Samuel Smiles：Thrift, Excerpt 471

A hundred years ago, we could not build a steam-engine; we could scarcely build a bridge. Look at the churches built a hundred years ago, and behold the condition of our architecture. A hundred years ago, we had fallen to almost the lowest condition as a nation. We had not a harbour; we had not a dock. The most extensive system of robbery prevailed on the River Thames. The roads, such as they were, swarmed with highwaymen; and black-mail was levied by the Highlanders upon the Lowland farmers, down to the middle of last century.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14418
Locator：Excerpt 471 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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