Mendelssohn himself praised the Queen's singing, though without flattering
blindness to its faults and shortcomings. And the brightness of life was
all the brighter because it flowed over a substratum of seriousness and
solemnity. The first time that the Queen and her husband partook of holy
communion together, they spent the preceding evening--the vigil of
Easter--in retirement, occupied with good German books, and soothed and
elevated by Mozart's music, for the prince was master of the organ, and
the Queen of the piano. The prince made his maiden speech at a meeting for
the abolition of the slave-trade, speaking in a low tone, and with 'the
prettiest foreign accent.' While she was driving up Constitution Hill, an
attempt was made upon the Queen's life by a weak-minded youth, but luckily
neither of the pistol shots took effect. There have been at least seven
other happily futile attempts on the life of the Queen.
The Princess Royal was born on the 21st November 1840; and the royal
mother, fondly tended by her husband, made a speedy and happy recovery.
Prince Albert's care for the Queen in these circumstances was like that of
a mother.
The Prince of Wales was born on November 9, 1841, and after that the
little family circle rapidly increased, and with it the parents' sense of
responsibility. 'A man's education begins the first day of his life,' said
the prince's tried friend, the wise Baron Stockmar, and the Queen felt it
'a hard case' that the pressure of public business prevented her from
being always with her little ones when they said their prayers.
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