ckmar, shortly after, expressing his belief that the Prince
had been a general favourite. To the Duchess of Kent he wrote that "the
task was no easy one for them but they discharged it without
embarrassment and with natural simplicity." From this it is evident that
the shyness spoken of by Lady Lyttelton had largely passed away from the
manner of the Prince. During this year the latter--now fourteen years
old--took an incognito walking tour through the west of England
accompanied by Mr. Gibbs and Colonel Cavendish. The next two or three
years were spent in a happy life of mixed pursuits in England and
Scotland, or in travel abroad, alternating, according to the place and
season, between fishing and shooting, ponies and picnics, deer-stalking
and juvenile dances, studies, tours and occasional functions. Many
pictures of the Royal family in these days of childhood and youth have
been preserved from the brushes of Winterhalter, Richmond, Landseer,
Saul and others.

LATER EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE

Not the least important of the educative influences of this period were
the tours undertaken by the young Prince. In the autumn of 1856,
accompanied by those who could best instruct him in the matters
witnessed, he visited the great seats of industry in Provincial England
including mills, ironworks, coal mines and engineering centres. In April
1857 he enjoyed a tour through the beautiful Lake region and especially
appreciated the hill-climbing in Cumberland. During June he accompanied
the Queen on a state visit to Manchester and witnessed the first
distribution of the Victoria Cross medals in Hyde Park, London. In July
the Prince left England for Konigswinter with a short European tour in
view for "purposes of study," as the Prince Consort put it in a private
letter. With him were General Grey, Colonel (afterwards Sir Henry)
Ponsonby, his tutors and Dr. Armstrong. During the tour several young
men joined him as companions--the late Mr. W. H. Gladstone; Mr. Charles
Wood, now Lord Halifax; Mr. Frederick Stanley, now Earl of Derby and
Governor-General of Canada; and the present Earl Cadogan, Viceroy of
Ireland. The Prince on this occasion went up the Rhine and through
Germany and Switzerland. Upon his return, in October, he attended
lectures on science by Dr. Faraday while continuing his regular studies.
Early in the succeeding year he attended the marriage of his sister, the
Princess Royal, to the Prussian Prince who afterwards be