The Great Test Tournament formed, in truth, a grand and imposing spectacle. What an exciting scene would then present itself!
Flying machines impelled by electric energy darkened the air. Sumptuous carriages set in motion by the same force, and filled with gaily costumed men and women eager to witness the scene, whirled along the roads formed of cement as smooth as glass, and hard as adamant.
Horsemen elegantly attired, cantered briskly along the side road, which was devoted specially to their use, for that designed for general purposes was too smooth for the equestrian.
Horses, indeed, were trotted out more for display than absolute use, by the wealthy, for the means of locomotion was accessible to all.
The poorest person, almost, could conveniently run his own electric car; for the expense of construction was light, and by a simple process of the conservation of energy the supply of electric force was sustained at a small cost.
By this time the concentration and conservation of solar energy was in general practice; usually large manufactories favoured its use, for the storage of the sun’s rays had become practicable and was superseding electricity to some extent. The ocean was no impediment to personal locomotion, for seas were skimmed over by means of electrical flying machines; while ships impelled by the same force were used chiefly for the transport of cargo.
Nevertheless, there was still a large percentage of persons who preferred riding the wave on an electric, or solar energy impelled vessel, to floating through the air in a flying machine, for nerves were not yet out of fashion.
Notwithstanding all the dreams of nineteenth-century political reformers England had still retained its old institutions, for the Empire continued to be ruled by a monarchical form of government diluted somewhat with the constitutional. So far from being a great Republic by this time the tendency went the other way, for new conditions sprang up which gave the Sovereign a degree of absolutism which the fondest hopes of the Royalist could never have conjured up. By reason of marriages and intermarriages between the Royal Houses of Great Britain and Germany the two families became so intermixed that in consequence of the sudden death of the heir-apparent to the German crown, followed immediately by the death of the Emperor, the Sovereign of England woke up one morning to find himself the direct successor to the throne of the Fatherland.
It happened in this way. A great war broke out between Germany and France in the year 1930, and in the midst of a fierce contest, where the great field pieces were charged with missiles which emitted volleys of electric lightning into the German ranks, a French electrician sent an electric bolt at the Emperor and his son, killing the younger royal warrior instantly, and severely injuring the elder. The following day the Emperor succumbed to his injuries, to the intense grief of all his subjects.
This coup failed to give the French nation the victory, but it gave the German crown to the Sovereign of England, who was the only successor. This was the last battle Europe ever saw; public opinion decreed that such cruel slaughter should be discontinued for all time. As a matter of course there was much opposition at the outset to the Sovereign of another country swaying the sceptre of their beloved fatherland, albeit he was in reality more German than English.