LONDON
| First Published | July 1890 |
| Second Edition | 1890 |
| Third Edition | 1892 |
| Fourth Edition | 1895 |
| Fifth and Sixth Editions | 1897 |
| Seventh Edition | 1900 |
| Eighth Edition | 1902 |
| Ninth Edition | 1903 |
| Tenth Edition | 1904 |
| Eleventh and Twelfth Editions | 1906 |
| Thirteenth and Fourteenth Editions | 1907 |
| Fifteenth Edition | 1908 |
| Sixteenth Edition | 1910 |
| Seventeenth Edition | 1911 |
| Eighteenth Edition, Revised | 1912 |
| Nineteenth Edition | 1913 |
| Twentieth Edition | 1914 |
| Twenty-First Edition | 1916 |
| Twenty-Second Edition | 1917 |
| Twenty-Third,
Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Editions | 1918 |
| Twenty-Sixth Edition | 1919 |
| Twenty-Seventh Edition | 1920 |
PREFACE
This little book is an attempt to relate in a short, concise, and simple form the main outlines of England’s economic and industrial history. It is meant to serve as an introduction to a fuller study of the subject and as a preliminary sketch which the reader can afterwards, if he wishes, fill in for himself from larger volumes dealing with special periods. At the same time it is hoped that this outline may succeed in giving not only to the student but to the ordinary reader a general view of a side of history too frequently neglected, but of the utmost importance to a proper understanding of the story of the English nation. I have endeavoured, as far as possible in the brief limits of a work like this, to connect economic and industrial questions with social, political, and military movements, believing as I do that only in some such mutual relation as this can historical events obtain their full significance.
The paramount necessity of simplicity and conciseness in an outline of this kind has compelled me to omit or mention very briefly many points which those who are familiar with my subject might well expect to be included. I have not, for instance, given elaborate statistical figures or voluminous footnotes upon the actual condition of our trade at various periods. Nor have I given more than an outline of the old and new Poor Laws, of financial measures, or of Banking; and with much reluctance I have omitted a discussion of Colonial Trade. But all these points, except perhaps the last, may be reserved by a student till he comes to much larger works; though a proper economic history of our Colonies yet remains to be written. Such as it is, however, I trust that this general view of the broad outlines of the growth of our wealth and industry in their relation to the general history of England may have its uses.
I have preferred not to weary my reader by constant references to authorities in footnotes, but have acknowledged my obligations to the various authorities consulted in an appendix, where suggestions for further reading will be found.
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.”