The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1901-01-23

4
On being informed of her new dignity
she burst into cars, and then, addressing
herelf to the a.o hbishop, exclaimed, Il beg
| your grace TO pray for me-" The whole
| party, consisting of the little queen, the
prelate, the lord chamberlain and the late
| kings physician, Sir. Henry Halford, then
| knelt, and there, in the middle of the
night, offered up prayer to heaven that she
might be strengthened from above and
| guided to the blessing of her people.
That was how Queen Victoria COM
menced her long and prosperous reign, and
| now it may well be 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 was from the first idolized by
I the English people Her youth appealed
to their sympathies, and her good sense to
their respect She became sort of national
pei, yet withal she was admired for her
wisdom, her rectitude and her frmness
Greville speaks with somewhat of regret Of
the last mentioned characteristic, evidently
holding that the ordinary impulsiveness
and perhaps even the mistakes of youth
would have been more charming. The
glories and splendOrs that attended her
coronation-are they not all set down in
the chronicles of the day? The ceremonies
occurred on June %, 1888 Never had Eng
lands metropolis been so crowded. Places
along the line of the royal procession
brought high premium By dark on the
preceding day the people began to gather
At daybreak of the 2Sth the popular en-
thusiasm had reached high pitch The
procession outdid anything of the kind that
had before been witnessed in London. Be
sides the troops, which were ordered out in
full force, there were twelve royal car
riages, each containing two ladies and two
gentlemen, and each drawn by six pranc-
ing horses. Then came the queens state
coach, drawn by eight cream colored horses
and attended by yeoman at each wheel
and footman at each door The corona
ton itself was held in the vast building al
ways used for the imposing ceremonies of
English yalty-Westminster abbey. Vic
toria's train of royal crimson velvet and
ermine was borne by eight young ladies of
noble birth. Cannons doomed, trumpetc
sounded, and men and women cheered out
side the building, and from every part of
the sacred edifice were heard enthusiastic
cries of God save the queenp Hats and
handkerchiefs were waved aloft, peers and
peeresses put on their coronets, and bishops
donned their caps. The guests included
other sovereigns, and they yielded to no
one in the enthusiasm of the moment.
The 'enthronement" was singular Dor,
ton of the ceremony. The young sovereign
was lifted bodily into the royal seat, being
surrounded by archbishOps, bishops and
peers. His grace of Canterbury knelt and
did homage for himself and other spiritual
lords, and all kissed the queens hand Her
uncles, the Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge,
removed their coronets and did homage
with set and elaborate speech. They touched
the crown upon her head, kissed her left
cheek and then retired. The peers also
touched her crown, but kissed her hands.
A Marriage For Love.
Queens enjoy privilege which is with
held, save in leap year, from women occu-
pying less august position in the social
scale-namely, that of themselves making
the offer of marriage, instead of waiting to
receive the proposal from their suitors
And it was therefore Queen Victoria who
year after her coronation at Westminster
abbey, on June %, 1885, invited her cousin.
Prince Albert of Saxe-COburg- Gotha 10
share his life with her. It is only stating
the truth to say of this marriage, however,
that it was one that had been agreed upon
for many years, providing Victoria herself |
approved of the young man. For a tine |
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 nuptiais |
took place Oh the 10th of February, 1910, at |
the Chapel Royal, st. James palace. The |
wedding breakfast was given at Bucking |