“Whatever Mr. Chamberlain’s views may be, his speeches of yesterday appear to us to have been admirably worthy of the occasion, and to have done the highest credit to himself. We have heard and chronicled a great many mayors’ speeches, but we do not know that we ever heard or chronicled speeches made before Royal personages by mayors, whether they were Tories or Whigs, or Liberals or Radicals, which were couched in such a tone at once of courteous homage, manly independence, and gentlemanly feeling, which were so perfectly becoming and so much the right thing in every way as those of Mr. Chamberlain.” On the same day that this appeared in the leading journal, Sir Francis Knollys wrote to Mr. Chamberlain a most cordial letter, in which he said:-- “I have received the commands of the Prince and Princess of Wales to make known through you to the inhabitants of the borough of Birmingham the satisfaction they derived from their visit to that town yesterday. They can never forget the reception they met with, nor the welcome given to them by all classes of the community.… I may further congratulate you and the other members of the reception committee on the happy result of their labours. Nothing could have been more successful, and their Royal Highnesses will ever entertain most agreeable recollections of their visit to Birmingham.” In conclusion, Mr. Chamberlain was informed that the King wished to give £100 to a Birmingham charity, and was asked to state which he considered to be the most deserving, and at the same time the most in need of support. The festivities of the following Christmas were overshadowed by the death at Sandringham from inflammation of the lungs of Colonel Grey, who had been for some time a valued member of the Household. It was with reference to this sad loss that Princess Alice wrote to Queen Victoria:--“Dear Bertie’s true and constant heart suffers on such occasions, for he can be constant in friendship, and all who serve him, serve him with warm attachment.” In 1875 the death of Canon Kingsley came as a great blow to their Majesties, who were both fondly attached to the famous writer. CHAPTER XII THE KING’S TOUR IN INDIA [Illustration: THE KING’S INDIAN TOUR, 1875] Lord Canning, the great Viceroy of India, once told the Prince Consort how desirable he thought it that the Prince of Wales should, when grown up, visit Queen Victoria’s Eastern Empire, and later on, those who had the privilege of the young Prince’s friendship were well aware that an Indian tour had become one of his most ardent wishes.