publication by Mr. W. J. Ashley, B.A., and Mr. Bolton King, B.A., of Balliol College, from their own excellent notes compared with those of others among his hearers and with such of his own as belonged to the course. They remain notes and notes only, those of the later lectures being also much less full than those of the earlier ones; but my warmest thanks are due to both Mr. Ashley and Mr. King for the large expenditure of time and trouble and the great care which they have bestowed upon the work. The Popular Addresses have been put together from my husband's own notes, and from newspaper reports. They were delivered during the Christmas and Easter vacations of 1880, 1881, and 1882, to audiences of working men and employers, at Bradford, Bolton, Leicester, and Newcastle, in pursuance of an idea he had much at heart, namely, the advantage of an impartial discussion of questions affecting the relation of capitalists and working men before audiences composed of members of both classes. The Fragments at the end of the book are jottings from his note-books-thoughts and images which struck him at different times and in different places. To his friends, if not to the general public, these will perhaps be of more interest than anything else in the book, as being most truly representative of himself. The whole has been revised by the friend who shared my husband's entire intellectual life, Mr. Alfred Milner, without whose help the volume would have been far more imperfect than it is, but whose friendship was too close and tender to allow now of a word of thanks. C. M. TOYNBEE. OXFORD, May 1884. The change that has come over Political Economy-Ricardo responsible for the form of that Science-The causes of his great influence-The economic assumptions of his treatise-Ricardo ignorant of the nature of his own method-Malthus's protest-Limitations of Ricardo's doc- trine recognised by Mill and Senior-Observation discouraged by the Deductive Method-The effect of the Labour Movement on Eco- nomics-Modifications of the Science by recent writers-The new The philosophic assumptions of Ricardo-They are derived from Adam Smith-The worship of individual liberty-It involves freedom of competition and removal of industrial restrictions-The flaw in this theory-It is confirmed by the doctrine of the identity of individual and social interests-Criticism of this doctrine-The idea of invari- able law-True nature of economic laws-Laws and Precepts-The great charge brought against Political Economy-Its truth and its Division of the subject—Advantages of combining the study of History and Political Economy-The Deductive Method-The Historical Method-Importance of a discussion of Method-Laws and precepts C THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION—(continued). relative-The Social Problems of the Present to be borne in mind in studying the history of the Past, II. ENGLAND IN 1760-POPULATION. Numbers of population difficult to determine-Finlayson's estimate--The distribution of population-The growth of the great towns-Rural and urban population-The occupations of the people, III. ENGLAND IN 1760-AGRICULTURE. Proportion of cultivated land to waste-Large amount of common landBeneficial effect of enclosures upon agriculture-Comparative progressiveness of different districts--Improvements in cultivation and in the breed of live stock-Slowness of agricultural development between 1700 and 1760, IV. ENGLAND IN 1760--MANUFACTURES AND TRADE. Great importance of the Woollen Manufacture—Its introduction into England-Its chief centres: 1. In the eastern counties. 2. In Wilts, Gloucester, and Somerset. 3. In Yorkshire-The Iron, Cotton, Hardware, and Hosiery Trades-Tendency to concentration-State of the mechanical arts-Imperfect division of labour-Means of communication-Organisation of industry-Simple system of exchangeGrowth of Foreign Trade and its effects, V. ENGLAND IN 1760-THE DECAY OF THE YEOMANRY. The historical method not always conservative-Changes commonly attributed to natural law are sometimes shown by it to be due to human injustice-The decay of the Yeomanry a case in point-The position of the Yeomanry in the seventeenth century-Their want of political initiative-Effect of the Revolution upon them-The aristocracy and the moneyed class absorb the land-Pressure put upon small owners to sell-The custom of settlement and primogeniture-The effect of enclosures upon small properties, VI. ENGLAND IN 1760-THE CONDITION OF THE WAGE-EARNERS. The agricultural labourer-Improvement in his condition since the beginning of the century-Comparison of his position in 1750 and 1850 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION-(continued). -Contrast between North and South-Inequality of wages and its cause The position of the artisans-Great rise in their wages since 1760-Certain disadvantages of their condition now, as compared with that existing then, VII. THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM AND ADAM SMITH. Change in the spirit of commercial policy-The medieval idea of the State -The regulation of internal trade and industry-Restrictions upon the movement of labour-The law of apprentices-Wages and prices fixed by authority-The regulation of Foreign Trade-Chartered companies-The Mercantile System and Protection-Evils of that system-The struggle of interests-Injustice to Ireland and the Colonies-Characteristics of the Wealth of Nations-Its arrangement -Adam Smith's cosmopolitanism and belief in self-interest,. VIII. THE CHIEF FEATURES OF THE REVOLUTION. Growth of Economic Science-Competition-Its uses and abuses-The symptoms of the Industrial Revolution-Rapid growth of population -Its relative density in North and South-The agrarian revolutionEnclosures Consolidation of farms and agricultural improvements-The revolution in manufactures-The factory system-Expansion of trade-Rise in rents-Change in the relative position of classes, IX. THE GROWTH OF PAUPERISM. Political Economy and the instinct of benevolence-The History of the Poor Laws-Pauperism in the sixteenth century-The Poor Law of 1601 and its modifications-Slow growth of pauperism during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—Its rapid increase at the end of the latter-The causes of this development of pauperism: consolidation of farms, enclosures, rise of prices, introduction of machinery -Remedies which might have been applied-Vicious principle of the old Poor Law, X. MALTHUS AND THE LAW OF POPULATION. Malthus and Godwin-Malthus's two propositions-The Law of Diminishing Returns certainly true-The Law of Population not universally true-Henry George on Malthus-The causes of the growth of population in rural districts and in towns in the Eighteenth Century— Malthus's remedies: Abolition of the Poor Law, Moral Restraints— |