.

We gather from the German papers the following
notices of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein,
the fu:ure husband of Princess Helena :—According
to the Gotha Almanac, the highest authority on such
matters, Prince Christian was born on the 22d of
January, 1831; so that, during his stay at Osborne,
he has just celebrated'his 35th birthday. He is the
second son of the Duke Christian of Schleswig-
Holstein, who is still alive, but who has resigned in
favour of his eldest son, Duke Frederick. His early
years were spent at the Castle of Augusten-
burg, in the island of Alsen, where his father pos-
sessed large estates, celebrated both for the fertility
of their soil and the beauty of their scenery. No
cloud, at that time, seemed to threaten the happiness
of the Ducal family, and under Dr. Steffens, now
professor at the University at Basle, Prince Christian,
with his . brothers and sisters, received a careful
education. Danish was spoken in the Duke's family
almost as much as German, and the Young Prince
soon acquired a mastery not only of these two
languages, but likewise of French and English.
Political events, which from the year 1840 began to
assume great importance in Schleswig-Holstein,
were not allowed to interfere with the studies of the
young Princes, although they had to accompany
their father to Schleswig whenever the meetings of
the Estates required the presence of the Duke. In
1848, however, the quiet family circle of Aug-listen-
burg was broken up. Prince Christian, though
only 17 years of age, followed the example of his
elder brother, and served as a cavalry officer in the
campaigns of 1848, 1849, and 1850. In 1852, when
the Schleswig-Holstein army was dissolved by
Austria and Prussia, Prince Christian had to share
the exile of his family. Together with his elder
brother he went, in 1852, to the University of
Bonn, where he attended chiefly the lectures of
Dahlmann and Moritz Arndt. It was here that
Prince Christian met the young Prince of Prussia,
who has ever since remained his faithful friend.
After leaving the University, the two Princes of
Schleswig-Holstein travelled for a time in France
and Italy. At Rome, in particular, they made a
protracted stay, and devoted themselves to a
study of Roman antiquities, under the intelligent
guidance of Dr. Karl Lorentzew; the learned editor
of " Vitruvius." After their return to Germany
Prince Christian decided on entering the Prussian
army. He first joined a regiment of Cuirassiers, and
afterwards the Uhlan regiment of the Guards. Like
his father, whose stud was one of the most famous
in Germany, Prince Christian soon became one of
the leading members of the Jockey Club for North-
ern Germany. He even contributed to a sporting—
or, as the Germans call it, a hippological —journal,
which was published under the title of The. Spur. In
1864 he again saw active service, and took part in
the occupation of the island of Alsen by the Prus-
sians. When Count Bismark, after defending at
the Conference of London the rights of Duke Fre-
derick, concluded the treaty of Vienna, and dis-
closed the ulterior objects of Prussia—or, at all
events, of his own policy—with regard to the Elbe
Duchies, Prince Christian, although more of an
officer than a politician, felt it due to his brother to
resign active service. He remained, however, a
Prussian officer till the conduct of Gen. Manteuffel,
the Prussian Governor of Schleswig, towards his
elder brother, and the approval of that conduct by
the organs of Count Bismark, left him no choice but
to send in his definite resignation. He is therefore
no longer in the Prussian service, and, to judge from
the remarks of certain official japers, his marriage
with an English Princess is anything but welcOme to ,
those at present in authority at Berlin.

TheLambeth Guardians and the Casual Poor.

The arrangements for the casual poor at Lambeth
are as shamefully inefficient as before the recent ex-
posure. We will go further, and say that the dis-
graceful condition of the sleeping places provided
for such male casuals as cannot be accommodated
in the regular ward is as foul a blot upon parochial
management as has yet been hit. For the revela-

_ .
tions of the amateur casual are supposed to have
put the Lambeth guardians on their mettle—
an influential local meeting has been held at
which the hasty judgments of the public have been
deprecated—the rector of the parish has vouched
for the admirable character of the arrangements
made—the Poor-law Board has given the full
weight of its official authority to the enforcement
of alterations—and most of us have fondly supposed
that the horrors described and hinted at as taking
place in the shed were no longer possible. Instead of
this, the chances of their existence have been ag-
gravated a thousandfold by the measure put forward
and accepted as a reform. The shed, with all its
drawbacks, was a palace compared to the rooms
which now supplement the casual ward. The vari-
ous gentlemen who visit Lambeth Workhouse at
this time, and who inscribe in its visitors' book

their commendations of the comforts it provides for
casuals, should extend their researches to the lodg-
ing-houses just chartered by the guardians. The
beautifully ordered " show " ward—the swept and
empty- shed—the clean and burnished baths—the
cocoa matting, to preserve the bather's feet from
contact with the stairs—the cheerful fire, kept up
all night the bright but carefully mode-
rated gas—the perfect ventilation—the sym-
metrical order of the barrack beds—the ample
supply of pure drinking water—the clean, well-aired
blue night-gown provided for each sleeper—combine
to make the recognised accommodation at Lambeth,
for both male and female casuals, resemble that of
some favoured boarding school, where the mistress
is kind-hearted and the master liberal. It is more
luxurious than any of the refuges. It would com-
pare advantageously—and this is a bold word —with
the most exquisite of model prisons. Who can won-
der, therefore, that guardians and their friends are
indignant at the allegations made against an estab-
lishment where the comforts are so obvious, and the
kind care taken of vagrants so palpable and marked?
On going over this male casual ward for the fourth

time last Wednesday night, its superiority to some
others seemed as great as ever ; and it was not
until the filthy horrors of the sleeping places not
ordinarily seen by visitors were realised that the
description of the shed scenes came home with re-
newed force.

Some quarter of a mile from the workhouse, and
near the river-side, is the lodging-house to which
all male casuals are now sent who apply for shelter
after the casual ward is full. At half-past ten on
the night in question in one of its upper rooms, a
cramped little place, in which perhaps half a dozen
small bedsteads might be packed, more than twice
that number of men and youths lay huddled on
the floor. They were all perfectly naked, and had
clustered together for the sake of animal heat, just
as sleeping swine are seen together. They rested
upon what seemed to be hay mattresses, but which
were ranged close together, -without any division, so
that they made practically one huge floor-bed for
each side of the room. The naked sleepers had rugs
for covering, and on an adventurous visitor turning
down one of these the brawny figures of three mus-
cular tramps—bare as when they came into the
world—were seen to be entwined together, an in-
distinguishable mass of naked flesh, Youths lay in
the anus of men, men were enfolded in each other's