7. Perhaps you will say, why could they not have things from other countries, as well as from England?--but you must bear in mind that the American states were then under British government, and remained so till the reign of George the Third, when the Americans established a government of their own, and went to war with Great Britain, as you will presently read, and with the assistance of France, made themselves independent of this country. 8. George the First died in 1727, having reigned nearly thirteen years, and he was succeeded by his son, George the Second. 9. There had been a great change in the mode of dress since the time of the Stuarts, for queen Anne had introduced a fashion of setting out the gowns with hoops; and gentlemen wore coats with broad square-cut tails, waistcoats with long flaps, colored stockings drawn up over the knee, lace ruffles, large shoe buckles, wigs with rows of stiff curls, three-cornered hats bound with gold-lace, and swords. 10. Towards the close of the eighteenth century this formal inconvenient style of dress was altered gradually; swords were left off; the hair which, in the early part of the reign of George the Third, was frizzed out, pomatumed and powdered, was dressed in a more natural manner; round hats came into fashion, and people began to look something like what they do now. 11. The reign of George the Second, which lasted thirty-three years, was on the whole rather a prosperous one, the greater part of it being spent in peace. There was no war for about twelve years, and during that time improvements were going on all over the country. 12. Most of the great towns were made larger, and new manufactories built, for the trade of England was increasing every year, and great quantities of manufactured goods were sent out to foreign countries; besides which, new roads were opened, waste lands cultivated, canals formed, and new harbors made for shipping, so that there was plenty of employment for the laboring people. 13. We had a good navy at this time, and the first war that broke out was carried on entirely at sea. It was with the Spaniards, who had taken possession of a great part of South America, and, as they chose to keep all the trade to themselves, they had ships constantly sailing about, to prevent the ships of other nations coming there, which was all very fair; but not content with guarding their own possessions, they interfered with British merchants, who were going to or from other places, plundered some of their vessels, and behaved so ill, that the British government was obliged to declare war, and sent out a great many ships to fight the Spaniards.