born 1867 born 1869






CHAPTER VI: _Strife_


"Two men I honour, and no third. First, the toilworn Craftsman that
with earth-made Implement laboriously conquers the Earth, and makes
her man's. . . . A second man I honour, and still more highly: Him
who is seen toiling for the spiritually indispensable; not daily
bread, but the Bread of Life. . . . Unspeakably touching is it,
however, when I find both dignities united; and he that must toil
outwardly for the lowest of man's wants, is also toiling inwardly
for the highest."[4]

[Footnote 4: Carlyle, _Sartor Resartus_.]

To understand the many and bewildering changes which followed one
another in rapid succession during the early years of Victoria's
reign it is necessary to read the literature, more especially the
works of those writers who took a deep and lasting interest in the
lives and work of the people.

Democracy, the people, or the toiling class, was engaged in a fierce
battle with those forces which it held to be its natural enemies.
It was a battle of the Rich against the Poor, of the masters against