MR. PUNCH'S HISTORY OF MODERN ENGLAND VOL. II. OF IV. Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. Words printed in italics are noted with underscores: _italics_. [Illustration: QUEEN HERMIONE PAULINA (Britannia) unveils the statue: "'Tis time; descend; be stone no more!" _Winter's Tale, Act V., Scene 3._ _Reproduced from the Cartoon by John Tenniel._] MR. PUNCH'S HISTORY OF MODERN ENGLAND By CHARLES L. GRAVES IN FOUR VOLUMES VOL. II.--1857-1874 CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1921 _Published by arrangement with the Proprietors of "Punch"_ CONTENTS PART I THE NATIONAL OUTLOOK THE AGE OF NON-INTERVENTION THE ROAD TO REFORM THE CHURCHES EDUCATION INVENTIONS, NOVELTIES AND FORECASTS LONDON PART II THE SOCIAL FABRIC THE COURT GENERAL SOCIAL LIFE CLASS DISTINCTIONS WOMEN LITERATURE DRAMA, OPERA, MUSIC AND THE FINE ARTS FASHION IN DRESS SPORT AND PASTIME PART I THE NATIONAL OUTLOOK MR. PUNCH'S HISTORY OF MODERN ENGLAND THE AGE OF NON-INTERVENTION "Whether splendidly isolated or dangerously isolated, I will not now debate; but for my part I think splendidly isolated, because this isolation of England comes from her superiority." These words were used by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1896, but they were prompted by a retrospect of the Victorian age, and may serve as a motto for the policy which governed England in her relations with foreign countries in the period surveyed in this volume. There was serious friction with France in the early days of the Empire owing to the distrust of the Emperor's warlike preparations and his manipulation of the opportunities presented by his assistance of Italy in 1859. In the war of North and South in America, England as a whole "backed the wrong horse," and English diplomacy mishandled the obligations of our neutrality. We were on the verge of war over the _Trent_ case, and the slackness of the Government in failing to detain the _Alabama_ burdened the country with a costly legacy of moral and intellectual damage--to say nothing of pecuniary loss.