Life and Reign of Queen Victoria Author:Murat Halstead Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ROYAL COURTSHIP MARRIAGE. CHAPTER III. ON the 26th of August, 1819—the same year which witnessed the birth of the Queen—there was born to the reigning D... more »uke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld a son, who was afterward named Albert. This child, who was destined to be closely allied with England, was lineally descended from those great Saxon princes " whose names are immortalized in European history by the stand they made in defense of their country's liberties against the encroaching power of the German emperors, as well as by the leading part they took in the Reformation." Albert was a delicate, nervous child, with a beautiful countenance, almost too much of a seraph, it was thought, for this mundane sphere; but by the time he was six years old he showed that he was pretty much like other boys. The young Prince's training was very thorough, embracing tuition in various branches of science, languages, music, literature, ethics, and politics. He had also a fine moral and physical training, so that as he advanced toward manhood he was upright both in mind and body. His mind was further enlarged by travel through Germany, Austria, and Holland. In May, 1836, the Duke of Coburg, together with his two sons, Prince Ernest and Prince Albert, paid a visit to England, and spent nearly four weeks at Kensington Palace with the Duchess of Kent. It was now that the Princess Victoria saw Thk. Dukr And Duchess Of Fife. PRINCE ALBERT AT KENSINGTON. for the first time her future husband. The distinguished visitors were feted at Windsor and at St. James's by the King and Queen, and by every member of the royal family in England. In the company of the Duchess of Kent and her daughter they also visited the chief attractions of the metropolis. In his home at Erenburg, in the spring of 1...« less