Excerpt from The History of English Rationalism in the Nineteenth Century, Vol. 2 of 2
Courtly historians have associated the name of Queen Victoria with a wonderful efflorescence of literature, philosophy, science, and industry in the island kingdom whose crown she wore so long, and at last with such applause. But none have seemed to think it worth determining how much, if any, of those triumphs was due to the influence of the lady who sat in high seclusion on England's throne. Perhaps an answer not wholly satisfactory has been feared. For intellectual curiosity can hardly be reckoned among the great qualities of that illustrious sovereign; nor is it pretended that she offered any particular encouragement to the men and women of genius whose lustre has been reflected on her name. And as it happens the most brilliant outburst of creative originality marks the earlier years of her reign, after which the succeeding decades are characterised by a progressive decline, continued down to a point of almost absolute inanition, recalling a somewhat similar phenomenon in the ages of Augustus and Louis XIV. Thus the Queen's influence, if any, would seem to have been of a deadening rather than of a stimulating order.
But in fact whatever causes may be assigned to the greatness and decline of the Victorian period, they are almost totally disconnected with the personality of the sovereign.
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