Chapter I

The Central Idea of the Celebrations--The Imperial Character of
the Pageant--The Colonial Premiers Invited--The
Decorations--Influx of Visitors--Grand Stands--Precautions
against Accidents--Thanksgiving Services on Accession Day--The
Queen's Arrival in London--Night in the Streets.

We have traced the history of our great Queen down to the point where her Record Reign reaches its culmination in the festivities of June, 1897. Nothing now remains but to give some account of these Imperial celebrations--Imperial in the truest sense of the word, because faithful subjects of Her Majesty, of every colour and every creed, came from the four corners of the most majestic Empire that has ever existed to pay homage to the Lady Ruler over all. Pen and pencil must necessarily fail to do justice to so unique a demonstration of an Empire's love and devotion, but the reader of these words may rely upon it that our account is true in every detail. Such a record will be found useful not only by those who actually took part in the Diamond Jubilee festivities and who wish to refresh their memories, but also by those to whom they will be matter of history.

The possibilities of a great celebration in 1897 were first discussed after the Jubilee of 1887, although it was not until 1896 that public interest was thoroughly aroused in the great event. Men felt vaguely that the sixtieth anniversary of the reign of the best-beloved of all British Sovereigns demanded an especial effort on the part of all loyal subjects; but as to the manner in which the event should be celebrated, opinions were as various as the men who gave utterance to them. One only definite desire was in everybody's heart--that the Queen should come down among her people and receive their congratulations in person. This was the central idea round which all schemes clustered, and this was the idea to which the Queen gave her sanction. In March of 1897 it was officially proclaimed that Her Majesty would go in procession to St. Paul's to offer up her thanks to the Supreme Being for all the blessings of her long reign.

THE RIGHT HON. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN.

Born in London in 1836. He was educated at University College School, and afterwards joined his father, who was a member of the firm of Nettlefold and Chamberlain, screw manufacturers, of Birmingham. He was elected Chairman of the Birmingham Education League in 1868, member of the Town Council in the same year, and of the School Board in 1870; of the last he became Chairman in 1873. He was Mayor of Birmingham during the years 1874-75-76, and has represented that town in Parliament since 1876. He accepted the Presidency of the Board of Trade with a seat in Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet in 1880, and in 1886 the Presidency of the Local Government Board, but resigned in March of that year when his political chief declared in favour of Home Rule for Ireland. After the general election of 1895 he became Secretary of State for the Colonies in Lord Salisbury's Administration. He is the Leader in the House of Commons of the Liberal wing of the Unionist Party. He married (as his third wife) Miss Endicott, an American lady, in 1888.]

[Sidenote: Colonial Premiers Invited.]

And here let honour be rendered to whom honour is due. From the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Chamberlain, emanated the action which gave the event its Imperial character--the invitation of the Colonial Premiers and the representative detachments of men from the various forces of Colonial and other troops serving under her throughout our world-wide Empire. A brilliant military pageant might have been effected by the employment only of the troops of our regular army; but we have other forces across the seas, small it may be in numbers, but magnificent in physique and all that constitutes martial efficiency, whose presence on such an occasion would add lustre and a peculiar significance to the great function.

Meanwhile our grey old London set about adorning itself for the great event. To transform a working city like London into a temporary fairyland is a task of herculean proportions, but it was done! The Corporation voted £25,000 to a decoration fund, and the most moderate estimate fixes the cost of London's holiday garb at £250,000. Venetian masts appeared suddenly in all the streets along which the procession was to make its way; and as the fateful day drew near, festoons of flowers and loyal inscriptions were suspended from these. Cunningly concealed in the hanging bouquets of flowers were electric lamps destined to make the streets even more brilliant at night than they were in the daytime.

[Sidenote: The Decorations.]

The actual route literally blazed with colour. Flags were at a premium and so were coloured stuffs and flowers, for the Jubilee had asked more than the supply, and in many cases the North country mills were working day and night to make good the deficiency. When at last the great city had finished her toilet, not even her own children recognized her.

THE DECORATIONS IN ST. JAMES'S STREET.]

St. James's Street sat at the head of all, a perfect poem of decorative beauty. There were two massive Corinthian pillars at either end, their capitals of gold surmounted by large globes, their bases adorned with choice growing palms and flowers. Forty venetian masts capped with the Imperial crown stood on each side of the street, and from mast to mast were laced festoons of evergreens, from which hung baskets of rare flowers, birds in flight, and globes of red, white, and blue glass, which sparkled in the sunlight and turned the roadway into a pathway of quivering light.

Other thoroughfares vied with St. James's Street. In the Strand the omnibuses ran under swaying lines of many-coloured globes hanging across the roadway from one flower-bedecked venetian mast to another. Round the pillars of the Mansion House and the Royal Exchange were serpentine trails of tiny gas jets winding far up under the dark eaves of the roof, and from Buckingham Palace to St. Paul's vast buildings were literally outlined with tiny gas and electric light lamps. The Fire Monument and other public monuments came in for special decorative attention, and in some cases hundreds of pounds were spent in beautifying them for the great show.

In Victoria Street the offices of the various Colonies were alive with colour, and even the south side of the river, where loyalty is more abundant than money, was gay with its decorations, in the form of golden eagles with outstretched wings, and lines of real flowers stretched across the thoroughfares on invisible wires.

THE DECORATIONS IN THE WEST STRAND. Showing on the right a portion of the Grand Stand at Charing Cross Station.]

THE DECORATIONS AT THE BANK OF ENGLAND.]

But the generous efforts of Civic and Parish authorities were not a whit more remarkable than those of private individuals. Many of the houses along the route of the procession were covered with decorations from cellar to attic. The colour generally chosen was red, but in some instances costly materials of delicate shades were used. Draperies of brilliant hues were hung from almost every window, so that some of the streets resembled theatres rather than the busy thoroughfares of a busy city.

Nor were the decorations confined to the streets. Every errand boy wore his Jubilee favour days before the event. From every whip fluttered a little pennant of the national colour. Scarcely a bicycle passed that had not on its handle-bar gay streamers of red, white, and blue, and even the practical top-hatted city man sported in his button-hole the colours which rule the world.

THE RT. HON. SIR WILFRID LAURIER, PREMIER OF CANADA.

Born at St. Lin, Quebec, 1841. Educated for the Law, and called to the Bar at Montreal in 1861. In 1871 he entered the Legislature of Quebec, and, three years later, the Dominion Parliament. Up to this time his speeches had been delivered in French; he now spoke in English with equal eloquence. He became Minister of Inland Revenue in 1877, and Premier in July 1896. He is of French descent, a Roman Catholic, and a strong supporter of Imperial unity.]

[Sidenote: Influx of Visitors.]

Long before these preparations were completed, the invasion of London by visitors from the country, from America, and from the Continent had commenced. The streets, always pretty-well congested with the great press of traffic, were now almost impassable. Vast good-humoured crowds surged up and down the principal thoroughfares, and travelling from one part of the town to another became a matter of increasing difficulty. Where all the people were accommodated it would be difficult to say. Certain it is, that all the rooms in the better-known hotels were taken weeks beforehand, and the landladies of Bloomsbury reaped a rich harvest.

THE RT. HON. G. H. REID, PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

Was born at Johnstone, Renfrewshire, in 1845, and is the son of a Presbyterian Minister. He began life in Sydney in the Civil Service, but studied law and entered the New South Wales Legislature in 1880. He became Minister of Education, 1883; Leader of the Opposition, 1891; Premier, 1894. He is a strong advocate of Australian Federation.]

THE RT. HON. SIR G. TURNER, PREMIER OF VICTORIA.

Born in Melbourne; he is by profession a solicitor. Entered the Victorian Parliament in 1889, and became Prime Minister and Treasurer in 1894. He is between forty and fifty years of age.]

THE RT. HON. R. J. SEDDON, PREMIER OF NEW ZEALAND.

Born at St. Helens, Lancashire, in 1844; went to Victoria in 1863. He has been for twenty-five years in the New Zealand Parliament, and has been Premier since 1893. He is also Colonial Treasurer, Commissioner of Customs, Postmaster-General, Minister of Labour, and Minister of Native Affairs.]

[Sidenote: Grand Stands.]

In addition to the vast amount of accommodation afforded by the houses lying along the route, every available coign of vantage was seized upon for the erection of a stand. Churches were lost to view beneath vast tiers of red upholstered seats reaching half way up their towers, and what had been known as Charing Cross Station was buried from sight under a mammoth thousand-seated stand. "Can our City Princes not have noticed," asks a writer in the _Daily Mail_ with quaint humour, "that somebody has stuck a lot of carpentry on the very pediment of the Royal Exchange? Somebody else has boarded up the Law Courts, and barristers and solicitors stoop and dive in as if they were going to clean out their chicken houses. The Houses of Parliament are all scaffolding too, and at first, seeing no reports in the papers, I thought they had been abolished while I was away.... Even to take a penny boat at Westminster you have to go under a sort of triumphal arch of joinery.... They are actually changing all London from building into furniture."

One of the largest stands was in Whitehall opposite the Horse Guards.[I] A large number of carpenters were employed for more than six weeks in its erection; £7,000 was paid to the Woods and Forests Department for the rent of the site, and its construction cost another £6,000. It contained some 4,000 seats, which were advertised at from four to twenty guineas. It was built into foundations of solid concrete from three feet to six feet thick, and contained 150 tons of timber and fifteen tons of forty-five feet steel girders; 5,000 chairs were specially purchased for its equipment and, besides the seats, it contained promenades, reception rooms, a luncheon room for the accommodation of 400 people, ladies' rooms, telephones, and a smoking gallery.

Another huge stand was that erected in the churchyard of St. Martin's Church, Charing Cross. This also contained 4,000 seats, ranging in price from one to fifteen guineas. Its erection engaged the labour of 120 men for some five weeks. It contained 175,000 cubic feet of timber and twenty tons of ironwork. The rent of the site was £4,000.

THE PROCESSION OF IMPERIAL AND COLONIAL TROOPS, June 19.

What was in effect a dress rehearsal of the Jubilee procession took place on the Saturday preceding that event, when the Life Guards, the Dragoon Guards, Horse and Field Artillery, and Colonial Mounted Troops assembled at Victoria Park, and marched by Grove Road, Mile End Road, and Whitechapel, to the Mansion House. The picture represents the South Australian Lancers leaving the Park. The troops, and particularly the Colonials, were received with the greatest enthusiasm by the immense crowds which lined the route. It was a happy idea to give the East End this opportunity of welcoming the Colonists.]

There were many other stands of colossal size, but that which represented the most enterprising speculation of the celebration was undoubtedly the colossal stand on the north side of St. Paul's Churchyard.[J] For the purpose of its erection one of the most valuable city properties was purchased and pulled down. The seats in these various stands were offered at fabulous prices, but the public refused to purchase, and the venture resulted in a heavy loss to its promoters, as indeed did most of the speculations in seats. However, very large sums indeed were paid to witness the procession, £2,000 being offered and accepted for the use of a building in St. Paul's Churchyard for the day. In some cases the vendors offered prizes ranging from £50 downwards to purchasers of their seats.

On June 11 the official programme was published, and henceforth the sole topic in men's minds was Jubilee Day and its doings. Previous to this, however, the most elaborate precautions had been taken to ensure the safety of the multitude of sightseers, and to guard against any hitch occurring in the actual procession.

Meanwhile the guests of the Nation began to arrive from every part of the World. The Prime Ministers of our great dependencies in Australasia, in South Africa, and Canada, were lodged in the palatial Hotel Cecil; the foreign princes and their suites were accommodated in the Royal Palaces and in private mansions rented or lent for the occasion, while the detachments of troops from the various self-governing and Crown Colonies were billeted at Chelsea Hospital, at Hounslow, and at Woolwich. The Indian officers composing the deputation from the Imperial Service Troops, and the British officers in charge, were lodged at the "Star and Garter" Hotel at Richmond. It is impossible to convey any impression of the hospitality that was now lavished on our honoured guests. While the troopers of the Colonial forces were being fêted by Tommy Atkins and the Volunteers of London, the Colonial Premiers were the lions of the great houses of the Metropolis. "He died from the effects of British hospitality" is the humorous epitaph composed for himself, in the event of that casualty, by the Right Honourable G. H. Reid, Premier of New South Wales. Royal carriages and Royal servants were placed at the disposal of visitors of high rank; but it is certain that the genuine enthusiasm of their reception among the millions of London was even more highly valued by our distinguished visitors than these marks of Royal favour.

The smaller picture shows the break-van and kitchen, with the gas stove at which refreshments are prepared for Her Majesty's use while travelling. The larger illustration represents the interior of the Queen's saloon; in the picture at the top of this page it is the third carriage from the engine. This saloon is lined, and its furniture covered, with blue silk; it communicates by an enclosed gangway with that of Her Majesty's personal attendants.]

[Sidenote: Precautions against Accidents.]

While the good citizens of London were entertaining the guests of the Nation and getting their houses in order for the culminating function of June 22, there was ever present in their minds a fear lest the great festival would be marred by a catastrophe such as that which threw a black shadow over the Coronation of the Czar. It was vaguely felt that the vast multitudes that would throng the streets on that day might become unmanageable--that some of the temporary stands would collapse, or that the great pressure of the massed crowds at certain points would result in disaster. It is due entirely to the sagacity and foresight of the authorities that the streets were never more safe than they were on June 22, and that not a single life was lost in consequence of the Jubilee arrangements. Temporary stands were examined--and where faulty condemned--again and again by the officials of the London County Council and of the Corporation, and the most scrupulous care was taken that there should not be gathered at any one point a larger number of persons than could be easily controlled.

At an early stage in the proceedings the police decided to close the great bridges connecting the north of London with the south. London Bridge was closed at midnight on Jubilee Eve, the other bridges were closed a few hours later, the idea being to prevent a possible great and dangerous rush from north to south of the Thames to view the procession both on the Middlesex and Surrey sides.

To make assurance doubly sure several rehearsals of the great Service at St. Paul's, and the business of taking up and setting down at Buckingham Palace were held; and so complete were these rehearsals, that every item of the procession was fully represented, mounted grooms taking the places of the princes and equerries who were to ride on horseback in the procession. In the final rehearsals many of those who were destined to high places in the procession were present, and there was a large demand for seats to view in St. Paul's Churchyard.

So that the day might be one of universal rejoicing all over the country, it had been declared, on March 18, a public holiday by Her Majesty in the following proclamation:--"Victoria, R.--We, considering that it is desirable that Tuesday, the twenty-second day of June next, should be observed as a Bank Holiday throughout the United Kingdom, do hereby, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, and in pursuance of the provisions of 'The Bank Holidays Act, 1871,' appoint Tuesday, the twenty-second day of June next, as a special day to be observed as a Bank Holiday throughout the United Kingdom, and every part thereof, and we do by this Our Royal Proclamation command the said day to be so observed, and all Our loving subjects to order themselves accordingly."

THE SPECIAL THANKSGIVING SERVICE AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY, June 20. PROCESSION OF THE LORD CHANCELLOR AND PEERS.]

[Sidenote: Thanksgiving Services.]

The actual celebrations may be said to have commenced on Sunday, June 20. This, being Accession Day, was marked by a universal service of thanksgiving throughout the Empire, in addition to the four Special Services, which must ever be memorable in British history: the Royal Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, the great National Service at St. Paul's, and the Services at Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's, Westminster, at which the Peers and Commons were present.

The Service at Windsor was of the simplest description. The Queen drove from the Victoria Tower at 11 o'clock to the entrance to the Dean's Cloister. Thence she was taken in a wheel-chair to the north-east door of the Chapel. She entered the north door of the Choir leaning on the arm of an Indian attendant. The Queen's chair was placed on the broad step at the foot of the beautiful altar, which she faced throughout the impressive Service. Besides members of the Royal family and suites, there were but few privileged visitors. The Service was arranged and conducted by Dean Eliot, and it began with the hymn, "Now thank we all our God." The Te Deum was sung according to a very striking setting composed by the late Prince Consort, one which is not often used, but which was given on this occasion by special command of Her Majesty. The Service concluded with "God Save the Queen," sung by the choir and congregation. The very simplicity of the scene was its impressiveness. It required a great effort of the imagination to fully comprehend it all--that the little old lady sitting there in quiet black before the altar was she who, sixty years ago, was awakened from her sleep in Kensington Palace to wear the crown of a world-wide Empire.

[Sidenote: The Queen arrives.]

On Monday, June 21, the Queen travelled up to London from Windsor. At half-past twelve the Royal train glided gently into Paddington Station with the Royal Standard proudly waving at the front of the engine, and the Royal coat of arms on either side.

Extraordinary arrangements had been made to secure Her Majesty's comfort and safety, and had there been an accident it would not have been due to the absence of competent officers, for besides the Royal party the train contained the head and front of the Great Western Railway, from the Chairman, Viscount Emlyn, and the Directors downward.

The Queen was dressed in black except for the white egret plumes in her bonnet, and it was noticeable that, notwithstanding her great age, she seemed in the best of health and spirits, and fully equal to the strain of the morrow.

A halt was made while Marylebone's loyal address was presented, and then the Queen moved on to Buckingham Palace amid the delighted shouts of her subjects who lined the whole route. It was a brilliant morning and a brilliant reception--a foretaste of the morrow. While the crowds of sightseers spent the rest of the day in wandering through the gaily-bedecked streets, Buckingham Palace was the scene of receptions, banqueting, and rejoicing.

TRIUMPHAL ARCH AT PADDINGTON (between Oxford and Cambridge Terraces),

Through which Her Majesty passed immediately after quitting Paddington Station. It may be mentioned that it was by Her Majesty's express desire that no arches were built on the route of the Jubilee procession.]

During the day the Queen graciously accepted a sunshade which was presented to her by Mr. Villiers, the doyen of the House of Commons. It was entirely covered with costly flounces of the finest black Chantilly lace; it was mounted upon an ebony stick, with gold top, and a knob handle of gun-metal set with Her Majesty's cypher and V.R.I, in diamonds, and had a suitable inscription in gold letters inlaid round the handle, thus:--"Presented to Her Majesty on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, by her oldest Parliamentary member, C. Villiers."

HER MAJESTY PASSING THROUGH THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH IN EDGWARE ROAD ON HER ARRIVAL FROM WINDSOR.]

HOW THE QUEEN LOOKED: A SNAP-SHOT OF HER MAJESTY AND THE PRINCESS CHRISTIAN, TAKEN IN EDGWARE ROAD, June 21.]

[Sidenote: Night in the Streets.]

At nightfall, an inhabitant of London who had known it in more prosaic times might well have been pardoned for thinking the whole Nation were mad and had turned the Metropolis into Bedlam. Vast armies of excited people invaded the streets and, in spite of the fatigues that must have been endured, comported themselves most admirably. There was little prospect of their getting home. But no one cared. Why should they? They had come to see the Jubilee, some of them from the uttermost ends of the earth, and see the Jubilee they would, though they spent the night in the streets--and thousands of them did so spend the night. Some possibly had been unable to secure sleeping accommodation, others evidently thought it scarcely worth while to return to distant suburbs when it would be necessary for them to be up and doing early the next morning. As the short night broke into day clusters of people were seen grouped round the base of the Arch, on Constitution Hill, at Hyde Park Corner, and in Trafalgar Square. Hundreds took their stand on the kerb all along the route, and waited patiently. If they had but known it these loyal souls might have saved themselves so much trouble--for if there was one thing about Jubilee Day more remarkable than another, it was the complete absence of undue crowding in the streets. Those who strolled down to Piccadilly, St. James's Street, Fleet Street, or the Strand two or three hours before the Procession started, were as well able to witness the most impressive pageant that London has ever seen as those whose eagerness led them to take up their positions four or five hours earlier. The route was long, and the spectators, except at points of convergence like Hyde Park Corner and Ludgate Circus, well distributed throughout its entire length, while many hundreds of thousands were accommodated in the houses; but this only partially explains the complete immunity from uncomfortable crushing enjoyed by those who lined the streets. The fact is, that a very large number of Londoners fearing the crowd, and apprehensive perhaps of extreme fatigue and even of actual danger, migrated from the Metropolis and spent the day in the country or at the seaside. It is beyond doubt, moreover, that London crowds grow more orderly and manageable year by year.

These two illustrations are copies of actual photographs taken for this volume in the early morning of the great day. The upper one represents the steps beneath the Duke of York's Column in Waterloo Place, and was taken at half-past five. The other is the fountain near St. Mary-le-Strand Church at six o'clock. A policeman with his horse is already stationed in the roadway beyond the fountain, and many spectators have taken their places for the day.]

THE COLONIAL PROCESSION: ARRIVAL OF THE CANADIAN PREMIER (THE HON. WILFRID LAURIER) AT HYDE PARK CORNER.

The Canadian Premier's carriage was preceded by Canadian troops, and followed by the New South Wales Rifles and Lancers. The Procession is just emerging from Constitution Hill by the great gates of the Arch which are opened only for Royalty. The crowd at this point was, perhaps, the biggest on the route, and stretched away down Grosvenor Place, down Knightsbridge, into Hyde Park (there were thousands of people in the Park who had given up all hope of seeing the Procession), and choked all the streets leading into Piccadilly.]