202 GREAT EXHIBITION PROJECTED. 1849 present at the dinner of the College, and to give the Welsh Fusiliers new colours-a ceremony which demands a military speech; and on the 25th to Weymouth-on-the-Sea, to lay the foundation stone of the breakwater at Portland for the new harbour of refuge, and at the same time to inspect the new system of convict labour, which has been and is to be applied to this structure. 'Osborne, 11th July, 1849.' During this month the Prince was actively engaged in discussing with some of the members of the Society of Arts, with Mr. Labouchere on the part of the Government, with Sir Robert Peel and others, the project which he had formed for what soon afterwards took shape as the Great Exhibition of 1851,—a project long thought over and matured in his own mind before it was communicated to any one. The chair of History at Cambridge had recently become vacant by the death of Professor Smyth, and the Prince, as Chancellor of the University, was most anxious to have for his successor some man of distinguished ability, who might be expected to create an interest in historical study among the students. With this view he offered (1st July) the appointment in person to Mr. Macaulay, by whom it was declined, on the ground that the duties would interfere with the completion of his History, two more years at least being required to finish his account of the reign of William. Other able men were spoken of; and on the 15th, Lord John Russell recommended Sir James Stephen, as the man next to Macaulay best qualified, in his opinion, for the chair. Sir James Stephen had for many years held a high position in the Colonial Office, and was remarkable there for the statesmanlike breadth of his views, which was combined with a This speech is given in the published volume of the Prince's principal Speeches and Addresses. 1849 SIR JAMES STEPHEN. 203 power over details, to a degree quite exceptional. He was a frequent writer in the Edinburgh Review, and his articles had shown the power of grasping the principles by which events are governed, which seemed specially to qualify him for a Professorship of History. His career in the Colonial Office had also given him a wide practical knowledge of men and affairs, without which an historian is lamed in one of his most essential qualities. Such was the view of Lord John Russell, who, in writing to the Prince (20th July), says: :-'It seems to me that experience in the practical business of life is a good foundation for an historian. Xenophon, Tacitus, Davila, Guicciardini, were all men engaged in political or military affairs.'6 Sir James Stephen, by the request of the Prince, embodied in writing his views of the duties of the office of the Cambridge Professorship of History. These were found so satisfactory, that after a personal interview with the Prince (25th July), he received the appointment. The impression produced upon the Prince on this occasion is recorded in a letter to Baron Stockmar from Osborne : 'Sir James Stephen has after all become Professor of History in Cambridge. We have had him here, and I was able to have much conversation with him. Never have I seen an Englishman with a mind more open and free from prejudice. I understand now, why he was unpopular; for he hits hard at the weak points of his countrymen.' This was written on the 1st of August, on which day Parliament was prorogued by Commission, and on the eve of the Queen's departure on her first visit to Ireland. The Prince continues: • The list might easily have been enlarged. Gibbon's remark, in his delightful Autobiography, à propos of his experiences in the Hampshire Volunteers, will not be forgotten :-The captain of the Hampshire Grenadiers (the reader may smile) has not been useless to the historian of the Roman Empire.' 204 DEPARTURE FOR IRELAND. 1849 I call a farewell to you to-day, before we take to the sea, which is to carry us to Ireland. We embark in a few hours; and rejoice the wind has rather gone down, which gives promise of a quiet passage.' Lady Lyttelton, left behind with the younger children (the four eldest having accompanied the Queen), and watching from the windows of Osborne the Royal squadron as it steamed out of sight, writes:-"It is done! England's fate is afloat; and we are left lamenting. They hope to reach Cork to-morrow evening, the wind having gone down, and the sky cleared, the usual weather compliment to the Queen's departure.' CHAPTER XXXIV. MANY and eager were the eyes that watched the Royal Squadron as it steamed into the Cove of Cork, in the fading light of a beautiful summer evening, and anchored alongside the flagship Ganges, a stately two-decker of 84 guns. Showers of rockets streamed into the air, and the bonfires on the surrounding heights burned brighter and fiercer, as the peasantry, wild with delight to know that their Queen was actually among them, piled turf, faggot, and tar-barrel higher and higher, to give earnest of their welcome. It was a fitting prelude to the enthusiastic loyalty which hailed the Royal visitors at every stage of their Irish progress. Her Majesty, in the published Leaves from a Journal, reports, that the next morning (3rd August) was grey and the air heavy. But the Journal does not state, what was noted with much interest at the time, that when she first set foot upon the shore at Cove, the sun broke out suddenly from the clouds with unusual splendour. The quaint picturesque old place thus received its new name of Queenstown under the brightest auspices. Kingstown had owed its title to its being the spot where George IV. had disembarked on his visit to Dublin, and the Queen yielded to the natural desire of her subjects in the South, that a similar record of her first introduction to Irish soil should be left with them. The people were taken somewhat by surprise by the arrival of the Royal Squadron sooner than expected; but good 206 CORK AND WATERFORD. 1849 news fly fast, and when the Royal party proceeded in the afternoon in the Fairy up the river Lee to Cork, they found its beautiful shores everywhere crowded, and were received with wild shouts, mingled with the firing of cannons and small arms, and the ringing of bells, which gave an air of singular animation to the scene. In Cork, so lately a stronghold of disaffection, the same delighted excitement was everywhere seen. The streets, balconies, windows, and most of the housetops were lined with people, all cheering lustily and in excellent humour. Surrounded by a crowd, 'noisy, excitable, but very good-humoured, running and pushing about, and laughing, talking and shrieking,' the Royal visitors did not fail to observe one distinguishing feature of the race. 'The beauty of the women is very remarkable, and struck us much; such beautiful dark eyes and hair, and such fine teeth; almost every third woman was pretty, and some remarkably so.'-(Leaves, p. 251.) Next day the Royal Squadron started at ten for Waterford Harbour, which was reached about four. It anchored about ten miles below the city, to which the Prince sailed up in the Fairy with the two Princes, but did not land. Only the previous year the Stromboli, one of the vessels of the Royal Squadron, had been anchored off Waterford, ready to quell the expected rising there, and now Waterford, like Cork, was all alive with loyal enthusiasm. The sight of the fort at Duncannon, opposite to which the Royal yacht lay at anchor, recalled thoughts of the last King of the Stuart race, who embarked here for France, in July, 1690, a trembling fugitive, after his final defeat on the Boyne. At seven o'clock next evening (5th August) the Royal Squadron steamed into the magnificent harbour of Kingstown. For some time before Kingstown was reached, the sea had been alive with boats, yachts, and steamers, laden to the water's edge with eager crowds. The wharfs where the 6 |