Following the return of the two Princes from their cruise, Prince Albert Victor was taken by his father to Cambridge, in 1883, and duly installed as an undergraduate of Trinity College. There he read regularly for six or seven hours a day, made himself thoroughly familiar with French and German, and associated himself in a most marked way with the men of intellect and character who were around him--nearly all his companions afterwards becoming distinguished in one way or another. Always modest and retiring he liked to entertain very quietly and to enjoy any possible musical occasion which presented itself. Hockey, polo and a little riding were his outdoor amusements. He came of age in 1885, the University conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D., and, during the next few years, he worked as an officer in the Army. It was on the attainment of his majority that Prince Albert Victor received a most interesting letter, under date of January 7th, from Mr. Gladstone. In it the veteran statesman said to the prospective Sovereign: "There lies before Your Royal Highness in prospect the occupation--I trust at a distant date--of a throne which, to me at least, appears the most illustrious in the world, from its history and associations, from its legal basis, from the weight of the cares it brings, from the loyal love of the people, and from the unparalleled opportunities it gives, in so many ways and so many regions, of doing good to the almost countless numbers whom the Almighty has placed beneath the sceptre of England." He went on to express the earnest hope that His Royal Highness might ever grow in the principles and qualities which should adorn his great vocation.