New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-06-23
TJCTORTi REGINA.

every inch a Queen" The words of Lear,
adapted and transformed from woe to JOY bent
Victoria to-day She is every inch Queen She
has been, for full sixty years. She SIN the
pearl and amethystine light of that June day
dawn long ago, when the glad, dreadful sum
mons TO the Throne was brought TO her. ana the
girls head with its unbound tresSes bowed uh-
consciously beneath the weight OF the yet uh-
worn crown. She was, yesterday, as under 'he
burden of nearly fOurscore winters she pore
with patient pride the diadem of earths might
lest empire and breathed the grateful incense
of n nations love and praise. 1t was ike her 10
ride about among her people as widely as the
longest day in all the year permitted, Tor mat
was her custom even in her childh00ds days. III
was like her TO make an act of worship the ell
max of the splendid festival, for it was thus that
she began her reign. 1t was like her to COM
mand the most spontaneous outpourinS OF AZ
lection and reverence from her SUBJECTS ana I'll
honor and admiration from all the world lor
sucb she has commanded and received through
all these threcscOre years. 1t has been from
first TO latest Victorian reign. III was ana Is
a typically Victorian Jubilee.
Reftting such a sovereign. too, and such
time. was the message from her kin on THIS size
of the sea; not from her subjects here but from
the free and independent Nation that has grown
from her grandsires revolted colonies, nation
largely kin to her in blood, still more in speech,
and most Of all in aspirations and Ideals. Inc
President phrascd 1t WELL with not one Word
more than the sterncst republican couid nave
wished nor less than tho most enthusiastic I'M
perialist could have desired. 1t was htunSiv
delivered and fttingly received, with ut least
as much satisfaction and as genuine cordially
rs that from any other nation. Indeed, Wl'h
doubtless more than any other For Her Maj
csty Is wei, cognZant of the greatness or 'hs
great Anglo-SaXOn Commonwealth. Her 1eei'
incs toward it have always been most Iriehdly'
Sha has shown to II and TO It's representative
men and women such Inequalities ana nohorS
ne 10 no other Not least Of all. she realizes That
nm cspccial kinship exists between the two ma
| tons because of the similarity, almost ldennty'
of their political systems in the one supreme re-
spect Both are in fact republics. Nlctoria
most convincing and triumphant title 10 her
Mace proceeds not from her descent from VIII
lam of Normandy, nor from the Act OF Set'le
mcnt. nor any such thing: no. but from the con-
sent. the WILL and the affection OF The brltlsA
ncoplc. That is as true if not to the SURFACE
scanning eye quite as apparent, as IL Is tha'
President Mckinley holds his place through the
sufrraces of the citizens Of the United States.
That if is in the best and highest sense, to be a
Queen: not merely Of the land, but of the peo-
pies hearts: and it IS in that sense too, that she
is every inch Queen"
There are and will he carpers. There are some
here. sclf-seel,lng egotlst Is at this very
moment preaching hostility to the Constitution
and plotting. if possible, It's overthrow. Amer
ica smiles Mt Debsism. So Britain may well
smile Mt the ratings of Little Englanders' and
The Vaccinations of the wOuld-be Commune.
The Kingdom and the Empire are secure as long
as the Victorian spirit lives. They have been
held secure because Of that prevailing spirit
They are to-day far more secure at TINS sex
agenary Jubilee than they were AT victoria
accession, and they are so because of her. be-
cause she has been worthy Of her place, because
in all the relations and activities of life, whether
in the quiet retreat Of the domestic circle OF
in the glittering pageantrics of state or yet
| in those grave councils where imperial inter-
osts wore weighed in balances of craftsmanship
she has been every inch Queen.