Queen Victoria

world's history presents only during occasional long periods of widespread prosperity, to Mr. Lytton's eyes her personal influence does not account either for the great events that happened in her time or for the eminence of the chief characters which surrounded her. We see in his biography, what is lacking in the earlier book, a sincere attempt to refrain from belittling his subject, but certainly no endeavour to place her on a pinnacle of exceptional fame. It is, in fact, an echo of Mr. Dooley's claim to be of equal eminence with Queen Victoria, since the great steps of world progress which happened in her time occurred also in his own.