FACTORIES AND COTTAGE INDUSTRIES 617
So long as cottage industry lasted, the workmen had some- Ap. 177s
thing to fall back upon when times were bad ; but under the —!8%0-new
 conditions the fluctuations were much more violent aohite his
than they had ever been before, and the workman had no Huctuating
means of improving his position. The prosperity of the mass’
of the population no longer rested on the solid basis of land,
but upon the fluctuating basis of trade’,
The age of invention then was not merely concerned, as There was
might at first sight appear, with the improvement of particular [7 ,
arts, it effected an entire revolution in the economic life of progress
the country; for this reason it is not quite easy to weigh
against one another the loss and gain involved in such a
fundamental change. We see on the one hand the signs of
marvellous economic progress; an immensely increased command
 over material resources of all sorts and an extraordinary
development of trade and wealth, with the consequent ability
to cope with the schemes by which Napoleon endeavoured
to compass our ruin, On the other hand we see a loss of this tastability
 of every kind ; England as a nation forfeited her self- ony oe
sufficing character and became dependent on an imported *****-food
 supply; and a large proportion of the population, who
had been fairly secure in the prospect of shelter and employment
 and subsistence for their lives, were reduced to a
condition of the greatest uncertainty as to their lot from year
bo year or from week to week. Over against the rapid
advance of material prosperity must be set the terrible suffering
 which was endured in the period of transition; and while
we congratulate ourselves on the progress that has taken
place, we should not forget the cost at which it has been ob-;ained,
 or the elements of well-being that have been sacrificed.
246. There were, however, certain sections of the com- Machinery
munity which were able to take advantage of the period of {unis For
change, and to adapt themselves rapidly to the new conditions ; #¢ 7%
a class of capitalist manufacturers came into great prominence,
and they were soon able to exercise considerable influence in
Parliament. There had of course been wealthy employers in
certain districts®, especially in the iron trade, and in the
1 Massie, Plan, p. 69. See above, p. 577.
t Compare the iron, glass and brass works mentioned by Rudder, Gloucestershire.
 601.