Her triumph was the summary, the crown, of a greater triumph--the culminating prosperity of a nation.

The solid splendour of the decade between Victoria's two jubilees can hardly be paralleled in the annals of England.

The sage counsels of Lord Salisbury seemed to bring with them not only wealth and power, but security; and the country settled down, with calm assurance, to the enjoyment of an established grandeur.

And--it was only natural--Victoria settled down too.

For she was a part of the establishment--an essential part as it seemed--a fixture--a magnificent, immovable sideboard in the huge saloon of state.