sentative meeting at Marlborough House, and placed before it a plan
for the establishment of an Order to be called the League of Mercy. Its
object would be to reach locally persons who did not subscribe to minor
Funds, or individual institutions, and to do this by offering an honour
in the form of this decoration, "as a reward for gratuitous personal
services rendered in the relief of sickness, suffering, poverty or
distress." These services would be apart, altogether, from gifts of
money, (although the latter would be gladly accepted) and must be
continued during five years. The Queen was to be head of the Order and
the Heir Apparent its Grand President. All names were to be submitted to
Her Majesty and the honour itself was not to confer any rank, dignity or
social precedence. The plan was approved, and its success marked despite
some caustic and unjust criticisms in certain Radical papers. On
December 1st (1899), following, the annual meeting of the Hospital Fund
was held at Marlborough House, with His Royal Highness in the chair, and
attended by Lord Rowton, Lord Iveagh, Cardinal Vaughan, Lord Lister,
Lord Reay, the Chief Rabbi and others. Lord Rothschild submitted a
statement which showed the year's receipts to be L47,000, the first
distribution from the League of Mercy to be L1,000, and the total amount
of the Fund to be L217,000. The meeting of December 18th, in the
following year, showed receipts of L49,468; of which L6,000 came from
the League of Mercy. In his speech upon this occasion Lord Rothschild
heartily congratulated the Royal chairman upon his "wisdom and
foresight" in forming this League. In passing, it may be said that
Grey's Hospital, London, was one of the individual institutions which
the Prince undertook personally to help, and at one special banquet, at
which he presided for this purpose, he was enabled to announce total
subscriptions to the extraordinary amount of L151,000.

THE PRINCE AND THE WORKINGMEN

There was no part of his public career more creditable to the Prince of
Wales than his sincere, unforced friendship and sympathy with the
workingman. Like his philanthropic work, it was the natural product of a
generous disposition, and won the honest liking of men who had always
looked with suspicion upon aristocratic, to say nothing of Royal,
efforts in their behalf. This was another illustration of the difference
between Heirs Apparent to the Throne. Imagination fails to grasp the
thought