pliance with official etiquette, but were the sincere expression of the great admiration and affection sincerely felt for the Queen by the civilized nations all over the world. Seldom, if ever, has the death of an individual caused such genuine heartfelt sorrow to so many millions of people so widely scattered over the earth's surface.

Two notable exceptions to the general evidences of grief were the opposition to messages of condolence in Dublin and the refusal of Mayor Van Wyck of New York to place the flag on the City Hall at half-mast. Mayor Van Wyck's action, however, was by no means representative of the feelings of his city or of the United States, for abundant tokens were visible on every hand throughout the country of the deep grief felt at the loss of the Queen. President McKinley's message to the Prince of Wales was especially sympathetic and appreciative;

PRINCE ALBERT,

THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT OF ENGLAND,
HUSBAND OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

numbers of public memorial services were spontaneously arranged in all the large cities; and emblems of mourning were displayed on public and private buildings in great abundance.

In London. where the bulletins of the Queen's condition had been watched by multitudes with the greatest anxiety and

sorrow, "the great bell" of the Cathedral of St. Paul, the gift of William III., used only on exceptional occasions, was solemnly tolled as soon as the death of the Queen was announced. Within a few hours, long before the official orders for mourning were issued, great numbers of black robes and hatbands were seen on the streets, a remarkable exhibition of the deep sense of personal loss felt by the public. Even the joyous acclaim due to the proclamation of a new King (see below), who has long been the popular idol, was hushed instinctively by the feelings of reverence and sorrow for the solemn presence from which he had so recently come, while the miles of streets traversed by the impressive funeral procession were lined on both sides with multitudes of people, very few of whom showed cheeks dry of tears. Countless funereal hangings were displayed on the buildings, and business and entertainments of all sorts were suspended.

The court will probably remain in mourning for a year; but the consternation this announcement created among the drapers, who had already laid in their stock of colored fabrics for spring and summer wear, led the King, with his characteristic consideration, to issue an order that the public will not be expected or desired to wear full mourning after March 6, or half mourning after April 17. Most of the foreign courts have gone into mourning for a greater or less period. The German court will go into mourning for a month, and the entire Prussian army for a fortnight. This period was extended to three weeks for the 1st Dragoon Guards, of which regiment Her Majesty was honorary chief.

Accession of King Edward VII.

In compliance with the inexorable necessities of affairs of state, the Queen's eldest son, no longer Prince of Wales, but now King of England, was obliged to leave Osborne in less than 24 hours after his mother's death, and journeyed to London to hold the first meeting of his Privy Council.

He left Osborne at 9 o'clock Wednesday morning, January 23, attended by his brother, the Duke of Connaught, his son, the Duke of York, Prince Christian, and the Duke of Argyll, and Mr. Balfour, representing the cabinet. A large company of privy councillors, ministers, ex-ministers, civic dignitaries of London, and other officials, assembled at the meeting of the Privy Council in St.

plainness and simplicity of speech which have so effectively characterized the Queen's public utterances:

"Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords and Gentlemen: This is the most painful occasion on which I shall ever be

"In undertaking the heavy load which now devolves upon me I am fully determined to be a constitutional sovereign in the strictest sense of the word, and, so long as there is breath in my body, to work for the good and amelioration of my people.

"I have resolved to be known by the name of Edward, which has been borne by six of my ancestors. In doing so I do not undervalue the name of Albert which I inherit from my ever to be lamented great and wise father, who by universal consent is, I think deservedly, known by the name of Albert the Good; and I desire that his name should stand alone.

"In conclusion, I trust to parliament and the nation to support me in the arduous duties which now devolve upon me by inheritance, and to which I am determined to devote my whole strength during the remainder of my life."

PROCLAMATION OF ACCESSION.

In accordance with the provisions of an act of parliament, both houses of parliament met that same afternoon at 4 o'clock to take the oath of allegiance to the new King. The following day, January 24, three public proclamations of the death of Queen Victoria and the accession of King Edward VII. as King of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, were made in London.

The proclamation was read first at St. James Palace; but the King was not present. This was in accordance with the expressed views of Queen Victoria, who had felt it to be a great trial to herself to be present at her own proclamation. The second proclamation was made at Temple Bar, after the ancient ceremony of demanding and receiving from the Lord Mayor permission to enter the city had been formally observed, a silken rope serving to represent the ancient Temple Bar which was removed some years ago for the convenience of traffic. The third reading was at the Royal Exchange. The time of the proclamations had not been made known in advance, in order to avoid unmanageable crowds, so that the readings were not marked by great excitement, and the cheering was subdued by the mournful surroundings. The King's personal appearance, however, was always loyally welcomed. His bearing was simple and dignified, and his gracious and tactful assumption of his new duties under such trying circumstances met with cordial praise from all sides.

Funeral of the Queen.

The funeral services of the Queen were set for February 2, as considerperfect

able time was necessary to

the

arrangements for the progress from Cowes through London to Windsor, and to allow time for the large number of royal guests to arrive.

It was decided that there should be no public lying in state, and; during the interval between the Queen's death and her funeral, the casket containing her body rested in her private dining room, which had been beautifully fitted up for the purpose under the personal superintendence of Queen Alexandria. Her personal retainers were allowed to gaze upon the face of their beloved and honored mistress here for the last time; and the casket was then permanently sealed in the presence of the King. On Sunday, January 27, memorial services were held in nearly all the churches and chapels in England. The Archbishop of Canterbury preached at St. Paul's Cathedral, London; and the services at Whippingham church, Cowes, were attended by the royal family and most of their royal guests, including the German Emperor. Services were held by Jewish synagogues on Saturday.

The arrangements for the funeral progress were carried out according to the Queen's provisions, which she had made in detail with characteristic foresight and precision. Up to this time, everything connected with the Queen's sickness and death had been characterized by the simplicity and naturalness of domestic life. But from this time, privaté sorrow must yield to the public claim to do homage to the great Queen; and accordingly the funeral arrangements, while free from pomp or ostentation, gradually grew into a royal progress such as had never been witnessed by the orld before. In accordance with the Queen's wishes, it was decidedly military in character, rather than a state pageant.

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Friday, February 1, a day favored with "the Queen's own weather," the coffin of the Queen was carried on a carriage from Osborne House to the pier at Cowes between lines of soldiers, and was followed by the King, Queen, Emperor, and royal Princes and Princesses on foot, showing every sign of personal grief. It was placed on board the royal yacht "Alberta," underneath a canopy of ruby velvet. The progress of the "Alberta" with its majestic burden, ceded by a fleet of torpedo destroyers, and followed by the "Victoria and Alhert" carrying the royal mourners, across the Solent from Cowes to Portsmouth, impressive naval pageant equalled only by the famous naval display of the Diamond Jubilee. The entire pathway of eleven miles from shore to

was an

pre

February 2, the coffin was borne by special train to London, where a long progress of three miles was made from Victoria Station to Paddington. Every branch of the military service was represented in this great procession, while 25,000 troops in addition were placed along the line of march to preserve order. After the military and naval representation came the bodyguard of the Queen, foreign military attaches, and the headquarter's staff, led by Earl Roberts rid

ereigns, heirs to thrones, and princes, all mounted and in military uniform. Prominent among them were the German Emperor, the King of Portugal, the King of Greece, the Crown Prince of Denmark, Grand Duke Michael of Russia, and Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria. The King of Belgium rode in a carriage with the Queen's daughters because of his feebleness. Then followed Queen Alexandra and the royal princesses in deepest mourning. The decora

tions along the route were purple and black according to the King's orders. Large wreaths of uniform size were tied on the lamp-posts.

Thus did the great and good Queen make her last royal progress through London, the greatest progress of them all, far surpassing even the wonderful one in the Diamond Jubilee in dignity and impressiveness, and for the evidences it gave both of the universal admiration and love for the dead sovereign and of the strength and unity of the Empire.

The body of the Queen was carried from London to Windsor, where the burial service of the Church of England was read by the Bishop of Winchester and the Dean of Windsor in St. George's Chapel. This service was largely attended by ambassadors and envoys from all the world. The coffin was removed to Albert Chapel at the close of the service, where it remained over Sunday, February 3; and on Monday, the 4th, it was placed reverently in the tomb at Frogmore which the Queen had prepared for herself by the side of her beloved husband, Prince Albert, whom she had so faithfully cherished in memory for forty years. Thus closed the stateliest funeral pageant the world has ever seen, a fitting close to a noble life and a glorious reign.

Last Years of Victoria.

A detailed account of the Queen's life up to the time of the Diamond Jubilee, and an estimate of her work and character have already appeared in CURRENT HISTORY (Vol. 7, pp. 1-16).

the

The two years following the Diamond Jubilee were comparatively uneventful for the Queen. She made her usual visits to the South of France, going to Cimiez in 1898 and to the Riviera in 1899. In May of the latter year, she performed what proved to be her last ceremonial function in London, the laying of foundation stone of the new building completing the South Kensington Museum, called the Victoria and Albert Museum (Vol. 9, p. 449). Her 80th birthday was celebrated a week later with great rejoicing, but without much public display.

The last year of the Queen's life was unusually clouded with sorrow from two causes that especially appealed to her sympathetic nature, the death of a number of dear friends and relatives and the war in South Africa. There is reason to think that these griefs deeply felt, though nobly borne, were a great strain

on her nervous vitality, and hastened the end of her life. Among those whose death was a severe loss to the Queen was her second son, the Duke of Edinburgh (Vol. 10, p. 690), who died quite suddenly of heart failure; Prince Christian Victor, her grandson, who was a victim to enteric fever at Pretoria (Vol. 10, p. 967); and very recently Dowager Lady Churchill, one of her oldest and most intimate friends, who died suddenly at Windsor Castle. The grave and peculiarly painful sickness of her eldest daughter, the Empress Frederick, was also keenly felt by the Queen.

In spite of these griefs, however, she found courage to plan and pay a visit to Dublin at a mest opportune time (Vol. 10, pp. 210, 237, 297, 391), and to take a keen interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of her brave soldiers, to whom she gave a warm and motherly welcome on their return from South Africa. On January 2 she summoned Lord Roberts for an interview and invested him with the Order of the Garter. She continued to transact the routine state business until within a few days of her death. Her life surpassed by a few days that of the English monarch before her who had lived the longest, George III., as her reign had previously exceeded the longest reign.

The two main points in the Queen's character and life-work most universally emphasized in the numerous tributes to her, are: first, her nobility of character as a woman in all the womanly spheres of life, as an obedient daughter, loving wife, tender mother, and devoted friend; second, the great influence she so wisely and often exerted in the maintenance of the peace of the world. While she can hardly be said to have been brilliant, she had a keen instinct for the right course in a doubtful matter, backed by a long life of widely extended experience, and could always be counted on to cast her influence where her judgment convinced her the right lay. These two characteristics are felicitously phrased in President McKinley's message; her "noble life and beneficent influence have promoted the peace and won the affection of the world." With her passing ends an era to be known by her name in history as the Victorian Era, the most memorable the world has ever seen for advancement in science, literature, and all the arts of peace and war. No Queen could desire to bequeath a greater memory to posterity than that. No woman could wish for a finer memorial than the deep love and admiration for her that fill the hearts of millions upon millions of men and women who never looked upon her face.