The text is an argumentative abstract from an essay by Arnold Toynbee, and it deals with the Industrial Revolution, seen as a turning point for the English and the European society, as it lead to a radical change in the medieval system of production and distribution of wealth to a new one based on the competition. Moreover two new systems of thought arose in this period : Economic Science and Socialism, the former one developed by many important economists.
Therefore England faced a great growth in its population but also a  agricultural demographic decrease , linked to an agrarian revolution caused by the end of the old rural society.
Yet, this changes lead to many technological advances, that also involved manufactures and the iron industry, and made possible an increase in the production rate. Furthermore, the development of means of communication allowed a further increase in commerce and in the working system.
All this innovations created new social classes, but also marked the end of the human relation between masters and workers.
The author shows a particular view about these themes and his thesis, put in the end of the text, is that "The Industrial Revolution proved that free competition may produce wealth without producing wealth-being".
This idea is supported by many arguments in the essay, like the author's description of the economists' ideas about free trade, which offers different views and opinions about their society, which are often linked to the historical context they belong to.
Afterwards, the historian analyzes the consequences related to the various innovations among the industry system and the trade, and he faces social changes as those occurred to the agricultural population. Furthermore, the writer draws his attention to the theme of the enrichment of the farmers, evaluating what allowed that and what consequences had for the society.
In his opinion this events strongly marked the behaviour of masters toward labourers.
I think that Toynbee is successful in his attempt to analyse the consequences linked to the Industrial Revolution and in his idea that those events lead to a change in the welfare's distribution, spread only among the high classes.
I believe that the author's idea about wealth is extremely interesting and realistic, as, for example, he says that in a couple of decades, farmers enriched, and also changed their lifestyle and social status, becoming an high class group and losing their roots.
Therefore Toynbee rightly underlines that in the manufacturing world " the old relation between masters and men disappeared just to become a "cash nexus". Furthermore the information about the widespread misery points out that wealth-being was available only for a few, showing that the Industrial Revolution hadn't produced welfare for all.

IMPROVED VERSION

 Arnold Toynbee's essay deals with the Chief Features of the Industrial Revolution.
The text 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 his argumentation in order to explain the radical change brought about 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." The consequences of this process meant the birth of two different systems of thought : Economic Science and Socialism which are exactly the opposite one to another.
(Improved Version)
Then the author analyses the ideas of the economists' that developed Economic Science as his aim is to explain what it is and to show various opinions about free trade.
Afterwards Toynbee starts to give specific information about the Industrial Revolution in order to outline what happened in this period.
He marks out that English population had a great growth and that the agrarian population faced a significant decrease. This happened because many agricultural changes involved Britain. Those events are inquired and described by the author's use of accurate information.
Therefore he further develops the agricultural changes analysing the innovations that agriculture faced. He also claims that an important consequence was an increase in the production rate.
The essayist goes on underlining what innovations involved manufactures and the iron industry, which meant radical changes in the economy as the production increased and the demand became huge. Furthermore it's said that the improved means of communication allowed an increase in commerce and in the industry.
The writer also explains that this events brought to the change of the domestic system for the factory system and to periodical inflation's periods.
The next themes discussed by Toynbee's are the social changes linked to this period as he particularly outlines the role had by the farmers and their new class level, to better mark his ideas about the changes occurred during the Industrial Revolution. Besides, it's explained how they enriched and became an high class, losing their roots.
The writer goes on analysing the innovations among the manufactures, underlining the end of the human relation between masters and workers for a "cash nexus".
Finally the author takes back his arguments and explains his thesis, that " the Industrial Revolution may produce wealth without producing wealth-being."
This idea is linked to the theme of the misery that spread in that period, involving many sections of the society, caused by high pries and by trade's fluctuations, showing that Arnold Toynbee's ideas about welfare distribution are supported by many proofs.