The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1896-10-02
THE AGE OF VICTORIA.
nd the Many Wonders Of the
Great Victorian Age.

become the longest IN England S his
tory, Surprising that of her illustri-
ous. grandfather, George ILL.,, whose
tenacious hold upon the crown eclips-
ed all former records, the reign of
| Queen Victoria has reached the gold
en- limit of three score years and takes
its place in the annals of Great Britain
as the most protracted reign which
the people of that island has ever
known.
In connection with this statement
it should be remembered that England
has been governed by long line of
sovcrciSns, and that her history reach
cs as far back as the time of julius
Caesar. Had the reign of Queen
Victoria. therefore, been utterly de-
void of other characteristics, the fact
that she has occupied the throne for
a longer period than any other sover-
eign would be sufficient in itself to
to cmbalm her name for all time to
come.
AS remarkable as the length of her
reign is, however, The contcmporanc.
Gus events which have taken place i'll
the history of the world since she first
began to rule over the affairs of Eng
land are even more remarkable still
So majestic has been the march of
thought during this long interval of
time that to the eye of the future his
torian who lcisurcly surveys the past,
the age of Victoria will loom up with
even greater prominence than the
| golden age of Elizabeth.
OF course the Victorian age has
producedlno Shakespeare nor will amy
succeeding ago evolve a genius equal
to that of the bard of Avon. Incom-
pcnsation for this deficiency, however,
| the reign of Victoria has enriched the
world though and literature with
some of the grandcst minds that ma
ture has ever formed. TO this era
belong the namcs of Tcnnyson, Car
lie, DiSracli. Dickens, Bulwcr, Du-
mas, Hugo, Burns, Longtcllow, En-
crson, Hawthorne md Irving.
Notwithstanding the brilliant
achievements in literature which have
characterized tn. reign of Victoria,
the most vigrns intellectual efforts
of this pcriolavc been expended in
the dcpartmMt of invention When
the present uccn of England. then "a
blushing gil Of IS years; received
the cyownNhich her ancestors had
worn, theworld had scarcely begun
to drcam'f those miracles which have
since awl and lazllcd tic earth, The
lo,mot' engine was at that time only
mcrc.xperimcn;' Few had the
colragto believe that such Il Grim
anluT monster a the iron horse
wonlctcr prove success; and vet,
with the last 60 vcarS. Tie locomo-
tiycng,nn has become one of the
mopowcrful AMI elective agents of
ciazaiion. Important changes have
-- TIN place i'll the structure of Ocean
s.m"r>. and indeed. the whole SvS
81 q Of transportation has been com
B ctclv rcvolutnnizol. That useful
kycntion, Tie sewing machine. has
,und its way lmIo countless homes nn
01oth sides of the Atlantic and has
hccn a vcritabc gol;cnd to The pool
of almost every land,
y The age nf Victoria is also The acc
% the telegraph: Sixty wears agt
that word could not be found in IN,
dictionary, To-day it Signi.ir :
gigantic system Of wires stretching
from one end of the cloh" to the other
1 and even threading It's course under.
meath the waves Of the ocean. Oply
a few weeks ago a tclcgraphic message