VICTORIA. 



739 



out of the house by Highlanders and bluejackets, 

 and placed on a gun carriage adapted as a funeral 

 car. The yacht left East Cowes a few minutes 

 before 3 p. M., and proceeded through a long ave- 

 nue of saluting war vessels, British and foreign, 

 followed by the Victoria and Albert with the royal 

 mourners on board, and other vessels. The Al- 

 berta arrived in Portsmouth harbor shortly before 

 5 ]. M. The members of both houses of Parliament 

 were on board the liners Scot and Dunvegan Castle, 

 which took up positions between some of the war 

 ships. On Saturday, after a short service on board 

 the Alberta, the coffin was carried from the yacht 

 to the train at Gosport, and arrived at Victoria 

 at 11 o'clock. The procession moved by way of 

 Buckingham Palace Road, the Mall, St. James's 

 Street, Piccadilly, Hyde Park from Apsley Gate 

 to the Marble Arch, Edgware Road, and London 

 Street to Paddington station. The route for the 

 whole distance was lined by 33,000 regular troops 

 and volunteers, with police, behind whom had 

 assembled, hours before the time fixed for the 

 passing of the procession, the largest crowds 

 that have ever gathered, even in London. The 

 first part of the procession consisted of troops, 

 including representative detachments of all arms 

 of the service, and also of the navy and marines. 

 Then came the military attaches to the foreign 

 embassies, the headquarters staff of the army, the 

 commander in chief, the earl marshal (the Duke 

 of Norfolk), and other high officers of the house- 

 hold, and a large number of the royal aids-de-camp. 

 The coffin was followed by the King, the German 

 Emperor, and the Duke of Connaught riding 

 abreast, and after them the Kings of Portugal and 

 Greece, nearly 40 princes, representing every royal 

 house in Europe, and a long array of ambassadors 

 and other representatives of foreign powers. The 

 march past occupied nearly an hour. At Padding- 

 ton the coffin was placed in a catafalque prepared 

 for it in the late Queen's railway carriage. The 

 train reached Windsor shortly after 2 p. M. The 

 coriin was drawn by bluejackets the artillery 

 horses proving unmanageable to St. George's 

 Chapel, where the funeral service was conducted 

 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop 

 of Winchester, and at its close Norroy, deputy to 

 Garter king-of-arms, proclaimed the death of 

 Queen Victoria and the accession of King Edward 

 VII. The interment took place on Monday after- 

 noon at the royal mausoleum, Frogmore. Shortly 

 before 3 o'clock the coffin was brought out of the 

 Albert Memorial Chapel and placed on the gun 

 carriage, and a procession was then formed, com- 

 posed almost exclusively of the royal, imperial, 

 and princely mourners, which proceeded through 

 the castle precincts and down the Long Walk. 

 The route was kept and lined by troops, behind 

 whom were gathered many thousands of specta- 

 tors. For a portrait of Queen Victoria, see 

 Annual Cyclopaedia for 1897, page 365. 



Victorian Reign, Events of the. The reign 

 of Queen Victoria, as it was the longest in English 

 history, so also was it the most illustrious when 

 judged by the great events that distinguish it, 

 the progress of the nation in power and wealth, 

 the spread of the empire, the advancement in the 

 comforts and conveniences of life, and the a<jhieve- 

 ments of British subjects in the arts, in science, 

 in literature, as well as in vast schemes of business 

 enterprise, in war, and in diplomacy. 



Extent and Population of the Empire. At 

 the beginning of the reign the empire comprised 

 8,340,000 square miles and had a population of 

 168,000.000. At the close, the area had increased 

 over 3,000,000 square miles it was estimated in 

 1898 at 11.712.170 square miles and the popula- 



tion had reached nearly 400,000,000. The United 

 Kingdom alone had about 25,000,000 population 

 in 1837, and in 1898 the number of inhabitants 

 was estimated at 40,188,927. The population of 

 England and Wales had more than doubled; that 

 of Scotland has almost doubled; but Ireland's has 

 fallen from about 7,500,000 to about 4,500,000; the 

 highest number was reached in 1H4.~>, when the 

 population was 8,295,061. The population of Lon- 

 don, which was not more than 1,500,000 in 1837, 

 was in 1898 4,504,766 in the registration district, 

 and, including the whole of greater London. 

 6,408,321. 



The British Empire in India and the feudatory 

 states extend over an area of over 1,800,000 square 

 miles, and has a population of more than 287,- 

 000,000. The protectorates and spheres of influ- 

 ence in Africa and Asia cover about 2.240,000 

 square miles, and have a population of over 36,- 

 000,000. The various colonies on continents and 

 islands have a total area of 7,550,533 square miles 

 and a total population of 21,657,782. At the be- 

 ginning of Victoria's reign England was in con- 

 trol of a small territory in the southeastern part 

 of Australia, a little colony at the southern ex- 

 tremity of Africa, part of Hindustan, the Straits 

 Settlements, British Guiana, and British North 

 America. Now the whole of Australia, parts of 

 Borneo and New Guinea, New Zealand, and other 

 neighboring islands, a vastly extended region in 

 India, and a large part of South Africa, with 

 territories on the eastern and western coasts of 

 that continent, are included in the empire. Brit- 

 ish North America has been enlarged by the 

 southwestern corner and by the islands discov- 

 ered in the northern sea. 



Growth in Revenues and Military Strength. 

 The public revenues of the United Kingdom 

 have more than doubled during the period under 

 review. The receipts for the year ending March 

 31, 1898, were 106,614,004, about 83 per cent, 

 of which was from taxation. 



The total strength of the armed forces of the 

 Crown was 101,000; it is 920,000. The navy in 

 1837 consisted of less than 200 wooden sailing 

 ships; at the present time it consists of more than 

 400 iron-built ships propelled by steam. 



Prime Ministers. When Victoria came to the 

 throne a Whig ministry under Lord Melbourne 

 had been in power four years except for a short 

 period in 1834-'35, when Sir Robert Peel's first 

 ministry was in office. The law then required 

 that a new Parliament should be summoned at the 

 accession of a sovereign ; there was therefore a 

 dissolution; the elections reduced the Whig ma- 

 jority, but did not radically alter the position of 

 parties, and Lord Melbourne's administration con- 

 tinued. The Duke of Wellington was then in the 

 House of Lords and wielded great influence as a 

 Tory leader. Lord Brougham and Lord Lyndhurst 

 were the leading debaters in that house. Benja- 

 min Disraeli took his seat in the House of Com- 

 mons for the first time in 1837 as member for 

 Maidstone. Other names then on the roll of Par- 

 liament have since become famous, among them 

 those of Mr. Gladstone, Edward Lytton Bulwer, 

 George Grote, Lord Palmerston, Lord Stanley 

 (afterward Lord Derby), Lord Morpeth (afterward 

 Lord Carlisle). Daniel O'Connell, and Richard 

 Lalor Shiel. Lord John Russell was Home Secre- 

 tary and leader of the House of Commons; Sir 

 Robert Peel was loader of the Opposition. It was 

 about this time that the party name " Conserva- 

 tive " besran to be substituted for "Tory.' 



Sir Robert Peel's second ministry began in 1841 

 and lasted till 1846, when the Whigs came in 

 airain with Lord John Russell as Premier. He 



