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 Her reign of sixty-three years will always be remembered in history by her name; it was the ‘Victorian Age’. Her husband was her own cousin, the wise and good Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a small State in central Germany. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VI, whose too short reign closed only after this book was begun. All the Empire is still in mourning for him, the wise and prudent statesman, the peace-lover, the peacemaker of Europe, the noble English gentleman.

The result of the reigns of Victoria and Edward VII has been to lift the Crown again to a position which it had not occupied in men’s minds since the death of Elizabeth. It is not with our lips only that we are loyal to King George V, it is with our hearts also. The crown is not only the ‘golden circle’ that binds the Empire together; it is the greatest thing in that Empire.

  