your Majesty's North American dominions. Should it be the intention of His Royal Highness to extend his visit to the United States, I need not say how happy I should be to give him a cordial welcome to Washington.

You may be well assured that everywhere in this country he will be greeted by the American people in such manner as cannot fail to prove gratifying to your Majesty. In this they will manifest their deep sense of your domestic virtues, as well as their convictions of your merits as a wise, patriotic, and constitutional sovereign.

Your Majesty's most obedient servant,
JAMES BUCHANAN."

In reply to the foregoing highly courteous letter, dated at Washington, June 4, 1860, Queen Victoria dispatched the following most happily worded response, dated at Buckingham Palace, June 22d: "MY GOOD FRIEND:

I have been much gratified at the feelings which prompted you to write to me, inviting the Prince of Wales to come to Washington. He intends to return from Canada through the United States, and it will give him great pleasure to have an opportunity of testifying to you in person that these feelings are fully reciprocated by him. He will thus be able, at the same time, to mark the respect which he entertains for the Chief Magistrate of a great and powerful state and kindred nation.

The Prince of Wales will drop all royal state on leaving my dominions, and travel under the name of Lord Renfrew, as he has done when traveling on the continent of Europe.

The Prince Consort wishes to be kindly remembered to you.

I remain ever, your good friend,

VICTORIA R."

It was on the 23d of July, 1860, that the prince arrived at St. Johns, N. F., and, after journeying for some weeks in the various British Provinces, where he was received with the most distinguished and enthusiastic attentions, he finally en

tered American waters, between Windsor, Canada, and Detroit, Mich. When the boat reached the center of the stream, the Mayor of Detroit stepped forward and said: "Baron Renfrew, we welcome you to the United States, trusting that your visit may be a happy one-that you may long remember it with pleasure and satisfaction." At least fifty thousand persons were present, and when the band struck up The Star Spangled Banner, the cheering and enthusiasm were tremendous.

After witnessing a magnificent illumination in his honor, the next morning he departed for Chicago. He was attended, as usual, by his somewhat numerous suite, the Duke of Newcastle being chief, A magnificent open barouche, drawn by four superb white horses, had been provided to convey him from the hotel. The party seated themselves in the barouche, when the immense crowd gathered around, and blocked up the avenues so thickly as to make it next to impossible to proceed. Cheer after cheer was given for the baron, and the wildest enthusiasm prevailed. The carriage was followed by prodigious throngs on foot, many hanging to the wheels, while the streets and sidewalks on the route were so obstructed by people, that the royal party were intercepted at every turn. Arriving at Chicago, a vast assembly greeted him. Baron Renfrew rode along a line of excited people,-who were kept from him by ropes,-bowing, with hat off, amidst repeated cheers. As he passed, a rush was finally made, and, in spite of every effort of the policemen, the crowd surged in like the sea. riving, at last, at the hotel, five thousand windows, in almost perfect silence and persons were there found gazing at the order, waiting to see the prince's shadow even. Here, the most splendid honors and hospitalities were heaped upon him, exceeding anything of the kind ever before known in that young and powerful city of the west.

Ar

Leaving Chicago in a special train for Dwight's Station-from which place the prince was to start on a hunting excursion,

-he arrived there at dark, on Saturday evening. The next day, the prince attended divine service at the Presbyterian church. In the afternoon, a courier arrived with dispatches from the queen, and the party spent the rest of the day in reading their letters and answering them. On Monday they shot prairie chickens; on Tuesday, they went in pursuit of quail, and were very successful, the prince, who enjoyed the sport highly, bagging over a hundred birds. His host, Mr. Spencer, an experienced hunter, pronounced the prince an excellent sportsman, handling a gun finely. The whole party dressed roughly, and walked about the village smoking pipes in the most free-and-easy style. A couple of Irishmen called to see the prince, who welcomed and shook hands with them. Before leaving this place, he expressed his regret that he could not make his stay longer, and presented his hosts with several beautiful gifts, among which was a Manton gun, etc.

From this place he went to St. Louis, and thence to Cincinnati. When he landed at the former place, loud cheers greeted him, and the crowd surrounded his carriage to such an extent, that he was obliged to close the windows of the vehicle; the carriages of the suite were also driven in opposite directions, to divide the throng. At the agricultural fair at St. Louis, the royal party passed twice around the arena, and then alighted in the center. After this, they ascended to the second. story of the pagoda, where the band struck

up God Save the Queen. This was followed by Hail Columbia and Yankee Doodle.

At Cincinnati, the prince attended a ball given at the opera-house, Saturday evening, and the next day attended worship at St. John's church, and heard a sermon from Bishop McIlvaine. In the evening he dined with the mayor and other citizens. From Cincinnati the prince went to Pittsburg; dined at Altona; and arrived at Harrisburg late in the evening of October 2d, where he was received by Governor Packer, in the following unique and off-hand address of welcome:

"Lord Renfrew,-It affords me infinite pleasure to welcome your lordship to the capital of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one of the old thirteen colonies that originally acknowledged allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, and, notwithstanding that allegiance has been severed, your lordship will perceive, by a glance at that long line of colonial and state governors (pointing to the portraits which adorn the executive chambers), that we still have a very, very great veneration and regard for our ancient rulers. That line of portraits is almost a perfect type of our American families. We cannot follow our ancestry more than a few generations back, without tracing the line to a British red-coat."

On the third of October, he left Harrisburg, early in the morning, for Baltimore and Washington. On his way, in descending the mountain, the prince and his friends rode upon the locomotive, so as to

ing him to be an interloper, stopped him, and would not allow him to pass. In vain the prince struggled and kicked. The superintendent kept fast hold of the "intruder," until Mayor Henry rushed up and relieved His Royal Highness from this international embrace. The superintendent bowed low, and begged pardon, but, with the natural tendency to self-defense, asked, "Why didn't he just speak?" "Oh," said the prince, running ahead, "that would have spoiled the joke."

Some time before the prince arrived in Philadelphia, the ladies swarmed in large numbers to the Continental, to inspect the prince's splendid apartments, to sit where he was to sit, etc. They were escorted in and out of the rooms in parties of three and four, and seemed to feel easier after the visit. After his arrival, hundreds of people stood around the hotel all day. Some, indeed, mostly ladies, who had fought or bribed their way up stairs, hung around the door of his apartments, and touched him curiously as he slipped past.

The principal receptions of the prince, after his departure from Philadelphia, were at New York, West Point, and Boston; but no account of these receptions, short of an elaborate volume, would be equal to their variety, extent, and magnificence, and consequently only a few incidents can be here narrated.

While at New York, he attended worship at Trinity church, three front pews in the center aisle being reserved for the prince and suite. In one of them, and immediately in front of the prince's seat, two magnificent prayer-books were deposited, the one a small octavo size, the other a half-quarto. They were both got up in the most perfect style of typographical art, and the skill of the binder had exhausted itself on the exterior decorations. The large one was bound in bright red morocco, and was fastened by a golden clasp, chastely embellished with filigree work, and finely worked with the Prince of Wales's plume and his motto "Ich Dien," ("I serve.") The clasp alone cost two The clasp alone cost two hundred and fifty dollars. On its outer

cover, the book bore this inscription: "To His Royal Highness, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, from the Corporation of Trinity Church, New York, in Memory of the Munificence of the Crown of England."

At the Academy of Music, October 12th, there was given the greatest ball, in honor of the prince, ever known in this country. Over three thousand persons were present

the crême de la crême of New York society. The ball-room comprised the parquette of the academy, and embraced the stage. It was one hundred and thirty-five feet in length by sixty-eight feet in breadth. The end toward the stage was arranged in a semi-circular form, while toward the other end were placed three superb couches. The central one was for the prince, while those on either side were for his suite. The decorations were floral throughout the ball-room. The scene was magnificent. There was a sea of heads in a sea of colors -the light flashing back from the gayest and richest of dresses, from pearly white shoulders and brilliant complexions, and from jewels iris-hued and rivaling the stars in brightness. The full-dress black coats absorbed the superfluous light, and softened the blaze of the thousand lamps. rich military uniforms, ornamented with golden lace and epaulettes, relieved the uniformity of the gentlemen's toilets.

The

While the royal party were observing the throng and the decorations of the room, a sudden rustle and movement of the crowd backward indicated that some accident was about to happen, and, in a moment after, one of the flower vases upon the front tier fell with a great crash to the floor, scattering its roses upon all who stood near.

The supper-room was especially erected for the occasion, and its length was one hundred and forty-four feet, by twentyeight feet breadth. The entire vast apartment was draped in alternate strips of pink and white muslin, with twenty-four splendid mirrors intervening; magnificent chandeliers, suspended from the roof, contributed to the brilliancy of the display.