rmonising
with her own inmost proclivities. The English polity was in the main
a common-sense structure, but there was always a corner in it where
common-sense could not enter--where, somehow or other, the ordinary
measurements were not applicable and the ordinary rules did not apply.
So our ancestors had laid it down, giving scope, in their wisdom, to
that mystical element which, as it seems, can never quite be eradicated
from the affairs of men. Naturally it was in the Crown that the
mysticism of the English polity was concentrated--the Crown, with its
venerable antiquity, its sacred associations, its imposing spectacular
array. But, for nearly two centuries, common-sense had been predominant
in the great building, and the little, unexplored, inexplicable corner
had attracted small attention. Then, with the rise of imperialism, there
was a change. For imperialism is a faith as well as a business; as
it grew, the mysticism in English public life grew with it; and
simultaneously a new importance began to attach to the Crown. The
need for a symbol--a symbol of England's might, of England's worth,
of England's extraordinary and mysterious destiny--became felt more
urgently than ever before. The Crown was that symbol: and the Crown
rested upon the head of Victoria. Thus it happened that while by the end
of the reign the power of the sovereign had appreciably diminished, the
prestige of the sovereign had enormously grown.

Yet this prestige was not merely the outcome of public changes; it was
an intensely personal matter, too. Victoria was the Queen of England,
the Empress of India, the quintessential pivot round which the whole
magnificent machine was revolving--but how much more besides! For one
thing, she was of a great age--an almost indispensable qualification for
popularity in England. She had given proof of one of the most admired
characteristics of the race--persistent vitality. She had reigned for
sixty years, and she was not out. And then, she was a character. The
outlines of her nature were firmly drawn, and, even through the mists
which envelop royalty, clearly visible. In the popular imagination her
familiar figure filled, with satisfying ease, a distinct and memorable
place. It was, besides, the kind of figure which naturally called forth
the admiring sympathy of the great majority of the nation. Goodness they
prized above every other human quality; and Victoria, who had said
that she would be good at the age