[Illustration: THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES AND THEIR FAMILY. (_From a Photograph by Messrs. Russell & Sons, London._)] THE LIFE AND TIMES OF QUEEN VICTORIA. BY ROBERT WILSON. Illustrated. VOL. IV. [Illustration] CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: _LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE_. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVI. THE ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES. PAGE Effect of Prussian Victories on English Opinion--Sudden Changes of Popular Impulse--Demand for Army Reform--Opposition to the Princess Louise’s Dowry--Opening of Parliament--The Army Bill--Abolition of Purchase--Opposition of the Tory Party--Mr. Disraeli Throws Over his Followers--Obstructing the Purchase Bill--Mr. Cardwell’s Threat--Obstruction in the House of Lords--A Bold Use of the Queen’s Prerogative--The Wrath of the Peers--They Pass a Vote of Censure on the Government--The Ballot Bill--The Peers Reject the Ballot Bill--The University Tests Bill--The Trades Union Bill--Its Defects--The Case of Purchon _v._ Hartley--The Licensing Bill and its Effect on Parties--Local Government Reform--Mr. Lowe’s Disastrous Budget--The Match Tax--_Ex luce lucellum_--Withdrawal of the Budget--The Washington Treaty and the Queen--Lord Granville’s Feeble Foreign Policy--His Failure to Mediate between France and Germany--Bismarck’s Contemptuous Treatment of English Despatches--_Væ Victis!_--The German Terms of Peace--Asking too Much and Taking too Little--Mr. Gladstone’s Embarrassments--Decaying Popularity of the Government--The Collier Affair--Effect of the Commune on English Opinion--Court Life in 1871--Marriage of the Princess Louise--The Queen Opens the Albert Hall--The Queen at St. Thomas’s Hospital--Prince Arthur’s Income--Public Protests and Irritating Discussions--The Queen’s Illness--Sudden Illness of the Prince of Wales--Growing Anxiety of the People--Alarming Prospects of a Regency--Between Life and Death--Panic in the Money Market--Hopeful Bulletins--Convalescence of the Prince--Public Sympathy with the Queen--Her Majesty’s Letter to the People 385 CHAPTER XVII. THE “ALABAMA” CLAIMS.