The essay of Arnold Toynbee, written in 1884, is an argumentative text about the Industrial Revolution. Arnold writes about this subject focusing on his thesis and developing a series of argumentations and detailed reflections about many positive and negative aspects of this important historical process. Arnold' thesis, which is in the text conclusion, says that the free competition, typical phenomenon of the Industrial Revolution, can create the wealth but not the social well being.
The text is composed by 12 paragraphs, each of which elaborates a specific area of the Revolution with the use of qualitative and quantitative information, so with the use of concrete data.
The first part is the introduction, which introduces the argument we are going to read, the Industrial Revolution, with a short description.
The second paragraph explains the 2 systems of thought widespread in all Europe from England, the Economic Science and the Socialism and particularly about the 4 most important experts of the Economic Science with their respective works: Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo and John Stuart Mill.
In the third and fourth paragraphs Arnold demonstrates, with data and statistics, the increase of English population from 1751 to 1821, but also the relative decrease of agricultural population, in the first half of ‘800. Causes of this latter fact are the destruction of common-fields, "enclosures" and the consolidation of small factory, as Arnold explains in the fifth paragraph.
However, there were some agricultural and manufacturing improvements too ( sixth and seventh paragraph), as the rotation of crops, the steam-plough, the consolidation of agricultural society and particularly the steam engine, which totally revolutionized human's life and work.
The eight paragraph talks about others discoveries in the infrastructures area and in transport: the most important invention of the years was the first railroad.
In the ninth and tenth paragraph the writer explains that all these mechanical improvements certainly involved a remarkable increment of the wealth for capitalist employers but this also implied a following rising of prices, especially for prices of rents, causing a real social crisis for the lower classes.
So, as it can be read in the eleventh paragraph, this economic system, totally in the hands of the greatest capitalists, has certainly brought more wealth, discoveries, an increment of the population and a develop of the Britain society, but ,with it, has brought, specially for workmen, misery, discomforts, overpopulation, criminality and diseases too.
The last piece of the essay is the conclusion, which displays the thesis obtained after this long series of analysis: the wealth doesn't create the welfare.

Improved version

Arnold Toynbee's essay deals with the chief features of the Industrial Revolution. It opens with an introduction where the Revolution is defined as an historical process. Also its economic and social consequences are illustrated at a global level. The essayist goes on developing its argumentations in order to explain the radical changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. He explains it mainly consisted in the substitution of competition "for the medieval regulations which had previously controlled the production and distribution of wealth". Process consequences meant the birth of two different systems of thought: Economic  Science and Socialism. They are exactly opposite words. The most important experts of Economic Science are Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo and John Mill.

Then Arnold demonstrates, with data and statistics, English population's  increase from 1751 to 1821, but also agricultural population's  relative decrease, in the first half of ‘800. This latter fact causes are the common-fields destruction, "enclosures" and the small factory consolidation, as Arnold explains in the fifth paragraph.

However, there were some agricultural and manufacturing  improvements too, as the rotation of crops, the steam-plough, the agricultural society consolidation and particularly the steam engine, which totally revolutionized  human's life and work.

The next paragraph talks about others discoveries in the infrastructures and transports area: the most important invention of the years was the first railroad.

In the other paragraphs the writer explains that all these mechanical improvements certainly involved a remarkable wealth increment  for capitalist employers but this also implied a following prices rising, especially for rents prices, causing a real social crisis for the lower classes.

So, as it  can be comprehended  by the text, this economic system, totally in the hands of the greatest capitalists, has certainly  brought more wealth, discoveries, an increment of population and  a develop of Britain society, but it has also brought misery, discomforts, overpopulation, criminality and diseases , specially for workmen.

The last piece of the essay  is the conclusion, which displays the thesis obtained after this long series of analysis: the wealth doesn't create the welfare.