... or tepid, as disagreeing with the panels of virtuosos in such establishments as the Dilettanti or Antiquarians dictated the fashionable and the unfashionable A powerful new national bank (introduced by William III who had seen such a system operate with great success in his native Netherlands), combined with the gradual industrialisation of Britain, the growth of Empire and the development of the modern capitalist system led to a growth of British affluence. By the end of the eighteenth century, Britain had swept from being at the edge of European affairs to being the arbiter of them, mostly due to her economic maturity. The physical result of this for the average Briton would have been the massive growth in public works. Financed by Queen Anne's Coal Tax, the British government was capable of raising huge funds for the building of tremendous buildings. The economic power of the government at the beginning ...

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