THE JUBILEE.
The Fiftieth Year of the Queen’s Reign--Mr. W. H. Smith Leader
of the Commons--Sudden Death of Lord Iddesleigh--Opening of
Parliament--The Queen’s Speech--The Debate on the Address--New
Rules for Procedure--Closure Proposed by the Tories--Irish
Landlords and Evictions--“Pressure Within the Law”--Prosecution
of Mr. Dillon--The Round Table Conference--“Parnellism and
Crime”--Resignation of Sir M. Hicks-Beach--Appointment of Mr.
Balfour--The Coercion Bill--Resolute Government for Twenty
Years--Scenes in the House--Irish Land Bill--The Bankruptcy
Clauses--The National League Proclaimed--The Allotments Act--The
Margarine Act--Hamburg Spirit--Mr. Goschen’s Budget--The Jubilee
in India--The Modes of Celebration in England--Congratulatory
Addresses--The Queen’s Visit to Birmingham--The Laureate’s
Jubilee Ode--The Queen at Cannes and Aix--Her Visit to the
Grande Chartreuse--Colonial Addresses--Opening of the People’s
Palace--Jubilee Day--The Scene in the Streets--Preceding
Jubilees--The Royal Procession--The German Crown Prince--The
Decorations and the Onlookers--The Spectacle in Westminster
Abbey--The Procession--The Ceremony--The Illuminations--Royal
Banquet in Buckingham Palace--The Shower of Honours--Jubilee
Observances in the British Empire and the United States--The
Children’s Celebration in Hyde Park--The Queen’s Garden Party--Her
Majesty’s Letter to her People--The Imperial Institute--The
Victorian Age.
It was on the 20th of June, 1886, that the Queen entered on the
fiftieth year of her reign. But her Majesty naturally refused to assume
that she would live to the end of it, and she accordingly determined
that the actual celebration of her Jubilee should be put off till the
20th of June, 1887. Thus it came to pass that 1887 will be known as
the Jubilee Year of the Victorian period. It was a year that opened
badly for the Government. The sudden resignation of Lord Randolph
Churchill at the close of 1886 rendered a reconstruction of the Cabinet
necessary. Efforts were made in vain to induce some of the Whig Peers
to join the Ministry, but, as we have seen, at last Mr. Goschen was
persuaded to accept the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. The
leadership of the Commons was given to Mr. W. H. Smith, who was made
First Lord of the Treasury; whilst Lord Salisbury, who held that
office, assumed the Secretaryship of State for Foreign Affairs. This
involved the enforced retirement of Lord Iddesleigh in somewhat painful
circumstances, which were further heightened by his sudden death from
heart-disease on the 13th of January. The discreditable intrigue, which
began by deposing him from the Leadership of the House of Commons,
thus ended tragically. Some of the leaders of the Liberal and Liberal
Unionist Parties were also endeavouring to discover some means of
reconciling these now hostile factions. Parliament was opened on the
27th of January, and the Speech from the Throne plainly foreshadowed
the introduction of a Coercion Bill for Ireland. It hinted at a Land
Bill as a possible measure; indeed, had it not done so the alliance
between the Government and the Liberal Unionists would have been
weakened. Other measures promised were Bills for reforming local
government in England, Scotland, and, “should circumstances render it
possible,” in Ireland, for cheapening private Bill legislation, and
land transfer. An Allotments Bill, a Tithe Bill, a Railway Rates and
Merchandise Marks Bill, were also in the programme, which was large and
varied. But the debate on the Address showed that no opposed Bills were
likely to pass unless the House of Commons reformed its procedure, and
to this task the Tory Party had most grudgingly to apply itself. Six
sittings were spent on the Address as a general subject of discussion.
After that amendments relating to the evacuation of Egypt and the Irish
policy announced in the Queen’s Speech were debated. Three Scottish
amendments were next brought forward, so that when, at the sixteenth
sitting of the House, Mr. Dillon began to denounce jury-packing in
Dublin, the Speaker ruled him out of order. A motion for an adjournment
was defeated, and a motion to consider the condition of unemployed
labourers in England was declared by the Speaker to have been
sufficiently discussed after two speeches were delivered. The Closure,
so dreaded by the Tories in former Parliaments, was then applied by
Mr. Smith, a vote taken, and the Address disposed of on the 17th of
February.
The Government lost no time in preparing to meet the obstruction with
which their Coercion Bill was already threatened. They circulated
their new rules for debates, and on the 21st of February Mr. W. H.
Smith moved the adoption of the Closure, vesting the initiative in
applying it not in the Speaker, which was the old rule, but in a bare
majority of the House, provided always that at least 200 Members voted
for it. The Liberal Leaders supported the proposal on principle, but
complained that the new rule was still too weak, and that it ought to
be applied unconditionally. Their view was confirmed in the following
year, when Mr. W. H. Smith was forced to reduce the necessary quorum
of 200 to 100. Meanwhile events had been moving apace in Ireland. The
Chief Secretary, Sir M. Hicks-Beach, finding that the landlords were
cruelly straining their rights against the poorer tenantry, urged them
to be merciful for the sake of peace. He put upon them what he called
“pressure within the law,” which practically meant that he hinted to
them that he would refuse them the aid of the police in enforcing
warrants of the Courts. In other words, he seemed to be exercising
the “dispensing power” of the Executive, little more than a year
after Mr. Morley had been forced to apologise for even suggesting
its exercise. In Ireland evictions were resisted by force, and lurid
pictures of the state of the country were drawn by the supporters of
the Government. The prosecution of Mr. Dillon and other Irish leaders
for a conspiracy to defeat the law, because they advocated the Plan
of Campaign, broke down through the disagreement of a Dublin jury.
The negotiations between the Liberal Unionists and Liberals at the
“Round Table Conference” were said to be producing happy results, and
it was soon noised abroad that the Government not only hesitated to
demand a Coercion Bill, but that Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was ruling the
Irish with a hand so light that they were lapsing into lawlessness.
The _Times_ published a series of articles designed to prove that Mr.
Parnell and the Irish Home Rule Members were secretly in league with
the Party of Assassination. Mutterings of mutiny were heard from the
Irish Tories, and at this crisis Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, against whom
these complaints were directed, suddenly resigned. This step, however,
had been rendered necessary in consequence of his failing eyesight
rather than from considerations of a political character. To his post
Lord Salisbury appointed his nephew, Mr. Arthur James Balfour, pledged
to carry out an unflinching policy of Coercion. Sir George Trevelyan,
one of the secessionists from the Liberal Party, about this time showed
by his public utterances that he had now returned to Mr. Gladstone’s
party.
On the 23rd of March Mr. Smith moved that the Crimes Bill have
precedence over all other orders--and then the battle began. It was not
till the 28th that Mr. Balfour was able to move for leave to introduce
the measure, in a speech which seemed to show either that his case was
exceptionally weak, or that he had not been able to master it.[236]
The Bill gave magistrates power to inquire into crimes where no person
was charged. It gave two resident magistrates summary jurisdiction and
power to inflict imprisonment up to six months in cases of criminal
conspiracy, boycotting, rioting, assaults on the police, and in cases
of inciting to these offences. It gave the Lord-Lieutenant power to
“proclaim” certain associations as dangerous, and to subject to the
penal clauses of the Bill any one who after that took part in them. The
Bill was to be a permanent measure, and not like former Coercion Bills,
merely passed for a fixed period of time. Violent scenes occurred
during the debates which led up to the Second Reading of the measure on
the 28th of April, and the House was in an irritable mood because it
had been forced to sacrifice most of its Easter holiday. In spite of
the frequent use of the Closure, the first clause, which was scarcely
a contentious one, was not carried in Committee till the 17th of May.
When the fourth clause was reached, on the 10th of June, Mr. W. H.
Smith moved a resolution that if the Bill were not reported at 10 p.m.
on the 17th, the remaining clauses should be put to the vote without
debate. When that hour struck Sir Charles Russell was speaking on the
sixth clause. The Chairman stopped the debate, and put the question,
the Irish Members leaving the House in a body. After the division the
Liberal Members also left, and the rest of the Bill passed without
any more opposition. It was read a third time on the 8th of July, and
having been adopted by the Peers, it received the Queen’s assent on the
19th of July. The determination of the Government to carry the Coercion
Bill was natural. It had been admitted by all clear thinkers that,
unless Home Rule were granted to Ireland, she could only be governed
under Coercion. Moreover, the introduction of the Bill before the
Liberal Unionists and Liberals had been reconciled, forced the former
to vote for Coercion, which rendered the gulf between them and the old
Liberal Party practically impassable. But ere the Liberal Unionists
thus burned their boats, they had induced the Ministry to bring in a
conciliatory Irish Land Bill in the House of Lords. The Peers sent
it down to the Commons on the 4th of July, when the Second Reading
was moved on the 12th. The Bill adopted Mr. Parnell’s proposal of the
previous year, to admit leaseholders to the benefit of the Land Act of
1881; it gave notice of eviction the same effect as the actual service
of an ejectment writ, and gave the Courts power to stay execution, and
arrange for payment of rent on easy terms when the tenants were in
distress. But when insolvent, it provided for them relief from rent and
all other debts by a process of bankruptcy, allowing them, however,
to retain their farms. Mr. Campbell-Bannerman attacked the bankruptcy
clauses, and demanded a revision of all Irish rents in terms of the
fall in prices. To a general revision of rents the Government would on
no account assent. But the revolt of one of the Liberal Unionists, Mr.
T. W. Russell, compelled them to reconsider the bankruptcy clauses.
The Tories argued that it was unjust to ask the landlord to accept a
composition for rent from the farmer, when the tradesmen to whom he
owed money were not expected to abate their claims. Mr. Parnell and Mr.
T. W. Russell contended that no analogy could be drawn between rent
and trade debts. The latter had never been disputed by the debtor. The
former had been disputed. The tenant who owed money to his grocer or
seed-merchant never denied that he had got value for it. But he did
deny that he had got value for the money his landlord claimed as rent,
and he was able to prove this in court when the rent was cut down. To
insist, as did Mr. Chamberlain, on relief from just and unjust claims
being given with equal ease under a process of gentle bankruptcy, at
which the State was asked to connive, was to make an attack on property
and on credit from which even the leaders of the Paris Commune might
have shrunk. It was tantamount to asserting that whenever a man was
able to show that one creditor had overcharged him 30 per cent. he was
entitled to refuse payment of his just debts to all creditors who had
not overcharged him, unless they too took 30 per cent. off their bills.
When this was made clear not even Mr. Chamberlain’s advocacy sufficed
to save the bankruptcy clauses, which were accordingly dropped. But by
way of conciliating the landlords the Government insisted on applying
the vicious principle to arrears of rent. No relief from unjust arrears
was to be given unless they were to be dealt with in bankruptcy
alongside just and undisputed trade debts. The result was that when
the Bill passed it had a fatal defect in it. It prohibited landlords
from evicting for unjust rents, but by this clause it left them free
to evict for the arrears which had accumulated under rents which the
Courts decided to be unjust. On the 19th of August the Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland “proclaimed” the National League as a dangerous association,
thereby enabling Mr. A. J. Balfour to suppress any branch of it he
thought fit under the Crimes Act.
[Illustration: THE QUEEN’S VISIT TO EDINBURGH (1886): HER MAJESTY
LEAVING HOLYROOD PALACE.]
The Government were now compelled to abandon the bulk of their
legislative programme. They, therefore, made no attempt to proceed
with any measures unless they were so democratic that the Liberals
could not with decency oppose them. Hence they passed a Coal Mines
Regulation Bill, an Allotments Bill--disfigured, however, by the
obstacles in procedure which it put in the way of labourers who
applied for allotments--and a Bill to prevent substitutes for butter
known as “Margarine,” from being sold as butter. The success of this
measure led to a demand for a similar Bill to prevent publicans from
selling poisonous Hamburg spirit as “Fine Old” Cognac, or Scotch or
Irish whisky. Baron de Worms, as representative of the Board of Trade,
however, though eager to prohibit shopkeepers from selling a wholesome
animal fat as butter, was shy of prohibiting the publicans--whose votes
were of some value to the Tory Party--from selling poisonous Hamburg
alcohol as old brandy. Mr. Goschen’s Budget was introduced on the
21st of April. He described it himself as a “humdrum” Budget--though
as a matter of fact, as Lord Randolph Churchill said, if _he_ had
proposed it the country would have denounced it as a scheme full of
financial depravity. The Estimates had been taken to show a revenue of
£89,689,000, and an expenditure of £89,610,000. The actual receipts,
however, for the past year had been £90,772,000, and the actual
expenditure £88,738,000. In spite of supplementary estimates, amounting
to £1,129,000, there was a surplus on the year’s accounts of £776,000.
Mr. Goschen’s general statement showed that not only were the taxes
yielding less than they ever did, but that, though the rich and the
poor had suffered much from commercial and agricultural depression,
the profits of the middleman had not been reduced. For the coming year
he took the revenue to amount, on the existing lines of taxation, to
£91,155,000, and the expenditure he set down at £90,180,000, leaving a
surplus of £975,000. To this he added £100,000 by increasing the duty
on the transfer of Debenture Stocks, and by minor changes in the Stamp
Duty. He then added to it a further sum of £1,704,000, by reducing
the charges for the public debt. His surplus was thus inflated to
£2,779,000, of which he spent £600,000 in reducing the Tobacco Duty,
£1,560,000 in taking a penny off the Income Tax, £280,000 in relieving
Local Taxation, £50,000 in aid of Arterial Drainage in Ireland,
leaving him a probable surplus of £289,000. To manufacture a surplus
by the simple process of ceasing to pay off debt, would certainly not
have secured for any other Chancellor of the Exchequer, except Mr.
Goschen, the reputation of a financial puritan. Mr. Gladstone and
Lord Randolph Churchill demonstrated by unanswerable arguments the
unwholesomeness of the financial policy which reduced the payments for
the National Debt by cutting down the Income Tax instead of by cutting
down departmental expenditure. But Mr. Goschen’s Budget gave everybody
a little relief all round, and was accepted quite irrespective of
the unsound principles on which it was based. It was, in fact, the
first illustration afforded by a Household Suffrage Parliament of the
deteriorating influence of democracy on the financial policy of the
nation. Parliament was prorogued on the 16th of September.
But public interest in politics faded as the Session grew old. Indeed,
from the beginning of the year, the attention of the country was more
and more concentrated on the movements of the Queen. It was known that
she had nerved herself to emerge from her seclusion, and, in some
degree, discard the mourning weeds she had worn so long. The first
note of the Jubilee was struck in India, where the great Imperial
festival was celebrated on the 16th of February. In presidency towns,
inland cities, the capitals of Protected States--even in Mandalay,
the capital of the newly-conquered State of Upper Burmah, natives and
Europeans vied with each other in acclaiming the event. Announcements
of clemency, banquets, plays, the distribution of honours, reviews,
illuminations, were not the only methods adopted for celebrating
the Jubilee. At Gwalior all arrears of land-tax--amounting to
£1,000,000--were remitted. Libraries, colleges, schools, waterworks,
hospitals, and dispensaries were opened in honour of the Empress.
“These are Imperial works and worthy thee,”
might well be the comment of the chronicler on such celebrations.
All over England preparations were now being made for the great
anniversary. In every town meetings were held to decide as to the mode
of its observance, and it was curious to notice that everywhere the
people desired to localise their rejoicings. Public parks, libraries,
town-halls, museums, hospitals--in a word, the foundation of works and
institutions of public usefulness in each locality was universally
regarded as the best means of honouring the occasion. There was
only one Jubilee institution of national grandeur that won public
favour--the Imperial Institute. It was originated, as has been noted,
by the Prince of Wales, and it was to his energy and skill in appealing
for public support that the enormous funds needed for its endowment
were now collected. In March the congratulatory addresses began to
come in--the Convocation of Canterbury, whose deputation headed by
the Primate was received by the Queen at Windsor on the 8th of March,
leading the way.
On the 23rd of March Birmingham, in spite of the boisterous weather,
was _en fête_ to receive her Majesty who arrived to open the new Law
Courts in that town, and few who were present will ever forget the
mighty shout of enthusiasm that rose up from the swarming throng, when
the Queen’s procession turned into New Street. Never was Royalty more
loyally received than in the Radical capital of the Midlands. The
Democratic demonstration at Birmingham gave point to the passage in the
Laureate’s Jubilee Ode, in which he wrote:--
“Are there thunders moaning in the distance?
Are there spectres moving in the darkness?
Trust the Lord of Light to guide her people,
Till the thunders pass, the spectres vanish,
And the Light is victor, and the darkness
Dawns into the Jubilee of the Ages.”
On the 29th of March her Majesty, accompanied by the Princess Beatrice
and Prince Henry of Battenberg, left Windsor for Portsmouth, where
they embarked in the Royal yacht for Cannes. On the 5th the Royal
party went to Aix-les-Bains, where the Queen occupied her old rooms
at the Villa Mottet. Aix was wonderfully free from visitors, and she,
therefore, enjoyed almost complete privacy during her stay. By the
special sanction of the Pope her Majesty, on the 23rd of April, was
allowed to visit the Monastery of the Grande Chartreuse, within whose
precincts no woman’s foot is permitted to tread. She returned to
Windsor on the 29th of April. On the 4th of May she received at the
Castle the representatives of the Colonial Governments, who presented
her with addresses congratulating her on having witnessed during her
reign her Colonial subjects increase from fewer than 2,000,000 to
upwards of 9,000,000 souls, her Indian subjects from 96,000,000 to
254,000,000, and her subjects in minor dependencies from 2,000,000 to
7,000,000. On the 9th her Majesty held a court at Buckingham Palace,
at which the Maharajah and Maharanee of Kutch Behar and the Maharajah
Sir Pertab Sing were presented to her. On the 10th she held a Drawing
Room, and afterwards visited a private performance of the feats of
the American cowboys, and Indians, and prairie-hunters at the “Wild
West Show” at Earl’s Court. On the 14th she opened the People’s Palace
at Whitechapel, an institution which had grown out of a suggestion
in Mr. Walter Besant’s romance of “All Sorts and Conditions of Men.”
The route of procession from Paddington was seven miles long, and it
was thronged with people, who gave the Queen as warm a welcome as she
had received in Birmingham. On her return her Majesty visited the
Lord Mayor at the Mansion House. This was a remarkable event, for her
Majesty had not entered the Municipal Palace since she had visited it
with her mother two years before her accession. Her Majesty partook of
tea and strawberries with her Civic hosts, with whom she spent fully
half-an-hour, charming the company with her affability. On the 20th the
Court removed to Balmoral, where the Queen found her mountain retreat
covered with snow. On the 17th of June the Court returned to Windsor,
and on the 18th her Majesty received at the Castle the Maharajah Holkar
of Indore, and several Indian princes and deputations from Native
States.
The Jubilee itself was celebrated on the 21st of June. The chief
streets of London were given over to carpenters and upholsterers,
gasmen, and floral decorators, who transformed them beyond all
possibility of recognition. On the night of the 20th the town was
swarming with people, who had come out in the hope of seeing some of
the illuminations tried. As the day dawned crowds began to stream
into the metropolis, and in the forenoon every face wore a festal
aspect. Fabulous prices had been paid for seats along the line of
procession, and those who had secured places were in possession of them
early in the morning. Everybody was in good humour, and the police
were exceptionally amiable. At the point of departure--Buckingham
Palace--there were no decorations, but the presence of the Guards
and of the seamen of the Fleet, who were on duty within the gates,
gave animation to the scene. As eleven o’clock--the hour of
starting--approached, a strange silence seemed to fall over the noisy,
gossiping crowd, as if men and women felt awed and touched at the sight
of their aged Sovereign proceeding in State from her Palace to the
old Abbey to thank God for permitting her to see the fiftieth year of
her reign. Only thrice in the history of England had a Jubilee been
celebrated, and in none of these cases was there, as now, ground for
unalloyed joy. But for the founding of our Parliamentary System, none
would care to recall the distracted reign of Henry III. That of Edward
III., glorious as it was at its beginning, was clouded with disaster
at its end. That of George III. cost the dynasty, not a Crown, but a
continent. On the Jubilee Day of Queen Victoria there was, however,
no room for any feeling save that of gratitude and pride that, under
her gentle sway, the English people had gained and not lost dominion
upon earth. It was not till the head of the procession moved along,
and the Royal carriages came in sight, that the pent-up feeling of
the dense masses of spectators found utterance in volley after volley
of cheers. The Queen’s face was tremulous with emotion, and yet there
was triumph as well as grateful courtesy in her bearing as she bowed
her acknowledgments to her subjects. Beside her were the Princess of
Wales and the German Crown Princess, the latter beaming with happiness
and delight to find that her countrymen still held her dear. The loyal
tumult all along the line literally drowned the blare of bands and
trumpets.
The first part of the procession consisted of carriages in which were
seated the sumptuously apparelled Indian Princes, in robes of cloth of
gold, and with turbans blazing with diamonds and precious gems, who
had come from the far East to celebrate the Jubilee of their Empress.
Following them came carriages with the Duchess of Teck, the Persian
and Siamese guests of the Queen, the Queen of Hawaii, the Kings of
Saxony, Belgium, and Greece, and the Austrian Crown Prince. Life Guards
followed, and behind them came two mounted lacqueys of the Court.
To them succeeded escorts of Hussars and Life Guards, followed by
outriders in scarlet. In the first part of the procession were eleven
carriages. Of these, five conveyed the Ladies-in-Waiting and the Great
Officers of the Household. The sixth conveyed the Princess Victoria
of Sleswig-Holstein, Princess Margaret of Prussia, and Prince Alfred
of Edinburgh. In the seventh were seated the Princesses Victoria and
Sophie of Prussia, Princess Louis of Battenberg, and Princess Irene
of Hesse. The eighth conveyed the Princesses Maud, Victoria, and
Louise of Wales. In the ninth were the Duchess of Connaught and the
Duchess of Albany. In the tenth were the Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess
Beatrice, Princess Louise, and Princess Christian. Between the eleventh
carriage and the Queen’s rode the brilliant procession of Princes,
whose appearance all along the route gave the signal for an outbreak
of cheering. In the first rank rode the Queen’s grandsons--Prince
Albert Victor and Prince William of Prussia being among the most
conspicuous. Following them came the Queen’s sons-in-law, the German
Crown Prince, Prince Christian, the Grand Duke of Hesse, and Prince
Henry of Battenberg. The Marquis of Lorne had started with the
procession, but his horse took fright and threw him, about 300 yards
from the Palace, whereupon he returned on foot, and, borrowing a
charger from an Artillery officer, rode by himself to the Abbey by
Birdcage Walk. Of this group, the central figure was that of the German
Crown Prince, whose white uniform and plumed silver helmet attracted
general admiration. Covered with medals and decorations, most of which
he had won by his prowess in battle, he sat his charger as proudly as a
mediæval knight, in whom the spirit of old-world German chivalry lived
again. His fair, frank face became radiant with delight, when he found
that peal after peal of applause greeted him whenever he appeared.
Partly owing to his picturesque figure, partly to his manly and heroic
character, and partly, no doubt, to honest sympathy with his sufferings
under the disease that had suddenly smitten him in the very prime of
life, the German Crown Prince received an ovation more effusive even
than that bestowed on the ever-popular Prince of Wales, and almost
equal to that which greeted the Queen herself. After her sons-in-law
came her sons, the Duke of Connaught, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke
of Edinburgh. They, too, were hailed with cheering that was prolonged,
and that deepened in volume till her Majesty’s carriage passed. A
gorgeous cavalcade of Indians brought the splendid procession to a
close. Along the route, from the Palace up Constitution Hill, round
Hyde Park Corner, on through Piccadilly, down Waterloo Place, past
Trafalgar Square, along Whitehall to Westminster Abbey, every house
was glowing with many-tinted draperies, with bunting, and with floral
decorations, and every balcony and window were crowded with bright and
happy faces framed in festoons of roses and laurel.
The scene in the Abbey was impressive. Municipal dignitaries,
representatives of the Universities, civic functionaries of the higher
order, representatives of the Church and the Law, Lords-Lieutenant
and their deputies, High Sheriffs, Officers of the Auxiliary Forces,
Diplomatists, Ministers of State in Windsor uniforms, Officers of
the Household, Foreign Princes and Potentates, and their suites--in
fact every invited guest privileged to wear robe or uniform,
contributed to the mass of varied colour that, after a time, almost
tired the eye. Among the earliest arrivals were the Princess Feodore
of Saxe-Meiningen, the Prince Albert, and the Princess Louise of
Sleswig-Holstein, the Princess Alice of Hesse, the Princesses Mary,
Victoria, and Alexandra of Edinburgh, the Princess Frederica, Baroness
Pawel von Rammingen, Baron Pawel von Rammingen, Prince and Princess
Edward of Saxe-Weimar, the Prince and Princess of Leiningen, Prince
and Princess Victor of Hohenlohe, with the Countesses Feodora and
Victoria Gleichen, and Count Edward Gleichen. Then entered the swarthy
Chiefs and Princes of India, among whom the stately and resplendent
Holkar was very prominent. The Queen of Hawaii followed, and after
her came the Princess Victoria of Teck, and the Princes Adolphus,
Francis, and Alexander of Teck, Prince Frederick of Anhalt, Prince
Ernest of Saxe-Meiningen, the Duke and Duchess of Teck, the Prince
of Hohenlohe-Langenberg, Prince Ludwig of Baden, Prince Philip of
Saxe-Coburg, the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, the Hereditary Grand Duke
of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, G.C.B., Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, the Duke
of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, the Infante Don Antonio of Spain, the Infanta
Donna Eulalia of Spain, the Duc d’Aosta, the Crown Prince of Sweden,
the Crown Prince and Princess of Portugal, the Austrian Crown Prince,
the Grand Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the King of Saxony,
the King and Queen of the Belgians, Prince George of Greece, the Crown
Prince of Greece, the King of Greece, and the King of Denmark.
Half-an-hour after the appointed time the silver trumpets announced the
coming of the Queen’s procession, headed by the six minor and the six
residentiary canons of Westminster, the Bishop of London, Archbishop
of York, the Dean of Westminster,[237] the Primate, all attired
in sumptuous canonicals. They were followed by heralds and other
functionaries, who were followed by the members of the Royal procession
walking in ranks of three, in the inverse order of precedence always
enforced at Royal ceremonials. These were--
The Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen.
Prince Henry of Prussia.
The Grand Duke Serge of Russia.
Prince Henry of Battenberg.
Prince Christian of Sleswig-Holstein.
The Duke of Connaught.
Prince Christian Victor of Sleswig-Holstein.
Prince George of Wales.
Prince Albert Victor of Wales.
The German Crown Prince.
The Prince of Wales.
Prince Louis of Battenberg.
The Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse.
Prince William of Prussia.
The Marquis of Lorne.
The Grand Duke of Hesse.
The Duke of Edinburgh.
The Queen, clad in black, but with a bonnet of white Spanish lace
glittering with diamonds, and wearing the Orders of the Garter and
Star of India, entered, escorted by the Lord Chamberlain, as the
organ pealed forth the strains of the march from Handel’s “Occasional
Oratorio.” The solemnity of the spectacle, and the reflection that the
Queen-Empress is about to give thanks to God for the crowning triumph
of her life, surrounded by the ashes of her predecessors, repress
all manifestations of feeling. Reverently does her Majesty take her
place on the Royal daïs, and, when the Princes and Princesses in her
train arrange themselves, the picture is one of imposing magnificence.
Surrounding this shining group of Princes a vast throng, representing
the genius, the rank, the wealth, and the chivalry of Britain, filled
every nook of the sacred fane in which the Queen celebrated her
golden wedding with her people. Towering high above all his peers the
Imperial form of the German Crown Prince, clad in the white uniform
of the Cuirassiers, stood forth as the most majestic figure in that
magnificent pageant.
[Illustration: THE CROWN PRINCE, AFTERWARDS THE EMPEROR FREDERICK III.,
OF GERMANY.
(_From a Photograph by Reichard and Lindner, Berlin._)]
The Thanksgiving Service was brief and simple. The Primate and the Dean
of Westminster officiated, and the music was largely selected from the
compositions of the Prince Consort. Prayers and responses invoking a
blessing on the Queen were intoned. The Prince Consort’s _Te Deum_
was given. Three special prayers were offered up by the Archbishop of
Canterbury,
[Illustration: THE CROWN PRINCESS, AFTERWARDS THE EMPRESS VICTORIA, OF
GERMANY.
(_From a Photograph by Reichard and Lindner, Berlin._)]
after which the people’s prayer--_Exaudiat te Dominus_--was intoned.
The lesson (1 Pet. ii. 6-18) was next read by the Dean, and Dr.
Bridge’s Jubilee anthem, “Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted
in thee to set thee on the throne to be king for the Lord thy God,” a
piece in which the theme of the National Anthem is suggested, was sung.
Two simple prayers were then offered up, and the ceremony, impressive
from the grandeur of the surroundings, and yet thrilling and pathetic
by reason of its devotional earnestness and simplicity, ended with
the Benediction. Here the Queen, who was several times overcome with
emotion, is seen by the spectators to make a movement as if she would
rise from her seat on the sacred Coronation Stone of Scone and kneel
on the _prie-dieu_ in front of her. But she cannot reach so far, and
she sinks back into her place, veiling her bowed face with her hands.
She then glances round, and her eyes fill with tears when they rest on
her sons and her daughters, and her sons-in-law and their children.
The pent-up feeling of that dazzling group of Princes and Princesses
can no longer be restrained, and the solemn pageant of State suddenly
assumes the aspect of a family festival. The Prince of Wales bends
forward and kisses the Queen’s hand, but her Majesty raises his face
and salutes him affectionately on the cheek. The German Crown Prince
pays his homage with chivalrous grace and stately courtesy, and the
Grand Duke of Hesse follows him. But the emotion of the moment is
too strong for Court ceremonial. The Queen with an impulsive gesture
discards the Lord Chamberlain’s etiquette, and embraces the Princes and
Princesses of her house with honest and unreserved motherly affection.
Then she turns to the German Crown Prince with a loving smile, and as
he comes forward she kisses him warmly on the cheek. The Grand Duke of
Hesse is also saluted, and her Majesty, making a profound bow to her
Foreign guests, which they return, quits the scene as the “March of the
Priests” in _Athalie_ peals forth from the organ. The procession was
now formed again, and as the Sovereign returned to Buckingham Palace,
it was noticed that the reception which was given to her was even more
enthusiastic than that which greeted her on her way to the Abbey. It
is, perhaps, only once in a generation that it falls to the lot of a
monarch to be hailed in the streets of her capital with such passionate
demonstrations of loyalty, and the Queen seemed to be filled with the
emotion of the hour.
The rest of the day was kept as a public holiday by the people, and
when the shades of night fell on the metropolis its streets were
ablaze with light. The art of the illuminator was indeed exhausted in
providing novel and varied designs, and gas jets and electric lamps,
arranged so as to display every conceivable device expressive of
loyalty, turned night into day. Nor were gas and electricity the only
agents employed to give splendour to the festivity of the evening.
In many places festoons of Chinese lanterns shed their soft and
mellow radiance over a scene not unworthy of fairyland. The Queen,
who had borne the fatigue and excitement of the Thanksgiving pageant
wonderfully well, rested a little while after her return to Buckingham
Palace, and there, as a special compliment to the “Senior Service,”
she came out and held a review of the 500 seamen of the Fleet who had
formed her guard of honour at the Palace doors. In the evening she gave
a grand banquet, at which sixty-four royal personages were present.
All over England and in the North of Ireland the Jubilee was also
celebrated as enthusiastically as in London. The illumination of the
city of Edinburgh was said to be even more effective as a brilliant
spectacle than that presented by the metropolis. It was only in Cork
and Dublin that riotous demonstrations of disloyalty took place. Eight
peerages, thirteen baronetcies, and thirty-three knighthoods were
conferred in honour of the event. A Royal amnesty to deserters from the
army was also proclaimed. In the Colonies the day was celebrated even
more joyously than in England. In foreign lands the British residents
also held Jubilee festivals. But in the United States the citizens
of the Republic freely joined the British residents, honouring the
occasion as if it were one of as much interest to them as to their kith
and kin in the old home of their race. The most glowing of all the
Jubilee orations was in fact spoken by Mr. Hewitt, Mayor of New York,
at the grand Thanksgiving Festival in the Opera House of that city,
in the course of which he elicited the passionate enthusiasm of his
countrymen by recalling the events of the Civil War. “In the hour of
our trial,” he exclaimed, “when the flag under whose broad folds I was
born was trailing in the dust, it was my fortune to journey to another
land on matters of great moment. There I learnt--and I know whereof I
speak--that we owed to the Queen of England the non-intervention policy
which characterised the Great Powers of the world during our struggle
for life and death. I had no purpose to open my lips here, but when you
call on me for a testimony to her who was our friend, as she is your
Queen, my lips ought to be palsied if I were such a coward as not to
give it.” A speech so simple and unexpected, received as it was by a
spontaneous outburst of enthusiasm from the American citizens in the
audience, it need hardly be said produced a profound sensation.
But of all the Jubilee celebrations perhaps the most charming and novel
was one which was held in Hyde Park. A few weeks before Jubilee Day it
occurred to a kindly and generous gentleman, Mr. Edward Lawson, well
known in society as the editor of the _Daily Telegraph_, that there
was a fatal omission in the Jubilee programme. Elaborate arrangements
had been made to interest all classes in the festival save one--the
school-children of London--the boys and girls who must form the men and
women of the next generation. Mr. Lawson contended that this defect
should be remedied, and the whole town was immediately taken with his
idea. Everybody wondered that nobody had put forward the suggestion
before, and Mr. Lawson soon found himself honorary treasurer of the
Children’s Jubilee Fund, to which he himself was one of the most
prominent subscribers. Foolish efforts were made to check the movement,
and people were warned that it was impossible to entertain 30,000
children in Hyde Park, as Mr. Lawson proposed, without accidents to
life and limb. It was, however, in vain that he was denounced as the
organiser of a juvenile Juggernaut. The fund was raised with ease, and
Mr. Lawson, by skilful organisation, not only got 27,000 children into
Hyde Park from all parts of London on the 22nd of June, but sent them
back unhurt and happy to their homes. Great ladies of fashion helped
him to carry out his arrangements. The little ones were entertained
with the sports and shows dear to boys and girls of their age, and
the Queen not only came out and greeted them in person, but she was
received with a delight that touched her profoundly. The Princes and
Princesses and many of the foreign visitors also witnessed this strange
but interesting incident in the Jubilee celebrations.[238]
On the 24th of June, an evening party was given at Buckingham Palace,
which was attended by nearly all the members of the Queen’s family, by
the foreign sovereigns and Princes then in London, and by a gay throng
of distinguished persons. On the 25th of June, a singularly beautiful
and touching letter, evidently straight from the Queen’s own pen, to
the Home Secretary, thanking the nation for their display of loyalty
and love, appeared in the _London Gazette_. In this communication it
almost seems as if the Queen laid her heart open to the people with a
frank and simple confidence rare in the relations that subsist between
sovereigns and their subjects. On the 27th her Majesty received at
Windsor Castle congratulatory deputations from municipalities, friendly
societies, professional associations, and public bodies, representing
almost every phase of English life, and thought, and enterprise. Her
Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on the following Wednesday was a
brilliant reunion at which were present several thousands of guests.
On the 2nd of July the Queen from Buckingham Palace reviewed 28,000
Metropolitan Volunteers, and military men were amazed at the skill
with which the troops were handled by their officers in the narrow
and confined space. It was, however, unfortunate that at this review
a slight was cast on the Royal Navy. As is natural in a seafaring
nation, the naval forces of the Crown always take precedence of the
land forces. Hence, the phrase “Senior Service” used to distinguish the
Navy from the Army. But at this review the claim of the Royal Naval
Volunteers for precedence over the grotesque and motley body known
as the Honourable Artillery Company of London, a force which belongs
neither to the Army, the Militia, nor the Volunteers, and which has
been permitted even to repudiate the authority of the War Office, was
disallowed.
On the 4th of July the crowning event of the Jubilee Festival occurred.
On that day the Queen laid the foundation stone of the Imperial
Institute in the Albert Hall. Noting the growing Imperialism which the
Jubilee evoked, the Prince of Wales determined to fix it by embodying
it in some permanent institution. In spite of distracted counsels,
inter-Colonial jealousy, and much anti-monarchical opposition, the
necessary funds for the purpose were raised, but it was universally
admitted that had not the Prince toiled without ceasing the scheme must
have collapsed. The Institute was and is meant to stand as an outward
and visible sign of the essential unity of the British
[Illustration: THE JUBILEE GARDEN PARTY AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE: THE ROYAL
TENT.]
Empire. It was to be a rallying-point for all Colonial movements, a
centre of instruction for those who desire information as to Colonial
trade and Colonial resources. In a word, what the Queen “inaugurated”
on the 4th of July, at Kensington, as the culminating function of her
Jubilee, was a vast and ubiquitous Intelligence Department for her
far-stretching dominions. The decoration of the building in which
the ceremony took place was chiefly floral, and, indeed, the scene
suggested sylvan freshness and beauty. Eleven thousand people were
seated in the chief pavilion.
When the Queen entered, preceded by the officers of her household and
escorted by her family, she took her seat on the draped daïs, and found
herself again surrounded by a majestic throng of Kings and Princes. The
Prince of Wales read aloud to her Majesty the Address of the organising
Committee of the Institute, describing its aims and its prospects.
The ode, written for the occasion by Mr. Lewis Morris,[239] and set
to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, was performed by the Albert Hall
Choral Society, aided by a full orchestra. After it was finished, the
Queen, assisted by the Prince of Wales and the architect, Mr. Colcutt,
laid the first solid block of the building--a piece of granite three
tons in weight. Prayers, read by the Primate, followed, after which
the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 presented an Address,
congratulating the Queen on the celebration of her Jubilee. Her Majesty
then, leaning on the arm of the Prince of Wales, left the hall, while
the band struck up “Rule Britannia.” The ceremonial differed from that
which took place in the Abbey in one respect. The Thanksgiving Service
threw the minds of Sovereign and subject back on the past, with all
its trials and all its triumphs. But the function in the Royal Albert
Hall invited speculation as to the future, and as to the part which the
Monarchy must inevitably play in the evolution of the English-speaking
race, and the development of their spreading dominion over strange
lands and under strange stars. The Institute typified the inheritance
of Empire which Englishmen had won during the reign by their toil and
their enterprise. As Mr. Morris sang,
“To-day we would make free
The millions of their glorious heritage.
Here, Labour crowds in hopeless misery;
There, is unbounded work and ready wage.
The salt breeze calling, stirs our Northern blood,
Lead we the toilers to their certain goal;
Guide we their feet to where
Is spread, for those who dare,
A happier Britain ’neath an ampler air.
* * * * *
First Lady of our British Race,
’Tis well that with thy peaceful Jubilee
This glorious dream begins to be.”
With this great function of State the record of the Queen’s career
through half a century, and of the public affairs which her life
influenced and which influenced it, may close for the present. A
retrospective glance over that record suggests curious reflections.
Only seventeen years elapsed between the death of George III. and
the accession of the Queen to the sovereignty of a people who had
let a virgin continent slip from their grasp, and who were not only
exhausted by wars, but whose wars had also exhausted the nations that
trafficked with them. England had then but one hope of recovery. It
was to bind the forces of Nature to the tarrying chariot-wheels of her
Industry. To this end she bent the energies of her highest intellect
and genius. For this reason, perhaps, the Victorian period, in which
the Queen, stands out as the central figure, represents the triumph of
the applied Sciences, rather than the apotheosis of the Arts and the
Humanities. “The true founders of modern England,” says Mr. Spencer
Walpole, “are its inventors and engineers.”[240] The mighty power which
the British Empire now represents has therefore been built up under the
Queen’s sceptre, not on the red fields of war, but in the laboratory,
the workshop, and the mine. Three facts alone will serve to give the
distinctive character of the Victorian age. When the Queen was crowned
railway travelling was almost unknown; steam navigation had hardly
emerged from the region of experiment; the telegraph was but a toy of
the physicists. As we reflect on what the railway, the steamship, and
the telegraph have done for England, we can measure the extent and
discern the nature of the peaceful revolution in affairs over which
the Queen has presided. The national resolve arrived at after the
death of George IV. to recover the power and wealth which seemed to
have vanished during the last years of his reign, and to recover it by
gaining fresh dominion over the forces of Nature, naturally shaped the
whole course of public policy. If England was to be resuscitated in the
laboratory, the workshop, and the mine, the Sciences, rather than the
Arts and Humanities, must be fostered. Capital must be set free. The
dignity of Labour must be recognised. Commerce must be unshackled, and
perfect freedom, combined with unbroken order, established in the land.
The swift decay of privilege that marks the course of political reform
during the last half century, the spread of popular education, the
wide distribution of political power, the wise revision of the penal
laws, the humane legislation designed to better and brighten the lot of
Toil, the subjection of authority to opinion, the subjugation of Art to
Industry, the absorption of literature by the Press, are but natural
results of a struggle on the part of a masculine race to build up its
power on the achievements of the inventor, the experimentalist, and the
pioneer.
Nor can the harvest of its toil be deemed altogether unsatisfactory.
The poor we have still with us, but their condition has been vastly
improved since the reign of William IV. Save in one respect, that of
house rent in large towns, the necessaries of life have been cheapened,
while the purchasing capacity of the people has been increased. As for
the upper and middle classes, their wealth in comparison with their
numbers has been multiplied twofold since the Queen ascended the throne.
So far as the public life of the Queen has affected her House, these
pages prove that it has done so in one way. At her Accession the Crown
had almost entirely lost its authority as a governing order in the
State. At her Jubilee the Crown held a position of authority higher
than any to which it has attained since the time of William of Orange.
According to Mr. Gladstone, the success of the Queen’s dynastic policy
has been due to her determination to acquire influence rather than
power for the Monarchy. _Imperium facile iis artibus retinetur, quibus
initio partum est._ But if the Roman historian be right in holding
that power can be most surely kept by the means whereby it has been
acquired, he who runs may read the lesson of the Queen’s life. Its
record, showing how her influence has been won, must also show those
who will some day take her place, how alone it can be retained and
strengthened.
INDEX.
Abdul Aziz, Sultan of Turkey, Visit of, to England, II. 293;
received at Windsor Castle, _ib._;
entertainments in his honour, 294;
made Knight of the Garter, _ib._
Aberdeen, Lord (Fourth Earl), appointed Foreign Secretary, I. 97;
his ready confidence in foreign powers, 199;
his opinion of Free Trade, 208, 209;
his adroit diplomacy with the United States, 231;
the high esteem in which he was held by the Queen, 238;
his attack on the foreign policy of the Russell Government, 394;
his wish to drive Palmerston from office, 395;
appointed Premier, 518;
his sympathy with Russia, 546;
three mistakes on the part of his Cabinet, 551;
his desire for peace before the Crimean War, 555;
confidence of the Queen in his policy, 563;
speech on the Prince Consort’s position, 576;
accusations against his Russian policy, 600, 617, 638;
letter from the Queen regarding his Russian policy, 601;
Prince Albert’s opinion of his war policy, 620;
defeat of his Ministry, 627;
his efforts to improve the condition of the army, 631;
his death, II. 72;
his character, _ib._
Aberdeen, Lord (Seventh Earl), appointed Viceroy of Ireland, II. 727
Aberdeen, inauguration of a statue to the Prince Consort by
the Queen, II. 182;
statue of the Queen unveiled by the Prince of Wales, 266;
opening of water-works by the Queen, 267
Abergeldie, The bridge over the Dee at, II. 720
Abu Hamed, Gordon at, II. 711;
the River Column at, 717
Abu Klea, Battle of, II. 713
Abu Kru, Battle of, II. 714
Abyssinia, the English expedition against King Theodore, II. 300, 312;
envoys to the Queen, II. 695;
the Treaty of Adowah, _ib._
“Acres and a Cow, Three,” II. 726
Act, Bank Charter, its favourable effect, I. 182
Act, Corporation, Repeal of the, I. 23
Act, Test, The repeal of the, I. 23
Acts, Criminal Law Consolidation, The, I. 28
Adam, The Right Hon. W. P., appointed First Commissioner of Works, II. 594
Adelaide, Queen, her ball to the Princess Victoria, I. 14
Aden, its occupation by the British, I. 52;
the appearance of the town, _ib._
Admiralty, The construction of ironclad ships for
the British navy proposed by, II. 126;
reduction of its expenditure, 441;
issue of the Fugitive Slave Circular, 489;
violent popular agitation against, 704;
errors in the accounts of, 710
Adowah, Treaty of, II. 695
Adullamites, The, II. 256
Affirmation Bill brought in by the Attorney-General, II. 658;
efforts of the Tories to prevent it from coming into force, _ib._;
defeated by a majority of three, _ib._
Afghanistan, war declared by England on Shere Ali, II. 555;
Lord Lytton’s disagreement with Shere Ali, 556;
success of the British invasion, 567;
the murder of Sir Louis Cavagnari, 573;
unpopularity of Lord Lytton’s policy, 574;
capture of Cabul by General Roberts, _ib._;
the affairs of the country in 1880, 598;
Mr. Gladstone’s policy, 599;
defeat of General Burrows, _ib._;
splendid generalship of Sir Frederick Roberts, _ib._;
rescue of Candahar, _ib._;
Lord Beaconsfield’s policy impossible, 610;
dispute in Parliament as to the occupation of Candahar, 615;
controversy between England and Russia about the frontier of, 719
Africa, South, outbreak of the Caffre War, I. 254;
attack on the policy of the English Government in, II. 662;
contention between Liberals and Conservatives regarding, _ib._
Agricultural Holdings Bill, the strong opposition to, II. 659;
its terms, _ib._;
Mr. A. J. Balfour’s amendment, _ib._;
Mr. Clare Sewell Read’s remark on, _ib._;
Mr. Balfour’s amendment struck out on the Report, _ib._;
attempt of the House of Lords to mutilate the Bill, _ib._;
the amendments of the House of Lords rejected by the Commons, _ib._;
the measure passed, _ib._;
Lord Salisbury’s failure to hold his party firm
to the policy of resistance, _ib._
Aix-les-Bains, The Queen’s visit to, II. 719, 740
Akbar Khan, Treachery of, I. 118;
defeated, 121
_Alabama_ Claims, The, II. 342;
settled by arbitration, 390;
discussion on the matter in the House of Commons, 421;
the story of the controversy, 422;
the award of the arbitrators, _ib._;
Lord Chief Justice Cockburn’s opinion, 423
Albany, Duke of, the title conferred on Prince Leopold, II. 626;
a title of evil omen, _ib._;
_see_ also Leopold, Prince
Albert, Prince, his birth and parentage, I. 60;
his admirable disposition, _ib._;
his visit to England, _ib._;
his studies at Bonn, 61;
his suit accepted by the Queen, 62;
letters patent regarding his precedence, 66;
rumours as to his religious views, _ib._;
letter to the Queen in regard to his Protestantism, _ib._;
his arrival in England, 68;
his enthusiastic reception, _ib._;
his marriage, _ib._;
his trying position, 71;
his desire to abolish duelling, 72;
collision with Court functionaries, _ib._;
his reforms in household economy, 74;
domestic life, 75;
appointed Regent, 83;
his study of English law, _ib._;
a letter to his father, 91;
a royal tour, 94;
Lord Melbourne’s opinion of him, 103;
a remark of the Queen on his kindness, _ib._;
his generous reception of Sir Robert Peel, _ib._;
appointed Chairman of a Royal Commission on the Fine Arts, 104, 105;
his accurate knowledge of English, 105;
his first public speech, _ib._;
lays the foundation stone of the London Association, _ib._;
present at a ball in Buckingham Palace, 107;
visit to Scotland, 126;
his interest in English politics, 127;
the proposal to appoint him Commander-in-Chief, 128;
his irreproachable life, _ib._;
his opinion of Sir Robert Peel, 140;
acting as representative of the Queen, 141;
his interest in Fine Art, 142;
receives the degree of D.C.L. from Oxford, 146;
visits Birmingham, 147;
distinction in the hunting-field, _ib._;
his interest in agriculture, 148;
the model works in Windsor Park, _ib._;
death of his father, 158;
visit to Germany, 159;
title of Consort proposed, 185;
visit to the Continent, 194;
attacked by Lord George Bentinck in the Corn Law debate, 226;
proposed assessment of Flemish Farm, 260;
visits the Isle of Wight, 261;
opens the Albert Dock at Liverpool, 262;
nominated Chancellor of Cambridge University, 307;
agrees to take office as Chancellor of Cambridge, 310;
his arguments for an Anglo-German alliance, 322;
appointed President of the society for the improvement
of the working classes, 358;
impressive speech to the working classes, 359, 360;
his revised course of studies carried at Cambridge, 369;
speech to the Royal Dublin Society, 409;
his idea of the International Exhibition, 417;
speech on the International Exhibition, 450;
attacked by the press, 454;
his energy at the International Exhibition, 480;
anxieties in regard to the Exhibition, 520;
accusations against him as sympathising with Russia, 617;
visit to France, 621;
his plan for an Army Reserve at Malta, 623;
his opinion of Austrian policy, _ib._;
efforts to improve the condition of the army, 631;
speech on the Russian War, 639;
present at a Council of War at Windsor, 651;
attacked by the _Times_ for military jobbery, 667;
his scheme for a new military organisation, 694;
opens the Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester, 739;
receives the title of Prince Consort by letters patent, 743;
his advice to the King of Prussia regarding German unity, II. 90;
his last illness, 92-96;
the widespread grief of the British people at his death, 98;
his character, 104-107;
his funeral, 107-110;
the interment at Frogmore, 146;
his memorandum regarding Turkey, 531
Albert Hall, Royal, laying the foundation stone of, II. 291;
opened by the Queen, 409
Albert Memorial, Scottish National, at Edinburgh,
unveiled by the Queen, II. 503
Albert Victor, Prince of Wales, receives the Order of the Garter, II. 667;
the investiture a private function, _ib._;
a proof of the high favour in which he was held by the Queen, _ib._;
coming of age of, 719
Alberto Azzo, his union with the House of Guelph, I. 4
Aldershot, Visit of the Queen to, II. 265
Alexander II. of Russia declared Emperor, I. 633;
his death, II. 623;
his humane character, _ib._;
the liberation of the serfs accomplished by him, _ib._;
his devotion to the highest interests of Russia, _ib._;
his judicious management of the war with Turkey, 623-4
Alexandra, Princess of Denmark, her entry into London, II. 152;
her marriage to the Prince of Wales, 158
Alexandria, English and French fleets despatched to, II. 642;
riot in the city, _ib._;
the British Consul injured, _ib._;
French and English subjects slain, _ib._;
a stampede of the foreign population, _ib._;
Arabi Pasha strengthens the fortifications, _ib._;
the forts bombarded by the British fleet, _ib._;
the city seized by a fanatical mob, _ib._
Alfred, Prince, his birth, I. 167;
his sponsors at christening, 171;
his successful preparation for the navy, II. 23;
his visit to Cape Town, 69;
attempted assassination by O’Farrel, 316;
his betrothal to the Duchess Marie of Russia, 451;
his marriage, 453
Alice, Princess, Marriage of, to Prince Louis of Hesse, II. 141-2;
her sedulous consolation to her mother, 143;
recipient of the Queen’s confidences, 228;
her death, 509;
the esteem in which she was held by the English people, 560;
her life in Germany, 561
Alliance, The new Holy, between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, II. 59
Allotments Bill passed, II. 738
Alma, The battle of the, I. 607
Alula Ras, leader of the Abyssinians, II. 718
America, the discovery of gold in California, I. 535
Amos, Mr., appointed the Queen’s tutor in Constitutional Government, I. 14
Angra Pequena annexed by Germany, II. 684
Arabi Pasha, the disagreement between the
partners in the Dual Control as to
the course that should be adopted towards him, II. 641;
he becomes the real Minister of War, _ib._;
loaded with decorations, 642;
the rank and title of Pasha conferred upon him, _ib._;
virtually Dictator of Egypt, _ib._;
his policy of “Egypt for the Egyptians,” _ib._;
French and English consuls advise his expulsion, _ib._;
he resigns, _ib._;
a second time Minister of War, _ib._;
ostentatiously strengthens the forts of Alexandria, _ib._;
takes up a position at Tel-el-Kebir after the
bombardment of the Alexandrian forts, _ib._;
English expedition sent against him, _ib._;
defeated by General Wolseley at Kassassin, _ib._;
the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, _ib._;
to the British troops at Cairo, _ib._;
saved from capital punishment by the English Government, _ib._;
exiled to Ceylon, _ib._
Argyle, Duke of, appointed Lord Privy Seal, I. 519;
his success at the India Office, II. 343;
appointed Lord Privy Seal, 594;
resignation on Mr. Gladstone’s Irish Land Bill, 616
Ascot Race Week, The Queen and, II. 721
Ashanti, Outbreak of war in, II. 461;
capture of Coomassie by Sir Garnet Wolseley, _ib._
Ashbourne’s, Lord, Land Bill, II. 710
Ashley, Lord, _see_ Shaftesbury
Ashley, Mr. Evelyn, his Life of Lord Palmerston, I. 395
Auckland, Lord, his negotiations with Dost Mahomed in Afghanistan, I. 112;
his unfortunate policy, _ib._;
declares war against Dost Mahomed, 114;
created an Earl, _ib._;
reversal of his policy in Afghanistan, 122
Australia, discussion in Parliament, as to its
legislative constitution, I. 439;
the discovery of gold, 496;
the rush to the gold-fields, 535;
effect of the gold discovery on the colony, 538;
results of the gold discovery in England, _ib._;
excitement on account of German annexation of New Guinea, II. 686
Australian Contingent, The, in the Soudan campaign, II. 717
Austria, Absorption by, of the Republic of Cracow, I. 259;
triumph over Italy, 422;
overthrow of Hungarian independence, 423;
General Haynau’s unpopularity in England, 457;
Lord Palmerston’s note on the Haynau incident, 457;
policy during the dispute between Russia and Turkey, 551, 553, 582, 623;
signature of the Protocol, 584;
makes terms with Prussia, 585;
treaty with Turkey, 586;
refuses to join with England against Russia, 639;
concessions made to Lord Cowley regarding Italy, II. 34;
declaration of war against Sardinia, 35;
defeated in the Italian War, 38;
proposal by the Emperor regarding Venetia, 56;
difficulties with Hungary, 79;
the war with Prussia, 280;
expelled from German unity, 281;
policy during the Russo-Turkish War, 530;
rumour as to its opposition to Mr. Gladstone, 596;
Mr. Gladstone’s reply to Austrian criticism, _ib._;
political capital made out of Mr. Gladstone’s
explanatory letter to Count Karolyi, 597
B.
Baden, the institution of a Free Press, of
a National Guard, and of Trial by Jury, I. 346
Baillie, Mr., his motion regarding Ceylon and Guiana, I. 382
Baines, Mr., his proposal regarding the vote for the boroughs, II. 214
Baker Pasha put in command of the Egyptian native police, II. 643;
defeated by the Mahdi at Tokar, 672
Balaclava, The Battle of, I. 611-613;
Campbell’s “thin red line,” 612;
charge of the Heavy Brigade, 613;
charge of the Light Brigade, 614
Balfour, Mr. A. J., one of the founders of the Fourth Party, II. 594;
his obstructionist tactics, 601;
becomes President of the Local Government Board, 708;
appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, 735;
his Coercion Bill and its chief provisions, 735-6
Ballot Bill, Discussion in Parliament as to the conditions of the, II. 395;
passing of the Ballot Act, 423
Balmoral described by the Queen, I. 366;
visited by the Queen, 412, 458, 459, 487,
622, 660, 696; II. 293, 431, 606, 627, 666, 667;
Greville’s description of the Queen’s life at, 415
Balmoral, Countess of, the Queen’s assumed
title during her visit to Italy, II. 580
Bank Charter Act, its favourable effect, I. 182
Bankruptcy Bill, The, carried in Parliament, II. 86;
real progress made with it, 658;
its main object to provide for an independent
examination into all circumstances of insolvency by officials of the Board
of Trade, _ib._;
read a second time, _ib._;
referred to the Grand Committee on Trade, _ib._;
passed by the House of Lords without cavil, _ib._;
Mr. Chamberlain’s ability and tact in conducting it, _ib._
Bankruptcy Clauses of the Irish Land Bill, II. 736
Bannerman, Mr. Campbell-, attacks the Bankruptcy
Clauses of the Irish Land Bill, II. 736
Baring, Mr., his budget, I. 90;
proposed alterations on the Sugar Duties, _ib._
Battenberg, Prince Henry of, II. 718;
made Knight of the Garter, 722;
assumes title of His Royal Highness, _ib._;
question of the legality of this assumption, ib.
Bavuda Desert, The march across the, II. 713
Beaconsfield, Lord, _see_ Disraeli, Mr.
Beales, Mr., his leadership of the Reform League, II. 270
Bean, his attempt on the Queen’s life, I. 110
Beatrice, Princess, Betrothal of, II. 718;
unpopularity of her marriage, _ib._;
annuity to her on her marriage, 720;
marriage of, 722;
welcome in the Highlands after her marriage, 723
Beer Duty instituted by Mr. Gladstone, II. 601
Belfast visited by the Queen and the Prince Consort, I. 410
Belgium, proposed visit of the Queen, I. 126
Belt, Mr., sculptor of the Queen’s monument to
Lord Beaconsfield in Hughenden Church, II. 643
Beniowski, Major, his leadership of the Chartist rising in Wales, I. 329
Benson, Dr., Archbishop of Canterbury, nominate
d by Archbishop Tait as his successor, II. 650
Bentham, Jeremy, his exposure of the needless
severity of the Criminal Code, I. 27
Bentinck, Lord George, attacks Prince Albert
in a speech during a debate about the Corn Laws, I. 226;
his contention against Free Trade, 275;
his Bill for railways in Ireland, 278;
imprudent speech on the European Powers, 301;
his championship of the West
Indies planters, 350;
his death, 371;
his character, _ib._
Beresford, Lord Charles, rescues Sir Charles Wilson, II. 716
Berlin, the rising against the Government, I. 346
Besant, Mr. Walter, his revelations of East London life, II. 668;
impetus to social reform by his novels, _ib._;
his ideal in “All Sorts and Conditions of Men,” _ib._;
the effect of his writings on London society, _ib._;
practically the originator of the People’s Palace in East London, 740
Bessborough, Lord, his support of Wellington on Free Trade, I. 227;
appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 245;
his death, 292
Beyrout bombarded by the European allies, I. 86
Biggar, Mr., his co-operation with Mr. Parnell, II. 488;
development of the policy of obstruction, 499
Bill, Education, introduced in the House of Commons, II. 355, 360;
its terms, 360;
criticism by Mr. Mill and Mr. Fawcett, 361;
passed by both Houses, 362;
adverse criticism by the Dissenters, 457;
Mr. Forster’s compromise to the Dissenters, 458
Birch, Mr., appointed tutor to the of Wales, I. 403
Birmingham, The Queen’s visit to, in 1858, II. 20;
Her Majesty opens Aston Hall and Park, _ib._;
the Queen opens the Law Courts in, 739;
enthusiasm of her reception, _ib._
Bismarck, Herr Von, his policy towards Russia, I. 554;
his mission to the German States, II. 495;
his view regarding the German conditions at
the close of the Franco-German War, 403
Blignières, M. de, resigns his position on the Dual Control, II. 642
Bonaparte, Charles Louis, _see_ Napoleon III.
Boniface, Duke of Tuscany, a supposed ancestor of the Queen, I. 4
Borneo, The work of Sir James Brooke in, I. 187, 188;
its defiance of English authority, 254;
proclamation of Sir J. Cochrane to the natives, _ib._
Boscawen, Col., in tactical command of Sir Herbert
Stewart’s column in the Nile Expedition, II. 714
Boycotting, origin of the term, II. 603
Brackenbury, General, in command of the River Column, II. 717
Bradlaugh, Mr., his first attempt to take an
affirmation on entering Parliament, II. 595;
opposition of the Fourth Party, _ib._;
Mr. Labouchere’s motion in his favour, _ib._;
imprisoned in the Clock Tower, _ib._;
Mr. Gladstone’s motion to allow him to affirm at his own risk, _ib._;
his re-election for Northampton, 618;
Tory opposition to his taking the seat, _ib._;
attempt to force his way into the House of Commons, _ib._:
renewed attempt to take the oath, 630;
his second return for Northampton, _ib._;
excluded from the precincts of the House of Parliament, _ib._;
his promise not to press his claim to be sworn
till the Affirmation Bill had been determined, 658;
writes to the Speaker claiming his right to take the oath, _ib._;
Sir Stafford Northcote’s resolution preventing him from taking the oath, _ib._;
his threat to treat the resolution as invalid, _ib._;
Sir S. Northcote’s resolution excluding him from
the precincts of the House of Parliament, _ib._;
his action against the Sergeant-at-Arms, _ib._;
again prevented from taking his seat, 676;
excluded from the House of Commons, _ib._;
takes the oath, 726
Brand, Sir Henry, Speaker of the House of Commons,
elevated to the peerage, II. 676
Bright, Mr., his work with Cobden as leader of
the Anti-Corn Law Movement, I. 88;
his championship of Free Trade, 201;
his powerful eloquence, 202;
his view of the Education Vote, 283;
his opposition to Shaftesbury’s “Ten Hours Bill,” 286;
his opinions on the Irish Question, 378;
his teaching regarding the colonies, 380;
his ineffectual efforts to preserve peace before the Crimean War, 578;
speech against the Russian War, 590;
his attacks on the propertied classes, II. 31;
his view regarding the _Trent_ dispute, 122;
speech at Birmingham on the Irish Question, 302;
speech in the House of Commons on the Irish Question, 334;
his administration at the Board of Trade, 342;
resignation of office at the Board of Trade, 387;
appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 439;
his opposition to Mr. Forster’s Education Bill, 458;
his proposal regarding the Ashanti War, 462;
his speech against the Beaconsfield Government, 583;
speech on the Irish Question, 603;
his withdrawal from the Cabinet because of the bombardment
of the forts at Alexandria, 654;
his denunciation of the Obstructionists, 660;
joins the Liberal Unionists, 729
Broadfoot, Lieut., Murder of, at Cabul, I. 117
Broadhurst, Mr., opposes the vote to Prince Leopold on his marriage, II. 646
Brooke, Sir James, his services in Borneo, I. 187, 188;
his conduct impugned by Cobden, _ib._
Brougham, Lord, his speeches on the revolt in Canada, I. 34;
his quarrel with the Whig leaders, 47;
his remarks on Roman Catholicism and the English Crown, 66;
remark on the Irish famine, 278;
his opposition to the “Ten Hours Bill,” 287;
his attack on the Rebellion Losses Bill, 383;
failure of his attack on Lord Palmerston, 396
Bruce, Mr. Austin (afterwards Lord Aberdare), the
Habitual Criminals Act, II. 339
Buccleuch, the Duke of, the Queen’s Visit to, II. 732
Buckingham, Duke of, appointed President of the Council, II. 257
Buckingham Palace, great ball in 1842, I. 107
Budget Defeat, the Queen’s constitutional point about
a ministerial resignation on a, II. 707
Bulgarian Atrocities, The, II. 506-511
Buller, Charles, his co-operation with Lord Durham in
preparing a system of self-government for Canada, I. 35;
his distinction between colonisation and emigration, 283;
his condemnation of England’s colonial policy, 386
Bunsen, Baroness, description of the meeting of Parliament in 1842, I. 107;
account of a royal party at Buckingham Palace, 304;
description of the Prince Consort’s installation as Chancellor of Cambridge
University, 311
Buol, Count, his suggestion at the Second Vienna Conference, I. 634
Burgoyne, Sir J., his opinion regarding the storming of Sebastopol, I. 609
Burmah, outbreak of war, I. 503;
blockade of Rangoon by the British, 504;
an embassy to the Queen, II. 429;
the conquest by Great Britain, 698
Burmah, Upper, annexed to the Indian Empire, II. 723
Burnaby, Colonel Fred, killed in the battle of Abu Klea, II. 713
Burnes, Sir Alexander, his mission to Cabul, I. 112;
the garbling of his , _ib._;
appointed assistant secretary to Shah Soojah, 113;
massacred at Cabul, 117
Butt, Mr. Isaac, his leadership of the Home Rule Party, II. 426
C.
Cabul, insurrection of the Afghans, I. 117;
entered by the British, 121;
Sir Frederick Roberts master of, II. 574
Caffre War, Outbreak of the, I. 254
Cairns, Lord, appointed Lord Chancellor, II. 304;
his resignation of the leadership of the Tory party, 358;
Lord Chancellor under Disraeli, 465;
his Judicature Bill, 484;
his amendment to Mr. Gladstone’s Reform Bill of 1884, 677
Cairo, stampede of the foreign population after the riot at Alexandria, II. 642;
capture of the city by General Drury Lowe, 643;
surrender of Arabi Pasha, _ib._;
the Khedive reinstated, _ib._
Cambridge, the Prince Consort’s installation as Chancellor of the University, I. 310-314;
its many pleasant associations with the Queen’s married life, 314;
Prince Albert’s revised course of studies, 369
Cambridge, Duke of, conveys the Queen’s congratulations to the volunteers on
the coming of age of the force, II. 607
Campbell, Sir Colin, his plans at Sebastopol, I. 609;
his consummate skill at Balaclava, 611;
the confidence in his leadership, 671;
his lack of “interest,” 674;
his return to England and proposed resignation, 675;
an interview with the Queen, _ib._;
his work in India, 735;
the relief of Lucknow, 737;
defeat of the rebels at Cawnpore, _ib._;
the final capture of Lucknow, II. 2;
his regulations regarding the control of the Indian army, 26
Campbell, Sir John, his opinion in regard to Chartism, I. 58
Campbell, Lord, appointed Chancellor of the Duchy, I. 245;
a letter in regard to the Russell Ministry, 246;
an account of a Cabinet meeting, 277;
a visit to Windsor, 290;
a letter regarding an interview with the Queen, 291;
an amusing account of a banquet, _ib._;
an account of a royal party at Buckingham Palace, 306;
the Crown Security Bill, 355;
his speech on the position of the Prince Consort, 576;
his opinion on Baron Parke’s life-peerage, 682;
the passing of the Divorce Bill, 713
Campbell-Bannerman, Mr., attacks the Bankruptcy Clauses of the Irish Land Bill, II. 736
Canada, its early discontents, I. 31;
resolutions in Parliament regarding reform, 32;
the serious condition of the Lower Provinces, _ib._;
sympathisers in the United States, _ib._;
seizure of Navy Island, _ib._;
jealousy between the Upper and Lower Provinces, 34;
suppression of the revolt, _ib._;
the Ashburton Treaty, 168;
opposition to Free Trade, _ib._;
evil effects of Peel’s policy, 251;
riot in Montreal, 382;
the Rebellion Losses Bill, 383;
cordial welcome to the Prince of Wales, II. 67;
feeling of uneasiness in England in case of war between Canada and the United
States, 234;
scandal regarding the Canadian Pacific Railway, 459;
rebellion of half-breeds in the North-West of, 723;
the rising put down by Sir F. Middleton, _ib._
Cannes, the Duke of Albany dies at, II. 687;
the Queen’s visit to, 740
Canning, Lord, Viceroy of India, I. 724;
his vigorous policy during the Mutiny, 734;
Tory hostility to his policy, II. 7;
his recall petitioned for, 17;
supported by the Queen, _ib._;
censured by Lord Ellenborough, _ib._;
Lord Ellenborough resigns, 18
Canton, capture by the British, II. 4
Cardigan, Lord, and the charge of the Light Brigade, I. 614
Cardwell, Mr., his economic reforms in the army, II. 340;
his inefficiency as head of the War Department, 363;
his Army Bill 391;
the favourable reception of his Army Bill, 424
Carey, Lieutenant, tried by court-martial regarding the death of the Prince Imperial, II. 578;
restored to his rank by the Duke of Cambridge, _ib._
Carlyle, Mr., his attacks on the governing classes of England, I. 358;
his interview with the Queen, II. 346
Carnarvon, Lord, Secretary for the Colonies, II. 257;
resignation of office, 275;
Secretary for the Colonies under Mr. Disraeli, 465;
his second resignation, 535;
his scheme of Home Rule, 724;
resigns the Viceroyalty of Ireland, 726
Cathcart, Lord, his speech to the Canadian Parliament, I. 250;
the amendment to his speech, _ib._
Cavagnari, Sir Louis, Murder of, at Cabul, II. 573
Cavour, Count, his visit to England, I. 664;
his threats to Napoleon III., II. 34;
his protest against the conquest of the Sicilies, I. 54;
his death, 79
Cawnpore, the massacre of English residents by Nana Sahib, II. 731
Cetewayo, King of the Zulus, ally of England. II. 563;
fights at Isandhiwana, 564
Ceylon, Lord Torrington’s fiscal mistakes, I. 382
Chamberlain, Mr., his adverse criticism of Mr. Forster’s Education Bill, II. 458;
his reception as Mayor of Birmingham of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 478;
his opposition to the continuance of flogging in the army, 569;
his skill as a debater, 571;
his supposed Socialism, 593;
his distinction in Parliament, _ib._;
Mr. Gladstone’s objection to his securing a place in the Cabinet, 594;
Whig antagonism to his Cabinet rank, _ib._;
President of the Board of Trade, _ib._;
social campaign against him and the Radical section of the Cabinet, 603;
his Bill enabling Corporations to adopt electric lighting, 635;
introduces a Merchant Shipping Bill, 678;
Lord Randolph Churchill’s accusation against him in regard to the Aston riots, _ib._;
his Socialistic appeals to the electors, 698;
possible
coalition with Lord R. Churchill, _ib._;
the “doctrine of ransom,” _ib._;
abolition of taxation part of his scheme, _ib._;
his “ransom” doctrine and its effect on the country, 724;
his “unauthorised programme,” _ib._;
his scheme of Home Rule, _ib._;
his withdrawal from Mr. Gladstone’s Cabinet, 727;
joins the Liberal Unionists, 729
Chambers, Messrs., their petition against the Paper Duty, I. 391
Charles of Hesse, Death of the Princess, II. 719
Charles of Prussia, Prince, Death of, (the “Red Prince”), II. 721
Charrington, Lieutenant, his mission with Professor Palmer to detach the Bedouins
from the side of Arabi Pasha, II. 642;
murdered at the Wells of Moses, _ib._
Chartists, their hatred of the Queen, I. 38;
their demands, 48;
declaration of the “People’s Charter,” 49;
their meetings proclaimed, 50;
petition to the Government, 58;
riot at Birmingham, _ib._;
the vigour of the movement, _ib._;
their turbulent Socialism, 59;
alarm of the Government, _ib._;
disturbances in 1842, 126;
demonstration on Kennington Common, 327, 331;
a secret society, 328;
in league with foreign revolutionists, 329;
sympathy from the Tories, _ib._;
their political organisation, 330;
the two divisions, _ib._;
their first check, _ib._;
peaceful nature of the movement, 334;
reconstruction of the party by Mr. Ernest Jones, 335;
seizure of conspirators at Bloomsbury, 338;
collapse of the organisation, _ib._;
effect of the rising on Parliament, 354
Chartreuse, the Queen visits the Grande, II. 740
Chelmsford, Lord, Lord Chancellor, II. 257
Childers, Mr., his economic reforms in the navy, II. 340;
his vigorous policy at the Admiralty, 365, 424;
War Secretary, 594;
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 654;
his Budget for 1883, 659;
reduces the Income Tax, _ib._;
introduces a Bill to reduce the National Debt, _ib._;
his Budget for 1884, 677;
rejection of his 1885 Budget, 706
Children’s celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee in Hyde Park, II. 747
China, war with England, I. 52;
the opium trade, _ib._;
the peace of Nankin, _ib._;
the treaty in regard to commerce, 53;
disturbances at Canton, 254;
completion of a treaty with England, _ib._;
outbreak of war with England, 705;
hostilities with England, II. 47
Chobham, Experimental military camp at, I. 567
Christian, Mr. Edward, his view in regard to the constitution of the Cabinet
Council, I. 26
Churchill, Lord Randolph, his foundation of the Fourth Party, II. 594;
his obstructionist tactics, 600;
attack on the Government in regard to the Egyptian Question, 636;
co-operation with the Parnellites, 706;
becomes Secretary of State for India, 708;
is appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons, 730;
resigns the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, 731
Circular, The, in regard to Fugitive Slaves, II. 489
Clanricarde, Marquis of, his Land Bill for Ireland, II. 286
Clarendon, Lord, a remark on Lord John Russell, I. 239;
his satisfaction with the Queen’s visit to Ireland, 410, 411;
Chancellor of the Queen’s University of Ireland, 415;
his impartial administration in Ireland, 443;
his policy during the Russo-Turkish War difficulty, 578;
his impetuous despatch of the ultimatum to Russia, 582;
his statement regarding the war between England and Russia, 591;
remarks on the Queen and Prince Albert, II. 5, 6;
the Queen’s confidence in his advice, 44;
appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 245;
his death, 366
Closure, The, proposed by the Tories, II. 734
Coal Mines Regulation Bill, The, passed, II. 738
Cobden, Mr., his birth and early career, I. 87;
his work in the repeal of the Corn Laws, _ib._;
co-operation with Mr. Bright in the Anti-Corn Law Movement, 88;
enters Parliament, 98;
attack on Sir Robert Peel, 137;
his aims, 207;
receives a testimonial from Free Traders, 241;
rejection of his first scheme for international arbitration, 391;
his resolutions in favour of a general reduction of expenditure, 446;
his motion for general disarmament among European powers, 475;
his ineffectual efforts to preserve peace during the Russo-Turkish difficulty, 578;
challenges the whole policy of the Government in the Russo-Turkish Question, 587, 591;
his motion against the war with China, 706;
his Commercial Treaty, II. 48;
attack on Palmerston’s foreign policy, 207;
his death, 235;
the leading ideas of the Manchester School, _ib._
Cochrane, Mr., his proposal regarding the Income Tax, I. 327
Cockburn, Sir Alexander, his eloquent speech on the foreign policy of the Russell
Government, I. 435
Codrington, General, his inefficiency at Sebastopol, I. 671
Coercion for Ireland, Mr. Balfour’s permanent, II. 736
Colley, Sir George Pomeroy, Death of, II. 619
Collings, Mr. Jesse, defeats the Tory Government in 1886 on the question of allotments
for labourers, II. 727
Colonisation, attention given to the question, I. 130;
a preliminary expedition to New Zealand, _ib._
Connaught, Duke of, his marriage to the Princess Louise of Prussia, II. 578
Conolly, Captain Arthur, his mission to Persia, I. 123;
his death, 124
Constantine, the Grand Duke, his visit to England, I. 742
Constantinople, English protection of, II. 533
Conyngham, Marquis of, one of the messengers to the Queen announcing the death
of King William IV., I. 1
Cooper, Thomas, his advocacy of Chartist principles, I. 58
Corn Laws, the association for their repeal, I. 87;
Cobden’s advocacy of repeal, _ib._;
the Anti-Corn Law League, 88;
systematic spread of opinion against them, _ib._;
Lord John Russell’s motion, 90, 91;
reference in the Queen’s Speech, 95;
bitter debate in Parliament, 223
Corporation Act, The repeal of the, I. 23
Corrupt Practices Bill read a second time, II. 658;
its stringent penalties, _ib._;
opposed by Tories, Radicals, and Parnellites, _ib._;
passed by both Houses, _ib._
Corry, Mr., First Lord of the Admiralty, II. 275
Corry, Mr. Montagu, _see_ Rowton, Lord
Cottenham, Lord Chancellor, administers the oath to the Queen, I. 19
Cotton, Sir Willoughby, in command in Afghanistan, I. 116
Cotton famine in Lancashire, The, I. 123
Cowan, Lord Mayor, the Queen’s visit at his inauguration, I. 31
Cowell, Lieutenant, tutor to Prince Alfred, I. 692
Cowper, Lord, Irish Viceroy, II. 632
Cranworth, Lord, Lord Chancellor, I. 519;
his bill for altering the punishment of transportation, 535
Crawford, Mr. Sharman, his motion in regard to Ireland, I. 354
Crimean War, the, Origin of, I. 540;
the declaration of war by England, 583;
review of the fleet at Spithead, 584;
Mr. Cobden’s advocacy of peace, 587;
the attitude of Prussia, 593;
Mr. Gladstone’s War Budget, 597;
operations in the Black Sea, 603;
the battle of the Alma, 607;
blunders of the Allies, 609;
the battle of Balaclava, 611;
the charge of the “Six Hundred,” 614;
the battle of Inkermann, 615;
the Austrian proposals, 623;
the Vienna Conference, 634;
death of Lord Raglan, 641;
the Queen decorates returned soldiers, 647;
the assault on the Redan, 671;
fall of Sebastopol, 673;
peace declared, 683
Crimes Act abandoned in 1885 by the Tory party, II. 710
Criminal Appeal, Court of, Bill for establishing, opposed by the Tories, II. 658;
Bill before the Grand Committee on Law, _ib._;
the Bill dropped by the Government, _ib._
Criminal Code Bill read a second time, II. 658 ;
opposition of the Irish Party, _ib._;
obstructed by Lord Randolph Churchill and the Fourth Party, _ib._;
abandoned by Sir Henry James, _ib._;
Sir Henry Drummond-Wolff’s question regarding, _ib._
Criminal Law Consolidation Acts, The, I. 28
_Critic, British_, its articles on the Tractarian Movement, I. 99
Croker, Mr. J. W., his attack on the Anti-Corn Law League, I. 211;
his opposition to the Russian War, 618
Cross, Mr. R. A. (afterwards Viscount Cross), Home Secretary, II. 465;
his Licensing Bill, 470;
his Artisans’ Dwellings Bill, 483;
passes the Prisons Bill, 518;
his opposition to the Bill establishing a Court of Appeal in Criminal Cases, 658
Crown Prince of Germany, _see_ Frederick, Crown Prince
Cumberland, Duke of, the Orange plot for his accession to the throne, I. 37;
popular rejoicing at his departure from England, 38
Cupar-Fife, Seizure of packages of dynamite at, II. 661
Cyprus annexed by the British, I. 550
D.
Dalhousie, Lord, denied a place in the Russell Cabinet, I. 244;
the annexation of Burmah, 506;
his viceregal government in India, 720, 722;
his system of education unpopular, 723
Dalkeith Palace, Visit of the Queen to, II. 732
Darmstadt, The Queen at (1885), II. 719
Darwin, Mr. Charles, his death, II. 649;
his skill as a scientific investigator, _ib._;
his profound influence on the thought of the Victorian Age, _ib._;
the great work of his life, _ib._;
the impetus to science from his doctrine of Evolution, 650
Davis, Thomas Osborne, his connection with the Young Ireland Party, I. 339;
editor of the _Nation_ newspaper, _ib._;
his attack on English ideas, 340
Davitt, Michael, the organisation of the Land League, I. 602;
his arrest, 612
Davy, Sir Humphry, his discoveries in photography, I. 177
Delhi, outbreak of the Sepoy Mutiny, I. 730;
recaptured by the British, 734
Demerara, discontent in, 1849, I. 382
Denison, Mr., elected Speaker of the House of Commons, II. 254
Denman, Lord, his opinion on the Hampden ecclesiastical case, I. 300
Denmark, the dispute in regard to the Duchies of Sleswig-Holstein, II. 79;
war with Germany, 187
Dickens, Mr. Charles, his death, II. 379;
his mission as a novelist, _ib._;
his qualities as a writer, _ib._;
the Queen’s admiration of his genius, 381;
invited to Buckingham Palace, 382;
refuses a baronetcy, 383
Derby, Lord (fourteenth Earl), his formation of a Protectionist Ministry, I. 499;
excellent practical work of his Government, 503;
resignation of office, 518;
attack on the Palmerston Government, 681;
support of Lord Canning’s policy in India, II. 7;
asked to form a Cabinet, _ib._;
resignation of his Government, 36;
letter on the Italian Question, 46;
his Cabinet, 257;
resigns the Premiership, 303;
his death, 350;
his character, 351
Derby, Lord (fifteenth Earl), the Fugitive Slave Circular, II. 489;
proposals to Turkey in regard to Bulgaria, 507;
negotiations regarding Turkey, 508;
his policy during the Russo-Turkish War, 529, 530;
his objection to a Congress on the Turkish Question, 540;
his resignation, 542;
his commendable attitude during the Russo-Turkish crisis, 543;
Secretary to the Colonies, 654;
his vacillating policy regarding British territory in Africa, 683;
his mistaken policy in regard to Queensland and New Guinea, 685;
takes possession of territory at Saint Lucia Bay and Pondoland, 686
Dicey, Mr. Edward, urges the policy of establishing a British Protectorate in
Egypt, II. 638, 674
Digna, Osman, defeated by General Graham, II. 718;
in conflict with the Abyssinians, _ib._
Dilke, Sir Charles, Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, II. 594;
President of the Local Government Board, 655
Dillon, Mr., his passionate appeals against English government in Ireland, II. 615;
proposes the “Plan of Campaign,” 730;
abortive prosecution of, 735
Disraeli, Mr., his birth and parentage, I. 50;
his novels, _ib._;
his dislike of the Whigs, _ib._;
member for Maidstone, 51;
his personal appearance, _ib._;
his maiden speech, _ib._;
his attack on O’Connell, _ib._;
the nature of his Conservatism, _ib._;
the beginning of his influence, 190;
the pungency of his style, 191;
his opposition to Sir Robert Peel, _ib._;
the “Young England” Party, _ib._;
his speech against Peel on the Corn Laws, 223;
leadership of the Protectionists, 375;
the debate on the state of the nation, 399;
his amendment to the Queen’s Speech in 1850, 424;
his proposal to revise the Poor Law, _ib._;
his advocacy of Imperial Federation for Australia, 439;
his tactics in regard to the motion on salaries, 445;
his motion for the relief of agricultural depression, 465;
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 499;
complaints against his leadership in the House of Commons, 500;
his Budget speech in 1852, 502;
his political tactics, 516;
his fatal Budget, _ib._;
his leadership of the Tories at the Crimean crisis, 635, 679, 680;
his attacks on Lord Palmerston’s Italian policy, 696;
coalition with Mr. Gladstone, 700;
attack on the foreign policy of the Government, _ib._;
his support of Lord Canning’s policy in India, II. 7;
his India Bill, 17;
his Reform Bill, 32;
support of Lord Palmerston’s Ministry, 75, 82;
his view in regard to the American Civil War, 119;
attack on Mr. Gladstone’s Budget of 1860, 125;
attack on Palmerston’s diplomacy with Denmark, 204;
moves a vote of censure on Palmerston’s policy with Denmark, 206;
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 257;
speech on Reform, 271;
his proposals in regard to Reform, 274;
“educating his party,” 278;
his Budget for 1867, 283;
Premier, 303;
a faulty electoral address, 314;
resigns office, 315;
his speech on the Disestablishment of the Irish Church, 331;
his amendment to Mr. Gladstone’s motion on the Irish Church, 332, 334-5;
his criticism of Mr. Gladstone’s Irish Land Bill, 357;
his opposition to Army Purchase, 392;
his effective opposition to Mr. Gladstone, 426;
his attacks on the Gladstone Government, 463;
his majority in 1874, 465;
First Lord of the Treasury, 465;
his chivalrous attitude towards Mr. Gladstone, 467;
disaffection of the High Church party, 472;
the Scottish Church Patronage Bill, 472;
decline of his reputation, 474;
the annexation of the Fiji Islands, 475;
the Merchant Shipping Bill, 485-7;
purchase of the Suez Canal shares, 492;
the Royal Titles Bill, 499;
created Earl of Beaconsfield, 503;
speech on the Bulgarian atrocities, 506;
national protest against Turkish policy, 511, 523, 526;
his dexterity in dealing with the Turkish Question, 539;
his final agreement with Russia in regard to Turkey, 547;
at the Berlin Congress, 549;
the Anglo-Turkish Convention, 550;
the Indian scientific frontier, 556;
his belief in Asiatic Imperialism, 587;
deserted by the _Standard_, 588;
his Manifesto to the country, 590;
his fall from power, _ib._;
his novel of “Endymion,” 608;
his abandonment of the Coercion Act in Ireland, 611;
the failure of his policy in Afghanistan, _ib._;
his error in annexing the Transvaal, _ib._;
his death, 619;
his brilliant career, 620;
the secret of his success, _ib._;
sincerely esteemed by the Queen, _ib._;
his democratic impulses, _ib._;
his skilful management of the House of Commons, _ib._;
his declining years, _ib._;
his mistaken policy on the Eastern Question, 621;
his last words, 622;
his funeral, _ib._;
affectionately mourned by the people, _ib._;
visit of the Queen to his tomb, _ib._;
her Majesty’s monument to his memory in Hughenden Church, 643
Dixie, Lady Florence, the alleged attack on, II. 663;
alarm to the Queen by the story of the attack, _ib._;
John Brown reports on the case to her Majesty, 664
Dodson, Mr., President of the Local Government Board, II. 594;
his Employers’ Liability Bill, 601
Dongola, Evacuation of, by Lord Wolseley, II. 718
Dost Mahomed, his territory, I. 112;
his anxiety for an English alliance, _ib._;
virtual declaration of war against him by the British, 114;
his flight from Cabul, _ib._;
again in arms, 115;
defeat of a British force, _ib._;
surrender to the British Government, _ib._;
set at liberty, 122
Drummond, Mr., his proposal for the reduction of taxation, I. 446
Dublin, visit of the Queen and the Prince Consort, I. 407;
second visit of the Queen, 571;
riotous proceedings in connection with the celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee, 746
Dufferin, Lord, appointed Viceroy of India, II. 696
Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan, his connection with the “Young Ireland” Party, I. 339;
his statement of his aims, 340;
his arrest, 342;
brought to trial, 343
Dunraven, Lord, his conciliatory motion on Mr. Gladstone’s Reform Bill, II. 677
Durham, Lord, his Liberal policy in Canada, I. 34;
his resignation of the Governorship of Canada, _ib._;
recalled in disgrace by the Government, 35;
his system of self-government for Canada, _ib._;
success of his policy, _ib._;
his death, _ib._
Duty, Paper, Mr. Milner Gibson’s motion for repeal of, I. 503;
rejection of his motion, _ib._
E.
Earle, General, Death of, II. 717
East India Company, occupation of Aden by its troops, I. 52;
its opposition to Napier’s command in India, 402;
annexation of the Punjaub, _ib._
Ecclesiastical Titles Bill introduced by Lord John Russell, I. 464;
Mr. Cobden’s remarks on, 465;
opposition of the Peelites to its terms, 466;
the second attempt to introduce it, 470
Edinburgh visited by the Queen and the Prince Consort, I. 458, 487;
review of the volunteers by the Queen, II. 66;
third visit of the Queen and the Prince Consort, 91;
the unveiling of the Scottish National Albert Memorial, 503;
visited by the Queen, 627;
review of the volunteers by the Queen, _ib._;
her Majesty opens the International Exhibition in 1886, 732
Edinburgh, Duke of, _see_ Alfred, Prince
Edison, Mr., the effect of his discovery of the electric light on gas investors, II. 582
Education hardly existing in its popular sense at the Queen’s accession, I. 3;
Lord John Russell’s scheme for national education, 270;
vote on the subject in the House of Commons, 282, 283;
Mr. Lowe’s revised Code, II. 120;
Bill introduced in the House of Commons, 355, 360;
its terms, 360;
criticism of the Bill by Mr. Mill and Mr. Fawcett, 361;
the Bill passed by both Houses, 362;
adverse criticism of the Bill by the Dissenters, 457;
Mr. Forster’s compromise to the Dissenters in regard to the Bill, 458
Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Princess, II. 723
Egypt, vote of credit in Parliament for expedition, II. 635;
the sources of the Egyptian difficulty, 636;
Ismail Pasha’s policy, _ib._;
the national borrowed money, _ib._;
purchase of the Suez Canal shares by England, _ib._;
Mr. Cave’s report on the Khedive’s money difficulties, 638;
Mr. Edward Dicey’s view of a Protectorate, _ib._;
Lord Salisbury’s error in policy, _ib._;
the Goschen-Joubert scheme for consolidating the Egyptian debt, _ib._;
commission by France and England to investigate the resources of the country, _ib._;
Nubar Pasha’s Ministry, 639;
beginning of the Dual Control, _ib._;
arrangement by the Powers to depose Ismail, _ib._;
Tewfik appointed Khedive, _ib._;
inefficiency of the Dual Control, _ib._;
ignominious position of England, _ib._;
the supremacy of the bondholders, _ib._;
restlessness of the natives under the Dual Control, 640;
revolt of Arabi Bey, _ib._;
disagreement between the partners in the Dual Control as to the treatment of Arabi Pasha, 641;
determination of the Assembly of Notables to assert their right to control
the Budget, _ib._;
the right of the Assembly disputed by the French and English controllers, _ib._;
the Chamber of Notables refuses to withdraw from its position, _ib._;
M. de Blignières resigns his post on the Dual Control, 642;
Arabi made Dictator of the country, _ib._;
“Egypt for the Egyptians,” _ib._;
French and English fleets despatched to Alexandria, _ib._;
French and English consuls advise the expulsion of Arabi, _ib._;
a riot in Alexandria, _ib._;
stampede of the foreign population of Alexandria and of Cairo, _ib._;
formation of a Cabinet patronised by Germany and Austria, _ib._;
safety of the Suez Canal assured, 643;
the battles of Kassassin and Tel-el-Kebir, _ib._;
the Khedive
reinstated in Cairo, _ib._;
occupied by a British army, _ib._;
Mr. Gladstone declares the occupation of the country temporary, _ib._;
the cost of the war to England, _ib._;
really under the control of the British Consul-General, _ib._;
England forbids the restoration of the Dual Control, _ib._;
Arabi and the insurgent leaders saved from capital punishment by the English
Government, acting on the instigation of Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, _ib._;
used as a subject for embarrassing the Ministry, 661;
Lord Hartington’s declaration about the recall of the British troops, _ib._;
difficulty arising from the exorbitant tolls levied on ships by the Suez Canal
Company, 662;
Mr. Gladstone’s agreement with M. de Lesseps, _ib._;
intention of the English Government to withdraw the troops, 670;
the attempt to conquer the Soudan, _ib._;
the appearance of the Mahdi, _ib._;
the expedition under Colonel Hicks, _ib._;
Hicks defeated at El Obeid, _ib._;
the Egyptian garrisons in the Soudan, _ib._;
the advice of the British Government in regard to the Soudan, 671;
the delay in the evacuation of Cairo, _ib._;
steps taken to relieve General Gordon, _ib._;
attack by the Conservatives on Mr. Gladstone’s policy, _ib._;
the embarrassing position of England in regard to, 672;
the best policy for England, _ib._;
the decision of the British Government, _ib._;
General Gordon’s mission, _ib._;
his arrival at Cairo, _ib._;
General Gordon appointed Governor-General of the Soudan, _ib._;
Baker Pasha’s death at Tokar, _ib._;
Mr. Gladstone admitted to be right in advising the abandonment of the Soudan, 674;
how the situation had been affected by the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, _ib._;
Gordon’s preliminary policy during his mission, 675;
the massacre of the garrison at Sinkat, _ib._;
the battle of El Teb, _ib._;
the battle of Tamanieb, _ib._;
General Graham recalled from Suakim, _ib._;
failure of Gordon’s negotiations with the Mahdi, 676;
the bad financial position of the country, _ib._;
Mr. Gladstone’s policy to relieve the debt, _ib._;
the Conference in regard to the country, _ib._;
Lord Northbrook’s mission, _ib._;
England’s freedom of action, _ib._;
vote for military operations by the English Government, _ib._;
the actual difficulties of the country, 682;
Lord Northbrook’s recommendations in regard to the debt, _ib._;
financial proposal of the British Government, _ib._;
prosecution of the Egyptian Government by the Debt Commission, _ib._;
Prince Bismarck’s advice to England regarding, 684;
Mr. Gladstone’s policy, 702;
the plan adopted for rescuing the country from a financial crisis, _ib._;
the diplomatic hostility of France, Russia, and Germany to England’s policy, 703;
the frontier fixed at Wady Halfa, _ib._
Election, General, on the Home Rule Scheme of Mr. Gladstone, II. 729
Electric Telegraph, its progress at the date of the Queen’s accession, I. 3
Elgin, Lord, his policy in Canada, I. 382;
his admirable behaviour during the Canadian crisis in 1849, 383, 384;
his successful diplomacy with Japan, II. 2
Eliot, George, her death, II. 609;
the character of her novels, _ib._;
her works especially enjoyed by the Queen, _ib._;
the popularity of “Adam Bede,” 610
Ellenborough, Lord, his secret despatch to Lord Canning, II. 18;
resigns office, _ib._
Elliot, Captain, his arrest by the Chinese Government, I. 52
El Obeid, Hicks Pasha and his army annihilated at, II. 670
Elphinstone, General, in command in Afghanistan, I. 116
El Teb, Defeat of Osman Digna at, II. 675
“Endymion,” Mr. Disraeli’s novel of, II. 608