stone, the well-known actor, spoke in warm words of the kindness
of the Prince in attending their function: "The duties he has to perform
are so numerous and fatiguing that we only wonder how he gets through
them all. Even within these few days he has held a Levee; on Saturday
last he patronized a performance at Drury Lane in aid of the Dramatic
College; then had to run away to Freemasons' Hall to be present at the
installation of the Grand Master; and now we find him in the chair this
evening; so what with _conversaziones_, laying foundation stones,
opening schools, and other calls upon his little leisure, I think he may
be looked upon as one of the hardest working men in Her Majesty's
dominions." This was a fact or condition not recognized very generally
in those days; in after years it became a truism in popular opinion.

St. George's Hospital received the combined patronage of the Prince and
Princess on May 26th. The former occupied the chair and made an earnest
appeal for aid to this most deserving institution. The Earl of Cadogan,
who was one of the Treasurers, announced a little later in the evening
that the Prince of Wales had handed him a check for two hundred guineas,
the Princess one for fifty guineas, and the Marquess of
Westminster--afterwards the first Duke of that name--one for two hundred
guineas. Amongst the other speakers on this occasion were Earl
Granville, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Carnarvon and Mr. W. H. Smith,
M.P. On June 21st, His Royal Highness opened a new building in
connection with Dulwich College in Surrey; nine days later he and the
Princess opened new schools for the children of seamen near the London
Docks; on July 1st they visited in state the ancient town of Reading and
laid the foundation stone of a new Grammar School. A week later the
Prince had the congenial task of giving the Albert gold medal of the
Society of Arts to M. de Lesseps. As President of the Society he
addressed the father of the Suez Canal, in French, and congratulated him
upon the completion of his great undertaking, not only in a public
capacity, but "as a personal friend." In his reply, M. de Lesseps said
that he had received much private encouragement from the late Prince
Consort in the early stages of his enterprise, and that he could never
forget that fact. It may be added here that the presentation of this
Medal was always a peculiar pleasure to the Prince of Wales, and that
amongst those in after years who