Speeches and Addresses of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales: 1863-1888

NEW COLOURS TO THE ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS

August 16th, 1880

The Royal Welsh Fusiliers (or Twenty-third Regiment of Foot in the old Army Lists) received the more familiar name from having been first raised in Wales in 1714, and in honour of the Prince of Wales of that day. Their nationality is further betokened by the Prince of Wales's plume, with the motto "Ich Dien," which, together with the Rising Sun, the Red Dragon, the White Horse, and the Sphinx, they bear on their colours. The regiment is one of the oldest and most famous in the Army, and the proud words, "Nec aspera terrent," which are emblazoned on its regimental silk, it has amply justified by its gallant conduct from the Battle of the Boyne, in 1690, to the Indian Mutiny, in 1858, including Egypt, Corunna, Martinique, Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse, Waterloo, Alma, Inkerman, Sebastopol, and nearly fifty other engagements which are not recorded on its colours.

It was peculiarly fitting that the duty of presenting new colours to this brave and distinguished Welsh regiment should be undertaken by the Prince of Wales. This he did on the 16th of August, 1880, coming from Osborne for the purpose, when the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Fusiliers, above nine hundred strong, including officers, was embarking for India from Portsmouth.

The colours, exchanged for new ones on that day, had been presented in 1849 by the late Prince Consort, the battalion at the same time receiving from the Queen the first of those Royal goats, which have always since marched at the head of the regiment. When the gallant "Nanny Goats," as the Twenty-third are nick-named, first had the regimental pet is not exactly known, but since 1849 a Royal goat has been received from Windsor whenever a vacancy occurs.

The colours replaced by the new ones in 1880 had a history of their own, and the regiment took pride in them, although in such a tattered condition that they could not be unfurled. The Queen's colour was that which was carried by Lieutenant Anstruther, who was killed when planting it on the Great Redoubt at Sebastopol. Twelve officers and half the rank and file fell in that terrible rush, but the Royal Welsh had the honour of first entering the enemy's stronghold. No fewer than seventy-five bullets passed through the colours, and the pole of one of them was shot in two, and had to be tied up with a cord. Sergeant O'Connor, though dangerously wounded, carried the Queen's colours till the end of the battle, and was rewarded by a commission in the regiment, receiving the Victoria Cross at the close of the war. He rose to be Colonel of the 2nd Battalion, and was present, with his breast covered with well-earned decorations, when the Prince of Wales came to present the new colours at Portsmouth. The colours were afterwards carried through the Indian Mutiny, where Colonel Elgee and several of the officers had the honour of serving under them. The ragged relics were relegated to the honourable obscurity of Wrexham Church.

The ceremony of removing the old colours and presenting the new was an imposing spectacle, witnessed by an immense assemblage, and amidst great enthusiasm. The old colours having been placed in front of the saluting post, were afterwards sent to the rear, the band playing "Auld Lang Syne." Then the new colours were presented by the Prince, with whom was the Princess of Wales, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar. Having received the colours from the Majors, the Prince presented them separately to the Lieutenants, and then turning to the Colonel, spoke as follows: —

"Colonel Elgee, officers, and non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, – I consider it a very great privilege to have been asked to present your regiment with new colours on the eve of its departure for India. It occurs to me in presenting these colours that they are to replace those which were given to you about thirty-one years ago by my lamented father, and which through three campaigns your regiment has carried with honour and success. You will in a few years celebrate your 200th anniversary, and during that time your regiment has served in nearly every quarter of the globe, and seen as much or more service than any regiment in the Army. You have served at Corunna, Salamanca, the Peninsula, Waterloo, Alma, Inkerman, Sebastopol, Lucknow, and, coming down to more recent times, Ashantee. I feel sure that there will always be the same emulation among those who serve in your ranks as there has been in the past, and that the good name of your regiment will always be maintained as prominently as it is now. You are now on the eve of departure for India, and nobody wishes you 'God-speed' more sincerely than I do. I feel sure that, whatever your services may be, they will be such as will bring credit to your regiment, and will add additional proofs of the valour for which it is so justly celebrated."

Colonel Elgee made a suitable and soldierly reply, thus concluding: "I am sure that wherever the colours are carried – whether before an enemy or in the performance of our duties at home in times of peace – the regiment will always maintain the high reputation it has won. On the eve of our departure for India, we beg to express our heartiest wishes for the health and happiness of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, your Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales, and the remainder of the Royal Family."

The line having been reformed, His Royal Highness had the whole of the officers drawn up on each side of the drums, and as they saluted and passed to their posts, each was individually presented to the Prince and Princess by the Colonel. A few more movements, and the ranks were closed, the line broke into columns to the right, and marched past to the jetty, where they embarked on board the Malabar. After luncheon, the whole party from the Royal yacht, including the Princess Beatrice, who had arrived in the Alberta to receive the Empress Eugénie and take her to Osborne on a visit to the Queen, proceeded on board the Malabar, where they stayed three-quarters of an hour and made a thorough inspection of the ship, where they were welcomed with much enthusiasm. When at length the ship drew away into the stream, followed by the Royal yacht Osborne, the band of the Royal Marines ashore played "The March of the Men of Harlech," and "Cheer, Boys, Cheer," while the troops responded by singing "Auld Lang Syne."

THE ROYAL HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN

May 24th, 1881

This Hospital, which is the oldest of its kind in London, is situated in Waterloo Bridge Road, in a populous and poor district. It contains now about 50 beds. The number of out-patient attendances averages 3000 a month, and upwards of 250 visits each month are paid by the house-surgeon to sick children at their own homes. The ordinary receipts are about £3000, and the funded property £6500. It is a well-managed and useful charity, and just such a one as would gain the good will of the Prince of Wales, who presided at the festival dinner, in Willis's Rooms, on the Queen's Birthday, May 24th, 1881.

After the customary loyal and patriotic toasts, the Royal Chairman briefly but earnestly pleaded the cause of the charity. He said that —

The largeness of the gathering on that occasion was evidence of the interest taken in this great and important charity. During the last few years, he remarked, we had suffered from both agricultural and commercial depression, and institutions of a charitable kind, especially those which owed their existence and maintenance to voluntary contributions, must naturally feel a depression, which prevented many persons from coming forward to their support; but still he did not despair of the results of the appeal which he had to make that evening. This institution had now been in existence for seventy-one years. It was situated in a very populous and very poor district, its object being the cure of sick children and women. He might remark that many of his family had taken considerable interest in this hospital. His grandfather, the Duke of Kent, presided at the first anniversary dinner, and his great-uncle, the Duke of Sussex, took a deep interest in it. Only four years ago his sister, the Princess Louise, visited the institution, and, being much gratified with what she saw, gave her name to one of the wards. Unfortunately, the institution was not so flourishing financially as it ought to be. The ordinary income was £2000 a year less than was required to meet the expenditure. It was also most important that the hospital should be enlarged. The freehold of the surrounding property had been obtained from the Duchy of Cornwall at an expense of £3000. Several years ago that great philanthropist, Lord Shaftesbury, presided at a dinner in aid of this charity, when a sum of nearly £3000 was raised. If the same amount could be made up that evening all who were interested in the institution would be deeply gratified. Mentioning that since the foundation of the Hospital as many as 400,000 children had been relieved, His Royal Highness said that patients were received not only from all parts of this country, but also from the Continent, and medical and surgical treatment was afforded them gratuitously. The report of the Hospital Saturday Fund stated that the institution stood among the first for efficiency and economy.

Before concluding his speech the Prince of Wales proposed the health of the Lord Mayor, who is by virtue of his office President of the institution. Mr. Kestin, the Secretary, read a list of donations and subscriptions which, including 100 guineas from the chairman, exceeded £2000.

AT KING'S COLLEGE

July 2nd, 1881

The Prince of Wales, accompanied by the Princess, distributed the principal prizes of the year at King's College, London, on the 2nd of July, 1881. The Rev. Canon Barry, D.D., the Principal, received the Royal visitors, and at the opening of the proceedings, said: "it will always be a day in the annals of the College to be marked with a white stone, when the Prince and Princess of Wales had come for the first time among them, and on the jubilee day of the institution." After the distribution of the prizes and decorations, the Prince acknowledging a vote of thanks for his presence, proposed by the Duke of Cambridge, and seconded by the Bishop of Gloucester, said: —

"Mr. Principal Barry, Ladies and Gentlemen, – For the very kind words in which the illustrious Duke has proposed the vote of thanks, the kind way in which it has been seconded by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, and the cordial manner in which you have all been good enough to receive this vote, I ask you to accept my most sincere thanks, and also the thanks of the Princess of Wales for the kind way in which her name has been alluded to to-day.

"It would have been a gratification to me on any day to come to this college and present the prizes to the successful competitors, but as this day is your jubilee day, your fiftieth anniversary, it makes it still more interesting to me to come here to-day and give away the prizes. After all that has fallen from the lips of your Principal, and after perusing, though I admit somewhat cursorily, the annual report, but little is left for me to say; but all those who take an interest in the success of this college will have every reason to be satisfied with the state of the college, and with the report which I hold in my hands. Everything connected with this institution is on a most satisfactory and excellent footing.

"In these days, when education is so much thought of, and when meetings in every part of the kingdom are continually taking place for the purpose of getting still higher standards of education, it is naturally difficult for institutions of old date to keep up with the times; but I do not think or fear that this college will have any reason to fear competition from others, as it already stands as one of the second or third great educational colleges in the kingdom. The prizes which have been given to-day for the different subjects in this list embrace nearly every possible subject of education which may be of use to those young men who are going out into the world.

"This college justly claims to be one which has done very much for the higher education of men; and it affords me, and I know it affords also the Princess of Wales, great gratification to learn that it will be extended also towards the education of women. This year, since the Principal and the Council received a memorial signed by various distinguished persons, they have very wisely adopted that memorial, by enabling women already to receive education by way of listening to lectures from distinguished teachers and professors in this college.

"It has been already stated that some of our children have received education from some of the professors of this college. It is very gratifying to us that such has been the case, and we have every hope that they will derive benefit from the instruction they have received.

"Before concluding I wish to congratulate those young gentlemen to whom I have presented these prizes to-day on having received these proofs that the education they have received here has not been thrown away. As most of them are about to leave the college, I sincerely hope they will allow me to offer them my best wishes, and to trust that in their future career they will continue to do credit to themselves and those by whom they have been educated. I again express the pleasure which both the Princess and myself have felt in coming here to-day, and say that we most cordially wish continued and lasting prosperity to King's College."

COLONIAL BANQUET AT THE MANSION HOUSE

July 16th, 1881

The Lord Mayor of London entertained the Prince of Wales, President of the Colonial Institute, and a large company of representatives of the Colonies, with other distinguished guests, at dinner, at the Mansion House, on July the 16th, 1881. Seldom has there been such an assemblage in the Capital of the British Empire. Governors, Premiers, and Administrators of so many countries were present, that one might almost wonder how affairs went on in their absence. But rulers as well as subjects must have holiday rest, and the facility and rapidity of travel allow easy access from all parts of the world to "the mother country."

The Lord Mayor (Sir William McArthur, M.P.), after the toast of "The Queen," said that they were honoured with the presence of an unexpected but very distinguished guest, the King of the Sandwich Islands. It was the first time that His Majesty had visited Europe, and he naturally wished to visit the land which first made known to the world the islands of the Pacific. "Having once visited the Sandwich Islands," said the Lord Mayor, "I was charmed not only with the beauty of the scenery and the fertility of the soil, but with the good order which everywhere prevailed. His Majesty reigns over a very prosperous and a very happy people."

The toast being duly honoured, the King of the Sandwich Islands expressed his high sense of the graciousness of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the other Royal and distinguished persons he had met, and would carry back to his country the most grateful and pleasant recollections of his visit.

Tho Lord Mayor next gave "The health of the Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and the other members of the Royal Family." In response to the toast, the Prince arose amidst great cheering, and said: —

"My Lord Mayor, your Majesty, my Lords and Gentlemen, – For the kind and remarkably flattering way in which you, my Lord Mayor, have been good enough to propose this toast, and you, my lords and gentlemen, for the kind and hearty way in which you have received it, I beg to offer you my most sincere thanks. It is a peculiar pleasure to me to come to the City, because I have the honour of being one of its freemen. But this is, indeed, a very special dinner, one of a kind that I do not suppose has ever been given before; for we have here this evening representatives of probably every Colony in the Empire. We have not only the Secretary of the Colonies, but Governors past and present, ministers, administrators, and agents are all, I think, to be found here this evening. I regret that it has not been possible for me to see half or one-third of the colonies which it has been the good fortune of my brother the Duke of Edinburgh to visit. In his voyages round the world he has had opportunities more than once of seeing all our great colonies. Though I have not been able personally to see them, or only a small portion of them, you may rest assured it does not diminish in any way the interest I take in them.

"It is, I am sorry to say, now going on for twenty-one years since I visited our large North American colonies. Still, though I was very young at the time, the remembrance of that visit is as deeply imprinted on my memory now as it was at that time. I shall never forget the public receptions which were accorded to me in Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, and if it were possible for me at any time to repeat that visit, I need not tell you, gentlemen, who now represent here those great North American colonies, of the great pleasure it would give me to do so. It affords me great gratification to see an old friend, Sir John Macdonald, the Premier of Canada, here this evening.

"It was a most pressing invitation, certainly, that I received two years ago to visit the great Australasian Colonies, and though at the time I was unable to give an answer, in the affirmative or in the negative, still it soon became apparent that my many duties here in England would prevent my accomplishing what would have been a long, though a most interesting voyage. I regret that such has been the case, and that I was not able to accept the kind invitation I received to visit the Exhibitions at Sydney and at Melbourne. I am glad, however, to know that they have proved a great success, as has been testified to me only this evening by the noble Duke (Manchester) by my side, who has so lately returned. Though, my lords and gentlemen, I have, as I have said before, not had the opportunity of seeing these great Australasian Colonies, which every day and every year are making such immense development, still, at the International Exhibitions of London, Paris, and Vienna, I had not only an opportunity of seeing their various products there exhibited, but I had the pleasure of making the personal acquaintance of many colonists – a fact which has been a matter of great importance and great benefit to myself.

"It is now thirty years since the first International Exhibition took place in London, and then for the first time colonial exhibits were shown to the world. Since that time, from the Exhibitions which have followed our first great gathering in 1851, the improvements that have been made are manifest. That in itself is a clear proof of the way in which the colonies have been exerting themselves to make their vast territories of the great importance that they are at the present moment. But though, my Lord Mayor, I have not been to Australasia, as you have mentioned, I have sent my two sons on a visit there; and it has been a matter of great gratification, not only to myself and to the Princess, but to the Queen, to hear of the kindly reception they have met with everywhere. They are but young, but I feel confident that their visit to the Antipodes will do them an incalculable amount of good. On their way out they visited a colony in which, unfortunately, the condition of affairs was not quite as satisfactory as we could wish, and as a consequence they did not extend their visits in that part of South Africa quite so far inland as might otherwise have been the case. I must thank you once more, my Lord Mayor, for the kind way in which you have proposed this toast.

"I thank you, in the name of the Princess and the other members of the Royal Family, for the kind reception their names have met with from all here to-night, and I beg again to assure you most cordially and heartily of the great pleasure it has given me to be present here among so many distinguished colonists and gentlemen connected with the colonies, and to have had an opportunity of meeting your distinguished guest, the King of the Sandwich Islands. If your lordship's visit to his dominions remains impressed on your mind, I think your lordship's kindly reception of His Majesty here to-night is not likely soon to be forgotten by him."

The Duke of Manchester, in responding to the toast of "The House of Lords," said that he took much less part in the proceedings of that august body than many of its members. He had, however, lately visited some of our colonies – and that was, perhaps, the reason why he was called upon to respond to that toast. Having given some remarkable statistics of progress in Australia, he said, "It was calculated that Australians and New Zealanders, per head, man, woman, and child, consumed £8 10s. – worth of British goods, while France only rated at 7s. 8d. per head, and the United States at 7s. per head. These were facts showing that, if for no other reason, there were very forcible financial reasons why we should consolidate, encourage, and promote in every way the prosperity of the British Colonies."

The Speaker, in returning thanks on behalf of the House of Commons, said he was one of those who had a great faith in the future of the English people throughout the world. Wherever Englishmen set their foot they grew and prospered; they had learnt the habit of self-government, and were well acquainted with the forms of government, and they carried with them English customs, English habits, English institutions. Thus we had a great Colonial Empire firmly compacted together of colonists from the old country, all loyal subjects of the Crown. He trusted and believed that that state of things would long continue, and he hoped that the bonds between those colonies and the mother country would become closer and closer from generation to generation.

The Lord Mayor then proposed the toast of the evening, "The British Colonies," to which the Earl of Kimberley replied, concluding with these words: "This is a representative assembly, and one of the most remarkable ever gathered together in this Metropolis. I congratulate you, my Lord Mayor, on the happy notion of bringing together this assembly, which must have an equally happy effect in promoting good feeling both here and in the Colonies, inasmuch as it is a type of the union which ought to bind us together."

The Prince of Wales then proposed the Lord Mayor's health in a brief speech, in the course of which he said that it must be especially gratifying to his lordship to preside at such a dinner, seeing that he was well acquainted with the colonies, being a colonial merchant of high repute, and having visited, if not all, at any rate most of our great colonies.

The Lord Mayor briefly acknowledged the compliment, and said this meeting was one of the most gratifying incidents of his year of office.

CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE

July 18th, 1881

Of many movements originated by the late Prince Consort, and carried forward by the Prince of Wales, the advancement of technical education is one of the highest national importance. Without going into past history, it is sufficient to say that of late years some of the Guilds of the City of London have been awakened to a sense of their duties in training artisans, for which purpose they were at first mainly founded. The Corporation of London has aided the movement, but in a more limited way. At first the efforts were directed to the encouragement of technical education in existing schools and colleges by pecuniary grants. But subsequently the Institute has been enabled to establish schools of its own, and to assist in development of technical instruction, not in London only, but in many large provincial towns.

The Institute had been incorporated in 1880, and in May of that year the late Duke of Albany laid the foundation stone of the Finsbury Technical College, the first building in the Metropolis exclusively devoted to this practical training. In Lambeth and other districts similar schools have been instituted; but it was thought advisable to found a Central Institute for systematic teaching the practical applications of science and art to the trades and industries of the country. Hitherto the training of artisans has been mainly dependent on the customs of apprenticeship in the various handicrafts; upwards of twenty of the City Companies, including nine out of the twelve greater Guilds, had subscribed largely, and had entered the associated Institute, when the Prince of Wales was invited to become the President. By the influence of the Prince, as President of the Royal Commissioners of 1851, a site for the proposed central College was granted at a nominal rent, on the estate at South Kensington. To lay the foundation stone of this building, the Prince, accompanied by the Princess of Wales, came on the 18th of July, 1881.