Society, art and literature in the XVIII century

During the XVIII century very important changes were passing over Great Britain. Ireland, owing to various causes did not take much part in the industrial movement; but England and Scotland were rapidly becoming industrial and commercial countries.

This does not mean, of course, that agriculture was not still very important, but that an increasing number of people were em­ployed in trade and manufacture, and that a larger proportion of the wealth of the country was produced and owned by commercial men. The result of this was that political power was gradually passing from the owners of the land — the landlords, the older nobility, and the country gentry — into the hands of a new class — the merchants, and ship-owners, and manufacturers.

Among the poorer classes of society, the separation between town and country became more and more marked. It was more profitable to collect workers in large factories in towns, than to have great numbers of them scattered in different villages, especial­ly after the great inventions had been made, such as steampower.

On the other hand, as the towns grew in size, the people were no longer able to live just as in former days. These changes, though they led to a great increase of the national wealth, did not make the people happier, either of the town, or in the country. Wealth, too, was less everly distributed, so the rich were becoming still richer, and the poor still poorer.

The growth of population in England during the eighteenth century was remarkable. In 1790 the population was eight and a half million — that is to say, it was more than half as large as it had been seventy years before.

But this growth took place in the towns, especially in the great towns of Yourkshire and Lancashire, and not in the country dis­tricts. It was quite natural if we remember the increase of manufac­tures, and the tact that they flourished most in the north, where coal and iron were at hand. The south and the east of England, which in the old days had been the most populous and important parts of the country, gave place to the north, which now became the great nurs­ery of England's wealth.

During the earlier part of the eighteenth century, the condition of the agricultural labourer in Great Britain was fairly good. He was certainly better off than the peasant of France or of Germany. But the improvement of agriculture and the growth of trade did not make him any good. On the contrary, his wages fell, while the price of food and other necessities rose. After 1750, the number of pau­pers increased in an alarming rate.

The church during this period was not in a healthy condition. Too many of the clergy neglected their duties, especially in the far districts.

The period of time between the English revolution and the French was a great age in several respects besides the growth of trade and of national power. England had also great development of a national school of art, and the production of many great works of literature.

We have already read in the previous parts of our book about Sir Christopher Wren. William Hogarth (1697-1794), a great painter and engraver, lived and worked in the reign of George the Second, and he depicted the manners of his time with a marvellous combination of truth and satire.

Sir John Soane Museum, London/Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16