the church after the revolution—the non-jurors—the act of toleration—comprehension bill—laxity of religion—the wesleys and whitefield—foundation of methodism—extension of the movement—literature—survivors of the stuart period—prose writers: bishop burnet—philosophers: locke—bishop berkeley, etc.—novelists: fielding, richardson, smollett, and sterne—dr. davenant—bentley—swift—addison—addison and steele—bolingbroke—daniel defoe—lady mary wortley montagu—poets: pope—his prose writings—gay, prior, young, etc.—james thomson, allan ramsay, gray, and minor lights—dramatists—physical science: astronomers—mathematicians—electricians—chemists—medical discoverers—music: purcell—italian music—handel—church music—the academy of ancient music and other societies—architecture—wren and his buildings—st. paul's—his churches and palaces—vanbrugh—gibbs—hawksmoor—minor architects—painting and sculpture: lely and kneller—other foreign painters and decorators—thornhill—other english artists—hogarth and his works—exhibition of british artists—sculptors—shipping, colonies, commerce, and manufactures—increase of canals—woollen and silk trades—irish linens—lace—iron, copper, and other industries—increase of the large towns.

the revolution of 1688, which overthrew absolutism in the state, overthrew it also in the church. the political principles of william of orange, and the whigs who brought him in, were not more opposed to the absolutism of the stuarts than the ecclesiastical principles of the new king and queen, and the prelates whom they introduced into the church, were to the high-churchism of laud, sancroft, atterbury, and their section of the establishment. when parliament, on the accession of william and mary, presented the oath of allegiance to the lords and commons, eight of the bishops, including sancroft, archbishop of canterbury, refused it; and of these, five were of the number of the seven who had refused to sign james ii.'s declaration of indulgence, and thus gave the immediate occasion to the outbreak ending in the revolution. thus a fresh faction was produced in the establishment, that of the non-jurors, who were,[142] after much delay and patience, finally excluded from their livings. as the existing law could not touch the non-juring bishops so long as they absented themselves from parliament, where the oath had to be put to them, a new act was passed, providing that all who did not take the new oaths before the 1st of august, 1689, should be suspended six months, and at the end of that time, in case of non-compliance, should be ejected from their sees. still the act was not rigorously complied with; they were indulged for a year longer, when, continuing obstinate, they were, on the 1st of february, 1691, excluded from their sees. two of the eight had escaped this sentence by dying in the interim—namely, the bishops of worcester and chichester. the remaining six who were expelled were sancroft, the primate, ken of bath and wells, turner of ely, frampton of gloucester, lloyd of norwich, and white of peterborough. in the room of these were appointed prelates of whig principles, the celebrated dr. tillotson being made primate. other vacancies had recently or did soon fall out; so that, within three years of his accession, william had put in sixteen new bishops, and the whole body was thus favourable to his succession, and, more or less, to the new views of church administration.

having obtained a favourable episcopal bench, king william now endeavoured to introduce measures of the utmost wisdom and importance—measures of the truest liberality and the profoundest policy—namely, an act of toleration of dissent, and an act of comprehension, by which it was intended to allow presbyterian ministers to occupy livings in the church without denying the validity of their ordination, and also to do away with various things in the ritual of the church which drove great numbers from its community. by the act of toleration—under the name of "an act for exempting their majesties' protestant subjects dissenting from the church of england from the penalties of certain laws"—dissenters were exempt from all penalties for not attending church and for attending their own chapels, provided that they took the new oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and subscribed to the declaration against transubstantiation, and also that their chapels were registered, and their services conducted without the doors being locked or barred. as the quakers would take no oaths, they were allowed to subscribe a declaration of fidelity to the government, and a profession of their christian belief.

but the comprehension bill was not so fortunate. ten bishops, with twenty dignified clergymen, were appointed as a commission to make such alterations in the liturgy and canons, and such plans for the reformation of the ecclesiastical courts as, in their opinion, best suited the exigencies of the times, and were necessary to remove the abuses, and render more efficient the services of the church. the list of these commissioners comprised such men as tillotson, stillingfleet, sharp, kidder, hall, tenison, and fowler. they met in the jerusalem chamber, and began their labours preparatory to this great comprehensive bill. in order to sanction these changes, convocation was summoned, and then the storm broke loose. the jacobites and the discontented cried out they were going to pull the church down; the high churchmen declared it was a scheme to hand over the church to the presbyterians; the universities cried that all the men engaged in the plan were traitors to the true faith, and the king himself was not spared. the high churchmen who were included in the commission fled out of it amain, and convocation threw out the whole reform as an abomination. convocation having given this blow to all hopes of ecclesiastical reform, was prorogued to the 24th of january, 1690, and on the 6th of february was dissolved with the parliament, nor was it suffered to meet again for business till the last year of the reign of william.

burnet describes the state of religion and intelligence in the nation at the period of anne's reign as most lamentable, the clergy as "dead and lifeless: the most remiss in their labours in private, and the least severe in their lives," of all that he had seen amongst all religions at home or abroad; the gentry "the worst instructed and the least knowing of any of their rank that he ever went amongst;" and the common people beyond all conception "ignorant in matters of religion." the words of atterbury, a high tory, were quite as strong. a description of the state of religion in the country, drawn up by him, was presented by convocation to the queen, which stated that "the manifest growth of immorality and profaneness," "the relaxation and decay of the discipline of the church," the "disregard to all religious places, persons, and things," had scarcely had a parallel in any age. dr. calamy, a great nonconformist, equally complains that the "decay of real religion, both in and out of the church," was most visible. under the georges much the same state of affairs[143] prevailed. the episcopal bench was whig, though very apathetic; while the clergy were tory, and disinclined to listen to their superiors.

it was at this era of religious apathy that john wesley (b. 1703; d. 1791), and charles, his brother (b. 1708; d. 1788), and george whitefield (b. 1714), came forward to preach a revival, and laid the foundation of methodism. these young men, students at oxford, all of them originally of clerical families but whitefield—who was the son of an innkeeper—with hervey, afterwards the author of the well-known "meditations amongst the tombs," and some others of their fellow-collegians, struck by the dearth of religious life of the time, met in their rooms for prayer and spiritual improvement. they were soon assailed with the nicknames of "sacramentarians," "bible moths," and finally, "methodists," a term current against the puritans in those days, and suggested by the appellative methodist?, given to a college of physicians in ancient rome, in consequence of the strict regimen which they prescribed to their patients.

in 1734 the wesleys commenced their career as preachers to the people, and were soon followed by whitefield. this may, therefore, be considered the date of the foundation of methodism. none of them had any the remotest idea of separating from the church, or founding new sects. the wesleys made a voyage to georgia, in america, and, on their return, found their little party not only flourishing in oxford but in london, where they had a meeting-house in fetter lane. whitefield, however, was the first to commence the practice of field-preaching, amongst the colliers at kingswood, near bristol; but in this he was soon imitated by wesley. as they began to attract attention by the ardour of their preaching and the wonderful effect on the people, this became necessary, for speedily all church doors were closed against them. john wesley had a peculiar genius for the construction of a new religious community, and he was ready to collect hints for its organisation from any quarter. the most prolific source of his ordinances for his new society was the system of the moravians, whose great settlement at herrnhuth, in germany, he visited, and had much consultation with its head, count zinzendorf. from it he drew his class-meetings, his love-feasts, and the like. in framing the constitution of his society, wesley displayed a profound knowledge of human nature. he took care that every man and woman in his society counted for something more than a mere unit. the machinery of class-meetings and love-feasts brought members together in little groups, where every one was recognised and had a personal interest. numbers of men, who had no higher ambition, could enjoy the distinction of class-leaders. it did not require a man to go to college and take orders to become a preacher. thomas maxwell with wesley, and howel harris with whitefield, led the way from the plane of the laity into the pulpits of methodism, and have been followed by tens of thousands who have become able if not learned, and eloquent if not greek-imbued, preachers. wesley divided the whole country into districts, into which he sent one or more well-endowed preachers, who were called circuit preachers, or round preachers, from their going their rounds in particular circuits. under the ministry of these men sprang up volunteer preachers, who first led prayer-meetings, and then ascended to the pulpit in the absence of the circuit preachers, and most of them soon discovered unexpected talents, and edifying their own local and often remote or obscure little auditories, became styled local preachers. out of these local preachers ever and anon grew men of large minds and fertilising eloquence, who became the burning and shining lights of the whole firmament of methodism. it was wesley's object not to separate from the church, and it was only after his death that the wesleyans were reckoned as nonconformists.

whitefield and wesley soon separated into distinct fields of labour, as was inevitable, from whitefield embracing calvinism and wesley arminianism. whitefield grew popular amongst the aristocracy, from the countess of huntingdon becoming one of his followers, and, at the same time, his great patron. whitefield, like the wesleys, made repeated tours in america, and visited all the british possessions there. when in england, he generally made an annual tour in it, extending his labours to scotland and several times to ireland. on one of his voyages to america he made some stay at lisbon. everywhere he astonished his hearers by his vivid eloquence; and benjamin franklin relates a singular triumph of whitefield over his prejudices and his pocket. he died at newbury port, near boston, united states, on the 30th of september, 1770. if whitefield did not found so numerous a body as wesley, he yet left a powerful impression on his age; and we still trace his steps, in little bodies of calvinistic methodists[144] in various quarters of the united kingdom, especially in wales.

john wesley.

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the literature of this period is more distinguished for learning and cleverness than for genius. there are a few names that rise above the smartness and mere accomplishment of the time into the regions of pure genius; but, with very few exceptions, even they bear the stamp of the period. we have here no milton, no shakespeare, no herbert, no herrick even, to produce; but de foe, addison, steele, thomson, and pope, if they do not lift us to the highest creative plane, give us glimpses and traits of what is found there. for the rest, however full of power, there hangs a tone of "town," of a vicious and sordid era, about them, of an artificial and by no means refined life, a flavour of the grovelling of the politics which distinguished the period, and of the low views and feelings which occupied and surrounded the throne during the greater portion of this term.

some of the writers of the last period were still existing in this. dryden was living, and wrote some of his most perfect works, as his "fables," and his "alexander's feast," as well as translated virgil after the revolution. he was still hampered by his miserable but far more successful dramatic rivals, shadwell and elkanah settle. nathaniel lee produced in william's time his tragedies, "the princess of cleves," and his "massacre of paris." etherege was yet alive; wycherley still poured out his licentious poems; and southern wrote the greater part of his plays. his "oronooko" and his "fatal marriage" were produced now, and he received such prices as astonished dryden. whilst "glorious john" never obtained more than a hundred pounds for a play, southern obtained his six or seven hundred.

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from the picture in the national gallery of british art.

doctor johnson in the ante-room of lord chesterfield, waiting for an audience, 1748.

by e. m. ward, r.a.

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we may satisfy ourselves as to william's appreciation of poetry by the fact that shadwell was his first poet-laureate and nahum tate the next. dr. nicholas brady and nahum tate made the version of the psalms which long disgraced the church service. sir william temple, baxter, sir george mackenzie, stillingfleet, and evelyn, as well as some others flourishing at the end of the last period, still remained.

interior of the jerusalem chamber, westminster abbey.

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amongst the earliest of the prose writers may be mentioned the theological authors. cumberland was the author of a latin treatise, "de legibus natur?," in which he successfully combated the infidelity of hobbes. bull, who, as well as cumberland, became a bishop, distinguished himself before the revolution by his "harmonia apostolica," an anti-calvinistic work, and by his "defensio fidei nicen?." in 1694 he published his "judicium ecclesi? catholic?." john norris, of the school of cudworth and henry more, and nearly the last of that school called the english platonists, published, besides many other works, his "essay on the ideal world" in 1701 and 1702. he also wrote some religious poetry of no particular mark.

tillotson and south were the great authors of sermons of this period. tillotson was one of the most popular preachers of the time, but may be said to have done more good by his liberal and amiable influence at the head of the church than by his preaching. there is a solid and genuinely pious character about the sermons of tillotson which suited the better-trained class of mind of his age, but which would now be deemed rather heavy. south has more life and a more popular style; he was therefore more attractive to the courtiers of his day than to the sober citizens, and he has larded his text with what were then deemed sprightly sallies and dashing phrases, but which are now felt as vulgarisms. both divines, however, furnished succeeding preachers with much gleaning.

dr. gilbert burnet, bishop of salisbury (b. 1643)[146] who figures so prominently in the reign of william and mary, and who rendered such essential service to the establishment of religious liberty, is the great historian of his time. without his narratives of his own period, we should have a very imperfect idea of it. with all his activity at court and in parliament, he was a most voluminous writer. his publications amount to no less than a hundred and forty-five, though many of these are mere tracts, and some of them even only single sermons. his earliest productions date from 1669, and they continued, with little intermission, to the time of his death in 1715—a space of forty-six years. his great works are "the reformation of the church," in three volumes, folio, 1679, 1681, and 1715; and his "history of his own times," in two volumes, published after his death in 1724. burnet lays no claim to eloquence or to much genius, and he has been accused of a fondness for gossip, and for his self-importance; but the qualities which sink all these things into mere secondary considerations are his honesty and heartiness in the support of sound and liberal principles far beyond the majority of his fellow prelates and churchmen. whilst many of these were spending their energies in opposing reform and toleration, burnet was incessantly, by word and pen, engaged in assisting to build up and establish those broad and christian principles under which we now live. besides the great works named, he wrote also "memoirs of james and william, dukes of hamilton;" "passages in the life and death of wilmot, earl of rochester;" a "life of bishop bedell;" "travels on the continent;" "an exposition of the thirty-nine articles," etc. etc.

dr. thomas burnet is known for his eloquent and able history of the earth, "telluris sacra theoria," first published in latin, and afterwards in english. this work, on which his fame rests, was greatly read and admired at the time, but the discoveries of modern science have reduced it to mere ingenious but unfounded theory. he was also author of "arch?ologica philosophica," and some lesser treatises.

the great philosopher of this period was john locke (b. 1632; d. 1704). locke had much to do with the governments of his time, and especially with that extraordinary agitator and speculator, ashley, lord shaftesbury, whom he attended in his banishment, and did not return till the revolution. yet, though so much connected with government, office, and the political schemers, locke remained wonderfully unworldly in his nature. his philosophical bias, no doubt, preserved him from the corrupt influences around him. he was a staunch advocate of toleration, and wrote three letters on toleration, and left another unfinished at his death. in these he defended both religious and civil liberty against jonas proast and sir robert filmer, advocates of the divine right of kings. his "thoughts on education" and his "treatises on government" served as the foundations of rousseau's "emile" and his "contrat social." besides these he wrote numerous works of a theological kind, as "the vindication of the reasonableness of christianity;" and in his last years, "a discourse upon miracles," "paraphrases of st. paul," and "an essay for the understanding of st. paul's epistles;" a work "on the conduct of the understanding," and "an examination of father malebranche's opinion of seeing all things in god." but his great work is his "essay concerning the human understanding." this may be considered the first pure and systematic treatise on metaphysics in the english language; and though the pursuit of the science since his time has led to the rejection of many of his opinions, the work will always remain as an able and clearly-reasoned attempt to follow the method of bacon in tracing the nature and operations of the understanding.

in the department of philosophy flourished also bishop berkeley (b. 1684; d. 1753), author of "the principles of human knowledge," whostartled the world with the theory that matter has no existence in the universe, but is merely a fixed idea of the mind; dr. mandeville, a dutchman by birth, who settled in london, and published various medical and metaphysical works of a freethinking character; hutchinson, an opponent of dr. woodward in natural history, and newton in natural philosophy; and david hartley, author of "observations on man." bishop butler, warburton, hoadley, middleton, author of "a free inquiry into the miraculous powers of the church," and secker, archbishop of canterbury, were the leading theologians in the church; but dissent could also boast of its men of light and leading in dr. isaac watts, author of a system of logic and of the popular hymns; calamy, the opponent of hoadley; doddridge, and others.

in the department of novel writing, no age had yet produced such a constellation as fielding, richardson, sterne, and smollett. their works[147] are still read with admiration by all who have a relish for vivid and masterly delineations of life; their only drawback being, that they are all more or less stained with the grossness and licentiousness of the age. from these faults samuel richardson (b. 1689; d. 1761) is most free, and in his "sir charles grandison" he hasshown himself ahead of his age in the wisdom and liberality of his ideas. he discountenanced duelling, and taught the soundest principles of honour and morality. the photographic minuteness of his style prevents the general reading of his works in the present day of abundant new literature. the principal novels of henry fielding (b. 1707; d. 1754), "joseph andrews," "tom jones," and "amelia," abound in wit, vigour, and knowledge of human nature. he wrote also some plays, and edited several periodicals. his sister, sarah, also wrote "david simple," a novel, and translated xenophon's "memoirs of socrates." tobias smollett (b. 1721; d. 1771) paints life in strong, bold, but somewhat coarse lines, full of vigour, but with even more grossness than fielding uses. "peregrine pickle," "count fathom," "roderick random," "humphrey clinker," and "sir launcelot greaves," if not now generally read, have been carefully studied and made use of by some of our modern novelists. smollett, besides, wrote plays, satires, poems, and edited "the briton," a weekly newspaper. laurence sterne (b. 1713; d. 1768) struck out a style of writing peculiar to himself, and which still defies all successful imitation. notwithstanding attempts to represent his pathos as grimace, and his humour as tinsel, the felicity of touch in "tristram shandy," and the flashes of wit and feeling in his "sentimental journey," will, in spite of detractors, and of the occasional indecency of the author, always send readers to sterne.

one of the pioneers of the science of political economy at this time was dr. davenant, the son of sir william davenant, the poet. he had no genius for drawing principles and theories from accumulated facts, but he was a diligent collector of them, and his porings amongst state documents and accounts have served essentially the historians and political economists of our day.

during this period richard bentley, master of trinity college, cambridge, and archdeacon of ely, figures prominently as one of the most profound classical scholars that great britain has produced, and, at the same time, as one of the most quarrelsome, arrogant, and grasping of men. the circumstance which made the most noise in his career was his controversy with the hon. charles boyle regarding the authenticity of the epistles of phalaris and the fables of ?sop. in this dispute he had to contend with drs. atterbury, french, king, and smallridge, who made the reply to him in their "examination of bentley's dissertation on the epistles," in the name of boyle. swift also attacked him in "the battle of the books." the controversy made an immense noise at the time, and bentley completely proved his assertion, that both the epistles of phalaris and the fables of ?sop, in their present form, are spurious. the services of bentley in publishing corrected editions of various classical works are of no ordinary kind. amongst the authors who have received the benefit of his critical touches are aristophanes, cicero, menander, philemon, horace, nicander, ph?drus, and homer. in his editions of horace and homer, however, he laid himself open to severe criticism by his rash and arbitrary emendations of the text, and still more so by his edition of milton's "paradise lost," from the same cause. in this case he showed that he was as deficient in the italian and romantic learning, which milton had made himself master of, as he was great in his own classical field. bentley displayed himself as a theologian of great distinction by his refutation of collins's "discourse of freethinking," and his lectures at oxford in defence of the christian religion.

with "the battle of the books" appeared "the tale of a tub;" and though these were anonymous, it was soon well known that they were from the hand of jonathan swift, a friend of harley and bolingbroke, who now assumed a position in the public eye destined to be rendered yet more remarkable. swift was of english parentage, but born in dublin in 1667. he was educated at kilkenny and the university of dublin. in early life he became private secretary to sir william temple, and at this time he wrote his "tale of a tub," which cut off all his hopes of a bishopric. he edited a selection from the papers of temple, and then accompanied lord berkeley to ireland as chaplain. disappointed of the preferment which he had hoped for, he went over from the whigs to the tories in 1710, and thenceforward was an unscrupulous adherent of harley and bolingbroke, defending all their measures in the "examiner," and pouring out his vengeance on all opponents with unflinching truculence. in his political[148] character swift has been styled the great blackguard of the age, and certainly with too much truth. in spite of rare intellectual power, wit, and sarcasm, no principle or tenderness of feeling restrained him in his attacks on his enemies. if harley and bolingbroke are guilty of inflicting the disgraceful peace of utrecht on the nation, simply to avenge themselves on the whigs, no man so thoroughly abetted them in that business as swift. his "conduct of the allies," his "public spirit of the whigs," and other political tracts and articles, bear testimony to his unscrupulous political rancour. his "drapier's letters," and his treatment of wood in the affair of the irish halfpence, show that no means, however base and false, came amiss to him in serving the objects of his ambition. the great work of swift is his "gulliver's travels," a work characterised by a massive intellect and a fertile invention, but defiled by the grossness that was inseparable from his mind, and that equally pollutes his poems, in which there is much wit and humour, but not a trace of pathos or tenderness. there is none of that divine glow of love and human sympathy, mingled with the worship of beauty and truth, which courts our affections in the works of the greatest masters. when we are told that swift's grossness is merely the grossness of the time, we point to "robinson crusoe," to "the seasons" and "castle of indolence" of thomson, and to the works of addison, for the most admirable contrast. swift—who died in the famous year of the '45—was one of the most vigorous writers of the age, but he was one of the most unamiable. he was the mephistopheles of the eighteenth century.

what a contrast immediately presents itself in the generous nature of steele, in the genial and pure writings of addison! both addison and steele were poets, steele principally a dramatic poet, of considerable success; addison was the author of "cato," a tragedy, and the "campaign," celebrating the victory of blenheim, with other poems. but the reputation of both steele and addison rests on their prose. they were the introducers of essay and periodical writings, and carried these to a perfection which has never been surpassed. richard steele (b. 1671; d. 1729) has the honour of originating this new department of literature—a departmentwhich has grown into such importance, that the present age would scarcely know how to exist without it. he started the "tatler" in 1709, issuing it three times a week, and was joined by addison in about six weeks. the interest with which this new literary paper was expected at the breakfast tables of that day, can only be likened to that which the morning papers now excite. in 1711, the "tatler" having come to an end, the "spectator" was started on the same plan, jointly by steele and addison, and, this ceasing in 1712, in the following year the "guardian" took its place. steele was the largest contributor to the "tatler" and "guardian," addison to the "spectator." various of their contemporaries furnished papers, swift amongst the rest, but there are none which can compare with the vigorous, manly writing of steele, and the elegant, and often noble, compositions of addison. the mixture of grave and gay was admirable. in these papers we find abundant revelations of the spirit and manners of the times. the characters of sir roger de coverley, will wimble, etc., have an imperishable english interest. the poetic and generous nature of joseph addison (b. 1672) was demonstrated by his zealous criticisms on milton's "paradise lost," which mainly contributed to rescue it from the neglect which it had experienced. addison, after sir philip sidney, was the first to call attention to our old popular ballads, "chevy chase" and "the babes in the wood," the eulogies on which probably led bishop percy to the collection of the precious "reliques" of the ballad lore of former ages. the "spectator" and "guardian" were published daily. steele afterwards published the "englishman," with which addison had no concern, and it only reached to fifty-seven numbers. these two fellow-labourers, both in literature and parliament, after nearly fifty years' friendship, were sundered by a mere political difference—the question of limiting the royal prerogative of creating peers, in 1719, the last year of addison's life.

bolingbroke (b. 1678; d. 1751) must be named with the prose writers of the age. amongst his writings there is little that will now interest the reader. he wrote in a brilliant and pretentious style, as he acted; and his writings, like his policy, are more showy than sound. as a cold sceptic in religion, and a jacobite in politics, proud and essentially selfish in his nature, we are not likely to find anything from his pen which can strongly attract us, or is calculated to benefit us. in the tory party, to which he belonged, he was one of those brilliant and self-complacent apparitions, which have all the[149] qualities of the meteor—dazzling, but speedily sinking into darkness, though his "patriot king" had some temporary influence, and even furnishes the keynote to some of the earlier writings of lord beaconsfield.

henry fielding. (the portrait by hogarth; the border by james basire.)

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a very different man was patriotic daniel defoe (b. 1663; d. 1731). defoe, who was engaged in trade, and was the introducer of pantiles, was a thorough whig, or, as we should now call him, a radical in politics. he was one of those rare men who look only at the question before them, and who are, therefore, found almost as often calling to account the party to which they nominally belong, as rebuking the faction to which they are opposed. his principle was essentially "measures, not men," and thus[150] he was one of the zealous supporters of godolphin and his ministry in accomplishing the union with scotland; and equally so of harley and bolingbroke, for establishing a commercial treaty with france. he was much more useful to reform than liked by so-called reformers, and was continually getting into trouble for his honest speaking. from the age of twenty-three to that of fifty-eight, his pen had scarcely a moment's rest from advocating important political and social subjects, and there was a force of reason, a feeling of reality, a keenness of wit and satire, in his compositions that gave them interest and extensive attention.

but whilst his political efforts did their work in his lifetime, his literary labours are the basis of his present fame. these were almost all produced after his sixtieth year; "robinson crusoe," by far the most popular of all his writings and one of the most popular in all the world's literature, "the dumb philosopher," "captain singleton," "duncan campbell," "moll flanders," "colonel jacque," "the journal of the plague," "the memoirs of a cavalier," "the fortunate mistress; or, roxana," "the new voyage round the world," and "captain carleton." the life and fidelity to human nature with which these are written have continually led readers to believe them altogether real narratives. the "journal of the plague" was quoted as a relation of facts by dr. mead; chatham used to recommend "the memoirs of a cavalier" as the best account of the civil war; dr. johnson read the life of "captain carleton" as genuine, and we continually see the story of "mrs. veal's ghost," written by defoe to puff drelincourt's heavy "essay on death," included in collections as a matter-of-fact account of an apparition. this quality of verisimilitude is one of the greatest charms of his inimitable "crusoe," which is the delight of the young from age to age.

amongst the prose writers of this period a lady stands prominent, lady mary wortley montagu (b. 1690; d. 1762), the daughter of the duke of kingston, and mother of lady bute, the wife of the earl of bute, the celebrated minister of george iii. lady mary derives her chief fame from her letters, which were not published till after her death. they are as remarkable for their wit, brilliancy, and clear, thorough sense, as any of the writings of the age. in these we have a most graphic picture of life in the east, as she had lived some years at constantinople with her husband. she thence conferred one of the greatest boons on her country, by the introduction of inoculation for the smallpox. lady mary translated the "enchiridion of epictetus," and wrote many verses, including satirical ones, called "town eclogues;" but her fame must always rest upon her clear and sparkling letters. she was celebrated for her wit and beauty, and was a leading figure in the fashionable as well as the literary world. pope and she were long great friends, but quarrelled irreconcilably.

at the head of the poets of this period stands alexander pope, who became the founder of a school which has had followers down to our own time. pope was the poet of society, of art, and polish. his life was spent in london and in the country, chiefly between binfield, in windsor forest, and twickenham; and his poetry partakes very much of the qualities of that scenery—rich, cultivated, and beautiful, but having no claims to the wild or the sublime. he is opposed to poets like milton and shakespeare as pastures and town gardens are opposed to seas, forests, and mountains. in style he is polished to the highest degree, piquant, and musical; but, instead of being profound and creative, he is sensible, satiric, and didactic. he failed in "the vision and the faculty divine," but he possessed fancy, a moderate amount of passion, and a clear and penetrating intellect. he loved nature, but it was such only as he knew—the home-scenes of berkshire and the southern counties, the trained and polished beauties in his gardens, the winding walks and grottoes at twickenham. mountains he had never seen, and there are none in his poetry. he was born in the year of the revolution, and died in 1744, aged fifty-six; and, considering that he suffered from a feeble constitution and defective health, he was a remarkably industrious man. his pastorals appeared in tonson's "miscellany" when he was only twenty-one years old. before this he had translated the first book of the "thebais," and ovid's "epistle from sappho to phaon;" paraphrased chaucer's "january and may," and the prologue to "the wife of bath's tale." in two years after his "pastorals" appeared his "essay on criticism" (1711). "the messiah" and "the rape of the lock" were published in 1712—the year in which the "spectator" died. "the rape of the lock" celebrated the mighty event of the clipping of a lock of hair from the head of miss belle fermor by lord petre.[151] this act, adorned with a great machinery of sylphs and gnomes, a specimen of elegant trifling, enchanted the age, which would have less appreciated grander things, and placed pope on the pinnacle of fame. in 1713 he published "windsor forest," a subject for a pleasant but not a great poem, yet characteristic of pope's genius, which delighted in the level and ornate rather than the splendid and the wild. in 1715 appeared the first four books of his translation of homer's "iliad," which was not completed till 1720. this still continues the most popular translation of the great heroic poet of greece; for although it is rather a paraphrase of this colossal yet simple poem, and therefore not estimated highly by greek scholars who can go to the original, it has that beauty and harmony of style which render it to the english reader an ever-fascinating work. in 1717 appeared his "epistle from eloisa to abelard," a poem displaying more passion than any other of pope's writings, but too sensuous, and the subject itself far from well chosen. next succeeded his "odyssey" of homer, in conjunction with fenton and broome, and in 1728 the first three books of "the dunciad," in which he took a sweeping vengeance on the critics and poetasters of the time, who had assailed him fiercely on all sides, with john dennis at their head. the vigour with which pope wielded the satiric lash excited the wonder of the public, which had seen no such trenchant production hitherto in the language, and filled the whole host of flayed and scalded dunces with howls of wrath and agony. pope was not sparing of foul language in his branding of others, and they were still more obscene and scurrilous in their retorts. it is questionable whether they or pope felt the most torture; for, so far from silencing them, they continued to kick, sting, and pelt him with dirt so long as he lived. so late as 1742 he published a fourth book of the satire, to give yet one more murderous blow to the blackguard crew. besides this satire, he modernised an edition of donne's satires, and produced his "essay on man," his "epistle on taste," his "moral essays," and other poems, down to 1740. his "essay on man," "moral essays," etc., display shrewd sense, and a keen perception of the characteristics of human nature and of the world; yet they do not let us into any before unknown depths of life or morals, but, on the contrary, are, in many particulars, unsound. in fact, these productions belong by no means to poetry, of which they exhibit no quality, and might just as well have been given in prose. on the whole, pope is a poet whose character is that of cleverness, strong intellect, carefully-elaborative art, much malice, and little warmth or breadth of genuine imagination. he reflects the times in which he lived, which were corrupt, critical, but not original, and he had no conception of the heavens of poetry and soul into which milton and shakespeare soared before him, and keats, shelley, coleridge, wordsworth and tennyson in our time have wandered at large.

the strong sense, lively fancy, and smart style of his satires, distinguished also pope's prose, as in his "treatise of the bathos; or, the art of sinking in poetry;" his "memoirs of p. p., clerk of this parish"—in ridicule of burnet's "own times"—his letters, etc. in some of the last he describes the country and country seats, and the life there of his friends; which shows that, in an age more percipient of the charm of such things, he would have probably approached nearer to the heart of nature, and given us something more genial and delightful than anything that he has left us.

dr. arbuthnot, a great friend of pope and swift, was also one of the ablest prose writers, "the memoirs of martinus scriblerus," published in pope's and swift's works, and the political satire of "john bull," a masterly performance, being attributed to him.

john gay, a contemporary of pope, swift, and arbuthnot, is now best known by his "fables" and his "beggar's opera." his "fables" have been extremely popular, and still make him a general name; but, in his own time, his "beggar's opera" was his great success. its wit, its charming music, its popular characters, gave it a universal favour; and it is the only english opera that even to this time has become permanent. gay's "trivia; or, the art of walking the streets of london," is still amusing, and some of his ballads have a lightness and buoyancy about them which justify the esteem in which he was held.

matthew prior had a high reputation in his day as a poet, but his poetry has little to recommend it now. he was the more popular as a poet, no doubt, because he was much employed as a diplomatist in queen anne's reign by the tory party. his "city and country mouse," written in conjunction with lord halifax, in ridicule of dryden's "hind and panther," may be considered as one of his happiest efforts.

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sir samuel garth, author of "the dispensary," a mock-heroic poem in six cantos, and sir richard blackmore, another physician, and author of a whole heap of epics in ten or twelve books each—as "king arthur," "king alfred," "eliza," "the redeemer," etc.—may still be found in our collections of verse, but are rarely read. dr. young's "night thoughts" yet maintain their place, and are greatly admired by many, notwithstanding his stilted style and violent antithesis, for amid these there are many fine and striking ideas.

still more have "the seasons" and "the castle of indolence" of james thomson retained, and are likely to retain, the public favour. "the seasons" is a treasury of the life and imagery of the country, animated by a true love of nature and of god, and abounding in passages of fire, healthy feeling, and strong sense, often of sublime conceptions, in a somewhat stiff and vicious style. "the castle of indolence" is a model of metrical harmony and luxurious fancy, in the spenserian stanza. another poet of the same time and country—scotland—is allan ramsay, who, in his native dialect, has painted the manners and sung the rural loves of scotland in his "gentle shepherd" and his rustic lyrics. till burns, no scottish poet so completely embodied the spirit, feelings, and popular life of his country. amongst a host of verse-makers, then deemed poets, but who were merely imitators of imitators, we must except gray, with his nervous lyrics, and, above all, his ever-popular "elegy in a country churchyard." gray also has a genuine vein of wit and merriment in his verse. collins was a poet who under happier conditions might have done the greatest things. parnell's "hermit," blair's "grave," shenstone's "school mistress," akenside's "imagination," can yet charm some readers, and there are others in great numbers whose works yet figure in collections of the poets, or whose individual poems are selected in anthologies, as smith, king, sprat bishop of rochester, duke, montague earl of halifax, nicholas rowe, dyer—author of the "fleece," "grongar hill," and "ruins of rome,"—sheffield, duke of buckinghamshire, fenton, somerville—author of "the chase," "field sports," etc.,—hammond—author of "love elegies,"—lord lyttelton, mallet, mickle—author of the ballads of "cumnor hall," "there's nae luck about the house," and translator of the "lusiad" of camoens,—shaw, harte, west, cawthorne, lloyd, gilbert cooper, grainger—author of "the sugar cane," and the once popular ballad of "bryan and pereene,"—dodsley, poet and bookseller, boyse—author of "the deity," a poem, etc.,—smollett—more remarkable as a novelist and historian,—michael bruce, walsh, falconer—author of "the shipwreck,"—yalden, pattison, aaron hill, broome, pitt—the translator of virgil,—john philips—author of "cider," a poem, "the splendid shilling," etc.,—west, and others. in fact, this age produced poets enough to have constituted the rhythmical literature of a nation, had they had as much genius as they had learning.

besides the miscellaneous poets, the dramatic ones numbered congreve, vanbrugh, farquhar, colley cibber, nicholas rowe—already mentioned—savage, lansdowne, ambrose philips, and others. in many of the plays of these authors there is great talent, wit, and humour, but mingled with equal grossness. congreve's dramas are principally "the old bachelor," "the incognita," "the double dealer," "the way of the world," comedies, and "the mourning bride," a tragedy. vanbrugh, the celebrated architect, produced "the relapse," "the provoked wife," "the confederacy," "the journey to london," and several other comedies. farquhar's principal plays are "the beaux's stratagem," "love and a bottle," and "the constant couple." savage was the author of the tragedy of "sir thomas overbury;" nicholas rowe, of five or six tragedies and one comedy, the most popular of which are "the fair penitent" and "jane shore." rowe also translated lucan's "pharsalia." as for colley cibber, he was a mere playwright, and turned out above two dozen comedies, tragedies, and other dramatic pieces. lord lansdowne was the author of "the she-gallants," a comedy, and "heroic love," a tragedy of some merit; and john hughes wrote "the siege of damascus," a tragedy, which long remained on the stage.

james bradley (b. 1692), who succeeded halley as the third astronomer royal, held that post till 1762, when he died. he had in 1728 distinguished himself by his discovery of an unanswerable proof of the motion of the earth by his observations on the apparent alteration in the place of a fixed star. his second great discovery was that of the mutation of the earth's axis, showing that the pole of the equator moves round the pole of the elliptic, not in a straight but in a waving line. bradley gave important assistance to the ministry in their alteration of the calendar in 1751, and the vast mass of his[153] observations was published after his death, by the university of oxford, in two volumes, in 1798.

costumes of the period of george ii.

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halley's quadrant was constructed and made known by him to the philosophical society, in 1731, though thomas godfrey, a glazier, of philadelphia, is said to have made a similar instrument a year before. as early, however, as 1727 newton had described such an instrument to halley, that is, a very little time before his death. this invaluable instrument has since been improved, first into a sextant, and ultimately into a complete circle. in 1758 appeared john dollond's corrections of newton's views of the dispersion of refracted light, and in the following year his achromatic telescope, based on his accurate discoveries.

in 1720 colin maclaurin, the successor of james gregory in the mathematical chair at edinburgh, published his "geometrical organica," a treatise on curves; in 1742 his admirable treatise on fluxions; and in 1748 his treatise on algebra. dr. robert simson, professor of mathematics at glasgow, published a restoration of the "loci" of apollonius, and an english translation of euclid, which continued down to a late period in use, both in scotland and england. in 1717 james stirling published a latin treatise on lines of the third order, and another on fluxions, called "methodus differentialis," in 1730. william emerson, a mathematician and mechanist, wrote on fluxions, trigonometry, mechanics, navigation, algebra, optics, astronomy, geography, dialling, etc., but a considerable portion was only in part published during this period. thomas simpson, a weaver, of market bosworth, at the age of seven-and-twenty suddenly discovered himself as an extraordinary mathematician, and went on till his death, in 1761, publishing works on fluxions, the nature and laws of chance, on mixed mathematics, on the doctrine of annuities and reversions, on algebra, elementary geometry, trigonometry, etc. james ferguson, also, the son of a day-labourer, in banffshire, studied mathematics whilst tending sheep, and published a number of works on the phenomena of the harvest moon, astronomy, mechanics, hydrostatics,[154] pneumatics, and optics. ferguson had a remarkably lucid and demonstrative style, both in writing and lecturing, and his example excited a keen spirit of inquiry amongst the working classes, so that he is said to have diffused the knowledge of physical science amongst the class from which he sprang more than any other man.

in electricity great strides were made. between the years 1705 and 1711 francis hawksbee published in the transactions of the royal society several experiments, in which he had, for the first time, discovered the production of the electric spark by friction, and electrical attraction and repulsion. in 1720 stephen gray, a pensioner of the charterhouse, published the result of his experiments on this subject, with a list of the substances which showed electricity under friction; and in 1732 he discovered the conducting property of non-electrical bodies. before 1739, dufray, keeper of the king's garden at paris, discovered the repellent power of two similarly-electrified bodies, and the attraction of these positively and negatively electrified—or, as he termed it, possessing the vitreous and the resinous electricity. cuneus and lallemand discovered the mode of accumulating the electric fluid in what was called the leyden jar in 1745. this discovery gave a new impetus to inquiry, and nollet, in france, and watson, in england, conceived the hypothesis of the jar being overcharged on one side and undercharged on the other. this growing perception of the positive and negative conditions of the electric fluid received confirmation from the experiments of benjamin franklin, in america. franklin soon improved the leyden jar into an electrical battery; and, in 1752, he proved the identity of electricity and lightning by his grand experiment of the kite. on this he recommended lightning conductors, which, however, were not used in england till ten years afterwards.

on the laws of heat and cold, and atmospheric changes under their influence, many interesting facts were ascertained by the aid of the thermometers of fahrenheit and réaumur. dr. martin, of st. andrews, distinguished himself in these inquiries, and published his discoveries and deductions in 1739 and 1740. in 1750 dr. cullen drew attention to some curious facts connected with the production of cold by evaporation. dr. joseph black discovered what he called latent heat, and continued his researches on this subject beyond the present period.

chemistry also received valuable extensions of its field. dr. john mayow published new facts respecting nitre, and on the phenomena of respiration and combustion, as revealed by experiments on this and other substances. at the commencement of the eighteenth century stahl, a german chemist, propounded his theory of phlogiston as the principle of combustion, which was only exploded by the further discoveries of dr. black, cavendish, and priestley. soon after, dr. hales threw new light on a?riform bodies, or, as they are now termed, gases; and finally, dr. black demonstrated the presence of a gas in magnesia, lime, and the alkalies, which had long before been noticed by van helmont, but had been forgotten. this was then termed fixed air, but has now acquired the name of carbonic acid gas, or carbon dioxide. at the end of this period chemistry was extensively studied, and was rapidly revealing its secrets.

the kindred science of medicine was also in marked advance. dr. thomas sydenham, who died in 1689, at the very commencement of this period, had prepared the way for a more profound knowledge of the science by his careful and persevering observation of facts and symptoms; and the improvements he introduced guided medical men in the treatment of disease till the end of this period. anatomical science was greatly advanced at this era by malpighi, steno, ruysch, duverney, morgagni, albinus, haller, and other continental physicians. in england humphrey ridley published a work on the brain in 1695, and william cowper, in 1698, his anatomical tables, said to be borrowed from the dutch anatomist, bidloo. in 1726 alexander munro published his "osteology;" he was also founder of the medical school of edinburgh. in 1733 william cheselden, the most expert operator of his day, published his "osteography." in 1727 stephen hales published his "vegetable statics," and in 1733 his "h?mastatics," which carried both vegetable and animal physiology beyond all preceding knowledge either here or abroad. zoology and comparative anatomy also received some progress from the labours of nehemiah grew, tyson, collins, and other members of the royal society.

music advanced at an equal rate with its sister arts, and during this period added to its conquests the compositions of purcell and handel. william was too much engaged in war to become a patron of music, or of any of the fine arts, and his queen, mary, does not appear to have possessed much taste for it. she is related by sir[155] john hawkins to have sent for purcell and mrs. arabella hunt, a famous singer, to entertain her. mrs. hunt sang some of purcell's splendid compositions, and purcell accompanied them on the harpsichord; but mary soon grew weary of these, and called on mrs. hunt to sing the scottish ballad, "cold and raw!"

henry purcell (b. 1658; d. 1695) produced the bulk of his works in william's reign. he composed the music to "the tempest," "dioclesian," "king arthur," "don quixote," "bonduca," and "orpheus britannicus." many parts of these, and his sonatas, anthems, catches, rounds, glees, etc., are as much enjoyed now as in his own day. the music to davenant's "circe," by banister, of shadwell's "psyche," by lock, and of dryden's "albion and albanius," by grabut, had increased in england the liking for the lyrical drama; but purcell's compositions wonderfully strengthened it, and from "king arthur" may properly be dated the introduction of the english opera. gay's "beggar's opera," six-and-thirty years after, however, was the first complete and avowed opera, and this did not establish that kind of entertainment in england. the wonderful success of this production, which was performed for sixty-two nights (not consecutive), was chiefly derived from the wit and satire of the composition itself, the abundance of popular airs introduced, and the party feeling which it gratified. the airs were selected and adapted by dr. pepusch, a german, who settled in london, and became celebrated there. he also furnished the overture, and wrote accompaniments to the airs. eleven years after, milton's "comus" was adapted to the stage by the rev. dr. dalton, with music by dr. arne, who afterwards composed the music for "artaxerxes," and thence derived a high reputation.

the taste for italian music was now every day increasing; singers of that nation appeared with great applause at most concerts. in 1703 italian music was introduced into the theatres as intermezzi, or interludes, consisting of singing and dancing; then whole operas appeared, the music italian, the words english; and, in 1707, urbani, a male soprano, and two italian women, sang their parts all in italian, the other performers using english. finally, in 1710, a complete italian opera was performed at the queen's theatre, haymarket, and from that time the italian opera was regularly established in london. this led to the arrival of the greatest composer whom the world had yet seen. george frederick handel was born at halle, in germany, in 1685. he had displayed wonderful genius for music as a mere child, and having, at the age of seven years, astonished the duke of saxe weissenfels—at whose court his brother-in-law was a valet—who found him playing the organ in the chapel, he was, by the duke's recommendation, regularly educated for the profession of music. at the age of ten, handel composed the church service for voices and instruments; and after acquiring a great reputation in hamburg—where, in 1705, he brought out his "almira"—he proceeded to florence, where he produced the opera of "rodrigo," and thence to venice, rome, and naples. after remaining in italy four years, he was induced to come to england in 1710, at the pressing entreaties of many of the english nobility, to superintend the opera. but, though he was enthusiastically received, the party spirit which raged at that period soon made it impossible to conduct the opera with any degree of self-respect and independence. he therefore abandoned the attempt, having sunk nearly all his fortune in it, and commenced the composition of his noble oratorios. racine's "esther," abridged and altered by humphreys, was set by him, in 1720, for the chapel of the duke of chandos at cannons. it was, however, only by slow degrees that the wonderful genius of handel was appreciated, yet it won its way against all prejudices and difficulties. in 1731 his "esther" was performed by the children of the chapel-royal at the house of bernard gates, their master, and the following year, at the king's command, at the royal theatre in the haymarket. it was fortunate for handel that the monarch was german too, or he might have quitted the country in disgust before his fame had triumphed over faction and ignorance. so far did these operate, that in 1742, when he produced his glorious "messiah," it was so coldly received that it was treated as a failure. handel, in deep discouragement, however, gave it another trial in dublin, where the warm imaginations of the irish caught all its sublimity, and gave it an enthusiastic reception. on its next presentation in london his audience reversed the former judgment, and the delighted composer then presented the manuscript to the foundling hospital, where it was performed annually for the benefit of that excellent institution, and added to its funds ten thousand three hundred pounds. it became the custom, from 1737, to perform oratorios[156] on the wednesdays and fridays in lent. handel, whose genius has never been surpassed for vigour, spirit, invention, and sublimity, became blind in his latter years. he continued to perform in public, and to compose, till within a week of his death, which took place on april 13, 1759.

mrs. arabella hunt singing to queen mary. (see p. 155.)

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whilst this progress in operatic and sacred music was being made, the church service had received some admirable additions. jeremiah clarke, the rev. henry aldrich, d.d., dean of christ church, john weldon, organist to queen anne, and georges i. and ii., and the rev. dr. robert creighton, canon of salisbury, composed many admirable pieces. william croft, mus. doc., is the author of thirty-one splendid anthems, and maurice greene, mus. doc., of forty, which are still heard with solemn delight in old choirs. william boyce, mus. doc., organist to georges ii. and iii., added to these numerous anthems and services the oratorio of "solomon," and many other compositions of a superb character—one of them the grand anthem performed annually at the feast of the sons of the clergy. boyce also composed a variety of secular pieces of rare merit.

in 1710 was established the academy of ancient music, the object of which was to promote the study of vocal and instrumental harmony. drs. pepusch, greene, and other celebrated musicians were amongst its founders. they collected a very valuable musical library, and gave annual concerts till 1793, when more fashionable ones attracted the public, and the society was dissolved. in 1741 was established the madrigal society, the founder of which was john immyns, an attorney. it embraced men of the working classes, and held meetings on wednesday evenings for the singing of madrigals, glees, catches, etc. immyns sometimes read them a lecture on a musical subject, and the society gradually grew rich. the composers of such pieces at this period were such men as purcell, eccles, playford, leveridge, carey, haydn, arne, etc. public gardens became very much the fashion, and in these, at first, oratorios, choruses, and grand musical pieces were performed, but, by degrees, gave way to songs and catches.[157] vauxhall, originally called spring garden, established before the revolution, became all through this period the fashionable resort of the aristocracy, and to this was added ranelagh, near chelsea college, a vast rotunda, to which crowds used to flock from the upper classes on monday, wednesday, and friday evenings, to hear the music and singing. these performances spread greatly the taste for music, and probably excited the alarm of the puritanically religious, for there arose a loud outcry against using music in churches, as something vain and unhallowed. amongst the best publications on the science of music during this period were dr. holder's "treatise on the natural grounds and principles of harmony," 1694; malcolm's "treatise on music, speculative, practical, and historical," 1721; dr. pepusch's "treatise on harmony," 1731; dr. smith's "harmonics; or, the philosophy of musical sounds;" avison's "essay on musical expression," 1752. avison also published twenty-six concertos for a band, which were much admired.

handel.

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at this period, both the grand old styles of architecture, the gothic for ecclesiastical buildings, and the tudor and elizabethan for palaces and mansions, had, for a time, run their course. a classical or italian fashion had come in, and the picturesque churches and halls of our ancestors were deemed barbarous. inigo jones had introduced the semi-classical style, and now sir christopher wren and vanbrugh arose to render it predominant. wren had the most extraordinary opportunity for distinguishing himself. the fire of london had swept away a capital, and to him was assigned the task of restoring it. wren (b. 1632; d. 1723) was descended from a clerical family. in 1651 he was appointed to the chair of astronomy at gresham college; three years afterwards to that of the savilian professor at oxford. in 1661 he was appointed by charles ii. to assist sir john denham, the surveyor-general, and in 1663 he was commissioned to examine the old cathedral of st. paul, with a view to its restoration in keeping with the corinthian colonnade which inigo jones had, with a strange blindness to unity, tagged on to a gothic church. the old church was found to be so thoroughly dilapidated, that wren recommended its entire removal and the erection of another. this created a terrible outcry amongst the clergy and citizens, who regarded the old fabric as a model of beauty.

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whilst these contentions were going on, wren had entered fairly on his profession of architect. he built the sheldonian theatre at oxford, begun in 1663, and completed in 1669; and the fine library of trinity college, cambridge, and the beautiful square, neville's court, to the same college. he also built the chapels of pembroke and emmanuel colleges, in the same university. in the erection of these, he suffered, from the conceit and conflicting opinions of parties concerned, a foretaste of the squabbles and contradictions which rendered the whole period of the building of st. paul's miserable. in 1665 he found leisure to visit paris, and study the magnificent palaces and churches with which louis xiv. was embellishing his capital. there he got a glimpse of the design for the louvre, which bernini, the architect, showed him, but only for a moment; and he was in communication with mansard, le vau, and le pautre.

on his return, the contentions regarding pulling down old st. paul's were rife as ever; but the following year the fire occurred, and wren was commissioned to make a plan for the rebuilding of the city. he proposed to restore it on a regular plan, with wide streets and piazzas, and for the banks of the river to be kept open on both sides with spacious quays. but these designs were defeated by the ignorance and selfishness of the inhabitants and traders, and the banks of the thames became once more blocked up with wharves and warehouses, narrow and winding lanes; and wren could only devote his architectural talent to the churches, the royal exchange, and custom house. these latter buildings were completed in the three following years; they have since both been burnt down and rebuilt. temple bar, a hideous erection, was finished in the fourth year, 1670. all this time the commencement of the new st. paul's was impeded by the attempts of the commissioners to restore the old tumbling fabric, and it was only by successive fallings-in of the ruins that they were compelled to allow wren to remove the whole decayed mass, and clear the ground for the foundations of his cathedral. these were laid in 1675, nine years after the fire, and the building was only terminated in thirty-five years, the stone on the summit of the lantern being laid by wren's son, christopher, 1710. the choir, however, had been opened for divine service in 1697, in the twenty-second year of the erection.

during this long period sir christopher had been busily employed in raising many other buildings; amongst these, the royal observatory, greenwich; st. bride's; st. swithin's; the gateway tower, christ church, oxford; st. antholin's, watling street; the palace at winchester, never completed; ashmolean museum, and queen's college chapel, oxford; st. james's, westminster; st. clement's, eastcheap; st. martin's, ludgate hill; st. andrew's, holborn; christ church, newgate street; hampton court palace, an addition; morden college, blackheath; greenwich hospital; st. dunstan's-in-the-east, tower and spire; buckingham house, since pulled down; and marlborough house.

his plan for his chef-d'?uvre, st. paul's, like his grand plan for the city, with its principal streets ninety feet wide, its second-rate streets sixty, and its third-rate thirty, was rejected. this cathedral was a composition compact and simple, consisting of a single general octagonal mass, surmounted by a dome, and extended on its west side by a portico, and a short nave or vestibule within. the great idea of wren was to adapt it to protestant worship, and therefore he produced a design for the interior, the parts of which were beautifully grouped together so as to produce at once regularity and intricacy, yet without those long side aisles and recesses, which the processions and confessionals of roman catholic worship require. the whole long period of wren's erection of this noble pile was one continued battle with the conceit, ignorance, and dogmatism of the commissioners, who made his life a bitter martyrdom; and when we read the admired inscription in st. paul's, "si monumentum requiris, circumspice," we behold, on obeying its injunction, only what wren did, not what he suffered in doing it.

the style of st. paul's, and, indeed, of all wren's churches, is neither grecian nor gothic, but italian, influenced by the fashion which bernini, the italian architect of louis xiv., had introduced into france. it is a class of architecture of which the grecian is the basis, but which is so freely innovated upon as to leave little general resemblance. in its different parts we have columns and pilasters of every grecian and, indeed, roman order, pediments, peristyles, architraves, and friezes, mingled up with windows of all sorts, and all kinds of recesses and projections, the fa?ades and intercolumniations ornamented with festoons, and wreaths, and human masks, and the whole surmounted by a great eastern dome, and by campaniles partaking of[159] all the compilations of the main buildings. st. paul's itself is a noble building, notwithstanding the manifest gleanings from the antique and the medi?val, and their combination into a whole which has nothing original but their combination into one superb design. besides st. paul's, the rest of wren's churches are disappointing, and we cannot avoid lamenting that he had lost the sense of the beauty of gothic architecture, especially when we call to mind the exquisite churches of that style which adorn so many of the continental cities. whilst the exteriors of wren's churches show heavily in their huddled-up situations in london streets, their interiors, in which much more of the grecian and roman styles is introduced, are equally heavy, and wanting in that pliant grace which distinguishes the interiors of gothic cathedrals. perhaps the noblest work of wren next to st. paul's is greenwich hospital, which is more purely grecian, and therefore displays a more graceful and majestic aspect. the palace of hampton court, attached to the fine old tudor pile of cardinal wolsey, is a great square mass, in which the dutch taste of william is said to have set aside wren's original design. but surely william did not compel him to erect that (in such circumstances) ponderous barbarism of a grecian colonnade in the second quadrangle of hampton court, attaching it to a gothic building. in fact, neither wren nor inigo jones appears to have had the slightest sense of the incongruity of such conjunctions. jones actually erected a grecian screen to the beautiful gothic choir of winchester cathedral, and placed a grecian bishop's throne in it, amid the glorious canopy-work of that choir. the return to a better taste swept these monstrosities away.

the fame of wren must rest on st. paul's, for in palaces he was less happy than in churches. his additions to windsor castle and st. james's palace, and his erection of marlborough house are by no means calculated to do him high honour, whilst all lovers of architecture must deplore the removal of a great part of wolsey's palace at hampton court to make way for wren's structure. a glorious view, if old drawings are to be believed, must all that vast and picturesque variety of towers, battlements, tall mullioned windows, cupolas, and pinnacles, have made, as they stood under the clear heaven glittering in the sun. the writers who saw it in its glory describe it in its entireness as the most splendid palace in europe. of the campaniles of wren, that of st. bride's, fleet street; of bow church, cheapside; of st. dunstan's-in-the-east; and the tower of st. michael's, cornhill, are the finest. the last is almost his only gothic one, and would have been a fine tower had the ornament been equally diffused over it, and not all been crowded too near the top. wren was thwarted in his design for the london monument. he drew a plan for one with gilt flames issuing from the loop-holes, and surmounted by a ph?nix, but as no such design could be found in the five orders, it was rejected, and the existing commonplace affair erected. one of his last undertakings was the repair of westminster abbey, to which he added the towers at the west end, and proposed to erect a spire in the centre. sir christopher left a large quantity of drawings, which are preserved in all souls' college library, oxford.

the next great architect of this period is sir john vanbrugh, who, when in the zenith of his fame as a dramatic writer, suddenly started forth as an architect, and had the honour of erecting castle howard, the seat of the earl of carlisle; blenheim house, built for the duke of marlborough, in reward of his victories; duncomb hall, yorkshire; king's weston, in gloucestershire; oulton hall, cheshire; grimsthorpe, in lincolnshire; eastbury, in dorsetshire, now destroyed; and seaton delaval, in northumberland, since partly destroyed by fire. besides these, he built the opera house, also destroyed by fire. in all these there is a strong similarity, and as a general effect, a certain magnificence; but, when examined in detail, they too frequently resolve themselves into a row of individual designs merely arranged side by side. this is very much the case with the long fa?ade of blenheim. there is a barbaric splendour, but it has no pervading unity, and only differs from the italian manner of wren by a much bolder and profuser use of the grecian columns and pilasters. in fact, the architecture of the whole of this period is of a hybrid character, the classical more or less modified and innovated to adapt it to modern purposes and the austerity of a northern climate.

amongst the most distinguished of this series of architects is james gibbs, who, after studying in italy, returned to england in time to secure the erection of some of the fifty churches ordered to be built in the metropolis and its vicinity in the tenth year of queen anne. the first which he built is his finest—st. martin's, at the north-east corner of trafalgar square.[160] besides st. martin's, gibbs was the architect of st. mary's, in the strand; of marylebone chapel; of the body of all saints', derby—an incongruous addition to a fine old gothic tower; of the radcliffe library, at oxford; of the west side of the quadrangle of king's college, and of the senate house, cambridge, left incomplete. in these latter works sir james burrows, the designer of the beautiful chapel of clare hall, in the same university, was also concerned. gibbs was, moreover, the architect of st. bartholomew's hospital.

nicholas hawksmoor, a pupil of wren's, and an assistant of vanbrugh's in building castle howard and blenheim house, was the architect of st. george's-in-the-east, ratcliff highway, begun in 1715; of st. mary woolnoth, lombard street; of st. george's, bloomsbury; st. anne's, limehouse; of easton norton house, in northamptonshire; and of some other works, including a mausoleum at castle howard, and repairs of the west front of westminster abbey. st. george's, bloomsbury, is perhaps his finest structure. it has a corinthian portico, like st. martin's, and the steeple is surmounted by a statue of george ii.

during this period, st. john the evangelist, westminster, was built by thomas archer. the churches of greenwich, of st. george's, hanover square, and st. luke's, middlesex, were designed by john james. to this time likewise belong st. giles's-in-the-fields; st. olave's, southwark, and woburn abbey, by flitcroft; chatsworth house and thoresby, by salmon; montagu house, by the french architect, pouget; all saints' church, and the peckwater quadrangle of christ church, oxford, by dean aldrich; and the library of christ church, designed by dr. george clarke, m.p. for oxford, in the reign of anne. after these the earl of burlington, a worshipper of palladio and inigo jones, became a very fashionable architect, and built the dormitory at westminster school; petersham house, and other noblemen's mansions. the fine colonnade in the courtyard of burlington house is also his work. burlington was essentially a copyist, as was his protégé kent, who built holkham, in norfolk, and the horse guards, but acquired as much reputation by his landscape gardening as he gained little by his architecture. towards the end of this period several foreign artists were employed in england. we have already named pouget; giacomo leoni was much employed; and labelye, a swiss, built westminster bridge, which was completed in 1747. thomas ripley, originally a carpenter, built the admiralty.

painting, like architecture, was at a very low ebb during this period, with one or two brilliant exceptions. foreign artists were in demand, and there was no native talent, except that of thornhill and hogarth, which could claim to be unjustly overlooked in that preference. sir peter lely was still living, but sir godfrey kneller, another foreigner, was already taking his place. kneller was a german, born at lübeck, and educated under the best flemish masters of the day. as he had chosen portrait-painting as his department, he hastened over to england after a visit to rome and venice, as the most profitable field for his practice, and being introduced to charles ii. by the duke of monmouth, he became at once the fashion. kneller had talents of the highest order, and, had not his passion for money-making been still greater, he would have taken rank with the great masters; but, having painted a few truly fine pictures, he relied on them to secure his fame, and commenced an actual manufacture of portraits for the accumulation of money. like rubens, he sketched out the main figure, and painted the head and face, leaving his pupils to fill in all the rest. he worked with wonderful rapidity, and had figures often prepared beforehand, on which he fitted heads as they were commissioned. sir john medina, a fleming, was the chief manufacturer of ready-made figures and postures for him, the rest filled in the draperies and backgrounds. kneller had a bold, free, and vigorous hand, painting with wonderful rapidity, and much of the grace of vandyck, but only a few of his works show what he was capable of. the beauties of the court of william and mary, which may be seen side by side with those of the court of charles ii. by lely at hampton court, are far inferior to lely's.

during this time foreign painters of various degrees of merit flourished in england. amongst these were john baptist vanloo, brother of the celebrated carl vanloo, a careful artist; joseph vanaken, a native of antwerp, who did for hudson what his countrymen did for kneller—furnished draperies and attitudes. he worked for many others, so that hogarth painted his funeral as followed by all the painters of the day in despair. the celebrated battle-painter, peter vander meulen, hemskerk, godfrey schalcken, famous for his candle-light effects, john van wyck, a famous painter of horses, james bogdani, a hungarian flower, bird, and fruit painter, balthazar denner, famous for his wonderfully finished heads, especially of old people, and theodore netscher, the son of gaspar netscher, all painted in england in the earlier part of the eighteenth century. boit—a painter of french parentage—liotard, and zincke, were noted enamel painters. peter tillemans, who painted english landscapes, seats, busts, roses, etc., died in 1734; and the celebrated canaletti came to england in 1746, and stayed about two years, but was not very successful, the english style of architecture, and, still more, the want of the transparent atmosphere of italy, being unfavourable to his peculiar talent.

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st. paul's cathedral, london, and ludgate hill, as it was.

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there was also a vast deal of decorations of ceilings and staircases still going on, and foreign artists flocked over to execute it. laguerre, a frenchman, succeeded verrio in this department, and his works yet remain at hampton court, burleigh, blenheim, and other places. laguerre was appointed to paint the cupola of st. paul's, designs having been offered also by antonio pellegrini, who had thus embellished castle howard; but their claims were overruled in favour of sir james thornhill. besides these, there were lafosse, who had decorated montagu house, amiconi, a venetian, and others, who executed many hundred square yards of such work in england. such was the fashion for these foreign decorators, that when a native artist appeared equal to any one of them in skill and talent, and superior to most, he found himself paid at a very inferior and invidious rate.

this was the case with sir james thornhill, of thornhill, near weymouth. his father, however, had spent his fortune and sold the estate, and sir james, being fond of art, determined to make it his profession to regain his property. his uncle, the celebrated dr. sydenham, assisted him in the scheme. he studied in london, and then travelled through flanders, holland, and france. on his return he was appointed by queen anne to paint the history of st. paul in the dome of the new cathedral of st. paul, in eight pictures in chiaroscuro, with the lights hatched in gold. so much was the work approved, that he was made historical painter to the queen. the chief works of the kind by sir james were the princess's apartment at hampton court, the gallery and several ceilings in kensington palace, a hall at blenheim, a chapel at lord oxford's, at wimpole, a saloon of mr. styles's, at moorpark, and the ceilings of the great hall at greenwich hospital. on the ceiling of the lower hall appear, amid much allegorical scenery, the portraits of william and mary, of tycho brahe, copernicus, newton, and others; on that of the upper hall appear the portraits of queen anne and her husband, the prince of denmark; and paintings of the landing of william at torbay, and the arrival of george i. there are, in addition, portraits of george i., and two generations of his family. sir james also painted the altar-piece of all souls', oxford, and one presented to his native town, weymouth.

other english artists of this period were john riley, an excellent and original painter, who died in 1691; murray, a scotsman; charles jervas, the friend of pope, a man much overrated by his acquaintance; and jonathan richardson, a much superior artist to jervas, and author of the valuable "essay on the art of criticism, as it relates to painting." thomas hudson, a pupil of richardson, and his son-in-law, was an admirable painter of heads, and had the honour of being the instructor of sir joshua reynolds. henry cook, like thornhill, was a decorator, and painted the choir of new college chapel, at oxford, and the ceiling of a large room at the new river head. among other artists of repute there may be named luke cradock, a flower and fruit painter; john wootton, an animal painter; francis hayman, an historical painter and designer for book-plates—those for "don quixote" being his best; and george lambert, one of the first english landscape painters of any mark.

far above all other english artists of this period, however, stood william hogarth (b. 1697). there is no artist of that or any former age who is so thoroughly english. he is a john bull from head to foot—sturdy, somewhat headstrong, opinionated, and satirical. he is, indeed, the great satirist of the brush; but his satire, keen as it is, is employed as the instrument of the moralist; the things which he denounces and derides are crimes, follies, and perverted tastes. in his own conduct, as on his canvas, he displayed the same spirit, often knocking down his own interests rather than not express his indignant feeling of what was spurious in art, or unjust towards himself. hogarth was the first english painter who attracted much notice amongst foreigners, and he still remains one of the most original in genius of the british school. his subjects are not chosen from the loftier regions of life and imagination, but from the very lowest or the most corrupted ones of the life of his country and time. "the harlot's progress," "the rake's progress," "marriage à la mode,"[163] "the march to finchley," "gín lane," "beer lane," etc., present a series of subjects from which the delicate and sensitive will always revolt, and which have necessarily an air of vulgarity about them, but the purpose consecrates them; for they are not selected to pander to vice and folly, but to expose, to brand, to extirpate them.

he first published an engraving of "the small masquerade ticket, or burlington gate," in ridicule of lord burlington's architecture, and of pope's eulogiums on burlington and satire of the duke of chandos. he illustrated "hudibras," and produced a satirical plate, "the taste of the times," in 1724; and, some years after, "the midnight conversation" and "southwark fair." not content with the fame which this vein, so peculiarly his own, was bringing him, he had the ambition to attempt the historical style, but this was a decided failure. in 1734, however, he came out in his full and peculiar strength in "the harlot's progress." the melancholy truth of this startling drama, mingled with touches of genuine humour, seized at once on the minds of all classes. it became at once immensely popular; it was put on the stage, and twelve hundred subscriptions for the engravings produced a rich harvest of profit. in the following year he produced "the rake's progress," which, though equally clever, had not the same recommendation of novelty. in 1744 he offered for sale the original paintings of these subjects, as well as "the four times of the day," and "the strolling actresses dressing in a barn;" but here he felt the effects of the sturdy english expression of his sentiments on art, and his distributing of an engraving of "the battle of the pictures," as a ticket of admission, gave great offence to painters and their patrons. the whole sum received was only four hundred and twenty-seven pounds. undaunted by his self-injuring avowal of his opinions, he offered in 1750 the pictures of "marriage à la mode" for sale, but put forth an advertisement in such caustic terms, as he reflected on the result of his former auction, that he effectually kept away purchasers, and obtained only a hundred and twenty pounds for what mr. angerstein afterwards gave a thousand pounds for. his "march to finchley" being sent for the royal inspection, so impressed george ii. with the idea that it was a caricature of his guards, that, though the engraving of it was dedicated to him, he ordered the picture out of his sight, with expressions of great indignation. hogarth quietly substituted the name of the king of prussia in the dedication, as "an encourager of the arts."

soon after appeared his twelve plates of "industry and idleness," and in 1753 he published a work called "the analysis of beauty," in which he attempted to prove that the foundation of beauty and grace consists in a flowing serpentine line. he gave numerous examples of it, and supported his theory with much ingenious argument. the book brought down upon him a perfect tempest of critical abuse from his envious and enraged contemporaries. in 1757 he visited france, and being engaged in sketching in calais, he was seized and underwent very rough treatment from "the politest nation in the world," under an impression that he was employed by the english government to make drawings of the fortifications. this adventure he has commemorated in his picture of "calais gate." in the following year he painted his "sigismunda."

besides those enumerated, "the four election scenes," "the enraged musician," "the distressed poet," and "england and france"—all made familiar to the public by engravings—are amongst his best works. in 1760 occurred the first exhibition of pictures by british artists, the works of hogarth being an actuating cause. he had presented to the foundling hospital, besides his "march to finchley," his "marriage à la mode," and his "moses brought before pharaoh's daughter," his most successful picture of that kind; and hayman and other artists having followed his example, a company of artists conceived the idea that an exhibition of the works of living artists might be made profitable. hogarth fell readily into the plan, till it was proposed to add to this a royal academy of arts, which he opposed with all his might. he died in 1764, and was buried in the churchyard at chiswick, where also lies by his side his wife, who survived him twenty-five years.

in sculpture at this period we stood much lower than in painting. here we had no hogarth, nor even a thornhill. all that was of any value in this art proceeded from the chisels of foreigners, and even in that what an immense distance from the grand simplicity of the ancients! the sculpture of italy and france was in the ascendant, but bernini and roubiliac had little in common with phidias and praxiteles, and our own sculptors presented a melancholy contrast to the work of artists of the worst age of greece or rome; there is scarcely a name that is worth mentioning. the best of the native sculptors was john[164] bushnell, who was employed by wren to execute the statues of the kings at temple bar; and francis bird, who was also employed later by wren to execute "the conversion of st. paul," in the pediment of the new cathedral, the bas-reliefs under the portico, and the group in front, all of a very ordinary character. his best work is the monument of dr. busby in the transept of westminster abbey. besides this he executed the monument of sir cloudesley shovel, also at westminster, and the bronze statue of henry vi., in the quadrangle of eton college, both very indifferent. gibbs and bird executed the ponderous and tasteless monument of holles, duke of newcastle, at westminster, and the fine old minster is disgraced by a crowd of still more contemptible productions of this period. these can only be equalled in wretchedness by the works of a trading school, who supplied copies in lead of ancient gods, goddesses, shepherds, shepherdesses, etc., for the gardens of the nobility, which soon swarmed in legions in all the gardens and areas in and around the metropolis. amongst the chief dealers in this traffic were cheere and charpentier, who employed foreign artists, even, for such images, and it was the fortune of roubiliac to commence his english career with the former of these traders. the three chief foreigners of this period were rysbraeck, scheemakers, and roubiliac, who were copyists of the french sculptors coysevox, bouchardon, and le moyne, as these had been of bernini.

notwithstanding the constant wars of this time, british shipping, commerce, colonies, and manufactures made considerable progress. at the commencement of this period the amount of shipping employed in our commerce was altogether 244,788 tons, being 144,264 tons english, and 100,524 foreign; in 1701 the amount of shipping employed was 337,328 tons, of which alone 293,703 were english. in 1702, the end of william's reign, the number of english mercantile vessels was about 3,281, employing 27,196 seamen. the royal navy, at the end of william's reign, amounted to about 159,000 tons, employing some 50,000 sailors, so that the seamen of england must have amounted at that period to nearly 80,000.

at the end of the reign of anne the shipping employed in commerce amounted to 448,000 tons, of which only 26,573 tons were foreign; so that the english mercantile shipping had increased, in little more than twelve years, 127,800 tons. at the end of the reign of george i. our mercantile shipping was only 456,000 tons, the foreign being 23,651 tons; so that the increase for the time was but slight. the royal navy had greatly decreased under george i. at the end of the reign of george ii., the total amount of our commercial shipping was 573,978 tons, including 112,737 foreign. thus, whilst the total shipping at the commencement of this period (in 1688) was only 244,788 tons, at the end of it (in 1760) the total was 573,978 tons, or a nett increase, in seventy-two years, of 329,190 tons: the increase being much larger than the total amount of tonnage possessed at the commencement of the period, the amount of foreign shipping remaining very nearly the same—in fact, only 12,000 tons more. the royal navy, which, at the commencement of the period, was reckoned at 101,892 tons, at the end of it was 321,104 tons, showing an increase of 219,212 tons; and, at the rate of men employed at the commencement, the number now employed in both our commercial and our national navy could not be fewer than 160,000 men.

the growth of our commerce during these seventy-two years is shown by the amount of our exports. in 1697—that is, nine years after the revolution—the amount of exports was only ￡3,525,907; but in the three next years of peace they rose to ￡6,709,881. war reduced these again to little more than ￡5,000,000, and at the end of the reign of anne, during peace, they rose to ￡8,000,000. at the end of the reign of george i. the war had so much checked our commerce, that the exports scarcely amounted to that sum, the average of the three years—1726, 1727, and 1728—being only ￡7,891,739. by the end of the reign of george ii., however (1760), they had risen to ￡14,693,270. having by this period driven the fleets of france and spain from the ocean, we rather extended our commerce than injured it. thus, during these seventy-two years, our exports had increased from about three millions and a half annually to more than fourteen millions and a half annually, or a yearly difference of upwards of eleven millions—a most substantial growth.

one great cause of this progress was the growth of our colonies. they began now to demand a considerable quantity of our manufactures and other articles of domestic comfort and convenience, and to supply us with a number of items of raw material. towards the end of the reign of george i. our american colonies, besides the number of convicts that we sent thither, especially to virginia and maryland, attracted[165] a considerable emigration of free persons, particularly to pennsylvania, in consequence of the freedom of its constitution as founded by penn, and the freedom for the exercise of religion.

william hogarth. (after the portrait begun by weltdon and finished by himself.)

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new york, jersey, and the new england states traded in the same commodities: they also built a considerable number of ships, and manufactured, especially in massachusetts, coarse linens and woollens, iron, hats, rum, besides drying great quantities of fish for spain, portugal, and the mediterranean markets. massachusetts already employed 40,000 tons of shipping. new england furnished the finest masts in the world for the navy; virginia and maryland furnished 50,000 hogsheads of tobacco, annually valued at ￡370,000; employing 24,000 tons of shipping. from these colonies we received also large quantities of skins, wool, furs, flax, etc. carolina had become a great rice-growing country. by the year 1733 it had nearly superseded the supply of that article from italy in spain and portugal; in 1740 it exported nearly 100,000 barrels of rice; and seven years afterwards, besides its rice, it sent to england 200,000 pounds of indigo, rendering us independent of france for that article; and at the end of the present period its export of indigo had doubled that quantity, besides a very considerable exportation of pitch, sassafras, brazil wood, skins, indian corn, and other articles.

in 1732 the new colony of georgia was founded by general oglethorpe, and became a silk-growing country, exporting, by the end of this period, 10,000 pounds of raw silk annually.

the rapid growth of the commerce of the american colonies excited an intense jealousy[166] in our west indian islands, which claimed a monopoly of supply of sugar, rum, molasses, and other articles to all the british possessions. the americans trading with the french, dutch, spaniards, etc., took these articles in return; but the west indian proprietors prevailed upon the british government, in 1733, to impose a duty on the import of any produce of foreign plantations into the american colonies, besides granting a drawback on the re-exportation of west indian sugar from great britain. this was one of the first pieces of legislation of which the american colonies had a just right to complain. at this period our west indies produced about 85,000 hogsheads of sugar, or 1,200,000 cwts. about three hundred sail were employed in the trade with these islands, and some 4,500 sailors; the value of british manufactures exported thither being nearly ￡240,000 annually, but our imports from jamaica alone averaged at that time ￡539,492. besides rum, sugar, and molasses, we received from the west indies cotton, indigo, ginger, pimento, cocoa, coffee, etc.

during this period a vast empire was beginning to unfold itself in the east indies, destined to produce a vast trade, and pour a perfect mine of wealth into great britain. the victories of clive, eyre coote, and others, were telling on our commerce. during the early part of this period this effect was slow, and our exports to india and china up to 1741 did not average more than ￡148,000 per annum in value. bullion, however, was exported to pay expenses and to purchase tea to an annual amount of upwards of half a million. towards the end of this period, however, our exports to india and china amounted annually to more than half a million; and the necessity for the export of bullion had sunk to an annual demand for less than ￡100,000. the amount of tea imported from china during this period rose from about 140,000 pounds annually to nearly 3,000,000 pounds annually—an enormous increase.

the progress of our manufactures was equally satisfactory. at the commencement of this period that great innovator and benefactor, the steam-engine, was produced. the idea thrown out by the marquis of worcester, in his "century of inventions," in 1663, had been neglected as mere wild theory till savery, in 1698, constructed a steam-engine for draining mines. this received successive improvements from newcomen and crawley, and further ones from brindley in 1756, and watt extended these at the end of this period, though this mighty agent has received many improvements since. navigable canals, also, date their introduction by the duke of bridgewater, under the management of brindley, from the latter end of this period, 1758. other great men, arkwright, compton, hargreaves, etc., were now busily at work in developing machinery, and applying steam to it, which has revolutionised the system of manufacture throughout the world. in 1754 the society of arts and manufactures was established.

one great article of manufacture and export, however, down to this period, continued to be that of our woollens. to guard this manufacture many acts had been passed at different times, prohibiting the exportation of the raw material. immediately after the revolution a fresh act of this kind was passed, and such was the jealousy even of the irish and of our american colonies weaving woollen cloths, that, in 1689, an act was passed prohibiting the exportation of wool or woollen goods from ireland or our plantations to any country except england. having taken measures thus to confine as much as possible the profit of the woollen manufacture to england, the next year, which saw all protecting duties taken off corn, saw also leave given for the exportation of woollen cloths duty-free from england to any part of the world. sir william davenant estimates the value of the yearly growth of wool in england at this time at about ￡2,000,000, and the value of its woollen manufactures at ￡8,000,000. he calculates that one-fourth of this amount was exported. in 1738 mr. john kay invented the mode of casting the shuttle by what is called a "picking-peg," by which means the weaver was enabled to weave cloths of any width, and throw off twice the quantity in the same time. in 1758 the leeds cloth hall was erected, and, about twenty years afterwards, a hall for white cloths.

the silk trade received a great impulse by the erection of a silk-mill at derby, in 1719, by john lombe and his brothers. lombe had smuggled himself into a silk-mill in italy, as a destitute workman, and had then copied all the machinery. to prevent the operation of this new silk factory in england—which was worked by a water-wheel on the river derwent, had 97,746 wheels, movements, and individual parts, and employed three hundred persons—the king of sardinia prohibited the exportation of the raw material, and thus, for a time, checked the progress of the manufacture. parliament voted sir thomas lombe[167] ￡14,000 as a compensation for loss of profits thus occasioned, on condition that the patent, which he had obtained for fourteen years, should expire, and the right to use the machinery should be thrown open to the public. by the middle of this period our silk manufactures were declared superior to those of italy, and the tradesmen of naples recommended their silk stockings as english ones. in 1755 great improvements were introduced by mr. jedediah strutt in the stocking-loom of lee.

as the woollen manufactures of ireland had received a check from the selfishness of the english manufacturers, it was sought to compensate the protestants of ulster by encouraging the linen manufacture there, which the english did not value so much as their woollen. a board was established in dublin in 1711, and one also in scotland in 1727, for the purpose of superintending the trade, and bounties and premiums on exportation were offered. in these favourable circumstances the trade rapidly grew, both in ireland and scotland. in 1750 seven and a half million yards of linen were annually woven in scotland alone.

the lace manufacture was still prosecuted merely by hand, and chiefly in buckinghamshire, bedfordshire, and in the west of england. no lace was produced from machinery before 1768.

in the manufacture of iron a most material discovery of smelting the ore by the use of pit-coal was made. the forests of england were so much reduced by the consumption of wood in the iron furnaces, that it was contemplated removing the business to our american colonies. this necessity was obviated by the discovery by dud dudley of a mode of manufacturing bar-iron with coal instead of wood. this discovery had been patented in 1619, yet, singularly, had been neglected; but in 1740 the principle was applied at coalbrookdale, and iron thus made tough or brittle, as was wished. iron works, now not confined to one spot by the necessity of wood, sprang up at various places in england and wales, and the great works at rotherham were established in 1750, and the famous carron works in scotland in 1760. the quantity of pig-iron made in 1740 was calculated at 17,000 tons, and the number of people employed in the iron trade at the end of this period is supposed to be little short of 300,000.

the production of copper during this period was so plentiful, that, though the great mines in anglesea were not yet discovered, full liberty was given to export it, except to france. from 1736 to 1745 the mines of cornwall alone produced about 700 tons annually, and the yearly amount was constantly increasing. a manufactory of brass—the secret of which mixture was introduced from germany, in 1649—was established in birmingham, in 1748; and, at the end of this period, the number of persons employed in making articles of copper and brass was, probably, not less than 50,000. the manufacture of tinned iron commenced in wales about 1730, and in 1740 further improvements were made in this process. similar improvements were making in the refinement of metals, and in the manufacture of silver plate, called sheffield plate. english watches acquired great reputation, but afterwards fell into considerable disrepute from the employment of inferior foreign works. printing types, which we had before imported from holland, were first made in england in the reign of queen anne, by caslon, an engraver of gun-locks and barrels. in 1725 william ged, a scotsman, discovered the art of stereotyping, but did not introduce it without strong opposition from the working printers. great strides were made in the paper manufacture. in 1690 we first made white paper, and in 1713 it is calculated that 300,000 reams of all kinds of paper were made in england. an excise duty was first laid on paper in 1711. our best china and earthenware were still imported, and, both in style and quality, our own pottery was very inferior, for wedgwood had not yet introduced his wonderful improvements. defoe introduced pantiles at his manufactory at tilbury, before which time we imported them from holland. the war with france compelled us to encourage the manufacture of glass; in 1697 the excise duty, imposed three years before, was repealed, but in 1746 duties were imposed on the articles used in its manufacture, and additional duties on its exportation. the manufacture of crown glass was not introduced till after this period.

the effects of the growth in our commerce and manufactures, and the consequent increase of the national wealth, were seen in the extension of london and other of our large towns. eight new parishes were added to the metropolis during this period; the chelsea waterworks were established in 1721; and westminster bridge was completed in 1750. bristol, hull, liverpool, manchester, birmingham, sheffield, leeds, edinburgh, glasgow, frome, dublin, and several other towns, grew amazingly.