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audience, among whom were the representatives of all the municipalities of the kingdom, carried this enthusiasm back with them, and they were not likely to forget the words with which Sir Robert Peel on the same occasion concluded one of his best speeches: 'You will return with a firm resolution that this noble undertaking, to which the character and honour of England are now committed, shall not fail, but shall be borne triumphantly through every obstacle by the energy and determination of the British people.'

With

Congratulations poured in upon the Prince from all sides. The assurance, that his cherished scheme had taken hold of the hearts of the people, was far more precious to him than the praises of his eloquence. These came to him from the press in no measured terms, especially from those journals, which were the least disposed to credit Princes with liberal opinions, or an active interest in making men happier and better. Writing of the speech to the Queen, the Duchess of Sutherland condensed her admiration in a single sentence. 'How entirely worthy I thought it of himself!' natural pride the Queen tells King Leopold (26th March) that the speech had given the greatest satisfaction, and done great good. Albert,' Her Majesty adds, 'is indeed looked up to and beloved as I could wish he should be; and the more his rare qualities of mind and heart are known, the more will he be understood and appreciated. People are much struck by his great power and energy; by the great self-denial, and constant wish to work for others, which are so striking in his character. But this is the happiest life. Pining for what one cannot have, and trying to run after what is pleasantest, invariably end in disappointment.'

These were pleasant words, confirming as they did the faith which had led King Leopold to select the Prince as the consort for his niece. Highly, however, as he rated his nephew's powers, even he seems to have found it hard to believe, that a speech of such a character should have been spoken, not read. The Queen hastens a few days later to assure him, in answer to a letter written under this impression, that the Prince spoke this, as he did all his speeches, having first prepared and written them down. This,' Her Majesty adds, he does so well, that no one believes that he is ever nervous -which he is.'

6

In another letter of the Queen's to her uncle some days afterwards (2nd April), this passage occurs: 'Good Stockmar

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is too partial to me; to Albert he never can be enough so, for what he does, and how he works, is really prodigious, and always for the good of others. I am sometimes anxious lest he should overwork himself, and, in fact, he was not well in the autumn and winter; but he is, thank God, quite well again now.'

For bodily disorder brought on by mental fatigue-and the Prince's illness was of this nature-there is no such medicine as success. So far, this had attended him in the great venture on which he was now fairly embarked, and with it had come many unmistakeable signs, that he had not striven in vain to win the confidence of his adopted country, that confidence, which, as he had himself said, was of slow growth, but which, whether he should win it or not, it was a necessity of his nature that he should deserve. Within the next few days he received a gratifying proof, that his efforts had not been in vain, and from a quarter, where confidence was most to be desired.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

The Prince's Scheme for Utilisation of Sewage-Duke of Wellington proposes that the Prince shall succeed him as Commander-in-Chief-Prince's Memoranda and Letters on this Proposal-Birth of Prince Arthur.

THE breaking-up of Parliament for the Easter recess enabled the Queen and Prince to escape from town for the enjoyment of a brief holiday at Windsor Castle. The country and its pursuits at all times wrought a charm upon the Prince's spirits, and it is obvious, from the following passage in a letter of the Queen's to Baron Stockmar (6th April), that a respite from labour had not come to him an hour too soon. 'Of ourselves I can give you, I am happy to say, the best account. My dearest Prince has, thank God, been giving himself a rest, and was himself astonished at his disinclination to work, which Sir James Clark was delighted at. It is absolutely necessary to give the brain rest to enable it to work again with advantage, and I always am uneasy, lest he should overstrain his powers. We have enjoyed being here very much, and I have been out a great deal.'

In this interval of comparative rest, which, however, was filled with an amount of work sufficient for the energies of the most active brain, the Prince found time to devise a system for the utilisation of sewage, which he subsequently perfected, with the assistance of Mr. Lyon Playfair, and applied with success on the Osborne estate. I think,' he writes to Baron Stockmar, 'I have made an important discovery "for the conversion of sewage into agricultural manure " and "drainage of towns." This has become for England an important public question. All previous plans would have cost millions, mine costs next to nothing.' Filtration from below upwards, through some appropriate medium, which retained the solids, and set free the fluid sewage for irrigation, was the principle of the scheme. Where the fall of the ground is considerable,