The excerpt below was written by Robert J. Southey. A place more destitute of all interesting objects than Manchester, it is not easy to conceive.. Imagine this
multitude crowded together in narrow streets, the houses all built of brick and blackened with smoke;
where you hear from within, as you pass along, the everlasting din of machinery; and where when the bell
rings it is to call wretches to their work instead of their prayers.
- Robert J. Southey, Letters from England, 1807
During which period did the conditions described in this passage occur?