CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



measures which had given the English parliament 

 a right to interfere with Ireland. In 1783, how- 

 ever, the government now began to regain 

 strength, and in a short time, by skilful measures, 

 it prevailed upon the corps to dissolve. 



MINISTRY OF MR PITT FROM 1784 TO THE COM- 

 MENCEMENT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 



In April 1785, Mr Pitt asked leave of the House 

 to bring in a bill for reforming the House of Com- 

 mons ; but it was refused by a large majority. 

 The desire of parliamentary reform nevertheless 

 continued to animate a large portion of the com- 

 munity. In 1784, a regular society had been insti- 

 tuted in Scotland, for the purpose of obtaining 

 such a measure ; and in the succeeding year, 

 forty-nine out of the sixty-six boroughs had de- 

 clared in favour of it. There were also numerous 

 associations of a similar character throughout 

 England. 



In 1786, commenced the parliamentary pro- 

 ceedings against Mr Warren Hastings the first 

 governor-general of India, and a man of conspicu- 

 ous abilities and energy for alleged cruelty and 

 robbery exercised upon the natives of India during 

 his governorship of that dependency of Great 

 Britain. These proceedings were urged by the 

 great orator Burke and other members of the 

 Whig party, and excited so much public indigna- 

 tion against Mr Hastings, that the ministry was 

 obliged to lend their countenance to his trial, which 

 took place before parliament in the most solemn 

 manner, and occupied in the aggregate one hundred 

 and forty-nine days, extending over a space of 

 several years. The proceedings resulted in the 

 acquittal of Mr Hastings. 



The king and queen had in the meantime be- 

 come the parents of a numerous family of sons 

 and daughters. The eldest son, George, Prince 

 of Wales, had now for several years been of age, 

 and exempted from the control of his father. He 

 made himself remarkable by his extravagance and 

 debaucheries, and by siding with the Whigs, 

 thereby alienating the affections of his father, who 

 was about this time seized with a mental malady, 

 which ultimately compelled him to retire from 

 active public life. 



MISCELLANEOUS CIRCUMSTANCES FROM 1760 TO 

 1790. 



At the beginning of the reign of George III. 

 both the commerce and the manufactures of the 

 country might be considered as in a highly flour- 

 ishing condition. In Scotland, since the year 

 1746, great improvements of various kinds had 

 taken place : the linen manufacture had been 

 much advanced ; a trade with the colonies had 

 sprung up ; agriculture was undergoing great 

 changes for the better ; the Highlands were now 

 peaceful, and throughout the whole country were 

 seen conspicuous symptoms of increasing wealth 

 and comfort 



During the first ten years of the reign of George 

 III. some discoveries and inventions were made, 

 by which the prosperity of the whole empire re- 

 ceived a new impulse. By the improvements 

 effected in the steam-engine by James Watt, 

 a superior mechanic power was obtained for the 

 driving of machinery and other purposes. By 

 means of the spinning- -jenny > invented by Mr Har- 



J64 



greaves of Blackburn, the spinning-frame, invented 

 by Mr Richard Arkwright, and finally the power- 

 loom, invented by Mr Cartwright, the cotton manu- 

 facture was brought to a pitch of prosperity in 

 Britain, such as no particular branch of manufac- 

 ture had ever experienced before in any country. 



The early part of the reign of George III. was 

 distinguished by the discoveries of Captain Cook 

 in the Pacific Ocean, by the formation of many 

 canals for internal navigation, and by the founda- 

 tion of the Royal Academy for the Promotion of 

 the Fine Arts. This period derives lustre from 

 the admirable paintings of Barry, Blake, Hoppner, 

 and Reynolds. Astronomy was cultivated by Dr 

 William Herschel, who, in 1781, discovered the 

 planet Uranus. Chemistry was improved by Dr 

 Joseph Black and Mr Cavendish. The science of 

 medicine was advanced by Dr Cullen of Edin- 

 burgh ; and natural history by Sir Joseph Banks. 

 In literature, the chief place is due to Dr Samuel 

 Johnson, who had flourished also in the preceding 

 reign. Oliver Goldsmith and William Cowper in 

 England, and Robert Burns in Scotland, were the 

 most eminent poets. The leading historians of 

 the time were Dr William Robertson, David 

 Hume, and Edmund Gibbon ; Hume and Adam 

 Smith figure as philosophical writers ; Sir William 

 Blackstone wrote on English law ; and amongst 

 divines, the most eminent were Bishops War- 

 burton, Jortin, and Kurd. The science of political 

 economy may be said to have been created by 

 Adam Smith, whose famous work on the Wealth 

 of Nations is still a standard book upon the 

 subject. 



FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND CONSEQUENT WAR 

 WITH FRANCE. 



The country had for several years experienced 

 the utmost prosperity and peace, when it was 

 roused by a series of events which took place in 

 France. The proceedings of the French nation 

 for redressing the political grievances under which 

 they had long laboured, commenced in 1789, and 

 were at first very generally applauded in Britain, 

 as likely to raise that nation to a rational degree 

 of freedom. Ere long, the violence shewn at the 

 destruction of the Bastille, the abolition of heredi- 

 tary privileges, the open disrespect for religion, 

 and other symptoms of an extravagant spirit, 

 manifested by the French, produced a consider- 

 able change in the sentiments of the British 

 people. The proceedings ot the French were still 

 justified by the principal leaders of Opposition in 

 parliament, and by a numerous class of the com- 

 munity, democratic clubs being formed in various 

 parts of the country ; but they inspired the govern- 

 ment, and the propertied classes generally, with 

 great alarm and distrust 



When at length the coalition of Austria and 

 Prussia with the fugitive noblesse had excited the 

 spirit of the French people to a species of frenzy, 

 and led to the establishment of a Republic, and 

 the death of the king, the British government 

 and its supporters were roused to a sense of the 

 danger which hung over all ancient institutions, 

 and a pretext was found (January 1793) for declar- 

 ing war against France. Although Fox and Sheri- 

 dan objected in parliament to this course, all who 

 continued to make open demonstrations for political 

 reform were now branded as enemies to religion 

 and civil order. In Scotland, Mr Thomas Muir, a 



