The modern world, from Charlemagne to the present time; with a preliminary survey of ancient times . thereby beengreatly reduced ; since the king can act only through his minis-ters and since they are able to impose their will upon him, they, § 721] QUEEN VICTORIA 697 and not the king, really rule Great Britain. But this will bebetter understood when we study the British Constitution(§ 728). B. Reforms in the Victorian Age 721. Queen Victoria. — The first Reform Bill introduceda new era which we call the Victorian age. In 1837 WilliamIV was succeeded by hisniece Victoria, then a girlof eightee
The modern world, from Charlemagne to the present time; with a preliminary survey of ancient times . thereby beengreatly reduced ; since the king can act only through his minis-ters and since they are able to impose their will upon him, they, § 721] QUEEN VICTORIA 697 and not the king, really rule Great Britain. But this will bebetter understood when we study the British Constitution(§ 728). B. Reforms in the Victorian Age 721. Queen Victoria. — The first Reform Bill introduceda new era which we call the Victorian age. In 1837 WilliamIV was succeeded by hisniece Victoria, then a girlof eighteen, whose reignfilled the next sixty-fouryears. Victoria came tothe throne a modest, high-minded girl. She was notbrilliant; but she grewinto a worthy, sensible,good woman, deeply lovedby her people and ad-mired by all the 1840 she married Albert,the ruler of a small Ger-man principality, and theirhappy and pure family life(blessed with nine chil-dren) was an examplerather new to Europeancourts for generations.^ There was still much inthe British Constitutionthat was undeveloped, and. Queen Victoria at the Time of HerCoronation. 1 The crown of Hanover since George I (1714) had been joined in personalunion to that of Great Britain. But since the Hanoverian law excludedwomen from the throne, Hanover passed to Victorias uncle, the duke ofCumberland, her nearest heir. The separation was peaceful and satisfactoryto both parties. 698 POLITICAL REFORM IN ENGLAND 722 the difficult problems arising out of the change in parliamentand cabinet might have led to dangerous complications. Butthe queen never lost sight of the principles of liberty onwhich her sovereignty rested, and exerted her influence on theside of moderation and prudent concession. The Victorian age was a period of brilliant literary achieve-ment. True, Burns and Scott, Wordsworth and Macaulay,had initiated this golden age before her reign. But Browning,Tennyson, Dickens and Thackeray, Carlyle and Ruskin, aregr
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