DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

99 ( oo ) to overcome the bounds of space and time, and revolutionise the conditions of human life. Watt may be said to have first applied steam to those uses which have done so much to promote the material prosperity of England and the world. Arkwright, by the invention of the spinning-machine, and Har- ereaves and Crompton by similar inventions, turned the northern provinces of the country into hives of industry. Brindley, triumphing over stupendous engineering difficulties, constructed those splendid waterways of commerce, one of which, the Bridge- water Canal, passes your very doors. Smeaton reared the first of these lighthouses which guide the mariners round our coasts, and rendered obsolete the occupation of the wreckers. Herschel, by his construction of a gigantic telescope, discovered many secrets of the heavens. So huge was this instrument that, on festive occasions, his whole family assembled in it for tea. Nor were the graces of life ever more successfully cultivated. The Royal Academy was instituted by George III., with Sir Joshua Reynolds as its first President. Reynolds, Romney, and Gainsborough have never been equalled for the power, the loveli- ness, and the charm of their execution ; Turner, as a landscape-painter, has remained unsurpassed for brilliancy of colouring. The genius of Garrick and Mrs. Siddons raised the English stage to the hignest C