Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/373



UCH a familiar atmosphere surrounds the period succeeding the accession of Queen Victoria, that it is hardly necessary to do more than suggest the changes that passed over England during the early years of her reign and briefly to indicate the great developments of the age. Though sovereignty in this country had lost its old influence, and the Court no longer played the same part in the life of the nation, yet the example of one so simple, pure-minded, and merciful as the young Queen could not fail to have an effect on those who were her acknowledged