1845 THE ROSENAU. 285 clergy were assembled, and Ober-Superintendent Genzler addressed us very kindly,―a very young-looking man of his age, for he married Mama to my father, and christened and confirmed Albert and Ernest." The Palace was soon reached, and as the royal cortége approached it, 'numbers of young girls dressed like the others threw wreaths into the carriage.' The Duchess of Kent, the Duchess and Dowager Duchess of Coburg, and a crowd of relatives received the Queen as she alighted. 6 The staircase was full of cousins. It was an affecting but exquisite moment, which I shall never forget.' One thought touched it with a haunting sadness-He was not there, the father of her husband, who had hoped so eagerly to welcome them to the ancestral home. This feeling was deepened, when, after a short interval, they drove to the Rosenau, a favourite seat of the late Duke's, which had been set apart for the Queen's and Prince's use during her stay at Coburg. Every sound, every view, every step we take makes us think of him, and feel an indescribable hopeless longing for him.' No one who has visited the beautiful region in the heart of which Coburg lies, and of which not the least beautiful spot is the domain of the Rosenau, will be at a loss to understand the delight with which Her Majesty speaks of it in her Journal. But it had a charm for her beyond 'the soft magic of streamlet or hill,' for here he first saw the light, and spent the happiest years of his boyhood, whose companionship was her dearest blessing. It was the nook of earth, moreover, which above all others was beautiful in his eyes, and with his eyes she had long been in the habit of regarding it. 'How happy, how joyful,' are the words of Her Majesty's Journal (August 20), we were, on awaking, to feel ourselves here, at the dear Rosenau, my Albert's birthplace, the place he most loves. . . . He was so, so happy to be here with me. It is like a beautiful dream.' While in this mood the |