were generally weak, broken-down old men, who were unable to make any successful resistance. Another favourite sport was to make people cut capers, by thrusting swords into their legs; and they took a peculiar delight in placing women in empty barrels and then rolling them down Snow-hill. The lives of persons were often endangered by the outrageous conduct of these Mohocks. Swift, in his letters to Stella, relates, that while he was in London he was frequently fearful of being maimed, or even murdered by them.

Another evil arising out of the defective state of education was that of superstition. Almost every mansion was believed to be haunted by a ghost, and every parish tormented by a witch. Fortune-telling was a most thriving occupation both in town and country: the customers of the seer or sibyl not being merely people of low degree, but those of the highest rank. Even the wise and the learned had not yet shaken themselves loose from such unintellectual thraldom. Dryden calculated nativities; Steele nearly ruined himself in seeking after the grand magisterium; and Whiston not only believed in the miracle of Mary Tofts, who was said to have brought forth a warren of rabbits, but endeavoured to prove that she was announced in the prophecies of Ezekiel. These hallucinations continued to linger among literary men, until they were finally laid with the Cock-lane ghost.

Among the amusements that illustrate the character of this period, watering-places may be first mentioned. Medicinal springs had long been known, and the diseased, the hypochondriacal, and idle had long flocked to them; and as the healing waters increased in reputation, it became fashionable to spend the summer season in their neighbourhood. Bath was one of the chief places of resort: next to Bath, Tunbridge and Epsom wells were in the greatest repute. As the luxu ries of these places were as expensive as they were fashionable, people of moderate fortunes contented themselves with the more accessible mineral springs of Islington, to which they repaired with their families, and where they imitated the amusements of the more fashionable watering-places. Playgoing was still frequent, without the theatre having undergone any moral improvement. The same sort of plays were acted, and the same licence in behaviour tolerated, as had prevailed during the reign of Charles II. Balls were held in halls or taverns for the entertainment of the lower classes. Hampstead was a noted place for such merry meet

ings; and the excesses to which they led were so infamous, that no respectable tradesman cared to be seen in that beautiful suburban village. Shooting-matches were at this time common in the outskirts of London; but the chief outdoor sports were football, bowls, skittles, and cricket. Prize-fights were also now frequent: the common weapons were broadsword, sword and dagger, and the single-stick. These gladiators mangled each other for the amusement of the crowd, and devoted themselves to the savage calling as to a regular trade, subsisting upon the subscription purses or admittance fees. Public fairs were more attended at this period than they had ever been in England. That of Bartholomew was, in par ticular, a noted place of resort. Every parish in the metropolis discharged its population into Smithfield when the fair commenced, as into a vast reservoir. The noble and the mean mingled there to take their fill of pleasure, while pickpockets and sharpers prowled about to take advantage of their folly. The amusements of gentlemen in the country differed from those of gentlemen in London. Their chief domestic entertainments were anniversary festivals, which the progress of fashion had as yet left almost untouched. Other amusements out of doors were hunting, shooting, and fishing; and in doors, card-playing, dancing, and music. As for the manners of the peasantry, they exhibited much of the simplicity by which they had been characterized in the days. of Elizabeth. The toils and occupations of the rustics still continued to be enlivened chiefly by wakes and fairs, which were thronged with puppet-shows, pedlars' stalls, raffling tables, and drinking booths; while the peasants themselves contended with each other in wrestling, grinning through a horse's collar, cudgel-playing, and foot-racing. There were also trials in whistling, where the person who could whistle through a whole tune without being put out by the drolleries of a merryandrew, that were played off before him, was the victor. Contentions of this nature were frequent during the celebration of the annual church festivals, and especially at Christmas. Thus seasons which should have been kept holy, were turned into occasions for the display of mummery and buffoonery.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE PERIOD FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. TO THE ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

GEORGE III.

PART I.

A.D. 1760. George II. was succeeded by his grandson, who upon the death of his father, Frederic, prince of Wales, became heir-apparent to the throne. His majesty's first care after his accession was to assemble the parliament, to whom he made a speech, in which he laid great stress upon his being born and educated a Briton. From this endearing expression, and from the general tenor of his speech, the people conceived the fondest hopes of a happy reign. Few sovereigns, indeed, ever ascended the throne of England under more auspicious circumstances than George III. The kingdom was in a glorious and flourishing state, victorious and happy, though engaged in a necessary war. The king called this war, a war "for the protestant interest," and asked the assistance of parliament to prosecute it with vigour. Yet it was soon found that he was favourable to peace. In 1661 Pitt discovered that a private treaty had been lately entered into between France and Spain, termed "the family compact;" and he proposed in council that a fleet should be sent to intercept the Spanish flotilla, or to block up Cadiz. This proposal was overruled, and Pitt, together with lord Temple, resigned office. A pension of £3,000 per annum was settled on the former for three lives, and a peerage was conferred on his lady and her issue.

In 1761 George III. was married to Charlotte, princess of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, a small but sovereign German state. their majesties were crowned at Westminster-abbey on the 22nd of September. This coronation could boast of one very unusual and curious spectator; this was Charles Edward Stuart, the young pretender, who came over in disguise to witness the coronation of a king on the throne which he considered to be by right his father's, or his own. It has been said that the king knew he was in the capital, and that he would not have him molested: a proof that he knew he possessed the hearts of his people.

The close of the year 1761 left the affairs of Europe, both military and political, in a very remarkable situation. Endeavours had been made to bring about a peace; but they served only to increase the animosity of the contending nations. Great Britain had never been in a more critical situation. At this time she was engaged in a war, not only with all the great continental powers, but with the greatest part of the maritime strength of Europe: success, however, attended her arms, both by sea and land. In the month of February Martinique, the chief of the French Caribbees, was reduced by admiral Rodney and general Moreton; and this conquest was speedily followed by the surrender of Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Lucie, St. Vincent, and Tobago. Great Britain remained in possession of the entire chain of the Caribbees. Havannah, the capital of the isle of Cuba, was also taken by the British; and Manilla, the capital of the Philippine Islands in the East Indies, was reduced by admiral Cornish and general Draper. These blows were struck at the power of Spain; and they were followed by the capture of a Spanish register-ship, which added another million sterling to these valuable acquirements: the English forces, moreover, defeated the Spaniards in several encounters in Portugal; and such were the bitter fruits derived by Spain from the war within ten short months, that a war with England became so unpopular as to make the people cry out for "Peace with England, and war with all the world !"

In 1762 lord Bute succeeded the duke of Newcastle as first lord of the treasury. The resignation of this high-minded nobleman, who was considered as head of the whig interest, was followed by that of several others of great rank and influence. At this time the accumulated disasters of the war disposed the Bourbon powers to peace. Lord Bute, pressed by a powerful opposition, and fearing their triumph if the war continued, willingly accepted their proposals. In a short space of time, therefore, France and Spain on one side, and England and Portugal on the other, signed at Fontainbleau the preliminaries, and at Paris, in 1763, the definitive treaty of peace. Prussia also concluded a peace at Hubertsberg with Austria and Saxony. According to these treaties, England recovered Minorca, and retained Acadia, all Canada to the Mississippi, as well as Cape Breton, and all the islands and coasts of the river St. Lawrence, and of the gulf into which it empties. In the West Indies England was to have Gre

nada, St. Vincent, Dominique, and Tobago; and in Africa the French possessions on the Senegal. From Spain England obtained all Florida, ceded as far as the Mississippi, and permission to fell dye-wood in the bay of Honduras, and in other places of the Spanish territory. In return for these concessions England restored the Bourbon crowns all her other great conquests: thus ended the Seven Years' War. Great Britain improved the peace by consolidating and extending her power in the East Indies, and in all parts of the world; and in elevating her commerce, and diminishing her debt, which had been greatly augmented. At the close of this war the national debt amounted to £146,500,000; but the treasures of the East and West Indies, and the commercial gain from all parts of the world, rendered this burden not very oppressive to the people.

Political dissensions arose out of this peace. The antiministerialists maintained that the peace was inadequate to our successes, and that the interests of the nation had been sacrificed in order to render lord Bute secure and permanent in his office. On the other hand, Bute and his friends as strenuously insisted that all the objects for which the war had commenced were obtained and confirmed by the peace; and that the nation was so exhausted, both with respect to men and money, that supplies for carrying on the war for another year could not be raised without involving the country in difficulties and distress. The debates in both houses were very warm on this subject, and the opposition were distinguished by the title of "The Glorious Minority." In addition to the popular clamour excited against Bute on the score of favouritism, and on account of the peace, a tax laid on cider, subject to the law of excise, occasioned such violent attacks on him, that he resigned. He was succeeded by Mr. George Grenville.

"The

Many furious papers and pamphlets were published by the partisans of both sides: one of the most violent was North Briton," a paper conducted by Mr. Wilkes, member for Aylesbury. The speech of his majesty having been attacked in the forty-fifth number of this paper, with indecent freedom, the earls of Halifax and Egremont, secretaries of state, issued a general warrant for apprehending the printer and publisher of the said libel. Wilkes was apprehended and sent to the Tower: his papers were also seized at the same time. Upon his being brought up to the court of Com