The procession set out from Buckingham Palace at twelve o’clock. First came the Speaker, the Lord Chancellor, and the Commander-in-Chief, in their carriages, followed by nine Royal equipages, in the last of which sat Queen Victoria, dressed in black velvet trimmed with broad bands of white ermine, Queen Alexandra in blue silk covered with black lace, King Edward in the uniform of a British general and wearing the Collars of the Orders of the Garter and the Bath, Prince Albert Victor then a boy of eight, and Princess Beatrice. The late Duchess of Teck, to her great grief, could not be present, as her eldest son had sickened with scarlet fever. In the Green Park the procession was greeted by an army of 30,000 children, who sang the National Anthem as the Royal carriages drove by. St. Paul’s was reached at one o’clock, and the Royal party were received at the great West door by the Dean and Chapter. Queen Victoria passed up the nave leaning on the arm of her son, who conducted Her Majesty to a pew which had been specially prepared for the occasion. The service began with the “Te Deum,” and after some prayers a special form of thanksgiving which had been officially drawn up was said. Then the Archbishop of Canterbury preached a short sermon from the text, Romans xii. 5, “Members one of another.” The service concluded with a thanksgiving hymn which had been specially written for the occasion. The proceedings were over by two o’clock, and the procession returned by a different route, along Holborn and Oxford Street, in the presence of an enthusiastic crowd said to be the largest ever collected in London. As the poet sings:-- Bear witness, thou memorable day, When, pale as yet, and fever-worn, the Prince, Who scarce had plucked his flickering life again From halfway down the shadow of the grave, Past through the people and their love; And London roll’d one tide of joy thro’ all Her trebled millions and loud leagues of men.