ckstone,
and took lessons in English Law; he was occasionally present when the
Queen interviewed her Ministers; and at Lord Melbourne's suggestion he
was shown all the despatches relating to Foreign Affairs. Sometimes
he would commit his views to paper, and read them aloud to the Prime
Minister, who, infinitely kind and courteous, listened with attention,
but seldom made any reply. An important step was taken when, before
the birth of the Princess Royal, the Prince, without any opposition
in Parliament, was appointed Regent in case of the death of the Queen.
Stockmar, owing to whose intervention with the Tories this happy result
had been brought about, now felt himself at liberty to take a holiday
with his family in Coburg; but his solicitude, poured out in innumerable
letters, still watched over his pupil from afar. "Dear Prince," he
wrote, "I am satisfied with the news you have sent me. Mistakes,
misunderstandings, obstructions, which come in vexatious opposition
to one's views, are always to be taken for just what they are--namely,
natural phenomena of life, which represent one of its sides, and
that the shady one. In overcoming them with dignity, your mind has to
exercise, to train, to enlighten itself; and your character to gain
force, endurance, and the necessary hardness." The Prince had done well
so far; but he must continue in the right path; above all, he was "never
to relax." "Never to relax in putting your magnanimity to the proof;
never to relax in logical separation of what is great and essential from
what is trivial and of no moment; never to relax in keeping yourself
up to a high standard--in the determination, daily renewed, to be
consistent, patient, courageous." It was a hard programme perhaps, for a
young man of twenty-one; and yet there was something in it which touched
the very depths of Albert's soul. He sighed, but he listened--listened
as to the voice of a spiritual director inspired with divine truth. "The
stars which are needful to you now," the voice continued, "and perhaps
for some time to come, are Love, Honesty, Truth. All those whose minds
are warped, or who are destitute of true feeling, will BE APT TO MISTAKE
YOU, and to persuade themselves and the world that you are not the man
you are--or, at least, may become... Do you, therefore, be on the alert
be times, with your eyes open in every direction... I wish for my Prince
a great, noble, warm, and true heart, such as shall serve as the ric