e the basis of so much progress in this
direction. His Royal Highness was accompanied on this occasion by the
Princess and Lord Suffield and was surrounded on the platform by Lord
Welby, the Earl of Rosebery, the Bishops of London and Stepney, the Earl
and Countess Carrington and others. In his speech the Prince was
expressive and vigorous upon the necessity of better housing for the
poor. "I am satisfied, not only that the public conscience is awakened
on the subject but that the public demands, and will demand, vigorous
action in cleansing the slums which disgrace our civilization and the
erection of good and wholesome dwellings such as those around us, and in
meeting the difficulties of providing house-room for the
working-classes, at reasonable rates, by easy and cheap carriage to not
distant districts where rents are reasonable." He concluded an elaborate
speech upon the question generally by expressing the hope that the
Legislature would deal with and punish those who were responsible for
insanitary property. Speaking at a banquet of the London County Council
on December 3rd of the same year, the Prince again urged attention to
the improvement of dwellings in various city areas. A part of this
generous desire to aid the poor was the Princess of Wales' dinner to
three hundred thousand persons in London at the Jubilee of 1897.
Contributions poured in unceasingly to the project and amongst others
was the gift of twenty thousand sheep from the pastoralists of New
South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The organization of the dinner was
in the hands of the Lord Mayor of London and it proved a great success.

The gifts of a statesman were cultivated by the Prince of Wales upon
every proper opportunity. His Empire unity ideas and projects were
abundant evidence of this while a not less distinct proof of statecraft
was the apparent absence of it--the absolute non-partisan position of
the Heir Apparent. No one was ever able to say that he held political
views of any particular type. His delicate tact was particularly shown
in his kindness and courtesy to Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. When the aged
statesman finally retired from politics the Prince visited him again at
Hawarden Castle and was photographed in a family group. He and the
Princess attended his funeral and showed the greatest respect for his
memory and services. When the time came, in 1900, for Mrs. Gladstone to
be laid beside her husband in Westminster Abbey one of the