SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 12, 15 January 1892, Page 3

SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.

The death of tho Duke of Clarence and Avondalo will cause regret wherover' the English language is spoken, and in the colonies the sorrow expressed will be as genuino as the sympathy which will be felt for tho Prince and Princess in their terrible affliction. The Prince was a tall and welllooking youth of pleasant manners. Quiet and retiring, he took the utmost pains to qualify himself for the high post it seemed likely he would have one day to occupy. The wise and simple upbringing of the Prince of Wales' sons has taken the English imagination as it was Bure to do, and to the loyal affection so universally inspired by the parents has been added a Bense of familiar acquaintance with their heir. It is not an easy thing to individualise any member, especially any young member, of a Royal caste, whose lives _— though less so, no doubt, in this than in other countries—are in a great measure marked out for thorn by inflexible rule and ordinance; but thanks, in a great degree, to judicious choice of training and early associations, the figure of Princo Albert Victor has undoubtedly stood out in the mental vision of his father's future subjects with unusual clearness of outline.

HIS CAREER AS A BOY. His career, though that of a boy, was in many respects remarkable. No.royal road to knowledge was devised for his easy travelling. He was not kept like a star apart after the suggestion of Plutarch, who lays down that Princes from their birth should be filled with the most exalted ideas of their station, considering themselves intermediate between gods and men. It was somewhat of a reversal of the ordinary style to send him to sea first and to College afterwards. But the plan adopted had much to recommend it. For the acquisition of certain qualities, which even a public school cannot supply, there is no place like boardship. First tho Britannia and then the Bacchute were his home for many years. •' The somewhat dull routine of a ship at sea and the freedom from all outside interruption was just what was required in tho case of tho Prince for purposes of school and study, as well as for instruction in a sailor's duties. The period spent at sea was for tho Prince the equivalent of a schoolboy's ordinary life; tho holiday time was represented by the occasions on which they wero away from the ship on leave, or when they went up country. When H.R.H. the Prince of Wales determined to send his sons to sea, it was chiefly with a view to the mental and moral training that they would receive as MIDSHIPMEN IN HER MAJESTY'S NAVY. As long as he was on board ship, the Prince was treated exactly like the other midshipmen, and he performed all the duties which usually fall to their lot. He took his turn in all weathers by day or night, ab watch-keeping and going aloft, at sail drill or boat duty. There was no difference, not even the slightest, of any sort or kind made between him and his gun-room messmates. VISIT TO AUSTRALIA. In July of 1881 the Princes visited Australia. Their account of what they saw in the cruise of the Baccante was most iateresting. Ab Ballarat they donned mining rigs and wont down the mines, and in every way made themselves popular. In the afternoon of July 4th, 1881, Prince Albert Victor laid tho foundation stone of the new pavilion in the Melbourne ' Cricket Ground. Says Prince George's diary: " After laying the stone. Eddy called for three cheers, and was elscted an honorary member of the club. Lord Normanby was then Governor of Victoria, and Lord Charles Scotfc and he went everywhere with the Princes. The diary also eives a long account of their doings in Sydney, when they were taken to the Blue Mountains by Sir Henry Parkee. On the 23rd of July there is the following in the late Prince's diary anent the

POSTPONED VISIT TO AUCKLAND : "Said good-byo to everyone at Government House, and went on board the Inconstant. We were to sail at 2 p.m. for Auckland. All tho ships had steam up, and at the last minute the doctors forbade the Admiral to go. There were hundreds of people to see us go oub, and the water was covered with yachts. It was a great sell for them all. Auckland never received a visit.but Levuka did."

GLADSTONE'S LETTER. On tho occasion of Prince Albert Victor attaining his majority, Mr Gladstone wrote him a congratulatory letter, in which the Premier referred to the opportunities afforded by the Prince's exalted position to do good to the vast populations acknowledging the rule of tho English Crown. The Prince replied in a graceful letter of thanks.

CREATED A DUKE. On Monday, June 23, 1890, in the House of Lords there was a full attendance of Peers. His Royal Highness Prince Albert Victor took the oath as a pser and his seat, and subscribed the rolls on his creation as Duke of Clarence and Avondale. The young Prince was introduced by his father and half a dozen of the greatest nobles in the land. The Queen decreed that the Prince should take precedence after the Duke of Connaught and before tho Duke of Albany.

AN OMINOUS PROPHECY. | Writing on. the occasion of his 21sb birthday the editor of the " Pictorical World'" said : —Although the coming of age Of the eldest eon of the Prince of 'Wales is an almost unique event in a century, it is surprising how calmly it was celebrated by the English people. The Queon comes' of a long-lived race, and history teaches us that' the sons of the Princes of Wales rarely come to the throne. To celebrate the majority of the Prince of Wales'eldest son, as if "he were certainly destined to come bo the throne, would have been a foolish anticipation of events that may never come fe&gass."