Quire apart from bigness, we must confess that we cannot think without deep emotion of the great festival of the British peoples that will be achieved to-morrow. Not only will "London roll one tide of joy thro' all Her many millions and loud leagues of men And welcome," but throughout the whole world myriads of many races, creeds, and climes will scelaim the praise of a good woman and a noble queen. On the 19th of June, 1887, the little maid Princess Victoria Alexandrina of Kent retired to rest unknown character; next day she was the cynosure of the eyes of the civilised world, and for sixty years since she has remained blameless in that fierce light that beats upon a throne and blackens every spot, At 5 a.m. on the 20th of June, 1837, the Archbishop of Canterbury was thundering at the gates of Kensington Palace demanding admission to announce her accession to, the most ancient throne in Christendom. A sleepy gate-keeper at last aroused a drowsy maid who, after inspection, told his Grace that she could not possibly awaken her mistress from "such a sweet sleep." "Her Majesty's sleep must give way to business of State," proclaimed and thereby prophesied the Archbishop; and, sure enough, within five minutes there stood before him, "in loose white nightgown and shawl, her hair falling upon her shaullers, her feet in slippers, tears in her eyes, bnt perfectly cool and collected," the lady who has played so great a part in the history of her nation and age. The scene is more than a pretty picture; it was of happy augury. 'I'he hasty toilet showed simplicity of character and prompt subjection of self to daty, just as the tears for her dead uncle showed an affectionate disposition, Her dignity and self-possession at her first Councils among the graybeards of State, and the fine tact with which she mitigated the asperities of political and Court rivalry, and attracted to herself the chivalrous devotion of the political leaders, greatly impressed—_ contemporaries. These qualities, as delightful as they were unexpected in one so young, were the plain issue of a sweet and beautiful character; sixty momentous years of queenship have bat fixed them into unalterable habit, Louis XIV of France alone among Western. sovereigns surpasses the Queen in length of reign; but, if we deduct a minority of eighteen years from his period of seventy odd, it leaves Victoria in a unique position. Kien Lung,: of the present Manchu dynasty, deliberately resigned the sceptre on the Kang Hsi Gl years) of thie'same family Gay "be completed his sixtieth year is as far as we know the sole monarch in history whose record transcends our gracious Sovereign Lady's. Even allowing for the bias which the present acute paroxysm of loyalty must give, we doubt in any nation or age an equal period has witnessed greater progress or more widely diffused happiness than the Queen's reign. The criteria of success in kingship are many—territorial expansion, success in arms, an extension of commerce, the simplification and triumph of law, artistic and literary production, ete; judged by these the Victorian age is certainly as great as any in our annals, But when we consider the conditions which more intimately concern human welfare—the better clothing, feeding and housing of the people, their education, the more equable distribution of wealth, the evolution of higher social order, the diminution of crime and disease—there can surely be no doubt that the days of Queen Victoria are far and away the greatest in our history. We do not, of course, de-Inde ourselves that Her Majesty is the cause of this; the sources of national prosperity are too deep-seated and complex to be thus easily accounted for. But at the same time the Queen cannot justly be dissociated from. it:; her regal excellence as well as her womanly virtues have exercised a vast unseen influence in our political and social life. Her exquisite tact and sound judgment have tided us over a period which in its aggregate changes has practically been revolutionary. Her family relationships give her a position of commanding influence in political Europe of to-day, and it is due to her sagacity that the British people now exemplify those most astonishing paradoxes, an ancient throne and an enterprising democracy, monarchical theory and republican practice.
Probably no sovereign since Marcus Aurelius has commanded more respect, and certainly nove more love, than the gracious lady whom the civilised world to-day unites to honour. As Queen of England she came into a heritage of unrivalled historic grandeur; for sixty years she has filled the throne with uasurpassed and, we think, unsurpassable success. Nor is the reason far. to seek, "Not once or twice in our rough island story, The path of duty was the way to glory."
The "Queen is primarily a good woman, rich in saving common sense and with an exalted idea of duty. She has ever obeyed duty's calls, and lo! all things have been given to her. To paraphrase the language of Shakes-peace—to the happiness of her people she has become an aged princess; she has seen many years and-yet no year without great deeds to crown it has been a pattern. to all, princes with her, as well as an exemplar to all that shall succeed; princely graces and the virtues that attend the good have been daily "witnessed in her}- and national prosperity has attended. her sovereignty. Great and impressive as her world-wide empire is, a8 Queen-Empress she sits ruling in a still "larger and more ample empire," the affection of her own people and the respect of the whole world.
It is significant that to-morrow is not only a day of high festival and rejuicing among British subjects in every country of the habitable globe, but that almost everywhere some memorial of the unique event, some permanent beneficence to lessen human suffering or increase human happiness, has been undertaken by the countless millions who own her sway, and by the still greater myriads who can appreciate the virtues which ennoble womanhood, The verdict will be that of her greatest singer—
"She wrought her people lasting good; Her Court was pure, her' life serene; God gave her' peace, her'land re-
A thousand claims to reverence closed her as Mother, Wile, and Queen." May God continue to bless hor
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.