Middletown transcript., 1869-12-04
father and brother accompanied the Ouch.

| A"snSH auu piooher aovoupauieu Tue Ducn'
ess of Kent and the princess there on the oc
casion of the service attended by the ohil-
dren of the different charity schools. 1t is
indeed rare to see prince, not yet seven
teen years of age, bestowing such earnest
attention on a sermon" r..s-f.....
Though nothing at this time had passed
between the Queen and Prince themselves
(nor, indeed, till after the arrival of the
princes in England in 1889, yet, after the
visit of 1886. the belief in marriage be-
ing intended had become very general, and
it was in order to divert publc attention
from the subject that the King of the Bel
gians had counseled the tour in Switzet
land, which was undertaken In May, 1888.
1t was paobably in the early part of thai
year that the king in writing to the Queen
first mentioned the idea of such O mar
riage; and the proposal must have been
favorably entertained for in March, 1888,
the king writes to Baron Stockmar, and
gives an account of the manner in which
Prince Albert had received the oommuui-
cation which. Of course with the Queens
sanction, he had made to him. In this
and other letters the king strongly express
es the high opinion he had formed of the
young Prince, .ll5.s.
~ have had long conversation with
Albert" the king writes to Baron Stock
mar in March, 1888, "and have put the
whole case honestly and kindly before him.
He looks at the question from its most ell
evated and honorable point Of view He
considers that troubles are inseperahle from
all human positions, and that therefore, if
one must be subject to plaques and annoy
ances, it Is better to be so for somo great
or worthy object than for trifes and mise
ries. have told him that his great youth
would make it necessary to postpone the
marriage for few years. . &. l found
him very sensible on all these points. But
one thing he observed with truth. i am
ready he said, ito submit to this delay, if
l have only some certain assurance to 90
upon. But if, after waiting, perhaps, for
three years, should find that the Queen
no longer desired the marriage, it would
place me in very ridiculous position, and
would, to certain extent, ruin all the pros
poets of my future life" ''Now again, )" the
king proceeds farther on, "about Albert.
If I am not very much mistaken, he pos
sesses all the qualities required to fit him
completely for the position he will occupy
in England. His understanding is sound
his apprehension clear and rapid-and
his feelings in all matters appertaining to
personal appearance quite right. He has
great powers of observation, and possesses
much prudence, without anything about
him that can be called cold or mnrose."
But both the Prince and his father seem
to have objected from the first to the pro-
posal that few years should elapsc before
the marriage should take place; and the
king, in another letter to Baron Stockmar
of the 18th of September, 1888, again
says:
The young gentleman arrived here
yesterday. Albert is much improved. He
looks SO much more manly, and from ILL.,
'tournure' Que might easily take him Il
be twenty-five or twenty three" :lt this
time he was not nineteen.)
II have spaken to Albert" he adds.
"What his father says upon the SUBJ
ject Of the marriage is true.
rAlbeet is now past eighteen If he
waits till he is in his twenty first, twenty
second, or twenty third year, it will be i'm
possible for him to begin any new career,
and his whole life would be marred if the
Queen should change her mind. "
The Queen says she never entertained
any idea of this, and she afterward repeat
edly informed the Prince that she would
never have married any one else. She ex-
presses, however, great regret that she had
not, after her accession, kept up her cor
respondence with her cousin, as she had
done before it.
''Nor can the Queen now" she adds,
stink without indignation against herself
of her wish to keep the Prince waiting for
probably three or four years, at the risk of
running all his prospects for life, until she
might feel inclined to marry! And the
Prince has since told her that he came
over in 1889 with the intention Of telling
her that, if she could not then make up
her mind, she must understand that he
should not now wait for decision, as he
had done at former period, when this
marriage was FIRST talked about.
'tThe only excuse the Queen can make
for herself is in the fact that the Sudden
change from the secluded life at KeAsing-
ton to the independence az her position as
Queen Regnant, at the age Of eighteen,
put all ideas Of marriage out Of her mind,
which she now most bitterly repeRts., =
"a worse school for young girl, or
one more detrimental to all natural feel
ings and affections. cannot we'll be imag-
ined than the position Of queen Mt eig6-
teep,. without q husband to guide and sup
paFt her. This the Queen can state from
painful experience, and she thanks God
that none Of heF deaP daughters are expos
ed to SUCH danger" ~ -
But the visit to England was now to be
paid, which was to decide the fate of the
young Princes life. At the beginning of
October We find him with bis brother at
Brussels, from whence they set opt on the
9th of that month, charged the following
Ioftar Ero,,, khoK Al D -