The Princess Royal, now the Empress Frederick of Germany, was born at Buckingham Palace on November 21st, 1840. Prince Albert was then having a course of reading in English law with Mr. Selwyn; the tutor arrived on November 23d to continue his instructions. The Prince said: “I fear I cannot read any law to-day.... But you will like to see the little Princess.” He took the lawyer into the nursery, and, taking the little hand of the infant in his own, said, “The next time we read it must be on the rights and duties of a Princess Royal.” The Queen made an excellent recovery; then, as always, the Prince was her tender guardian and nurse. No one but himself ever lifted her from her bed to the sofa, and he always helped to wheel her on her bed or sofa to the next room. However occupied he was, “he ever came,” writes the Queen, “with a sweet smile on his face.” In short, his care of her was like that of a mother, nor could there be a kinder, wiser, or more judicious nurse. At Christmas this year, Prince Albert naturalized the German custom of Christmas-trees in England; there is probably hardly a child in England who has not appreciated their introduction. It may be imagined that Stockmar had plenty of good advice to give the young parents. One of his wise saws was, “A man’s education begins with the first day of his life.” He undertook in the early years of the Queen’s marriage the organization of the nursery department. In one of his letters he says: “The nursery gives me more trouble than the government of a kingdom would do.” The Princess Royal was always the child nearest his heart. He had an immensely high opinion of her abilities. “I hold her,” he said, “to be exceptionally gifted, even to the point of genius.” Curiously enough, Melbourne was also consulted (1842) by the Queen and Prince upon the organization of the nursery, and the choice of a lady to preside over it. The Princess showed almost from the day of her birth a very remarkable degree of intelligence. Numerous anecdotes are given of her cleverness and droll sayings as a little girl. The refrain of most of the stories about the Royal children is the Princess Royal’s intelligence, and the merry, happy, affectionate disposition of the Prince of Wales. The little Princess was christened on the anniversary of her parents’ marriage, February 10, 1841, and received the names of Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa. Two days after this, the Prince had a narrow escape of a painful death, for, in skating on the lake in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, he broke through the ice into deep water. Fortunately the Queen, who was on the bank, did not lose her presence of mind, but did the right thing for affording the Prince the immediate assistance necessary.