1844 LETTER FROM BARON STOCKMAR. 245 At the same moment a letter from Baron Stockmar was on its way to the Prince, which concluded with the words: I have received a letter from the Queen, which begins, "My kind friend,"-" Like the Quaker," you will say and goes on, "but I like to call you what you really are." The Queen could not have made me a finer New Year's Gift than these lines, and I beg you will in the meanwhile be graciously pleased to express my warmest thanks for them.' 246 CHAPTER XIII. TO ESCAPE for a time from the oppressive splendour and state of Courts into the comparatively retired and simple ways of the rest of mankind, has always been a cherished object of kings and princes. Nature rebels against a life in which privacy is well nigh impossible, in which every hour is forestalled by the claims of business or ceremonial, in which there is no room for the freedom of movement, the chance greetings, the pleasant surprises, the unnoticed rambles, which sweeten the days of ordinary people. Seemingly, the most free and independent of mankind, there are few whose hours and doings are less at their own disposal. Sovereigns, moreover, are too far removed by their rank from most of those around them to get near what is best in men; and it is their fate to see, as few can see, much of the selfishness and insincerity which play so large a part in both social and political life. There is to them, therefore, a tenfold zest in shaking off for a time the trammels of their state, and in forgetting, among the sweet sights and sounds of the country, The noise and strife, and questions wearisome, Who can echo with so much truth as they can the words of Cowley, when contrasting the life of the country with that of the town? We are here among the vast and noble scenes of Nature; we are there among the pitiful shifts of 1844 OSBORNE. 247 policy we walk here in the light and open ways of the Divine bounty; we grope there in the dark and confused labyrinths of human malice: our senses are here feasted with the clear and genuine taste of their objects, which are all sophisticated there, and for the most part overwhelmed with their contraries.' The simple domestic tastes of the Queen and Prince, no less than their profound delight in natural beauty, gave, in their case, intensity to this natural yearning for some quiet 'loophole of retreat.' The estate of Osborne, in the Isle of Wight, which seemed to combine many of the qualities most likely to be valued by them, had been brought to their notice by Sir Robert Peel.' It was near the seat of government, yet so 'exempt from public haunt,' that they might there be sure of the repose and privacy which they desired. It afforded scope for the exercise of the Prince's skill in laying out grounds, in planting, in agricultural improvement. It commanded a noble sea view, with Portsmouth and the great roadstead of Spithead in the background, always to a British Sovereign a spectacle of the highest interest, and it was bounded by a great stretch of sea-shore. As a bathing place it was excellent, and for this purpose Brighton, the Pavilion at which had hitherto been the marine residence of the Sovereign, had become unfit, in consequence of the great increase of the town, which had grown round it to such an extent, that it was impossible to catch more than a glimpse of the sea from some of the upper windows. The opportunity afforded by the journey with the King of the French to Portsmouth in October was taken to make a personal inspection of this property. The Queen and It was entirely through Sir Robert Peel,' Her Majesty writes, who knew how much we wished for a private property, and his extreme kindness, that we heard of and all about Osborne. When we showed him all we had done in 1819, he spoke with evident pleasure of his having been the means of our getting it.' Prince were so much pleased with what they then saw of it, that negotiations for its purchase were set on foot, which came to a satisfactory conclusion a few months afterwards. One charm it had, which all can feel and sympathise with. It was their own. 'It sounds so pleasant,' the Queen writes, when announcing the purchase (25th March, 1845) to King Leopold, to have a place of one's own, quiet and retired, and free from all Woods and Forests and other charming departments, which really are the plague of one's life.' It is impossible,' Her Majesty adds, a few days later, writing from her new possession, 'to see a prettier place, with woods and valleys, and points de vue, which would be beautiful anywhere; but when these are combined with the sea (to which the woods grow down), and a beach which is quite private, it is really everything one could wish.' The first purchase comprised only the estate of Osborne, about 800 acres, belonging to Lady Isabella Blatchford. This, however, was added to by various purchases from time to time, and the property now extends to about 2,300 acres. It was soon found that the existing mansion-house was too small for the Royal establishment, and on the 23rd of June, 1845, the first stone of the present house was laid by the Queen and Prince.2 In September of the following year, that portion of it known as the Pavilion, which contains the Royal apartments, was completed and occupied. The rest of the house was not finished till 1851; and in laying out the grounds, which he did with masterly skill, turning all their natural features to the best account,-and in bringing the whole property into the highest state of cultivation, the 6 2 The house,' the Queen writes, was planned by the Prince, and his wishes were most admirably carried out by the late Mr. Thomas Cubitt, than whom a better, kinder man did not exist.' In laying out the grounds, and in his farming operations, Her Majesty adds, The Prince was ably seconded by Mr. Toward, our land steward for twenty-six years.' 1845 AND LAID OUT BY PRINCE. 249 Prince found a delightful occupation from 1845 onwards.3 In truth he might have said, as Scott did of Abbotsford, 'My heart clings to the place I have created. There is scarce a tree in it that does not owe its existence to me.' His labours were amply repaid by the results. His plantations, rich in an unusual variety of conifers and flowering shrubs, gladdened his eyes by the vigorous luxuriance of their growth, and in them the nightingale trilled her thickwarbled note the summer long.' Of all the songs of birds he loved these the most, listening for them in the happy peaceful walks he used to take with the Queen in the woods, and whistling to them in their own long, peculiar note, which they invariably answered,' or standing out at night on the balcony, to hear their song (Note by the Queen, Early Years, p. 195). Every year the place grew in beauty and in charm; and so well were his measures taken for bringing the results of the highest skill and science to bear upon the land, that, unlike most amateur agriculturists, he made his farming pay. In this result he took an especial pride. Any one with means at his command can improve land, but to make costly improvements pay for themselves is the test of practical forethought and wise economy, on which, in all human affairs, the Prince set the greatest store. Before settling down in town for the coming Parliamentary season, which promised to be one of unusual interest and activity, two of those visits were paid by the Queen and Prince, which afforded so much gratification to their hosts, and also to the inhabitants of the districts where they were 'It is pleasant,' says Lady Lyttelton, writing from Osborne (9th August, 1846), 'to see how earnestly Prince Albert tries to do the best about this place, giving work to as many labourers as possible, but not making any haste, so as to make it last, and keep at a steady useful pitch, not to over-excite the market. His bailiff (I mean, of course, the Queen's) has dismissed quantities of men lately, because it is harvest time, that they may work for others, telling them all, that the moment any man is out of employment, he is to come back here, and will, without fail, find work to do. This is doing good very wisely.' |