VICTORIA. 



739 



Victoria, was only eight months old, but lier mother 

 fulfilled the important duties devolved on her with ad- 

 mirable care and judgment. On Victoria's accession 

 to the throne, on the demise of her uncle. King Wil- 

 liam IV., June 20, ]837, she was accomplished not 

 only in the continental languages, drawing, niusic, and 

 some of the sciences, but she was thoroughly instructed 

 in the principles of the British Constitution, lletain- 

 ing the late king's ministers, her first public act was 

 to dissolve Parliament in person on July 17, reading 

 her speech from the throne. Next year her corona- 

 tion was celebrated, June 28, amid general rejoicing. 

 Although but eighteen years of age at her accession, 

 the dignity with which she bore herself, her strict pro- 

 priety of conduct, and amiability of character won the 

 hearts of her subjects, and she has retained their love 

 and respect to the present day. On Feb. 10, 1840, she 

 married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg- 

 Gotha, who proved not only a husband devoted to 

 herself, but able and ready to further the welfare of 

 her people. By him she has had nine children four 

 sons and five daughters of whom seven still live. 

 Her offspring are. the Princess Roy.il, Victoria, now Em- 

 press-Dowager of Germany, born Nov. 21, 1840, married 

 Jan. 25, 1858, to Frederick William, then Crown Prince 

 of Prussia, and later Emperor of Germany ; Albert 

 Edward, Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne, 

 born Nov. 9, 1841, who married March 10, 1803. Prin- 

 cess Alexandra of Denmark ; Princess Alice, born 

 April 25, 1843, married in 1862 to Prince Frederick of 

 Hesse, died Dec. 14, 1878; Prince Alfred. Duke of 

 Edinburgh, born in 1844, married, 1874, Marie Alex- 

 androvna, only daughter of the Czar of Buna ; Prin- 

 cess Helena, born 1840. married, 1806, Prince Chris- 

 tian of Schleswig-Holstein ; Princess Louise, born 1 is IS, 

 married, 1871, the Marquis of Lome, eldest son of the 

 Duke of Argyll (the only child of the Queen who mar- 

 riedasubject) ; Prince Arthur, Duke of 'Connaught, born 

 1850. married, 1879, Princess Louise of Prussia, daugh- 

 ter of Frederick Charles, the "Red Prince ;" Leopold. 

 Duke of Albanv, born 1853, married. 18S2, Princess 

 Helen of Waldeck, died 1884; Princess Beatrice, 

 born 1857, married, 1885, Prince Henry of Battenberg. 

 The leading events of Victoria's reign are here 

 briefly noted. The year 1839 was marked by the tur- 

 bulent proceedings of the Chartists. Their principles, 

 which were embodied in " the five points of the char- 

 ter," have since been larsrely recognized in legislation. 

 In 1840 Sir Rowland Hill's penny post nee scheme was 

 put in operation. The war against China, lxlo-1'.'. 

 was closed by a peace, by which England secured a large 

 war-indemnity, the island of IJong-Kong, and the 

 opening of four ports in addition to Canton. In 1841 

 iSir Robert Peel came into power, and after great p. >pu- 

 lar agitation, his administration repealed the corn-laws 

 in 1 840. Serious wars occurred in Afghanistan in 1 842, 

 and in the Scinde in 1843. In 1845 the great Sikh ris- 

 ing took place in India, which was nt/t quelled till 1849. 

 It resulted in the annexation of the Punjaub. The 

 famine in Ireland through the failure of the potato- 

 crop in 1846 drove multitudes of its people from their 

 homes to find an asylum in America. The widespread 

 distress led to a revision of the poor-laws for the whole 

 empire. In 1848, the year of European revolutions, 

 the throne of Victoria alone stood secure, though 

 there was an uprising in Ireland, and the Chart- 

 ists gave some trouble in London. In 1849 Queen 

 Victoria for the first time visited Ireland, and was re- 

 ceived with demonstrations of loyal respect, while the 

 name of the Cove of Cork, where she landed, was 

 changed to Quconstown. OuMayl, 1851, the World's 

 Fair in Hyde Park, London, was opened by the Queen 

 and Prince Albert, who had energetically promoted this 

 industrial exhibition. In this year the first submarine 

 telegraph cable was laid across the Straits of Dover. 

 The close of 1852 was marked by the death of the 

 Duke of Wellington, who had been the sponsor to 

 Priuce Arthur. 



Ten years of peace were succeeded by new wars. In 

 1854 war with Russia led to the Crimean campaign by 

 the united forces of England, France, Italy, and Turkey, 

 and was closed by the capture of Sebastopol, Sept. 9, 

 1855. The ibrmidable Indian mutiny burst forth in 

 1857 and was suppressed only after a long and desper- 

 ate struggle. The great East India Company was abol- 

 ished and its vast empire transferred to the crown of 

 Britain. In this year the title of Prince Consort was 

 conferred on the Queen's husband. A volunteer move- 

 ment for the defence of England was inaugurated in 

 1 859. The civil war in America caused much distress 

 in England owing to the cotton famine. To Victoria 

 the close of 1861 was darkened through the death of 

 her devoted husband. Her grief was testified by many 

 years of seclusion from the public. Besides architectu- 

 ral tributes to his memory, she caused the publication 

 of his Speeches and Addresses (1862). Lieut. -Gen. 

 Charles Grey prepared under her direction The Early 

 Years of H. R. H., the Prince Consort (186 7), and Sir 

 Theodore Martin The Life of II. R, H., the Prince 

 Consort (3 vok, 1875). 



To resume our chronology : in 18C6 telegraphic com- 

 munication was established between Europe and 

 America by the laying of the cable between Valencia, 

 Ireland, and the coast of Newfoundland. Fenian 

 troubles marked the year 1867. The same year was 

 signalized by the passing of Disraeli's reform act, es- 

 taiilishing household suffrage in boroughs and occupa- 

 tion franchise in counties, and by the formation of 

 Canada into a dominion and the transference of the 

 seat of government to Ottawa. In 1869 the Estab- 

 lished Church of Ireland was disestablished and dis- 

 endoweJ. This was followed, in 1870, by the passage 

 of a land-act for Ireland, establishing courts for fixing 

 reasonable rents. This has been the precursor of sev- 

 eral kindred measures, down to the Ashbourne act of 

 1888, the general object being to restore peace to that 

 unfortunate country. The purchase of commissions 

 in the army was abolished in 1870. In this same year 

 the ejeuientary education act was passed for England 

 and, in 1872, a kindred measure was passed for Scot- 

 land, education being now compulsory in both these 

 counti i< I, 



At the close of 1871 the life of the Prince of Wales 

 was for a time in imminent danger through typhoid 

 fever. In 1871 the Emperor Napoleon III. found 

 asylum with his wife and son at Chiselhurst, Kent, 

 where he died in 1873. In 1876 Parliament, at the in- 

 stance of Disraeli, passed a royal title-bill, by which 

 Victoria was made Empress of India. In 1877 that 

 favorite minister of state was raised to the peerage 

 with the title of Earl of Beaconsfield. In 1 878, at the 

 end of the war between Russia and Turkey, the island 

 of Cyprus was ceded by the latter country to England. 

 A war with the Zulus in South Africa, which broke 

 out in 1879, was noted for the slaughter of the young 

 Prince Napoleon, a volunteer with the British troops. 

 Victoria erected a monument to his memory in Zulu- 

 land. 



Troubles in Ireland continued, and on May 6, 1 882, 

 Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke were assas- 

 sinated in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Parliament then 

 passed an Irish coercion bill of the most stringent na- 

 ture, which still remains in force. For the war in, 

 Egypt in that year see ARABI PACHA. Lower Egypt 

 was occupied by British troops and this led to compli- 

 cations with the fanatical Arab tribes of the Soudan, 

 who, under the Mahdi, threatened Lower Egypt, slew 

 Ren. Gordon, who had gone to Khartoum to pacify 

 :hc region, and came in collision with the force which 

 ^iad been despatched too late for his relief. A bitter 

 and undecisive^ " little war" was the result. One of 

 Is most prominent events was the battle of Suakim, 

 n December, 1888, which resulted in the decisive re- 

 julse of the Arabs from that town. 



In the early spring of 1884 died the Duke of Albany, 

 who of all the Queen's children was said, in point of 



