Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-12-10
QUEEN VICTORIA.
Her Reign Now Longer Than That o
Queen Elizabeth.

London Telegraph, Oc. -.
A remarkable event was yesterday ac-
cOmplished. The great and glorious
reign of Queen Elizabeth-surpaSsed in
duration only by those of King Henry
Ill, King Edward III. and King
George IlI.-has now been itself out
done by the forty-four years and one
hundred and twenty-eight days during
which her gracious Majesty Queen
Victoria-whOm Heaven long preserve!
has happily and prOsperously ruled
the British Empire. So interesting a
point of chronology in the ANIMALS OF
our monarchy calls for sOmelOyal notice.
Few have been the sovereigns in our
own or any other dynasty, and fewer
still the Queens, whose hands have held
a sceptre for so extended period. Nor
can it for u moment be doubted that the
suspicious reign which to-day becomes
eldest, save three i'll the records of the
Island Realm, has UNNECESSARILY sur
passed in prosperity, progress anu
achievements of civil, social and intel
lectual gain not only the renowned and
fruitful sway of Queen Bess, but those
ofOur other precedent KingSand queens.
Thucydides observes that men always
consider the wBr in which they them
selves take part rs the must important
ever waged, and the more recent years
of every flourishing nation naturally
seem, and would be indeed, most traught
with fresh development. There have
nevertheless arisen marked epOchS in
the story of humanity when all things
appeared combining to produce a
specially memorable era, cOndensing,
as it were, the gifts and glOries of pre-
yiOus times and introducing new births
of civilization. One of these epochs Is
felt by universal present consent, and
will stand adjudged, we think, by the
voice of pOsterity, to be the glorious
reign which to-day transcends the
Elizabethan limit. Poets and writers to
come will assuredly speak of the Victor
ian era as the one not less plainly stand
ing forth than the Attic or the August
an. Long may it flourish, and far be
the date when that most noble sovereign
lady whose name it Will forever wear,
exchanges her earthly for a heavenly
kingdom. But already the epoch Is
complete enough to form for present and
future historians an age conspicuous,
splendid and successful; during which,
in the van of the wide worlds march,
England has achieved an advanCemens
throwing into shade even the rich and
wonderful days of our Maiden Queen.
There are those, indeed, who believe
that during the past half century Great
Britain has touched the zenith of her
fortunes; but such Respondent prophets
have not taken into account the maSni-
ficent requests of power, pride and unity
which reign like Queen Nictoria's will
devOlve.
Foremost among the golden profits of
this epoch we would place-in rs much
sincerity as loyalty-the life, the virtues,
and the personal influence of our
sovereign. In time of shock and
change and reckless theory, she has
concentrated round her illustrions per-
son proofs, perfect and visible, of the
advantages of that tirm-set monarchy
which can cOnciliate bOundleS private
freedom with public order, authority
and reverence. She has in her forty
five blameless and noble years of rule
blended queen and mother in her rela-
tions to ner people, making her home
the model of their homes. Sagaciously
comprehending and exercising the large
and lofty power which constitutional
forms still reserve for a prudent mon
arch she has governed in the best
sense as well as ''reigned," so that there
is no citizen of the State who has done
il nearly so much true and constant
service as its head and mistress. This
is true of affairs upon the imperial side
of the story of the reign; it Is true of
affairs in civil military, political, and
parliamentary mrttsrs; but deepest and
strongest of all is the delicate sway
which her MBjesty has welded In the
realm or morality end humanity. Bya
process finer than history can well follow,
she has become the friend and CONSIDER
of all sad hearts; the watcher and re-
warCler of all heroic deeds; the ever
thoughtful companion Of her subjects in
all their national joys and sorrows, and
the mouthpiece for them at home and
abroad, whenever some great word OF
COMMISSION, of courage, or of friendli-
ness had to be spoken. No better ex-
ample Of this could be desired than the
tender truth with which the Queen re-
Gently expressed the sympathy OF her
country towards the American people
while watching the death-bed of Gen.
Garfield. And no better proof OF the
value attached to her words could have
been wanted than that most graceful and
generous tribute which the United
States paid lately to our flag at York
town, saluting with respect and affection
the symbol against which they once 50
stoutly fought. Never before in history
did any Queen WELD such proud or po-
tent royalty as this which, by q few
waited words, cemented in friendship
the two Englands Of the Old and New
Worlds.