8 FIELDS, FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS. 



France and England, which wars are often explained 

 by merely political causes, had a much deeper meaning 

 an economical meaning. They were wars for the 

 supremacy on the world market, wars against French 

 commerce and industry and Britain won the battle. 

 She became supreme on the seas. Bordeaux was no 

 more a rival to London, and the French industries 

 seemed to be killed in the bud. And, favoured by the 

 powerful impulse given to natural sciences and tech- 

 nology by the great era of inventions, finding no serious 

 competitors in Europe, Britain began to develop her 

 manufactures. To produce on a large scale in immense 

 quantities became the watchword. The necessary human 

 forces were at hand in the peasantry, partly driven by 

 force from the land, partly attracted to the cities by 

 high wages. The necessary machinery was created, .and 

 the British production of manufactured goods went on 

 at a gigantic pace. In the course of less than seventy 

 years from 1810 to 1878 the output of coal grew 

 from 10 to 133,000,000 tons; the imports of raw ma- 

 terials rose from 30 to 380,000,000 tons ; and the exports 

 of manufactured goods from 46 to 200,000,000 pounds. 

 The tonnage of the commercial fleet was nearly trebled. 

 Fifteen thousand miles of railways were built 



It is useless to repeat at what a cost the above results 

 were achieved. The terrible revelations of the parlia- 

 mentary commissions of 1840-42 as to the atrocious con- 

 dition of the manufacturing classes, the tales of " cleared 

 estates" and kidnapped children are still fresh in the 

 memory. They will remain standing monuments for 

 showing by what means the great industry was implanted 

 in this country. But the accumulation of wealth in the 

 hands of the privileged classes was going on at a speed 

 never dreamed of before. The incredible riches which 

 now astonish the foreigner in the private houses of 

 England were accumulated during that period ; the 

 exceedingly expensive standard of life which makes a 



