tr be 5peetator
June 16, 1866
The Prince of Wales made a rather skilful little speech in laying the foundation-stone for the Bible Society on Monday last. He said that he had an hereditary interest in that society, since Luther's translation of the Bible was executed under the protection of the Elector of Saxony, 'the collateral ancestor' of the late Prince Consort, while the present authorized version was introduced "with the sanction of the Royal predecessor of my mother," to wit, Queen Elizabeth. Some ill-natured reporter wrote 'ancestor,' instead of 'predecessor," and the Prince has been a good deal quizzed for tracing his ancestry to a maiden queen. But the Times reported it 'predecessor.' and even if he said 'ancestor,' since in the previous sentence he had spoken of a 'collateral ancestor' of his father, there is no reason why he should not have meant a collateral ancestress of his mother, which a 'Maiden queen is entitled, we suppose, to be. It is rather too bad to pick holes in much the best little speech the Prince of Wales has yet made.
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