This brief life of Queen Victoria gives the salient features of her reign, including the domestic and public life, with a glance at the wonderful history and progress of our country during the past half-century. In the space at command it has been impossible to give extended treatment. The history is necessarily very brief, as also the account of the public and private life, yet it is believed no really important feature of her life and reign has been omitted. It is a duty, incumbent on old and

First Meeting with Prince Albert—Death of William IV.—Accession of Queen Victoria—First Speech from the Throne—Coronation—Life at Windsor—Personal Appearance—Betrothal to Prince Albert—Income from the Country—Her Majesty a genuine Ruler. The first great event in the young princess's life, and that which was destined to colour it all for her good and happiness, was her first meeting in 1836 with her cousins, her mother's nephews, the young princes Ernest and Albert of Saxe-Coburg. That visit was

Marriage—Delicacy of the Prince's Position—Family Habits—Birth of Princess Royal—Queen's Views of Religious Training—Osborne and Balmoral—Bloomfield's Reminicences —Death of the Duke of Wellington. Nowhere does the genuine unselfishness and sweet womanliness of the Queen show more than in her record of those days. She did not, like too many brides, think of herself as the only or even the principal person to be considered. She did not grudge that her bridegroom's heart should feel the strength o

Chief Public Events, 1837-49—Rebellion in Canada—Opium War with China—Wars in North-west India—Penny Postage—Repeal of the Corn-laws—Potato Famine—Free Trade—Chartism. The Queen had been only a few months on the throne when tidings arrived of a rebellion in Canada. The colonists had long been dissatisfied with the way in which the government was conducted by the mother-country. In the year 1840 Upper and Lower Canada were united into one province, and though the union was not at first a success,

The Crimean War, 1854-55—Siege of Sebastopol—Balaklava—Inkermann—Interest of the Queen and Prince-Consort in the suffering Soldiers—Florence Nightingale—Distribution of Victoria Crosses by the Queen. For a long time the Turkish empire had been gradually falling into decay, and the possessions of the Turk—the 'sick man,' as he has been aptly termed—had excited the greed of neighbouring countries. Russia especially had made several attempts to put an end to the 'sick man' by violent means, and sei

The Indian Mutiny, 1857-58—Cause of the Mutiny—Massacre of Cawnpore—Relief of Lucknow—The Queen's Letter to Lord Canning. Exactly one hundred years after Clive had laid the foundation of our empire in India by the victory of Plassey, events occurred in that country which completely cast into the shade the tragic incident of the 'Black Hole' of Calcutta. During the century which had elapsed since the days of Clive, the British power had been extended, till nearly the whole of the great peninsula

Marriage of the Princess Royal—Carriage Accident—Twenty-first Anniversary of Wedding-day—Death of the Prince-Consort. Meanwhile a domestic incident had made a great change in the royal family. The Princess Royal had become engaged to Prince Frederick-William of Prussia (for three months Emperor of Germany), and the marriage came off on the 25th of January 1858. It was the first break in the home circle. The Queen recorded it in her diary as 'the second most eventful day in my life as regards fee

The Queen in Mourning—Death of Princess Alice—Illness of Prince of Wales—The Family of the Queen—Opening of Indian Exhibition and Imperial Institute—Jubilee—Jubilee Statue—Death of Duke of Clarence—Address to the Nation on the marriage of Princess May. Henceforth the great Queen was 'written widow,' and while striving nobly in her loneliness to fulfil those public functions, in which she had hitherto been so faithfully companioned, she shrank at first from courtly pageantry and from the gay whir

The Queen as an Artist and Author—In her Holiday Haunts—Side-lights on the Queen—Norman Macleod—The Queen's appreciation of Tennyson, Dickens, and Livingstone—Letter to Mr Peabody—The Queen's Drawing-room—Her pet Animals—A Model Mistress—Mr Jeaffreson's Tribute—Baron Stockmar—A golden Reign. The Prince-Consort, as we have seen, was accomplished in music and painting, and knew much about many subjects. The Queen is not only an author, but an artist, and takes a great interest in art. To an exhibi

Summary of Public Events, 1856-93—Civil War in America—Extension of the Franchise—Disestablishment of Irish Church-Education Act of 1870—Wars in China and Abyssinia—Purchase of Suez Canal Shares—Wars in Afghanistan, Zululand, and Egypt—Home Rule Bill—Growth of the Empire and National Progress. We now continue our summary of public affairs. The Crimean War had been finished, and the mutiny had broken out, whilst Lord Palmerston was prime-minister. In 1858 he was obliged to resign his post; but he