ts; and the visits of her
grandchildren--of whom one, Princess Alice of Hesse, daughter of the
well-beloved Alice of England, became Czarina of Russia only the
other day--are a source of keen interest to her.

[Illustration: Princess Henry of Battenberg. _From a Photograph by
Hughes & Mullins, Ryde, Isle of Wight_.]

[Illustration: Prince Henry of Battenberg. _From a Photograph by
Hughes & Mullins, Ryde, Isle of Wight_.]

[Illustration: The Czarina of Russia.]

But there is no selfish absorption in her own family affairs, no
neglect of essential duty. The Prince of Wales and "the Princess"
relieve the Queen of many irksome social functions; but she does not
shun these when it is clear to her that her people wish her to
undertake them. Witness her willingness to take part in the Jubilee
Thanksgiving services and pageant, despite the feebleness of her
advanced age.

We need not dwell long on the rather stormy Parliamentary history of
the last decade, on the divisions and disappointments of the Irish
Home Rule party, once so powerful, or on the various attacks aimed at
the Welsh and Scottish Church establishments and at the principle of
"hereditary legislation" as embodied in the House of Lords. Some
useful legislation has been accomplished amid all the strife. We may
instance the Act in 1888 creating the new system of County Councils,
the Parish Councils Act, the Factory and Workshops Amendment Act, and
the Education Act of 1891--measures designed to protect the toiling
millions from the evils of "sweating," and to assure their children
of practically free education.

Substantial good has been done, whether the reins of power have been
held by Mr. Gladstone or by Lord Salisbury--whose long tenure of
office expiring in 1892, the veteran statesman whom he had displaced
again took the helm--or by Lord Rosebery, in whose favour the great
leader finally withdrew in 1894 into private life, weary of the
burden of State. In 1897 we again see Lord Salisbury directing the
destinies of the mighty empire--a task of exceptional difficulty, now
that the gravest complications exist in Europe itself and in Africa.
The horrors suffered by the Armenian subjects of the Turk have called
for intervention by the great powers; but no sooner had Turkish
reforms been promised in response to the joint note of Great Britain,
France, and Russia, than new troubles began in Crete, its people
rising in arms to shake off the Turkish yoke.

Mea