ness
with the gentleness of a woman, and which she leaned upon in hours
of difficulty with complete trust in the strength and trueness of
his wise intellect. There was no decrease on either side in those
feelings and utterances of feeling which are so beautiful when they
carry into after years the warmth of the first attachment, only
hallowed and deepened by experience.

[Illustration: Windsor Castle.]

There were many fresh features in the kind of life which was
introduced by the queen and the consort into the habits of the
court. Among these none were more marked than the breaking up of
that monotony which the restrictions that hitherto prevailed as to
the residence of the royal family in one or two state palaces
entailed. We can well understand how the Empress Eugenie should have
found the Tuileries, in spite of its grandeur, no better than "_une
belle prison_," and her delight at the comparative freedom she
enjoyed at Windsor. The queen and Prince Consort inaugurated a new
era in the customs of the court by taking advantage of the
facilities afforded by modern methods of conveyance. Scarcely any
part of the country celebrated for scenery, or any town famous for
its industries, remained unvisited by them.

The beneficial effects of these journeys were great. Loyalty is to a
large extent a personal matter, and is necessarily deepened when the
representative of the state not only possesses moral dignity of
character but comes frequently into contact with the people. It is
also of use to the crown that its wearer should know, from actual
observation, the conditions of life in the country. It is in the
light of this mutual action of acquaintance between prince and
people that we estimate the value of that knowledge which the Prince
of Wales, his brothers, and his sons have gained of so many parts of
the empire. The Prince Consort felt keenly the use of these
influences. "How important and beneficent," he once said, "is the
part given to the royal family of England to act in the development
of those distant and rising countries, who recognize in the British
crown and their allegiance to it, their supreme bond of union with
the mother country and to each other!"

During each year of their married life the queen and Prince Consort
went on some interesting tour. In England, Oxford and Cambridge,
Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, received royal visits,
while such historical houses as Chatsworth, Hatfield, Stowe,