Owing to the wonderful progress of invention, and the general use of
steam-power, enormous strides have been made in all branches of industry.
By means of the improvements introduced into our agricultural operations,
the farmer is enabled to get through his sowing and reaping more quickly;
by the employment of machinery, all branches of our manufactures have been
brought to a wonderful state of perfection, and much of the labour
formerly done by hand is now executed by steam-power. In commerce, the old
system of navigation by means of sailing-vessels is rapidly giving place
to the marine engine, and magnificent steamers now traverse the ocean in
all directions with the greatest regularity. Amongst great engineering
triumphs have been the erection of the Forth Bridge, which was formally
declared open for passenger traffic, on 4th March 1890, by the Prince of
Wales; the cutting of the Manchester Ship Canal, and the building of such
greyhounds of the Atlantic as the _Majestic_ and _Teutonic_, the
_Campania_ and _Lucania_, which have crossed the Atlantic in about
five and a half days.
It is to be deeply lamented that the art of war has, with the aid of
invention, flourished not less than the arts of peace. Modern invention
has made a total change in military and naval warfare. The artillery and
small-arms of to-day are as superior, both in range and precision, to
those used on the field of Waterloo, as the 'brown Bess' of that time was
superior to the 'bows and bills' of the middle ages.
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