One of the most important movements this year was towards the establishment of schools for the poorer classes. Prince Albert took a lively interest in this matter; for it had astonished and pained him to find that more than half of the children between the ages of three and fifteen, in England and Wales, could neither read nor write, and the remainder had only two years of school life. He made a speech urging the necessity of compulsory education, and declared that parents must be made to see that to secure education for their children was "not only their most sacred duty, but also their highest privilege." The title of Prince Consort was conferred by the queen on her husband this year; she also distributed "the Victoria Cross," for the first time. This ceremony took place at Hyde Park, and was intended as a reward for bravery in the army and navy. These decorations had been manufactured by the queen's order, and had inscribed on one side, "For Valor." They were given only to men who had served in the presence of the enemy, and had performed some signal act of bravery or devotion to their country. The list of such names had been made out with great care, and her majesty resolved to establish the order {431}by decorating the heroes with her own hand. More than a hundred thousand people assembled to witness the ceremony, and a vast semi-circle of seats had been erected to hold about twelve thousand. Four thousand soldiers were drawn up in a line, and between these and the royal pavilion were the sixty-two brave fellows who were to be decorated. At ten o'clock her majesty rode into the park mounted on a gray horse, and dressed in a scarlet jacket, with a black skirt. She was accompanied by the prince, Prince Frederick William of Prussia, and a brilliant suite. The heroes were brought forward one by one, and her majesty pinned the cross to the breast of each without leaving her seat in the saddle. The prince saluted each man with profound respect as he withdrew. It was a splendid spectacle, and the enthusiasm of the multitude was very great. Towards the end of June, news of the most alarming nature came from India. It was that the native regiments had mutinied, and massacred in cold blood the English officers, their wives, and children. An order was immediately issued for twelve regiments of a thousand each, and four thousand five hundred recruits, to be added to the army already in India. Although these reinforcements were to be sent, some doubt existed as to whether the trouble was really so serious as was at first represented. Before many days the government learned by telegraph that the mutiny was almost universal in Bengal, and that thirty thousand men had deserted from the army. Delhi was in possession of the mutineers, who had been driven into the city with considerable loss. They still continued to make a desperate resistance, and the city was to be assaulted immediately.