mitted to the Society of Jesus in 1861. After several years in mission work he was transferred to Rome, where he devoted himself to historical studies. In 1890 he became a member of the administrative council of the Vatican Library, of which he was appointed prefect in 1895. He retired in 1914. He received honorary degrees, not only from Münster (1902) and Louvain (1909), but from Oxford (1899) and Cambridge (1905). His 'History of the Church and its Literature in the Middle Ages' (in German) is based on extensive researches in the archives of Germany, England, Spain and Italy. It is on this work that his reputation largely rests; but he has further written. a Latin history of the Papal Library from 1200 to 1417, and (with Stevenson) a history of the Vatican. He was placed in charge of the Papal exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Saint Louis. His principal works are monographs on the frescoes of Pinturicchio in the Borgia Chambers at the Vatican Palace (French 1897; Italian 1899); edition of the more important manuscripts in the Vatican Library and 'Beiträge zur Geschichte und Reform der Armenpflege (1881).

EHRLICH, ār'liн, Heinrich, German writer on music: b. Vienna 1822, d. 1899. He studied under Henselt and Thalberg, and for a time was court pianist to George V of Hanover. He removed to Berlin in 1862 and taught the pianoforte at the Stern Conservatory there in 1864-72 and 1886-98. He also wrote musical criticisms and other articles in the Berliner Tageblatt, Die Gegenwart and the Neue Berliner Musikzeitung. He published 'Wie übt man am Klavier' (2d ed., 1884; Eng. trans.); Die Ornamentik in Sebastian Bachs Klavierwerken'; 'Dreissig Jahre Künstlerlebens 1862

(1893); Schlaglichter und Schlagschatten aus der Musikwelt (1872); Aus alle Tonarten' (1888); 'Die Ornamentik in Beethovens Sonaten (1896); 'Musik-Aesthetik von Kant bis auf die Gegenwart' (1881); 'Modernes Musikleben (1895).

EHRLICH, Paul, German medical scientist: b. of Jewish parents at Strehlen, Silesia, 14 March 1854; d. Homburg, 20 Aug. 1915. He was educated at the universities of Breslau, Strassburg, Freiburg and Leipzig. After graduating in medicine in 1878 he began his researches into the relationship existing between scientific medicine and chemistry, experimenting on the effects of various chemicals upon living tissue. He first chose the aniline dyes, on account of their effects being visible when injected into animals. With these dyes and their derivatives his whole life's work was concerned and his most brilliant triumphs were gained through their employment. By staining the tubercle bacillus with dyes he found that certain of them possessed a peculiar affinity for this bacillus and this accorded with the view on which he based his whole philosophy-that of the specific affinity of particular chemical substances for particular tissues, more especially for the organisms which cause disease. He next discovered a method of testing the potency of the anti-diphtheria serum by experimenting on guinea-pigs, which made it possible to standardize the serum and accurately measure the dosage. Ehrlich then found a dye called "trypan red which cured fatal trypanosome in

fection in mice. A further series of experiments resulted in his greatest discovery, that of salvarsan (q.v.) or 606, a specific drug with power to destroy the spirochete pallida, the specific organism of syphilis. This epoch-making discovery has been described as the most potent therapeutic weapon in existence. Ehrlich laid the foundation of modern hæmatology and also performed some notable researches in connection with cancer; he formed the theory "that the growth of cancer depended on food stuffs." Almost every university and learned society throughout the world honored the great scientist; the Nobel Prize was divided between him and Metchnikoff (q.v.) in 1908; the number of his decorations conferred by monarchs and princes was greater than he professed to be able to remember. "He opened new doors to the unknown and left the world his debtor."

EHUD, one of the judges of Israel, mentioned in Judg. iii, 12-30; 1 Chron. vii, 10 and viii, 3; he delivered his people by stabbing to death their oppressor, Eglon, king of the Moabites. Doubt has been cast on the historical character of this hero. Consult Kittel, 'Geschichte des Volkes Israel' (Vol. II, Gotha 1909); Moore, Judges' (New York 1895); Nöldeke, 'Untersuchungen zur Kritik des alten Testaments (Kiel 1869); Wellhausen, Israelitische und jüdische Geschichte' (7th ed., Berlin 1914); Winckler, 'Geschichte Israels' (Leipzig 1895).

EIBAR, a'e-bär, Spain, town in the province of Guipúzcoa, 35 miles south of Bilbao. Small arms and metal articles for decorative purposes are the chief manufactures. Pop. 9,659.

EIBENSTOCK, i'běn-stok, Germany, town in the southeast of Saxony, near the Mulde, 17 miles southeast of Zwickau, with important manufactures of lace. Its principal edifice is a Romanesque church dating from 1864. It is an industrial centre, the chief seat of the tambour embroidery manufactures, has manufactures of chemicals, brush handles, leather, beer and tobacco and is a cattle market. The tin mines nearby have been worked for about eight centuries, but are now practically worked out. It is connected by rail with Chemnitz, about 40 miles distant. Pop. 9,528.

EICHELBERGER, i-Hěl-berg-er, William Snyder, American astronomer: b. Baltimore, Md., 18 Sept. 1865. He was graduated at the University of Johns Hopkins in 1886; was assistant in the Nautical Almanac office in 1889-90 and 1896-98, and from 1890-1896 served as instructor in mathematics and astronomy at Wesleyan University, Connecticut. Since 1900 he has been professor of mathematics in the United States navy. He was head of the division of meridian instrument in 1902-07, and of astronomical observations in 1907-08 at the United States Naval Observatory. In 1910 he became director of the Nautical Almanac. He has at various times been in charge of eclipse stations, notably at Fort de Kock, Sumatra, in 1901 and Daroca, Spain, in 1905. He is a Fellow or member of several astronomical societies and has contributed papers to government publications and to the Astronomical Journal.

EICHENDORFF, i'Hĕn-dorf, Joseph BARON von, German poet: b. Castle of Lubowitz, Silesia, 10 March 1788; d. Neisse, 26 Nov.

1857. He served in the War of Liberation, 1813-15, and held a position (1831-45) in the Prussian Ministry of Education. He was one of the most gifted and original romantic lyrists of Germany. His principal works are Presage and Presence'; War to the Philistines,' a dramatic story; 'The Life of a Good-forNothing, idealizing vagabondage; the tragedies 'Ezzelin von Romano, The Last Hero of Marienburg'; and other plays, and a number of histories of German literature, including 'The Ethical and Religious Meaning of the New Romantic Poetry in Germany) (1847); German Romance of the Eighteenth Century in Relation to Christianity' (1851); 'History of German Poetry (1857).

EICHHORN, iн'hórn, Johann Gottfried German theologian and Orientalist: b. Dorrenzimmern, 16 Oct. 1752; d. Göttingen, 25 June 1827. In 1775 he became professor of Oriental languages at Jena, and in 1788 at Göttingen. He is considered the founder of scientific criticism of the literary and historical aspects of the biblical Scriptures. He edited a 'Repertory of Biblical and Oriental Literature) (1777-86); Universal Library of Biblical Literature' (1787-1803); and wrote 'Historico-Critical Introductions' to the Old and to the New Testament, and to the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament; a 'Latin Commentary on the Apocalypse.'

EICHHORST, iн'hôrst, Hermann Ludwig, German physician: b. Königsberg 1849. He received his education at the university of his native city and in 1877 became director of the Medical Polyclinical Institute at Göttingen. Seven years later he was appointed to the chair of pathology and therapy at the University of Zürich. He has published many important works, including Lehrbuch der physikalischen Untersuchungsmethoden innerer Krankheiten' (3d ed., 1889); Handbuch der speziellen Pathologie und Therapie (5th ed., 1895-96); 'Handbuch der speziellen Pathologie und Therapie innerer Krankheiten' (1904); Hygiene des Herzens und der Blutgefässe im Gesunden und Kranken Zustande (1906); Pathologie und Therapie der Nervenkrankheiten' (1907).

EICHLER, iн'ler, August Wilhelm, German botanist: b. Neukirchen 1839; d. 1887. He was educated at the University of Marburg and in 1871 was appointed professor of botany and director of the Botanical Garden at Graz. Two years later he became professor of botany at Kiel and in 1878 was appointed to a similar chair at the University of Berlin. He wrote extensively on the Coniferæ, Cycadace and other plant groups of Brazil. His principal work is 'Blütendiagramme' (1875-78), a description of the comparative study of flowers. Other important works are 'Syllabus der Vorlesungen über spezielle und Medizinisch-pharmazeutische Botanik (1883); Beiträge zur Morphologie und Systematik der Marantaceen' (1884); Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Palmenblätter) (1885).

EICHRODT, iн'rōt, Ludwig, German poet: b. Durlach, Baden, 2 Feb. 1827; d. Lahr, 2 Feb. 1892. He studied at Heidelberg and Freiburg and published in 1848 in Fliegende Blätter his comic songs, 'Wanderlust,' which had great popularity. Among his works are 'Gedichte in

allerlei Humoren' (1853); 'Leben und Liebc' (1856); Hortus Deliciarum' (1875); (Gold' (1880). His collected works were published in 1890 at Stuttgart.

EICHSTÄTT, iн'stět', or EICHSTÄDT, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, an old town in a deep valley of the Altmühl, 67 miles northnorthwest of Munich. Its principal edifice is a fine Gothic cathedral, founded in 1259. It has a number of very interesting monuments in marble and bronze and here also is the tomb of Saint Wilibald. Saint Walpurgis' Church is renowned as a place of pilgrimage, great numbers congregating there annually on 1 May. Other noteworthy features are the town-hall, the ancient episcopal palace, now converted into barracks, the episcopal lyceum, seminary and municipal theatre. It has manufactures of shoes, matches, lithographic stone, etc. It is said that the city grew up about a military station of the Romans. In 908 it was chartered as a city. It suffered greatly in the many wars of the 18th and 19th centuries, being burned repeatedly by the French. The episcopal see was secularized in 1802 and added to the diocese of Bavaria but was re-established in 1817.

EIDER, i'der, a river of Prussia, in Schleswig-Holstein, which rises about 12 miles from Kiel, flows generally northwest, and after a course of 112 miles, of which 69 are navigable, empties into the North Sea at Tönning, where it forms a bay. It is connected with Kiel by the Schleswig-Holstein Canal.

EIDER DUCK, a bird of the sub-family Fuliguline, or sea ducks, genus Somateria, distinguished by the peculiar form and feathering of the bill, and closely allied to the scoter ducks. The several species are confined to the northern regions. The American eider (S. dresseri) and the European eider (S. mollissima) are closely similar species which breed on solitary rocky shores and islands from Maine and the Farne Islands, respectively, northward, the former species wintering as far south as the Delaware River. They are most abundant in Labrador, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland and Norway, where they are stringently protected by law. Both species breed gregariously and in particular spots their nests are so abundant that a person can scarcely walk without treading on them. Their nests are usually formed of grass, dry sea-weed, etc., lined with a quantity of down which the female plucks from her own breast. In this soft bed she lays five eggs, which she covers over with a layer of down; then the natives, who watch her operations, take away both the eggs and the down, and this removal is repeated as often as she lays until the close of the season, when the last lot of eggs is allowed to hatch and the down removed from the nest only after the young have left. The drake does not, as is often stated, furnish any of the down. One female generally furnishes a few ounces of down. This down, from its superior warmth, lightness and elasticity, is preferred by the luxurious to every other article for beds and coverlets; and, from the great demand for it, those districts in Norway, Greenland and Iceland where these birds abound are regarded as the most valuable property and are guarded with the greatest vigilance. Proprietors endeavor to attract them by supplying artificial nests and otherwise, and when they settle in

an island off shore, cattle and herdsmen are removed to allow them to breed undisturbed. The down from dead birds is little valued, having lost its elasticity.

The length of the eider duck is about two feet three inches, extent of the wings three feet, weight from six to seven pounds; the head is large and the bill of singular structure, being three inches in length, forked at the base of the upper mandible in a remarkable manner, running high up on the forehead, and having the feathers on each side descending nearly to the nostrils; the whole of the bill is of a dull, yellowish horn color, somewhat dusky in the middle. The male is black beneath, head and back white, with a black crown. The female is reddish drab, spotted with black, with two white bands across the wings. Eiders associate in flocks, diving to great depths for shell-fish, which constitute their principal food. They live much on the water, retiring to the shores to rest, particularly on the appearance of an approaching storm. Their flesh is eaten, but tastes strongly of fish. The eggs, however, are esteemed. These and the down are both frequently obtained at the hazard of life by people let down by ropes from craggy steeps.

Other species are the Pacific eider (S. v-nigra), and the remarkable king eider (S. spectabilis) of high Arctic regions. The now extinct Labrador duck (q.v.) is closely related.

EIFEL, i'fěl, The, a barren and bleak plateau of Rhenish Prussia, between the Rhine, Moselle and Roer rivers, showing extensive traces of volcanic action. Its surface is diversified by crater-like depressions and volcanic peaks and ridges. It is 40 miles long and 20 wide, averaging from 1,500 to 2,000 feet in height.

EIFFEL, à-fěl or i'fěl, Alexandre Gustave, French engineer: b. Dijon, 15 Dec. 1832. He was educated at Dijon and Sainte-Barbe, and at the Central School of Arts and Manufacture. In 1858 he was entrusted with the construction of the large iron bridge over the Garonne at Bordeaux, and was one of the first to introduce caissons worked with compressed air. The bridge over the Douro at Oporto, the great viaduct of Garabit, in Cantal, and that over the Tardes, near Montluçon, and the gigantic locks designed and partly prepared for the Panama Canal are among later triumphs of his engineering skill; while in the huge framework erected for Bartholdi's 'Statue of Liberty may be seen the germ of the idea which afterward assumed the form of the colossal iron structure (1887-89) on the Champs-de-Mars in Paris, with which his name is identified. He also constructed the Aerodynamic Laboratory at Auteuil. He is a member of the Legion of Honor and has received decorations from Russia, Austria, Portugal and Spain. See EIFFEL TOWER.

EIFFEL TOWER. A notable structure in Paris. The plans for the exposition of 1889 included a monstrous iron tower, to be raised on the Champs-de-Mars, 1,000 feet high. The designer, Gustave Eiffel, constructed it of iron lattice-work, with three elevators giving access to the summit. The uses of so stupendous an undertaking are many, and it became one of the chief permanent ornaments of the city. Its importance from a meteorological point of view

cannot be overestimated, the tower enabling meteorologists to study the decrease of temperature at different heights, to observe the variations of winds, and to find out the quantity of rain that falls at different heights, and the density of the clouds.

EIGENMANN, i'gen-man, Carl H., American zoologist: b. Flehingen, Germany, 1863. He was graduated at Indiana University in 1886 and studied at Harvard 1887-88. Between 1888 and 1892 he continued his scientific investigations in San Diego Biological Laboratory, the Woods Hole Marine Stations, and in the explorations undertaken for the British Museum in California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Dakota and western Canada. He was appointed professor of zoology in Indiana University in 1891 and in 1895 founded and assumed the direction of the Biological Station of Indiana University. He made scientific explorations in Cuba in 1902-04 and in British Guiana in 1908. He has contributed more than 100 papers to the proceedings of scientific societies and to scientific journals, including Catalogue of Fresh-Water Fishes of Central America and Southern Mexico' (1893); Cave Vertebrates of America' (1909); 'Egg and Development of Conger Eel' (1901); Fresh-Water Fishes of Western Cuba' (1903); FreshWater Fishes of British Guiana) (1911).

EIGG. See EGG.

EIGHT-HOUR DAY. In the struggle for the shortest hours of labor compatible with the highest efficiency, begun in Great Britain early in the 19th century, the first great landmark was the Ten Hours' Bill of 1847, enforcing in all trades what had come about in many. But the golden ideal since 1824 (announced as such by Robert Owen in 1817) has been eight hours; possibly in remembrance that such was the rule in mediæval England; partly perhaps from the tempting threefold division of the day into equal parts, as in the rhyme "Eight hours for work, eight hours for play, eight hours for sleep, eight bob' a day." The eight-hour movement began in Australia in 1856; by 1877 the short day was established for women workers in factories, for miners working underground and for public service employees. The movement on the Continent dates from the foundation of the "International" in 1864, and as a world-demand of the social reformers, from the Paris Trades-Union Congress of 1883. In 1916 Ecuador enacted an eight-hour law, of universal application, with exemption from labor on Sundays and legal holidays. Extra work is to be paid 25 per cent overtime, 50 per cent for overtime from six in the evening to midnight, and 100 per cent after that hour. In the United States, till recently, the subject was left to the States and to private contests, the government aiding by making short hours in its own works. In 1840 President Van Buren reduced the working day in the government navy yards to 10 hours. The first State 10hour law, for textile workers only, was of 1849, in Pennsylvania. The first Massachusetts law was in 1874, and was due largely to the "Knights of Saint Crispin." But the eight-hour movement had long before become general: in 1866 the demand was formulated at a general workingmen's congress at Baltimore, and at other meetings; and the National Labor

Union was organized to secure an eight-hour day. A six weeks' strike in New England and New York, April-May 1866, attempted to secure it, but failed. In 1867 Connecticut and Illinois passed laws making eight hours a legal day "unless otherwise agreed." Pennsylvania followed in 1868 and New York in 1870. On 24 June 1869 the United States enacted an eighthour day for its establishment; but the managers reduced wages correspondingly, allowing those who wished to work 10 hours at the old wages, which aroused such wrath that the President revoked the order. All these laws were rendered nugatory by the contracting-out clauses. In 1872 eight-hour leagues were formed in various places, and in Connecticut and New York a mass of strikes among the wood-working trades won this goal for a while; but the great depression from 1873 on prevented pressing such questions. Since 1880 nearly all the States have enacted eight-hour laws, subject to conditions, usually restricted to work for the State, county or municipality. The first great concerted effort for eight hours was in 1886, when 200,000 workmen went on strike; it was at an eight-hour meeting in Haymarket Square, Chicago, that the anarchist bomb was thrown. A general strike was announced for this object in 1890, but was only partially successful; several hundred thousand workmen struck, and many employers yielded, but soon advanced the hours. The first really efficient national law was of 1 Ang. 1892, enforcing eight hours upon all laborers, mechanics or contractors in the District of Columbia on public works, under pain of fine and imprisonment.

Unquestionably the shorter workday movement, which began in Great Britain about the same time as in America, had its inception in the desire to protect women and children from being overworked. Soon the labor unions recognized that it was better to ask for shorter hours than for higher wages, and so in various industries there has been a steady persistent effort for an eight-hour day, at the same wages paid for 9 or 10 hours. Widespread strikes in the building trades, the printing industry, etc., were won by the employees, and the numbers in the unions steadily increased. By 1912 it was popularly understood, both in Great Britain and America, that eight hours was a fair day's work, and liberal employers granted it very generally without pressure. However, some large industries continued to work 10 hours, notably the railways and common carriers.

In 1916 the various unions of railway workers, affiliated through the American Federation of Labor, made a concerted demand for eight hours at the same wages that were being paid for 10 hours, and threatened a general strike and tie-up of the railways of the entire United States unless their demands were acceded to. After some months of discussion, and endeavor to obtain settlement by arbitration, no agreement was reached, and President Wilson held conferences with leaders on both sides. He finally succeeded in getting a promise from the unions that the strike would be declared off if Congress passed a law providing for an eighthour day, and a bill was hastily prepared and rushed through both houses with very little

discussion, being passed by the Democrats, by a nearly strictly party vote. It was signed 3 Sept. 1916 by the President, but its constitutionality was promptly challenged by the railway interests. The law provides: (1) An eight-hour day from 1 Jan. 1917, by common carriers and railways, excepting street railways, short independent railways and interurban railways; (2) a commission of three to be appointed to study conditions and report to the President; (3) that, pending the report of the commission, it shall be unlawful for the railways to reduce wages because of the shortened hours, in other words, they shall pay the 10hour price for the eight-hour day; (3) a fine of $100 to $1,000 or imprisonment not to exceed a year or both are the penalties provided for violation. See LABOR LEGISLATION.

EIGHT-HOUR LAW, an act adopted in 1868 by the United States Congress, providing that in all government employment eight hours shall constitute a day's work. It originated in the agitation which had begun in England in 1833 by the proposition of eight hours as a legitimate working day. The agitation spread itself among the industrial classes throughout the civilized world, and first bore fruit in Australia in 1856, where it was adopted by several trades. The National Labor Union of the United States demanded it in 1866, and it came into effect in the government navy yards in 1869, and shortly afterward in all departments of government work. Its universal adoption, however, is still unrealized, and it is the source of persistent agitation among the labor organizations and parties throughout the United States, the British Empire and on the continent of Europe. Consult Rae, Eight Hours for Work' (1894). See EIGHT-HOUR DAY.

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, The. Carlyle made the 18th century for readers who accepted his ideas, and they were legion, a period of extreme decadence and even degradation of interest in all that was best for humanity. He called it "the age of prose, of lying sham, the fraudulent bankrupt century, the reign of Beelzebub, the peculiar era of Cant." Frederic Harrison came in defense of the period with the suggestion that "invectives against a century are more unprofitable than indictments against a nation," and pointed out that almost all of Carlyle's heroes of the modern times apart from Oliver Cromwell are "children and representatives of that unspeakable epoch" from Frederick of Prussia, Mirabeau, Danton and George Washington to Samuel Johnson, Burns, Watt, Arkwright and others. The century was so low in its interest in architecture that it is not surprising that Ruskin thundered against it that "Satan must have had a hand in the designing of the churches of the Georgian era," and there is no doubt that its art and education were far below the standards of preceding centuries, but on the other hand it is the greatest of musical centuries, the pioneer in physical science development, and its sad history of utter neglect for the poor is redeemed to a great extent by the upward movements which made themselves felt very widely at the end of the century in politics, economics and social welfare, especially as regards the insane, prisoners and the defectives.

The last 25 years brought about more social

changes than any other corresponding period in human history. Perhaps the reason for this was, as has often been suggested, that about the middle of the 18th century a great many of the highest and best human interests, especially those concerning fellow-men who needed sympathy and aid, were lower than they had ever been before. Humanity had reached a nadir in social life from which there had to be an ascent and fortunately the reaction against the lamentable conditions which existed was strong enough to set up a humanitarian countermovement toward the end of the century which made itself felt during the course of the 19th century and has not been lost even yet. This makes the 18th century a pivotal period in modern history and therefore of ever so much more interest than many another century that represents greater immediate achievements.

What is particularly notable in the history of the 18th century is its wars in almost unbroken succession dictated by royal ambition or for dynastic reasons, while during much of the time king's mistresses or licentious women monarchs ruled the internal affairs of kingdoms. The war of the Spanish succession (1701-14) began with the century. The same first year of the new century saw the active carrying on of what was called the Northern War, lasting from 1700 to 1721. In 1718 war broke out between Spain and Austria, in the inidst of which there was a formal declaration of war by England against Spain, and peace was not made until 1720. In the meantime the rebellion in favor of the Pretender, as he was called, the heir of the Stuarts who assumed the name of James III, came in Scotland in 1715 and was not suppressed until the following year. The Treaty of Utrecht (1714), which concluded the War of the Spanish Succession, changed the map of Europe as no previous treaty, not even that of Westphalia at the end of the Thirty Years War (1648), had done, but instead of settling the politics of Europe established a number of foci of irritation eminently calculated to unsettle them. Naples and Milan were given to Austria and the Austrian rule in Italy thus begun was to continue for a century and a half, always the subject of serious disturbance from within and without. Austria received the Spanish Netherlands, now to be I called the Austrian Netherlands and to be a similar focus of disturbance. The Bourbon Philip V was allowed to rule in Spain on condition that the French and Spanish possessions should never be under the rule of a single inIdividual. Great Britain received Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and the Hudson Bay region, thus preluding the expulsion of French from North America, and Gibraltar which brought with it the command of the Straits but has been a frequent subject of political irritation ever since. These wars of the first quarter of the century were only typical of the period. There was scarcely a year during the century when two important European powers were not at war; there were long series of years when a number of the states were embroiled with each other. The War of the Spanish Succession had its counterpart in what is known as the War of the Polish Succession (1733), between Austria, Russia and Denmark, with France, Spain and Sardinia becoming involved. When the Emperor Charles VI of Austria died (1740),

he left no sons, but had negotiated a treaty, the Pragmatic Sanction (1731), to secure the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa. The very year of his death saw the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1739 England and Spain were at war and in 1745 Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender as he was called, encouraged by France, led an insurrection of the Highlanders. This was terminated by the bloody battle of Culloden under "the butcher" Cumberland. In 1748 the peace of Aix-laChapelle was signed and the various countries of Europe made mutual restitution of their conquests so as to assure future peace, only Spain and Prussia being the gainers. It was to no purpose, for France and England became embroiled in war in the early fifties; in 1756 came the Seven Years War involving most of the important countries of Europe; in 1775 the American Revolution broke out, Spain and France becoming involved in it before the end, and in 1792 the French Revolutionary wars began and for more than 20 years France was practically always at war, and over and over again the various nations of Europe were drawn into the Napoleonic wars. This by no means tells the tale of all the wars of the century, but at least it will serve to give an idea of the everrecurring vain recourse to arms.

The monarchs of the century whose names are best known are the Georges I, II, III, in England and Louis XV in France. The English were ruled for nearly 100 years by kings who could not speak their language, or but as a foreign tongue, and whose interests were much more in their German Hanoverian dominions and mistresses than their English people. Perhaps the political conditions of the time are best illustrated by the fact that their rule caused comparatively little disaffection in England itself, though fortunately it provoked the American Revolution, which brought independence to the United States. Louis XV, succeeding to the magnificent dominions created by the genius of Louis XIV, whose personality subjugated the French people and set an unfortunate example for other European monarchs, proved utterly unworthy of his great position and allowed himself to be ruled by designing mistresses. His reign increased the debt and the taxes of the French nation until Louis XVI fell heir to an impossible situation. In spite of Louis XV's weakness, France at the end of his reign (1774) had even more territory than at the death of his grandfather, Louis XIV (1715). Social conditions had however sunk to a level almost indescribable and the reaction against them was inevitable and could not be long delayed.

Certain great political changes which took place in the 18th century had far-reaching effects on subsequent generations, some of which are only working out to legitimate conclusions in our own time. Apart from the creation of the American Republic, itself of greatest significance for the course of civilization, the three most important political changes were the establishment of Prussia as a kingdom (1701), the rise of Russia to be a great European power which began under Peter the Great (d. 1725), and the establishment of British power in India which led eventually to the erection of the British Empire. In the light of recent events probably the first of these must be considered the most