breeze. Queen Victoria,
with the Prince of Wales escorting her, and riding in an open carriage,
was greeted with roars of cheers; the Emperor William, following in
another carriage with Empress Victoria at his side, condescended to
bow and smile in response to the greetings of a free people. Each of
the other monarchs was received in a similar manner. The Czar of Russia
proved to be an especial favorite with the multitude on account of the
ancient friendship of his house for America. But the greatest applause
of all came when the President of France, followed by the President
of Switzerland and the First Syndic of the little Republic of Andorra,
made their appearance. Equally warm were the greetings extended to the
representatives of Mexico and the South American States.

The Sultan of Turkey.

The crowd apparently hardly knew at first how to receive the Sultan of
Turkey, but the universal good feeling was in his favor, and finally
rounds of hand clapping and cheers greeted his progress along the
splendid avenue.

A happy idea had apparently occurred to the Emperor of China and the
Mikado of Japan, for, attended by their intermingled suites, they
rode together in a single carriage. This object lesson in the unity of
international feeling immensely pleased the spectators.

An Unparallelled Scene.

The scene in the Senate Chamber stirred every one profoundly. That
it was brilliant and magnificent goes without saying, but there was a
seriousness, an intense feeling of expectancy, pervading both those who
looked on and those who were to do the work for which these magnates of
the earth had assembled, which produced an ineradicable impression. The
President of the United States, of course, presided. Representatives
of the greater powers occupied the front seats, and some of them were
honored with special chairs near the President.

No time was wasted in preliminaries. The President made a brief speech.

"We have come together," he said, "to consider a question that equally
interests the whole earth. I need not remind you that unexpectedly and
without provocation on our part the people--the monsters, I should
rather say--of Mars, recently came down upon the earth, attacked us
in our homes and spread desolation around them. Having the advantage
of ages of evolution, which for us are yet in the future, they brought
with them engines of death and of destruction against which we found it
impossible to contend. It is