The Fiftieth Year of the Queen’s Reign--Mr. W. H. Smith Leader of the Commons--Sudden Death of Lord Iddesleigh--Opening of Parliament--The Queen’s Speech--The Debate on the Address--New Rules for Procedure--Closure Proposed by the Tories--Irish Landlords and Evictions--“Pressure Within the Law”--Prosecution of Mr. Dillon--The Round Table Conference--“Parnellism and Crime”--Resignation of Sir M. Hicks-Beach--Appointment of Mr. Balfour--The Coercion Bill--Resolute Government for Twenty Years--Scenes in the House--Irish Land Bill--The Bankruptcy Clauses--The National League Proclaimed--The Allotments Act--The Margarine Act--Hamburg Spirit--Mr. Goschen’s Budget--The Jubilee in India--The Modes of Celebration in England--Congratulatory Addresses--The Queen’s Visit to Birmingham--The Laureate’s Jubilee Ode--The Queen at Cannes and Aix--Her Visit to the Grande Chartreuse--Colonial Addresses--Opening of the People’s Palace--Jubilee Day--The Scene in the Streets--Preceding Jubilees--The Royal Procession--The German Crown Prince--The Decorations and the Onlookers--The Spectacle in Westminster Abbey--The Procession--The Ceremony--The Illuminations--Royal Banquet in Buckingham Palace--The Shower of Honours--Jubilee Observances in the British Empire and the United States--The Children’s Celebration in Hyde Park--The Queen’s Garden Party--Her Majesty’s Letter to her People--The Imperial Institute--The Victorian Age 733 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE The Prince and Princess of Wales and their Family _Frontispiece._ Osborne, from the Solent 385 The Princess Louise (_From a Photograph by Elliott and Fry_) 388 The Marquis of Lorne (_From a Photograph by Elliott and Fry_) 389 Inverary Castle (_From a Photograph by G. W. Wilson and Co._) 393 Mr. W. E. Forster (_From a Photograph by Russell and Sons_) 396 Balmoral Castle, from the North-west (_From a Photograph by G. W. Wilson and Co., Aberdeen_) 400 After Sedan: Discussing the Capitulation (_From the Picture by Georg Bleibtreu_) 401 Metz 405 Marriage of the Princess Louise _To face_ 408 Opening of the Royal Albert Hall 409 The Prince of Wales’s Illness: Crowd at the Mansion House Reading the Bulletins 412 Thanksgiving Day: the Procession at Ludgate Hill (_From the Picture by N. Chevalier_) 413 Thanksgiving Day: St. Paul’s Illuminated 416