Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/558

 4i 8 General History of Europe 729. The French Revolution checks Reform in England. This demand for reform finally induced the younger Pitt, son of the Earl of Chatham, who was prime minister from 1783 to 1801, to introduce bills into the House of Commons for remedying some of the old evils. But the violence and disorder accompanying the French Revolution, which began in 1789, involved England in a long and tedious war and discredited reform with Englishmen who had formerly favored change, to say nothing of the Tories, who regarded with horror any proposal looking toward an exten- sion of the right to vote. We must now turn to the conditions in France which led to the French Revolution. QUESTIONS I. What survivals of the manorial system were to be found in Europe in the eighteenth century? What was the condition of the serfs ? Describe the medieval towns. Compare town life in the eighteenth century in London and Paris with what you know of it today. How was trade and industry carried on? II. How did the European nobility originate ? How did their mode of living in the eighteenth century differ from what it had been in the Middle Ages ? Compare the French nobility with the English peerage. What do we owe to the development of kingship? How did the clergy come to be a privileged class? What was the position of the Church in Catholic countries ? What was the censorship of the press ? Does it exist today ? What Protestant sects had grown up in England ? III. Contrast the medieval attitude toward the past with that of thoughtful people in the eighteenth century. To what was the change of attitude largely due? What is meant by experimental science? What new instruments were used which assisted in making discoveries ? Why was there opposition to the discovery of new truths ? Tell what you know of Voltaire. What did the Encyclopedia attempt to do? Why was it suppressed? Why did Rousseau think that civilization was a bad thing? What was the policy of the "benevolent despots"? Why is not this kind of government a promising one ? IV. What is meant by the. "limited monarchy" in England? De- scribe the origin of the two great political parties in England. How did the office of "prime minister" develop? Who is at present prime minister of England ? Describe the reasons for a demand for reform under George III.