Steele, and Swift. The youth of England are still charmed by the Robinson Crusoe of Defoe; and Addison's pure and elegant style has seldom been equalled. His beautiful papers in the Spectator still exist as models of graceful English. In poetry, the name of Pope is most famous; and along with him are Thomson, Gray, and Allan Ramsay. In painting, Hogarth is by far the best known. He was a great satirical artist, such works as the 'Rake's Progress being produced in ridicule of the fashionable vices of the time.

8. It is to this period that we owe the origin of the Wesleyan Methodists, a body which has exercised an

indifference in religious matters. This lamentable state of things roused the spirit of the brothers John and Charles Wesley, and their friend Whitefield, all three of whom, while scholars at Oxford, were distinguished for the strictness of their opinions, and their upright course of conduct. These earnest men devoted their lives to rousing their countrymen from their religious torpor. It was not their intention to separate themselves from the established church; but many of the clergy, offended by their peculiarities, closed the pulpits against the young enthusiasts, who then took to addressing out-door audiences of the common people, travelling about from place to place to do so. By this means a religious spirit was carried into remote districts, and among classes of people where before it had been almost unknown. In 1740, the first Methodist society was formed in London. The number of members increased rapidly, and on the death of John Wesley, in 1791, Wesleyanism had struck its roots everywhere, and had become a mighty spiritualising power.

LESSON XIX.

Condition of the People.

1. As we have seen in the previous lesson, this period was notorious for a low state of morality among all classes. Of this there are unmistakable indications in the writings of Fielding and others. From the court downwards, the people were given

up to frivolous pursuits and pleasures, which, in the metropolis at least, took the form of balls, routs, and operas, besides assembly-rooms at Vauxhall, and other places of entertainment in the suburbs, where public dancing was carried on. When the London season was over, the upper classes retired for change to Bath, Tunbridge Wells, Epsom Wells, and other fashionable watering-places. Tours on the Continent, or in the Highlands, were not thought of in those days.

2. The great vice of the age was gambling. Everybody gambled, from the king and his ministers downwards, and frequently for very large stakes. Ladies also took part in this degrading custom. No wonder, when so bad an example was set them by their superiors, that we find the labouring classes sunk in vice and ignorance. Gin-drinking was carried to excess among them; and, as might be expected, there was much pauperism. Learning was not so highly valued as in these days. Even in the higher grades of society, the great majority of persons were imperfectly educated; and among the lower orders, the greatest ignorance prevailed.

3. The houses of the well-to-do were profusely and luxuriously furnished. Mahogany had recently been introduced into England for the making of furniture, and it speedily became the most fashionable material for the purpose. Carpets, woven chiefly at Kidderminster, were in general use at the end of George II.'s reign among all persons who had any claim to respectability.

4. With respect to costume, there were many

peculiarities. The gentlemen wore square-cut coats, with long-flapped waistcoats reaching almost to the knee. These garments were made of the most luxurious materials, being generally silk or velvet, and decked off, with long hanging cuffs and lace ruffles. The costume was completed by knee-breeches, gaudycoloured silk stockings, and high-heeled shoes with

buckles, studded in some cases with jewels. On the head, it was the fashion to wear large, white, powdered wigs, which were surmounted with threecornered cocked hats. Dangling by the side was the sword which was worn by all gentlemen, and was often used in fighting duels, a common way of settling disputes in those times. In the reigns of the first two Georges, the wigs received an appendage in

the shape of a tail. Both sexes used powder for the hair.

5. During the reign of William the ladies wore a towering head-dress, with which they sometimes looked as if they were seven feet high. In the course of Anne's reign, female head-gear assumed more respectable dimensions; but the passion for superabundance next exhibited itself in the skirts of the dresses, which were so distended by enormous hoops or crinolines, as to make the ladies, when promenading in the parks, appear like so many walking balloons.

6. After the abolition of the censorship of the press in 1695, newspapers greatly increased, but the information they supplied was very meagre. Hence gentlemen still resorted to the coffee-house for the purpose of hearing and retailing the news of the day; and, as may be supposed, it lost nothing in the telling. The Whigs and Tories, as we have seen, were bitterly hostile; and they used to ridicule each other's foibles by political pamphlets or lampoons, written by smart and witty authors, who, unfortunately, were only too glad, in those hard times for literary men, to eke out a livelihood by using their pens in that way. So bitter was the feeling between the two parties, that when they went to a theatre or opera-house, they ranged themselves on opposite sides, in much the same manner as the ministerial party and the opposition in the House of Commons at the present day.

7. Wheeled carriages were rare, the favourite vehicle for conveyance being the sedan chair, in which the occupant was borne by lusty serving-men,