208 USE OF GOLD AND SILVER. CHAP, 



seded those of pewter, as they had done those of 

 horn or wood, they were fabricated of very light 

 weight, and such of them as are now remaining 

 will be found to be not much heavier than the 

 tea-spoons made in more recent times. 



Table-forks are articles of late introduction ; 

 they were not universally placed at table till 

 a comparatively recent period. Even with the 

 higher classes of society, forks of silver had not 

 supplanted those of steel or iron at the com- 

 mencement of the reign of George III.; and it 

 was towards the middle or end of that reign 

 before they became universal among that class, 

 and general among the classes immediately below 

 them. Their use has gone on increasing ; and the 

 silver used in the making of them, with the several 

 kinds of spoons, forms the mode in which one-half 

 the silver consumed in England is used. 



Between the years 1765 and 1780, many arti- 

 cles, either new in name, as tea-urns and tureens, 

 or as tea-pots and coffee-pots, made of silver in- 

 stead of other substances, were introduced. These, 

 with silver waiters instead of those called japan, 

 and wine-coolers, had much increased in use. 

 Silver plates, dishes, and covers were brought 

 down to classes of lower rank than had before 

 been able to afford such expensive articles. 



The use of watches, as general wealth was aug- 

 mented, increased with it ; and especially after 

 they became the product of the labour of artisans 



