England as It Is Political, Social and Industrial, in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century, Vol. 1 of 2

Excerpt from England as It Is Political, Social and Industrial, in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century, Vol. 1 of 2The Essays contained in these volumes had their origin in a design of writing letters to a friend on the Continent, in order to make him acquainted with the present state of England. It is hoped that a considerable amount of authentic information on subjects of public interest will be found collected in these pages. An Index is supplied in order to facilitate reference to the statistical facts, which have been gleaned from a great mass of public documents. These documents are not difiicult of access, but they are so unwieldy as to be troublesome to consult, and often repulsive from the painful elaboration of their details. It is hoped that, by selecting some parts, and abridging others, of the ponderous books in which public information is officially registered, some service may have been done in the promoting of useful knowledge. The writer is aware that, as essays upon the important subjects of which he has treated, some of his papers must appear meagre, and all of them incomplete. It was not his object, however, to discuss these subjects fully. If he had done so, he must have written a library instead of two volumes. His object was to supply materials for present reflection and future history. For this purpose he has sought the most authentic information he could obtain; and where a 2 he has thought it necessary to state his own views, he has refrained from stating them at length.For the political tone of the book the writer does not think it necessary to make any apology. Though he does not take what is called the popular side, he yields to no one in ardent desire to elevate the minds, and to better the condition, of the people. His dislike of liberalism is founded on his earnest conviction - be that conviction right or wrong - that the doctrines of liberalism are directly adverse to the happiness of the great bulk of the population. He is very little disposed to flatter the rich and great of any political party, but he would seek a remedy for existing evils, rather by inducing an earnest and generous sense of duty in every rank of life, than by promoting democratic progress, which throws power and advantage into the hands of the wealthy, the busy, the bold, and the unscrupulous; but leaves the humble, the conscientious, and the sincere, without help, without justice, and without hope.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.