Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, June 22, 1902, Page 30

Childhood BAPTISM OF EDWARD VII (Copyright, 1902, by Frang Q. Carpenter.) ONDON, June 12.—(Special Corre- of The Bee.)—1 give you today a letter on the baby- hood and boyhood of the English monarch, who will be crowned on the z6th of this month. The advance sheets of a new life of the king lle before me and a large part of my information comes from them, The king first opened his eyes in Buck- ingham palace at twelve minutes before 11 o'clock on Tuesday morning on November 9 Just sixty-one years ago. A little baby girl had come before him, but his advent made all England ring. His very birth was a matter of ceremony. When it was known that he was coming dispatches were sent out from the palace to the chlef min- isters and officers of state to be present. The archibshop of Canterbury, the duke of Wellington, the bishop of London and a large number of others came post haste and there were a score of eminent physi- clans in attendance. The prince was born in a room in the northwest corner of the palace, The high officiale were kept Iin an anteroom at the time and only Prince Albert, his father; Dr. Locock, the queen’s physician, and Mrs Lilly, the nurse, were in the chamber. The first person among the waiting nobles to see the baby was the duchess of Kent, but a moment later he was brought out in the arms of the nurse and shown to the lords of council. The first person who had a good look at him was the duke of Well ington, who bent his gray head down over the rosy-cheeked infant and asked, in tones of intense eagerness “Is it a boy?” “It I1s a prince, your grace,"” proud nurse, As soon as the announcement was made2 cannon were fired in the parks and in the tower. The bells of London and all over KEngland were rung for joy and the follow- ing bulletin was posted on the palace gates: The queen was dellvered of a prince this morning at forty-eight minutes past 10 o'clock. Her maj sty and the intant prince are perfectly well. spondence replied the JAMES CLARK, M. D. CHARLES LOCOCK, M. D. ROBERT FERGUSSON, M. D RICHARD BLAGDEN, M. D Buckingham Paluce, Tuesday, 11:30 a. m., November 9, 1541, Eugland Wild with Joy. England went wild with joy at the birth of the royal baby. *“God Save the Queen” was sung at all the theaters. The lord mayor gave a banquet, at which the health of the prince was drunk three times in suc- and Punch published a poem the princelet, two verses of which were as follows: Huzza! We've a little prince at last— A roaring royal boy; And all day long the booming belis Have rung thelr peals of joy, And the little park guns have blazed away And made a tremendous noise Whilst the air hath been filled since elaven o'clock With the shouts of little boys cession, on And we have taken our little bell, And rattled and laughed, and sang as well— Roo-too-tooit! Shallabella! Life to the prince! Fallalderalla! OQur little prince, when he grows a boy, Will be taught by men of lore, From the ‘dusty tome' of the anclent Kihgs b been taught befor. As kings have en uj efore. But wllf there be one good, true man near To tutor the infant heart? AT WINDSOR CASTLE. To tell him the world was made for all, And the poor man clalms his part? \\'|n» ltrux( there will; so we'll rattle our rell, And shout and laugh, and sing as well— Roo-too-tooit! Shallabella! Life to the prince! Fallalderalla! Began as a Baby Duke, King Edward started in life as a duke. As the eldest eon of the queen he became the duke of Cornwall at his birth, and at first he was known as ‘“‘the little duke™ He was a healthy baby and lusty. His nursery was just next to the queen’s bedroom, and his father, Prince Albert, divided his time between the queen and the baby It was he who from time to time lifted Queen Victoria from her bed to the sofa, and it is probable that he patted little Edward on the back when he had the colic. The baby wae better-looking than his sister, the princess royal, nicknamed by Queen Vietoria *“Little Pussy.” Queen Victoria frequently speaks of him in her journal KING EDWARD AT THE THE PRINCESS ROYAL OF 4. AGE OF 2 AT THE AND AGE In 1841 she writes to her uncle, of the Belglans: 1 wonder whom our little boy will be like. You will understand how fervid are my prayers to see him resemble his father in every, every respect, both body and mind.” This coronation is not the first King Ed- ward has had. He was crowned prince of Wales when he was a baby and hardly a month old. The title of prince of Wales dates back to the conquest of Wales by Edward 1, wher Wales annexed to the crown of England. Edward's second son was born in Wales, and it was said that the king promised to give the Welsh chief- the king very much tains, if they would permit, a prince born in Wales and unable to speak a word of English He presented the prince before he could speak at all, and they thereupon swore fealty to the prince of Wales The following is from the letters patent making the present King Edward prince of Wales: “We do ennoble and invest him with the said principality and earldom by girt- ing him with the sword, by putting a cor onet on his head and a gold ring on his finger, and alev by delivering a gold rod into his nand, that he may preside there and may direct and defend those parts; to hold for him and his heirs, kings of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire- land, for ever." Baptized in Jordan Waters. The young prince was christened on Jan- uary 25, 1842, The king of Prussia, Fred- erick Willlam 1V, was present and acted as godfather, and there were other royal per- SDWARD IN HIS FIRST SAILOR s nages at the ceremony. The baptism took place in Windsor chapel, the font having been newly gilded for the occasion. The water used came from the River Jordan. It had been kept in a bottle fifieen years, having been brought from Palestine and made a present to the queen. [t was per- fectly clear and showed no signs of its age. The ceremony took place at 1 o'clock, the baby being brought in to the flourish of trumpets. No end of great people were present and all wore their finest uniforms. The duchess of Buccleuch handed the babv to the archbishop of Canterbury, who held him up and addressed the king of Prussia, as the child's godfather, saying “Name this child."” The king loudly said. ‘“Albert Edward."” Then the archbishop went on as he sprin- kled him: “I baptize thee, Albert Edward, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."” He then read the baptismal service to its close. It is said that the baby raised his hand as the holy drops touched his fore- head, but that otherwise he acted very well. He wore at the time a rich white satin cloak, lined with ermine and a chris- tening robe, the lace upon which was worth $5,000. As soon as the service was over the choir burst out in a hallelujah chant After this Queen Victoria and the royal party retired. The rest of the party stayed to sample the Jordan water. The women dipped their handkerchiefs into it, some eprinkled themselves and a few tasted it and found it salty. At this time one of the women who was present wrote in her diary: ““The archbishop of Canterbury read the service well, though he appeared very nervous. The prince of Wales is a beauti- ful baby, with fine He 1s as lively and intelligent as children of six months." After the return of the party to the castle there was an entertainment at which the christening cake was cut and each guest given a plece. The cake was big around as a flour barrel and four feet in height. It was adorned with figures representing Brit- tania, Justice, Plenty and other mytholog- fcal characters The festivities Windsor castle, at which and silver plate was used covers for 140, and each guest ant in livery to wait upon him. The ban- quet concluded at 9 o'clock, with a toast to the prince of Wales, which was drunk standing. At the same time feasting and drinking went on all over England. Din- pers given to the poor and at these each guest had roast beef and plum pud ding and a pint of porter to drink the health of the srince. King Edward's Babyhood, eyes. most in a in the ended banquet royal gold There were had a serv- were The first year of King Edward's life was passed at Windsor castle, The queen had great trouble in finding the right kind of nurses for him and in having the nursery department of the palace properly man- aged. Baron Stockmar, the physician of the king of Belgium, was then one of the noted authorities as to children's education and he advised the queen as to how the young prince should be brought up. He said that a man's education should begin the first day of his life, and he wrote a long letter as to how baby Edward, then six months old, should be trained. The queen about the same time told Lord TOM THUMB PARENTS PERFORMING AND SISTERS Milbourne that she had trouble in securing a lady of rank and title to take care of the young man and asked Lord Milbourne to suggest one. He replied that a lady of rank should be at the head of the nursery estab- lishment and upon his suggestion Lady Lyttleton was made governess to the royal children. This was when the prince of Wales was five months old. Lady Lyttleton had been a lady-in-wait- ing to Queen Victoria. She was very fond of children and was a finely educated woman. She took charge of the future king for six years and had much to do with his training, although the queen came in fre- quently and gave her directions. Her maj- esty lamented that she could not be with her children all the time, and once wrote: “It is a hard case for me that my occu- pations prevent me being with my children when they say their prayers.” She thought it important that the children should be brought up in as simple and domestic a way possible, and said most as KING EDWARD MONTHS. AT THE AGE OF ¢ they should their parents. be as much as possible with Queen Victoria on Child-Teaching. Queen Victoria was very particular as to the religious teaching of her children. Sha did not care to have the horrors of eternal damnation impressed upon their youthful minds, but wished them taught that God Is love. About this time she made the fol- lowing memorandum in referring to the princess royal “I am quite clear that she should be taught to have great reverence for God and religion, and that she should have the feeling of devotion and love which her Heavenly Father encourages His earthly children to have for Him; and not one of fear and trembling. The thoughts of death and an after life should not be presented in an alarming and f« rbidding way. She should be n e to know as yet no differ- ence of cre and not think she can only pray on her knees or that those who do not kneel are less fervent and devoted in their prayers Prince Edward was educated in the same way as to religicus matters, but as far as I can learn he was by no means a little saint. He was noisy during teething, and did all sorts of things that other children do. Amuse ity of n Baby King, The royal children had all sorts of amuse- ments. At Osborne-on-the-Sea, where the queen lived in the summer, each child had its flower and vegetable garden in which BEFORE of Monarch About to Be Crowned King KING EDWARD AND HIS ROYAL it worked. shop, The futur which king had a carpenter in he used a set of toole marked with his name. He bad a little museum, where he kept botanical speci- mens, butterflies, stuffed birds and stones. He had also a boat to sail at low tide. Shows were held at the palace for the chil- dren and at one time Tom Thumb came and performed for them and the quecn. He danced the hornpipe and sang American songs, the little prince of Wales watching him, seated in his favorite oaken chair. Now and then Prince Edward went out to see the ships, and when he arrived at the age of 6, he was made a midshipman and a uniform was given him. He appeared in his new suit before the officers and sail- ors and then began to play about the deck. The suit was of white duck and it soon became soiled. This was Saturday night, and the captain of the ship knew that the queen expected the little prince to wear his white suit at muster the next morning and that he had no other, at least so Prince Edward told him The captain solved the question by putting Prince d- ward to bed and washing the suit himself He dried them by the fire and then sat on them to iron them, that his futurc na ty came to muster in proper attire King Edward had his first pants on his 6th birthday The cloth was very light and fine, the jacket being of a bright blue, lined with silk. The trousers were of the same color, made plain with plaited fronts He had white waist cloth and later on a Highland suit of plaid The prince was early taught to ride and kad almost many accidents as other boys. A visitor to Windsor castle when k> was 8 years old says that Edward had then disfigured his face by falling on an iron-barred gate. In the fall he blacked the bridge of his nos2 and both of his eyes, but luckily broke no bones. S0 also a satin as His Fight with a Fisher Boy. He was a boy of spirit and it is related that once when he was running about on the beach at Osborne he noticed a lad pick- ing up clams. The lad had his basket al- ready full, but Prince Edward in looking at it accidently kicked it over, thereupon the fisherboy grew angry and gave the young prince a kick. The prince, although he was not so large as his opponent, went for him with his fists and in a moment the two had clinched and were rolling over and over. The prince was getting the better of the fight when the gardener came up and separated the combatants. Prince Albert Queen Victoria's husband, had seen the fight afar off, but he did not interfere When the future king was brought to him he reprimanded him for having meddled with the lad's basket and thereupon, so the story goes, Prince Edward took some of his own pocket money and gave It to the fisherboy A somewhat similar incident of paying money for trespassing told in connec- tion with the prince of Wales when he was a little older. It was while he was doing his first hunting not far from Windsor castlee. He and a number of other boys were riding across the country and they got into the tate of a farmer named Hedges. Hedges jected to anyone com- ing onto his fielc He penned the boys in and demanded a fine of a sovereign for damages before he would let them out. One of the boys told him that he was detain- (Continued on Eighth Page.)