Page:Life of Her Majesty Queen Victoria (IA lifeofhermajesty01fawc).pdf/135

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The Nursery
125

sight of the Royal squadron entering the magnificent harbor at Kingstown, and the loyalty of the reception of the Queen on landing, made a deep impression. The Times said:—

"It was a sight never to be forgotten,—a sound to be recollected forever. Ladies threw aside the old formula of waving a white pocket-handkerchief, and cheered for their lives, while the men, pressing in so closely as to throng the very edges of the pavilion, waved whatever came first to hand,—hat, stick, wand, or coat,—and rent the air with shouts of joy which never ceased in energy till their Sovereign was out of sight. … The Royal children were objects of a universal attention and admiration. 'Oh, Queen, dear!' screamed a stout old lady, 'make one of them Prince Patrick, and all Ireland will die for you.'"

Almost every one has a sovereign remedy for Irish disaffection; but few are so easy of application as this. The Queen adopted the old lady's suggestion; the child born next after the Irish visit, on the Duke of Wellington's birthday, May 1st, 1850, was named Arthur after that great Irishman, and Patrick after Ireland's patron saint; the Irish associations of his name were kept up by his taking the title of Duke of Connaught when he reached man's estate.

Between the birth of her second and third sons, the Queen had had two more daughters, the Princesses Helena and Louise (now Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Marchioness of Lorne), born respectively on May 25th, 1846, and March 18th, 1848. The name selected for the elder of these two new daughters had a double significance. She was named Helena, not only after her godmother, the Duchess of Orleans, but also to remind English people of what they sometimes forget, that the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, through whom the Roman Empire was brought over to Christianity, was a British princess, daughter of Coel, King of Camalodaum (now Colchester). Prior to the birth of Princess Louise, the Queen had gone through a time of very