triumphs have been the erection of the Forth Bridge, which was formally
declared open for passenger traffic, on 4th March 1890, by the Prince of
Wales; the cutting of the Manchester Ship Canal, and the building of such
greyhounds of the Atlantic as the _Majestic_ and _Teutonic_, the
_Campania_ and _Lucania_, which have crossed the Atlantic in about
five and a half days.

It is to be deeply lamented that the art of war has, with the aid of
invention, flourished not less than the arts of peace. Modern invention
has made a total change in military and naval warfare. The artillery and
small-arms of to-day are as superior, both in range and precision, to
those used on the field of Waterloo, as the 'brown Bess' of that time was
superior to the 'bows and bills' of the middle ages. The old
line-of-battle ships 'which Nelson led to victory' have given place to
huge iron-plated monsters, moved by steam, and carrying such heavy guns,
that one such ship would have proved a match for the united fleets of
Britain and France at Trafalgar.

In matters which are more directly concerned with the welfare of the
people, the country made remarkable advances during the reign of Queen
Victoria. Political freedom was given to the masses, and many wise laws
were passed for improving their social condition. Education became more
widely diffused, and a cheap press brought information on all subjects
within the reach of the humblest. Our literature was enriched by the
contributions of a host of brilliant writers--Macaulay and Carlyle, the
historians; Dickens, Thackeray, Lytton, and George Eliot, the novelists,
and the poets Tennyson and Browning. But if we have no names of quite
equal eminence now living amongst us, we have still a splendid array of
talent in all departments of literature, and the production of books,
periodicals, and newspapers never was more abundant.