he most democratic and independent, as Birmingham and at
Sheffield, the reception of the Royal visitors was the most hearty and
enthusiastic. Opening the Victoria Hall at Ealing on December the 15th
was the occasion of the latest public appearance in 1888. It adjoins the
Parish building, and the Free Library, to which the Prince alluded in
his brief speech.

Reference has not been made to occasions of a private kind, such as
Regimental and Club Dinners, where the presence of the Prince is always
welcomed, and what he says is remembered, though not reported. Perhaps
it is right to mention the Savage Club, of which many Press reporters
are members, and where the Prince made one of his genial addresses, and
drew from the Club very acceptable aid towards founding the Musical
Scholarships in which he was then interested.

Any one who could see the engagement book of the Prince of Wales during
a season would think there is little exaggeration when it is said he is
one of the most busy and hard-working of public men. If it cannot be
said _nulla dies sine linea_, there are few days on which some important
business has not to be attended to, besides his personal or private
affairs in town and country. In one of his early addresses, he said
that, being excluded by his position from taking active part in
political life, he would devote his time to "duties connected with works
of charity and of public utility." How far this resolution has been
carried out, the readers of this volume have the means of judging.

In many of his speeches the Prince has, in grateful and touching terms,
referred to the useful and beneficent services rendered by his revered
and lamented father, whose example he desires to follow. That example
also influenced the character and the life of the late Emperor of
Germany, "Frederick the Noble." In the introduction to the brief
biographical memoir of 'Frederick, Crown Prince and Emperor,' recently
published by Mr. Rennell Rodd, the widowed Empress--our own Princess
Royal--expresses a hope that the book will make his name better known to
the English public, and give him a place in their affections beside that
of her father, the Prince Consort, "for whom he had so great love,
admiration, and veneration." The words of Lord Tennyson are thus
recalled with new power:--

"Dear to thy land and ours; a Prince indeed
Beyond all titles, and a household name
Hereafter through all times--ALBERT THE GOOD."