Sixty Years a Queen Part 47

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Symonds & Co., Portsmouth._

THE UNITED STATES' CRUISER "BROOKLYN."

This vessel attracted considerable attention on account of her peculiar shape and up-to-date equipment. She is fitted with non-inflammable wooden decks, and carries eight 8-inch guns in four turrets, forward, aft, and on each beam. She is painted white, a fact which led the irreverent tars to christen her "The Cement Factory."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by West & Son, Southsea._

THE NAVAL REVIEW: THE FLEET, LOOKING WEST.

Photographed from the Flags.h.i.+p of the Commander-in-Chief, the _Renown_.

The nearest vessel is H.M.S. _Powerful_; the next beyond is the _Blake_.

In the other line are the _Galatea_, _Aurora_, _Edgar_, _Melampus_, &c.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Fred. T. Jane_}

THE FLEET ILLUMINATED: AS SEEN FROM THE WATER.]

The Naval Review of 1897 was over. It had provided a sublime spectacle for our Colonial and foreign visitors, and it had taught a lesson that was meant to be learned by the whole World, and was actually so learned.

A great military Power we might not be, but on the seas our dominion was, and must ever be, unquestionable. The chorus of admiration that arose from the Continental and American press showed that the necessity for this pre-eminence was recognised and allowed. If we had not known it long ourselves, our foreign critics, both friendly and hostile, had been aware that a great navy was the paramount condition of our national existence.

[Sidenote: The Colonial Troops at the Naval Review.]

A circ.u.mstance that concerned the gallant men of the Colonial contingent who had taken part in the Jubilee Procession must here be touched on.

Strange as it may seem, there had been originally no provision made for the representation at the Naval Review of the Colonial contingent. This remissness on the part of the authorities occasioned a good deal of surprise, which found its expression in the columns of the London _Daily Mail_; but it was not until the newspaper in question took the matter up in right good earnest that the authorities bestirred themselves. It was then proposed to charter a vessel and send the Colonials down to Portsmouth some two or three days after the Review--it being somewhat artlessly explained that as the fleet would still be in position and the Review well over, our visitors would enjoy a better opportunity of examining the s.h.i.+ps in detail! Needless to say this line of argument found little favour with the _Daily Mail_, the _Globe_, and the other newspapers which were now strenuously advocating the claims of our visitors. They raised their voices once more, with the result that at the eleventh hour the responsible officials announced that the difficulties--whatever they were--had been surmounted, and that the Colonial contingent were to see the Imperial fleet on the actual day of Review in all its majesty and splendour. The fleet was again dressed and illuminated on the following Monday--Coronation Day. Mention should be made of a little vessel, first seen at the Review, which marks a new departure in marine engineering. This is the _Turbinia_ torpedo-boat, driven by steam turbines at 2,100 revolutions, accomplis.h.i.+ng 32 or 33 knots per hour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by A. T. Crane._

THE FLEET ILLUMINATED: AS SEEN FROM THE Sh.o.r.e.

Owing to the necessity for a prolonged exposure, fireworks and search-lights do not leave any trace upon the photographic negative.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Argent Archer, Kensington._

THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO HER BIRTHPLACE: THE SCENE OUTSIDE ST. MARY'S CHURCH, KENSINGTON.

In the carriage with Her Majesty are the Grand Duke and Grand d.u.c.h.ess Serge of Russia and Princess Henry of Battenberg. On the pavement stands the Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne, with a bouquet in her hands; the Marquis stands on her left. Opposite the carriage door is Miss Beatrice Leete, daughter of the Vestry Clerk, from whom the Queen graciously accepted a magnificent basket of carnations.]

CHAPTER IV.

The Queen's Visit to Kensington--Garden Party at Buckingham Palace--Review at Aldershot--Gift of a Battles.h.i.+p--The Prince of Wales's Hospital Fund--The Jubilee Medals--Conclusion.

On the Monday after the Review the Queen returned from Windsor to the Metropolis. She was received everywhere with enthusiastic greetings of loyalty and affection. It was no mere conventional reception this. The Nation had realised lately, as never before, the part their Queen had played in the building of the Empire, and one and all flocked out to do her honour. Her Majesty had returned to London to attend the garden party which was to be held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace in the afternoon. On her way from Paddington Station she visited Kensington, the place of her birth.

[Sidenote: The Queen's Visit to Kensington.]

In front of St. Mary Abbott's Church, Kensington High Street, the Queen stopped and received a splendid bouquet of roses at the hands of the Princess Louise. Then the Marquis of Lorne presented the Chairman of the Vestry, who handed Her Majesty a loyal address, in which Kensington recalled with pride its long and many Royal a.s.sociations. The Queen's reply was characteristic and particularly interesting in view of recent events:--

"I thank you for your loyal and kind address. It gives me great pleasure to receive the a.s.surance of devotion and goodwill from the inhabitants of Kensington, and I gladly renew my a.s.sociations with a place which, as the scene of my birth and of my summons to the throne, has ever had, and will ever have, with me solemn and tender recollections." The Queen then drove on to the Palace, 10,000 school children singing the National Anthem as she pa.s.sed through Kensington Gardens.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Lucien Davis, R.I._} {_Partly from a Photograph specially taken for this Work by H. N. King._

HER MAJESTY'S GARDEN PARTY: INDIAN VISITORS.]

[Sidenote: Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.]

The subsequent garden party in the gardens of Buckingham Palace was one of the most brilliant functions on record. The weather was beautifully fine, and there was a unique attendance of Royal and other guests; the Colonial Premiers were present, and the whole of the special envoys of Foreign Powers and other distinguished Jubilee guests. The grounds were opened at four o'clock, and in a very short time the dresses of the ladies and the brilliant uniforms of men transformed them into a moving blaze of colour. Her Majesty's guests amused themselves in a variety of ways--a favourite form of diversion being a row on the Palace lake, on which were a large number of boats in charge of picturesquely-attired Queen's watermen.

When Her Majesty had traversed the lawn, and Lord Lathom had pointed many of the people out to her, she moved to the entrance of her own tent, and sat sipping tea and eating strawberries, with a white ap.r.o.n--the strings of which pa.s.sed over her shoulders--spread on her lap in the homeliest fas.h.i.+on.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mr. Chamberlain. Sir W. Laurier.

_A. Fairfax Muckley._} {_From a Photo by W. & D. Downey._

HER MAJESTY'S GARDEN PARTY: THE SECRETARY FOR THE COLONIES AND THE CANADIAN PREMIER.]

[Sidenote: Review at Aldershot.]

The Naval Review had been an exhibition of our first line of defence, and though there was nothing in the nature of boastfulness or arrogance about it, it was such a demonstration as could have been made by no other Power--perhaps, by no two Foreign Powers in combination. The Military Review at Aldershot on July 1 was, of course, a much more modest affair, but the quality of the troops employed imparted a distinction to the function which went far to compensate for their smallness in numbers. Judged by Continental standards our Army is insignificant in size, but it must always command respect. Its traditions are splendid, and its recent achievements completely satisfactory. Some of the foreign Princes who were present with the Queen at Aldershot on July 1 had seen ten times as many soldiers in review, but it is safe to say that not one of them had ever seen a finer body, man for man, than the 28,000 British troops gathered together on Laffan's Plain. The presence among these of detachments from so many British Colonies added a significance to the proceedings that could not have been paralleled at a Military Review anywhere else in the World.

About a quarter-past four o'clock the Queen drove up in a carriage. The troops were arranged in the shape of three sides of a great rectangle, Her Majesty occupying the centre of the vacant side. A Royal Salute was given, and then commenced the march past. The honour of marching in the van had been a.s.signed very properly to the Colonial troops, consisting of 434 cavalry, 184 artillery and engineers, and 423 infantry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by H. N. King._

HER MAJESTY PLANTING A TREE IN THE GROUNDS OF BUCKINGHAM PALACE AS A MEMORIAL OF THE JUBILEE, June 28, 1897.]

The troops which followed represented almost every branch of the regular army and made a splendid show. But here, as in the Jubilee Procession itself, the Colonial contingent attracted the greatest share of attention. To see gallant hors.e.m.e.n and steady marching infantry in picturesque unfamiliar uniforms from every Continent all following the same flag and serving the same Queen was to receive a new and inspiring impression of the Empire. The red s.p.a.ces on the map of the earth's surface we had known from childhood's day to represent portions of our own Empire--but the impression was a vague one until we saw Canadian, Australian, and South African, actually under arms in defence of their and our Queen, as much as of their own distant homes. It was then brought home to us, with startling effect, how great is the birthright of every Briton, how great the privileges attaching to such citizens.h.i.+p--and how great the responsibilities. These men came to us, not in grat.i.tude for any priceless advantages we have bestowed upon them--for we have done nothing of the kind--but simply because their blood is the same as ours, their traditions the same, and their sympathies. We are still well able to take care of ourselves; but who shall say that the Old Country may not one day need the strong, right arms of her children across the seas?

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by H. N. King._

HER MAJESTY'S WATERMEN.]

That our Colonial troops are not merely ornamental soldiers their shooting at Bisley, at the meeting which ended on July 10, amply proved, if their splendid horsemans.h.i.+p and marching had not proved it before.

Though for the most part entirely unused to the new Lee-Metford rifle, they secured the Kolapore Cup, and, in a year which produced record scores, held their own against the picked marksmen of our Regulars and Volunteer Army.

The Review was brought to an end with the defiling past of the infantry.

A splendid effect was produced when the infantry gave the Royal salute, and then burst with one accord into shouts of cheering--bonnets and busbies being thrown up into the air or waved frantically on bayonet points. The Queen returned to Windsor the same evening, and the Jubilee celebrations proper were over.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} Her Majesty's Carriage. {_by Argent Archer, Kensington._

THE ALDERSHOT REVIEW: MARCH PAST OF THE COLONIAL TROOPS.]