but in forces. It did not simply mould the inert. It gave it a kind of soul, a soul hardly more relentless than its own primitive soul, and harnessed and held it with brake and counter forces. The men who did all this were not learned men. They were not the heads of colleges, nor did they hold degrees. One cannot say that they were more than vigorous workmen, whose vigour and eager life, stimulated by labour, demanded new tools. It was they who struck off the fetters of feudalism. Watt, the instrument maker, Stephenson the brakesman, Telford the mason, Rennie the wheelwright, Dudley the artisan, Brindley, and Cartwright, and a host of other practical men, made the great projections, which were, among other things, an enfranchisement (in some small degree at least) of the human will. Their work well begun, the whole problem of human existence presented itself in a new light. The gaiety and radiance of dawn fled suddenly, and the world grew stern. The light was hidden by murky clouds, and the land was even black and lurid in large districts. The fear of hunger was like a lash to myriads. Yet the people had broken loose from their masters, and had to fight now only for further self-emancipation.
What is holding them back? A great many things
