Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-07-29
The Jubiiee of Victoria.


when her Majesty will commence he
''year of jubilee" To some 1t vii
Seem surprising that the auspiciou
date is so near, for there appears t.
have been an impression upon mani
minds that the celebration would tax,
place IN 1887, when the half centur,
lof reign will have been completed
But the precedents are clearly in favo
OF the celebration being held at the begin
ming and not at the end of the 50th year
The most direct is that of 1909, upon the
25th OF October, when rejoicings wer,
held throughout the empire because ol
the entrance of George III. upon jubI
lee year; and thus the original institu
ton of the jubilee itself was obviously
followed. Thou shalt number" say,
the Mosaic law, 'seven Sabbaths ol
years unto thee, seven times seven years
and the space of the seven Sabbaths ol
years shall be unto thee forty and nine
years. Then shalt thou cause the
Trumpet of the jubilee to sound
throughout all your land. And "
shall hallow the 5Oth year, and proclaim
rlibery throughout all the land unto al
the inhabitants thereof; it shall be jub
ilee unto you" Only three sovereign:
In the whole tale of our history have
been suffered To see the opening of such
q year, Henry I'LL, Edward III. and
George Ill. All Englishmen will SIN.
cerely trust that before another twelve
month has quite run its course a fourth
will have been added to the list.
The occurrence, therefore, is SC
unusual that 1t will be of interest To
compare, in however brief way, the
circumstances under which the three
sovereigns named entered their jubilee
year, and those under which it is likely
to be the lot of our present monarch to
JON their company in this particular.
The comparison, if it does nothing
more, will serve to show that the Queen,
despite the many sorrows which have
afflicted her middle life, will see the
sun shine upon this fiftieth year of her
reign in far more brightness than did
either OF the three to be considered.
Henry III. had ascended the throne IN
October, 12l6, at the age of Q, upon the
death of his father, John, little more
than year after the Great Charter had
been forced from his reluctant hands.
The reign was as troubled as it was
long; The Barons had tasted of power,
and were not inclined to foregO It; and, g,
in the midst of internecine struggles,
England's first regular Parliament
sprang into being. As the King Was
nearing the fiftieth year the strife be-
came more acute; Simon de Montfort
was in the thick of the fight, and the
national deadlock came TO such pass
that the dispute between the King and
Barons was referred to the French
monarch for arbitration.
AT the beginning of 1865, lat the end
of which Henry's jubilee began) de
Montfort, once more in the ascendant,
but IN the early autumn his power was
broken, he himself was slain, and the
'aronage was again placed under royal
objection And Henry. who had only
p Il ~ montds before been prisoner in
the hands of his mobiles, commenced his
year of jubilee with the emDers of civil
war still warm around him, and with a
speedy revival of them into flame a
steadily staring him in the
face.
An almost equal gloom attended the
entrance of Edward LII. upon the fif-
tieth year. The greatness of the King
who had won Cressy and Poitiers and
who had added Calais to the English
had become sadly dimmed
by the weakness of his later life. Much
of the popular hatred which had been
the portion of the elder and younger
hanged by the Barons at the
of the reign, was showered
upon Alice Perrers at the end; and the
earlier victories in France, by which
general enthusiasm had been fired, had
been almost forgotten in the national
shame which followed upon the later
in Spain. The teachings
Of Wiclif, directed though they were
to a reform in religion, deepened the
and, when tue ''seven Sab.
baths of years" of Edwards reign had
passed, the opening of the jubilee found
4 miserable King and a mutinOus peo-
PIE. Before the year was out the Black
Prince, once the nations and his faith
er's pride, passed to his rest, and Ed
ward himself the next year went almost
lnwept to his grave.
Not far from four centuries and half
rolled away before another Kings jub-
lee could be celebrated IN England, and
hen for the third time the circumstan-
;es could not be considered other than
,ad. ut was a melancholy season for
| jubilee, this close OF the year 1SO9,"
avs historian of the period; ''yet a
ubilee there was. The old man himself
vas nearly blind and his wits were wav-
ring; he was at variance with his heir:
lis favOrite son was just disgraced and
le was in displeasure with the Others
# them.
N the midst of the depression abroad
md the quarrels at home, in defiance |
# the gloom which was settling down !
lpon the world, the jubilee was to be |
leld and men were to be Joyful and |
oyal on the 25th of October at least, |
whatever had gone before or should |
.ome after. But, despite the surround |
ng gloom, the occasion was celebrated |
With much enthusiasm and fervent |
oyalty. Through the livelong day SER
fICcS HcIt utlu, CdllLOH IOdIcu, pOOI /
md rich were feasted, and all deSerters |
rom army and navy received pardon. |
There were grand dolngs in the far cor
lers Of the earth, by appointment, in |
with home; meetings in Can
Ida, balls at Bombay and Calcutta,
md some remission of toll, some faint |
'evival of the sensation of citizenship |
mong the convlcts of Botany Bay. |
sails and banquets, fire works and feasts
we're soon forgotten, but mementoes of
he occasion fingered fOr long time.
n some remote towns are yet to be
cen a Jubilee InI'; and at the
outh Kensington Museum, not many
ears ago, could be inspected, carefully
overed by a glass shade, crumbling
iscrit, the impression upon which
howed that it was baked in celebration
f the jubilee of George Ill.
"The jubilee went off well" is the
up of the historian above
uoted. land those who were most
roud OF it were most eager to point
ut how unlikely it was that there
hould ever be ~ other" And yet
yithin little more thai. three-quarters
f century the question of how most
ttingly to celebrate SO rare an occasion