ich the economists of that period
rallied.

At the same time in England, Adam Smith was working on his mighty
volumes on the "Wealth of Nations," which made another plea for
"liberty" and the "natural rights of trade." Thirty years later, after
the fall of Napoleon, when the reactionary powers of Europe had gained
their victory at Vienna, that same freedom which was denied to the
people in their political relations was forced upon them in their
industrial life.

The general use of machinery, as I have said at the beginning of this
chapter, proved to be of great advantage to the state. Wealth increased
rapidly. The machine made it possible for a single country, like
England, to carry all the burdens of the great Napoleonic wars. The
capitalists (the people who provided the money with which machines were
bought) reaped enormous profits. They became ambitious and began to
take an interest in politics. They tried to compete with the landed
aristocracy which still exercised great influence upon the government of
most European countries.

In England, where the members of Parliament were still elected according
to a Royal Decree of the year 1265, and where a large number of recently
created industrial centres were without representation, they brought
about the passing of the Reform Bill of the year 1882, which changed the
electoral system and gave the class of the factory-owners more influence
upon the legislative body. This however caused great discontent among
the millions of factory workers, who were left without any voice in the
government. They too began an agitation for the right to vote. They put
their demands down in a document which came to be known as the "People's
Charter." The debates about this charter grew more and more violent.
They had not yet come to an end when the revolutions of the year 1848
broke out. Frightened by the threat of a new outbreak or Jacobinism and
violence, the English government placed the Duke of Wellington, who
was now in his eightieth year, at the head of the army, and called for
Volunteers. London was placed in a state of siege and preparations were
made to suppress the coming revolution.

But the Chartist movement killed itself through bad leadership and no
acts of violence took place. The new class of wealthy factory owners,
(I dislike the word "bourgeoisie" which has been used to death by the
apostles of a new social order,) slowly increased its hold upon the
government, and the