It is not our business, of course, to report the
incidents of the Jubilee, even if we could do it. Next to the demeanour of the Londoners, which marked a distinct advance in civilisation, the most impressive feature of the rejoicings was their world-wide character. The English are everywhere on earth, and wherever they are, they held a celebration in honour of their country and their Queen. From the farthest isles of the ocean, from Australia and Japan, from Chili and the Canadian cities, from every capital of Europe and most of the large cities of America, telegrams have come streaming in to congratulate her Majesty, or to record festivals held in her honour. The President of the United States, the Emperor of China, and all European crowned heads have expressed their plea- sure at the continuance of her reign, and their sympathy with her character. That contraction of the world which has been perhaps the most distinctive incident of her reign, has enabled the whole world to hurrah at once with a unanimity of applausive roar which, if a little deafening to the mental ear, is not a little calculated to stir emotion. If the Queen chose so far to depart from precedent, she might stand in a balcony of Buckingham Palace, and without a trace of assumption, return thanks urbi et orbi. We wish she would, for
that would be an incident for posts; but the Queen, like her subjects, shrinks from the unusual. There is scarcely a form of gratulation known to man which has not been addressed to her Majesty ; but not one, so far, has been markedly original.
