Fergus County argus., 1901-01-30

the night, offered up prayer to heaven
that she might be strengthened from
above and guided by the blessing OF
her people.
That was how Queen Victoria CON-
menced her long and prosperous
reign, and now it may well he said
without fear of contradiction that
her prayer offered up on the night of
her accession has been fulfilled and
that her reign has proved blessing
to her people.
Victoria from the first was idolized
by the English people. Her youth
appealed to their sympathies and her
good sense to their respect. She be-
came asort of national pet, yet withal
she was admired for her wisdom, her
rectitude and her tirmness, Greville
speaks with somewhat of regret OF
the last mentioned edcharacteristic, evil
IDENTIFY holding that the ordinary i'm
pulsiveness and perhaps even the
mistakes OF youth would have been
more charming. The glorles and
splendors that attended her corona
tion-are they not all set down in the
chronicles of the day? The ceremon-
les occurred on June IS, 1898. Never
had England's metropolis been SO
crowded. Places along theline OF the
royal procession brought high
premium. By dark on the preceding
day the people began to gather.
At daybreak on the 18th the popu-
lar enthusiasm had reached high
pi.ch. The procession outdld any
thing of the kind that had been before
witnessed i'm London. Besides the
troops, which had been ordered out
in full force, there were twelve royal
carriages, each containing two ladies
and two gentlemen and each drawn
by six prancing horses. Then came
the queens state coach, drawn by
eight cream culored horses and at
tended by yeoman at each wheel
and a footman at each door. The
coronation itself was held in the vast
building always used for the impos-
ing ceremonies of English royalty
Westminster abbey. Victoria Is train
of royal crimson velvet and erinine
was borne by eight young ladies of
noble birth. Cannon doomed, trump
cts sounded, and men and women
cheered outside the building, and
from every part of the sacred editice
were heard enthusiastic cries of"God
save the queen" Hats and handker-
chiefs were waved aloft, peers and
peeresses put on their coronets and
bishops donned their caps. The
guests included othersovereigns, and
they yielded to no one in the enthusi-
asm of the moment.
Queens enjoy a privilege which is
withheld, save Ia leap year, from
women occupying a less august posi-
tiOn In the social scale-namely, that
OF themselves making the offer of mar
riage. instead OF waiting to receive
the proposal from their suitors. And
1T was therefore Queen Victoria. who,
year after her coronation at West
minister abbey, invited her cousin,
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg- -Gotha,
to share his life with her. 1t is only
stating the truth to say OF this mar
riage, however, that 1t was one that
had been agreed uponfor many years,
providing Victoria herself approved
OF the young man. For time she is
recorded as having been not well
pleased with him, but there is no
doubt that she fell in love with him
before the union was proposed by
her. The nuptials took place on the
10th OF February, 1910, at the Chapel
Royal, st. James palace. The we'd
ding breakfast was given Mt Buck
ingham palace, and the honeymoon,
which lasted only three days, was
spent at Windsor castle.
The marriage proved an exception
ally happy one. Prince Albert turned
out to be an absolutely ideal hus-
band. being man of singular stain
less and irreproachable character.
Queen Victoria's domestic bliss was
absolutely unclouded as long as her
husband lived, and she was guilty Of
no exaggeration when she declared
that the only sorrow wiich he had
ever caused her was when he died.
People in this country will remem-
Der him as a warm friend OF the Unit
ed States. His nmicable feelings with
regard to America were manifested
on numerous occasions, never more