Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Observer, 1791-1921: A Short Record of One Hundred and Thirty Years
HE world into which the observer was born in the year 1791 was, like our own, a little uncertain of its bearings and prospects. Only two years earlier the short Peace had been broken by the fall of the Bastille. Events in France had pursued a course of which the landmarks were becoming very ominous. There were still men who could look back to a time when the Hanoverian Kings had not come to England. Bonnie Prince Charlie was but three years in the grave his brother was to live on in Rome for sixteen years longer. It had been a great growth. Among those who philosophised upon the facts of government there was a notable balance of complacency. 'evolution or Revolution? The cliche' of to-da expressed the hesitating mind of 1791 still looking u on events across the Channe in doubt whether their purport was to destroy or to A new Constitution had just been adopted for France. On the surface it mi t shape for that enlightened Freedom, decent Tolerance, and universal Benevo ence to which the observer, in the best sentiment of its time, aid devotion in announcing itself to the public of London. True, the British acfinirers of French democracy were becoming disturbingly fervent in rheit language, and the patriotic populace of Birmingham had just burned the cat Dr. Priestley's house and library over his head. Arthur Young denounce the outra e, but the King, like the majority, condoned. But there was no hint yet of Revo utionary France bursting her borders or pitting herself in a death-grapple with this country. On the contrary, the National Assembly had in this very year handsomely expressed its thanks to the King of England for relieving the planters of San Domingo from famine. And, of course, besides either home or forci politics there was a eat deal for newspapers to write and the public to read a out. There were due 3 on Blackheath and highwaymen at Hounslow. There were, of course, outrages in Ireland. There was the increasing popularity of short hair among men of fashion. Occasional letters from Botany Bay contained the most favourable account of the infant colony. Eminent men died then as now - Mozart, for instance, and the Rev. John Wesley, by whose efforts a sense of decency, morals, and religion was introduced into the lowest classes of mankind. And the reviewer's column needed not be empty with The Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell, Esq., fresh from the press - the official biography available after seven years to those who hiad been compelled to put up with the narratives of less-informed or judicious recor ers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
