Nor were the material interests of the country better represented.

Among the most important men in England those engaged in banking and commerce held a high place; since the end of the seventeenth century their influence had rapidly increased....

But in the reign of George III.

claims of this sort were little heeded."-- BUCKLE, _History of Civilisation_.
[70] "They, the friars, and especially the Franciscans, largely influenced politics.

The conception of individual freedom, upon which the life of St.
Francis was built, went far to instil the idea of civic freedom into men's minds....