Eight days later the Prince presided at the annual banquet of the Governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital--after visiting and inspecting the wards. During the same day His Royal Highness attended a great state function in the laying of the foundation of St. Thomas' Hospital by the Queen in person. The last important matter in which the Prince took part before leaving for his second Eastern tour was the laying of the foundation stone of new buildings for Glasgow University on October 8th. They cost over two millions of dollars and in the stately proceedings accompanying this event, the Princess of Wales was able to participate. From November 1868 to May 1869 the Royal couple were in the distant East, but, on the Queen's birthday in the latter year, the Prince of Wales was able to be present at the anniversary banquet of the Royal Geographical Society and to receive congratulations on having been instrumental in effecting the appointment of his late travelling companion, Sir Samuel Baker, to the government of the Soudan region in Africa, under the control of the Egyptian Government and with the object of suppressing the slave trade. His Royal Highness warmly eulogized Sir S. Baker--who had also just received the Society's medal for the year--and the events of the evening were considered to have made the occasion memorable. Prince Hassan of Egypt was present and amongst the speakers were Sir Roderick Murchison, Admiral Sir George Back, Professor Owen, the Duke of Sutherland, Dr. W. H. Russell, Sir Francis Grant P.R.A., and Sir Henry Rawlinson. The next two or three years saw the Prince participating in many public and more or less important events. Accompanied by the Princess of Wales he laid the foundation of new buildings in connection with the Earlswood Asylum, in Surrey, on June 28, 1869. An incident of this event was not only the usual gift of a hundred guineas by the Prince but a procession of ladies who passed up to the dais in single file and deposited upwards of four hundred purses, which they had collected for the Charity, under the influence of Royal patronage and encouragement. On July 7th Their Royal Highnesses visited Lynn, inaugurated the new Alexandra Dock, and took part in several local events. A state visit to Manchester followed, on July 29th, and the Prince opened the annual exhibition of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, of which he was President, and was given a warm welcome in and around the city. On the succeeding day he inaugurated a new dock at Hull.