Until the nineteenth century, the ownership of land was the only certain basis of power in England. It is true that both power and money (1) ________ be acquired by (2) ________ means: by trade, by commerce, by fighting, by useful services to the government or by personal service to the king and queen. But wealth unsupported by power was (3) ________ to be plundered, power based only on personal abilities was at the mercy of time and future, and the power to be (4) ________ through trade or commerce was limited. Before the nineteenth century (5) ________ wealth of England lay in the countryside as opposed to the towns; landowners (6) ________ than merchants were the dominating (7) ________ and ran the country so that their own interests were the last to suffer. Even (8)________ the economic balance began to change, they were so thoroughly in (9) ________of administration and legislation, that their political and social supremacy continued. As a rule, from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century, anyone who had made money by whatever means, and was ambitious for (10)________ and his family, automatically invested in a country estate.

Until the nineteenth century, the ownership of land was the only certain basis of power in England. It is true that both power and money (1) ________ be acquired by (2) ________ means: by trade, by commerce, by fighting, by useful services to the government or by personal service to the king and queen. But wealth unsupported by power was (3) ________ to be plundered, power based only on personal abilities was at the mercy of time and future, and the power to be (4) ________ through trade or commerce was limited. Before the nineteenth century (5) ________ wealth of England lay in the countryside as opposed to the towns; landowners (6) ________ than merchants were the dominating (7) ________ and ran the country so that their own interests were the last to suffer. Even (8)________ the economic balance began to change, they were so thoroughly in (9) ________of administration and legislation, that their political and social supremacy continued. As a rule, from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century, anyone who had made money by whatever means, and was ambitious for (10)________ and his family, automatically invested in a country estate.