Chapter II: Preface: To the Eighteenth Edition

Since the original publication of this book in 1890, twenty-one years have elapsed, and the author, whose untimely death all scholars deplore, was able to embody various corrections which made this book harmonize more completely with his larger work _Industry in England_. On certain points he was led to modify his opinions—a course inevitable in a book covering so large a ground.

In the Preface to the Fifth Edition he wrote: “It has been said that I write with a prejudice against the owners of land: but this is not the case. The landed gentry of England happen for some centuries to have held the predominant power in the State and in society, and used it, not unnaturally, in many cases to further their own interests. It is the duty of an historian to point this out, but it need not therefore be thought that he had any special bias against the class. Any other class would certainly have done the same, as, for instance, mill-owners did among their own _employées_ at the beginning of this century, and as, in all probability, the working classes will do when a further extension of democratic government shall have given them the opportunity.

“It is a fault of human nature that it can rarely be trusted with irresponsible power, and unless the influence of one class of society is counterbalanced more or less by that of another, there will always be a tendency to some injustice. I trust that my readers will bear this in mind when reading the following pages, and will believe that I intend no unfairness to the landed gentry of England, who have done much to promote the glory and stability of their country.”

The present, or eighteenth edition, has been carefully revised by Miss M. E. Hirst, M.A., and in addition to such revision she has written a new chapter (Chapter VIII.) which treats of the New Age of Industrial Expansion. _The Industrial History of England_ is thus continued from the point at which the author left it and is carried up to the year 1911.

CONTENTS

PERIOD I

ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST

CHAP. I. INTRODUCTORY—THE ROMANS AND THEIR
SUCCESSORS—TRADE 1

CHAP. II. THE LAND: ITS OWNERS AND CULTIVATORS 5

PERIOD II

FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE REIGN OF HENRY III. (1066–1216 A.D.)

CHAP. I. DOMESDAY BOOK AND THE MANORS 10

CHAP. II. THE TOWNS AND THE GILDS 22

CHAP. III. MANUFACTURES AND TRADE: ELEVENTH TO
THIRTEENTH CENTURIES 31

PERIOD III

FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE END OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, INCLUDING THE GREAT PLAGUE (1216–1500)

CHAP. I. AGRICULTURE IN MEDIÆVAL ENGLAND 40

CHAP. II. THE WOOLLEN TRADE AND MANUFACTURES 47

CHAP. III. THE TOWNS, INDUSTRIAL VILLAGES, AND FAIRS 57

CHAP. IV. THE GREAT PLAGUE AND ITS ECONOMIC EFFECTS 67

CHAP. V. THE PEASANTS’ REVOLT OF 1381, AND THE SUBSEQUENT
PROSPERITY OF THE WORKING CLASSES 75

PERIOD IV

FROM THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY TO THE EVE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (1509–1760)

CHAP. I. THE MISDEEDS OF HENRY VIII., AND ECONOMIC
CHANGES IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 83

CHAP. II. THE GROWTH OF FOREIGN TRADE 91

CHAP. III. ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND 100

CHAP. IV. PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE IN THE SEVENTEENTH
AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 109

CHAP. V. COMMERCE AND WAR IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND
EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 121

CHAP. VI. MANUFACTURES AND MINING 132

PERIOD V

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND MODERN ENGLAND

CHAP. I. THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 144

CHAP. II. THE EPOCH OF THE GREAT INVENTIONS 157

CHAP. III. WARS, POLITICS, AND INDUSTRY 167

CHAP. IV. THE FACTORY SYSTEM AND ITS RESULTS 176

CHAP. V. THE CONDITION OF THE WORKING CLASSES 187

CHAP. VI. THE RISE AND DEPRESSION OF MODERN AGRICULTURE 198

CHAP. VII. MODERN INDUSTRIAL ENGLAND 211

CHAP. VIII. THE NEW AGE, 1897–1911 223

NOTE ON AUTHORITIES FOR INDUSTRIAL HISTORY 241

NOTES 243

INDEX 253

LIST OF MAPS AND DIAGRAMS

DIAGRAM OF A MANOR _page_ 21

ENGLAND SHORTLY AFTER THE TIME OF DOMESDAY, A.D. 1100–1200 _facing page_ 38

INDIA IN THE TIME OF CLIVE, SHOWING ENGLISH FACTORIES AND DISTRICTS UNDER OUR INFLUENCE _facing page_ 128

INDUSTRIAL ENGLAND, 1700–1750 _facing page_ 134

ENGLAND, SHOWING COAL-FIELDS AND CORRESPONDING MANUFACTURES _facing page_ 164

INDUSTRIAL ENGLAND, 1890 _facing page_ 210

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THE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND

PERIOD I

ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST