No. 350.
Sir L. S. Sackville West to Mr. Bayard.

Sir: I have the honor to inclose a letter which the Queen has addressed to the President of the United States in answer to that addressed to Her Majesty by the President conveying his congratulations on the occasion of her jubilee, and to request that the same may be delivered into the hands of the President.

A copy of the letter is also inclosed.

I have, etc.,

L. S. Sackville West.
[Inclosure.]

Queen Victoria to the President.

Victoria, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, etc., to the President of the United States of America, sendeth greetings: Our good friend: We have received from the hands of Mr. Phelps, the United States minister at our court, the letter which you addressed to us on the 26th of May last, and in which you convey your congratulations and those of the people of the United States on the occasion of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of our accession to the Throne. We request you to accept our hest thanks for this proof of friendship and good-will which, with the similar [Page 546] proofs we have received from the rulers and people of other states, has caused us the most sincere gratification. In thanking you also for the choice which you have made of Mr. Phelps to be the interpreter of your sentiments on this occasion, we request you to accept in return our best wishes for your own uninterrupted happiness and welfare, and for the prosperity of the United States of America. And so we recommend you to the protection of the Almighty.

Given at our court at Windsor Castle the 18th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1887, and in the fifty-first year of our reign.

Your good friend,

Victoria R. and I

Salisbury.