The Royal And Diamond Jubilees Of Queen Victoria
In the year 1887 came a great occasion in the life of England's queen,
that of the fiftieth anniversary of her reign, a year of holiday and
festivity that extended to all quarters of the world, for the broad
girdle of British dominion had during her reign extended to embrace the
globe. India led the way, the rejoicing over the royal jubilee of its
empress extending throughout its vast area, from the snowy passes of the
south. Other colonies joined in the festivities, the loyal Canadians
vieing with the free-hearted Australians, the semi-bronzed Africanders
and the planters of the West Indies, in the celebration of the joyous
anniversary year.
In the history of England there have been only four such jubilees, the
earlier ones being those of Henry III., Edward III., and George III. It
is a curious coincidence that of these three sovereigns preceding
Victoria whose reigns extended over fifty years, each of them was the
third of his name. Victoria broke the rule in this as well as in the
breadth and splendor of the jubilee display and rejoicings. To show this
a few lines must be devoted to these earlier occasions.
The reign of Henry III. was memorable as being that in which trial by
jury was introduced and the first real English Parliament, that summoned
by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, was held. It was this that
gives eclat to the jubilee year, 1265, for it was in that year that the
first Parliament convened. Yet sorrow rather than rejoicing marked the
year, for the horrors of civil war rent the land and the bloody battle
of Evesham saddened all loyal souls.
The jubilee of Edward III. came in 1376, when that monarch entered the
fiftieth year of his reign. This was a year fitted for rejoicing, for
the age was one of glory and prosperity. The horrors of the "black
death," which had swept the land some twenty years before, were
forgotten and men were in a happy mood. We read of tournaments,
processions, feasts and pageantry in which all the people participated.
Yet sorrow came before the year ended, for the death of the "Black
Prince," the most brilliant hero of chivalry, was sorely mourned by his
father, the king, and by the subjects of the realm, while the rising
clouds of civil war threw a gloom on the end of the jubilee year, as
they had on that of Henry.
More than four centuries elapsed before another jubilee year arrived,
that of George III., the fiftieth year of whose reign came in 1810. It
was a year of festivities that spread widely over the land, the people
entering into it with all the Anglo-Saxon love of holiday. In addition
to the grand state banquets, splendid balls, showy reviews and general
illuminations, there were open-air feasts free to all, at which bullocks
were roasted whole, while army and navy deserters were pardoned,
prisoners of war set free, and a great subscription was made for the
release from prison of poor debtors.
Yet there was little in the character of the king or the state of the
country to justify these festivities. England was then in the throes of
its struggle with Napoleon; the king had lost his reason, the Prince of
Wales acting as regent; the only reason for rejoicing was that the
inglorious career of George III. seemed nearing its end. Yet he survived
for ten years more, not dying until 1820, and surpassing all
predecessors in the length of his reign.
When, in the year 1887, Queen Victoria reached the fiftieth year of her
reign, there were none of these causes for sorrow in her realm. England
was in the height of prosperity, free from the results of blighting
pestilence, disastrous wars, desolating famine, or any of the horrors
that steep great nations in heart-breaking sorrow. The empire was
immense in extent, prosperous in all its parts, and the queen was
beloved throughout her wide dominions as no monarch of England had ever
been before. Thus it was a year in which the people could rejoice
without a shadow to darken their joy and with warm love for their queen
to make their hilarity a real instead of a simulated one.
It was in far-off India, of which Victoria had been proclaimed empress
ten years before, that the first note of rejoicing was heard. The 16th
of February was selected as the date of the imperial festival, which was
celebrated all over the land, even in Mandalay, the capital of the
newly-conquered state of Upper Burmah. Europeans and natives alike took
part in the ceremonies and rejoicings, which embraced banquets, plays,
reviews, illuminations, the distribution of honors, the opening in honor
of the empress of libraries, colleges and hospitals, and at Gwalior the
cancelling of the arrears of the land-tax amounting to five million
dollars.
The fiftieth year of the queen's reign would be completed on the 20th of
June, but in the preceding months of the year many preliminary
ceremonies took place in England. Among these was a splendid reception
of the queen at Birmingham, which city she visited on the 23d of March.
The streets were richly decorated with flags, festoons, triumphal
arches, banks of flowers, and trophies illustrating the industries of
that metropolis of manufacture, while the streets were thronged with
half a million of rejoicing people. A striking feature of the occasion
was a semi-circle of fifteen thousand school-children, a mile long, the
teachers standing behind each school-group, and a continuous strain of
"God Save the Queen" hailing the royal progress along the line.
On the 4th of May the queen received at Windsor Castle the
representatives of the colonial governments, whose addresses showed that
during her reign the colonial subjects of the empire had increased from
less than 2,000,000 to more than 9,000,000 souls, the Indian subjects
from 96,000,000 to 254,000,000, and those of minor dependencies from
2,000,000 to 7,000,000.
There were various other incidents connected with the Jubilee during
May, one being a visit of the queen to the American "Wild West Show,"
and another the opening of the "People's Palace" at Whitechapel, in
which fifteen thousand troops were ranged along seven miles of
splendidly decorated streets, while the testimony of the people to their
affection for their queen was as enthusiastic as it had been at
Birmingham. Day after day other ceremonial occasions arrived, including
banquets, balls, assemblies and public festivities of many kinds, from
the feeding of four thousand of the poor at Glasgow to a yacht race
around the British Islands.
The great Jubilee celebration, however, was reserved for the 21st of
June, the chief streets of London being given over to a host of
decorators, who transformed them into a glowing bower of beauty. The
route set aside for the imposing procession was one long array of
brilliant color and shifting brightness almost impossible to describe
and surpassing all former festive demonstrations.
The line of the royal procession extended from Buckingham Palace to
Westminster Abbey, along which route windows and seats had been secured
at fabulous prices, while the throng of sightseers that densely crowded
the streets was in the best of good humor.
As the procession moved slowly along from Buckingham Palace a strange
silence fell upon the gossipping crowd as they awaited the coming of the
aged queen, on her way to the old Abbey to celebrate in state the
fiftieth year of her reign. When the head of the procession moved onward
and the royal carriages came within sight, the awed feeling that had
prevailed was followed by one of tumultuous enthusiasm, volley after
volley of cheers rending the air as the carriage bearing the royal lady
passed between the two dense lines of loyal spectators.
With a face tremulous with emotion the queen bowed from side to side in
grateful courtesy to her acclaiming subjects, as did her companions, the
Princess of Wales and the German Crown Princess, who had returned to her
native land to take part in its holiday of patriotism.
Six cream-colored horses drew the stately carriage in which the royal
party rode, the Duke of Cambridge and an escort accompanying it, while a
body-guard of princes followed, the Prince of Wales being mounted on a
golden chestnut horse and sharing with his mother the cheers of the
throng. Preceding this escort and the queen's carriage was a series of
carriages in which were seated the sumptuously appareled Indian princes,
clothed in cloth of gold and wearing turbans glittering with diamonds
and other precious gems. Prominent in the group of mounted princes was
the German Crown Prince Frederick, who succeeded to the throne as
Emperor Frederick III. in the following March and died in the following
June, in less than a year from his appearance in the Jubilee. But there
was no presage of his quick-coming death in his present appearance, his
white uniform and plumed silver helmet attracting general admiration,
while he sat his horse as proudly as a knight of old and was covered
with medals and decorations significant of his prowess in battle. A
gorgeous cavalcade of natives of India completed the procession, than
which none of greater brilliance had ever been seen in London streets.
In the Abbey were gathered from nine to ten thousand spectators, of the
noblest families of the land, and dressed in their most effective
attire, while the lights brought out the glitter of thousands of
gleaming gems. The queen herself, while dressed in rich black, wore a
bonnet of white Spanish lace that glittered with diamonds.
As she entered the Abbey the organ pealed forth the strains of a
triumphal march. There followed a Jubilee Thanksgiving Service, brief
and simple, and special prayers by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As a
finale to the impressive scene the queen, moved to deep emotion,
embraced with warm affection the princes and princesses of her house,
and, with a deep bow to her foreign guests, withdrew from the scene, to
return to the palace over the same route and through similar
demonstrations of enthusiastic loyalty.
All over England and Ireland and in the colonies the day was celebrated
by joyous celebrations, and in foreign lands, especially in the United
States, the British residents fittingly honored the festive occasion.
On the following day, in Hyde Park, London, the queen drove in state
down a long and happy line of twenty-seven thousand school-children, who
had been made happy by a banquet and various amusements, besides being
given a multitude of toys. The special feature of the occasion was the
presentation by the queen of a specially manufactured jubilee-ring,
which she gave with a kind speech to a very happy twelve-year-old girl
who had attended school for several years without missing a session.
There was also a review of fifty-six thousand volunteers at Aldershot, a
grand review of one hundred and thirty-five warships at Spithead, and
other ceremonies, one of the chief of which was the laying by the queen,
on the 4th of July, of the foundation stone of the Imperial Institute in
the Albert Hall, this Institute being intended to stand as a sign of the
essential unity of the British Empire.
The well-loved queen of the British nation was to live to celebrate in
health and strength another jubilee year, that of the sixtieth
anniversary of her reign, a distinction in which she stands alone in
the history of the island kingdom. George III., who came nearest, died a
few months before the completion of his sixty years' period. Had he
lived to fulfil it there would have been no celebration, for he had
become a broken wreck, blind and hopelessly insane, a man who lived
despised and died unmourned.
But Victoria, though nearly eighty years of age, had still several years
to live and was fully capable of performing the duties of her position.
No monarch of England had reigned so long, none had enjoyed to so great
an extent the love and respect of the people, in no previous reign had
there been an equal progress in all that conduces to happiness and
prosperity, in none had the dominion of the throne of Great Britain so
widely extended, and it was felt for many reasons desirable to make the
Diamond Jubilee, as it was termed, the occasion for the most magnificent
demonstration that either England or the world had ever yet seen.
In all its features the observance lasted a month. It was not confined
to the British Isles, but extended to the dominions of the queen
throughout the world, in all of which some form of festive celebration
took place. But the chief and great event of the occasion was the
unrivalled procession in London on the 22d of June, 1897, an affair in
which all the world took part, not only representatives of the
wide-sweeping possessions of the British crown, but dignitaries from
most of the other nations of the world being present to add grandeur
and completeness to the splendid display.
To describe it in full would need far more space than we have at
command, and we must confine ourselves to its salient features. It began
at midnight of the 21st, at which hour, under a clear, star-lit sky, the
streets were already thronged with people in patient waiting and the
bells of all London in tumultuous peal announced the advent of the
jubilee day, while from the vast throng ringing cheers and the singing
of "God Save the Queen" hailed the happy occasion.
When the new day dawned and the auspicious sunlight brightened the
scene, the streets devoted to the procession, more than six miles in
length, appeared one vast blaze of color and display of decorations, the
jubilee colors, red, white and blue, being everywhere seen, while the
medley of wreaths, festoons, banners, colored globes and balloons,
pennons, shields, fir and laurel evergreens, and other emblems of
festivity, were innumerable and bewildering in their variety.
The march began at 9.45, and came as a welcome relief to the vast throng
that for hours had been wearily waiting. Its first contingent was the
colonial military procession, in which representatives of the whole
world seemed present in distinctive attire. It was a moving picture of
soldiers from every continent and many of the great isles of the sea,
massed in a complex and extraordinary display.
Chief in command, following a squadron of the Royal Horse Guards, rode
Lord Roberts, the famed and popular general, who was hailed with an
uproar of shouts of "Hurrah for Bobs!" Close behind him came a troop of
the Canadian Hussars and the Northwest mounted police, escorting Sir
Wilfred Laurier, the premier of Canada. Premier Reid, of New South
Wales, followed, escorted by the New South Wales Lancers and the Mounted
Rifles, with their gray sombreros and black cocks' plumes.
In rapid succession, escorting the premiers of the several colonies,
came other contingents of troops, each wearing some distinctive uniform,
including those of Victoria, New Zealand, Queensland, Cape Colony, South
Australia, Newfoundland, Tasmania, Natal and West Australia. Then came
mounted troops from many other localities of the British empire,
reaching from Hong Kong in the East to Jamaica in the West, and fairly
girdling the globe in their wide variety.
Among the oddities of this complex multitude we may name the Zaptiehs
from Cyprus, wearing the Turkish fez and bonnet; the olive-faced Borneo
Dyaks; the Chinese police from Hong Kong, with saucepan-like hats
shading their yellow faces; the Royal Niger Hausses, with their shaved
heads and shining black skins; and other picturesquely attired examples
of the men of varied climes.
Such was the colonial parade, a marvellous display from the "far-thrown"
British realm. It was followed by the home military parade, which
formed a carnival of gorgeous costume and color; scarlet and blue, gold,
white and yellow; shining cuirasses and polished helmets, waving plumes
and glittering tassels; splendid trappings for horses and more splendid
ones for men; horse and foot and batteries of artillery; death-dealing
weapons of every kind; all marching to the stirring music of richly
accoutred bands and under treasured banners for which the men in the
ranks were ready to die.
Led by Captain Ames, the tallest man in the British army, followed by
four of the tallest troopers of the Life Guards,--a regiment of very
tall men--the soldierly procession, as it wound onward under the
propitious sun, seemed like nothing so much as some bright stream of
burnished gold flowing between dark banks of human beings.
The colonial and military parade having passed, there followed that part
of the display to which all this was preliminary, the royal procession,
in which her Majesty the Queen was once more to show her venerable form
to her assembled people. Preceding the gorgeous chariot of the queen,
with its famous eight cream-colored Hanoverian horses, appeared its
military escort, a glittering cavalcade of splendidly uniformed
officers, its chief figures being Lord Wolseley, Commander-in-chief of
the Army, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of
Connaught, the Duke of Westminster, and the Lord Lieutenant of London.
In the escort were also included foreign military and naval dignitaries,
in alphabetical order, beginning with Austria and ending with the United
States, the latter represented by General Nelson A. Miles, in full
uniform and riding a splendid horse. The whole was bewildering in its
variety. From Germany came a deputation of the First Prussian Dragoon
Guards, splendid looking soldiers, sent as a special compliment from the
Kaiser. But most brilliant of all was a group of officers of the
Imperial Service Troops of India, in the most gorgeous of uniforms.
Behind these came in two-horse landaus the special envoys from the
various American and European nations.
The escort of princes included the Marquis of Lorne, son-in-law of the
queen, the Duke of York, the Duke of Fife, and among notable foreign
princes, the Grand Duke Servius of Russia, the Crown Prince Dando of
Montenegro, and Mohammed Ali Khan, brother of the Khedive of Egypt, who
rode a pure white Arabian charger.
The hour of eleven had passed when Queen Victoria descended the steps of
the palace and entered the awaiting carriage, each of whose horses was
led by a "walking man" in the royal livery and a huntsman's black-velvet
cap, while the postilions were dressed in scarlet and gold coats, white
trousers and riding boots, each livery having cost $600.
Through miles of wildly enthusiastic people the carriage wound, the
chief feature of its progress being the formal crossing of the boundary
of ancient London at Temple Bar, where the old ceremony of the
submission of the city to the sovereign was performed, the Lord Mayor
presenting the hilt of the city sword--"Queen Elizabeth's pearl
sword,"--presented by the queen to the corporation during a ceremony in
1570. The touching of the hilt by the queen, in acceptance of
submission, completed this ceremony, and the carriage rolled on to St.
Paul's Cathedral, where a brief service was performed.
The next stop was at the Mansion House, where the Lord Mayor presented
the Lord Mayoress and the attendant maids of honor handed the queen a
beautiful silver basket filled with gorgeous orchids. The palace was
finally reached at 1.45, when a gun in Hyde Park announced that the
procession was over, and the great event had passed into history. An
outburst of cheers followed this final salute and the vast throng,
millions in number, broke and vanished, carrying to their homes vivid
memories of the most brilliant affair the great metropolis of London had
ever seen.
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All was terror in the valley of the Mohawk, for its fertile fields and happy homes were threatened with the horrors of Indian warfare. All New York State, indeed, was in danger. The hopes of American liberty were in danger. The deadliest peril th... The Siege Of Jerusalem
Christ had not long passed away from the earth when the reign of peace and brotherly love which He had so warmly inculcated ceased to exist on the soil of Judaea. Forty years after He foretold the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem that noble ed... The Siege Of Saragossa
On the banks of the Ebro, in northwestern Spain, stands the ancient city of Saragossa, formerly the capital of Aragon, and a place of fame since early Roman days. A noble bridge of seven arches, built nearly five centuries ago, crosses the stream,... The Siege Of Sianyang
In the year 1268 the army of Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis the famous conqueror, made its appearance before the stronghold of Sianyang, an important city of China on the southern bank of the Han River. On the opposite side of the stream stood the... The Siege Of Sinching
When the great dynasty of the Hans, which had held supreme rule in China for more than four hundred years, came to an end, it left that country divided up into three independent kingdoms. The emperors who had once ruled over all China found themselv... The Sports Of The Amphitheatre
In no other nation upon the earth and no other period of history has enjoyment taken so cruel and brutal a shape as in the Roman empire. The fierce people of the imperial city seemed to have a native thirst for blood and misery, which no amount of s... The Story Of Arabella Stuart
Of royal blood was the lady here named, near to the English throne. Too near, as it proved, for her own comfort and happiness, for her life was distracted by the fears of those that filled it. Her story, in consequence, became one of the romances ... The Story Of Lucretia
We have next to tell how Tarquin the Proud lost his throne, through his own tyranny and the criminal action of his son. Once upon a time, when this king was at the height of his power, he, as was usual, offered sacrifices to the gods on the altar in... The Story Of Queen Exilona
When Roderic overthrew the ancient dynasty of Spain and made himself king, he had the defences of the cities thrown down that they might not give shelter to his enemies. Only the walls of the frontier cities were left, and among these was the anci... The Story Of The Regicides
The years 1675 and 1676 were years of terrible experience for New England. The most dreadful of all the Indian outbreaks of that region--that known as King Philip's War--was raging, and hundreds of the inhabitants fell victims to the ruthless rag... The Story Of The Sainte Ampoule
Sad years were they for kings and potentates in France--now a century ago--when the cup of civilization was turned upside-down and the dregs rose to the top. For once in the history of mankind the anarchist was lord--and a frightful use he made of h... The Strange Adventures Of Sir Bors
When Sir Bors parted from his companions, on the quest of the Sangreal, not far had he gone when he met a religious man riding on an ass, whom he courteously saluted. "Who are you?" asked the good man. "I am one of those knights who have set ... The Stratagem Of Theodomir
The defeat of the Guadalete seemed for the time to have robbed the Goths of all their ancient courage. East and west, north and south, rode the Arab horsemen, and stronghold after stronghold fell almost without resistance into their hands, until n... The Suitors Of Agariste
Sicyon, the smallest country of the Peloponnesus, lay on the Gulf of Corinth, adjoining the isthmus which connects the peninsula with the rest of Greece. In this small country--as in many larger ones--the nobles held rule, the people were subjects... The Swiss At Morgarten
On a sunny autumn morning, in the far-off year 1315, a gallant band of horsemen wound slowly up the Swiss mountains, their forest of spears and lances glittering in the ruddy beams of the new-risen sun, and extending down the hill-side as far as t... The Table Of Solomon
We have told how King Roderic, when he invaded the enchanted palace of Toledo, found in its empty chambers a single treasure,--the famous table of Solomon. But this was a treasure worth a king's ransom, a marvellous talisman, so splendid, so beaut... The Taking Of Pontefract Castle
On the top of a lofty hill, with a broad outlook over the counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire, stood Pontefract Castle, a strong work belonging to the English crown, but now in the hands of Cromwell's men, and garrisoned by so... The Tartar Invasion Of Japan
In all its history only one serious effort has been made to conquer the empire of Japan. It ended in such dire disaster to the invaders that no nation has ever repeated it. During the thirteenth century Asia was thrown into turmoil by the dreadful o... The Tartars And Genghis Khan
In the northern section of the vast Mongolian plateau, that immense outreach of pasture-lands which forms the great abiding-place of the shepherd tribes of the earth, there long dwelt a warlike race which was destined to play an extraordinary part i... The Temptation Of Sir Percivale
Many adventures had the other knights that set out in search of the Sangreal, and much reproof did many of them receive for the evil lives they had led; but all this we cannot stop to tell, but must confine ourselves to the deeds of a few only. As... The Thrilling Adventure Of Captain John Smith
For those who love stories of the Indians, and the strange and perilous adventures of white men in dealing with the forest tribes, we cannot do better than give a remarkable anecdote of life in the Virginia woodlands three centuries ago. On a day... The Tournament At Lonazep
When Palamides learned that Tristram was not at Lonazep, he tarried not there, but crossed the Humber, and sought him at Joyous Gard. Here he found lodgings in the town, and word was quickly brought to Tristram that a knight-errant had come. "W... The Trapping Of The Lion
In May, when every lusty heart flourisheth and bourgeoneth,--for as winter, with its rough winds and blasts, causes man and woman to cover and sit fast by the fire, this fresh and joyous season brings them forth to gladden in the coming of the flo... The Treachery Of King Mark
The story of Tristram's valorous deeds, and of the high honor in which he was held at Camelot, in good time came to Cornwall, where it filled King Mark's soul with revengeful fury, and stirred the heart of La Belle Isolde to the warmest love. The ... The Tribunal Of The Holy Vehm
The ideas of law and order in mediaeval Germany were by no means what we now understand by those terms. The injustice of the strong and the suffering of the weak were the rule; and men of noble lineage did not hesitate to turn their castles into d...