Sixty Years a Queen Part 36

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by F. Frith & Co._

THE IMPERIAL INSt.i.tUTE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _L. Tuxen._} {_From the Royal Collection, by permission of Mr. Mendoza, St. James's Gallery, King Street, St. James's, owner of the copyright._

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AND THE ROYAL FAMILY. PAINTED ON THE OCCASION OF HER MAJESTY'S JUBILEE IN 1887.

1. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

2. The Prince of Wales.

3. The Princess of Wales.

4. Prince Albert Victor.

5. Prince George of Wales.

6. Princess Louise of Wales.

7. Princess Victoria of Wales.

8. Princess Maud of Wales.

9. Crown Princess of Germany.

10. Crown Prince of Germany.

11. Prince William of Prussia.

12. Princess William of Prussia.

13. Prince Frederick William of Prussia.

14. The Hereditary Princess of Saxe-Meiningen.

15. The Hered. Prince of Saxe-Meiningen.

16. Princess Theodore of Saxe-Meiningen.

17. Prince Henry of Prussia.

18. Princess Irene of Hesse.

19. Princess Victoria of Prussia.

20. Princess Sophie of Prussia.

21. Princess Margaret of Prussia.

22. The Grand Duke of Hesse.

23. Princess Louis of Battenberg.

24. Prince Louis of Battenberg.

25. Princess Alice of Battenberg.

26. The Grand d.u.c.h.ess Eliza of Russia.

27. The Grand Duke Serge of Russia.

28. The Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse.

29. Princess Alix of Hesse.

30. The Duke of Edinburgh.

31. The d.u.c.h.ess of Edinburgh.

32. Prince Alfred of Edinburgh.

33. Princess Marie of Edinburgh.

34. Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh.

35. Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh.

36. Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh.

37. Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, Princess Helena of Great Britain and Ireland.

38. Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein.

39. Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein.

40. Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein.

41. Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.

42. Princess Louise of Schleswig-Holstein.

43. Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne.

44. The Marquis of Lorne.

45. The Duke of Connaught.

46. The d.u.c.h.ess of Connaught.

47. Princess Margaret of Connaught.

48. Prince Arthur of Connaught.

49. Princess Victoria Beatrice Patricia of Connaught.

50. The d.u.c.h.ess of Albany.

51. Princess Alice of Albany.

52. Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany.

53. Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg.

54. Prince Henry of Battenberg.

55. Prince Alexander Albert of Battenberg.]

[Sidenote: Their Report.]

The Commission consisted of Sir James Hannen, Sir J. C. Day, and Sir A.

L. Smith. Once more the Attorney-General appeared as leading counsel for the _Times_, and from the outset the enquiry had all the appearance of a Ministerial impeachment of certain Irish members. The exposure of the atrocious character of Pigott, one of the chief witnesses relied on by the _Times_, and his subsequent suicide, caused that part of the charge which depended on the authenticity of certain letters attributed to Parnell to be abandoned. The judgment of the Commission was not delivered until February 13, 1890. While exonerating the Irish members from some of the heaviest charges made against them by the _Times_, and p.r.o.nouncing the _facsimile_ letter to be a forgery, it was to the effect, _inter alia_, that (1) they had joined a conspiracy to promote by coercion and intimidation an agrarian agitation against the payment of rent, in order to expel "the English garrison" of landlords from Ireland; (2) that they had disseminated newspapers tending to incite to the commission of crime; (3) that although some of the respondents did express _bona fide_ disapproval of crime and outrage, they all persisted in the system of intimidation which led to crime, with knowledge of its effect; (4) that they made payments to procure the escape of criminals from justice and to compensate persons injured in the commission of crime, and (5) that they invited and obtained a.s.sistance and subscriptions from known advocates of crime and dynamite.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Russell & Sons._

THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, WITH HIS TRAIN-BEARER.]

On the whole, the prestige of the Government was greatly compromised by its connection with this great trial, and the _Times_ paid 5,000 solatium to Mr. Parnell on account of the libel. Parliament was prorogued early, on August 12, 1890, in order to meet again before Christmas to take up the Irish Land Bill and the t.i.thes Bill, which had been sacrificed for want of time. The prospects of a discredited Government in meeting an exhilarated Opposition were far from auspicious, but an unexpected event in the interval altered the whole scene. A divorce suit was brought against Mr. Parnell by Captain O'Shea, formerly one of his party in Parliament, but latterly known to have departed from his allegiance, and the co-respondent in the suit allowed judgment to go against him without offering any defence.

[Sidenote: Fall of Parnell.]

In no other country, perhaps, has the private misconduct of a public man such fatal effect on his career as in Great Britain, where flagrant immorality proved against a statesman puts an immediate end to his reputation and influence. Parnell fell; Parnell, who for sixteen years had led the Irish Party with unswerving will and undisputed authority; Parnell, whose sagacious leadership had brought the vision of Home Rule to the very brink of accomplishment. Mr. Gladstone wrote that, in his opinion, Mr. Parnell's "continuance at the present moment in the leadership would be productive of consequences disastrous in the highest degree to the cause of Ireland." The ecclesiastical authorities in Ireland p.r.o.nounced against him, and the weight of priestly authority in the political affairs of that country can hardly be overestimated. The Irish Party in Parliament was divided. The majority of forty-five, henceforth known as Anti-Parnellites, renounced their old chief at a stormy meeting in Committee Room 15 of the House of Commons; but the minority of twenty-six remained staunch. The crisis saved the Government.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _G. F. Watts._} {_Photographed by F. Hollyer._

LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A., 1830-1896.

Frederick Leighton was born at Scarborough. Painter, sculptor, musician, and polished orator, he will long be remembered as the ideal President of the Royal Academy. The portrait represents him in his robes as D. C.

L.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _From a Photograph_} {_by Russell & Sons._

SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, P.R.A., 1829-1896.

Born at Southampton; exhibited his first picture in 1846, and in 1848 became a member of the "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood" with Rossetti, Holman Hunt, F. Madox Brown, and others. Elected President of the Royal Academy on the death of Lord Leighton, he survived him only six months.]

[Sidenote: Deaths of Parnell and W. H. Smith.]

Parnell died on October 6, 1891. On the same day the Queen lost one of her most devoted servants, and the House of Commons its leader, in the person of William Henry Smith, whose health had broken down under the strain of constant attention to the ever-increasing work of Parliament.

Added to this anxiety came the financial crisis brought about by the failure, in November 1890, of the great house of the Barings to meet their enormous liability of 22,000,000. The stability of the whole of British finance was threatened, but the Governors of the Bank of England came to the rescue, undertaking the liquidation of the concern and opening a guarantee fund, which was subscribed readily, and thus the disaster was averted.

[Sidenote: County Councils.]

The two measures by which Lord Salisbury's second Administration will remain distinguished in the memory of most people were immediate and exceedingly far-reaching in their effect; that, namely, which revolutionised the whole system of local government by the creation of County Councils, and that which rendered elementary education free of payment of school fees. Of the first of these measures, Mr. Ritchie, President of the Local Government Board, was the author, and it was produced during the session of 1888. Member though he was of a Conservative Cabinet, the most ardent Radical could not complain that Mr. Ritchie had not dealt with ancient inst.i.tutions in a sweeping manner. The levying of county rates, the maintenance of roads and bridges, asylums, the conduct of registrations, and nearly all the duties. .h.i.therto reposed in country gentlemen in their capacity of members of Quarter Sessions, were transferred to purely elective councils chosen by the ratepayers. London, as defined by the Metropolis Management Act, was const.i.tuted a county, and the old Metropolitan Board of Works ceased to exist.