mond. As future Governor I have as yet been able to
think of no one as likely to suit, except Colonel Bruce, Lord Elgin's
brother, and his military secretary in Canada, who now commands one of
the battalions of Grenadier Guards. He has all the amiability of his
sister (Lady Augusta Bruce, afterwards Lady Augusta Stanley), with great
mildness of expression, and is full of ability."

Fortunately for the Prince, the wish to obtain the services of Colonel
Bruce was successful. On the 9th of November, 1858, writing from Windsor
Castle to the King of Prussia on political affairs, which in Prussia
were then in troubled condition, the Prince adds: "I ought not to tease
you just now with family trifles, still I will let you know that Bertie,
who to-day solemnizes his eighteenth birthday, proposes to pay a
fortnight's visit to his sister, and asks leave to present himself to
you. It will not be a State, but purely a family visit; and we,
therefore, beg you only to show him such slender courtesies as are
suitable to a member, and a very young one, of the family. To-day he
becomes a Colonel in the Army, unattached, and will receive the Garter.
Colonel Bruce, Lord Elgin's brother, has become his Governor."

The Prince speaks of family events as trifles, compared with great
political affairs, but he felt deeply every change in the home life. A
few weeks earlier, he had taken his son, Alfred, to his ship at
Spithead, from which he went to sea at once. On the day before, the
father wrote, "His departure will be another great trial to us: the
second child lost to our family circle in one year."

On the 10th of January, 1859, the Prince of Wales started on his Italian
tour. He had previously been hard at study. He had opportunities of
seeing much that was interesting in his continental journey, but the
stay at Rome, which was greatly enjoyed, had to be abruptly ended. The
restless ambition of the Emperor of the French had brought about war
with Austria, and a French descent on Sardinia. Orders were sent to the
Prince of Wales to leave Rome and repair to Gibraltar, which he reached
on the 7th of May. The plan now arranged was that he was to visit the
south of Spain and Lisbon, to return to England in the middle of June,
and in July and August to take up his head-quarters in Edinburgh for
study.

All this was well carried out, and on the 11th of September the Prince
joined his parents at Balmoral. The Court had left Osborne on the 29th